Wii, Kinect, & Move. Heart Rate, Oxygen Consumption, Energy Expenditure, and Ventilation due to Different Physically Active Video Game Systems in College Students.

International Journal of Exercise Science 7(1) : 22-32, 2014. Nintendo Wii, Sony Playstation Move, and Microsoft XBOX Kinect are home video gaming systems that involve player movement to control on-screen game play. Numerous investigations have demonstrated that playing Wii is moderate physical activity at best, but Move and Kinect have not been as thoroughly investigated. The purpose of this study was to compare heart rate, oxygen consumption, and ventilation while playing the games Wii Boxing, Kinect Boxing, and Move Gladiatorial Combat. Heart rate, oxygen consumption, and ventilation were measured at rest and during a graded exercise test in 10 males and 9 females (19.8 ± 0.33 y, 175.4 ± 2.0 cm, 80.2 ± 7.7 kg,). On another day, in a randomized order, the participants played Wii Boxing, Kinect Boxing, and Move Gladiatorial Combat while heart rate, ventilation, and oxygen consumption were measured. There were no differences in heart rate (116.0 ± 18.3 vs. 119.3 ± 17.6 vs. 120.1 ± 17.6 beats/min), oxygen consumption (9.2 ± 3.0 vs. 10.6 ± 2.4 vs. 9.6 ± 2.4 ml/kg/min), or minute ventilation (18.9 ± 5.7 vs. 20.8 ± 8.0 vs. 19.7 ± 6.4 L/min) when playing Wii boxing, Kinect boxing, or Move Gladiatorial Combat (respectively). Playing Nintendo Wii Boxing, XBOX Kinect Boxing, and Sony PlayStation Move Gladiatorial Combat all increase heart rate, oxygen consumption, and ventilation above resting levels but there were no significant differences between gaming systems. Overall, playing a “physically active” home video game system does not meet the minimal threshold for moderate intensity physical activity, regardless of gaming system

Nonlinear Properties of Chalcogenide Glass Fibers

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A Signature in HIV-1 Envelope Leader Peptide Associated with Transition from Acute to Chronic Infection Impacts Envelope Processing and Infectivity

Mucosal transmission of the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) results in a bottleneck in viral genetic diversity. Gnanakaran and colleagues used a computational strategy to identify signature amino acids at particular positions in Envelope that were associated either with transmitted sequences sampled very early in infection, or sequences sampled during chronic infection. Among the strongest signatures observed was an enrichment for the stable presence of histidine at position 12 at transmission and in early infection, and a recurrent loss of histidine at position 12 in chronic infection. This amino acid lies within the leader peptide of Envelope, a region of the protein that has been shown to influence envelope glycoprotein expression and virion infectivity. We show a strong association between a positively charged amino acid like histidine at position 12 in transmitted/founder viruses with more efficient trafficking of the nascent envelope polypeptide to the endoplasmic reticulum and higher steady-state glycoprotein expression compared to viruses that have a non-basic position 12 residue, a substitution that was enriched among viruses sampled from chronically infected individuals. When expressed in the context of other viral proteins, transmitted envelopes with a basic amino acid position 12 were incorporated at higher density into the virus and exhibited higher infectious titers than did non-signature envelopes. These results support the potential utility of using a computational approach to examine large viral sequence data sets for functional signatures and indicate the importance of Envelope expression levels for efficient HIV transmission

Chimpanzee reservoirs of pandemic and nonpandemic HIV-1

Human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1), the cause of human acquired immunodeficiency syndrome ( AIDS), is a zoonotic infection of staggering proportions and social impact. Yet uncertainty persists regarding its natural reservoir. The virus most closely related to HIV-1 is a simian immunodeficiency virus ( SIV) thus far identified only in captive members of the chimpanzee subspecies Pan troglodytes troglodytes. Here we report the detection of SIVcpz antibodies and nucleic acids in fecal samples from wild-living P.t. troglodytes apes in southern Cameroon, where prevalence rates in some communities reached 29 to 35%. By sequence analysis of endemic SIVcpz strains, we could trace the origins of pandemic ( group M) and nonpandemic ( group N) HIV-1 to distinct, geographically isolated chimpanzee communities. These findings establish P. t. troglodytes as a natural reservoir of HIV-1

Mapping the planet’s critical natural assets

Sustaining the organisms, ecosystems and processes that underpin human wellbeing is necessary to achieve sustainable development. Here we define critical natural assets as the natural and semi-natural ecosystems that provide 90% of the total current magnitude of 14 types of nature’s contributions to people (NCP), and we map the global locations of these critical natural assets at 2 km resolution. Critical natural assets for maintaining local-scale NCP (12 of the 14 NCP) account for 30% of total global land area and 24% of national territorial waters, while 44% of land area is required to also maintain two global-scale NCP (carbon storage and moisture recycling). These areas overlap substantially with cultural diversity (areas containing 96% of global languages) and biodiversity (covering area requirements for 73% of birds and 66% of mammals). At least 87% of the world’s population live in the areas benefitting from critical natural assets for local-scale NCP, while only 16% live on the lands containing these assets. Many of the NCP mapped here are left out of international agreements focused on conserving species or mitigating climate change, yet this analysis shows that explicitly prioritizing critical natural assets and the NCP they provide could simultaneously advance development, climate and conservation goals.We thank all the participants of two working groups hosted by Conservation International and the Natural Capital Project for their insights and intellectual contributions. For further advice or assistance, we thank A. Adams, K. Brandon, K. Brauman, A. Cramer, G. Daily, J. Fisher, R. Gould, L. Mandle, J. Montgomery, A. Rodewald, D. Rossiter, E. Selig, A. Vogl and T. M. Wright. The two working groups that provided the foundation for this analysis were funded by support from the Marcus and Marianne Wallenberg Foundation to the Natural Capital Project (R.C.-K. and R.P.S.) and the Betty and Gordon Moore to Conservation International (R.A.N. and P.M.C.)

A rev1–vpu polymorphism unique to HIV-1 subtype A and C strains impairs envelope glycoprotein expression from rev–vpu–env cassettes and reduces virion infectivity in pseudotyping assays

Functional studies of HIV-1 envelope glycoproteins (Envs) commonly include the generation of pseudoviruses, which are produced by co-transfection of rev-vpu-env cassettes with an env-deficient provirus. Here, we describe six Env constructs from transmitted/founder HIV-1 that were defective in the pseudotyping assay, although two produced infectious virions when expressed from their cognate proviruses. All of these constructs exhibited an unusual gene arrangement in which the first exon of rev (rev1) and vpu were in the same reading frame without an intervening stop codon. Disruption of the rev1-vpu fusion gene by frameshift mutation, stop codon, or abrogation of the rev initiation codon restored pseudovirion infectivity. Introduction of the fusion gene into wildtype Env cassettes severely compromised their function. The defect was not due to altered env and rev transcription or a dominant negative effect of the expressed fusion protein, but seemed to be caused by inefficient translation at the env initiation codon. Although the rev1-vpu polymorphism affects Env expression only in vitro, it can cause problems in studies requiring Env complementation, such as analyses of co-receptor usage and neutralization properties, since 3% of subtype A, 20% of subtype C and 5% of CRF01_A/E viruses encode the fusion gene. A solution is to eliminate the rev initiation codon when amplifying rev-vpu-env cassettes since this increases Env expression irrespective of the presence of the polymorphism

Molecular identification, cloning and characterization of transmitted/founder HIV-1 subtype A, D and A/D infectious molecular clones

AbstractWe report the molecular identification, cloning and initial biological characterization of 12 full-length HIV-1 subtype A, D and A/D recombinant transmitted/founder (T/F) genomes. T/F genomes contained intact canonical open reading frames and all T/F viruses were replication competent in primary human T-cells, although subtype D virus replication was more efficient (p<0.05). All 12 viruses utilized CCR5 but not CXCR4 as a co-receptor for entry and exhibited a neutralization profile typical of tier 2 primary virus strains, with significant differences observed between subtype A and D viruses with respect to sensitivity to monoclonal antibodies VRC01, PG9 and PG16 and polyclonal subtype C anti-HIV IgG (p<0.05 for each). The present report doubles the number of T/F HIV-1 clones available for pathogenesis and vaccine research and extends their representation to include subtypes A, B, C and D

Genome sequence of an Australian kangaroo, Macropus eugenii, provides insight into the evolution of mammalian reproduction and development.

BACKGROUND: We present the genome sequence of the tammar wallaby, Macropus eugenii, which is a member of the kangaroo family and the first representative of the iconic hopping mammals that symbolize Australia to be sequenced. The tammar has many unusual biological characteristics, including the longest period of embryonic diapause of any mammal, extremely synchronized seasonal breeding and prolonged and sophisticated lactation within a well-defined pouch. Like other marsupials, it gives birth to highly altricial young, and has a small number of very large chromosomes, making it a valuable model for genomics, reproduction and development. RESULTS: The genome has been sequenced to 2 × coverage using Sanger sequencing, enhanced with additional next generation sequencing and the integration of extensive physical and linkage maps to build the genome assembly. We also sequenced the tammar transcriptome across many tissues and developmental time points. Our analyses of these data shed light on mammalian reproduction, development and genome evolution: there is innovation in reproductive and lactational genes, rapid evolution of germ cell genes, and incomplete, locus-specific X inactivation. We also observe novel retrotransposons and a highly rearranged major histocompatibility complex, with many class I genes located outside the complex. Novel microRNAs in the tammar HOX clusters uncover new potential mammalian HOX regulatory elements. CONCLUSIONS: Analyses of these resources enhance our understanding of marsupial gene evolution, identify marsupial-specific conserved non-coding elements and critical genes across a range of biological systems, including reproduction, development and immunity, and provide new insight into marsupial and mammalian biology and genome evolution