The role and regulation of stars in skeletal muscle

STARS is a muscle specific protein that is upregulated in response to endurance exercise and may potentially increase skeletal muscle cell sensitivity to muscle contraction. STARS enhances the activation of intracellular signalling pathways involved in skeletal muscle growth, regeneration and oxidative metabolism.

Glamour photography makes suburban stars of us all

For the last two decades, studio photographers have been trying to create photos that replicate those produced for stars and for those destined for the cover of magazines. This article explores this phenomenon from the perspective of its suburban site for the production of the sensation of fame through glamour photography.

Application of the gradient boosted method in randomised clinical trials: participant variables that contribute to depression treatment efficacy of duloxetine, SSRIs or placebo

Randomised, placebo-controlled trials of treatments for depression typically collect outcomes data but traditionally only analyse data to demonstrate efficacy and safety. Additional post-hoc statistical techniques may reveal important insights about treatment variables useful when considering inter-individual differences amongst depressed patients. This paper aims to examine the Gradient Boosted Model (GBM), a statistical technique that uses regression tree analyses and can be applied to clinical trial data to identify and measure variables that may influence treatment outcomes.

Exploring associations between parental and peer variables, personal variables and physical activity among adolescents: a mediation analysis

This study aimed to investigate how parental and peer variables are associated with moderate- to-vigorous intensity physical activity (MVPA) on week- and weekend days among Australian adolescents (13-15 y), and whether perceived internal barriers (e.g. lack of time), external barriers (e.g. lack of others to be physically active with) and self-efficacy mediated these associations.

The STARS signaling pathway: a key regulator of skeletal muscle function

During the last decade, the striated muscle activator of Rho signaling (STARS), a muscle-specific protein, has been proposed to play an increasingly important role in skeletal muscle growth, metabolism, regeneration and stress adaptation. STARS influences actin dynamics and, as a consequence, regulates the myocardin-related transcription factor A/serum response factor (MRTF-A/SRF) transcriptional program, a well-known pathway controlling skeletal muscle development and function. Muscle-specific stress conditions, such as exercise, positively regulates, while disuse and degenerative muscle diseases are associated with a downregulation of STARS and its downstream partners, suggesting a pivotal role for STARS in skeletal muscle health. This review provides a comprehensive overview of the known role and regulation of STARS and the members of its signaling pathway, RhoA, MRTF-A and SRF, in skeletal muscle.

Antitropical distributions and species delimitation in a group of ophiocomid brittle stars (Echinodermata: Ophiuroidea: Ophiocomidae)

In this paper we examine the phylogeny and biogeography of the temperate genera of the Ophiocomidae (Echinodermata: Ophiuroidea) which have an interesting asymmetrical anti-tropical distribution, with two genera (Ophiocomina and Ophiopteris) previously considered to have a separate species in both the North and South hemispheres, and the third (Clarkcoma) diversifying in the southern Australian/New Zealand region. Our phylogeny, generated from one mitochondrial and two nuclear markers, revealed that Ophiopteris is sister to a mixed Ophiocomina/. Clarkcoma clade. Ophiocomina was polyphyletic, with O. nigra and an undescribed species from the South Atlantic Ocean sister to a clade including Clarkcoma species and O. australis. The phylogeny also revealed a number of recently diverged lineages occurring within Clarkcoma, some of which are considered to be cryptic species due to the similarity in morphology combined with the apparent absence of interbreeding in a sympatric distribution, while the status of others is less certain. The phylogeny provides support for two transequatorial events in the group under study. A molecular clock analysis places both events in the middle to late Miocene. The analysis excludes a tectonic vicariance hypothesis for the antitropical distribution associated with the breakup of Pangaea and also excludes the hypothesis of more recent gene flow associated with Plio/Pleistocene glacial cycling. © 2014 Elsevier Inc.

A unit root model for trending time-series energy variables

In this paper, we propose a GARCH-based unit root test that is flexible enough to account for; (a) trending variables, (b) two endogenous structural breaks, and (c) heteroskedastic data series. Our proposed model is applied to a range of time-series, trending, and heteroskedastic energy variables. Our two main findings are: first, the proposed trend-based GARCH unit root model outperforms a GARCH model without trend; and, second, allowing for a time trend and two endogenous structural breaks are important in practice, for doing so allows us to reject the unit root null hypothesis.