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International Journal of Molecular... Mar 2021is a dominant pathogen in people with cystic fibrosis (CF) contributing to morbidity and mortality. Its tremendous ability to adapt greatly facilitates its capacity to... (Review)
Review
is a dominant pathogen in people with cystic fibrosis (CF) contributing to morbidity and mortality. Its tremendous ability to adapt greatly facilitates its capacity to cause chronic infections. The adaptability and flexibility of the pathogen are afforded by the extensive number of virulence factors it has at its disposal, providing with the facility to tailor its response against the different stressors in the environment. A deep understanding of these virulence mechanisms is crucial for the design of therapeutic strategies and vaccines against this multi-resistant pathogen. Therefore, this review describes the main virulence factors of and the adaptations it undergoes to persist in hostile environments such as the CF respiratory tract. The very large genome (5 to 7 MB) contributes considerably to its adaptive capacity; consequently, genomic studies have provided significant insights into elucidating evolution and its interactions with the host throughout the course of infection.
Topics: Adaptation, Physiological; Animals; Biofilms; Humans; Lung; Pseudomonas aeruginosa; Quorum Sensing; Virulence Factors
PubMed: 33803907
DOI: 10.3390/ijms22063128 -
Sports Health 2016Athletes at different skill levels perform strenuous physical activity at high altitude for a variety of reasons. Multiple team and endurance events are held at high... (Review)
Review
CONTEXT
Athletes at different skill levels perform strenuous physical activity at high altitude for a variety of reasons. Multiple team and endurance events are held at high altitude and may place athletes at increased risk for developing acute high altitude illness (AHAI). Training at high altitude has been a routine part of preparation for some of the high level athletes for a long time. There is a general belief that altitude training improves athletic performance for competitive and recreational athletes.
EVIDENCE ACQUISITION
A review of relevant publications between 1980 and 2015 was completed using PubMed and Google Scholar.
STUDY DESIGN
Clinical review.
LEVEL OF EVIDENCE
Level 3.
RESULTS
AHAI is a relatively uncommon and potentially serious condition among travelers to altitudes above 2500 m. The broad term AHAI includes several syndromes such as acute mountain sickness (AMS), high altitude pulmonary edema (HAPE), and high altitude cerebral edema (HACE). Athletes may be at higher risk for developing AHAI due to faster ascent and more vigorous exertion compared with nonathletes. Evidence regarding the effects of altitude training on athletic performance is weak. The natural live high, train low altitude training strategy may provide the best protocol for enhancing endurance performance in elite and subelite athletes. High altitude sports are generally safe for recreational athletes, but they should be aware of their individual risks.
CONCLUSION
Individualized and appropriate acclimatization is an essential component of injury and illness prevention.
Topics: Acclimatization; Age Factors; Altitude; Altitude Sickness; Athletic Performance; Humans; Physical Conditioning, Human; Physical Education and Training; Sleep Wake Disorders; Ultraviolet Rays
PubMed: 26863894
DOI: 10.1177/1941738116630948 -
International Journal of Environmental... Mar 2023Strength training in prepubertal children is one of the topics that has aroused the most interest and controversy among training professionals in recent years.... (Review)
Review
Strength training in prepubertal children is one of the topics that has aroused the most interest and controversy among training professionals in recent years. Therefore, the aim of the present study was to analyze the available scientific evidence on the influence of strength training variables on morphological and/or neuromuscular adaptations in healthy prepubertal populations with no previous experience in this type of training according to the descriptive sample characteristics. According to the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis, 22 studies were selected after a systematic search and selection process using four electronic databases: Google Scholar, PubMed, Scopus, and SPORT Discus. Furthermore, the internal validity of the studies included was assessed using the modified PEDro scale. The sample consisted of 604 prepubertal children (age, 10.02 ± 0.75 years), of whom 473 were boys and 131 were girls, with 104 strength training programs recorded. Strength training resulted in a significant increase in jumping ( = 29) and sprinting ( = 13) abilities. Moreover, muscle strength was increased in 100% of the cases. Morphologically, strength training resulted in a decrease in body fat percentage ( = 19) and an increase in lean body mass ( = 17). With regard to gender, increases in general sport skills and basic physical abilities were significant in males but not in females. Thus, the results are more heterogeneous in girls due to the small number of studies carried out. Therefore, this research provides practical applications for coaches to design and implement more effective training programs to maximize adaptations, enhance physical performance, and reduce injury risk.
Topics: Male; Female; Humans; Child; Resistance Training; Muscle Strength; Sports; Adaptation, Physiological; Acclimatization
PubMed: 36981742
DOI: 10.3390/ijerph20064833 -
Cell Jan 2022Conifers dominate the world's forest ecosystems and are the most widely planted tree species. Their giant and complex genomes present great challenges for assembling a...
Conifers dominate the world's forest ecosystems and are the most widely planted tree species. Their giant and complex genomes present great challenges for assembling a complete reference genome for evolutionary and genomic studies. We present a 25.4-Gb chromosome-level assembly of Chinese pine (Pinus tabuliformis) and revealed that its genome size is mostly attributable to huge intergenic regions and long introns with high transposable element (TE) content. Large genes with long introns exhibited higher expressions levels. Despite a lack of recent whole-genome duplication, 91.2% of genes were duplicated through dispersed duplication, and expanded gene families are mainly related to stress responses, which may underpin conifers' adaptation, particularly in cold and/or arid conditions. The reproductive regulation network is distinct compared with angiosperms. Slow removal of TEs with high-level methylation may have contributed to genomic expansion. This study provides insights into conifer evolution and resources for advancing research on conifer adaptation and development.
Topics: Acclimatization; Chromosomes, Plant; Cycadopsida; DNA Transposable Elements; Epigenome; Evolution, Molecular; Forests; Gene Expression Regulation, Plant; Gene Regulatory Networks; Genes, Plant; Genome Size; Genomics; Introns; Magnoliopsida; Pinus
PubMed: 34965378
DOI: 10.1016/j.cell.2021.12.006 -
Accounts of Chemical Research Aug 2021Biological systems have often served as inspiration for the design of synthetic catalysts. The lock and key analogy put forward by Emil Fischer in 1894 to explain the...
Biological systems have often served as inspiration for the design of synthetic catalysts. The lock and key analogy put forward by Emil Fischer in 1894 to explain the high substrate specificity of enzymes has been used as a general guiding principle aimed at enhancing the selectivity of chemical processes by optimizing attractive and repulsive interactions in molecular recognition events. However, although a perfect fit of a substrate to a catalytic site may enhance the selectivity of a specific catalytic reaction, it inevitably leads to a narrow substrate scope, excluding substrates with different sizes and shapes from efficient binding. An ideal catalyst should instead be able to accommodate a wide range of substrates-it has indeed been recognized that enzymes also are often highly promiscuous as a result of their ability to change their conformation and shape in response to a substrate-and preferentially be useful in various types of processes. In biological adaptation, the process by which species become fitted to new environments is crucial for their ability to cope with changing environmental conditions. With this in mind, we have been exploring catalytic systems that can adapt their size and shape to the environment with the goal of developing synthetic catalysts with wide scope.In this Account, we describe our studies aimed at elucidating how metal catalysts with flexible structural units adapt their binding pockets to the reacting substrate. Throughout our studies, ligands equipped with tropos biaryl units have been explored, and the palladium-catalyzed allylic alkylation reaction has been used as a suitable probe to study the adaptability of the catalytic systems. The conformations of catalytically active metal complexes under different conditions have been studied by both experimental and theoretical methods. By the design of ligands incorporating two flexible units, the symmetry properties of metal complexes could be used to facilitate conformational analysis and thereby provide valuable insight into the structures of complexes involved in the catalytic cycle. The importance of flexibility was convincingly demonstrated when a phosphine group in a privileged ligand that is well-known for its versatility in a number of processes was exchanged for a tropos biaryl phosphite unit: the result was a truly self-adaptive ligand with dramatically increased scope.
PubMed: 34347444
DOI: 10.1021/acs.accounts.1c00326 -
Annual Review of Statistics and Its... Mar 2021Adaptive enrichment designs for clinical trials may include rules that use interim data to identify treatment-sensitive patient subgroups, select or compare treatments,...
Adaptive enrichment designs for clinical trials may include rules that use interim data to identify treatment-sensitive patient subgroups, select or compare treatments, or change entry criteria. A common setting is a trial to compare a new biologically targeted agent to standard therapy. An enrichment design's structure depends on its goals, how it accounts for patient heterogeneity and treatment effects, and practical constraints. This article first covers basic concepts, including treatment-biomarker interaction, precision medicine, selection bias, and sequentially adaptive decision making, and briefly describes some different types of enrichment. Numerical illustrations are provided for qualitatively different cases involving treatment-biomarker interactions. Reviews are given of adaptive signature designs; a Bayesian design that uses a random partition to identify treatment-sensitive biomarker subgroups and assign treatments; and designs that enrich superior treatment sample sizes overall or within subgroups, make subgroup-specific decisions, or include outcome-adaptive randomization.
PubMed: 36212769
DOI: 10.1146/annurev-statistics-040720-032818 -
International Journal of Molecular... Oct 2019Necessitated by the subzero temperatures and seasonal exposure to ice, various organisms have developed a remarkably effective means to survive the harsh climate of... (Review)
Review
Necessitated by the subzero temperatures and seasonal exposure to ice, various organisms have developed a remarkably effective means to survive the harsh climate of their natural habitats. Their ice-binding (glyco)proteins keep the nucleation and growth of ice crystals in check by recognizing and binding to specific ice crystal faces, which arrests further ice growth and inhibits ice recrystallization (IRI). Inspired by the success of this adaptive strategy, various approaches have been proposed over the past decades to engineer materials that harness these cryoprotective features. In this review we discuss the prospects and challenges associated with these advances focusing in particular on peptidic antifreeze materials both identical and akin to natural ice-binding proteins (IBPs). We address the latest advances in their design, synthesis, characterization and application in preservation of biologics and foods. Particular attention is devoted to insights in structure-activity relations culminating in the synthesis of de novo peptide analogues. These are sequences that resemble but are not identical to naturally occurring IBPs. We also draw attention to impactful developments in solid-phase peptide synthesis and 'greener' synthesis routes, which may aid to overcome one of the major bottlenecks in the translation of this technology: unavailability of large quantities of low-cost antifreeze materials with excellent IRI activity at (sub)micromolar concentrations.
Topics: Acclimatization; Antifreeze Proteins; Biomimetics; Cryoprotective Agents; Crystallization; Freezing; Ice
PubMed: 31627404
DOI: 10.3390/ijms20205149 -
Cell Systems Jun 2021A distinctive feature of many biological systems is their ability to adapt to persistent stimuli or disturbances that would otherwise drive them away from a desirable... (Review)
Review
A distinctive feature of many biological systems is their ability to adapt to persistent stimuli or disturbances that would otherwise drive them away from a desirable steady state. The resulting stasis enables organisms to function reliably while being subjected to very different external environments. This perspective concerns a stringent type of biological adaptation, robust perfect adaptation (RPA), that is resilient to certain network and parameter perturbations. As in engineered control systems, RPA requires that the regulating network satisfy certain structural constraints that cannot be avoided. We elucidate these ideas using biological examples from systems and synthetic biology. We then argue that understanding the structural constraints underlying RPA allows us to look past implementation details and offers a compelling means to unravel regulatory biological complexity.
Topics: Acclimatization; Adaptation, Physiological; Homeostasis; Models, Biological; Synthetic Biology
PubMed: 34139163
DOI: 10.1016/j.cels.2021.05.020 -
BMC Health Services Research May 2020Most interventions to improve patient safety (Patient Safety Practices (PSPs)), are introduced without engaging front-line professionals. Administrative staff, managers...
BACKGROUND
Most interventions to improve patient safety (Patient Safety Practices (PSPs)), are introduced without engaging front-line professionals. Administrative staff, managers and sometimes a few professionals, representing only one or two disciplines, decide what to change and how. Consequently, PSPs are not fully adapted to the professionals' needs or to the local context and as a result, adoption is low. To support adoption, two theoretical concepts, Participatory Design and Experiential Learning were combined in a new model: Adaptive Design. The aim was to explore whether Adaptive Design supports adaptation and adoption of PSPs by engaging all professionals and creating time to (re) design, reflect and learn as a team. The Time Out Procedure (TOP) and Debriefing (plus) for improving patient safety in the operating theatre (OT) was used as PSP.
METHODS
Qualitative exploratory multi-site study using participatory action research as a research design. The implementation process consisted of four phases: 1) start-up: providing information by presentations and team meetings, 2) pilot: testing the prototype with 100 surgical procedures, 3) small scale implementation: with one or two surgical disciplines, 4) implementation hospital-wide: including all surgical disciplines. In iterations, teams (re) designed, tested, evaluated, and if necessary adapted TOPplus. Gradually all professionals were included. Adaptations in content, process and layout of TOPplus were measured following each iteration. Adoption was monitored until final implementation in every hospital's OT.
RESULTS
10 Dutch hospitals participated. Adaptations varied per hospital, but all hospitals adapted both procedures. Adaptations concerned the content, process and layout of TOPplus. Both procedures were adopted in all OTs, but user participation and time to include all users varied between hospitals. Ultimately all users were actively involved and TOPplus was implemented in all OTs.
CONCLUSIONS
Engaging all professionals in a structured bottom-up implementation approach with a focus on learning, improves adaptation and adoption of a PSP. As a result, all 10 participating hospitals implemented TOPplus with all surgical disciplines in all OTs. Adaptive Design gives professionals the opportunity to adapt the PSP to their own needs and their specific local context. All hospitals adapted TOPplus, but without compromising the essential features for its effectiveness.
Topics: Hospitals; Humans; Learning; Netherlands; Patient Safety; Personnel, Hospital; Pilot Projects; Qualitative Research; Safety Management
PubMed: 32410618
DOI: 10.1186/s12913-020-05306-2 -
Current Environmental Health Reports Dec 2020In this article, we examine the intersection of human migration and climate change. Growing evidence that changing environmental and climate conditions are triggers for... (Review)
Review
PURPOSE OF REVIEW
In this article, we examine the intersection of human migration and climate change. Growing evidence that changing environmental and climate conditions are triggers for displacement, whether voluntary or forced, adds a powerful argument for profound anticipatory engagement.
RECENT FINDINGS
Climate change is expected to displace vast populations from rural to urban areas, and when life in the urban centers becomes untenable, many will continue their onward migration elsewhere (Wennersten and Robbins 2017; Rigaud et al. 2018). It is now accepted that the changing climate will be a threat multiplier, will exacerbate the need or decision to migrate, and will disproportionately affect large already vulnerable sections of humanity. Worst-case scenario models that assume business-as-usual approaches to climate change predict that nearly one-third of the global population will live in extremely hot (uninhabitable) climates, currently found in less than 1% of the earth's surface mainly in the Sahara. We find that the post-World War II regime designed to receive European migrants has failed to address population movement in the latter half of the twentieth century fueled by economic want, globalization, opening (and then closing) borders, civil strife, and war. Key stakeholders are in favor of using existing instruments to support a series of local, regional, and international arrangements to protect environmental migrants, most of whom will not cross international borders. The proposal for a dedicated UN agency and a new Convention has largely come from academia and NGOs. Migration is now recognized not only as a consequence of instability but as an adaptation strategy to the changing climate. Migration must be anticipated as a certainty, and thereby planned for and supported.
Topics: Acclimatization; Climate Change; Human Migration; Humans; Population Dynamics; Social Problems; Vulnerable Populations
PubMed: 33048318
DOI: 10.1007/s40572-020-00291-4