An interleukin-33/ST2 signaling deficiency reduces overt pain-like behaviors in mice

Interleukin (IL)-33, the most recent member of the IL family of cytokines, signals through the ST2 receptor. IL-33/ST2 signaling mediates antigen challenge-induced mechanical hyperalgesia in the joints and cutaneous tissues of immunized mice. The present study asked whether IL-33/ST2 signaling is relevant to overt pain-like behaviors in mice. Acetic acid and phenyl-p-benzoquinone induced significant writhing responses in wild-type (WT) mice; this overt nociceptive behavior was reduced in ST2-deficient mice. In an antigen-challenge model, ST2-deficient immunized mice had reduced induced flinch and licking overt pain-like behaviors. In the formalin test, ST2-deficient mice also presented reduced flinch and licking responses, compared with WT mice. Naive WT and ST2-deficient mice presented similar responses in the rota-rod, hot plate, and electronic von Frey tests, indicating no impairment of motor function or alteration in basal nociceptive responses. The results demonstrate that IL-33/ST2 signaling is important in the development of overt pain-like behaviors

Mechanisms underlying gas exchange alterations in an experimental model of pulmonary embolism

The aim of the present study was to determine the ventilation/perfusion ratio that contributes to hypoxemia in pulmonary embolism by analyzing blood gases and volumetric capnography in a model of experimental acute pulmonary embolism. Pulmonary embolization with autologous blood clots was induced in seven pigs weighing 24.00 ± 0.6 kg, anesthetized and mechanically ventilated. Significant changes occurred from baseline to 20 min after embolization, such as reduction in oxygen partial pressures in arterial blood (from 87.71 ± 8.64 to 39.14 ± 6.77 mmHg) and alveolar air (from 92.97 ± 2.14 to 63.91 ± 8.27 mmHg). The effective alveolar ventilation exhibited a significant reduction (from 199.62 ± 42.01 to 84.34 ± 44.13) consistent with the fall in alveolar gas volume that effectively participated in gas exchange. The relation between the alveolar ventilation that effectively participated in gas exchange and cardiac output (V Aeff/Q ratio) also presented a significant reduction after embolization (from 0.96 ± 0.34 to 0.33 ± 0.17 fraction). The carbon dioxide partial pressure increased significantly in arterial blood (from 37.51 ± 1.71 to 60.76 ± 6.62 mmHg), but decreased significantly in exhaled air at the end of the respiratory cycle (from 35.57 ± 1.22 to 23.15 ± 8.24 mmHg). Exhaled air at the end of the respiratory cycle returned to baseline values 40 min after embolism. The arterial to alveolar carbon dioxide gradient increased significantly (from 1.94 ± 1.36 to 37.61 ± 12.79 mmHg), as also did the calculated alveolar (from 56.38 ± 22.47 to 178.09 ± 37.46 mL) and physiological (from 0.37 ± 0.05 to 0.75 ± 0.10 fraction) dead spaces. Based on our data, we conclude that the severe arterial hypoxemia observed in this experimental model may be attributed to the reduction of the V Aeff/Q ratio. We were also able to demonstrate that V Aeff/Q progressively improves after embolization, a fact attributed to the alveolar ventilation redistribution induced by hypocapnic bronchoconstriction.1197120

Population Structure Of Jatropha And Its Implication For The Breeding Program

Jatropha (Jatropha curcas L.) has potential as an oilseed crop that requires the development of technology for its exploitation. The objective of this study was to assess the population structure and the genetic diversity in jatropha accessions at a global level using simple sequence repeat (SSR) molecular markers. Jatropha accessions (N = 109) from 10 countries were genotyped using 10 SSR markers. The results showed a low level of genetic diversity among 92 accessions originating from India, Mozambique, Ethiopia, Tanzania, Brazil, Honduras, and Indonesia, which were grouped in one cluster. In contrast, accessions from Mexico and Costa Rica showed high level of genetic variability. These accessions may be used to increase the genetic diversity of jatropha in the breeding populations. The study also showed the need of collecting activity from the center of diversity (Mexico and Costa Rica) to aggregate the genetic diversity in the international collections of jatropha. © FUNPEC-RP.15

Necessary Optimality Conditions for Higher-Order Infinite Horizon Variational Problems on Time Scales

We obtain Euler-Lagrange and transversality optimality conditions for higher-order infinite horizon variational problems on a time scale. The new necessary optimality conditions improve the classical results both in the continuous and discrete settings: our results seem new and interesting even in the particular cases when the time scale is the set of real numbers or the set of integers.Comment: This is a preprint of a paper whose final and definite form will appear in Journal of Optimization Theory and Applications (JOTA). Paper submitted 17-Nov-2011; revised 24-March-2012 and 10-April-2012; accepted for publication 15-April-201

Safflower seeds in the diet of feedlot lambs improved fat carcass, colour, and fatty acid profile of the meat

The aim of this study was to evaluate intake, performance, carcass characteristics and meat quality of lambs fed finishing diets containing 0%, 7.5% and 15% safflower seeds (Carthamus tinctorius) as a replacement for corn and soybean meal. Thirty-six male lambs with mean bodyweight of 17.9 ± 1.8 kg were randomly assigned to one of three treatments: C0: no safflower seeds, C7.5: 7.5%safflower seeds in diet (DM basis), and C15: 15% safflower seeds in diet (DM basis). The lambs were fed in pens of two and thus there were six replicates per treatment. Performance and carcass characteristics were not affected by including safflower seeds in their diet. Animals fed 7.5% safflower seeds had greater dry matter intake. There was a linear effect of increasing the redness (a*) of meat with the amount of safflower, where a mean of 15.77 was found for lambs that received the C15 diet. With increasing levels of safflower, the concentration of fatty acids C14:0, C17:0, and C22:1 increased. However, conjugated linoleic acid (CLA, C18:2) was reduced in lambs fed C15. A concentration of 0.461 g/100 g meat was observed for animals that consumed C7.5. Thus, lambs fed a diet containing 7.5% safflower had the greatest dry matter intake, carcass fat, and concentration of conjugated linoleic acid in their meat, and enhanced meat colour.Key words: conjugated linoleic acid, human health, lipid supplementation, oilseed

Emission and absorption of photons and the black-body spectra in Lorentz-odd Electrodynamics

We study a number of issues related to the emission and absorption radiation by non-relativistic electrons within the framework of a Lorentz-breaking electrodynamics in (3+1) dimensions. Our main results concern how Planck-like spectrum law is sensitive to terms that violate Lorentz symmetry. We have realized that Planck law acquires extra terms proportional to the violating parameters: for the CPT-odd model, the leading extra terms appear to be linear or quadratic in these violating parameters according to the background vector is parallel or perpendicular to the photon wave-vector. In the CPT-even case a linear `correction' shows up. Among other possible ways to probe for these violations, by means of the present results, we may quote the direct observation of the extra contributions or an unbalancing in the mean occupation number of photon modes in a given thermal bath.Comment: 11 pages, Late

Gravitational field around a screwed superconducting cosmic string in scalar-tensor theories

We obtain the solution that corresponds to a screwed superconducting cosmic string (SSCS) in the framework of a general scalar-tensor theory including torsion. We investigate the metric of the SSCS in Brans-Dicke theory with torsion and analyze the case without torsion. We show that in the case with torsion the space-time background presents other properties different from that in which torsion is absent. When the spin vanish, this torsion is a $\phi$-gradient and then it propagates outside of the string. We investigate the effect of torsion on the gravitational force and on the geodesics of a test-particle moving around the SSCS. The accretion of matter by wakes formation when a SSCS moves with speed $v$ is investigated. We compare our results with those obtained for cosmic strings in the framework of scalar-tensor theory.Comment: 22 pages, LaTeX, presented at the "XXII - Encontro Nacional de Fisica de Particulas e Campos", Sao Lourenco, MG, Brazi

Classical Solutions in a Lorentz-violating Maxwell-Chern-Simons Electrodynamics

We take as starting point the planar model arising from the dimensional reduction of the Maxwell Electrodynamics with the (Lorentz-violating) Carroll-Field-Jackiw term. We then write and study the extended Maxwell equations and the corresponding wave equations for the potentials. The solution to these equations show some interesting deviations from the usual MCS Electrodynamics, with background-dependent correction terms. In the case of a time-like background, the correction terms dominate over the MCS sector in the region far from the origin, and establish the behaviour of a massless Electrodynamics (in the electric sector). In the space-like case, the solutions indicate the clear manifestation of spatial anisotropy, which is consistent with the existence of a privileged direction is space.Comment: latex, 8 page

Gravitational field around a time-like current-carrying screwed cosmic string in scalar-tensor theories

In this paper we obtain the space-time generated by a time-like current-carrying superconducting screwed cosmic string(TCSCS). This gravitational field is obtained in a modified scalar-tensor theory in the sense that torsion is taken into account. We show that this solution is comptible with a torsion field generated by the scalar field $\phi$. The analysis of gravitational effects of a TCSCS shows up that the torsion effects that appear in the physical frame of Jordan-Fierz can be described in a geometric form given by contorsion term plus a symmetric part which contains the scalar gradient. As an important application of this solution, we consider the linear perturbation method developed by Zel'dovich, investigate the accretion of cold dark matter due to the formation of wakes when a TCSCS moves with speed $v$ and discuss the role played by torsion. Our results are compared with those obtained for cosmic strings in the framework of scalar-tensor theories without taking torsion into account.Comment: 21 pages, no figures, Revised Version, presented at the "XXIV- Encontro Nacional de Fisica de Particulas e Campos ", Caxambu, MG, Brazil, to appear in Phys. Rev.