Klinefelter syndrome: cardiovascular abnormalities and metabolic disorders

Klinefelter syndrome (KS) is one of the most common genetic causes of male infertility. This condition is associated with much comorbidity and with a lower life expectancy. The aim of this review is to explore more in depth cardiovascular and metabolic disorders associated to KS. KS patients have an increased risk of cerebrovascular disease (standardized mortality ratio, SMR, 2.2; 95% confidence interval, CI, 1.6–3.0), but it is not clear whether the cause of the death is of thrombotic or hemorrhagic nature. Cardiovascular congenital anomalies (SMR, 7.3; 95% CI, 2.4–17.1) and the development of thrombosis or leg ulcers (SMR, 7.9; 95% CI, 2.9–17.2) are also more frequent in these subjects. Moreover, cardiovascular abnormalities may be at least partially reversed by testosterone replacement therapy (TRT). KS patients have also an increased probability of endocrine and/or metabolic disease, especially obesity, metabolic syndrome and type 2 diabetes mellitus. The effects of TRT on these abnormalities are not entirely clear

Hepatitis B Virus Alters the Antioxidant System in Transgenic Mice and Sensitizes Hepatocytes to Fas Signaling

Hepatitis B virus (HBV) is a major etiological factor of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). However, the precise pathogenetic mechanisms linking HBV infection and HCC remain uncertain. It has been reported that decreased antioxidant enzyme activities are associated with severe liver injury and hepatocarcinogenesis in mouse models. It is unclear if HBV can interfere with the activities of antioxidant enzymes. We established a HBV transgenic mouse line, which spontaneously developed HCC at 2 years of age. We studied the activities of the antioxidant enzymes in the liver of the HBV transgenic mice. Our results showed that the antioxidant enzymes glutathione peroxidase and superoxide dismutase 2 were down-regulated in HBV transgenic mice and correlated with JNK activation. HBV enhanced the Fas-mediated activation of caspase 6, caspase 8 and JNK without enhancing the activation of caspase 3 and hepatocellular apoptosis. As a proper redox balance is important for maintaining cellular homeostasis, these effects of HBV on the host antioxidant system and Fas-signaling may play an important role in HBV-induced hepatocarcinogenesis

Characterisation of the Hamamatsu photomultipliers for the KM3NeT Neutrino Telescope

[EN] The Hamamatsu R12199-02 3-inch photomultiplier tube is the photodetector chosen for the first phase of the KM3NeT neutrino telescope. About 7000 photomultipliers have been characterised for dark count rate, timing spread and spurious pulses. The quantum eÿciency, the gain and the peak-to-valley ratio have also been measured for a sub-sample in order to determine parameter values needed as input to numerical simulations of the detector.The authors acknowledge the financial support of the funding agencies: Agence Nationale de la Recherche (contract ANR-15-CE31-0020), Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Commission Europeenne (FEDER fund and Marie Curie Program), Institut Universitaire de France (IUF), IdEx program and UnivEarthS Labex program at Sorbonne Paris Cite (ANR-10-LABX-0023 and ANR-11-IDEX-0005-02), France; 'Helmholtz Alliance for Astroparticle Physics' funded by the Initiative and Networking Fund of the Helmholtz Association, Germany; The General Secretariat of Research and Technology (GSRT), Greece; Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare (INFN), Ministero dell'Istruzione, dell'Universita e della Ricerca (MIUR), Italy; Agence de l'Oriental and CNRST, Morocco; Nederlandse organisatie voor Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek (NWO), the Netherlands; National Authority for Scientific Research (ANCS), Romania; Plan Estatal de Investigacion (refs. FPA2015-65150-C3-1-P, -2-P and -3-P, (MINECO/FEDER)), Severo Ochoa Centre of Excellence and MultiDark Consolider (MINECO), and Prometeo and Grisolia programs (Generalitat Valenciana), Spain.Aiello, S.; Akrame, SE.; Ameli, F.; Anassontzis, EG.; Andre, M.; Androulakis, G.; Anghinolfi, M.... (2018). Characterisation of the Hamamatsu photomultipliers for the KM3NeT Neutrino Telescope. Journal of Instrumentation. 13:1-17. https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-0221/13/05/P05035S11713Adrián-Martínez, S., Ageron, M., Aharonian, F., Aiello, S., Albert, A., Ameli, F., … Anghinolfi, M. (2016). Letter of intent for KM3NeT 2.0. Journal of Physics G: Nuclear and Particle Physics, 43(8), 084001. doi:10.1088/0954-3899/43/8/084001Adrián-Martínez, S., Ageron, M., Aharonian, F., Aiello, S., Albert, A., Ameli, F., … Anvar, S. (2014). Deep sea tests of a prototype of the KM3NeT digital optical module. The European Physical Journal C, 74(9). doi:10.1140/epjc/s10052-014-3056-3Adrián-Martínez, S., Ageron, M., Aharonian, F., Aiello, S., Albert, A., Ameli, F., … Anton, G. (2016). The prototype detection unit of the KM3NeT detector. The European Physical Journal C, 76(2). doi:10.1140/epjc/s10052-015-3868-9Herold, B., Kalekin, O., & Reubelt, J. (2011). PMT characterisation for the KM3NeT project. Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research Section A: Accelerators, Spectrometers, Detectors and Associated Equipment, 639(1), 70-72. doi:10.1016/j.nima.2010.09.018Timmer, P., Heine, E., & Peek, H. (2010). Very low power, high voltage base for a Photo Multiplier Tube for the KM3NeT deep sea neutrino telescope. Journal of Instrumentation, 5(12), C12049-C12049. doi:10.1088/1748-0221/5/12/c12049Mollo, C. M., Bozza, C., Chiarusi, T., Costa, M., Capua, F. D., Kulikovskiy, V., … Vivolo, D. (2016). A new instrument for high statistics measurement of photomultiplier characteristics. Journal of Instrumentation, 11(08), T08002-T08002. doi:10.1088/1748-0221/11/08/t08002Adrián-Martínez, S., Ageron, M., Aiello, S., Albert, A., Ameli, F., Anassontzis, E. G., … Anton, G. (2016). A method to stabilise the performance of negatively fed KM3NeT photomultipliers. Journal of Instrumentation, 11(12), P12014-P12014. doi:10.1088/1748-0221/11/12/p12014Lubsandorzhiev, B. K., Vasiliev, R. V., Vyatchin, Y. E., & Shaibonov, B. A. J. (2006). Photoelectron backscattering in vacuum phototubes. Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research Section A: Accelerators, Spectrometers, Detectors and Associated Equipment, 567(1), 12-16. doi:10.1016/j.nima.2006.05.04

Tobacco use induces anti-apoptotic, proliferative patterns of gene expression in circulating leukocytes of Caucasian males

Abstract Background Strong epidemiologic evidence correlates tobacco use with a variety of serious adverse health effects, but the biological mechanisms that produce these effects remain elusive. Results We analyzed gene transcription data to identify expression spectra related to tobacco use in circulating leukocytes of 67 Caucasian male subjects. Levels of cotinine, a nicotine metabolite, were used as a surrogate marker for tobacco exposure. Significance Analysis of Microarray and Gene Set Analysis identified 109 genes in 16 gene sets whose transcription levels were differentially regulated by nicotine exposure. We subsequently analyzed this gene set by hyperclustering, a technique that allows the data to be clustered by both expression ratio and gene annotation (e.g. Gene Ontologies). Conclusion Our results demonstrate that tobacco use affects transcription of groups of genes that are involved in proliferation and apoptosis in circulating leukocytes. These transcriptional effects include a repertoire of transcriptional changes likely to increase the incidence of neoplasia through an altered expression of genes associated with transcription and signaling, interferon responses and repression of apoptotic pathways

Long Term Running Biphasically Improves Methylglyoxal-Related Metabolism, Redox Homeostasis and Neurotrophic Support within Adult Mouse Brain Cortex

Oxidative stress and neurotrophic support decline seem to be crucially involved in brain aging. Emerging evidences indicate the pro-oxidant methylglyoxal (MG) as a key player in the age-related dicarbonyl stress and molecular damage within the central nervous system. Although exercise promotes the overproduction of reactive oxygen species, habitual exercise may retard cellular aging and reduce the age-dependent cognitive decline through hormetic adaptations, yet molecular mechanisms underlying beneficial effects of exercise are still largely unclear. In particular, whereas adaptive responses induced by exercise initiated in youth have been broadly investigated, the effects of chronic and moderate exercise begun in adult age on biochemical hallmarks of very early senescence in mammal brains have not been extensively studied. This research investigated whether a long-term, forced and moderate running initiated in adult age may affect the interplay between the redox-related profile and the oxidative-/MG-dependent molecular damage patterns in CD1 female mice cortices; as well, we investigated possible exercise-induced effects on the activity of the brain derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF)-dependent pathway. Our findings suggested that after a transient imbalance in almost all parameters investigated, the lately-initiated exercise regimen strongly reduced molecular damage profiles in brains of adult mice, by enhancing activities of the main ROS- and MG-targeting scavenging systems, as well as by preserving the BDNF-dependent signaling through the transition from adult to middle age

Household food insecurity and childhood overweight in Jamaica and Québec: a gender-based analysis

Background - Childhood overweight is not restricted to developed countries: a number of lower- and middle-income countries are struggling with the double burden of underweight and overweight. Another public health problem that concerns both developing and, to a lesser extent, developed countries is food insecurity. This study presents a comparative gender-based analysis of the association between household food insecurity and overweight among 10-to-11-year-old children living in the Canadian province of Québec and in the country of Jamaica. // Methods - Analyses were performed using data from the 2008 round of the Québec Longitudinal Study of Child Development and the Jamaica Youth Risk and Resiliency Behaviour Survey of 2007. Cross-sectional data were obtained from 1190 10-year old children in Québec and 1674 10-11-year-old children in Jamaica. Body mass index was derived using anthropometric measurements and overweight was defined using Cole's age- and sex-specific criteria. Questionnaires were used to collect data on food insecurity. The associations were examined using chi-square tests and multivariate regression models were used to estimate odds ratios (OR) and 95% confidence intervals. // Results - The prevalence of overweight was 26% and 11% (p < 0.001) in the Québec and Jamaican samples, respectively. In Québec, the adjusted odds ratio for being overweight was 3.03 (95% CI: 1.8-5.0) among children living in food-insecure households, in comparison to children living in food-secure households. Furthermore, girls who lived in food-insecure households had odds of 4.99 (95% CI: 2.4-10.5) for being overweight in comparison to girls who lived in food-secure households; no such differences were observed among boys. In Jamaica, children who lived in food-insecure households had significantly lower odds (OR 0.65, 95% CI: 0.4-0.9) for being overweight in comparison to children living in food-secure households. No gender differences were observed in the relationship between food-insecurity and overweight/obesity among Jamaican children. // Conclusions - Public health interventions which aim to stem the epidemic of overweight/obesity should consider gender differences and other family factors associated with overweight/obesity in both developed and developing countries

Metals impact into the Paranaguá Estuarine Complex (Brazil) during the exceptional flood of 2011

Abstract Particulate and dissolved metal concentrations were determined after the largest flood in the last 30 years on the east-west axis of the Paranaguá Estuarine Complex (PEC) and compared to the those of the dry period at two stations. Results confirmed that the flood greatly affected riverine outflows and the behavior of metals in the PEC. In particular, a sharp decrease in salinity was followed by extremely high SPM concentrations leading to a decrease in DO concentrations at both stations. For the dissolved phase, ANOSIM analysis showed a significant dissimilarity at each station between the sampled periods, whereas for the particulate phase this dissimilarity was found only for the samplings taken at the Antonina Station. KD values suggested dissolved Cu behavior was related to the presence of organic complexes and dissolved Mn had sediment resuspension of redox sediments and or/pore water injection as sources. Metal concentrations were lower than in polluted estuaries, though high enrichment factors found after the flood pointed to the influence of anthropogenic sources. In conclusion, the flood's influence was more evident at the Antonina Station, due to its location in the upper estuary, whereas in Paranaguá a high SPM content with low metal concentration was found, following the common pattern generally found in other marine systems subject to heavy rainfall events

Sensitivity of the KM3NeT/ARCA neutrino telescope to point-like neutrino sources

Instrumentatio