Environmental hypoxia but not minor shell damage affects scope for growth and body condition in the blue mussel Mytilus edulis (L.)

The effects of short-term (7 d) exposure to environmental hypoxia (2.11 mg O-2 L-1; control: 6.96 mg O-2 L-1) and varying degrees of shell damage (1 or 2, 1 mm diameter holes; control: no holes) on respiration rate, clearance rate, ammonia excretion rate, scope for growth (SFG) and body condition index were investigated in adult blue mussels (Mytilus edulis). There was a significant hypoxia-related reduction in SFG (>6.70 to 0.92J g(-1) h(-1)) primarily due to a reduction in energy acquisition as a result of reduced clearance rates during hypoxia. Shell damage had no significant affect on any of the physiological processes measured or the SFG calculated. Body condition was unaffected by hypoxia or shell damage. In conclusion, minor physical damage to mussels had no effect on physiological energetics but environmental hypoxia compromised growth, respiration and energy acquisition presumably by reducing feeding rates.

Recovery from TBT pollution in English Channel environments: A problem solved?

Following recognition of effects in the 1980s, tributyltin (TBT) has been monitored at sites in the English Channel to evaluate the prognosis for biota – spanning the introduction of restrictions on TBT use on small boats and the recent phase-out on the global fleet. We describe how persistence and impact of TBT in clams Scrobicularia plana has changed during this period in Southampton Water and Poole Harbour. TBT contamination (and loss) in water, sediment and clams reflects the abundance and type of vessel activity: half-times in sediment (up to 8y in Poole, 33y in Southampton) are longest near commercial shipping. Recovery of clam populations – slowest in TBT-contaminated deposits – provides a useful biological measure of legislative efficacy in estuaries. On rocky shores, recovery from imposex in Nucella lapillus is evident at many sites but, near ports, is prolonged by shipping impacts, including sediment legacy, for example, in the Fal.

Analysis of the footprint in school age of 8-10 years old

Biomechanical problems in children, is an important subject currently, existing controversy in different areas, for example, the majority of children have a flattened footprint, or the hypermobility joint is linked to a musculoskeletal pain. The objective of the study was to determine what kind of footprint is most frequent in school-age children (8-10 years) in the area of Plasencia. This was taken as a sign 50 children, of whom 28 were males and 22 females. All the subjects in the study underwent an assessment of footprint planted in static as well as an exploration of different parameters through inspection in a standing position (formula digital, rearfoot). The results show that excavated footprint is present in a 72% cases of the population, 16% was belonging to an excavated footprint in which we find a higher percentage of weight related.For the digital formula we find that the most common is the Egyptian foot by 40% of the cases and that the prevalence in the rearfoot, is a normal hindfoot. In relation with the hypermobility joint, we check that it is more common in girls and that none of them presents an association to musculoskeletal pain. As a future line we could establish a more comprehensive study with new techniques and valuingchild’s statics and dynamics, to have a more accurate study of the different variables in the sample population studied.

Is perception of upper body orientation based on the inertia tensor? Normogravity versus microgravity conditions

During lateral leg raising, a synergistic inclination of the supporting leg and trunk in the opposite direction to the leg movement is performed in order to preserve equilibrium. As first hypothesized by Pagano and Turvey (J Exp Psychol Hum Percept Perform, 1995, 21:1070-1087), the perception of limb orientation could be based on the orientation of the limb's inertia tensor. The purpose of this study was thus to explore whether the final upper body orientation (trunk inclination relative to vertical) depends on changes in the trunk inertia tensor. We imposed a loading condition, with total mass of 4 kg added to the subject's trunk in either a symmetrical or asymmetrical configuration. This changed the orientation of the trunk inertia tensor while keeping the total trunk mass constant. In order to separate any effects of the inertia tensor from the effects of gravitational torque, the experiment was carried out in normo- and microgravity. The results indicated that in normogravity the same final upper body orientation was maintained irrespective of the loading condition. In microgravity, regardless of loading conditions the same (but different from the normogravity) orientation of the upper body was achieved through different joint organizations: two joints (the hip and ankle joints of the supporting leg) in the asymmetrical loading condition, and one (hip) in the symmetrical loading condition. In order to determine whether the different orientations of the inertia tensor were perceived during the movement, the interjoint coordination was quantified by performing a principal components analysis (PCA) on the supporting and moving hips and on the supporting ankle joints. It was expected that different loading conditions would modify the principal component of the PCA. In normogravity, asymmetrical loading decreased the coupling between joints, while in microgravity a strong coupling was preserved whatever the loading condition. It was concluded that the trunk inertia tensor did not play a role during the lateral leg raising task because in spite of the absence of gravitational torque the final upper body orientation and the interjoint coupling were not influenced.

A novel, long-acting agonist of glucose-dependent insulinotropic polypeptide suitable for once-daily administration in type 2 diabetes

Glucose-dependent insulinotropic polypeptide (GIP) is a gastrointestinal hormone with a potentially therapeutic role in type 2 diabetes. Rapid degradation by dipeptidylpeptidase IV has prompted the development of enzyme-resistant N-terminally modified analogs, but renal clearance still limits in vivo bioactivity. In this study, we report long-term antidiabetic effects of a novel, N-terminally protected, fatty acid-derivatized analog of GIP, N-AcGIP(LysPAL(37)), in obese diabetic (ob/ob) mice. Once-daily injections of N-AcGIP(LysPAL(37)) over a 14-day period significantly decreased plasma glucose, glycated hemoglobin, and improved glucose tolerance compared with ob/ob mice treated with saline or native GIP. Plasma insulin and pancreatic insulin content were significantly increased by N-AcGIP(LysPAL(37)). This was accompanied by a significant enhancement in the insulin response to glucose together with a notable improvement of insulin sensitivity. No evidence was found for GIP receptor desensitization and the metabolic effects of NAcGIP(LysPAL(37)) were independent of any change in feeding or body weight. Similar daily injections of native GIP did not affect any of the parameters measured. These data demonstrate the ability of once-daily injections of N-terminally modified, fatty acid-derivatized analogs of GIP, such as N-AcGIP(LysPAL(37)), to improve diabetes control and to offer a new class of agents for the treatment of type 2 diabetes.

Many-body theory of positron-atom interactions

A many-body theory approach is developed for the problem of positron-atom scattering and annihilation. Strong electron- positron correlations are included nonperturbatively through the calculation of the electron-positron vertex function. It corresponds to the sum of an infinite series of ladder diagrams, and describes the physical effect of virtual positronium formation. The vertex function is used to calculate the positron-atom correlation potential and nonlocal corrections to the electron-positron annihilation vertex. Numerically, we make use of B-spline basis sets, which ensures rapid convergence of the sums over intermediate states. We have also devised an extrapolation procedure that allows one to achieve convergence with respect to the number of intermediate- state orbital angular momenta included in the calculations. As a test, the present formalism is applied to positron scattering and annihilation on hydrogen, where it is exact. Our results agree with those of accurate variational calculations. We also examine in detail the properties of the large correlation corrections to the annihilation vertex.

The (in)visible scar. Representation of the body in blogs by women with breast cancer

In this paper we analyze the representation of the body in blogs by women with breast cancer. Taking into account both texts and images, we study the representation of the body on the basis of the body problems proposed by Frank (1995): control, body-relatedness, other-relatedness and desire. In the blogs studied we find a desiring and dyadic body, which is understood as part of a network of affection and care. The diagnosis of cancer can generate both dissociation, when the body is experienced as a threat, and association, a wish to be connected to it. In relation to control, a clear will of predictability is observed but traces of assumption of contingency also appear.

Molecular effects in the ionization of N-2, O-2, and F-2 by intense laser fields

In this paper we study the response in time of N2, O2, and F2 to laser pulses having a wavelength of 390 nm. We find single-ionization suppression in O2 and its absence in F2, in accordance with experimental results at lambda= 800 nm. Within our framework of time-dependent density functional theory we are able to explain deviations from the predictions of intense-field many-body S-matrix theory (IMST). We confirm the connection of ionization suppression with destructive interference of outgoing electron waves from the ionized electron orbital. However, the prediction of ionization suppression, justified within the IMST approach through the symmetry of the highest occupied molecular orbital (HOMO), is not reliable since it turns out that—e.g., in the case of F2—the electronic response to the laser pulse is rather complicated and does not lead to dominant depletion of the HOMO. Therefore, the symmetry of the HOMO is not sufficient to predict ionization suppression. However, at least for F2, the symmetry of the dominantly ionized orbital is consistent with the nonsuppression of ionization.

The Voice as Transcursive Inscriber: The Relation of Body and Instrument Understood through the Workings of a Machine

This article examines the relationship of the body with a musical instrument; specifically it looks at the vital threshold conditions that occur during the interplay of voice and instrument. By examining the work ‘IKAS’ (1982) for solo saxophone by German composer Hans-Joachim Hespos, the unusual timbral relationships created between vocal and instrumental sounds are exposed. I argue that this particular work highlights the performer/instrument relation as one marked by Gilles Deleuze’s notion of the workings of a machine and a machine’s relation to a ‘flow’, in particular a machine’s function with view to the break in the flow. By turning towards Deleuze’s concept of the machine, this article offers a slightly different vocabulary for music analysis, one that more easily encompasses certain works of the twentieth century, specifically those that are more timbre- than pitch-based.

Differences in Abdominal and Liver Fat Accumulation Between Obesity-Matched Adults With and Without Type 2 Diabetes

Despite attempts to identify the mechanisms by which obesity leads to the development of Type 2 Diabetes (T2D), it remains unclear why some but not all adults with obesity develop T2D. Given the established associations between visceral adipose tissue (VAT) and liver fat with insulin resistance, we hypothesized that compared to age and obesity matched adults who were non-diabetic (NT2D), adults with T2D would have greater amounts of VAT and liver fat. The International Study of Prediction of Intra-Abdominal Adiposity and Its Relationship with Cardiometabolic Risk/Intra-Abdominal Adiposity (INSPIRE ME IAA) aims to study the associations between VAT and liver fat and risk of developing T2D and cardiovascular disease. Four thousand, five hundred and four participants were initially recruited; from this, 2383 White and Asian adults were selected for this ancillary analysis. The NT2D and T2D groups were matched for age, body mass index (BMI) and waist circumference (WC). The T2D and NT2D groups were also compared to participants with either impaired fasting glucose (IFG) or impaired glucose tolerance (IGT; IFG/IGT)). Abdominal adipose tissue was measured by computed tomography; liver fat was estimated using computed tomography-derived mean attenuation. Secondary analysis determined whether differences existed between NT2D and T2D groups in VAT and liver fat accumulation within selected BMI categories for Whites and Asians. We report across sex and race, T2D and IFG/IGT groups had elevated VAT and liver fat compared to the NT2D group (p<0.05). VAT was not different between IFG/IGT and T2D groups (p>0.05), however liver fat was greater in the T2D group compared to the IFG/IGT group in both Whites and Asians (p<0.05). Within each BMI category, the T2D group had elevated VAT and liver fat compared to the age and anthropometrically matched NT2D group in both Whites and Asians (p<0.05). With few exceptions, abdominal subcutaneous adipose tissue was not different in the T2D or IFG/IGT groups compared to the NT2D group independent of sex and race. Compared to age and obesity-matched adults who are NT2D, we observe that White and Asian adults with T2D, and those with IFG/IGT, present with greater levels of both VAT and liver fat.