Raised cortisol excretion rate in urine and contamination by topical steroids

No abstract available

Worsening of cerebral hyperemia by the administration of terlipressin in acute liver failure with severe hepatic encephalopathy

There is increasing evidence that terlipressin is useful in patients with cirrhosis and hepatorenal syndrome, but there are no data of its use in patients with acute liver failure (ALF) in whom hepatorenal syndrome is common. Although terlipressin produces systemic vasoconstriction, it produces cerebral vasodilatation and may increase cerebral blood flow (CBF). Increased CBF contributes to intracranial hypertension in patients with ALF. The aim of this study was to evaluate the safety of terlipressin in patients with ALF with respect to cerebral haemodynamics. Six successive patients with ALF were electively ventilated for grade IV hepatic encephalopathy. Patients were monitored invasively and CBF was measured (Kety- Schmidt technique). Measurements were made before, at 1, 3 hour and 5 hours after intravenous (single bolus) administration of terlipressin (0.005 mg/kg) )intravenously (single bolus), median 0.25mg (range 0.2-0.3). There was no significant change in heart rate, mean arterial pressure or cardiac output. CBF and jugular venous oxygen saturation both increased significantly at 1 hour (p<0.0=0.016) respectively. Intracranial pressure increased significantly at 21 hours (p<0=.0.031), returning back to baseline values at 42 hours. This study shows that administration of terlipressin, at a dose that did not alter systemic haemodynamicshemodynamics, resulted in worsening of cerebral hyperemia and intracranial hypertension in patients with ALF and severe hepatic encephalopathy. These data suggest the need to exercise extreme caution in the use of terlipressin in these patients in view of its potentially deleterious consequences on cerebral haemodynamics

Characterization of resistance breaking Meloidogyne incognita - like populations using lectins, monoclonal antibodies and spores of Pasteuria penetrans

Six clones de #Meloidogyne, provenant de populations récoltées en Côte d'Ivoire et qui possèdent un phénotype estérasique particulier (codé pVI) ainsi que la faculté de briser la résistance conférée par le gène #Mi, ont été comparés à #M. incognita à l'aide de différentes sondes. Le marquage à l'aide de lectines des exsudats amphidiaux de juvéniles de second stade ne permet pas de distinguer ces lignées de #M. incognita. Des souches de #Pasteuria penetrans permettent de les distinguer et mettent aussi en évidence une certaine variabilité au sein de ce groupe. Deux anticorps monoclonaux, spécifiques de #M. incognita indiquent que les clones de phénotype pVI partagent certains caractères avec #M. incognita$ mais aussi qu'ils s'en distinguent. (Résumé d'auteur

Search for the hero: an investigation into the sports heroes of British sports fans

This is an initial study into British sports fans’ heroes. A questionnaire was sent to 95 students (average age ¼ 19.75) to identify their sporting hero, the hero’s sport and nationality and the reasons for this choice. Football was the most common source of sports heroes, identified by 49% of participants with a sporting hero. The majority (60%, N ¼ 48) of heroes chosen by participants were British, with David Beckham the most popular choice. Differences were observed between the gender of participants, gender of hero chosen and the reasons for choosing the hero. The most common reason for selecting a hero was a personal trait rather than skill, while in the questionnaire a category of Local Affiliation was added to those suggested by previous work. It was concluded that to become a hero athletes should combine skill with devotion to family, charity work and a place in popular culture

A Study of Phase Transition in Black Hole Thermodynamics

This paper deals with five-dimensional black hole solutions in (a) Einstein-Maxwell-Gauss-Bonnet theory with a cosmological constant and (b)Einstein-Yang-Mills-Gauss-Bonnet theory for spherically symmetric space time. In both the cases the possibility of phase transition is examined and it is analyzed whether the phase transition is a Hawking-Page type phase transition or not.Comment: 16 figure

The geometry of the higher dimensional black hole thermodynamics in Einstein-Gauss-Bonnet theory

This paper deals with five-dimensional black hole solutions in (a) Einstein-Yang-Mills-Gauss-Bonnet theory and (b)Einstein-Maxwell-Gauss-Bonnet theory with a cosmological constant for spherically symmetric space time. The geometry of the black hole thermodynamics has been studied for both the black holes.Comment: 8 page

Prevalence of hyaline membrane disease in black and white low-birth-weight infants

Previous studies in South Africa and elsewhere have suggested that there are ethnic differences in the prevalence of hyaline membrane disease (HMD). This study compared the prevalence of HMD between black and white infants with birth weights of 1 000 - 1 749 g. A cohort of black and one of white low-birth-weight infants were enrolled at Baragwanath and Johannesburg Hospitals respectively. Black infants were found to have a higher rate of intra-uterine growth retardation. When compared according to either birth weight or gestational age categories, black infants had a significantly lower prevalence of HMD. For example, between 29 and 34 weeks' gestation 36,2% of black and 62,5% of white infants developed HMD (P &lt; 0,001). The reasons for these differences are not clear, however, and require further study

Combined effects of exogenous enzymes and probiotic on Nile tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus) growth, intestinal morphology and microbiome

A study was carried out to investigate the combined effect of exogenous enzymes and probiotic supplementation on tilapia growth, intestinal morphology and microbiome composition. Tilapia (34.56 ± 0.05 g) were fed one of four diets (35% protein, 5% lipid); one of which was a control and the remaining three diets were supplemented with either enzymes (containing phytase, protease and xylanase), probiotic (containing Bacillus subtilis, Bacillus licheniformis and Bacillus pumilus) or enz-pro (the combination of the enzymes and probiotic). Tilapia fed diet supplemented with enz-pro performed better (P < 0.05) than tilapia fed the control and probiotic supplemented diets in terms of final body weight (FBW), specific growth rate (SGR), feed conversion ratio (FCR) and protein efficiency ratio (PER). The dietary treatments did not affect somatic indices. The serum lysozyme activity was significantly higher (P < 0.05) in tilapia fed the probiotic supplemented diet than of those fed the remaining experimental diets. The intestinal perimeter ratio was higher (P < 0.05) in tilapia fed enz-pro supplemented diet when compared to those fed with the control and probiotic supplemented diets. Goblet cells abundance, microvilli diameter and total enterocyte absorptive surface was higher (P < 0.05) in tilapia fed diet supplemented with enz-pro than those fed the control diet. High-throughput sequencing revealed that majority of reads derived from the tilapia digesta belonged to members of Fusobacteria (predominantly Cetobacterium) distantly followed by Proteobacteria and Firmicutes. The alpha and beta diversities did not differ among dietary treatments indicating that the overall microbial community was not modified to a large extent by dietary treatment. In conclusion, supplementation of the diet with a combination of enzymes and probiotic is capable of improving tilapia growth and intestinal morphology without deleterious effect on the intestinal microbial composition

A comparison between marine and terrestrial invertebrate meals for mirror carp (Cyprinus carpio ) diets: Impact on growth, haematology and health

Invertebrate meals (e.g. polychaetes and insects) present novel and sustainable high-quality nutrient sources for use in fish feed formulations. To test this innovative source, an eleven-week feeding trial was conducted evaluating the effects of replacing the fishmeal (FM) component as an example of a superior protein source (FM CTRL) with ragworm meal (RW, Nereis virens) and/or silkworm pupae (SWP, Bombyx mori) in mirror carp (Cyprinus carpio) diets. Three experimental diets with partial replacement of FM (diets: RW + FM, SWP + FM and RW + SWP + FM) were formulated. All diets were formulated to be iso-nitrogenous, iso-lipidic and iso-energetic. Growth performance and feed utilization indices were assessed, and the feeding trial concluded with the analysis of haematological parameters to provide an indication of carp physiological and health status. Mean weight gain was greatest in mirror carp fed RW + FM (60.83 fish−1 day−1; P < 0.05 vs. all other diets) followed by SWP + FM (40.62 g fish−1 day−1; P < 0.05 vs. all other diets). The least weight gain was achieved in fish fed FM + SWP + RW+ and FM CTRL (34.34 and 33.96 g fish−1 day−1, respectively; not significantly different from each other). Fish fed on RW + FM diet had significantly lower plasma ammonia concentrations than any other dietary groups (P = 0.04). Mirror carp fed on SWP + FM diet (111.52 units mL−1) were observed to have a marked enhancement in alternative complement activity than FM CTRL (79.21 units mL−1, P = 0.041). Both ragworm and silkworm pupae meal present attractive sustainable functional feed component in carp diets, with benefits on enhancing growth performance and specific physiological parameters

How the composition of sandstone matrices affects rates of soil formation

Soils deliver multiple ecosystem services and their long-term sustainability is fundamentally controlled by the rates at which they form and erode. Our knowledge and understanding of soil formation is not commensurate with that of soil erosion, in part due to the difficulty of measuring the former. However, developments in cosmogenic radionuclide accumulation models have enabled soil scientists to more accurately constrain the rates at which soils form from bedrock. To date, all three major rock types – igneous, sedimentary and metamorphic lithologies – have been examined in such work. Soil formation rates have been measured and compared between these rock types, but the impact of rock characteristics on soil formation rates, such as rock matrices and mineralogy, have seldom been explored. In this UK-based study, we used cosmogenic radionuclide analysis to investigate whether the lithological variability of sandstone governs pedogenesis. Soil formation rates were measured on two arable hillslopes at Woburn and Hilton, which are underlain by different types of arenite sandstone. Rates were faster at Woburn, and we suggest that this is due to the fact that the Woburn sandstone formation is less cemented that that at Hilton. Similarly, rates at Woburn and Hilton were found to be faster than those measured at two other sandstone-based sites in the UK, and faster than those compiled in a global inventory of cosmogenic studies on sandstone-based soils. We suggest that the cementing agents present in matrix-abundant wackes studied previously may afford these sandstones greater structural integrity and resistance to weathering. This work points to the importance of factoring bedrock matrices into our understanding of soil formation rates, and the biogeochemical cycles these underpi