An eco-physiological and biotechnological approach to conservation of the world-wide rare and endangered aquatic liverwort Riella helicophylla (Bory et Mont.) Mont.

The rare aquatic liverwort Riella helicophylla (Bory et Mont.) Mont., inhabitant of temporary shallow ponds around the Mediterranean basin, is considered threatened throughout its distribution range. In addition, little is known of its biology and ecology or of its role in such an important ecosystem where envi- ronmental conditions vary yearly in unpredictable ways. In these variable habitats, due to the seasonal fluc- tuation of water levels, there is no guarantee of yearly spore input into the spore bank. Spore germination rate and the effects of different culture media in an axenic culture establishment, as well as propagation proce- dures of R. helicophylla, were tested. New insights into the ecology and biology of R. helicophylla are given. Spore dormancy is documented, and the protocols for the in vitro culture establishment, propagation and ac- climatization of this liverwort are developed. Dry storage at 20 ± 2 °C for about three months broke the dor- mancy of spores, which subsequently germinated in a high percentage (over 90%). A two phase (solid and liquid) culture media system was developed for the purpose of achieving fully developed gametophytes. The liquid phase contained electrolytes simulating brackish water

Serum methylarginines and spirometry-measured lung function in older adults

Rationale: Methylarginines are endogenous nitric oxide synthase inhibitors that have been implicated in animal models of lung disease but have not previously been examined for their association with spirometric measures of lung function in humans. Objectives: This study measured serum concentrations of asymmetric and symmetric dimethylarginine in a representative sample of older community-dwelling adults and determined their association with spirometric lung function measures. Methods: Data on clinical, lifestyle, and demographic characteristics, methylated arginines, and L-arginine (measured using LC-MS/MS) were collected from a population-based sample of older Australian adults from the Hunter Community Study. The five key lung function measures included as outcomes were Forced Expiratory Volume in 1 second, Forced Vital Capacity, Forced Expiratory Volume in 1 second to Forced Vital Capacity ratio, Percent Predicted Forced Expiratory Volume in 1 second, and Percent Predicted Forced Vital Capacity. Measurements and Main Results: In adjusted analyses there were statistically significant independent associations between a) higher asymmetric dimethylarginine, lower Forced Expiratory Volume in 1 second and lower Forced Vital Capacity; and b) lower L-arginine/asymmetric dimethylarginine ratio, lower Forced Expiratory Volume in 1 second, lower Percent Predicted Forced Expiratory Volume in 1 second and lower Percent Predicted Forced Vital Capacity. By contrast, no significant associations were observed between symmetric dimethylarginine and lung function. Conclusions: After adjusting for clinical, demographic, biochemical, and pharmacological confounders, higher serum asymmetric dimethylarginine was independently associated with a reduction in key measures of lung function. Further research is needed to determine if methylarginines predict the decline in lung function

Laser Calibration System for Time of Flight Scintillator Arrays

A laser calibration system was developed for monitoring and calibrating time of flight (TOF) scintillating detector arrays. The system includes setups for both small- and large-scale scintillator arrays. Following test-bench characterization, the laser system was recently commissioned in experimental Hall B at the Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility for use on the new Backward Angle Neutron Detector (BAND) scintillator array. The system successfully provided time walk corrections, absolute time calibration, and TOF drift correction for the scintillators in BAND. This showcases the general applicability of the system for use on high-precision TOF detectors.Comment: 11 pages, 11 figure

Oral chondroitin sulfate and prebiotics for the treatment of canine Inflammatory Bowel Disease: a randomized, controlled clinical trial

BACKGROUND Canine inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is a chronic enteropathy of unknown etiology, although microbiome dysbiosis, genetic susceptibility, and dietary and/or environmental factors are hypothesized to be involved in its pathogenesis. Since some of the current therapies are associated with severe side effects, novel therapeutic modalities are needed. A new oral supplement for long-term management of canine IBD containing chondroitin sulfate (CS) and prebiotics (resistant starch, β-glucans and mannaoligosaccharides) was developed to target intestinal inflammation and oxidative stress, and restore normobiosis, without exhibiting any side effects. This double-blinded, randomized, placebo-controlled trial in dogs with IBD aims to evaluate the effects of 180 days administration of this supplement together with a hydrolyzed diet on clinical signs, intestinal histology, gut microbiota, and serum biomarkers of inflammation and oxidative stress. RESULTS Twenty-seven client-owned biopsy-confirmed IBD dogs were included in the study, switched to the same hydrolyzed diet and classified into one of two groups: supplement and placebo. Initially, there were no significant differences between groups (p > 0.05) for any of the studied parameters. Final data analysis (supplement: n = 9; placebo: n = 10) showed a significant decrease in canine IBD activity index (CIBDAI) score in both groups after treatment (p < 0.001). After treatment, a significant decrease (1.53-fold; p < 0.01) in histologic score was seen only in the supplement group. When groups were compared, the supplement group showed significantly higher serum cholesterol (p < 0.05) and paraoxonase-1 (PON1) levels after 60 days of treatment (p < 0.01), and the placebo group showed significantly reduced serum total antioxidant capacity (TAC) levels after 120 days (p < 0.05). No significant differences were found between groups at any time point for CIBDAI, WSAVA histologic score and fecal microbiota evaluated by PCR-restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP). No side effects were reported in any group. CONCLUSIONS The combined administration of the supplement with hydrolyzed diet over 180 days was safe and induced improvements in selected serum biomarkers, possibly suggesting a reduction in disease activity. This study was likely underpowered, therefore larger studies are warranted in order to demonstrate a supplemental effect to dietary treatment of this supplement on intestinal histology and CIBDAI

Flow smoothing and denoising: graph signal processing in the edge-space

This paper focuses on devising graph signal processing tools for the treatment of data defined on the edges of a graph. We first show that conventional tools from graph signal processing may not be suitable for the analysis of such signals. More specifically, we discuss how the underlying notion of a ‘smooth signal’ inherited from (the typically considered variants of) the graph Laplacian are not suitable when dealing with edge signals that encode a notion of flow. To overcome this limitation we introduce a class of filters based on the Edge-Laplacian, a special case of the Hodge-Laplacian for simplicial complexes of order one. We demonstrate how this Edge-Laplacian leads to low-pass filters that enforce (approximate) flow-conservation in the processed signals. Moreover, we show how these new filters can be combined with more classical Laplacian-based processing methods on the line-graph. Finally, we illustrate the developed tools by denoising synthetic traffic flows on the London street network

Height and timing of growth spurt during puberty in young people living with vertically acquired HIV in Europe and Thailand.

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to describe growth during puberty in young people with vertically acquired HIV. DESIGN: Pooled data from 12 paediatric HIV cohorts in Europe and Thailand. METHODS: One thousand and ninety-four children initiating a nonnucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor or boosted protease inhibitor based regimen aged 1-10 years were included. Super Imposition by Translation And Rotation (SITAR) models described growth from age 8 years using three parameters (average height, timing and shape of the growth spurt), dependent on age and height-for-age z-score (HAZ) (WHO references) at antiretroviral therapy (ART) initiation. Multivariate regression explored characteristics associated with these three parameters. RESULTS: At ART initiation, median age and HAZ was 6.4 [interquartile range (IQR): 2.8, 9.0] years and -1.2 (IQR: -2.3 to -0.2), respectively. Median follow-up was 9.1 (IQR: 6.9, 11.4) years. In girls, older age and lower HAZ at ART initiation were independently associated with a growth spurt which occurred 0.41 (95% confidence interval 0.20-0.62) years later in children starting ART age 6 to 10 years compared with 1 to 2 years and 1.50 (1.21-1.78) years later in those starting with HAZ less than -3 compared with HAZ at least -1. Later growth spurts in girls resulted in continued height growth into later adolescence. In boys starting ART with HAZ less than -1, growth spurts were later in children starting ART in the oldest age group, but for HAZ at least -1, there was no association with age. Girls and boys who initiated ART with HAZ at least -1 maintained a similar height to the WHO reference mean. CONCLUSION: Stunting at ART initiation was associated with later growth spurts in girls. Children with HAZ at least -1 at ART initiation grew in height at the level expected in HIV negative children of a comparable age

Oxidation resistance of graphene-coated Cu and Cu/Ni alloy

The ability to protect refined metals from reactive environments is vital to many industrial and academic applications. Current solutions, however, typically introduce several negative effects, including increased thickness and changes in the metal physical properties. In this paper, we demonstrate for the first time the ability of graphene films grown by chemical vapor deposition to protect the surface of the metallic growth substrates of Cu and Cu/Ni alloy from air oxidation. SEM, Raman spectroscopy, and XPS studies show that the metal surface is well protected from oxidation even after heating at 200 \degree C in air for up to 4 hours. Our work further shows that graphene provides effective resistance against hydrogen peroxide. This protection method offers significant advantages and can be used on any metal that catalyzes graphene growth

Similarities between the lipid proile of Mexican patients with lupus and the general population

Premature cardiovascular events have been observed in systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) patients, but the reason for this accelerated process is still debatable; although traditional risk factors are more prevalent in such patients than in the general population, the do not seem to fully explain that enhanced risk. One of the most important conditions is a proatherogenic lipid proile. There is not enough data about it in Mexican SLE patients. Objective: To establish the differences in the lipid proiles between Mexican patients with SLE and the general population. Material and methods: Observational, transversal, descriptive and comparative study, between SLE patients and age-sex-matched healthy volunteers. We performed a full lipid proile (by spectrophotometry) 14 hours of fast. The results obtained were analyzed by the statistical program SPSS® Statistics version 17. Results: We studied the full lipid proiles of 138 subjects, 69 with a diagnosis of SLE and 69 agesex- matched healthy volunteers; 95.7% were females and 4.3% males. Average age was 30 years; average body mass index (BMI) 25.96 ± 5.96 kg/m² in SLE patients and 26.72 ± 4.36 kg/m² in the control group (p = 0.396). Average of total cholesterol 156 mg/dl in the SLE patients and 169.4 mg/dl in the control group (p =0.028); average of low density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol 85.27 mg/dl in the SLE patients and 97.57 mg/dl in the control group (p = 0.023). Conclusions: We did not ind statistical differences in the lipid proiles among patients and healthy volunteers, which could explain increased cardiovascular morbidity and mortality observed in SLE patient