Assessment of plasma nitric oxide concentration and erythrocyte arginase activity in dairy cows with traumatic reticuloperitonitis

ΔΕΝ ΔΙΑΤΙΘΕΤΑΙ ΠΕΡΙΛΗΨΗThe aim of this study was to evaluate plasma nitric oxide (NO) concentrations, erythrocyte arginase (ARG) activity, plasma fibrinogen (Fb) and serum iron (Fe) levels and some biochemical parameters in dairy cows with traumatic reticuloperitonitis (TRP). The animal material of the study consisted of 14 Swiss Brown cows diagnosed with TRP (TRP group) between 4-8 years old brought to Firat University Animal Hospital Clinics and 14 healthy Swiss Brown cows (control group) aged 4-8 years obtained from dairy farms in different regions. Blood samples were taken from the vena jugularis of the animals. Concentrations of plasma NO, Fb, erythrocyte ARG activity, and some biochemical markers were determined after the serum and plasma of the receiving blood were separated. While the NO (318.9±5.8 vs. 270.3±9.6 μmol/L) concentrations of the TRP group were found to be significantly higher than the control group (P<0.001), the erythrocyte ARG activity (29.5±0.5 vs. 35.2±1.0 U/hb) was found to be higher in the control group (P<0.001). It was also observed that total protein (TP) (6.6±0.5 vs. 7.8±0.1 g/dL) (P<0.05) and Fb (914.3±68.6 vs. 265.4±19.8 mg/dL) (P<0.001) concentrations were higher in the TRP group, compared to the control group, while albumin (ALB) (1.9±0.2 vs. 3.1±0.1 g/dL) and Fe (47.00±5.29 vs.106.79±9.44 μg/dL) concentrations were significantly lower than the control group (P<0.001). In addition, a positive correlation was found between NO and Fb concentrations and between erythrocyte ARG activity and Fe concentrations. As a result, it was determined that NO concentrations were increased and erythrocyte ARG activity was not significant in dairy cows with TRP. In addition, increased plasma Fb concentration and decreased serum Fe concentration were determined in dairy cows with TRP. This study demonstrated that plasma NO, Fb and serum Fe concentrations in dairy cows with TRP may be useful markers for prognosis

Phosphate Solubilization Potentials of Acinetobacter Strains and their Relations with Soil Properties

Phosphate solubilizing bacteria can be used as soil or seed inoculum to increase soil phosphorus (P) availability for agricultural purposes. There is also a possibility of using these microorganisms to biotechnologically dissolve phosphate ores for the production of phosphorus fertilizers. Twenty-one soil samples were collected along a highway in Turkey to isolate phosphate solubilizing bacteria. A total of 20 phosphate solubilizers were isolated from the rhizosphere of wheat and maize grown in the pots, which contained the collected soil samples. The isolates were distributed among the genera, Acinetobacter (7), Pseudomonas (7), Enterobacter (2), Enterococcus (1), Escherichia (1), Photorhabdus (1), and Bacillus (1) as determined by the 16S rDNA gene sequence analysis. Since the Acinetobacter species were most effective in Pikovskaya’s agar, which contained tricalcium phosphate for the sole P-source, they were further experimented for the phosphate solubilization in batch cultures. The mean phosphorus dissolved in 5 day incubation ranged between 167 and 1022 ppm P. The initial pH of 7.8 dropped below 4.7 in six isolates with a gluconic acid production in the concentrations ranging between 27.5 and 37.5 mM. Acinetobacter isolates have some potential as an inoculum both for soil and biotechnological Psolubilization

Intense, carrier frequency and bandwidth tunable quasi single-cycle pulses from an organic emitter covering the Terahertz frequency gap

In Terahertz (THz) science, one of the long-standing challenges has been the formation of spectrally dense, single-cycle pulses with tunable duration and spectrum across the frequency range of 0.1-15 THz (THz gap). This frequency band, lying between the electronically and optically accessible spectra hosts important molecular fingerprints and collective modes which cannot be fully controlled by present strong-field THz sources. We present a method that provides powerful single-cycle THz pulses in the THz gap with a stable absolute phase whose duration can be continuously selected between 68 fs and 1100 fs. The loss-free and chirp-free technique is based on optical rectification of a wavelength-tunable pump pulse in the organic emitter HMQ-TMS that allows for tuning of the spectral bandwidth from 1 to more than 7 octaves over the entire THz gap. The presented source tunability of the temporal carrier frequency and spectrum expands the scope of spectrally dense THz sources to time-resolved nonlinear THz spectroscopy in the entire THz gap. This opens new opportunities towards ultrafast coherent control over matter and light

Heterogeneous Catalysis under pressure - In-situ neutron diffraction under industrial conditions

The present work describes the application of a tubular reactor that allows in-situ neutron diffraction on working catalysts at high pressures. The designed reactor enables the application to a sample of industrially-relevant reaction conditions, i.e., in a temperature range up to 330° C and 60 bar pressure, coupled with online gas-analysis. Application of the cell is demonstrated by ammonia synthesis over a commercial catalyst with diffraction data obtained from the high-resolution powder diffractometer, Echidna, at the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation, ANSTO

Preventing seismic pounding of adjacent structures using viscous wall damper device

Today, a number of researchers are broadly studying the effective implementation of supplemental seismic energy dissipation systems to improve seismic behavior of structures during earthquakes. The current article studies the impacts of employing Viscous Wall Damper devices to couple two adjacent structures on seismic response of the new system. An exclusive finite element algorithm capable of modeling and analyzing structures equipped with special damper systems was used in order to perform a nonlinear time history analysis subjected to seismic excitation. Two ten-story RC framed structures are modeled adjacently in 11 different cases, each representing existence or damping coefficient of the Viscous Wall Damper device. A parametric study has been conducted in each case to assess the effectiveness of implementing Viscous Wall Damper devices on improving seismic behavior of the coupled structure. The considered metrics include rotation and displacement amplitude, plastic hinge formation, and induced element forces. It has been proved that the proposed damper system substantially diminishes and dissipates induced seismic response of the system. Also, it is indicated that the extent to which Viscous Wall Damper device contributes in mitigating seismic responses is highly correlated with the damping coefficient

Intrinsic Spin-Orbit Interaction in Graphene

In graphene, we report the first theoretical demonstration of how the intrinsic spin orbit interaction can be deduced from the theory and how it can be controlled by tuning a uniform magnetic field, and/or by changing the strength of a long range Coulomb like impurity (adatom), as well as gap parameter. In the impurity context, we find that intrinsic spin-orbit interaction energy may be enhanced by increasing the strength of magnetic field and/or by decreasing the band gap mass term. Additionally, it may be strongly enhanced by increasing the impurity strength. Furthermore, from the proposal of Kane and Mele [Phys. Rev. Lett. 95, 226801 (2005)], it was discussed that the pristine graphene has a quantized spin Hall effect regime where the Rashba type spin orbit interaction term is smaller than that of intrinsic one. Our analysis suggest the nonexistence of such a regime in the ground state of flat graphene

Levels of selected minerals, nitric oxide, and vitamins in aborted Sakis sheep raised under semitropical conditions

The serum levels of calcium, phosphorus, magnesium, copper, zinc and iron and of nitric oxide, retinol, and β-carotene were determined in Sakiz ewes that had experienced an abortion and in healthy controls. Ten healthy and 25 aborted Sakiz sheep were selected from Afyon zone in western Turkey. Their ages ranged between 2 and 4 years weighing between 40 and 60 kg at the time of experiment. All of the abortions occurred in October. The concentrations of retinol, β-carotene, phosphorus, and zinc were significantly lower and those of calcium and nitric oxide were increased in aborted ewes relative to healthy controls. The serum levels of iron, copper, and magnesium were not significantly different among the two groups. In conclusion, abortion is an important problem in commercially important species of ruminants in many regions in the tropics including of western Turkey. Deficiencies of retinol, β-carotene, phosphorus and zinc, and the increase of calcium and nitric oxide concentration may play an important role in the etiology of abortion in ewes. Prophylactic measures such as vitamin and mineral supplementation may be of help to prevent or reduce the incidence of abortion in sheep

The effects of a 6-week strength training on critical velocity, anaerobic running distance, 30-m sprint and yo-yo intermittent running test performances in male soccer players

The objectives of this study were to examine the effects of a moderate intensity strength training on changes in critical velocity (CV), anaerobic running distance (D'), sprint performance and Yo-Yo intermittent running test (Yo-Yo IR1) performances. Methods: two recreational soccer teams were divided in a soccer training only group (SO; n = 13) and a strength and soccer training group (ST; n = 13). Both groups were tested for values of CV, D', Yo-Yo IR1 distance and 30-m sprint time on two separate occasions (pre and post intervention). The ST group performed a concurrent 6-week upper and lower body strength and soccer training, whilst the SO group performed a soccer only training. Results: after the re-test of all variables, the ST demonstrated significant improvements for both, YoYo IR1 distance (p = 0.002) and CV values (p<0.001) with no significant changes in the SO group. 30-m sprint performance were slightly improved in the ST group with significantly decreased performance times identified in the SO group (p<0.001). Values for D' were slightly reduced in both groups (ST -44.5 m, 95% CI = -90.6 to 1.6; SO -42.6 m, 95% CI = -88.7 to 3.5). Conclusions: combining a 6-week moderate strength training with soccer training significantly improves CV, Yo-Yo IR1 whilst moderately improving 30-m sprint performances in non-previously resistance trained male soccer players. Critical Velocity can be recommended to coaches as an additional valid testing tool in soccer