Breeding colony of Common Swifts (Apus apus) in a motorway bridge

Wir beschreiben eine ungewöhnliche Brutkolonie des Mauerseglers unter einer Autobahnbrücke. Im Jahr 2007 bestand die Kolonie aus 38 Brutpaaren, von denen 35 erfolgreich brüteten. Trotzdem war die Überlebensrate der Nestlinge wegen der schlechten Wetterbedingungen sehr niedrig. Nur 7 von 75 Nestlingen flogen aus. Der Standort bietet exzellente Möglichkeiten, weitere Aspekte der Life-History von Mauerseglern zu untersuchen.We describe an unusual site for a nesting colony of the Common Swift situated under a motorway bridge. This colony contained 38 breeding pairs in 2007, 35 of which successfully produced nestlings. However, due to poor weather conditions the survival rate of nestlings was low. Only 7 from a total of 75 nestlings fledged successfully. This site offers an excellent opportunity to study swifts further and to investigate aspects of swift and avian life-history

Shape-Tension Coupling Produces Nematic Order in an Epithelium Vertex Model

We study the vertex model for epithelial tissue mechanics extended to include coupling between the cell shapes and tensions in cell-cell junctions. This coupling represents an active force which drives the system out of equilibrium and leads to the formation of nematic order interspersed with prominent, long-lived +1 defects. The defects in the nematic ordering are coupled to the shape of the cell tiling, affecting cell areas and coordinations. This intricate interplay between cell shape, size, and coordination provides a possible mechanism by which tissues could spontaneously develop long-range polarity through local mechanical forces without resorting to long-range chemical patterning

From Dry to Wet Vertex Model Dynamics:Generating Sustained Flows

Complex tissue flows in epithelia are driven by intra- and inter-cellular processes that generate, maintain, and coordinate mechanical forces. There has been growing evidence that cell shape anisotropy, manifested as nematic order, plays an important role in this process. Here we extend a nematic vertex model by replacing substrate friction with internal viscous dissipation, of relevance to epithelia not supported by a substrate or the extracellular matrix, such as many early-stage embryos. When coupled to cell shape anisotropy, the internal viscous dissipation allows for long-range velocity correlations and thus enables the spontaneous emergence of flows with a large degree of spatiotemporal organisation. We demonstrate sustained flow in epithelial sheets confined to a channel, thus providing a link between the dynamical behaviour of continuum active nematics and the cell-level vertex model of tissue dynamics.<br/

From Dry to Wet Vertex Model Dynamics:Generating Sustained Flows

Complex tissue flows in epithelia are driven by intra- and inter-cellular processes that generate, maintain, and coordinate mechanical forces. There has been growing evidence that cell shape anisotropy, manifested as nematic order, plays an important role in this process. Here we extend a nematic vertex model by replacing substrate friction with internal viscous dissipation, of relevance to epithelia not supported by a substrate or the extracellular matrix, such as many early-stage embryos. When coupled to cell shape anisotropy, the internal viscous dissipation allows for long-range velocity correlations and thus enables the spontaneous emergence of flows with a large degree of spatiotemporal organisation. We demonstrate sustained flow in epithelial sheets confined to a channel, thus providing a link between the dynamical behaviour of continuum active nematics and the cell-level vertex model of tissue dynamics.<br/

Comparison of particle-exposure triggered pulmonary and systemic inflammation in mice fed with three different diets

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Obesity can be linked to disease risks such as diabetes and cardiovascular disorders, but recently, the adipose tissue (AT) macrophage also emerges as actively participating in inflammation and immune function, producing pro- and anti-inflammatory factors. Connections between the AT and chronic lung diseases, like emphysema and asthma and a protective role of adipocyte-derived proteins against acute lung injury were suggested.</p> <p>In this study we addressed the question, whether a diet challenge increases the inflammatory response in the alveolar and the blood compartment in response to carbon nanoparticles (CNP), as a surrogate for ambient/urban particulate air pollutants.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Mice were fed a high caloric carbohydrate-rich (CA) or a fat-rich (HF) diet for six weeks and were compared to mice kept on a purified low fat (LF) diet, respectively. Bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) and blood samples were taken 24 h after intratracheal CNP instillation and checked for cellular and molecular markers of inflammation.</p> <p>Results and discussion</p> <p>The high caloric diets resulted in distinct effects when compared with LF mice, respectively: CA resulted in increased body and fat mass without affecting blood cellular immunity. Conversely, HF activated the blood system, increasing lymphocyte and neutrophil counts, and resulted in slightly increased body fat content. In contrast to higher pro-inflammatory BAL Leptin in CA and HF mice, on a cellular level, both diets did not lead to an increased pro-inflammatory basal status in the alveolar compartment per se, nor did result in differences in the particle-triggered response. However both diets resulted in a disturbance of the alveolar capillary barrier as indicated by enhanced BAL protein and lactate-dehydrogenase concentrations. Systemically, reduced serum Adiponectin in HF mice might be related to the observed white blood cell increase.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>The increase in BAL pro-inflammatory factors in high caloric groups and reductions in serum concentrations of anti-inflammatory factors in HF mice, clearly show diet-specific effects, pointing towards augmented systemic inflammatory conditions. Our data suggest that extended feeding periods, leading to manifest obesity, are necessary to generate an increased susceptibility to particle-induced lung inflammation; although the diet-challenge already was efficient in driving pro-inflammatory systemic events.</p

Pubertal presentation in seven patients with congenital adrenal hyperplasia due to P450 Oxidoreductase deficiency

Context: P450 oxidoreductase (POR) is a crucial electron donor to all microsomal P450 cytochrome (CYP) enzymes including 17α-hydroxylase (CYP17A1), 21-hydroxylase (CYP21A2) and P450 aromatase. Mutant POR causes congenital adrenal hyperplasia with combined glucocorticoid and sex steroid deficiency. P450 oxidoreductase deficiency (ORD) commonly presents neonatally, with disordered sex development in both sexes, skeletal malformations, and glucocorticoid deficiency. \ud \ud Objective: The aim of the study was to describe the clinical and biochemical characteristics of ORD during puberty. \ud \ud Design: Clinical, biochemical, and genetic assessment of seven ORD patients (five females, two males) presenting during puberty was conducted. \ud \ud Results: Predominant findings in females were incomplete pubertal development (four of five) and large ovarian cysts (five of five) prone to spontaneous rupture, in some only resolving after combined treatment with estrogen/progestin, GnRH superagonists, and glucocorticoids. Pubertal development in the two boys was more mildly affected, with some spontaneous progression. Urinary steroid profiling revealed combined CYP17A1 and CYP21A2 deficiencies indicative of ORD in all patients; all but one failed to mount an appropriate cortisol response to ACTH stimulation indicative of adrenal insufficiency. Diagnosis of ORD was confirmed by direct sequencing, demonstrating disease-causing POR mutations. \ud \ud Conclusion: Delayed and disordered puberty can be the first sign leading to a diagnosis of ORD. Appropriate testosterone production during puberty in affected boys but manifest primary hypogonadism in girls with ORD may indicate that testicular steroidogenesis is less dependent on POR than adrenal and ovarian steroidogenesis. Ovarian cysts in pubertal girls may be driven not only by high gonadotropins but possibly also by impaired CYP51A1-mediated production of meiosis-activating sterols due to mutant POR

Alternative oxidase-mediated respiration prevents lethal mitochondrial cardiomyopathy

Alternative oxidase (AOX) is a non-mammalian enzyme that can bypass blockade of the complex III-IV segment of the respiratory chain (RC). We crossed a Ciona intestinalis AOX transgene into RC complex III (cIII)-deficient Bcs1l(p.S78G) knock-in mice, displaying multiple visceral manifestations and premature death. The homozygotes expressing AOX were viable, and their median survival was extended from 210 to 590 days due to permanent prevention of lethal cardiomyopathy. AOX also prevented renal tubular atrophy and cerebral astrogliosis, but not liver disease, growth restriction, or lipodystrophy, suggesting distinct tissue-specific pathogenetic mechanisms. Assessment of reactive oxygen species (ROS) production and damage suggested that ROS were not instrumental in the rescue. Cardiac mitochondrial ultrastructure, mitochondrial respiration, and pathological transcriptome and metabolome alterations were essentially normalized by AOX, showing that the restored electron flow upstream of cIII was sufficient to prevent cardiac energetic crisis and detrimental decompensation. These findings demonstrate the value of AOX, both as a mechanistic tool and a potential therapeutic strategy, for cIII deficiencies.Peer reviewe

Network and systems medicine: Position paper of the European Collaboration on Science and Technology action on Open Multiscale Systems Medicine

Introduction: Network and systems medicine has rapidly evolved over the past decade, thanks to computational and integrative tools, which stem in part from systems biology. However, major challenges and hurdles are still present regarding validation and translation into clinical application and decision making for precision medicine. Methods: In this context, the Collaboration on Science and Technology Action on Open Multiscale Systems Medicine (OpenMultiMed) reviewed the available advanced technologies for multidimensional data generation and integration in an open-science approach as well as key clinical applications of network and systems medicine and the main issues and opportunities for the future. Results: The development of multi-omic approaches as well as new digital tools provides a unique opportunity to explore complex biological systems and networks at different scales. Moreover, the application of findable, applicable, interoperable, and reusable principles and the adoption of standards increases data availability and sharing for multiscale integration and interpretation. These innovations have led to the first clinical applications of network and systems medicine, particularly in the field of personalized therapy and drug dosing. Enlarging network and systems medicine application would now imply to increase patient engagement and health care providers as well as to educate the novel generations of medical doctors and biomedical researchers to shift the current organ- and symptom-based medical concepts toward network- and systems-based ones for more precise diagnoses, interventions, and ideally prevention. Conclusion: In this dynamic setting, the health care system will also have to evolve, if not revolutionize, in terms of organization and management