Effect of the change of social environment on the behavior of a captive brown bear (Ursus arctos)

We observed the behavior of a captive sterilized male brown bear before and after the death of his female sibling to investigate the effect of the change of social environment on his behavior and welfare. Observations were carried out by continuous recording during daylight for 6 wk prior to hibernation when the bear was kept with the sibling, and they were repeated 2 years later when the bear was alone (total observation time is 108 h). Feeding, moving, and the total amount of time spent resting (including sleeping and alert inactive) were not affected by the change of social environment. However, when the bear was alone, the percentage of time he spent alert inactive almost trebled (pair, 17.7 \ub1 3.3%; alone, 48.5 \ub1 5.5%; P < 0.001), and the time spent sleeping was less than one-third (pair, 51.1 \ub1 6.1%; alone, 14.2 \ub1 5.0%; P < 0.001) than when the female was present. The bear spent most of his sleeping time in lateral lying posture (a posture probably associated with rapid eyes movement sleep). The percentage of time dedicated to this posture was significantly reduced after the death of his sibling (pair, 35.9 \ub1 7.4%; alone, 15.0 \ub1 5.4%; P < 0.05), whereas the percentage of time spent in quadrupedal posture increased (pair, 17.1 \ub1 5.4%; alone, 37.8 \ub1 7.8; P < 0.05). One of the possible reasons for these changes may be an increased risk perception of the bear after the death of his sibling. Our results highlight the importance of social environment and of its changes, which should be carefully considered to maintain captive bears in good welfare conditions

Adherence to Antihypertensive Medications andCardiovascular Morbidity Among Newly DiagnosedHypertensive Patients

Background—Nonadherence to antihypertensive treatment is a common problem in cardiovascular prevention and may influence prognosis. We explored predictors of adherence to antihypertensive treatment and the association of adherence with acute cardiovascular events. Methods and Results—Using data obtained from 400 Italian primary care physicians providing information to the Health Search/Thales Database, we selected 18 806 newly diagnosed hypertensive patients 35 years of age during the years 2000 to 2001. Subjects included were newly treated for hypertension and initially free of cardiovascular diseases. Patient adherence was subdivided a priori into 3 categories— high (proportion of days covered, 80%), intermediate (proportion of days covered, 40% to 79%), and low (proportion of days covered, 40%)—and compared with the long-term occurrence of acute cardiovascular events through the use of multivariable models adjusted for demographic factors, comorbidities, and concomitant drug use. At baseline (ie, 6 months after index diagnosis), 8.1%, 40.5%, and 51.4% of patients were classified as having high, intermediate, and low adherence levels, respectively. Multiple drug treatment (odds ratio, 1.62; 95% CI, 1.43 to 1.83), dyslipidemia (odds ratio, 1.52; 95% CI, 1.24 to 1.87), diabetes mellitus (odds ratio, 1.40; 95% CI, 1.15 to 1.71), obesity (odds ratio, 1.50; 95% CI, 1.26 to 1.78), and antihypertensive combination therapy (odds ratio, 1.29; 95% CI, 1.15 to 1.45) were significantly (P0.001) associated with high adherence to antihypertensive treatment. Compared with their low-adherence counterparts, only high adherers reported a significantly decreased risk of acute cardiovascular events (hazard ratio, 0.62; 95% CI, 0.40 to 0.96; P0.032). Conclusions—The long-term reduction of acute cardiovascular events associated with high adherence to antihypertensive treatment underscores its importance in assessments of the beneficial effects of evidence-based therapies in the population. An effort focused on early antihypertensive treatment initiation and adherence is likely to provide major benefits

Wavelength-shifter coated polystyrene as an easy-to-build and low-cost plastic scintillator detector

We studied the light yield of a pure polystyrene slide coated with wavelength-shifter molecules, coupled to a photomultiplier, using beta particles from a 90-Sr source, as a possible easy-to-build, low-cost plastic scintillator detector. Comparison measurements were performed with an uncoated polystyrene slide as well as with uncoated and coated PMMA slides, the latter which can only produce Cherenkov light when being traversed by charged particles. The results with the single (double) coated polystyrene slides show about 4.9 (6.3) times higher detected photon yield compared to the uncoated slide. For comparison, the light yield of a polystyrene-based extruded plastic scintillator material doped with PTP and POPOP was measured as well. The absolute detected light yield motivates future studies for developing easy-to-build, low-cost polystyrene-based plastic scintillator detectors.Comment: 20 pages, 13 figure

Impiego di un programma integrato di bioattivazione per il controllo della polmonite micoplasmica del suino

Introduzione. La qualit\ue0 dell\u2019aria nelle strutture di allevamento dei suini dipende soprattutto dalla concentrazione dei biogas, derivati dall\u2019azione della flora microbica fecale sull\u2019urea contenuta nelle urine; il peggioramento della qualit\ue0 ambientale \ue8 alla base di molti problemi sanitari, basati in primo luogo sull\u2019impossibilit\ue0 degli animali a mantenere un bilancio organico corretto. Una soluzione possibile e innovativa \ue8 rappresentata dalla bioattivazione con miscele batterico-enzimatiche; per questa via, si pu\uf2 ottenere una riduzione delle emanazioni, controllando anche la formazione di sostanze dannose per l\u2019ambiente. Materiali e metodi. \uc8 stato programmato un intervento in due aziende suinicole (il reparto di magronaggio-ingrasso di un ciclo chiuso completo e un allevamento di solo ingrasso), per controllare il danno indotto dall\u2019infezione micoplasmica nelle fasi di produzione a flusso continuo; sono stati messi a confronto gruppi trattati e non trattati, diversi tipi di pavimentazione (grigliato completo, concreto completo e misto grigliato-concreto) e pi\uf9 schemi d\u2019intervento, utilizzando, da soli o in combinazione, bioattivatori in polvere e liquidi. Il sistema di bioattivazione impiegato comprende due bioattivatori (in polvere e soluzione) e un prodotto naturale di origine vegetale da aggiungere alla razione alimentare. La polvere \ue8 stata distribuita sulle pavimentazioni, in ragione di 0,5 Kg per 100 mq ogni 15 giorni mediante spargimento manuale, mentre la soluzione \ue8 stato aerosolizzata nell\u2019ambiente di stabulazione, mediante impianto computerizzato, in ragione di 1 litro ogni 100 mq al mese; il prodotto vegetale, per la sua composizione in grado di riequilibrare la flora intestinale, \ue8 stato invece aggiunto quotidianamente alla razione, in ragione di 500 g/t di mangime. I rilievi e le osservazioni hanno riguardato la concentrazione di azoto ammoniacale (rilevata con metodo chimico), la presenza di anticorpi specifici per M. hyopneumoniae prima e dopo il periodo di trattamento (valutata con metodo ELISA), i punteggi polmonari al macello (valutati con metodo quantitativo) e il peso medio di partita. Risultati. In tutti i gruppi trattati, la sieroprevalenza per M. hyopneumoniae \ue8 stata elevata, a dimostrazione della circolazione dell\u2019infezione nel periodo di osservazione, ma la diminuzione della concentrazione ambientale dell\u2019ammoniaca, ottenuta grazie all\u2019impiego dei bioattivatori) ha permesso di ottenere benefici evidenti sul punteggio polmonare medio, confermati dalla significativit\ue0 statistica delle differenze, e sul peso medio di partita. In rapporto ai tipi di pavimentazione, la bioattivazione ha fornito i risultati migliori combinando polvere e liquido sul grigliato completo. Conclusioni. I risultati ottenuti dimostrano che nelle situazioni di allevamento, la stabilizzazione del bilancio organico degli animali attraverso una gestione ambientale che ne garantisca anche il benessere \ue8 una soluzione attuabile, in una logica di depotenziamento delle infezioni; essi sono la conseguenza dell\u2019accresciuta reattivit\ue0 degli animali, correlata ad un miglior bilancio organico, piuttosto che l\u2019effetto di un\u2019azione diretta sui patogeni; \ue8 in corso la valutazione della reattivit\ue0 immunitaria aspecifica dei suini sottoposti a trattamento, per correlare stato sanitario e produttivit\ue0 al miglioramento della qualit\ue0 ambientale

The MpsB protein contributes to both the toxicity and immune evasion capacity of Staphylococcus aureus

Understanding the role specific bacterial factors play in the development of severe disease in humans is critical if new approaches to tackle such infections are to be developed. In this study we focus on genes we have found to be associated with patient outcome following bacteraemia caused by the major human pathogen Staphylococcus aureus. By examining the contribution these genes make to the ability of the bacteria to survive exposure to the antibacterial factors found in serum, we identify three novel serum resistance-associated genes, mdeA, mpsB and yycH. Detailed analysis of an MpsB mutant supports its previous association with the slow growing small colony variant (SCV) phenotype of S. aureus, and we demonstrate that the effect this mutation has on membrane potential prevents the activation of the Agr quorum sensing system, and as a consequence the mutant bacteria do not produce cytolytic toxins. Given the importance of both toxin production and immune evasion for the ability of S. aureus to cause disease, we believe that these findings explain the role of the mpsB gene as a mortality-associated locus during human disease

A functional menadione biosynthesis pathway is required for capsule production by Staphylococcus aureus

Staphylococcus aureus is a major human pathogen that utilises a wide array of pathogenic and immune evasion strategies to cause disease. One immune evasion strategy, common to many bacterial pathogens, is the ability of S. aureus to produce a capsule that protects the bacteria from several aspects of the human immune system. To identify novel regulators of capsule production by S. aureus, we applied a genome wide association study (GWAS) to a collection of 300 bacteraemia isolates that represent the two major MRSA clones in UK and Irish hospitals: CC22 and CC30. One of the loci associated with capsule production, the menD gene, encodes an enzyme critical to the biosynthesis of menadione. Mutations in this gene that result in menadione auxotrophy induce the slow growing small-colony variant (SCV) form of S. aureus often associated with chronic infections due to their increased resistance to antibiotics and ability to survive inside phagocytes. Utilising such an SCV, we functionally verified this association between menD and capsule production. Although the clinical isolates with polymorphisms in the menD gene in our collections had no apparent growth defects, they were more resistant to gentamicin when compared to those with the wild-type menD gene. Our work suggests that menadione is involved in the production of the S. aureus capsule, and that amongst clinical isolates polymorphisms exist in the menD gene that confer the characteristic increased gentamicin resistance, but not the major growth defect associated with SCV phenotype

Gaugino Mass Nonuniversality and Dark Matter in SUGRA, Strings and D Brane Models

The effects of nonuniversality of gaugino masses on dark matter are examined within supersymmetric grand unification, and in string and D brane models with R parity invariance. In SU(5) unified models nonuniversality in the gaugino sector can be generated via the gauge kinetic energy function which may depend on the 24, 75 and 200 dimensional Higgs representations. We also consider string models which allow for nonuniversality of gaugino masses and D brane models where nonuniversality arises from embeddings of the Standard Model gauge group on five branes and nine branes. It is found that with gaugino mass nonuniversality the range of the LSP mass can be extended much beyond the range allowed in the universal SUGRA case, up to about 600 GeV even without coannihilation effects in some regions of the parameter space. The effects of coannihilation are not considered and inclusion of these effects may further increase the allowed neutralino mass range. Similarly with the inclusion of gaugino mass nonuniversality, the neutralino-proton ($\chi -p$) cross-section can increase by as much as a factor of 10 in some of regions of the parameter space. An analysis of the uncertainties in the quark density content of the nucleon is given and their effects on $\chi -p$ cross-section are discussed. The predictions of our analysis including nonuniversality is compared with the current limits from dark matter detectors and implications for future dark matter searches are discussed.Comment: Revised version, 23 pages, Latex, and 7 figure

The CRACK programme: a scientific alliance for bridging healthcare research and public health policies in Italy

Healthcare utilisation databases, and other secondary data sources, have been used with growing frequency to assess health outcomes and healthcare interventions worldwide. Their increased popularity as a research tool is due to their timely availability, the large patient populations covered, low cost, and applicability for studying real-world clinical practice. Despite the need to measure Italian National Health Service performance both at regional and national levels, the wealth of good quality electronic data and the high standards of scientific research in this field, healthcare research and public health policies seem to progress along orthogonal dimensions in Italy. The main barriers to the development of evidence-based public health include the lack of understanding of evidence-based methodologies by policy makers, and of involvement of researchers in the policy process. The CRACK programme was launched by some academics from the Lombardy Region. By extensively using electronically stored data, epidemiologists, biostatisticians, pharmacologists and clinicians applied methods and evidence to several issues of healthcare research. The CRACK programme was based on their intention to remove barriers that thwart the process of bridging methods and findings from scientific journals to public health practice. This paper briefly describes aim, articulation and management of the CRACK programme, and discusses why it might find articulated application in Italy

Diagnostic MALDI-TOF MS can differentiate between high and low toxic Staphylococcus aureus bacteraemia isolates as a predictor of patient outcome

Staphylococcus aureus bacteraemia (SAB) is a major cause of blood-stream infection (BSI) in both healthcare and community settings. While the underlying comorbidities of a patient significantly contributes to their susceptibility to and outcome following SAB, recent studies show the importance of the level of cytolytic toxin production by the infecting bacterium. In this study we demonstrate that this cytotoxicity can be determined directly from the diagnostic MALDI-TOF mass spectrum generated in a routine diagnostic laboratory. With further development this information could be used to guide the management and improve the outcomes for SAB patients