Nutritional management in a horse after caecocolic intussusception with almost total typhlectomy : a case report

A 17-year-old Haflinger gelding was referred to the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine for evaluation and treatment of acute colic. Clinical examination resulted in a presumptive diagnosis of caecocolic intussusception, which was confirmed by exploratory laparotomy. Due to severe compromise of the caecal apex wall, a partial typhlectomy was performed. Information about optimal nutritional management of typhlectomised horses is unfortunately rather limited. While immediate postsurgical support focuses on maintaining current bodyweight, the long-term goal is to obtain and maintain an optimal body condition score. In this case, postoperative nutritional support focused initially on a low-bulk diet that would be primarily digested in the small intestine, while providing sufficient fibre to provide colonocytes with an energy source. One month after surgery, a slow transition towards a more traditional diet containing long-stem roughage was made. This is the first case report describing a detailed successful nutritional approach up until six months postoperatively

Batelòc : cap a una basa informatisada de tèxtes occitans

International audiencePer mai d'un cercaire dins lo domeni occitan, que siá linguista, literari, istorian, etnològ, sociològ, lo trabalh de recèrca passa per l'estudi de tèxtes en lenga occitana. Pels cercaires medievistas, lo Concordancièr de l'Occitan Medieval, permet de far de cèrcas eficaças e aviadas. Pels autres, i a de segur los libres e manescriches de papièr. I a tanben las fotografias electronicas (al format pdf) d'una bona tièra d'òbras, mesas a posita per CIEL d'ÒC dins la bibliotèca virtuala de la Tor Manha. Lo projècte nòstre es de bastir una basa informatizada de tèxtes en lenga occitana. La tòca es de recampar dins aquela basa --nomenada Basa Telòc (Batelòc)-- de tèxtes escriches, de totas menas e tanben d'oral-escrich. Batelòc e sas aisinas d'interrogacion permetràn a cada cercaire de causir son còrpus de trabalh en combinant de critèris coma lo nom de l'autor, lo titol de l'òbra, la temporada, la data, lo genre textual, lo dialècte de l'occitan, la nòrma grafica. I poiràn puèi far de requèstas coma cercar de concordanças, traire de contèxtes que clauson una forma (un mot-grafic), una partida o una sequéncia de formas ; cercar de coocurréncias, o calcular de frequéncias. Quand la basa serà pro larga, un tractament linguistic per etiquetar las formas graficas amb d'informacions morfosintacticas per ne far una basa lematizada e categorizada, permetrà de far de requèstas mai complèxas. Aquel projècte es menat dins l'encastre d'una Unitat Mixta de Recèrca (Universitat de Tolosa lo Miralh e CNRS) en linguistica, competenta en tractament automatic de las lengas. Se fa en partenariat amb CIEL d'ÒC, IDECO/IEO, lo CROM, l'ATILF -- lo laboratòri que manten la basa Frantext-- e lo Centre National de Ressources Textuelles et Lexicales que metrà la basa a posita del public sus son portanèl dedicat a las ressorgas lexicalas e textualas

Deciphering CAPTCHAs: What a Turing Test Reveals about Human Cognition

Turning Turing's logic on its head, we used widespread letter-based Turing Tests found on the internet (CAPTCHAs) to shed light on human cognition. We examined the basis of the human ability to solve CAPTCHAs, where machines fail. We asked whether this is due to our use of slow-acting inferential processes that would not be available to machines, or whether fast-acting automatic orthographic processing in humans has superior robustness to shape variations. A masked priming lexical decision experiment revealed efficient processing of CAPTCHA words in conditions that rule out the use of slow inferential processing. This shows that the human superiority in solving CAPTCHAs builds on a high degree of invariance to location and continuous transforms, which is achieved during the very early stages of visual word recognition in skilled readers

Swallowing Is Differentially Influenced by Retronasal Compared with Orthonasal Stimulation in Combination with Gustatory Stimuli

Identical stimuli are processed differently when presented ortho- or retronasally. In contrast to orthonasal olfaction, retronasal odorant perception is strongly associated with flavor and food intake, which is usually followed by swallowing. Along with other stimuli, gustatory stimuli are known to influence the swallowing reflex. It was therefore the aim of present study to examine whether retronasal olfaction, in combination with simultaneous gustatory stimuli, influences swallowing in a manner different from that of orthonasal olfaction. Fifty normosmic and normogeusic subjects took part in the study. A sweet taste (glucose, delivered via an intraoral taste dispenser) was presented simultaneously with vanillin, a food-like odor, either ortho- or retronasally at random using a computer-controlled olfactometer. Ultrasound imaging of the mouth floor was recorded on videotape to continuously monitor swallowing activity. After retronasal stimulation, swallowing occurred significantly faster (7.49 vs. 9.42 s; P < 0.001) and also took place more frequently compared with swallowing after orthonasal stimulation (1.38 times vs. 1.14 times; P < 0.001). These results show that a food-like odorant presented retronasally in combination with a congruent taste stimulus can influence swallowing. Whether these results can be assigned to other, unfamiliar, unpleasant nonfood-like odors has yet to be determine

Progressive retinal degeneration and glial activation in the Cln6nclf mouse model of neuronal ceroid lipofuscinosis : a beneficial effect of DHA and Curcumin supplementation

Neuronal ceroid lipofuscinosis (NCL) is a group of neurodegenerative lysosomal storage disorders characterized by vision loss, mental and motor deficits, and spontaneous seizures. Neuropathological analyses of autopsy material from NCL patients and animal models revealed brain atrophy closely associated with glial activity. Earlier reports also noticed loss of retinal cells and reactive gliosis in some forms of NCL. To study this phenomenon in detail, we analyzed the ocular phenotype of CLN6nclf mice, an established mouse model for variant-late infantile NCL. Retinal morphometry, immunohistochemistry, optokinetic tracking, electroretinography, and mRNA expression were used to characterize retinal morphology and function as well as the responses of Müller cells and microglia. Our histological data showed a severe and progressive degeneration in the CLN6nclf retina co-inciding with reactive Müller glia. Furthermore, a prominent phenotypic transformation of ramified microglia to phagocytic, bloated, and mislocalized microglial cells was identified in CLN6nclf retinas. These events overlapped with a rapid loss of visual perception and retinal function. Based on the strong microglia reactivity we hypothesized that dietary supplementation with immuno-regulatory compounds, curcumin and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), could ameliorate microgliosis and reduce retinal degeneration. Our analyses showed that treatment of three-week-old CLN6nclf mice with either 5% DHA or 0.6% curcumin for 30 weeks resulted in a reduced number of amoeboid reactive microglia and partially improved retinal function. DHA-treatment also improved the morphology of CLN6nclf retinas with a preserved thickness of the photoreceptor layer in most regions of the retina. Our results suggest that microglial reactivity closely accompanies disease progression in the CLN6nclf retina and both processes can be attenuated with dietary supplemented immuno-modulating compounds

Accounting for the Multiple Natures of Missing Values in Label-Free Quantitative Proteomics Data Sets to Compare Imputation Strategies.

Missing values are a genuine issue in label-free quantitative proteomics. Recent works have surveyed the different statistical methods to conduct imputation and have compared them on real or simulated data sets and recommended a list of missing value imputation methods for proteomics application. Although insightful, these comparisons do not account for two important facts: (i) depending on the proteomics data set, the missingness mechanism may be of different natures and (ii) each imputation method is devoted to a specific type of missingness mechanism. As a result, we believe that the question at stake is not to find the most accurate imputation method in general but instead the most appropriate one. We describe a series of comparisons that support our views: For instance, we show that a supposedly "under-performing" method (i.e., giving baseline average results), if applied at the "appropriate" time in the data-processing pipeline (before or after peptide aggregation) on a data set with the "appropriate" nature of missing values, can outperform a blindly applied, supposedly "better-performing" method (i.e., the reference method from the state-of-the-art). This leads us to formulate few practical guidelines regarding the choice and the application of an imputation method in a proteomics context.his work was supported by the following funding: ANR-2010-GENOM-BTV-002-01 (Chloro-Types), ANR-10-INBS-08 (ProFI project, “Infrastructures Nationales en Biologie et Santé”, “Investissements d’Avenir”), EU FP7 program (Prime-XS project, Contract no. 262067), the Prospectom project (Mastodons 2012 CNRS challenge), and the BBSRC Strategic Longer and Larger grant (Award BB/L002817/1).This is the final version of the article. It first appeared from the American Chemical Society via https://dx.doi.org/10.1021/acs.jproteome.5b0098

Does a Brief Mindfulness Training Enhance Heartfulness in Students? Results of a Pilot Study

(1) Background: There is robust evidence that mindfulness trainings enhance mindfulness as operationalized in Western psychology, but evidence about their effect on aspects of heartfulness is sparse. This study seeks to test whether a brief mindfulness training enhances heart qualities, including self-compassion, gratitude, and the generation of feelings of happiness. (2) Methods: Eighteen students enrolled in a mindfulness training that was offered as part of an interdisciplinary class. The training consisted of five training sessions and four booster sessions of 45 minutes each over the course of nine weeks. Mindfulness was measured with the Five Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire-Short Form (FFMQ-SF) and self-compassion was measured with the Self-Compassion Scale Short Form (SCS-SF). In addition, two items were drawn from the Caring for Bliss Scale (CBS) measuring gratitude and the generation of feelings of happiness in the present moment. Assessments were conducted before the training (pre), after the training (post), and four weeks after the training (follow-up). (3) Results: Results showed that mindfulness, general self-compassion, and generating feelings of happiness increased from pre to post, whereas self-critical attitudes decreased and that these changes were maintained at follow-up. Gratitude increased from pre to post and then decreased from post to follow-up. (4) Conclusions: A brief mindfulness training seems to be beneficial for students to improve mindfulness and aspects of heartfulness, but further research is needed to investigate the effectiveness of the training relative to a cohort or active control group

Comparison of the Effects of Early Pregnancy with Human Interferon, Alpha 2 (IFNA2), on Gene Expression in Bovine Endometrium

Interferon tau (IFNT), a type I IFN similar to alpha IFNs (IFNA), is the pregnancy recognition signal produced by the ruminant conceptus. To elucidate specific effects of bovine IFNT and of other conceptus-derived factors, endometrial gene expression changes during early pregnancy were compared to gene expression changes after intrauterine application of human IFNA2. In experiment 1, endometrial tissue samples were obtained on Day (D) 12, D15, and D18 postmating from nonpregnant or pregnant heifers. In experiment 2, heifers were treated from D14 to D16 of the estrous cycle with an intrauterine device releasing IFNA2 or, as controls, placebo lipid extrudates or PBS only. Endometrial biopsies were performed after flushing the uterus. All samples from both experiments were analyzed with an Affymetrix Bovine Genome Array. Experiment 1 revealed differential gene expression between pregnant and nonpregnant endometria on D15 and D18. In experiment 2, IFNA2 treatment resulted in differential gene expression in the bovine endometrium. Comparison of the data sets from both studies identified genes that were differentially expressed in response to IFNA2 but not in response to pregnancy on D15 or D18. In addition, genes were found that were differentially expressed during pregnancy but not after IFNA2 treatment. In experiment 3, spatiotemporal alterations in expression of selected genes were determined in uteri from nonpregnant and early pregnant heifers using in situ hybridization. The overall findings of this study suggest differential effects of bovine IFNT compared to human IFNA2 and that some pregnancy-specific changes in the endometrium are elicited by conceptus-derived factors other than IFNT

Prediction of subplastidial localization of chloroplast proteins from spectral count data - Comparison of machine learning algorithms

To study chloroplast metabolism and functions, subplastidial localization is a prerequisite to achieve protein functional characterization. As the accurate localization of many chloroplast proteins often remains hypothetical, we set up a proteomics strategy in order to assign the accurate subplastidial localization. A comprehensive study of Arabidopsis thaliana chloroplast proteome has been carried out in our group [1], involving high performance mass spectrometry analyses of highly fractionated chloroplasts. In particular, spectral count data were acquired for the three major chloroplast sub-fractions (stroma, thylakoids and envelope) obtained by sucrose gradient purification. As the distribution of spectral counts over compartments is a fair predicator of relative abundance of proteins [2], it was justified to propose a prime statistical model [1] relating spectral counts to subplastidial localization. This predictive model was based on a logistic regression, and demonstrated an accuracy rate of 84% for chloroplast proteins. In the present work, we conducted a comparative study of various machine learning techniques to generate a predictive model of subplastidial localization of chloroplast proteins based on spectral count data