Circulating microRNAs as potential diagnostic biomarkers for osteoporosis

Osteoporosis is the most common age-related bone disease worldwide and is usually clinically asymptomatic until the first fracture happens. MicroRNAs are critical molecular regulators in bone remodelling processes and are stabilised in the blood. The aim of this project was to identify circulatory microRNAs associated with osteoporosis using advanced PCR arrays initially and the identified differentially-expressed microRNAs were validated in clinical samples using RT-qPCR. A total of 161participants were recruited and 139 participants were included in this study with local ethical approvals prior to recruitment. RNAs were extracted, purified, quantified and analysed from all serum and plasma samples. Differentially-expressed miRNAs were identified using miRNA PCR arrays initially and validated in 139 serum and 134 plasma clinical samples using RT-qPCR. Following validation of identified miRNAs in individual clinical samples using RT-qPCR, circulating miRNAs, hsa-miR-122-5p and hsa-miR-4516 were statistically significantly differentially-expressed between non-osteoporotic controls, osteopaenia and osteoporosis patients. Further analysis showed that the levels of these microRNAs were associated with fragility fracture and correlated with the low bone mineral density in osteoporosis patients. The results show that circulating hsa-miR-122-5p and hsa-miR-4516 could be potential diagnostic biomarkers for osteoporosis in the future

Negation of Croatian Nouns

The purpose of this paper is to describe a morphological grammar for recog-nizing negation of a noun and annotating its polarity accordingly. Not all nouns can be negated on the morphological level. For example, nouns like ‘activity’ and ‘knowledge’ (aktivnost, znanje) can have negatives (neak-tivnost, neznanje respectfully), but the same is not the case for nouns such as ‘battle’ or ‘table’ (bitka or stol). The most common and frequent Croatian prefix for negation of nouns is ‘ne-’ although several more are used either of Slavic (‘be-‘, ‘bez-‘) or Latin origin (‘anti-‘, ‘dis-‘). In some cases, negated nouns actually denote positive concepts, whereas their non-negated counter-parts are used for expressing concepts with negative connotations. For this purpose, all the nouns in NooJ dictionary, that may have nouns in both po-larities, are provided with [Polarity=pos] or [Polarity=neg] marker. This in-formation is used in the grammar to switch the polarity of the opposite noun after the insertion of a negative prefix. The grammar is tested on different types of corpora and results are discussed

A comprehensive mitochondrial DNA mixed-stock analysis clarifies the composition of loggerhead turtle aggregates in the Adriatic Sea

Migration is one of several marine vertebrate traits increasingly affected by human encroachment. The Adriatic Sea is an important foraging and wintering site for loggerhead turtles (Caretta caretta), and one of the Mediterranean regions where they are most heavily impacted, particularly by fisheries bycatch. Conservation measures concern foraging and wintering areas and nesting grounds, and must, therefore, be informed by the natal origin of individuals in these mixed aggregates. Genetic diversity was investigated among 488 loggerheads found stranded or incidentally captured in fishing gear across the Adriatic and the origin of individuals was assessed through mixed-stock analysis based on comparison of 755 bp of mitochondrial DNA control region sequence. In addition, we highlight the importance of the Gulf of Manfredonia (Apulia, Italy), and of the northeastern Adriatic—a previously genetically undescribed foraging ground. No significant genetic divergence was recorded among sampling areas, between turtles sampled in cold and warm months or between adults and juveniles. The distribution of turtles across the Adriatic Sea appeared not to depend on individual origin. Rookeries in western Greece and Crete provided the most important contributions to the Adriatic mixed stock. In particular, the Greek populations were the most abundant locally in the Gulf of Manfredonia, so they are likely to experience an even greater impact than previously thought because of the severe fishery bycatch levels in this area. This study also provides an example of how substantial increases in sample sizes permit a relatively comprehensive testing of genetic structure across groupings in foraging aggregations

Fluorinated/siloxane copolymer blends for fouling release: chemical characterisation and biological evaluation with algae and barnacles

Fouling-release coatings were prepared from blends of a fluorinated/siloxane copolymer with a poly(dimethylsiloxane) (PDMS) matrix in order to couple the low modulus character of PDMS with the low surface tension typical for fluorinated polymers. The content of the surface-active copolymer was varied in the blend over a broad range (0.15-10 wt % with respect to PDMS). X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy depth profiling analyses were performed on the coatings to establish the distribution of specific chemical constituents throughout the coatings, and proved enrichment in fluorine of the outermost layers of the coating surface. Addition of the fluorinated/siloxane copolymer to the PDMS matrix resulted in a concentration-dependent decrease in settlement of barnacles showed that adhesion strength on the fluorinated/siloxane copolymer was significantly lower than the siloxane control. However, differences in adhesion strength were not directly correlated with the concentration of copolymer in the blends