De novo assembly of the Brown trout (Salmo trutta m. fario) brain and muscle transcriptome: transcript annotation, tissue differential expression profile and SNP discovery.

OBJECTIVES: The Brown trout is a salmonid species with a high commercial value in Europe. Life history and spawning behaviour include resident (Salmo trutta m. fario) and migratory (Salmo trutta m. trutta) ecotypes. The main objective is to apply RNA-seq technology in order to obtain a reference transcriptome of two key tissues, brain and muscle, of the riverine trout Salmo trutta m. fario. Having a reference transcriptome of the resident form will complement genomic resources of salmonid species. DATA DESCRIPTION: We generate two cDNA libraries from pooled RNA samples, isolated from muscle and brain tissues of adult individuals of Salmo trutta m. fario, which were sequenced by Illumina technology. Raw reads were subjected to de-novo transcriptome assembly using Trinity, and coding regions were predicted by TransDecoder. A final set of 35,049 non-redundant ORF unigenes were annotated. Tissue differential expression analysis was evaluated by Cuffdiff. A False Discovery Rate (FDR) ≤ 0.01 was considered for significant differential expression, allowing to identify key differentially expressed unigenes. Finally, we have identified SNP variants that will be useful tools for population genomic studies.

Coordinated representational reinstatement in the human hippocampus and lateral temporal cortex during episodic memory retrieval.

Theoretical models of episodic memory have proposed that retrieval depends on interactions between the hippocampus and neocortex, where hippocampal reinstatement of item-context associations drives neocortical reinstatement of item information. Here, we simultaneously recorded intracranial EEG from hippocampus and lateral temporal cortex (LTC) of epilepsy patients who performed a virtual reality spatial navigation task. We extracted stimulus-specific representations of both item and item-context associations from the time-frequency patterns of activity in hippocampus and LTC. Our results revealed a double dissociation of representational reinstatement across time and space: an early reinstatement of item-context associations in hippocampus preceded a later reinstatement of item information in LTC. Importantly, reinstatement levels in hippocampus and LTC were correlated across trials, and the quality of LTC reinstatement was predicted by the magnitude of phase synchronization between hippocampus and LTC. These findings confirm that episodic memory retrieval in humans relies on coordinated representational interactions within a hippocampal-neocortical network.

[Tackling tobacco dependency among a Health District's employees]. / Abordaje del tabaquismo entre los trabajadores de un distrito sanitario.

OBJECTIVE: To find the view of health and ancillary staff about tobacco consumption in Health Centres, smokers' profiles, and their degree of motivation to give up. DESIGN: Observational and crossover study.Setting. Primary Care district in the city of Barcelona (Eixample District). PARTICIPANTS: All the health and ancillary staff in the District (n=932). MEASUREMENTS: Personal questionnaire with anonymous reply on: personal details, tobacco habit, view on the function of example, compliance with regulations in force, and their attitude to tobacco in the work-place. MAIN RESULTS: 52% replied; 68.4% were women, with average age 46.9 (SD 9.9). 26.5% smoked; 43.8% had never smoked and 29.6% were ex-smokers. 87.5% thought example an important function; 68.1%, that prohibition signs were insufficient; 72.8%, that legal regulations were not complied with; 77.2% thought space should be reserved for smokers; and 61.2% were annoyed that there was smoking in the centre. 63.9% of the health staff counselled smoker patients as a matter of course. There was greater prevalence of smokers among clerical staff, nurses and the "others" group. Smokers consumed 16.6 cigarettes per day (SD 9.5), had been smoking for 23.2 years (SD 9.6). 54.3% had tried at least once to give it up. 59.1% had high dependency and 76.7% had high motivation. 64.8% would participate in activities to stop smoking and 72.4% thought that their employers should provide assistance. CONCLUSIONS: Those surveyed thought that example was an important function, signs were insufficient and the regulations in force were not respected. Half the smokers would be interested in taking part in activities to help them give up and think the company should help them.

Influence of Bsml vitamin D receptor gene polymorphism on the response to a single bolus of calcitrol in hemodialysis patients.

AIMS: BsmI polymorphism of the vitamin D receptor gene has been linked to hyperparathyroidism severity and calcitriol levels. The aim of this study was to analyze the response to a single bolus of calcitriol in hemodialysis patients with the BB and bb genotype. PATIENTS: Twenty homozygous BsmI hemodialysis patients (9 BB and 11 bb). METHODS: Hyperparathyroidism was assessed comparing basal PTH levels, and in 17 patients, also measuring the inhibition with hypercalcemia. Patients were given a bolus of calcitriol and PTH in absolute terms and in percentages relative to the baseline values at 24, 48 and 72 hours after the bolus were measured. All biochemical parameters were compared between genotypes with univariant ANOVA and additionally, PTH relative values were compared with general factorial analysis of variance, adjusting for calcium and phosphorus. Means were also compared within each genotype between consecutive determinations with non-parametric Wilcoxon analysis, using each patient as his/her own control. The response to calcitriol was also assessed by the area under the curve for each patient and was subsequently compared between genotypes. RESULTS: There were no differences on hyperparathyroidism severity between the groups. The BB genotype showed a better response than bb to calcitriol 72 hours after the bolus (percentage relative to basal PTH value: BB: 63%, bb: 88.6%, p = 0.03; BB vs bb with univariant ANOVA). When general factorial analysis of variance was applied, adjusting for serum calcium and phosphorus, genotype showed a significant influence on the response to calcitriol at 72 hours (p = 0.04). When each patient was used as his/her own control, the BB genotype showed a significant decrease in PTH levels at 48 and 72 hours (p = 0.00 baseline vs 48 h, and p = 0.01 baseline vs 72h) whereas the bb did not. CONCLUSIONS: BsmI polymorphism of the VDR gene induces differences on the response to a single bolus of calcitriol independently of calcium and phosphorus.