Environmental predictors of bovine Eimeria infection in western Kenya

Eimeriosis is caused by a protozoan infection affecting most domestic animal species. Outbreaks in cattle are associated with various environmental factors in temperate climates but limited work has been done in tropical settings. The objective of this work was to determine the prevalence and environmental factors associated with bovine Eimeria spp. infection in a mixed farming area of western Kenya. A total of 983 cattle were sampled from 226 cattle-keeping households. Faecal samples were collected directly from the rectum via digital extraction and analysed for the presence of Eimeria spp. infection using the MacMaster technique. Individual and household level predictors of infection were explored using mixed effects logistic regression. The prevalence of individual animal Eimeria infection was 32.8% (95% CI 29.9--35.9). A positive linear relationship was found between risk of Eimeria infection and increasing temperature (ORþinspace=þinspace1.4, 95% CI 1.06--1.86) and distance to areas at risk of flooding (ORþinspace=þinspace1.49, 95% CI 1.17--1.91). There was weak evidence of non-linear relationship between Eimeria infection and the proportion of the area around a household that was classified as swamp (ORþinspace=þinspace1.12, 95% CI 0.87--1.44; OR (quadratic term)þinspace=þinspace0.85, 95% CI 0.73--1.00), and the sand content of the soil (ORþinspace=þinspace1.18, 95% CI 0.91--1.53; OR (quadratic term)þinspace=þinspace1.1, 95% CI 0.99--1.23). The risk of animal Eimeria spp. infection is influenced by a number of climatic and soil-associated conditions

S100A8/A9 (Calprotectin) Is Critical for Development of Glomerulonephritis and Promotes Inflammatory Leukocyte-Renal Cell Interactions.

Glomerulonephritis is a common cause of end-stage renal disease. Infiltrating leukocytes interacting with renal cells play a critical role during the initiation and progression of glomerulonephritis, but the exact mechanisms are not clearly defined. By using the murine model of nephrotoxic nephritis, we investigated the role of S100A8/A9 [myeloid-related protein (MRP) 8/14, calprotectin] in promoting glomerulonephritis. In nephrotoxic nephritis, wild-type (WT) mice with glomerulonephritis have elevated serum levels of S100A8/A9, whereas mice deficient in MRP14 (S100a9(-/-)), and hence S100A8/A9, are significantly protected from disease. By using bone marrow transplants, we showed that MRP14 deficiency is required in both the hemopoietic and intrinsic cells for the protective effect. In vitro, both the WT bone marrow-derived macrophages and renal mesangial cells stimulated with S100A8/A9 secrete IL-6, CXCL1, and tumor necrosis factor α; however, Mrp14(-/-) cells exhibit significantly blunted proinflammatory responses. The interaction of WT bone marrow-derived macrophages with renal microvascular endothelial cells results in increased levels of monocyte chemotactic protein 1, IL-8, and IL-6 cytokines, which is attenuated in Mrp14(-/-) bone marrow-derived macrophages. Data shows that S100A8/A9 plays a critical role during glomerulonephritis, exerting and amplifying autocrine and paracrine proinflammatory effects on bone marrow-derived macrophages, renal endothelial cells, and mesangial cells. Therefore, complete S100A8/A9 blockade may be a new therapeutic target in glomerulonephritis

Rectifying the output of vibrational piezoelectric energy harvester using quantum dots

Piezoelectric energy harvester scavenges mechanical vibrations and generates electricity. Researchers have strived to optimize the electromechanical structures and to design necessary external power management circuits, aiming to deliver high power and rectified outputs ready for serving as batteries. Complex deformation of the mechanical structure results in charges with opposite polarities appearing on same surface, leading to current loss in the attached metal electrode. External power management circuits such as rectifiers comprise diodes that consume power and have undesirable forward bias. To address the above issues, we devise a novel integrated piezoelectric energy harvesting device that is structured by stacking a layer of quantum dots (QDs) and a layer of piezoelectric material. We find that the QD can rectify electrical charges generated from the piezoelectric material because of its adaptable conductance to the electrochemical potentials of both sides of the QDs layer, so that electrical current causing energy loss on the same surface of the piezoelectric material can be minimized. The QDs layer has the potential to replace external rectification circuits providing a much more compact and less power-consumption solution

Adaptogenic and nootropic activities of aqueous extract of Vitis vinifera (grape seed): an experimental study in rat model

BACKGROUND: The aerial parts of Vitis vinifera (common grape or European grape) have been widely used in Ayurveda to treat a variety of common and stress related disorders. In the present investigation, the seed extract of V. vinifera was evaluated for antistress activity in normal and stress induced rats. Furthermore, the extract was studied for nootropic activity in rats and in-vitro antioxidant potential to correlate its antistress activity. METHODS: For the evaluation of antistress activity, groups of rats (n = 6) were subjected to forced swim stress one hour after daily treatment of V. vinifera extract. Urinary vanillylmandelic acid (VMA) and ascorbic acid were selected as non-invasive biomarkers to assess the antistress activity. The 24 h urinary excretion of vanillylmandelic acid (VMA) and ascorbic acid were determined by spectrophotometric methods in all groups under normal and stressed conditions. The nootropic activity of the extract as determined from acquisition, retention and retrieval in rats was studied by conditioned avoidance response using Cook's pole climbing apparatus. The in vitro antioxidant activity was determined based on the ability of V. vinifera to scavenge hydroxyl radicals. RESULTS: Daily administration of V. vinifera at doses of 100, 200 and 300 mg/kg body weight one hour prior to induction of stress inhibited the stress induced urinary biochemical changes in a dose dependent manner. However, no change in the urinary excretion of VMA and ascorbic acid was observed in normal animals at all the doses studied. The cognition, as determined by the acquisition, retention and recovery in rats was observed to be dose dependent. The extract also produced significant inhibition of hydroxyl radicals in comparison to ascorbic acid in a dose dependent manner. CONCLUSION: The present study provides scientific support for the antistress (adaptogenic), antioxidant and nootropic activities of V. vinifera seed extract and substantiate the traditional claims for the usage of grape fruits and seeds in stress induced disorders

“Excellence R Us”: university research and the fetishisation of excellence

The rhetoric of “excellence” is pervasive across the academy. It is used to refer to research outputs as well as researchers, theory and education, individuals and organisations, from art history to zoology. But does “excellence” actually mean anything? Does this pervasive narrative of “excellence” do any good? Drawing on a range of sources we interrogate “excellence” as a concept and find that it has no intrinsic meaning in academia. Rather it functions as a linguistic interchange mechanism. To investigate whether this linguistic function is useful we examine how the rhetoric of excellence combines with narratives of scarcity and competition to show that the hypercompetition that arises from the performance of “excellence” is completely at odds with the qualities of good research. We trace the roots of issues in reproducibility, fraud, and homophily to this rhetoric. But we also show that this rhetoric is an internal, and not primarily an external, imposition. We conclude by proposing an alternative rhetoric based on soundness and capacity-building. In the final analysis, it turns out that that “excellence” is not excellent. Used in its current unqualified form it is a pernicious and dangerous rhetoric that undermines the very foundations of good research and scholarship

Massive stars as thermonuclear reactors and their explosions following core collapse

Nuclear reactions transform atomic nuclei inside stars. This is the process of stellar nucleosynthesis. The basic concepts of determining nuclear reaction rates inside stars are reviewed. How stars manage to burn their fuel so slowly most of the time are also considered. Stellar thermonuclear reactions involving protons in hydrostatic burning are discussed first. Then I discuss triple alpha reactions in the helium burning stage. Carbon and oxygen survive in red giant stars because of the nuclear structure of oxygen and neon. Further nuclear burning of carbon, neon, oxygen and silicon in quiescent conditions are discussed next. In the subsequent core-collapse phase, neutronization due to electron capture from the top of the Fermi sea in a degenerate core takes place. The expected signal of neutrinos from a nearby supernova is calculated. The supernova often explodes inside a dense circumstellar medium, which is established due to the progenitor star losing its outermost envelope in a stellar wind or mass transfer in a binary system. The nature of the circumstellar medium and the ejecta of the supernova and their dynamics are revealed by observations in the optical, IR, radio, and X-ray bands, and I discuss some of these observations and their interpretations.Comment: To be published in " Principles and Perspectives in Cosmochemistry" Lecture Notes on Kodai School on Synthesis of Elements in Stars; ed. by Aruna Goswami & Eswar Reddy, Springer Verlag, 2009. Contains 21 figure

A mathematical and computational review of Hartree-Fock SCF methods in Quantum Chemistry

We present here a review of the fundamental topics of Hartree-Fock theory in Quantum Chemistry. From the molecular Hamiltonian, using and discussing the Born-Oppenheimer approximation, we arrive to the Hartree and Hartree-Fock equations for the electronic problem. Special emphasis is placed in the most relevant mathematical aspects of the theoretical derivation of the final equations, as well as in the results regarding the existence and uniqueness of their solutions. All Hartree-Fock versions with different spin restrictions are systematically extracted from the general case, thus providing a unifying framework. Then, the discretization of the one-electron orbitals space is reviewed and the Roothaan-Hall formalism introduced. This leads to a exposition of the basic underlying concepts related to the construction and selection of Gaussian basis sets, focusing in algorithmic efficiency issues. Finally, we close the review with a section in which the most relevant modern developments (specially those related to the design of linear-scaling methods) are commented and linked to the issues discussed. The whole work is intentionally introductory and rather self-contained, so that it may be useful for non experts that aim to use quantum chemical methods in interdisciplinary applications. Moreover, much material that is found scattered in the literature has been put together here to facilitate comprehension and to serve as a handy reference.Comment: 64 pages, 3 figures, tMPH2e.cls style file, doublesp, mathbbol and subeqn package

Targeting the X Chromosome during Spermatogenesis Induces Y Chromosome Transmission Ratio Distortion and Early Dominant Embryo Lethality in Anopheles gambiae

We have exploited the high selectivity of the homing endonuclease I-PpoI for the X-linked Anopheles gambiae 28S ribosomal genes to selectively target X chromosome carrying spermatozoa. Our data demonstrated that in heterozygous males, the expression of I-PpoI in the testes induced a strong bias toward Y chromosome–carrying spermatozoa. Notably, these male mosquitoes also induced complete early dominant embryo lethality in crosses with wild-type females. Morphological and molecular data indicated that all spermatozoa, irrespectively of the inheritance of the transgene, carried a substantial amount of I-PpoI protein that could attack the maternally inherited chromosome X of the embryo. Besides the obvious implications for implementing vector control measures, our data demonstrated the feasibility of generating synthetic sex distorters and revealed the intriguing possibility of manipulating maternally inherited genes using wild-type sperm cells carrying engineered endonucleases

A randomised controlled trial of a lengthened and multi-disciplinary consultation model in a socially deprived community: a study protocol

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>There has been little development of the general practice consultation over the years, and many aspects of the present consultation do not serve communities with multiple health and social problems well. Many of the problems presenting to general practitioners in socio-economically disadvantaged areas are not amenable to a purely medical solution, and would particularly benefit from a multidisciplinary approach. Socio-economic deprivation is also associated with those very factors (more psychosocial problems, greater need for health promotion, more chronic diseases, more need for patient enablement) that longer consultations have been shown to address. This paper describes our study protocol, which aims to evaluate whether a lengthened multidisciplinary primary care team consultation with families in a socially deprived area can improve the psychological health of mothers in the families.</p> <p>Methods/Design</p> <p>In a randomised controlled trial, families with a history of social problems, substance misuse or depression are randomly allocated to an intervention or control group. The study is based in three general practices in a highly deprived area of North Dublin. Primary health care teams will be trained in conducting a multidisciplinary lengthened consultation. Families in the intervention group will participate in the new style multidisciplinary consultation. Outcomes of families receiving the intervention will be compared to the control group who will receive only usual general practitioner care. The primary outcome is the psychological health of mothers of the families and secondary outcomes include general health status, quality of life measures and health service usage.</p> <p>Discussion</p> <p>The main aim of this study is to evaluate the effectiveness of a lengthened multidisciplinary team consultation in primary care. The embedded nature of this study in general practices in a highly deprived area ensures generalisability to other deprived communities, but more particularly it promises relevance to primary care.</p> <p>Trial registration</p> <p>Current Controlled Trials ISRCTN70578736</p