James William Helenus trail: a British naturalist in nineteenth-century Amazonia

In 1873, the British naturalist James William Helenus Trail (1851-1919) participated in the first authorized foreign commercial expedition to the Brazilian Amazon region. The exploratory mission was promoted by the "Amazon Steam Navigation Company", a British company which intended to exploit its lands in the valley of the Amazon River. Trail was commissioned to evaluate the potential of the area for timber exploitation, and to indicate additional profitable natural resources. Trail spent 17 months surveying the Amazon River and tributaries, having explored an area which extends westwards from the city of Belem to the Brazilian border with Peru. The effective logistic support provided by the Company allowed him to collect botanical and zoological material in areas not visited before by other naturalists. Trail’s collections, particularly those of plants and insects, were much praised by the various specialists who studied them and who, as a tribute to Trail, named 34 new taxa after him. When in Amazonia, Trail met the Brazilian botanist Barbosa Rodrigues, who called his attention to the diversity of Amazonian palms. Inspired by Rodrigues, Trail developed a keen interest in palm taxonomy, having described 20 new species from the copious material he collected in the region. Trail's new taxa, however, generated protests from Barbosa Rodrigues, who claimed for himself the authorship of some of the species. Trail's trip to Amazonia boosted his career in natural history, and established early in his life his reputation among the British scientific community His Amazonian collections - which include, among others groups, nearly 1,800 plant and 2,100 insect species -, together with his field observations, represent a most relevant, though largely overlooked, contribution to the historical process of the knowledge of the natural history of the region

Measuring home advantage in Spanish Football (1928-2011)

Pollard (1986) estableció el procedimiento para analizar la ventaja de jugar en casa, efecto que en términos anglosajones se denomina “home advantage” (HA). La HA ha sido estudiada en multitud de deportes, tanto individuales como de equipo, determinando su existencia y sus posibles causas. Este artículo analiza la HA de la primera división de fútbol español a lo largo de su historia (desde 1928 hasta el 2011). La muestra es de 80 temporadas y 22.015 partidos jugados en las competiciones de liga de máxima categoría española. La HA es de 70,8±0,14 en las máximas categorías del fútbol español en la época en la que el valor de la victoria era de dos puntos (1928-1995) y de 56,7±0,14 cuando se otorgan tres puntos por la victoria (1995-2011Pollard (1986) established the procedure for analyzing the home advantage (HA). The HA has been studied in many different sports, both individual and team sports, determining its existence and its possible causes. This article analyzes the HA of the first division of Spanish football across the history (from 1928 until 2011). The sample is of 80 seasons and 22015 games of the highest level in Spain. The HA (mean±sd) is of 70.8±0.14 in the highest category in Spanish football during the period when a victory was worth two points (1928-1995) and 56.7±0.14 when three points were awarded for a victory (1995-2011

Deterministic and stochastic P systems for modelling cellular processes

This paper presents two approaches based on metabolic and stochastic P systems, together with their associated analysis methods, for modelling biological sys- tems and illustrates their use through two case studies.Kingdom's Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council EP/ E017215/1Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council/United Kingdom BB/D019613/1Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council/United Kingdom BB/F01855X/

Efecto de la edad relativa en el atletismo español

La influencia del trimestre de nacimiento sobre el rendimiento de los atletas ha sido ampliamente estudiada, pero siempre en relación a un periodo temporal. La novedad de este trabajo es estudiar el efecto de la edad relativa en relación a los resultados deportivos. Para ello se analizó el efecto de la edad relativa (EER), denominado RAE en inglés, en los atletas españoles (3.313) que han conseguido las mejores marcas de todos los tiempos atletas desde 1940 hasta la actualidad. Se ha identificado la fecha de nacimiento de los atletas y se ha extraído el mes y el trimestre de nacimiento. La prueba de Chi-cuadrado (χ2) se ha utilizado para elaborar los resultados, que muestran que este efecto es consistente tanto en el atletismo masculino como en el femenino. En el atletismo masculino existe en todas las categorías de edad, mientras que en el atletismo femenino el efecto es mucho más débil, apareciendo sólo en la categoría absoluta y en la juvenil. En cuanto a los sectores de competición los resultados no muestran un patrón de comportamiento claro

Pioglitazone Decreases Hepatitis C Viral Load in Overweight, Treatment Naïve, Genotype 4 Infected-Patients: A Pilot Study

Insulin resistance (IR) is induced by chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) genotypes 1 and 4 infections. It is not known whether drugs that affect IR such as Pioglitazone and Prednisone also affect serum HCV RNA titers independently of PEG-Interferon-α2/ribavirin treatment. The primary aim was to assess whether Pioglitazone by improving IR and/or inflammation decreases HCV viral load independently of standard of care HCV treatment. A secondary aim was to assess whether Prednisone, a drug that induces insulin resistance and stimulates HCV viral entry and replication in replicon culture systems, increases HCV viral load in this population.We designed a two-arm, parallel Pilot Study of overweight, treatment naïve genotype 4 HCV-infected patients at a public referral Liver Clinic in Giza, Egypt. The subjects received Pioglitazone (30 mg/day for 14 days) or Prednisone (40 mg/day for 4 days) in a randomized fashion, but the two arms can be considered independent pilot studies. Only changes from baseline within each arm were assessed and no contrasts of the interventions were made, as this was not an aim of the study. Among 105 consecutive HCV genotype 4 patients, 39 were enrolled based on the optimal sample size and power analysis according to the CONSORT statement; 20 to the Pioglitazone group and 19 to the Prednisone group. Pioglitazone was effective in decreasing serum HCV RNA at day-14 (n = 10; difference of means = 205,618 IU/ml; 95% CI 26,600 to 384,600; P<0.001). Although Prednisone did increase serum HCV RNA at day-4 (n = 10; change from baseline = -42,786 IU/ml; 95% CI -85,500 to -15,700; P = 0.049), the log(10) HCV RNA titers were statistically not different from baseline day-0.This is the first documentation that Pioglitazone decreases the serum HCV RNA titers independently of PEG-Interferon-α2/ribavirin treatment. The novel findings of our Study provide the foundation for basic and clinical investigations on the molecular mechanisms responsible for the Pioglitazone-induced decrease in HCV genotype 4 RNA titers.ClinicalTrials.gov NCT01157975

The effect of age on the response to the pneumococcal polysaccharide vaccine

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p><it>Streptococcus pneumoniae </it>is a leading cause of morbidity and mortality in the elderly. To prevent invasive pneumococcal diseases, the 23-valent pneumococcal polysaccharide vaccine (PPV) is recommended in subjects over 65 years of age. Although it has been reported to provide approximately 50-80% protection against invasive disease in the general elderly population, there is still controversy as to the effectiveness of the PPV in the elderly.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>To evaluate the immune response to the pneumococcal polysaccharide vaccine in the elderly, samples from young adults and elderly were obtained before and one month after vaccination. The quantitative and qualitative response to the vaccine were measured by the ELISA and opsonophagocytic killing assay for eight vaccine type serotypes (4, 6B, 9V, 14, 18C, 19A, 19F, 23F) and one vaccine-related serotype (6A).</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The response to the pneumococcal polysaccharide vaccine showed a similar response between adults and elderly when evaluated by the ELISA, however the functional activity of the antibodies elicited after vaccination were lower in the elderly group for more than half of the serotypes evaluated. In comparison of the antibody needed for 1:8 opsonic titer, more antibodies were needed in the elderly for serotypes Pn 4, 19F, 23F and 6A, suggesting the functional activity of antibody detected by the ELISA was lower in the elderly compared with the adult group for these serotypes. As for subjects with an opsonic titer <8 after vaccination, only one subject each for serotypes Pn 4, 9V and 6A were found in the adult group. However, up to 10 (30.3%) of the subjects did not show opsonic activity after vaccination in the elderly group for serotypes Pn 4, 9V, 14, 19A and 6A.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Although the amount of antibodies elicited were similar between the two age groups, distinct differences in function were noted. This report highlights the importance of a quantitative and qualitative evaluation of the immunogenic response to the PPV in the elderly age group.</p> <p>Trial registration</p> <p>This trial is registered with Clinical trials.gov. Registration number NCT00964769</p

Association between urinary biomarkers of total sugars intake and measures of obesity in a cross-sectional study

Obesity is an important modifiable risk factor for chronic diseases. While there is increasing focus on the role of dietary sugars, there remains a paucity of data establishing the association between sugar intake and obesity in the general public. The objective of this study was to investigate associations of estimated sugar intake with odds for obesity in a representative sample of English adults. We used data from 434 participants of the 2005 Health Survey of England. Biomarkers for total sugar intake were measured in 24 h urine samples and used to estimate intake. Linear and logistic regression analyses were used to investigate associations between biomarker-based estimated intake and measures of obesity (body mass intake (BMI), waist circumference and waist-to-hip ratio) and obesity risk, respectively. Estimated sugar intake was significantly associated with BMI, waist circumference and waist-to-hip ratio; these associations remained significant after adjustment for estimated protein intake as a marker of non-sugar energy intake. Estimated sugar intake was also associated with increased odds for obesity based on BMI (OR 1.02; 95%CI 1.00-1.04 per 10g), waist-circumference (1.03; 1.01-1.05) and waist-to-hip ratio (1.04; 1.02-1.06); all OR estimates remained significant after adjusting for estimated protein intake. Our results strongly support positive associations between total sugar intake, measures of obesity and likelihood of being obese. It is the first time that such an association has been shown in a nationally-representative sample of the general population using a validated biomarker. This biomarker could be used to monitor the efficacy of public health interventions to reduce sugar intake

MultiMetEval: comparative and multi-objective analysis of genome-scale metabolic models

Comparative metabolic modelling is emerging as a novel field, supported by the development of reliable and standardized approaches for constructing genome-scale metabolic models in high throughput. New software solutions are needed to allow efficient comparative analysis of multiple models in the context of multiple cellular objectives. Here, we present the user-friendly software framework Multi-Metabolic Evaluator (MultiMetEval), built upon SurreyFBA, which allows the user to compose collections of metabolic models that together can be subjected to flux balance analysis. Additionally, MultiMetEval implements functionalities for multi-objective analysis by calculating the Pareto front between two cellular objectives. Using a previously generated dataset of 38 actinobacterial genome-scale metabolic models, we show how these approaches can lead to exciting novel insights. Firstly, after incorporating several pathways for the biosynthesis of natural products into each of these models, comparative flux balance analysis predicted that species like Streptomyces that harbour the highest diversity of secondary metabolite biosynthetic gene clusters in their genomes do not necessarily have the metabolic network topology most suitable for compound overproduction. Secondly, multi-objective analysis of biomass production and natural product biosynthesis in these actinobacteria shows that the well-studied occurrence of discrete metabolic switches during the change of cellular objectives is inherent to their metabolic network architecture. Comparative and multi-objective modelling can lead to insights that could not be obtained by normal flux balance analyses. MultiMetEval provides a powerful platform that makes these analyses straightforward for biologists. Sources and binaries of MultiMetEval are freely available from https://github.com/PiotrZakrzewski/MetEv​al/downloads

Inherited biotic protection in a Neotropical pioneer plant

Chelonanthus alatus is a bat-pollinated, pioneer Gentianaceae that clusters in patches where still-standing, dried-out stems are interspersed among live individuals. Flowers bear circum-floral nectaries (CFNs) that are attractive to ants, and seed dispersal is both barochorous and anemochorous. Although, in this study, live individuals never sheltered ant colonies, dried-out hollow stems - that can remain standing for 2 years - did. Workers from species nesting in dried-out stems as well as from ground-nesting species exploited the CFNs of live C. alatus individuals in the same patches during the daytime, but were absent at night (when bat pollination occurs) on 60.5% of the plants. By visiting the CFNs, the ants indirectly protect the flowers - but not the plant foliage - from herbivorous insects. We show that this protection is provided mostly by species nesting in dried-out stems, predominantly Pseudomyrmex gracilis. That dried-out stems remain standing for years and are regularly replaced results in an opportunistic, but stable association where colonies are sheltered by one generation of dead C. alatus while the live individuals nearby, belonging to the next generation, provide them with nectar; in turn, the ants protect their flowers from herbivores. We suggest that the investment in wood by C. alatus individuals permitting stillstanding, dried-out stems to shelter ant colonies constitutes an extended phenotype because foraging workers protect the flowers of live individuals in the same patch. Also, through this process these dried-out stems indirectly favor the reproduction (and so the fitness) of the next generation including both their own offspring and that of their siblings, alladding up to a potential case of inclusive fitness in plants