Probe-based schemes to guarantee lightpath quality of transmission (QoT) in transparent optical networks

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Effect of photoperiod on sexual activity of boar

The main objective of this study was to assess the effect of photoperiod on sexual activity of three breeds of boars: Swedish Landrace (n=34), Large White (n=38), and Duroc (n=32). Boar sexual activity was analysed based on the libido index and intensity of ejaculation. The libido index was calculated as the ratio between the duration of ejaculation and time of preparation until ejaculation. The intensity of ejaculation was the volume of ejaculate (mL) secreted in the unit of time (min). The effect of photoperiod was analysed as the effect of duration of daylight ( lt 12 h and >12 h) within photoperiod intervals (increasing and decreasing). Impact assessment was carried out by applying the General Linear Model procedure. Libido and intensity of ejaculation varied under the impact of photoperiod and the breed of boars. With the increase in age, the boar libido weakened, while the volume of ejaculate and intensity of ejaculation increased. Boars manifested better libido when the daylight lasted longer than 12 h in both photoperiod intervals. Different from libido, the volume of ejaculate and intensity of ejaculation were highest when the daylight was shorter than 12 h, but only in the decreasing photoperiod interval. Swedish Landrace boars manifested best libido, while in the production of sperm the Duroc boars were inferior compared with Swedish Landrace and Large White. The phenotypic relationship among libido, ejaculate volume, and ejaculation intensity ranges from very low to high; however, the coefficients were positive, which indicates the possibility of simultaneous improvement of these traits

Morphological evidences indicate that the interference of cimetidine on the peritubular components is responsible for detachment and apoptosis of Sertoli cells

Cimetidine, referred as antiandrogenic agent, has caused alterations in the seminiferous tubules, including alterations in the peritubular tissue and death of myoid cells by apoptosis. Regarding the structural and functional importance of the peritubular tissue for the maintenance of Sertoli cells (SC), we purpose to investigate the SC-basement membrane interface, focusing the morphological features of SC and their interaction with the basement membrane in the affected tubules by cimetidine. Ten animals were distributed into two groups, control (CG) and cimetidine (CmG) which received saline solution and 50 mg of cimetidine per kg of body weight, respectively, for 52 days. The testes were fixed, dehydrated and embedded for analyses under light and transmission electron microscopy. Paraffin sections were submitted to the TUNEL method; sections of testes embedded in glycol methacrylate were submitted to PAS method and stained by H&E for morphological and quantitative analyses of Sertoli Cells. In the CmG, the SC nuclei were positive to the TUNEL method and showed typical morphological alterations of cell death by apoptosis (from early to advanced stages). A significant reduction in the number of Sertoli Cells was probably due to death of these cells by apoptosis. A close relationship between SC nuclear alterations (including a high frequency of dislocated nuclei from the basal portion) and damage in the peritubular tissue was observed. The ultrastructural analysis showed a parallelism between the gradual advancement of apoptotic process in SC and detachment of the anchoring sites (hemidesmosomes) of SC plasma membrane from the lamina densa. The presence of portions of lamina densa underlying the detached hemidesmosomes indicates a continuous deposition of lamina densa, resulting in the thickening of the basal lamina. The results indicate a possible disarrangement of the SC cytoskeleton, including the focal adhesion structure. These alterations are related to SC apoptosis and probably result from disturbs induced by cimetidine on the peritubular tissue

Identification and Characterization of Human Observational Studies in Nutritional Epidemiology on Gut Microbiomics for Joint Data Analysis

In any research field, data access and data integration are major challenges that even large, well-established consortia face. Although data sharing initiatives are increasing, joint data analyses on nutrition and microbiomics in health and disease are still scarce. We aimed to identify observational studies with data on nutrition and gut microbiome composition from the Intestinal Microbiomics (INTIMIC) Knowledge Platform following the findable, accessible, interoperable, and reusable (FAIR) principles. An adapted template from the European Nutritional Phenotype Assessment and Data Sharing Initiative (ENPADASI) consortium was used to collect microbiome-specific information and other related factors. In total, 23 studies (17 longitudinal and 6 cross-sectional) were identified from Italy (7), Germany (6), Netherlands (3), Spain (2), Belgium (1), and France (1) or multiple countries (3). Of these, 21 studies collected information on both dietary intake (24 h dietary recall, food frequency questionnaire (FFQ), or Food Records) and gut microbiome. All studies collected stool samples. The most often used sequencing platform was Illumina MiSeq, and the preferred hypervariable regions of the 16S rRNA gene were V3-V4 or V4. The combination of datasets will allow for sufficiently powered investigations to increase the knowledge and understanding of the relationship between food and gut microbiome in health and disease

Static and dynamic mechanics of the murine lung after intratracheal bleomycin

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Despite its widespread use in pulmonary fibrosis research, the bleomycin mouse model has not been thoroughly validated from a pulmonary functional standpoint using new technologies. Purpose of this study was to systematically assess the functional alterations induced in murine lungs by fibrogenic agent bleomycin and to compare the forced oscillation technique with quasi-static pressure-volume curves in mice following bleomycin exposure.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Single intratracheal injections of saline (50 μL) or bleomycin (2 mg/Kg in 50 μL saline) were administered to C57BL/6 (<it>n </it>= 40) and Balb/c (<it>n </it>= 32) mice. Injury/fibrosis score, tissue volume density (TVD), collagen content, airway resistance (<it>R_N</it>), tissue damping (<it>G</it>) and elastance coefficient (<it>H</it>), hysteresivity (<it>η</it>), and area of pressure-volume curve (PV-A) were determined after 7 and 21 days (inflammation and fibrosis stage, respectively). Statistical hypothesis testing was performed using one-way ANOVA with LSD <it>post hoc </it>tests.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Both C57BL/6 and Balb/c mice developed weight loss and lung inflammation after bleomycin. However, only C57BL/6 mice displayed cachexia and fibrosis, evidenced by increased fibrosis score, TVD, and collagen. At day 7, PV-A increased significantly and <it>G </it>and <it>H </it>non-significantly in bleomycin-exposed C57BL/6 mice compared to saline controls and further increase in all parameters was documented at day 21. <it>G </it>and <it>H</it>, but not PV-A, correlated well with the presence of fibrosis based on histology, TVD and collagen. In Balb/c mice, no change in collagen content, histology score, TVD, <it>H </it>and <it>G </it>was noted following bleomycin exposure, yet PV-A increased significantly compared to saline controls.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Lung dysfunction in the bleomycin model is more pronounced during the fibrosis stage rather than the inflammation stage. Forced oscillation mechanics are accurate indicators of experimental bleomycin-induced lung fibrosis. Quasi-static PV-curves may be more sensitive than forced oscillations at detecting inflammation and fibrosis.</p

Prevalence and early-life risk factors of school-age allergic multimorbidity: The EuroPrevall-iFAAM birth cohort.

To access publisher's full text version of this article, please click on the hyperlink in Additional Links field or click on the hyperlink at the top of the page marked DownloadBackground: Coexistence of childhood asthma, eczema and allergic rhinitis is higher than can be expected by chance, suggesting a common mechanism. Data on allergic multimorbidity from a pan-European, population-based birth cohort study have been lacking. This study compares the prevalence and early-life risk factors of these diseases in European primary school children. Methods: In the prospective multicentre observational EuroPrevall-iFAAM birth cohort study, we used standardized questionnaires on sociodemographics, medical history, parental allergies and lifestyle, and environmental exposures at birth, 12 and 24 months. At primary school age, parents answered ISAAC-based questions on current asthma, rhinitis and eczema. Allergic multimorbidity was defined as the coexistence of at least two of these. Results: From 10,563 children recruited at birth in 8 study centres, we included data from 5,572 children (mean age 8.2 years; 51.8% boys). Prevalence estimates were as follows: asthma, 8.1%; allergic rhinitis, 13.3%; and eczema, 12.0%. Allergic multimorbidity was seen in 7.0% of the whole cohort, ranging from 1.2% (Athens, Greece) to 10.9% (Madrid, Spain). Risk factors for allergic multimorbidity, identified with AICc, included family-allergy-score, odds ratio (OR) 1.50 (95% CI 1.32-1.70) per standard deviation; early-life allergy symptoms, OR 2.72 (2.34-3.16) for each symptom; and caesarean birth, OR 1.35 (1.04-1.76). Female gender, OR 0.72 (0.58-0.90); older siblings, OR 0.79 (0.63-0.99); and day care, OR 0.81 (0.63-1.06) were protective factors. Conclusion: Allergic multimorbidity should be regarded as an important chronic childhood disease in Europe. Some of the associated early-life factors are modifiable and may be considered for prevention strategies. Keywords: allergic multimorbidity; allergic rhinitis; asthma; children; eczema.European Commission under the 6th Framework Programme within the collaborative research initiative 'EuroPrevall' European Commission under 7th Framework Programme (FP7-KBBE-2012-6) within the collaborative project 'iFAAM' Icelandic birth cohort centre from Landspitali University Hospital Iceland Science Fund GlaxoSmithKline UK birth cohort centre from the UK Food Standards Agenc

Birth cohorts in asthma and allergic diseases: Report of a NIAID/NHLBI/MeDALL joint workshop

Population-based birth cohorts on asthma and allergies increasingly provide new insights into the development and natural history of the diseases. Over 130 birth cohorts focusing on asthma and allergy have been initiated in the last 30 years. A NIAID (National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases), NHLBI (National Heart Lung and Blood Institute), MeDALL (Mechanisms of the Development of Allergy, Framework Programme 7 of the European Commission) joint workshop was held in Bethesda, MD, USA September 11–12, 2012 with 3 objectives (1) documenting the knowledge that asthma/allergy birth cohorts have provided, (2) identifying the knowledge gaps and inconsistencies and (3) developing strategies for moving forward, including potential new study designs and the harmonization of existing asthma birth cohort data. The meeting was organized around the presentations of 5 distinct workgroups: (1) clinical phenotypes, (2) risk factors, (3) immune development of asthma and allergy, (4) pulmonary development and (5) harmonization of existing birth cohorts. This manuscript presents the workgroup reports and provides web links (AsthmaBirthCohorts.niaid.nih.gov or www.medall-fp7.eu) where the reader will find tables describing the characteristics of the birth cohorts included in this report, type of data collected at differing ages, and a selected bibliography provided by the participating birth cohorts