Immunotoxicity of Ochratoxin and Citrinin in New Zealand White rabbits

In the present study, the effects of ochratoxin A (OTA), citrinin (CIT) and their combination on the immunological parameters were studied in 6-8 weeks old New Zealand White rabbits at 60 d post-intoxication. Thirty two rabbits were divided into four groups of eight. OTA, CIT and a combination of the two were given at 0.75 mg/kg, 15 mg/kg and 0.75 plus 15 mg/kg, in feed respectively for up to 60 d of the trial. Other fourth group was used as a control, being fed standard toxin free feed. The toxin treated animals showed a signifi cant decline in antibody titres to sheep red blood cells. The reduction in the cell mediated immune response was more signifi cant in the OTA and combination groups as observed in the skin hypersensitivity test and the lymphocyte proliferation assay. The citrinin-treated rabbits failed to show any signifi cant changes following the lymphocyte transformation assay and the delayed type hypersensitivity test. Histologically, the cellular (mononuclear cells) reaction in the skin in the treated groups was comparatively lesser than that of the control group. Thus, the present study in rabbits indicated signifi cantly lower humoral and cellular immune responses in the OTA and combination groupsThe authors would like to acknowledge the help extended by the Director of the IVRI and the Head of the Division of Pathology in the execution of this research. This study was financially supported in part by the NATP-CGP (ICAR) Project No. II/221.Kumar, M.; Dwivedi, P.; Sharma, A.; Telang, A.; Patil, R.; Singh, N. (2010). Immunotoxicity of Ochratoxin and Citrinin in New Zealand White rabbits. World Rabbit Science. 16(1). http://hdl.handle.net/10251/851416

Impurity Effects on the A_1-A_2 Splitting of Superfluid 3He in Aerogel

When liquid 3He is impregnated into silica aerogel a solid-like layer of 3He atoms coats the silica structure. The surface 3He is in fast exchange with the liquid on NMR timescales. The exchange coupling of liquid 3He quasiparticles with the localized 3He spins modifies the scattering of 3He quasiparticles by the aerogel structure. In a magnetic field the polarization of the solid spins gives rise to a splitting of the scattering cross-section of for `up' vs. `down' spin quasiparticles, relative to the polarization of the solid 3He. We discuss this effect, as well as the effects of non-magnetic scattering, in the context of a possible splitting of the superfluid transition for $\uparrow\uparrow$ vs. $\downarrow\downarrow$ Cooper pairs for superfluid 3He in aerogel, analogous to the A_1-A_2 splitting in bulk 3He. Comparison with the existing measurements of T_c for B< 5 kG, which show no evidence of an A_1-A_2 splitting, suggests a liquid-solid exchange coupling of order J = 0.1 mK. Measurements at higher fields, B > 20 kG, should saturate the polarization of the solid 3He and reveal the A_1-A_2 splitting.Comment: 7 pages, 3 figure

Adjuvant hyaluronidase to epidural steroid improves the quality of analgesia in failed back surgery syndrome: A prospective randomized clinical trial

Background: Management of low back pain after spinal surgeries is one of the most challenging problems in pain medicine. Transforaminal lumbar epidural steroid injection has been used with inconsistent response. Most patients require multiple and frequent injections due to high recurrence of back pain. Objective: To find out whether the addition of hyaluronidase to the epidural injectate affects the quality and duration of analgesia in patients with low back pain secondary to failed back surgery syndrome. Study Design: Prospective randomized trial. Methods: The study was registered in the Government Clinical Trial registry and the protocol was reviewed and approved by the institutional review board. After obtaining an informed consent, 25 patients with low back pain due to failed back syndrome were randomly assigned to receive a transforaminal epidural injection of hyaluronidase 1500 IU (HYL) or normal saline (NSL) to a mixture of bupivacaine 0.5 (1 mL) and triamcinolone 40mg (1 mL) in a doubleblind fashion. An interventional pain specialist using fluoroscopic guidance performed all epidural injections. The patients received a comprehensive neurological examination by a non-interventional pain specialist who was blinded to the treatment during their follow-up visits, scheduled one, 2, and 4 weeks after the intervention. Numerical pain scores, analgesic requirement, and satisfaction scores were recorded during every visit. Results: There was no difference in demographic data between the 2 groups. Pain scores and total analgesic requirement were significantly lower in the HYL group at 2 and 4 weeks after blockade (P < 0.01). Patient satisfaction was higher in the HYL group. Limitations: The study was limited by a relatively small sample size. Conclusion: We conclude that adding hyaluronidase to the epidural injectate was effective in the management of chronic low back pain in patients with failed back surgery syndrome demonstrated over a period of 4 weeks

Knee contact forces are not altered in early knee osteoarthritis.

OBJECTIVE: This study calculated knee contact forces (KCF) and its relations with knee external knee adduction moments (KAM) and/or flexion moments (KFM) during the stance phase of gait in patients with early osteoarthritis (OA), classified based on early joint degeneration on Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI). We aimed at assessing if altered KCF are already present in early structural degeneration. DESIGN: Three-dimensional motion and ground reaction force data in 59 subjects with medial compartment knee OA (N=23 established OA, N=16 early OA, N=20 controls) were used as input for a musculoskeletal model. KAM and KFM, and KCF were estimated using OpenSim software. RESULTS: No significant differences were found between controls and subjects with early OA. In early OA patients, KAM significantly explained 69% of the variance associated with the first peaks KCF but only KFM contributed to the second peaks KCF. The multiple correlation, combining KAM and KFM, showed to be higher. However, only 20% of the variance of second peak KCF was explained by both moments in established OA. CONCLUSION: KCF are not increased in patients with early OA, suggesting that knee joint overload is more a consequence of further joint degeneration in more advanced stages of OA. Additionally, our results clearly show that KAM is not sufficient to predict joint loading at the end of the stance, where KFM contributes substantially to the loading, especially in early OA

Measurement of the B0-anti-B0-Oscillation Frequency with Inclusive Dilepton Events

The $B^0$-$\bar B^0$ oscillation frequency has been measured with a sample of 23 million \B\bar B pairs collected with the BABAR detector at the PEP-II asymmetric B Factory at SLAC. In this sample, we select events in which both B mesons decay semileptonically and use the charge of the leptons to identify the flavor of each B meson. A simultaneous fit to the decay time difference distributions for opposite- and same-sign dilepton events gives $\Delta m_d = 0.493 \pm 0.012{(stat)}\pm 0.009{(syst)}$ ps$^{-1}$.Comment: 7 pages, 1 figure, submitted to Physical Review Letter

Effect of age, sex and gender on pain sensitivity: A narrative review

© 2017 Eltumi And Tashani. Introduction: An increasing body of literature on sex and gender differences in pain sensitivity has been accumulated in recent years. There is also evidence from epidemiological research that painful conditions are more prevalent in older people. The aim of this narrative review is to critically appraise the relevant literature investigating the presence of age and sex differences in clinical and experimental pain conditions. Methods: A scoping search of the literature identifying relevant peer reviewed articles was conducted on May 2016. Information and evidence from the key articles were narratively described and data was quantitatively synthesised to identify gaps of knowledge in the research literature concerning age and sex differences in pain responses. Results: This critical appraisal of the literature suggests that the results of the experimental and clinical studies regarding age and sex differences in pain contain some contradictions as far as age differences in pain are concerned. While data from the clinical studies are more consistent and seem to point towards the fact that chronic pain prevalence increases in the elderly findings from the experimental studies on the other hand were inconsistent, with pain threshold increasing with age in some studies and decreasing with age in others. Conclusion: There is a need for further research using the latest advanced quantitative sensory testing protocols to measure the function of small nerve fibres that are involved in nociception and pain sensitivity across the human life span. Implications: Findings from these studies should feed into and inform evidence emerging from other types of studies (e.g. brain imaging technique and psychometrics) suggesting that pain in the older humans may have unique characteristics that affect how old patients respond to intervention

The Revised TESS Input Catalog and Candidate Target List

We describe the catalogs assembled and the algorithms used to populate the revised TESS Input Catalog (TIC), based on the incorporation of the Gaia second data release. We also describe a revised ranking system for prioritizing stars for 2 minute cadence observations, and we assemble a revised Candidate Target List (CTL) using that ranking. The TIC is available on the Mikulski Archive for Space Telescopes server, and an enhanced CTL is available through the Filtergraph data visualization portal system at http://filtergraph.vanderbilt.edu/tess_ctl