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Effects of oregano aqueous extract on defence ability of pig gut
No full textDifferent studies in the last years have focused on use of natural compounds from herbs and spices as an alternative to synthetic additives in order to avoid the growing problem of antibiotic resistance. Among officinal plants Origanum vulgare L., belonging to Lamiaceae family, has been shown to possess antioxidant, antibacterial, antifungal, anti-inflammatory, antitumor, antiparasitic, antiviral, anti-hyperglycemic, anti-cholinesterase, diaphoretic, carminative, antispasmodic and analgesic activities, which are mainly attributed to its components carvacrol, limonene, gamma-caryophyllene, rhocymenene, camphor, linalol, alpha-pinene and thymol. Among oregano properties, the antioxidant and the antibacterial ones are of special interest. Oregano is also able to induce a higher glycoconjugate production. Secretion glycoconjugates cover the intestinal mucosae creating a continuous gel layer, which performs various functions: lubrication, barrier for certain low molecular weight solutes, proteolytic degradation and a barrier for microorganisms and parasites. On the basis of above considerations, this work is aimed to evaluate the effects of oregano aqueous extract (OAE) dietary supplementation on pig gut complex carbohydrates, detected by conventional histochemistry, and oxidative stress, using as target molecule Bcl-2 Associate X protein (BAX). Glycohistochemical and immunohistochemical treatments were carried out on four gut tracts: duodenum, ileum, caecum and colon. Glycohistochemistry was performed by staining with Periodic acid-Schiff (PAS), Alcian blue (AB) pH 2.5, AB-PAS, AB pH 1, AB pH 0.5, low iron diamine, high iron diamine. Adjacent serial sections were pre-treated with Sialidase V before staining with AB pH 2.5 preceded or not by saponification with 1% KOH in 70% ethanol to remove the acetyl groups. Positive histochemical responses were found at goblet cell level in all examined gut tracts; duodenal glands were also reactive. The data analysis evidenced significant differences to the histochemical treatment reactivity between control and oregano supplemented groups. BAX immunostaining decreased in oregano supplemented group. Our results showed that oregano aqueous extract supplementation improves the production of the glycoconjugates able to enhance the protection of the pig intestinal mucosae; in addition, it reduced BAX immunostaining, suggesting an enhanced antioxidant action in oregano supplemented group. Finding from this experiment could be useful for carrying out studies aimed to reduce antibiotic use and prevent antimicrobial resistance, enhancing endogenous defence ability
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Get PDFThe present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
Variations on the Author
Get PDF“Variations on the Author” discusses two of Eduardo Coutinho’s recent films (Um Dia na Vida, from 2010, and Últimas Conversas, posthumously released in 2015) and their contribution to the general question of documentary authorship. The director’s filmography is characterized by a consistent yet self-effacing form of authorial self-inscription: Coutinho often features as an interviewer that rather than express opinions propels discourses; an interviewer that is good at listening. This mode of self-inscription characterizes him as an author who is not expressive but who is nonetheless markedly present on the screen. In Um Dia na Vida, however, Coutinho is completely absent form the image, while Últimas Conversas, on the contrary, includes a confessional prologue that moves the director from the margins to the center of his films. This article examines the ways in which these works stand out in the filmography of a director who offers new insights into the notion of cinematic authorship
Appropriate Similarity Measures for Author Cocitation Analysis
Get PDFWe provide a number of new insights into the methodological discussion about author cocitation analysis. We first argue that the use of the Pearson correlation for measuring the similarity between authors’ cocitation profiles is not very satisfactory. We then discuss what kind of similarity measures may be used as an alternative to the Pearson correlation. We consider three similarity measures in particular. One is the well-known cosine. The other two similarity measures have not been used before in the bibliometric literature. Finally, we show by means of an example that our findings have a high practical relevance.information science;Pearson correlation;cosine;similarity measure;author cocitation analysis
Insulina e IGF-1 plasmatici in capretti angora in accrescimento
No full textPlasma Insulin and Insulin-like Growth Factor-1 in growing Angora kids.
Plasma insulin (INS) and total insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1) concentrrations were assayed in 20 Angora kids from weaning (90 dd) till 155 dd of age. At birth, ten of their mothers were supplemented with horse bean (Vicia faba minor), as well as the respective kids from weaning, occurred at 90 d of age (group S). All the animals were fed with grass pasture and mixed hay. At the end of the trial S group had improved live weight (LW), BCS and fibre quality. Plasma INS (0.11 ± 0.03 ng/mL, overall mean ± SE) and IGF-1 concentrations (232 ± 13 ng/mL) were not affected by the diet. INS values correlated with LW (P < 0.05)and BCS (P < 0.01). IGF-1 concentrations negatively correlated with increasing age and LW (P < 0.01), and were higher (P < 0.01) in males than females. It is concluded that systemic INS and IGF-1 do not seem to be involved in the better growth and mohair production observed in S kids.
Key words: angora goat, insulin, insulin-like growth factor-1, nutrition
Espressione di APLN e APLNR nelle tube uterine e nell’utero della pecora al pascolo
No full textLe adipochine, molecole prodotte prevalentemente
dal tessuto adiposo, sono coinvolte nel
metabolismo energetico e rappresentano dei link importanti
tra lo stato nutrizionale e l’asse neuro-endocrino.
Livelli fisiologici di adipochine sono necessari per una
corretta funzione dell’attività ovarica, per l’impianto
dell’embrione e per il protrarsi della gravidanza. L’apelina
(APLN) è un peptide che appartiene alla famiglia
delle adipochine e che agisce attivando un recettore specifico
(APLNR) accoppiato alla proteina G (Pitkin et
al., 2010). APLN, inizialmente isolata dallo stomaco
del bovino, è prodotta da molte aree del sistema nervoso
centrale e numerosi tessuti periferici. Il tessuto adiposo
produce APLN e la sua secrezione è regolata dalla
condizione di digiuno e sazietà e dai livelli ematici di
insulina (Boucher et al., 2005). APLN, a sua volta, interviene
nella regolazione della capacità ingestiva e del
peso corporeo. APLNR presenta un’ampia distribuzione
dimostrando le numerose attività biologiche in
cui il sistema APLN-APLNR è coinvolto: regolazione
dell’appetito, del sistema digerente e cardiovascolare,
della funzione immunitaria, ecc. APLN promuove la
proliferazione e la migrazione di vari tipi cellulari tra
cui le cellule endoteliali agendo tramite meccanismi autocrini
e paracrini oltre che endocrini (Masri et al.,
2005). Il sistema apelinergico è attivo a livello dell’apparato
riproduttore femminile: è stato identificato nella
placenta, nell’ovaio e nell’utero anche se sono evidenti
differenze tra specie animali (Pope et al. 2012). APLN
causa obesità nel topo, determinando un aumento del
peso corporeo, nonché infertilità dovuta all’effetto sugli
ormoni sessuali (Tekin et al., 2017).
In questo lavoro, abbiamo indagato la presenza di
APLN e APLNR a livello dell’utero e delle tube uterine
della pecora durante periodi differenti di pascolo al fine
di evidenziare eventuali differenze indotte da differenti
apporti nutrizionali
Dispelling the Myths Behind First-author Citation Counts
Get PDFWe conducted a full-scale evaluative citation analysis study of scholars in the XML research field to explore just how different from each other author rankings resulting from different citation counting methods actually are, and to demonstrate the capability of emerging data and tools on the Web in supporting more realistic citation counting methods. Our results contest some common arguments for the continued
use of first-author citation counts in the evaluation of scholars, such as high correlations between author rankings by first-author citation counts and other citation
counting methods, and high costs of using more realistic citation counting methods that are not well-supported by the ISI databases. It is argued that increasingly available digital full text research papers make it possible for citation analysis studies to go beyond what the ISI databases have directly supported and to employ more
sophisticated methods
The presence and localization of apelin in the sheep abomasum: impact of diets characterized by different chemical composition
Get PDFThe apelinergic system is a complex system including the apelin peptide (AP), initially isolated in 1998 from bovine stomach homogenates and its receptor, named APJ receptor. The apelin peptide is extensively expressed in several human and laboratory animal organs (heart, lung, brain, mammary gland). Between the different roles hypothesize for apelin there are also the control of blood pressure and the stimulation of drinking behavior in rats. Recently its expression was also evidenced in the basal glandular portion of the stomach in laboratory animals, allowing to hypothesize its intervention in the control of acid secretion. No data concerning its presence and distribution in the abomasums of the sheep are present at the moment. So, we decided to test the presence and distribution of apelin in the abomasums of the sheep and the possible existence of a variability as a consequence of the different water content of the diet.The experiment was conducted using 50 sheep fed on Apennine semi-natural pasture for two experimental periods: in the first period the animals were fed for 45 days on the pasture at the maximum of its flowering; in the second one the animals were fed on the same pasture until its maximum dryness but the half of them daily received adiet integration of cereals. At the end of each experimental period, some animals were regularly slaughtered at the local abattoir, the abomasum specimens were immediately removed and some of them processed for routine tissue-embedding preparation while other for molecular biology.
The immunohistochemical reaction was visualized on 5 μm serial sections, using a primary rabbit polyclonal antibody (anti-AP), the avidin-biotin-complex and the DAB as the chromogen.
The immunohistochemical study showed a peculiar immunoreaction for AP in the abomasum of the animals examined. In particular, a immunopositive reaction for AP was evident in the cells of the basal third of the tubular glands and they were mainly of the closed type, with an oval or round shape and contained many perinuclear granules. The immunopositive reactions didn’t evidence any difference both in the localization and in the number of the positive cells, between the different groups. Immuno-positivity for AP was not observed in any other histological structure or in the sections utilized as negative controls.These results allow us to conclude that AP is present in the glandular tissue of the abomasums of the sheep, as observed in laboratory animals, with a peculiar cytoplasmatic localization and to hypothesize that AP is involved in the control of gastric secretion, probably via APJ receptor. The AP expression in the stomach doesn’t seem to be influenced by the water content of the diets with a positivity that appears to be localized in the same glandular portion between the different animal groups
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