2,188 research outputs found

    Effect of anti-inflammatory treatment on systemic inflammation, immune function, and endometrial health in postpartum dairy cows

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    Systemic inflammation (SI) is increasingly studied in several species because it may be central in many metabolic disturbances and be a risk factor for clinical disease. This proof-of-concept study evaluated the effects of the anti-inflammatory drug meloxicam on markers of SI and energy metabolism, polymorphonuclear neutrophil (PMN) function, and endometritis in clinically healthy postpartum dairy cows. Cows received meloxicam (0.5 mg/kg of body weight; n = 20) once daily for 4 days (10-13 days postpartum) or were untreated (n = 22). Blood samples were collected -7, 1, 3, 5, 7, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 18, 21, 28, and 35 days relative to calving to measure serum concentrations of metabolic and inflammatory markers. Function of peripheral blood PMN were evaluated at 5, 10, 14, and 21, and proportion of PMN in endometrial cytology were performed at 5, 10, 14, 21, 28 and 35 days postpartum. Meloxicam decreased serum haptoglobin from the second until the last day of treatment, and improved indicators of energy metabolism (lesser beta-hydroxybutyrate and greater insulin-like growth factor-1 during treatment, and greater glucose at the end of treatment than control cows). This improved PMN function at 14 days postpartum, but the endometrial inflammatory status was not affected

    Exploitation promotes earlier sex change in a protandrous patellid limpet, Patella aspera Röding, 1798

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    Exploitation of organisms can prompt the reduction in the number and size of target populations consequently affecting reproductive output and replenishment. Here, we investigated the effects of exploitation on the population structure of a protandrous patellid limpet, Patella aspera, an overexploited Macaronesian endemic. Timed dives were used to collect animals across eleven islands of Macaronesia. Individuals were inspected for sex, size, and gonad stage. Using catch effort (time per person) per island coastal perimeter as a surrogate for exploitation intensity, we found that limpet abundance (CPUE) and mean size tended to decrease with exploitation intensity. When considering the sex of animals separately, the size of the largest male, but not females, decreased with exploitation. In contrast, the size of the smallest male remained relatively consistent, whereas the size of the smallest female decreased significantly with exploitation. As exploitation is mostly targeting larger individuals, results suggest that males are compensating the removal of larger females, by undergoing sex change at smaller and presumably earlier sizes. These results have wider implications for the conservation of P. aspera, as a reduction in female size will likely affect the numbers of oocytes produced, hence fecundity. Regulations promoting the protection of the larger-sized animals should be enforced to safeguard the replenishment of the population

    Social media for physiotherapy clinics: considerations in creating a Facebook page

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    Social media websites play a prominent role in modern society, and the most popular of these websites is Facebook. Increasingly, physiotherapy clinics have begun to utilize Facebook in order to create pages to publicize their services. There are many factors to consider in the planning, implementing, and maintenance of Facebook pages for physiotherapy clinics, including ethical and privacy issues. The primary purpose of creating a page must be clearly defined, with dedicated clinicians given adequate time to manage the page. This technical article discusses these factors and summarizes the experiences at the University of Otago, New Zealand, in creating a Facebook page for the physiotherapy clinic and provides suggestions for physiotherapy clinicians in operating a Facebook page

    LES-based Study of the Roughness Effects on the Wake of a Circular Cylinder from Subcritical to Transcritical Reynolds Numbers

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    This paper investigates the effects of surface roughness on the flow past a circular cylinder at subcritical to transcritical Reynolds numbers. Large eddy simulations of the flow for sand grain roughness of size k/D = 0.02 are performed (D is the cylinder diameter). Results show that surface roughness triggers the transition to turbulence in the boundary layer at all Reynolds numbers, thus leading to an early separation caused by the increased momentum deficit, especially at transcritical Reynolds numbers. Even at subcritical Reynolds numbers, boundary layer instabilities are triggered in the roughness sublayer and eventually lead to the transition to turbulence. The early separation at transcritical Reynolds numbers leads to a wake topology similar to that of the subcritical regime, resulting in an increased drag coefficient and lower Strouhal number. Turbulent statistics in the wake are also affected by roughness; the Reynolds stresses are larger due to the increased turbulent kinetic energy production in the boundary layer and separated shear layers close to the cylinder shoulders.We acknowledge “Red Española de Surpercomputación” (RES) for awarding us access to the MareNostrum III machine based in Barcelona, Spain (Ref. FI-2015-2-0026 and FI-2015-3-0011). We also acknowledge PRACE for awarding us access to Fermi and Marconi Supercomputers at Cineca, Italy (Ref. 2015133120). Oriol Lehmkuhl acknowledges a PDJ 2014 Grant by AGAUR (Generalitat de Catalunya). Ugo Piomelli acknowledges the support of the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC) of Canada under the Discovery Grant Programme (Grant No. RGPIN-2016-04391). Ricard Borrell acknowledges a Juan de la Cierva postdoctoral grant (IJCI-2014-21034). Ivette Rodriguez, Oriol Lehmkuhl, Ricard Borrell and Assensi Oliva acknowledge Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad, Secretaría de Estado de Investigación, Desarrollo e Innovación, Spain (ref. ENE2014-60577-R).Peer ReviewedPostprint (author's final draft

    Star Formation in Satellite Galaxies

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    We present narrow-band observations of the Hα\alpha emission in a sample of 31 satellite orbiting isolated giant spiral galaxies. The sample studied spans the range 19<MB<15-19<M_B <-15 mag. The Hα\alpha emission was detected in all the spiral and irregular objects with fluxes in the range 1.1549.80×10141.15-49.80\times 10^{-14} erg cm2^{-2} s1^{-1}. The average and maximum values for the current star formation rates are 0.68 and 3.66 M_\sun yr1^{-1} respectively. Maps of the spatial distribution of ionized gas are presented. The star-forming regions show a rich structure in which frequently discrete complexes are imposed over more diffuse structures. In general, the current star formation rates are smaller that the mean values in the past obtained from the current stellar content; this probably indicates a declining rhythm with time in the generation of new stars. However, the reserve of gas is enough to continue fueling the current levels of star formation activity for at least another Hubble time. Four of the objects (NGC 2718b, NGC 4541e, NGC 5965a1_1 and NGC 5965a2_2) with higher current star formation rates show clear signs of interaction with close companions of comparable brightness at projected distances of 25, 20 and 2 kpc respectively. The only two galaxies in our sample that do not show star formation activity are members of these interacting systems, and it is unclear if this is a consequence of intrinsic properties (both are Hubble early types) or if it is related with possible disruption of the external parts due to the interaction. In the case of the pair NGC 2718a-b there are indications of gas transport between both galaxies.Comment: 25 pages, 11 figures. Accepted for publication in A

    Development of an optimized AAV2/5 gene therapy vector for Leber congenital amaurosis owing to defects in RPE65

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    Leber congenital amaurosis is a group of inherited retinal dystrophies that cause severe sight impairment in childhood; RPE65-deficiency causes impaired rod photoreceptor function from birth and progressive impairment of cone photoreceptor function associated with retinal degeneration. In animal models of RPE65 deficiency, subretinal injection of recombinant adeno-associated virus (AAV) 2/2 vectors carrying RPE65 cDNA improves rod photoreceptor function, and intervention at an early stage of disease provides sustained benefit by protecting cone photoreceptors against retinal degeneration. In affected humans, administration of these vectors has resulted to date in relatively modest improvements in photoreceptor function, even when retinal degeneration is comparatively mild, and the duration of benefit is limited by progressive retinal degeneration. We conclude that the demand for RPE65 in humans is not fully met by current vectors, and predict that a more powerful vector will provide more durable benefit. With this aim we have modified the original AAV2/2 vector to generate AAV2/5-OPTIRPE65. The new configuration consists of an AAV vector serotype 5 carrying an optimized hRPE65 promoter and a codon-optimized hRPE65 gene. In mice, AAV2/5-OPTIRPE65 is at least 300-fold more potent than our original AAV2/2 vector

    A comparative evaluation of the efficacy of manual, magnetostrictive and piezoelectric ultrasonic instruments: an in vitro profilometric and SEM study

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    OBJECTIVES: The debridement of diseased root surface is usually performed by mechanical scaling and root planing using manual and power driven instruments. Many new designs in ultrasonic powered scaling tips have been developed. However, their effectiveness as compared to manual curettes has always been debatable. Thus, the objective of this in vitro study was to comparatively evaluate the efficacy of manual, magnetostrictive and piezoelectric ultrasonic instrumentation on periodontally involved extracted teeth using profilometer and scanning electron microscope (SEM). MATERIAL AND METHODS: 30 periodontally involved extracted human teeth were divided into 3 groups. The teeth were instrumented with hand and ultrasonic instruments resembling clinical application. In Group A all teeth were scaled with a new universal hand curette (Hu Friedy Gracey After Five Vision curette; Hu Friedy, Chicago, USA). In Group B Cavitron(TM) FSI - SLI(TM) ultrasonic device with focused spray slimline inserts (Dentsply International Inc., York, PA, USA) were used. In Group C teeth were scaled with an EMS piezoelectric ultrasonic device with prototype modified PS inserts. The surfaces were analyzed by a Precision profilometer to measure the surface roughness (Ra value in µm) consecutively before and after the instrumentation. The samples were examined under SEM at magnifications ranging from 17x to 300x and 600x. RESULTS: The mean Ra values (µm) before and after instrumentation in all the three groups A, B and C were tabulated. After statistically analyzing the data, no significant difference was observed in the three experimental groups. Though there was a decrease in the percentage reduction of Ra values consecutively from group A to C. CONCLUSION: Within the limits of the present study, given that the manual, magnetostrictive and piezoelectric ultrasonic instruments produce the same surface roughness, it can be concluded that their efficacy for creating a biologically compatible surface of periodontally diseased teeth is similar

    Human Probing Behavior of Aedes aegypti when Infected with a Life-Shortening Strain of Wolbachia

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    Mosquitoes transmit diseases when they are actively searching for a source of blood. This so called probing behavior comprises the “searching” time, the beginning of the feeding process until the first sign of blood can be seen within the insect body. The manipulation of this behavior can have important consequences for the mosquito's ability to transmit pathogens, such as dengue virus or Plasmodium. In this study we examined the probing behavior of the main vector of dengue viruses, Aedes aegypti, when infected with an intracellular bacterium, Wolbachia pipientis. This bacterium alters the probing behavior of older mosquitoes such that they take longer to find a feeding site and longer to imbibe blood, which may make them more susceptible to human defense responses. The bacterium appears to reduce mosquito feeding success by preventing the mosquito from successfully inserting its stylet into human skin. The old age onset of reduced mosquito feeding success due to Wolbachia could selectively promote a reduction in dengue transmission
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