Probiotics and probiotic-based vaccines: A novel approach for improving vaccine efficacy

Vaccination is defined as the stimulation and development of the adaptive immune system by administering specific antigens. Vaccines' efficacy, in inducing immunity, varies in different societies due to economic, social, and biological conditions. One of the influential biological factors is gut microbiota. Cross-talks between gut bacteria and the host immune system are initiated at birth during microbial colonization and directly control the immune responses and protection against pathogen colonization. Imbalances in the gut microbiota composition, termed dysbiosis, can trigger several immune disorders through the activity of the adaptive immune system and impair the adequate response to the vaccination. The bacteria used in probiotics are often members of the gut microbiota, which have health benefits for the host. Probiotics are generally consumed as a component of fermented foods, affect both innate and acquired immune systems, and decrease infections. This review aimed to discuss the gut microbiota's role in regulating immune responses to vaccination and how probiotics can help induce immune responses against pathogens. Finally, probiotic-based oral vaccines and their efficacy have been discussed

Intestinal DNA concentration and protein synthesis in response to low quality diets in two strains of Leghorn layers

Performance, protein synthesis and mucosal DNA in small intestine of Leghorn hens may be affected by low quality feedstuff. An experiment was conducted in completely randomized design (CRD) in 2 × 2 factorial arrangement. Main factors included diets containing 20 and 40 % barley and black and blue strains of leghorn. Layer performance was recorded weekly up to eight weeks. Egg production (%), egg mass and egg number were significantly higher in black strain leghorn on 20% barley diet than blue strain with 40% barley diet (P<0.05). Treatments blue × 40% barley and black × 20% barley showed lowest and highest egg production percentage, egg mass and egg number, respectively (P<0.05). The lowest protein synthesis in small intestine was shown in blue × 40% barley treatment group. Small intestine mucosal DNA quantity in blue strain was significantly higher than that in black strain (P<0.05). In contrast, protein synthesis in blue strain was lower than that in black strain (P<0.05). It was concluded that lower performance in blue × 40% treatment group could be related to lower protein synthesis in small intestine in blue strain, and this may be due to the high barley (40%) contained in diet.Key words: Performance, protein synthesis, mucosal DNA, small intestine

Optimizirano određivanje lorazepama u humanom serumu visokotlačnom tekućinskom kromatografijom

The present research was designated to evaluate a rapid and sensitive method for determining low concentrations of the highly active drug lorazepam in serum. Isolation of the drug from biological fluid after addition of nordazepam as the internal standard was achieved using a simple liquid-liquid extraction with dichloromethane and the extracted compounds were quantified by high-performance liquid chromatography. Chromatographic separation on a reversed phase column containing a stationary phase with low silanol activity resulted in a perfectly symmetrical peak with a tailing factor of 1.0. The limit of quantitation in serum is 2.5 ng mL-1 for both lorazepam and internal standard. The procedure is rapid and sensitive enough for determination of lorazepam in serum.U radu se vrednuje brza i osjetljiva metoda za određivanje niskih koncentracija lorazepama u serumu. Lorazepam je izoliran iz seruma ekstrakcijom diklormetanom, zajedno s nordazepamom, koji je upotrebljen kao interni standard i zatim određivan visokotlačnom tekućinskom kromatografijom. Kromatografskim razdjeljivanjem na reverzno-faznoj koloni sa stacionarnom fazom s niskom aktivnošću silanola dobiveni su potpuno simetrični signali faktorom završnog povlačenja 1,0. Granica određivanja u serumu je 2,5 ng mL-1 za lorazepam i interni standard. Metoda je brza i dovoljno osjetljiva za određivanje lorazepama u serumu

Optimizirano određivanje lorazepama u humanom serumu visokotlačnom tekućinskom kromatografijom

The present research was designated to evaluate a rapid and sensitive method for determining low concentrations of the highly active drug lorazepam in serum. Isolation of the drug from biological fluid after addition of nordazepam as the internal standard was achieved using a simple liquid-liquid extraction with dichloromethane and the extracted compounds were quantified by high-performance liquid chromatography. Chromatographic separation on a reversed phase column containing a stationary phase with low silanol activity resulted in a perfectly symmetrical peak with a tailing factor of 1.0. The limit of quantitation in serum is 2.5 ng mL-1 for both lorazepam and internal standard. The procedure is rapid and sensitive enough for determination of lorazepam in serum.U radu se vrednuje brza i osjetljiva metoda za određivanje niskih koncentracija lorazepama u serumu. Lorazepam je izoliran iz seruma ekstrakcijom diklormetanom, zajedno s nordazepamom, koji je upotrebljen kao interni standard i zatim određivan visokotlačnom tekućinskom kromatografijom. Kromatografskim razdjeljivanjem na reverzno-faznoj koloni sa stacionarnom fazom s niskom aktivnošću silanola dobiveni su potpuno simetrični signali faktorom završnog povlačenja 1,0. Granica određivanja u serumu je 2,5 ng mL-1 za lorazepam i interni standard. Metoda je brza i dovoljno osjetljiva za određivanje lorazepama u serumu

Effects of lysophospholipid on utilizing different sources and levels of carbohydrate in rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) diet

The aim of the present study was to investigate the effects of dietary lysophospholipid and carbohydrates (rye and corn meal) on growth performance, blood and biochemical parameters in rainbow trout. So, 480 fish (6.70 ± 0.99 g in weight) were fed with experimental diets containing 100 g/kg corn, 250 g/kg corn, 100 g/kg corn + 9 g/kg lysophospholipid, 250 g/kg corn + 9 g/kg lysophospholipid, 100 g/kg rye, 250 g/kg rye, 100 g/kg rye + 9 g/kg lysophospholipid and 250 g/kg rye + 9 g/kg lysophospholipid in triplicate. The experimental design was a 2 × 2 × 2 factorial arrangement. Results of growth performance demonstrated elevating in final weight, specific growth rate and feed intake in Tcorn100+lyso and Tray100+lyso, whereas Tcorn250+lyso and Tray250+lyso contrarily led to lower growth performance (p<0.05). Also, RBC and hematocrit indicated interaction effects between diet × lysophospholipid and lysophospholipid × carbohydrate level (p<0.05). RBC and hematocrit were elevated in Tcorn100+lyso and Tray100+lyso (p<0.05). Comparative results of biochemical parameters showed reaction effects of cholesterol between diet × lysophospholipid (p<0.05). Cholesterol values reduced by adding lysophospholipid to different levels of rye and corn and also higher value was observed in Tcorn100+lyso and Tray100+lyso compared to Tcorn250+lyso and Tray250+lyso (p<0.05). It seems that rainbow trout has potency of using 250 g rye and corn in diet containing fat powder without lysophospholipid, while lysophospholipid negatively affects this level of carbohydrates. However, lysophospholipid helps enhancing growth and erythropoiesis in the levels of 100 g rye and corn

Bagged fuzzy clustering for fuzzy data: An application to a tourism market.

Segmentation has several strategic and tactical implications in marketing products and services. Despite hard clustering methods having several weaknesses, they remain widely applied in marketing studies. Alternative segmentation methods such as fuzzy methods are rarely used to understand consumer behaviour. In this study, we propose a strategy of analysis, by combining the Bagged Clustering (BC) method and the fuzzy C-means clustering method for fuzzy data (FCM-FD), i.e., the Bagged fuzzy C-means clustering method for fuzzy data (BFCM-FD). The method inherits the advantages of stability and reproducibility from BC and the flexibility from FCM-FD. The method is applied on a sample of 328 Chinese consumers revealing the existence of four segments (Admirers, Enthusiasts, Moderates, and Apathetics) of the perceived images of Western Europe as a tourist destination. The results highlight the heterogeneity in Chinese consumers' place preferences and implications for place marketing are offered

A Note On Some Picard Curves Over Finite Fields

In this note we provide a complete classification for the Newton polygon of the Picard curvesy3=x4-xandy3=x4-1 defined over a finite field of characteristic p&gt;3. In fact, we complete the results obtained in [19]. Using these results, we determine all finite fields over which these curves attain the Hasse-Weil upper bound.34107122Ekedahl, T., On supersingular curves and abelian varieties (1987) Math. Scand., 60, pp. 151-178Estrada-Sarlabous, J., On the Jacobian varieties of Picard curves defined over fields of characteristic p > 0 (1991) Math. Nachr., 152, pp. 329-340Garcia, A., Stichtenoth, H., Xing, C.P., On subfields of Hermitian function fields (2000) Compos. Math., 120, pp. 137-170Garcia, A., Tafazolian, S., Certain maximal curves and Cartier operators (2008) Acta Arith., 135, pp. 199-218Hasegawa, T., Some remarks on superspecial and ordinary curves of low genus (2013) Math. Nachr., 286, pp. 17-33Hirschfeld, J.W.P., Korchmáros, G., Torres, F., (2008) Algebraic Curves over A Finite Field, , Princeton Univ. PressHolzapfel, R.P., Nicolae, F., Arithmetic on a family of Picard curves (2001) Proceedings of the VI-th International Conference on Finite Fields with Applications, Mexico, pp. 187-208Hurt, N.E., (2003) Many Rational Points: Coding Theory and Algebraic Geometry, , Kluwer Academic PublishersIbukiyama, T., On rational points of curves of genus 3 over finite fields (1993) Tôhoku Math. J., 45, pp. 311-329Kazemifard, A., Naghipour, A.R., Tafazolian, S., A note on superspecial and maximal curves (2013) Bull. Iran. Math. Soc., 39, pp. 405-413Kodama, T., Top, J., Washio, T., Maximal hyperelliptic curves of genus three (2009) Finite Fields Appl., 15, pp. 392-403Nygaard, N.O., Slopes of powers of Frobenius on crystalline cohomology (1981) Ann. Sci. Éc. Norm. Super., 14, pp. 369-401Oort, F., Abelian varieties over finite fields (2008) Higher-Dimensional Geometry over Finite Fields, 16, pp. 123-188. , NATO Sci. Peace Secur. Ser. D Inf. Commun. Secur. IOS AmsterdamSerre, J.P., Sur la topologie des variétés algébriques en caractéristique p (1958) Symp. Int. Top. Alg., Mexico, pp. 24-53. , uvres/Collected Papers I, pp. 501-530Stichtenoth, H., Die Hasse-Witt Invariante eines Kongruenzfunktionenkörpers (1979) Arch. Math., 33, pp. 357-360Stichtenoth, H., Algebraic Function Fields and Codes (2009) Grad. Texts Math., 254. , second ed. Springer-VerlagTafazolian, S., Torres, F., On maximal curves of Fermat type (2013) Adv. Geom., 13, pp. 613-617Tafazolian, S., Torres, F., On the curve yn = xm + x over finite fields (2014) J. Number Theory, 145, pp. 51-66Takizawa, Y., Some remarks on the Picard curves over a finite field (2007) Math. Nachr., 280, pp. 802-811Yui, N., On the Jacobian variety of the Fermat curve (1980) J. Algebra, 65, pp. 1-3

An emotion understanding framework for intelligent agents based on episodic and semantic memories

10.1007/s10458-012-9214-9Autonomous Agents and Multi-Agent Systems281126-15

Polymer-Modified Bitumen Production Based on Performance Grade for Application in Different Zones of Iran

Due to performance grade  )PG) zonation of different parts in Iran and poor properties of 60/70 penetration grade bitumens for pavement applications, suitable  polymer modifed  bitumen was  produced.  To  fulfll  this  purpose, different PMBs samples were produced using 60/70 penetration grade bitumen and  various  percentages  of VB  (20  and  25%), with  different  percentages  of  SBS Calprene C501  (  4,  4.5,  5  and  5.5%),  in  a  high  shear  homogenizer  in  1  h mixing time at 160°C temperature. To determine the performance grade, aging effect, low temperature performance and rheological properties such as evaluation of rutting and fatigue factors some SHRPs measurements )DSR, RV, RTFOT, PAV and BBR) were conducted. The results showed that the sample with 5.5% SBS with 20 and 25% VB, at high temperatures presented good properties such as: the best performance grade )76°C), the highest resistance and elastic behavior in comparison with the other samples. These samples were subjected to rutting and fatigue tests for both aged bitumen in RTFOT and unaged bitumen. The results indicated that adding SBS to bitumen could not improve the performance at low temperatures, compared to 60/70 grade  bitumen,  but  it  did  improve  the  properties  of  polymer-modifed  bitumen  at similar  low  temperature (-18°C). So, samples with 4, 4.5 and 5% SBS with 20 and 25% VB, are suitable to be applied in provinces which 60/70 grade bitumens are not suitable. In some provinces such as Khoozestan, with a PG of 76, the compositions  with 5.5% SBS with 20 and 25% VB, are found to be suitable