scholarly journals The singularity of Cetacea behaviour parallels the complete inactivation of melatonin gene modules

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Monica Lopes-Marques ◽  
Raquel Ruivo ◽  
Luís Q. Alves ◽  
Nelson Sousa ◽  
André M. Machado ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Locomotor Activity ◽  
Pineal Gland ◽  
Baleen Whale ◽  
Related Gene ◽  
Genomic Comparison ◽  
Complete Inactivation ◽  
Gene Modules ◽  
Living Organisms ◽  
Seasonal Rhythmicity

Melatonin, the hormone of darkness, is a peculiar molecule found in most living organisms. Emerging as a potent broad-spectrum antioxidant, melatonin was repurposed into extra roles such as the modulation of circadian and seasonal rhythmicity: affecting numerous aspects of physiology and behaviour, including sleep entrainment and locomotor activity. Interestingly, the pineal gland—the melatonin synthesising organ in vertebrates—was suggested to be absent or rudimentary in some mammalian lineages, including Cetacea. In Cetacea, pineal regression is paralleled by their unique bio-rhythmicity, as illustrated by the unihemispheric sleeping behaviour and long-term vigilance. Here, we examined the genes responsible for melatonin synthesis (Aanat and Asmt) and signalling (Mtnr1a and Mtnr1b) in 12 toothed and baleen whale genomes. Based on an ample genomic comparison, we deduce that melatonin-related gene modules are eroded in Cetacea.

scholarly journals The Singularity of Cetacea Behavior Parallels the Complete Inactivation of Melatonin Gene Modules

Genes ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 121 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mónica Lopes-Marques ◽  
Raquel Ruivo ◽  
Luís Q. Alves ◽  
Nelson Sousa ◽  
André M. Machado ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Locomotor Activity ◽  
Pineal Gland ◽  
Baleen Whale ◽  
Related Gene ◽  
Genomic Comparison ◽  
Complete Inactivation ◽  
Gene Modules ◽  
Living Organisms ◽  
Seasonal Rhythmicity

: Melatonin, the hormone of darkness, is a peculiar molecule found in most living organisms. Emerging as a potent broad-spectrum antioxidant, melatonin was repurposed into extra roles such as the modulation of circadian and seasonal rhythmicity, affecting numerous aspects of physiology and behaviour, including sleep entrainment and locomotor activity. Interestingly, the pineal gland—the melatonin synthesising organ in vertebrates—was suggested to be absent or rudimentary in some mammalian lineages, including Cetacea. In Cetacea, pineal regression is paralleled by their unique bio-rhythmicity, as illustrated by the unihemispheric sleeping behaviour and long-term vigilance. Here, we examined the genes responsible for melatonin synthesis (Aanat and Asmt) and signalling (Mtnr1a and Mtnr1b) in 12 toothed and baleen whale genomes. Based on an ample genomic comparison, we deduce that melatonin-related gene modules are eroded in Cetacea.

scholarly journals Differential expression of NPM, GSTA3, and GNMT in mouse liver following long-term in vivo irradiation by means of uranium tailings

2018 ◽  
Vol 38 (5) ◽  
Author(s):  
Lan Yi ◽  
Hongxiang Mu ◽  
Nan Hu ◽  
Jing Sun ◽  
Jie Yin ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Gamma Radiation ◽  
Radiation Exposure ◽  
Central Vein ◽  
Glutathione S Transferase ◽  
Γ Radiation ◽  
Dose Rates ◽  
Living Organisms ◽  
Uranium Tailings

Uranium tailings (UT) are formed as a byproduct of uranium mining and are of potential risk to living organisms. In the present study, we sought to identify potential biomarkers associated with chronic exposure to low dose rate γ radiation originating from UT. We exposed C57BL/6J mice to 30, 100, or 250 μGy/h of gamma radiation originating from UT samples. Nine animals were included in each treatment group. We observed that the liver central vein was significantly enlarged in mice exposed to dose rates of 100 and 250 μGy/h, when compared with nonirradiated controls. Using proteomic techniques, we identified 18 proteins that were differentially expressed (by a factor of at least 2.5-fold) in exposed animals, when compared with controls. We chose glycine N-methyltransferase (GNMT), glutathione S-transferase A3 (GSTA3), and nucleophosmin (NPM) for further investigations. Our data showed that GNMT (at 100 and 250 μGy/h) and NPM (at 250 μGy/h) were up-regulated, and GSTA3 was down-regulated in all of the irradiated groups, indicating that their expression is modulated by chronic gamma radiation exposure. GNMT, GSTA3, and NPM may therefore prove useful as biomarkers of gamma radiation exposure associated with UT. The mechanisms underlying those changes need to be further studied.

scholarly journals Fluorescence imaging with tailored light

Nanophotonics ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 8 (12) ◽  
pp. 2111-2128 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jialei Tang ◽  
Jinhan Ren ◽  
Kyu Young Han
Keyword(s):  
Fluorescence Imaging ◽  
Imaging Techniques ◽  
Super Resolution ◽  
Optical Parameters ◽  
Propagation Angle ◽  
Resolution Imaging ◽  
Time Observation ◽  
Living Organisms ◽  
Real Time Observation

AbstractFluorescence microscopy has long been a valuable tool for biological and medical imaging. Control of optical parameters such as the amplitude, phase, polarization, and propagation angle of light gives fluorescence imaging great capabilities ranging from super-resolution imaging to long-term real-time observation of living organisms. In this review, we discuss current fluorescence imaging techniques in terms of the use of tailored or structured light for the sample illumination and fluorescence detection, providing a clear overview of their working principles and capabilities.

scholarly journals Soft-wired long-term memory in a natural recurrent neuronal network

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Miguel A. Casal ◽  
Santiago Galella ◽  
Oscar Vilarroya ◽  
Jordi Garcia-Ojalvo
Keyword(s):  
Neuronal Network ◽  
Neuronal Networks ◽  
Initial Conditions ◽  
Permutation Entropy ◽  
Long Term Memory ◽  
Term Memory ◽  
C Elegans ◽  
Living Organisms ◽  
Recurrent Connections

Neuronal networks provide living organisms with the ability to process information. They are also characterized by abundant recurrent connections, which give rise to strong feed-back that dictates their dynamics and endows them with fading (short-term) memory. The role of recurrence in long-term memory, on the other hand, is still unclear. Here we use the neuronal network of the roundworm C. elegans to show that recurrent architectures in living organisms can exhibit long-term memory without relying on specific hard-wired modules. A genetic algorithm reveals that the experimentally observed dynamics of the worm’s neuronal network exhibits maximal complexity (as measured by permutation entropy). In that complex regime, the response of the system to repeated presentations of a time-varying stimulus reveals a consistent behavior that can be interpreted as soft-wired long-term memory.A common manifestation of our ability to remember the past is the consistence of our responses to repeated presentations of stimuli across time. Complex chaotic dynamics is known to produce such reliable responses in spite of its characteristic sensitive dependence on initial conditions. In neuronal networks, complex behavior is known to result from a combination of (i) recurrent connections and (ii) a balance between excitation and inhibition. Here we show that those features concur in the neuronal network of a living organism, namely C. elegans. This enables long-term memory to arise in an on-line manner, without having to be hard-wired in the brain.

scholarly journals Change of mineral and organic nitrogen forms in a long term fertilization experiment (literature)

2014 ◽  
pp. 43-47
Author(s):  
Judit Horváth ◽  
János Kátai
Keyword(s):  
Organic Nitrogen ◽  
Inorganic Nitrogen ◽  
Essential Element ◽  
Nitrogen Forms ◽  
Organic Form ◽  
The Sustainable Development ◽  
Nitrogen Turnover ◽  
Mineralization Processes ◽  
Living Organisms

The research topic has timeliness, since the rational utilization and protection of the soil, besides the conservation of its diverse functions is part of the sustainable development. Research of the long-term experiments is esentially important, because it can model the term effects in the same place, under the same conditions. If we want to get accurate informations about the occured changes, way and danger of changes, we should track the resupply and effect of the mineral nutrients and the removed quantity of nutrients with the harvest. Nitrogen is an essential element for living organisms, it is present in the soil mainly in organic form. In general only only a low percentage of the total nitrogent content can be used directly by plants in the soil. This inorganic nitrogen is produced by the transformation of organic contents through mineralization processes and it get into the soil by the fertilization. The plants incorporote the mineral nitrogen into our bodies. This is how nitrogen turnover is realized when mineral forms become organic and organic forms become mineral. The purpose of our paper is to make a literature before our research.

scholarly journals Microplastics - an emerging silent menace to public health

2021 ◽  
Vol 5 (10) ◽  
Author(s):  
Li-Yin Pang ◽  
Shola Sonagara ◽  
Oreoluwatomide Oduwole ◽  
Christopher Gibbins ◽  
Ting Kang Nee
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Health Effects ◽  
Mammalian Cells ◽  
Circulatory System ◽  
Epidemiological Studies ◽  
Specific Effects ◽  
Important Pathway ◽  
Living Organisms ◽  
Respiratory Conditions

Over the past few decades, microplastics have become increasingly ubiquitous in the environment and now contaminate the bodies of many living organisms, including humans. Microplastics, as defined here, are plastics within the size range 0.1 μm and 5 mm and are a worrying form of pollution due to public health concerns. This mini-review aims to summarise the route of entry of microplastics into humans and explore the potential detrimental health effects of microplastics. Trophic transfer is an important pathway for microplastic to be transferred across different groups of organisms, with ingestion is regarded as one of the major routes of exposure for humans. Other pathways include inhalation and dermal contact. The health consequences of microplastics manifest because these materials can translocate into the circulatory system and accumulate in the lungs, liver, kidney, and even brain, regardless of the route of entry. Health effects include gastrointestinal disturbances such as inflammation and gut microbiota disruption, respiratory conditions, neurotoxicity and potential cancers. Overall, while it is apparent that microplastics are causing adverse effects on different biological groups and ecosystems, current research is largely focused on marine organisms and aquaculture. Therefore, more studies are needed to investigate specific effects in mammalian cells and tissues, with more long-term epidemiological studies needed on human population considered to be at high-risk due to socioeconomic or other circumstance. Knowledge of the toxicity and long-term health impacts of microplastics is currently limited and requires urgent attention.

EFFECT OF ATTENUATED MAGNETIC FIELD ON DEVELOPMENT OF THE LIVER AND SPLEEN IN EMBRYONIC JAPANESE QUAIL

2021 ◽  
Vol 55 (6) ◽  
pp. 50-55
Author(s):  
S.A. Pineguin ◽  
◽  
O.A. Dadasheva ◽  
E.I. Mednikova ◽  
O.A. Grushina ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Magnetic Field ◽  
Japanese Quail ◽  
First Generation ◽  
Space Missions ◽  
The Moon ◽  
Living Organisms ◽  
The Magnetic Field

Expectation of remote space missions and long-term stay and work on the Moon with the magnetic field 1,000 times weaker than on Earth sets the researchers the formidable task to investigate effects of the hypomagnetic environment on living organisms. The paper reports data about the liver and spleen development in Japanese quail embryos of various age exposed in a modeled lunar magnetic field. Retardation of hemopoiesis was observed as in the first generation embryos (F1), so in sequential embryo generations developed in the ordinary magnetic environment (F2).

BIOMEDICAL RESEARCH PAYS OFF

PEDIATRICS ◽  
1977 ◽  
Vol 59 (6) ◽  
pp. 832-832
Author(s):  
J. H. Comroe ◽  
R. D. Dripps
Keyword(s):  
Research And Development ◽  
Biomedical Research ◽  
Basic Research ◽  
The Other ◽  
Human Diseases ◽  
Different Types ◽  
Living Organisms

Our analysis showed . . . 41% of all work judged to be essential for later clinical advance was not clinically oriented at the time it was done. The scientists responsible for these key articles sought knowledge for the sake of knowledge. . . . Our data show that clinical advance requires different types of research and development and not one to the exclusion of the other. . . . Our data compel us to conclude (1) that a generous portion of the nation's biomedical research dollar should be used to identify and then provide long term support for creative scientists whose main goal is to learn how living organisms function, without regard to the immediate relation of their research to specific human diseases; and (2) that basic research, as we have defined it, pays off in terms of key discoveries almost twice as handsomely as other types of research and development combined.

Paleolimnology in Deep Time: The Evolution of Lacustrine Ecosystems

2003 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrew S. Cohen
Keyword(s):  
Fossil Record ◽  
World Ocean ◽  
Biological Evolution ◽  
Body Distribution ◽  
Freshwater Organisms ◽  
History Of ◽  
Living Organisms ◽  
Lake Basins ◽  
Lake Beds

Most lakes are geologically ephemeral; even the longest-lived individual lakes persist only for tens of millions of years. However there is a continuity to lake systems that transcends the geologically short history of individual lake basins. This continuity comes from the long-term biological evolution of life in freshwater, and fittingly, forms the final subject of this treatment of paleolimnology. Like the oceans, lakes have provided habitats for living organisms for most of the earth’s history. Yet the patterns of aquatic ecosystem evolution in rivers and lakes have differed dramatically from those of the oceans. In large part this can be traced to the fundamentally ephemeral nature of most continental aquatic habitats and the ‘‘disconnectedness’’ in both time and space that exists between individual lakes and rivers compared with the world ocean. This pattern of temporal and spatial patchiness in water body distribution on the continents has shaped the evolution of lacustrine species and communities. Some understanding of this history can be gleaned from the study of modern ecology and molecular genetics of living freshwater organisms. But to understand long-term trends in lacustrine biodiversity and their relationship to the history of the lacustrine environment we must turn to the pre- Quaternary fossil record. Understanding this history, the timing and tempo of major species diversification and extinction events, and the evolution of key ecological innovations is critical for correctly interpreting ancient lake deposits. The fossil record of pre-Quaternary lakes is more difficult to interpret than that of more recent lake basins. Robust phylogenies are largely unavailable for clades of ancient lacustrine fossils, hindering our ability to test hypotheses of evolutionary ecology, although that situation hopefully will improve in coming years. Many major clades of fossil lacustrine organisms are extinct, and ecologies must be inferred from their depositional context. Even for organisms that have close-living relatives, our certainty in making inferences about habitat and relationship with other species weakens as we go back in time. Also the record we have to work with deteriorates with age, the result of (a) a declining volume of lake beds available for study with increasing age, (b) difficulties associated with processing lithified lake beds for their fossil content, and (c) an increasing likelihood of destruction by diagenesis with increasing age.

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