Impact of diets with different proportions of linseed and sunflower oils on the growth, liver histology, immunological and chemical blood parameters, and proximate composition of pikeperch Sander lucioperca (L.)

The aim of the study was to determine the impact of applying different proportions of linseed (LO) and sunflower (SFO) oils in pikeperch diets on growth, histological changes in the liver, immunological and blood chemical parameters. The fish were fed isoenergetic and isoprotein feeds containing SFO (group 100SFO) or LO (group 100LO) in quantities of 67 g kg/feed, and a mixture of oils: 47 g SFO and 20 g LO kg/feed (group 70SFO/30LO) and 20 g SFO and 47 g LO kg/feed (group 30SFO/70LO). Dietary ratios of polyunsaturated fatty acids from the n-3 and n-6 series (n3/n6 index) were 0.36–2.15. Pikeperch were reared for 56 days in three replicates for each dietary treatment. Various dietary oils and ratios of n3/n6 did not impact fish growth, feed conversion ratio, viscerosomatic and hepatosomatic index, and size of the hepatocytes. Feeding the fish high quantities of LO and SO oils (groups 100LO and 100SFO) reduced the immunological response of the phagocytes and lymphocytes in the fish. Moreover, this resulted in significant differences among groups in the quantity of linolenic and linoleic acid in whole fish bodies, viscera, fillets, and livers. Various quantities of vegetable oils in the fish diets did not impact the quantity of arachidonic, eicosapentaenoic and docosahexaenoic acid in the fillets and livers. The immunological index and low quantities of linoleic acid in the fillets obtained in group 30SFO/70LO indicate that the n3/n6 dietary ratio of 1.35 was the most advantageous for feeding juvenile pikeperch feeds with vegetable oils

Open-access quantitative MRI data of the spinal cord and reproducibility across participants, sites and manufacturers

In a companion paper by Cohen-Adad et al. we introduce the spine generic quantitative MRI protocol that provides valuable metrics for assessing spinal cord macrostructural and microstructural integrity. This protocol was used to acquire a single subject dataset across 19 centers and a multi-subject dataset across 42 centers (for a total of 260 participants), spanning the three main MRI manufacturers: GE, Philips and Siemens. Both datasets are publicly available via git-annex. Data were analysed using the Spinal Cord Toolbox to produce normative values as well as inter/intra-site and inter/intra-manufacturer statistics. Reproducibility for the spine generic protocol was high across sites and manufacturers, with an average inter-site coefficient of variation of less than 5% for all the metrics. Full documentation and results can be found at https://spine-generic.rtfd.io/. The datasets and analysis pipeline will help pave the way towards accessible and reproducible quantitative MRI in the spinal cord

Forward modeling of collective Thomson scattering for Wendelstein 7-X plasmas: Electrostatic approximation

In this paper, we present a method for numerical computation of collective Thomson scattering (CTS). We developed a forward model, eCTS, in the electrostatic approximation and benchmarked it against a full electromagnetic model. Differences between the electrostatic and the electromagnetic models are discussed. The sensitivity of the results to the ion temperature and the plasma composition is demonstrated. We integrated the model into the Bayesian data analysis framework Minerva and used it for the analysis of noisy synthetic data sets produced by a full electromagnetic model. It is shown that eCTS can be used for the inference of the bulk ion temperature. The model has been used to infer the bulk ion temperature from the first CTS measurements on Wendelstein 7-X

Novel genetic loci associated with hippocampal volume

The hippocampal formation is a brain structure integrally involved in episodic memory, spatial navigation, cognition and stress responsiveness. Structural abnormalities in hippocampal volume and shape are found in several common neuropsychiatric disorders. To identify the genetic underpinnings of hippocampal structure here we perform a genome-wide association study (GWAS) of 33,536 individuals and discover six independent loci significantly associated with hippocampal volume, four of them novel. Of the novel loci, three lie within genes (ASTN2, DPP4 and MAST4) and one is found 200 kb upstream of SHH. A hippocampal subfield analysis shows that a locus within the MSRB3 gene shows evidence of a localized effect along the dentate gyrus, subiculum, CA1 and fissure. Further, we show that genetic variants associated with decreased hippocampal volume are also associated with increased risk for Alzheimer's disease (rg =-0.155). Our findings suggest novel biological pathways through which human genetic variation influences hippocampal volume and risk for neuropsychiatric illness

Exploration of Shared Genetic Architecture Between Subcortical Brain Volumes and Anorexia Nervosa

In MRI scans of patients with anorexia nervosa (AN), reductions in brain volume are often apparent. However, it is unknown whether such brain abnormalities are influenced by genetic determinants that partially overlap with those underlying AN. Here, we used a battery of methods (LD score regression, genetic risk scores, sign test, SNP effect concordance analysis, and Mendelian randomization) to investigate the genetic covariation between subcortical brain volumes and risk for AN based on summary measures retrieved from genome-wide association studies of regional brain volumes (ENIGMA consortium, n = 13,170) and genetic risk for AN (PGC-ED consortium, n = 14,477). Genetic correlations ranged from − 0.10 to 0.23 (all p > 0.05). There were some signs of an inverse concordance between greater thalamus volume and risk for AN (permuted p = 0.009, 95% CI: [0.005, 0.017]). A genetic variant in the vicinity of ZW10, a gene involved in cell division, and neurotransmitter and immune system relevant genes, in particular DRD2, was significantly associated with AN only after conditioning on its association with caudate volume (pFDR = 0.025). Another genetic variant linked to LRRC4C, important in axonal and synaptic development, reached significance after conditioning on hippocampal volume (pFDR = 0.021). In this comprehensive set of analyses and based on the largest available sample sizes to date, there was weak evidence for associations between risk for AN and risk for abnormal subcortical brain volumes at a global level (that is, common variant genetic architecture), but suggestive evidence for effects of single genetic markers. Highly powered multimodal brain- and disorder-related genome-wide studies are needed to further dissect the shared genetic influences on brain structure and risk for AN

Towards a new image processing system at Wendelstein 7-X: From spatial calibration to characterization of thermal events

Wendelstein 7-X (W7-X) is the most advanced fusion experiment in the stellarator line and is aimed at proving that the stellarator concept is suitable for a fusion reactor. One of the most important issues for fusion reactors is the monitoring of plasma facing components when exposed to very high heat loads, through the use of visible and infrared (IR) cameras. In this paper, a new image processing system for the analysis of the strike lines on the inboard limiters from the first W7-X experimental campaign is presented. This system builds a model of the IR cameras through the use of spatial calibration techniques, helping to characterize the strike lines by using the information given by real spatial coordinates of each pixel. The characterization of the strike lines is made in terms of position, size, and shape, after projecting the camera image in a 2D grid which tries to preserve the curvilinear surface distances between points. The description of the strike-line shape is made by means of the Fourier Descriptors

Membrane switch hypothesis. 1. Cell density influences lateral domain structure of tumor cell membranes

The domain structure of human cancer cells membranes was investigated by electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) in different phases of cell growth, and the results were compared to those obtained for nonmalignant cells. On the basis of computer simulation of the EPR spectra using a newly developed GHOST condensation routine it was suggested that plasma membranes of cancer cells have less lateral lipid domain types at confluent conditions than in the exponential growing phase, while in nonmalignant cells the domain structure does not change significantly during cell growth. In accordance to our experimental data we propose a membrane switch hypothesis: disappearance of certain membrane domain types might act as a switch promoting the clustering of membrane constituents into the active units in a common lipid membrane domain and thus influencing the physiology of cells