26,126 research outputs found
Effects of husbandry and low-dose lipopolysaccharide challenge on the acute phase response of young pigs
End of project reportIn recent years, concern has grown for the welfare of domesticated animals in different production systems (Appleby and Hughes, 1997). Poor welfare can result in poor performance and productivity. However, the consumers are also requesting more welfare-friendly systems, as reflected by the importance that ‘organic’ and ‘free-range’ products have gained in our markets. Furthermore, there are ethical reasons for safeguarding the welfare of animals in our care. Thus, it is scientists’ task to be able to develop methods and techniques that can help to assess the welfare objectively. Traditionally, welfare assessment relied on the study of behaviour and the measurement of endocrine parameters. Acute phase response mediators and products, such as pro-inflammatory cytokines and acute phase proteins, emerged recently as potential indicators of infection and herd health status (Eckersall, 2000; Petersen et al., 2004). Thus, investigating the effects of husbandry and low-dose lipopolysaccharide (LPS) challenge on the acute phase response of young pigs can give valuable information on the use of these immune parameters as health and welfare indicators in pigs.Teagasc acknowledges the support of National Development Programme Funds (NDP) in the financing of this research projec
Hairy Leukoplakia
Oral hairy leukoplakia (OHL) is a disease of the mucosa first described in 1984. This pathology is associated with Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) and occurs mostly in people with HIV infection, both immunocompromised and immunocompetent, and can affect patients who are HIV negative. [1, 2] The first case in an HIV-negative patient was reported in 1999 in a 56-year-old patient with acute lymphocytic leukemia. Later, many cases were reported in heart, kidney, and bone marrow transplant recipients and patients with hematological malignancies. [3, 4
Glucocorticoid receptor expression in 20 solid tumor types using immunohistochemistry assay.
BackgroundGlucocorticoid receptor (GR) activity plays a role in many aspects of human physiology and may play a crucial role in chemotherapy resistance in a wide variety of solid tumors. A novel immunohistochemistry (IHC) based assay has been previously developed and validated in order to assess GR immunoreactivity in triple-negative breast cancer. The current study investigates the standardized use of this validated assay to assess GR expression in a broad range of solid tumor malignancies.MethodsArchived formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded tumor bank samples (n=236) from 20 different solid tumor types were analyzed immunohistochemically. Nuclear staining was reported based on the H-score method using differential intensity scores (0, 1+, 2+, or 3+) with the percent stained (out of at least 100 carcinoma cells) recorded at each intensity.ResultsGR was expressed in all tumor types that had been evaluated. Renal cell carcinoma, sarcoma, cervical cancer, and melanoma were those with the highest mean H-scores, indicating high levels of GR expression. Colon, endometrial, and gastric cancers had lower GR staining percentages and intensities, resulting in the lowest mean H-scores.ConclusionA validated IHC assay revealed GR immunoreactivity in all solid tumor types studied and allowed for standardized comparison of reactivity among the different malignancies.ImpactBaseline expression levels of GR may be a useful biomarker when pharmaceutically targeting GR in research or clinical setting
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Use and Influence of Creative Ideas and Requirements for a Work-Integrated Learning System
In this paper, we describe a creativity workshop that was used in a large research project, called APOSDLE, to generate creative ideas and requirements for a work-integrated learning system. We present an analysis of empirical data collected during and after the workshop. On the basis of this analysis, we conclude that the work-shop was an efficient way of generating ideas for future system development. These ideas, on average, were used at least as much as requirements from other sources in writing use cases, and 18 months after the workshop were seen to have a similar degree of influence on the project to other requirements. We make some observations about the use of more and less creative ideas, and about the techniques used to generate them. We end with suggestions for further work
Nuclear isotope thermometry
We discuss different aspects which could influence temperatures deduced from
experimental isotopic yields in the multifragmentation process. It is shown
that fluctuations due to the finite size of the system and distortions due to
the decay of hot primary fragments conspire to blur the temperature
determination in multifragmentation reactions. These facts suggest that caloric
curves obtained through isotope thermometers, which were taken as evidence for
a first-order phase transition in nuclear matter, should be investigated very
carefully.Comment: 9 pages, 7 figure
The statistical mechanics of a polygenic characterunder stabilizing selection, mutation and drift
By exploiting an analogy between population genetics and statistical
mechanics, we study the evolution of a polygenic trait under stabilizing
selection, mutation, and genetic drift. This requires us to track only four
macroscopic variables, instead of the distribution of all the allele
frequencies that influence the trait. These macroscopic variables are the
expectations of: the trait mean and its square, the genetic variance, and of a
measure of heterozygosity, and are derived from a generating function that is
in turn derived by maximizing an entropy measure. These four macroscopics are
enough to accurately describe the dynamics of the trait mean and of its genetic
variance (and in principle of any other quantity). Unlike previous approaches
that were based on an infinite series of moments or cumulants, which had to be
truncated arbitrarily, our calculations provide a well-defined approximation
procedure. We apply the framework to abrupt and gradual changes in the optimum,
as well as to changes in the strength of stabilizing selection. Our
approximations are surprisingly accurate, even for systems with as few as 5
loci. We find that when the effects of drift are included, the expected genetic
variance is hardly altered by directional selection, even though it fluctuates
in any particular instance. We also find hysteresis, showing that even after
averaging over the microscopic variables, the macroscopic trajectories retain a
memory of the underlying genetic states.Comment: 35 pages, 8 figure
Young Radio Pulsars in Galactic Globular Clusters
Currently three isolated radio pulsars and one binary radio pulsar with no
evidence of any previous recycling are known in 97 surveyed Galactic globular
clusters. As pointed out by Lyne et al., the presence of these pulsars cannot
be explained by core-collapse supernovae, as is commonly assumed for their
counterparts in the Galactic disk. We apply a Bayesian analysis to the results
from surveys for radio pulsars in globular clusters and find the number of
potentially observable non-recycled radio pulsars present in all clusters to be
< 3600. Accounting for beaming and retention considerations, the implied birth
rate for any formation scenario for all 97 clusters is < 0.25 pulsars per
century assuming a Maxwellian distribution of velocities with a dispersion of
10 km s^{-1}. The implied birth rates for higher velocity dispersions are
substantially higher than inferred for such pulsars in the Galactic disk. This
suggests that the velocity dispersion of young pulsars in globular clusters is
significantly lower than those of disk pulsars. These numbers may be
substantial overestimates due to the fact that the currently known sample of
young pulsars is observed only in metal-rich clusters. We propose that young
pulsars may only be formed in globular clusters with metallicities with
log[Fe/H] > -0.6. In this case, the potentially observable population of such
young pulsars is 447^{+1420}_{-399} (the error bars give the 95% confidence
interval) and their birth rate is 0.012^{+0.037}_{-0.010} pulsars per century.
The mostly likely creation scenario to explain these pulsars is the electron
capture supernova of a OMgNe white dwarf.Comment: 13 Pages, 6 Figures, 4 Tables, to appear in Ap
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