Angiotensin II and VEGF are Involved in Angiogenesis Induced by Short-Term Exercise Training

Results from our laboratory have suggested a pathway involving angiotensin II type 1 (AT1) receptors and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) in angiogenesis induced by electrical stimulation. The present study investigated if similar mechanisms underlie the angiogenesis induced by short-term exercise training. Seven days before training and throughout the training period, male Sprague-Dawley rats received either captopril or losartan in their drinking water. Rats underwent a 3-day treadmill training protocol. The tibialis anterior and gastrocnemius muscles were harvested under anesthesia and lightly fixed in formalin (vessel density) or frozen in liquid nitrogen (VEGF expression). In controls, treadmill training resulted in a significant increase in vessel density in all muscles studied. However, the angiogenesis induced by exercise was completely blocked by either losartan or captopril. Western blot analysis showed that VEGF expression was increased in the exercised control group, and both losartan and captopril blocked this increase. The role of VEGF was directly confirmed using a VEGF-neutralizing antibody. These results confirm the role of angiotensin II and VEGF in angiogenesis induced by exercise

Rotochemical Heating of Neutron Stars: Rigorous Formalism with Electrostatic Potential Perturbations

The electrostatic potential that keeps approximate charge neutrality in neutron star matter is self-consistently introduced into the formalism for rotochemical heating presented in a previous paper by Fernandez and Reisenegger. Although the new formalism is more rigorous, we show that its observable consequences are indistinguishable from those of the previous one, leaving the conclusions of the previous paper unchanged.Comment: 14 pages, including 4 eps figures. Accepted for publication in The Astrophysical Journa

Histological characterization of downy mildew infection in wild rocket (Diplotaxis tenuifolia)

Publisher Copyright: © 2024 British Society for Plant Pathology.Wild rocket downy mildew (DM), caused by oomycete Hyaloperonospora sp., is a widely spread disease reducing crop production and quality. New productive wild rocket varieties resistant to DM are crucial to control disease and ensure high quality leaves. A histological characterization of Hyaloperonospora sp. infection was performed in 11 wild rocket (Diplotaxis tenuifolia) accessions with contrasting DM responses (R, resistant; PR, partially resistant; S, susceptible). Samples of infected cotyledons, first and second leaves of 14-day-old seedlings were collected at 3, 6, 9, 21 and 24 h post-inoculation (hpi) and 7 days post-inoculation (dpi) and stained for appressoria and haustoria observation and tissue necrosis evaluation. Occurrence of appressoria on host surfaces was higher in leaves compared with cotyledons but unrelated with DM resistance response. Haustoria growth in mycelium was delayed in R accessions from 3 hpi, and signs of cell hypersensitivity reaction were observed at 9 hpi. At 24 hpi, necrotic spots limited pathogen growth in resistant accessions, whilst mycelium invaded larger mesophyll areas and produced more haustoria in susceptible ones. At 7 dpi, sporulation was heavy in S, restricted to droplet deposition sites in PR, and did not occur in R hosts. A rapid response of R accessions resulted in slower mycelium growth and longer infection periods. These traits have important agronomic value and should be considered in germplasm selection for breeding programmes aimed at crop protection. A better understanding of the host response to DM infection will allow selection of more suitable wild rocket accessions in future breeding programmes.publishersversioninpres

The Influence of Signaling Conspecific and Heterospecific Neighbors on Eavesdropper Pressure

The study of tradeoffs between the attraction of mates and the attraction of eavesdropping predators and parasites has generally focused on a single species of prey, signaling in isolation. In nature, however, animals often signal from mixed-species aggregations, where interactions with heterospecific group members may be an important mechanism modulating tradeoffs between sexual and natural selection, and thus driving signal evolution. Although studies have shown that conspecific signalers can influence eavesdropper pressure on mating signals, the effects of signaling heterospecifics on eavesdropper pressure, and on the balance between natural and sexual selection, are likely to be different. Here, we review the role of neighboring signalers in mediating changes in eavesdropper pressure, and present a simple model that explores how selection imposed by eavesdropping enemies varies as a function of a signaling aggregation\u27s species composition, the attractiveness of aggregation members to eavesdroppers, and the eavesdroppers\u27 preferences for different member types. This approach can be used to model mixed-species signaling aggregations, as well as same-species aggregations, including those with non-signaling individuals, such as satellites or females. We discuss the implications of our model for the evolution of signal structure, signaling behavior, mixed-species aggregations, and community dynamics

Hlt1 Muon Alley Description

This note describes the LHCb Hlt1 muon alley, which is part of the High Level Trigger. It is intended to confirm the L0 muon trigger and reduce the bandwidth. The performance presented here is done using about 1000 simulated data of some relevant muon channels and 200k of minimum bias events

Effects of live-bait shrimp trawling on seagrass beds and fish bycatch in Tampa Bay, Florida

The use of live shrimp for bait in recreational fishing has resulted in a controversial fishery for shrimp in Florida. In this fishery, night collections are conducted over seagrass beds with roller beam trawls to capture live shrimp, primarily pink shrimp, Penaeus duorarum. These shrimp are culled from the catch on sorting tables and placed in onboard aerated “live” wells. Beds of turtlegrass, Thalassia testudinum, a species that has highest growth rates and biomass during summer and lowest during the winter (Fonseca et al., 1996) are predominant areas for live-bait shrimp trawling (Tabb and Kenny, 1969). Our study objectives were 1) to determine effects of a roller beam trawl on turtlegrass biomass and morphometrics during intensive (up to 18 trawls over a turtlegrass bed), short-term (3-hour duration) use and 2) to examine the mortality of bycatch finfish following capture by a trawl

ST/STIS Spectroscopy of the White Dwarfs in the Short-Period Dwarf Novae LL And and EF Peg

We present new HST/STIS observations of the short-period dwarf novae LL And and EF Peg during deep quiescence. We fit stellar models to the UV spectra and use optical and IR observations to determine the physical parameters of the whitedwarfs in the systems, the distances to the binaries, and the properties of thesecondary stars. Both white dwarfs are relatively cool, having T_{eff} near 15000K, and consistent with a mass of 0.6 M-sun. The white dwarf in LL And appears to be of solar abundance or slightly lower while that in EF Peg is near 0.1-0.3 solar. LL And is found to be 760 pc away while EF Peg is closer at 380 pc. EF Peg appears to have an ~M5V secondary star, consistent with that expected for its orbital period, while the secondary object in LL And remains a mystery.Comment: Accepted in Ap

Summer precipitation variability over South America on long and short intraseasonal timescales

A dipole pattern in convection between the South Atlantic convergence zone and the subtropical plains of southeastern South America characterizes summer intraseasonal variability over the region. The dipole pattern presents two main bands of temporal variability, with periods between 10 and 30Â days, and 30 and 90Â days; each influenced by different large-scale dynamical forcings. The dipole activity on the 30--90-day band is related to an eastward traveling wavenumber-1 structure in both OLR and circulation anomalies in the tropics, similar to that associated with the Madden--Julian oscillation. The dipole is also related to a teleconnection pattern extended along the South Pacific between Australia and South America. Conversely, the dipole activity on the 10--30-day band does not seem to be associated with tropical convection anomalies. The corresponding circulation anomalies exhibit, in the extratropics, the structure of Rossby-like wave trains, although their sources are not completely clear