Genetic variation and exercise-induced muscle damage: implications for athletic performance, injury and ageing.

Prolonged unaccustomed exercise involving muscle lengthening (eccentric) actions can result in ultrastructural muscle disruption, impaired excitation-contraction coupling, inflammation and muscle protein degradation. This process is associated with delayed onset muscle soreness and is referred to as exercise-induced muscle damage. Although a certain amount of muscle damage may be necessary for adaptation to occur, excessive damage or inadequate recovery from exercise-induced muscle damage can increase injury risk, particularly in older individuals, who experience more damage and require longer to recover from muscle damaging exercise than younger adults. Furthermore, it is apparent that inter-individual variation exists in the response to exercise-induced muscle damage, and there is evidence that genetic variability may play a key role. Although this area of research is in its infancy, certain gene variations, or polymorphisms have been associated with exercise-induced muscle damage (i.e. individuals with certain genotypes experience greater muscle damage, and require longer recovery, following strenuous exercise). These polymorphisms include ACTN3 (R577X, rs1815739), TNF (-308 G>A, rs1800629), IL6 (-174 G>C, rs1800795), and IGF2 (ApaI, 17200 G>A, rs680). Knowing how someone is likely to respond to a particular type of exercise could help coaches/practitioners individualise the exercise training of their athletes/patients, thus maximising recovery and adaptation, while reducing overload-associated injury risk. The purpose of this review is to provide a critical analysis of the literature concerning gene polymorphisms associated with exercise-induced muscle damage, both in young and older individuals, and to highlight the potential mechanisms underpinning these associations, thus providing a better understanding of exercise-induced muscle damage

Multi-agent cooperative systems applied to precision applications

Regulatory agencies are imposing limits and constraints to protect the operator and/or the environment. While generally necessary, these controls also tend to increase cost and decrease efficiency and productivity. Intelligent computer systems can be made to perform these hazardous tasks with greater efficiency and precision without danger to the operators. The Idaho national Engineering and Environmental Laboratory and the Center for Self-Organizing and Intelligent Systems at Utah State University have developed a series of autonomous all-terrain multi-agent systems capable of performing automated tasks within hazardous environments. This paper discusses the development and application of cooperative small-scale and large-scale robots for use in various activities associated with radiologically contaminated areas, prescription farming, and unexploded ordinances

(276–279) Proposals to provide for registration of new names and nomenclatural acts

The Melbourne Congress of 2011 authorized a Special Committee on Registration of Algal and Plant Names (including fossils), which was established the following year (Wilson in Taxon 61: 878–879. 2012). Its explicit mandate was “to consider what would be involved in registering algal and plant names (including fossils), using a procedure analogous to that for fungal names agreed upon in Melbourne and included in the Code as Art. 42”, but expectations at the Nomenclature Section in Melbourne went farther than that. There was the hope that registration systems for at least some of the main groups would soon be set up, to be used and tested on a voluntary basis and, if found to be generally accepted, would persuade the subsequent Congress in Shenzhen, in 2017, to declare registration of new names an additional requirement for valid publication. The Melbourne Congress also approved mandatory registration of nomenclatural novelties in fungi, starting on 1 Jan 2013. The new Art. 42 of the Code (McNeill & al. in Regnum Veg. 154. 2012) requires authors to register any fungal nomenclatural novelty, prior to publication, with a recognized repository, whereupon they are provided with a unique identifier for each name, to be included in the protologue along with other Code-mandated information. Years before registration became mandatory, mycologists had been encouraged, often prompted by journal editors, to register their nomenclatural novelties prior to publication. Most complied. Consequently, when mandatory registration was proposed, it had strong support from the mycological community. There are currently three recognized repositories for fungal names. They vary somewhat in how they operate, but they share records of their registered novelties as soon as publication has been effected. One consequence of implementing mandatory registration is that locating new fungal names and combinations and associated protologue information is much simpler now than it was before. This makes it easier to incorporate the information into taxonomic studies and to update taxonomic treatments, inventories, and indices. A corollary is that, no matter what publication outlet an author chooses, the name cannot fail to be noticed. The positive experience in mycology makes extension of the registration concept to plants and algae a compelling idea. That experience shows that the best way to make mandatory registration of nomenclatural novelties palatable to botanists and phycologists is the establishment of trial registration at repositories with a history of involvement in and commitment to the indexing of names. Trial registration enables users to acquaint themselves with registration procedures, make suggestions on how they might be improved, and appreciate, by personal experience, the benefits of registration. Unfortunately, the task of establishing such repositories proved to be more complex and time-consuming than had been foreseen. Substantial progress has been made in the establishment of such centres (Barkworth & al., in this issue, pp. 670–672) but the Committee is not in a position to make firm proposals to regulate registration procedures, even less to make registration mandatory from a concrete future date. Nevertheless, the Committee sees it as imperative that the Shenzhen Congress be offered the opportunity to move forward with registration without having to wait six more years. In this spirit, we offer the proposals below. Proposal (276) would declare registration an ongoing concern of the botanical, mycological, and phycological community and provide the basic structure for making it possible. Proposal (277) and Prop. (278) would, in addition, define a flexible framework within which a system of voluntary registration could be developed for various categories of organisms. Proposal (279) would provide for future mandatory registration in a way that does not depend on the six-year intervals between International Botanical Congresses. Presentation of each proposal is followed by a summary of the support received from members of the Committee.Fil: Barkworth, Mary E.. State University of Utah; Estados UnidosFil: Watson, Mark. Royal Botanic Gardens; Reino UnidoFil: Barrie, Fred R.. Missouri Botanical Garden; Estados Unidos. Field Museum Of Natural History; Estados UnidosFil: Belyaeva, Irina V.. Royal Botanic Gardens; Reino UnidoFil: Chung, Richard C. K.. Forest Research Institute ; MalasiaFil: Dasková, Jirina. Národní Muzeum; República ChecaFil: Davidse, Gerrit. Missouri Botanical Garden; Estados UnidosFil: Dönmez, Ali A.. Hacettepe Üniversitesi; TurquíaFil: Doweld, Alexander B.. National Institute Of Carpology; RusiaFil: Dressler, Stefan. Senckenberg Forschungsinstitut Und Naturmuseum; AlemaniaFil: Flann, Christina. Naturalis Biodiversity Center; Países BajosFil: Gandhi, Kanchi. Harvard University; Estados UnidosFil: Geltman, Dmitry. Russian Academy of Science; RusiaFil: Glen, Hugh F.. Forest Hills; SudáfricaFil: Greuter, Werner. Freie Universität Berlin; AlemaniaFil: Head, Martin J.. Brock University; CanadáFil: Jahn, Regine. Freie Universität Berlin; AlemaniaFil: Janarthanam, Malapati K.. Goa University; IndiaFil: Katinas, Liliana. Universidad Nacional de La Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Naturales y Museo. División de Plantas Vasculares; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - La Plata; ArgentinaFil: Kirk, Paul M.. Royal Botanic Gardens; Reino UnidoFil: Klazenga, Niels. Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria; AustraliaFil: Kusber, Wolf-Henning. Freie Universität Berlin; AlemaniaFil: Kvacek, Jirí. Národní Muzeum; República ChecaFil: Malécot, Valéry. Universite D'angers; FranciaFil: Mann, David G.. Royal Botanic Gardens; Reino UnidoFil: Marhold, Karol. Charles University; República ChecaFil: Nagamasu, Hidetoshi. Kyoto University; JapónFil: Nicolson, Nicky. Royal Botanic Gardens; Reino UnidoFil: Paton, Alan. Royal Botanic Gardens; Reino UnidoFil: Patterson, David J.. The University Of Sydney; AustraliaFil: Price, Michelle J.. Conservatoire et Jardin botaniques de la Ville de Genève; SuizaFil: van Reine, Willem F Prud' Homme. Naturalis Biodiversity Center; Países BajosFil: Schneider, Craig W.. Trinity College Hartford; Estados UnidosFil: Sennikov, Alexander. Russian Academy Of Sciences; RusiaFil: Smith, Gideon F.. Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University; Sudáfrica. Universidad de Coimbra; PortugalFil: Stevens, Peter F.. Missouri Botanical Garden; Estados Unidos. University of Missouri; Estados UnidosFil: Yang, Zhu-Liang. Kunming Institute Of Botany Chinese Academy Of Sciences; ChinaFil: Zhang, Xian-Chun. Chinese Academy of Sciences; República de ChinaFil: Zuccarello, Giuseppe C.. Victoria University Of Wellington; Nueva Zeland

A detailed investigation of the aza-Prins reaction

The development of a Lewis acid-promoted aza-Prins reaction to form piperidines and pyrrolidines is described. Indium trichloride has been found to be a highly successful and mild Lewis acid for promoting this reaction. A thorough mechanistic investigation is described, including the factors that influence the formation of the 5- or 6-membered ring product(s)