Adult Patients with Congenital Adrenal Hyperplasia Have Elevated Blood Pressure but Otherwise a Normal Cardiovascular Risk Profile

Contains fulltext : 96615.pdf (publisher's version ) (Open Access)OBJECTIVE: Treatment with glucocorticoids and mineralocorticoids has changed congenital adrenal hyperplasia (CAH) from a fatal to a chronic lifelong disease. Long-term treatment, in particular the chronic (over-)treatment with glucocorticoids, may have an adverse effect on the cardiovascular risk profile in adult CAH patients. The objective of this study was to evaluate the cardiovascular risk profile of adult CAH patients. DESIGN: Case-control study. PATIENTS AND MEASUREMENTS: In this case-control study the cardiovascular risk profile of 27 adult CAH patients and 27 controls, matched for age, sex and body mass index was evaluated by measuring ambulatory 24-hour blood pressure, insulin sensitivity (HOMA-IR), lipid profiles, albuminuria and circulating cardiovascular risk markers (PAI-1, tPA, uPA, tPA/PAI-1 complex, hsCRP, adiponectin, IL-6, IL-18 and leptin). RESULTS: 24-Hour systolic (126.3 mmHg+/-15.5 vs 124.8 mmHg+/-15.1 in controls, P = 0.019) and diastolic (76.4 mmHg+/-12.7 vs 73.5 mmHg+/-12.4 in controls, P<0.001) blood pressure was significantly elevated in CAH patients compared to the control population. CAH patients had higher HDL cholesterol levels (P<0.01), lower hsCRP levels (P = 0.03) and there was a trend toward elevated adiponectin levels compared to controls. Other cardiovascular risk factors were similar in both groups. CONCLUSION: Adult CAH patients have higher ambulatory blood pressure compared to healthy matched controls. Other cardiovascular risk markers did not differ, while HDL-cholesterol, hsCRP and adiponectin levels tended to be more favorable

Moving Your Sons to Safety: Galls Containing Male Fig Wasps Expand into the Centre of Figs, Away From Enemies

Figs are the inflorescences of fig trees (Ficus spp., Moraceae). They are shaped like a hollow ball, lined on their inner surface by numerous tiny female flowers. Pollination is carried out by host-specific fig wasps (Agaonidae). Female pollinators enter the figs through a narrow entrance gate and once inside can walk around on a platform generated by the stigmas of the flowers. They lay their eggs into the ovules, via the stigmas and styles, and also gall the flowers, causing the ovules to expand and their pedicels to elongate. A single pollinator larva develops in each galled ovule. Numerous species of non-pollinating fig wasps (NPFW, belonging to other families of Chalcidoidea) also make use of galled ovules in the figs. Some initiate galls, others make use of pollinator-generated galls, killing pollinator larvae. Most NPFW oviposit from the outside of figs, making peripherally-located pollinator larvae more prone to attack. Style length variation is high among monoecious Ficus spp. and pollinators mainly oviposit into more centrally-located ovules, with shorter styles. Style length variation is lower in male (wasp-producing) figs of dioecious Ficus spp., making ovules equally vulnerable to attack by NPFW at the time that pollinators oviposit

Archaic chaos: intrinsically disordered proteins in Archaea

Background: Many proteins or their regions known as intrinsically disordered proteins (IDPs) and intrinsically disordered regions (IDRs) lack unique 3D structure in their native states under physiological conditions yet fulfill key biological functions. Earlier bioinformatics studies showed that IDPs and IDRs are highly abundant in different proteomes and carry out mostly regulatory functions related to molecular recognition and signal transduction. Archaea belong to an intriguing domain of life whose members, being microbes, are characterized by a unique mosaic-like combination of bacterial and eukaryotic properties and include inhabitants of some of the most extreme environments on the planet. With the expansion of the archaea genome data (more than fifty archaea species from five different phyla are known now), and with recent improvements in the accuracy of intrinsic disorder prediction, it is time to re-examine the abundance of IDPs and IDRs in the archaea domain.Results: The abundance of IDPs and IDRs in 53 archaea species is analyzed. The amino acid composition profiles of these species are generally quite different from each other. The disordered content is highly species-dependent. Thermoproteales proteomes have 14% of disordered residues, while in Halobacteria, this value increases to 34%. In proteomes of these two phyla, proteins containing long disordered regions account for 12% and 46%, whereas 4% and 26% their proteins are wholly disordered. These three measures of disorder content are linearly correlated with each other at the genome level. There is a weak correlation between the environmental factors (such as salinity, pH and temperature of the habitats) and the abundance of intrinsic disorder in Archaea, with various environmental factors possessing different disorder-promoting strengths. Harsh environmental conditions, especially those combining several hostile factors, clearly favor increased disorder content. Intrinsic disorder is highly abundant in functional Pfam domains of the archaea origin. The analysis based on the disordered content and phylogenetic tree indicated diverse evolution of intrinsic disorder among various classes and species of Archaea.Conclusions: Archaea proteins are rich in intrinsic disorder. Some of these IDPs and IDRs likely evolve to help archaea to accommodate to their hostile habitats. Other archaean IDPs and IDRs possess crucial biological functions similar to those of the bacterial and eukaryotic IDPs/IDRs

Patterns of Gene Flow Define Species of Thermophilic Archaea

A genomic view of speciation in Archaea shows higher rates of gene flow within coexisting microbial species than between them

Biological detoxification of the mycotoxin deoxynivalenol and its use in genetically engineered crops and feed additives

Deoxynivalenol (DON) is the major mycotoxin produced by Fusarium fungi in grains. Food and feed contaminated with DON pose a health risk to humans and livestock. The risk can be reduced by enzymatic detoxification. Complete mineralization of DON by microbial cultures has rarely been observed and the activities turned out to be unstable. The detoxification of DON by reactions targeting its epoxide group or hydroxyl on carbon 3 is more feasible. Microbial strains that de-epoxidize DON under anaerobic conditions have been isolated from animal digestive system. Feed additives claimed to de-epoxidize trichothecenes enzymatically are on the market but their efficacy has been disputed. A new detoxification pathway leading to 3-oxo-DON and 3-epi-DON was discovered in taxonomically unrelated soil bacteria from three continents; the enzymes involved remain to be identified. Arabidopsis, tobacco, wheat, barley, and rice were engineered to acetylate DON on carbon 3. In wheat expressing DON acetylation activity, the increase in resistance against Fusarium head blight was only moderate. The Tri101 gene from Fusarium sporotrichioides was used; Fusarium graminearum enzyme which possesses higher activity towards DON would presumably be a better choice. Glycosylation of trichothecenes occurs in plants, contributing to the resistance of wheat to F. graminearum infection. Marker-assisted selection based on the trichothecene-3-O-glucosyltransferase gene can be used in breeding for resistance. Fungal acetyltransferases and plant glucosyltransferases targeting carbon 3 of trichothecenes remain promising candidates for engineering resistance against Fusarium head blight. Bacterial enzymes catalyzing oxidation, epimerization, and less likely de-epoxidation of DON may extend this list in future

Constraints on jet quenching in p-Pb collisions at root s(NN)=5.02 TeV measured by the event-activity dependence of semi-inclusive hadron-jet distributions

CNPQ - CONSELHO NACIONAL DE DESENVOLVIMENTO CIENTÍFICO E TECNOLÓGICOFINEP - FINANCIADORA DE ESTUDOS E PROJETOSFAPESP - FUNDAÇÃO DE AMPARO À PESQUISA DO ESTADO DE SÃO PAULOThe ALICE Collaboration reports the measurement of semi-inclusive distributions of charged-particle jets recoiling from a high-transverse momentum trigger hadron in p-Pb collisions at root s(NN) = 5.02TeV. Jets are reconstructed from charged-particle tracks using the anti-k(T) algorithm with resolution parameter R = 0.2 and 0.4. A data-driven statistical approach is used to correct the uncorrelated background jet yield. Recoil jet distributions are reported for jet transverse momentum 15 < p(T,jet)(ch) < 50 GeV/c and are compared in various intervals of p-Pb event activity, based on charged-particle multiplicity and zero-degree neutral energy in the forward (Pb-going) direction. The semi-inclusive observable is self-normalized and such comparisons do not require the interpretation of p-Pb event activity in terms of collision geometry, in contrast to inclusive jet observables. These measurements provide new constraints on the magnitude of jet quenching in small systems at the LHC. In p-Pb collisions with high event activity, the average medium-induced out-of-cone energy transport for jets with R = 0.4 and 15 < p(T,jet)(ch) < 50 GeV/c is measured to be less than 0.4 GeV/c at 90% confidence, which is over an order of magnitude smaller than a similar measurement for central Pb-Pb collisions at root s(NN) = 2.76 TeV. Comparison is made to theoretical calculations of jet quenching in small systems, and to inclusive jet measurements in p-Pb collisions selected by event activity at the LHC and in d-Au collisions at RHIC.78395113CNPQ - CONSELHO NACIONAL DE DESENVOLVIMENTO CIENTÍFICO E TECNOLÓGICOFINEP - FINANCIADORA DE ESTUDOS E PROJETOSFAPESP - FUNDAÇÃO DE AMPARO À PESQUISA DO ESTADO DE SÃO PAULOCNPQ - CONSELHO NACIONAL DE DESENVOLVIMENTO CIENTÍFICO E TECNOLÓGICOFINEP - FINANCIADORA DE ESTUDOS E PROJETOSFAPESP - FUNDAÇÃO DE AMPARO À PESQUISA DO ESTADO DE SÃO PAULOSem informaçãoSem informaçãoSem informaçãoAgências de fomento estrangeiras apoiaram essa pesquisa, mais informações acesse artig

Longitudinal asymmetry and its effect on pseudorapidity distributions in Pb-Pb collisions at root s(NN)=2.76 TeV

First results on the longitudinal asymmetry and its effect on the pseudorapidity distributions in Pb-Pb collisions at root s(NN) = 2.76 TeV at the Large Hadron Collider are obtained with the ALICE detector. The longitudinal asymmetry arises because of an unequal number of participating nucleons from the two colliding nuclei, and is estimated for each event by measuring the energy in the forward neutron-Zero-Degree-Calorimeters (ZNs). The effect of the longitudinal asymmetry is measured on the pseudorapidity distributions of charged particles in the regions vertical bar eta vertical bar < 0.9, 2.8 < eta < 5.1 and -3.7 < eta < -1.7 by taking the ratio of the pseudorapidity distributions from events corresponding to different regions of asymmetry. The coefficients of a polynomial fit to the ratio characterise the effect of the asymmetry. A Monte Carlo simulation using a Glauber model for the colliding nuclei is tuned to reproduce the spectrum in the ZNs and provides a relation between the measurable longitudinal asymmetry and the shift in the rapidity (y(0)) of the participant zone formed by the unequal number of participating nucleons. The dependence of the coefficient of the linear term in the polynomial expansion, c(1), on the mean value of y(0) is investigated.Peer reviewe

Spin alignment measurements using vector mesons with ALICE detector at the LHC

We present new measurements related to spin alignment of K*(0) vector mesons at mid-rapidity for Pb-Pb collisions at root s(NN) = 2.76 and 5.02 TeV. The spin alignment measurements are carried out with respect to production plane and 2nd order event plane. At low p(T) the spin density matrix element rho(00) for K*(0) is found to have values slightly below 1/3, while it is consistent with 1/3, i.e. no spin alignment, at high p(T). Similar values of rho(00) are observed with respect to both production plane and event plane. Within statistical and systematic uncertainties, rho(00) values are also found to be independent of root s(NN). rho(00) also shows centrality dependence with maximum deviation from 1/3 for mid-central collisions with respect to both the kinematic planes. The measurements for K*(0) in pp collisions at root s = 13 TeV and for K-s(0) (a spin 0 hadron) in 20-40\% central Pb-Pb collisions at root s(NN) = 2.76 TeV are consistent with no spin alignment

Muon physics at forward rapidity with the ALICE detector upgrade

ALICE is the experiment specifically designed to study the Quark-Gluon Plasma (QGP) in heavy-ion collisions at the CERN LHC. The ALICE detector will be upgraded during the Long Shutdown 2, planned for 2019-2020, in order to cope with the maximum interaction rate of 50 kHz of Pb-Pb collisions foreseen for Runs 3 and 4. The ambitious programme of high-precision measurements, expected for muon physics after 2020, requires an upgrade of the front-end and readout electronics of the existing Muon Spectrometer. This concerns the Cathode Pad Chambers (CPC) used for tracking and the Resistive Plate Chambers (RPC) used for triggering and for muon identification. The Muon Forward Tracker (MFT), an internal tracker added in front of the front absorber of the existing Muon Spectrometer, is also part of the ALICE detector upgrade programme. It is based on an assembly of circular planes made of Monolithic Active Pixel Sensors (MAPS), covering the pseudorapidity range 2.5 < eta < 3.6. The MFT will improve present measurements and enable new ones. A selection of results from physics performance studies will be presented, together with an overview of the technical aspects of the upgrade project

Open heavy-flavour production and elliptic flow in p-Pb collisions at the LHC with ALICE

Measurements of open heavy flavour production in p-A collisions allow the investigation of Cold Nuclear Matter effects. In addition, they are an important tool for a complementary investigation of the long-range correlations found in small systems in the light flavour sector. In this work, production measurements of D mesons at mid-rapidity in p-Pb collisions at root S-NN = 5.02 TeV are reported. Production yields are also reported for the heavy-flavour hadron decay electrons at central rapidity at root(SNN) = 5.02 and 8.16 TeV. The elliptic flow (nu(2)) of heavy-flavour hadron decay electrons in high multiplicity p-Pb collisions at root(SNN) = 5.02 TeV is found to be positive with a significance larger than 5 sigma