A quantitative model of temperature-dependent diapause progression.

Winter diapause in insects is commonly terminated through cold exposure, which, like vernalization in plants, prevents development before spring arrives. Currently, quantitative understanding of the temperature dependence of diapause termination is limited, likely because diapause phenotypes are generally cryptic to human eyes. We introduce a methodology to tackle this challenge.

Methodological artefacts cause counter-intuitive evolutionary conclusions in a simulation study.

In their simulation study, Garcia-Costoya et al. (2023) conclude that evolutionary constraints might aid populations facing climate change. However, we are concerned that this conclusion is largely a consequence of the simulated temperature variation being too small, and, most importantly, that uneven limitations to standing variation disadvantage unconstrained populations.

A time course analysis through diapause reveals dynamic temporal patterns of microRNAs associated with endocrine regulation in the butterfly Pieris napi.

Organisms inhabiting highly seasonal environments must cope with a wide range of environmentally induced challenges. Many seasonal challenges require extensive physiological modification to survive. In winter, to survive extreme cold and limited resources, insects commonly enter diapause, which is an endogenously derived dormant state associated with minimized cellular processes and low energetic expenditure.

Temperature dependence of gas exchange patterns shift as diapause progresses in the butterfly Pieris napi.

Insects have the capacity to significantly modify their metabolic rate according to environmental conditions and physiological requirement. Consequently, the respiratory patterns can range from continuous gas exchange (CGE) to discontinuous gas exchange (DGE). In the latter, spiracles are kept closed during much of the time, and gas exchange occurs only during short periods when spiracles are opened.

Time- and temperature-dependent dynamics of prothoracicotropic hormone and ecdysone sensitivity co-regulate pupal diapause in the green-veined white butterfly Pieris napi.

Diapause, a general shutdown of developmental pathways, is a vital adaptation allowing insects to adjust their life cycle to adverse environmental conditions such as winter. Diapause in the pupal stage is regulated by the major developmental hormones prothoracicotropic hormone (PTTH) and ecdysone. Termination of pupal diapause in the butterfly Pieris napi depends on low temperatures; therefore, we study the temperature-dependence of PTTH secretion and ecdysone sensitivity dynamics throughout diapause, with a focus on diapause termination.

Effects of Polyphosphate on Leukocyte Function.

Leukocytes are immune cells derived from hematopoietic stem cells of the bone marrow which play essential roles in inflammatory and immune responses. In contrast to anucleate platelets and erythrocytes, leukocytes are differentiated from other blood cells by the presence of a nucleus, and consist of monocytes, neutrophils, lymphocytes, basophils, and eosinophils. Factors released from platelets mediate immune responses in part by recruitment and regulation of leukocyte activity.

Platelet polyphosphate induces fibroblast chemotaxis and myofibroblast differentiation.

Background: Platelets secrete many pro-wound healing molecules such as growth factors and cytokines. We found that releasates from activated human platelets induced the differentiation of cultured murine and human fibroblasts into a myofibroblast phenotype. Surprisingly, most of this differentiation-inducing activity was heat-stable, suggesting it was not due to the protein component of the releasates.

Extracellular Polyphosphate Promotes Macrophage and Fibrocyte Differentiation, Inhibits Leukocyte Proliferation, and Acts as a Chemotactic Agent for Neutrophils.

Fibrocytes are monocyte-derived fibroblast like cells that participate in wound healing, but little is known about what initiates fibrocyte differentiation. Blood platelets contain 60-100-mer polymers of phosphate groups called polyphosphate, and when activated, platelets induce blood clotting (the first step in wound healing) in part by the release of polyphosphate. We find that activated platelets release a factor that promotes fibrocyte differentiation.

The putative G protein-coupled receptor GrlD mediates extracellular polyphosphate sensing in Dictyostelium discoideum.

Five or more orthophosphates bound together by high-energy phosphoanhydride bonds are highly ubiquitous inorganic molecules called polyphosphate. Polyphosphate acts as a signaling molecule eliciting a number of responses in eukaryotic cells, but the mechanisms mediating these effects are poorly understood. Proliferating Dictyostelium discoideum cells accumulate extracellular polyphosphate.

Extracellular polyphosphate signals through Ras and Akt to prime cells for development.

Linear chains of five to hundreds of phosphates called polyphosphate are found in organisms ranging from bacteria to humans, but their function is poorly understood. In , polyphosphate is used as a secreted signal that inhibits cytokinesis in an autocrine negative feedback loop. To elucidate how cells respond to this unusual signal, we undertook a proteomic analysis of cells treated with physiological levels of polyphosphate and observed that polyphosphate causes cells to decrease levels of actin cytoskeleton proteins, possibly explaining how polyphosphate inhibits cytokinesis.

Extracellular Polyphosphate Inhibits Proliferation in an Autocrine Negative Feedback Loop in Dictyostelium discoideum.

Polyphosphate is a polymer of phosphate residues linked by high energy phosphoanhydride bonds. Despite being highly conserved throughout nature, its function is poorly understood. Here we show that Dictyostelium cells accumulate extracellular polyphosphate, and this acts to inhibit proliferation at high cell densities.

Relative abuse liability of indiplon and triazolam in humans: a comparison of psychomotor, subjective, and cognitive effects.

Indiplon [N-methyl-N-[3-[3-(2-thienylcarbonyl)-pyrazolo[1,5-alpha]pyrimidin-7-yl]phenyl]acetamide; NBI 34060] is a positive allosteric GABA(A) receptor modulator that is under development for the treatment of insomnia. This study compared the abuse potential of indiplon, a compound with preferential affinity for GABA(A) receptors containing an alpha(1) subunit, with triazolam in 21 volunteers with histories of drug abuse. Placebo, triazolam (0.

Ramelteon: a novel hypnotic lacking abuse liability and sedative adverse effects.

Context: Ramelteon is a novel MT1 and MT2 melatonin receptor selective agonist recently approved for insomnia treatment. Most approved insomnia medications have potential for abuse and cause motor and cognitive impairment.

Objective: To evaluate the potential for abuse, subjective effects, and motor and cognitive-impairing effects of ramelteon compared with triazolam, a classic benzodiazepine sedative-hypnotic drug.

Transferring methadone-stabilized pregnant patients to buprenorphine using an immediate release morphine transition: an open-label exploratory study.

A transition from methadone to buprenorphine without intervening withdrawal symptoms is critical for advancing the treatment of opioid-dependent patients. Four pregnant inpatients were transferred from methadone (65-85 mg) to five days of immediate release morphine (IRM) and then to buprenorphine (12-28 mg). Withdrawal scores decreased during the five days of IRM and subsequently increased over the first three days on buprenorphine.

Comparison of short tandem repeat and variable number tandem repeat genetic markers for quantitative determination of allogeneic bone marrow transplant engraftment.

Variable number tandem repeats (VNTRs) were among the first genetic markers used to quantitate bone marrow transplant engraftment. The limitations of PCR-based VNTR markers in distinguishing some donor/recipient pairs has shown the need for additional genetic markers to analyze engraftment. Short tandem repeats (STRs) provide an excellent tool for this purpose because of their high degree of polymorphism and relatively short length.

Respiratory sinus arrhythmia during feeding: a measure of vagal regulation of metabolism, ingestion, and digestion in preterm infants.

Respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA), a non-invasive indicator of vagal regulation of the heart, and heart period (HP) were monitored before, during, and after oral or gastric-tube bolus feedings in 32 preterm infants. Group 1 infants (n=15) were < or =30 weeks gestational age (GA) at birth (mean 28.3 weeks) and group 2 infants (n=17) were > or =31 weeks GA at birth (mean=33.

Task-to-Task Vagal Regulation: Relations With Language and Play in 20-Month-Old Children.

In this article we report patterns of task-to-task vagal tone change across multiple language and play tasks as well as associations between these patterns of task-to-task vagal tone change and language and play performance in 20-month-old girls and boys. Although initially different in vagal tone suppression during solitary play, girls and boys exhibited similar group patterns of vagal reengagement during successive language and play tasks with their mothers and with an experimenter. In terms of individual differences, vagal suppression during solitary play and vagal reengagement during social interactive tasks predicted language and play performance.

Physiological self-regulation and information processing in infancy: cardiac vagal tone and habituation.

This study investigates the role of physiological self-regulation (cardiac vagal tone) in information processing (habituation) in 81 infants. Nucleus ambiguus vagal tone (Vna, a measure of respiratory sinus arrhythmia) was used to index cardiac vagal tone. Physiological self-regulation was operationalized as the change in Vna from a baseline period of measurement to habituation.

Child and mother cardiac vagal tone: continuity, stability, and concordance across the first 5 years.

In this prospective longitudinal study, vagal tone and heart period were measured at 2 months and at 5 years in children and their mothers to evaluate the development of vagal regulation at rest and during an environmental task. Child baseline vagal tone and heart period were discontinuous; mother baseline vagal tone was discontinuous, but heart period was continuous. Group mean baseline-to-task change in vagal tone and heart period were continuous in both children and mothers.

Motivation, sustained attention, and autonomic regulation in school-age boys exposed in utero to opiates and alcohol.

The effects of incentive on sustained attention and autonomic regulation among boys exposed in utero to opiates were studied. Respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA), an indicator of autonomic regulation, was quantified during sustained attention in 3 groups of 7- to 12-year-old boys. RSA is a component of heart rate variability controlled by cortical influences and affected by changes in demand for attention.

Cocaine disposition in meconium from newborns of cocaine-abusing mothers and urine of adult drug users.

The analysis of meconium for cocaine and metabolites has proved to be a reliable method for the detection of fetal cocaine exposure. Better sensitivity and a larger gestational window of detection have been demonstrated for meconium testing as compared with neonatal urine testing. Cocaine and cocaine metabolites, including benzoylecgonine, ecgonine methyl ester, cocaethylene, norcocaine, benzoylnorecgonine, and m-hydroxybenzoylecgonine, have been identified in meconium.

Vagal tone regulation during sustained attention in boys exposed to opiates in utero.

Attention and learning problems among children exposed to opiates in utero have been previously reported but are difficult to interpret due to imprecise measurement and inadequate control of postnatal factors. In this study, we used a behavior-based measure of attention (continuous-performance tasks) and a physiological index of sustained attention (cardiac vagal tone) to measure more precisely the process of sustained attention. Boys, aged 7 to 12, exposed to opiates in utero, were compared to boys whose mothers began using illicit substances after the child's birth (environmental controls), and boys whose mothers were non-drug users.

Cognitive brain potential alterations in boys exposed to opiates: in utero and lifestyle comparisons.

Several studies have observed that intrauterine exposure to opiates results in emotional and cognitive complications for the child, but genetic and postnatal social-environmental factors may also affect the CNS development of these children. To assess the relative contribution of the in utero and social-environmental (lifestyle) effects of opiate exposure, event-related potentials (ERPs) and performance were studied in three groups of 7- to 12-year-old boys: (1) the in utero/lifestyle group (IU/LS) contained 16 boys who were exposed to opiates (in utero and lived with opiate-abusing mothers, (2) the lifestyle group (LS) included 14 boys who lived with opiate-abusing mothers, and (3) the control group (CON) composed of 13 boys. The cognitive ERP components and task performance were recorded in the Auditory Rare Event Monitoring (AREM) task and the Sternberg Memory task (Sternberg, 1975).

Cardiac vagal tone: stability and relation to difficultness in infants and 3-year-olds.

Psychophysiological studies of infants have found a relation between behavioral reactivity and indices of autonomic state. The relation between behavioral reactivity, assessed via maternal report, and autonomic state, assessed via cardiac vagal tone in 9-month-old infants was examined. Cardiac vagal tone was quantified by measuring the amplitude of respiratory sinus arrhythmia.