Estimating oxygen consumption of rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) in a raceway: a precision fish farming approach

3openInternationalItalian coauthor/editorThe Precision Fish Farming (PFF) approach was applied to the estimation of fish oxygen consumption of rainbow trout in a raceway farm. A dynamic model, simulating the evolution of Dissolved Oxygen concentration, was identified: the daily oscillation of fish oxygen consumption rate was simulated by means of a sinusoidal function. The model was applied to the data set collected during a four-week field study, which was carried out in July 2019. Water temperature and Dissolved Oxygen concentration were measured with an hourly frequency in farm influent and effluent. Fish biomass was monitored on a daily basis by combining the data provided by a state-of-the art system for non-invasive estimation of fish weight distribution with mortality counting. The monitoring period was partitioned into two time-windows, as fish was not fed during the first two weeks. These windows were further partitioned into a calibration and validation set. Three model parameters, i.e. the average daily respiration rate, the amplitude of its daily oscillation, and its phase were estimated by fitting the model output to the time series of DO concentration in the effluent. The results of the calibration show that: 1) the daily average oxygen consumption rate is consistent with the literature; 2) the amplitude of the daily oscillation when fish is regularly fed is more than twice that estimated for fasting fish. The results of the validation suggest that the model could be used to implement a cost-effective automatic control of oxygen supply, based on the short-term prediction of oxygen demandopenRoyer, E.; Faccenda, F.; Pastres, R.Royer, E.; Faccenda, F.; Pastres, R

Human Amniocytes Are Receptive to Chemically Induced Reprogramming to Pluripotency

Restoring pluripotency using chemical compounds alone would be a major step forward in developing clinical-grade pluripotent stem cells, but this has not yet been reported in human cells. We previously demonstrated that VPA_ AFS cells, human amniocytes cultivated with valproic acid (VPA) acquired functional pluripotency while remaining distinct from human embryonic stem cells (hESCs), questioning the relationship between the modulation of cell fate and molecular regulation of the pluripotency network. Here, we used single-cell analysis and functional assays to reveal that VPA treatment resulted in a homogeneous population of self-renewing non-transformed cells that fulfill the hallmarks of pluripotency, i.e., a short G1 phase, a dependence on glycolytic metabolism, expression of epigenetic modifications on histones 3 and 4, and reactivation of endogenous OCT4 and downstream targets at a lower level than that observed in hESCs. Mechanistic insights into the process of VPA-induced reprogramming revealed that it was dependent on OCT4 promoter activation, which was achieved independently of the PI3K (phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase)/ AKT/ mTOR (mammalian target of rapamycin) pathway or GSK3 beta inhibition but was concomitant with the presence of acetylated histones H3K9 and H3K56, which promote pluripotency. Our data identify, for the first time, the pluripotent transcriptional and molecular signature and metabolic status of human chemically induced pluripotent stem cells

Upper- and mid-mantle interaction between the Samoan plume and the Tonga-Kermadec slabs

Mantle plumes are thought to play a key role in transferring heat from the core\u2013mantle boundary to the lithosphere, where it can significantly influence plate tectonics. On impinging on the lithosphere at spreading ridges or in intra-plate settings, mantle plumes may generate hotspots, large igneous provinces and hence considerable dynamic topography. However, the active role of mantle plumes on subducting slabs remains poorly understood. Here we show that the stagnation at 660 km and fastest trench retreat of the Tonga slab in Southwestern Pacific are consistent with an interaction with the Samoan plume and the Hikurangi plateau. Our findings are based on comparisons between 3D anisotropic tomography images and 3D petrological-thermo-mechanical models, which self-consistently explain several unique features of the Fiji\u2013Tonga region. We identify four possible slip systems of bridgmanite in the lower mantle that reconcile the observed seismic anisotropy beneath the Tonga slab (VSH4VSV) with thermo-mechanical calculations

Reduction of the ATPase inhibitory factor 1 (IF1) leads to visual impairment in vertebrates

In vertebrates, mitochondria are tightly preserved energy producing organelles, which sustain nervous system development and function. The understanding of proteins that regulate their homoeostasis in complex animals is therefore critical and doing so via means of systemic analysis pivotal to inform pathophysiological conditions associated with mitochondrial deficiency. With the goal to decipher the role of the ATPase inhibitory factor 1 (IF1) in brain development, we employed the zebrafish as elected model reporting that the Atpif1a−/− zebrafish mutant, pinotage (pnttq209), which lacks one of the two IF1 paralogous, exhibits visual impairment alongside increased apoptotic bodies and neuroinflammation in both brain and retina. This associates with increased processing of the dynamin-like GTPase optic atrophy 1 (OPA1), whose ablation is a direct cause of inherited optic atrophy. Defects in vision associated with the processing of OPA1 are specular in Atpif1−/− mice thus confirming a regulatory axis, which interlinks IF1 and OPA1 in the definition of mitochondrial fitness and specialised brain functions. This study unveils a functional relay between IF1 and OPA1 in central nervous system besides representing an example of how the zebrafish model could be harnessed to infer the activity of mitochondrial proteins during development

The Concise Guide to PHARMACOLOGY 2015/16:Ligand-gated ion channels

The Concise Guide to PHARMACOLOGY 2015/16 provides concise overviews of the key properties of over 1750 human drug targets with their pharmacology, plus links to an open access knowledgebase of drug targets and their ligands (www.guidetopharmacology.org), which provides more detailed views of target and ligand properties. The full contents can be found at http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/bph.13349/full. Ligand-gated ion channels are one of the eight major pharmacological targets into which the Guide is divided, with the others being: ligand-gated ion channels, voltage-gated ion channels, other ion channels, nuclear hormone receptors, catalytic receptors, enzymes and transporters. These are presented with nomenclature guidance and summary information on the best available pharmacological tools, alongside key references and suggestions for further reading. The Concise Guide is published in landscape format in order to facilitate comparison of related targets. It is a condensed version of material contemporary to late 2015, which is presented in greater detail and constantly updated on the website www.guidetopharmacology.org, superseding data presented in the previous Guides to Receptors &amp; Channels and the Concise Guide to PHARMACOLOGY 2013/14. It is produced in conjunction with NC-IUPHAR and provides the official IUPHAR classification and nomenclature for human drug targets, where appropriate. It consolidates information previously curated and displayed separately in IUPHAR-DB and GRAC and provides a permanent, citable, point-in-time record that will survive database updates.</p

The Concise Guide to PHARMACOLOGY 2015/16:Voltage-gated ion channels

The Concise Guide to PHARMACOLOGY 2015/16 provides concise overviews of the key properties of over 1750 human drug targets with their pharmacology, plus links to an open access knowledgebase of drug targets and their ligands (www.guidetopharmacology.org), which provides more detailed views of target and ligand properties. The full contents can be found at http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/bph.13350/full. Voltage-gated ion channels are one of the eight major pharmacological targets into which the Guide is divided, with the others being: G protein-coupled receptors, ligand-gated ion channels, other ion channels, nuclear hormone receptors, catalytic receptors, enzymes and transporters. These are presented with nomenclature guidance and summary information on the best available pharmacological tools, alongside key references and suggestions for further reading. The Concise Guide is published in landscape format in order to facilitate comparison of related targets. It is a condensed version of material contemporary to late 2015, which is presented in greater detail and constantly updated on the website www.guidetopharmacology.org, superseding data presented in the previous Guides to Receptors &amp; Channels and the Concise Guide to PHARMACOLOGY 2013/14. It is produced in conjunction with NC-IUPHAR and provides the official IUPHAR classification and nomenclature for human drug targets, where appropriate. It consolidates information previously curated and displayed separately in IUPHAR-DB and GRAC and provides a permanent, citable, point-in-time record that will survive database updates

The Concise Guide to PHARMACOLOGY 2015/16:Catalytic receptors

The Concise Guide to PHARMACOLOGY 2015/16 provides concise overviews of the key properties of over 1750 human drug targets with their pharmacology, plus links to an open access knowledgebase of drug targets and their ligands (www.guidetopharmacology.org), which provides more detailed views of target and ligand properties. The full contents can be found at http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/bph.13353/full. G protein-coupled receptors are one of the eight major pharmacological targets into which the Guide is divided, with the others being: G protein-coupled receptors, ligand-gated ion channels, voltage-gated ion channels, other ion channels, nuclear hormone receptors, enzymes and transporters. These are presented with nomenclature guidance and summary information on the best available pharmacological tools, alongside key references and suggestions for further reading. The Concise Guide is published in landscape format in order to facilitate comparison of related targets. It is a condensed version of material contemporary to late 2015, which is presented in greater detail and constantly updated on the website www.guidetopharmacology.org, superseding data presented in the previous Guides to Receptors &amp; Channels and the Concise Guide to PHARMACOLOGY 2013/14. It is produced in conjunction with NC-IUPHAR and provides the official IUPHAR classification and nomenclature for human drug targets, where appropriate. It consolidates information previously curated and displayed separately in IUPHAR-DB and GRAC and provides a permanent, citable, point-in-time record that will survive database updates.</p

The IUPHAR Guide to Immunopharmacology: connecting immunology and pharmacology

Given the critical role that the immune system plays in a multitude of diseases, having a clear understanding of the pharmacology of the immune system is crucial to new drug discovery and development. Here we describe the International Union of Basic and Clinical Pharmacology (IUPHAR) Guide to Immunopharmacology (GtoImmuPdb), which connects expert-curated pharmacology with key immunological concepts and aims to put pharmacological data into the hands of immunologists. In the pursuit of new therapeutics, pharmacological databases are a vital resource to researchers through providing accurate information on the fundamental science underlying drug action. This extension to the existing IUPHAR/British Pharmacological Society Guide to Pharmacology supports research into the development of drugs targeted at modulating immune, inflammatory or infectious components of disease. To provide a deeper context for how the resource can support research we show data in GtoImmuPdb relating to a case study on the targeting of vascular inflammation