Effects of aging on time course of neovascularization-related gene expression following acute hindlimb ischemia in mice

Background Molecular analysis of neovascularization related genes by time course in response to ischemia has not been described in the context of aging. We aimed to provide a progressively deeper understanding of how aging compromises neovascularization,

Effectiveness and time-course adaptation of resistance training vs. plyometric training in prepubertal soccer players

Purpose:This study aimed to assess the effectiveness and time course for improvements in explosive actions through resistance training(RT)vs.plyometric training(PT)in prepubertal soccer players.Methods:Thirty-four male subjects were assigned to:a control group(n=11);an RT group(5 regular soccer training sessions per week,n=12);a PT group(3 soccer training sessions and 2 RT sessions per week,n=11).The outcome measures included tests for the assessment of muscle strength(e.g.,1 repetition maximum half-squat test),jump ability(e.g.,countermovement jump,squat jump,standing long jump,and multiple 5 bounds test),linear speed(e.g.,20m sprint test),and change of direction(e.g.,Illinois change of direction test).Results:The RTG showed an improvement in the half-squat(△=13.2%;d=1.3,p<0.001)and countermovement jump(△=9.4%;d=2.4,p<0.001)at Week 4,whereas improvements in the 20-m sprint(△=4.2%;d=1.1,p<0.01);change of direction(CoD)(△=3.8%;d=2.1,p<0.01);multiple 5 bounds(△=5.1%;d=1.5,p<0.05);standing long jump(△=7.2%;d=1.2,p<0.01);squat jump(△=19.6%;d=1.5,p<0.01);were evident at Week 8.The PTG showed improvements in CoD(△=2.1%;d=1.3,p<0.05);standing long jump(△=9.3%;d=1.1,p<0.01);countermovement jump(△=16.1%;d=1.2,p<0.01);and squat jump(△=16.7%;d=1.4,p<0.01);at Week 8 whereas improvements in the 20-m sprint(△=4.1%;d=1.3,p<0.01);and multiple 5 bounds(△=7.4%;d=2.4,p<0.001);were evident only after Week.The RT and PT groups showed improvements in all sprint,CoD,and jump tests(p<0.05)and in half-squat performance,for which improvement was only shown within the RTG(p<0.001).Conclusion:RT and PT conducted in combination with regular soccer training are safe and feasible interventions for prepubertal soccer players.In addition,these interventions were shown to be effective training tools to improve explosive actions with different time courses of improvements,which manifested earlier in the RTG than in the PTG.These outcomes may help coaches and fitness trainers set out clear and concise goals of training according to the specific time course of improvement difference between RT and PT on proxies of athletic performance of prepubertal soccer players.

A comparative study of the dose response and time course of recovery of atracurium and rocuronium

To compare the characteristics of the dose response relationship and the time course of action between atracurium and rocuronium in adult patients anesthetized with N 2O O 2 fentanyl thiopene Methods Sixty patients, ASA grade Ⅰ, aged 18-50 years, scheduled for elective plastic surgery were studied All patients were randomly divided into either the atracurium or rocuronium group General anesthesia was maintained with 60% nitrous oxide and 40% oxygen, thiopentone, and fentanyl Neuromuscular function was assessed using an accelograph with train of four (TOF) stimulation at the wrist every 12 seconds The percentage depression of the first twitch (T 1) was used as the study parameter The dose response relationship of atracurium and rocuronium was determined by the cumulative dose response technique Results According to the dose response curves established by a least squares linear regression, the potency ratio of atracurium to rocuronium was 1∶1 2 There were significant differences in the ED 50 , ED 90 , and ED 95 between the two drugs After the intravenous administration of equipotent doses of both drugs (1 5×ED 95 ), the duration of peak effect, clinical duration, and total duration were significantly different between the two drugs, but their recovery indexes were similar Conclusions Atracurium and rocuronium are low potency nondepolarizing relaxants with intermediate duration As compared to atracurium, the neuromuscular blocking effect of rocuronium was about 20% less potent and its duration of action was shorter

Corneal biomechanical properties changes after coaxial 2,2-mm microincision and standard 3,0-mm phacoemulsification

AIM： To compare the changes in corneal biomechanics measured by ocular response analyzer （ORA） after 2.2-ram microincision cataract surgery and 3.0-mm standard coaxial phacoemulsification. METHODS： The prospective nonrandomized study comprised eyes with cataract that had 2.2-mm coaxial microincision or 3.0 -mm standard incision phacoemulsification. The corneal hysteresis （CH）, corneal resistance factor （CRF）, corneal-compensated intraocular pressure （IOPcc） and Goldmann-correlated intraocular pressure （IOPg） were measured by ORA preoperatively and at ld, 1-, 2-, 3- and 4-week postoperatively. Results were analyzed and compared between groups. RESULTS： In both groups, CH decreased in the immediate postoperative period （P〈0.05）, returned to the preoperative level at one week （P =0.249） in the 2.2-mm group, and at two weeks in the 3.0-mm group （P --0.264）; there was no significant change in CRF values. In 2.2-mm group, mean IOPcc and IOPg increased at ld postoperatively （both ,P〈0.05）, and returned to preoperative level at one week （,0 =0.491 and P =0.923, respectively）. In 3.0-mm group, mean IOPcc and IOPg increased at ld and lwk postoperatively （P =0.005 and ,P =0.029, respectively）, and returned to preoperative level at 2wk （P =0.347 and P =0.887, respectively）. CONCLUSION： Significant differences between preoperative and postoperative corneal biomechanical values were found for CH, IOPcc and IOPg. But the recovery time courses were different between the two groups. The 2.2-mm coaxial microincision cataract surgery group seemed recovery faster compared to the 3.0-mm standard coaxial phacoemulsification group.

Changes in Plasma Osmolality, Cortisol and Amino Acid Levels of Tongue Sole(Cynoglossus semilaevis) at Different Salinities

A serial of salinity transferring treatments were performed to investigate the osmoregulation of tongue sole(Cynoglossus semilaevis). Juvenile tongue sole were directly transferred from a salinity of 30 to 0, 10, 20, 30, 40 and 50. Blood sampling was performed for each treatment after 0, 1, 6 and 12 h, as well as after 1, 2, 4, 8, 16 and 32 d. The plasma osmolality, cortisol and free amino acids were assessed. Under the experimental conditions, no fish died after acute salinity transfer. The plasma cortisol level increased 1 h after the abrupt transfer from a salinity of 30 to that of 0, 40 and 50, and decreased from 6 h to 8 d after transfer. Similar trends were observed in the changes of plasma osmolality. The plasma free amino acids concentration showed a ‘U-shaped' relationship with salinity after being transferred to different salinities for 4 days. More obvious changes of plasma free amino acid concentration occurred under hyper-osmotic conditions than under hypo-osmotic conditions. The concentrations of valine, isoleucine, lysine, glutamic acid, glycine, proline and taurine increased with rising salinity. The plasma levels of threonine, leucine, arginine, serine, and alanine showed a ‘U-shaped' relationship with salinity. The results of this study suggested that free amino acids might have important effects on osmotic acclimation in tongue sole.

Direct observation of the autophosphorylation of insulin receptor kinase by mass spectrometry

The catalytic and signaling activities of insulin receptor kinase （IRK） are regulated by the autophosphorylation of three tyrosine residues in a cytoplasmic protein-tyrosine kinase domain at Tyro 1158, Tyro 1162 and Tyro 1163. In this study, time-course of the auphosphorylation of the core kinase （residues 978-1283） from IRK was directly investigated by online electrospray ionization mass spectrometry. It is found that two tyrosine residues were phosphorylated in reaction time range of 30 min. This study implies that mass spectrometric technique must be a powerful tool to directly monitor the biological macromolecular modification and will also provide the information of the order and the mechanism of autophosphorylation at the tyrosine sites coupled with tandem mass spectrometric technique.

DYNAMIC CHANGES IN Giα2 LEVELS IN THE RAT HEART ASSOCIATED WITH IMPAIRED CARDIACFUNCTION FOLLOWING ACUTE MYOCARDIAL INFA RCTION

Changes in the functional activity and levels of Gsa and Gia in heart failure have been studied predominantly in the end-stage failing heart.The objective of this study was to determine if levels and function of Gsa and Gia2 in rat hearts change over time following acute myocar(lial infarction (MI) and if so,whether the changes in G proteins are associated with changes in heart function.As compared with sham-operated controls, Giα2, level of MI rats did not change at day l,increased by 64% at day 3 (P<0.01) and 55% at day 9 (P< 0.05)accompanied by reduced adenylyl cyclase activity,and returned to control by day 21. By contrast,Gsa level did not change at any time. Cardiac function in MI animals was markedly impaired at days 1,3 and 9 as evidenced by substantial elevation in LVEDP and reduction in +and -dp/dtmax,and partially restored at day 21. The increased Gia2level in MI rats at days 3 and 9 correlated positively to LVEDP(P< 0.05), and negatively to +and -dp/dtmax (p < 0. 01).The results show a three phase dynamic pattern in Gia2 level following acute MI:a lag phase, an increased expression phase associated with marked impairment of heart function,and a late phase in which the expression retums to control level accompanied by partially restored cardlac function.The results suggest that ② in G protein-mediated pathways,cardiac myocytes respond to MI Via regulating the gene expression of the inhibitory pathway, and ② up-regulation of Gia2 levels is related to the severity of impairment in cardiac function.

The Effect of Hamstring Stretching on Muscle Hardness and Isokinetic Muscle Performance

The purpose of this study was to clarify the effects and the time course of moderate hamstring stretching on the hardness and strength of the knee flexor muscles. Thirteen young adults performed static stretching of their hamstrings （2 minx 3 repetitions）. Before and after the static stretching, muscle hardness and concentric isokinetic torque of the knee flexors （180~/s） was determined. The hardness of the long head of the BF （biceps femoris） muscle was measured by using shear wave ultrasound elastography images. To follow the time course of the stretching effects, we determined the above parameters before, immediately after, and every 10 min for torque and every 5 min for muscle hardness until 30 min after stretching. Muscle hardness of the BF significantly decreased when compared with before the stretching （P 〈 0.001）, and remained significantly reduced until 25 min. However, the knee flexion torque did not show any change at any timing. As seen in this experiment, moderate stretching decreased the muscle hardness of the BF without a decline in the knee flexion torque. Thus, these findings suggest that moderate stretching is useful as a warm-up maneuver.

Designing Microarray and RNA-Seq Experiments for Greater Systems Biology Discovery in Modern Plant Genomics

Microarray and RNA-seq experiments have become an important part of modern genomics and systems biology. Obtaining meaningful biological data from these experiments is an arduous task that demands close attention to many details. Negligence at any step can lead to gene expression data containing inadequate or composite information that is recalcitrant for pattern extraction. Therefore, it is imperative to carefully consider experimental design before launching a time-consuming and costly experiment. Contemporarily, most genomics experiments have two objectives： （1） to generate two or more groups of comparable data for identifying differentially expressed genes, gene families, biological processes, or metabolic pathways under experimental conditions; （2） to build local gene regulatory networks and identify hierarchically important regulators governing biological processes and pathways of interest. Since the first objective aims to identify the active molecular identities and the second provides a basis for understanding the underlying molecular mechanisms through inferring causality relationships mediated by treatment, an optimal experiment is to produce biologically relevant and extractable data to meet both objectives without substantially increasing the cost. This review discusses the major issues that researchers commonly face when embarking on microarray or RNA-seq experiments and summarizes important aspects of experimental design, which aim to help researchers deliberate how to generate gene expression profiles with low background noise but with more interaction to facilitate novel biological discoveries in modern plant genomics.