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Background: Brain structure changes after long-term adaptation to the high-altitude environment; however, related studies are few, results are in consistent, and long-term effects on cognitive function and pathophysiological mechanisms are unclear. Therefore, diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) was used to investigate the damage to white matter fiber tracts and correlations between brain structural abnormalities and cognitive function. Methods: Forty healthy Han people living on the high-altitude and 40 healthy Han people living on the plains were enrolled in this study and underwent magnetic resonance imaging, emotional state assessment, and cognitive function tests. The sex, age, education level, and social status of the two groups were not different. The tract-based spatial statistics (TBSS) method was used to analyze the DTI parameters of the white matter fiber tracts of the two groups. Moreover, the partial correlation method (age and sex as covariates) was used to analyze the correlations between the intergroup differences in the DTI parameters and a series of clinical indicators of emotional state and cognitive function. Two-sample t tests, Mann-Whitney U test, generalized linear model, or chi-square tests were used for statistical analysis. Results: Compared with those individuals in the plain group, the scores on the PSQI, SDS, SAS, PHQ-9, and GAD-7 of individuals in the high-altitude group were higher, while the scores on the DST-Backwards, MoCA, and MMSE in the high-altitude group were lower. The fractional anisotropy (FA) value of the body of the corpus callosum in the high-altitude group was lower than that in the plain group. The FA value of the body of the corpus callosum in the plain group was negatively correlated with the Logical Memory, while no significant correlation was found in the high-altitude group. Conclusion: This study revealed that long-term exposure to a high-altitude environment could lead to a series of changes in sleep, emotion, and cognitive function and irreversible damage to the white matter microstructure of the body of the corpus callosum, which is the related brain region responsible for logical memory. The absence of logical memory impairment in the healthy Han Chinese population living on the high-altitude in this study may be due to the existence of adaptive compensation after long-term high-altitude exposure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Long-term adaptations and ongoing training seem to modify the energy system contribution in highly trained individuals. We aimed to compare the energy metabolism profile during sprint exercise in athletes of different specialties. Methods: Endurance (n = 17, 20.3 ± 6.0 yrs), speed-power (n = 14, 20.3 ± 2.5 yrs), and mixed (n = 19, 23.4 ± 4.8 yrs) athletes performed adapted 15-second all-out test before and after a general preparation training period. The contribution of phosphagen, glycolytic, and aerobic systems was calculated using the three-component PCr-LA-O2 method. Results: Between-group differences were observed in the contribution of energy systems in the first and second examinations. The proportions were 47:41:12 in endurance, 35:57:8 in team sports, and 45:48:7 in speed-power athletes. Endurance athletes differed in the phosphagen (p < 0.001) and glycolytic systems (p = 0.006) from team sports and in the aerobic system from speed-power athletes (p = 0.003). No substantial shifts were observed after the general preparatory phase, except a decrease in aerobic energy contribution in team sports athletes (p = 0.048). Conclusion: Sports specialization and metabolic profile influence energy system contribution during sprint exercise. Highly trained athletes show a stable energy profile during the general preparation phase, indicative of long-term adaptation, rather than immediate training effects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

BackgroundBrain structure changes after long-term adaptation to the high-altitude environment; however, related studies are few, results are in consistent, and long-term effects on cognitive function and pathophysiological mechanisms are unclear. Therefore, diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) was used to investigate the damage to white matter fiber tracts and correlations between brain structural abnormalities and cognitive function.MethodsForty healthy Han people living on the high-altitude and 40 healthy Han people living on the plains were enrolled in this study and underwent magnetic resonance imaging, emotional state assessment, and cognitive function tests. The sex, age, education level, and social status of the two groups were not different. The tract-based spatial statistics (TBSS) method was used to analyze the DTI parameters of the white matter fiber tracts of the two groups. Moreover, the partial correlation method (age and sex as covariates) was used to analyze the correlations between the intergroup differences in the DTI parameters and a series of clinical indicators of emotional state and cognitive function. Two-sample t tests, Mann-Whitney U test, generalized linear model, or chi-square tests were used for statistical analysis.ResultsCompared with those individuals in the plain group, the scores on the PSQI, SDS, SAS, PHQ-9, and GAD-7 of individuals in the high-altitude group were higher, while the scores on the DST-Backwards, MoCA, and MMSE in the high-altitude group were lower. The fractional anisotropy (FA) value of the body of the corpus callosum in the high-altitude group was lower than that in the plain group. The FA value of the body of the corpus callosum in the plain group was negatively correlated with the Logical Memory, while no significant correlation was found in the high-altitude group.ConclusionThis study revealed that long-term exposure to a high-altitude environment could lead to a series of changes in sleep, emotion, and cognitive function and irreversible damage to the white matter microstructure of the body of the corpus callosum, which is the related brain region responsible for logical memory. The absence of logical memory impairment in the healthy Han Chinese population living on the high-altitude in this study may be due to the existence of adaptive compensation after long-term high-altitude exposure.

Nypa fruticans (Wurmb), a mangrove palm species with origins dating back to the Late Cretaceous period, is a unique species for investigating long‐term adaptation strategies to intertidal environments and the early evolution of palms. Here, we present a chromosome‐level genome sequence and assembly for N. fruticans. We integrated the genomes of N. fruticans and other palm family members for a comparative genomic analysis, which confirmed that the common ancestor of all palms experienced a whole‐genome duplication event around 89 million years ago, shaping the distinctive characteristics observed in this clade. We also inferred a low mutation rate for the N. fruticans genome, which underwent strong purifying selection and evolved slowly, thus contributing to its stability over a long evolutionary period. Moreover, ancient duplicates were preferentially retained, with critical genes having experienced positive selection, enhancing waterlogging tolerance in N. fruticans. Furthermore, we discovered that the pseudogenization of Early Methionine‐labelled 1 (EM1) and EM6 in N. fruticans underly its crypto‐vivipary characteristics, reflecting its intertidal adaptation. Our study provides valuable genomic insights into the evolutionary history, genome stability, and adaptive evolution of the mangrove palm. Our results also shed light on the long‐term adaptation of this species and contribute to our understanding of the evolutionary dynamics in the palm family. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background Long-term adaptations and ongoing training seem to modify the energy system contribution in highly trained individuals. We aimed to compare the energy metabolism profile during sprint exercise in athletes of different specialties. Methods Endurance (n = 17, 20.3 ± 6.0 yrs), speed-power (n = 14, 20.3 ± 2.5 yrs), and mixed (n = 19, 23.4 ± 4.8 yrs) athletes performed adapted 15-second all-out test before and after a general preparation training period. The contribution of phosphagen, glycolytic, and aerobic systems was calculated using the three-component PCr-LA-O2 method. Results Between-group differences were observed in the contribution of energy systems in the first and second examinations. The proportions were 47:41:12 in endurance, 35:57:8 in team sports, and 45:48:7 in speed-power athletes. Endurance athletes differed in the phosphagen (p

Duration perception can be heavily distorted owing to repetitive exposure to a relatively long or short sensory event, often causing a duration aftereffect. Here, we used a novel procedure to show that adaptations to both single and average durations produced the duration aftereffect. Participants completed a duration reproduction task (Experiment 1) or a duration category rating task (Experiment 2) after long‐term adaptations to a stimulus of medium duration and to stimuli of averagely medium duration. We found that adaptations to both single and average durations resulted in duration aftereffects. The simultaneously recorded functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) data revealed that the reduction in neural activity due to long‐term adaptation to single duration was observed in the right supramarginal gyrus (SMG) of the parietal lobe, while adaptation to average duration resulted in fMRI adaptations in the left postcentral gyrus (PCG) and middle cingulate gyrus (MCG). At the individual level, the magnitude of the behavioral aftereffect was positively correlated with the magnitude of fMRI adaptation in the right SMG after adaptation to single duration, while there were no significantly positive correlations between the behavioral aftereffect and fMRI adaptations in the left PCG and MCG. These results suggest that there are different neural mechanisms for aftereffects caused by adaptations to single and average durations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Enhanced vertical stratification brought about by warming of the ocean surface is expected to reduce vertical circulation and nutrient input with knock-on effects for phytoplankton. Increased nutrient limitation is one predicted outcome, but how that will impact phytoplankton is uncertain because we do not know how they will adapt. We used copper (Cu) as a model catalytic nutrient to explore the adaptive response of an oceanic diatom to continuous nutrient deprivation in laboratory experiments. Populations of Thalassiosira oceanica maintained under Cu-limiting and sufficient conditions for ~380 generations differed significantly in their abilities to grow in medium containing 1 nM Cu. Continued selection for more than 2000 generations increased Cu use efficiency (CuUE) of a low Cu-adapted (LCuA) population by more than 2-fold compared to the control and ancestral populations. The increase in CuUE resulted from a decrease in the amount of cellular Cu required for growth and an increase in the net carbon assimilation rate. Redistribution of cellular Cu and increased efficiency of photosynthetic reactions are hypothesized to explain the fast rates of maximum electron transport of low Cu-adapted cells despite containing less Cu. The results show that adaptation increased resource use efficiency in phytoplankton, which could reduce the impact of increased nutrient deficiency in the future ocean.

Visual processing is strongly influenced by recent stimulus history, a phenomenon termed adaptation. Prominent theories cast adaptation as a consequence of optimized encoding of visual information by exploiting the temporal statistics of the world. However, this would require the visual system to track the history of individual briefly experienced events, within a stream of visual input, to build up statistical representations over longer timescales. Here, using an openly available dataset from the Allen Brain Observatory, we show that neurons in the early visual cortex of the mouse indeed maintain long-term traces of individual past stimuli that persist despite the presentation of several intervening stimuli, leading to long-term and stimulus-specific adaptation over dozens of seconds. Long-term adaptation was selectively expressed in cortical, but not in thalamic, neurons, which only showed short-term adaptation. Early visual cortex thus maintains concurrent stimulus-specific memory traces of past input, enabling the visual system to build up a statistical representation of the world to optimize the encoding of new information in a changing environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The eye’s optics are a major determinant of visual perception. Elucidating how long-term exposure to optical defects affects visual processing is key to understanding the capacity for, and limits of, sensory plasticity. Here, we show evidence of functional reallocation of sensory processing resources following long-term exposure to poor optical quality. Using adaptive optics to bypass all optical defects, we assessed visual processing in neurotypically-developed adults with healthy eyes and with keratoconus – a corneal disease causing severe optical aberrations. Under fully-corrected optical conditions, keratoconus patients showed altered contrast sensitivity, with impaired sensitivity for fine spatial details and better-than-typical sensitivity for coarse spatial details. Both gains and losses in sensitivity were more pronounced in patients experiencing poorer optical quality in their daily life and mediated by changes in signal enhancement mechanisms. These findings show that adult neural processing adapts to better match the changes in sensory inputs caused by long-term exposure to altered optics.

This study analyses short- and long-term adaptation strategies for the tourism sector in Vietnam's Mekong Delta that arose out of empirical research. The study evaluates the adaptation approach for government authorities, businesses, and tourists to manage climate change-related threats of rising temperature, irregular rainfall, sea-level rise, severe storms, and increasing salinity. In addition, the study points out the main responsibilities for realizing climate change adaptation in the tourism sector. The study figures that there are some differences between government authorities, businesses and tourists' perspectives on recommended approaches to adapt to climate change. However, current strategies are very short-term and operate at the individual institutional level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights • We clustered in six K-means clusters, sub class 1(short-term Stress) had the most DEGs. • We selected MRP3 and ATRX for short-term pollution monitoring. • We selected NQO1, C1q, GST and E3 for long-term pollution monitoring. • Establish a platform to characterize gene expression on toxicological responses to PAHs. Abstract In order to monitor the pollution of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in the seawater environment, screening biomarkers capable of monitoring PAHs is the focus of many studies. The transcriptomic profiles of the digestive gland tissue from the R. philippinarum groups after the exposure to BaP (4 μg/L) at four time points (0, 0.5, 6 and 15 days) were investigated to globally screen the key genes and pathways involved in the responses to short-term stress and long-term adaptation of BaP resistance. By comparative transcriptome analysis, 233, 282 and 58 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were identified at 0.5 day, 6 day and 15 day (vs 0 day). The differential expression genes were related to stress response, detoxification metabolic process and innate immunity. DEGs of each group at different stages were clustered in six profiles based on gene expression pattern. Gene Ontology (GO) and Kyoto Encyclopaedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathway analysis were used on all genes to determine the biological functions and processes. We selected Multidrug resistance protein 3 (MRP3), transcriptional regulator ATRX-like isoform X2 (ATRX) as biomarker indicator genes for short-term pollution monitoring and NADH dehydrogenase [ubiquinone] 1 (NQO1), Complement C1q-like protein 4 (C1q), Glutathione-S-transferase theta (GST), E3 ubiquitin-protein ligase (E3) for long-term pollution monitoring based on the different expression patterns and the function in detoxification and antioxidant defense system. Besides, the expression of seven genes was measured through Quantitative real-time PCR (qPCR) according to their gene expression patterns which was confirmed by the DGE analysis. Taken together, adoption of transcriptomic analysis to explore the bivalves' mRNA abundance changes and detoxification metabolic mechanism under the BaP stress at different time points can aid the development of sensitive and informed molecular endpoints for application towards ecotoxicogenomic monitoring of bivalves. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Resurrection ecology ( RE) is a very powerful approach to address a wide range of question in ecology and evolution. This approach rests on using appropriate model systems, and only few are known to be available. In this study, we show that Artemia has multiple attractive features (short generation time, cyst bank and collections, well-documented phylogeography, and ecology) for a good RE model. We show in detail with a case study how cysts can be recovered from sediments to document the history and dynamics of a biological invasion. We finally discuss with precise examples the many RE possibilities with this model system: adaptation to climate change, to pollution, to parasites, to invaders and evolution of reproductive systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Escherichia coli can hardly grow anaerobically on glycerol without exogenous electron acceptor. The formate-consuming methanogen Methanobacterium formicicum plays a role as a living electron acceptor in glycerol fermentation of E. coli. Wild-type and mutant E. coli strains were screened for succinate production using glycerol in a co-culture with M. formicicum. Subsequently, E. coli was adapted to glycerol fermentation over 39 rounds (273 days) by successive co-culture with M. formicicum. The adapted E. coli (19.9 mM) produced twice as much succinate as non-adapted E. coli (9.7 mM) and 62% more methane. This study demonstrated improved succinate production from waste glycerol using an adapted wild-type strain of E. coli with wild-type M. formicicum, which is more useful than genetically modified strains. Crude glycerol, an economical feedstock, was used for the cultivation. Furthermore, the increase in methane production by M. formicicum during co-culture with adapted E. coli illustrated the possibility of energy-saving effects for the fermentation process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present work shows an adaptive thermal comfort modelling suitable for the main four climatic regions of Mexico, for cooling and heating seasons and for both air-conditioned and free-running buildings using passive cooling. The document has the aim of setting up an own thermal comfort criteria within the Mexican territory and thereby determining the upper limit of the indoor air temperature, for passive cooling, and the lower threshold, for active cooling. All this with the purpose of reaching the maximum of comfort with passive methods as well as minimizing the energy consumption when active cooling is on. The comfort model takes account of the main human and physical factors presented in previous surveyed studies. With this, it is found that for air-conditioned buildings the temperature set-point of the thermostat could be considerably raised and still maintaining indoor comfort. On the other hand, for free-running buildings, the sensation of discomfort could be decreased if the occupants are able to have the control of their environment by using controlling passive techniques namely natural ventilation and solar control systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In three cross-modal priming experiments we asked whether adaptation to a foreign-accented speaker is automatic, and whether adaptation can be seen after a long delay between initial exposure and test. Dutch listeners were exposed to a Hebrew-accented Dutch speaker with two types of Dutch words: those that contained [ɪ] (globally accented words), and those in which the Dutch [i] was shortened to [ɪ] (specific accent marker words). Experiment 1, which served as a baseline, showed that native Dutch participants showed facilitatory priming for globally accented, but not specific accent, words. In experiment 2, participants performed a 3.5-minute phoneme monitoring task, and were tested on their comprehension of the accented speaker 24 hours later using the same cross-modal priming task as in experiment 1. During the phoneme monitoring task, listeners were asked to detect a consonant that was not strongly accented. In experiment 3, the delay between exposure and test was extended to 1 week. Listeners in experiments 2 and 3 showed facilitatory priming for both globally accented and specific accent marker words. Together, these results show that adaptation to a foreign-accented speaker can be rapid and automatic, and can be observed after a prolonged delay in testing. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

GAL1 and GAL3 are paralogous signal transducers that functionally inactivate Gal80p to activate the Gal4p-dependent transcriptional activation of GAL genes in Saccharomyces cerevisiae in response to galactose. Unlike a wild-type strain, the gal3∆ strain shows delayed growth kinetics as a result of the signaling function of GAL1. The mechanism ensuring that GAL1 is eventually expressed to turn on the GAL switch in the gal3∆ strain remains a paradox. Using galactose and histidine growth complementation assays, we demonstrate that 0.3% of the gal3∆ cell population responds to galactose. This is corroborated by flow cytometry and microscopic analysis. The galactose responders and nonresponders isolated from the galactose-adapted population attain the original bimodal state and this phenotype is found to be as hard wired as a genetic trait. Computational analysis suggests that the log-normal distribution in GAL4 synthesis can lead to bimodal expression of GAL80, resulting in the bimodal expression of GAL genes. Heterozygosity at the GAL80 but not at the GAL1, GAL2 or GAL4 locus alters the extent of bimodality of the gal3∆ cell population. We suggest that the asymmetric expression pattern between GAL1 and GAL3 results in the ability of S. cerevisiae to activate the GAL pathway by conferring nongenetic heterogeneity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background Proteomic analysis was performed in post-nuclear supernatant (PNS) and Percoll-purified membranes (PM) prepared from fore brain cortex of rats exposed to increasing doses of morphine (10-50 mg/kg) for 10 days. Results In PNS, the 10 up (↑)- or down (↓)-regulated proteins exhibiting the largest morphineinduced change were selected, excised manually from the gel and identified by MALDI-TOF MS/MS: 1-(gi∣148747414, Guanine deaminase), ↑2.5x; 2-(gi∣17105370, Vacuolar-type proton ATP subunit B, brain isoform), ↑2.6x; 3-(gi∣1352384, Protein disulfide-isomerase A3), ↑3.4x; 4-(gi∣40254595, Dihydropyrimidinase-related protein 2), ↑3.6x; 5-(gi∣149054470, Nethylmaleimide sensitive fusion protein, isoform CRAa), ↑2.0x; 6-(gi∣42476181, Malate dehydrogenase, mitochondrial precursor), ↑1.4x; 7-(gi∣62653546, Glyceraldehyde-3- phosphate dehydrogenase), ↑1.6x; 8-(gi∣202837, Aldolase A), ↑1.3x; 9-(gi∣31542401, Creatine kinase B-type), ↓0.86x; 10-(gi∣40538860, Aconitate hydratase, mitochondrial precursor), ↑1.3x. The identified proteins were of cytoplasmic (1, 4, 5, 7, 9), cell membrane (2), endoplasmic reticulum (3) and mitochondrial (6, 8, 10) origin and 9 of them were significantly increased, 1.3-3.6x. The 4 out of 9 up-regulated proteins (4, 6, 7, 10) were described as functionally related to oxidative stress; the 2 proteins participate in genesis of apoptotic cell death. In PM, the 18 up (↑)- or down (↓)-regulated proteins were identified by LC-MS/MS and were of plasma membrane [Brain acid soluble protein, ↓2.1x; trimeric Gβ subunit, ↓2.0x], myelin membrane [MBP, ↓2.5x], cytoplasmic [Internexin, ↑5.2x; DPYL2, ↑4.9x; Ubiquitin hydrolase, ↓2.0x; 60S ribosomal protein, ↑2.7x; KCRB, ↓2.6x; Sirtuin-2, ↑2.5x; Peroxiredoxin-2, ↑2.2x; Septin-11, ↑2.2x; TERA, ↑2.1x; SYUA, ↑2.0x; Coronin-1A, ↓5.4x] and mitochondrial [Glutamate dehydrogenase 1, ↑2.7x; SCOT1, ↑2.2x; Prohibitin, ↑2.2x; Aspartate aminotransferase, ↓2.2x] origin. Surprisingly, the immunoblot analysis of the same PM resolved by 2D-ELFO indicated that the "active", morphine-induced pool of Gβ subunits represented just a minor fraction of the total signal of Gβ which was decreased 1.2x only. The dominant signal of Gβ was unchanged. Conclusion Brain cortex of rats exposed to increasing doses of morphine is far from being adapted. Significant up-regulation of proteins functionally related to oxidative stress and apoptosis suggests a major change of energy metabolism resulting in the state of severe brain cell "discomfort" or even death. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Background: Activation of adenylyl cyclase (AC) by prolonged exposure of mammalian organism to morphine was demonstrated in previous studies of mechanism of action of this drug. However, expression level of individual AC isoforms was not analyzed in crucial cell structure, plasma membrane (PM). Methods: Rats were adapted to morphine for 10days and sacrificed 24h (group+M10) or 20days (+M10/−M20) after the last dose. Control animals were sacrificed in parallel with morphine-treated (groups−M10 and (−M10/−M20)). Percoll®-purified PM were isolated from brain cortex and analyzed by immunoblotting and specific radioligand binding. Results: ACI (ACII) was increased 8× (2.5×) in morphine-adapted rats (+M10) when compared with controls (−M10). Increase of ACI and II by long-term adaptation to increasing doses of morphine represented a specific effect as the amount of ACIII–ACIX, of prototypical PM marker, Na, K-ATPase and of trimeric G protein α and β subunits was unchanged. Increase of ACI and II was not detected in PM isolated from group (+M10/−M20). Thus, the marked increase of ACI and ACII faded away 20days since the last dose of morphine. Conclusions: We assume that the specific increase in expression level of ACI and ACII in brain cortex of morphine-adapted rats proceeds as a compensatory, homeostatic response to prolonged exposure to inhibitory drug, morphine. General significance: Our findings demonstrate that the dramatic and specific change of the crucial component of the opioid receptor cascade in brain cortex, manifested as an increase in PM level of ACI and II, is reversible. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Very-long-term (VLT) chromatic adaptation results from exposure to an altered chromatic environment for days or weeks. Color shifts from VLT adaptation are observed hours or days after leaving the altered environment. Short-term chromatic adaptation, on the other hand, results from exposure for a few minutes or less, with color shifts measured within seconds or a few minutes after the adapting light is extinguished; recovery to the pre-adapted state is complete in less than an hour. Here, both types of adaptation were combined. All adaptation was to reddish-appearing long-wavelength light. Shifts in unique yellow were measured following adaptation. Previous studies demonstrate shifts in unique yellow due to VLT chromatic adaptation, but shifts from short-term chromatic adaptation to comparable adapting light can be far greater than from VLT adaptation. The question considered here is whether the color shifts from VLT adaptation are cumulative with large shifts from short-term adaptation or, alternatively, does simultaneous short-term adaptation eliminate color shifts caused by VLT adaptation. The results show the color shifts from VLT and short-term adaptation together are cumulative, which indicates that both short-term and very-long-term chromatic adaptation affect color perception during natural viewing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this work was to investigate whether different modes of long-term competitive physical activity cause functional differences in the moment-knee angle relation of the M. quadriceps femoris (QF). Therefore, a sample (n = 40) of young male competitive endurance runners, cyclists, triathletes and tennis players performed isometric maximal voluntary knee ex- tensions (MVC) with their stronger leg at six different knee joint angles while keeping the hip joint angle constant. Muscle activation of QF- muscles during MVC was estimated using surface electromyography (EMG). Moments and EMG data of each subject were normalized to the largest value produced at any knee joint position [% Max.]. No significant differences in the normalized [% Max.] moment-knee angle relation of the QF were found between endurance runners, cyclists and triathletes. Despite few unsystematic exceptions, no functional differences in the normalized moment-knee angle relation of the QF occurred among tennis players and the endurance-oriented athletic groups. Obtained by curve fitting, the optimal knee joint angle for moment production was not significantly different among all athletic groups. We conclude that long-term competitive endurance running, cycling, triathIon and tennis do not provoke functional differences in the moment-knee angle relation of the whole QF. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: This paper reports the findings of a stated adaptation experiment which was conducted to assess possible long-term impacts of congestion pricing scenarios, especially a change of job location and/or residential location. The stated adaptation experiment was administered through the Internet and involved 395 respondents. The findings of this study indicate that most individuals and households will first adjust characteristics of their daily activity–travel behavior. Changes of job location and/or residential location are significantly less often considered as a response to congestion pricing. Some sociodemographics significantly influence such long-term adaptations. There is also evidence of spatial effects, albeit not significant. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: The effect of culture age on intra- and extracellular metabolite levels as well as on in vitro determined specific activities of enzymes of central carbon metabolism was investigated during evolution for over 90 generations of Saccharomyces cerevisiae CEN.PK 113-7D in an aerobic glucose/ethanol-limited chemostat at a specific dilution rate of 0.052 h−1. It was found that the fluxes of consumed (O2, glucose/ethanol) and secreted compounds (CO2) did not change significantly during the entire cultivation period. However, morphological changes were observed, leading to an increased cellular surface area. During 90 generations of chemostat growth not only the residual glucose concentration decreased, also the intracellular concentrations of trehalose, glycolytic intermediates, TCA cycle intermediates and amino acids were found to have decreased with a factor 5–10. The only exception was glyoxylate which showed a fivefold increase in concentration. In addition to this the specific activities of most glycolytic enzymes also decreased by a factor 5–10 during long-term cultivation. Exceptions to this were hexokinase, phosphofructokinase, pyruvate kinase and 6-phosphogluconate dehydrogenase of which the activities remained unchanged. Furthermore, the concentrations of the adenylate nucleotides as well as the energy charge of the cells did not change in a significant manner. Surprisingly, the specific activities of glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PDH), malate synthase (MS) and isocitrate lyase (ICL) increased significantly during 90 generations of chemostat cultivation. These changes seem to indicate a pattern where metabolic overcapacities (for reversible reactions) and storage pools (trehalose, high levels of amino acids and excess protein in enzymes) are lost during the evolution period. The driving force is proposed to be a growth advantage in the absence of these metabolic overcapacities. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

We are focusing on information access tasks characterized by large volume of hypermedia connected technical documents, a need for rapid and effective access to familiar information, and long-term interaction with evolving information. The problem for technical users is to build and maintain a personalized task-oriented model of the information to quickly access relevant information. We propose a solution which provides user-centered adaptive information retrieval and navigation. This solution supports users in customizing information access over time. It is complementary to information discovery methods which provide access to new information, since it lets users customize future access to previously found information. It relies on a technique, called Adaptive Relevance Network, which creates and maintains a complex indexing structure to represent personal user's information access maps organized by concepts. This technique is integrated within the Adaptive HyperMan system, which helps NASA Space Shuttle flight controllers organize and access large amount of information. It allows users to select and mark any part of a document as interesting, and to index that part with user-defined concepts. Users can then do subsequent retrieval of marked portions of documents. This functionality allows users to define and access personal collections of information, which are dynamically computed. The system also supports collaborative review by letting users share group access maps. The adaptive relevance network provides long-term adaptation based both on usage and on explicit user input. The indexing structure is dynamic and evolves over time. Learning and generalization support flexible retrieval of information under similar concepts. The network is geared towards more recent information access, and automatically manages its size in order to maintain rapid access when scaling up to large hypermedia space. We present results of simulated learning experiments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: Perception is shaped by both immediate pattern of sensory inputs and previous experience with the external environment. Visual adaptation, a temporary change in perception following exposure to a stimulus, has been widely employed to understand how previous sensory experience on different timescales shapes perception. Visual adaptation is considered a form of short-term neural plasticity. However, the neural mechanisms underlying these changes are still debated. In the present study, we aimed at discovering the spatiotemporal dynamics, neural substrates, and functional role of short-term sensory plasticity in the human visual system using a rapid motion adaptation paradigm combined with EEG. Specifically, we attempted at discovering how motion adaption-induced short-term sensory plasticity is reflected at the neural level and parallel with perceptual performance. Methods: We adapted participants to directional drifting gratings for either short (640 ms) or long (6.4 s) durations and used a counter-phase flickering (i.e., directionally ambiguous) grating as a test pattern. Results: Both adapting durations led to significant motion aftereffects, with the test pattern being perceived to drift in the opposite direction to that of the adaptation. However, the long adaptation produced stronger aftereffects than the short adaptation condition. In line with the behavioral results, short and long adaptation durations resulted in distinct aftereffects on the evoked activity within 64-112 ms time range over occipital and parieto-occipital sites (cluster based permutation tests, p=0.003). More importantly, the aftereffects induced by the long adaptation condition were stronger than those induced by the short adaptation. Conclusion: Taken together, these findings provide important electrophysiological evidence that motion aftereffects reflect changes in cortical areas mediating low- and mid- level visual motion processing. They also suggest that adaptation is an active process that involves neural mechanisms operating at different time scales. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Industrial wine yeasts owe their adaptability in constantly changing environments to a long evolutionary history that combines naturally occurring evolutionary events with human-enforced domestication. Among the many stressors associated with winemaking processes that have potentially detrimental impacts on yeast viability, growth, and fermentation performance are hyperosmolarity, high glucose concentrations at the beginning of fermentation, followed by the depletion of nutrients at the end of this process. Therefore, in this study, we subjected three widely used industrial wine yeasts to adaptive laboratory evolution under potassium chloride (KCl)-induced osmotic stress. At the end of the evolutionary experiment, we evaluated the tolerance to high osmotic stress of the evolved strains. All of the analyzed strains improved their fitness under high osmotic stress without worsening their economic characteristics, such as growth rate and viability. The evolved derivatives of two strains also gained the ability to accumulate glycogen, a readily mobilized storage form of glucose conferring enhanced viability and vitality of cells during prolonged nutrient deprivation. Moreover, laboratory-scale fermentation in grape juice showed that some of the KCl-evolved strains significantly enhanced glycerol synthesis and production of resveratrol-enriched wines, which in turn greatly improved the wine sensory profile. Altogether, these findings showed that long-term adaptations to osmotic stress can be an attractive approach to develop industrial yeasts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The eye's optics are a major determinant of visual perception. Elucidating how long-term exposure to optical defects affects visual processing is key to understanding the capacity for, and limits of, sensory plasticity. Here, we show evidence of functional reallocation of sensory processing resources following long-term exposure to poor optical quality. Using adaptive optics to bypass all optical defects, we assessed visual processing in neurotypically-developed adults with healthy eyes and with keratoconus - a corneal disease causing severe optical aberrations. Under fully-corrected optical conditions, keratoconus patients showed altered contrast sensitivity, with impaired sensitivity for fine spatial details and better-than-typical sensitivity for coarse spatial details. Both gains and losses in sensitivity were more pronounced in patients experiencing poorer optical quality in their daily life and mediated by changes in signal enhancement mechanisms. These findings show that adult neural processing adapts to better match the changes in sensory inputs caused by long-term exposure to altered optics., Competing Interests: AB, WP, CN, RZ, KH, DT, GY No competing interests declared, (© 2021, Barbot et al.)

In recent years, adaptive laboratory evolution (ALE) has emerged as a powerful tool for basic research in microbiology (e.g., molecular mechanisms of microbial evolution) and efforts on evolutionary engineering of microbial strains (e.g., accelerated evolution of industrial strains by bringing beneficial mutations). The ongoing rapid development of next-generation sequencing platforms has provided novel insights into growth kinetics and metabolism of microbes, and thus led to great advances of this technique. In this review, we summarize recent advances in the applications of long-term and short-term ALE techniques mainly for microbial strain engineering, and different modes of ALE are also introduced. Furthermore, we discuss the current limitations of ALE and potential solutions. We believe that the information reviewed here will make a significant contribution to further advancement of ALE.

Resurrection ecology (RE) is a very powerful approach to address a wide range of question in ecology and evolution. This approach rests on using appropriate model systems, and only few are known to be available. In this study, we show that Artemia has multiple attractive features (short generation time, cyst bank and collections, well-documented phylogeography, and ecology) for a good RE model. We show in detail with a case study how cysts can be recovered from sediments to document the history and dynamics of a biological invasion. We finally discuss with precise examples the many RE possibilities with this model system: adaptation to climate change, to pollution, to parasites, to invaders and evolution of reproductive systems.