Temperature regulation

We have recently reported that the serotonin (5-HT) projections from the midbrain's raphe nuclei that contains 5-HT cell bodies may play a role both in heat production and in heat loss. The purpose of the present study was to clarify the involvement of 5-HT in the ventral tegmental area (VTA), where 5-HT is suggested to participate in thermoregulation, using the combined methods of telemetry, microdialysis, and high performance liquid chromatography, with a special emphasis on regulation of the body temperature (Tb) in freely moving rats...

In order to elucidate whether cytokine mechanisms of the cingulate cortex (cctx) are important in the central regulation of homeostasis, in the present study, feeding-metabolic effects of direct bilateral microinjection of interleukin-1β (IL-1β) into the cctx of the rat have been investigated. Short- (2h), medium (12h) and long-term (24h) food and water intakes and body temperature were measured after the intracerebral administration of this primary cytokine or vehicle solution, with or without paracetamol pretreatment...

The vast majority of marine invertebrates spend their larval period as pelagic plankton and are exposed to various environmental cues. Here we investigated the thermotaxis behaviors of the bipinnaria larvae of the starfish, Patiria pectinifera, in association with TRPA ion channels that serve as thermal receptors in various animal species. Using a newly developed thermotaxis assay system, we observed that P. pectinifera larvae displayed positive thermotaxis toward high temperatures, including toward temperatures high enough to cause death...

Acetaminophen, nonsteroidal antiinflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), and corticosteroids, historically used in perioperative management, are potent analgesic medications. They primarily inhibit the cyclooxygenase (COX) enzyme, decreasing the synthesis of prostaglandins, and modulating pain and temperature. Acetaminophen does not inhibit this synthesis at the inflammatory site. The primary mechanism of action of corticosteroids involves regulation of nuclear expression of genes involved in inflammatory pathways and other systemic effects...

BACKGROUND: Vibrio parahaemolyticus is an autochthonous marine bacterial species comprising strains able to grow in broth containing bile salts at 37 °C, a condition seldom found in the ocean. However, this condition is used for isolation in the laboratory because it is considered a necessary property for pathogenesis. In this context, revealing how gene expression enables V. parahaemolyticus to adapt to this particular condition -common to almost all V. parahaemolyticus isolates- will improve our understanding of the biology of this important pathogen...

Periodic ion-conduction oscillation of biological ion channels in a living system is essential for numerous life processes. Here we report an oscillatory nanofluidic system that can self-regulate its ion-conduction states under constant conditions. The oscillatory nanofluidic system is constructed by integrating a chemical oscillator into an artificial single nanochannel system. Oscillating chemical reactions of the pH oscillator carried out inside the nanochannel are used to switch the surface properties of the channel between highly and lowly charged states, thus realizing an autonomous, continuous and periodic oscillation of the ion conductance of the channel between high and low ion-conduction states...

Cooling bag for heat stroke in wild field was invented in order to fulfill rapid cooling for heat stroke in field environment. The cooling bag is composed of the hood, the body cover (which is made up of the anterior portion, the linking, and the posterior portion), the fixed straps, the handles. The length is 200 cm, the regulative width is 60-70 cm, the folding volume is 26 cm × 20 cm × 9 cm, and the weight is 1.4 kg. There are a number of pockets for the cold sources in the hood and the body cover. Fixed straps are set in the upper, middle and lower of the bag...

Movement protein (MP) of Apple chlorotic leaf spot virus (ACLSV) belongs to "30 K" superfamily of proteins and members of this family are known to show a wide array of functions. In the present study this gene was found to be genetically unstable in E. coli when transformed DH5α cells were grown at 28 °C and 37 °C. However, genetic instability was not encountered at 20 °C. Heterologous over expression failed despite the use of different transcriptional promoters and translational fusion constructs...

Insect herbivores play a pivotal role in regulating plant production and community composition, and their role in terrestrial ecosystems is partly determined by their feeding behavior and performance among plants of differing nutritional quality. Historically, nitrogen (N) has been considered the primary limiting nutrient of herbivorous insects, but N is only one of many potential nutrients important to insect performance. Of these nutrients, phosphorus (P) is perhaps the most important because somatic growth depends upon P-rich ribosomal RNA...

Rhazya stricta is an evergreen shrub that is widely distributed across Western and South Asia, and like many other members of the Apocynaceae produces monoterpene indole alkaloids that have anti-cancer properties. This species is adapted to very harsh desert conditions making it an excellent system for studying tolerance to high temperatures and salinity. RNA-Seq analysis was performed on R. stricta exposed to severe salt stress (500 mM NaCl) across four time intervals (0, 2, 12 and 24 h) to examine mechanisms of salt tolerance...

OBJECTIVES: To present the first update on the epidemiology of US foodborne correctional institution outbreaks in 20 years. METHODS: We analyzed data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Foodborne Disease Outbreak Surveillance System to describe correctional institution outbreaks from 1998 to 2014 and compare them with other foodborne outbreaks. RESULTS: Two hundred foodborne outbreaks in correctional institutions were reported, resulting in 20 625 illnesses, 204 hospitalizations, and 5 deaths...

Titanium phosphate nanoparticles, TPNP, consisting of a NaTi2(PO4)3 core and a shell of hydrogen phosphate and dihydrogen phosphate of titanium, undergo fast hydrolysis in water releasing phosphoric acid. This reaction is inhibited in the presence of metallic ions like Cd(2+) or Hg(2+), which are able to replace the protons of the shell acid phosphates. The amount of the adsorbed metallic cations could be regulated using counterions of different basicity. The resulting nanoparticles also incorporate NH2(CH2)7CH3 (N-octylamine) at room temperature forming N-octylammonium/phosphate ion pairs, but it was found that at higher cation concentration inside the nanoparticle, a lower amount of amine was adsorbed...

Calmodulin (CaM) is a Ca(2+)-binding protein that plays a role in several Ca(2+) signaling pathways, which dynamically regulates the activities of hundreds of proteins. The ice alga Chlamydomonas sp. ICE-L, which has the ability to adapt to extreme polar conditions, is a crucial primary producer in Antarctic ecosystem. This study hypothesized that Cam helps the ICE-L to adapt to the fluctuating conditions in the polar environment. It first verified the overall length of Cam, through RT-PCR and RACE-PCR, based on partial Cam transcriptome library of ICE-L...

Trans-generational plasticity (TGP) is the adjustment of phenotypes to changing habitat conditions that persist longer than the individual lifetime. Fitness benefits (adaptive TGP) are expected upon matching parent-offspring environments. In a global change scenario, several performance-related environmental factors are changing simultaneously. This lowers the predictability of offspring environmental conditions, potentially hampering the benefits of TGP. For the first time, we here explore how the combination of an abiotic and a biotic environmental factor in the parental generation plays out as trans-generational effect in the offspring...

A gas-chromatographic single quadrupole analytical method for the analysis of the sixteen priority EU polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in food is presented in this paper. The method fulfils the request of Regulation EU 836/2011 for an analytical procedure to be used for official control of PAHs in food, in EU member states. The sample preparation involves a Pressurised Liquid Extraction (PLE) with an in-cell clean-up step followed by a lipid removal using SPE on a styrene divinylbenzene stationary phase (SDVB) and a final gel permeation chromatography (GPC) step...

The methodology to electrospin polystyrene (PS) fibers functionalized with the inclusion complex between 1-methylcyclopropene and α-cyclodextrin (α-CD) has been developed successfully. Due to limited availability, α-CD crystals instead of 1-MCP/α-CD complex were suspended in the electrospinning (ES) solutions to investigate the electrospinning process. The ES solutions were characterized in terms of viscosity, conductivity and surface tension. Meanwhile the fibers were subjected to scanning electron microscopy...

Pneumonia is the major cause of death in children under five, particularly in developing countries. Antibiotics such as amoxicillin greatly help in mitigating this problem. However, there is lack of an infant/toddler-friendly formulation for countries with limited clean water and electricity. Here we report the development of a shear-thinning hydrogel system for the oral delivery of amoxicillin to the infant/toddler patients, without the need of clean water and refrigeration. The hydrogel formulation consists of metolose (hydroxypropyl methylcellulose) and amoxicillin...

O-linked β-N-acetylglucosamine (O-GlcNAc) is a ubiquitous post-translational modification of proteins in eukaryotic cells. Despite their low abundance, O-GlcNAc-modified proteins play many important roles in regulating gene expression, signal transduction, and cell cycle. Aberrant O-GlcNAc proteins are correlated with many major human diseases, such as Alzheimer's disease, diabetes, and cancer. Because of the extremely low stoichiometry of O-GlcNAc proteins, enrichment is required before mass spectrometry analysis for large-scale identification and in-depth understanding of their cellular function...

Phosphorylation is one of the most important post-translational modifications, playing a crucial role in regulating many cellular processes including transcription, cytoskeletal rearrangement, cell proliferation, differentiation, apoptosis and signal transduction. However, to date little work has been carried out on the phosphoproteome in CHO cells. In this study we have carried out a large scale differential phosphoproteomic analysis of recombinant CHO cells following a reduction of culture temperature (temperature shift)...

Predicted changes in the intensity and frequency of climate extremes urge a better mechanistic understanding of the stress response of microbially mediated carbon (C) and nutrient cycling processes. We analyzed the resistance and resilience of microbial C, nitrogen (N), and phosphorus (P) cycling processes and microbial community composition in decomposing plant litter to transient, but severe, temperature disturbances, namely, freeze-thaw and heat. Disturbances led temporarily to a more rapid cycling of C and N but caused a down-regulation of P cycling...