Radiation-Induced Esophagitis Is Mitigated By Soy Isoflavones

Lung cancer patients receiving radiotherapy present with acute and chronic esophagitis, resulting in pain and difficulties swallowing. These effects are due to radiation injury to the normal tissues in the esophagus. Our previous studies in pre-clinical models of lung cancer and naïve mice have shown that soy isoflavones alleviates radiation-induced toxicity to normal lung, including a decrease in pneumonitis and fibrosis. In this study, we have investigated whether radiation-induced esophagitis can be reduced by soy isoflavones. C57BL/6 mice were treated with 10 Gy or 25 Gy for thoracic irradiation and soy isoflavones given daily at 1mg/mouse up to 16 weeks. Esophagi were resected at various time points (1,4,10,16 weeks post-radiation). Damage to esophageal tissues was assessed by H&E staining and Masson\u27s Trichrome. The effects on smooth muscle cells and leukocyte infiltration were determined by immunohistochemistry using anti-aSMA and anti-CD45. Histological analysis revealed esophagus tissue edema and inflammatory leukocyte infiltration. Specific findings included alterations in the mucosal epithelium, connective tissue disruption in the lamina propria, and smooth muscle cell hypertrophy in the muscularis mucosa. Radiation-induced tissue injuries were reduced by combining soy isoflavones with radiation treatments. Quantitative evaluation of thickened, edematous tissue layers was performed by morphometric measurements. Analysis of 100 measurements per treatment group revealed a significant decrease in the thickness of esophageal layers in irradiated mice treated with soy (25.54um±0.67SEM) to radiation alone (30.66um±0.67SEM) (p\u3c0.0001). Radiation-induced damage presented within 1 week and progressively worsened with time, being more pronounced with 25 Gy compared to 10 Gy, but was also decreased by soy supplementation. Thoracic irradiation caused injury to multiple layers of the esophagus, and these effects were mitigated by soy isoflavones. These findings suggest that soy isoflavones have a radioprotective effect on the esophagus, mitigating the early and late effects seen in radiation-induced esophagitis

Distributed Modeling of Ablation (1996–2011) and Climate Sensitivity on the Glaciers of Taylor Valley, Antarctica

The McMurdo Dry Valleys of Antarctica host the coldest and driest ecosystem on Earth, which is acutely sensitive to the availability of water coming from glacial runoff. We modeled the spatial variability in ablation and assessed climate sensitivity of the glacier ablation zones using 16 years of meteorological and surface mass-balance observations collected in Taylor Valley. Sublimation was the primary form of mass loss over much of the ablation zones, except for near the termini where melt, primarily below the surface, dominated. Microclimates in ~10 m scale topographic basins generated melt rates up to ten times higher than over smooth glacier surfaces. In contrast, the vertical terminal cliffs on the glaciers can have higher or lower melt rates than the horizontal surfaces due to differences in incoming solar radiation. The model systematically underpredicted ablation for the final 5 years studied, possibly due to an increase of windblown sediment. Surface mass-balance sensitivity to temperature was ~−0.02 m w.e. K−1, which is among the smallest magnitudes observed globally. We also identified a high sensitivity to ice albedo, with a decrease of 0.02 having similar effects as a 1 K increase in temperature, and a complex sensitivity to wind speed

Innate immune pathways associated with lung radioprotection by soy isoflavones

Introduction: Radiation therapy for lung cancer causes pneumonitis and fibrosis. Soy isoflavones protect against radiation-induced lung injury, but the mediators of radio- protection remain unclear. We investigated the effect of radiation on myeloid-derived suppressor cells (MDSCs) in the lung and their modulation by soy isoflavones for a potential role in protection from radiation-induced lung injury. Methods: BALB/c mice (5–6 weeks old) received a single 10 Gy dose of thoracic irra- diation and soy isoflavones were orally administrated daily before and after radiation at 1 mg/day. Arginase-1 (Arg-1) and nuclear factor κB (NF-κB) p65 were detected in lung tissue by western blot analysis and immunohistochemistry. Lung MDSC subsets and their Arg-1 expression were analyzed by flow cytometry. Cytokine levels in the lungs were measured by ELISA. Results: At 1 week after radiation, CD11b+ cells expressing Arg-1 were decreased by radiation in lung tissue yet maintained in the lungs treated with radiation and soy isoflavones. Arg-1 was predominantly expressed by CD11b+Ly6ClowLy6G+ granulocytic MDSCs (gr-MDSCs). Arg-1 expression in gr-MDSCs was reduced by radiation and preserved by supplementation with soy isoflavones. A persistent increase in Arg-1+ cells was observed in lung tissue treated with combined radiation and soy isoflavones at early and late time points, compared to radiation alone. The increase in Arg-1 expression mediated by soy isoflavones could be associated with the inhibition of radiation-induced activation of NF-κB and the control of pro-inflammatory cytokine production demon- strated in this study. Conclusion: A radioprotective mechanism of soy isoflavones may involve the promotion of Arg-1-expressing gr-MDSCs that could play a role in downregulation of inflammation and lung radioprotection

Effects of a 15-Day Low Carbohydrate, High Fat Diet in Resistance Trained Males

This study examined the effects of a 15-day isocaloric low carbohydrate (,25% E), high-fat (.50% E) (LCHF) diet on physiological and metabolic alterations in resistance-trained (RT) men. College-aged RT men (n = 11) completed 4 V_ O2max tests using treadmill every 5 days during the 15-day trial. Blood was drawn intravenously pre-exercise across each experimental trial for insulin, cortisol, and glucose. Pulmonary data were collected and substrate oxidation (OXI) was calculated during exercise. Body mass decreased (p , 0.04) with no further changes in anthropometric measures. Time to exhaustion was not affected across each day. Insulin dropped below baseline values (p , 0.0005). Cortisol increased from baseline to day 5 (p , 0.004) but returned back to near baseline at day 10, whereas glucose remained within normal range throughout the duration of the study. Carbohydrate (CHO) OXI dropped (p , 0.001) from baseline to day 5, and fat OXI increased from baseline to day 5 (p , 0.0001). Heart rate decreased from baseline to day 5 (p , 0.001) and again from day 10 to 15 (p , 0.02). Oxygen uptake (V_ O2) decreased from day 5 to 10 (p , 0.0001). A nonketo LCHF diet appears to favor RT men by altering metabolic markers without decrements in aerobic performance and be a potential diet intervention used by coaches. However, the reported cardiorespiratory responses should be interpreted reasonably because of the possibility the subjects running economy improved over experimental trials

Near-Surface Internal Melting: a Substantial Mass Loss on Antarctic Dry Valley Glaciers

The McMurdo Dry Valleys, southern Victoria Land, East Antarctica, are a polar desert, and melt from glacial ice is the primary source of water to streams, lakes and associated ecosystems. Previous work found that to adequately model glacier ablation and subsurface ice temperatures with a surface energy-balance model required including the transmission of solar radiation into the ice. Here we investigate the contribution of subsurface melt to the mass balance of (and runoff from) Dry Valley glaciers by including a drainage process in the model and applying the model to three glacier sites using 13years of hourly meteorological data. Model results for the smooth glacier surfaces common to many glaciers in the Dry Valleys showed that sublimation was typically the largest component of surface lowering, with rare episodes of surface melting, consistent with anecdotal field observations. Results also showed extensive internal melting 5-15 cm below the ice surface, the drainage of which accounted for 50% of summer ablation. This is consistent with field observations of subsurface streams and formation of a weathering crust. We identify an annual cycle of weathering crust formation in summer and its removal during the 10 months of winter sublimation

The Efficacy of Yeast Phagostimulant Baits in Attract-and-Kill Strategies Varies between Summer- and Winter-Morphs of Drosophila suzukii

Drosophila suzukii (Matsumura), is a globally invasive pest of soft and stone fruit. To survive winter in temperate zones it enters a reproductive diapause in a morphologically distinct phenotype. Phagostimulant baits can be combined with insecticides in attract-and-kill strategies for control. We investigated the effectiveness of single yeast species and combinations of co-fermented yeast phagostimulant baits when combined with insecticides in laboratory assays against both summer- and winter-morph D. suzukii. Candida zemplininia or Hanseniaspora uvarum + C. zemplininia combined with lambda-cyhalothrin or cyantraniliprole, and H. uvarum combined with cyantraniliprole caused significantly higher mortality in winter- compared to summer-morph D. suzukii. Additionally, lambda- cyhalothrin combined with M. pulcherrima + H. uvarum resulted in greater mortality compared to single yeasts, H. uvarum for both summer- and winter-morphs and C. zemplininia for summer- morphs. M. pulcherrima + H. uvarum with spinosad significantly reduced the time-to-kill (50%) of summer-morphs compared to insecticide alone. Most yeast-based baits were comparable in terms of attract-and-kill efficacy to Combi-protec, a commercially available bait, although M. pulcherrima or H. uvarum + C. zemplininia in with cyantraniliprole were less effective. Our study suggests that yeast phagostimulants in attract-and-kill strategies should be adjusted for summer- and winter-morph D. suzukii for more effective control

Caustic Recycle from Hanford Tank Waste Using Large Area NaSICON Structures (LANS)

This report presents the results of a 5-day test of an electrochemical bench-scale apparatus using a proprietary (NAS-GY) material formulation of a (Na) Super Ion Conductor (NaSICON) membrane in a Large Area NaSICON Structures (LANS) configuration. The primary objectives of this work were to assess system performance, membrane seal integrity, and material degradation while removing Na from Group 5 and 6 tank waste from the Hanford Site

Improved characterisation of MRSA transmission using within-host bacterial sequence diversity

Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) transmission in the hospital setting has been a frequent subject of investigation using bacterial genomes, but previous approaches have not yet fully utilised the extra deductive power provided when multiple pathogen samples are acquired from each host. Here, we used a large dataset of MRSA sequences from multiply-sampled patients to reconstruct colonisation of individuals in a high-transmission setting in a hospital in Thailand. We reconstructed transmission trees for MRSA. We also investigated transmission between anatomical sites on the same individual, finding that this either occurs repeatedly or involves a wide transmission bottleneck. We examined the between-subject bottleneck, finding considerable variation in the amount of diversity transmitted. Finally, we compared our approach to the simpler method of identifying transmission pairs using single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) counts. This suggested that the optimum threshold for identifying a pair is 39 SNPs, if sensitivities and specificities are equally weighted

Preconceptual Design Description for Caustic Recycle Facility

The U.S. Department of Energy plans to vitrify both high-level and low-activity waste at the Hanford Site in southeastern Washington State. One aspect of the planning includes a need for a caustic recycle process to separate sodium hydroxide for recycle. Sodium is already a major limitation to the waste-oxide loading in the low-activity waste glass to be vitrified at the Waste Treatment Plant, and additional sodium hydroxide will be added to remove aluminum and to control precipitation in the process equipment. Aluminum is being removed from the high level sludge to reduce the number of high level waste canisters produced. A sodium recycle process would reduce the volume of low-activity waste glass produced and minimize the need to purchase new sodium hydroxide, so there is a renewed interest in investigating sodium recycle. This document describes an electrochemical facility for recycling sodium for the WTP