367 research outputs found
Prevalence of Tritrichomonas foetus in beef bulls slaughtered at two abattoirs in northern Australia
Bovine trichomoniasis, caused by the protozoal parasite Tritrichomonas foetus, is a highly contagious venereal disease characterised by early pregnancy loss, abortion and pyometra. Persistently infected bulls and cows are the primary reservoirs of infection in infected herds. This research investigated the prevalence of T. foetus infection in bulls from properties located across northern Australia and New South Wales. Preputial samples were collected from 606 bulls at slaughter and tested for T. foetus using the VetMAX-Gold Trich Detection Kit (Thermo Fisher Scientific). The apparent prevalence of T. foetus infection varied between regions, with northern regions in the Northern Territory, Queensland and Western Australia showing a prevalence of 15.4%, 13.8% and 11.4%, respectively. There was some evidence of an association between infection and postcode (P = 0.06) and increasing bull age (P = 0.054). This study confirms that T. foetus infection is likely to be present in many beef breeding herds and contributing to lower than expected reproductive performance, particularly across northern Australia
A systematic review on the effects of group singing on persistent pain in people with longâterm health conditions
Singing can have a range of health benefits; this paper reviews the evidence of the effects of group singing for chronic pain in people with longâterm health conditions. We searched for published peerâreviewed singing studies reporting pain measures (intensity, interference and depression) using major electronic databases (last search date 31 July 2018). After screening 123 full texts, 13 studies met the inclusion criteria: five randomized controlled trials (RCTs), seven nonâRCTs and one qualitative study. Included studies were appraised using Downs and Black and the Critical Appraisals Skills Programme quality assessments. Included studies reported differences in the type of singing intervention, longâterm condition and pain measures. Due to the high heterogeneity, we conducted a narrative review. Singing interventions were found to reduce pain intensity in most studies, but there was more equivocal support for reducing pain interference and depression. Additionally, qualitative data synthesis identified three key linked and complementary themes: physical, psychological and social benefits. Group singing appears to have the potential to reduce pain intensity, pain interference and depression; however, we conclude that there is only partial support for singing on some pain outcomes based on the limited available evidence of varied quality. Given the positive findings of qualitative studies, this review recommends that practitioners are encouraged to continue this work. More studies of better quality are needed. Future studies should adopt more robust methodology and report their singing intervention in details. Group singing may be an effective and safe approach for reducing persistent pain and depression in people with longâterm health conditions.Health and Social Care Research Centr
Pertussis toxin blocks the inhibitory effect of muscarinic cholinergic agonists on cyclic AMP accumulation and prolactin secretion in GH3 anterior-pituitary tumour cells
Magnetic anomalies in the spin chain system, SrCuZnIrO
We report the results of ac and dc magnetization (M) and heat-capacity (C)
measurements on the solid solution, SrCuZnIrO. While the Zn
end member is known to form in a rhombohedral pseudo one-dimensional
KCdCl structure with an antiferromagnetic ordering temperature of
(T =) 19 K, the Cu end member has been reported to form in a monoclinically
distorted form with a Curie temperature of (T =) 19 K. The magnetism of the
Zn compound is found to be robust to synthetic conditions and is broadly
consistent with the behavior known in the literature. However, we find a lower
magnetic ordering temperature (T) for our Cu compound (~ 13 K), thereby
suggesting that T is sensitive to synthetic conditions. The Cu sample
appears to be in a spin-glass-like state at low temperatures, judged by a
frequency dependence of ac magnetic susceptibility and a broadening of the C
anomaly at the onset of magnetic ordering, in sharp contrast to earlier
proposals. Small applications of magnetic field, however, drive this system to
ferromagnetism as inferred from the M data. Small substitutions for Cu/Zn (x =
0.75 or 0.25) significantly depress magnetic ordering; in other words, T
varies non-monotonically with x (T ~ 6, 3 and 4 K for x = 0.25, 0.5, and
0.67 respectively). The plot of inverse susceptibility versus temperature is
non-linear in the paramagnetic state as if correlations within (or among) the
magnetic chains continuously vary with temperature. The results establishComment: 7 pages, 7 figures, Revte
Feeding spectra and activity of the freshwater crab Trichodactylus kensleyi (Decapoda: Brachyura: Trichodactylidae) at La Plata basin
Background: In inland water systems, it is important to characterize the trophic links in order to identify the âtrophic speciesâ and, from the studies of functional diversity, understand the dynamics of matter and energy in these environments. The aim of this study is to analyze the natural diet of Trichodactylus kensleyi of subtropical rainforest streams and corroborate the temporal variation in the trophic activity during day hours.
Results: A total of 15 major taxonomic groups were recognized in gut contents. The index of relative importance identified the following main prey items in decreasing order of importance: vegetal remains, oligochaetes, chironomid larvae, and algae. A significant difference was found in the amount of full stomachs during day hours showing a less trophic activity at midday and afternoon. The index of relative importance values evidenced the consumption of different prey according to day moments. Results of the gut content indicate that T. kensleyi is an omnivorous crab like other trichodactylid species. Opportunistic behavior is revealed by the ingestion of organisms abundant in streams such as oligochaetes and chironomid larvae. The consumption of allochthonous plant debris shows the importance of this crab as shredder in subtropical streams. However, the effective assimilation of plant matter is yet unknown in trichodactylid crabs.
Conclusions: This research provides knowledge that complements previous studies about trophic relationships of trichodactylid crabs and supported the importance of T. kensleyi in the transference of energy and matter from benthic community and riparian sources to superior trophic levels using both macro- and microfauna.Fil: Williner, VerĂłnica. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones CientĂficas y TĂ©cnicas. Centro CientĂfico TecnolĂłgico Conicet - Santa Fe. Instituto Nacional de LimnologĂa. Universidad Nacional del Litoral. Instituto Nacional de LimnologĂa; Argentina. Universidad Nacional del Litoral. Facultad de Humanidades y Ciencias; ArgentinaFil: de Azevedo Carvalho, Debora. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones CientĂficas y TĂ©cnicas. Centro CientĂfico TecnolĂłgico Conicet - Santa Fe. Instituto Nacional de LimnologĂa. Universidad Nacional del Litoral. Instituto Nacional de LimnologĂa; ArgentinaFil: Collins, Pablo Agustin. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones CientĂficas y TĂ©cnicas. Centro CientĂfico TecnolĂłgico Conicet - Santa Fe. Instituto Nacional de LimnologĂa. Universidad Nacional del Litoral. Instituto Nacional de LimnologĂa; Argentina. Universidad Nacional del Litoral. Facultad de BioquĂmica y Ciencias BiolĂłgicas; Argentin
Modeling Stochasticity and Variability in Gene Regulatory Networks
Modeling stochasticity in gene regulatory networks is an important and
complex problem in molecular systems biology. To elucidate intrinsic noise,
several modeling strategies such as the Gillespie algorithm have been used
successfully. This paper contributes an approach as an alternative to these
classical settings. Within the discrete paradigm, where genes, proteins, and
other molecular components of gene regulatory networks are modeled as discrete
variables and are assigned as logical rules describing their regulation through
interactions with other components. Stochasticity is modeled at the biological
function level under the assumption that even if the expression levels of the
input nodes of an update rule guarantee activation or degradation there is a
probability that the process will not occur due to stochastic effects. This
approach allows a finer analysis of discrete models and provides a natural
setup for cell population simulations to study cell-to-cell variability. We
applied our methods to two of the most studied regulatory networks, the outcome
of lambda phage infection of bacteria and the p53-mdm2 complex.Comment: 23 pages, 8 figure
A teleofunctional account of evolutionary mismatch.
This is the final version of the article. It first appeared from Springer via http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10539-016-9527-1When the environment in which an organism lives deviates in some essential way from that to which it is adapted, this is described as "evolutionary mismatch," or "evolutionary novelty." The notion of mismatch plays an important role, explicitly or implicitly, in evolution-informed cognitive psychology, clinical psychology, and medicine. The evolutionary novelty of our contemporary environment is thought to have significant implications for our health and well-being. However, scientists have generally been working without a clear definition of mismatch. This paper defines mismatch as deviations in the environment that render biological traits unable, or impaired in their ability, to produce their selected effects (i.e., to perform their proper functions in Neander's sense). The machinery developed by Millikan in connection with her account of proper function, and with her related teleosemantic account of representation, is used to identify four major types, and several subtypes, of evolutionary mismatch. While the taxonomy offered here does not in itself resolve any scientific debates, the hope is that it can be used to better formulate empirical hypotheses concerning the effects of mismatch. To illustrate, it is used to show that the controversial hypothesis that general intelligence evolved as an adaptation to handle evolutionary novelty can, contra some critics, be formulated in a conceptually coherent way
Relative influence of shredders and fungi on leaf litter decomposition along a river altitudinal gradient
We compared autumn decomposition rates of European alder leaves at four sites along the LassetâHers River system, southern France, to test whether changes in litter decomposition rates from upstream (1,300 m elevation) to downstream (690 m) could be attributed to temperature-driven differences in microbial growth, shredder activity, or composition of the shredder community. Alder leaves lost 75â87% of original mass in 57 days, of which 46â67% could be attributed to microbial metabolism and 8â29% to shredder activity, with no trend along the river. Mass loss rates in both fine-mesh (excluding shredders) and coarse-mesh (including shredders) bags were faster at warm, downstream sites (mean daily temperature 7â8°C) than upstream (mean 1â2°C), but the differ- ence disappeared when rates were expressed in heat units to remove the temperature effect. Mycelial biomass did not correlate with mass loss rates. Faster mass loss rates upstream, after temperature correction, evidently arise from more efficient shredding by Nemourid stoneflies than by the Leuctra-dominated assemblage downstream. The influence of water temperature on decomposition rate is therefore expressed both directly, through microbial metabolism, and indirectly, through the structure of shredder commu- nities. These influences are evident even in cold water where temperature variation is small
Boolean dynamics revisited through feedback interconnections
Boolean models of physical or biological systems describe the global dynamics of the system and their attractors typically represent asymptotic behaviors. In the case of large networks composed of several modules, it may be difficult to identify all the attractors. To explore Boolean dynamics from a novel viewpoint, we will analyse the dynamics emerging from the composition of two known Boolean modules. The state transition graphs and attractors for each of the modules can be combined to construct a new asymptotic graph which will (1) provide a reliable method for attractor computation with partial information; (2) illustrate the differences in dynamical behavior induced by the updating strategy (asynchronous, synchronous, or mixed); and (3) show the inherited organization/structure of the original networkâs state transition graph.publishe
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