Evaluation on the potential of betaine, taurine, nucleotide and nucleoside as feeding stimulant for juvenile marble goby Oxyeleotris marmoratus through behavioural assays

Abstract This study was conducted to evaluate the potential of betaine, taurine, inosine (INO), inosine 5′-monophosphate disodium (IMP·Na2), and guanosine 5′-monophosphate disodium (GMP·Na2) as a feeding stimulant for juvenile marble goby (Oxyeleotris marmoratus) (total length 6.6–8.5 cm) through behavioural assays using agar gel pellets. All fish were conditioned to accept agar gel pellet before the behavioural assays started. Each chemical substance was tested on 50 replicates of individual fish once, and the overall ingestion rate was calculated as the representative data. The pure agar gel pellet was totally rejected by the fish (0 % ingestion rate). Therefore, any added test substance which can significantly improve the fish ingestion of the agar gel pellet can be the potential feeding stimulant. Of all the chemical substances tested at 0.1 M concentration, the ingestion rates of both INO and IMP·Na2 were the highest (both 100 %) and were significantly higher (P < 0.05) than those of the other chemical substances tested. However, INO was identified as the most potent feeding stimulant as it could function perfectly (100 %) even at the lower concentrations tested (0.01 and 0.001 M). The ingestion rates of IMP·Na2 were found significantly decreased (P < 0.05) at the concentrations of 0.01 and 0.001 M (78 and 2 %, respectively). The ingestion rate of GMP·Na2 at 0.1 M was 60 %, hence higher concentration (>0.1 M) may be required to improve its efficiency as the feeding stimulant. Taurine was not a feeding stimulant, and betaine was neither a feeding stimulant nor feed enhancer for the juvenile O. marmoratus

Surprise responses in the human brain demonstrate statistical learning under high concurrent cognitive demand

The ability to learn about regularities in the environment and to make predictions about future events is fundamental for adaptive behaviour. We have previously shown that people can implicitly encode statistical regularities and detect violations therein, as reflected in neuronal responses to unpredictable events that carry a unique prediction error signature. In the real world, however, learning about regularities will often occur in the context of competing cognitive demands. Here we asked whether learning of statistical regularities is modulated by concurrent cognitive load. We compared electroencephalographic metrics associated with responses to pure-tone sounds with frequencies sampled from narrow or wide Gaussian distributions. We showed that outliers evoked a larger response than those in the centre of the stimulus distribution (i.e., an effect of surprise) and that this difference was greater for physically identical outliers in the narrow than in the broad distribution. These results demonstrate an early neurophysiological marker of the brain’s ability to implicitly encode complex statistical structure in the environment. Moreover, we manipulated concurrent cognitive load by having participants perform a visual working memory task while listening to these streams of sounds. We again observed greater prediction error responses in the narrower distribution under both low and high cognitive load. Furthermore, there was no reliable reduction in prediction error magnitude under high-relative to low cognitive load. Our findings suggest that statistical learning is not a capacity limited process, and that it proceeds automatically even when cognitive resources are taxed by concurrent demands

A preliminary study to determine the potential of a prototype feeding stimulant in improving the weaning of juvenile marble goby (Oxyeleotris marmoratus)

This study was conducted to determine the potential of a prototype feeding stimulant (FS) comprised of amino acids and nucleotides to improve the weaning of Oxyeleotris marmoratus. Two diets (control and FS) were formulated and fed to 2 groups of fish for 14 days. Six fish were in each group. Each fish was in one aquarium and each fish was a replicate. The body lengths were 7.7-9.3 cm. Each fish was given 5-pellet feedings at 17:00 daily and the ingested feedings were recorded the next day at 12:00. Fish fed the FS diet started ingestion on the1st day and attained a higher ingestion ratio of 0.5 and 50% were successfully weaned. However, on the 8th day, fish fed the control diet had an ingestion ratio of 0.17 and 16.7% were successfully weaned. In conclusion, the FS efficiently promoted feed intake and it can be used to improve the weaning of O. marmoratus

The use of a blood conservation device to reduce red blood cell transfusion requirements: a before and after study

10.1186/cc8859Critical Care141R

Analysis of CUL-5 expression in breast epithelial cells, breast cancer cell lines, normal tissues and tumor tissues

BACKGROUND: The chromosomal location of CUL-5 (11q 22-23) is associated with LOH in breast cancer, suggesting that CUL-5 may be a tumor suppressor. The purpose of this research was to determine if there is differential expression of CUL-5 in breast epithelial cells versus breast cancer cell lines, and normal human tissues versus human tumors. The expression of CUL-5 in breast epithelial cells (HMEC, MCF-10A), and breast cancer cells (MCF-7, MDA-MB-231) was examined using RT-PCR, Northern blot analysis, and Western blot analysis. The expression of mRNA for other CUL family members (CUL-1, -2, -3, -4A, and -4B) in these cells was evaluated by RT-PCR. A normal human tissue expression array and a cancer profiling array were used to examine CUL-5 expression in normal human tissues and matched normal tissues versus tumor tissues, respectively. RESULTS: CUL-5 is expressed at the mRNA and protein levels by breast epithelial cells (HMEC, MCF-10A) and breast cancer cells (MCF-7, MDA-MB-231). These cells also express mRNA for other CUL family members. The normal human tissue expression array revealed that CUL-5 is widely expressed. The cancer profiling array revealed that 82% (41/50) of the breast cancers demonstrated a decrease in CUL-5 expression versus the matched normal tissue. For the 50 cases of matched breast tissue there was a statistically significant ~2.2 fold decreased expression of CUL-5 in tumor tissue versus normal tissue (P < 0.0001). CONCLUSIONS: The data demonstrate no apparent decrease in CUL-5 expression in the breast cancer cell lines (MCF-7, MDA-MB-231) versus the breast epithelial cells (HMEC, MCF-10A). The decrease in CUL-5 expression in breast tumor tissue versus matched normal tissue supports the hypothesis that decreased expression of CUL-5 may play a role in breast tumorigenesis

Dihydropyrimidine Accumulation Is Required for the Epithelial-Mesenchymal Transition

It is increasingly appreciated that oncogenic transformation alters cellular metabolism to facilitate cell proliferation, but less is known about the metabolic changes that promote cancer cell aggressiveness. Here, we analyzed metabolic gene expression in cancer cell lines and found that a set of high-grade carcinoma lines expressing mesenchymal markers share a unique 44 gene signature, designated the “mesenchymal metabolic signature” (MMS). A FACS-based shRNA screen identified several MMS genes as essential for the epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT), but not for cell proliferation. Dihydropyrimidine dehydrogenase (DPYD), a pyrimidine-degrading enzyme, was highly expressed upon EMT induction and was necessary for cells to acquire mesenchymal characteristics in vitro and for tumorigenic cells to extravasate into the mouse lung. This role of DPYD was mediated through its catalytic activity and enzymatic products, the dihydropyrimidines. Thus, we identify metabolic processes essential for the EMT, a program associated with the acquisition of metastatic and aggressive cancer cell traits.United States. National Institutes of Health (RO1 CA103866)United States. National Institutes of Health (AI047389)United States. National Institutes of Health (K99 CA168940)American Cancer Society (PF-12-099-01-TGB)American Cancer Society (PF-13-356-01-TBE)United States. Department of Defense (BC123066)United States. National Institutes of Health (CA112967)United States. National Institutes of Health (ES015339

Seasonality of primary care utilization for respiratory diseases in Ontario: A time-series analysis

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Respiratory diseases represent a significant burden in primary care. Determining the temporal variation of the overall burden of respiratory diseases on the health care system and their potential causes are keys to understanding disease dynamics in populations and can contribute to the rational management of health care resources.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>A retrospective, cross-sectional time series analysis was used to assess the presence and strength of seasonal and temporal patterns in primary care visits for respiratory diseases in Ontario, Canada, for a 10-year period from January 1, 1992 to December 31, 2002. Data were extracted from the Ontario Health Insurance Plan database for people who had diagnosis codes for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, asthma, pneumonia, or upper respiratory tract infections.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The results illustrate a clear seasonal pattern in visits to primary care physicians for all respiratory conditions, with a threefold increase in visits during the winter. Age and sex-specific rates show marked increases in visits of young children and in female adults. Multivariate time series methods quantified the interactions among primary care visits, and Granger causality criterion test showed that the respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) and influenza virus influenced asthma (p = 0.0060), COPD (p = 0.0038), pneumonia (p = 0.0001), and respiratory diseases (p = 0.0001).</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Primary care visits for respiratory diseases have clear predictable seasonal patterns, driven primarily by viral circulations. Winter visits are threefold higher than summer troughs, indicating a short-term surge on primary health service demands. These findings can aid in effective allocation of resources and services based on seasonal and specific population demands.</p

Cancer-related ectopic expression of the bone-related transcription factor RUNX2 in non-osseous metastatic tumor cells is linked to cell proliferation and motility

10.1186/bcr2762Breast Cancer Research125-BCRR