Georgedall1993

ABSTRACTBackground Opioids have been implicated to induce infertility. Although codeine remains the most used opioid for recreational purpose, no study has documented its effect on sperm quality. Elucidating the effect of codeine on sperm cells and the associated mechanisms may provide an insight into preventing drug-induced sperm damage. Twenty-one New Zealand white rabbits were randomized into three groups; control and codeine-treated. The codeine-treated groups received either 4 or 10mg/kg b.w of codeine for six weeks.Results Codeine treatment led to significant decrease in sperm count, motility, viability, normal morphology, and sperm membrane integrity. This was associated with significant rise in sperm DNA fragmentation, oxidative damage, and caspase 3 activity. The percentage of sperm DNA fragmentation correlates positively with 8-hydroxy-2'-deoxyguanosine, a biomarker of oxidative DNA damage, and caspase 3 activity, a biomarker of apoptosis. The observed correlation was stronger between sperm DNA fragmentation and oxidative DNA damage than sperm DNA fragmentation and caspase 3 activity.Conclusion This study revealed that chronic codeine exposure causes sperm DNA fragmentation and poor sperm quality primarily via oxidative stress rather than activation of caspase 3-dependent apoptosis. Findings of the present study may explain drug-induced male factor infertility, particularly, those associated with opioid use.Sexual risk behavior is common among college women, but little work has identified risk patterns or correlates. https://www.selleckchem.com/products/gossypol.html The current study utilized latent profile analysis to identify sexual risk patterns among 1,534 college women. Results supported four classes low sexual risk (68.2%), moderate sexual risk party hookups (11.0%), moderate sexual risk risky partners (17.6%), and high sexual risk (3.1%). Membership in the moderate and high-risk classes were associated with coping motives, drinking, and risky peer norms, while membership in the low risk class was associated with sexual satisfaction and low peer approval of risky sex. Implications of the findings are discussed.Cellular reprogramming resets the epigenetic landscape to drive shifts in transcriptional programmes and cell identity. The embryonic chick can regenerate a complete neural retina, after retinectomy, via retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) reprogramming in the presence of FGF2. In this study, we systematically analysed the reprogramming competent chick RPE prior to injury, and during different stages of reprogramming. In addition to changes in the expression of genes associated with epigenetic modifications during RPE reprogramming, we observed dynamic changes in histone marks associated with bivalent chromatin (H3K27me3/H3K4me3) and intermediates of the process of DNA demethylation including 5hmC and 5caC. Comprehensive analysis of the methylome by whole-genome bisulphite sequencing (WGBS) confirmed extensive rearrangements of DNA methylation patterns including differentially methylated regions (DMRs) found at promoters of genes associated with chromatin organization and fibroblast growth factor production. We also identified Tet methylcytosine dioxygenase 3 (TET3) as an important factor for DNA demethylation and retina regeneration, capable of reprogramming RPE in the absence of exogenous FGF2. In conclusion, we demonstrate that injury early in RPE reprogramming triggers genome-wide dynamic changes in chromatin, including bivalent chromatin and DNA methylation. In the presence of FGF2, these dynamic modifications are further sustained in the commitment to form a new retina. Our findings reveal active DNA demethylation as an important process that may be applied to remove the epigenetic barriers in order to regenerate retina in mammals.Abbreviations bp Base pair; DMR Differentially methylated region; DMC Differentially methylated cytosines; GFP Green fluorescent protein; PCR Polymerase chain reaction. TET Ten-eleven translocation; RPE retinal pigment epithelium.Background This study aimed to analyse the impact of des-acyl and acyl ghrelin (AG) on a wide range of muscular and metabolic markers and in order to discover the possible relationships and interactions of des-acylated ghrelin (DAG) on eating disorders.Materials & Methods A total of 88 subjects (64 women and 24 men, with a mean age of 43 years and a mean body mass index (BMI) of 30.20 ± 3.27 kg/m2) were enrolled in the cross-sectional study.Results The findings showed that for each unit of increase of free fat mass index (FFMI), levels of DAG decreased by -41.11 pg/mL (p less then 0.05). Moreover, similar associations with DAG were found for insulin (β = -30.67; p less then 0.001), leptin (β = -0.64; p less then 0.05), body weight (β = -14.36; p less then 0.001), and free fat mass (FFM) (β = -30.67; p less then 0.001). In addition, associations were found between DAG and resting energy expenditure (REE) (β = -0.84; p = 0.05) and the binge eating scale (BES) in which a unit increase of the BES score Q3 (depression) correlated with a decrease of DAG levels (β = -9.98; p = 0.08). Further, a unit increase of AG/DAG ratio correspond with an increase in body weight (β = 12.20; p less then 0.05), BMI (β = 4.70; p less then 0.05) and fat mass (β = 7.30; p less then 0.05). However, the AG/DAG ratio was not associated with FFMI (β = 2.61; p = 0.165) and FFML/BMI (β = -0,064; p = 0.625).Conclusion This study suggests that higher levels of DAG at fasting are indices of poor muscle mass, insulin resistance and depression.In 2008, the Department of Veterans Affairs mandated that clinicians oversee the construction of a Suicide Safety Plan for every patient who is identified as "high risk" for suicide. While the Suicide Safety Plan is a mandated "best practice," there are currently no recommended guidelines for its augmentation in a group setting. To address this gap, a novel group intervention, "Project Life Force," (PLF; a 10-session manualized psychotherapy), was developed and piloted. Results indicate high feasibility and acceptability. Exploratory analysis revealed statistically significant decreases in suicidal thoughts/behaviors, depression, and hopelessness. Feedback from Veterans and PLF therapists is also discussed. Despite some limitations (e.g. small sample size) exploratory results suggest that PLF may be a promising treatment for Veterans with suicidal symptomology.Background The Traditional Mediterranean Diet (TMD) is known to have beneficial effects on several chronic diseases. However, data concerning the whole transcriptome modulation of the TMD are scarce.Objective We aimed to explore the effects of the TMD on the whole transcriptome of individuals at high cardiovascular risk.Methods Thirty-four participants at high cardiovascular risk were randomly assigned to a TMD enriched with extra-virgin olive oil (TMD + VOO), mixed nuts (TMD + Nuts), or a control diet based on low-fat diet recommendations. A microarray analysis in circulating peripheral blood mononuclear cells of the participants was conducted before and after 3 months of the intervention. The association of changes in gene expression was modeled into canonical pathways by conducting an untargeted functional analysis with the Ingenuity Pathway Analysis® (IPA). Effects were considered significant when the absolute z-score values were ≥2.0 and the logarithm P (adjusted by the Benjamini-Hochberg procedure [BH]) values were ≥1.30.Results According to IPA, interventions with TMD + Nuts, TMD + VOO, and control diet downregulated neuroinflammation, triggering receptor expressed on myeloid cells 1 , and cholecystokinin/gastrin-mediated signaling pathways, respectively. The gene expression among these pathways included cytokines, T-cell activation receptors, nuclear factor kappa β/inflammasome components, pro-inflammatory enzymes and cell cycle regulators.Conclusion The current findings suggest that the TMD enriched with mixed nuts or VOO downregulate transcriptomic pathways, including those related to neuroinflammation, which could influence development of neurodegenerative diseases. Our data should be corroborated in other tissue cells, such as neurons and glial cells. The PREDIMED trial was registered at https//www.controlled-trials.com (ISRCTN35739639).This article investigates the trends in injury rates and causes of fatalities in the Japanese mining industry. Accident data were collected from the Japan Statistics Yearbooks released by the Bureau of the Prime Minister. These data were analyzed to estimate the injury rates and accident causes in the Japanese mining industry. In Japan, the median injury, severe injury and fatality rates were 129.25, 5.44 and 2.99/1000 workers, respectively. A collapsing roof in an underground mine was the principal cause of fatal accidents, accounting for a median value of 21/1000 worker deaths during the entire period under study. In comparison with the accident experience of the USA and the Democratic Republic of Congo, countries with substantial mining industries, the median values of the fatality rates were 0.58 and 0.28/1000 workers, respectively. We conclude that Japanese mineworkers were most exposed to the risk of accidents during the prewar era.Objectives Imbalanced nutrition and obesity are risk factors for depression, a relationship that in rodents can be modeled by depression-like behavior in response to high-fat diet (HFD). In this work, we examined the role of the intestinal microbiota and the adipocytokine leptin as potential mediators of the effects of HFD to induce anhedonia-like behavior and reduce self-care in mice.Methods Male mice were fed a control diet or HFD (60 kJ% from fat) for a period of 4 weeks, after which behavioral tests and molecular analyses (gut microbiome composition, intestinal metabolome, fecal fatty acids, plasma hormone levels) were performed. The role of the intestinal microbiota was addressed by selective depletion of gut bacteria with a combination of non-absorbable antibiotics, while the implication of leptin was examined by the use of leptin-deficient ob/ob mice.Results Antibiotic treatment reduced the HFD-induced weight gain and adiposity and prevented HFD-induced anhedonia-like behavior and self-care reduction. These effects were associated with a decrease in fecal fatty acids and intestinal microbiota-related metabolites including short-chain fatty acids, glucose and amino acids. Gut microbiota depletion suppressed the HFD-induced rise of plasma leptin, and the circulating leptin levels correlated with the anhedonia-like behavior and reduced self-care caused by HFD. The anhedonic effect of HFD was absent in leptin-deficient ob/ob mice although these animals gained more weight and adiposity in response to HFD than wild-type mice.Discussion The results indicate that anhedonia-like behavior induced by HFD in mice depends on the intestinal microbiome and involves leptin as a signaling hormone.In the present study, the H2S photolysis using the self-made high frequency discharge electrodeless lamp (light distribution was 90% at 254 nm and 10% at 185 nm) was studied and simulated by MATLAB software. Firstly, the effect of initial H2S concentration, irradiation time, oxygen content and relative humidity on H2S photolysis efficiency were experimentally investigated. Results indicated that the photolysis efficiency decreased from 100% to 90.13% with the increase of initial concentration from 3 mg/m3 to 30 mg/m3, and the main product was H2SO4. With the relative humidity increased from 0% to 99%, H2S photolysis efficiency was all obviously improved under different atmospheres (O2>air>Ar), indicating the significant effect of relative humidity and oxygen concentration. The simulation results were consistent with the experimental results, indicating the feasibility of the simulation model. Moreover, based on the photoreactions, model simulation and equilibrium analysis of sulfur species, the photodegradation pathway of H2S was further inferred.