Subclinical endometritis in dairy cattle is associated with distinct mRNA expression patterns in blood and endometrium

Cattle with subclinical endometritis (SCE) are sub-fertile and diagnosing subclinical uterine disease remains a challenge. The hypothesis for this study was that endometrial inflammation is reflected in mRNA expression patterns of peripheral blood leucocytes. Transcriptome profiles were evaluated in healthy cows and in cows with SCE using circulating white blood cells (WBC) and endometrial biopsy samples collected from the same animals at 45–55 days postpartum. Bioinformatic analyses of microarray-based transcriptional data identified gene profiles associated with distinct biological functions in circulating WBC and endometrium. In circulating WBC, SCE promotes a pro-inflammatory environment, whereas functions related to tissue remodeling are also affected in the endometrium. Nineteen differentially expressed genes associated with SCE were common to both circulating WBC and the endometrium. Among these genes, transcript abundance of immune factors C3, C2, LTF, PF4 and TRAPPC13 were up-regulated in SCE cows at 45–55 days postpartum. Moreover, mRNA expression of C3, CXCL8, LTF, TLR2 and TRAPPC13 was temporally regulated during the postpartum period in circulating WBC of healthy cows compared with SCE cows. This observation might indicate an advantageous modulation of the immune system in healthy animals. The transcript abundance of these genes represents a potential source of indicators for postpartum uterine health

Neuromyths in Music Education: Prevalence and Predictors of Misconceptions among Teachers and Students

In the last decade, educational neuroscience has become increasingly important in the context of instruction, and its applications have been transformed into new teaching methods. Although teachers are interested in educational neuroscience, communication between scientists and teachers is not always straightforward. Thus, misunderstandings of neuroscientific research results can evolve into so-called neuromyths. The aim of the present study was to investigate the prevalence of such music-related neuromyths among music teachers and music students. Based on an extensive literature research, 26 theses were compiled and subsequently evaluated by four experts. Fourteen theses were selected, of which seven were designated as scientifically substantiated and seven as scientifically unsubstantiated (hereafter labeled as “neuromyths”). One group of adult music teachers (n = 91) and one group of music education students (n = 125) evaluated the theses (forced-choice discrimination task) in two separate online surveys. Additionally, in both surveys person-characteristic variables were gathered to determine possible predictors for the discrimination performance. As a result, identification rates of the seven scientifically substantiated theses were similar for teachers (76%) and students (78%). Teachers and students correctly rejected 60 and 59%, respectively, of the seven neuromyths as scientifically unsubstantiated statements. Sensitivity analysis by signal detection theory revealed a discrimination performance of d' = 1.25 (SD = 1.12) for the group of teachers and d' = 1.48 (SD = 1.22) for the students. Both groups showed a general tendency to evaluate the theses as scientifically substantiated (teachers: c = −0.35, students: c = −0.41). Specifically, buzz words such as “brain hemisphere” or “cognitive enhancement” were often classified as correct. For the group of teachers, the best predictor of discrimination performance was having read a large number of media about educational neuroscience and related topics (R2 = 0.06). For the group of students, the best predictors for discrimination performance were a high number of read media and the hitherto completed number of semesters (R2 = 0.14). Our findings make clear that both teachers and students are far from being experts on topics related to educational neuroscience in music and would therefore benefit from current education-related research in psychology and neuroscience

Confusingly Similar: Discerning between Hardware Guitar Amplifier Sounds and Simulations with the Kemper Profiling Amp

Over the last decades, the simulation of musical instruments by digital means has become an important part of modern music production and live performance. Since the first release of the Kemper Profiling Amplifier (KPA) in 2011, guitarists have been able to create and store a nearly unlimited number of “digital fingerprints” of amplifier and cabinet setups for live performances and studio productions. However, whether listeners can discriminate between the sounds of the KPA and the original amplifier remains unclear. Thus, we constructed a listening test based on musical examples from both sound sources. In a first approach, the psychoacoustic analysis using mel-frequency cepstrum coefficients (MFCCs) revealed a high degree of timbre similarity between the two sound sources. In a second step, a listening test with N = 177 showed that the overall discrimination performance was d’ = .34, which was a rather small difference (0.0 ≤ d’ ≤ 0.74). A weak relationship between the degree of general musical sophistication and discrimination performance was found. Overall, we suggest that listeners are rarely able to assign audio examples to the correct condition. We conclude that, at least on a perceptual level, our results give no support for a commonly accepted pessimistic attitude toward digital simulations of hardware sounds

Flow cytometric analysis of established monocyte surface markers.

<p>MACS-separated monocyte subsets (n = 5 cows) were labeled with antibodies to different monocyte markers or isotype controls. After dead cell exclusion with propidium iodide, data were measured as median fluorescence intensity (MFI) and presented as means ± SEM. Background fluorescence (measured in negative controls) was subtracted. Statistical analysis of significance was performed using ANOVA and Bonferroni’s correction for normally distributed data *(P<0,01).</p

Fractions of monocyte subsets of MNC or CD172a+ monocytes and cell numbers in bovine peripheral blood.

<p>N = 5 cows. cM: classical monocytes; intM intermediate monocytes; ncM nonclassical monocytes.</p

The effect of whole blood stimulation with different cytokines or CCL5 on monocyte subsets.

<p>Whole blood samples (n = 7 animals) were incubated with the cytokines IFNγ, IL-4/IL-13, TNF-α or IL-1β or the chemokine CCL5 for 4 h. Leukocytes were stained with monoclonal antibodies to CD172a, CD14 and CD16. After gating on vital (PI-negative) MNC, agate was made on CD172a-positive cells. CD172a-positive cells were presented in CD14 and CD16 dot plot. Mean fluorescence intensity of CD16 (A) and the percentage (B) of the three monocyte subsets was calculated and presented as mean ± SEM. Differences between groups were calculated using the one-way ANOVA and were considered significant (*) if p<0.05.</p

Gating strategy of bovine monocyte subsets based on relative CD14 and CD16 expression.

<p>(<b>A</b>) Three-color immunofluorescence of bovine MNC with mAbs to CD172a, CD14 and CD16 defines three monocyte subsets in peripheral blood. Viable (propidium-iodide-negative) mononuclear cells, based on forward and side scatter characteristics, were gated on CD172a-positive cells. Dot plots of CD14 and CD16 expression display classical monocytes (CD14+CD16−, upper left), intermediate monocytes (CD14+CD16+, upper right) and nonclassical monocytes (CD14-CD16+, lower right). (<b>B</b>) Monocytes were gated in a side scatter/CD172a dot plot, identifying monocytes as CD172a-positive cells. Histograms show that CD172a-positive cells do not express common markers of B cell (CD21), T cell (CD2, CD4 or CD8), NK cell (NKp46) or blood γδ T cell (WC1). Data are shown for cells from one of five tested animals.</p

Inflammasome activation in bovine monocyte subsets.

<p>Analysis of inflammasome activation was done by measuring the secreted IL-1β in medium supernatants of monocyte subsets after combined stimulation with LPS and ATP. MACS-separated bovine monocyte subsets (n = 5 animals) were primed for 5 h with LPS (1 µg/mL) and 5 mmol/L ATP was added to the culture for an additional hour. IL-1β in cell supernatants was measured by ELISA. Differences between groups (one-way ANOVA) were considered significant (*) at p<0.05.</p