A Tail of Four Fishes: An Analysis of Kinematics and Material Properties of Elongate Fishes.

The elongate body plan is present in many groups of fishes, and this morphology dictates functional consequences seen in swimming behavior. Previous work has shown that increasing the number of vertebrae, or decreasing the intervertebral joint length, in a fixed length artificial system increases stiffness. Tails with increased stiffness can generate more power from tail beats, resulting in an increased mean swimming speed. This demonstrates the impacts of morphology on both material properties and kinematics, establishing mechanisms for form contributing to function. Here, we wanted to investigate relationships between form and ecological function, such as differences in dietary strategies and habitat preferences among fish species. This study aims to characterize and compare the kinematics, material properties, and vertebral morphology of four species of elongate fishes: Anoplarchus insignis, Anoplarchus purpurescens, Xiphister atropurpureus, and Xiphister mucosus. We hypothesized that these properties would differ among the four species due to their differential ecological niches. To calculate kinematic variables, we filmed these fishes swimming volitionally. We also measured body stiffness by bending the abdominal and tail regions of sacrificed individuals in different stages of dissection (whole body, removed skin, and removed muscle). Finally, we counted the number of vertebrae from CT scans of each species to quantify vertebral morphology. Principal component and linear discriminant analyses suggested that the elongate fish species can be distinguished from one another by their material properties, morphology, and swimming kinematics. With this information combined, we can draw connections between the physical properties of the fishes and their ecological niches.

Home Oxygen Therapy for Adults with Chronic Lung Disease. An Official American Thoracic Society Clinical Practice Guideline.

Background: Evidence-based guidelines are needed for effective delivery of home oxygen therapy to appropriate patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and interstitial lung disease (ILD).Methods: The multidisciplinary panel created six research questions using a modified Delphi approach. A systematic review of the literature was completed, and the Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation approach was used to formulate clinical recommendations.Recommendations: The panel found varying quality and availability of evidence and made the following judgments: 1) strong recommendations for long-term oxygen use in patients with COPD (moderate-quality evidence) or ILD (low-quality evidence) with severe chronic resting hypoxemia, 2) a conditional recommendation against long-term oxygen use in patients with COPD with moderate chronic resting hypoxemia, 3) conditional recommendations for ambulatory oxygen use in patients with COPD (moderate-quality evidence) or ILD (low-quality evidence) with severe exertional hypoxemia, 4) a conditional recommendation for ambulatory liquid-oxygen use in patients who are mobile outside the home and require >3 L/min of continuous-flow oxygen during exertion (very-low-quality evidence), and 5) a recommendation that patients and their caregivers receive education on oxygen equipment and safety (best-practice statement).Conclusions: These guidelines provide the basis for evidence-based use of home oxygen therapy in adults with COPD or ILD but also highlight the need for additional research to guide clinical practice.

Histone release during transcription: displacement of the two H2A-H2B dimers in the nucleosome is dependent on different levels of transcription-induced positive stress.

Both indirect (transcription-induced stress) and direct effects of polymerase elongation on histone-DNA interactions were studied on closed circular DNA that was either moderately or positively coiled. The templates were reconstituted with (3)H-labeled H2A, H2B, H3, and H4 to form nucleosomes, and transcription was done with T7 RNA polymerase in the presence of a negatively coiled competitor DNA (reconstituted with unlabeled H3 and H4). The first of the two labeled H2A-H2B dimers readily displaced from the highly positively coiled template to the competitor even in the absence of transcription, while the indirect effect of transcription-induced stress was required for the moderately coiled template. The second labeled H2A-H2B dimer required transcription-induced stress for both moderately and highly positively coiled DNA. The displacement of the labeled H3-H4 tetramer also occurred, provided it was associated with an H2A-H2B dimer and a moderately positively coiled DNA. This displacement occurred independent of transcription-induced stress and is likely due to the direct effect of polymerase disruption of histone-DNA interactions. The inclusion of the histone chaperone, NAP1, greatly enhanced the release of both of the two H2A-H2B dimers. These observations are consistent with in vivo observations which indicate that during transcription H2A and H2B are significantly more mobile than H3 and H4 and indicate that transcription-induced positive stress is a likely cause for this selective movement.