'Instead of "closing down" at our ages… we’re thinking of exciting and challenging things to do': older people’s microadventures outdoors on (e-)bikes

This paper explores how people aged 50 and over, who were returning to cycling as part of an eight-week health and wellbeing trial, created their own cycling microadventures. Applying a stage model of the process of adventure to qualitative data generated from personal diaries and focus groups, we examine how older people anticipated and prepared for their microadventures, the challenges and discoveries they experienced, the benefits they gained and how electrically assisted ‘e-bikes’ can provide further opportunities for adventure. We conclude that cycles are a mode uniquely placed to facilitate microadventures and that e-bikes, in particular, offer further potential to enable older people to (re-)connect with place and other people. But, while this type of activity can provide benefits in terms of health and wellbeing, we argue that more supportive physical and social infrastructure is required to provide opportunities for more people to undertake microadventures close to their homes

Expression and Function of Ccbe1 in the Chick Early Cardiogenic Regions Are Required for Correct Heart Development

During the course of a differential screen to identify transcripts specific for chick heart/hemangioblast precursor cells, we have identified Ccbe1 (Collagen and calcium-binding EGF-like domain 1). While the importance of Ccbe1 for the development of the lymphatic system is now well demonstrated, its role in cardiac formation remained unknown. Here we show by whole-mount in situ hybridization analysis that cCcbe1 mRNA is initially detected in early cardiac progenitors of the two bilateral cardiogenic fields (HH4), and at later stages on the second heart field (HH9-18). Furthermore, cCcbe1 is expressed in multipotent and highly proliferative cardiac progenitors. We characterized the role of cCcbe1 during early cardiogenesis by performing functional studies. Upon morpholino-induced cCcbe1 knockdown, the chick embryos displayed heart malformations, which include aberrant fusion of the heart fields, leading to incomplete terminal differentiation of the cardiomyocytes. cCcbe1 overexpression also resulted in severe heart defects, including cardia bifida. Altogether, our data demonstrate that although cardiac progenitors cells are specified in cCcbe1 morphants, the migration and proliferation of cardiac precursors cells are impaired, suggesting that cCcbe1 is a key gene during early heart development.FCT [SFRH/BD/65628/2009, SFRH/BPD/86497/2012, SFRH/BPD/41081/2007]; F.C.T.B.I. fellowship [PTDC/SAU-BID/114902/ 2009]; FCT; Institute for Biotechnology Bioengineering (Centro Biomedicina Molecular e Celular (IBB/CBME), Laboratorio Associado (LA) in the frame of Project [PestOE/EQB/LA0023/2013]info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Concepts of Cardiac Development in Retrospect

Recent research, enabled by powerful molecular techniques, has revolutionized our concepts of cardiac development. It was firmly established that the early heart tube gives rise to the left ventricle only, and that the remainder of the myocardium is recruited from surrounding mesoderm during subsequent development. Also, the cardiac chambers were shown not to be derived from the entire looping heart tube, but only from the myocardium at its outer curvatures. Intriguingly, many years ago, classic experimental embryological studies reached very similar conclusions. However, with the current scientific emphasis on molecular mechanisms, old morphological insights became underexposed. Since cardiac development occurs in an architecturally complex and dynamic fashion, molecular insights can only fully be exploited when placed in a proper morphological context. In this communication we present excerpts of important embryological studies of the pioneers of experimental cardiac embryology of the previous century, to relate insights from the past to current observations

A strategy to discover new organizers identifies a putative heart organizer

Organizers are regions of the embryo that can both induce new fates and impart pattern on other regions. So far, surprisingly few organizers have been discovered, considering the number of patterned tissue types generated during development. This may be because their discovery has relied on transplantation and ablation experiments. Here we describe a new approach, using chick embryos, to discover organizers based on a common gene expression signature, and use it to uncover the anterior intestinal portal (AIP) endoderm as a putative heart organizer. We show that the AIP can induce cardiac identity from non-cardiac mesoderm and that it can pattern this by specifying ventricular and suppressing atrial regional identity. We also uncover some of the signals responsible. The method holds promise as a tool to discover other novel organizers acting during development

Comparison of Unused Water and Year-Old Used Water for Production of Channel Catfish in the Biofloc Technology System

Since excreted feed nitrogen is bio-transformed efficiently in a fully functional mixotrophic biofloc technology production system, re-using this biofloc water over multiple production cycles should be beneficial. The present study, conducted in an outdoor biofloc technology production system, evaluated impacts on fish production characteristics and mineral status, common microbial off-flavors, and water quality dynamics for channel catfish (Ictalurus punctatus) reared in one-year-old waters with low or high total suspended solids used previously for two consecutive catfish biofloc studies or in unused (new) water. Total suspended solids were maintained at 300 to 400 mg/L in the unused and low total suspended solids used water treatments and allowed to accumulate in the high total suspended solids used water treatment. Tanks (18.6 m2, 15.7 m3) were stocked with fingerlings (47.5 ± 0.8 g/fish) at 13.5 fish/m2 (16 fish/m3) and grown for 181 days. Channel catfish production characteristics did not differ significantly among treatments. Overall, gross fish yield averaged 10.2 kg/m3 and fish averaged 642 g/fish. Nitrate accumulation rate was affected by total suspended solids concentration with a significant reduction observed at the highest discharge of solids from the system, suggesting wash-out of nitrifiers. Treatment effects on water quality dynamics, macro- and trace-mineral status of water, feed, and fish, 2- methylisoborneol and geosmin off-flavors and associated phytoplankton populations also are discussed. Results of this study suggest that one-year-old biofloc water can be used without adverse impact for a second year of channel catfish production in the biofloc system