Selective Over-Expression of Endothelin-1 in Endothelial Cells Exacerbates Inner Retinal Edema and Neuronal Death in Ischemic Retina

The level of endothelin-1 (ET-1), a potent vasoconstrictor, was associated with retinopathy under ischemia. The effects of endothelial endothelin-1 (ET-1) over-expression in a transgenic mouse model using Tie-1 promoter (TET-1 mice) on pathophysiological changes of retinal ischemia were investigated by intraluminal insertion of a microfilament up to middle cerebral artery (MCA) to transiently block the ophthalmic artery. Two-hour occlusion and twenty-two-hour reperfusion were performed in homozygous (Hm) TET-1 mice and their non-transgenic (NTg) littermates. Presence of pyknotic nuclei in ganglion cell layer (GCL) was investigated in paraffin sections of ipsilateral (ischemic) and contralateral (non-ischemic) retinae, followed by measurement of the thickness of inner retinal layer. Moreover, immunocytochemistry of glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP), glutamine synthetase (GS) and aquaporin-4 (AQP4) peptides on retinal sections were performed to study glial cell reactivity, glutamate metabolism and water accumulation, respectively after retinal ischemia. Similar morphology was observed in the contralateral retinae of NTg and Hm TET-1 mice, whereas ipsilateral retina of NTg mice showed slight structural and cellular changes compared with the corresponding contralateral retina. Ipsilateral retinae of Hm TET-1 mice showed more significant changes when compared with ipsilateral retina of NTg mice, including more prominent cell death in GCL characterized by the presence of pyknotic nuclei, elevated GS immunoreactivity in Müller cell bodies and processes, increased AQP-4 immunoreactivity in Müller cell processes, and increased inner retinal thickness. Thus, over-expression of endothelial ET-1 in TET-1 mice may contribute to increased glutamate-induced neurotoxicity on neuronal cells and water accumulation in inner retina leading to edema

Galaxy Zoo: Are Bars Responsible for the Feeding of Active Galactic Nuclei at 0.2 < z < 1.0?

We present a new study investigating whether active galactic nuclei (AGN) beyond the local universe are preferentially fed via large-scale bars. Our investigation combines data from Chandra and Galaxy Zoo: Hubble (GZH) in the AEGIS, COSMOS, and GOODS-S surveys to create samples of face-on, disc galaxies at 0.2 < z < 1.0. We use a novel method to robustly compare a sample of 120 AGN host galaxies, defined to have 10^42 erg/s < L_X < 10^44 erg/s, with inactive control galaxies matched in stellar mass, rest-frame colour, size, Sersic index, and redshift. Using the GZH bar classifications of each sample, we demonstrate that AGN hosts show no statistically significant enhancement in bar fraction or average bar likelihood compared to closely-matched inactive galaxies. In detail, we find that the AGN bar fraction cannot be enhanced above the control bar fraction by more than a factor of two, at 99.7% confidence. We similarly find no significant difference in the AGN fraction among barred and non-barred galaxies. Thus we find no compelling evidence that large-scale bars directly fuel AGN at 0.2<z<1.0. This result, coupled with previous results at z=0, implies that moderate-luminosity AGN have not been preferentially fed by large-scale bars since z=1. Furthermore, given the low bar fractions at z>1, our findings suggest that large-scale bars have likely never directly been a dominant fueling mechanism for supermassive black hole growth.Comment: 13 pages, 5 figures, 2 tables, accepted by MNRA

A comparison of perceived uselessness between centenarians and non-centenarians in China

Abstract Background Self-perceived uselessness is associated with poorer health in older adults. However, it is unclear whether there is a difference in self-perceived uselessness between centenarians and non-centenarians, and if so, which factors contributed to the difference. Methods We used four waves of a nationwide longitudinal dataset from 2005 to 2014 in China to investigate these research goals. We first performed multinomial logit regression models to examine the risk of the high or moderate frequency of self-perceived uselessness relative to the low frequency among centenarians (5778 persons) in comparison with non-centenarians aged 65–99 (20,846 persons). We then conducted a cohort analysis for those born in 1906–1913, examining differences in self-perceived uselessness between those centenarians and those died between ages 91 and 99 during 2005–2014. Results Compared to persons aged 65–79, centenarians had 84% (relative risk ratio (RRR) = 1.84, 95% CI:1.69–2.01) and 35% (RRR = 1.35, 95% CI: 1.25–1.46) higher risk to have the high frequency and the moderate frequency of feeling useless versus low frequency, respectively, when only demographic factors were controlled for. However, centenarians had 31% (RRR = 0.69, 95% CI: 0.54–0.88), 43% (RRR = 0.57, 95% CI: 0.49–0.68), and 25% (RRR = 0.75, 95% CI: 0.67–0.83) lower risk, respectively, to have the high frequency of self-perceived uselessness relative to the low frequency when a wide set of study covariates were controlled for. In the case of the moderate versus the low frequency of self-perceived uselessness, the corresponding figures were 18% (RRR = 0.82, 95% CI: 0.66–1.02), 22% (RRR = 0.78, 95%CI: 0.67–0.90), and 13% (RRR = 0.87, 95% CI: 0.79–0.96), respectively. The cohort analysis further indicates that those who became centenarians were 36–39% less likely than those died at ages 91–94 to report the high and the moderate frequencies of self-perceived uselessness versus the low frequency; no difference was found between centenarians and those died at ages 95–99. In both period and cohort analyses, behavioral and health-related factors affected the perception substantially. Conclusions Overall, centenarians were less likely to perceive themselves as useless compared to non-centenarians of younger birth cohorts when a wide set of covariates were considered and non-centenarians of the same birth cohort. How centenarians manage to do so remains an open question. Our findings may help improve our understanding about the longevity secrets of centenarians

Stellar populations of barred quiescent galaxies

International audienceSelecting centrally quiescent galaxies from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) to create high signal-to-noise ratio (greater than or similar to 100 angstrom(-1)) stacked spectra with minimal emission-line contamination, we accurately and precisely model the central stellar populations of barred and unbarred quiescent disk galaxies. By splitting our sample by redshift, we can use the fixed size of the SDSS fiber to model the stellar populations at different radii within galaxies. At 0.02 \textless z \textless 0.04, the SDSS fiber radius corresponds to approximate to 1 kpc, which is the typical half-light radii of both classical bulges and disky pseudobulges. Assuming that the SDSS fiber primarily covers the bulges at these redshifts, our analysis shows that there are no significant differences in the stellar populations, i.e., stellar age, [Fe/H], [Mg/Fe], and [N/Fe], of the bulges of barred versus unbarred quiescent disk galaxies. Modeling the stellar populations at different redshift intervals from z = 0.020 to z = 0.085 at fixed stellar masses produces an estimate of the stellar population gradients out to about half the typical effective radius of our sample, assuming null evolution over this approximate to 1 Gyr epoch. We find that there are no noticeable differences in the slopes of the azimuthally averaged gradients of barred versus unbarred quiescent disk galaxies. These results suggest that bars are not a strong influence on the chemical evolution of quiescent disk galaxies

Asia Oceania Guidelines for the Implementation of Programs for Cervical Cancer Prevention and Control

This paper aims to provide evidence-based recommendations for health professionals, to develop a comprehensive cervical cancer program for a clinic, a community, or a country. Ensuring access to healthcare is the responsibility of all societies, and the Asia Oceania Research Organisation in Genital Infections and Neoplasia (AOGIN) is committed to working collaboratively with governments and health professionals to facilitate prevention programs, to protect girls and women from cervical cancer, a disease that globally affects 500,000 and kills nearly 300,000 women annually, just over half of whom are in the Asia Oceania region. We share the vision that a comprehensive program of vaccination, screening, and treatment should be made accessible to all girls and women in the world. The primary purpose of these guidelines is to provide information on scientific evidence on the different modalities and approaches of cervical cancer prevention programs, for high resource and low resource settings. The secondary purpose is to provide an overview of the current situation of cervical cancer control and prevention in various Asian Oceania countries: their views of an ideal program, identified obstacles, and suggestions to overcome them are discussed

The KCNJ11 E23K Polymorphism and Progression of Glycaemia in Southern Chinese: A Long-Term Prospective Study

Context: The KCNJ11 E23K variant is associated with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) in cross-sectional studies, but conflicting findings have been reported from prospective studies. Objective: This study aimed to evaluate whether the E23K variant could predict glycaemic progression in a Southern Chinese population. Methods/Principal Findings: We performed a long-term prospective study on 1912 subjects from the Hong Kong Cardiovascular Risk Factors Prevalence Study (CRISPS). The KCNJ11 E23K variant was associated with the progression to prediabetes after a median interval of 12 years on multinomial logistic regression analysis, even after adjustment for traditional risk factors (OR 1.29, P age, sex, BMI and fasting plasma glucose [FPG] adjusted = 0.02). Based on Cox proportional hazard regression analysis, the E23K variant also predicted incident prediabetes (HR 1.18, P age, sex, BMI and FPG adjusted = 0.021). However, E23K was not associated with the progression to T2DM in either multinomial or Cox regression analysis, and the association of E23K with glycaemic progression to either prediabetes or T2DM was significant only in unadjusted Cox regression analysis (P = 0.039). In a meta-analysis of eight prospective studies including our own, involving 15680 subjects, the E23K variant was associated with incident T2DM (fixed effect: OR 1.10, P = 4×10 -3; random effect: OR 1.11, P = 0.035). Conclusions: Our study has provided supporting evidence for the role of the E23K variant in glycaemic progression in Chinese, with its effect being more evident in the early stage of T2DM, as the subjects progressed from normal glucose tolerance to prediabetes. © 2011 Cheung et al.published_or_final_versio

BGEM: An In Situ Hybridization Database of Gene Expression in the Embryonic and Adult Mouse Nervous System

This article describes an open-access gene expression database analyzed for more than 2,000 genes on mouse nervous system tissue in the coronal, sagittal, and transverse orientation representing multiple developmental ages

Galaxy Zoo: CANDELS barred discs and bar fractions

The formation of bars in disc galaxies is a tracer of the dynamical maturity of the population. Previous studies have found that the incidence of bars in discs decreases from the local Universe to z ~ 1, and by z > 1 simulations predict that bar features in dynamically mature discs should be extremely rare. Here, we report the discovery of strong barred structures in massive disc galaxies at z ~ 1.5 in deep rest-frame optical images from the Cosmic Assembly Near-Infrared Deep Extragalactic Legacy Survey. From within a sample of 876 disc galaxies identified by visual classification in Galaxy Zoo, we identify 123 barred galaxies. Selecting a subsample within the same region of the evolving galaxy luminosity function (brighter than L*), we find that the bar fraction across the redshift range 0.5 ≤ z ≤ 2 (fbar = 10.7+6.3 -3.5 per cent after correcting for incompleteness) does not significantly evolve.We discuss the implications of this discovery in the context of existing simulations and our current understanding of the way disc galaxies have evolved over the last 11 billion yearsPeer reviewedFinal Accepted Versio

Galaxy Zoo: Are bars responsible for the feeding of active galactic nuclei at 0.2<z<1.0?

We present a new study investigating whether active galactic nuclei (AGN) beyond the local universe are preferentially fed via large-scale bars. Our investigation combines data from Chandra and Galaxy Zoo: Hubble (GZH) in the AEGIS (All-wavelength Extended Groth strip International Survey), COSMOS (Cosmological Evolution Survey), and (Great Observatories Origins Deep Survey-South) GOODS-S surveys to create samples of face-on, disc galaxies at 0.21, our findings suggest that large-scale bars have likely never directly been a dominant fuelling mechanism for supermassive black hole growt

Galaxy Zoo: Are Bars Responsible for the Feeding of Active Galactic Nuclei at 0.2 \u3c \u3cem\u3ez\u3c/em\u3e \u3c 1.0?

We present a new study investigating whether active galactic nuclei (AGN) beyond the local universe are preferentially fed via large-scale bars. Our investigation combines data from Chandra and Galaxy Zoo: Hubble (GZH) in the AEGIS (All-wavelength Extended Groth strip International Survey), COSMOS (Cosmological Evolution Survey), and (Great Observatories Origins Deep Survey-South) GOODS-S surveys to create samples of face-on, disc galaxies at 0.2 \u3c z \u3c 1.0. We use a novel method to robustly compare a sample of 120 AGN host galaxies, defined to have 1042 erg s−1 \u3c LX \u3c 1044 erg s−1, with inactive control galaxies matched in stellar mass, rest-frame colour, size, Sérsic index, and redshift. Using the GZH bar classifications of each sample, we demonstrate that AGN hosts show no statistically significant enhancement in bar fraction or average bar likelihood compared to closely-matched inactive galaxies. In detail, we find that the AGN bar fraction cannot be enhanced above the control bar fraction by more than a factor of 2, at 99.7 per cent confidence. We similarly find no significant difference in the AGN fraction among barred and non-barred galaxies. Thus we find no compelling evidence that large-scale bars directly fuel AGN at 0.2 \u3c z \u3c 1.0. This result, coupled with previous results at z = 0, implies that moderate-luminosity AGN have not been preferentially fed by large-scale bars since z = 1. Furthermore, given the low bar fractions at z \u3e 1, our findings suggest that large-scale bars have likely never directly been a dominant fuelling mechanism for supermassive black hole growth