Although the cheetah is recognised as the fastest land animal, little is known about other aspects of its notable athleticism, particularly when hunting in the wild. Here we describe and use a new ...tracking collar of our own design, containing a combination of Global Positioning System (GPS) and inertial measurement units, to capture the locomotor dynamics and outcome of 367 predominantly hunting runs of five wild cheetahs in Botswana. A remarkable top speed of 25.9 m s(-1) (58 m.p.h. or 93 km h(-1)) was recorded, but most cheetah hunts involved only moderate speeds. We recorded some of the highest measured values for lateral and forward acceleration, deceleration and body-mass-specific power for any terrestrial mammal. To our knowledge, this is the first detailed locomotor information on the hunting dynamics of a large cursorial predator in its natural habitat.
Celotno besedilo
Dostopno za:
DOBA, IJS, IZUM, KILJ, KISLJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SIK, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
Pollen development is a critical step in plant development that is needed for successful breeding and seed formation. Manipulation of male fertility has proved a useful trait for hybrid breeding and ...increased crop yield. However, although there is a good understanding developing of the molecular mechanisms of anther and pollen anther development in model species, such as Arabidopsis and rice, little is known about the equivalent processes in important crops. Nevertheless the onset of increased genomic information and genetic tools is facilitating translation of information from the models to crops, such as barley and wheat; this will enable increased understanding and manipulation of these pathways for agricultural improvement.
Sparing carbapenem usage Wilson, A Peter R
Journal of antimicrobial chemotherapy,
2017-Sep-01, 2017-09-01, 20170901, Letnik:
72, Številka:
9
Journal Article
Recenzirano
Odprti dostop
Carbapenem resistance in Gram-negative bacteria is increasing in many countries and use of carbapenems and antibiotics to which resistance is linked should be reduced to slow its emergence. There are ...no directly equivalent antibiotics and the alternatives are less well supported by clinical trials. The few new agents are expensive.
To provide guidance on strategies to reduce carbapenem usage.
A literature review was performed as described in the BSAC/HIS/BIA/IPS Joint Working Party on Multiresistant Gram-negative Infection Report.
Older agents remain active against some of the pathogens, although expectations of broad-spectrum cover for empirical treatment have risen. Education, expert advice on treatment and antimicrobial stewardship can produce significant reductions in use.
More agents may need to be introduced onto the antibiotic formulary of the hospital, despite the poor quality of scientific studies in some cases.
Symbioses may be important mechanisms of plant adaptation to their environment. We conducted a reciprocal inoculation experiment to test the hypothesis that soil fertility is a key driver of local ...adaptation in arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) symbioses. Ecotypes of Andropogon gerardii from phosphorus-limited and nitrogen-limited grasslands were grown with all possible "home and away" combinations of soils and AM fungal communities. Our results indicate that Andropogon ecotypes adapt to their local soil and indigenous AM fungal communities such that mycorrhizal exchange of the most limiting resource is maximized. Grasses grown in home soil and inoculated with home AM fungi produced more arbuscules (symbiotic exchange structures) in their roots than those grown in away combinations. Also, regardless of the host ecotype, AM fungi produced more extraradical hyphae in their home soil, and locally adapted AM fungi were, therefore, able to sequester more carbon compared with nonlocal fungi. Locally adapted mycorrhizal associations were more mutualistic in the two phosphorus-limited sites and less parasitic at the nitrogen-limited site compared with novel combinations of plants, fungi, and soils. To our knowledge, these findings provide the strongest evidence to date that resource availability generates evolved geographic structure in symbioses among plants and soil organisms. Thus, edaphic origin of AM fungi should be considered when managing for their benefits in agriculture, ecosystem restoration, and soil-carbon sequestration.
IMPORTANCE: The neuroinflammatory hypothesis of major depressive disorder is supported by several main findings. First, in humans and animals, activation of the immune system causes sickness ...behaviors that present during a major depressive episode (MDE), such as low mood, anhedonia, anorexia, and weight loss. Second, peripheral markers of inflammation are frequently reported in major depressive disorder. Third, neuroinflammatory illnesses are associated with high rates of MDEs. However, a fundamental limitation of the neuroinflammatory hypothesis is a paucity of evidence of brain inflammation during MDE. Translocator protein density measured by distribution volume (TSPO VT) is increased in activated microglia, an important aspect of neuroinflammation. OBJECTIVE: To determine whether TSPO VT is elevated in the prefrontal cortex, anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), and insula in patients with MDE secondary to major depressive disorder. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS: Case-control study in a tertiary care psychiatric hospital from May 1, 2010, through February 1, 2014. Twenty patients with MDE secondary to major depressive disorder and 20 healthy control participants underwent positron emission tomography with fluorine F 18–labeled N-(2-(2-fluoroethoxy)benzyl)-N-(4-phenoxypyridin-3-yl)acetamide (18FFEPPA). Patients with MDE were medication free for at least 6 weeks. All participants were otherwise healthy and nonsmokers. MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES: Values of TSPO VT in the prefrontal cortex, ACC, and insula. RESULTS: In MDE, TSPO VT was significantly elevated in all brain regions examined (multivariate analysis of variance, F15,23 = 4.5 P = .001). The magnitude of TSPO VT elevation was 26% in the prefrontal cortex (mean SD TSPO VT, 12.5 3.6 in patients with MDE and 10.0 2.4 in controls), 32% in the ACC (mean SD TSPO VT, 12.3 3.5 in patients with MDE and 9.3 2.2 in controls), and 33% in the insula (mean SD TSPO VT, 12.9 3.7 in patients with MDE and 9.7 2.3 in controls). In MDE, greater TSPO VT in the ACC correlated with greater depression severity (r = 0.63 P = .005). CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE: This finding provides the most compelling evidence to date of brain inflammation, and more specifically microglial activation, in MDE. This finding is important for improving treatment because it implies that therapeutics that reduce microglial activation should be promising for MDE. The correlation between higher ACC TSPO VT and the severity of MDE is consistent with the concept that neuroinflammation in specific regions may contribute to sickness behaviors that overlap with the symptoms of MDE.
Three-dimensional (3D) printing is an emerging approach for rapid fabrication of complex tissue structures using cell-loaded bioinks. However, 3D bioprinting has hit a bottleneck in progress because ...of the lack of suitable bioinks that are printable, have high shape fidelity, and are mechanically resilient. In this study, we introduce a new family of nanoengineered bioinks consisting of kappa-carrageenan (κCA) and two-dimensional (2D) nanosilicates (nSi). κCA is a biocompatible, linear, sulfated polysaccharide derived from red algae and can undergo thermo-reversible and ionic gelation. The shear-thinning characteristics of κCA were tailored by nanosilicates to develop a printable bioink. By tuning κCA–nanosilicate ratios, the thermo-reversible gelation of the bioink can be controlled to obtain high printability and shape retention characteristics. The unique aspect of the nanoengineered κCA–nSi bioink is its ability to print physiologically-relevant-scale tissue constructs without requiring secondary supports. We envision that nanoengineered κCA–nanosilicate bioinks can be used to 3D print complex, large-scale, cell-laden tissue constructs with high structural fidelity and tunable mechanical stiffness for regenerative medicine.
Diabetes is a metabolic condition that is exponentially increasing worldwide. Current monitoring methods for diabetes are invasive, painful, and expensive. Herein, we present the first multipatient ...clinical trial that demonstrates clearly that tear fluid may be a valuable marker for systemic glucose measurements. The NovioSense Glucose Sensor, worn under the lower eye lid (inferior conjunctival fornix), is reported to continuously measure glucose levels in the basal tear fluid with good correlation to blood glucose values, showing clear clinical feasibility in both animals and humans. Furthermore, the polysaccharide coated device previously reported by our laboratory when worn, does not induce pain or irritation. In a phase II clinical trial, six patients with type 1 Diabetes Mellitus were enrolled and the capability of the device to measure glucose in the tear fluid was evaluated. The NovioSense Glucose Sensor gives a stable signal and the results correlate well to blood glucose values obtained from finger-prick measurements determined by consensus error grid analysis.
Inspired by the highly versatile natural motors, artificial micro‐/nanomotors that can convert surrounding energies into mechanical motion and accomplish multiple tasks are devised. In the past few ...years, micro‐/nanomotors have demonstrated significant potential in biomedicine. However, the practical biomedical applications of these small‐scale devices are still at an infant stage. For successful bench‐to‐bed translation, biocompatibility of micro‐/nanomotor systems is the central issue to be considered. Herein, the recent progress in micro‐/nanomotors in biocompatibility is reviewed, with a special focus on their biomedical applications. Through close collaboration between researches in the nanoengineering, material chemistry, and biomedical fields, it is expected that a promising real‐world application platform based on micro‐/nanomotors will emerge in the near future.
The biocompatibility of artificial micro‐/nanomotors is essential for real‐world biomedical applications. Recent progress about biocompatible micro‐/nanomotor systems that are based on biocompatible framework materials, chemical fuels (e.g., water, glucose, urea, and acid), external fields (e.g., magnetic field, light, and ultrasound) and biohybrid, is discussed here.
PDF
