Neural regulation of cardiovascular response to exercise: role of central command and peripheral afferents

During dynamic exercise, mechanisms controlling the cardiovascular apparatus operate to provide adequate oxygen to fulfill metabolic demand of exercising muscles and to guarantee metabolic end-products washout. Moreover, arterial blood pressure is regulated to maintain adequate perfusion of the vital organs without excessive pressure variations. The autonomic nervous system adjustments are characterized by a parasympathetic withdrawal and a sympathetic activation. In this review, we briefly summarize neural reflexes operating during dynamic exercise. The main focus of the present review will be on the central command, the arterial baroreflex and chemoreflex, and the exercise pressure reflex. The regulation and integration of these reflexes operating during dynamic exercise and their possible role in the pathophysiology of some cardiovascular diseases are also discusse

Plant-made polio type 3 stabilized VLPs—a candidate synthetic polio vaccine

Poliovirus (PV) is the causative agent of poliomyelitis, a crippling human disease known since antiquity. PV occurs in two distinct antigenic forms, D and C, of which only the D form elicits a robust neutralizing response. Developing a synthetically produced stabilized viruslike particle (sVLP)-based vaccine with D antigenicity, without the drawbacks of current vaccines, will be a major step towards the final eradication of poliovirus. Such a sVLP would retain the native antigenic conformation and the repetitive structure of the original virus particle, but lack infectious genomic material. In this study, we report the production of synthetically stabilized PV VLPs in plants. Mice carrying the gene for the human PV receptor are protected from wild-type PV when immunized with the plant-made PV sVLPs. Structural analysis of the stabilized mutant at 3.6 Å resolution by cryo-electron microscopy and single particle reconstruction reveals a structure almost indistinguishable from wild-type PV3

Multi-messenger observations of a binary neutron star merger

On 2017 August 17 a binary neutron star coalescence candidate (later designated GW170817) with merger time 12:41:04 UTC was observed through gravitational waves by the Advanced LIGO and Advanced Virgo detectors. The Fermi Gamma-ray Burst Monitor independently detected a gamma-ray burst (GRB 170817A) with a time delay of ~1.7 s with respect to the merger time. From the gravitational-wave signal, the source was initially localized to a sky region of 31 deg2 at a luminosity distance of 40+8-8 Mpc and with component masses consistent with neutron stars. The component masses were later measured to be in the range 0.86 to 2.26 Mo. An extensive observing campaign was launched across the electromagnetic spectrum leading to the discovery of a bright optical transient (SSS17a, now with the IAU identification of AT 2017gfo) in NGC 4993 (at ~40 Mpc) less than 11 hours after the merger by the One- Meter, Two Hemisphere (1M2H) team using the 1 m Swope Telescope. The optical transient was independently detected by multiple teams within an hour. Subsequent observations targeted the object and its environment. Early ultraviolet observations revealed a blue transient that faded within 48 hours. Optical and infrared observations showed a redward evolution over ~10 days. Following early non-detections, X-ray and radio emission were discovered at the transient’s position ~9 and ~16 days, respectively, after the merger. Both the X-ray and radio emission likely arise from a physical process that is distinct from the one that generates the UV/optical/near-infrared emission. No ultra-high-energy gamma-rays and no neutrino candidates consistent with the source were found in follow-up searches. These observations support the hypothesis that GW170817 was produced by the merger of two neutron stars in NGC4993 followed by a short gamma-ray burst (GRB 170817A) and a kilonova/macronova powered by the radioactive decay of r-process nuclei synthesized in the ejecta

Reproductive biology of the blackmouth catshark Galeus melastomus Rafinesque, 1810, in Sardinian seas (central-western Mediterranean)

A total of 1207 specimens (717 females and 490 males) of the Blackmouth catshark Galeus melastomus (Chondrichthyes: Carcharhiniformes) were collected in Sardinian waters at depths from 120 and 1600 m. A detailed macroscopic and histological description of the maturity stages was reported fir both sexes. Mature individuals were found during the entire year suggesting continuous mating and spawning. Females matured at higher size than males and both sexes showed a late maturity (females L50=45 cm TL; males L50=42.4 cm TL)

Non-stoichiometric CoFe2O4 nanoparticles supported on an amorphous silica matrix

Non-Stoichiometric CoFe2O4 nanoparticles dispersed in an silica matrix with a silica content of 87 wt% and Co/Fe molar ratio of 1:1, were prepared by the sol-gel method using an ethanolic solution of tetraethoxysilane and either iron(III) and cobalt(II) nitrates or iron(II) and cobalt(II) acetates. The influence of different metal precursors on the xerogels were examined by X-Ray Diffraction (XRD), Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM) and N-2 physisorption measurements at 77 K. Magnetic properties of the samples were investigated by field cooled FC and zero field cooled ZFC measurements. Depending on the metal precursor, different spinel oxides of a few nanometers were observed in the samples treated at 350degreesC. After heating at 900degreesC non-stoichiometric CoFe2O4 was formed in both samples, whose average particle size was only slightly larger than in samples treated at 350degreesC

Effects of different ecological conditions and extraction techniques on the quality of volatile oils from flaxleaf fleabane (Erigeron bonariensis L.)

The objective of this study was mainly to compare the chemical composition of essential oils from the whole parts of Erigeron bonariensis obtained by traditional hydrodistillation technique and by supercritical fluid extraction recognized as an alternative efficient method. A comparison of the effects of different ecological conditions on the chemical composition of essential oil samples collected in different localities, Monastir (Tunisia) and Cagliari (Sardinia, Italy), has been also performed. Thus, interestingly gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS) analysis showed that the volatile fraction prepared by supercritical fluid extraction from Tunisian E. bonariensis was richer in terpenes components (90.6%) compared with the essential oil obtained by traditional hydrodistillation (86.2%). Chemical analysis revealed that although roughly the same compounds were extracted using both supercritical fluid extraction (SFE) and hydrodistillation (HD) but with different percentages. Furthermore, the essential oil of Tunisian E. bonariensis obtained by traditional hydrodistillation has high content of caryophyllene oxide (18.7%), spathulenol (18.6%) and α-curcumene (10.2%) whereas Sardinian essential oil was richer in Cis-lanchnophyllum ester (14.2%) and (E)-β-farnesene (12.0%)

Differentiation of single cell derived human mesenchymal stem cells into cells with a neuronal phenotype: RNA and microRNA expression profile

The adult bone marrow contains a subset of non-haematopoietic cells referred to as bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (BMSCs). Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) have attracted immense research interest in the field of regenerative medicine due to their ability to be cultured for successive passages and multi-lineage differentiation. The molecular mechanisms governing the self-renewal and differentiation of MSCs remain largely unknown. In a previous paper we demonstrated the ability to induce human clonal MSCs to differentiate into cells with a neuronal phenotype (DMSCs). In the present study we evaluated gene expression profiles by Sequential Analysis of Gene Expression (SAGE) and microRNA expression profiles before and after the neuronal differentiation process. Various tissue-specific genes were weakly expressed in MSCs, including those of non-mesodermal origin, suggesting multiple potential tissue-specific differentiation, as well as stemness markers. Expression of OCT4, KLF4 and c-Myc cell reprogramming factors, which are modulated during the differentiation process, was also observed. Many peculiar nervous tissue genes were expressed at a high level in DMSCs, along with genes related to apoptosis. MicroRNA profiling and correlation with mRNA expression profiles allowed us to identify putative important genes and microRNAs involved in the differentiation of MSCs into neuronal-like cells. The profound difference in gene and microRNA expression patterns between MSCs and DMSCs indicates a real functional change during differentiation from MSCs to DMSCs