Clinical impact of the disposable ventouse iCup® versus a metallic vacuum cup: a multicenter randomized controlled trial

Experimental Protocole. (DOCX 55 kb

The Motor Protein Myosin-X Transports VE-Cadherin along Filopodia To Allow the Formation of Early Endothelial Cell-Cell Contacts: MYOSIN-X TRANSPORT OF VE-CADHERIN ALONG FILOPODIA

International audienceVascular endothelium (VE), the monolayer of endothelial cells that lines the vascular tree, undergoes damage at the basis of some vascular diseases. Its integrity is maintained by VE-cadherin, an adhesive receptor localized at cell-cell junctions. Here, we show that VE-cadherin is also located at the tip and along filopodia in sparse or subconfluent endothelial cells. We observed that VE-cadherin navigates along intrafilopodial actin filaments. We found that the actin motor protein myosin-X is colocalized and moves synchronously with filopodial VE-cadherin. Immunoprecipitation and pulldown assays confirmed that myosin-X is directly associated with the VE-cadherin complex. Furthermore, expression of a dominant-negative mutant of myosin-X revealed that myosin-X is required for VE-cadherin export to cell edges and filopodia. These features indicate that myosin-X establishes a link between the actin cytoskeleton and VE-cadherin, thereby allowing VEcadherin transportation along intrafilopodial actin cables. In conclusion, we propose that VE-cadherin trafficking along filopodia using myosin-X motor protein is a prerequisite for cell-cell junction formation. This mechanism may have functional consequences for endothelium repair in pathological settings

Links between host genetics, metabolism, gut microbiome and amoebic gill disease (AGD) in Atlantic Salmon

Background: Rapidly spreading parasitic infections like amoebic gill disease (AGD) are increasingly problematic for Atlantic salmon reared in aquaculture facilities and potentially pose a risk to wild fish species in surrounding waters. Currently, it is not known whether susceptibility to AGD differs between wild and farmed salmon. Wild Atlantic salmon populations are declining and this emerging disease could represent an additional threat to their long-term viability. A better understanding of how AGD affects fish health is therefore relevant for the accurate assessment of the associated risk, both to farming and to the well-being of wild populations. In this study, we assessed the impact of natural exposure to AGD on wild, hybrid and farmed post-smolt Atlantic salmon reared in a sea farm together under common garden conditions. Results: Wild fish showed substantially higher mortality levels (64%) than farmed fish (25%), with intermediate levels for hybrid fish (39%) suggesting that AGD susceptibility has an additive genetic basis. Metabolic rate measures representing physiological performance were similar among the genetic groups but were significantly lower in AGD-symptomatic fish than healthy fish. Gut microbial diversity was significantly lower in infected fish. We observed major shifts in gut microbial community composition in response to AGD infections. In symptomatic fish the relative abundance of key taxa Aliivibrio, Marinomonas and Pseudoalteromonas declined, whereas the abundance of Polaribacter and Vibrio increased compared to healthy fish. Conclusions: Our results highlight the stress AGD imposes on fish physiology and suggest that low metabolic-rate fish phenotypes may be associated with better infection outcomes. We consider the role increased AGD outbreak events and a warmer future may have in driving secondary bacterial infections and in reducing performance in farmed and wild fish

Genome erosion and evidence for an intracellular niche – exploring the biology of mycoplasmas in Atlantic salmon

Mycoplasmas are the smallest autonomously self-replicating life form on the planet. Members of this bacterial genus are known to parasitise a wide array of metazoans including vertebrates. Whilst much research has been significant targeted at parasitic mammalian mycoplasmas, very little is known about their role in other vertebrates. In the current study, we aim to explore the biology of mycoplasmas in Atlantic Salmon, a species of major significance for aquaculture, including cellular niche, genome size structure and gene content. Using fluorescent in-situ hybridisation (FISH), mycoplasmas were targeted in epithelial tissues across the digestive tract (stomach, pyloric caecum and midgut) from different development stages (eggs, parr, subadult) of farmed Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar), and we present evidence for an intracellular niche for some of the microbes visualised. Via shotgun metagenomic sequencing, a nearly complete, albeit small, genome (~0.57 MB) as assembled from a farmed Atlantic salmon subadult. Phylogenetic analysis of the recovered genome revealed taxonomic proximity to other salmon derived mycoplasmas, as well as to the human pathogen Mycoplasma penetrans (~1.36 Mb). We annotated coding sequences and identified riboflavin pathway encoding genes and sugar transporters, the former potentially consistent with micronutrient provisioning in salmonid development. Our study provides insights into mucosal adherence, the cellular niche and gene catalog of Mycoplasma in the gut ecosystem of the Atlantic salmon, suggesting a high dependency of this minimalist bacterium on its host. Further study is required to explore and functional role of Mycoplasma in the nutrition and development of its salmonid host

Domestication-induced reduction in eye size revealed in multiple common garden experiments: The case of Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar L.)

Domestication leads to changes in traits that are under directional selection in breeding programmes, though unintentional changes in nonproduction traits can also arise. In offspring of escaping fish and any hybrid progeny, such unintentionally altered traits may reduce fitness in the wild. Atlantic salmon breeding programmes were established in the early 1970s, resulting in genetic changes in multiple traits. However, the impact of domestication on eye size has not been studied. We measured body size corrected eye size in 4000 salmon from six common garden experiments conducted under artificial and natural conditions, in freshwater and saltwater environments, in two countries. Within these common gardens, offspring of domesticated and wild parents were crossed to produce 11 strains, with varying genetic backgrounds (wild, domesticated, F1 hybrids, F2 hybrids and backcrosses). Size-adjusted eye size was influenced by both genetic and environmental factors. Domesticated fish reared under artificial conditions had smaller adjusted eye size when compared to wild fish reared under identical conditions, in both the freshwater and marine environments, and in both Irish and Norwegian experiments. However, in parr that had been introduced into a river environment shortly after hatching and sampled at the end of their first summer, differences in adjusted eye size observed among genetic groups were of a reduced magnitude and were nonsignificant in 2-year-old sea migrating smolts sampled in the river immediately prior to sea entry. Collectively, our findings could suggest that where natural selection is present, individuals with reduced eye size are maladapted and consequently have reduced fitness, building on our understanding of the mechanisms that underlie a well-documented reduction in the fitness of the progeny of domesticated salmon, including hybrid progeny, in the wild

Vuorovaikutteisen suunnittelun haasteet ja mahdollisuudet metsätalouden vesiensuojelussa

Rapport de l'expertise scientifique collectiveLes animaux peuvent-ils éprouver des émotions, peuvent-ils penser, ont-ils une histoire de vie ? Depuis l’Antiquité, les philosophes ont proposé des réponses contrastées à ces questions. Du XIXème siècle à nos jours, la réflexion sur ce que sont les animaux s’est enrichie d’apports scientifiques : théorie de l’évolution, éthologie, neurophysiologie, sciences cognitives. Mais la conscience animale reste toujours l’objet de débats importants dans la communauté scientifique. Ainsi en 2012 un groupe de scientifiques de premier plan a éprouvé la nécessité de publier un manifeste intitulé « Déclaration de Cambridge sur la Conscience », qui énonce qu’«…une convergence de preuves indique que les animaux non humains disposent des substrats neuro-anatomiques, neurochimiques et neurophysiologiques des états conscients ainsi que la capacité d’exprimer des comportements intentionnels...».Les connaissances actuelles, dont cette expertise collective propose une synthèse, montrent que les animaux possèdent un large éventail de capacités cognitives associées à des comportements plus ou moins complexes. Les formes de conscience étudiées chez les humains supposent des capacités cognitives distinctes que l’on retrouve chez certains animaux. Peut-on en postuler que ceux-ci ont des formes de consciences équivalentes à celles de l’homme, sans être forcément identiques ?L’étude des niveaux et des contenus de la conscience chez les animaux est en passe de devenir un enjeu scientifique important en raison de la complexité du sujet et des controverses qu’il ne manquera pas de susciter. Enfin, les acquis scientifiques dans ce domaine invitent à reprendre les réflexions morales concernant les relations que les hommes entretiennent avec les animaux (et particulièrement avec les animaux domestiques

Fossilized Biophotonic Nanostructures Reveal the Original Colors of 47-Million-Year-Old Moths

Original structural colors reconstructed in fossil moths had a dual defensive function and illuminate the evolution of communication strategies in insects

Rational Expectations Models with Higher Order Beliefs,” mimeo

Abstract This paper develops a general method of solving rational expectations models with higher order beliefs. Higher order beliefs are crucial in an environment with dispersed information and strategic complementarity, and the equilibrium policy depends on infinite higher order beliefs. It is generally believed that solving this type of equilibrium policy requires an infinite number of state variable

Rational Expectations Models with Higher Order Beliefs,” mimeo

Abstract This paper develops a general method of solving rational expectations models with higher order beliefs. Higher order beliefs are crucial in an environment with dispersed information and strategic complementarity, and the equilibrium policy depends on infinite higher order beliefs. It is generally believed that solving this type of equilibrium policy requires an infinite number of state variable

Diversity of methanotrophic bacteria in the Elbe Estuary

Methane is an important greenhouse gas and the Elbe River carries high amounts of methane into the North Sea. Methane oxidizing bacteria do have the capability to suppress the release of methane into the atmosphere. However, little is known about the diversity and community composition of these bacteria in an estuarine water column. To gain insight in that matter, the following study extended the field of application of the fingerprinting method monooxygenase intergenic spacer analysis (MISA), from a so far marine to a more complex estuarine environment. For separation of the obtained fingerprints two electrophoretic separation systems, the DNA Analyzer 4300 (Licor) and the Multi NA (Shimadzu) were compared and the better suited system was used to analyze environmental samples along a transect from Hamburg to Helgoland. Sampling took place every two months from November 2013 to November 2014. Besides the analysis of diversity and community structure of methanotrophic bacteria, potential environmental driving forces were determined and limitations of the applied MISA method were discussed. Experiments of this study showed that the DNA Analyzer 4300 has a higher resolution power with respect to the obtained DNA fragments of the MISA fingerprinting method. In addition as compared to the Multi NA the DNA Analyzer 4300 revealed a better reproducibility of results. MISA results of the environmental samples reveal changes in community composition and diversity on a temporal and spatial scale. Due to the salinity gradient along the Hamburg- Helgoland transect, three environmental zones were determined, of which the coastal zone showed the highest diversity estimates. Principal coordinate analysis (PCoA) revealed a shift in community composition between the riverine and coastal/marine zone. Distance based redundancy analysis (dbRDA) of environmental variables determined “salinity” as the main driver of the observed changes in methanotrophic community composition along the Hamburg-Helgoland transect