Adaptive responses to cool climate promotes persistence of a non-native lizard

Successful establishment and range expansion of non-native species often require rapid accommodation of novel environments. Here, we use common-garden experiments to demonstrate parallel adaptive evolutionary response to a cool climate in populations of wall lizards (Podarcis muralis) introduced from southern Europe into England. Low soil temperatures in the introduced range delay hatching, which generates directional selection for a shorter incubation period. Non-native lizards from two separate lineages have responded to this selection by retaining their embryos for longer before oviposition-hence reducing the time needed to complete embryogenesis in the nest-and by an increased developmental rate at low temperatures. This divergence mirrors local adaptation across latitudes and altitudes within widely distributed species and suggests that evolutionary responses to climate can be very rapid. When extrapolated to soil temperatures encountered in nests within the introduced range, embryo retention and faster developmental rate result in one to several weeks earlier emergence compared with the ancestral state. We show that this difference translates into substantial survival benefits for offspring. This should promote short- and long-term persistence of non-native populations, and ultimately enable expansion into areas that would be unattainable with incubation duration representative of the native range

Identification and Analysis of the Active Phytochemicals from the Anti-Cancer Botanical Extract Bezielle

Bezielle is a botanical extract that has selective anti-tumor activity, and has shown a promising efficacy in the early phases of clinical testing. Bezielle inhibits mitochondrial respiration and induces reactive oxygen species (ROS) in mitochondria of tumor cells but not in non-transformed cells. The generation of high ROS in tumor cells leads to heavy DNA damage and hyper-activation of PARP, followed by the inhibition of glycolysis. Bezielle therefore belongs to a group of drugs that target tumor cell mitochondria, but its cytotoxicity involves inhibition of both cellular energy producing pathways. We found that the cytotoxic activity of the Bezielle extract in vitro co-purified with a defined fraction containing multiple flavonoids. We have isolated several of these Bezielle flavonoids, and examined their possible roles in the selective anti-tumor cytotoxicity of Bezielle. Our results support the hypothesis that a major Scutellaria flavonoid, scutellarein, possesses many if not all of the biologically relevant properties of the total extract. Like Bezielle, scutellarein induced increasing levels of ROS of mitochondrial origin, progressive DNA damage, protein oxidation, depletion of reduced glutathione and ATP, and suppression of both OXPHOS and glycolysis. Like Bezielle, scutellarein was selectively cytotoxic towards cancer cells. Carthamidin, a flavonone found in Bezielle, also induced DNA damage and oxidative cell death. Two well known plant flavonoids, apigenin and luteolin, had limited and not selective cytotoxicity that did not depend on their pro-oxidant activities. We also provide evidence that the cytotoxicity of scutellarein was increased when other Bezielle flavonoids, not necessarily highly cytotoxic or selective on their own, were present. This indicates that the activity of total Bezielle extract might depend on a combination of several different compounds present within it

Effect of sitagliptin on cardiovascular outcomes in type 2 diabetes

BACKGROUND: Data are lacking on the long-term effect on cardiovascular events of adding sitagliptin, a dipeptidyl peptidase 4 inhibitor, to usual care in patients with type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease. METHODS: In this randomized, double-blind study, we assigned 14,671 patients to add either sitagliptin or placebo to their existing therapy. Open-label use of antihyperglycemic therapy was encouraged as required, aimed at reaching individually appropriate glycemic targets in all patients. To determine whether sitagliptin was noninferior to placebo, we used a relative risk of 1.3 as the marginal upper boundary. The primary cardiovascular outcome was a composite of cardiovascular death, nonfatal myocardial infarction, nonfatal stroke, or hospitalization for unstable angina. RESULTS: During a median follow-up of 3.0 years, there was a small difference in glycated hemoglobin levels (least-squares mean difference for sitagliptin vs. placebo, -0.29 percentage points; 95% confidence interval [CI], -0.32 to -0.27). Overall, the primary outcome occurred in 839 patients in the sitagliptin group (11.4%; 4.06 per 100 person-years) and 851 patients in the placebo group (11.6%; 4.17 per 100 person-years). Sitagliptin was noninferior to placebo for the primary composite cardiovascular outcome (hazard ratio, 0.98; 95% CI, 0.88 to 1.09; P<0.001). Rates of hospitalization for heart failure did not differ between the two groups (hazard ratio, 1.00; 95% CI, 0.83 to 1.20; P = 0.98). There were no significant between-group differences in rates of acute pancreatitis (P = 0.07) or pancreatic cancer (P = 0.32). CONCLUSIONS: Among patients with type 2 diabetes and established cardiovascular disease, adding sitagliptin to usual care did not appear to increase the risk of major adverse cardiovascular events, hospitalization for heart failure, or other adverse events

Anliza ryzyk i ich wpływ na wydajność przedsiębiorstwa poprzez tworzenie modelu ryzyka przedsiębiorstwa

The aim of this article is the analysis of impact of selected systematic and unsystematic risks to performance of the enterprises. For the realization this aim, we used secondary data of financial statements the selected company, which is representative of the Slovak food industry. Systematic risks were represented as ß coefficient, which has been modified to levered ß coefficient. Addition to the above ß coefficient, we analyzed also impact of market risk and country risk. These systemic risks were compared between the selected countries in the EU. The second group of risks represented risks arising from the internal enterprise environment. We can conclude that the most significant impact on performance of the enterprise has just financial risk. The value of this risk was determined by low current liquidity of the analyzed company. According to our calculations, it was confirmed that the unsystematic risks have a higher impact on performance of the enterprise as systematic risks. For confirming this conclusion was constructed Enterprise Risk Model (ERM), which consisted of selected financial indicators, systematic and unsystematic risk and prediction models. This ERM can be used in managerial practice in order to minimize, diversify and predict risks on global market.Celem niniejszego artykułu jest analiza wpływu wybranych systematycznych i niesystematycznych zagrożeń na funkcjonowanie przedsiębiorstwa. Dla realizacji tego celu użyliśmy wtórnych danych sprawozdań finansowych wybranej firmy, która reprezentuje słowacki przemysł spożywczy. Ryzyko systematyczne było reprezentowane, jako współczynnik ß, który został zmodyfikowany do współczynnika ß levered („dźwignia beta”). Poza powyższymi współczynnikiem ß, przeanalizowaliśmy również wpływ ryzyka rynkowego i ryzyka kraju. Te ryzyka systemowe porównane zostały pomiędzy wybranymi krajami UE. Druga grupa zagrożeń stanowiła zagrożenia wynikające z wewnętrznego otoczenia przedsiębiorstwa. Możemy stwierdzić, że największy wpływ na wyniki działalności przedsiębiorstwa ma właśnie ryzyko finansowe. Wartość tego ryzyka została określona przez niską płynność bieżącą analizowanej firmy. Według naszych obliczeń, zostało potwierdzone, że zagrożenia niesystematyczne mają większy wpływ na wyniki działalności przedsiębiorstwa, niż zagrożenia systematyczne. Na potwierdzenie tego wniosku zbudowany został model ryzyka przedsiębiorstwa (ERM), który składał się wybranych wskaźników finansowych, ryzyka systematycznego i niesystematycznego i modeli prognostycznych. Model ten może być stosowany w praktyce menedżerskiej w celu zminimalizowania, zróżnicowania i przewidywania ryzyk na rynku globalnym

Mycobacteria in the animal’s environment in the Czech Republic

The “atypical mycobacteria ” are widely distributed in the natural environment and can produce infection in farm and wild animals bred in captivity. The objective of the study was to analyze the variety of mycobacterial species in the environment of breeding facilities, tanks and aquariums, as well as in samples of peat used as a feed supplement in the Czech Republic over the 2003-2004 period. A total of 1389 samples from environment were examined, collected from 29 sites throughout the Czech Republic. The samples were decontaminated and cultured at 25 °C and 37 °C in three culture media: Stonebrink’s medium, Herrold’s egg yolk medium and Sula’s medium. Mycobacterial isolates grown were identified by the PCR method and growth and biochemical tests. Of the 1389 environmental samples, mycobacteria were demonstrated by culture in 400 (28.8%) of them originating from different substances. In the samples of farm environment and in peat, mycobacteria were isolated in 185 of 1064 (17.4%) samples, and in 201 of 325 (61.8%) samples from aquarium and breeding tank environment. The results show significant difference between the findings from the stable environment (17.4%) and those from the aquarium environment (61.8%). A wide range of species was found in all constituents of the environment. The following species were most frequently isolated from the stable environment: M. avium (6.5%), M. fortuitum (3.2%), M. flavescens (3.2%), and the aquarium environment harboured most frequently M. fortuitum (13.9%), M. marinum (8.0%) and M. gordonae (4.5%). The results confirm the frequent occurrence of various mycobacterial species in the environment, predominantly in aquariums, some of which can produce infection in animals and in man following contact with the infected environment

Production of zinc oxide from hazardous waste - Sal Ammoniac Skimming

This article deals with hydrometallurgical treatment with the subsequent precipitation of zinc from hazardous waste Sal- Ammoniac Skimming produced in wet hot-dip galvanizing process. Chemical analysis showed that skimming contained 46.64% Zn. X-ray diffraction analysis identified the Zn(OH)Cl phase (96.36%) and NH4Cl (3.64%) in Sal-Ammoniac Skimming. The skimming was first subjected to leaching in order to extract zinc into the solution containing HCl, followed by precipitation of the zinc. The experiments were performed in a medium of HCl at concentrations of 0.25, 0.5, 1 and 2M. Complete dissolution of zinc was achieved in 0.5M HCl solution, at 40°C, L:S=20, max. 30 min. The apparent activation energy of leaching reaction by hydrochloric acid solution was Ea=5.543 kJ mol-1. Zn precipitation was carried out using Na2CO3 and NaOH. Zinc oxide with a purity of about 99% was obtained directly from the solution of 6M NaOH at a temperature of 60°C – 80°Cat pH 8.8