High temperatures are associated with decreased immune system performance in a wild primate.

Rising temperatures due to climate change are predicted to threaten the persistence of wild animals, but there is little evidence that climate change has pushed species beyond their thermal tolerance. The immune system is an ideal avenue to assess the effects of climate change because immune performance is sensitive to changes in temperature and immune competency can affect reproductive success. We investigate the effect of rising temperatures on a biomarker of nonspecific immune performance in a wild population of capuchin monkeys and provide compelling evidence that immune performance is associated with ambient temperature.

Proteomic and functional comparison between human induced and embryonic stem cells.

Human induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSCs) have great potential to be used as alternatives to embryonic stem cells (hESCs) in regenerative medicine and disease modelling. In this study, we characterise the proteomes of multiple hiPSC and hESC lines derived from independent donors and find that while they express a near-identical set of proteins, they show consistent quantitative differences in the abundance of a subset of proteins. hiPSCs have increased total protein content, while maintaining a comparable cell cycle profile to hESCs, with increased abundance of cytoplasmic and mitochondrial proteins required to sustain high growth rates, including nutrient transporters and metabolic proteins.

Neuroinflammation in comorbid depression in Alzheimer's disease: A pilot study using post-mortem brain tissue.

Comorbid depression and Alzheimer's disease (AD) is associated with poorer prognosis than either condition alone. Neuroinflammation has been implicated in the pathogenesis and progression of both depression and AD, but much of the existing research has been based on peripheral blood immune markers. Relatively little is known about the neuroinflammatory environment when these conditions occur simultaneously and using immune measures directly in the brain tissue.

The lifestyle factors of medical doctors in academic hospitals, Bloemfontein, Free State.

Background: Lifestyle factors of medical doctors are essential to their health and well-being. Previous studies omitted factors that constituted a healthy lifestyle and did not differentiate between various medical specialties or level of seniority which may expose doctors to different stress levels, workload and responsibility. The study assessed the lifestyle factors of medical doctors and compared them between departments, levels of seniority, years of experience and gender according to globally recognised health standards.