Maternal diet during pregnancy is relevant for fatty acid supply during fetal life and lactation. Arachidonic (AA) and docosahexaenoic (DHA) acids are also relevant for the normal growth and ...development of brain and visual system. AA and DHA provided by the mother to the fetus and infant are directly associated with maternal dietary intake and body stores. Our aim was to evaluate the impact of maternal diet, specially referring to the quality of fatty acid intake, in a sample of Chilean women during last stage of pregnancy and across the lactation period. Fifty healthy pregnant women (age range 20⁻33 years) were studied from the 6th month of pregnancy and followed until 6th month of lactation period. Diet characteristics were evaluated through food frequency questionnaires. Fatty acids composition of erythrocyte phospholipids and breast milk samples was assessed by gas-liquid chromatography. Overall, women had high saturated fatty acids intake with sufficient intake of mono- and polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA). Diet was high in
-6 PUFA and low in
-3 PUFA (mainly DHA), with imbalanced
-6/
-3 PUFA ratio. Erythrocytes and breast milk DHA concentration was significantly reduced during lactation compared to pregnancy, a pattern not observed for AA. We concluded that is necessary to increase the intake of
-3 PUFA during pregnancy and lactation by improving the quality of consumed foods with particular emphasis on its DHA content.
Gross ecosystem productivity (GEP) in tropical forests varies both with the environment and with biotic changes in photosynthetic infrastructure, but our understanding of the relative effects of ...these factors across timescales is limited. Here, we used a statistical model to partition the variability of seven years of eddy covariance‐derived GEP in a central Amazon evergreen forest into two main causes: variation in environmental drivers (solar radiation, diffuse light fraction, and vapor pressure deficit) that interact with model parameters that govern photosynthesis and biotic variation in canopy photosynthetic light‐use efficiency associated with changes in the parameters themselves. Our fitted model was able to explain most of the variability in GEP at hourly (R2 = 0.77) to interannual (R2 = 0.80) timescales. At hourly timescales, we found that 75% of observed GEP variability could be attributed to environmental variability. When aggregating GEP to the longer timescales (daily, monthly, and yearly), however, environmental variation explained progressively less GEP variability: At monthly timescales, it explained only 3%, much less than biotic variation in canopy photosynthetic light‐use efficiency, which accounted for 63%. These results challenge modeling approaches that assume GEP is primarily controlled by the environment at both short and long timescales. Our approach distinguishing biotic from environmental variability can help to resolve debates about environmental limitations to tropical forest photosynthesis. For example, we found that biotically regulated canopy photosynthetic light‐use efficiency (associated with leaf phenology) increased with sunlight during dry seasons (consistent with light but not water limitation of canopy development) but that realized GEP was nonetheless lower relative to its potential efficiency during dry than wet seasons (consistent with water limitation of photosynthesis in given assemblages of leaves). This work highlights the importance of accounting for differential regulation of GEP at different timescales and of identifying the underlying feedbacks and adaptive mechanisms.
Imbalances within the dental biofilm trigger dental caries, currently considered a dysbiosis and the most prevalent noncommunicable disease. There is still a gap in knowledge about the dynamics of ...enamel colonization by bacteria from the dental biofilm in caries. The aim, therefore, was to test whether the sequence of enamel colonization by a typically commensal and a cariogenic species modifies biofilm's cariogenicity. Dual-species biofilms of
and
on saliva-coated enamel slabs were inoculated in different sequences:
followed by
(Sm-Ss),
followed by
(Ss-Sm),
and
inoculated at the same time (Sm=Ss), and the single-species controls
followed by
(Sm-Sm) and
followed by
(Ss-Ss). Biofilms were exposed to 10% sucrose 3 times per day for 5 days, and the slabs/biofilms were retrieved to assess demineralization, viable cells, biomass, proteins, polysaccharides, and H
O
production. Compared with Sm-Sm, primary inoculation with
reduced demineralization (
< 0.05). Both Ss-Sm and Sm=Ss sequences showed reduction in biomass, protein, and polysaccharide content (
< 0.05). The highest
viable count and H
O
production level and the lowest acidogenicity were observed when
colonized enamel before
(
< 0.05). Initial enamel adherence with commensal biofilms seems to induce more intense competition against more typically cariogenic species, reducing cariogenicity.
The concept of caries as an ecological disease implies the understanding of the intricate relationships among the populating microorganisms. Under frequent sugar exposure, some bacteria from the dental biofilm develop pathogenic traits that lead to imbalances (dysbiosis). Depending on which microorganism colonizes the dental surface first, different competition strategies may be developed. Studying the interactions in the entire dental biofilm is not an easy task. In this study, therefore, we modeled the interplay among these microorganisms using a caries-inducing species (
) and a health-associated species (
). Initial enamel adherence with
seems to induce more intense competition against typically caries-inducing species. Besides continuous exposure with sugars, early colonization of the enamel by highly cariogenic species like
appears to be needed to develop caries lesions as well. Promoting early colonization by health-associated bacteria such as
could help to maintain oral health, delaying dysbiosis.
IMILAST Neu, Urs; Akperov, Mirseid G.; Bellenbaum, Nina ...
Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society,
04/2013, Volume:
94, Issue:
4
Journal Article
Peer reviewed
Open access
The variability of results from different automated methods of detection and tracking of extratropical cyclones is assessed in order to identify uncertainties related to the choice of method. Fifteen ...international teams applied their own algorithms to the same dataset—the period 1989–2009 of interim European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) Re-Analysis (ERAInterim) data. This experiment is part of the community project Intercomparison of Mid Latitude Storm Diagnostics (IMILAST; see www.proclim.ch/imilast/index.html). The spread of results for cyclone frequency, intensity, life cycle, and track location is presented to illustrate the impact of using different methods. Globally, methods agree well for geographical distribution in large oceanic regions, interannual variability of cyclone numbers, geographical patterns of strong trends, and distribution shape for many life cycle characteristics. In contrast, the largest disparities exist for the total numbers of cyclones, the detection of weak cyclones, and distribution in some densely populated regions. Consistency between methods is better for strong cyclones than for shallow ones. Two case studies of relatively large, intense cyclones reveal that the identification of the most intense part of the life cycle of these events is robust between methods, but considerable differences exist during the development and the dissolution phases.
Nescient helix-loop-helix 2 (NHLH2) is a hypothalamic transcription factor that controls the expression of prohormone convertase 1/3, therefore having an impact on the processing of ...proopiomelanocortin and thus on energy homeostasis. Studies have shown that KO of
results in increased body mass, reduced physical activity, and hypogonadism. In humans, a polymorphism of the
gene is associated with obesity; and in Prader-Willi syndrome, a condition characterized by obesity, hypogonadism and behavioral abnormalities, the expression of NHLH2 is reduced. Despite clinical and experimental evidence suggesting that NHLH2 could be a good target for the treatment of obesity, no previous study has evaluated the impact of NHLH2 overexpression in obesity. Here, in mice fed a high-fat diet introduced right after the arcuate nucleus intracerebroventricular injection of a lentivirus that promoted 40% increase in NHLH2, there was prevention of the development of obesity by a mechanism dependent on the reduction of caloric intake. When hypothalamic overexpression of NHLH2 was induced in previously obese mice, the beneficial impact on obesity-associated phenotype was even greater; thus, there was an 80% attenuation in body mass gain, reduced whole-body adiposity, increased brown adipose tissue temperature, reduced hypothalamic inflammation, and reduced liver steatosis. In this setting, the beneficial impact of hypothalamic overexpression of NHLH2 was a result of combined effects on caloric intake, energy expenditure, and physical activity. Moreover, the hypothalamic overexpression of NHLH2 reduced obesity-associated anxiety/depression behavior. Thus, we provide an experimental proof of concept supporting that hypothalamic NHLH2 is a good target for the treatment of obesity.
Obesity is a highly prevalent medical condition that lacks an effective treatment. The main advance provided by this study is the demonstration of the beneficial metabolic and behavioral outcomes resulting from the overexpression of NHLH2 in the hypothalamus. When NHLH2 was overexpressed simultaneously with the introduction of a high-fat diet, there was prevention of obesity by a mechanism dependent on reduced caloric intake. Conversely, when NHLH2 was overexpressed in previously obese mice, there was reduction of the obese phenotype because of a combination of reduced caloric intake, increased physical activity, and increased thermogenesis. In addition, the overexpression of NHLH2 reduced anxiety/depression-like behavior. Thus, NHLH2 emerges as a potential target for the combined treatment of obesity and its associated anxiety/depression-like behavior.
The co-circulation of flaviviruses in tropical regions has led to the hypothesis that immunity generated by a previous dengue infection could promote severe disease outcomes in subsequent infections ...by heterologous serotypes. This study investigated the influence of antibodies generated by previous Zika infection on the clinical outcomes of dengue infection.
We enrolled 1,043 laboratory confirmed dengue patients and investigated their prior infection to Zika or dengue. Severe forms of dengue disease were more frequent in patients with previous Zika infection, but not in those previously exposed to dengue.
Our findings suggest that previous Zika infection may represent a risk factor for subsequent severe dengue disease, but we did not find evidence of antibody-dependent enhancement (higher viral titer or pro-inflammatory cytokine overexpression) contributing to exacerbation of the subsequent dengue infection.
•Seasonal influenza viruses typically circulate in South America from April-November.•Among those vaccinated in 2022, the odds of influenza hospitalization were 1/3 lower.•Vaccine effectiveness was ...higher in the early season than in the late season.•Health officials should encourage communities to seek influenza vaccination.
This study estimated the 2022 end-of-season influenza vaccine effectiveness (VE) against severe acute respiratory illness (SARI) hospitalization in Chile, Paraguay, and Uruguay.
We pooled surveillance data from SARI cases in 18 sentinel surveillance hospitals in Chile (n = 9), Paraguay (n = 2), and Uruguay (n = 7) from March 16-November 30, 2022. VE was estimated using a test-negative design and logistic regression models adjusted for country, age, sex, presence of ≥1 comorbidity, and week of illness onset. VE estimates were stratified by influenza virus type and subtype (when available) and influenza vaccine target population, categorized as children, individuals with comorbidities, and older adults, defined per countries’ national immunization policies.
Among the 3147 SARI cases, there were 382 (12.1%) influenza test-positive case patients; 328 (85.9%) influenza case patients were in Chile, 33 (8.6%) were in Paraguay, and 21 (5.5%) were in Uruguay. In all countries, the predominant subtype was influenza A(H3N2) (92.6% of influenza cases). Adjusted VE against any influenza-associated SARI hospitalization was 33.8% (95% confidence interval: 15.3%, 48.2%); VE against influenza A(H3N2)-associated SARI hospitalization was 30.4% (95% confidence interval: 10.1%, 46.0%). VE estimates were similar across target populations.
During the 2022 influenza season, influenza vaccination reduced the odds of hospitalization among those vaccinated by one-third. Health officials should encourage influenza vaccination in accordance with national recommendations.
VAV2 is an activator of RHO GTPases that promotes and maintains regenerative proliferation-like states in normal keratinocytes and oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) cells. Here, we demonstrate that ...VAV2 also regulates ribosome biogenesis in those cells, a program associated with poor prognosis of human papilloma virus-negative (HPV
) OSCC patients. Mechanistically, VAV2 regulates this process in a catalysis-dependent manner using a conserved pathway comprising the RAC1 and RHOA GTPases, the PAK and ROCK family kinases, and the c-MYC and YAP/TAZ transcription factors. This pathway directly promotes RNA polymerase I activity and synthesis of 47S pre-rRNA precursors. This process is further consolidated by the upregulation of ribosome biogenesis factors and the acquisition of the YAP/TAZ-dependent undifferentiated cell state. Finally, we show that RNA polymerase I is a therapeutic Achilles' heel for both keratinocytes and OSCC patient-derived cells endowed with high VAV2 catalytic activity. Collectively, these findings highlight the therapeutic potential of modulating VAV2 and the ribosome biogenesis pathways in both preneoplastic and late progression stages of OSCC.
Cold pressing is an environment-friendly mechanical extraction for oils from seeds. In this work, cold-pressed green Arabica coffee oil was investigated related to the influence of the pressing ...variables (preheating, exit diameter, screw speed, and particle size) on the chemical oil composition, mainly on the diterpenes and, for the first time in the scientific literature, on the content of serotonin amides (β N-alkanoyl-5-hydroxytryptamides (Cn-5HT)). The oil yield from screw pressing varied from 2.65 to 6.27%, with major yields obtained as the size of the particle and temperature increased. Soxhlet extraction produced 9.46 ± 0.04% of oil. The fatty acid content of the oils varied from 32.79 to 33.49% and showed no significant difference among the different pressing conditions. The amount of the diterpenes kahweol and cafestol ranged from 13.33 to 16.72 mg g-1 and 37.11 to 47.14 mg g-1 of oil, respectively, summing 50.44 to 63.86 mg g-1 of diterpenes. The total content of Cn-5HTs ranged from 307.92 to 1716.52 µg g-1, being 114.42 to 577.37 µg g-1 for arachidic acid-5-hydroxytryptamide, (C20-5HT) and 193.50 to 1068.08 µg g-1 for behenic acid-5-hydroxytryptamide (C22-5HT) in oil, the most abundant in coffee bean. From the 16 cold press treatments, six conditions showed significant amounts of these compounds. Aspects related to the biological activity and relevance of coffee lipid diterpenes and Cn-5HTs are discussed.
Recent studies suggest that some monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) specific for ebolavirus glycoprotein (GP) can protect experimental animals against infections. Most mAbs isolated from ebolavirus ...survivors appeared to target the glycan cap or the stalk region of the viral GP, which is the envelope protein and the only antigen inducing virus-neutralizing antibody response. Some of the mAbs were demonstrated to be protective in vivo. Here, a panel of mAbs from four individual survivors of ebolavirus infection that target the glycan cap or stem region were selected for investigation of the mechanisms of their antiviral effect. Comparative characterization of the inhibiting effects on multiple steps of viral replication was performed, including attachment, post-attachment, entry, binding at low pH, post-cleavage neutralization of virions, viral trafficking to endosomes, cell-to-cell transmission, viral egress, and inhibition when added early at various time points post-infection. In addition, Fc-domain related properties were characterized, including activation and degranulation of NK cells, antibody-dependent cellular phagocytosis and glycan content. The two groups of mAbs (glycan cap versus stem) demonstrated very different profiles of activities suggesting usage of mAbs with different epitope specificity could coordinate inhibition of multiple steps of filovirus infection through Fab- and Fc-mediated mechanisms, and provide a reliable therapeutic approach.
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