scholarly journals Similar sequences but dissimilar biological functions of GDF11 and myostatin

2020 ◽  
Vol 52 (10) ◽  
pp. 1673-1693
Author(s):  
Joonho Suh ◽  
Yun-Sil Lee
Keyword(s):  
Therapeutic Option ◽  
Biochemical Properties ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Genetic Studies ◽  
Skeletal Patterning ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Perinatal Lethality ◽  
Different Sources ◽  
Potential Use

Abstract Growth differentiation factor 11 (GDF11) and myostatin (MSTN) are closely related TGFβ family members that are often believed to serve similar functions due to their high homology. However, genetic studies in animals provide clear evidence that they perform distinct roles. While the loss of Mstn leads to hypermuscularity, the deletion of Gdf11 results in abnormal skeletal patterning and organ development. The perinatal lethality of Gdf11-null mice, which contrasts with the long-term viability of Mstn-null mice, has led most research to focus on utilizing recombinant GDF11 proteins to investigate the postnatal functions of GDF11. However, the reported outcomes of the exogenous application of recombinant GDF11 proteins are controversial partly because of the different sources and qualities of recombinant GDF11 used and because recombinant GDF11 and MSTN proteins are nearly indistinguishable due to their similar structural and biochemical properties. Here, we analyze the similarities and differences between GDF11 and MSTN from an evolutionary point of view and summarize the current understanding of the biological processing, signaling, and physiological functions of GDF11 and MSTN. Finally, we discuss the potential use of recombinant GDF11 as a therapeutic option for a wide range of medical conditions and the possible adverse effects of GDF11 inhibition mediated by MSTN inhibitors.

scholarly journals Microsatellites Cross-Species Amplification across Some African Cichlids

2012 ◽  
Vol 2012 ◽  
pp. 1-7 ◽  
Author(s):  
Etienne Bezault ◽  
Xavier Rognon ◽  
Karim Gharbi ◽  
Jean-Francois Baroiller ◽  
Bernard Chevassus
Keyword(s):  
Microsatellite Markers ◽  
Oreochromis Niloticus ◽  
Molecular Genetic ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Genetic Studies ◽  
African Cichlid ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
The Mean ◽  
High Level ◽  
African Cichlids

The transfer of the genomic resources developed in the Nile tilapia, Oreochromis niloticus, to other Tilapiines sensu lato and African cichlid would provide new possibilities to study this amazing group from genetics, ecology, evolution, aquaculture, and conservation point of view. We tested the cross-species amplification of 32 O. niloticus microsatellite markers in a panel of 15 species from 5 different African cichlid tribes: Oreochromines (Oreochromis, Sarotherodon), Boreotilapiines (Tilapia), Chromidotilapines, Hemichromines, and Haplochromines. Amplification was successfully observed for 29 markers (91%), with a frequency of polymorphic (P95) loci per species around 70%. The mean number of alleles per locus and species was 3.2 but varied from 3.7 within Oreochromis species to 1.6 within the nontilapia species. The high level of cross-species amplification and polymorphism of the microsatellite markers tested in this study provides powerful tools for a wide range of molecular genetic studies within tilapia species as well as for other African cichlids.

scholarly journals Stakeholders and Apart Hotels: Multiple Case Study

2012 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 145-169
Author(s):  
Elizabeth Kyoko Wada
Keyword(s):  
Business Models ◽  
Management Strategies ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Business Organizations ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Social Actors ◽  
Key Stakeholders ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Multiple Case

Means of accommodation involve a wide range of social actors and agents, as well as different business models. Management strategies in this sector have been increasingly important for long-term sustainability and competitiveness of business organizations. This study aims to analyze the interactions between apart-hotels and their stakeholders to foster an improvement of services provided, aligning the interface of strategic management from the point of view of managers and their key stakeholders. It is an exploratory study, with qualitative chacter, along with multiple case studies of the following establishments: Travel Inn, Hotels Slaviero and Etoile george v. Brazilian enterprises, which manage lodging facilities with apart-hotel concepts, combining features that enable comparative analysis of the study. For conceptual understanding, this study was based on literature about stakeholders, taking the work of Freeman (1984) and Freeman et al (2010) as main references. The research was conducted through semi-structured interviews with managers of lodging facilities and their key stakeholders and through direct observation and documentation. We found that not all groups of influence are considered in the planning of service flats. However, the organizations surveyed indicated that the market has realized the importance of the groups that exert influence and are influenced by their goals, and are therefore increasingly alert for integration of such groups in their strategic planning.

scholarly journals ¿Qué sabemos de la rareza en especies vegetales? Un enfoque genético-demográfico

2017 ◽  
pp. 17
Author(s):  
Ligia Guadalupe Esparza-Olguín
Keyword(s):  
Plant Species ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Rare Plant ◽  
Genetic Studies ◽  
Reproductive Process ◽  
Rare Plant Species ◽  
Population Growth Rates ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Genetic Patterns ◽  
Range Of Values

In this paper I present a review of a number of studies that have addressed demographic or genetic aspects of rare plant species, with the purpose of analyzing whether there are any demographic or genetic patterns which characterize them. From this review, I observed that in the majority of the rare plant species studied from a demographic point of view, several common features appear: population growth rates close to unity, important reproductive limitations, low germinability, low recruitment rates, and in some cases, certain aspects of the reproductive process are associated to intermittent events. Regarding the genetic studies, the existence of a wide range of values in the genetic variability of rare species became clear. Therefore, it may be concluded that rare plant species constitute a biologically heterogeneous assemblage. At present it is not possible to conclude about the existence of general demographic or genetic patterns within this group.

scholarly journals Fiscal and other risks over the long term

2013 ◽  
Vol 9 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Simon Upton
Keyword(s):  
New Zealand ◽  
Public Life ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Radar Screen ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Fiscal Prudence

After 13 years’ absence from any involvement in public life in New Zealand it has been a welcome challenge to re-immerse myself in issues with which I used to be familiar. I’d like to focus this article on why we should see the Treasury’s review of the government’s long-term fiscal outlook as an exercise in managing a wide range of risks under conditions of significant uncertainty; and how, from a political point of view, one might seek to stop the need for fiscal prudence sliding off the radar screen. 

On the Conception of the Modern Political Labels Dictionary

2021 ◽  
pp. 105-118
Author(s):  
Alexander P. Skovorodnikov ◽  
◽  
Galina A. Kopnina ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Verbal Label ◽  
Word Formation ◽  
Russian Language ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Public Speech ◽  
Political Events ◽  
Political Linguistics ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
Different Sources

The article aims to describe the conception of the Modern Political Labels Dictionary being developed at the Siberian Federal University. The creation of such a dictionary is relevant owing to the development of political lexicography which allows revealing the state and features of modern political language development. It is also noted that political labels remain largely unstudied despite their wide and quite long-term use in media. The authors of both the dictionary and the article believe that it can be useful not only for specialists focused on conducting linguistic examinations of conflictogenic texts, but also for those who are interested in politics. The Modern Political Labels Dictionary makers see the main purpose of its creation in characterizing modern political discourse verbal labels used as a tool of information-psychological confrontation as completely as possible. The concept of the dictionary is based on the following definition of the term “political verbal label”: it is a nominative ideologeme (word and phrase) tending to stereotypization. It is a linear negative myth used to discredit socially and politically significant objects. A political verbal label is characterized by exaggerated pejorative connotations and weakened denotative components. The dictionary being developed is explanatory and illustrative. It also includes derivations and (optional) philological commentaries. The selection of speech samples for the dictionary was mainly based on a linguo-ideological analysis following the methodology proposed by N.A. Kupina that assumes the identification of key ideologeme labels in a text and analysis of their com-patibility to reveal semantic, axiological, and aesthetic additives that reflect an author’s point of view on certain political events. The article also characterizes the dictionary structure including a theoretical introduction, dictionary entries, a glossary, and a list of abbreviations; examples of dictionary entries are provided. The words and phrases se-lected for the glossary passed verification procedure acting as Yandex, Google and Russian Language National Corpus search query to confirm their non-unity (usability): the existence of at least 3 to 5 contexts from different sources in which the selected unit is used with the same meaning was considered sufficient. It is noted in the description of a dictionary entry that it contains both mandatory (head unit; interpretation of its semantics in compliance with the principle of unification of interpretation models; speech samples from texts of various styles and genres created in post-Soviet and modern periods) and optional (commentaries on the functioning specifics of a political label: its origin, use periods, productivity and role in text; variations; synonyms and derivatives) components. It is concluded that the work on the dictionary made it possible to clarify the definition of the political labels phenomenon; identify the most common political labels, and expand the notion of their paradigmatic (synonymous, opposing) connec-tions, word-formation capabilities, functioning specifics in modern public speech; and present the meta-reactions of society to their use. The above-mentioned makes it possible to fill the current gap in the theory of political linguistics.

Current Trends in Neuropathic Pain Treatments with Special Reference to Fibromyalgia

CNS Spectrums ◽  
2005 ◽  
Vol 10 (4) ◽  
pp. 285-297 ◽  
Author(s):  
Martin Offenbaecher ◽  
Manfred Ackenheil
Keyword(s):  
Neuropathic Pain ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Attrition Rates ◽  
Current Trends ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Methodological Problems ◽  
The Individual

AbstractNeuropathic pain and fibromyalgia are prevalent diseases which have major consequences on healthcare resources and the individual. From the clinical point of view neuropathic pains represent a heterogeneous group of aetiologically different diseases ranging from cancer to diabetes. Patients with fibromyalgia also display clinical features common in neuropathic pain suggesting that there might be some overlap. The mechanisms responsible for symptoms and signs in both diseases are still unknown. Recently, there have been numerous reports of various pharmacological treatments of neuropathic pain and fibromyalgia with often disappointing results. Most of the studies were of short duration, had high attrition rates, and displayed other methodological problems. Some compounds had high rates of adverse effects which makes it often difficult for the patients to tolerate the treatment, especially in the long-term. At present, the best options for medication treatment are tricyclic antidepressants in lower dosage than usual in psychiatric disorders and a wide range of anticonvulsants. Opioids are sometimes recommended but have been found to have minor efficacy. Recently, there have been more controlled trials, which are reported here if they had been published between 2002 and 2004. Various compounds have been tested in different studies. Treatment of fibromyalgia, which has many features in common with depressive symptoms, became the focus of interest. New promising studies with dual serotonin-norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors (duloxetine and milnacipram) and a newer antiepileptic drug (pregabalin) are in progress. Future research will have to apply new approaches (eg, using a mechanism based classification of neuropathic pain and carrying out studies in populations with the same symptom but not necessarily the same disease) in order to find effective treatments for these common and often debilitating diseases.

The growth of mica polytypes as studied by conventional and high-resolution TEM

1983 ◽  
Vol 41 ◽  
pp. 174-177
Author(s):  
A. Baronnet ◽  
M. Amouric
Keyword(s):  
Water Pressure ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Temperature Fields ◽  
Natural Occurrence ◽  
Growth Mechanisms ◽  
Long Period ◽  
High Resolution Tem ◽  
Layer Stacking ◽  
Experimental Works ◽  
Potential Use

The origin of mica polytypes has long been a challenging problem for crystal- lographers, mineralogists and petrologists. From the petrological point of view, interest in this field arose from the potential use of layer stacking data to furnish further informations about equilibrium and/or kinetic conditions prevailing during the crystallization of the widespread mica-bearing rocks. From the compilation of previous experimental works dealing with the occurrence domains of the various mica "polymorphs" (1Mr, 1M, 2M1, 2M2 and 3T) within water-pressure vs temperature fields, it became clear that most of these modifications should be considered as metastable for a fixed mica species. Furthermore, the natural occurrence of long-period (or complex) polytypes could not be accounted for by phase considerations. This highlighted the need of a more detailed kinetic approach of the problem and, in particular, of the role growth mechanisms of basal faces could play in this crystallographic phenomenon.

Treatment and secondary prevention of venous thromboembolism in cancer patients

2012 ◽  
Vol 03 (03) ◽  
pp. 121-125
Author(s):  
I. Pabinger ◽  
C. Ay
Keyword(s):  
Clinical Trials ◽  
Venous Thromboembolism ◽  
Cancer Patients ◽  
Oral Anticoagulants ◽  
Factor Xa ◽  
New Oral Anticoagulants ◽  
Phase Iii ◽  
Patients With Cancer ◽  
Potential Use

SummaryCancer is a major and independent risk factor of venous thromboembolism (VTE). In clinical practice, a high number of VTE events occurs in patients with cancer, and treatment of cancerassociated VTE differs in several aspects from treatment of VTE in the general population. However, treatment in cancer patients remains a major challenge, as the risk of recurrence of VTE as well as the risk of major bleeding during anticoagulation is substantially higher in patients with cancer than in those without cancer. In several clinical trials, different anticoagulants and regimens have been investigated for treatment of acute VTE and secondary prophylaxis in cancer patients to prevent recurrence. Based on the results of these trials, anticoagulant therapy with low-molecular-weight heparins (LMWH) has become the treatment of choice in cancer patients with acute VTE in the initial period and for extended and long-term anticoagulation for 3-6 months. New oral anticoagulants directly inhibiting thrombin or factor Xa, have been developed in the past decade and studied in large phase III clinical trials. Results from currently completed trials are promising and indicate their potential use for treatment of VTE. However, the role of the new oral thrombin and factor Xa inhibitors for VTE treatment in cancer patients still has to be clarified in further studies specifically focusing on cancer-associated VTE. This brief review will summarize the current strategies of initial and long-term VTE treatment in patients with cancer and discuss the potential use of the new oral anticoagulants.

Colorimetric research of self-luminous objects in software and hardware environments by the method of multidimensional scales implementation

2020 ◽  
pp. 43-50
Author(s):  
Yauheniya N. Saukova
Keyword(s):  
Metrological Traceability ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Intermediate Precision ◽  
Technical Vision ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Chromaticity Coordinates ◽  
Unity Of Measurements ◽  
Software And Hardware ◽  
Luminous Objects ◽  
Reference Samples

It is shown that the issues of metrological traceability for extended self-luminous objects with a wide range of brightness have not yet been resolved, since the rank scales of embedded systems are used for processing digital images. For such scales, there is no “fixed” unit, which does not allow you to get reliable results and ensure the unity of measurements. An experiment is described to evaluate the accuracy of determining the intensity (coordinates) of the color of self-luminous objects. In terms of repeatability and intermediate precision compared to the reference measurement method, the color and chromaticity coordinates of self-luminous objects (reference samples) were determined by their multiple digital registration using technical vision systems. The possibilities of the developed methodology for colorimetric studies in hardware and software environments from the point of view of constructing a multidimensional conditional scale are determined.

Selective statistical estimates of multi-year monthly concentrations of biogenous pollution of small rivers of the Northwest zone of the Russian Federation

2020 ◽  
pp. 9-13
Author(s):  
Sergey Kovalenko
Keyword(s):  
Statistical Processing ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Small Rivers ◽  
Statistical Parameters ◽  
Monthly Data ◽  
Statistical Estimates ◽  
Scientific Task ◽  
The Russian Federation ◽  
Agricultural Areas

The management of surface watercourses is an urgent scientific task. The article presents the results of statistical processing of long-term monthly data of field observations of hydrological and hydrochemical parameters along the Upper Yerga small river in the Vologda region. Sampling estimates of statistical parameters are obtained, autocorrelation and correlation analyzes are performed. The limiting periods from the point of view of pollution for water receivers receiving wastewater from drained agricultural areas are identified.

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