81 research outputs found

    Role of renal sympathetic nerve activity in volatile anesthesia's effect on renal excretory function

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    Regulation of fluid balance is pivotal during surgery and anesthesia and affects patient morbidity, mortality, and hospital length of stay. Retention of sodium and water is known to occur during surgery but the mechanisms are poorly defined. In this study, we explore how the volatile anesthetic sevoflurane influences renal function by affecting renal sympathetic nerve activity (RSNA). Our results demonstrate that sevoflurane induces renal sodium and water retention during pediatric anesthesia in association with elevated plasma concentration of renin but not arginine–vasopressin. The mechanisms are further explored in conscious and anesthetized ewes where we show that RSNA is increased by sevoflurane compared with when conscious. This is accompanied by renal sodium and water retention and decreased renal blood flow (RBF). Finally, we demonstrate that renal denervation normalizes renal excretory function and improves RBF during sevoflurane anesthesia in sheep. Taken together, this study describes a novel role of the renal sympathetic nerves in regulating renal function and blood flow during sevoflurane anesthesia

    Screening of benzodiazepines in thirty European rivers

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    Pharmaceuticals as environmental contaminants have received a lot of interest over the past decade but, for several pharmaceuticals, relatively little is known about their occurrence in European surface waters. Benzodiazepines, a class of pharmaceuticals with anxiolytic properties, have received interest due to their behavioral modifying effect on exposed biota. In this study, our results show the presence of one or more benzodiazepine(s) in 86% of the analyzed surface water samples (n = 138) from 30 rivers, representing seven larger European catchments. Of the 13 benzodiazepines included in the study, we detected 9, which together showed median and mean concentrations (of the results above limit of quantification) of 5.4 and 9.6 ng L−1, respectively. Four benzodiazepines (oxazepam, temazepam, clobazam, and bromazepam) were the most commonly detected. In particular, oxazepam had the highest frequency of detection (85%) and a maximum concentration of 61 ng L−1. Temazepam and clobazam were found in 26% (maximum concentration of 39 ng L−1) and 14% (maximum concentration of 11 ng L−1) of the samples analyzed, respectively. Finally, bromazepam was found only in Germany and in 16 out of total 138 samples (12%), with a maximum concentration of 320 ng L−1. This study clearly shows that benzodiazepines are common micro-contaminants of the largest European river systems at ng L−1 levels. Although these concentrations are more than a magnitude lower than those reported to have effective effects on exposed biota, environmental effects cannot be excluded considering the possibility of additive and sub-lethal effects

    Marine algal flora of São Miguel Island, Azores

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    Este artículo contiene 52 páginas, 4 tablas, 15 figuras.Background The macroalgal flora of the Island of São Miguel (eastern group of the Azores Archipelago) has attracted the interest of many researchers in the past, the first publications going back to the nineteenth century. Initial studies were mainly taxonomic, resulting in the publication of a checklist of the Azorean benthic marine algae. Later, the establishment of the University of the Azores on the Island permitted the logistic conditions to develop both temporal studies and long-term research and this resulted in a significant increase on research directed at the benthic marine algae and littoral communities of the Island and consequent publications. Prior to the present paper, the known macroalgal flora of São Miguel Island comprised around 260 species. Despite this richness, a significant amount of the research was never made public, notably Masters and PhD theses encompassing information regarding presence data recorded at littoral and sublittoral levels down to a depth of approximately 40 m around the Island and the many collections made, which resulted in vouchers deposited in the AZB Herbarium Ruy Telles Palhinha and the LSM- Molecular Systematics Laboratory at the Faculty of Sciences and Technology of the University of the Azores. The present publication lists the macroalgal taxonomic records, together with information on their ecology and occurrence around São Miguel Island, improving the knowledge of the Azorean macroalgal flora at local and regional scales. New information A total of 12,781 specimens (including some identified only to genus) belonging to 431 taxa of macroalgae are registered, comprising 284 Rhodophyta, 59 Chlorophyta and 88 Ochrophyta (Phaeophyceae). Of these, 323 were identified to species level (212 Rhodophyta, 48 Chlorophyta and 63 Ochrophyta), of which 61 are new records for the Island (42 Rhodophyta, 9 Chlorophyta and 10 Ochrophyta), one an Azorean endemic (Predaea feldmannii subsp. azorica Gabriel), five are Macaronesian endemisms (the red algae Botryocladia macaronesica Afonso-Carrillo, Sobrino, Tittley & Neto, Laurencia viridis Gil-Rodríguez & Haroun, Millerella tinerfensis (Seoane-Camba) S.M.Boo & J.M.Rico, Phyllophora gelidioides P.Crouan & H.Crouan ex Karsakoff and the green alga Codium elisabethiae O.C.Schmidt), 19 are introduced species (15 Rhodophyta, two Chlorophyta and two Ochrophyta) and 32 are of uncertain status (21 Rhodophyta, five Chlorophyta and six Ochrophyta).This research was supported by several projects, expeditions and campaigns (see Funding above) and lately by the project “ACORES-01-0145-FEDER-000072” funded the Operational Programme Azores 2020 (85% ERDF and 15% regional funds). Thanks are due to the campaign teams for their critical involvement in this project (Abel Sentíes, Aina del Alcázar, Ana Alfaya, Ana Belén Villalba Lapeña, Ana Santos, Ana Sofia Carreiro, André Amaral, Andrea Tracana, Ane Laborda, Anna Lloveras Armengol, António Brigos Plafon, Berta Solé Nadal, Camille Fontaine, Carlos Rius, Carles Mir, Caroline Terral, Catarina Santos, Cláudia Hipólito, Daniela Gabriel, Edward Hehre, Emanuel Xavier, Eduardo García, Enrique Almira, Esteban Belles, Eunice Nogueira, Fátima Vaz Pinto, Francisco Wallenstein, Gustavo M Martins, Heather Baldwin, Isadora Moniz, Jana Verdura, Joana Pombo, João Brum, João Faria Santos, João Ferreira, Laura Busquier, Marco Enoch, Maria Ana Dionísio, Maria Machín-Sánchez, Maria Vale, Marlene Terra, Mónica Martínez, Mutue Toyota Fujii, Patrícia Madeira, Pedro Raposeiro, Richard Fralick, Richard Thompson, Rocío Sánchez, Ruben Couto, Rubén Mosquera, Rui Sousa, Sara Peres, Tarso Costa, Tito Silva, Valeria Cassano, Virginie Leyendecker). Edgar Rosas Alquicira and Karla León Cisneros were supported by the Programme AlBan, the European Union Programme of High Level Scholarships for Latin America (through scholarships E05D060221MX and E05D060520MX), “Consejo Nacional de Ciencia y Tecnología” (doctoral scholarships 176162 and 157904) and the UNAMUNO Programme of PhD Scholarships for Europe. Eva Cacabelos was supported by a postdoctoral grant (Project M1420-09-5369-FSE-000002) from ARDITI (Regional Agency for Development of Research, Technology and Innovation of Madeira). Andrea Z. Botelho was supported by a PhD grant (M3.1.a/F/083/2015), awarded by Fundo Regional da Ciência e Tecnologia (FRCT). Afonso C.L. Prestes was supported by a PhD grant (M3.1.a/F/083/2015), awarded by Fundo Regional da Ciência e Tecnologia (FRCT). Rita F. Patarra was supported by a Science and Technology Management Fellowship grant (SFRH/BGCT/135478/2018), awarded by Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT I.P.). Manuela I. Parente was supported by a Postdoc grant (SFRH/BPD/34246/2006), awarded by Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT).Peer reviewe

    A global phylogeny of butterflies reveals their evolutionary history, ancestral hosts and biogeographic origins

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    Butterflies are a diverse and charismatic insect group that are thought to have evolved with plants and dispersed throughout the world in response to key geological events. However, these hypotheses have not been extensively tested because a comprehensive phylogenetic framework and datasets for butterfly larval hosts and global distributions are lacking. We sequenced 391 genes from nearly 2,300 butterfly species, sampled from 90 countries and 28 specimen collections, to reconstruct a new phylogenomic tree of butterflies representing 92% of all genera. Our phylogeny has strong support for nearly all nodes and demonstrates that at least 36 butterfly tribes require reclassification. Divergence time analyses imply an origin similar to 100 million years ago for butterflies and indicate that all but one family were present before the K/Pg extinction event. We aggregated larval host datasets and global distribution records and found that butterflies are likely to have first fed on Fabaceae and originated in what is now the Americas. Soon after the Cretaceous Thermal Maximum, butterflies crossed Beringia and diversified in the Palaeotropics. Our results also reveal that most butterfly species are specialists that feed on only one larval host plant family. However, generalist butterflies that consume two or more plant families usually feed on closely related plants

    Beyond the Global Brain Differences:Intraindividual Variability Differences in 1q21.1 Distal and 15q11.2 BP1-BP2 Deletion Carriers

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    BACKGROUND: Carriers of the 1q21.1 distal and 15q11.2 BP1-BP2 copy number variants exhibit regional and globalbrain differences compared with noncarriers. However, interpreting regional differences is challenging if a globaldifference drives the regional brain differences. Intraindividual variability measures can be used to test for regionaldifferences beyond global differences in brain structure.METHODS: Magnetic resonance imaging data were used to obtain regional brain values for 1q21.1 distal deletion (n =30) and duplication (n = 27) and 15q11.2 BP1-BP2 deletion (n = 170) and duplication (n = 243) carriers and matchednoncarriers (n = 2350). Regional intra-deviation scores, i.e., the standardized difference between an individual’sregional difference and global difference, were used to test for regional differences that diverge from the globaldifference.RESULTS: For the 1q21.1 distal deletion carriers, cortical surface area for regions in the medial visual cortex, posterior cingulate, and temporal pole differed less and regions in the prefrontal and superior temporal cortex differedmore than the global difference in cortical surface area. For the 15q11.2 BP1-BP2 deletion carriers, cortical thicknessin regions in the medial visual cortex, auditory cortex, and temporal pole differed less and the prefrontal andsomatosensory cortex differed more than the global difference in cortical thickness.CONCLUSIONS: We find evidence for regional effects beyond differences in global brain measures in 1q21.1 distaland 15q11.2 BP1-BP2 copy number variants. The results provide new insight into brain profiling of the 1q21.1 distaland 15q11.2 BP1-BP2 copy number variants, with the potential to increase understanding of the mechanismsinvolved in altered neurodevelopment

    Erratum to: Methods for evaluating medical tests and biomarkers

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    [This corrects the article DOI: 10.1186/s41512-016-0001-y.]

    Novel genetic loci associated with hippocampal volume

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    The hippocampal formation is a brain structure integrally involved in episodic memory, spatial navigation, cognition and stress responsiveness. Structural abnormalities in hippocampal volume and shape are found in several common neuropsychiatric disorders. To identify the genetic underpinnings of hippocampal structure here we perform a genome-wide association study (GWAS) of 33,536 individuals and discover six independent loci significantly associated with hippocampal volume, four of them novel. Of the novel loci, three lie within genes (ASTN2, DPP4 and MAST4) and one is found 200 kb upstream of SHH. A hippocampal subfield analysis shows that a locus within the MSRB3 gene shows evidence of a localized effect along the dentate gyrus, subiculum, CA1 and fissure. Further, we show that genetic variants associated with decreased hippocampal volume are also associated with increased risk for Alzheimer's disease (rg =-0.155). Our findings suggest novel biological pathways through which human genetic variation influences hippocampal volume and risk for neuropsychiatric illness
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