4,154 research outputs found
Serum creatine kinase isoenzymes in children with osteogenesis imperfecta
This study evaluates serum creatine kinase isoenzyme
activity in children with osteogenesis imperfecta to determine
its usefulness as a biochemical marker during treatment
with bisphosphonate. The changes of creatine kinase
(CK) isoenzyme activity during and after discontinuation therapy
were observed. These results could be useful in addressing
over-treatment risk prevention.
Introduction The brain isoenzyme of creatine kinase (CKbb)
is highly expressed in mature osteoclasts during osteoclastogenesis,
thus plays an important role in bone resorption. We
previously identified high serum CKbb levels in 18 children
with osteogenesis imperfect (OI) type 1 treated for 1 year with
bisphosphonate (neridronate). In the present study, serum CK
isoenzymes were evaluated in the same children with continuous
versus discontinued neridronate treatment over a further
2-year follow-up period.
Methods This study included 18 children with OI type 1, 12
with continued (group A) and 6 with ceased (group B)
neridronate treatment. Auxological data, serum biochemical
markers of bone metabolism, bone mineral density z-score,
and serum total CK and isoenzyme activities were determined
in both groups.
Results Serum CKbb was progressively and significantly increased
in group A (p < 0.004) but rapidly decreased to undetectable
levels in group B. In both groups, the cardiac muscle
creatine kinase isoenzyme (CKmb) showed a marked decrease,
while serum C-terminal telopeptide (CTx) levels were
almost unchanged.
Conclusions This study provides evidence of the cumulative
effect of neridronate administration in increasing serum CKbb
levels and the reversible effect after its discontinuation. This
approach could be employed for verifying the usefulness of
serum CKbb as a biochemical marker in patients receiving
prolonged bisphosphonate treatment. Moreover, the decreased
serum CKmb levels suggest a systemic effect of these drugs
Measuring Propagation Speed of Coulomb Fields
The problem of gravity propagation has been subject of discussion for quite a
long time: Newton, Laplace and, in relatively more modern times, Eddington
pointed out that, if gravity propagated with finite velocity, planets motion
around the sun would become unstable due to a torque originating from time lag
of the gravitational interactions.
Such an odd behavior can be found also in electromagnetism, when one computes
the propagation of the electric fields generated by a set of uniformly moving
charges. As a matter of fact the Li\'enard-Weichert retarded potential leads to
a formula indistinguishable from the one obtained assuming that the electric
field propagates with infinite velocity. Feyman explanation for this apparent
paradox was based on the fact that uniform motions last indefinitely.
To verify such an explanation, we performed an experiment to measure the
time/space evolution of the electric field generated by an uniformely moving
electron beam. The results we obtain on such a finite lifetime kinematical
state seem compatible with an electric field rigidly carried by the beam
itself.Comment: 23 pages, 15 figure
Genetic parameters for milk somatic cell score and relationships with production traits in primiparous dairy sheep
A total of 13,066 first-lactation test-day records of 2,277 Valle del Belice ewes from 17 flocks were used to estimate genetic parameters for somatic cell scores (SCS) and milk production traits, using a repeatability test-day animal model. Heritability estimates were low
and ranged from 0.09 to 0.14 for milk, fat, and protein yields, and contents. For SCS, the heritability of 0.14 was relatively high. The repeatabilities were moderate and ranged from 0.29 to 0.47 for milk production traits. The repeatability for SCS was 0.36. Flock-test-day explained a large proportion of the variation for milk production traits, but it did not have a big effect on SCS. The genetic correlations of fat and protein yields with fat and protein percentages were positive and high,indicating a strong association between these traits. The genetic correlations of milk production traits with SCS were positive and ranged from 0.16 to 0.31. The results showed that SCS is a heritable trait in Valle del Belice sheep and that single-trait selection for increased milk production will also increase SCS
Multilevel analysis of facial expressions of emotion and script: Self-report (arousal and valence) and psychophysiological correlates
Background: The paper explored emotion comprehension in children with regard to facial expression of emotion. The effect of valence and arousal evaluation, of context and of psychophysiological measures was monitored. Indeed subjective evaluation of valence (positive vs. negative) and arousal (high vs. low), and contextual (facial expression vs. facial expression and script) variables were supposed to modulate the psychophysiological responses. Methods: Self-report measures (in terms of correct recognition, arousal and valence attribution) and psychophysiological correlates (facial electromyography, EMG, skin conductance response, SCR, and heart rate, HR) were observed when children (N = 26; mean age = 8.75 y; range 6-11 y) looked at six facial expressions of emotions (happiness, anger, fear, sadness, surprise, and disgust) and six emotional scripts (contextualized facial expressions). The competencies about the recognition, the evaluation on valence and arousal was tested in concomitance with psychophysiological variations. Specifically, we tested for the congruence of these multiple measures. Results: Log-linear analysis and repeated measure ANOVAs showed different representations across the subjects, as a function of emotion. Specifically, children' recognition and attribution were well developed for some emotions (such as anger, fear, surprise and happiness), whereas some other emotions (mainly disgust and sadness) were less clearly represented. SCR, HR and EMG measures were modulated by the evaluation based on valence and arousal, with increased psychophysiological values mainly in response to anger, fear and happiness. Conclusions: As shown by multiple regression analysis, a significant consonance was found between self-report measures and psychophysiological behavior, mainly for emotions rated as more arousing and negative in valence. The multilevel measures were discussed at light of dimensional attribution model
Hierarchical structure of the Sicilian goats revealed by Bayesian analyses of microsatellite information
Genetic structure and relationship amongst the main goat populations in Sicily (Girgentana, Derivata di Siria, Maltese and Messinese) were analysed using information from 19 microsatellite markers genotyped on 173 individuals. A posterior Bayesian approach implemented in the program STRUCTURE revealed a hierarchical structure with two clusters at the first level (Girgentana vs. Messinese, Derivata di Siria and Maltese), explaining 4.8% of variation (AMOVA ФST estimate). Seven clusters nested within these first two clusters (further differentiations of Girgentana, Derivata di Siria and Maltese), explaining 8.5% of variation (AMOVA ФSC estimate). The analyses and methods applied in this study indicate their power to detect subtle population structure
Some closure operations in Zariski-Riemann spaces of valuation domains: a survey
In this survey we present several results concerning various topologies that
were introduced in recent years on spaces of valuation domains
Beta-lactoglobulin polymorphism in Girgentana goat breed
Beta-lactoglobulin (b-lg) is a globular protein belonging to the lipocalin family. It is the major whey protein in the
milk of ruminants. It is also present in the milk of most mammals but is lacking in rodents, lagomorphs and
humans. A large number of variants have been reported for cow and sheep milk. Several studies have shown association
between b-lg variants and milk production and composition, even if the results are not always concordant.
In goat, no b-lg variants related with amino acid change have been characterized at DNA level, but some authors
described the presence of polymorphisms in the 3’UTR and in the proximal promoter region. Mutations in the promoter
region could be those most likely responsible for different level of gene expression. The aim of this work was
to study the genetic polymorphism at DNA level of b-lg gene in Girgentana goat breed. A total of 238 genomic DNA
samples of Girgentana breed were genotyped. A fragment of 709 bp, including 588 bp of proximal promoter region
and 121 bp of exon 1, was amplified using primers GOAPF3 and GoatE1R2. PCR-RFLP procedure was used for fast
detection of two single nucleotide substitutions as described by Graziano et al. (2003). The base substitutions originating
the polymorphic sites consist of: 1. a transition T›C at position -341 and 2. a transition C›T at position -60.
A FspBI PCR-RFLP protocol was used to detect the mutation -341 (T/C) and a SmaI PCR-RFLP protocol for the
mutation -60 (C/T) of the proximal promoter region. The allelic frequencies and the Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium
were estimated using the GENEPOP software. Girgentana goat breed shows no significant deviation from Hardy-
Weinberg equilibrium for the allele frequencies found in both polymorphic sites considered. The genotypic frequencies
for both mutations resulted in 0.65 (T/T), 0.33 (T/C) and 0.02 (C/C) for the position -341, and 0.82 (C/C),
0.17 (C/T) and 0.01 (T/T) for the position -60. These results are in agreement with the previous obtained by
Graziano et al. (2003) in the same breed. Further analysis are in progress to investigate the possible effect of these
variants on the expression of b-lg gene, on the milk protein composition and on milk production traits
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