The Rhyothemis princeps Brain Externalization Project

The eat 'five a day' (referring to servings of fruits and vegetables) recommendation of the World Health Organization and many national health agencies has new support based on findings by Wang et al. (2021) from the Nurses' Health Study and the Health Professionals Follow-up Study.   - link to open access article: https://www.ahajournals.org/doi/pdf/10.1161/CIRCULATIONAHA.120.048996 The study found a reduction in all-cause mortality as well as reductions in mortality due to respiratory diseases, cardiovascular disease and cancer. The thresholds for reductions in mortality were achieved at two servings of fruit and three servings of vegetables per day. No additional benefit was seen for over five servings. Sadly, there was no significant reduction found for neurodegenerative diseases (but see the Michley et al. (2017, open access) study on Parkinson disease re: fresh vs. canned/frozen). Wang et al. (2021) Above is Figure 1 from Wang et al. (2021); it is quite small and th

In trying to find information on the effect of radiation on aquaporins, a paper came up on a treatment for radiation-induced salivary hypofunction: Baum, Bruce J., Changyu Zheng, Ana P. Cotrim, Linda McCullagh, Corinne M. Goldsmith, Jaime S. Brahim, Jane C. Atkinson, et al. “Aquaporin-1 Gene Transfer to Correct Radiation-Induced Salivary Hypofunction.” Handbook of Experimental Pharmacology , no. 190 (2009): 403–18. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-540-79885-9_20 .           " Indeed, IR leads to a dramatic loss of the fluid secreting salivary acinar cells, resulting in severe glandular hypofunction (a diminished production of saliva) in most patients ( Vissink et al. 2003 ; Nagler and Baum 2003 ). The reason for this damage remains enigmatic, as salivary acinar cells are well differentiated and very slowly dividing, the opposite of the classical target cell for IR sensitivity [emphasis added] . If patients have sufficient functional acinar tissue post-IR, it is possible t

"Aquaporin water channels - from transfusion medicine to malaria" by Dr. Peter Agre Sept. 9, 2015 22:22 Rarity of AQP1 null mutants despite apparently limited effect on phenotype - at birth lung goes from being secretory organ to being absorptive, may be a critical point 25:46 AQP4 and blood brain barrier { not mentioned in lecture: Evidence that pericytes regulate aquaporin-4 polarization in mouse cortical astrocytes https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4223569/ }   26:54 AQP4 - accelerated brain damage   27:49 in many cases or stroke the individual succumbs not to the infarct, but to brain edema 30:04 Aquaporins, stress response , decline in function with aging   41:34 AQP7 and AQP9 - Glycerol Metabolism AQP7 - present in fat; water & glycerol permeation; suppressed by insulin; releases glycerol from fat catabolism during starvation AQP9 - present in liver; water, glycerol & urea permeation; facilitates hepatic glycerol uptake for gluconeogen

[2020-7-13] Someone posted about nocturia on HealthUnlocked's Parkinson's Movement forum and I replied with the  following (I don't think I can keep up with doing the reference properly, perhaps if it starts to really bother me I will edit): Apart from prostate and autonomic nervous system problems, one issue in aging related to nocturia might be loss of function of aquaporins. Aquaporins are membrane channels for water; though water can diffuse across cell membranes AQPs move water faster and are particularly important under stress conditions. AQP function declines with age and could contribute to many age-related health issues including reduction in blood brain barrier function. hindawi.com/journals/omcl/2... ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articl... Oxytocin has some vassopressin-like activity and helps move AQP from inside the cell to the membrane surface when needed. jasn.asnjournals.org/conten... Oxytocin levels decline with age: ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articl... The probiot