Evoking the Art of Nature

This international study aimed to investigate the therapeutic potential of nature-based art therapy, an innovative approach that combines artmaking with the healing power of nature. The research aimed to examine the synergistic effects of nature and artmaking, as well as the impact of the eco-art experience on adult individuals\u27 connectedness to nature, emotional well-being, and existential understanding, while addressing gaps in literature. Employing an arts-based research design, participants took part in a nature-art-making session, and their experiences were evaluated through pre- and post-art questionnaires, as well as an analysis of their artistic creations by trained inter-raters. The nature art-based experience served as both the intervention and assessment, using participants\u27 artwork and experiences to gain insights into the effects of eco-art therapy and the application of eco-arts in nature forest therapy. The findings of this study highlight the transformative potential of eco-art therapy in fostering personal growth, emotional well-being, mindfulness, bodyfulness, environmental awareness, and expanding the scope of artistic expression and connection to nature. By exploring the intersection between art and nature, participants were able to create meaningful experiences that transcended traditional artistic boundaries and fostered a deeper understanding of themselves and their surroundings

Rfx6 Maintains the Functional Identity of Adult Pancreatic β Cells.

SummaryIncreasing evidence suggests that loss of β cell characteristics may cause insulin secretory deficiency in diabetes, but the underlying mechanisms remain unclear. Here, we show that Rfx6, whose mutation leads to neonatal diabetes in humans, is essential to maintain key features of functionally mature β cells in mice. Rfx6 loss in adult β cells leads to glucose intolerance, impaired β cell glucose sensing, and defective insulin secretion. This is associated with reduced expression of core components of the insulin secretion pathway, including glucokinase, the Abcc8/SUR1 subunit of KATP channels and voltage-gated Ca2+ channels, which are direct targets of Rfx6. Moreover, Rfx6 contributes to the silencing of the vast majority of “disallowed” genes, a group usually specifically repressed in adult β cells, and thus to the maintenance of β cell maturity. These findings raise the possibility that changes in Rfx6 expression or activity may contribute to β cell failure in humans

Identitag, a relational database for SAGE tag identification and interspecies comparison of SAGE libraries

BACKGROUND: Serial Analysis of Gene Expression (SAGE) is a method of large-scale gene expression analysis that has the potential to generate the full list of mRNAs present within a cell population at a given time and their frequency. An essential step in SAGE library analysis is the unambiguous assignment of each 14 bp tag to the transcript from which it was derived. This process, called tag-to-gene mapping, represents a step that has to be improved in the analysis of SAGE libraries. Indeed, the existing web sites providing correspondence between tags and transcripts do not concern all species for which numerous EST and cDNA have already been sequenced. RESULTS: This is the reason why we designed and implemented a freely available tool called Identitag for tag identification that can be used in any species for which transcript sequences are available. Identitag is based on a relational database structure in order to allow rapid and easy storage and updating of data and, most importantly, in order to be able to precisely define identification parameters. This structure can be seen like three interconnected modules : the first one stores virtual tags extracted from a given list of transcript sequences, the second stores experimental tags observed in SAGE experiments, and the third allows the annotation of the transcript sequences used for virtual tag extraction. It therefore connects an observed tag to a virtual tag and to the sequence it comes from, and then to its functional annotation when available. Databases made from different species can be connected according to orthology relationship thus allowing the comparison of SAGE libraries between species. We successfully used Identitag to identify tags from our chicken SAGE libraries and for chicken to human SAGE tags interspecies comparison. Identitag sources are freely available on web site. CONCLUSIONS: Identitag is a flexible and powerful tool for tag identification in any single species and for interspecies comparison of SAGE libraries. It opens the way to comparative transcriptomic analysis, an emerging branch of biology

How about running on Mars? Influence of sensorimotor coherence on running and spatial perception in simulated reduced gravity

Motor control, including locomotion, strongly depends on the gravitational field. Recent developments such as lower-body positive pressure treadmills (LBPPT) have enabled studies on Earth about the effects of reduced body weight (BW) on walking and running, up to 60% BW. The present experiment was set up to further investigate adaptations to a more naturalistic simulated hypogravity, mimicking a Martian environment with additional visual information during running sessions on LBPPT. Twenty-nine participants performed three sessions of four successive five-min runs at preferred speed, alternating Earth- or simulated Mars-like gravity (100% vs. 38% BW). They were displayed visual scenes using a virtual reality headset to assess the effects of coherent visual flow while running. Running performance was characterized by normal ground reaction force and pelvic accelerations. The perceived upright and vection (visually-induced self-motion sensation)in dynamic visual environments were also investigated at the end of the different sessions. We found that BW reduction induced biomechanical adaptations independently of the visual context. Active peak force and stance time decreased, while flight time increased. Strong inter-individual differences in braking and push-off times appeared at 38% BW, which were not systematically observed in our previous studies at 80% and 60% BW. Additionally, the importance given to dynamic visual cues in the perceived upright diminished at 38% BW, suggesting an increased reliance on the egocentric body axis as a reference for verticality when the visual context is fully coherent with the previous locomotor activity. Also, while vection was found to decrease in case of a coherent visuomotor coupling at 100% BW (i.e., post-exposure influence), it remained unaffected by the visual context at 38% BW. Overall, our findings suggested that locomotor and perceptual adaptations were not similarly impacted, depending on the -simulated- gravity condition and visual context

A combination of LongSAGE with Solexa sequencing is well suited to explore the depth and the complexity of transcriptome

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>"Open" transcriptome analysis methods allow to study gene expression without <it>a priori </it>knowledge of the transcript sequences. As of now, SAGE (Serial Analysis of Gene Expression), LongSAGE and MPSS (Massively Parallel Signature Sequencing) are the mostly used methods for "open" transcriptome analysis. Both LongSAGE and MPSS rely on the isolation of 21 pb tag sequences from each transcript. In contrast to LongSAGE, the high throughput sequencing method used in MPSS enables the rapid sequencing of very large libraries containing several millions of tags, allowing deep transcriptome analysis. However, a bias in the complexity of the transcriptome representation obtained by MPSS was recently uncovered.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>In order to make a deep analysis of mouse hypothalamus transcriptome avoiding the limitation introduced by MPSS, we combined LongSAGE with the Solexa sequencing technology and obtained a library of more than 11 millions of tags. We then compared it to a LongSAGE library of mouse hypothalamus sequenced with the Sanger method.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>We found that Solexa sequencing technology combined with LongSAGE is perfectly suited for deep transcriptome analysis. In contrast to MPSS, it gives a complex representation of transcriptome as reliable as a LongSAGE library sequenced by the Sanger method.</p

Transcriptome analysis in non-model species: a new method for the analysis of heterologous hybridization on microarrays

Background: Recent developments in high-throughput methods of analyzing transcriptomic profiles are promising for many areas of biology, including ecophysiology. However, although commercial microarrays are available for most common laboratory models, transcriptome analysis in non-traditional model species still remains a challenge. Indeed, the signal resulting from heterologous hybridization is low and difficult to interpret because of the weak complementarity between probe and target sequences, especially when no microarray dedicated to a genetically close species is available. Results: We show here that transcriptome analysis in a species genetically distant from laboratory models is made possible by using MAXRS, a new method of analyzing heterologous hybridization on microarrays. This method takes advantage of the design of several commercial microarrays, with different probes targeting the same transcript. To illustrate and test this method, we analyzed the transcriptome of king penguin pectoralis muscle hybridized to Affymetrix chicken microarrays, two organisms separated by an evolutionary distance of approximately 100 million years. The differential gene expression observed between different physiological situations computed by MAXRS was confirmed by real-time PCR on 10 genes out of 11 tested. Conclusions: MAXRS appears to be an appropriate method for gene expression analysis under heterologous hybridization conditions

Large-scale analysis by SAGE reveals new mechanisms of v-erbA oncogene action

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background:</p> <p>The <it>v-erbA </it>oncogene, carried by the Avian Erythroblastosis Virus, derives from the <it>c-erbAα </it>proto-oncogene that encodes the nuclear receptor for triiodothyronine (T3R). v-ErbA transforms erythroid progenitors <it>in vitro </it>by blocking their differentiation, supposedly by interference with T3R and RAR (Retinoic Acid Receptor). However, v-ErbA target genes involved in its transforming activity still remain to be identified.</p> <p>Results:</p> <p>By using Serial Analysis of Gene Expression (SAGE), we identified 110 genes deregulated by v-ErbA and potentially implicated in the transformation process. Bioinformatic analysis of promoter sequence and transcriptional assays point out a potential role of c-Myb in the v-ErbA effect. Furthermore, grouping of newly identified target genes by function revealed both expected (chromatin/transcription) and unexpected (protein metabolism) functions potentially deregulated by v-ErbA. We then focused our study on 15 of the new v-ErbA target genes and demonstrated by real time PCR that in majority their expression was activated neither by T3, nor RA, nor during differentiation. This was unexpected based upon the previously known role of v-ErbA.</p> <p>Conclusion:</p> <p>This paper suggests the involvement of a wealth of new unanticipated mechanisms of v-ErbA action.</p

Evaluation of environmental design strategies for university buildings

This paper examines the performance of environmental strategies in seven recently constructed or refurbished university buildings in the UK. These buildings contain a range of administrative spaces, classrooms, libraries and studios, reflecting their often complex, multi-use, heterogeneous nature. The key features of each environmental strategy are described (including passive, mixed-mode or active systems), in the context of the occupants and spaces they serve and the level of interaction that they afford. Energy performance and occupant thermal comfort (assessed by user surveys) are analysed and compared with studies of other non-domestic buildings, which have typically focused on more predictable single administrative uses (e.g. government offices), and unusually effective operation scenarios (e.g. continuous monitoring by expert building managers). The paper concludes by examining two of the case studies that reflect an increasingly common model of ‘flexible’ environmental design in more detail, identifying key features of the strategies for each building that have had a significant impact on their performance. The design assumptions leading to these features will be explored, and key lessons identified, contributing towards the development of a more robust evidential basis for choosing appropriate environmental strategies for university and other non-domestic buildings in the UK

Genetic regulation of amphioxus somitogenesis informs the evolution of the vertebrate head mesoderm

The evolution of vertebrates from an ancestral chordate was accompanied by the acquisition of a predatory lifestyle closely associated to the origin of a novel anterior structure, the highly specialized head. While the vertebrate head mesoderm is unsegmented, the paraxial mesoderm of the earliest divergent chordate clade, the cephalochordates (amphioxus), is fully segmented in somites. We have previously shown that fibroblast growth factor signalling controls the formation of the most anterior somites in amphioxus; therefore, unravelling the fibroblast growth factor signalling downstream effectors is of crucial importance to shed light on the evolutionary origin of vertebrate head muscles. By using a comparative RNA sequencing approach and genetic functional analyses, we show that several transcription factors, such as Six1/2, Pax3/7 and Zic, act in combination to ensure the formation of three different somite populations. Interestingly, these proteins are orthologous to key regulators of trunk, and not head, muscle formation in vertebrates. Contrary to prevailing thinking, our results suggest that the vertebrate head mesoderm is of visceral and not paraxial origin and support a multistep evolutionary scenario for the appearance of the unsegmented mesoderm of the vertebrates new 'head'