Aquaculture has become an agronomic activity with noticeable development around the world to respond to the simultaneous decrease of fish captures and the increasing demand of aquatic products for ...human consumption. However, different problems limit the development of this industry and one of those is the time required for most of the cultured fish species to achieve economically viable the commercial size. The knowledge up to date of the regulatory systems involved in controlling growth has improved very much but, it is still necessary to devote efforts to transform the basic information in application to fish culture production. The aim of the present review is to summarize the knowledge acquired with the studies about the GH/IGF axis and other hormones regarding their function on the regulation of fish muscle development and growth. To this end, GH and IGFs effects in muscle cells on metabolism and development are examined, as well as the contribution of IGF-I binding proteins, IGF-I receptors and their downstream regulated molecules like TOR and its relation with cell proliferation and differentiation and the myogenic regulatory factors. The effect of regulatory molecules on cultured myocytes are reviewed as well as in vivo responses, including the model of sustained and maintained swimming. Key aspects we consider should be further investigated to complete the scenario of the regulation of fish muscle are also proposed.
•The GH/IGF axis regulates growth and metabolism in fish muscle•Thyroid hormones and steroids exert important roles controlling muscle growth•IGF-I and IGF-II stimulate nutrients uptake and differentially regulate myogenesis•TOR and proteolytic systems' members can be valuable markers of growth condition•Moderate and sustained swimming provokes in fish better growth and flesh quality
The impact of hydrocarbon spills in the unsaturated zone is a significant environmental concern, particularly in locations where contamination arises from leaks in underground fuel storage tanks ...(USTs). This paper presents the outcomes achieved through the utilization of VLEACH, a finite-difference numerical model, to assess the concentrations of organic contaminants in the solid, liquid, and gas phases within the vadose zone. Additionally, it evaluates the mass transfer of pollutants to the aquifer as part of an environmental assessment for the placement of a forthcoming service station. The study encompasses an analysis of 18 scenarios under realistic conditions based on actual field data. These scenarios were constructed, taking into account various factors, including the nature of the leak (one-time or permanent), the depth of the phreatic level, and the soil conditions and properties. The results highlight the potential environmental consequences of a permanent leak as compared to those resulting from a specific accident. The findings further emphasize the substantial influence of soil moisture on transport phenomena within the vadose zone. Variations in soil moisture significantly alter hydraulic conductivity, impact magnitudes, transport velocities, and even the predominant transport mechanism. Consequently, precise delineation of soil moisture becomes a crucial parameter in such simulations. Additionally, it has been observed that each component of BTEX (benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, and xylene) experiences varying transport velocities through the vadose zone. Benzene, having a greater propensity to concentrate in the liquid and gas phases, exhibits the swiftest movement through the vadose zone. The detection of benzene in aquifers can serve as an indicator of the potential future arrival of the remaining BTEX compounds.
The Lower Piura Sub-basin Aquifer is a vital source of water in the north of Peru. Despite its importance, few local studies describe this formation. Most are limited to reporting hydraulic ...characteristics and abstraction rates, lacking a broader analysis. This article characterizes the aquifer, presenting the development of a conceptual and mathematical model with sparse data, completed using several assumptions and interpolations. The model will improve understanding of the aquifer system and the impacts of abstraction. The aquifer system includes an unconfined aquifer connected to a confined aquifer through an aquitard. Steady-state and transient-state models from 2004 to 2014 were used. The development and calibration of the model have led to proper identification of hydraulic parameters and boundary conditions, clarifying the dynamics of the system. In the unconfined aquifer, groundwater flows towards the south-west without significant variation in the water table. Conversely, the piezometric surface of the confined aquifer shows a cone of depression with a falling trend of 1.6 m/year between 2004 and 2014. Outflows include abstractions (48.42 × 10
6
m
3
/year), gaining surface waters (6.33 × 10
6
m
3
/year), and sea discharge (18.50 × 10
6
m
3
/year). Inflows are from irrigation return (34.67 × 10
6
m
3
/year) and from the Higher Piura Aquifer (27.23 × 10
6
m
3
/year). The imbalance of 11.24 × 10
6
m
3
/year is abstracted from aquifer storage leading to hydraulic head drops and flow changes, revealing a clearly unsustainable overexploitation scenario that impacts more intensively the confined aquifer. Model results provide the basis to understand how this is happening and help to suggest strategies to alleviate the current aquifer situation.
Obesity, a global pandemic that debilitates millions of people and burdens society with tens of billions of dollars in health care costs, is deterred by exercise. Although it is presumed that the ...more strenuous a physical challenge the more effective it will be in the suppression of adiposity, here it is shown that 15 weeks of brief, daily exposure to high-frequency mechanical signals, induced at a magnitude well below that which would arise during walking, inhibited adipogenesis by 27% in C57BL/6J mice. The mechanical signal also reduced key risk factors in the onset of type II diabetes, nonesterified free fatty acid and triglyceride content in the liver, by 43% and 39%, respectively. Over 9 weeks, these same signals suppressed fat production by 22% in the C3H.B6-6T congenic mouse strain that exhibits accelerated age-related changes in body composition. In an effort to understand the means by which fat production was inhibited, irradiated mice receiving bone marrow transplants from heterozygous GFP⁺ mice revealed that 6 weeks of these low-magnitude mechanical signals reduced the commitment of mesenchymal stem cell differentiation into adipocytes by 19%, indicating that formation of adipose tissue in these models was deterred by a marked reduction in stem cell adipogenesis. Translated to the human, this may represent the basis for the nonpharmacologic prevention of obesity and its sequelae, achieved through developmental, rather than metabolic, pathways.
Understanding the groundwater chemical regime on irrigated lands is relevant for assessing hydrogeological and reclamation processes. Water chemistry, natural and climatic conditions, and drainage ...characteristics define the complex hydrochemical connections which are formed between irrigation waters, soil, and water of the unsaturated zone and groundwater. This research paper presents the results of studies of seasonal changes in the chemical composition of groundwater in the Karatal irrigated massif. A detailed analysis of the salt regime and chemical composition of groundwater have been performed based on a large number of samples for 2019. Besides, data related to the Karatal River and drainage waters quality inside the basin have also been analyzed. Results demonstrate that the salinization processes in the massif are determined by hydrogeological conditions and drainage availability. In the north-eastern part of the massif, a high risk of soil salinization has been observed as a consequence of all the salinization processes which are determined by its hydrogeological conditions and drainage availability. Data analysis over soil samples and irrigation and drainage waters show that the hydrochemical regime of groundwater on Karatal irrigation massif is influenced by the presence of saline soil-forming rocks, the groundwater depth, the volume, and the quality of irrigation waters, the characteristics of the natural drainage, and evaporation processes.
The tolerance of fish to fasting offers a model to study the regulatory mechanisms and changes produced when feeding is restored. Gilthead sea bream juveniles were exposed to a 21-days fasting period ...followed by 2 h to 7-days refeeding. Fasting provoked a decrease in body weight, somatic indexes, and muscle gene expression of members of the Gh/Igf system, signaling molecules (akt, tor and downstream effectors), proliferation marker pcna, myogenic regulatory factors, myostatin, and proteolytic molecules such as cathepsins or calpains, while most ubiquitin-proteasome system members increased or remained stable. In bone, downregulated expression of Gh/Igf members and osteogenic factors was observed, whereas expression of the osteoclastic marker ctsk was increased. Refeeding recovered the expression of Gh/Igf system, myogenic and osteogenic factors in a sequence similar to that of development. Akt and Tor phosphorylation raised at 2 and 5 h post-refeeding, much faster than its gene expression increased, which occurred at day 7. The expression in bone and muscle of the inhibitor myostatin (mstn2) showed an inverse profile suggesting an inter-organ coordination that needs to be further explored in fish. Overall, this study provides new information on the molecules involved in the musculoskeletal system remodeling during the early stages of refeeding in fish.
Osteoglycin (OGN, a.k.a. mimecan) belongs to cluster III of the small leucine-rich proteoglycans (SLRP) of the extracellular matrix (ECM). In vertebrates OGN is a characteristic ECM protein of bone. ...In the present study we explore the evolution of SLRP III and OGN in teleosts that have a skeleton adapted to an aquatic environment.
The SLRP gene family has been conserved since the separation of chondrichthyes and osteichthyes. Few gene duplicates of the SLRP III family exist even in the teleosts that experienced a specific whole genome duplication. One exception is ogn for which duplicate copies were identified in fish genomes. The ogn promoter sequence and in vitro mesenchymal stem cell (MSC) cultures suggest the duplicate ogn genes acquired divergent functions. In gilthead sea bream (Sparus aurata) ogn1 was up-regulated during osteoblast and myocyte differentiation in vitro, while ogn2 was severely down-regulated during bone-derived MSCs differentiation into adipocytes in vitro.
Overall, the phylogenetic analysis indicates that the SLRP III family in vertebrates has been under conservative evolutionary pressure. The retention of the ogn gene duplicates in teleosts was linked with the acquisition of different functions. The acquisition by OGN of functions other than that of a bone ECM protein occurred early in the vertebrate lineage.
The paper presents a new stochastic inverse method for the simulation of transmissivity (
T) fields conditional to
T measurements, secondary information obtained from expert judgement and geophysical ...surveys, transient piezometric and solute concentration measurements, and travel time data.
The formulation of the method is simple and derived from the gradual deformation method. It basically consists of an iterative optimization procedure in which successive combinations of
T fields, that honour
T measurements and soft data (secondary data obtained from expert judgement and/or geophysical surveys), gradually lead to a simulated
T field conditional to flow and mass transport data. Every combination of fields requires minimizing a penalty function that penalizes the difference between computed and measured conditioning data. This penalty function depends on only one parameter. Travel time conditioning data are considered by means of a backward-in-time probabilistic model, which extends the potential applications of the method to the characterization of groundwater contamination sources. In order to solve the mass transport equation, the method implements a Lagrangian approach that allows avoiding numerical problems usually found in Eulerian methods. Besides, to deal with highly heterogeneous and non-Gaussian media, being able to reproduce anomalous breakthrough curves, a dual-domain approach is implemented with a first-order mass transfer approach. To determine the particle distribution between the mobile domain and the immobile domain the method uses a Bernoulli trial on the appropriate phase transition probabilities, derived using the normalized zeroth spatial moments of the multirate transport equations.
The presented method does not require assuming the classical multiGaussian hypothesis thus easing the reproduction of
T spatial patterns where extreme values of
T show high connectivity. This feature allows the reproduction of a property found in real formations, which is often crucial to obtain safe estimations of mass transport predictions. Furthermore, very few existing methods can afford with this stochastic property. In fact, this new approach gathers a set of capabilities so far not included in any existing method.
A large-scale natural-gradient tracer experiment conducted in a highly heterogeneous aquifer at the Macrodispersion Experiment (MADE-2) site on Columbus Air Force Base in Mississippi (USA) is ...simulated using the gradual conditioning (GC) method. This methodology allows the stochastic inversion of hydraulic conductivity data (
K), and transient piezometric (
h) and solute concentration (
c) measurements in a non-Gaussian framework, including soft and secondary data. Results show (i) that the GC method allows the reproduction of the heavy tailing of the tracer plume as observed in the field by using a dual-domain mass transfer approach together with conditioning to
K,
h and
c data, in a non-Gaussian framework, (ii) a good agreement between data and simulated mass distribution at time 328 days, including the non-Gaussian plume behaviour, (iii) the necessity of using a dual-domain mass transfer approach – or other transport equation different to the advection–dispersion equation (ADE) – when treating with upscaled models regardless of what random function is used to generate the
K distribution, (iv) the reduction of uncertainty results when conditioning to all available information and not only to
K data, and (v) the importance of preferential flow paths on the anomalous tracer plume spreading at the MADE site. Besides, the viability of the GC method in a highly heterogeneous 3D aquifer is proven, and also its contribution to the state-of-the-art in stochastic inverse modelling.
The etiology of myocarditis often remains undetermined. A large variety of infectious agents, systemic diseases, drugs, and toxins can cause the disease. We report the case of a 19-year-old man who ...developed myocarditis three days after Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 booster vaccination.
A 19-year-old man, presenting with troponin-positive acute chest pain, was referred to our department. He had received the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine three days prior to his admission. The diagnosis of acute myocarditis was confirmed by cardiovascular magnetic resonance imaging. Patient hemodynamic status remained stable during hospitalization. The left ventricular ejection fraction was preserved during hospital stay and at one-month follow-up. We found no evidence for another infectious or autoimmune etiology.
Although imputability of the vaccine cannot be formally established on the basis of this case report, the findings raise the possibility of an association between mRNA COVID-19 vaccination and acute myocarditis.
L’étiologie des myocardites reste souvent indéterminée. Une grande variété d’agents infectieux, de maladies systémiques, de médicaments et de toxines peuvent causer la maladie. Nous rapportons le cas d’un homme de 19 ans ayant développé une myocardite trois jours après une vaccination de rappel Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19.
Un homme de 19 ans, présentant une douleur thoracique aiguë avec élévation significative de la troponine, a été adressé à notre service. Il avait reçu le vaccin Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 trois jours avant son admission. Le diagnostic de myocardite aiguë a été confirmé par une imagerie par résonance magnétique cardiaque. L’état hémodynamique du patient est resté stable pendant l’hospitalisation. La fraction d’éjection du ventricule gauche a été préservée pendant l’hospitalisation et lors du suivi à un mois. Nous n’avons trouvé aucune preuve d’une autre étiologie infectieuse ou auto-immune.
Bien que l’imputabilité du vaccin ne puisse être formellement établie sur la base d’un cas clinique, ces résultats soulèvent une possible association entre la vaccination par le mRNA COVID-19 et la myocardite aiguë.
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