Rain in Shallow Cumulus Over the Ocean: The RICO Campaign

Shallow, maritime cumuli are ubiquitous over much of the tropical oceans, and characterizing their properties is important to understanding weather and climate. The Rain in Cumulus over the Ocean (RICO) field campaign, which took place during November 2004–January 2005 in the trades over the western Atlantic, emphasized measurements of processes related to the formation of rain in shallow cumuli, and how rain subsequently modifies the structure and ensemble statistics of trade wind clouds. Eight weeks of nearly continuous S-band polarimetric radar sampling, 57 flights from three heavily instrumented research aircraft, and a suite of ground- and ship-based instrumentation provided data on trade wind clouds with unprecedented resolution. Observational strategies employed during RICO capitalized on the advances in remote sensing and other instrumentation to provide insight into processes that span a range of scales and that lie at the heart of questions relating to the cause and effects of rain from shallow maritime cumuli

Fumonisins affect the intestinal microbial homeostasis in broiler chickens, predisposing to necrotic enteritis

Fumonisins (FBs) are mycotoxins produced by Fusarium fungi. This study aimed to investigate the effect of these feed contaminants on the intestinal morphology and microbiota composition, and to evaluate whether FBs predispose broilers to necrotic enteritis. One-day-old broiler chicks were divided into a group fed a control diet, and a group fed a FBs contaminated diet (18.6 mg FB1+ FB2/kg feed). A significant increase in the plasma sphinganine/sphingosine ratio in the FBs-treated group (0.21 +/- 0.016) compared to the control (0.14 +/- 0.014) indicated disturbance of the sphingolipid biosynthesis. Furthermore, villus height and crypt depth of the ileum was significantly reduced by FBs. Denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis showed a shift in the microbiota composition in the ileum in the FBs group compared to the control. A reduced presence of low-GC containing operational taxonomic units in ileal digesta of birds exposed to FBs was demonstrated, and identified as a reduced abundance of Candidatus Savagella and Lactobaccilus spp. Quantification of total Clostridium perfringens in these ileal samples, previous to experimental infection, using cpa gene (alpha toxin) quantification by qPCR showed an increase in C. perfringens in chickens fed a FBs contaminated diet compared to control (7.5 +/- 0.30 versus 6.3 +/- 0.24 log10 copies/g intestinal content). After C. perfringens challenge, a higher percentage of birds developed subclinical necrotic enteritis in the group fed a FBs contaminated diet as compared to the control (44.9 +/- 2.22% versus 29.8 +/- 5.46%)

7th Drug hypersensitivity meeting: part two

No abstract availabl

In the Driver\u27s Seat: Rico and Education

The Rain in Cumulus over the Ocean (RICO) field campaign carried out a wide array of educational activities, including a major first in a field project—a complete mission, including research flights, planned and executed entirely by students. This article describes the educational opportunities provided to the 24 graduate and 9 undergraduate students who participated in RICO

Interference of Salmonella typhimurium lipopolysaccharide on performance and biological parameters of broiler chickens

This study was conducted to determine the interference of Salmonella typhimurium lipopolysaccharide (sLPS) on the performance, biological parameters, and histological evaluations of 198 one-day-old male broiler chickens divided into three treatments according to sLPS dose (0, 250, or 500 µg/application/bird) that was applied to the birds every other day, from 15 to 27 days of age. At the end of the experiment (28 days), significant effects were observed on body weight (R= -0.17 and P=0.05), total cholesterol serum levels(R=0.43 and p<0.01), phosphorus (R=0.53 and P<0.01), uric acid (R= -0.38 and P<0.01), C-reactive protein (R=0.68 and p<0.01), serum activity of aspartate aminotransferase (R=0.39 and p<0.01) and alkaline phosphatase (R= -0.39 and p<0.01). According to these results, sLPS mainly affect broiler biological parameters, but also their live performance

PU.1 controls fibroblast polarization and tissue fibrosis

Fibroblasts are polymorphic cells with pleiotropic roles in organ morphogenesis, tissue homeostasis and immune responses. In fibrotic diseases, fibroblasts synthesize abundant amounts of extracellular matrix, which induces scarring and organ failure. By contrast, a hallmark feature of fibroblasts in arthritis is degradation of the extracellular matrix because of the release of metalloproteinases and degrading enzymes, and subsequent tissue destruction. The mechanisms that drive these functionally opposing pro-fibrotic and pro-inflammatory phenotypes of fibroblasts remain unknown. Here we identify the transcription factor PU.1 as an essential regulator of the pro-fibrotic gene expression program. The interplay between transcriptional and post-transcriptional mechanisms that normally control the expression of PU.1 expression is perturbed in various fibrotic diseases, resulting in the upregulation of PU.1, induction of fibrosis-associated gene sets and a phenotypic switch in extracellular matrix-producing pro-fibrotic fibroblasts. By contrast, pharmacological and genetic inactivation of PU.1 disrupts the fibrotic network and enables reprogramming of fibrotic fibroblasts into resting fibroblasts, leading to regression of fibrosis in several organs