The influence of various confounding factors on mechanical nociceptive thresholds in the donkey     

Nicola J Grint  Thierry Beths  Kathy Yvorchuk  Polly M Taylor  Mike Dixon  Helen R Whay  Joanna C Murrell 《Veterinary anaesthesia and analgesia》2014,41(4):421-429

ObjectiveTo evaluate a mechanical nociceptive threshold (MNT) testing device in the donkey, and to investigate the influence of potential confounders on MNTs generated.Study designProspective, randomised.AnimalsSixteen castrated male donkeys aged 4–9 years, weighing 105–170 kg.MethodsMechanical nociceptive thresholds were measured using an actuator with three pins placed on the dorsal aspect of the distal limb, connected to a force meter. The pins (surface area 15 mm²) were extruded onto the limb by pressurising an air-filled syringe, until the MNT force (when foot-lift was observed) or 25 N (cut-off force) was reached. Effect on MNT of presence of a companion donkey, the limb tested, rate of application of force, testing location, level of distraction, ambient temperature and hair cover at the test site was evaluated. Long and short-term repeatability of MNT was assessed. Data were analysed using general linear models and Mann–Whitney U tests, p < 0.05 was considered significant.ResultsIncreasing the rate of force application significantly increased the mean ± SD MNT from 9.2 ± 2.0 N when applied at 0.4 N sec^?1 to 10.6 ± 2.1 N when applied at 1.2 N sec^?1 (p = 0.001). No other factors significantly influenced MNT. Mean MNT remained stable over a 3 week period, however MNTs were significantly (p = 0.006) higher (12.8 ± 3.0 N cf 10.3 ± 1.9 N) after a 12 month interval.Conclusions and clinical relevanceWhen designing studies measuring MNT in donkeys, rate of application of force must be standardised. Donkeys’ MNTs have good short-term stability suggesting this technique is appropriate for short-term analgesiometry studies; however variability of MNTs over the long-term is greater.  相似文献   

Biodiversity,ecology, fisheries,and use and trade of Tetraodontiformes fishes reveal their socio‐ecological significance along the tropical Brazilian continental shelf     

Leandro Nole Eduardo  Arnaud Bertrand  Thierry Frdou  Alex Souza Lira  Rayssa Siqueira Lima  Beatrice Padovani Ferreira  Frdric Menard  Flvia Lucena‐Frdou 《水产资源保护:海洋与淡水生态系统》2020,30(4):761-774

1. Tetraodontiformes fishes play a critical role in benthic and demersal communities and are facing threats due to anthropogenic impacts and climate change. However, they are poorly studied worldwide. To improve knowledge on the socio‐ecological significance and conservation of Tetraodontiformes a review of literature addressing the diversity, ecology, use and trade, conservation, and main threats of Tetraodontiformes combined with a comprehensive in situ dataset from two broad‐range multidisciplinary oceanographic surveys performed along the Tropical Brazilian Continental Shelf was undertaken.
2. Twenty‐nine species were identified, being primarily found on coral reefs and algal ecosystems. At these habitats, tetraodontids present highly diversified trophic categories and might play an important role by balancing the marine food web
3. Coral reef ecosystems, especially those near to the shelf break, seem to be the most important areas of Tetraodontiformes fishes, concentrating the highest values of species richness, relative abundance and the uncommon and Near Threatened species.
4. Ninety per cent of species are commonly caught as bycatch, being also used in the ornamental trade (69%) and as food (52%), serving as an important source of income for artisanal local fisheries.
5. Tetraodontiformes are threatened by unregulated fisheries, overexploitation, bycatch, and habitat loss due to coral reef degradation and the potential effects of climate change. These factors are more broadly impacting global biodiversity, food security, and other related ecosystem functions upon which humans and many other organisms rely.
6. We recommend the following steps that could improve the conservation of Tetraodontiformes along the tropical Brazilian Continental shelf and elsewhere: (i) data collection of the commercial, incidental, ornamental and recreational catches; (ii) improvement of the current legislation directed at the marine ornamental harvesting; (iii) increase efforts focused on the education and conservation awareness in coastal tourism and communities; and, most important, (iv) creation of marine reserves networks in priority areas of conservation, protecting either the species and key habitats for its survival.

  相似文献   

Quantifying and simulating carbon and nitrogen mineralization from diverse exogenous organic matters     

Florent Levavasseur  Gwenaelle Lashermes  Bruno Mary  Thierry Morvan  Bernard Nicolardot  Virginie Parnaudeau  Laurent Thuriès  Sabine Houot 《Soil Use and Management》2022,38(1):411-425

The potential contributions of exogenous organic matters (EOMs) to soil organic C and mineral N supply depend on their C and N mineralization, which can be assessed in laboratory incubations. Such incubations are essential to calibrate decomposition models, because not all EOMs can be tested in the field. However, EOM incubations are resource-intensive. Therefore, easily measurable EOM characteristics that can be useful to predict EOM behaviour are needed. We quantified C and N mineralization during the incubation of 663 EOMs from five groups (animal manures, composts, sewage sludges, digestates and others). This represents one of the largest and diversified set of EOM incubations. The C and N mineralization varied widely between and within EOM subgroups. We simulated C and N mineralization with a simple generic decomposition model. Three calibration methods were compared. Individual EOM calibration of the model yielded good model performances, while the use of a unique parameter set per EOM subgroup decreased the model performance, and the use of two EOM characteristics to estimate model parameters gave an intermediate model performance (average RMSE-C values of 32, 99 and 65 mg C g⁻¹ added C and average RMSE-N values of 50, 126 and 110 mg N g⁻¹ added N, respectively). Because of the EOM variability, individual EOM calibration based on incubation remains the recommended method for predicting most accurately the C and N mineralization of EOMs. However, the two alternative calibration methods are sufficient for the simulation of EOMs without incubation data to obtain reasonable model performances.  相似文献   

Dealing with the variability in biofumigation efficacy through an epidemiological framework     

Natacha Motisi  Thierry Doré  Françoise Montfort 《Soil biology & biochemistry》2010,42(12):2044-2057

Biofumigation, as originally defined, is the use, in agriculture, of the toxicity of Brassica crop residues to control soilborne plant pathogens. This toxicity is specifically attributed to the release of toxic isothiocyanates, through the hydrolysis of glucosinolates present in the crop residues. This technique is considered a possible alternative to the use of pesticides, but field studies have generated conflicting data concerning the efficacy of biofumigation at field scale, limiting the use of this technique. Analytical studies based on a systematic approach involving evaluation of the potential effects of isothiocyanates can be used to address this problem in a rigorous manner. However, many recent studies have indicated that the mechanisms underlying biofumigation are much more complex than a simple toxic effect of residues. In this review, we dissect and discuss the problems encountered when trying to understand the variability in biofumigation efficacy and propose an integrative epidemiological approach to overcome these problems. This approach involves separating the effects of the different parameters of the system, such as the effects of different management phases of the biofumigant crop (i.e. the period of biofumigant crop growth and the phase during which crop residues are pulverised and incorporated into the soil) on the epidemiological mechanisms driving the development of an epidemic (density of primary inoculum and dynamics of disease progression). Finally, we propose new avenues of research into biofumigation in which the use of epidemiological tools and methods may improve our understanding of the factors underlying variation in the efficacy of biofumigant crops.  相似文献   

Toll-like receptor 3 (TLR3): a new marker of canine monocytes-derived dendritic cells (cMo-DC)     

Bonnefont-Rebeix C  Marchal T  Bernaud J  Pin JJ  Leroux C  Lebecque S  Chabanne L  Rigal D 《Veterinary immunology and immunopathology》2007,118(1-2):134-139

Toll-like receptors (TLRs) are a family of functionally important receptors for recognition of pathogen-associated molecular pattern (PAMP) since they trigger the pro-inflammatory response and upregulation of costimulatory molecules, linking the rapid innate response to adaptative immunity. In human leukocytes, TLR3 has been found to be specifically expressed in dendritic cells (DC). This study examined the expression of TLR3 in canine monocytes-derived DC (cMo-DC) and PBMC using three new anti-TLR3 mAbs (619F7, 722E2 and 713E4 clones). The non-adherent cMo-DC generated after culture in canine IL-4 plus canine GM-CSF were labelled with the three anti-TLR3 clones by flow cytometry, with a strong expression shown for 619F7 and 722E2 clones. By contrast, TLR3 expression was low to moderate in canine monocytes and lymphocytes. These results were confirmed by Western blot using 619F7 and 722E2 clones and several polypeptide bands were observed, suggesting a possible cleavage of TLR3 molecule or different glycosylation states. In addition, TLR3 was detectable in immunocytochemistry by using 722E2 clone. In conclusion, this first approach to study canine TLR3 protein expression shows that three anti-TLR3 clones detect canine TLR3 and can be used to better characterize canine DC and the immune system of dogs.  相似文献   

Influence of irrigation on the distribution and control of the nematode Meloidogyne javanica by the biocontrol bacterium Pasteuria penetrans in the field     

Kounbobr Roch Dabiré  Saliou Ndiaye  Jean-Luc Chotte  Sabine Fould  Mamadou Thiam Diop  Thierry Mateille 《Biology and Fertility of Soils》2005,41(3):205-211

Pasteuria penetrans, a bacterial parasite of plant-parasitic nematodes, is used to control root-knot nematode Meloidogyne spp. populations in vegetable crops. But its efficiency is variable, mostly because of the patchy distribution of the bacteria in arable fields. As the infective P. penetrans are non-motile bacteria in soil, abiotic soil factors can affect the bacteria–nematode relationships. An epidemiological study, conducted in a vegetable field, showed that abiotic factors such as irrigation, soil water holding capacity and texture, affected the efficiency of P. penetrans. A correspondence analysis between these abiotic factors and the density of P. penetrans spores in the soil, and the proportion of Meloidogyne javanica juveniles infected by the bacteria, revealed that irrigation affected directly the distribution of the spores in soil pores related to their passive transport by water flow. Laboratory experiments conducted on the passive transport of spores confirmed that intensive irrigation leached the spores down the soil profile and decreased the percentage of infected Meloidogyne juveniles.  相似文献   

Improved sample preparation to determine acrylamide in difficult matrixes such as chocolate powder, cocoa, and coffee by liquid chromatography tandem mass spectroscopy   总被引：2，自引：0，他引：2  

Delatour T  Périsset A  Goldmann T  Riediker S  Stadler RH 《Journal of agricultural and food chemistry》2004,52(15):4625-4631

An improved sample preparation (extraction and cleanup) is presented that enables the quantification of low levels of acrylamide in difficult matrixes, including soluble chocolate powder, cocoa, coffee, and coffee surrogate. Final analysis is done by isotope-dilution liquid chromatography-electrospray ionization tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) using d3-acrylamide as internal standard. Sample pretreatment essentially encompasses (a) protein precipitation with Carrez I and II solutions, (b) extraction of the analyte into ethyl acetate, and (c) solid-phase extraction on a Multimode cartridge. The stability of acrylamide in final extracts and in certain commercial foods and beverages is also reported. This approach provided good performance in terms of linearity, accuracy and precision. Full validation was conducted in soluble chocolate powder, achieving a decision limit (CCalpha) and detection capability (CCbeta) of 9.2 and 12.5 microg/kg, respectively. The method was extended to the analysis of acrylamide in various foodstuffs such as mashed potatoes, crisp bread, and butter biscuit and cookies. Furthermore, the accuracy of the method is demonstrated by the results obtained in three inter-laboratory proficiency tests.  相似文献   

Traces of human migrations in Helicobacter pylori populations     

Falush D  Wirth T  Linz B  Pritchard JK  Stephens M  Kidd M  Blaser MJ  Graham DY  Vacher S  Perez-Perez GI  Yamaoka Y  Mégraud F  Otto K  Reichard U  Katzowitsch E  Wang X  Achtman M  Suerbaum S 《Science (New York, N.Y.)》2003,299(5612):1582-1585

Helicobacter pylori, a chronic gastric pathogen of human beings, can be divided into seven populations and subpopulations with distinct geographical distributions. These modern populations derive their gene pools from ancestral populations that arose in Africa, Central Asia, and East Asia. Subsequent spread can be attributed to human migratory fluxes such as the prehistoric colonization of Polynesia and the Americas, the neolithic introduction of farming to Europe, the Bantu expansion within Africa, and the slave trade.  相似文献   

Class II aminoacyl transfer RNA synthetases: crystal structure of yeast aspartyl-tRNA synthetase complexed with tRNA(Asp)   总被引：65，自引：0，他引：65  

M Ruff  S Krishnaswamy  M Boeglin  A Poterszman  A Mitschler  A Podjarny  B Rees  J C Thierry  D Moras 《Science (New York, N.Y.)》1991,252(5013):1682-1689

The crystal structure of the binary complex tRNA(Asp)-aspartyl tRNA synthetase from yeast was solved with the use of multiple isomorphous replacement to 3 angstrom resolution. The dimeric synthetase, a member of class II aminoacyl tRNA synthetases (aaRS's) exhibits the characteristic signature motifs conserved in eight aaRS's. These three sequence motifs are contained in the catalytic site domain, built around an antiparallel beta sheet, and flanked by three alpha helices that form the pocket in which adenosine triphosphate (ATP) and the CCA end of tRNA bind. The tRNA(Asp) molecule approaches the synthetase from the variable loop side. The two major contact areas are with the acceptor end and the anticodon stem and loop. In both sites the protein interacts with the tRNA from the major groove side. The correlation between aaRS class II and the initial site of aminoacylation at 3'-OH can be explained by the structure. The molecular association leads to the following features: (i) the backbone of the GCCA single-stranded portion of the acceptor end exhibits a regular helical conformation; (ii) the loop between residues 320 and 342 in motif 2 interacts with the acceptor stem in the major groove and is in contact with the discriminator base G and the first base pair UA; and (iii) the anticodon loop undergoes a large conformational change in order to bind the protein. The conformation of the tRNA molecule in the complex is dictated more by the interaction with the protein than by its own sequence.  相似文献   

CoRoT measures solar-like oscillations and granulation in stars hotter than the Sun     

Michel E  Baglin A  Auvergne M  Catala C  Samadi R  Baudin F  Appourchaux T  Barban C  Weiss WW  Berthomieu G  Boumier P  Dupret MA  Garcia RA  Fridlund M  Garrido R  Goupil MJ  Kjeldsen H  Lebreton Y  Mosser B  Grotsch-Noels A  Janot-Pacheco E  Provost J  Roxburgh IW  Thoul A  Toutain T  Tiphène D  Turck-Chieze S  Vauclair SD  Vauclair GP  Aerts C  Alecian G  Ballot J  Charpinet S  Hubert AM  Lignières F  Mathias P  Monteiro MJ  Neiner C  Poretti E  de Medeiros JR  Ribas I  Rieutord ML  Cortés TR  Zwintz K 《Science (New York, N.Y.)》2008,322(5901):558-560

Oscillations of the Sun have been used to understand its interior structure. The extension of similar studies to more distant stars has raised many difficulties despite the strong efforts of the international community over the past decades. The CoRoT (Convection Rotation and Planetary Transits) satellite, launched in December 2006, has now measured oscillations and the stellar granulation signature in three main sequence stars that are noticeably hotter than the sun. The oscillation amplitudes are about 1.5 times as large as those in the Sun; the stellar granulation is up to three times as high. The stellar amplitudes are about 25% below the theoretic values, providing a measurement of the nonadiabaticity of the process ruling the oscillations in the outer layers of the stars.  相似文献