"Nutraceuticals" in relation to human skeletal muscle and exercise.

Skeletal muscles have a fundamental role in locomotion and whole body metabolism, with muscle mass and quality being linked to improved health and even lifespan. Optimizing nutrition in combination with exercise is considered an established, effective ergogenic practice for athletic performance. Importantly, exercise and nutritional approaches also remain arguably the most effective countermeasure for muscle dysfunction associated with aging and numerous clinical conditions, e.g., cancer cachexia, COPD, and organ failure, via engendering favorable adaptations such as increased muscle mass and oxidative capacity. Therefore, it is important to consider the effects of established and novel effectors of muscle mass, function, and metabolism in relation to nutrition and exercise. To address this gap, in this review, we detail existing evidence surrounding the efficacy of a nonexhaustive list of macronutrient, micronutrient, and "nutraceutical" compounds alone and in combination with exercise in relation to skeletal muscle mass, metabolism (protein and fuel), and exercise performance (i.e., strength and endurance capacity). It has long been established that macronutrients have specific roles and impact upon protein metabolism and exercise performance, (i.e., protein positively influences muscle mass and protein metabolism), whereas carbohydrate and fat intakes can influence fuel metabolism and exercise performance. Regarding novel nutraceuticals, we show that the following ones in particular may have effects in relation to1) muscle mass/protein metabolism: leucine, hydroxyl β-methylbutyrate, creatine, vitamin-D, ursolic acid, and phosphatidic acid; and2) exercise performance: (i.e., strength or endurance capacity): hydroxyl β-methylbutyrate, carnitine, creatine, nitrates, and β-alanine

Estrogen-dependent dynamic profile of eNOS-DNA associations in prostate cancer

In previous work we have documented the nuclear translocation of endothelial NOS (eNOS) and its participation in combinatorial complexes with Estrogen Receptor Beta (ERβ) and Hypoxia Inducible Factors (HIFs) that determine localized chromatin remodeling in response to estrogen (E2) and hypoxia stimuli, resulting in transcriptional regulation of genes associated with adverse prognosis in prostate cancer (PCa). To explore the role of nuclear eNOS in the acquisition of aggressive phenotype in PCa, we performed ChIP-Sequencing on chromatin-associated eNOS from cells from a primary tumor with poor outcome and from metastatic LNCaP cells. We found that: 1. the eNOS-bound regions (peaks) are widely distributed across the genome encompassing multiple transcription factors binding sites, including Estrogen Response Elements. 2. E2 increased the number of peaks, indicating hormone-dependent eNOS re-localization. 3. Peak distribution was similar with/without E2 with ≈ 55% of them in extragenic DNA regions and an intriguing involvement of the 5′ domain of several miRs deregulated in PCa. Numerous potentially novel eNOS-targeted genes have been identified suggesting that eNOS participates in the regulation of large gene sets. The parallel finding of downregulation of a cluster of miRs, including miR-34a, in PCa cells associated with poor outcome led us to unveil a molecular link between eNOS and SIRT1, an epigenetic regulator of aging and tumorigenicity, negatively regulated by miR-34a and in turn activating eNOS. E2 potentiates miR-34a downregulation thus enhancing SIRT1 expression, depicting a novel eNOS/SIRT1 interplay fine-tuned by E2-activated ER signaling, and suggesting that eNOS may play an important role in aggressive PCa

An Evaluation Model For Web-based 3D Mass Customization Toolkit Design

The development of geometric modelling technologies and web technologies provides the ability to present a virtual 3D product in a mass customization (MC) toolkit. Compared with 2D graphic toolkits, 3D toolkit design requires better consideration of individual customer needs, consumer and toolkit interaction, and also a means of integrating with the underlying technical infrastructure. However, there is currently no widely accepted model or criteria to regulate and evaluate 3D MC toolkit design. Given these considerations, in this paper we provide an evaluation model for web-based 3D toolkits and a heuristic evaluation of two representative commercial web-based 3D toolkits. The evaluation results indicate the usefulness and effectiveness of the model as a scale for evaluating 3D toolkits. It also reveals that despite a fair amount of effort that has been devoted to theoretical research, current 3D toolkits are still at an early development stage. We therefore conclude this paper by identifying and encouraging further topics and questions as directions for future research

The crucial role of particle surface reactivity in respirable quartz-induced reactive oxygen/nitrogen species formation and APE/Ref-1 induction in rat lung

Persistent inflammation and associated excessive oxidative stress have been crucially implicated in quartz-induced pulmonary diseases, including fibrosis and cancer. We have investigated the significance of the particle surface reactivity of respirable quartz dust in relation to the in vivo generation of reactive oxygen and nitrogen species (ROS/RNS) and the associated induction of oxidative stress responses in the lung. Therefore, rats were intratracheally instilled with 2 mg quartz (DQ12) or quartz whose surface was modified by either polyvinylpyridine-N-oxide (PVNO) or aluminium lactate (AL). Seven days after instillation, the bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) was analysed for markers of inflammation (total/differential cell counts), levels of pulmonary oxidants (H(2)O(2), nitrite), antioxidant status (trolox equivalent antioxidant capacity), as well as for markers of lung tissue damage, e.g. total protein, lactate dehydrogenase and alkaline phosphatase. Lung homogenates as well as sections were investigated regarding the induction of the oxidative DNA-lesion/oxidative stress marker 8-hydroxy-2'-deoxyguanosine (8-OHdG) using HPLC/ECD analysis and immunohistochemistry, respectively. Homogenates and sections were also investigated for the expression of the bifunctional apurinic/apyrimidinic endonuclease/redox factor-1 (APE/Ref-1) by Western blotting and immunohistochemistry. Significantly increased levels of H(2)O(2 )and nitrite were observed in rats treated with non-coated quartz, when compared to rats that were treated with either saline or the surface-modified quartz preparations. In the BALF, there was a strong correlation between the number of macrophages and ROS, as well as total cells and RNS. Although enhanced oxidant generation in non-coated DQ12-treated rats was paralleled with an increased total antioxidant capacity in the BALF, these animals also showed significantly enhanced lung tissue damage. Remarkably however, elevated ROS levels were not associated with an increase in 8-OHdG, whereas the lung tissue expression of APE/Ref-1 protein was clearly up-regulated. The present data provide further in vivo evidence for the crucial role of particle surface properties in quartz dust-induced ROS/RNS generation by recruited inflammatory phagocytes. Our results also demonstrate that quartz dust can fail to show steady-state enhanced oxidative DNA damage in the respiratory tract, in conditions were it elicits a marked and persistent inflammation with associated generation of ROS/RNS, and indicate that this may relate to compensatory induction of APE/Ref-1 mediated base excision repair

Genetic variation in a member of the laminin gene family affects variation in body composition in Drosophila and humans

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The objective of the present study was to map candidate loci influencing naturally occurring variation in triacylglycerol (TAG) storage using quantitative complementation procedures in <it>Drosophila melanogaster</it>. Based on our results from <it>Drosophila</it>, we performed a human population-based association study to investigate the effect of natural variation in <it>LAMA5 </it>gene on body composition in humans.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>We identified four candidate genes that contributed to differences in TAG storage between two strains of <it>D. melanogaster</it>, including <it>Laminin A </it>(<it>LanA</it>), which is a member of the α subfamily of laminin chains. We confirmed the effects of this gene using a viable <it>LanA </it>mutant and showed that female flies homozygous for the mutation had significantly lower TAG storage, body weight, and total protein content than control flies. <it>Drosophila LanA </it>is closely related to human <it>LAMA5 </it>gene, which maps to the well-replicated obesity-linkage region on chromosome 20q13.2-q13.3. We tested for association between three common single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in the human <it>LAMA5 </it>gene and variation in body composition and lipid profile traits in a cohort of unrelated women of European American (EA) and African American (AA) descent. In both ethnic groups, we found that SNP rs659822 was associated with weight (EA: <it>P </it>= 0.008; AA: <it>P </it>= 0.05) and lean mass (EA: <it>P= </it>0.003; AA: <it>P </it>= 0.03). We also found this SNP to be associated with height (<it>P </it>= 0.01), total fat mass (<it>P </it>= 0.01), and HDL-cholesterol (<it>P </it>= 0.003) but only in EA women. Finally, significant associations of SNP rs944895 with serum TAG levels (<it>P </it>= 0.02) and HDL-cholesterol (<it>P </it>= 0.03) were observed in AA women.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Our results suggest an evolutionarily conserved role of a member of the laminin gene family in contributing to variation in weight and body composition.</p

Universal Behaviors as Candidate Traditions in Wild Spider Monkeys

Candidate traditions were documented across three communities of wild spider monkeys (Ateles geoffroyi) using an a priori approach to identify behavioral variants and a statistical approach to examine differences in their proportional use. This methodology differs from previous studies of animal traditions, which used retrospective data and relied on the ‘exclusion method’ to identify candidate traditions. Our a priori approach increased the likelihood that behavior variants with equivalent functions were considered and our statistical approach enabled the proportional use of ‘universal’ behaviors, i.e., used across all communities, to be examined for the first time in any animal species as candidate traditions. Among universal behaviors we found 14 ‘community preferred’ variants. After considering the extent to which community preferred variants were due to ecological and, to a lesser degree, genetic differences, we concluded that at least six were likely maintained through social learning. Our findings have two main implications: (i) tradition repertoires could be larger than assumed from previous studies using the exclusion method; (ii) the relative use of universal behavior variants can reinforce community membership

Genome-wide haplotype-based association analysis of major depressive disorder in Generation Scotland and UK Biobank

Generation Scotland received core funding from the Chief Scientist Office of the Scottish Government Health Directorate CZD/16/6 and the Scottish Funding Council HR03006. Genotyping of the GS:SFHS samples was carried out by the Genetics Core Laboratory at the Wellcome Trust Clinical Research Facility, Edinburgh, Scotland and was funded by the Medical Research Council UK and the Wellcome Trust (Wellcome Trust Strategic Award “STratifying Resilience and Depression Longitudinally” (STRADL) Reference 104036/Z/14/Z. YZ acknowledges support from China Scholarship Council. IJD is supported by the Centre for Cognitive Ageing and Cognitive Epidemiology which is funded by the Medical Research Council and the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (MR/K026992/1). AMMcI and T-KC acknowledges support from the Dr Mortimer and Theresa Sackler Foundation. We are grateful to all the families who took part, the general practitioners and the Scottish School of Primary Care for their help in recruiting them, and the whole Generation Scotland team, which includes interviewers, computer and laboratory technicians, clerical workers, research scientists, volunteers, managers, receptionists, healthcare assistants and nurses. Ethics approval for the study was given by the NHS Tayside committee on research ethics (reference 05/S1401/8)Peer reviewedPublisher PD

The contribution of tropical cyclones to the atmospheric branch of Middle America's hydrological cycle using observed and reanalysis tracks

Middle America is affected by tropical cyclones (TCs) from the Eastern Pacific and the North Atlantic Oceans. We characterize the regional climatology (1998-2016) of the TC contributions to the atmospheric branch of the hydrological cycle, from May to December. TC contributions to rainfall are quantified using Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) Multi-satellite Precipitation Analysis (TMPA) product 3B42 and TC tracks derived from three sources: the International Best Track Archive for Climate Stewardship (IBTrACS), and an objective feature tracking method applied to the Japanese 55-year and ERA-Interim reanalyses. From July to October, TCs contribute 10-30% of rainfall over the west and east coast of Mexico and central Mexico, with the largest monthly contribution during September over the Baja California Peninsula (up to 90%). TCs are associated with 40-60% of daily extreme rainfall (above the 95th percentile) over the coasts of Mexico. IBTrACS and reanalyses agree on TC contributions over the Atlantic Ocean but disagree over the Eastern Pacific Ocean and continent; differences over the continent are mainly attributed to discrepancies in TC tracks in proximity to the coast and TC lifetime. Reanalysis estimates of TC moisture transports show that TCs are an important moisture source for the regional water budget. TC vertically integrated moisture flux (VIMF) convergence can turn regions of weak VIMF divergence by the mean circulation into regions of weak VIMF convergence. We discuss deficiencies in the observed and reanalysis TC tracks, which limit our ability to quantify robustly the contribution of TCs to the regional hydrological cycle

Observational constraints on atmospheric and oceanic cross-equatorial heat transports: revisiting the precipitation asymmetry problem in climate models

Satellite based top-of-atmosphere (TOA) and surface radiation budget observations are combined with mass corrected vertically integrated atmospheric energy divergence and tendency from reanalysis to infer the regional distribution of the TOA, atmospheric and surface energy budget terms over the globe. Hemispheric contrasts in the energy budget terms are used to determine the radiative and combined sensible and latent heat contributions to the cross-equatorial heat transports in the atmosphere (AHT_EQ) and ocean (OHT_EQ). The contrast in net atmospheric radiation implies an AHT_EQ from the northern hemisphere (NH) to the southern hemisphere (SH) (0.75 PW), while the hemispheric difference in sensible and latent heat implies an AHT_EQ in the opposite direction (0.51 PW), resulting in a net NH to SH AHT_EQ (0.24 PW). At the surface, the hemispheric contrast in the radiative component (0.95 PW) dominates, implying a 0.44 PW SH to NH OHT_EQ. Coupled model intercomparison project phase 5 (CMIP5) models with excessive net downward surface radiation and surface-to-atmosphere sensible and latent heat transport in the SH relative to the NH exhibit anomalous northward AHT_EQ and overestimate SH tropical precipitation. The hemispheric bias in net surface radiative flux is due to too much longwave surface radiative cooling in the NH tropics in both clear and all-sky conditions and excessive shortwave surface radiation in the SH subtropics and extratropics due to an underestimation in reflection by clouds