Altered mitochondrial response to activation of T-cells in neonate

Mitochondrial functions have a major impact on T-cell functionality. In this study we characterized whether mitochondrial function in the neonatal T-cells differs from that in the adult T-cells during short T-cell activation. Methods: We used fow cytometry methods to test mitochondrial mass and to monitor mitochondrial Ca2+ levels, mitochondrial potential and superoxide generation in parallel with cytoplasmic Ca2+ levels during phythohaemagglutinine-induced activation of CD4+ and CD8+ T-cells of 12 term neonates and 11 healthy adults. Results: Baseline mitochondrial mass of CD4+ and CD8+ cells was lower in the neonate than in the adult. In comparison with the adult, neonatal resting CD4+ T-cells had lower cytoplasmic Ca2+ levels and this was associated with normal activation induced Ca2+-response. During short-term activation cytoplasmic Ca2+-response was lower in neonatal than in adult CD8+ T-cells. Mitochondrial Ca2+ uptake was increased in CD4+ neonatal T cells while it decreased in CD8+ T-cells. Mitochondrial depolarization was increased in CD4+ and decreased in CD8+ neonatal T-cells compared to adults. Superoxide generation was higher and equal in neonatal CD4+ and CD8+ cells, respectively, compared to the adult ones. Conclusion: Our data suggest that neonatal T-cells exhibit marked differences in mitochondrial function and superoxide generation compared to adult T-cells

Effects of aerobic workout on the changes in the characteristics of dynamics of the center of gravity in different age categories

Introduction The quality and function of movements undergo deterioration due to weight gain. Aerobic training normalizes body weight, improves the health status, and in addition, it is expected to improve the dynamics of movements. The aims of this study were to prove the beneficial effects of recreational physical activities on the movements. Methods Participants were divided into five different age categories: second childhood, adolescence, mature age I, mature age II, and aging. Squatting and vertical jumping of the participants were measured at the beginning and at the end of a 5-month training program. These movements simulated ordinary daily movements. Changes in the body were determined by InBody230. APAS 3D system was used for movement analysis. Results The results showed significant improvements in body weight, fat mass, muscle mass, fat mass–body weight ratio, muscle mass–body weight ratio, body mass index, body fat percentage, and waist–hip ratio. During jumping, the lifting and sinking of the center of gravity’s (CG) position and its velocity and acceleration were improved. In case of squatting, the results showed significant improvements in the velocity and acceleration of dynamical characteristics of the CG. Other correlations were observed between changes in body composition and the dynamics of movements. Discussion The research proved that recreational training optimized body composition and improved the characteristics of CG’s dynamics. The study suggests considerable connection between body composition and the characteristics of the movements’ dynamics. From this point of view, our training program was the most effective in the working age groups

Chromosomal-level assembly of the Asian Seabass genome using long sequence reads and multi-layered scaffolding

We report here the ~670 Mb genome assembly of the Asian seabass (Lates calcarifer), a tropical marine teleost. We used long-read sequencing augmented by transcriptomics, optical and genetic mapping along with shared synteny from closely related fish species to derive a chromosome-level assembly with a contig N50 size over 1 Mb and scaffold N50 size over 25 Mb that span ~90% of the genome. The population structure of L. calcarifer species complex was analyzed by re-sequencing 61 individuals representing various regions across the species' native range. SNP analyses identified high levels of genetic diversity and confirmed earlier indications of a population stratification comprising three clades with signs of admixture apparent in the South-East Asian population. The quality of the Asian seabass genome assembly far exceeds that of any other fish species, and will serve as a new standard for fish genomics

Probability and Expected Time of Emptying of Intermediate Storages Under Stochastic Operation

A mathematical model for the operation of an intermediate storage under stochastic operational conditions is presented. The material input of the storage occurs at randomly, both in terms of time and amount of material, while the output is of constant volumetric rate. The main practical question is the required initial amount of material in the storage allowing no emptying of storage. In order to determine that we define a two variable function. We develop an equation satisfied by this function and present solution for the case of Erlang(n) distributed inter-arrival time. We provide numerical examples and apply this function for solving the original problem

Antioxidant activity as indicator of UV radiation and other abiotic stress factors on Agaricus bisporus (Lange/Imbach) and Sedum hybridum (L.)

Investigation of stress level might be facilitated also in plant and horticultural sciences, but currently mainly morphological parameters are in use. Antioxidant activity routinely measured in food-oriented researches and several studies indirectly indicated that stress factors can influence this parameter. Our aim was to assess the potential direct indicator role of antioxidant activity in stress conditions. We measured the effects of UVB and soil-delivered stress on Agaricus bisporus and Sedum hybridum. Our results indicate that UVB slightly decreases, while the inadequate soil conditions increase antioxidant activity; hence these measurements are suitable for determining the level of stress in different living samples

Human confidence judgments reflect reliability-based hierarchical integration of contextual information

Our immediate observations must be supplemented with contextual information to resolve ambiguities. However, the context is often ambiguous too, and thus it should be inferred itself to guide behavior. Here, we introduce a novel hierarchical task (airplane task) in which participants should infer a higher-level, contextual variable to inform probabilistic inference about a hidden dependent variable at a lower level. By controlling the reliability of past sensory evidence through varying the sample size of the observations, we find that humans estimate the reliability of the context and combine it with current sensory uncertainty to inform their confidence reports. Behavior closely follows inference by probabilistic message passing between latent variables across hierarchical state representations. Commonly reported inferential fallacies, such as sample size insensitivity, are not present, and neither did participants appear to rely on simple heuristics. Our results reveal uncertainty-sensitive integration of information at different hierarchical levels and temporal scales.P.S. was supported by a FI-AGAUR scholarship of the Secretariat for Universities and Research of the Ministry of Business and Knowledge of the Government of Catalonia and the European Social Fund. R.M.-B. is supported by BFU2017-85936-P and FLAGERA-PCIN-2015-162-C02-02 from MINECO (Spain) and Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI, ref 55008742). A.H. is supported by the Jovenes Investigadores Grant from Spanish Mineco (PSI2015-74644-JIN). This work was supported by CERCA Programme/Generalitat de Catalunya

Genetic Inactivation of European Sea Bass (Dicentrarchus labrax L.) Eggs Using UV-Irradiation: Observations and Perspectives

International audienceAndrogenesis is a form of uniparental reproduction leading to progenies inheriting only the paternal set of chromosomes. Ithas been achieved with variable success in a number of freshwater species and can be attained by artificial fertilization ofgenetically inactivated eggs following exposure to gamma (c), X-ray or UV irradiation (haploid androgenesis) and byrestoration of diploidy by suppression of mitosis using a pressure or thermal shock. The conditions for the geneticinactivation of the maternal genome in the European sea bass (Dicentrarchus labraxL.) were explored using differentcombinations of UV irradiation levels and durations. UV treatments significantly affected embryo survival and generated awide range of developmental abnormalities. Despite the wide range of UV doses tested (from 7.2 to 720 mJ.cm22), only onedose (60 mJ.cm22.min21with 1 min irradiation) resulted in a small percentage (14%) of haploid larvae at hatching in theinitial trials as verified by flow cytometry. Microsatellite marker analyses of three further batches of larvae produced by usingthis UV treatment showed a majority of larvae with variable levels of paternal and maternal contributions and only one larvadisplaying pure paternal inheritance. The results are discussed also in the context of an assessment of the UV-absorbancecharacteristics of egg extracts in this species that revealed the presence of gadusol, a compound structurally related tomycosporine-like amino acids (MAAs) with known UV-screening properties