Peripheral thyroid hormone levels and hepatic thyroid hormone deiodinase gene expression in dairy heifers on the day of ovulation and during the early peri-implantation period

Background: Before the onset of fetal thyroid hormone production, the transplacental delivery of maternal thyroid hormones is necessary for embryonic and fetal development. Therefore, the adaptation of maternal thyroid hormone metabolism may be important for pregnancy success and embryo survival. The aims of this study were to determine the thyroid hormone levels during the early peri-implantation period until day 18 and on the day of ovulation, to determine whether pregnancy success is dependent on a "normothyroid status" and to determine whether physiological adaptations in maternal thyroid hormone metabolism occur, which may be necessary to provide sufficient amounts of biologically active T3 to support early pregnancy. Therefore, blood samples obtained on the day of ovulation (day 0) and days 14 and 18 of the Holstein-Friesian heifers (n = 10) during the respective pregnant, non-pregnant and negative control cycles were analyzed for thyroid-stimulating-hormone (TSH), thyroxine (T4) and triiodothyronine (T3). Liver biopsies (day 18) from pregnant and respective non-pregnant heifers were analyzed for mRNA expression of the most abundant hepatic thyroid hormone deiodinase (DIO1) by real time qPCR. Results: Although liver DIO1 mRNA expression did not differ between the pregnant and non-pregnant heifers on day 18, the serum concentrations of TSH and T3 on day 18 were higher in non-pregnant heifers compared to pregnant heifers (P < 0.05). Moreover, T3 decreased between day 0 and 18 in pregnant heifers (P < 0.001). Conclusions: In conclusion, no associations between thyroid hormone patterns on day 18 and pregnancy success were detected. During the early peri-implantation period, TSH and T3 may be affected by the pregnancy status because both TSH and T3 were lower on day 18 in pregnant heifers compared to non-pregnant dairy heifers. In further studies, the thyroid hormone axis should be evaluated throughout the entire gestation to confirm these data and identify other possible effects of pregnancy on the thyroid hormone axis in cattle

Barriers for Sports and Exercise Participation and Corresponding Barrier Management in Cystic Fibrosis

Background Nowadays physical activity (PA)/exercise is an important component of cystic fibrosis (CF) therapy. The aim of the study was to assess the barriers to PA and the barrier management and to explore the effect of supervision on the barriers and barrier management during an exercise program. Methods In total, 88 people with CF (pwCF) of the ages 6 to 50 years old (mean 24.2 ± 7.9 yrs) participated in the partially supervised 12-month exercise program and filled in a structured and validated questionnaire about barriers to sports and barrier management at baseline. Results Physical barriers were more relevant than psychosocial barriers and no trend could be seen in the situational and preventive counter strategies. When divided in subgroups, the less active pwCF (7500 steps/day), physical barriers, and psychosocial barriers showed no significant differences. However physical barriers showed a tendency to have a higher value in the less active group compared to the more active group (p > 0.05). Stratified by age or FEV1%pred between the subgroups, no differences could be seen regarding barriers and counter strategies. Conclusions Physical barriers seemed to have a higher priority when it comes to not participating in PA/exercise. Supervision over 6 months during an exercise program did not show a beneficial effect on barriers and barrier management. Besides the motivational aspect of sport counselling, the volitional aspect seemed to be more important to incorporate more PA into daily life. Individual barriers and their concrete counter strategies should be discussed with the patient with CF. Sport counselling is needed permanently and should be part of the CF routine care

Genetic Diagnostic Elucidation of a Patient With Multiorgan Granulomas, Facial Peculiarities, and Psychomotor Retardation

We report the case of a 19-years-old patient who presented with a perplexing variety of symptoms which included remarkable facial features, intellectual disability, granulomatous upper lip swelling (previously diagnosed as Melkersson–Rosenthal syndrome), Crohn’s-like disease, non-productive cough, and a granulomatous mass localized in the left lung. Chronic granulomatous disease (CGD) was diagnosed using dihydrorhodamine 123 assay that showed low levels of phagocytic NADPH-oxidase. DNA sequencing revealed a heterozygous mutation in the NCF-1 gene on chromosome 7. As remarkable facial features and psychomotor retardation are not associated with CGD, a more detailed genetic work-up using fluorescence in situ hybridization was performed. A microdeletion in 7q11.23 on one allele indicated Williams–Beuren syndrome (WBS). The NCF-1 gene and its two pseudogenes are part of a highly repetitive region within 7q11.23 and are prone to recombination events and deletions. Such deletions can involve both the WBS critical region and the NCF-1 wildtype gene, as was the case for our patient. The second allele of the NCF-1 gene was affected by the frequent c.75.76delGT mutation that stems from a recombination of the NCF-1 wildtype gene with one of its pseudogenes. In conclusion, patients with NCF-1-deficient CGD may also harbor microdeletions that result in WBS or other hereditary disorders; therefore, it is important to perform a thorough genetic analysis in order to initiate appropriate therapy for these patients

Harpy Eagle sightings, traces and nesting records at the "Reserva Natural Vale", a Brazilian Atlantic Forest remnant in Espírito Santo, Brazil

We present 25 records of sightings, feathers and nests of the Harpy Eagle Harpia harpyja in the last 27 years and also the first detailed description of a nest of a Harpy Eagle in the Brazilian Atlantic Forest, found at the "Reserva Natural Vale" (RNV), Linhares, Espírito Santo, Brazil. Most Harpy Eagle records were obtained along the RNV roads by researchers and the RNV staff. Two nests have been mapped at the RNV until now. An especially relevant record occurred in 1997 when a juvenile Harpy Eagle was found dead, 4 km distant from the nest mapped and measured in 2010. The nest was 1.8 m × 1.6 m in diameter, and was built 28 m above ground, on the main fork of an Astronium concinnum tree measuring 37 m height and 1 m in diameter at breast height (DBH). This nest was the second of the species to be reported at RNV, being 5 km away from the first one, found in 1992, and built 30 m above the ground on the main fork of a Cariniana legalis tree 36 m high and 1.1 m in DBH. All Harpy Eagle records at RNV indicate that this protected area offers enough resources and has carrying capacity to maintain at least two Harpy Eagle pairs. However, because of the fragmentation around RNV, the local Harpy Eagle population cannot expand due to reduced habitat availability. The data gathered in this study confirm the importance of the RNV for the conservation of the critically endangered Harpy Eagle population of the Brazilian Atlantic Forest. We recommend the establishment of a reforestation program to increase the size and the connections of fragments around the RNV. We suggest that the creation and effective implementation of protected areas may contribute to Harpy Eagle protection in the Brazilian Atlantic Forest, but the long-term conservation of remaining populations is an essential step to allow for the occupation and re-colonization of other areas

Randomized controlled phase 2 trial of hydroxychloroquine in childhood interstitial lung disease

Background No results of controlled trials are available for any of the few treatments offered to children with interstitial lung diseases (chILD). We evaluated hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) in a phase 2, prospective, multicentre, 1:1-randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, parallel-group/crossover trial. HCQ (START arm) or placebo were given for 4 weeks. Then all subjects received HCQ for another 4 weeks. In the STOP arm subjects already taking HCQ were randomized to 12 weeks of HCQ or placebo (= withdrawal of HCQ). Then all subjects stopped treatment and were observed for another 12 weeks. Results 26 subjects were included in the START arm, 9 in the STOP arm, of these four subjects participated in both arms. The primary endpoint, presence or absence of a response to treatment, assessed as oxygenation (calculated from a change in transcutaneous O 2 -saturation of ≥ 5%, respiratory rate ≥ 20% or level of respiratory support), did not differ between placebo and HCQ groups. Secondary endpoints including change of O 2 -saturation ≥ 3%, health related quality of life, pulmonary function and 6-min-walk-test distance, were not different between groups. Finally combining all placebo and all HCQ treatment periods did not identify significant treatment effects. Overall effect sizes were small. HCQ was well tolerated, adverse events were not different between placebo and HCQ. Conclusions Acknowledging important shortcomings of the study, including a small study population, the treatment duration, lack of outcomes like lung function testing below age of 6 years, the small effect size of HCQ treatment observed requires careful reassessments of prescriptions in everyday practice (EudraCT-Nr.: 2013-003714-40, www.clinicaltrialsregister.eu , registered 02.07.2013)

Les droits disciplinaires des fonctions publiques : « unification », « harmonisation » ou « distanciation ». A propos de la loi du 26 avril 2016 relative à la déontologie et aux droits et obligations des fonctionnaires

The production of tt‾ , W+bb‾ and W+cc‾ is studied in the forward region of proton–proton collisions collected at a centre-of-mass energy of 8 TeV by the LHCb experiment, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 1.98±0.02 fb−1 . The W bosons are reconstructed in the decays W→ℓν , where ℓ denotes muon or electron, while the b and c quarks are reconstructed as jets. All measured cross-sections are in agreement with next-to-leading-order Standard Model predictions.The production of $t\overline{t}$, $W+b\overline{b}$ and $W+c\overline{c}$ is studied in the forward region of proton-proton collisions collected at a centre-of-mass energy of 8 TeV by the LHCb experiment, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 1.98 $\pm$ 0.02 \mbox{fb}^{-1}. The $W$ bosons are reconstructed in the decays $W\rightarrow\ell\nu$, where $\ell$ denotes muon or electron, while the $b$ and $c$ quarks are reconstructed as jets. All measured cross-sections are in agreement with next-to-leading-order Standard Model predictions

Photography-based taxonomy is inadequate, unnecessary, and potentially harmful for biological sciences

The question whether taxonomic descriptions naming new animal species without type specimen(s) deposited in collections should be accepted for publication by scientific journals and allowed by the Code has already been discussed in Zootaxa (Dubois & Nemésio 2007; Donegan 2008, 2009; Nemésio 2009a–b; Dubois 2009; Gentile & Snell 2009; Minelli 2009; Cianferoni & Bartolozzi 2016; Amorim et al. 2016). This question was again raised in a letter supported by 35 signatories published in the journal Nature (Pape et al. 2016) on 15 September 2016. On 25 September 2016, the following rebuttal (strictly limited to 300 words as per the editorial rules of Nature) was submitted to Nature, which on 18 October 2016 refused to publish it. As we think this problem is a very important one for zoological taxonomy, this text is published here exactly as submitted to Nature, followed by the list of the 493 taxonomists and collection-based researchers who signed it in the short time span from 20 September to 6 October 2016

Physics case for an LHCb Upgrade II - Opportunities in flavour physics, and beyond, in the HL-LHC era

The LHCb Upgrade II will fully exploit the flavour-physics opportunities of the HL-LHC, and study additional physics topics that take advantage of the forward acceptance of the LHCb spectrometer. The LHCb Upgrade I will begin operation in 2020. Consolidation will occur, and modest enhancements of the Upgrade I detector will be installed, in Long Shutdown 3 of the LHC (2025) and these are discussed here. The main Upgrade II detector will be installed in long shutdown 4 of the LHC (2030) and will build on the strengths of the current LHCb experiment and the Upgrade I. It will operate at a luminosity up to 2×1034 cm−2s−1, ten times that of the Upgrade I detector. New detector components will improve the intrinsic performance of the experiment in certain key areas. An Expression Of Interest proposing Upgrade II was submitted in February 2017. The physics case for the Upgrade II is presented here in more depth. CP-violating phases will be measured with precisions unattainable at any other envisaged facility. The experiment will probe b → sl+l−and b → dl+l− transitions in both muon and electron decays in modes not accessible at Upgrade I. Minimal flavour violation will be tested with a precision measurement of the ratio of B(B0 → μ+μ−)/B(Bs → μ+μ−). Probing charm CP violation at the 10−5 level may result in its long sought discovery. Major advances in hadron spectroscopy will be possible, which will be powerful probes of low energy QCD. Upgrade II potentially will have the highest sensitivity of all the LHC experiments on the Higgs to charm-quark couplings. Generically, the new physics mass scale probed, for fixed couplings, will almost double compared with the pre-HL-LHC era; this extended reach for flavour physics is similar to that which would be achieved by the HE-LHC proposal for the energy frontier

LHCb upgrade software and computing : technical design report

This document reports the Research and Development activities that are carried out in the software and computing domains in view of the upgrade of the LHCb experiment. The implementation of a full software trigger implies major changes in the core software framework, in the event data model, and in the reconstruction algorithms. The increase of the data volumes for both real and simulated datasets requires a corresponding scaling of the distributed computing infrastructure. An implementation plan in both domains is presented, together with a risk assessment analysis

Cabbage and fermented vegetables : From death rate heterogeneity in countries to candidates for mitigation strategies of severe COVID-19

Large differences in COVID-19 death rates exist between countries and between regions of the same country. Some very low death rate countries such as Eastern Asia, Central Europe, or the Balkans have a common feature of eating large quantities of fermented foods. Although biases exist when examining ecological studies, fermented vegetables or cabbage have been associated with low death rates in European countries. SARS-CoV-2 binds to its receptor, the angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2). As a result of SARS-CoV-2 binding, ACE2 downregulation enhances the angiotensin II receptor type 1 (AT(1)R) axis associated with oxidative stress. This leads to insulin resistance as well as lung and endothelial damage, two severe outcomes of COVID-19. The nuclear factor (erythroid-derived 2)-like 2 (Nrf2) is the most potent antioxidant in humans and can block in particular the AT(1)R axis. Cabbage contains precursors of sulforaphane, the most active natural activator of Nrf2. Fermented vegetables contain many lactobacilli, which are also potent Nrf2 activators. Three examples are: kimchi in Korea, westernized foods, and the slum paradox. It is proposed that fermented cabbage is a proof-of-concept of dietary manipulations that may enhance Nrf2-associated antioxidant effects, helpful in mitigating COVID-19 severity.Peer reviewe