Differential postural effects of plantar-flexor muscles fatigue under normal, altered and improved vestibular and neck somatosensory conditions

The aim of the present study was to assess the effects of plantar-flexor muscles fatigue on postural control during quiet standing under normal, altered and improved vestibular and neck somatosensory conditions. To address this objective, young male university students were asked to stand upright as still as possible with their eyes closed in two conditions of No Fatigue and Fatigue of the plantar-flexor muscles. In Experiment 1 (n=15), the postural task was executed in two Neutral head and Head tilted backward postures, recognized to degrade vestibular and neck somatosensory information. In Experiment 2 (n=15), the postural task was executed in two conditions of No tactile and Tactile stimulation of the neck provided by the application of strips of adhesive bandage to the skin over and around the neck. Centre of foot pressure displacements were recorded using a force platform. Results showed that (1) the Fatigue condition yielded increased CoP displacements relative to the No Fatigue condition (Experiment 1 and Experiment 2), (2) this destabilizing effect was more accentuated in the Head tilted backward posture than Neutral head posture (Experiment 1) and (3) this destabilizing effect was less accentuated in the condition of Tactile stimulation than that of No tactile stimulation of the neck (Experiment 2). In the context of the multisensory control of balance, these results suggest an increased reliance on vestibular and neck somatosensory information for controlling posture during quiet standing in condition of altered ankle neuromuscular function

Short Day–Mediated Cessation of Growth Requires the Downregulation of AINTEGUMENTALIKE1 Transcription Factor in Hybrid Aspen

Day length is a key environmental cue regulating the timing of major developmental transitions in plants. For example, in perennial plants such as the long-lived trees of the boreal forest, exposure to short days (SD) leads to the termination of meristem activity and bud set (referred to as growth cessation). The mechanism underlying SD–mediated induction of growth cessation is poorly understood. Here we show that the AIL1-AIL4 (AINTEGUMENTALIKE) transcription factors of the AP2 family are the downstream targets of the SD signal in the regulation of growth cessation response in hybrid aspen trees. AIL1 is expressed in the shoot apical meristem and leaf primordia, and exposure to SD signal downregulates AIL1 expression. Downregulation of AIL gene expression by SDs is altered in transgenic hybrid aspen plants that are defective in SD perception and/or response, e.g. PHYA or FT overexpressors. Importantly, SD–mediated regulation of growth cessation response is also affected by overexpression or downregulation of AIL gene expression. AIL1 protein can interact with the promoter of the key cell cycle genes, e.g. CYCD3.2, and downregulation of the expression of D-type cyclins after SD treatment is prevented by AIL1 overexpression. These data reveal that execution of SD–mediated growth cessation response requires the downregulation of AIL gene expression. Thus, while early acting components like PHYA and the CO/FT regulon are conserved in day-length regulation of flowering time and growth cessation between annual and perennial plants, signaling pathways downstream of SD perception diverge, with AIL transcription factors being novel targets of the CO/FT regulon connecting the perception of SD signal to the regulation of meristem activity

Can a Plantar Pressure-Based Tongue-Placed Electrotactile Biofeedback Improve Postural Control Under Altered Vestibular and Neck Proprioceptive Conditions?

We investigated the effects of a plantar pressure-based tongue-placed electrotactile biofeedback on postural control during quiet standing under normal and altered vestibular and neck proprioceptive conditions. To achieve this goal, fourteen young healthy adults were asked to stand upright as immobile as possible with their eyes closed in two Neutral and Extended head postures and two conditions of No-biofeedback and Biofeedback. The underlying principle of the biofeedback consisted of providing supplementary information related to foot sole pressure distribution through a wireless embedded tongue-placed tactile output device. Centre of foot pressure (CoP) displacements were recorded using a plantar pressure data acquisition system. Results showed that (1) the Extended head posture yielded increased CoP displacements relative to the Neutral head posture in the No-biofeedback condition, with a greater effect along the anteroposterior than mediolateral axis, whereas (2) no significant difference between the two Neutral and Extended head postures was observed in the Biofeedback condition. The present findings suggested that the availability of the plantar pressure-based tongue-placed electrotactile biofeedback allowed the subjects to suppress the destabilizing effect induced by the disruption of vestibular and neck proprioceptive inputs associated with the head extended posture. These results are discussed according to the sensory re-weighting hypothesis, whereby the central nervous system would dynamically and selectively adjust the relative contributions of sensory inputs (i.e., the sensory weights) to maintain upright stance depending on the sensory contexts and the neuromuscular constraints acting on the subject

Correlation of umbilical cord blood haematopoietic stem and progenitor cell levels with birth weight: implications for a prenatal influence on cancer risk

We examined the relation with birth weight and umbilical cord blood concentrations of haematopoietic stem and progenitor populations in 288 singleton infants. Across the whole range of birth weight, there was a positive relation between birth weight and CD34+CD38− cells, with each 500 g increase in birth weight being associated with a 15.5% higher (95% confidence interval: 1.6–31.3%) cell concentration. CD34+ and CD34+c-kit+ cells had J-shaped relations and CFU-GM cells had a U-shaped relation with birth weight. Among newborns with ⩾3000 g birth weights, concentrations of these cells increased with birth weight, while those below 3000 g had higher stem cell concentrations than the reference category of 3000–3499 g. Adjustment for cord blood plasma insulin-like growth factor-1 levels weakened the stem and progenitor cell–birth weight associations. The positive associations between birth weight and stem cell measurements for term newborns with a normal-to-high birth weight support the stem cell burden hypothesis of cancer risk

Precision studies of observables in pp → W → lνl and pp → γ , Z → l+l− processes at the LHC

This report was prepared in the context of the LPCC Electroweak Precision Measurements at the LHC WG (https://lpcc.web.cern.ch/lpcc/index.php?page=electroweak_wg) and summarizes the activity of a subgroup dedicated to the systematic comparison of public Monte Carlo codes, which describe the Drell–Yan processes at hadron colliders, in particular at the CERN Large Hadron Collider (LHC). This work represents an important step towards the definition of an accurate simulation framework necessary for very high-precision measurements of electroweak (EW) observables such as the W boson mass and the weak mixing angle. All the codes considered in this report share at least next-to-leading-order (NLO) accuracy in the prediction of the total cross sections in an expansion either in the strong or in the EW coupling constant. The NLO fixed-order predictions have been scrutinized at the technical level, using exactly the same inputs, setup and perturbative accuracy, in order to quantify the level of agreement of different implementations of the same calculation. A dedicated comparison, again at the technical level, of three codes that reach next-to-next-to-leading-order (NNLO) accuracy in quantum chromodynamics (QCD) for the total cross section has also been performed. These fixed-order results are a well-defined reference that allows a classification of the impact of higher-order sets of radiative corrections. Several examples of higher-order effects due to the strong or the EW interaction are discussed in this common framework. Also the combination of QCD and EW corrections is discussed, together with the ambiguities that affect the final result, due to the choice of a specific combination recipe. All the codes considered in this report have been run by the respective authors, and the results presented here constitute a benchmark that should be always checked/reproduced before any high-precision analysis is conducted based on these codes. In order to simplify these benchmarking procedures, the codes used in this report, together with the relevant input files and running instructions, can be found in a repository at https://twiki.cern.ch/twiki/bin/view/Main/DrellYanComparison

Adult height and risk of breast cancer: a possible effect of early nutrition

The relationship of breast cancer to early reproductive development and height suggests that fetal and childhood nutrition may be important in its aetiology. Caloric restriction sufficient to reduce adult height may reduce breast cancer risk. During World War II (WWII) there was a marked reduction in average caloric intake in Norway that resulted in greater nutritional diversity. We hypothesized that a positive association between height and risk of breast cancer would be stronger among women who were born during this period than among women born before or after the war. A total of 25 204 Norwegian women were followed up for approximately 11 years, and 215 incident cases of breast cancer were registered. We found the strongest positive association between height and breast cancer among women born during WWII: women in the tallest tertile (>167 cm) had a relative risk of 2.5 (95% confidence interval = 1.2–5.5) compared with the shortest (≤ 162 cm). Among women born before or after the war we found no clear association with height. The association with height in the WWII cohort may imply a role for early nutrition in breast cancer aetiology. © 2001 Cancer Research Campaignhttp://www.bjcancer.co

Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever: epidemiological trends and controversies in treatment

Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever (CCHF) virus has the widest geographic range of all tick-borne viruses and is endemic in more than 30 countries in Eurasia and Africa. Over the past decade, new foci have emerged or re-emerged in the Balkans and neighboring areas. Here we discuss the factors influencing CCHF incidence and focus on the main issue of the use of ribavirin for treating this infection. Given the dynamics of CCHF emergence in the past decade, development of new anti-viral drugs and a vaccine is urgently needed to treat and prevent this acute, life-threatening disease