, 2012) Rural communities in parts of the tropics have planted t

, 2012). Rural communities in parts of the tropics have planted trees within their farming systems for millennia. In the process, tree germplasm was sometimes widely exchanged, especially of food trees, as best exemplified by the ancient transfers of tree crops such as Theobroma cacao and Bactris gasipaes in South and Central America ( Lentz, 2000, Clement et al., 2010 and Powis et al., 2011). Throughout the colonial period, many other transfers of tree

commodity crop germplasm took place, including of T. cacao and Coffea arabica, both important species in the RG7204 in vivo past and still in the present (see Dawson et al., 2014, this special issue). In the case of C. arabica, modern cultivars are derived from two base populations known as Typica and Bourbon that were transported from East Africa throughout the tropics in the early 1700s. Theobroma cacao was introduced into Indonesia by the Dutch

from Venezuelan sources in 1560 and by the Spanish into the Philippines in around 1600. The French introduced T. cacao to multiple locations from the middle of the 17th century onwards, and the patterns of transfer and introduction thereafter were complex. Forastero T. cacao trees were apparently established from Brazilian sources on islands off the coast of continental West Africa from the 1820s onwards, before being transported to the mainland (see Mohan Jain and Priyadarshan (2009) for references to both coffee and cacao germplasm transfers in the colonial

period). The steps involved in the past global Enzalutamide distribution of other important agroforestry trees for small-scale farmers are generally less well understood, until documentation improved in the last few decades. Transfers prior to then were often clearly extensive, however, as evinced by the exotic nature of many of the tree species currently grown by smallholders. This was illustrated by Koskela et al. (2010), who undertook a review of the known indigenous and exotic distributions of 120 tree species important for smallholder agroforestry planting using the Agroforestree Database (AFTD, 2014). On average, the 120 tree species surveyed had been distributed to 21 countries beyond their native ranges (Koskela BCKDHA et al., 2010). Casuarina equisetifolia, mainly used for timber, is believed to be the most widely distributed agroforestry tree species, introduced to 110 countries outside its native range ( Table 1). Other widely distributed agroforestry tree species include Azadirachta indica, Mangifera indica and Leucaena diversifolia, providing medicine, fruit and fodder, respectively ( Koskela et al., 2010). Although in more recent times the documentation of germplasm transfers of agroforestry trees to support tropical agricultural practices has improved, much information, especially on the origin of provenances and if any selection was undertaken, frequently still remains unknown.

The results indicate that extrusion cooking has great potential a

The results indicate that extrusion cooking has great potential as an effective pretreatment for changing the quality of ginseng. The authors declare no conflicts of interest. This research was supported by the Project for Development in Technology of Agriculture, Industry,

and Commerce Fusion, which was conducted by the Small and Medium Business Administrations (Hanbit Food Ltd., Chungnam, South Korea). “
“Panax spp. occur in the northern hemisphere and mostly in temperate regions. In 1973, a wild Panax species was found at Mount Ngoc Linh in Central Vietnam. The plant was then identified as Panax vietnamensis Ha et Grushv., a new Panax species and now commonly known as Vietnamese ginseng Tenofovir chemical structure (VG), which is the most southern Panax plant discovered so far. It has been used by the Sedang ethnic group as a miraculous herbal medicine selleck chemicals llc for enhancement of physical strength and treatment of many diseases with similar therapeutic indications as those of Panax ginseng [1]. VG contains not only protopanaxadiol (PPD) and protopanaxatriol (PPT) saponins such as ginsenoside Rb1, Rd, Re, Rg1, but also ocotillol saponins, such as majonoside R1, R2 (in high yield), and vina-ginsenoside R1 and R2 ( Fig. 1) [1], [2], [3], [4] and [5].

Majonoside R2 constitutes >5% of the dried weight of VG [2]. In addition, ocotillol saponins, especially majonoside R2 exert remarkable pharmacological effects on the central nervous system such as antistress, antidepressive, and anxiolytic activities, which distinguishes VG from other Panax species [6], [7], [8], [9], [10] and [11]. P. ginseng,

or Korean ginseng (KG), has been regarded as an important and valuable oriental herbal medicine for thousands of years. Recently, a new type of processed ginseng, named as Sun Ginseng (SG), was reported as a steamed ginseng at higher temperature than that used for the preparation of red ginseng [12]. SG contains a high yield of less polar ginsenosides, especially Rg3, Rg5, and Rk1, which showed a stronger anticancer activity. Increased pharmacological activities including antioxidant, vasodilating, Lumacaftor chemical structure and antitumor promoting activities have been reported for SG [12] and [13]. These active ginsenosides could be generated from ginsenoside Rb1, Rb2, Rc, and Rd via hydrolysis, dehydration, and deglycosylation during the steaming process [14]. This study aimed to investigate the influence of different durations of steaming on the saponin composition as well as the antiproliferative and antioxidant activities of processed VG. Vietnamese ginseng (VG) was collected in Quangnam Province, Vietnam in 2010. A voucher specimen was deposited at the herbarium of College of Pharmacy, Seoul National University, Seoul, Korea (SNUP-2012-A-01).

Is it possible that the difference in children’s performance acro

Is it possible that the difference in children’s performance across the two experiments is due to the tasks requiring different types of competence: for example, that experiment 1 requires the derivation of quantity implicatures but experiment 2 only requires sensitivity to informativeness? We cannot see any motivation

for postulating this. The experiments do not differ in terms of visual or procedural complexity, and use exactly the same linguistic stimuli, visual animations and overall scenario. Moreover, the experiments do not differ in terms of the meta-linguistic demands of the task, as they both require participants to pass judgment on utterances. The only apparent difference is the use of a ternary scale in experiment 2, which enables participants to give a response that is more lenient than a downright rejection but stricter than a thorough endorsement of the utterance. If our claims are well-founded, it should follow that children’s pragmatic PD0332991 competence is best investigated using paradigms in which pragmatic tolerance cannot cloud the interpretation of the participants’ EPZ-6438 concentration performance. To test this supposition, we

now turn to the sentence-to-picture matching paradigm, where participants are visually presented with four outcomes of a scenario, and they are asked to select the picture that matches their interpretation of the utterances used in experiments 1 and 2. The computer-based judgement task used in experiments 1 and 2 was modified as follows. The experimenter explains that participants will see some stories and that Mr. Caveman will narrate what is going on in the story. After being introduced

to each story, the participant will be presented with four pictures on the screen, and Mr. Caveman will say what eventually happened in the story that he has in his mind. The participant should then point to the picture that matches Mr. Caveman’s story. The trials begin as in experiments 1 and 2. After the initial screen display showing click here the protagonist and the objects that may be affected, participants are shown a second screen divided into four (see Appendix C for a sample visual display). Mr. Caveman then says ‘In my story…’ and then continues his utterance with the pre-recorded utterances used in experiments 1 and 2. Participants are then asked to point to the picture that matches Mr. Caveman’s story. The pictures differed in the type of objects that were depicted as affected by the protagonist’s actions (e.g. carrots, pumpkins; heart, triangle) and in their quantity (some or all, either or both). For example, in a critical trial for scalar ‘some’, participants were presented with four pictures, corresponding to the situations in which the mouse picked up three out of five carrots, or three out of five pumpkins, or five out of five carrots, or five out of five pumpkins. They then heard ‘In my story, the mouse picked up some of the carrots’.

Legacy sediment often accumulated behind ubiquitous low-head mill

Legacy sediment often accumulated behind ubiquitous low-head mill dams and in their slackwater environments, resulting in thick accumulations of fine-grained sediment.” PDEP Legacy Sediment Workgroup (nd) While appropriate for the immediate task of the PDEP to describe historical GSK1210151A solubility dmso alluvium along rivers in Pennsylvania, this definition contains specific constraints that limit the definition. A more specific ‘technical definition’ was also presented: Legacy Sediment (n.) Sediment that (1) was eroded from upland slopes during several

centuries of intensive land clearing, agriculture, and milling (in the eastern U.S., this occurred from the late 17th to late 19th Centuries); (2) collected along stream corridors and valley bottoms, burying pre-settlement streams, floodplains, wetlands, and dry valleys; and that altered the hydrologic, biologic, aquatic, riparian, and chemical functions of pre-settlement streams and floodplains; (3) accumulated behind ubiquitous low-head mill dams in

slackwater environments, resulting in thick accumulations of SB431542 mw fine-grained sediment, which distinguishes “legacy sediment” from fluvial deposits associated with meandering streams; (4) can also accumulate as coarser grained, more poorly sorted colluvial (not associated with stream transport) deposits, usually at valley margins; (5) can contain varying amounts of total phosphorus and nitrogen, which contribute to nutrient loads in downstream waterways from bank erosion processes…” PDEP Legacy Sediment Workgroup (nd) To interpret this definition assume that, as in dictionaries, each numbered item provides an alternate definition; that is, these can be interpreted as ‘or’ rather than ‘and’ conditions. Thus, the first

point provides a broad category for agriculturally produced post-settlement alluvium. The second describes a set of lowland sites where LS is likely to be deposited, and the fourth definition includes colluvium. Although these definitions may work well for the region and purposes for which they were derived, they largely constrain the scope of LS to sediment produced by agriculture Selleck Paclitaxel on hill slopes and deposited in lowlands during post-Colonial time in North America. A more general definition of LS is needed for the various applications of the term that are emerging in the scientific literature. The definition should be flexible enough to include sediment produced by a range and mixture of anthropogenic activities that may have resulted in a wide variety of depositional sites, processes, and sedimentary structures and textures. First, the definition of LS should include human activities beyond agricultural clearance; i.e., lumbering, mining, road building, urbanization, and other land-use practices (Fig. 2).

Background maps of point-based radionuclide inventories in soils

Background maps of point-based radionuclide inventories in soils (134Cs + 137Cs, 110mAg) designed in this study (Fig.

1, Fig. 2, Fig. 3, Fig. 4 and Fig. 7) were drawn from data provided by MEXT for these 2200 investigated locations. We hypothesized that those radionuclides were concentrated in the soil upper 2 cm layer, and that soils had a mean bulk density of 1.15 g.cm−3 based on data collected in the area Alectinib research buy (Kato et al., 2011; Matsunaga et al., 2013). Within this set of 2200 soil samples, 110mAg activities were only reported for a selection of 345 samples that were counted long enough to detect this radioisotope (Fig. 3 and Fig. 4). All activities were decay corrected to 14 June 2011. A map of total radiocaesium activities was interpolated across the entire study area by performing ordinary kriging to appreciate regional fallout patterns in soils (Fig. 1, Fig. 2 and Fig. 7; Chilès and Delfiner, 1988 and Goovaerts, 1997). A cross validation was then applied to the original data to corroborate the variogram model. The mean error (R) was defined as follows (Eq. Apoptosis inhibitor (1)): equation(1) R=1n∑i=1nz*(xi)−z(xi),where z*(xi) is the estimated value at xi, and z(xi) is the measured value at xi. The ratio of the mean squared error to the kriging

variance was calculated as described in Eq. (2): equation(2) SR2=1n∑i=1n[z*(xi)−z(xi)]2σk2(xi),where σ2k(xi) is the theoretical estimation variance for the prediction of z*(xi). The temporal evolution of contamination in rivers draining the main radioactive plume was analyzed based on samples (described in Section 2.2) taken after the main erosive events which were expected to affect this area (i.e., the summer typhoons and the

spring snowmelt). During the first fieldwork campaign in November 2011, we travelled through the entire area where access was unrestricted (i.e., outside the area of 20-km radius centred on FDNPP; Fig. 1b) Olopatadine and that potentially drained the main radioactive plume of Fukushima Prefecture, i.e. the Abukuma River basin (5200 km2), and the coastal catchments (Mano, Nitta and Ota Rivers, covering a total area of 525 km2). Those systems drain to the Pacific Ocean from an upstream altitude of 1835 m a.s.l. Woodland (79%) and cropland (18%) represent the main land uses in the area. Mean annual precipitation varies appreciably across the study area (1100–2000 mm), in response to the high variation of altitude and relief and the associated variable importance of snowfall. During the second campaign (April 2012), based on the results of the first survey, the size and the delineation of the study area were adapted for a set of practical, logistical and safety reasons.

20 An electronic scale with a 100-gram resolution, calibrated bef

20 An electronic scale with a 100-gram resolution, calibrated before the measurements, was used to measure body mass. Children were weighed standing barefoot, wearing shorts and T-shirts. A portable stadiometer with a 1-mm resolution fixed to a wall without baseboard was used to measure height, taking as

reference points the vertex and the plantar regions, following the procedures described by Lohman.21 BMI was determined by the formula: weight (kg) divided by height (m) squared. Anthropometric measurements were performed twice by the same examiner, using a third measurement and calculating the mean, in case TGFbeta inhibitor of disagreement. The Pediatric Quality of Life Inventory (PedsQL 4.0, generic version for children22) Alpelisib was used to assess

the health-related quality of life, after being validated for the Brazilian population.23 The PedsQL 4.0 comprises 23 items divided into four domains (physical, emotional, social, and school). Questions are answered according to a scale from 0 to 4 (never, almost never, sometimes, many times/often, almost always) and regarding the last month experienced by the child. The items are measured and converted to a linear scale from 0 to 100, yielding a mean; the higher the score, the better the quality of life.22 The overall quality of life is determined by the mean of all domains, while the psychosocial aspect is determined by the mean score of the social, emotional, and school domains. The questionnaire was designed to assess the dimensions of physical, mental, and social health, following the proposal of the WHO, considering the role of the school domain.23 The instrument has two parallel questionnaire Chlormezanone formats, one for children and one for parents. This study considered only the version for children (self-report). The intervention program consisted of physical exercises with recreational activities, and nutritional counseling to children and parents, for 12 consecutive weeks. The physical exercises were performed in a gym and on a field (twice weekly) and a pool (once weekly), at the Sports

Center (Centro de Desportos –CDS) of the Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina (UFSC), Brazil. Nutritional guidelines were given in a classroom of the CDS/UFSC (one session per week). The exercises were performed in three weekly sessions, lasting 60 minutes each, totaling 36 sessions. Each session consisted of stretching/warm-up (5-10 minutes), aerobic exercises (40-45 minutes), and cool-down (5-10 minutes). The exercises were pre-programmed, developed by two physical education professionals and one physical education student, and consisted of moderate to vigorous intensity recreational activities.12 and 19 The main focus of the planned activities was recreational and aerobic characteristics.

The latter was frozen at -20 °C for 24 hours and thawed in a micr

The latter was frozen at -20 °C for 24 hours and thawed in a microwave for 45 seconds.6 The analysis of natural human milk was performed immediately after the extraction. Of the three 10-mL aliquots, one was identified as reference (not subjected to any process), the other was assigned for administration simulation by gavage, and this website the last was assigned for administration simulation by continuous infusion. The administration by gavage was performed with a 10 mL-syringe and disposable #4 siliconized tube; the content was gravity-fed. The administration by continuous infusion was performed with a 10 mL-syringe, a disposable #4 siliconized tube, a 120 cm perfusor, and a Samtronic ST6000® infusion

pump (São Paulo, Brazil). The time set for infusion was 1 hour. All materials and techniques used followed the routine of the Neonatal Unit of the Instituto Fernandes Figueira/Fiocruz, Brazil. The amount of fat, PD-1/PD-L1 inhibition protein, and lactose in human milk was measured

by infrared spectrophotometry, using the infrared analysis equipment MilkoScan Minor (Foss, Denmark), previously validated for human milk.7 Sample size calculation was performed considering the magnitude of the difference found between measurements of fat in the two forms of administration (gavage and continuous infusion) in the study by Vieira et al.,7 power of 90%, and significance of 95%. In this study, the magnitude of the difference was 0.94 g/100 mL. Considering these parameters, the initial sample size consisted of 16 samples, which was doubled due to variability of fat content in milk

samples.8 and 9 The measurements of macronutrients and total calories in human milk samples were compared at each phase using the Wilcoxon test for paired samples. The SPSS software, version 20.0 (IBM Corp, USA), was used for the statistical analysis. This study was approved by the Research Ethics Committee of the Instituto Nacional da Saúde da Mulher, Criança e Adolescentes Fernandes Figueira and an informed consent was obtained from all participants. A total of 34 human milk samples were analyzed. There was a variation IKBKE in macronutrients between donated samples of 19% for fat, 1.9% for protein, and 1.6% for lactose. No samples of pooled human milk were analyzed. The mean content of macronutrients in g/100 mL in natural milk was 3.05 ± 1.18 for fat, 1.22 ± 0.50 for protein, and 6.09 ± 0.55 for lactose. The mean of total calories was 56.66 ± 11.76 Kcal/100 mL. Milk administration by continuous infusion significantly altered the levels of fat when compared to gavage, both during the infusion of natural and thawed milk (Table 1). A significant increase of protein in thawed milk was also observed when compared to natural milk. However, no significant difference was observed in the amounts of protein in thawed milk offered either by gavage or continuous infusion. (Table 1) The use of gavage did not result in loss of macronutrients in both natural and thawed milk (Table 1).

As control group, a group of full-term newborns (FTNs) born in th

As control group, a group of full-term newborns (FTNs) born in the same period were selected. Newborns with congenital malformations, chromosomal disorders, or genetic disorders were excluded, as well as newborns of diabetic mothers. Newborn small or large for gestational age were also excluded. Informed consent was

obtained from all parents of the assessed newborns. The study was approved by the Ethics Committee of Hospital Universitário da USP. During this period, 42 newborns (17 PTNs and 25 FTNs) were selected. VRT752271 price Fourteen newborns (three PTNs and 11 PTNs) were excluded due to: failure to complete follow-up (ten), diagnosis of severe heart disease (one) malnutrition (one), lack of informed consent (one), and inadequate DXA assessment (one). After exclusions, 28 newborns were evaluated: 14 PTNs (nine males and five females); and 14 FTNs (ten males and four females). The PTNs had a mean gestational age of 28.4 to 32.0 weeks (mean 31.1) and FTNs,

of 38 to 41.8 weeks (mean 40.1). Birth weight of the PTNs ranged from 1,115 g to 2,130 g (mean 1,540 g), and in FTNs, from 2,900 g to 3,700 g (mean 3,260 g). All had weight between the 10th and 90th percentiles of the reference curve of Alexander et al.16 According to the reference values of BMC for PTNs and FTNs, the estimated variability is approximately 6.5 g (SD = 6.5 g) at 40 weeks of corrected age.2 Assuming S3I-201 ic50 a difference in BMC between PTNs and FTNs is found at 6-months of follow-up of at least 7 g (with the initial difference being 10 g between the two groups), an improvement of at least 30% in PTNs should be expected, with an 80% power and 95% confidence. Based on this calculation, the sample required to perform the study would be 14 patients in each group. Risk factors for inadequate mineralization (pathologies and medications) found in pre-term infants were sepsis with positive blood cultures, which was observed in 28.5%; necrotizing enterocolitis (Bell’s criteria) with clinical therapy, Baricitinib which was seen in 14.3%; and bronchopulmonary

dysplasia (requiring oxygen therapy for 28 days or more), observed in 35.7%. Of total PTNs with bronchopulmonary dysplasia, three received hydrochlorothiazide and two, furosemide. Eleven received parenteral nutrition; two for less than one week, and nine for between one week and one month, with 12 days as the mean duration of parenteral nutrition. Enteral feeding was introduced on the first day of life. During hospitalization in the neonatal unit, all PTNs received human milk, both their own mother’s milk and milk from the University Hospital bank. Only four of the seven preterm infants with birth weight < 1,500 g received human milk supplemented with an additive (FM85®) in pumped breast milk or pasteurized human milk and administered by orogastric tube or cup.

2 1, Applied Bio systems) In the immune challenge experiments, F

2.1, Applied Bio systems). In the immune challenge experiments, F. indicus (approximately 10–20 g each) was maintained in 500 L tank filled with air pumped sea water. For the challenge test, there were three treatments (F. indicus injected with PG, V. parahaemolyticus and saline) combined with seven exposure times at 0, 3, 6, 12, 24, 36 and 48 h. Peptidoglycon (PG) isolated from Bacillus subtilis (69554, Sigma, USA) which had been dissolved in 0.85% NaCl solution BMS-754807 cell line to 1 mg ml−1. F. indicus was injected in the abdominal

side with PG solution at a rate of 20 μl per 20 g of shrimp to reach a dose of 1 mg kg−1. V. parahaemolyticus (accession no: HQ693275) was injected in each shrimp at a concentration of 6×10−4 CFU. Hemolymph was collected from the ventral sinus using a 1-mL sterile syringe preloaded with 100 μl anticoagulant at 0, 3, 6, 12, 24, 36, and 48 h post-injection. The hemolymph was centrifuged immediately at 800 g for 20 min at 4 °C for 20 min. anti-CTLA-4 antibody inhibitor The resulting pellet was used for total RNA isolation, and used for the Fein-Penaeidin transcript. Control groups were injected

with 20 μl saline. For each treatment and each exposure time, hemolymph were extracted from three shrimps. Quantitative RT-PCR was performed using the gene specific primers QFISP F (ATGCGTCTCGTGGTCTGCCT) with QFISP R (CCATAGGGTGGAGCTCTGGA). The primers β-actin F and β-actin R were used to amplify the β-actin fragment that was used as a positive control. The penaeidin cDNA of F. indicus (Fein-Penaeidin) consisted of 234 bp encoding 77 amino acids including an signal peptide of 19 amino acids ( Fig. 1). The calculated molecular mass of the mature protein is 8.335 kDa with an estimated Alectinib datasheet pI of 9.5. The signal peptide region of Fein-Penaeidin is highly conserved in all other crustacean penaeidins (MRLVVCLVSLASFALVCRA). Also the proline-rich residues at the NH2-terminus and the six cysteine residues at the

COOH-terminus are conserved and found homologous with other crustacean sequences. Gly (G), Arg (R), Cys (C) and Ala (A) are abundant in the Fein-Penaeidin sequence. The total numbers of negatively charged residues (Asp+Glu) were one while the numbers of positively charged residues (Arg+Lys) were ten. The estimated extinction coefficient was computed to be 7950 when all pairs of Cys residues form cystines and 7450 when all Cys residues are reduced. The estimated half-life is 30 h in mammalian reticulocytes, in vitro, >20 h in yeast, in vivo and >10 h (Escherichia coli, in vivo). The instability index (II) is computed to be 65.37 and this classifies the protein as unstable. The Aliphatic index and the Grand average of hydropathicity (GRAVY) were found to be 63.38 and −0.144, respectively. The nucleotide sequence and deduced amino acid sequence was submitted to GenBank (accession no: HM535649). According to the search data in the Gen Bank, comparision of full-length alignment of penaeidin of F. indicus with penaeidins of other Penaeid shrimps was performed by BLAST ( Fig.

However, how the external loading signal in bone is transmitted a

However, how the external loading signal in bone is transmitted at the cellular level, especially to and between osteocytes, is not well understood,

and the relationship surrounding mechanical stress, cellular reactions, and bone remodeling is still not fully resolved. This review describes the in vivo and in vitro evidence relating connective tissue growth factor (CTGF or CCN2) to compressive mechanical forces in osteocytes and discussed the molecular Selleckchem PR171 and cellular mechanisms of mechanosensing and mechanotransduction leading to the induction of osteocyte apoptosis and, thereafter, to an increase in bone resorption. Osteocytes are the most numerous cellular component in bone tissue, and are embedded in the calcified bone matrix, where they communicate with each other and with osteoblasts on the bone surface through slender processes comprising gap junctions [31]. Time-lapse

imaging of calvarial explant cultures using transgenic Fasudil supplier mice with green fluorescent protein (GFP)-targeted to osteocytes [32] has been used to observe living osteocytes within their lacunae [33]. Unexpectedly, far from being an inactive, quiescent cell type, the osteocyte was found to be highly dynamic. In a model of experimental tooth movement, when a force is loaded to a tooth, there is selective induction of bone resorption by osteoclasts on the pressured side in the alveolar bone and bone formation by osteoblasts on the tensioned side [34]. This differential stress causes the tooth to move in a specified direction. Using this experimental tooth movement model, we have previously demonstrated that osteocytes respond early to mechanical stress and produce osteopontin

(OPN) in its action as a mechanotransducer, suggesting that osteocytes Tau-protein kinase play a critical role in bone resorption triggered by mechanical force [28]. Furthermore, Tatsumi et al. [29] reported that osteocyte-ablated transgenic mice were resistant to tail suspension-induced bone loss. These results indicated that osteocytes are the major mechanosensitive cells in bone tissues, and are involved in regulation of osteoclastic bone resorption and remodeling. Primary cultures of chick osteocytes in vitro [35] and living bone ex vivo [36] show that functional gap junctions are retained between osteocytes and between osteocytes and osteoblasts. the gap junction connects osteocyte each other and connects osteocyte and osteoblast to mediate their intercellular communication. These findings are consistent with the ability of osteocytes to respond to and transmit signals over long distances while embedded apart from each other in a calcified matrix [35] and [36]. Gap junctional intercellular communication (GJIC) is thus thought to play an important role in the integration and synchronization of bone remodeling.