Puerperal influence of bovine uterine health status on the mRNA expression of pro-inflammatory factors

After parturition, uterine bacterial infections lead to inflammatory processes such as subclinical/clinical endometritis with high prevalence in dairy cows. Endometrial epithelial cells participate in this immune response with the production of pro-inflammatory factors. The objective of the present study was to evaluate the endometrial mRNA expression pattern of pro inflammatory factors during a selected postpartum (pp) period. Dairy cows with three different uterine health conditions on days 24-30 pp (healthy: n = 11, subclinical endometritis: n = 10, clinical endometritis: n = 10) were sampled using the cytobrush technique. Subsequently, each cow was sampled 3 more times in weekly intervals (days 31-37 pp; days 38-44 pp; days 45-51 pp). Samples were subjected to mRNA analysis performed by RT-qPCR. Additionally, an analysis of cultivable bacteria was performed at the early/late stage of the selected puerperal period. mRNA expression of 16 candidate genes was analyzed by using two different approaches. The first approach referred to the initial grouping on days 24-30 pp to reveal long-term effects of the uterine health on the subsequent puerperal period. The second approach considered the current uterine health status at each sampling to elucidate the impact of different points in time. Long-term effects seem to appear for chemokines, prostacyclin synthase and prostaglandin D2 synthase. If related to the current uterine health, the majority of candidate genes were significantly higher expressed in endometritic cows on days 45-51 pp in contrast to earlier stages of the puerperium. Microbiological analysis revealed the significantly higher prevalence of Trueperella pyogenes findings in cows with clinical endometritis on days 24-30 pp, but no correlations were found on days 45-51 pp. In conclusion, a strong immune response to subclinical/clinical endometritis in the late puerperium may be related to the negative impact of these conditions on reproductive performance in dairy cows

Calcium Tartrate Tetrahydrate, Case Report of a Novel Human Kidney Stone

Background: Calcium tartrate tetrahydrate has been reported as the main mineral in urinary stones in rats that have significant tartrate in their diet, but in humans, there has been only one mention of calcium tartrate stones in the form of bladder stone, and that case was in Africa., Case Presentation: Patient is a 34-year-old Caucasian male who presented with typical symptoms of nephrolithiasis. CT abd/pelvis (renal stone protocol) revealed a 2 cm nonobstructing stone of the right renal pelvis. Patient underwent an uncomplicated right percutaneous nephrolithotomy and was noted to be stone free after surgery. Stone analysis was difficult with regard to determining composition, but was finally identified as calcium tartrate tetrahydrate., Conclusion: This was an unusual case, as this is the first recorded case of a calcium tartrate tetrahydrate outside of Africa. This type of stone had only been mainly described in rat models with dl-bitartrate in their diet. Our patient was an otherwise healthy, relatively muscular individual with no obvious source for this stone other than a vitamin and amino acid supplement that he takes regularly that contains l-carnitine (as tartrate) and choline (as bitartrate and citrate). The prevalence of this stone type is presently unknown, as stone analysis laboratories have not had the ability to recognize it. Although a connection between the supplement and stone formation is conjecture at this time, we believe this necessitates further investigation

The Use of Stem Cells in Burn Wound Healing: A Review

Burn wound healing involves a series of complex processes which are subject to intensive investigations to improve the outcomes, in particular, the healing time and the quality of the scar. Burn injuries, especially severe ones, are proving to have devastating effects on the affected patients. Stem cells have been recently applied in the field to promote superior healing of the wounds. Not only have stem cells been shown to promote better and faster healing of the burn wounds, but also they have decreased the inflammation levels with less scar progression and fibrosis. This review aims to highlight the beneficial therapeutic effect of stem cells in burn wound healing and to discuss the involved pathways and signaling molecules. The review covers various types of burn wound healing like skin and corneal burns, along with the alternative recent therapies being studied in the field of burn wound healing. The current reflection of the attitudes of people regarding the use of stem cells in burn wound healing is also stated

Pediatric Moyamoya Presenting as a Subarachnoid Hemorrhage from a Ruptured Anterior Cerebral Artery Aneurysm.

BACKGROUND: The incidence of Moyamoya disease (MMD)-associated intracranial aneurysms ranges from 3% to 14% in adult patients, whereas this complication has rarely been reported in children. CASE DESCRIPTION: We herein report the first case, to our knowledge, of an extremely rare subarachnoid hemorrhage presentation of a child with a ruptured anterior cerebral artery dissecting aneurysm secondary to a newly discovered, unilateral Moyamoya-like pathology. CONCLUSIONS: MMD-associated aneurysms are extremely rare in children, and hemorrhage may be the initial presentation of the disease. Prompt intervention is essential to exclude the ruptured aneurysm that is at risk of rebleeding because of persistent hemodynamic stress

Deeply Virtual Compton Scattering off the neutron

The present experiment exploits the interference between the Deeply Virtual Compton Scattering (DVCS) and the Bethe-Heitler processes to extract the imaginary part of DVCS amplitudes on the neutron and on the deuteron from the helicity-dependent D$({\vec e},e'\gamma)X$ cross section measured at $Q^2$=1.9 GeV$^2$ and $x_B$=0.36. We extract a linear combination of generalized parton distributions (GPDs) particularly sensitive to $E_q$, the least constrained GPD. A model dependent constraint on the contribution of the up and down quarks to the nucleon spin is deduced.Comment: Published in Phys. Rev. Let

CP Phases in Correlated Production and Decay of Neutralinos in the Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model

We investigate the associated production of neutralinos $e^+e^-\to\tilde{\chi}^0_1\tilde{\chi}^0_2$ accompanied by the neutralino leptonic decay $\tilde{\chi}^0_2\to\tilde{\chi}^0_1 \ell^+\ell^-$, taking into account initial beam polarization and production-decay spin correlations in the minimal supersymmetric standard model with general CP phases but without generational mixing in the slepton sector. The stringent constraints from the electron EDM on the CP phases are also included in the discussion. Initial beam polarizations lead to three CP--even distributions and one CP--odd distribution, which can be studied independently of the details of the neutralino decays. We find that the production cross section and the branching fractions of the leptonic neutralino decays are very sensitive to the CP phases. In addition, the production--decay spin correlations lead to several CP--even observables such as lepton invariant mass distribution, and lepton angular distribution, and one interesting T--odd (CP--odd) triple product of the initial electron momentum and two final lepton momenta, the size of which might be large enough to be measured at the high--luminosity future electron--positron collider or can play a complementary role in constraining the CP phases with the EDM constraints.Comment: Revtex, 37 pages, 12 eps figure

Kepler-20: A Sun-like Star with Three Sub-Neptune Exoplanets and Two Earth-size Candidates

We present the discovery of the Kepler-20 planetary system, which we initially identified through the detection of five distinct periodic transit signals in the Kepler light curve of the host star 2MASSJ19104752+4220194. We find a stellar effective temperature Teff=5455+-100K, a metallicity of [Fe/H]=0.01+-0.04, and a surface gravity of log(g)=4.4+-0.1. Combined with an estimate of the stellar density from the transit light curves we deduce a stellar mass of Mstar=0.912+-0.034 Msun and a stellar radius of Rstar=0.944^{+0.060}_{-0.095} Rsun. For three of the transit signals, our results strongly disfavor the possibility that these result from astrophysical false positives. We conclude that the planetary scenario is more likely than that of an astrophysical false positive by a factor of 2e5 (Kepler-20b), 1e5 (Kepler-20c), and 1.1e3 (Kepler-20d), sufficient to validate these objects as planetary companions. For Kepler-20c and Kepler-20d, the blend scenario is independently disfavored by the achromaticity of the transit: From Spitzer data gathered at 4.5um, we infer a ratio of the planetary to stellar radii of 0.075+-0.015 (Kepler-20c) and 0.065+-0.011 (Kepler-20d), consistent with each of the depths measured in the Kepler optical bandpass. We determine the orbital periods and physical radii of the three confirmed planets to be 3.70d and 1.91^{+0.12}_{-0.21} Rearth for Kepler-20b, 10.85 d and 3.07^{+0.20}_{-0.31} Rearth for Kepelr-20c, and 77.61 d and 2.75^{+0.17}_{-0.30} Rearth for Kepler-20d. From multi-epoch radial velocities, we determine the masses of Kepler-20b and Kepler-20c to be 8.7\+-2.2 Mearth and 16.1+-3.5 Mearth, respectively, and we place an upper limit on the mass of Kepler-20d of 20.1 Mearth (2 sigma).Comment: accepted by ApJ, 58 pages, 12 figures revised Jan 2012 to correct table 2 and clarify planet parameter extractio

The E00-110 experiment in Jefferson Lab's Hall A: Deeply Virtual Compton Scattering off the Proton at 6 GeV

We present final results on the photon electroproduction ($\vec{e}p\rightarrow ep\gamma$) cross section in the deeply virtual Compton scattering (DVCS) regime and the valence quark region from Jefferson Lab experiment E00-110. Results from an analysis of a subset of these data were published before, but the analysis has been improved which is described here at length, together with details on the experimental setup. Furthermore, additional data have been analyzed resulting in photon electroproduction cross sections at new kinematic settings, for a total of 588 experimental bins. Results of the $Q^2$- and $x_B$-dependences of both the helicity-dependent and helicity-independent cross sections are discussed. The $Q^2$-dependence illustrates the dominance of the twist-2 handbag amplitude in the kinematics of the experiment, as previously noted. Thanks to the excellent accuracy of this high luminosity experiment, it becomes clear that the unpolarized cross section shows a significant deviation from the Bethe-Heitler process in our kinematics, compatible with a large contribution from the leading twist-2 DVCS$^2$ term to the photon electroproduction cross section. The necessity to include higher-twist corrections in order to fully reproduce the shape of the data is also discussed. The DVCS cross sections in this paper represent the final set of experimental results from E00-110, superseding the previous publication.Comment: 48 pages, 32 figure

Scaling Tests of the Cross Section for Deeply Virtual Compton Scattering

We present the first measurements of the \vec{e}p->epg cross section in the deeply virtual Compton scattering (DVCS) regime and the valence quark region. The Q^2 dependence (from 1.5 to 2.3 GeV^2) of the helicity-dependent cross section indicates the twist-2 dominance of DVCS, proving that generalized parton distributions (GPDs) are accessible to experiment at moderate Q^2. The helicity-independent cross section is also measured at Q^2=2.3 GeV^2. We present the first model-independent measurement of linear combinations of GPDs and GPD integrals up to the twist-3 approximation.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figures, 2 tables. Text shortened for publication. References added. One figure remove