Characterisation of the acute inflammation during murine pneumococcal pneumonia

We have established a murine model of pneumococcal pneumonia in order to characterise the host inflammatory response. Intranasal infection with Streptococcus pneumoniae resulted in constant bacterial loads within airways of susceptible mouse strains whilst the pathogen burden increased in both the lung tissues and bloodstream. The bacteria induced inflammation that was evident as perivascular cell recruitment in histological sections. Mast cell granule staining indicated that this population degranulated early in the inflammatory response, releasing TNFa into the lung environment. Levels of TNFa and IL-1b increased during mid infection with release of IL-6 and the anti-inflammatory cytokine IL-10 not occurring until late infection. Kinetics of IL-10 were too slow to prevent inflammation causing damage to the host tissues. The total protein levels in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (a marker of the integrity of the alveolar/capillary barrier) increased significantly during the experiment. Dose response results indicate that there is likely to be a threshold number of bacteria required to induce this inflammatory response both in the lungs and bloodstream. Inoculation of bacteria into a mouse strain resistant to the above infection resulted in bacterial clearance from both the pulmonary airways and tissues, with few more becoming bacteraemic. The location and timing of the inflammatory response in this mouse strain was significantly different. Inflammatory cell influx occurred mainly within the airways, with perivascular areas unaffected. Mast cell degranulation occurred rapidly following infection. TNF activity and IL-1b levels within lung airways were induced earlier and to a greater extent than in susceptible mice. IN contrast, the levels of TNF activity and IL-6 within lung tissues were lower in resistant mice. Although damage to lung integrity still occurred, this was only transient and evident during early/mid infection

Bioprospecting from marine sediments of New Brunswick, Canada : exploring the relationship between total bacterial diversity and actinobacteria diversity

Actinomycetes are an important resource for the discovery of natural products with therapeutic properties. Bioprospecting for actinomycetes typically proceeds without a priori knowledge of the bacterial diversity present in sampled habitats. In this study, we endeavored to determine if overall bacterial diversity in marine sediments, as determined by 16S rDNA amplicon pyrosequencing, could be correlated with culturable actinomycete diversity, and thus serve as a powerful tool in guiding future bioprospecting efforts. Overall bacterial diversity was investigated in eight marine sediments from four sites in New Brunswick, Canada, resulting in over 44,000 high quality sequences (x = 5610 per sample). Analysis revealed all sites exhibited significant diversity (H' = 5.4 to 6.7). Furthermore, statistical analysis of species level bacterial communities (D = 0.03) indicated community composition varied according to site and was strongly influenced by sediment physiochemical composition. In contrast, cultured actinomycetes (n = 466, 98.3% Streptomyces) were ubiquitously distributed among all sites and distribution was not influenced by sediment composition, suggesting that the biogeography of culturable actinomycetes does not correlate with overall bacterial diversity in the samples examined. These actinomycetes provide a resource for future secondary metabolite discovery, as exemplified by the antimicrobial activity observed from preliminary investigation

Does Osmotic Stress Affect Natural Product Expression in Fungi?

Acknowledgments: Russell Kerr acknowledges the assistance of Nadia Prigoda-Lee, Marius Grote, Kate McQuillan and Stephanie Duffy, and generous financial support from NSERC, the Canada Research Chair program, the Jeanne and Jean-Louis Lévesque Foundation and the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency. Ka-Lai Pang thanks the president of National Taiwan Ocean University, Ching-Fong Chang, for a special fund to attend the workshop held in Charlottetown, Canada in 2014 where this work was discussed. Rob Capon and Zhuo Shang acknowledge support from the University of Queensland, and the UQ Institute for Molecular Bioscience. Zhuo Shang acknowledges the provision of an International Postgraduate Research Scholarship (IPRS) and a Centennial Scholarship by the University of Queensland. Catherine Roullier acknowledges the assistance of Marie-Claude Boumard and Thibaut Robiou du Pont, and support from Region Pays de la Loire, FrancePeer reviewedPublisher PD

Simulations of the Mg II k and Ca II 8542 lines from an AlfvÉn Wave-heated Flare Chromosphere

We use radiation hydrodynamic simulations to examine two models of solar flare chromospheric heating: Alfven wave dissipation and electron beam collisional losses. Both mechanisms are capable of strong chro- ´ mospheric heating, and we show that the distinctive atmospheric evolution in the mid-to-upper chromosphere results in Mg ii k-line emission that should be observably different between wave-heated and beam-heated simulations. We also present Ca ii 8542Å profiles which are formed slightly deeper in the chromosphere. The Mg ii k-line profiles from our wave-heated simulation are quite different from those from a beam-heated model and are more consistent with IRIS observations. The predicted differences between the Ca ii 8542Å in the two models are small. We conclude that careful observational and theoretical study of lines formed in the mid-toupper chromosphere holds genuine promise for distinguishing between competing models for chromospheric heating in flares

A Record of Lateglacial and Early Holocene Environmental and Ecological Change from Southwestern Connecticut, USA

Analyses of a sediment core from Highstead Swamp in southwestern Connecticut, USA, reveal Lateglacial and early Holocene ecological and hydrological changes. Lateglacial pollen assemblages are dominated by Picea and Pinus subg. Pinus, and the onset of the Younger Dryas (YD) cold interval is evidenced by higher abundance of Abies and Alnus viridis subsp. crispa. As climate warmed at the end of the YD, Picea and Abies declined and Pinus strobus became the dominant upland tree species. A shift from lacustrine sediment to organic peat at the YD-Holocene boundary suggests that the lake that existed in the basin during the Lateglacial interval developed into a swamp in response to reduced effective moisture. A change in wetland vegetation from Myrica gale to Alnus incana subsp. rugosa and Sphagnum is consistent with this interpretation of environmental changes at the beginning of the HoloceneOther Research Uni

Effects of Dietary Fiber and Reduced Crude Protein on Ammonia Emission from Laying-Hen Manure

Ammonia (NH3 ) emission is a major concern for the poultry industry. The objective of this research was to determine whether inclusion of dietary fiber and a reduced dietary CP content would decrease NH3 emission from laying-hen manure. A total of 256 Hy-Line W-36 hens were fed diets with 2 levels of CP (normal and reduced) and 4 fiber treatments in a 2 × 4 factorial arrangement. The fiber treatments included a corn and soybean meal-based control diet and diets formulated with either 10.0% corn dried distillers grains with solubles (DDGS), 7.3% wheat middlings (WM), or 4.8% soybean hulls (SH) to contribute equal amounts of additional neutral detergent fiber. The CP contents of the reduced-CP diets were approximately 1 percentage unit lower than those of the normal-CP diets. All diets were formulated on the basis of digestible amino acid content and were formulated to be isoenergetic. Fresh manure was collected such that pH, uric acid, and Kjeldahl N contents could be measured. The NH3 emission from manure was measured over 7 d by placing pooled 24-h manure samples in NH3 emission vessels. Data were analyzed by ANOVA with Dunnett’s multiple-comparisons procedure to compare results from the fiber treatments with the control, whereas the main effect of protein was used to compare the normal- and reduced-CP treatments. Dietary corn DDGS, WM, or SH lowered (P ≤ 0.01) the 7-d cumulative manure NH3 emission from 3.9 g/kg of DM manure for the control to 1.9, 2.1, and 2.3 g/kg of DM manure, respectively, and lowered (P \u3c 0.05) the daily NH3 emission rate. Results of this study showed that dietary inclusion of 10.0% corn DDGS, 7.3% WM, or 4.8% SH lowered NH3 emission from laying-hen manure; however, reducing the CP content by 1 percentage unit had no measurable effect on NH3 emission

Effects of Dietary Fiber and Reduced Crude Protein on Nitrogen Balance and Egg Production in Laying Hens

Ammonia emission is a major concern for the poultry industry and can be lowered by dietary inclusion of fibrous ingredients and by lowering the dietary CP content. The objectives of this research were to determine the effects of dietary fiber and reduced-CP diets, which may lower NH3 emission, on egg production and N balance in laying hens. A total of 256 Hy-Line W-36 hens were fed diets with 2 contents of CP (normal and reduced) and 4 fiber treatments in a 2 × 4 factorial arrangement from 23 to 58 wk of age. The fiber treatments included a corn and soybean meal-based control diet and diets formulated with either 10.0% corn dried distillers grains with solubles (DDGS), 7.3% wheat middlings (WM), or 4.8% soybean hulls (SH) added to contribute equal amounts of neutral detergent fiber. The CP contents of the reduced-CP diets were approximately 1 percentage unit lower than that of the normal-CP diets. All diets were formulated on a digestible amino acid basis to be isoenergetic. There were no effects (P \u3e 0.05) of including corn DDGS, WM, or SH in the diet on egg production, egg weight, egg mass, yolk color, feed consumption, feed utilization, or BW gain. Although the corn DDGS and WM diets resulted in an increase (P \u3c 0.001) in N consumption, N excretion was not affected (P \u3e 0.10) compared with hens fed the control diet. The reduced-CP diets did not affect egg weight, feed consumption, or BW gain (P \u3e 0.05); however, egg production, egg mass, feed utilization, N consumption, and N excretion were lower than that from the hens fed the normal-CP diets (P \u3c 0.05). The results of this study show that the diets containing 10% corn DDGS, 7% WM, or 5% SH did not affect egg production or N excretion. However, the 1% lower CP diets caused a lower egg production and lower N excretion

Profiling Indiana\u27s 4-H Horse and Pony Leaders

This article profiles Indiana\u27s nearly 600 4-H horse and pony leaders, describes their motives for becoming a leader, and documents the understanding these leaders have of running a 4-H club, teaching various aspects of the horse and pony project, and training hippology, horse bowl, and horse judging teams. The majority (\u3e70%) of Indiana\u27s 4-H horse and pony leaders are white, married women between the ages of 31 and 50. Eighty-eight percent volunteer as leaders because they enjoy working with youth. Over half (54%) of the leaders would like to receive additional training on how to conduct showmanship and horsemanship clinics