14,154 research outputs found
Pharmacological modulation of P2X4 in inflammatory bowel diseases: the way towards novel therapeutics?
No full textInflammatory bowel diseases (IBDs) are a group of idiopathic, chronic, relapsing, inflammatory conditions, which include ulcerative colitis (UC) and Crohn’s disease (CD). These disorders are characterised by intestinal symptoms associated with chronic inflammation of the intestinal mucosa, such as gut dysmotility and visceral pain. Currently, the pharmacological management of IBD patients is far from satisfactory in terms of efficacy and safety, thus spurring the interest of the scientific community to identify novel molecular targets for the management of these disorders. According to recent research, it appears that P2 purinergic receptors, which can regulate the host’s response to inflammation, have been identified as potential targets for the treatment of IBDs. In particular, among P2 receptors, the P2X4 receptor subtype has recently captured the attention of the research community owing to its role in shaping immune/inflammatory responses. Based on this evidence, the present review has been conceived to provide a critical appraisal of the available knowledge about the role of P2X4R subtype in the pathophysiological mechanisms underlying IBDs, pointing out its potential as therapeutic target to develop innovative therapeutic strategies aimed at counteracting the inflammatory process, gut dysmotility and visceral hypersensitivity associated with these disorders
Effect of genotype on productive and carcass traits of rabbits.
No full textThe objective of the study was to evaluate the production and carcass traits of growing rabbits when Pannon White does were inseminated with sires of different size selected for different directions. Pannon White does (n=80), were inseminated with sperm of maternal line (M), Pannon White (P), sire line (L), Hycole terminal sire line (H) bucks. Rabbits were weaned at the age of 35 days (n = 128), housed by twos then at the end of the experiment (at the age of 78 days) they were slaughtered. Progeny of the H bucks had the highest weight gain, feed consumption and body weight (at the age of 11 weeks). Worst results were found for the M and P groups. No differences were found for feed conversion ratio. The P rabbits had the best dressing out percentage highest ratio of the hind carcass part and ratio of the m. Longissimus dorsi. The worst slaughter performance, was shown by the H group. Based on the results it can be concluded that production traits (body weight, feed consumption, weight gain) were determined by the adult weight of the sires. On the contrary for the slaughter performance the effect of CT-aided selection was manifested. As a results of thigh muscle volume selection the hind carcass part ratio and the meat-to-bone ratio of the P rabbits improved
Lyman break galaxies and the star formation rate of the Universe at z ~ 6
No full textWe determine the space density of UV-luminous starburst galaxies at z≈ 6 using deep HST ACS SDSS-i′ (F775W) and SDSS-z′ (F850LP) and VLT ISAAC J and Ks band imaging of the Chandra Deep Field South. We find eight galaxies and one star with (i′−z′) > 1.5 to a depth of z′AB= 25.6 (an 8σ detection in each of the 3 available ACS epochs). This corresponds to an unobscured star formation rate of ≈15 h−270 M⊙ yr−1 at z= 5.9, equivalent to L* for the Lyman-break population at z= 3–4 (ΩΛ= 0.7, ΩM= 0.3). We are sensitive to star-forming galaxies at 5.6 ≲z≲ 7.0 with an effective comoving volume of ≈1.8 × 105h−370 Mpc3 after accounting for incompleteness at the higher redshifts due to luminosity bias. This volume should encompass the primeval subgalactic-scale fragments of the progenitors of about a thousand L* galaxies at the current epoch. We determine a volume-averaged global star formation rate of (6.7 ± 2.7) × 10−4h70 M⊙ yr−1 Mpc−3 at z∼ 6 from rest-frame UV selected starbursts at the bright end of the luminosity function: this is a lower limit because of dust obscuration and galaxies below our sensitivity limit. This measurement shows that at z∼ 6 the star formation density at the bright end is a factor of ∼6 times less than that determined by Steidel et al. for a comparable sample of UV-selected galaxies at z= 3–4, and so extends our knowledge of the star formation history of the Universe to earlier times than previous work and into the epoch where reionization may have occurred
Observation of a Charged Charmoniumlike Structure Z(c) (4020) and Search for the Z(c) (3900) in e(+)e(-) -> pi(+) pi(-)h(c)
No full text<p>We study e(+)e(-) -> pi(+) pi(-)h(c) at center-of-mass energies from 3.90 to 4.42 GeV by using data samples collected with the BESIII detector operating at the Beijing Electron Positron Collider. The Born cross sections are measured at 13 energies and are found to be of the same order of magnitude as those of e(+)e(-) -> pi(+) pi(-) J/Psi but with a different line shape. In the pi(+/-)h(c) mass spectrum, a distinct structure, referred to as Z(c)(4020) is observed at 4. 02 GeV/c(2). The Z(c)(4020) carries an electric charge and couples to charmonium. A fit to the pi(+/-)h(c) invariant mass spectrum, neglecting possible interferences, results in a mass of (4022.9 +/- 0.8 +/- 2.7) MeV/c(2) and a width of (7.9 +/- 2.7 +/- 2.6) MeV for the Z(c)(4020), where the first errors are statistical and the second systematic. The difference between the parameters of this structure and the Z(c) (4025) observed in the D*(D) over bar* final state is within 1.5 sigma, but whether they are the same state needs further investigation. No significant Z(c)(3900) signal is observed, and upper limits on the Z(c)(3900) production cross sections in pi +/- h(c) at center-of-mass energies of 4.23 and 4.26 GeVare set.</p>
Behaviour of growing rabbits under various housing conditions
No full textThe aim of this research was to assess the effects of environmental variables (group size, stocking density, floor type, environmental enrichment) on behaviour - as a welfare indicator - of growing rabbits. Two experiments were carried out with Parmon White rabbits. In experiment 1, 5-week-old rabbits (n = 112) were placed in cage blocks (2 m(2)) with a stocking density of 16 or 12 rabbits/m(2). The cages (0.5 m(2)) differed in the floor type (wire or plastic net) and in the presence or absence of gnawing sticks (white locust). The animals could move freely among the four cages through swing doors. Infrared video recording was performed once a week, the number of rabbits in each cage was counted every half an hour (48 times/day) during the 24 h video recording. Between ages 5 and 11 weeks the rabbits showed a preference towards the plastic net floor (16 rabbits/m(2), 62.5%; 12 rabbits/m(2), 76:5%; P < 0.001). Gnawing stick application significantly affected cage preference: 54.1% (16 rabbits/m(2)) or 53.1% (12 rabbits/m(2)) of the rabbits choose the enriched cages (P < 0.001). In experiment 2, the 5-week-old rabbits were placed either in cages (2 rabbits/0.12 m(2), n = 72) or pens (13 rabbits/0.86 m(2), n = 104) with 16 rabbits/m(2). The floor types were wire or plastic net, with the presence or absence of gnawing sticks on the walls. Video recordings were made at 6.5 and 10.5 weeks of age between 11:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. and between 11:00 p.m. and 05:00 a.m. Compared to cages, the rabbits housed in pens spent less time with resting (58% versus 67%) and more time with locomotion (6.7% versus 3.8%) but the frequency of aggressive behaviour (measured by the number of ear lesions) was also higher (0.14% versus 0.01%). In pens the application of gnawing sticks significantly decreased the frequency of ear injuries (0.05% versus 0.22%). The floor type did not affect any behavioural pattern (eating, drinking, movement, resting, comfort, social, investigatory) significantly. The main results showed that growing rabbits have a preference for plastic net floor and cages provided with gnawing sticks. The resting, locomotive and aggressive behaviour was modified by the housing system and the presence of gnawing sticks decreased the frequency of physical injuries
Preferential concentration of particles in compressible turbulence
No full textThe behavior of particles in compressible turbulence has been seldom investigated to date despite its importance in many natural and industrial flows. Direct numerical simulations of particle-laden compressible isotropic turbulence are performed to study the preferential concentration of particles and the underling mechanisms. It turns out that heavy particles tend to concentrate in regions of low enstrophy and high fluid density (i.e, strain regions between vortex rings), especially the particles of Kolmogorov scale, which show the largest number density. Due to the compressibility, fluid particles do not distribute uniformly as in incompressible case, but show a tendency to bunch up in high density zones. The preliminary result might give some insights into compressible turbulent transport, dispersion and mixing as well as the subgrid-scale modeling for large-eddy simulation of particle-laden compressible flows
Incorporation of acceleration effects into the one-dimensional-turbulence model, with application to turbulent combustion and shock-turbulence interactions
No full textOne-dimensional turbulence (ODT) is a stochastic simulation in which 3D turbulence effects are captured on a notional 1D line of sight by introducing instantaneous spatial re-arrangements (maps) that represent advection by notional turbulent eddies. These eddy events incorporate the possibility of kinetic-energy changes that are equal and opposite to changes of other forms of energy such as the gravitational potential energy change due to a re-arrangement of a vertical density profile. This illustrates that motion aligned with an applied force, in this case gravitation , can be associated with energy change. Using this principle, we 1) present a model of turbulence interaction with the dilatational acceleration caused by thermal expansion in flames and show results for a turbulent counterflow flame with comparison to DNS and 2) present a model for shock-induced turbulence and show results for mixing width growth in a shock tube with comparison to experiments
Direct numerical simulation of weakly spanwise-rotating turbulent plane Couette flow
No full textIn this report, we conduct direct numerical simulations (DNS) of weakly spanwise-rotating plane Couette flows at Reynolds number (here, is the half the wall velocity difference, and is half-channel height). A series of simulations with different rotation numbers ( is constant angular velocity component in the spanwise direction) is carried out to investigate the effect of on the flow statistics. Our results show that the flow statistics are affected by the , and a "critical" rotation number (between and ) is observed, where the kinetic energy of secondary flow contributes about a half of the turbulent kinetic energy, and the mean shear rate at the center line reaches a minimum value. We conjecture that different mechanisms should exist around , and will be investigated further
Comparison of performance of growing rabbits originated from different crossing combinations. 1. Production traits.
No full textThe aim of the experiment was to study the effect of dam and sire genotypes on the live performance of
growing rabbits. The experiment was carried out at the Kaposvár University. Pannon White and Maternal line
does were inseminated with sperm of Pannon White (P), Maternal line (M), Large body line (L), Terminal line of
Hycole hybrid (H) or Coloured line (C). M, P and C were medium sized, L and H were large sized genotypes. P
and L genotypes were selected for carcass traits by CT. The rabbits were weaned at the age of 5 wk and housed
in wire net cages. Daily lighting was 16 h and the temperature 15 to18°C. Rabbits were fed ad libitum a
commercial pellet. Water was available ad libitum from nipple drinkers. Examining the dam breed effect, the
daily weight gain (+ 5.7 %, P<0.001) and the gain-to-feed ratio (-6.7 %, P=0.004) of the progenies of P does
were better, than those of the M does. Examining the sire breed effect, the body weight and the daily weight gain
were higher in groups H and L, whereas the progenies of M and C sires were worse. Body weight at 11 wk of
age were: H: 2918 g, L: 2793 g, P: 2678 g, C: 2636 g, M: 2585 g (P<0.001). Similar differences were found in
daily feed intake. Gain-to-feed ratio did not differ significantly. It was concluded that the live performance of
growing rabbits were effected by the adult weight of their parents
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