Pneumonie à Rhodococcus equi chez le poulain : une mise à jour cartésienne

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Optimisation de l'usage du béton de chanvre dans la conception d'un éco-matériau pour le génie civil

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(Semi-)analytical solution of Luikov equations for time-periodic boundary conditions

International audienceThe paper addresses the problem of coupled heat and moisture transfer in porous materials with the time-periodic boundary conditions applied. The solution of Luikov equations [1], which describe coupled heat and moisture transfer, is presented. Laplace transform is used, where some terms of the inverse Laplace transform ought to be solved by Gaussian quadrature, meaning that the solution is semi analytical. The time-periodic boundary conditions are applied to simulate the humidity and temperature oscillations of natural environment. Therefore, the proposed solution is appropriate to evaluate the distribution of moisture and temperature within the porous material exposed to everyday natural cycles. The paper presents convergence tests, validation of semi-analytical solution and application to different building materials are presented in the paper. (C) 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved

Optimisation de l'usage du béton de chanvre dans la conception d'un éco-matériau pour le génie civil

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Influence of compactness and hemp hurd characteristics on the mechanical properties of lime and hemp concrete

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Theophylline does not potentiate the effects of a low dose of dexamethasone in horses with recurrent airway obstruction.

REASONS FOR PERFORMING STUDY: Theophylline has been shown to have corticosteroid-sparing effects for the treatment of human asthma. A similar effect, if present in horses, would allow diminishing the dose of corticosteroids administered to equine patients with inflammatory airway diseases. OBJECTIVES: To evaluate whether theophylline potentiates the effects of a low dose of dexamethasone when treating horses with recurrent airway obstruction (RAO). HYPOTHESIS: Theophylline has steroid-sparing effects in horses with RAO. METHODS: Ten mature mixed breed horses in clinical exacerbation of RAO were studied. Using an incomplete crossover design and 3 experimental periods of 7 days duration, horses were distributed randomly in 5 treatment groups; and administered dexamethasone s.i.d., at either 0.05 mg/kg bwt i.v. or per os, or 0.02 mg/kg bwt alone or combined with theophylline at 5 mg/kg bwt per os b.i.d. A fifth group was treated with theophylline alone at the above dosage. Lung function was evaluated prior to drug administration and then 3 and 7 days later. RESULTS: Oral administration of dexamethasone alone or combined with theophylline failed to improve lung function significantly in RAO affected horses. Theophylline alone also failed to improve lung function in all treated horses. Conversely, dexamethasone administration at 0.05 mg/kg bwt i.v. resulted in a significant improvement in lung function starting on Day 3. CONCLUSIONS AND POTENTIAL RELEVANCE: Oral theophylline for 7 days did not improve the effects of a low dose of dexamethasone for the treatment of horses with RAO

Bronchoalveolar lavage fluid cytology and cytokine messenger ribonucleic Acid expression of racehorses with exercise intolerance and lower airway inflammation.

BACKGROUND: There is limited information relating bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) cytology and cytokine messenger ribonucleic acid (mRNA) expression in racehorses with inflammatory airway disease (IAD). HYPOTHESIS AND OBJECTIVE: We hypothesize that cytokine expression in BAL cells would correlate with cytology. Thus, we evaluated the mRNA expression of selected cytokines in BAL cells in racehorses with exercise intolerance and lower airway inflammation. ANIMALS: Thirty-one client-owned Standardbred racehorses with exercise intolerance. METHODS: Prospective, observational study. Cells were obtained by BAL, and mRNA expression of interleukin (IL)-1beta, IL-4, IL-8, tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-alpha, and interferon (IFN)-gamma was determined by reverse transcription quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR). RESULTS: Nine horses had normal BAL cell differential cytology (Controls), while 22 horses had evidence of IAD based on BAL fluid cytology. Relative expressions of TNF-alpha/glyceraldehyde 3-phosphate dehydrogenase (GAPDH; 0.0092 +/- 0.010 versus 0.0045 +/- 0.005, P= .034), IL-4/GAPDH (0.001 +/- 0.002 versus 0.0003 +/- 0.0003, P= .029), and IFN-gamma/GAPDH (0.0027 +/- 0.003 versus 0.0009 +/- 0.001, P= .028) were greater in horses with IAD compared with controls. Furthermore, IL-4/GAPDH (0.001 +/- 0.002 versus 0.0002 +/- 0.0003, P < .0001) and IFN-gamma/GAPDH (0.003 +/- 0.003 versus 0.001 +/- 0.001, P= .002) mRNA expression was increased in horses with increased metachromatic cell counts compared with horses with normal metachromatic cell counts. Only the mRNA expression of IL-1beta/GAPDH (1.1 +/- 0.7 versus 0.3 +/- 0.3, P= .045) was increased with airway neutrophilia. CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL IMPORTANCE: Differences in gene expression were associated with the presence of IAD and with specific cell types present in airway secretions of Standardbred racehorses with poor performance. These findings suggest that different pathophysiological pathways are implicated in IAD