Selected static foot assessments do not predict medial longitudinal arch motion during running

Background: Static assessments of the foot are commonly advocated within the running community to classify the foot with a view to recommending the appropriate type of running shoe. The aim of this work was to determine whether selected static foot assessment could predict medial longitudinal arch (MLA) motion during running. Methods: Fifteen physically active males (27 ± 5 years, 1.77 ± 0.04m, 80 ± 10kg) participated in the study. Foot Posture Index (FPI-6), MLA angle and rearfoot angle were measured in a relaxed standing position. MLA motion was calculated using the position of retro-reflective markers tracked by a VICON motion analysis system, while participants ran barefoot on a treadmill at a self-selected pace (2.8 ± 0.5m.s-1). Bivariate linear regression was used to determine whether the static measures predicted MLA deformation and MLA angles at initial contact, midsupport and toe off. Results: All three foot classification measures were significant predictors of MLA angle at initial contact, midsupport and toe off (p < .05) explaining 41-90% of the variance. None of the static foot classification measures were significant predictors of MLA deformation during the stance phase of running. Conclusion: Selected static foot measures did not predict dynamic MLA deformation during running. Given that MLA deformation has theoretically been linked to running injuries, the clinical relevance of predicting MLA angle at discrete time points during the stance phase of running is questioned. These findings also question the validity of the selected static foot classification measures when looking to characterise the foot during running. This indicates that alternative means of assessing the foot to inform footwear selection are required

LeMMINGs - II. The e-MERLIN legacy survey of nearby galaxies. The deepest radio view of the Palomar sample on parsec scale

We present the second data release of high-resolution (≤0.2 arcsec) 1.5-GHz radio images of 177 nearby galaxies from the Palomar sample, observed with the e-MERLIN array, as part of the Legacy e-MERLIN Multi-band Imaging of Nearby Galaxies Sample (LeMMINGs) survey. Together with the 103 targets of the first LeMMINGs data release, this represents a complete sample of 280 local active (LINER and Seyfert) and inactive galaxies (H II galaxies and absorption line galaxies, ALG). This large program is the deepest radio survey of the local Universe, ≳1017.6 W Hz−1, regardless of the host and nuclear type: we detect radio emission ≳0.25 mJy beam−1 for 125/280 galaxies (44.6 per cent) with sizes of typically ≲100 pc. Of those 125, 106 targets show a core which coincides within 1.2 arcsec with the optical nucleus. Although we observed mostly cores, around one third of the detected galaxies features jetted morphologies. The detected radio core luminosities of the sample range between ∼1034 and 1040 erg s−1. LINERs and Seyferts are the most luminous sources, whereas H II galaxies are the least. LINERs show FR I-like core-brightened radio structures while Seyferts reveal the highest fraction of symmetric morphologies. The majority of H II galaxies have single radio core or complex extended structures, which probably conceal a nuclear starburst and/or a weak active nucleus (seven of them show clear jets). ALGs, which are typically found in evolved ellipticals, although the least numerous, exhibit on average the most luminous radio structures, similar to LINERs

Identifier mapping performance for integrating transcriptomics and proteomics experimental results

Background\ud Studies integrating transcriptomic data with proteomic data can illuminate the proteome more clearly than either separately. Integromic studies can deepen understanding of the dynamic complex regulatory relationship between the transcriptome and the proteome. Integrating these data dictates a reliable mapping between the identifier nomenclature resultant from the two high-throughput platforms. However, this kind of analysis is well known to be hampered by lack of standardization of identifier nomenclature among proteins, genes, and microarray probe sets. Therefore data integration may also play a role in critiquing the fallible gene identifications that both platforms emit.\ud \ud Results\ud We compared three freely available internet-based identifier mapping resources for mapping UniProt accessions (ACCs) to Affymetrix probesets identifications (IDs): DAVID, EnVision, and NetAffx. Liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry analyses of 91 endometrial cancer and 7 noncancer samples generated 11,879 distinct ACCs. For each ACC, we compared the retrieval sets of probeset IDs from each mapping resource. We confirmed a high level of discrepancy among the mapping resources. On the same samples, mRNA expression was available. Therefore, to evaluate the quality of each ACC-to-probeset match, we calculated proteome-transcriptome correlations, and compared the resources presuming that better mapping of identifiers should generate a higher proportion of mapped pairs with strong inter-platform correlations. A mixture model for the correlations fitted well and supported regression analysis, providing a window into the performance of the mapping resources. The resources have added and dropped matches over two years, but their overall performance has not changed.\ud \ud Conclusions\ud The methods presented here serve to achieve concrete context-specific insight, to support well-informed decisions in choosing an ID mapping strategy for "omic" data merging

Immune Boosting Explains Regime-Shifts in Prevaccine-Era Pertussis Dynamics

Understanding the biological mechanisms underlying episodic outbreaks of infectious diseases is one of mathematical epidemiology’s major goals. Historic records are an invaluable source of information in this enterprise. Pertussis (whooping cough) is a re-emerging infection whose intermittent bouts of large multiannual epidemics interspersed between periods of smaller-amplitude cycles remain an enigma. It has been suggested that recent increases in pertussis incidence and shifts in the age-distribution of cases may be due to diminished natural immune boosting. Here we show that a model that incorporates this mechanism can account for a unique set of pre-vaccine-era data from Copenhagen. Under this model, immune boosting induces transient bursts of large amplitude outbreaks. In the face of mass vaccination, the boosting model predicts larger and more frequent outbreaks than do models with permanent or passively-waning immunity. Our results emphasize the importance of understanding the mechanisms responsible for maintaining immune memory fo

The Functioning of the Drosophila CPEB Protein Orb Is Regulated by Phosphorylation and Requires Casein Kinase 2 Activity

The Orb CPEB protein regulates translation of localized mRNAs in Drosophila ovaries. While there are multiple hypo- and hyperphosphorylated Orb isoforms in wild type ovaries, most are missing in orbF303, which has an amino acid substitution in a buried region of the second RRM domain. Using a proteomics approach we identified a candidate Orb kinase, Casein Kinase 2 (CK2). In addition to being associated with Orb in vivo, we show that ck2 is required for orb functioning in gurken signaling and in the autoregulation of orb mRNA localization and translation. Supporting a role for ck2 in Orb phosphorylation, we find that the phosphorylation pattern is altered when ck2 activity is partially compromised. Finally, we show that the Orb hypophosphorylated isoforms are in slowly sedimenting complexes that contain the translational repressor Bruno, while the hyperphosphorylated isoforms assemble into large complexes that co-sediment with polysomes and contain the Wisp poly(A) polymerase

A53T-alpha-synuclein-overexpression in the mouse nigrostriatal pathway leads to early increase of 14-3-3 epsilon and late increase of GFAP

Parkinson’s disease (PD) is a neurodegenerative disorder frequent at old age characterized by atrophy of the nigrostriatal projection. Overexpression and A53T-mutation of the presynaptic, vesicle-associated chaperone alpha-synuclein are known to cause early-onset autosomal dominant PD. We previously generated mice with transgenic overexpression of human A53T-alpha-synuclein (A53T-SNCA) in dopaminergic substantia nigra neurons as a model of early PD. To elucidate the early and late effects of A53T-alpha-synuclein on the proteome of dopaminergic nerve terminals in the striatum, we now investigated expression profiles of young and old mice using two-dimensional fluorescence difference in gel electrophoresis (2D-DIGE) and mass spectrometry. In total, 15 proteins were upregulated and 2 downregulated. Mice before the onset of motor anomalies showed an upregulation of the spot containing 14-3-3 proteins, in particular the epsilon isoform, as well as altered levels of chaperones, vesicle trafficking and bioenergetics proteins. In old mice, the persistent upregulation of 14-3-3 proteins was aggravated by an increase of glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) suggesting astrogliosis due to initial neurodegeneration. Independent immunoblots corroborated GFAP upregulation and 14-3-3 upregulation for the epsilon isoform, and also detected significant eta and gamma changes. Only for 14-3-3 epsilon a corresponding mRNA increase was observed in midbrain, suggesting it is transcribed in dopaminergic perikarya and accumulates as protein in presynapses, together with A53T-SNCA. 14-3-3 proteins associate with alpha-synuclein in vitro and in pathognomonic Lewy bodies of PD brains. They act as chaperones in signaling, dopamine synthesis and stress response. Thus, their early dysregulation probably reflects a response to alpha-synuclein toxicity

Innate Immune Response of Human Alveolar Macrophages during Influenza A Infection

Alveolar macrophages (AM) are one of the key cell types for initiating inflammatory and immune responses to influenza virus in the lung. However, the genome-wide changes in response to influenza infection in AM have not been defined. We performed gene profiling of human AM in response to H1N1 influenza A virus PR/8 using Affymetrix HG-U133 Plus 2.0 chips and verified the changes at both mRNA and protein levels by real-time RT-PCR and ELISA. We confirmed the response with a contemporary H3N2 influenza virus A/New York/238/2005 (NY/238). To understand the local cellular response, we also evaluated the impact of paracrine factors on virus-induced chemokine and cytokine secretion. In addition, we investigated the changes in the expression of macrophage receptors and uptake of pathogens after PR/8 infection. Although macrophages fail to release a large amount of infectious virus, we observed a robust induction of type I and type III interferons and several cytokines and chemokines following influenza infection. CXCL9, 10, and 11 were the most highly induced chemokines by influenza infection. UV-inactivation abolished virus-induced cytokine and chemokine response, with the exception of CXCL10. The contemporary influenza virus NY/238 infection of AM induced a similar response as PR/8. Inhibition of TNF and/or IL-1β activity significantly decreased the secretion of the proinflammatory chemokines CCL5 and CXCL8 by over 50%. PR/8 infection also significantly decreased mRNA levels of macrophage receptors including C-type lectin domain family 7 member A (CLEC7A), macrophage scavenger receptor 1 (MSR1), and CD36, and reduced uptake of zymosan. In conclusion, influenza infection induced an extensive proinflammatory response in human AM. Targeting local components of innate immune response might provide a strategy for controlling influenza A infection-induced proinflammatory response in vivo

The influence of external factors on bacteriophages—review

The ability of bacteriophages to survive under unfavorable conditions is highly diversified. We summarize the influence of different external physical and chemical factors, such as temperature, acidity, and ions, on phage persistence. The relationships between a phage’s morphology and its survival abilities suggested by some authors are also discussed. A better understanding of the complex problem of phage sensitivity to external factors may be useful not only for those interested in pharmaceutical and agricultural applications of bacteriophages, but also for others working with phages