Treadmill exercise within lower body negative pressure protects leg lean tissue mass and extensor strength and endurance during bed rest.

Leg muscle mass and strength are decreased during reduced activity and non-weight-bearing conditions such as bed rest (BR) and spaceflight. Supine treadmill exercise within lower body negative pressure (LBNPEX) provides full-body weight loading during BR and may prevent muscle deconditioning. We hypothesized that a 40-min interval exercise protocol performed against LBNPEX 6 days week(-1) would attenuate losses in leg lean mass (LLM), strength, and endurance during 6° head-down tilt BR, with similar benefits for men and women. Fifteen pairs of healthy monozygous twins (8 male and 7 female pairs) completed 30 days of BR with one sibling of each twin pair assigned randomly as the non-exercise control (CON) and the other twin as the exercise subject (EX). Before and after BR, LLM and isokinetic leg strength and endurance were measured. Mean knee and ankle extensor and flexor strength and endurance and LLM decreased from pre- to post-BR in the male CON subjects (P < 0.01), but knee extensor strength and endurance, ankle extensor strength, and LLM were maintained in the male EX subjects. In contrast, no pre- to post-BR changes were significant in the female subjects, either CON or EX, likely due to their lower pre-BR values. Importantly, the LBNPEX countermeasure prevents or attenuates declines in LLM as well as extensor leg strength and endurance. Individuals who are stronger, have higher levels of muscular endurance, and/or have greater LLM are likely to experience greater losses during BR than those who are less fit

Using Eye Tracking and Electroencephalography to Understand the Efficacy of Digital and Static Outdoor Advertisements

Abstract de la ponencia[EN] This study discusses the contributions of advanced eye tracking research combined with electroencephalography (EEG) as a method of understanding the cognitive processing of digital vs. static outdoor advertisements. Subjects were exposed to a variety of billboard advertisements on a section of Interstate freeway in a suburban area in the western United States. Results showed that visual fixation time was higher for digital advertisements compared to static advertisements. In particular, the eye-tracking data revealed which advertisements received the most attention. This was mainly dependent upon location (i.e. distance from driver, distance from adjacent traffic signs, etc.). As eye-tracking systems have become more sophisticated and affordable, there has been an increasing interest in the use of eye tracking within the traffic safety and outdoor advertising domain (Perez & Bertola, 2010). Eye tracking studies that have focused on web-based and driving stimuli have gathered eye-movement data while participants were engaged in lowattention settings (Lee and Ahn, 2012). The findings of these studies have indicated that digital and animated advertisements, in low attention settings, reduce the likelihood of mental recall and result in overall decreased cognitive engagement. Twenty-five subjects between the ages of 18 and 45 participated in the study. A 16 mile (25.75 kilometer) freeway drive was videotaped and then projected onto a four-by-six-foot screen. Subjects then viewed the projected video from inside a stationary car to simulate a driving environment. Using Tobii2 Glasses eye tracking system, subjects’ eye-movements and gaze patterns were recorded during the simulation. EEG data was also collected to measure the subject’s emotional response, and to gain additional insight into how they felt about the advertisements. In addition, participants were asked immediately after their drive to list any advertisements they recalled. These findings provide indications for best practices of effective outdoor advertising using gaze pattern analysis. These include positioning, layout, color schemes, etc. A potential implication for digital advertisements could be identifying the optimal length of time to display digital signage. Additionally, the results may suggest improvements in specific industry ads in order to maximize cognitive influence on consumer action (e.g. best times to display food and beverage advertisements). From a traffic safety consideration, these results will provide a psychological understanding of whether or not outdoor advertisements present safety implications to drivers. Overall, findings provide a better understanding of digital and static outdoor advertising as it relates to safety and consumer behavior. The results of this study may have significant implications in both the private and public sectors.Reas, B.; Dishman, P.; Mc Carter, A.; Jolley, AD. (2016). Using Eye Tracking and Electroencephalography to Understand the Efficacy of Digital and Static Outdoor Advertisements. En CARMA 2016: 1st International Conference on Advanced Research Methods in Analytics. Editorial Universitat Politècnica de València. 168-169. https://doi.org/10.4995/CARMA2016.2015.3109OCS16816

Recovery of Barotrauma Injuries in Chinook Salmon, Oncorhynchus tshawytscha from Exposure to Pile Driving Sound

Juvenile Chinook salmon, Oncorhynchus tshawytscha, were exposed to simulated high intensity pile driving signals to evaluate their ability to recover from barotrauma injuries. Fish were exposed to one of two cumulative sound exposure levels for 960 pile strikes (217 or 210 dB re 1 µPa2·s SELcum; single strike sound exposure levels of 187 or 180 dB re 1 µPa2⋅s SELss respectively). This was followed by an immediate assessment of injuries, or assessment 2, 5, or 10 days post-exposure. There were no observed mortalities from the pile driving sound exposure. Fish exposed to 217 dB re 1 µPa2·s SELcum displayed evidence of healing from injuries as post-exposure time increased. Fish exposed to 210 dB re 1 µPa2·s SELcum sustained minimal injuries that were not significantly different from control fish at days 0, 2, and 10. The exposure to 210 dB re 1 µPa2·s SELcum replicated the findings in a previous study that defined this level as the threshold for onset of injury. Furthermore, these data support the hypothesis that one or two Mild injuries resulting from pile driving exposure are unlikely to affect the survival of the exposed animals, at least in a laboratory environment

High frequency of the IVS2-2A>G DNA sequence variation in SLC26A5, encoding the cochlear motor protein prestin, precludes its involvement in hereditary hearing loss

BACKGROUND: Cochlear outer hair cells change their length in response to variations in membrane potential. This capability, called electromotility, is believed to enable the sensitivity and frequency selectivity of the mammalian cochlea. Prestin is a transmembrane protein required for electromotility. Homozygous prestin knockout mice are profoundly hearing impaired. In humans, a single nucleotide change in SLC26A5, encoding prestin, has been reported in association with hearing loss. This DNA sequence variation, IVS2-2A>G, occurs in the exon 3 splice acceptor site and is expected to abolish splicing of exon 3. METHODS: To further explore the relationship between hearing loss and the IVS2-2A>G transition, and assess allele frequency, genomic DNA from hearing impaired and control subjects was analyzed by DNA sequencing. SLC26A5 genomic DNA sequences from human, chimp, rat, mouse, zebrafish and fruit fly were aligned and compared for evolutionary conservation of the exon 3 splice acceptor site. Alternative splice acceptor sites within intron 2 of human SLC26A5 were sought using a splice site prediction program from the Berkeley Drosophila Genome Project. RESULTS: The IVS2-2A>G variant was found in a heterozygous state in 4 of 74 hearing impaired subjects of Hispanic, Caucasian or uncertain ethnicity and 4 of 150 Hispanic or Caucasian controls (p = 0.45). The IVS2-2A>G variant was not found in 106 subjects of Asian or African American descent. No homozygous subjects were identified (n = 330). Sequence alignment of SLC26A5 orthologs demonstrated that the A nucleotide at position IVS2-2 is invariant among several eukaryotic species. Sequence analysis also revealed five potential alternative splice acceptor sites in intron 2 of human SLC26A5. CONCLUSION: These data suggest that the IVS2-2A>G variant may not occur more frequently in hearing impaired subjects than in controls. The identification of five potential alternative splice acceptor sites in intron 2 of human SLC26A5 suggests a potential mechanism by which expression of prestin might be maintained in cells carrying the SLC26A5 IVS2-2A>G DNA sequence variation. Additional studies are needed to evaluate the effect of the IVS2-2A>G transition on splicing of SLC26A5 transcripts and characterize the hearing status of individuals homozygous for the IVS2-2A>G variant

Serologic testing for symptomatic coccidioidomycosis in immunocompetent and immunosuppressed hosts

Serologic studies are an important diagnostic tool in the clinical evaluation and follow-up of persons with coccidioidomycosis. Numerous types of serologic tests are available, including immunodiffusion, enzyme immunoassay, and complement fixation. We conducted a retrospective review of the results of 1,797 serologic tests spanning 12 months from the onset of coccidioidomycosis in 298 immunocompetent and 62 immunosuppressed persons with symptomatic infection. Using the onset of symptoms as a reference point, we plotted the positive or negative serologic results over time for both groups. Compared with the immunocompetent group, immunosuppressed persons had lower rates of seropositivity for every type of test during the first year after onset of symptoms for coccidioidomycosis, although many results did not achieve statistical significance. Combining the results of these tests increased the sensitivity of the serologic evaluation in immunocompromised patients. Immunosuppressed persons have the ability to mount a serologic response to coccidioidomycosis, but in some circumstances, multiple methods may be required to improve detection

Mitochondrial cardiomyopathies: how to identify candidate pathogenic mutations by mitochondrial DNA sequencing, MITOMASTER and phylogeny

Pathogenic mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) mutations leading to mitochondrial dysfunction can cause cardiomyopathy and heart failure. Owing to a high mutation rate, mtDNA defects may occur at any nucleotide in its 16 569 bp sequence. Complete mtDNA sequencing may detect pathogenic mutations, which can be difficult to interpret because of normal ethnic/geographic-associated haplogroup variation. Our goal is to show how to identify candidate mtDNA mutations by sorting out polymorphisms using readily available online tools. The purpose of this approach is to help investigators in prioritizing mtDNA variants for functional analysis to establish pathogenicity. We analyzed complete mtDNA sequences from 29 Italian patients with mitochondrial cardiomyopathy or suspected disease. Using MITOMASTER and PhyloTree, we characterized 593 substitution variants by haplogroup and allele frequencies to identify all novel, non-haplogroup-associated variants. MITOMASTER permitted determination of each variant's location, amino acid change and evolutionary conservation. We found that 98% of variants were common or rare, haplogroup-associated variants, and thus unlikely to be primary cause in 80% of cases. Six variants were novel, non-haplogroup variants and thus possible contributors to disease etiology. Two with the greatest pathogenic potential were heteroplasmic, nonsynonymous variants: m.15132T>C in MT-CYB for a patient with hypertrophic dilated cardiomyopathy and m.6570G>T in MT-CO1 for a patient with myopathy. In summary, we have used our automated information system, MITOMASTER, to make a preliminary distinction between normal mtDNA variation and pathogenic mutations in patient samples; this fast and easy approach allowed us to select the variants for traditional analysis to establish pathogenicity

Power Law versus Exponential State Transition Dynamics: Application to Sleep-Wake Architecture

BACKGROUND: Despite the common experience that interrupted sleep has a negative impact on waking function, the features of human sleep-wake architecture that best distinguish sleep continuity versus fragmentation remain elusive. In this regard, there is growing interest in characterizing sleep architecture using models of the temporal dynamics of sleep-wake stage transitions. In humans and other mammals, the state transitions defining sleep and wake bout durations have been described with exponential and power law models, respectively. However, sleep-wake stage distributions are often complex, and distinguishing between exponential and power law processes is not always straightforward. Although mono-exponential distributions are distinct from power law distributions, multi-exponential distributions may in fact resemble power laws by appearing linear on a log-log plot. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: To characterize the parameters that may allow these distributions to mimic one another, we systematically fitted multi-exponential-generated distributions with a power law model, and power law-generated distributions with multi-exponential models. We used the Kolmogorov-Smirnov method to investigate goodness of fit for the "incorrect" model over a range of parameters. The "zone of mimicry" of parameters that increased the risk of mistakenly accepting power law fitting resembled empiric time constants obtained in human sleep and wake bout distributions. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: Recognizing this uncertainty in model distinction impacts interpretation of transition dynamics (self-organizing versus probabilistic), and the generation of predictive models for clinical classification of normal and pathological sleep architecture

DNA Barcode Goes Two-Dimensions: DNA QR Code Web Server

The DNA barcoding technology uses a standard region of DNA sequence for species identification and discovery. At present, “DNA barcode” actually refers to DNA sequences, which are not amenable to information storage, recognition, and retrieval. Our aim is to identify the best symbology that can represent DNA barcode sequences in practical applications. A comprehensive set of sequences for five DNA barcode markers ITS2, rbcL, matK, psbA-trnH, and CO1 was used as the test data. Fifty-three different types of one-dimensional and ten two-dimensional barcode symbologies were compared based on different criteria, such as coding capacity, compression efficiency, and error detection ability. The quick response (QR) code was found to have the largest coding capacity and relatively high compression ratio. To facilitate the further usage of QR code-based DNA barcodes, a web server was developed and is accessible at http://qrfordna.dnsalias.org. The web server allows users to retrieve the QR code for a species of interests, convert a DNA sequence to and from a QR code, and perform species identification based on local and global sequence similarities. In summary, the first comprehensive evaluation of various barcode symbologies has been carried out. The QR code has been found to be the most appropriate symbology for DNA barcode sequences. A web server has also been constructed to allow biologists to utilize QR codes in practical DNA barcoding applications

Alpha-COPI Coatomer Protein Is Required for Rough Endoplasmic Reticulum Whorl Formation in Mosquito Midgut Epithelial Cells

One of the early events in midgut epithelial cells of Aedes aegypti mosquitoes is the dynamic reorganization of rough endoplasmic reticulum (RER) whorl structures coincident with the onset of blood meal digestion. Based on our previous studies showing that feeding on an amino acid meal induces TOR signaling in Ae. aegypti, we used proteomics and RNAi to functionally identify midgut epithelial cell proteins that contribute to RER whorl formation.Adult female Ae. aegypti mosquitoes were maintained on sugar alone (unfed), or fed an amino acid meal, and then midgut epithelial cells were analyzed by electron microscopy and protein biochemistry. The size and number of RER whorls in midgut epithelial cells were found to decrease significantly after feeding, and several KDEL-containing proteins were shown to have altered expression levels. LC-MS/MS mass spectrometry was used to analyze midgut microsomal proteins isolated from unfed and amino acid fed mosquitoes, and of the 127 proteins identified, 8 were chosen as candidate whorl forming proteins. Three candidate proteins were COPI coatomer subunits (alpha, beta, beta'), all of which appeared to be present at higher levels in microsomal fractions from unfed mosquitoes. Using RNAi to knockdown alpha-COPI expression, electron microscopy revealed that both the size and number of RER whorls were dramatically reduced in unfed mosquitoes, and moreover, that extended regions of swollen RER were prevalent in fed mosquitoes. Lastly, while a deficiency in alpha-COPI had no effect on early trypsin protein synthesis or secretion 3 hr post blood meal (PBM), expression of late phase proteases at 24 hr PBM was completely blocked.alpha-COPI was found to be required for the formation of RER whorls in midgut epithelial cells of unfed Aa. aegypti mosquitoes, as well as for the expression of late phase midgut proteases