The Effects of Dietary Carotenoid Supplementation and Retinal Carotenoid Accumulation on Vision-Mediated Foraging in the House Finch

BACKGROUND: For many bird species, vision is the primary sensory modality used to locate and assess food items. The health and spectral sensitivities of the avian visual system are influenced by diet-derived carotenoid pigments that accumulate in the retina. Among wild House Finches (Carpodacus mexicanus), we have found that retinal carotenoid accumulation varies significantly among individuals and is related to dietary carotenoid intake. If diet-induced changes in retinal carotenoid accumulation alter spectral sensitivity, then they have the potential to affect visually mediated foraging performance. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: In two experiments, we measured foraging performance of house finches with dietarily manipulated retinal carotenoid levels. We tested each bird's ability to extract visually contrasting food items from a matrix of inedible distracters under high-contrast (full) and dimmer low-contrast (red-filtered) lighting conditions. In experiment one, zeaxanthin-supplemented birds had significantly increased retinal carotenoid levels, but declined in foraging performance in the high-contrast condition relative to astaxanthin-supplemented birds that showed no change in retinal carotenoid accumulation. In experiments one and two combined, we found that retinal carotenoid concentrations predicted relative foraging performance in the low- vs. high-contrast light conditions in a curvilinear pattern. Performance was positively correlated with retinal carotenoid accumulation among birds with low to medium levels of accumulation (∼0.5-1.5 µg/retina), but declined among birds with very high levels (>2.0 µg/retina). CONCLUSION/SIGNIFICANCE: Our results suggest that carotenoid-mediated spectral filtering enhances color discrimination, but that this improvement is traded off against a reduction in sensitivity that can compromise visual discrimination. Thus, retinal carotenoid levels may be optimized to meet the visual demands of specific behavioral tasks and light environments

Establishing open science research priorities in health psychology: a research prioritisation Delphi exercise

Data availability statement: All data from this study is available at: https://osf.io/suhez/Copyright © 2022 The Author(s). Objective: Research on Open Science practices in Health Psychology is lacking. This meta-research study aimed to identify research question priorities and obtain consensus on the Top 5 prioritised research questions for Open Science in Health Psychology. Methods and measures: An international Delphi consensus study was conducted. Twenty-three experts in Open Science and Health Psychology within the European Health Psychology Society (EHPS) suggested research question priorities to create a ‘long-list’ of items (Phase 1). Forty-three EHPS members rated the importance of these items, ranked their top five and suggested their own additional items (Phase 2). Twenty-four EHPS members received feedback on Phase 2 responses and then re-rated and re-ranked their top five research questions (Phase 3). Results: The top five ranked research question priorities were: 1. ‘To what extent are Open Science behaviours currently practised in Health Psychology?’, 2. ‘How can we maximise the usefulness of Open Data and Open Code resources?’, 3. ‘How can Open Data be increased within Health Psychology?’, 4. ‘What interventions are effective for increasing the adoption of Open Science in Health Psychology?’ and 5. ‘How can we increase free Open Access publishing in Health Psychology?’. Conclusion: Funding and resources should prioritise the research questions identified here.Two European Health Psychology Society Special Interest Group funding grants

Establishing Open Science Research Priorities in Health Psychology: A research prioritisation Delphi exercise

Please note that this article is a preprint and has not been peer-reviewed.Public data: available at https://osf.io/ju52z/.Pre-registration available: at https://doi.org/10.17605/OSF.IO/PHKSQ.Created: April 06, 2022 | Last edited: April 13, 2022.Copyright © 2022 The Authors. Objective: Research on Open Science practices in Health Psychology is lacking. This study aimed to identify research question priorities and obtain consensus on the Top 5 prioritised research questions for Open Science in Health Psychology. Methods and measures: An international Delphi consensus study was conducted. Twenty-three experts in Open Science and Health Psychology within the European Health Psychology Society (EHPS) suggested research question priorities to create a ‘long-list’ of items (Phase 1). Forty-three EHPS members rated the importance of these items, ranked their top five and suggested their own additional items (Phase 2). Twenty-four EHPS members received feedback on Phase 2 responses and then re-rated and re-ranked their top five research questions (Phase 3). Results: The top five ranked research question priorities were: 1. “To what extent are Open Science behaviours currently practised in Health Psychology?”, 2. “How can we maximise the usefulness of Open Data and Open Code resources?”, 3. “How can Open Data be increased within Health Psychology?”, 4. “What interventions are effective for increasing the adoption of Open Science in Health Psychology?” and 5. “How can we increase free Open Access publishing in Health Psychology?”. Conclusion: Funding and resources should prioritise the research questions identified here.Two European Health Psychology Society (EHPS) Special Interest Group funding grants to the EHPS Open Science Special Interest Group

Comprehensive Analysis of Transcript Start Sites in Ly49 Genes Reveals an Unexpected Relationship with Gene Function and a Lack Of Upstream Promoters

Comprehensive analysis of the transcription start sites of the Ly49 genes of C57BL/6 mice using the oligo-capping 5′-RACE technique revealed that the genes encoding the “missing self” inhibitory receptors, Ly49A, C, G, and I, were transcribed from multiple broad regions in exon 1, in the intron1/exon2 region, and upstream of exon -1b. Ly49E was also transcribed in this manner, and uniquely showed a transcriptional shift from exon1 to exon 2 when NK cells were activated in vitro with IL2. Remarkably, a large proportion of Ly49E transcripts was then initiated from downstream of the translational start codon. By contrast, the genes encoding Ly49B and Q in myeloid cells, the activating Ly49D and H receptors in NK cells, and Ly49F in activated T cells, were predominantly transcribed from a conserved site in a pyrimidine-rich region upstream of exon 1. An ∼200 bp fragment from upstream of the Ly49B start site displayed tissue-specific promoter activity in dendritic cell lines, but the corresponding upstream fragments from all other Ly49 genes lacked detectable tissue-specific promoter activity. In particular, none displayed any significant activity in a newly developed adult NK cell line that expressed multiple Ly49 receptors. Similarly, no promoter activity could be found in fragments upstream of intron1/exon2. Collectively, these findings reveal a previously unrecognized relationship between the pattern of transcription and the expression/function of Ly49 receptors, and indicate that transcription of the Ly49 genes expressed in lymphoid cells is achieved in a manner that does not require classical upstream promoters

NF-κB inhibition impairs the radioresponse of hypoxic EMT-6 tumour cells through downregulation of inducible nitric oxide synthase

Hypoxic EMT-6 tumour cells displayed a high level of inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) and an increased radiosensitivity after a 16 h exposure to lipopolysaccharide, a known activator of nuclear factor-κB (NF-κB). Both iNOS activation and radioresponse were impaired by the NF-κB inhibitors phenylarsine oxide and lactacystin. Contrasting to other studies, our data show that inhibition of NF-κB may impair the radioresponse of tumour cells through downregulation of iNOS. © 2003 Cancer Research UK.SCOPUS: ar.jinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishe

Beneficial immune modulatory effects of a specific nutritional combination in a murine model for cancer cachexia

The majority of patients with advanced cancer are recognised by impaired immune competence influenced by several factors, including the type and stage of the tumour and the presence of cachexia. Recently, a specific nutritional combination containing fish oil, specific oligosaccharide mixture, high protein content and leucine has been developed aimed to support the immune system of cancer patients in order to reduce the frequency and severity of (infectious) complications. In a recently modified animal model cachexia is induced by inoculation of C26 tumour cells in mice. In a pre-cachectic state, no effect was observed on contact hypersensitivity, a validated in vivo method to measure Th1-mediated immune function, after adding the individual nutritional ingredients to the diet of tumour-bearing mice. However, the complete mixture resulted in significantly improved Th1 immunity. Moreover, in a cachectic state, the complete mixture reduced plasma levels of pro-inflammatory cytokines and beneficially affected ex vivo immune function. Accordingly, the combination of the nutritional ingredients is required to obtain a synergistic effect, leading to a reduced inflammatory state and improved immune competence. From this, it can be concluded that the specific nutritional combination has potential as immune-supporting nutritional intervention to reduce the risk of (infectious) complications in cancer patients

The GYMSSA trial: a prospective randomized trial comparing gastrectomy, metastasectomy plus systemic therapy versus systemic therapy alone

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The standard of care for metastatic gastric cancer (MGC) is systemic chemotherapy which leads to a median survival of 6-15 months. Survival beyond 3 years is rare. For selected groups of patients with limited MGC, retrospective studies have shown improved overall survival following gastrectomy and metastasectomies including peritoneal stripping with continuous hyperthermic peritoneal perfusion (CHPP), liver resection, and pulmonary resection. Median survival after liver resection for MGC is up to 34 months, with a five year survival rate of 24.5%. Similarly, reported median survival after pulmonary resection of MGC is 21 months with long term survival of greater than 5 years a possibility. Several case reports and small studies have documented evidence of long-term survival in select individuals who undergo CHPP for MGC.</p> <p>Design</p> <p>The GYMSSA trial is a prospective randomized trial for patients with MGC. It is designed to compare two therapeutic approaches: gastrectomy with metastasectomy plus systemic chemotherapy (GYMS) versus systemic chemotherapy alone (SA). Systemic therapy will be composed of the FOLFOXIRI regimen. The aim of the study is to evaluate overall survival and potential selection criteria to determine those patients who may benefit from surgery plus systemic therapy. The study will be conducted by the Surgery Branch at the National Cancer Institute (NCI), National Institutes of Health (NIH) in Bethesda, Maryland. Surgeries and followup will be done at the NCI, and chemotherapy will be given by either the local oncologist or the medical oncology branch at NCI.</p> <p>Trial Registration</p> <p>ClinicalTrials.gov ID. NCT00941655</p

Fault reactivation in the central Indian Ocean and the rheology of oceanic lithosphere

The intraplate deformation in the central Indian Ocean basin is a well-known example of a deviation from an axiom of plate tectonics: that of rigid plates with deformation concentrated at plate boundaries. Here we present multichannel seismic reflection profiles which show that high-angle reverse faults in the sediments of the central Indian Ocean extend through the crust and possibly into the uppermost mantle. The dip of these faults, which we believe result from the reactivation of pre-existing faults formed at the spreading centre, is ˜40° in the basement, which is consistent with the distribution and focal mechanisms of earthquakes on faults now forming at spreading centres. This style of deformation, coupled with the observation of large earthquakes in the mantle lithosphere, indicates that brittle failure of the oceanic lithosphere may nucleate in the vicinity of the brittle/ductile transition and propagate through the crust