Intra-city Differences in Cardiac Expression of Inflammatory Genes and Inflammasomes in Young Urbanites: A Pilot Study

Southwest Mexico City (SWMC) air pollution is characterized by high concentrations of ozone and particulate matter < 10 μm (PM(10)) containing lipopolysaccharides while in the North PM(2.5) is high. These intra-city differences are likely accounting for higher CD14 and IL-1β in SWMC v NMC mice myocardial expression. This pilot study was designed to investigate whether similar intra-city differences exist in the levels of myocardial inflammatory genes in young people. Inflammatory mediator genes and inflammasome arrays were measured in right and left autopsy ventricles of 6 southwest/15 north (18.5 ± 2.6 years) MC residents after fatal sudden accidental deaths. There was a significant S v N right ventricle up-regulation of IL-1β (p=0.008), TNF-α (p=0.001), IL-10 (p=0.001), and CD14 (p=0.002), and a left ventricle difference in TNF-α (p=0.007), and IL-10 (p=0.02). SW right ventricles had significant up-regulation of NLRC1, NLRP3 and of 29/84 inflammasome genes, including NOD factors and caspases. There was significant degranulation of mast cells both in myocardium and epicardial nerve fibers. Differential expression of key inflammatory myocardial genes and inflammasomes are influenced by the location of residence. Myocardial inflammation and inflammasome activation in young hearts is a plausible pathway of heart injury in urbanites and adverse effects on the cardiovascular system are expected.     

Productivity and energy balance of forest plantation harvesting in Uganda

The study evaluated the productivity and energy balance of the harvesting and the extraction of wood in plantation of exotic tree species, i.e., Pinus patula (Schiede ex Schlectendahl et Chamisso) and Cupressus lusitanica (Mill.). The harvesting and extraction operations concerned clear-cut felling on two different types of terrain (gentle and steep terrain) and two levels of pruning. The results show that cutting is not affected by the terrain gradient whereas the pruning condition shows a significant effect on the delimbing operation. The productivity of cutting is evaluated at 28.1 m3·d-1 for unpruned trees and at 30.2 m3·d-1 for pruned trees. For the extraction phase, rolling was significantly affected by terrain conditions. On steep terrain, the gross productivity can be evaluated at 22.5 m3·d-1 for an extraction distance of 40 m, while for the same distance on gentle terrain the productivity decreases to 14.1 m3·d-1 . As a result, the steep terrain condition showed higher energy efficiency, suggesting that it is the more efficient system of extraction. The productivity model and the energy balance resulting from the study provide a better understanding of the variables affecting motor-manual cutting and rolling extraction in exotic plantations in Uganda.     

Osteogenic potential of sorted equine mesenchymal stem cell subpopulations

The objectives of this study were to use non-equilibrium gravitational field-flow fractionation (GrFFF), an immunotag-less method of sorting mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs), to sort equine muscle tissue-derived mesenchymal stem cells (MMSCs) and bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells (BMSC) into subpopulations and to carry out assays in order to compare their osteogenic capabilities. Cells from 1 young adult horse were isolated from left semitendinosus muscle tissue and from bone marrow aspirates of the fourth and fifth sternebrae. Aliquots of 800 × 10³ MSCs from each tissue source were sorted into 5 fractions using non-equilibrium GrFFF (GrFFF proprietary system). Pooled fractions were cultured and expanded for use in osteogenic assays, including flow cytometry, histochemistry, bone nodule assays, and real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) for gene expression of osteocalcin (OCN), RUNX2, and osterix. Equine MMSCs and BMSCs were consistently sorted into 5 fractions that remained viable for use in further osteogenic assays. Statistical analysis confirmed strongly significant upregulation of OCN, RUNX2, and osterix for the BMSC fraction 4 with P < 0.00001. Flow cytometry revealed different cell size and granularity for BMSC fraction 4 and MMSC fraction 2 compared to unsorted controls and other fractions. Histochemisty and bone nodule assays revealed positive staining nodules without differences in average nodule area, perimeter, or stain intensity between tissues or fractions. As there are different subpopulations of MSCs with different osteogenic capacities within equine muscle- and bone marrow-derived sources, these differences must be taken into account when using equine stem cell therapy to induce bone healing in veterinary medicine.     

Processing of rice husk autohydrolysis liquors for obtaining food ingredients

Rice husks are of a lignocellulosic nature, with a hemicellulose fraction made up of substituted arabinoxylan. Rice husks were treated with hot, compressed water (autohydrolysis reaction) under optimized conditions to cause the hydrolytic degradation of arabinoxylan. The reaction products contained volatile components and nonvolatile components (NVC), which were made up of hemicellulose-derived products (substituted oligosaccharides and monosaccharides) and other nonvolatile solutes (ONVS). To decrease the content of ONVS, concentrated autohydrolysis liquors were first subjected to ethyl acetate extraction and then subjected to various alternative treatments (solvent precipitation, freeze-drying solvent extraction, or ion exchange). The resulting liquors were assayed for composition and yield determination. Material balances are presented for the several processes considered. The best results in terms of purification were obtained with sequential stages of ethyl acetate extraction and ion exchange, which led to concentrates with hemicellulose-derived compounds (sugars and substituted sugar oligomers) accounting for 92 wt % of the NVCs.     

Observations on the geographic distribution, ecology and conservation status of several Phaseolus bean species in Costa Rica

Interest in bean genetic resources of Central America has resumed because of disease pressures (e.g., web blight, BGMV) and limitations of current bean varieties. As most of the diversity in landraces has been explored, focus is now on the exploration of wild forms of the primary gene pool and wild species of the secondary gene pool. A germplasm collection was carried out in the field and resulted in the collection of 29 wild populations for six Phaseolus species; it complemented field work done in 1987. Nine more populations were found for P. costaricensis, 10 for wild P. lunatus, one for P. oligospermus, one for P. tuerckheimii, four for wild P. vulgaris and four for P. xanthotrichus. Ninety-three herbarium voucher specimens were collected for 19 populations of the six species (deposited at CR). These results confirm the presence of wild P. vulgaris on both slopes of the central valley of Costa Rica, namely in the life zones bh-MB and bmh-P, and of P. costaricensis in the life zone bmh-MB. These life zones of limited range in Costa Rica have been heavily modified, thus fully justifying the germplasm collection for ex situ conservation. For both species the range of distribution in Costa Rica has been almost completely sampled. The life characteristics of each species that are relevant for their conservation in situ are briefly reviewed. Distribution ranges of each wild bean species are compared with the present extension of national parks, protected areas and fauna/flora sanctuaries, and suggestions for expanding such protected areas are made.     

The Effect of Legume Species Grown as Cover Crops in Olive Orchards on Soil Phosphorus Bioavailability

Some legume species are able to utilize phosphorus (P) from sparingly soluble P sources benefiting companion crops or those following in the rotation. Lupinus albus, Vicia villosa, and a mixture of eleven annual pasture legumes were used in olive orchards as mulched cover crops as a means of increasing the soil P availability. By soil testing and growing bioindicator P plants in the next season, it was possible to detect a slight but consistent increase in soil P availability. The results indicated that the increase in soil P availability was mainly due to the mineralization of the high P content legume residues, rather than the direct effect in the rhizosphere of the living plants. The results also suggested that the good adaptation of white lupine to low P environments might be due to a high internal P use efficiency of this species, producing high dry matter yields with low P concentration in their tissues.