Effect of diet type on serum and faecal concentration of S100/calgranulins in the captive cheetah

Gastrointestinal disease is omnipresent in captive cheetahs (Acinonyx jubatus), in contrast to its freeranging populations. The current study aimed to evaluate the effect of diet type (meat-only whole prey) on gastrointestinal health in captive cheetahs by measuring faecal and serum concentrations of S100/calgranulins. This paper reports faecal S100A12 and calprotectin concentrations in 12 captive cheetahs fed supplemented beef versus whole rabbit for one month in a cross-over design. Also, serum S100A12 and calprotectin concentrations were determined in four cheetahs fed whole rabbit and six cheetahs fed supplemented beef, and these were compared to the faecal concentrations of the respective marker proteins. Both the immunoassay for canine calprotectin and canine S100A12 were precise and reproducible for use with serum samples and faecal extracts. Whereas the assay for S100A12 was linear and accurate, an inconsistent linearity of the canine calprotectin assay was observed and could be indicative of an insufficient cross-reactivity of the specific antibody used for this assay. Serum concentrations of S100A12 and calprotectin were not altered by diet type, and were not correlated with the respective concentrations in faeces. Numerically (P=0.241) greater calprotectin concentrations and greater (P=0.041) faecal S100A12 concentrations were detected in cheetahs fed supplemented beef compared with whole rabbit. These findings demonstrate that whole prey feeding may decrease intestinal inflammation in the captive cheetah. Consequently, the relation between diet type and intestinal inflammatory conditions in the captive cheetah warrants further investigation

Entropy-driven phase transition in a polydisperse hard-rods lattice system

We study a system of rods on the 2d square lattice, with hard-core exclusion. Each rod has a length between 2 and N. We show that, when N is sufficiently large, and for suitable fugacity, there are several distinct Gibbs states, with orientational long-range order. This is in sharp contrast with the case N=2 (the monomer-dimer model), for which Heilmann and Lieb proved absence of phase transition at any fugacity. This is the first example of a pure hard-core system with phases displaying orientational order, but not translational order; this is a fundamental characteristic feature of liquid crystals

Air quality impact of a decision support system for reducing pollutant emissions: CARBOTRAF

Traffic congestion with frequent “stop & go” situations causes substantial pollutant emissions. Black carbon (BC) is a good indicator of combustion-related air pollution and results in negative health effects. Both BC and CO2 emissions are also known to contribute significantly to global warming. Current traffic control systems are designed to improve traffic flow and reduce congestion. The CARBOTRAF system combines real-time monitoring of traffic and air pollution with simulation models for emission and local air quality prediction in order to deliver on-line recommendations for alternative adaptive traffic management. The aim of introducing a CARBOTRAF system is to reduce BC and CO2 emissions and improve air quality by optimizing the traffic flows. The system is implemented and evaluated in two pilot cities, Graz and Glasgow. Model simulations link traffic states to emission and air quality levels. A chain of models combines micro-scale traffic simulations, traffic volumes, emission models and air quality simulations. This process is completed for several ITS scenarios and a range of traffic boundary conditions. The real-time DSS system uses these off-line model simulations to select optimal traffic and air quality scenarios. Traffic and BC concentrations are simultaneously monitored. In this paper the effects of ITS measures on air quality are analysed with a focus on BC

A Class of Parameter Dependent Commuting Matrices

We present a novel class of real symmetric matrices in arbitrary dimension $d$, linearly dependent on a parameter $x$. The matrix elements satisfy a set of nontrivial constraints that arise from asking for commutation of pairs of such matrices for all $x$, and an intuitive sufficiency condition for the solvability of certain linear equations that arise therefrom. This class of matrices generically violate the Wigner von Neumann non crossing rule, and is argued to be intimately connected with finite dimensional Hamiltonians of quantum integrable systems.Comment: Latex, Added References, Typos correcte

Ordered phase and phase transitions in the three-dimensional generalized six-state clock model

We study the three-dimensional generalized six-state clock model at values of the energy parameters, at which the system is considered to have the same behavior as the stacked triangular antiferromagnetic Ising model and the three-state antiferromagnetic Potts model. First, we investigate ordered phases by using the Monte Carlo twist method (MCTM). We confirmed the existence of an incompletely ordered phase (IOP1) at intermediate temperature, besides the completely ordered phase (COP) at low-temperature. In this intermediate phase, two neighboring states of the six-state model mix, while one of them is selected in the low temperature phase. We examine the fluctuation the mixing rate of the two states in IOP1 and clarify that the mixing rate is very stable around 1:1. The high temperature phase transition is investigated by using non-equilibrium relaxation method (NERM). We estimate the critical exponents beta=0.34(1) and nu=0.66(4). These values are consistent with the 3D-XY universality class. The low temperature phase transition is found to be of first-order by using MCTM and the finite-size-scaling analysis

The fecal microbiome in dogs with acute diarrhea and idiopathic inflammatory bowel disease.

Recent molecular studies have revealed a highly complex bacterial assembly in the canine intestinal tract. There is mounting evidence that microbes play an important role in the pathogenesis of acute and chronic enteropathies of dogs, including idiopathic inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). The aim of this study was to characterize the bacterial microbiota in dogs with various gastrointestinal disorders. Fecal samples from healthy dogs (n = 32), dogs with acute non-hemorrhagic diarrhea (NHD; n = 12), dogs with acute hemorrhagic diarrhea (AHD; n = 13), and dogs with active (n = 9) and therapeutically controlled idiopathic IBD (n = 10) were analyzed by 454-pyrosequencing of the 16S rRNA gene and qPCR assays. Dogs with acute diarrhea, especially those with AHD, had the most profound alterations in their microbiome, as significant separations were observed on PCoA plots of unweighted Unifrac distances. Dogs with AHD had significant decreases in Blautia, Ruminococcaceae including Faecalibacterium, and Turicibacter spp., and significant increases in genus Sutterella and Clostridium perfringens when compared to healthy dogs. No significant separation on PCoA plots was observed for the dogs with IBD. Faecalibacterium spp. and Fusobacteria were, however, decreased in the dogs with clinically active IBD, but increased during time periods of clinically insignificant IBD, as defined by a clinical IBD activity index (CIBDAI). Results of this study revealed a bacterial dysbiosis in fecal samples of dogs with various GI disorders. The observed changes in the microbiome differed between acute and chronic disease states. The bacterial groups that were commonly decreased during diarrhea are considered to be important short-chain fatty acid producers and may be important for canine intestinal health. Future studies should correlate these observed phylogenetic differences with functional changes in the intestinal microbiome of dogs with defined disease phenotypes

Internal segregation and side chain ordering in hairy-rod polypeptide monolayers at the gas/water interface: An x-ray scattering study

We report studies of the structure and packing of Langmuirmonolayers (LMs) of polypeptide poly(γ-4-(n-hexadecyloxy)benzyl α,L-glutamate) (C16–O–PBLG) on the surface of water. The molecule is a “hairy rod” and consists of side attachments of hexadecyloxy chains (–O–C16) to the rigid rod-like core made up of α-helical poly(γ-benzyl L-glutamate) (PBLG). Measurements include surface pressure (Π) versus area/monomer (A) isotherms, x-ray specular reflectivity (XR), and grazing incidence diffraction(GID). In contrast to the LM of bare PBLG on water, which undergoes a monolayer/bilayer transition with increasing Π, monolayers of C16–O–PBLG remain stable up to the highest densities. On the basis of XR and GID results, the structure of the C16–O–PBLG monolayer is characterized by the following main features. First, hydrophobicity causes the –O–C16 chains to segregate towards the film/gas interface and away from water and the PBLG cores, which sit parallel to and near the water/film interface. Since the attachment position of some of the side chains is at the core/water interface, the segregation forces these chains into the space between neighboring core rods. Compression associated with increasing Π thickens the film but the internally segregated structure is maintained for all Π (i.e., >∼30 dyne/cm). Second, the C16–O–PBLG rods form domains in which the rods are aligned parallel to each other and to the interface. The correlation length for the interhelix positional order of the rods is short and typically comparable to or less than the length of the rods. With increasing Π the spacing d between nearest-neighbor rods decreases linearly with A at high Π, indicating a direct correspondence between the macroscopic compressibility and the microscopic interhelix compressibility. Third, as Π increases past ∼5 dyne/cm, the local packing of tethered –O–C16 chains displays the same herringbone (HB) order that is common for high-density bulk and monolayer phases of alkyl chains. Various features of the observed GID peaks also imply that the HB order of –O–C16 chains is oriented with respect to the helical axes of aligned PBLG cores. We propose that the HB order is established initially by one-dimensionally confined chains between aligned rods at low Π and grows laterally with compression

High-Dose Hydrocortisone Treatment Does Not Affect Serum C-Reactive Protein (CRP) Concentrations in Healthy Dogs

Measuring C-reactive protein (CRP) in serum is a useful surrogate marker for assessing disease progression and treatment response in dogs with autoinflammatory diseases. Affected dogs often receive high-dose glucocorticoid treatment, but the effect of such treatment alone on serum CRP concentrations is unknown. We evaluated serum CRP concentrations via immunoassay (sandwich enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay and particle-enhanced turbidimetric immunoassay) in 12 healthy beagle dogs administered high-dose hydrocortisone (8 mg/kg q12 h) per os vs. placebo over 28 days (days 0, 1, 5, and 28) in a randomized parallel study design. Serum CRP concentrations slightly decreased during treatment or placebo but without a significant association with hydrocortisone administration (p = 0.761). Compared to baseline, serum CRP concentrations were decreased by >2.7-fold (minimum critical difference) in three hydrocortisone-treated dogs and two dogs in the placebo group on day 28, whereas an increase to >2.7-fold was seen in one dog receiving placebo. These results suggest a lack of confounding effects of high-dose hydrocortisone administration on serum CRP concentrations in healthy dogs. This might also hold in dogs with autoinflammatory conditions and/or administration of other high-dose corticosteroids, suggesting that CRP presents a suitable biomarker to monitor inflammatory disease processes. However, this needs confirmation by further studies evaluating corticosteroid-induced cellular (e.g., hepatic) transcriptome and proteome changes