The cyclopoid copepod Oithona similis is one of the most abundant copepods in the oceans and has a potentially important role in pelagic food webs. However, there is a lack of knowledge on aspects of ...its biology and function in planktonic communities. In the present study, we aimed to assess and compare the species’ trophic role in Greenlandic coastal waters during the winter-spring transition, with a focus on its winter behaviour, when large calanoids are not present in the surface layer. Two locations were studied: waters offshore from Godthåbsfjord (Nuuk) in winter, and Qeqertarsuaq (Disko Bay) in spring (bloom and post-bloom period). The potential prey of adult females of O. similis was quantified, and grazing experiments were conducted to determine the feeding rates of adult females on phytoplankton and protozooplankton >10 μm. The abundance, stage composition, and egg production of O. similis was also investigated. Ciliates were the preferred prey for O. similis, which confirms its importance as a link between the microbial food web and higher trophic levels. We observed high egg production rates and efficiencies of O. similis in winter, confirming that it is active and successfully reproductive in food-limited winter conditions. Our results stress that O. similis is a key component of Arctic and subarctic marine communities throughout the year.
Objective: To analyze, in morbid obese patients, the expression of several human genes regulating cortisol metabolism, such as glucocorticoid receptor (GR), 11β-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase type 1 ...(11βHSD1), 11-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase type 2 (11HβSD2), stearoyl-acute regulatory protein (StAR), 5α-reductase type I (5α-R) and peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-γ (PPARγ) in two different adipose depots. A second objective was to characterize the circadian rhythmicity of these genes in both adipose tissue (AT) regions. Design: Visceral and subcutaneous abdominal AT biopsies were obtained from obese patients (body mass index >or=40 kg m-2). To carry out rhythmic expression analysis, AT explants were cultured for 24 h and gene expression at times (T) 0, 6, 12 and 18 h, was performed with quantitative real-time PCR. Result: GR, 11βHSD1 and PPARγ genes were highly expressed in both subcutaneous and visceral depots. StAR and 5α-R genes were detected at lower levels. The expression of 11βHSD2 was quantified in both AT depots with a higher expression in the visceral depot (P=0.032). Both sexes had similar gene expression levels, except for 5α-R (P=0.002). The genes studied showed circadian rhythmicity being more robust in visceral than in subcutaneous AT. Genes ranged in anti-phase between both depots (P=0.002). This rhythmicity was maintained in an AT culture. Conclusion: We have shown for the first time circadian rhythmicity in glucocorticoid-related gene expression in human AT ex vivo. These results may have potential therapeutic implications with respect to the pathogenesis and treatment of diseases, such as obesity, type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular diseases.
Although parasitism is one of the most prevalent interactions in nature, studies of aquatic food webs rarely include parasites. Syndiniales (Dinophyceae, Alveolata) is a diverse parasitic group of ...dinoflagellates, common in all marine environments, and are described as dominant components of pelagic ecosystems. However, their temporal dynamics, prevalence, and host-specificity are poorly known. Using DNA metabarcoding to explore trophic interactions of zooplankton, we found a high proportion of Syndiniales sequence reads associated with the targeted consumers. We observed the occurrence of Syndiniales in copepods, cladocerans, appendicularians, and polychaete larvae, ranging between 11 and 36% relative read abundance, encompassing 11 main putative clades. Zooplankton–Syndiniales interactions showed variability in occurrence across the taxa, but also certain host-specificity. The study suggests that the observed copepod–Syndiniales interactions can be both direct parasitic infections and the result of trophic transmission through potentially infected prey by Syndiniales. Given the quantitative importance of Syndiniales and zooplankton in marine environments, our findings emphasize that their interactions should be recognized as key players in the structure and connectivity of plankton food webs.
The aim of this paper is the description of a new version of the software application GRUNUMUR, a useful tool for human nutrition studies designed by the Nutrition Research Group from the Murcia ...University. Similar to the first, this second version offers the possibility to address different types of study: dietary habits (24 h recall, 7-days dietary record and Food Frequency Questionnaire), epidemiological, anthropometrical and clinical studies. The new version, called GRUNUMUR 2.0, compatible with the first one, has an online help system for all functions of the application, providing the user tasks, allows safe storage of a virtually unlimited number of results, in an orderly and organized way, you can retrieve it when required, through a system of backups and scheduled maintenance and unattended (tasks performed by a server), another advantage is its total accessibility, both from the university intranet (www.um.es) and from the internet, it works via Web Browser (http://senver.inf.um.es/esen), and finally, allows data to be exported to Excel for further processing with other applications as well as publishing reports in PDF, to deliver study participants if necessary. The new version has been validated by comparing the extracted results with those obtained from the other software with no significant differences for any of the variables analyzed. The application GRUNUMUR 2.0 is a tool improved, useful and reliable for addressing human nutrition studies.
The flavonoid content of tea (
Camellia sinensis
) has beneficial properties in the prevention of diseases. However, the mechanisms by which white tea can protect against oxidative stress remain ...unclear. To shed light on this issue, rats were given distilled water (controls), 0.15 mg/day (dose 1) or 0.45 mg/day (dose 2) of solid tea extract/kg body weight for 12 months. All the animals received an injection of adriamycin (ADR; 10 mg/kg body weight), except half of the control group, which were given an injection of saline solution. The expression of the nuclear factor, E2-related factor 2 (
Nrf2
), NAD(P)H:quinone oxidoreductase 1 (
Nqo1
), glutathione S-transferase (
Gst
), haem oxygenase-1 (
Ho1
), catalase (
Cat
), superoxide dismutase (
Sod
) and glutathione reductase (
Gr
) in liver was analysed by real-time PCR, and the activity of catalase (CAT), superoxide dismutase (SOD) and glutathione reductase (GR) was measured spectrophotometrically. ADR significantly increased the expression of
Nrf2
,
Gst
,
Nqo1
,
Ho1
,
Cat
,
Sod
and
Gr
with respect to the control levels and also increased the activity of CAT, SOD and GR. The intake of white tea increased in a higher degree the expression of
Nrf2
,
Gst
,
Nqo1
and
Ho1
in the tea + ADR group compared with the control group and C + ADR group. In addition, tea + ADR groups decreased the expression and activity of CAT, SOD and GR in a dose-dependent manner.
Abstract Animals do not eat whatever food item they encounter, but choose different foods that best match their requirements. Fish exhibit such “nutritional wisdom” and adapt their feeding behaviour ...and food intake according to their needs and the nutritional properties of diets. In this paper, we tested the ability of Nile tilapia to select between diets with a balanced or unbalanced composition of essential amino acids. To this end, three different diets were prepared: a gelatine based diet (D1 ), a gelatine diet supplemented with three essential amino acids (EAA, l -tryptophane, l -methionine, l -threonine) (D2 ), and a diet containing only cellulose and the three crystalline EAA (D3 ). In addition, the putative role of both orosensorial factors (using pellets vs capsules) and social interactions (single vs groups of ten fish) was investigated. To this end, a total of 68 male tilapia of about 141 ± 48 g (mean ± S.D.) were challenged, individually or in groups, to select between D1 vs D2 using pellets dispensed by self-feeders (exp. 1). In another experiment (exp. 2), 11 individual fish were challenged to select encapsulated diets with non flavour or smell proprieties (D1 vs D2) , and in exp. 3 fish were challenged to self-supplementation in EAA (D1 vs D3 ). The results showed the ability of tilapia to avoid the EAA-deficient diet, choosing 82.2% D2 in the case of individual fish, and 80.8% D2 in the case of fish groups. Dietary selection was not directly driven by the orosensorial characteristics of food, since tilapia sustained a higher preference for D2 when fed with encapsulated diets. Finally, in exp. 3 tilapia self-supplemented the EAA deficiency by selecting a synchronised combination of D1 and D3 that matched their nutritional requirements. These findings highlighted the capacity of fish to make dietary selection based on the EAA content, which should be considered when discussing food intake regulation mechanisms, and diet formulation and supplementation with EAA.
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•Novel and high-performance WO3 nanostructures were formed in a very simple way.•Their photocatalytic behavior is influenced by their morphology and size.•The best nanostructure ...completely degraded methyl orange in just 1 h.•This nanostructure is an excellent photocatalyst for environmental applications.
WO3 nanoplatelets have been synthesized by electrochemical anodization in acidic electrolytes containing two different complexing agents: fluorides and hydrogen peroxide. The influence of the morphology and size of these nanoplatelets on their photoelectrocatalytic performance has been studied following the degradation of a model organic recalcitrant compound, such as methyl orange (MO). The effect of several supporting electrolytes on this photodegradation process has also been checked. The best MO decoloration was observed for nanoplatelets fabricated in the presence of low H2O2 concentrations, whose distribution and small size made them expose a very high surface area to the problem solution. With this nanostructure, decoloration efficiencies of ca. 100% were obtained after just 60 min. This result is considerably better than others reported in similar works, indicating the excellent behavior of these WO3 nanoplatelets as photoelectrocatalysts.
Abstract Introduction Patient associations form part of health care systems, but little is known about how their members view the functionality of these associations and whether they endorse their ...goals and activities. Objective To study how the members of the leading Spanish association of patients with psoriasis and their relatives view the group's functioning. Material and methods Survey study using a self-administered questionnaire answered by members of the association (total membership, 26 349 persons). The credibility of the association and respondents’ confidence in and satisfaction with it were studied and compared with their attitudes toward other agents in the health care system. A Rasch model was used to analyze respondents’ ranking of functions. Analysis of variance was used to study between-group differences. Results A total of 746 members participated (response rate 2.83%). The association's credibility was rated in second place, after that of specialists who treat psoriasis. Support for the association functions was good (7.53 on a scale of 0 to 10). The function the members rated highest was the raising of societal awareness of psoriasis and its problems. Rated lowest were functions related to personal services for members. Educational level was the only participant factor associated with significant differences in evaluations ( P < .05). Conclusions The psoriasis association contributes by disseminating information about the disease and patient care, and it serves to represent patients. Health professionals and institutions should take the association into account in their efforts to deal with the disease and in designing effective policies.
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