Urinary and faecal N-methylhistamine concentrations do not serve as markers for mast cell activation or clinical disease activity in dogs with chronic enteropathies

This study sought to correlate faecal and urinary N-methylhistamine (NMH) concentrations with resting versus degranulated duodenal mast cell numbers in dogs with chronic enteropathies (CE), and investigate correlations between intestinal mast cell activation and clinical severity of disease as assessed by canine chronic enteropathy clinical activity index (CCECAI), and between urinary and faecal NMH concentrations, mast cell numbers, and histopathological scores. Twenty-eight dogs with CE were included. Duodenal biopsies were stained with haematoxylin and eosin (H&E), toluidine blue, and by immunohistochemical labelling for tryptase. Duodenal biopsies were assigned a histopathological severity score, and duodenal mast cell numbers were counted in five high-power fields after metachromatic and immunohistochemical staining. Faecal and urinary NMH concentrations were measured by gas chromatography–mass spectrometry

Use of a Granulocyte Immunofluorescence Assay Designed for Humans for Detection of Antineutrophil Cytoplasmic Antibodies in Dogs with Chronic Enteropathies

Perinuclear antineutrophil cytoplasmic antibodies (pANCA) previously have been shown to be serum markers in dogs with chronic enteropathies, with dogs that have food‐responsive disease (FRD) having higher frequencies of seropositivity than dogs with steroid‐responsive disease (SRD). The indirect immunofluorescence (IIF) assay used in previous publications is time‐consuming to perform, with low interobserver agreement. Forty‐four dogs with FRD, 20 dogs with SRD, 20 control dogs, and 38 soft‐coated wheaten terrier (SCWT) or SCWT‐cross dogs

Superconducting Transition Temperature in Heterogeneous Ferromagnet-Superconductor Systems

We study the shift of the the superconducting transition temperature $T_c$ in ferromagnetic-superconducting bi-layers and in a superconducting film supplied a square array of ferromagnetic dots. We find that the transition temperature in these two cases change presumably in opposite direction and that its change is not too small. We extend these results to multilayer structures. We predict that rather small external magnetic field $\sim 10$ Oe can change the transition temperature of the bilayer by 10% .Comment: 9 pages, 2 figure

4f-spin dynamics in La(2-x-y)Sr(x)Nd(y)CuO(4)

We have performed inelastic magnetic neutron scattering experiments on La(2-x-y)Sr(x)Nd(y)CuO(4) in order to study the Nd 4f-spin dynamics at low energies. In all samples we find at high temperatures a quasielastic line (Lorentzian) with a line width which decreases on lowering the temperature. The temperature dependence of the quasielastic line width Gamma/2(T) can be explained with an Orbach-process, i.e. a relaxation via the coupling between crystal field excitations and phonons. At low temperatures the Nd-4f magnetic response S(Q,omega) correlates with the electronic properties of the CuO(2)-layers. In the insulator La(2-y)Nd(y)CuO(4) the quasielastic line vanishes below 80 K and an inelastic excitation occurs. This directly indicates the splitting of the Nd3+ ground state Kramers doublet due to the static antiferromagnetic order of the Cu moments. In La(1.7-x)Sr(x)Nd(0.3)CuO(4) with x = 0.12, 0.15 and La(1.4-x)Sr(x)Nd(0.6)CuO(4) with x = 0.1, 0.12, 0.15, 0.18 superconductivity is strongly suppressed. In these compounds we observe a temperature independent broad quasielastic line of Gaussian shape below T about 30 K. This suggests a distribution of various internal fields on different Nd sites and is interpreted in the frame of the stripe model. In La(1.8-y)Sr(0.2)Nd(y)CuO(4) (y = 0.3, 0.6) such a quasielastic broadening is not observed even at lowest temperature.Comment: 8 pages, 10 figures included, to appear in Phys. Rev.

Two-photon Lithography for 3D Magnetic Nanostructure Fabrication

Ferromagnetic materials have been utilised as recording media within data storage devices for many decades. Confinement of the material to a two dimensional plane is a significant bottleneck in achieving ultra-high recording densities and this has led to the proposition of three dimensional (3D) racetrack memories that utilise domain wall propagation along nanowires. However, the fabrication of 3D magnetic nanostructures of complex geometry is highly challenging and not easily achievable with standard lithography techniques. Here, by using a combination of two-photon lithography and electrochemical deposition, we show a new approach to construct 3D magnetic nanostructures of complex geometry. The magnetic properties are found to be intimately related to the 3D geometry of the structure and magnetic imaging experiments provide evidence of domain wall pinning at a 3D nanostructured junction

Reorientation transition of ultrathin ferromagnetic films

We demonstrate that the reorientation transition from out-of-plane to in-plane magnetization with decreasing temperature as observed experimentally in Ni-films on Cu(001) can be explained on a microscopic basis. Using a combination of mean field theory and perturbation theory, we derive an analytic expression for the temperature dependent anisotropy. The reduced magnetization in the film surface at finite temperatures plays a crucial role for this transition as with increasing temperature the influence of the uniaxial anisotropies is reduced at the surface and is enhanced inside the film.Comment: 4 pages(RevTeX), 3 figures (EPS

Stability of periodic domain structures in a two-dimensional dipolar model

We investigate the energetic ground states of a model two-phase system with 1/r^3 dipolar interactions in two dimensions. The model exhibits spontaneous formation of two kinds of periodic domain structure. A striped domain structure is stable near half filling, but as the area fraction is changed, a transition to a hexagonal lattice of almost-circular droplets occurs. The stability of the equilibrium striped domain structure against distortions of the boundary is demonstrated, and the importance of hexagonal distortions of the droplets is quantified. The relevance of the theory for physical surface systems with elastic, electrostatic, or magnetostatic 1/r^3 interactions is discussed.Comment: Revtex (preprint style, 19 pages) + 4 postscript figures. A version in two-column article style with embedded figures is available at http://electron.rutgers.edu/~dhv/preprints/index.html#ng_do

Oral chondroitin sulfate and prebiotics for the treatment of canine Inflammatory Bowel Disease: a randomized, controlled clinical trial

BACKGROUND Canine inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is a chronic enteropathy of unknown etiology, although microbiome dysbiosis, genetic susceptibility, and dietary and/or environmental factors are hypothesized to be involved in its pathogenesis. Since some of the current therapies are associated with severe side effects, novel therapeutic modalities are needed. A new oral supplement for long-term management of canine IBD containing chondroitin sulfate (CS) and prebiotics (resistant starch, β-glucans and mannaoligosaccharides) was developed to target intestinal inflammation and oxidative stress, and restore normobiosis, without exhibiting any side effects. This double-blinded, randomized, placebo-controlled trial in dogs with IBD aims to evaluate the effects of 180 days administration of this supplement together with a hydrolyzed diet on clinical signs, intestinal histology, gut microbiota, and serum biomarkers of inflammation and oxidative stress. RESULTS Twenty-seven client-owned biopsy-confirmed IBD dogs were included in the study, switched to the same hydrolyzed diet and classified into one of two groups: supplement and placebo. Initially, there were no significant differences between groups (p > 0.05) for any of the studied parameters. Final data analysis (supplement: n = 9; placebo: n = 10) showed a significant decrease in canine IBD activity index (CIBDAI) score in both groups after treatment (p < 0.001). After treatment, a significant decrease (1.53-fold; p < 0.01) in histologic score was seen only in the supplement group. When groups were compared, the supplement group showed significantly higher serum cholesterol (p < 0.05) and paraoxonase-1 (PON1) levels after 60 days of treatment (p < 0.01), and the placebo group showed significantly reduced serum total antioxidant capacity (TAC) levels after 120 days (p < 0.05). No significant differences were found between groups at any time point for CIBDAI, WSAVA histologic score and fecal microbiota evaluated by PCR-restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP). No side effects were reported in any group. CONCLUSIONS The combined administration of the supplement with hydrolyzed diet over 180 days was safe and induced improvements in selected serum biomarkers, possibly suggesting a reduction in disease activity. This study was likely underpowered, therefore larger studies are warranted in order to demonstrate a supplemental effect to dietary treatment of this supplement on intestinal histology and CIBDAI