Soybean Meal‐Dependent Acute Intestinal Inflammation Delays Osteogenesis in Zebrafish Larvae

Foods are known to be modulators of inflammation and skeletal development. The intestine plays an essential role in the regulation of bone health mainly through the regulation of the absorption of vitamin D and calcium; in fact, inflammatory bowel diseases are often related to bone health issues such as low bone mineral density, high fracture risk, osteoporosis and osteopenia. Considering the complexity of the pathways involved, the use of a simple animal model can be highly useful to better elucidate the pathogenic mechanisms. Soybean flour with a high saponin content has been used in many studies to induce intestinal inflammation in zebrafish larvae. Using a 50% soybean meal (SBM), we analyzed the effects of this soy-induced inflammatory bowel disease on zebrafish larval osteogenesis. Soybean meal induces intestinal functional alterations and an inflammatory state, highlighted by neutral red staining, without altering the general development of the larvae. Our data show that the chondrogenesis as well as endochondral ossification of the head of zebrafish larvae are not affected by an SBM-diet, whereas intramembranous ossification was delayed both in the head, where the length of the ethmoid plate reduced by 17%, and in the trunk with a delayed vertebral mineralization of 47% of SBM larvae. These data highlight that diet-dependent bowel inflammation can differently modulate the different mechanisms of bone development in different zones of the skeleton of zebrafish larvae

Soybean meal-dependent intestinal inflammation induces different patterns of bone-loss in adult zebrafish scale

Inflammatory bowel disease have been linked to several health issues, including high risk of low bone mineral density. Danio rerio (zebrafish) is a good model to verify the effects of intestinal inflammation, since its gastrointestinal and immune systems are closely related to that of mammalians. Zebrafish is also a powerful model to study bone metabolism using the scale as the read-out model. Food strongly impacts zebrafish gut physiology, and it is well known that soybean meal induces intestinal inflammation. Adult zebrafish fed with defatted soybean meal (SBM) exhibited an intestinal inflammation evidenced by morphological alterations, inflammatory infiltrate, and increased mRNA expression of inflammatory cytokines (IL-1\u3b2, IL-6, IL-8, IL-10, TGF\u3b2, TNF-\u3b1). The peak of acute intestinal inflammation, spanning between week 2 and 3, correlates with a transitory osteoporosis-like phenotype in the scale border. Later, a chronic inflammatory condition, associated with persistent IL-8 expression, correlates with the progression of resorption lacunae in the scale center. Both types of resorption lacunae were associated with intense osteoclastic tartrate-resistant acid phosphatase (TRAP) activity. After 3 weeks of SBM treatment, osteoclast activity decreased in the scale border but not in the center. At the same time, alkaline phosphatase (ALP) is activated in the border to repair the bone matrix. This model can contribute to elucidate in vivo the molecular mechanisms that links intestinal inflammation and bone metabolism in IBD

Unscreening the Gaugino Mass with Chiral Messengers

Gaugino screening, the absence of next-to-leading order corrections to gaugino masses, is a generic feature of gauge mediation models of supersymmetry breaking. We show that in a specific class of models, known as semi-direct gauge mediation, it is possible to avoid gaugino screening by allowing for a chiral messenger sector. Messengers then acquire a mass at some scale, for instance by higgsing or by some auxiliary strong coupling dynamics. We implement this idea in a simple model which we work out explicitly

INFLUENCE OF COMPLIANCE FOR AN ELASTOKINEMATIC MODEL OF A PROPOSED REAR SUSPENSION

The research is carried out to improve passenger’s comfort to increase the vehicles stability in dynamic conditions. The literature available in the automotive engineering considers different topics for studying suspensions. An example represents mechanisms structure and analysis (synthesis, kinematics, and dynamics) under various operating conditions. These aspects have been approached before analytically, numerical. The current paper studies the influence of the lateral force on the contact patch of the wheel and the corresponding variations of vehicle stability parameters, such as camber angle and wheel rear track. The study is performed for a newer innovative rear suspensions mechanism which does not have a wheel track and camber angle variation, relative to the chassis, when the suspension components was considered rigid. A numerical solution is obtained through a virtual model on several commercial codes: MSC Adams, Patran, Nastran. Concerning the analysed parametes, their variation increases as the applied force is increased. Moreover, the largest variation corresponds to the case were elastic bushings and deformable links are considered

Management of an invasive plant in a Mediterranean Protected Area: the experience of Senecio deltoideus in Italy

Biological invasions are one of the most serious threats to global biodiversity and ecosystem integrity. The problem is growing year by year and a large number of protected areas worldwide are today invaded by at least one exotic species. In this study, we tested the eco-friendly and cost-effective weeding control of Senecio deltoideus in a Regional Protected Area in the North Mediterranean region. During a two years experiment, four techniques compatible with the local laws on protected areas (natural-herbicide, flame-weeding, mulching and mowing) were applied five times a season on sixty plots, compared with fifteen untreated controls. All techniques were effective in reducing Senecio covering: after the first year the maximum covering was limited to 37.93% (flame weeding) with a mean value of 10%; after second year the covering was further reduced (17.02% max; 2% mean). Interestingly, during the second year all plots submitted to a one-year treatment showed an enduring control of S. deltoideus covering (40.73% max; 20% mean). Taking into account feasibility and their impact on the environment, the weeding control recommendable for S. deltoideus is mowing. In a long-time management strategy, the selected treatment could be applied every two years with a drastic reduction in costs for the manager of the protected area

STUDY OF NEW AUTOMOTIVE REAR SUSPENSION MECHANISM

The paper presents firstly an introduction discussing: the problem’s statement emphasizing the actual problem of research of passenger car suspension to improve driving comfort and dynamic of the vehicle movement; aspects regarding the studies of car suspension mechanisms; the paper’s aims and objectives showing that a new configuration of suspension mechanism having in structure mobile frame and an actuator offering some important operational advantages is proposed. After this, the innovative concept is presented. The motions of mechanism elements and actuator and kinematic displacements are largely presented. The simulation using modern software (MSC Patran 2007, MD R2 Nastran and MSC ADAMS/View) accentuates the actuality of the results, which are presented and discussed for an application. Final conclusions are given

Performance evaluation of Border irrigation method for cotton field

Performance evaluation of Border irrigation method was carried out for cotton field in village Kirarkot, Sirsa (Haryana). Water application, storage and distribution efficiency were estimated using measurements of soil moisture (%), infiltration rate (cm/hr), water advance and recession time (minute) during different irrigation events. The advance time increased during the growing season due to increased infiltration rate and increased resistance to flow by the growing crops. The water application efficiency of cotton field was 100 per cent as average applied depth (8.26 cm for canal irrigation and 9.06 cm for tubewell irrigation) of irrigation was less than the average required depth (10.30 cm for canal irrigation and 10.98 cm for tubewell irrigation) throughout the field plots. The observed water storage efficiency in different cotton fields varied from 72.92 - 90.08 per cent indicating under irrigation. Water distribution efficiency of cotton fields (97.8 -99.2per cent) indicated a relatively high degree of uniformity of water application. Stratified soil profile (sandy loam: 0-30 cm and sandy clay loam: 30-120 cm) of the selected fields reduced the infiltration rate to relatively very low value after 10-15 minutes creating favourable condition for uniformity of water application under border irrigation

Danio rerio : the Janus of the bone from embryo to scale

Danio rerio (zebrafish), like the Roman god Janus, is an old animal model which is recently emerged and looks to the future with an increasing scientific success. Unlike other traditional animal models, zebrafish represents a versatile way to approach the study of the skeleton. Transparency of the larval stage, genetic manipulability and unique anatomical structures (scales) makes zebrafish a powerful and versatile instrument to investigate the bone tissue in terms of structure and function. Like Janus, zebrafish offers two different faces, or better, two models in one animal: larval and adult stage. The embryo can be used to isolate new genes involved in osteogenesis by large-scale mutagenesis screenings. The behavior of bone cells and genes in osteogenesis can be investigate by using transgenic lines, vital dyes, mutants and traditional molecular biology techniques. The adult zebrafish represents an important resource to study the pathways related to the bone metabolism and turnover. In particular, the properties of the caudal fin allow to study mechanisms of bone regeneration and reparation whereas the elasmoid scale represents an unique tool to investigate the bone metabolism under physiological or pathological conditions