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

An exploration study of the Kagenfels and Natzwiller granites, Northern Vosges mountains, France: A combined approach of stream sediment geochemistry and automated mineralogy

This is the final version. Available from the publisher via the DOI in this record.Following a regional reconnaissance stream sediment survey that was carried out in the northern Vosges Mountains in 1983, a total of 20 stream sediment samples were collected with the aim of assessing the regional prospectivity for the granite-hosted base and rare metal mineralisation of the northern Vosges magmatic suite near Schirmeck. A particular focus of the investigation was the suspected presence of W, Nb and Ta geochemical occurrences in S-type (Kagenfels) and I-S-type (Natzwiller) granites outlined in public domain data. Multi-element geochemical assays revealed the presence of fault-controlled Sn, W, Nb mineralisation assemblages along the margins of the Natzwiller and Kagenfels granites. Characteristic geochemical fractionation and principal component analysis (PCA) trends along with mineralogical evidence in the form of cassiterite, wolframite, ilmenorutile and columbite phases and muscovite–chlorite–tourmaline hydrothermal alteration association assemblages in stream sediments demonstrate that, in the northern Vosges, S-type and fractionated hybrid I-S-type granites are enriched in incompatible, late-stage magmatic elements. This is attributed to magmatic fractionation and hydrothermal alteration trends and the presence of fluxing elements in late-stage granitic melts. This study shows that the fractionated granite suites in the northern Vosges Mountains contain rare metal mineralisation indicators and therefore represent possible targets for follow-up mineral exploration. The application of automated mineralogy (QEMSCAN®) in regional stream sediment sampling added significant value by linking geochemistry and mineralogy.McKinstry Fund of the Society of Economic Geologists Foundation In

Proposals for the organisation of headache services in Europe.

The mission of the European Headache Federation (EHF) is to improve life for those affected by headache disorders in Europe. Progress depends upon improving access to good headache-related health care for people affected by these disorders. Education about headache-its nature, causes, consequences and management-is a key activity of EHF that supports this aim. It is also important to achieve an organisation of headache-related services within the health systems of Europe in order that they can best deliver care in response to what are very high levels of need. This publication assesses this need, and sets out proposals for service organisation, on three levels, to meet the resultant demand

Use-case scenarios for an anti-Cryptosporidium therapeutic.

Cryptosporidium is a widely distributed enteric parasite that has an increasingly appreciated pathogenic role, particularly in pediatric diarrhea. While cryptosporidiosis has likely affected humanity for millennia, its recent "emergence" is largely the result of discoveries made through major epidemiologic studies in the past decade. There is no vaccine, and the only approved medicine, nitazoxanide, has been shown to have efficacy limitations in several patient groups known to be at elevated risk of disease. In order to help frontline health workers, policymakers, and other stakeholders translate our current understanding of cryptosporidiosis into actionable guidance to address the disease, we sought to assess salient issues relating to clinical management of cryptosporidiosis drawing from a review of the literature and our own field-based practice. This exercise is meant to help inform health system strategies for improving access to current treatments, to highlight recent achievements and outstanding knowledge and clinical practice gaps, and to help guide research activities for new anti-Cryptosporidium therapies

Accreting Black Holes

This chapter provides a general overview of the theory and observations of black holes in the Universe and on their interpretation. We briefly review the black hole classes, accretion disk models, spectral state classification, the AGN classification, and the leading techniques for measuring black hole spins. We also introduce quasi-periodic oscillations, the shadow of black holes, and the observations and the theoretical models of jets.Comment: 41 pages, 18 figures. To appear in "Tutorial Guide to X-ray and Gamma-ray Astronomy: Data Reduction and Analysis" (Ed. C. Bambi, Springer Singapore, 2020). v3: fixed some typos and updated some parts. arXiv admin note: substantial text overlap with arXiv:1711.1025

Consolidation of pathology services in England: have savings been achieved?

Background: During the last decade, pathology services in England have undergone profound changes with an extensive consolidation of laboratories. This has been driven by some national reviews forecasting a national reduction of costs by £250–£500 million ($315–$630 million) a year as a result. The main aim of this paper is to describe the financial impact of such consolidation, with a specific focus on the forecasted savings. A secondary aim is to describe the development of private sector involvement in laboratory services in a traditionally publicly funded healthcare system and the development of pathology staff size. Methods: In the English scenario, the majority of hospitals and laboratories are publicly funded and a survey was sent as Freedom of Information request to all directors of pathology. A descriptive comparison of savings among consolidated and non-consolidated pathology services was made by using the pathology budgets in two different periods (2015 versus 2010), adjusted by inflation and increased activity. Results: The hub-and-spoke model has been implemented as part of the consolidation process of pathology services in England. Consolidated pathology networks have achieved higher savings compared to non-consolidated single laboratories. There has been an increased role of private providers and savings were achieved with negligible personnel redundancies. Conclusions: Consolidated units have on average achieved larger cost savings than non-consolidated units but further analysis with stronger research design is required to independently evaluate the impact of pathology consolidation on both savings and quality

Pretreatment levels of the fatty acid handling proteins H-FABP and CD36 predict response to olanzapine in recent-onset schizophrenia patients.

Traditional schizophrenia pharmacotherapy remains a subjective trial and error process involving administration, titration and switching of drugs multiple times until an adequate response is achieved. Despite this time-consuming and costly process, not all patients show an adequate response to treatment. As a consequence, relapse is a common occurrence and early intervention is hampered. Here, we have attempted to identify candidate blood biomarkers associated with drug response in 121 initially antipsychotic-free recent-onset schizophrenia patients treated with widely-used antipsychotics, namely olanzapine (n=40), quetiapine (n=23), risperidone (n=30) and a mixture of these drugs (n=28). Patients were recruited and investigated as two separate cohorts to allow biomarker validation. Data analysis showed the most significant relationship between pre-treatment levels of heart-type fatty acid binding protein (H-FABP) and response to olanzapine (p=0.008, F=8.6, β=70.4 in the discovery cohort and p=0.003, F=15.2, β=24.4 in the validation cohort, adjusted for relevant confounding variables). In a functional follow-up analysis of this finding, we tested an independent cohort of 10 patients treated with olanzapine and found that baseline levels of plasma H-FABP and expression of the binding partner for H-FABP, fatty acid translocase (CD36), on monocytes predicted the reduction of psychotic symptoms (p=0.040, F=6.0, β=116.3 and p=0.012, F=11.9, β=-0.0054, respectively). We also identified a set of serum molecules changed after treatment with antipsychotic medication, in particular olanzapine. These molecules are predominantly involved in cellular development and metabolism. Taken together, our findings suggest an association between biomarkers involved in fatty acid metabolism and response to olanzapine, while other proteins may serve as surrogate markers associated with drug efficacy and side effects.This work was supported by the Stanley Medical Research Institute (SMRI); the European Union FP7 SchizDX research programme (grant reference 223427); the European Union FP7 funding scheme: Marie Curie Actions Industry Academia Partnerships and Pathways (nr. 286334, PSYCH-AID project); by the Virgo consortium, funded by the Dutch Government (project number FES0908); by the Netherlands Genomics Initiative (project number 050-060-452); by the Dutch Fund for Economic Structure Reinforcement, the NeuroBasic PharmaPhenomics project (no. 0908) and by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council UK (EPSRC CASE studentship and Impact Acceleration Award).This is the final version of the article. It was first available from Elsevier via http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.bbi.2015.10.01

Headache, depression and anxiety: associations in the Eurolight project.

Headache disorders and psychiatric disorders are both common, while evidence, mostly pertaining to migraine, suggests they are comorbid more often than might be expected by chance. There are good reasons for establishing whether they are: symptoms of comorbid illnesses may summate synergistically; comorbidities hinder management, negatively influencing outcomes; high-level comorbidity indicates that, where one disease occurs, the other should be looked for. The Eurolight project gathered population-based data on these disorders from 6624 participants.Eurolight was a cross-sectional survey sampling from the adult populations (18-65 years) of 10 EU countries. We used data from six. The questionnaire included headache-diagnostic questions based on ICHD-II, the Headache-Attributed Lost Time (HALT) questionnaire, and HADS for depression and anxiety. We estimated odds ratios (ORs) to show associations between migraine, tension-type headache (TTH) or probable medication-overuse headache (pMOH) and depression or anxiety.pMOH was most strongly associated with both psychiatric disorders: for depression, ORs (vs no headache) were 5.5 [2.2-13.5] (p < 0.0001) in males, 5.5 [2.9-10.5] (p < 0.0001) in females; for anxiety, ORs were 10.4 [4.9-21.8] (p < 0.0001) and 7.1 [4.5-11.2] (p < 0.0001). Migraine was also associated with both: for depression, ORs were 2.1 [1.3-3.4] (p = 0.002) and 1.8 [1.1-3.1] (p = 0.030); for anxiety 4.2 [2.8-6.3] (p < 0.0001) and 2.4 [1.7-3.4] (p < 0.0001). TTH showed associations only with anxiety: ORs 2.5 [1.7-3.7] (p < 0.0001) for males, 1.5 [1.1-2.1] (p = 0.021) for females. Participants with migraine carried 19.1 % probability of comorbid anxiety, 6.9 % of depression and 5.1 % of both, higher than the representative general-population sample (14.3, 5.6 and 3.8 %). Probabilities in those with MOH were 38.8, 16.9 and 14.4 %; in TTH, they did not exceed those of the whole sample. Comorbid psychiatric disorder did not add to headache-attributed productive time losses, but weak associations existed (R (2)  = 0.020-0.082) for all headache types between lost productive time and probabilities of depression and, less so, anxiety.In this large study we confirmed that depression and especially anxiety are comorbid more than by chance with migraine, and showed the same is true, but more strongly, with MOH. Arguably, migraine patients and, more certainly, MOH patients should be screened with HADS in pursuit of best outcomes