Remote sensing of water colour in small southeastern Australian waterbodies.

The colour of a waterbody may be indicative of the water quality or environmental change. Monitoring water colour can therefore be an important proxy for various waterbody processes. To this aim, satellites are increasingly being used as viable alternatives to field measurements. This study investigates whether water colour derived from satellites is an effective predictor of spatial and temporal patterns of water quality or environmental change in small waterbodies and can be used to explain the drivers of trends in these waterbodies. As a case study, 145 small waterbodies (<1 km2) in the greater Melbourne, south-eastern Australia were analysed to understand water colour spatio-temporal patterns using Sentinel-2 and Landsat 5, 7 and 8 satellite surface reflectance imagery over a period of 30 years. We found that the baseline water colour of small waterbodies in the greater Melbourne region has a dominant wavelength in the green to yellow region of the visible spectrum (λd ranging from 532 to 578 nm). Waterbody design factors and broader climate factors were also tested to understand the spatial variation of baseline water colour. Macrophyte ratio and the shoreline development index were shown to be the primary waterbody design factors that affect water colour. Some waterbodies are responsive to climate variability based on investigating how climate factors impact the water colour variability. Local climate factors had more impact than regional climate factors. Results from this study highlight how water colour could be used as a proxy for waterbody health assessment and how spatio-temporal variations in water colour can be used to assess environmental trends.

Systematic analysis of Mendelian disease-associated gene variants reveals new classes of cancer-predisposing genes.

BACKGROUND: Despite the acceleration of somatic driver gene discovery facilitated by recent large-scale tumor sequencing data, the contribution of inherited variants remains largely unexplored, primarily focusing on previously known cancer predisposition genes (CPGs) due to the low statistical power associated with detecting rare pathogenic variant-phenotype associations. METHODS: Here, we introduce a generalized log-regression model to measure the excess of pathogenic variants within genes in cancer patients compared to control samples. It aims to measure gene-level cancer risk enrichment by collapsing rare pathogenic variants after controlling the population differences across samples. RESULTS: In this study, we investigate whether pathogenic variants in Mendelian disease-associated genes (OMIM genes) are enriched in cancer patients compared to controls. Utilizing data from PCAWG and the 1,000 Genomes Project, we identify 103 OMIM genes demonstrating significant enrichment of pathogenic variants in cancer samples (FDR 20%). Through an integrative approach considering three distinct properties, we classify these CPG-like OMIM genes into four clusters, indicating potential diverse mechanisms underlying tumor progression. Further, we explore the function of PAH (a key metabolic enzyme associated with Phenylketonuria), the gene exhibiting the highest prevalence of pathogenic variants in a pan-cancer (1.8%) compared to controls (0.6%). CONCLUSIONS: Our findings suggest a possible cancer progression mechanism through metabolic profile alterations. Overall, our data indicates that pathogenic OMIM gene variants contribute to cancer progression and introduces new CPG classifications potentially underpinning diverse tumorigenesis mechanisms.

Predicting cyanobacteria occurrence using climatological and environmental controls.

The occurrence of algal bloom results in deterioration of water quality, undesirable sights, tastes and odors, and the possibility of infections to humans and fatalities to livestock, wildlife and pets. Earlier studies have identified a range of factors including water temperature, flow, and nutrient concentrations that could affect cyanobacterial proliferation. Lack of enough data, independence in data across multiple sampling time steps, as well as the presence of more than one causative factors, each with different levels of influence on the response, has resulted in limited progress in the development of generalized prediction frameworks for cyanobacteria. In this study, a prediction model for cyanobacteria occurrences was developed using only three dominant environmental variables; water temperature, velocity and phosphorus concentration. These environmental variables were selected due to not only direct or joint contribution to algal bloom but also the ease of their availability either through direct measurements or as modelled responses in the river location of interest. In order to apply bacterial growth dynamic to the model, weight functions which quantify the importance assigned to the three variables depending on the cell number at the preceding time, were formulated. An extensive dataset spanning from 2013 to 2018 at 16 representative locations across the four major rivers in South Korea was used to develop and validate the model. Through cross-validation, this model was shown to have more than 75% forecasting accuracy despite the use of a relatively simple predictive algorithm. As the developed model makes use of commonly available environmental variables, it can easily be extended to locations across the country where very limited or no prior information about cyanobacteria bloom is available.

NCAM140 and pCREB Expression after Tianeptine Treatment of SH-SY5Y Cells.

OBJECTIVE: Antidepressants Modulate Neuronal Plasticity. Tianeptine, An Atypical Antidepressant, Might Be Involved In The Restoration Of Neuronal Plasticity; It Primarily Enhances The Synaptic Reuptake Of Serotonin. Ncam140 Is Involved In Neuronal Development Processes, Synaptogenesis And Synaptic Plasticity. We Investigated The Effect Of Tianeptine On The Expression Of Ncam140 And Its Downstream Signaling Molecule In The Human Neuroblastoma Cell Line Sh-sy5y. METHODS: NCAM protein expression was measured in human neuroblastoma SH-SY5Y cells that were cultivated in serum-free media and treated with 0, 10, or 20 µM tianeptine for 6, 24, or 72 hours. NCAM140 expression in the tianeptine treatment group was confirmed by Western blot, and quantified through measurement of band intensity by absorbance. CREB and pCREB expression was identified after treatment with 20 µM tianeptine for 6, 24, and 72 hours by Western blot. RESULTS: Compared to cells treated for 6 hours, cells treated with 0 or 10 µM tianeptine for 72 hours showed a significant increase in NCAM140 expression and cells treated with 20 µM tianeptine showed a significant increase after 24 and 72 hours. The pCREB level in cells treated with 20 µM tianeptine increased in time-dependent manner. CONCLUSION: Our findings indicated that the tianeptine antidepressant effect may occur by induction of NCAM140 expression and CREB phosphorylation.

Erythrocyte n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acid and seafood intake decrease the risk of depression: case-control study in Korea.

BACKGROUND/AIMS: Low intake or tissue levels of n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) have been associated with an increased risk of depression, but some studies do not support the association. The purpose of the present study was to evaluate the hypothesis that erythrocyte levels of n-3 PUFA and intake of seafood are negatively associated with the risk of depression in Koreans. METHODS: We investigated 80 patients diagnosed with a score ≥25 on the Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale, Korean version, and confirmed by a psychiatrist. Eighty-eight controls without a chronic disease were matched to the cases for age and sex. RESULTS: Multivariate-adjusted regression analysis showed that the risk of depression was significantly and negatively associated with erythrocyte levels of 20:5 n-3, 22:6 n-3, 16:0 and 18:0, but positively associated with erythrocyte levels of 18:2t and 16:1 after adjusting for confounding factors. In addition, the risk of depression was negatively associated with the intake of energy, carbohydrate, seafood and grains, but positively with the intake of fat and meat after adjustment for confounding factors. CONCLUSIONS: The risk of depression could be decreased with increased erythrocyte levels of n-3 PUFA and saturated fatty acids, as well as seafood intake, but decreased erythrocyte levels of trans fatty acids in Koreans.

N-3 polyunsaturated fatty acid consumption produces neurobiological effects associated with prevention of depression in rats after the forced swimming test.

Epidemiological data and clinical trials suggest that n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) have preventive and therapeutic effects on depression; however, the underlying mechanism remains elusive. The present study aimed to examine the behavioral effects and antidepressant mechanism of n-3 PUFA using a forced swimming test. Eleven-week-old male Sprague-Dawley rats were fed an American Institute of Nutrition-93M diet containing 0%, 0.5% or 1% EPA and DHA relative to the total energy intake in their diet for 12 weeks (n=8 per group). Total dietary intake, body weight and hippocampus weights were not significantly different among groups. The groups administered 0.5% and 1% EPA+DHA diets had significantly higher levels of n-3 PUFA in their brain phospholipids compared to those in the control group. The immobility time was significantly decreased and the climbing time was significantly increased in the 0.5% and 1% EPA+DHA groups compared with those in the 0% EPA+DHA group. Plasma serotonin concentration and hippocampus c-AMP response element binding protein (CREB) expression were significantly increased in the 0.5% and 1% EPA+DHA groups compared with those in the 0% EPA+DHA group. Conversely, interleukin (IL)-6 expression was significantly reduced in the 0.5% and 1% EPA+DHA groups compared with that in the 0% EPA+DHA group. However, there were no dose-dependent effects of n-3 PUFA and no significant differences in expressions of IL-1ß, tumor necrosis factor-α, brain-derived neurotrophic factor or phosphorylated CREB. In conclusion, long-term intake of EPA+DHA induced antidepressant-like effects in rats and overexpression of CREB via decreased IL-6 expression.

Fluoxetine-induced up-regulation of 14-3-3zeta and tryptophan hydroxylase levels in RBL-2H3 cells.

The primary mechanisms of antidepressants are based on the monoamine depletion hypothesis. However, we do not yet know the full cascade of mechanisms responsible for the therapeutic effect of antidepressants. To identify the genes involved in the therapeutic mechanism of the selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor, fluoxetine, we used a cDNA microarray analysis with RBL-2H3 cells. We observed the transcriptional changes of several tens of genes containing the 14-3-3zeta gene in the fluoxetine-treated RBL-2H3 cells. Real-time RT-PCR and Western blotting confirmed changes in the expression of the gene and protein. The increase of 14-3-3zeta mRNA was observed at 72 h in the fluoxetine-treated RBL-2H3 cells. The increase of 14-3-3zeta protein was observed at 48 and 72 h. In this study, the expressions of the 14-3-3zeta gene and the protein were up-regulated at 72 h. In addition, the increase of TPH mRNA was observed at 12, 24 and 72 h in the fluoxetine-treated RBL-2H3 cells. We conclude that fluoxetine induces increases of 14-3-3zeta mRNA, 14-3-3zeta protein and TPH mRNA at 72 h in the RBL-2H3 cells. This suggests that the 14-3-3zeta and TPH genes may play a role in the molecular mechanism of fluoxetine. To date, no cases of 14-3-3zeta alterations by antidepressants and specifically by fluoxetine have been reported.