Absorption of tricarballylic acid from the rumen of sheep and cattle fed forages containing trans-aconitic acid

Some forages accumulate high concentrations (<5% of dry matter) of trans-aconitate, and this acid has been implicated in Mg chelation and the occurrence of grass tetany in ruminants. In vitro experiments have indicated that rumen microorganisms convert trans-aconitate to tricarballylate. The feeding studies described here were conducted to demonstrate absorption of tricarballylate by ruminant animals fed diets similar to those producing grass tetany. When sheep were switched from a diet containing alfalfa (lucerne) (Medicago sativa L.) hay (no detectable trans-aconitate) to wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) and rye (Secale cereale L.) forage containing 1:52 and 1:37% trans-aconitate, respectively, there was a rapid increase in blood plasma tricarballylate. Trans-aconitate was not detected in the plasma. At 16 h after feeding, plasma tricarballylate concentrations were 0.58±0.08 and 0.48±0.21 mm in sheep fed the wheat and rye forage, respectively. Tricarballylate concentrations remained relatively constant for the remaining 60 h of the experiment. Cattle were fed rye forage one week later, and the concentration of trans-aconitate in the forage had dropped to 0.83% of the dry matter. Once again there was a rapid appearance of tricarballylate in plasma, but the maximum concentration was 0.31±0.05 mm (t=27 h). When the cattle were removed from the rye forage, there was a linear decline in tricarballylate and none was detected 24 h later. The studies indicated that trans-aconitate is converted to tricarballylate in the rumen and that tricarballylate rather than trans-aconitate is absorbed

Dilution effects on magnesium efflux from the rumen

Factors affecting magnesium absorption from the rumen are integrally involved in grass tetany because most of the absorbed Mg passes through the rumen wall. Recent work has shown that ruminal Mg absorption occurs by a sodium-linked active transport following saturation kinetics. The dilution effects on Mg absorption were evaluated by a dynamic simulation of Mg flow in the rumen. As several factors in the rumen influence Mg availability, a simple rumen submodel was developed to predict rumen parameters (fiber content, microbial mass, liquid dilution rate, particulate passage rate) for different conditions. Cation-exchange capacity of fiber and the microbial mass as well as insoluble Mg complex formation reduce the available Mg pool for absorption in the model. Preliminary results for 500 kg cattle grazing crested wheatgrass (DMI = 1.2 % BW / day), indicate that efficiency of magnesium absorption from the rumen was greatly affected by liquid dilution rate. Without considering insoluble Mg precipitate formation, the efficiency of Mg absorption from the rumen ranged from .41 to .31 as the rumen liquid fractional passage rate varied from .08/h to .14/h. Factors affecting the rumen liquid dilution rate include rumen water holding capacity, saliva secretion, rumen osmolarity, and water intake from drinking and eating. Kinetic factors may be responsible for the poor efficiency of absorption of Mg under conditions when rumen liquid dilution rates are high

Statistical auditing and randomness test of lotto k/N-type games

One of the most popular lottery games worldwide is the so-called ``lotto k/N''. It considers N numbers 1,2,...,N from which k are drawn randomly, without replacement. A player selects k or more numbers and the first prize is shared amongst those players whose selected numbers match all of the k randomly drawn. Exact rules may vary in different countries. In this paper, mean values and covariances for the random variables representing the numbers drawn from this kind of game are presented, with the aim of using them to audit statistically the consistency of a given sample of historical results with theoretical values coming from a hypergeometric statistical model. The method can be adapted to test pseudorandom number generators.Comment: 10 pages, no figure

Immunostimulatory Effect of Flagellin on MDR-<i>Klebsiella</i>-Infected Human Airway Epithelial Cells

Pneumonia caused by multi-drug-resistant Klebsiella pneumoniae (MDR-Kpneu) poses a major public health threat, especially to immunocompromised or hospitalized patients. This study aimed to determine the immunostimulatory effect of the Toll-like receptor 5 ligand flagellin on primary human lung epithelial cells during infection with MDR-Kpneu. Human bronchial epithelial (HBE) cells, grown on an air–liquid interface, were inoculated with MDR-Kpneu on the apical side and treated during ongoing infection with antibiotics (meropenem) and/or flagellin on the basolateral and apical side, respectively; the antimicrobial and inflammatory effects of flagellin were determined in the presence or absence of meropenem. In the absence of meropenem, flagellin treatment of MDR-Kpneu-infected HBE cells increased the expression of antibacterial defense genes and the secretion of chemokines; moreover, supernatants of flagellin-exposed HBE cells activated blood neutrophils and monocytes. However, in the presence of meropenem, flagellin did not augment these responses compared to meropenem alone. Flagellin did not impact the outgrowth of MDR-Kpneu. Flagellin enhances antimicrobial gene expression and chemokine release by the MDR-Kpneu-infected primary human bronchial epithelium, which is associated with the release of mediators that activate neutrophils and monocytes. Topical flagellin therapy may have potential to boost immune responses in the lung during pneumonia.</p

Immunostimulatory Effect of Flagellin on MDR-<i>Klebsiella</i>-Infected Human Airway Epithelial Cells

Pneumonia caused by multi-drug-resistant Klebsiella pneumoniae (MDR-Kpneu) poses a major public health threat, especially to immunocompromised or hospitalized patients. This study aimed to determine the immunostimulatory effect of the Toll-like receptor 5 ligand flagellin on primary human lung epithelial cells during infection with MDR-Kpneu. Human bronchial epithelial (HBE) cells, grown on an air–liquid interface, were inoculated with MDR-Kpneu on the apical side and treated during ongoing infection with antibiotics (meropenem) and/or flagellin on the basolateral and apical side, respectively; the antimicrobial and inflammatory effects of flagellin were determined in the presence or absence of meropenem. In the absence of meropenem, flagellin treatment of MDR-Kpneu-infected HBE cells increased the expression of antibacterial defense genes and the secretion of chemokines; moreover, supernatants of flagellin-exposed HBE cells activated blood neutrophils and monocytes. However, in the presence of meropenem, flagellin did not augment these responses compared to meropenem alone. Flagellin did not impact the outgrowth of MDR-Kpneu. Flagellin enhances antimicrobial gene expression and chemokine release by the MDR-Kpneu-infected primary human bronchial epithelium, which is associated with the release of mediators that activate neutrophils and monocytes. Topical flagellin therapy may have potential to boost immune responses in the lung during pneumonia.</p

The Five Factor Model of personality and evaluation of drug consumption risk

The problem of evaluating an individual's risk of drug consumption and misuse is highly important. An online survey methodology was employed to collect data including Big Five personality traits (NEO-FFI-R), impulsivity (BIS-11), sensation seeking (ImpSS), and demographic information. The data set contained information on the consumption of 18 central nervous system psychoactive drugs. Correlation analysis demonstrated the existence of groups of drugs with strongly correlated consumption patterns. Three correlation pleiades were identified, named by the central drug in the pleiade: ecstasy, heroin, and benzodiazepines pleiades. An exhaustive search was performed to select the most effective subset of input features and data mining methods to classify users and non-users for each drug and pleiad. A number of classification methods were employed (decision tree, random forest, $k$-nearest neighbors, linear discriminant analysis, Gaussian mixture, probability density function estimation, logistic regression and na{\"i}ve Bayes) and the most effective classifier was selected for each drug. The quality of classification was surprisingly high with sensitivity and specificity (evaluated by leave-one-out cross-validation) being greater than 70\% for almost all classification tasks. The best results with sensitivity and specificity being greater than 75\% were achieved for cannabis, crack, ecstasy, legal highs, LSD, and volatile substance abuse (VSA).Comment: Significantly extended report with 67 pages, 27 tables, 21 figure

Measurement of the cross-section and charge asymmetry of WW bosons produced in proton-proton collisions at s=8\sqrt{s}=8 TeV with the ATLAS detector

This paper presents measurements of the $W^+ \rightarrow \mu^+\nu$ and $W^- \rightarrow \mu^-\nu$ cross-sections and the associated charge asymmetry as a function of the absolute pseudorapidity of the decay muon. The data were collected in proton--proton collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of 8 TeV with the ATLAS experiment at the LHC and correspond to a total integrated luminosity of 20.2~\mbox{fb^{-1}}. The precision of the cross-section measurements varies between 0.8% to 1.5% as a function of the pseudorapidity, excluding the 1.9% uncertainty on the integrated luminosity. The charge asymmetry is measured with an uncertainty between 0.002 and 0.003. The results are compared with predictions based on next-to-next-to-leading-order calculations with various parton distribution functions and have the sensitivity to discriminate between them.Comment: 38 pages in total, author list starting page 22, 5 figures, 4 tables, submitted to EPJC. All figures including auxiliary figures are available at https://atlas.web.cern.ch/Atlas/GROUPS/PHYSICS/PAPERS/STDM-2017-13

In search of disorders: internalizing symptom networks in a large clinical sample.

Background The co‐occurrence of internalizing disorders is a common form of psychiatric comorbidity, raising questions about the boundaries between these diagnostic categories. We employ network psychometrics in order to: (a) determine whether internalizing symptoms cluster in a manner reflecting DSM diagnostic criteria, (b) gauge how distinct these diagnostic clusters are and (c) examine whether this network structure changes from childhood to early and then late adolescence. Method Symptom‐level data were obtained for service users in publicly funded mental health services in England between 2011 and 2015 (N = 37,162). A symptom network (i.e. Gaussian graphical model) was estimated, and a community detection algorithm was used to explore the clustering of symptoms. Results The estimated network was densely connected and characterized by a multitude of weak associations between symptoms. Six communities of symptoms were identified; however, they were weakly demarcated. Two of these communities corresponded to social phobia and panic disorder, and four did not clearly correspond with DSM diagnostic categories. The network structure was largely consistent by sex and across three age groups (8–11, 12–14 and 15–18 years). Symptom connectivity in the two older age groups was significantly greater compared to the youngest group and there were differences in centrality across the age groups, highlighting the age‐specific relevance of certain symptoms. Conclusions These findings clearly demonstrate the interconnected nature of internalizing symptoms, challenging the view that such pathology takes the form of distinct disorders

Exploring the Bimodal Solar System via Sample Return from the Main Asteroid Belt: The Case for Revisiting Ceres

Abstract: Sample return from a main-belt asteroid has not yet been attempted, but appears technologically feasible. While the cost implications are significant, the scientific case for such a mission appears overwhelming. As suggested by the “Grand Tack” model, the structure of the main belt was likely forged during the earliest stages of Solar System evolution in response to migration of the giant planets. Returning samples from the main belt has the potential to test such planet migration models and the related geochemical and isotopic concept of a bimodal Solar System. Isotopic studies demonstrate distinct compositional differences between samples believed to be derived from the outer Solar System (CC or carbonaceous chondrite group) and those that are thought to be derived from the inner Solar System (NC or non-carbonaceous group). These two groups are separated on relevant isotopic variation diagrams by a clear compositional gap. The interface between these two regions appears to be broadly coincident with the present location of the asteroid belt, which contains material derived from both groups. The Hayabusa mission to near-Earth asteroid (NEA) (25143) Itokawa has shown what can be learned from a sample-return mission to an asteroid, even with a very small amount of sample. One scenario for main-belt sample return involves a spacecraft launching a projectile that strikes an object and flying through the debris cloud, which would potentially allow multiple bodies to be sampled if a number of projectiles are used on different asteroids. Another scenario is the more traditional method of landing on an asteroid to obtain the sample. A significant range of main-belt asteroids are available as targets for a sample-return mission and such a mission would represent a first step in mineralogically and isotopically mapping the asteroid belt. We argue that a sample-return mission to the asteroid belt does not necessarily have to return material from both the NC and CC groups to viably test the bimodal Solar System paradigm, as material from the NC group is already abundantly available for study. Instead, there is overwhelming evidence that we have a very incomplete suite of CC-related samples. Based on our analysis, we advocate a dedicated sample-return mission to the dwarf planet (1) Ceres as the best means of further exploring inherent Solar System variation. Ceres is an ice-rich world that may be a displaced trans-Neptunian object. We almost certainly do not have any meteorites that closely resemble material that would be brought back from Ceres. The rich heritage of data acquired by the Dawn mission makes a sample-return mission from Ceres logistically feasible at a realistic cost. No other potential main-belt target is capable of providing as much insight into the early Solar System as Ceres. Such a mission should be given the highest priority by the international scientific community