Rapid pre-gel visualization of proteins with mass spectrometry compatibility

Despite all of the prophecies of doom, gel electrophoresis is still prevalent in modern proteomic workflows. However, the currently used protein staining methods represent a serious bottleneck for a quick subsequent protein analysis using mass spectrometry. Substituting traditional protein stains by pre-gel derivatization with visible and mass spectrometry compatible reagents eliminates several processing steps and drastically reduces the sample preparation time. A defined chemistry permits seamless integration of such covalent protein staining methods into standardized bioinformatic pipelines. Using Uniblue A we could covalently stain simple to complex protein samples within 1 minute. Protein profiles on the gels were not compromised and MS/MS based sequence coverages higher than 80% could be obtained. In addition, the visual tracking of covalently stained proteins and peptides facilitates method development and validation. Altogether, this new chemo-proteomic approach enables true "at-line" analysis of proteins

Fitness Training As a Body-Centered Hobby: the Serious Leisure Perspective for Explaining Exercise Practice

Physical exercise is an activity whose health-related benefits have been promoted by health professionals and social institutions. However, given that the levels of practice are not ideal, the subjective variables - that give meaning, provide continuity and may increase exercise adherence - need to be studied in depth. In this sense, fitness training is analyzed as a form of serious leisure, a body-centered hobby - a way to practice and relate to the activity that leads its practitioners to adhere more to it, orienting them towards a career in acquiring and expressing skills, knowledge and experience. In total, 1,134 people (588 men, 546 women) doing fitness training, aged between 18 and 70 years old (M = 34.7, SD = 13.06), answered a questionnaire about time dedicated to exercise as serious leisure and its derived and complementary benefits. Student's t Coefficient and ANOVA were used to show the significance of the differences among the scores obtained for the rewards related to exercise and the other variables of the study. The results highlight that exercise as serious leisure is an activity whose weekly time investment makes it to acquire a central role when rewarded by sense of accomplishment, contact with others, improved health and being outdoors with the family. To conclude, this study enhances that characterizing fitness training as a body-centered hobby - which shares the principles of serious leisure - implies a new approach to the analysis of exercise while also suggesting new ways of promoting it

Hip Flexion Angles During Supine Range of Motion and Bodyweight Squats

International Journal of Exercise Science 14(1): 912-918, 2021. During the lowering phase of a squat, it has been observed that a posterior pelvic tilt (PPT) may occur when squatting to full depth. Research suggests that defaulting to compensatory movement strategies, such as PPT, during the squat may correlate with risk of lower extremity and trunk pathology. The purpose of this study was to examine hip flexion (HF) angles at the point when PPT occurs among three conditions: standard squats, heel raise squats, and supine passive HF; analyzing the differences in depth between standard and heel raise squats; and calculating differences in knee angles and ankle excursion between standard and heel raise squats. 28 participants performed bodyweight squats and underwent supine passive HF while outfitted with 32 retroreflective motion capture markers. Hip, knee, and ankle joint angles were extracted at the point of PPT. A one-way repeated measures ANOVA was used to determine differences in hip joint angles between conditions, and a paired sample t-test was used to compare knee angles, ankle excursion, and squat depth between standard and heel raise squats. HF angles at PPT remained unchanged across all conditions. However, significantly greater knee flexion, ankle excursion, and squat depth were observed in the heel raise squats compared to the standard squats. Results suggest that PPT is a compensatory movement that occurs as the femur compresses into the acetabulum once hip flexion has been exhausted

Aplicación web para la gestión de una base de datos pública de mamografía digital: MamoDB

Cada vez son más los hospitales que disponen de sistemas computarizados de adquisición y visualización de imágenes digitales , con las ventaj as que ello supone cu anto a acceso a la información , capacidad de diagnóstico y aprendizaje . Sin embargo, el volumen ingente de datos requiere de nuevas herramientas para su alm acenaje, gestión y recuperación . En este trabajo se propone un modelo de estructura basado en tecnol ogía web como herramienta de ayuda al diagnóstico de Cáncer de Mama. La estructura propuesta se basa en la administración de imágenes y estudios mamográfico s con el objetivo de ser un referente en la comunidad científica. Su arquitectura, metodología y aplicación en formato web se presentan en es te trabajo así como conclusiones y trabajos futurosPostprint (published version

Protein catabolism and high lipid metabolism associated with long-distance exercise are revealed by plasma NMR metabolomics in endurance horses.

International audienceDuring long distance endurance races, horses undergo high physiological and metabolic stresses. The adaptation processes involve the modulation of the energetic pathways in order to meet the energy demand. The aims were to evaluate the effects of long endurance exercise on the plasma metabolomic profiles and to investigate the relationships with the individual horse performances. The metabolomic profiles of the horses were analyzed using the non-dedicated methodology, NMR spectroscopy and statistical multivariate analysis. The advantage of this method is to investigate several metabolomic pathways at the same time in a single sample. The plasmas were obtained before exercise (BE) and post exercise (PE) from 69 horses competing in three endurance races at national level (130-160 km). Biochemical assays were also performed on the samples taken at PE. The proton NMR spectra were compared using the supervised orthogonal projection on latent structure method according to several factors. Among these factors, the race location was not significant whereas the effect of the race exercise (sample BE vs PE of same horse) was highly discriminating. This result was confirmed by the projection of unpaired samples (only BE or PE sample of different horses). The metabolomic profiles proved that protein, energetic and lipid metabolisms as well as glycoproteins content are highly affected by the long endurance exercise. The BE samples from finisher horses could be discriminated according to the racing speed based on their metabolomic lipid content. The PE samples could be discriminated according to the horse ranking position at the end of the race with lactate as unique correlated metabolite. As a conclusion, the metabolomic profiles of plasmas taken before and after the race provided a better understanding of the high energy demand and protein catabolism pathway that could expose the horses to metabolic disorders

Complex causes and consequences of rangeland greening in South America – multiple interacting natural and anthropogenic drivers and simultaneous ecosystem degradation and recovery trends

Land-surface greening has been reported globally over the past decades. While often seen to represent ecosystem recovery, the impacts on biodiversity and society can also be negative. Greening has been widely reported from rangelands, where drivers and processes are complex due to its high environmental heterogeneity and societal dynamics. Here, we assess the complexity behind greening and assess its links to various drivers in an iconic, heterogeneous rangeland area, the Iberá Wetlands and surroundings, in Argentina. Time-series satellite imagery over the past 19 years showed overall net greening, but also substantial local browning both in protected and unprotected areas, linking to land use, temporal changes in surface water, fire, and weather. We found substantial woody expansion mainly in the unprotected land, with 37% contributed by tree plantations and the remaining 63% by spontaneous woody expansion, along with widespread transitions from terrestrial land to seasonal surface water. Fire occurrences tended to reduce greening with unprotected areas experiencing widespread and frequent fire. However, protected areas had more browning in unburnt areas than burned areas. Temporal variation in annual precipitation and temperature tended to nonlinearly influence fire occurrences with an interplay of human fire management, further shaping the vegetation greening, pointing to high complexity behind the observed rangeland greening involving interactions among local drivers. Our findings highlight that the observed overall greening is an outcome of multiple trends with clear negative impacts on biodiversity and the local livestock-oriented culture (notably expanding tree plantations) and spontaneous vegetation dynamics, partly involving spontaneous woody expansion. The latter has positive potential for biodiversity and ecosystem services in terms of woodland recovery, but can become negative in such a natural savanna region if expansions develop on a too broad scale, highlighting the importance of ensuring recovery of natural fire and herbivory regimes in protected areas along with sustainable rangeland management elsewhere.Fil: Li, Wang. Chinese Academy of Sciences; República de China. University Aarhus; DinamarcaFil: Buitenwerf, Robert. University Aarhus; DinamarcaFil: Nicora Chequín, Renata. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Nordeste. Instituto de Botánica del Nordeste. Universidad Nacional del Nordeste. Facultad de Ciencias Agrarias. Instituto de Botánica del Nordeste; ArgentinaFil: Florentín, Javier Elias. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Nordeste. Instituto de Botánica del Nordeste. Universidad Nacional del Nordeste. Facultad de Ciencias Agrarias. Instituto de Botánica del Nordeste; ArgentinaFil: Salas, Roberto Manuel. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Nordeste. Instituto de Botánica del Nordeste. Universidad Nacional del Nordeste. Facultad de Ciencias Agrarias. Instituto de Botánica del Nordeste; ArgentinaFil: Mata, Julia Carolina. University Aarhus; DinamarcaFil: Wang, Li. Chinese Academy of Sciences; República de ChinaFil: Niu, Zheng. University Of Chinese Academy Of Sciences; China. Chinese Academy of Sciences; República de ChinaFil: Svenning, Jens-christian. University Aarhus; Dinamarc

Real-time imaging of cotranscriptional splicing reveals a kinetic model that reduces noise: implications for alternative splicing regulation

A combination of several rate-limiting steps allows for efficient control of alternative splicing