Starch and oil in the donor cow diet and starch in substrate differently affect the in vitro ruminal biohydrogenation of linoleic and linolenic acids

Trans isomers of fatty acids exhibit different health properties. Among them, trans-10,cis-12 conjugated linoleic acid has negative effects on milk fat production and can affect human health. A shift from the trans-11 to the trans-10 pathway of biohydrogenation (BH) can occur in the rumen of dairy cows receiving high-concentrate diets, especially when the diet is supplemented with highly unsaturated fat sources. The differences of BH patterns between linoleic acid (LeA) and linolenic acid (LnA) in such ruminal conditions remain unknown; thus, the aim of this work was to investigate in vitro the effects of starch and sunflower oil in the diet of the donor cows and starch level in the incubates on the BH patterns and efficiencies of LeA and LnA. The design was a 4 × 4 Latin square design with 4 cows, 4 periods, and 4 diets with combinations of 21 or 34% starch and 0 or 5% sunflower oil. The rumen content of each cow during each period was incubated with 4 substrates, combining 2 starch levels and either LeA or LnA addition. Capillary electrophoresis single-strand conformation polymorphism of incubates showed that dietary starch decreased the diversity of the bacterial community and the high-starch plus oil diet modified its structure. High-starch diets poorly affected isomerization and first reduction of LeA and LnA, but decreased the efficiencies of trans-11,cis-15-C18:2 and trans C18:1 reduction. Dietary sunflower oil increased the efficiency of LeA isomerization but decreased the efficiency of trans C18:1 reduction. An interaction between dietary starch and dietary oil resulted in the highest trans-10 isomers production in incubates when the donor cow received the high-starch plus oil diet. The partition between trans-10 and trans-11 isomers was also affected by an interaction between starch level and the fatty acid added to the incubates, showing that the trans-10 shift only occurred with LeA, whereas LnA was mainly hydrogenated via the more usual trans-11 pathway, whatever the starch level in the substrate, although the bacterial communities were not different between LeA and LnA incubates. In LeA incubates, trans-10 isomer production was significantly related to the structure of the bacterial community

The human semicircular canal model of galvanic vestibular stimulation

A vector summation model of the action of galvanic stimuli on the semicircular canals has been shown to explain empirical balance and perceptual responses to binaural-bipolar stimuli. However, published data suggest binaural-monopolar stimuli evoke responses that are in the reverse direction of the model prediction. Here, we confirm this by measuring balance responses to binaural-monopolar stimulation as movements of the upper trunk. One explanation for the discrepancy is that the galvanic stimulus might evoke an oppositely directed balance response from the otolith organs that sums with and overrides the semicircular canal response. We tested this hypothesis by measuring sway responses across the full range of head pitch. The results showed some modulation of sway with pitch such that the maximal response occurred with the head in the primary position. However, the effect fell a long way short of that required to reverse the canal sway response. This indicates that the model is incomplete. Here, we examine alterations to the model that could explain both the bipolar and monopolar-evoked behavioural responses. An explanation was sought by remodelling the canal response with more recent data on the orientation of the individual canals. This improved matters but did not reverse the model prediction. However, the model response could be reversed by either rotating the entire labyrinth in the skull or by altering the gains of the individual canals. The most parsimonious solution was to use the more recent canal orientation data coupled with a small increase in posterior canal gain

Cerebellar ataxia, neuropathy, vestibular areflexia syndrome due to RFC1 repeat expansion

Ataxia, causing imbalance, dizziness and falls, is a leading cause of neurological disability. We have recently identified a biallelic intronic AAGGG repeat expansion in replication factor complex subunit 1 (RFC1) as the cause of cerebellar ataxia, neuropathy, vestibular areflexia syndrome (CANVAS) and a major cause of late onset ataxia. Here we describe the full spectrum of the disease phenotype in our first 100 genetically confirmed carriers of biallelic repeat expansions in RFC1 and identify the sensory neuropathy as a common feature in all cases to date. All patients were Caucasian and half were sporadic. Patients typically reported progressive unsteadiness starting in the sixth decade. A dry spasmodic cough was also frequently associated and often preceded by decades the onset of walking difficulty. Sensory symptoms, oscillopsia, dysautonomia and dysarthria were also variably associated. The disease seems to follow a pattern of spatial progression from the early involvement of sensory neurons, to the later appearance of vestibular and cerebellar dysfunction. Half of the patients needed walking aids after 10 years of disease duration and a quarter were wheelchair dependent after 15 years. Overall, two-thirds of cases had full CANVAS. Sensory neuropathy was the only manifestation in 15 patients. Sixteen patients additionally showed cerebellar involvement, and six showed vestibular involvement. The disease is very likely to be underdiagnosed. Repeat expansion in RFC1 should be considered in all cases of sensory ataxic neuropathy, particularly, but not only, if cerebellar dysfunction, vestibular involvement and cough coexist

Top-down and bottom-up modulation in processing bimodal face/voice stimuli

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Processing of multimodal information is a critical capacity of the human brain, with classic studies showing bimodal stimulation either facilitating or interfering in perceptual processing. Comparing activity to congruent and incongruent bimodal stimuli can reveal sensory dominance in particular cognitive tasks.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>We investigated audiovisual interactions driven by stimulus properties (bottom-up influences) or by task (top-down influences) on congruent and incongruent simultaneously presented faces and voices while ERPs were recorded. Subjects performed gender categorisation, directing attention either to faces or to voices and also judged whether the face/voice stimuli were congruent in terms of gender. Behaviourally, the unattended modality affected processing in the attended modality: the disruption was greater for attended voices. ERPs revealed top-down modulations of early brain processing (30-100 ms) over unisensory cortices. No effects were found on N170 or VPP, but from 180-230 ms larger right frontal activity was seen for incongruent than congruent stimuli.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Our data demonstrates that in a gender categorisation task the processing of faces dominate over the processing of voices. Brain activity showed different modulation by top-down and bottom-up information. Top-down influences modulated early brain activity whereas bottom-up interactions occurred relatively late.</p

Impact of Vutrisiran on Quality of Life and Physical Function in Patients with Hereditary Transthyretin-Mediated Amyloidosis with Polyneuropathy

INTRODUCTION: Hereditary transthyretin (ATTRv; v for variant) amyloidosis, also known as hATTR amyloidosis, is a progressive and fatal disease associated with rapid deterioration of physical function and patients' quality of life (QOL). Vutrisiran, a subcutaneously administered RNA interference (RNAi) therapeutic that reduces hepatic production of transthyretin, was assessed in patients with ATTRv amyloidosis with polyneuropathy in the pivotal HELIOS-A study. METHODS: The phase 3 open-label HELIOS-A study investigated the efficacy and safety of vutrisiran in patients with ATTRv amyloidosis with polyneuropathy, compared with an external placebo group from the APOLLO study of the RNAi therapeutic patisiran. Measures of QOL and physical function were assessed. RESULTS: At month 18, vutrisiran improved Norfolk Quality of Life-Diabetic Neuropathy (Norfolk QOL-DN) total score (least squares mean difference [LSMD] in change from baseline [CFB]: –21.0; p = 1.84 × 10–10) and Norfolk QOL-DN domain scores, compared with external placebo. This benefit relative to external placebo was evident across all baseline polyneuropathy disability (PND) scores and most pronounced in patients with baseline PND scores I–II. Compared with external placebo, vutrisiran also demonstrated benefit in EuroQoL-Visual Analog Scale (EQ-VAS) score (LSMD in CFB: 13.7; nominal p = 2.21 × 10–7), 10-m walk test (LSMD in CFB: 0.239 m/s; p = 1.21 × 10–7), Rasch-built Overall Disability Score (LSMD in CFB: 8.4; p = 3.54 × 10–15), and modified body mass index (mBMI) (LSMD in CFB: 140.7; p = 4.16 × 10–15) at month 18. Overall, Norfolk QOL-DN, EQ-VAS, and mBMI improved from pretreatment baseline with vutrisiran, whereas all measures worsened from baseline in the external placebo group. At month 18, Karnofsky Performance Status was stable/improved from baseline in 58.2/13.1% with vutrisiran versus 34.7/8.1% with external placebo. CONCLUSION: Vutrisiran treatment provided significant clinical benefits in multiple measures of QOL and physical function in patients with ATTRv amyloidosis with polyneuropathy. Benefits were most pronounced in patients with earlier-stage disease, highlighting the importance of early diagnosis and treatment

Alterações anatômicas em algodoeiro infectado pelo vírus da doença azul Anatomical alterations in blue disease infected cotton plant

A doença azul do algodoeiro está associada a um vírus ainda pouco conhecido em suas características morfológicas e moleculares, tanto quanto a sua patologia e epidemiologia. O tipo de transmissão circulativa pelo afídeo vetor Aphis gossypii Glover, associado a recentes relatos de estudos moleculares, sustentam ser o agente etiológico uma espécie membro da família Luteoviridae. No presente trabalho, estudos anatômicos comparativos em plantas sadias e infectadas foram realizados com a finalidade de conhecer aspectos estruturais da interação vírus-espécie hospedeira, com potencial aplicação na área de diagnose e melhoramento genético. Os estudos anatômicos foram realizados em folhas de plantas infectadas, com área foliar reduzida, nervuras cloróticas e margem foliar voltada para baixo. O encurtamento dos entrenós, que resultam em um agrupamento de folhas, flores e frutos, e conseqüente redução da altura da planta, do número e tamanho dos frutos, são expressões fenotípicas da planta de algodão infectada, a qual serviu para o presente estudo. Nas plantas infectadas com o agente da doença azul havia maior acúmulo de calose e de cristais de oxalato de cálcio, cloroplastos íntegros distribuídos na região periférica das células do mesofilo e aparente alteração química no interior das células do parênquima paliçádico. Inclusões nos vasos do floema e, ocasionalmente no xilema, também foram observadas. O acúmulo de calose e a presença de inclusões no floema podem indicar uma relação ou preferência do vírus por esse tecido.<br>Cotton blue disease is caused by a virus whose morphological and molecular characteristics is not well known and so demanding information its phytosanitary and epidemiological characteristics. Evidences of an aphid borne (Aphis gossypii Glover) circulative (persistent) type of transmission, associated with a recent molecular report, sustain for a virus species belonging to the Luteoviridae family. Aiming to understand virus-host pathogenesis as well as to contribute with diagnostic and breeding aspects of cotton blue disease, in the present work, structural studies were performed via anatomical comparative analysis of health and infected plant tissues. For the anatomical studies, leaves from infected cotton plants were chosen when showing typical symptoms, such as: stunting, reduced leaf area with chlorotic vein and edges curled downward; clustered leaves, flowers and fruits due to reduced stem internodes. The results revealed that infected tissues present an increase in callose accumulation and calcium oxalate crystals; integrity of chloroplasts, which were distributed on the peripheral mesophyll cells, revealed a chemical alteration in the interior of palisade parenchyma cells. Inclusions in phloem and occasionally also xylem vessels were observed. The callose accumulation and the presence of inclusions in the phloem vessels are indications of a preferential relationship of the virus to these tissues

Autonomic dysfunction and prediction of long term survival in transthyretin amyloidosis

Congress of the European-Society-of-Cardiology (ESC), Rome, ITALY, AUG 27-31, 2016International audienc

Efecto de la adici\uf3n en el pienso de mananoligosac\ue1ridos y \u3b2-glucanos de levaduras sobre la microbiota intestinal de gazapos

This work aimed to study the response of the ileal and caecal microbiota after dietary supplementation with MOS (Actigen, Alltech) and \u3b2-glucans. Sixty four weaning rabbits were randomly assigned to 4 experimental diets and fed ad libitum for 13 days as following: a control diet (C), G2 and M2 diets obtained supplementing C diet with 200 mg/kg of \u3b2-glucans or 800 mg/kg of MOS, respectively and MG diet was supplemented with 100 mg/kg of \u3b2-glucans + 400 mg/kg of MOS. The microbiota of ileum and caecum digesta was analyzed using TRFLP technique. Animals fed G2 and M2 decrease the biodiversity in ileum (P<0.010), but did not affect the biodiversity of the caecal microbiota. MG diet led to a microbiota distant from others diets both in ileum and caecum, especially from control group (R=0.95, R=0.69 respectively; P<0.001). Similarity analysis and diversity calculation provided that microbiota changes caused by the additives have been most important in ileum than in caecum. In conclusion, the MOS and the \u3b2-glucans cause changes in ileal and caecal microbiota of young rabbits after weaning. The mixture of both seems to have a distant effect than the individual components

Autonomic dysfunction and prediction of long term survival in transthyretin amyloidosis

Congress of the European-Society-of-Cardiology (ESC), Rome, ITALY, AUG 27-31, 2016International audienc