A periciliary brush promotes the lung health by separating the mucus layer from airway epithelia

Mucus clearance is the primary defense mechanism that protects airways from inhaled infectious and toxic agents. In the current gel-on-liquid mucus clearance model, a mucus gel is propelled on top of a "watery" periciliary layer surrounding the cilia. However, this model fails to explain the formation of a distinct mucus layer in health or why mucus clearance fails in disease. We propose a gel-on-brush model in which the periciliary layer is occupied by membrane-spanning mucins and mucopolysaccharides densely tethered to the airway surface. This brush prevents mucus penetration into the periciliary space and causes mucus to form a distinct layer. The relative osmotic moduli of the mucus and periciliary brush layers explain both the stability of mucus clearance in health and its failure in airway disease.     

Tracking hypoglycins A and B over different maturity stages: implications for detoxification of ackee (Blighia sapida K.D. Koenig) fruits

Consumption of improperly ripened ackee ( Blighia sapida K.D. Koenig) often results in fatalities. The causal toxin, hypoglycin A, decreases in the edible arilli upon maturity; regulation of hypoglycin A in the arilli is thus critical. Hypoglycin B, also toxic, is confined to the seeds. Hypoglycins A and B were tracked in ackees grown in Jamaica over different maturity stages using RP-HPLC. Studies on the 'Butter' and 'Cheese' ackee varieties and across two different harvest seasons were conducted. In 'Cheese' ackees, hypoglycin A decreased from about 8000 mg/kg in the green arilli and seeds to 271 and 1451 mg/kg, respectively, in the ripe fruit whereas hypoglycin B levels in the seeds increased from 1629 to 11774 mg/kg. The strong inverse relationship demonstrated that hypoglycin B in the seeds serves as a sink for hypoglycin A from the ripening arilli and is thereby involved in the detoxification mechanism of the fruit.     

Remote estimation of gross primary production in wheat using chlorophyll-related vegetation indices

A number of recent studies have focused on estimating gross primary production (GPP) using vegetation indices (VIs). In this paper, GPP is retrieved as a product of incident light use efficiency (LUE), defined as GPP/PAR, and the photosynthetically active radiation (PAR). As a good correlation is found between canopy chlorophyll content and incident LUE for six types of wheat canopy (R² = 0.87, n = 24), indices aimed for chlorophyll assessment can be used as an indicator of incident LUE and the product of chlorophyll indices and PAR will be a proxy of GPP. In a field experiment, we investigated four canopy chlorophyll content related indices (Red edge Normalized Difference Vegetation Index [Red Edge NDVI], modified Chlorophyll Absorption Ratio Index [MCARI₇₁₀], Red Edge Chlorophyll Index [CI_{red edge}] and the MERIS Terrestrial Chlorophyll Index [MTCI]) for GPP estimation during the growth cycle of wheat. These indices are validated for leaf and canopy chlorophyll estimation with ground truth data of canopy chlorophyll content. With ground truth data, a strong correlation is observed for canopy chlorophyll estimation with correlation coefficients R² of 0.79, 0.84, 0.85 and 0.87 for Red Edge NDVI, MCARI₇₁₀, CI_{red edge} and MTCI, respectively (n = 24). As evidence of the existence of a relationship between canopy chlorophyll and GPP/PAR, these indices are shown to be a good proxy of GPP/PAR with R² ranging from 0.70 for Red Edge NDVI and 0.75 for MTCI (n = 240). Remote estimation of GPP from canopy chlorophyll content × PAR is proved to be relatively successful (R² of 0.47, 0.53, 0.65 and 0.66 for Red edge NDVI, MCARI₇₁₀, CI_{red edge} and MTCI respectively, n = 240). These results open up a new possibility to estimate GPP and should inspire new models for remote sensing of GPP.     

Oxytocin selectively gates fear responses through distinct outputs from the central amygdala

Central amygdala (CeA) projections to hypothalamic and brain stem nuclei regulate the behavioral and physiological expression of fear, but it is unknown whether these different aspects of the fear response can be separately regulated by the CeA. We combined fluorescent retrograde tracing of CeA projections to nuclei that modulate fear-related freezing or cardiovascular responses with in vitro electrophysiological recordings and with in vivo monitoring of related behavioral and physiological parameters. CeA projections emerged from separate neuronal populations with different electrophysiological characteristics and different response properties to oxytocin. In vivo, oxytocin decreased freezing responses in fear-conditioned rats without affecting the cardiovascular response. Thus, neuropeptidergic signaling can modulate the CeA outputs through separate neuronal circuits and thereby individually steer the various aspects of the fear response.     

The involvement of the orbitofrontal cortex in the experience of regret

Facing the consequence of a decision we made can trigger emotions like satisfaction, relief, or regret, which reflect our assessment of what was gained as compared to what would have been gained by making a different decision. These emotions are mediated by a cognitive process known as counterfactual thinking. By manipulating a simple gambling task, we characterized a subject's choices in terms of their anticipated and actual emotional impact. Normal subjects reported emotional responses consistent with counterfactual thinking; they chose to minimize future regret and learned from their emotional experience. Patients with orbitofrontal cortical lesions, however, did not report regret or anticipate negative consequences of their choices. The orbitofrontal cortex has a fundamental role in mediating the experience of regret.     

Antiproliferative Activity of Cyanophora paradoxa Pigments in Melanoma,Breast and Lung Cancer Cells

The glaucophyte Cyanophora paradoxa (Cp) was chemically investigated to identify pigments efficiently inhibiting malignant melanoma, mammary carcinoma and lung adenocarcinoma cells growth. Cp water and ethanol extracts significantly inhibited the growth of the three cancer cell lines in vitro, at 100 µg·mL⁻¹. Flash chromatography of the Cp ethanol extract, devoid of c-phycocyanin and allophycocyanin, enabled the collection of eight fractions, four of which strongly inhibited cancer cells growth at 100 µg·mL⁻¹. Particularly, two fractions inhibited more than 90% of the melanoma cells growth, one inducing apoptosis in the three cancer cells lines. The detailed analysis of Cp pigment composition resulted in the discrimination of 17 molecules, ten of which were unequivocally identified by high resolution mass spectrometry. Pheophorbide a, β-cryptoxanthin and zeaxanthin were the three main pigments or derivatives responsible for the strong cytotoxicity of Cp fractions in cancer cells. These data point to Cyanophora paradoxa as a new microalgal source to purify potent anticancer pigments, and demonstrate for the first time the strong antiproliferative activity of zeaxanthin and β-cryptoxanthin in melanoma cells.     

How Raw and Gypsum Modified Bauxite Residues Affect Seed Germination,Enzyme Activities,and Root Development of Sinapis alba

Water, Air, & Soil Pollution - Isotopic effects of carbonyls were investigated using the simulation reactions of carbonyls with the cysteamine derivatization. Furthermore, variations of carbon...     

Comparison of odor-active volatile compounds of fresh and smoked salmon

The odorant volatile compounds of raw salmon and smoked salmon have been investigated by two gas chromatography-olfactometry methods (frequency detection and odorant intensity) and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. After simultaneous steam distillation-solvent extraction with diethyl ether and the recovery of the aromatic extract in ethanol, qualitative olfactometric characterization and identification followed by a quantitative assessment of the odorant volatile compounds were carried out. The origin of many odorant compounds of smoked salmon can be attributed to wood smoke. Another part of smoked salmon aroma is due either to the odorant compounds of the raw fish flesh or to an evolution of fish flesh aroma thanks to the smoking process conditions. Forty-nine odorant compounds have been identified in fresh salmon and 74 in smoked salmon. Carbonyl compounds, such as heptanal or (E,Z)-2,6-nonadienal, show a high detection frequency and odorant intensity in unsmoked fish, giving the flesh its typical fishy odor. For smoked salmon, phenolic compounds, such as cresol or guaiacol, and furanic compounds seem to be responsible for the smoked odor.     

Original surgical treatment of thoracolumbar subarachnoid cysts in six chondrodystrophic dogs

Background

Subarachnoid cysts are rare conditions in veterinary medicine, associated with spinal cord dysfunction. Most of the 100 cases of subarachnoid cysts described since the first report in 1968 were apparently not true cysts. Reported cysts are usually situated in the cervical area and occur in predisposed breeds such as the Rottweiler. The purpose of this retrospective study, from May 2003 to April 2012, was to describe the distinctive features of thoracolumbar spinal subarachnoid cysts, together with their surgical treatment and outcome in 6 chondrodystrophic dogs.

Results

Five Pugs and 1 French Bulldog were examined. Images suggestive of a subarachnoid cyst were obtained by myelography (2/6) and computed tomography myelography (4/6), and associated disc herniation was observed in 3/6 dogs. A hemilaminectomy was performed. The protruding disc eventually found in 5/6 dogs was treated by lateral corpectomy. The ventral leptomeningeal adhesions observed in all dogs after durotomy were dissected. No or only mild post-operative neurological degradation was observed. Follow-up studies (7 months to 4 years) indicated good outcome and no recurrence.

Conclusions

All the thoracolumbar subarachnoid cysts described in these 6 chondrodystrophic dogs were associated with leptomeningeal adhesions. Good results seemed to be obtained by dissecting and removing these adhesions. A protruding disc, found here in 5/6 dogs, needs to be ruled out and can be treated by lateral corpectomy.