Various things propagate through the medium of individuals. Some individuals follow the others and take the states similar to their states a small number of time steps later. In this paper, we study ...the problem of estimating the state propagation order of individuals from the real-valued state sequences of all the individuals.We propose a method of constructing a state propagation graph from individuals' time series of observed states. The propagation order estimated by our proposed method is demonstrated to be significantly more accurate than that by a baseline method (optimal constant delay model) for our synthetic datasets, and also to be consistent with visually recognizable propagation orders for the dataset of Japanese stock price time series and biological cell firing state sequences.
A two-dimensional mathematical model for dynamics of endothelial cells in angiogenesis is investigated. Angiogenesis is a morphogenic process in which new blood vessels emerge from an existing ...vascular network. Recently a one-dimensional discrete dynamical model has been proposed to reproduce elongation, bifurcation, and cell motility such as cell-mixing during angiogenesis on the assumption of a simple two-body interaction between endothelial cells. The present model is its two-dimensional extension, where endothelial cells are represented as the ellipses with the two-body interactions: repulsive interaction due to excluded volume effect, attractive interaction through pseudopodia and rotation by contact. We show that the oblateness of ellipses and the magnitude of contact rotation significantly affect the shape of created vascular patterns and elongation of branches.
While improvements have been observed with treatment modalities such as high-power short-duration ablation, 2 complete prevention of right phrenic nerve palsy remains challenging. ...it is essential ...to note that compared to RF ablation, cryoballoon ablation has been associated with a higher incidence of right phrenic nerve palsy at the time of discharge after catheter ablation. 3 Recent evidence has shown that in cases of persistent atrial fibrillation treated with cryoballoon ablation, there is a higher incidence of phrenic nerve palsy, particularly in long-standing persistent atrial fibrillation cases. 4 As ablation procedures for persistent atrial fibrillation continue to be explored and utilized more frequently, the likelihood of encountering this complication may increase. CONFLICT OF INTEREST STATEMENT Authors declare no conflict of interests for this article.
Rhamnan sulfate (RS) is a polysaccharide with a rhamnose backbone isolated from
Monostroma nitidum
. Like heparin, it exerts anticoagulant activity in the presence of antithrombin. Endothelial cells ...facilitate the crosstalk between blood coagulation and vascular inflammation. In this study, we compared the effect of RS with that of heparin on blood coagulation and vascular endothelial cells in the presence or absence of inflammatory factors, using human umbilical vein endothelial cells. We found that RS significantly enhances inhibition of thrombin and factor Xa in the presence of antithrombin as well as heparin, and that RS inhibits tissue factor expression and von Willebrand factor release from the endothelial cells treated with or without lipopolysaccharide, tumor necrosis factor-α, or thrombin. Heparin did not show any effects on endothelial cell inflammation. Our findings suggest that RS, like heparin, is an antithrombin-dependent anticoagulant and, unlike heparin, is a potent anti-inflammatory agent acting on vascular endothelial cells.
Introduction
Disuse-induced bone loss is caused by a suppression of osteoblastic bone formation and an increase in osteoclastic bone resorption. There are few data available for the effects of ...environmental conditions, i.e., atmospheric pressure and/or oxygen concentration, on osteoporosis. This study examined the effects of mild hyperbaric oxygen at 1317 hPa with 40% oxygen on unloading-induced osteoporosis.
Materials and methods
Eighteen 8-week old male Wistar rats were randomly divided into three groups: the control for 21 days without unloading and mild hyperbaric oxygen (NOR,
n
= 6), the unloading for 21 days and recovery for 10 days without mild hyperbaric oxygen (HU + NOR,
n
= 6), and the unloading for 21 days and recovery for 10 days with mild hyperbaric oxygen (HU + MHO,
n
= 6).
Results
The cortical thickness and trabecular bone surface area were decreased in the HU + NOR group compared to the NOR group. There were no differences between the NOR and HU + MHO groups. Osteoclast surface area and
Sclerostin (Sost)
mRNA expression levels were decreased in the HU + MHO group compared to the HU + NOR group. These results suggested that the loss of the cortical and trabecular bone is inhibited by mild hyperbaric oxygen, because of an inhibition of osteoclasts and enhancement of bone formation with decreased
Sost
expression.
Conclusions
We conclude that exposure to mild hyperbaric oxygen partially protects from the osteoporosis induced by hindlimb unloading.
The almost monospecific assemblages of planktonic diatoms that occurred in ancient lakes during the middle Brunhes Chron are an important research issue for lake ecosystems because their existence ...implies that the famous paradox of the plankton was no paradox at that time. To investigate their cause, I examined the assemblage structure and diversity of planktonic diatoms in the Paleo-Kathmandu Lake at Nepal Himalaya over the past 600kyr. The assemblage structure changes frequently after 300ka but remains nearly stable before then. Additionally, planktonic species show a relatively high average diversity after 300ka but show an extremely low average before then. Those abnormal ecological conditions before 300ka reflect the formation of almost monospecific planktonic diatom assemblages of Cyclotella kathmanduensis and Puncticulata versiformis. The assemblage structure and species diversity of the planktonic diatoms were controlled by lake-level fluctuations (especially lake-level declines) as ecological disturbances. After 300ka, fluctuations in lake levels occur in about 20ka intervals, which probably helped to sustain diverse planktonic diatom assemblages. In contrast, much longer intervals occurred between lake-level fluctuations before 300ka, and these were of a frequency that was too low to sustain diverse planktonic diatom assemblages. This may have allowed C. kathmanduensis and P. versiformis to form monospecific assemblages.
People's living environments and lifestyles have drastically changed with the times. It is necessary to reassess risk factors associated with changes in social conditions to prevent sick building ...syndrome (SBS). This study aimed to determine the association between the onset of SBS and participant characteristics, social and residential environments, and lifestyle. An online nationwide questionnaire survey involving 4996 participants was conducted. The risk factors for SBS were examined using logistic regression analyses. The main risk factors for SBS were female sex (odds ratio OR = 1.20, confidence interval CI = 1.01–1.42) and young age (OR = 2.42, CI = 1.55–3.78). Other risk factors included having a medical history of allergies and mental illness (OR = 1.75, CI = 1.34–2.29), special housing specifications for the indoor environment (OR = 0.77, CI = 0.63–0.95), smoking indoors (OR = 1.25, CI = 1.00–1.55), and others. Women, young individuals, and those with a history of diseases, such as allergies and mental illness, had an increased risk of SBS, indicating that such individuals need to pay attention to chemical exposure. The study results indicate the possibility of preventing SBS by the careful selection of indoor environments and lifestyle.
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•Women and young people tend to develop sick building syndrome (SBS).•People with prior allergies and mental illness are likely to experience SBS.•Preventing SBS is possible by “housing specifications for air quality.”.•Smoking history and secondhand smoke are one of the major causes of SBS.•The wall-to-wall carpet and dust on the floor may be associated with SBS onset.
Glycative stress is a type of biological stress caused by non-enzymatic glycation reactions, which include advanced glycation end product (AGE) formation, AGE accumulation, glycation-driven ...dysfunction of proteins and cellular signaling, inflammation, oxidation, and tissue damage. Increased glycative stress derived from hyperglycemia and lifestyle disorders is a risk factor in metabolic and age-related diseases, such as type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, cancer, Alzheimer's disease, osteoporosis, and dementia. Studies have shown that AGE accumulation is correlated with the age-related loss of muscle mass and power output, also called sarcopenia. Mechanistically, dysfunctions of contractile proteins, myogenic capacity, and protein turnover can cause glycative stress-induced skeletal muscle dysfunction. Because the skeletal muscle is the largest metabolic organ in the body, maintaining skeletal muscle health is essential for whole-body health. Increasing awareness and understanding of glycative stress in the skeletal muscle in this review will contribute to the maintenance of better skeletal muscle function.
Endothelial monolayers have shown the ability to signal each other through gap junctions. Gap junction-mediated cell-cell interactions have been implicated in the modulation of endothelial cell ...functions during vascular inflammation. Inflammatory mediators alter the mechanical properties of endothelial cells, although the exact role of gap junctions in this process remains unclear. Here, we sought to study the role of gap junctions in the regulation of endothelial stiffness, an important physical feature that is associated with many vascular pathologies. The endothelial cellular stiffness of living endothelial cells was determined by using atomic force microscopy. We found that tumor necrosis factor-α transiently increased endothelial cellular stiffness, which is regulated by cytoskeletal rearrangement and cell-cell interactions. We explored the role of gap junctions in endothelial cellular stiffening by utilizing gap junction blockers, carbenoxolone, inhibitory anti-connexin 32 antibody or anti-connexin 43 antibody. Blockade of gap junctions induced the cellular stiffening associated with focal adhesion formation and cytoskeletal rearrangement, and prolonged tumor necrosis factor-α-induced endothelial cellular stiffening. These results suggest that gap junction-mediated cell-cell interactions play an important role in the regulation of endothelial cellular stiffness.
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