Toxic effects of ammonia exposure on growth performance, hematological parameters, and plasma components in rockfish, Sebastes schlegelii, during thermal stress

Abstract Rockfish, Sebastes schlegelii (mean length 14.53 ± 1.14 cm and mean weight 38.36 ± 3.45 g), were exposed for 4 weeks with the different levels of ammonia in the concentrations of 0, 0.1, 0.5, and 1.0 mg/L at 19 and 24 °C. The indicators of growth performance such as daily length gain, daily weight gain, condition factor, and hematosomatic index were significantly reduced by the ammonia exposure and high temperature. The ammonia exposure induced a significant decrease in hematological parameters, such as red blood cell (RBC) count, white blood cell (WBC) count, hemoglobin (Hb), and hematocrit (Ht), whose trend was more remarkable at 24 °C. Mean corpuscular volume (MCV), mean corpuscular hemoglobin (MCH), and mean corpuscular hemoglobin concentration (MCHC) were also notably decreased by the ammonia exposure. Blood ammonia concentration was considerably increased by the ammonia concentration exposure. In the serum components, the glucose, glutamic oxalate transaminase (GOT), and glutamic pyruvate transaminase (GPT) were substantially increased by the ammonia exposure, whereas total protein was significantly decreased. But, the calcium and magnesium were not considerably changed

Interventional Management of Esophagorespiratory Fistula

An esophagorespiratory fistula (ERF) is an often fatal consequence of esophageal or bronchogenic carcinomas. The preferred treatment is placement of esophageal and/or airway stents. Stent placement must be performed as quickly as possible since patients with ERFs are at a high risk for aspiration pneumonia. In this review, choice of stents and stenting area, fistula reopening and its management, and the long-term outcome in the interventional management of malignant ERFs are considered. Lastly, a review of esophagopulmonary fistulas will also be provided

A Dose-Response Relationship between Types of Physical Activity and Distress

This study aimed to examine whether a dose-response relationship exists between psychological distress and types of physical activity (total, occupational, and leisure-time). The study subjects (233 men and 313 women) were recruited for a study on cardiovascular disease in the Yangpyeong community located in South Korea. The type and characteristics of physical activity were measured with a modified version of the Stanford 5 city project's questionnaire by well-trained interviewers using a standard protocol. The Psychological Well-being Index-Short Form was used to assess psychological distress. Both the intensity and duration of time in either total physical activity or occupational physical activity (OPA) were not related to the distress score. However, a long duration of time (1 hr/day) in severely intensive (≥6 metabolic equivalent) OPA was related to a high distress score in men (14.1 for none vs. 19.7, p-for-trend=0.005), even after the adjustment for leisure-time physical activity (LTPA). A long duration in time (1 hr/day) in LTPA was related to a lower distress score in men independent of their OPA (16.7 for none vs. 13.1, p-for-trend=0.02). In conclusion, the dose-response relationship of physical activity on psychological distress appeared to differ among the different types of activities. The type of activity may be an important determinant of whether physical activity produces psychological benefits

Suppression of lung cancer progression by biocompatible glycerol triacrylate–spermine-mediated delivery of shAkt1

Background: Polyethylenimine (PEI)-based nonviral gene-delivery systems are commonly employed because of their high transfection efficiency. However, the toxic nature of PEI is a significant obstacle in clinical gene therapy. In this study, we developed biocompatible glycerol triacrylate-spermine (GT-SPE) polyspermine as a nanosized gene carrier for potential lung cancer gene therapy. Methods: The GT-SPE was synthesized using the Michael addition reaction between GT and SPE. The molecular weight was characterized using gel permeability chromatography multiangle laser light scattering and the composition of the polymer was analyzed using proton nuclear magnetic resonance. Results: The GT-SPE successfully protected the DNA from nucleases. The average particle size of the GT-SPE was 121 nm with a zeta potential of +23.45 mV. The GT-SPE was found to be less toxic than PEI for various cell lines, as well as for a murine model. Finally, our results showed that the GT-SPE/small hairpin Akt1 (shAkt1) complex suppressed lung tumorigenesis in a K-ras(LA1) lung cancer mice model by inducing apoptosis through the Akt signaling pathway and cell cycle arrest. Aerosol delivered GT-SPE/shAkt1, which reduced matrix metalloproteinase-9 activity and suppressed the expression levels of proliferating cell nuclear antigen, as well as vascular endothelial growth factors and CD31, which are known proliferation and angiogenesis markers, respectively. Conclusion: Our data suggest that GT-SPE may be a candidate for short hairpin-shaped RNA-based aerosol lung cancer gene therapy

Diurnal Variations of Surface Fluxes and Boundary Layer over Tibetan Plateau (Session 3: In-site Flux Observation studies)

During the GAME-Tibet IOP, surface eddy fluxes were directly measured at four stations as well as radiation fluxes. These flux data were summarized and compared in the diurnal and seasonal basis. Another important issue is the interaction between the surface fluxes and the atmospheric boundary layer. It is clearly observed in sensible heat flux and mixed layer development, and mixed layer during the daytime leads to large amplitude of diurnal variation in surface wind speed

Toxoplasma gondii Inhibits Apoptosis in Infected Cells by Caspase Inactivation and NF-κB Activation

Our experiments aimed to clarify the mechanism by which host cell apoptosis is inhibited by infection with the intracellular protozoan parasite, Toxoplasma gondii (T. gondii). Mouse spleen cells were cultured in 6-well plates with RPMI 1640/10% FBS at 37℃, in a 5% CO2 atmosphere. Apoptosis of spleen cells was induced by actinomycin-D (AD) treatment for 1 h prior to infection with T. gondii. A variety of assays were used to assess the progression of apoptosis: DNA size analysis on agarose gel electrophoresis, flow cytometry with annexin V/PI staining, and analysis of expression levels of Bcl-2 family and NF-κB mRNA and proteins by RT-PCR, Western blotting, and EMSA. Additionally, transmission electron microscopy (TEM) was performed to observe changes in cell morphology. Fragmentation of DNA was inhibited in spleen cells treated with AD and T. gondii 5 h and 18 h post infection, respectively, and flow cytometry studies showed a decreased apoptotic rates in AD and T. gondii treated spleen cells. We observed decreased expression of Bax mRNA and protein, while levels of Bcl-2 mRNA remained constant in spleen cells treated with AD and T. gondii. Caspase 3 and PARP were inactivated in cells treated with AD and T. gondii, and increased levels of cleaved caspase 8 were also observed. Analysis of EMSA and Western blot data suggests that activation of transcription factor NF-κB may be involved in the blockade of apoptosis by T. gondii. TEM analysis showed nuclear fragmentation and chromatin condensation occurring in spleen cells treated with AD; however, such apoptosis-associated morphological changes were not observed in cells treated with both AD and T. gondii tachyzoites. Together, these data show that T. gondii infection inhibits AD induced apoptosis via caspase inactivation and NF-κB activation in mouse spleen cells

Comparison of the characteristic features of bonghan ducts, blood and lymphatic capillaries

Objective: To show that the characteristic morphological and ultrastructural features of a Bonghan corpuscle and duct presented here are consistent with the description given in the early reports of Bonghan Kim. Materials and Methods: We compared the morphological aspects of Bonghan ducts with those of blood and lymphatic capillaries on the ultrastructural level to display the manifestly distinctive nature of the Bonghan system. Results: The walls of the ductules were observed to be composed of a single layer of endothelial cells with characteristic rod-shaped nuclei and were not surrounded by a basal lamina or by accessory cells, such as pericytes or smooth muscle cells. The abluminal cell membranes of Bonghan ductules were not attached by anchoring filaments to the fibers of extracellular matrices as observed in lymphatic capillaries

Understanding anti-government sentiment and the public's anti-corruption behavior: The roles of perceived ethics failure, emotional leadership, and communication strategy

This study conceptualizes anti-government sentiment and tests the relationships between anti-government sentiment and three antecedents (i.e., ethics failure, compassionate leadership, and communication strategy). An online survey (n=1,112) was conducted in South Korea. Exploratory Factor Analysis with Principal Component Analysis and Confirmatory Factor Analysis were conducted on the measures proposed for anti-government sentiment. The hypotheses were tested using Structural Equation Modeling. Results show that publics’ perceptions of the government’s ethics failure, lack of compassionate leadership, and use of a buffering strategy for communication are positively related to their anti-government sentiment toward the incumbent government