Pilot study into milk haptoglobin as an indicator of udder health in heifers after calving

Mastitis, inflammation of the mammary gland, is often caused by intramammary infection with bacterial organisms. It impacts on dairy cattle welfare, production, udder health and longevity in the herd. Current detection methods for mammary inflammation and infection all have limitations, particularly for on-farm diagnosis of non-clinical mastitis after calving. Acute phase proteins have been suggested as alternative early indicators of the disease and can potentially be used as cow-side test with results in real time. In this study, milk haptoglobin concentrations were investigated over the first week postpartum to explore haptoglobin's potential as indicator of udder health in dairy heifers. Haptoglobin concentration was highest on day 3 of lactation, and was positively correlated with somatic cell count, a commonly used marker of inflammation (rs=0.68). Haptoglobin level was also associated with bacteriological culture results, a key indicator of infection status, whereby median haptoglobin concentration on days 3 and 5 was higher in quarters that were infected at calving than quarters that were non infected at calving. Sensitivity and specificity of haptoglobin concentration as indicator of infection were low, both for lenient and strict culture-based definitions of intramammary infection (57 or 60% and 61 or 63%, respectively). Although haptoglobin was a poor biomarker for intramammary infection with coagulase negative staphylococci in heifers during the first week after calving, it may have value as an indicator of major pathogen infections, particularly in large scale dairy herds where pre-partum heifers are managed off-site

Comparison of solar radio and EUV synoptic limb charts during the present solar maximum

The present solar cycle is particular in many aspects: it had a delayed rising phase, it is the weakest of the last 100 years, and it presents two peaks separated by more than one year. To understand the impact of these characteristics on the solar chromosphere and coronal dynamics, images from a wide wavelength range are needed. In this work we use the 17~GHz radio continuum, formed in the upper chromosphere and the EUV lines 304 and 171~{\AA}, that come from the transition region (He II) and the corona (Fe IX, X), respectively. We analyze daily images at 304 and 171~{\AA} obtained by the Atmospheric Imaging Assembly (AIA). The 17~GHz maps were obtained by the Nobeyama Radioheliograph (NoRH). To construct synoptic limb charts, we calculated the mean emission of delimited limb areas with 100" wide and angular separation of $5^\circ$. At the equatorial region, the results show an hemispheric asymmetry of the solar activity. The northern hemisphere dominance is coincident with the first sunspot number peak, whereas the second peak occurs concurrently with the increase in the activity at the south. The polar emission reflects the presence of coronal holes at both EUV wavelengths, moreover, the 17~GHz polar brightenings can be associated with the coronal holes. Until 2013, both EUV coronal holes and radio polar brightenings were more predominant at the south pole. Since then they have not been apparent in the north, but thus appear in the beginning of 2015 in the south as observed in the synoptic charts. This work strengthens the association between coronal holes and the 17~GHz polar brightenings as it is evident in the synoptic limb charts, in agreement with previous case study papers. The enhancement of the radio brightness in coronal holes is explained by the presence of bright patches closely associated with the presence of intense unipolar magnetic fields.Comment: 6 pages, 5 figures. Acccepted for publication in Astronomy & Astrophysic

O gênero Burkholderia: um importante componente da comunidade microbiana.

Descrição do gênero Burkholderia; Distribuição e diversidade; Patógenos em seres humanos e animais; Patógenos em plantas; Espécies diazotróficas em plantas não leguminosas; Espécies diazotróficas em plantas leguminosas; Promoção de crescimento em plantas; Controle biológico de doenças em plantas; Biorremediação.bitstream/CNPAB-2010/33991/1/doc219.pd

Neurophysiology

Contains reports on three research projects.National Institutes of Health (Grant 5 ROl NB-04985-04)U. S. Air Force (Aerospace Medical Division) under Contract AF33(615)-3885Bioscience Division of National Aeronautics and Space Administration through Contract NSR 22-009-13

Reevaluación de la tafonomía de las asociaciones conservadas in situ de Cloudina en la Formación de Tagatiya Guazu, Grupo ediacárico de Itapucumi, Paraguay

The fossil assemblage from the Tagatiya Guazu Formation (Ediacaran Itapucumi Group, Paraguay) represents a unique opportunity to investigate paleoecological parameters and contribute with taxonomic information regarding Cloudina associations in SW Gondwana.La asociación fósil de la Formación de Tagatiya Guazu (Grupo ediacárico de Itapucumi, Paraguay) representa una oportunidad única para investigar los parámetros paleoecológicos y contribuir con información taxonómica sobre las asociaciones de Cloudina en Gondwana SW