Transcriptome sequencing supports a conservation of macrophage polarization in fish

Mammalian macrophages can adopt polarization states that, depending on the exact stimuli present in their extracellular environment, can lead to very different functions. Although these different polarization states have been shown primarily for macrophages of humans and mice, it is likely that polarized macrophages with corresponding phenotypes exist across mammals. Evidence of functional conservation in macrophages from teleost fish suggests that the same, or at least comparable polarization states should also be present in teleosts. However, corresponding transcriptional profiles of marker genes have not been reported thus far. In this study we confirm that macrophages from common carp can polarize into M1- and M2 phenotypes with conserved functions and corresponding transcriptional profiles compared to mammalian macrophages. Carp M1 macrophages show increased production of nitric oxide and a transcriptional profile with increased pro-inflammatory cytokines and mediators, including il6, il12 and saa. Carp M2 macrophages show increased arginase activity and a transcriptional profile with increased anti-inflammatory mediators, including cyr61, timp2b and tgm2b. Our RNA sequencing approach allowed us to list, in an unbiased manner, markers discriminating between M1 and M2 macrophages of teleost fish. We discuss the importance of our findings for the evaluation of immunostimulants for aquaculture and for the identification of gene targets to generate transgenic zebrafish for detailed studies on M1 and M2 macrophages. Above all, we discuss the striking degree of evolutionary conservation of macrophage polarization in a lower vertebrate.Animal science

Understanding the Occurrence of Errors in Process Models Based on Metrics

Business process models play an important role for the management, design, and improvement of process organizations and process-aware information systems. Despite the extensive application of process modeling in practice, there are hardly empirical results available on quality aspects of process models. This paper aims to advance the understanding of this matter by analyzing the connection between formal errors (such as deadlocks) and a set of metrics that capture various structural and behavioral aspects of a process model. In particular, we discuss the theoretical connection between errors and metrics, and provide a comprehensive validation based on an extensive sample of EPC process models from practice. Furthermore, we investigate the capability of the metrics to predict errors in a second independent sample of models. The high explanatory power of the metrics has considerable consequences for the design of future modeling guidelines and modeling tools

PCR and DNA-probe hybridization to assess the efficacy of therapeutic and prophylactic isometamidium treatment in Trypanosoma spp. - infected dairy cattle in peri-urban Kampala, Uganda

In a cross-sectional study carried out in June 1994, 486 cattle from 50 randomly selected dairy farms in the vicinity of Kampala, Uganda, were examined for trypanosome infections. The trypanosome prevalence (either positive with the haematocrit centrifugation technique [HCT] and/or the mini-anion-exchange centrifugation technique [m AECT] was 18.9 %. Of these infections, 78.2 % were judged to be Trypamosoma brucei, 10.9 T vivax and 10.9 % mixed (T brucei/T vrvax). PCR gave positive results in 34.8 % of the blood samples tested, with 76.2 % positive for T brucei, 20.6 % positive for T vivax and 3.2 % positive for mixed CT. brucei 1T vrvax) infections. Using primers specific for Savannah-type T congolense, no specific products could be amplified. When the PCR-generated products were hybridized with species-specific DNA probes, the overall detection rate increased further to 43.1 %. All cattle were treated with a prophylactic dose of isometamidium chloride (I mg1kg body weight) and thereafter monitored on a monthly basis for the presence of parasitaemia and trypanosome DNA. The trypanosome prevalence (HCT and m AECT) declined, being 0.4 %, 0.7 % and 3.2 % at one, two and three months after treatment, respectively. The parasitological results were confirmed by PCR and there were neither PCR products nor hybridization signals that could be detected when testing aparasitaemic blood samples collected from cattle at the first and second month after prophylactic treatment. Parasitaemic samples collected after treatment were DNA-positive. The parasitological and DNA-based findings of this study, and additional results from in vivo and in vitro drug sensitivity studies on trypanosome field isolates collected from the study area, confirm the presence of a high level of isometamidium sensitivity amongst the trypanosome populations present in Mukono County in 1994

A Quality-Oriented Business Process Meta-Model

International audienceBusiness process modeling is an important part of information systems design. Business process modeling techniques provide a standard way of presentation and communication of business processes. One important problem in this context is to assess the quality of business processes as well as their ontological constructs, which raises several issues, such as the identification of business process constructs as well as the quality dimensions and factors relevant to these constructs. In this paper, our goal is twofold. First, we present a business process meta-model containing all possible constructs of a business process. Second, after discussing a set of quality factors suitable for business processes constructs, we present a quality oriented meta-model resulting from the enrichment of the business process meta-model with quality related information

Extensions to the Speech Disorders Classification System (SDCS)

This report describes three extensions to a classification system for pediatric speech sound disorders termed the Speech Disorders Classification System (SDCS). Part I describes a classification extension to the SDCS to differentiate motor speech disorders from speech delay and to differentiate among three subtypes of motor speech disorders. Part II describes the Madison Speech Assessment Protocol (MSAP), an approximately two-hour battery of 25 measures that includes 15 speech tests and tasks. Part III describes the Competence, Precision, and Stability Analytics (CPSA) framework, a current set of approximately 90 perceptual- and acoustic-based indices of speech, prosody, and voice used to quantify and classify subtypes of Speech Sound Disorders (SSD). A companion paper, Shriberg, Fourakis, et al. (2010) provides reliability estimates for the perceptual and acoustic data reduction methods used in the SDCS. The agreement estimates in the companion paper support the reliability of SDCS methods and illustrate the complementary roles of perceptual and acoustic methods in diagnostic analyses of SSD of unknown origin. Examples of research using the extensions to the SDCS described in the present report include diagnostic findings for a sample of youth with motor speech disorders associated with galactosemia (Shriberg, Potter, & Strand, 2010) and a test of the hypothesis of apraxia of speech in a group of children with autism spectrum disorders (Shriberg, Paul, Black, & van Santen, 2010). All SDCS methods and reference databases running in the PEPPER (Programs to Examine Phonetic and Phonologic Evaluation Records; [Shriberg, Allen, McSweeny, & Wilson, 2001]) environment will be disseminated without cost when complete