Vitreoscilla Haemoglobin: A Tool to Reduce Overflow Metabolism

Overflow metabolism is a phenomenon extended in nature, ranging from microbial to cancer cells. Accumulation of overflow metabolites pose a challenge for large-scale bioprocesses. Yet, the causes of overflow metabolism are not fully clarified. In this work, the underlying mechanisms, reasons and consequences of overflow metabolism in different organisms have been summarized. The reported effect of aerobic expression of Vitreoscilla haemoglobin (VHb) in different organisms are revised. The use of VHb to reduce overflow metabolism is proposed and studied through flux balance analysis in E. coli at a fixed maximum substrate and oxygen uptake rates. Simulations showed that the presence of VHb increases the growth rate, while decreasing acetate production, in line with the experimental measurements. Therefore, aerobic VHb expression is considered a potential tool to reduce overflow metabolism in cells.

STATISTICAL REPORT REFORM IN SECOND LANGUAGE RESEARCH: A CASE OF EXPERIMENTAL DESIGNS

This survey aims to review statisical report procedures in the experimental studies appearing in ten SLA and Applied Linguistic journals from 2011 to 2017. We specify our study on how the authors report and interprete their power analyses, effect sizes, and confidence intervals. Results reveal that of 217 articles, the authors reported effect sizes (70%), apriori power and posthoc power consecutively (1.8% and 6.9%), and confidence intervals (18.4%). Additionally, it shows that the authors interprete those statistical terms counted 5.5%, 27.2%, and 6%, respectively. The call for statistical report reform recommended and endorsed by scholars, researchers, and editors is inevitably echoed to shed more light on the trustworthiness and practicality of the data presented.

Nuclear DNA-encoded fragments of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) confound analysis of selection of mtDNA mutations in human primordial germ cells.

The resilience of the mitochondrial genome to a high mutational pressure depends, in part, on purifying selection against detrimental mutations in the germline. It is crucial to understand the mechanisms of this process. Recently, Floros et al. concluded that much of the purifying selection takes place during the proliferation of primordial germ cells (PGCs) because, according to their analysis, the synonymity of mutations in late PGCs was seemingly increased compared to those in early PGCs. We re-analyzed the Floros et al. mutational data and discovered a high proportion of sequence variants that are not true mutations, but originate from NUMTs, the latter of which are segments of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) inserted into nuclear DNA, up to millions of years ago. This is a well-known artifact in mtDNA mutational analysis. Removal of these artifacts from the Floros et al. dataset abolishes the reported effect of purifying selection in PGCs. We therefore conclude that the mechanism of germline selection of mtDNA mutations remains open for debate, and more research is needed to fully elucidate the timing and nature of this process.

The Pandemic COVID-19 and Its Positive Influences on the Environment

The coronavirus disease (COVID-19) has emerged as the latest and serious public health threat throughout the world. In the absence of prevention and rehabilitation interventions, different countries have implemented shutdown and/or lockout policies to monitor the transmission of the epidemic, resulting of a significant reduction in anthropogenic activities. As a result, this kind of phenomenon is helped to inhibit the environmental degradation activity by reducing various pollutants from the air, water and soil. This condition provided ‘a once-in-a-lifetime’ chance for nature to evolve and recover. This paper discusses the nature of which in terms of its beneficial effect on water, air, the ozone layer, and waste deposition. Finally, the article also presents certain suggestive measures by highlighting the role of government, educational institutes, and a person as a whole in the sustenance of nature under pandemic. Based on the reported effect of the pandemic on the environment, it can be inferred that nature, with or without human intervention, can repair itself to some degree. However, human beings need to aware of saving and supporting to nature instead of involving in constant degradation.

An exploratory analysis of the competing effects of alcohol use and advanced hepatic fibrosis on serum HDL

While alcohol use has been shown to increase serum HDL, advanced liver disease associates with decreased serum HDL. The combined influence of alcohol consumption and liver fibrosis is poorly defined. In this study, we sought to investigate the competing effects of alcohol use and hepatic fibrosis on serum HDL and to determine if the presence of advanced hepatic fibrosis ablates the reported effect of alcohol consumption on serum HDL. We performed a cross-sectional, exploratory analysis examining the interaction between alcohol use and advanced hepatic fibrosis on serum HDL levels in 10,528 patients from the Partners Biobank. Hepatic fibrosis was assessed using the FIB-4 index. We excluded patients with baseline characteristics that affect serum HDL, independent of alcohol use or the presence or advanced hepatic fibrosis. We observed an incremental correlation between increasing HDL levels and amount of alcohol consumed (P < 0.0001), plateauing in those individuals who drink 1–2 drinks per day, Contrastingly, we found a negative association between the presence of advanced hepatic fibrosis and lower HDL levels, independent of alcohol use (beta coefficient: -0.011075, SEM0.003091, P value: 0.0001). Finally, when comparing subjects with advanced hepatic fibrosis who do not use alcohol to those who do, we observed that alcohol use is associated with increased HDL levels (54.58 mg/dL vs 67.26 mg/dL, p = 0.0009). This HDL-elevating effect of alcohol was more pronounced than that seen in patients without evidence of advanced hepatic fibrosis (60.88 mg/dL vs 67.93 mg/dL, p < 0.0001). Our data suggest that the presence of advanced hepatic fibrosis does not blunt the HDL-elevating effect of alcohol use.

Leonotis leonurus L. R. Br. (Lamiaceae): Anatomical features and recreational use survey of a possible substitute for Cannabis sativa L. (Cannabaceae)

Leonotis leonurusL. R. Br. (Lamiaceae) is a medicinal plant native to the South Africancontinent also employed as a recreational drug and a substitute to Cannabis sativaL. (Cannabaceae). Given the interest of the last mentioned species as a source of treatments for epilepsy among many other pathologies and its possible substitution for L. leonurus, the aim of this article is obtain anatomical and micrographical characters for its identification in chopped or powdered material and to survey the user ́s perceptions about this plant based in posts extracted from a recreational drug user Internet forum. L. leonurusleaves have pluricellular tector trichomes and two classes of pluricellular trichomes with unicellular and pluricellular heads, styloid crystals in its mesophyll among many other characters, while the flowers have wooly trichomes and characteristic pollen granules. Regarding the Internet forum survey, it was reported that L. leonurusleaves and flowers were the employed parts and that the mode of use was smoked. The reported effect was sedative. The anatomical data reported in this article may help to identify L. leonurusin pharmaceutical or forensic contexts.

Exercise Addiction During the COVID-19 Pandemic: an International Study Confirming the Need for Considering Passion and Perfectionism

Various levels of lockdown due to COVID-19 limit people’s habitual physical activity. Individuals addicted to exercise, health-oriented, and team-exercisers could be the most affected. We examined the COVID-19-related changes in exercise volume in 1079 exercisers from eight Spanish-speaking nations based on exercise addiction categories, primary reasons for exercise, and forms of exercise. The COVID-19-related decrease in exercise volume was 49.24% in the sample. The proportion of the risk of exercise addiction was 15.2%. Most (81.7%) of the participants exercised for a health-related reason. These exercisers reported lesser decrease in their exercise volume than those exercising for social reasons. The risk of exercise addiction was inversely related to changes in exercise volume, but after controlling for passion and perfectionism the relationship vanished. The reported effect of COVID-19 on training did not differ between the exercise addiction groups. The findings also confirm that exercise addiction research should control for passion and perfectionism.

Contact lenses, the reverse Pulfrich effect, and anti-Pulfrich monovision corrections

Interocular differences in image blur can cause processing speed differences that lead to dramatic misperceptions of the distance and three-dimensional direction of moving objects. This recently discovered illusion—the reverse Pulfrich effect—is caused by optical conditions induced by monovision, a common correction for presbyopia. Fortunately, anti-Pulfrich monovision corrections, which darken the blurring lens, can eliminate the illusion for many viewing conditions. However, the reverse Pulfrich effect and the efficacy of anti-Pulfrich corrections have been demonstrated only with trial lenses. This situation should be addressed, for clinical and scientific reasons. First, it is important to replicate these effects with contact lenses, the most common method for delivering monovision. Second, trial lenses of different powers, unlike contacts, can cause large magnification differences between the eyes. To confidently attribute the reverse Pulfrich effect to interocular optical blur differences, and to ensure that previously reported effect sizes are reliable, one must control for magnification. Here, in a within-observer study with five separate experiments, we demonstrate that (1) contact lenses and trial lenses induce indistinguishable reverse Pulfrich effects, (2) anti-Pulfrich corrections are equally effective when induced by contact and trial lenses, and (3) magnification differences do not cause or impact the Pulfrich effect.

Many Labs 5: Replication of van Dijk, van Kleef, Steinel, and van Beest (2008)

As part of the Many Labs 5 project, we ran a replication of van Dijk, van Kleef, Steinel, and van Beest’s (2008) study examining the effect of emotions in negotiations. They reported that when the consequences of rejection were low, subjects offered fewer chips to angry bargaining partners than to happy partners. We ran this replication under three protocols: the protocol used in the Reproducibility Project: Psychology, a revised protocol, and an online protocol. The effect averaged one ninth the size of the originally reported effect and was significant only for the revised protocol. However, the difference between the original and revised protocols was not significant.

emagnification: A tool for estimating effect-size magnification and performing design calculations in epidemiological studies

Artificial effect-size magnification (ESM) may occur in underpowered studies, where effects are reported only because they or their associated p-values have passed some threshold. Ioannidis (2008, Epidemiology 19: 640–648) and Gelman and Carlin (2014, Perspectives on Psychological Science 9: 641–651) have suggested that the plausibility of findings for a specific study can be evaluated by computation of ESM, which requires statistical simulation. In this article, we present a new command called emagnification that allows straightforward implementation of such simulations in Stata. The commands automate these simulations for epidemiological studies and enable the user to assess ESM routinely for published studies using user-selected, study-specific inputs that are commonly reported in published literature. The intention of the command is to allow a wider community to use ESMs as a tool for evaluating the reliability of reported effect sizes and to put an observed statistically significant effect size into a fuller context with respect to potential implications for study conclusions.