Description of cloacoscopy in the loggerhead sea turtle ( Caretta caretta )

The aim of the study was to describe cloacoscopy in the loggerhead turtle (Caretta caretta) and to evaluate its efficacy in clinical practice. Cloacoscopy was performed on 31 turtles, 23 females and 8 males. Thirty minutes before anaesthesia, meloxicam (0.4 mg/kg) was administered intramuscularly. Turtles were anaesthetised with a combination of 0.04 mg/kg dexmedetomidine and 4 mg/kg ketamine administered intramuscularly. Cloacoscopy was performed with a diagnostic telescope (10 mm diameter, 30 cm long, 0°, with an operating sheath) or with a flexible colonoscope (13 mm diameter, 160 cm long). Turtles were placed in dorsal recumbence and endoscope was inserted through the vent. In the distal part of the proctodeum, phallus or clitoris were easily visualized. A finger and thumb were placed around the vent to act as a valve in order to control the fluid infusion. Flushing the cloaca with warm saline and 0.6% lidocaine allowed clear view. The urethral orifice was located centrally within the urogenital sinus. Further proximally, the slit of the urodeum with the distal sphincter of the colon could be visualized. Passing gently through the urethral orifice allowed direct visualization of the urinary bladder. After withdrawing and re-directing the endoscope into the coprodeum, the terminal part of the intestine was reached. From 31 loggerhead turtles examined, fishing lines were found in 23 animals. Cloacoscopy proved to be a feasible diagnostic method and it is suggested as a routine diagnostic tool for clinical assessment of loggerhead turtle patients

Primjena alfaksalona za indukciju anestezije “tepih” pitona iz džungle (Morelia Spilota Cheynei)

The aim of this investigation was to assess the clinical use of alfaxalone as a short-acting anaesthetic agent for induction to inhalation anaesthesia in jungle carpet pythons (Morelia spilota cheynei). Ten healthy, captive, sub-adult jungle carpet pythons (1.1±0.32 kg bw) were anaesthetised using a dose of 10mg/kg of alfaxalone, administered intravenously to the ventral tail vein. Heart rate (HR) and respiratory rate (RR) were recorded before administration (T0), and every 5 minutes until the snakes fully recovered from the anaesthesia. The induction time, time of tail-pinch reflex loss, tracheal tube insertion time, interval of deep anaesthesia, and the time of full recovery were recorded. The induction time occurred within 3.1±0.8 minutes. The tail-pinch reflex loss was lost within 5.6±0.7 minutes. The mean tracheal tube insertion time, the interval of deep anaesthesia, and the time of full recovery were 6.9±0.9 minutes, 18.8±4.7 minutes, and 36.7±11.4 minutes, respectively. A prolonged time of full recovery was recorded in two snakes (61.3 and 62.6 minutes, respectively). Their mean heart rate was statistically higher (P<0.05) at T5, T15 and T20 when compared with the basal HR at T0. The respiratory rate of the snakes dropped at T5 and was statistically lower (P<0.05) from T5 until T20 when compared with RR at all other time points. In two snakes apnoea was recorded at T5. Intravenous administration of alfaxalone proved to be a valuable method of induction, suitable for a subsequent inhalation anaesthesia in jungle carpet pythons.Cilj istraživanja bio je procijeniti kliničku primjenu alfaksalona kao kratkodjelujućeg anestetika za uvođenje u inhalacijsku anesteziju “carpet” pitona iz džungle (Morelia spilota cheynei). Deset zdravih, subadultnih pitona (tjelesne mase 1,1 ± 0,32 kg ) iz zatočeništva anestezirano je aplikacijom 10 mg/kg alfaksalona u ventralnu venu repa. Broj srčanih otkucaja (HR) i učestalost disanja (RR) zabilježeni su prije primjene anestetika (T0) i svakih 5 minuta sve dok se zmije nisu u potpunosti oporavile od anestezije. Također, registrirani su vrijeme indukcije u anesteziju, vrijeme gubitka repnog refleksa, vrijeme umetanja trahealne cijevi, interval duboke anestezije i vrijeme potpunog oporavka od anestezije. Vrijeme indukcije u anesteziju nastupilo je unutar 3,1 ± 0,8 minuta. Gubitak repnog refleksa uslijedio je unutar 5,6 ± 0,7 minuta. Prosječno vrijeme umetanja trahealne cijevi, zatim prosječni interval duboke anestezije i prosječno vrijeme potpunog oporavka od anestezije iznosili su kako slijedi 6,9 ± 0,9 minuta, 18,8 ± 4,7 minuta odnosno 36,7 ± 11,4 minuta. Produljeno vrijeme potpunog oporavka od anestezije (61,3 odnosno 62,6 minuta) zabilježeno je u dvije zmije. Njihov prosječni broj srčanih otkucaja bio je statistički znakovito veći (P <0,05) pri T5, T15 i T20 u usporedbi s bazalnim HR u vremenu T0. Učestalost disanja zmija je u vrijeme T5 je pala i u razdoblju od T5 do T20 u usporedbi s RR-om u svim drugim vremenskim točkama ostala statistički znakovito niža (P<0,05). U dvije zmije, u vremenskoj točki T5, zabilježena je apneja. Intravenska primjena alfaksalona pokazala se kao vrijedna metoda za indukciju anestezije odnosno za naknadnu inhalacijsku anesteziju “carpet” pitona iz džungle

Thermal Care of Functional Dyspepsia Based on Bicarbonate-Sulphate-Calcium Water: A Sequential Clinical Trial

Drug treatment of functional dyspepsia is often unsatisfactory. We assessed the efficacy of a bicarbonate-sulphate-calcium thermal water cycle of 12 days, in patients with functional dyspepsia. Patients with functional dyspepsia were sent by their general practitioners to 12 days of treatment with thermal water, 200–400 ml in the morning, at temperature of 33°C (91.4 F) and were evaluated on a strict intention to treat basis. Four efficacy endpoints were analyzed as follows: (i) reduction of the global symptoms score, (ii) reduction of intensity to a level not interfering with everyday activities, (iii) specific efficacy on ulcer-like or dysmotility-like dyspepsia and (iv) esophageal or abdominal-associated symptoms. Statistical significance was reached for all three primary outcomes after the first 29 consecutive patients. Thermal water reduced the global symptom score, reduced intensity of symptoms to a level not interfering with everyday activity, but was unable to completely suppress all symptoms. A parallel effect emerged for ulcer-like and dyspepsia-like subgroups. The effect on heartburn and abdominal symptoms was not significant, suggesting a specific effect of the water on the gastric and duodenal wall. The Roma II criteria identify a natural kind of dyspepsia that improves with thermal water. Ulcer-like and dysmotility-like are not therapeutically distinguishable subgroups. Patients with dominant esophageal or abdominal symptoms should receive a different therapy. Sequential methods are very effective for the evaluation of traditional care practices and should be considered preliminary and integrative to randomized controlled trials in this context

Fast Timing for High-Rate Environments with Micromegas

The current state of the art in fast timing resolution for existing experiments is of the order of 100 ps on the time of arrival of both charged particles and electromagnetic showers. Current R&D on charged particle timing is approaching the level of 10 ps but is not primarily directed at sustained performance at high rates and under high radiation (as would be needed for HL-LHC pileup mitigation). We demonstrate a Micromegas based solution to reach this level of performance. The Micromegas acts as a photomultiplier coupled to a Cerenkov-radiator front window, which produces sufficient UV photons to convert the ~100 ps single-photoelectron jitter into a timing response of the order of 10-20 ps per incident charged particle. A prototype has been built in order to demonstrate this performance. The first laboratory tests with a pico-second laser have shown a time resolution of the order of 27 ps for ~50 primary photoelectrons, using a bulk Micromegas readout.Comment: MPGD2015 (4th Conference on Micro-Pattern Gaseous Detectors, Trieste, Italy, 12 - 15 October, 2015). 5 pages, 8 figure

Performance of Nickel-Iron nanostructured electrodes at different temperatures

In recent years, the whole world has been trying to reduce CO2 emissions through the global decarbonization of energy processes. In this view, the interest towards green hydrogen has drastically increased. One way to produce green hydrogen is by water electrolysis using only electricity from renewable sources. The storage of renewable solar or wind electricity is a major challenge to build a sustainable future energy system. The electrochemical production of hydrogen, through electrolysers, is a viable strategy to take advantage of the surplus electricity coming from renewable energy sources. Its production is pollution-free but is not economically viable. The development of more efficient electrolysers with low-cost electrode materials plays a key role. Catalysts must have such as good electrocatalytic properties, high conductivity, high availability, low cost, and good chemical stability. Nowadays, research is focused on improving the Alkaline Water Electrolysis (AE) to reduce the cost of electrode production. In alkaline environment it was demonstrated that, transition metals, and in particular Nickel or nickel based alloy nanostructured electrodes, have good and stable performances. Furthermore, industrial alkaline electrolysers work at temperatures between 40 and 90°C. Therefore, electrodes must be mechanically and chemically stable at these temperatures. An approach to improve AE performance consists on the fabbrication of nanostructured electrodes because they are characterized by high electrocatalytic activity due to the very high surface area. Starting from the results obtained in a previous work, the nanostructured alloy of NiFe was tested both as cathode and anode at three different temperatures (25 °C, 40 °C, 60 °C). Nanostructured electrodes were obtained through a simple and cheap method, template electrosynthesis, using a polycarbonate membrane as a template. NiFe electrodes morphology was studied by scanning electrode microscopy (SEM) and their composition was evaluated by energy diffraction spectroscopy (EDS) analyses. Later, the electrodes were characterized using various electrochemical techniques: Cyclic Voltammetry (CV), Quasi Steady State Polarization (QSSP) and Galvanostatic Step. To evaluate the mid-term behavior of the electrodes, especially at high temperatures, a constant current density was applied for 6 hours. In particular, -50 mA cm-2 for Hydrogen Evolution Reaction (HER) and 50 mA cm-2 for Oxygen Evolution Reaction (OER). All the tests were performed in 30% w/w KOH aqueous solution. Temperature increase plays a key role in increasing the efficiency of both anode and cathode reactions. As expected, the best result was obtained at 60 °C. Acknowledgments This research was funded by MUR, CNMS Centro Nazionale per la Mobilità sostenibile grant number CN0000002

Dual roles of mTORC1-dependent activation of the ubiquitin-proteasome system in muscle proteostasis

Muscle size is controlled by the PI3K-PKB/Akt-mTORC1-FoxO pathway, which integrates signals from growth factors, energy and amino acids to activate protein synthesis and inhibit protein breakdown. While mTORC1 activity is necessary for PKB/Akt-induced muscle hypertrophy, its constant activation alone induces muscle atrophy. Here we show that this paradox is based on mTORC1 activity promoting protein breakdown through the ubiquitin-proteasome system (UPS) by simultaneously inducing ubiquitin E3 ligase expression via feedback inhibition of PKB/Akt and proteasome biogenesis via Nuclear Factor Erythroid 2-Like 1 (Nrf1). Muscle growth was restored by reactivation of PKB/Akt, but not by Nrf1 knockdown, implicating ubiquitination as the limiting step. However, both PKB/Akt activation and proteasome depletion by Nrf1 knockdown led to an immediate disruption of proteome integrity with rapid accumulation of damaged material. These data highlight the physiological importance of mTORC1-mediated PKB/Akt inhibition and point to juxtaposed roles of the UPS in atrophy and proteome integrity

Nanostructured Ni-Fe-S Based Electrode for Hydrogen Production by Water Electrolysis

Green hydrogen is a real alternative to change the current energy system. Electrochemical water splitting is considered an attractive solution to convert and store the surplus of renewable energy sources. However, hydrogen production by water electrolysis is not economically sustainable due to the use of high noble metals as catalysts (generally platinum or palladium). In order to reduce costs, in this work we have synthesized a ternary alloy of nickel, iron and sulfur and used it as the cathode in an alkaline electrolyzer to produce hydrogen from water. Furthermore, to increase the features of the proposed alloy, this material was synthesized into the pore of a polycarbonate membrane to obtain a nanostructured electrode that exposes a very high surface area to the solution and consequently a large number of electrocatalytic active sites. The electrode fabrication was carried out by potential-controlled pulsed electrochemical deposition where the potential switch from -0.45 V to -1.3 V vs. SCE for 60 cycles. The electrode was characterized by SEM and EDS showing the nanostructured nature and the composition of the electrode. Then it was tested as the cathode in an alkaline electrolyzer (30% KOH) at room temperature. Preliminary results show that the addition of sulfur to the alloy permits to increase in the electrode features compared to the binary alloy of nickel and iron

Inactivation of mTORC1 in the Developing Brain Causes Microcephaly and Affects Gliogenesis

The mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) regulates cell growth in response to various intracellular and extracellular signals. It assembles into two multiprotein complexes: the rapamycin-sensitive mTOR complex 1 (mTORC1) and the rapamycin-insensitive mTORC2. In this study, we inactivated mTORC1 in mice by deleting the gene encoding raptor in the progenitors of the developing CNS. Mice are born but never feed and die within a few hours. The brains deficient for raptor show a microcephaly starting at E17.5 that is the consequence of a reduced cell number and cell size. Changes in cell cycle length during late cortical development and increased cell death both contribute to the reduction in cell number. Neurospheres derived from raptor-deficient brains are smaller, and differentiation of neural progenitors into glia but not into neurons is inhibited. The differentiation defect is paralleled by decreased Stat3 signaling, which is a target of mTORC1 and has been implicated in gliogenesis. Together, our results show that postnatal survival, overall brain growth, and specific aspects of brain development critically depend on mTORC1 function

The impact of hepatitis B virus (HBV) and hepatitis C virus (HCV) : from research to clinical practice

Hepatic carcinogenesis is a complex process that involves profound alterations of the hepatocyte genome (1,2) and has been graded in three stages: induction, promotion, and progression in the animal models (3–5). In recent years, the use of molecular biology techniques have improved significantly the understanding of the mechanisms (alteration of gene and gene expression) that occur during the different steps of carcinogenesis

Pathways and fate of REE in the shallow hydrothermal aquifer of Vulcano island (Italy)

We investigated the geochemical behaviour of major and Rare Earth Elements (REE), together with oxygen and deuterium isotopic composition in the aquifer of Vulcano, the southernmost island of the Aeolian archipelago (Italy). Studied wells, located at different distances from the crater, are characterised by different contributions of the rising volcanic fluids. In particular, those located in the proximity of La Fossa crater are affected by a strong interaction with volcanic-hydrothermal fluids and show REE behaviour similar to that of fresh rocks, suggesting a congruent dissolution of the solid matrix. Samples from the other wells, located in an area where the volcanic deposits are hydrothermally altered as an “advanced argillic facies”, are enriched in HREE and mirror the corresponding depletion observed in the altered rocks. Moreover, the different grade of interaction with hydrothermal fluids determines the main ligand that complexes the REE. The main ligand is CO3 2– in the wells that are more directly affected by hydrothermal circulation, whereas SO4 2− dominates in those located at greater distances from La Fossa crater. This information provides further clues to the complex groundwater circulation model of Vulcano Island, which is regulated by the variable mixing and interacting of rising volcano-hydrothermal fluids, meteoric infiltration and seawater, differently interacting with fresh and altered rocks