Abstract
Pre- and perinatal exposure to pesticides is deleterious on foetal and neonatal development, but information regarding possible effects on environmental low-dose exposure to pesticides is ...scarce. Most epidemiological studies of the health effect of pesticides have been based on self-reported information. However, detailed information on past pesticide use is difficult to reconstruct. This is a current study conducted among pregnant mothers attending a delivery care and perinatal programme at a public hospital. The study investigates biomarkers of early effects in placentas from women living in an area with an intensive use of pesticides in the northern part of Patagonia, province of Río Negro, Argentina, and it assesses the consistency of the information provided by self-reports. The study confirms that placental acetylcholinesterase and catalase activities are significantly associated with periods of organophosphorus pesticides application, while glutathione S-transferase is not affected. We found a positive correlation between environmental exposure to organophosphorus pesticides and carbamate insecticides and newborn head circumference. The findings provide a further indication of a link between placenta acetylcholinesterase and catalase activity and prenatal exposure to pesticides in population studies. Both placenta enzymes may be used as biomarkers in health surveillance programmes for early diagnosis of exposure related alterations produced by organophosphorus pesticides and carbamate pesticides.
A newly discovered gammaretrovirus, termed XMRV, was recently reported to be present in the prostate cancer cell line CWR22Rv1. Using a combination of both immunohistochemistry with broadly-reactive ...murine leukemia virus (MLV) anti-sera and PCR, we determined if additional prostate cancer or other cell lines contain XMRV or MLV-related viruses. Our study included a total of 72 cell lines, which included 58 of the 60 human cancer cell lines used in anticancer drug screens and maintained at the NCI-Frederick (NCI-60). We have identified gammaretroviruses in two additional prostate cancer cell lines: LAPC4 and VCaP, and show that these viruses are replication competent. Viral genome sequencing identified the virus in LAPC4 and VCaP as nearly identical to another known xenotropic MLV, Bxv-1. We also identified a gammaretrovirus in the non-small-cell lung carcinoma cell line EKVX. Prostate cancer cell lines appear to have a propensity for infection with murine gammaretroviruses, and we propose that this may be in part due to cell line establishment by xenograft passage in immunocompromised mice. It is unclear if infection with these viruses is necessary for cell line establishment, or what confounding role they may play in experiments performed with these commonly used lines. Importantly, our results suggest a need for regular screening of cancer cell lines for retroviral "contamination", much like routine mycoplasma testing.
A central tenet of wetland mitigation is that replacement wetlands can sequester nutrients and perform other functions at the same level as natural wetlands. This study evaluated phosphorus (P) ...sorption capacity and P exchange in flooded soil microcosms obtained from eight early successional (ES) mitigated and eight late successional (LS) bottomland forest wetlands in western Kentucky, USA. The LS soils had three times greater capacity to remove and retain soluble inorganic P than ES soils, which was mostly due to higher amounts of amorphous aluminum (Al) oxides (oxalate extractable), organically-bound Al (CuCl2 extractable), and organic carbon in LS soils. Phosphorus exchange rates between the soil and water column were not significantly different in LS and ES microcosms, but rates in both systems were strongly related to the molar ratio of Mehlich III extractable P to Al + Fe in the soil (r2=0.64). Relationships between P sorption/exchange and organic C, Mehlich III- and oxalate-extractable forms of P, Al, and Fe determined in this study could be useful for (i) identifying suitable mitigation sites that would be P sinks rather than P sources to the water column and (ii) determining replacement ratios that would fairly compensate for P retention capacity losses caused by destruction/alteration of Kentucky bottomland hardwood forest wetlands.
Abstract
Objectives
Lymphangioleiomyomatosis (LAM) patients with severe lung disease may be considered for lung transplantation. Clinical, physiologic, and quality of life data are usually employed ...for referral. The aim of this study was to determine whether computed tomographic measurement of lung volume occupied by cysts (cyst score) complemented clinical and physiologic data in supporting referral for transplantation.
Methods
Forty-one patients were studied. Pre-referral clinical data, pulmonary function tests, exercise testing, and high-resolution computed tomography (HRCT) scans were obtained. From HRCT, a computer-aided diagnostic program was employed to calculate cyst scores. These data were compared to those of 41 age-matched LAM patients not referred for lung transplantation.
Results
Cyst score, and % predicted FEV
1
and DL
CO
were respectively, 48.1 ± 9.4%, 36.5 ± 9.1%, and 35.0 ± 10.7%. For the control group, cyst score, FEV
1
, and DL
CO
were respectively, 14.8 ± 8.3%, 77.2 ± 20.3%, and 66.7 ± 19.3%. Cyst score values showed a normal distribution. However, the frequency distribution of FEV
1
was skewed to the right while the distribution of DL
CO
was bimodal. Correlations between cyst score and FEV
1
and DL
CO
for the study group were respectively, r = − 0.319 and r = − 0.421.
Conclusions
LAM patients referred for lung transplantation had nearly 50% of lungs occupied by cysts. Correlations between cyst score and FEV
1
or DL
CO
were weak; as shown previously, DL
CO
was better related to cyst number while FEV
1
had a better association with cyst size. Given its normal distribution, cyst score measurements may assist in evaluation of pre-transplant severity of lung disease before referral for transplantation.
Some patients experience statin-induced side effects or prefer nutraceutical approaches for the treatment of dyslipidemia. This has led to a search for alternative therapeutic approaches for ...dyslipidemia management. In recent studies Citrus bergamia (known as Bergamot) juice was able to reduce serum levels of lipids. Such benefit may be attributed to high amounts of flavonoids contained in Bergamot fruit juice (neoeriocitrin, neohesperidin, naringin). The aim of the present study was to fully investigate the effects of a Bergamot extract on cardio-metabolic parameters, including plasma lipids, atherogenic lipoproteins and subclinical atherosclerosis.
Eighty subjects (42 men and 38 women, mean age: 55 ± 13 years) with moderate hypercholesterolemia e.g., with plasma LDL-cholesterol concentrations between 160 and 190 mg/dl (between 4.1 and 4.9 mmol/l) were included. A Bergamot-derived extract (Bergavit R(®)) was given at a fixed dose daily (150 mg of flavonoids, with 16% of neoeriocitrin, 47% of neohesperidin and 37% of naringin) for 6 months. Lipoprotein subfractions were assessed by gel electrophoresis. With this methodology low density lipoprotein (LDL) subclasses are distributed as seven bands (LDL-1 and -2 as large LDL, and LDL-3 to -7 as atherogenic small, dense LDL). Subclinical atherosclerosis was assessed by carotid intima-media thickness (cIMT) using B-mode ultrasound.
After 6 months, Bergavit R(®) reduced total cholesterol (from 6.6 ± 0.4 to 5.8 ± 1.1 mmol/l, p < 0.0001), triglycerides (from 1.8 ± 0.6 to 1.5 ± 0.9 mmol/l, p = 0.0020), and LDL-cholesterol (from 4.6 ± 0.2 to 3.7 ± 1.0 mmol/l, p < 0.0001), while HDL- cholesterol increased (from 1.3 ± 0.2 to 1.4 ± 0.4 mmol/l, p < 0.0007). In addition, a significant increase in LDL-1 (from 41.2 ± 0.2 to 49.6 ± 0.2%, p < 0.0001) was accompanied by decreased small, dense LDL-3, -4, and 5 particles (from 14.5 ± 0.1 to 9.0 ± 0.1% p < 0.0001; 3.2 ± 0.1 to 1.5 ± 0.1% p = 0.0053; 0.3 ± 0.0% to 0.1 ± 0.0% p = 0.0133, respectively). cIMT also decreased from 1.2 ± 0.4 to 0.9 ± 0.1 mm (p < 0.0001).
This is the first study investigating the effects of Bergamot flavonoids supplementation on cardio-metabolic risk in dyslipidemic subjects. Bergavit R(®) (Bergamot juice extract) supplementation significantly reduced plasma lipids and improved the lipoprotein profile. cIMT was also reduced significantly over a relatively short time frame of 6 months.
Processing citrus fruits results in significant amount of wastes; however, citrus by-products still contain high amounts of polyphenolic and other bioactive value-added compounds. In addition, ...bergamot (
Citrus bergamia
) wastes contain two compounds—brutieridin and melitidin—which exhibit statin-like properties. Recently, novel fermented products containing bioactive compounds received increasing attention because of their health-promoting functions. In this study, the bioconversion of citrus wastes in vinegars with high content in bioactive and aromatic compounds was performed, detecting a high permanence at the end of the process of the main compounds of interest, especially brutieridin and melitidin. In addition, the sensory analysis of the vinegars was performed, obtaining good performances. According to the adopted preselection procedure, 50 out of the 54 strains of acetic acid bacteria were excluded because of their low aptitude to grow in the tested conditions. The best vinegar was produced from citrus wine at pH 2.90 using the
Acetobacter aceti
strain DSM_3508
T
as microbial starter. This research has demonstrated—for the first time—the possibility to produce citrus vinegar at high content of brutieridin and melitidin and other bioactive compounds using selected microbial starters.
•Remobilization to perennial parts is key to N, P, K and B economy of the vine.•Nutrient removal in clusters is a major component in N and K fertilization programmes.•Fertilizer-N rate greatly ...depends on recycling of the nutrient from fallen leaves.•A nutrient-specific programme is needed for the optimal fertilization of vineyards.
Plant analysis plays a major role in fertilizer recommendations for perennial tree crops and vines. Plant analysis, however, does not quantify the rate of nutrients to apply. The approach developed in this work takes into account the content of the nutrients in grapevine parts and their dynamic within the plant to assist in the estimation of the amount of fertilizer to apply. Groups of three vines were cut at ground level on four different dates from September 14th to November 28th. On the first sampling date the vines were separated into trunk, cordons, canes, leaves and clusters for determination of dry matter content and elemental composition. On the following dates the vines were separated into the plant parts that were still present, since the clusters were only present on the first sampling date and the leaves on the first two. To assess the mobility of nutrients within the plant, samples of phloem vessels and sawdust of the entire trunk were taken as well as samples of chlorotic and green leaves. Nitrogen (N), potassium (K), phosphorus (P) and boron (B) showed mobility within the plant whereas calcium (Ca) and magnesium (Mg) did not. The removal of nutrients in clusters is critical for estimating N and K fertilizer rates. Clusters removed 19.9kgNha−1 and 28.7kgKha−1. In the case of N, it is also important to assess the system's ability to recycle the nutrient contained in the leaves and canes which amounted to 49.4kgNha−1. Phosphorus, calcium and magnesium applications might not justify being taken into account in the annual fertilization plan. Thus, the establishment of the fertilization programme should be a nutrient-specific exercise which takes into account all sources of information, including target yield and nutrient content in clusters, the vineyard management strategies influencing nutrient use efficiency from fallen leaves and prunings and soil testing and plant analysis.
An ambulatory monitoring system is developed for the estimation of spatio-temporal gait parameters. The inertial measurement unit embedded in the system is composed of one biaxial accelerometer and ...one rate gyroscope, and it reconstructs the sagittal trajectory of a sensed point on the instep of the foot. A gait phase segmentation procedure is devised to determine temporal gait parameters, including stride time and relative stance; the procedure allows to define the time intervals needed for carrying an efficient implementation of the strapdown integration, which allows to estimate stride length, walking speed, and incline. The measurement accuracy of walking speed and inclines assessments is evaluated by experiments carried on adult healthy subjects walking on a motorized treadmill. Root-mean-square errors less than 0.18 km/h (speed) and 1.52% (incline) are obtained for tested speeds and inclines varying in the intervals 3, 6 km/h and -5, +15%, respectively. Based on the results of these experiments, it is concluded that foot inertial sensing is a promising tool for the reliable identification of subsequent gait cycles and the accurate assessment of walking speed and incline.
ABSTRACT
The structure of the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC) is very complex, in particular in the periphery that suffers more from the interactions with the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC). A wealth of ...observational evidence has been accumulated revealing tidal tails and bridges made up of gas, stars, and star clusters. Nevertheless, a full picture of the SMC outskirts is only recently starting to emerge with a 6D phase-space map plus age and metallicity using star clusters as tracers. In this work, we continue our analysis of another outer region of the SMC, the so-called West Halo, and combined it with the previously analysed Northern Bridge. We use both structures to define the Bridge and Counter-bridge trailing and leading tidal tails. These two structures are moving away from each other, roughly in the SMC–LMC direction. The West Halo form a ring around the SMC inner regions that goes up to the background of the Northern Bridge shaping an extended layer of the Counter-bridge. Four old Bridge clusters were identified at distances larger than 8 kpc from the SMC centre moving towards the LMC, which is consistent with the SMC–LMC closest distance of 7.5 kpc when the Magellanic Bridge was formed about 150Myr ago; this shows that the Magellanic Bridge was not formed only by pulled gas, but it also removed older stars from the SMC during its formation. We also found age and metallicity radial gradients using projected distances on sky, which are vanished when we use the real 3D distances.
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