Interactions between benthic macroinvertebrates and saltmarsh plants : consequences for saltmarsh restoration and the policy of managed realignment on the coast of SE England.

PhDOver the last half century, the saltmarshes of south east England have undergone an extensive decline, especially the pioneer zone vegetation. These losses have generally been blamed on coastal squeeze resulting from sea level rising against sea walls. There is little evidence to support this hypothesis however, and an alternative hypothesis, based on infaunal invertebrates preventing the establishment of saltmarsh plants was tested. In the managed realignment site at Tollesbury, and the other sites examined, the mudflat fauna was dominated by Nereis (= Hediste) diversicolor and Hydrobia ulvae. In laboratory experiments N. diversicolor and H. ulvae reduced the production of seedlings from seeds of Salicornia europaea agg.. Conversely the presence of S. europaea agg. significantly reduced the normal burrowing activity of N. diversicolor. Invertebrate exclusion experiments established at five sites in south east England facilitated colonisation by saltmarsh plants at some sites (Orplands, the Blythe Estuary, Wallasea Island and Maldon), by excluding large (>3cm) N. diversicolor. However, at the Tollesbury realignment site, the high rate of sediment deposition and the relatively long distance to a source of seeds prevented plant colonisation. This study supports the hypothesis that establishment of saltmarsh vegetation is prevented by infaunal invertebrates,particularly N.diversicolor, which exclude plants through bioturbation, herbivory and granivory. These interactions may help explain the loss of saltmarshes and will reduce the success of future managed realignment schemes which depend upon the colonisation of new intertidal areas by saltmarsh vegetation. Further management of realignment sites will be necessary to encourage saltmarsh development.Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Foo

Development of an Integrated Chip for Automatic Tracking and Positioning Manipulation for Single Cell Lysis

This study adopted a microelectromechanical fabrication process to design a chip integrated with electroosmotic flow and dielectrophoresis force for single cell lysis. Human histiocytic lymphoma U937 cells were driven rapidly by electroosmotic flow and precisely moved to a specific area for cell lysis. By varying the frequency of AC power, 15 V AC at 1 MHz of frequency configuration achieved 100% cell lysing at the specific area. The integrated chip could successfully manipulate single cells to a specific position and lysis. The overall successful rate of cell tracking, positioning, and cell lysis is 80%. The average speed of cell driving was 17.74 μm/s. This technique will be developed for DNA extraction in biomolecular detection. It can simplify pre-treatment procedures for biotechnological analysis of samples

PENENTUAN LDso DAN IDso Salmonella pullorum PADA ANAK AYAM PETELUR YANG DIINFEKSI SECARA ORAL DAN PENGARUHNYA TERHADAP GAMBARAN PATOLOGI ANATOMI

Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk menentukan LD5{) dan ID5{) bakteri Salmonella pullorum pada anak ayam petelur umur 10 hari yang diinfeksi secara oral dan mengetahui pengaruhnya terhadap gambaran patologi anatomi usus halus, sekum dan hati. Pada penelitian ini digunakan anak ayam pete)ur umur 10 hari sebanyak 94 ekor yang dibagi menjadi 54 ekor untuk penentuan LD5(, dan IDso dan 40 ekor untuk perlakuan penelitian. Salmonella pullorum yang digunakan adalah galur )oka), kemudian diinfeksikan secara oral sebanyak satu mililiter dengan dosis 10 LDso pada anak ayam. Pengamatan dilakukan setiap hari selama delapan had. Data yang diperoleh dari penentuan LD5{) dan 1050 bakteri Salmonella pullorum ditabulasikan dan dianalisis dengan metode penentuan LD5(l dan IDso menurut Reed dan Muench, sedangkan data penelitian pengaruh infeksi Salmonella pullorum secara oral terhadap gambaran patologi anatomi dianalisis secara statistik menggunakan Uji Jenjang Bertanda Wilcoxon

Efficacy of a Novel Injection Lipolysis to Induce Targeted Adipocyte Apoptosis: A Randomized, Phase IIa Study of CBL-514 Injection on Abdominal Subcutaneous Fat Reduction

Background: CBL-514 is a novel injectable drug that may be safe and efficacious for localized abdominal subcutaneous fat reduction. Objectives: The aim of this study was to assess the safety and efficacy of CBL-514 in reducing abdominal subcutaneous fat volume and thickness. Methods: This Phase IIa, open-label, random allocation study consisted of a 6-week treatment period and follow-up at 4 and 8 weeks following the last treatment. Participants were randomly allocated to receive 1.2 mg/cm2 (180 mg), 1.6 mg/cm2 (240 mg), or 2.0 mg/cm2 (300 mg) of CBL-514 with up to 4 treatments, each comprising 60 injections into the abdominal adipose layer. Changes in abdominal subcutaneous fat were assessed by ultrasound at follow-up visits. Treatment-emergent adverse events were recorded. Results: Higher doses of CBL-514 (unit dose, 2.0 and 1.6 mg/cm2) significantly improved the absolute and percentage reduction in abdominal fat volume (P < 0.00001) and thickness (P < 0.0001) compared with baseline. Although the COVID-19 pandemic halted some participant recruitment and follow-ups, analysis was unaffected, even after sample size limitations. Conclusions: CBL-514 injection at multiple doses up to 300 mg with a unit dose of 2.0 mg/cm2 is safe, well-tolerated, and reduced abdominal fat volume and thickness by inducing adipocyte apoptosis. Although other procedures exist to treat abdominal fat, they have limitations and may cause complications. At a dose of 2.0 mg/cm2, CBL-514 safely and significantly reduced abdominal fat volume by 24.96%, making it a promising new treatment for routine, nonsurgical abdominal fat reduction in dermatologic clinics. Level of Evidence: 4

MicroRNAs in pulmonary arterial remodeling

Pulmonary arterial remodeling is a presently irreversible pathologic hallmark of pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH). This complex disease involves pathogenic dysregulation of all cell types within the small pulmonary arteries contributing to vascular remodeling leading to intimal lesions, resulting in elevated pulmonary vascular resistance and right heart dysfunction. Mutations within the bone morphogenetic protein receptor 2 gene, leading to dysregulated proliferation of pulmonary artery smooth muscle cells, have been identified as being responsible for heritable PAH. Indeed, the disease is characterized by excessive cellular proliferation and resistance to apoptosis of smooth muscle and endothelial cells. Significant gene dysregulation at the transcriptional and signaling level has been identified. MicroRNAs are small non-coding RNA molecules that negatively regulate gene expression and have the ability to target numerous genes, therefore potentially controlling a host of gene regulatory and signaling pathways. The major role of miRNAs in pulmonary arterial remodeling is still relatively unknown although research data is emerging apace. Modulation of miRNAs represents a possible therapeutic target for altering the remodeling phenotype in the pulmonary vasculature. This review will focus on the role of miRNAs in regulating smooth muscle and endothelial cell phenotypes and their influence on pulmonary remodeling in the setting of PAH

Magnetism, FeS colloids, and Origins of Life

A number of features of living systems: reversible interactions and weak bonds underlying motor-dynamics; gel-sol transitions; cellular connected fractal organization; asymmetry in interactions and organization; quantum coherent phenomena; to name some, can have a natural accounting via $physical$ interactions, which we therefore seek to incorporate by expanding the horizons of `chemistry-only' approaches to the origins of life. It is suggested that the magnetic 'face' of the minerals from the inorganic world, recognized to have played a pivotal role in initiating Life, may throw light on some of these issues. A magnetic environment in the form of rocks in the Hadean Ocean could have enabled the accretion and therefore an ordered confinement of super-paramagnetic colloids within a structured phase. A moderate H-field can help magnetic nano-particles to not only overcome thermal fluctuations but also harness them. Such controlled dynamics brings in the possibility of accessing quantum effects, which together with frustrations in magnetic ordering and hysteresis (a natural mechanism for a primitive memory) could throw light on the birth of biological information which, as Abel argues, requires a combination of order and complexity. This scenario gains strength from observations of scale-free framboidal forms of the greigite mineral, with a magnetic basis of assembly. And greigite's metabolic potential plays a key role in the mound scenario of Russell and coworkers-an expansion of which is suggested for including magnetism.Comment: 42 pages, 5 figures, to be published in A.R. Memorial volume, Ed Krishnaswami Alladi, Springer 201

MTSS1 and SCAMP1 cooperate to prevent invasion in breast cancer

Cell–cell adhesions constitute the structural “glue” that retains cells together and contributes to tissue organisation and physiological function. The integrity of these structures is regulated by extracellular and intracellular signals and pathways that act on the functional units of cell adhesion such as the cell adhesion molecules/adhesion receptors, the extracellular matrix (ECM) proteins and the cytoplasmic plaque/peripheral membrane proteins. In advanced cancer, these regulatory pathways are dysregulated and lead to cell–cell adhesion disassembly, increased invasion and metastasis. The Metastasis suppressor protein 1 (MTSS1) plays a key role in the maintenance of cell–cell adhesions and its loss correlates with tumour progression in a variety of cancers. However, the mechanisms that regulate its function are not well-known. Using a system biology approach, we unravelled potential interacting partners of MTSS1. We found that the secretory carrier-associated membrane protein 1 (SCAMP1), a molecule involved in post-Golgi recycling pathways and in endosome cell membrane recycling, enhances Mtss1 anti-invasive function in HER2+/ER−/PR− breast cancer, by promoting its protein trafficking leading to elevated levels of RAC1-GTP and increased cell–cell adhesions. This was clinically tested in HER2 breast cancer tissue and shown that loss of MTSS1 and SCAMP1 correlates with reduced disease-specific survival. In summary, we provide evidence of the cooperative roles of MTSS1 and SCAMP1 in preventing HER2+/ER−/PR− breast cancer invasion and we show that the loss of Mtss1 and Scamp1 results in a more aggressive cancer cell phenotype

Evaluation of Chikungunya Diagnostic Assays: Differences in Sensitivity of Serology Assays in Two Independent Outbreaks

Chikungunya is a mounting public health concern in many parts of the world. Definitive diagnosis is critical in differentiating the diseases, especially in dengue endemic areas. There are some commercial chikungunya kits and published molecular protocols available, but no comprehensive comparative evaluation of them was performed. Using sera collected in outbreaks caused by two variants of Chikungunya virus (A226 and 226V), we tested 2 commercial IgM tests (CTK lateral flow rapid test and EUROIMMUN IFA) alongside our in-house IgM assays (using both variants of the virus). Sensitivities of 2 published PCR protocols were also evaluated based on RNA standards derived from cell-cultured viruses. The commercial assays had different performances in each outbreak, with CTK's lateral flow test having the best performance in the first outbreak and EUROIMMUN IFA being more sensitive in the second outbreak. Use of the current circulating virus in a test assay improves sensitivity of the MAC-ELISAs. For PCR, a probe-based real time RT-PCR method was found to be 10 times more sensitive than the SYBR Green method. Despite this, the latter protocol is found to be more suitable and cost-effective for our diagnostic laboratory. This evaluation demonstrates the importance of appraisal of commercial kits and published protocols before application of a diagnostic tool in the clinical and operational setting

Idiopathic Male Infertility Is Strongly Associated with Aberrant Promoter Methylation of Methylenetetrahydrofolate Reductase (MTHFR)

Abnormal germline DNA methylation in males has been proposed as a possible mechanism compromising spermatogenesis of some men currently diagnosed with idiopathic infertility. Previous studies have been focused on imprinted genes with DNA methylation in poor quality human sperms. However, recent but limited data have revealed that sperm methylation abnormalities may involve large numbers of genes or shown that genes that are not imprinted are also affected.Using the methylation-specific polymerase chain reaction and bisulfite sequencing method, we examined methylation patterns of the promoter of methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR) gene (NG_013351: 1538-1719) in sperm DNA obtained from 94 idiopathic infertile men and 54 normal fertile controls. Subjects with idiopathic infertility were further divided into groups of normozoospermia and oligozoospermia. Overall, 45% (41/94) of idiopathic infertile males had MTHFR hypermethylation (both hemimethylation and full methylation), compared with 15% of fertile controls (P<0.05). Subjects with higher methylation level of MTHFR were more likely to have idiopathic male infertility (P-value for trend  = 0.0007). Comparing the two groups of idiopathic infertile subjects with different sperm concentrations, a higher methylation pattern was found in the group with oligozoospermia.Hypermethylation of the promoter of MTHFR gene in sperms is associated with idiopathic male infertility. The functional relevance of hypermathylation of MTHFR to male fertility warrants further investigation