Caffeic acid phenethyl ester is protective in experimental ulcerative colitis via reduction in levels of pro-inflammatory mediators and enhancement of epithelial barrier function

BACKGROUND: Inhibition of the nuclear factor kappa beta (NF-κβ) pathway has been proposed as a therapeutic target due to its key role in the expression of pro-inflammatory genes, including pro-inflammatory cytokines, chemokines, and adhesion molecules. Caffeic acid phenethyl ester (CAPE) is a naturally occurring anti-inflammatory agent, found in propolis, and has been reported as a specific inhibitor of NF-κβ. However, the impact of CAPE on levels of myeloperoxidases (MPO) and pro-inflammatory cytokines during inflammation is not clear. The aims of this study were to investigate the protective efficacy of CAPE in the mouse model of colitis and determine its effect on MPO activity, pro-inflammatory cytokines levels, and intestinal permeability. METHOD: Dextran sulphate sodium was administered in drinking water to induce colitis in C57/BL6 mice before treatment with intraperitoneal administration of CAPE (30 mg kg(-1) day(-1)). Disease activity index (DAI) score, colon length and tissue histology levels of MPO, pro-inflammatory cytokines, and intestinal permeability were observed. RESULTS: CAPE-treated mice had lower DAI and tissue inflammation scores, with improved epithelial barrier protection and significant reduction in the level of MPO and pro-inflammatory cytokines. CONCLUSION: Our results show that CAPE is effective in suppressing inflammation-triggered MPO activity and pro-inflammatory cytokines production while enhancing epithelial barrier function in experimental colitis. Thus, we conclude that CAPE could be a potential therapeutic agent for further clinical investigations for treatment of inflammatory bowel diseases in humans

Synergistic nexus between research-led teaching and inquiry-based student learning in Animal Sciences: Sharing the University of Tasmania experience

In order to challenge old assumptions and break new grounds in teaching and learning in the Animal Sciences, a paradigm shift from the traditional ‘teacher-focus’ to a modern ‘student-centered’ learning approach is necessary. Establishing a synergy (systematic working together in concert) between ‘research-led’ teaching and ‘inquiry-based’ learning enhances students’ understanding of both science content and scientific practices (Edelson et al., 1999). Understanding the scientific concepts of genetics by nutrition interactions in Australian pasture-based sheep, dairy and beef systems is a major dilemma faced by undergraduate students. This difficulty was reflected in the 2006 Animal Production Systems (KLA220) Unit’s student evaluation of teaching and learning (SETL) at the University of Tasmania (UTAS). To address this problem, we implemented an innovative, inquiry-based learning and research-led teaching approach. The primary objective was to enhance students’ critical thinking and target their learning needs through active participation in field experimental trials and hands-on activities. Data from 104 students enrolled in the KLA220 Unit from 2006-2010 were utilized for this study. In addition to the theoretical concepts taught in class, students were exposed to hands-on genetics-nutrition experimental growth trials with sheep, laboratory experiments on intramuscular fat extraction, fat melting point, sensory evaluation of meat eating qualities, data analysis, livestock industry field visits, scientific journal article critiques and seminar presentations. Student learning experiences were evaluated through SETL surveys. On the basis of 83% response rate and quantitative Unit Evaluation mean scores, results indicated a progressive improvement from 3.90 in 2006 to 4.40 in 2010 that exceeded the average Faculty threshold. Free-text student comments revealed that the research-led teaching approach had actively engaged and given them a rich learning experience. This finding is strongly supported by literature that “learning by doing” is an effective way for students to benefit from staff research (Gibbs 1998) and that students involved in research-based inquiries acquire a more sophisticated level of intellectual development (Blakemore and Cousin 2003) because the active learning process encourages students to adopt a deep approach to learning than the teacher-focused surface approach (Brew and Boud 1995). In conclusion, this research-led teaching approach has undoubtedly made a significant contribution to the student learning experience in animal science through the development of students’ critical thinking and scholarly values. Some student comments: “Field trips were an excellent opportunity to meet & hear from producers and very useful in gaining a practical knowledge of animal production industries”, “Lectures and field experiments were really inspiring, lab helped understand material

Improving the profitability of beef from pastures: A case study of Tasmania's Circular Head Beef Business Group

This case study on improving grazing management skills was conducted over a 12-month period in 2007 utilizing 1200 beef cattle on two properties of 60 hectares each, subdivided into 24 paddocks. The objectives were to evaluate pasture utilisation, liveweight gains and profitability using a multi-faceted economic model. Leaf emergence rate, average pasture cover, pasture growth rate, pre-grazing pasture mass, post-grazing residual and cattle liveweight gain data were collected monthly. Data were analysed using mixed (PROC MIXED) and general linear (PROG GLM) models in SAS to test for the fixed effects of property, date of sampling, cattle type and their second order interactions, while age of cattle and paddocks were fitted as random effects. Relationships between livestock and pasture variables were tested in correlation analyses using PROC CORR and significance established using Bonferroni probabilities. Results demonstrated that significant improvement in grazing management led to an increase in total pasture utilisation per hectare of over 40%, significantly greater than the set target of 7000kgDM/Ha on both properties. Pasture utilised directly for liveweight gain was positively correlated with total pasture utilised (r = 0.8686, p<0.0001). Energy partitioning for animal maintenance was found to be negatively correlated with total pasture utilised (r = -0.5927, p<0.05), and pasture utilised for liveweight gain (r = -0.8112, p<0.0001) and related to the nutritive value and species composition of the pastures. Average daily liveweight gain was found to be positively correlated with total pasture utilisation (r = 0.7302, p<0.0001) and pasture utilised for liveweight gain (r = 0.9181, p<0.0001) and negatively correlated with energy partitioned for animal maintenance (r = -0.9263, p<0.0001). It was concluded that increased pasture utilisation per hectare allowed for stocking rate increases across each property resulting in significant increases of approximately 73% in beef produced per hectare, thus increasing profitability by an overwhelming average of 250% across both properties

Persistent Homology Over Directed Acyclic Graphs

We define persistent homology groups over any set of spaces which have inclusions defined so that the corresponding directed graph between the spaces is acyclic, as well as along any subgraph of this directed graph. This method simultaneously generalizes standard persistent homology, zigzag persistence and multidimensional persistence to arbitrary directed acyclic graphs, and it also allows the study of more general families of topological spaces or point-cloud data. We give an algorithm to compute the persistent homology groups simultaneously for all subgraphs which contain a single source and a single sink in $O(n^4)$ arithmetic operations, where $n$ is the number of vertices in the graph. We then demonstrate as an application of these tools a method to overlay two distinct filtrations of the same underlying space, which allows us to detect the most significant barcodes using considerably fewer points than standard persistence.Comment: Revised versio

New isomers in 125 Pd 79 and 127 Pd 81 : Competing proton and neutron excitations in neutron-rich palladium nuclides towards the N=82 shell closure

The neutron-rich isotopes of palladium have attracted considerable interest in terms of the evolution of the neutron shell closure and its influence on the r-process nucleosynthesis. In this Letter, we present the first spectroscopic information on the excited states in 125Pd79 and 127Pd81 studied using the EURICA γ-ray spectrometer, following production via in-flight fission of a high-intensity 238U beam at the RIBF facility. New isomeric states with half-lives of 144(4) ns and 39(6) μs have been assigned spins and parities of () and () in 125Pd and 127Pd, respectively. The observed level properties are compared to a shell-model calculation, suggesting the competition between proton excitations and neutron excitations in the proton-hole and neutron-hole systems in the vicinity of the doubly magic nucleus 132Sn.Part of the WAS3ABi was supported by the Rare Isotope Science Project which is funded by MSIP and NRF of Korea. This work was supported by the Priority Centers Research Program in Korea (2009-0093817), OTKA contract number K100835, the U.S. DOE, Office of Nuclear Physics (Contract No. DE-AC02-06CH11357), NRF-2016R1A5A1013277 and NRF-2013M7A1A1075764, the Spanish Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad under contract FPA2017-84756-C4-2-P, the European Commission through the Marie Curie Actions call FP7-PEOPLE-2011-IEF (Contract No. 300096), German BMBF under Contract No: 05P12PKFNE, JSPS KAKENHI Grant No. 24740188 and 25247045, the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Nos. 11505302, 11575112), the National Key Program for S&T Research and Development (No. 2016YFA0400501), and STFC (UK)

Microbial catabolic activities are naturally selected by metabolic energy harvest rate

The fundamental trade-off between yield and rate of energy harvest per unit of substrate has been largely discussed as a main characteristic for microbial established cooperation or competition. In this study, this point is addressed by developing a generalized model that simulates competition between existing and not experimentally reported microbial catabolic activities defined only based on well-known biochemical pathways. No specific microbial physiological adaptations are considered, growth yield is calculated coupled to catabolism energetics and a common maximum biomass-specific catabolism rate (expressed as electron transfer rate) is assumed for all microbial groups. Under this approach, successful microbial metabolisms are predicted in line with experimental observations under the hypothesis of maximum energy harvest rate. Two microbial ecosystems, typically found in wastewater treatment plants, are simulated, namely: (i) the anaerobic fermentation of glucose and (ii) the oxidation and reduction of nitrogen under aerobic autotrophic (nitrification) and anoxic heterotrophic and autotrophic (denitrification) conditions. The experimentally observed cross feeding in glucose fermentation, through multiple intermediate fermentation pathways, towards ultimately methane and carbon dioxide is predicted. Analogously, two-stage nitrification (by ammonium and nitrite oxidizers) is predicted as prevailing over nitrification in one stage. Conversely, denitrification is predicted in one stage (by denitrifiers) as well as anammox (anaerobic ammonium oxidation). The model results suggest that these observations are a direct consequence of the different energy yields per electron transferred at the different steps of the pathways. Overall, our results theoretically support the hypothesis that successful microbial catabolic activities are selected by an overall maximum energy harvest rate

A novel isolator-based system promotes viability of human embryos during laboratory processing

In vitro fertilisation (IVF) and related technologies are arguably the most challenging of all cell culture applications. The starting material is a single cell from which one aims to produce an embryo capable of establishing a pregnancy eventually leading to a live birth. Laboratory processing during IVF treatment requires open manipulations of gametes and embryos, which typically involves exposure to ambient conditions. To reduce the risk of cellular stress, we have developed a totally enclosed system of interlinked isolator-based workstations designed to maintain oocytes and embryos in a physiological environment throughout the IVF process. Comparison of clinical and laboratory data before and after the introduction of the new system revealed that significantly more embryos developed to the blastocyst stage in the enclosed isolator-based system compared with conventional open-fronted laminar flow hoods. Moreover, blastocysts produced in the isolator-based system contained significantly more cells and their development was accelerated. Consistent with this, the introduction of the enclosed system was accompanied by a significant increase in the clinical pregnancy rate and in the proportion of embryos implanting following transfer to the uterus. The data indicate that protection from ambient conditions promotes improved development of human embryos. Importantly, we found that it was entirely feasible to conduct all IVF-related procedures in the isolator-based workstations

Ileosigmoid fistula and delayed ileal obstruction secondary to blunt abdominal trauma: a case report

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Introduction</p> <p>Abdominal trauma is a source of significant mortality and morbidity. Bowel injury as a result of blunt abdominal trauma is usually evident within hours or days of the accident.</p> <p>Case presentation</p> <p>A 38-year-old Caucasian Greek man presented with a subtle and delayed small bowel obstruction caused by a post-traumatic ileosigmoid fistula and ileal stricture four months after a road traffic accident.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Delayed occurrence of post-traumatic small bowel stricture and ileosigmoid fistula is an uncommon surgical emergency. General surgeons as well as emergency physicians should bear this manifestation in mind should a patient return to the hospital several weeks or even years after blunt abdominal trauma with symptoms or signs of bowel obstruction.</p