Joint analysis of left ventricular expression and circulating plasma levels of Omentin after myocardial ischemia

BACKGROUND: Omentin-1, also known as Intelectin-1 (ITLN1), is an adipokine with plasma levels associated with diabetes, obesity, and coronary artery disease. Recent studies suggest that ITLN1 can mitigate myocardial ischemic injury but the expression of ITLN1 in the heart itself has not been well characterized. The purpose of this study is to discern the relationship between the expression pattern of ITLN1 RNA in the human heart and the level of circulating ITLN1 protein in plasma from the same patients following myocardial ischemia. METHODS: A large cohort of patients (n = 140) undergoing elective cardiac surgery for aortic valve replacement were enrolled in this study. Plasma and left ventricular biopsy samples were taken at the beginning of cardiopulmonary bypass and after an average of 82 min of ischemic cross clamp time. The localization of ITLN1 in epicardial adipose tissue (EAT) was also further characterized with immunoassays and cell fate transition studies. RESULTS: mRNA expression of ITLN1 decreases in left ventricular tissue after acute ischemia in human patients (mean difference 280.48, p = 0.001) whereas plasma protein levels of ITLN1 increase (mean difference 5.24, p \u3c 0.001). Immunohistochemistry localized ITLN1 to the mesothelium or visceral pericardium of EAT. Epithelial to mesenchymal transition in mesothelial cells leads to a downregulation of ITLN1 expression. CONCLUSIONS: Myocardial injury leads to a decrease in ITLN1 expression in the heart and a corresponding increase in plasma levels. These changes may in part be due to an epithelial to mesenchymal transition of the cells that express ITLN1 following ischemia. Trial Registration Clinicaltrials.gov ID: NCT00985049

Gender Mainstreaming and Impact of SHGs: A Pragmatic Expedition from the Fish Value Addition Sector of Kerala

A rational assessment of the impact of women SHGs in gender mainstreaming was conducted among the fish value addition production units operating at Puthuvypu and Arakkunnam of Ernakulam district in Kerala. Based on socioeconomic surveys and in-person interviews, analysis of empowerment levels, performance levels, gender characteristics, and economic viability were done using standardised data collection techniques. Empowerment Index was calculated using data based on 8 pertinent dimensions. To evaluate the gender mainstreaming features in terms of equity and equality to access to resources, participation profile, decision-making, etc., the male and female counterparts of the households were individually interviewed. Male equivalents play a compelling role in decision-making, the gathering of raw resources, the conveyance of the finished product, etc. even though women dominate most tasks. Lacunae identified in Empowerment Index computation give feedback to proceed in the right direction and to follow appropriate changes in the manoeuvre of the microenterprise. The indicative economics of the enterprise’s payback period of less than a year serve as evidence of its cost-effectiveness

Top-Down Feedback in an HMAX-Like Cortical Model of Object Perception Based on Hierarchical Bayesian Networks and Belief Propagation

PubMed ID: 2313976

fisheries and tourism social economic and ecological trade offs in coral reef systems

Coastal communities are exerting increasingly more pressure on coral reef ecosystem services in the Anthropocene. Balancing trade-offs between local economic demands, preservation of traditional values, and maintenance of both biodiversity and ecosystem resilience is a challenge for reef managers and resource users. Consistently, growing reef tourism sectors offer more lucrative livelihoods than subsistence and artisanal fisheries at the cost of traditional heritage loss and ecological damage. Using a systematic review of coral reef fishery reconstructions since the 1940s, we show that declining trends in fisheries catch and fish stocks dominate coral reef fisheries globally, due in part to overfishing of schooling and spawning-aggregating fish stocks vulnerable to exploitation. Using a separate systematic review of coral reef tourism studies since 2013, we identify socio-ecological impacts and economic opportunities associated to the industry. Fisheries and tourism have the potential to threaten the ecological stability of coral reefs, resulting in phase shifts toward less productive coral-depleted ecosystem states. We consider whether four common management strategies (unmanaged commons, ecosystem-based management, co-management, and adaptive co-management) fulfil ecological conservation and socioeconomic goals, such as living wage, job security, and maintenance of cultural traditions. Strategies to enforce resource exclusion and withhold traditional resource rights risk social unrest; thus, the coexistence of fisheries and tourism industries is essential. The purpose of this chapter is to assist managers and scientists in their responsibility to devise implementable strategies that protect local community livelihoods and the coral reefs on which they rely