Muscle-specific SIRT1 gain-of-function increases slow-twitch fibers and ameliorates pathophysiology in a mouse model of duchenne muscular dystrophy.

SIRT1 is a metabolic sensor and regulator in various mammalian tissues and functions to counteract metabolic and age-related diseases. Here we generated and analyzed mice that express SIRT1 at high levels specifically in skeletal muscle. We show that SIRT1 transgenic muscle exhibits a fiber shift from fast-to-slow twitch, increased levels of PGC-1α, markers of oxidative metabolism and mitochondrial biogenesis, and decreased expression of the atrophy gene program. To examine whether increased activity of SIRT1 protects from muscular dystrophy, a muscle degenerative disease, we crossed SIRT1 muscle transgenic mice to mdx mice, a genetic model of Duchenne muscular dystrophy. SIRT1 overexpression in muscle reverses the phenotype of mdx mice, as determined by histology, creatine kinase release into the blood, and endurance in treadmill exercise. In addition, SIRT1 overexpression also results in increased levels of utrophin, a functional analogue of dystrophin, as well as increased expression of PGC-1α targets and neuromuscular junction genes. Based on these findings, we suggest that pharmacological interventions that activate SIRT1 in skeletal muscle might offer a new approach for treating muscle diseases.

A Comparison of the Representation of Women in Editor Positions at Major Medical Journals in 2021 vs 2011.

PURPOSE: There continues to be a disparity in the representation of women across medicine, including in editor positions at major medical journals. The authors repeated a study they had conducted in 2011 to compare the representation of women in editor-in-chief and editorial board member positions in 2011 and 2021. METHOD: The authors included in their analysis the 60 journals from their original 2011 study and the top 5 ranked journals by Journal Impact Factor in each of 12 disciplines in 2021. This led to the inclusion of 86 journals. The authors collected the names and genders of the editors-in-chief and editorial board members at these journals, using information provided by the journals and a Google search for the photos and/or pronouns of the remaining editors. They compared results across years (2021 vs 2011), editor positions, disciplines, Journal Impact Factors, and ranks. RESULTS: Twenty-two of the 90 editors-in-chief (24.4%) were women in 2021 compared with 10 of 63 (15.9%) in 2011, an increase of 8.5%. Of the 6,285 editorial board members, 1,756 were women (27.9%) in 2021 compared with 719 of 4,112 (17.5%) in 2011, an increase of 10.4%. Journals with women editors-in-chief gained 3.5 ranks and 9.1 points in Journal Impact Factor on average over this 10-year period, compared with no gain in rank and an increase of 4.7 points in Journal Impact Factor for journals with men editors-in-chief; both are statistically significant differences (P = .045 and P = .016, respectively). CONCLUSIONS: In almost all evaluated disciplines and editor positions, there was an increase in the percentage of women at top-ranked medical journals over a 10-year period. Despite this increase, improvements are still needed to accelerate the currently slow rate of change in these positions to enhance diversity, equity, and inclusion for women in medicine.

The possibility of the phosphogypsum use in the production of brick: Radiological and structural characterization.

In this paper, phosphogypsum (PG) with the content of 226Ra of about 500 Bq kg-1 was used as a clay additive in mass ratios of (0-40) % and its influence on the radiological and mineralogical characteristics of the obtained brick samples was monitored. After sintering the samples at 1000 â„ƒ, the formation of the mineral phase gehlenite was observed, and its share increased with the share of PG in the samples. The Monte Carlo method was used to determine the gamma dose rates, and consequently annual effective dose, for a standard room, with dimensions 4 × 5 × 2.8 m, whose walls were built of brick with PG. The obtained values were in the range (0.22-0.35) mSv y-1. In addition, the active device RAD7 was used to determine the radon surface exhalation rates from the samples, which were found to be in the range (63-150) mBq m-2 h-1. The estimated indoor radon concentrations were found to be drastically lower than 100 Bq m-3, leading to low radon inhalation doses. However, estimated annual effective doses from external gamma exposure were found not to be insignificant.

Thyroid-Gut-Axis: How Does the Microbiota Influence Thyroid Function?

A healthy gut microbiota not only has beneficial effects on the activity of the immune system, but also on thyroid function. Thyroid and intestinal diseases prevalently coexist-Hashimoto's thyroiditis (HT) and Graves' disease (GD) are the most common autoimmune thyroid diseases (AITD) and often co-occur with Celiac Disease (CD) and Non-celiac wheat sensitivity (NCWS). This can be explained by the damaged intestinal barrier and the following increase of intestinal permeability, allowing antigens to pass more easily and activate the immune system or cross-react with extraintestinal tissues, respectively. Dysbiosis has not only been found in AITDs, but has also been reported in thyroid carcinoma, in which an increased number of carcinogenic and inflammatory bacterial strains were observed. Additionally, the composition of the gut microbiota has an influence on the availability of essential micronutrients for the thyroid gland. Iodine, iron, and copper are crucial for thyroid hormone synthesis, selenium and zinc are needed for converting T4 to T3, and vitamin D assists in regulating the immune response. Those micronutrients are often found to be deficient in AITDs, resulting in malfunctioning of the thyroid. Bariatric surgery can lead to an inadequate absorption of these nutrients and further implicates changes in thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH) and T3 levels. Supplementation of probiotics showed beneficial effects on thyroid hormones and thyroid function in general. A literature research was performed to examine the interplay between gut microbiota and thyroid disorders that should be considered when treating patients suffering from thyroid diseases. Multifactorial therapeutic and preventive management strategies could be established and more specifically adjusted to patients, depending on their gut bacteria composition. Future well-powered human studies are warranted to evaluate the impact of alterations in gut microbiota on thyroid function and diseases.

Search for variations of N22a decay constant.

Exploration of possible anomalies in the decay of different radionuclides is an active research area in the fields of astrophysics and nuclear physics. The most significant changes in decay rates can be expected for ß-, ß+ or electron capture decay nuclides, due to the proposed influence of the solar neutrino flux by some research groups. In this work, the nuclear decay rate of ß+ decay of N22a was investigated during the time interval of ~33 days. For this purpose, a coincidence system based on a planar high purity germanium detector and a plastic scintillation detector was designed and used for the acquisition of experimental N22a coincidence spectrum. The corresponding experimental conditions: temperature, atmospheric pressure, and relative humidity, which may affect the measurement system, were monitored. In addition, Monte-Carlo simulations of this system were performed in order to obtain the N22a simulated coincidence spectrum. The time-dependent coincidence spectra in 0.5 h bins were collected by the multiparameter MPA-3 system. The fluctuations in the decay rate (i.e. possible variations of the decay constant) were analyzed by Fourier and Lomb-Scargle algorithms. No significant evidence for periodic behavior in decay rate or aperiodic anomalies was found during the acquisition period.

Evaluation of different LSC methods for 222Rn determination in waters.

Monitoring of 222Rn in drinking or surface waters, as well as in groundwater has been performed regularly in connection with geological, hydrogeological and hydrological surveys and health hazard studies. Liquid scintillation counting (LSC) is often preferred analytical method for 222Rn measurements in waters as it allows multiple-sample automatic analysis. LSC method implies mixing of water samples with organic scintillation cocktail, which triggers radon diffusion from the aqueous into an organic phase for which it has a much greater affinity, eliminating the possibility of radon emanation in that manner. The main aim of this paper is calibration of the liquid scintillation counter Qunatulus 1220™ for measuring of radon in water and evaluation of two different methods (one-phase and two-phase) in order to obtain the most suitable LSC technique for radon in water measurement. In this study four different scintillation cocktails were tested: one miscible (Ultima Gold AB) and three immiscible (High Efficiency Mineral Oil Scintillator, Opti-Fluor O and Ultima Gold F). Evaluation of presented methods was based on obtained detection efficiency and achieved Minimal Detectable Activity (MDA) values. Comparison of presented methods, accuracy and precision, as well as different scintillation cocktail's performance, was considered from results of measurements of 226Ra spiked water samples with known activity and environmental samples. LSC results were compared with the results of radon in water measurement obtained by alpha spectrometer RAD7. Calibration was done as a dependence of calibration factor (CF) from Pulse Shape Analysis (PSA). According to the obtained results, with proper adjustment of calibration parameters, both methods could be used for radon in water measurements. The obtained MDA values for all four scintillation cocktails are very low, less than 0.1 Bq l-1 for measuring time of 300 min.