Influence of space allowance on the welfare of weaned buffalo (Bubalus Bubalis) calves

Twenty weaned female buffalo calves were used to evaluate the effect of space allowance in relation to their body surface area on a range of behavioural and physiological parameters. Body surface area in m2 was calculated as 0.12 body weight0.60. Ten calves received 50% of body surface as space allocation (Group 50), 10 others received 90% of body surface area (Group 90). Animals in Group 50 lay with a lower number of outstretched legs than calves in Group 90. Buffaloes from Group 50 were observed standing more frequently than animals from Group 90 ( P < 0.001). The proportions of idling ( P < 0.01) and lying idle observations ( P < 0.001) were higher for Group 90 than for Group 50. Group 90 performed a higher number of non-agonistic interactions than Group 50 ( P < 0.01), whereas the opposite was observed for the number of agonistic interactions ( P < 0.01). When exposed to open field testing, Group 50 animals displayed an increased duration of movement, number of galloping events and more vocalisation. Neither immune responses to phytohemagglutinin and ovalbumin nor the cortisol response to exogenous ACTH were affected by treatment. It was concluded that 50% of body surface area may be an inadequate space allowance for weaned calves

The qualitative assessment of responsiveness to environmental challenge in horses and ponies.

The responsiveness of 10 horses and 10 ponies to environmental challenge (represented by an open field test) was assessed using a qualitative approach based on free choice profiling methodology (FCP), which gives observers complete freedom to choose their own descriptive terms. Data were analysed with generalised Procrustes analysis (GPA), a multivariate statistical technique associated with FCP. A cross-validation of the outcomes of this approach to data recorded through quantitative behaviour analysis, and through a questionnaire given to the animals’ owner/riding instructor, was also performed using principal component analysis (PCA). Twelve undergraduate students generated their own descriptive vocabularies, by watching 20 horse/pony video clips lasting 2.5 min each. GPA showed that the consensus profile explained a high percentage of variation among the 12 observers, and differed significantly from the mean randomised profile ( p < 0.001). Two main dimensions of the consensus profile were identified, explaining 60% and 5.2% of the variation between animals, respectively. The 12 observer word charts interpreting these dimensions were semantically consistent, as they all converged towards the same meaning, albeit using different terms. The most used term to describe the positive end of axis 1 was ‘‘quiet’’, whereas ‘‘attentive’’ was the best positive descriptor of axis 2. The most frequently used descriptors for the negative ends of axes 1 and 2 were ‘‘nervous’’ and ‘‘bored’’, respectively. Thus, axis 1 was labelled as ‘‘quiet/nervous’’ and axis 2 was named as ‘‘attentive/bored’’. A marked effect of animal category was observed on the scores of the animals on the first dimension ( p < 0.001). Horses received significantly higher scores, and were thus assessed as more quiet and calm, than ponies. Conversely, ponies tended to receive lower scores on the second dimension ( p < 0.12), therefore they appeared less curious and attentive. The results of the PCA showed that the variables from different types of measurement clearly had meaningful relationships. For instance, the variables with the highest loading on the positive end of axis 1 were all indicative of tractable and docile animals, whereas axis 2 showed high loadings on the positive end for variables indicating attentive animals. Qualitative behaviour assessment proved to be an appropriate methodology for the study of horse behavioural responsiveness, in that it provided a multifaceted characterisation of horse behavioural expression that was in agreement with other quantitative and subjective assessments of the animals’ behaviour

On the development of a monitoring scheme of buffalo welfare at farm level

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Human Chorionic Gonadotropin modulates CXCL10 Expression through Histone Methylation in human decidua

The process of implantation, trophoblast invasion and placentation demand continuous adaptation and modifications between the trophoblast (embryonic) and the decidua (maternal). Within the decidua, the maternal immune system undergoes continued changes, as the pregnancy progress, in terms of the cell population, phenotype and production of immune factors, cytokines and chemokines. Human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) is one of the earliest hormones produced by the blastocyst and has potent immune modulatory effects, especially in relation to T cells. We hypothesized that trophoblast-derived hCG modulates the immune population present at the maternal fetal interface by modifying the cytokine profile produced by the stromal/decidual cells. Using in vitro models from decidual samples we demonstrate that hCG inhibits CXCL10 expression by inducing H3K27me3 histone methylation, which binds to Region 4 of the CXCL10 promoter, thereby suppressing its expression. hCG-induced histone methylation is mediated through EZH2, a functional member of the PRC2 complex. Regulation of CXCL10 expression has a major impact on the capacity of endometrial stromal cells to recruit CD8 cells. We demonstrate the existence of a cross talk between the placenta (hCG) and the decidua (CXCL10) in the control of immune cell recruitment. Alterations in this immune regulatory function, such as during infection, will have detrimental effects on the success of the pregnancy.Peer reviewe

An Innovative, Open, Interoperable Citizen Engagement Cloud Platform for Smart Government and Users' Interaction

This paper introduces an open, interoperable, and cloud-computing-based citizen engagement platform for the management of administrative processes of public administrations, which also increases the engagement of citizens. The citizen engagement platform is the outcome of a 3-year Italian national project called PRISMA (Interoperable cloud platforms for smart government). The aim of the project is to constitute a new model of digital ecosystem that can support and enable new methods of interaction among public administrations, citizens, companies, and other stakeholders surrounding cities. The platform has been defined by the media as a flexible (enable the addition of any kind of application or service) and open (enable access to open services) Italian "cloud" that allows public administrations to access to a vast knowledge base represented as linked open data to be reused by a stakeholder community with the aim of developing new applications ("Cloud Apps") tailored to the specific needs of citizens. The platform has been used by Catania and Syracuse municipalities, two of the main cities of southern Italy, located in the Sicilian region. The fully adoption of the platform is rapidly spreading around the whole region (local developers have already used available application programming interfaces (APIs) to create additional services for citizens and administrations) to such an extent that other provinces of Sicily and Italy in general expressed their interest for its usage. The platform is available online and, as mentioned above, is open source and provides APIs for full exploitation.Comment: 23 pages, 7 figures, journal pape

Comparison of the effects of primary somatostatin analogue therapy and pituitary adenomectomy on survival in patients with acromegaly: a retrospective cohort study

Objective: Acromegalic patients have an increased risk of mortality. The objective of this study was to compare the effect of different therapies for acromegaly on mortality. Design and methods: The mortality rate of 438 consecutive acromegalic patients was compared with that of the general population using the standardized mortality ratio (SMR); the effect of different therapies on survival was evaluated using Cox regression analysis. Results: Twenty patients (4.5%) died between 1999 and 2009. Age- and sex-adjusted SMR was 0.70 (95% CI 0.43–1.08). The Cox regression analysis revealed that, in the whole population, both general risk factors (age and physical status) and specific factors for acromegaly (macroadenoma, hypopituitarism and uncontrolled disease) were associated with death. The most compromised patients at diagnosis had a higher mortality rate (PZ0.001), which also occurred in patients with controlled acromegaly. Death occurred in 2.4% (adenomectomy), 2.6% (adenomectomy followed by somatostatin analogue (SSA) therapy) and 11.4% (SSA therapy as the primary therapy) of the patients. The risk of death was higher in patients receiving SSA therapy as the primary therapy (hazard ratio (HR) 5.52, 95% CI 1.06–28.77, PZ0.043) than in all patients submitted to adenomectomy; however, a higher risk of death occurred only in diabetic patients treated with SSAs alone (HR 21.94, 95% CI 1.56–309.04, PZ0.022). Radiotherapy was associated with an increased risk of mortality, which occurred in patients with the more locally advanced disease. Conclusions: Therapies for acromegaly and comorbidities have lowered the risk of mortality to the level of the general population; the effect of SSA therapy alone or that following pituitary adenomectomy was comparable to that of curative neurosurgery on survival in non-diabetic patients; on the contrary, SSA therapy as the primary therapy may be less effective than adenomectomy in reducing mortality rate in diabetic patients

Fraisinib: a calixpyrrole derivative reducing A549 cell-derived NSCLC tumor in vivo acts as a ligand of the glycine-tRNA synthase, a new molecular target in oncology

Background and purpose: Lung cancer is the leading cause of death in both men and women, constituting a major public health problem worldwide. Non-small-cell lung cancer accounts for 85%–90% of all lung cancers. We propose a compound that successfully fights tumor growth in vivo by targeting the enzyme GARS1.Experimental approach: We present an in-depth investigation of the mechanism through which Fraisinib [meso-(p-acetamidophenyl)-calix(4)pyrrole] affects the human lung adenocarcinoma A549 cell line. In a xenografted model of non-small-cell lung cancer, Fraisinib was found to reduce tumor mass volume without affecting the vital parameters or body weight of mice. Through a computational approach, we uncovered that glycyl-tRNA synthetase is its molecular target. Differential proteomics analysis further confirmed that pathways regulated by Fraisinib are consistent with glycyl-tRNA synthetase inhibition.Key results: Fraisinib displays a strong anti-tumoral potential coupled with limited toxicity in mice. Glycyl-tRNA synthetase has been identified and validated as a protein target of this compound. By inhibiting GARS1, Fraisinib modulates different key biological processes involved in tumoral growth, aggressiveness, and invasiveness.Conclusion and implications: The overall results indicate that Fraisinib is a powerful inhibitor of non-small-cell lung cancer growth by exerting its action on the enzyme GARS1 while displaying marginal toxicity in animal models. Together with the proven ability of this compound to cross the blood–brain barrier, we can assess that Fraisinib can kill two birds with one stone: targeting the primary tumor and its metastases “in one shot.” Taken together, we suggest that inhibiting GARS1 expression and/or GARS1 enzymatic activity may be innovative molecular targets for cancer treatment

ECMO for COVID-19 patients in Europe and Israel

Since March 15th, 2020, 177 centres from Europe and Israel have joined the study, routinely reporting on the ECMO support they provide to COVID-19 patients. The mean annual number of cases treated with ECMO in the participating centres before the pandemic (2019) was 55. The number of COVID-19 patients has increased rapidly each week reaching 1531 treated patients as of September 14th. The greatest number of cases has been reported from France (n = 385), UK (n = 193), Germany (n = 176), Spain (n = 166), and Italy (n = 136) .The mean age of treated patients was 52.6 years (range 16–80), 79% were male. The ECMO configuration used was VV in 91% of cases, VA in 5% and other in 4%. The mean PaO2 before ECMO implantation was 65 mmHg. The mean duration of ECMO support thus far has been 18 days and the mean ICU length of stay of these patients was 33 days. As of the 14th September, overall 841 patients have been weaned from ECMO support, 601 died during ECMO support, 71 died after withdrawal of ECMO, 79 are still receiving ECMO support and for 10 patients status n.a. . Our preliminary data suggest that patients placed on ECMO with severe refractory respiratory or cardiac failure secondary to COVID-19 have a reasonable (55%) chance of survival. Further extensive data analysis is expected to provide invaluable information on the demographics, severity of illness, indications and different ECMO management strategies in these patients

La renovación de la palabra en el bicentenario de la Argentina : los colores de la mirada lingüística

El libro reúne trabajos en los que se exponen resultados de investigaciones presentadas por investigadores de Argentina, Chile, Brasil, España, Italia y Alemania en el XII Congreso de la Sociedad Argentina de Lingüística (SAL), Bicentenario: la renovación de la palabra, realizado en Mendoza, Argentina, entre el 6 y el 9 de abril de 2010. Las temáticas abordadas en los 167 capítulos muestran las grandes líneas de investigación que se desarrollan fundamentalmente en nuestro país, pero también en los otros países mencionados arriba, y señalan además las áreas que recién se inician, con poca tradición en nuestro país y que deberían fomentarse. Los trabajos aquí publicados se enmarcan dentro de las siguientes disciplinas y/o campos de investigación: Fonología, Sintaxis, Semántica y Pragmática, Lingüística Cognitiva, Análisis del Discurso, Psicolingüística, Adquisición de la Lengua, Sociolingüística y Dialectología, Didáctica de la lengua, Lingüística Aplicada, Lingüística Computacional, Historia de la Lengua y la Lingüística, Lenguas Aborígenes, Filosofía del Lenguaje, Lexicología y Terminología