Ganoderma lucidum total triterpenes attenuate DLA induced ascites and EAC induced solid tumours in Swiss albino mice.

PubMed

Smina, T P; Mathew, J; Janardhanan, K K

2016-04-30

G. lucidum total triterpenes were assessed for its apoptosis-inducing and anti-tumour activities. The ability of the total triterpenes to induce apoptosis was evaluated in Dalton's lymphoma ascites (DLA) and Ehrlich's ascites carcinoma (EAC) cell lines. Total triterpenes were found to be highly cytotoxic to DLA and EAC cell lines with IC50 values 5 ± 0.32 and 7.9 ± 0.2 µg/ml respectively. Total triterpenes induced apoptosis in both cell lines which is evident from the DNA fragmentation assay. Anti-tumour activity was accessed using DLA induced solid and EAC induced ascites tumour models in Swiss albino mice. Administration of 10, 50 and 100 mg/kg b. wt. total triterpenes showed 11.86, 27.27 and 40.57% increase in life span of animals in ascites tumour model. Treatment with 10, 50 and 100 mg/kg b. wt. total triterpenes exhibited 76.86, 85.01 and 91.03% inhibition in tumour volume and 67.96, 72.38 and 77.90% inhibition in tumour weight respectively in the solid tumour model. The study reveals the significant dose-dependent anti-tumour activity of total triterpenes in both models. Total triterpenes were more active against the solid tumour than the ascites tumour. The anti-oxidant potential and ability to induce cell-specific apoptosis could be contributing to its anti-tumour activities.

Biochemical effects of commercial feedstuffs on the fry of climbing perch (Anabas testudineus) and its impact on Swiss albino mice as an animal model.

PubMed

Munshi, Mita; Tumu, Khairun Nafiz; Hasan, Md Nazmul; Amin, Md Ziaul

2018-01-01

This study assesses the biochemical effects of commercially available fish feedstuffs on the fry of climbing perch ( Anabas testudineus ). Subsequently, its impact on experimental animal, Swiss albino mice, is also examined. In order to access the impact of commercial fish feed and feed consumption fish on the experimental animal, the proximate, biochemical and histopathological analyses were done using standard methods. The proximate composition as well as the concentrations of Pb, Ni, Mn, As, Zn, and Cd in the fish feed, different parts of the A. testudineus fish and different parts of the A. testudineus fish-treated experimental mice liver, were all determined using Energy Dispersive X-ray Fluorescence (EDXRF) Spectrometry. The highest levels of Cr, Pb and As were observed in the liver of Swiss albino mice treated with FFT2 and FFBB2 and their concentrations were 0.156, 0.491, 0.172 μg/g and 0.166, 0.771, 0.157 μg/g respectively. No significant changes of protein, fat, crude fiber, moisture and ash contents were observed after proximate composition analysis of fish feeds, A. testudineus and A. testudineus treated experimental mice. Significant amounts of heavy metals (Cr, Mn, Zn Cu, Ni) were found in fish feed, different parts of A. testudineus fish and in the experimental mice. However, remarkably high amounts were observed in the A. testudineus fish's head and bone with body parts. Biochemical analysis of blood samples of A. testudineus fish treated experimental mice indicated that the cholesterol, TG, LDL and glucose levels were significantly higher. Yet no significant alteration in the HDL level was observed when compared to the control. In histopathological analysis, a remarkable degeneration was observed in the liver and kidney of A. testudineus treated mice. It can therefore be concluded that although A. testudineus has nutritional benefits the quality of this fish may be compromised as a consequence of contamination through various anthropogenic

Protective effect of Selenium nanoparticle against cyclophosphamide induced hepatotoxicity and genotoxicity in Swiss albino mice.

PubMed

Bhattacharjee, Arin; Basu, Abhishek; Ghosh, Prosenjit; Biswas, Jaydip; Bhattacharya, Sudin

2014-08-01

Cyclophosphamide (CP) is the most commonly used chemotherapeutic drug for various types of cancer. However, its use causes severe cytotoxicity to normal cells in human. It is well known that the undesirable side effects are caused due to the formation of reactive oxygen species. Selenium is an essential micronutrient for both animals and humans and has antioxidant and membrane stabilizing property, but selenium is also toxic above certain level. Nano selenium has been well proved to be less toxic than inorganic selenium as well as certain organoselenium compounds. The objective of the study is to evaluate the protective role of Nano-Se against CP-induced hepatotoxicity and genotoxicity in Swiss albino mice. CP was administered intraperitoneally (25 mg/kg b.w.) and Nano-Se was given by oral gavages (2 mg Se/kg b.w.) in concomitant and pretreatment scheme. Intraperitoneal administration of CP induced hepatic damage as indicated by the serum marker enzymes aspartate and alanine transaminases and increased the malonaldehyde level, depleted the glutathione content and antioxidant enzyme activity (glutathione peroxidase, glutathione-s-transferase, superoxide dismutase and catalase), and induced DNA damage and chromosomal aberration. Oral administration of Nano-Se caused a significant reduction in malonaldehyde, ROS level and glutathione levels, restoration of antioxidant enzyme activity, reduction in chromosomal aberration in bone marrow, and DNA damage in lymphocytes and also in bone marrow. Moreover, the chemoprotective efficiency of Nano-Se against CP induced toxicity was confirmed by histopathological evaluation. The results support the protective effect of Nano-Se against CP-induced hepatotoxicity and genotoxicity. © The Author(s) 2014 Reprints and permissions: sagepub.co.uk/journalsPermissions.nav.

Immunotoxicity of clonazepam in adult albino rats.

PubMed

Rabei, Hanan Mostafa

2013-01-01

Clonazepam as an addictive drug is studied to elucidate its destructive effects on rats' immune system. The aim of the current work was to study the immunologic changes induced by sub-chronic administration of clonazepam for three weeks followed by a withdrawal period in adult male albino rats. Seventy-two Sprague Dawley rats were divided into three equal groups. The first group was used as control; the second and third groups were treated with clonazepam. Six rats from each group were sacrificed weekly. Data showed that clonazepam induced a significant suppression in the level of IFN-gamma cortisol production, total splenocytes count and lymphocytes transformation induced by PHA mitogen along the experimental period especially in the third group. However, subchronic doses of clonazepam increased the production of IL-10 in both treated groups. Moreover, significant DNA damage in the peripheral blood lymphocytes of both treated groups was observed along the duration of the study. In conclusion, the immune system responses can be adversely affected to a greater extent by sub-chronic administration of clonazepam and should be prescribed cautiously as patients may turn addict to it.

Influence of enriched environment on viral encephalitis outcomes: behavioral and neuropathological changes in albino Swiss mice.

PubMed

de Sousa, Aline Andrade; Reis, Renata; Bento-Torres, João; Trévia, Nonata; Lins, Nara Alves de Almeida; Passos, Aline; Santos, Zaire; Diniz, José Antonio Picanço; Vasconcelos, Pedro Fernando da Costa; Cunningham, Colm; Perry, Victor Hugh; Diniz, Cristovam Wanderley Picanço

2011-01-11

An enriched environment has previously been described as enhancing natural killer cell activity of recognizing and killing virally infected cells. However, the effects of environmental enrichment on behavioral changes in relation to virus clearance and the neuropathology of encephalitis have not been studied in detail. We tested the hypothesis that environmental enrichment leads to less CNS neuroinvasion and/or more rapid viral clearance in association with T cells without neuronal damage. Stereology-based estimates of activated microglia perineuronal nets and neurons in CA3 were correlated with behavioral changes in the Piry rhabdovirus model of encephalitis in the albino Swiss mouse. Two-month-old female mice maintained in impoverished (IE) or enriched environments (EE) for 3 months were behaviorally tested. After the tests, an equal volume of Piry virus (IEPy, EEPy)-infected or normal brain homogenates were nasally instilled. Eight days post-instillation (dpi), when behavioral changes became apparent, brains were fixed and processed to detect viral antigens, activated microglia, perineuronal nets, and T lymphocytes by immuno- or histochemical reactions. At 20 or 40 dpi, the remaining animals were behaviorally tested and processed for the same markers. In IEPy mice, burrowing activity decreased and recovered earlier (8-10 dpi) than open field (20-40 dpi) but remained unaltered in the EEPy group. EEPy mice presented higher T-cell infiltration, less CNS cell infection by the virus and/or faster virus clearance, less microgliosis, and less damage to the extracellular matrix than IEPy. In both EEPy and IEPy animals, CA3 neuronal number remained unaltered. The results suggest that an enriched environment promotes a more effective immune response to clear CNS virus and not at the cost of CNS damage.

Differences in health status and health behaviour among young Swiss adults between 1993 and 2003.

PubMed

Mohler-Kuo, Meichun; Wydler, Hans; Zellweger, Ueli; Gutzwiller, Felix

2006-07-22

Very few studies specifically have examined the health status of 20-year-olds. The purpose of the present study is to examine the changes in health status and behaviour among young Swiss adults between 1993 and 2003. The present study used data from the Swiss Federal Surveys of Adolescents, conducted in 1993 and 2003 among 20-year-olds in Switzerland. The study sample included military recruits and a representative community cohort. More than 20,000 subjects participated in each survey. Young adults in 2003 reported fewer traffic- and sports-related accidents, but more work-related and other accidents versus young adults in 1993. A greater percentage of men were overweight or obese in 2003. Also in 2003, a greater percentage of males and females regularly used alcohol, cigarettes and cannabis. In particular, the number that smoked cigarettes daily increased by almost 30% and daily cannabis users increased more than two-fold. Young adults reported higher rates of inter-personal violence and theft in 2003. Compared to 1993, in 2003 young adults were more likely to report a sense of coherence; they also had fewer thoughts of suicide, but a greater sense that life is meaningless. Our study provides the first Swiss data comparing the health status of 20-year-olds a decade apart. The findings suggest a significant increase in substance use. Health prevention efforts among young adults ages 18-24 should focus on substance use. In addition, developing strategies to decrease interpersonal violence, delinquent behaviour, and obesity should be a major public health priority.

Prophylactic Role of Averrhoa carambola (Star Fruit) Extract against Chemically Induced Hepatocellular Carcinoma in Swiss Albino Mice.

PubMed

Singh, Ritu; Sharma, Jyoti; Goyal, P K

2014-01-01

Liver cancer remains one of the severe lethal malignancies worldwide and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the most common form. The current study was designed to evaluate the prophylactic role of the fruit of Averrhoa carambola (star fruit or Kamrak) on diethylnitrosamine- (DENA-) induced (15 mg/kg b.wt.; single i.p. injection) and CCl4-promoted (1.6 g/kg b.wt. in corn oil thrice a week for 24 weeks) liver cancer in Swiss albino mice. Administration of ACE was made orally at a dose of 25 mg/kg b.wt/day for 5 consecutive days and it was withdrawn 48 hrs before the first administration of DENA (preinitiational stage). CCl4 was given after 2 weeks of DENA administration. A cent percent tumor incidence was noted in carcinogen treated animals while ACE administration resulted in a considerable reduction in tumor incidence, tumor yield, and tumor burden. Further, ACE treatment brings out a significant reduction in lipid peroxidation (P < 0.001) along with an elevation in the activities of enzymatic antioxidants (superoxide dismutase, P < 0.001, and catalase, P < 0.001), nonenzymatic antioxidant (reduced glutathione, P < 0.001), and total proteins (P < 0.001) when compared to the carcinogen treated control. These results demonstrate that ACE prevents the DENA/CCl4 induced adverse physical and biochemical alterations during hepatic carcinogenesis in mice. This study suggests the prophylactic role of Averrhoa carambola against hepatocellular carcinoma in mice; therefore, it could be employed for the further screening as a good chemopreventive natural supplement against cancer.

Prophylactic Role of Averrhoa carambola (Star Fruit) Extract against Chemically Induced Hepatocellular Carcinoma in Swiss Albino Mice

PubMed Central

Singh, Ritu; Sharma, Jyoti; Goyal, P. K.

2014-01-01

Liver cancer remains one of the severe lethal malignancies worldwide and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the most common form. The current study was designed to evaluate the prophylactic role of the fruit of Averrhoa carambola (star fruit or Kamrak) on diethylnitrosamine- (DENA-) induced (15 mg/kg b.wt.; single i.p. injection) and CCl4-promoted (1.6 g/kg b.wt. in corn oil thrice a week for 24 weeks) liver cancer in Swiss albino mice. Administration of ACE was made orally at a dose of 25 mg/kg b.wt/day for 5 consecutive days and it was withdrawn 48 hrs before the first administration of DENA (preinitiational stage). CCl4 was given after 2 weeks of DENA administration. A cent percent tumor incidence was noted in carcinogen treated animals while ACE administration resulted in a considerable reduction in tumor incidence, tumor yield, and tumor burden. Further, ACE treatment brings out a significant reduction in lipid peroxidation (P < 0.001) along with an elevation in the activities of enzymatic antioxidants (superoxide dismutase, P < 0.001, and catalase, P < 0.001), nonenzymatic antioxidant (reduced glutathione, P < 0.001), and total proteins (P < 0.001) when compared to the carcinogen treated control. These results demonstrate that ACE prevents the DENA/CCl4 induced adverse physical and biochemical alterations during hepatic carcinogenesis in mice. This study suggests the prophylactic role of Averrhoa carambola against hepatocellular carcinoma in mice; therefore, it could be employed for the further screening as a good chemopreventive natural supplement against cancer. PMID:24696677

A natural antioxidant, tannic acid mitigates iron-overload induced hepatotoxicity in Swiss albino mice through ROS regulation.

PubMed

Basu, Tapasree; Panja, Sourav; Shendge, Anil Khushalrao; Das, Abhishek; Mandal, Nripendranath

2018-05-01

Tannic acid (TA), a water soluble natural polyphenol with 8 gallic acids groups, is abundantly present in various medicinal plants. Previously TA has been investigated for its antimicrobial and antifungal properties. Being a large polyphenol, TA chelates more than 1 metal. Hence TA has been explored for potent antioxidant activities against reactive oxygen species (ROS), reactive nitrogen species (RNS) and as iron chelator in vitro thereby mitigating iron-overload induced hepatotoxicity in vivo. Iron dextran was injected intraperitoneally in Swiss albino mice to induce iron-overload triggered hepatotoxicity, followed by oral administration of TA for remediation. After treatment, liver, spleen, and blood samples were processed from sacrificed animals. The liver iron, serum ferritin, serum markers, ROS, liver antioxidant status, and liver damage parameters were assessed, followed by histopathology and protein expression studies. Our results show that TA is a prominent ROS and RNS scavenger as well as iron chelator in vitro. It also reversed the ROS levels in vivo and restricted the liver damage parameters as compared to the standard drug, desirox. Moreover, this natural polyphenol exclusively ameliorates the histopathological and fibrotic changes in liver sections reducing the iron-overload, along with chelation of liver iron and normalization of serum ferritin. The protective role of TA against iron-overload induced apoptosis in liver was further supported by changed levels of caspase 3, PARP as well as Bax/BCl-2 ratio. Thus, TA can be envisaged as a better orally administrable iron chelator to reduce iron-overload induced hepatotoxicity through ROS regulation. © 2018 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Long-term exposure to a butter-rich diet induces mild-to-moderate steatosis in Chang liver cells and Swiss albino mice models.

PubMed

Nalloor, Thomas John Philip; Kumar, Nitesh; Narayanan, Kasinathan; Palanimuthu, Vasanth Raj

2017-05-01

Butter is one of the widely used fats present in the diet. However, there is no satisfactory study available that evaluates the effect of a high-fat diet containing butter as the principal fat on the development of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). In the present study, butter was used for the development of steatosis in Chang liver cells in an in vitro study and Swiss albino mice in an in vivo study. In vitro steatosis was established, and butter was compared with oleic acid in Chang liver cells using an oil red O (ORO)-based colorimetric assay. In the in vivo study, a butter-rich special diet was fed for 15 weeks to mice, who showed no significant change in body weight. The expression pattern of phosphatase and tensin homolog (PTEN) and miR-21 was compared by reverse transcriptase-PCR. Special diet-fed animals showed downregulated PTEN compared to normal diet-fed animals, while levels of miR-21 remained the same. Elevations in biochemical parameters, viz., triglycerides and liver function tests showed symptoms of onset of NAFLD. Histophathological study of livers of test animals confirmed mild-to-moderate degree of NAFLD.

[New Swiss recommendations for adult boosters against pertussis, tetanus and diphtheria].

PubMed

Siegrist, C-A

2012-01-18

Pertussis remains frequent in Switzerland (4000 yearly cases), where 80% of infants are infected by their family. To better protect parents and infants, a diphtheria-tetanus-pertussis (dTpa) booster is thus recommended at 25 years (catch-up 26-29 years), and to adults of any age in personal or professional contacts with infants < or = 6 months. In contrast, diphtheria-tetanus boosters may be spaced every 20 years (dTpa at 25, dT at 45 and 65 years), avoiding useless immunizations. A 10-year interval remains recommended after the age of 65. The Swiss immunization plan thus adapts to recent evidence, to the risk of pushing the habits! Fortunately, a Swiss electronic immunization record allowing a vaccine check (www.myvaccines.ch) is now available for free to both the public and the professio-

Attitudes towards personal genomics among older Swiss adults: An exploratory study

PubMed Central

Mählmann, Laura; Röcke, Christina; Brand, Angela; Hafen, Ernst; Vayena, Effy

2016-01-01

Objectives To explore attitudes of Swiss older adults towards personal genomics (PG). Methods Using an anonymized voluntary paper-and-pencil survey, data were collected from 151 men and women aged 60–89 years attending the Seniorenuniversität Zurich, Switzerland (Seniors' University). Analyses were conducted using descriptive and inferential statistics. Results One third of the respondents were aware of PG, and more than half indicated interest in undergoing PG testing. The primary motivation provided was respondents' interest in finding out about their own disease risk, followed by willingness to contribute to scientific research. Forty-four percent were not interested in undergoing testing because results might be worrisome, or due to concerns about the validity of the results. Only a minority of respondents mentioned privacy-related concerns. Further, 66% were interested in undergoing clinic-based PG motivated by the opportunity to contribute to scientific research (78%) and 75% of all study participants indicated strong preferences to donate genomic data to public research institutions. Conclusion This study indicates a relatively positive overall attitude towards personal genomic testing among older Swiss adults, a group not typically represented in surveys about personal genomics. Genomic data of older adults can be highly relevant to late life health and maintenance of quality of life. In addition they can be an invaluable source for better understanding of longevity, health and disease. Understanding the attitudes of this population towards genomic analyses, although important, remains under-examined. PMID:27047754

Stimulatory effects of Cuminum cyminum and flavonoid glycoside on Cyclosporine-A and restraint stress induced immune-suppression in Swiss albino mice.

PubMed

Chauhan, Prashant Singh; Satti, Naresh Kumar; Suri, Krishan Avtar; Amina, Musarat; Bani, Sarang

2010-04-15

Many herbs and spices are known to modulate the immune system and have been shown to restore the immunity in immuno-compromised individuals. Spices generally used to increase the taste and flavor of food also has the history of usage as an ayurvedic medicine. Therefore to explore the health modulating effects of Cuminum cyminum and to identify the active compound, immunomodulatory properties were evaluated using flowcytometry and ELISA in normal and immune-suppressed animals. C. cyminum and compound 1 stimulated the T cells and Th1 cytokines expression in normal animals. Swiss albino mice subjected to Cyclosporine-A induced immune-suppression were dosed orally with C. cyminum (25, 50, 100 and 200 mg/kg) on consecutive days. The results showed that administration significantly increased T cells (CD4 and CD8) count and Th1 predominant immune response in a dose dependent manner thereby suggesting immunomodulatory activity through modulation of T lymphocytes expression. In restraint stress induced immune-suppressed animals, compound 1 countered the depleted T lymphocytes, decreased the elevated corticosterone levels and size of adrenal glands and increased the weight of thymus and spleen. Based on the data we may conclude that C. cyminum is a potent immunomodulator and may develop as a lead to recover the immunity of immuno-compromised individuals. Copyright 2010 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Cathinone, an active principle of Catha edulis, accelerates oxidative stress in the limbic area of swiss albino mice.

PubMed

Safhi, Mohammed M; Alam, Mohammad Firoz; Hussain, Sohail; Hakeem Siddiqui, Mohammed Abdul; Khuwaja, Gulrana; Jubran Khardali, Ibrahim Abdu; Al-Sanosi, Rashad Mohammed; Islam, Fakhrul

2014-10-28

Cathinone hydrochloride is an active principle of the khat plant (Catha edulis) that produces pleasurable and stimulating effects in khat chewers. To the best of our knowledge no data of cathinone on oxidative stress in limbic areas of mice is available. This is the first study of cathinone on oxidative stress in limbic areas of the brain in Swiss albino male mice. The animals were divided into four groups. Group-I was the control group and received vehicle, while groups-II to IV received (-)-cathinone hydrochloride (0.125, 0.25 and 0.5 mg/kg body wt., i.p.) once daily for 15 days. The level of lipid peroxidation (LPO) was elevated dose-dependently and was significant (p<0.05, p<0.01) with doses of 0.25 and 0.5mg/kg body wt. of cathinone as compared to control group. In contrast, the content of reduced glutathione (GSH) was decreased significantly (p<0.01, p<0.001) with doses of 0.25 and 0.5mg/kg body wt. of cathinone as compared to control group. The activity of antioxidant enzymes (GPx, GR, GST, CAT, and SOD) was also decreased dose-dependently: the decreased activity of GPx, GR, catalase and SOD was significant with doses of 0.25 and 0.5 mg of cathinone as compared to control group, while the activity of GST was decreased dose-dependently and was significant with 0.5mg of cathinone as compared to control group. The results indicate that the cathinone generated oxidative stress hampered antioxidant enzymes, glutathione and lipid peroxidation. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Hepatoprotective and immunomodulatory properties of aqueous extract of Curcuma longa in carbon tetra chloride intoxicated Swiss albino mice.

PubMed

Sengupta, Mahuya; Sharma, Gauri Dutta; Chakraborty, Biswajit

2011-06-01

To evaluate the hepatoprotective and immunotherapeutic effects of aqueous extract of turmeric rhizome in CCl4 intoxicated Swiss albino mice. First group of mice (n=5) received CCl4 treatment at a dose of 0.5 mL/kg bw (i.p.) for 7 days. Second group was fed orally the aqueous extract of turmeric at a dose of 50 mg/kg bw for 15 days. The third group was given both the turmeric extract (for 15 days, orally) and CCl4 (for last 7 days, i.p.). The fourth group was kept as a control. To study the liver function, the transaminase enzymes (SGOT and SGPT) and bilirubin level were measured in the serum of respective groups. For assaying the immunotherapeutic action of Curcuma longa (C. longa), non specific host response parameters like morphological alteration, phagocytosis, nitric oxide release, myeloperoxidase release and intracellular killing capacity of peritoneal macrophages were studied from the respective groups. The result of present study suggested that CCl4 administration increased the level of SGOT and SGPT and bilirubin level in serum. However, the aqueous extract of turmeric reduced the level of SGOT, SGPT and bilirubin in CCl4 intoxicated mice. Apart from damaging the liver system, CCl4 also reduced non specific host response parameters like morphological alteration, phagocytosis, nitric oxide release, myeloperoxidase release and intracellular killing capacity of peritoneal macrophages. Administration of aqueous extract of C. longa offered significant protection from these damaging actions of CCl4 on the non specific host response in the peritoneal macrophages of CCl4 intoxicated mice. In conclusion, the present study suggests that C. longa has immunotherapeutic properties along with its ability to ameliorate hepatotoxicity.

Protective effect of Ginkgo biloba L. leaf extract against glyphosate toxicity in Swiss albino mice.

PubMed

Cavuşoğlu, Kültiğin; Yapar, Kürşad; Oruç, Ertan; Yalçın, Emine

2011-10-01

The aim of the present study was to investigate the protective role of Ginkgo biloba L. leaf extract against the active agent of Roundup® herbicide (Monsanto, Creve Coeur, MO, USA). The Swiss Albino mice were randomly divided into six groups, with each group consisting of six animals: Group I (control) received an intraperitoneal injection of dimethyl sulfoxide (0.2 mL, once only), Group II received glyphosate at a dose of 50 mg/kg of body weight, Group III received G. biloba at a dose of 50 mg/kg of body weight, Group IV received G. biloba at a dose of 150 mg/kg of body weight, Group V received G. biloba (50 mg/kg of body weight) and glyphosate (50 mg/kg of body weight), and Group VI received G. biloba (150 mg/kg of body weight) and glyphosate (50 mg/kg of body weight). The single dose of glyphosate was given intraperitoneally. Animals from all the groups were sacrificed at the end of 72 hours, and their blood, bone marrow, and liver and kidney tissues were analyzed for aspartate aminotransferase (AST), alanine aminotransferase (ALT), blood urea nitrogen (BUN), creatinine, malondialdehyde (MDA), and glutathione (GSH) levels and the presence of micronucleus (MN), chromosomal aberrations (CAs), and pathological damages. The results indicated that serum AST, ALT, BUN, and creatinine levels significantly increased in mice treated with glyphosate alone compared with the other groups (P<.05). Besides, glyphosate-induced oxidative damage caused a significant decrease in GSH levels and a significant increase in MDA levels of the liver and kidney tissues. Moreover, glyphosate alone-treated mice presented higher frequencies of CAs, MNs, and abnormal metaphases compared with the controls (P<.05). These mice also displayed a lower mean mitotic index than the controls (P<.05). Treatment with G. biloba produced amelioration in indices of hepatotoxicity, nephrotoxicity, lipid peroxidation, and genotoxicity relative to Group II. Each dose of G. biloba provided significant

Hepatoprotective and immunomodulatory properties of aqueous extract of Curcuma longa in carbon tetra chloride intoxicated Swiss albino mice

PubMed Central

Sengupta, Mahuya; Sharma, Gauri Dutta; Chakraborty, Biswajit

2011-01-01

Objective To evaluate the hepatoprotective and immunotherapeutic effects of aqueous extract of turmeric rhizome in CCl4 intoxicated Swiss albino mice. Methods First group of mice (n=5) received CCl4 treatment at a dose of 0.5 mL/kg bw (i.p.) for 7 days. Second group was fed orally the aqueous extract of turmeric at a dose of 50 mg/kg bw for 15 days. The third group was given both the turmeric extract (for 15 days, orally) and CCl4 (for last 7 days, i.p.). The fourth group was kept as a control. To study the liver function, the transaminase enzymes (SGOT and SGPT) and bilirubin level were measured in the serum of respective groups. For assaying the immunotherapeutic action of Curcuma longa (C. longa), non specific host response parameters like morphological alteration, phagocytosis, nitric oxide release, myeloperoxidase release and intracellular killing capacity of peritoneal macrophages were studied from the respective groups. Results The result of present study suggested that CCl4 administration increased the level of SGOT and SGPT and bilirubin level in serum. However, the aqueous extract of turmeric reduced the level of SGOT, SGPT and bilirubin in CCl4 intoxicated mice. Apart from damaging the liver system, CCl4 also reduced non specific host response parameters like morphological alteration, phagocytosis, nitric oxide release, myeloperoxidase release and intracellular killing capacity of peritoneal macrophages. Administration of aqueous extract of C. longa offered significant protection from these damaging actions of CCl4 on the non specific host response in the peritoneal macrophages of CCl4 intoxicated mice. Conclusions In conclusion, the present study suggests that C. longa has immunotherapeutic properties along with its ability to ameliorate hepatotoxicity. PMID:23569758

6-gingerol ameliorates gentamicin induced renal cortex oxidative stress and apoptosis in adult male albino rats.

PubMed

Hegazy, Ahmed M S; Mosaed, Mohammed M; Elshafey, Saad H; Bayomy, Naglaa A

2016-06-01

Ginger or Zingiber officinale which is used in traditional medicine has been found to possess antioxidant effect that can control the generation of free radicals. Free radicals are the causes of renal cell degeneration that leads to renal failure in case of gentamicin induced toxicity. This study was done to evaluate the possible protective effects of 6-gingerol as natural antioxidant on gentamicin-induced renal cortical oxidative stress and apoptosis in adult male albino rats. Forty adult male albino rats were used in this study and were randomly divided into four groups, control group; 6-gingerol treated group; gentamicin treated group and protected group (given simultaneous 6-gingerol and gentamicin). At the end of the study, blood samples were drawn for biochemical study. Kidney sections were processed for histological, and immunohistochemical examination for caspase-3 to detect apoptosis and anti heat shock protein 47 (HSP47) to detect oxidative damage. Gentamicin treated rats revealed a highly significant increase in renal function tests, tubular dilatation with marked vacuolar degeneration and desquamation of cells, interstitial hemorrhage and cellular infiltration. Immunohistochemically, gentamicin treated rats showed a strong positive immunoreaction for caspase-3 and anti heat shock protein 47 (HSP47). Protected rats showed more or less normal biochemical, histological, and immunohistochemical pictures. In conclusion, co-administration of 6-gingerol during gentamicin 'therapy' has a significant reno-protective effect in a rat model of gentamicin-induced renal damage. It is recommended that administration of ginger with gentamicin might be beneficial in men who receive gentamicin to treat infections. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Anti-neoplastic activities of sepia officinalis ink and coelatura aegyptiaca extracts against Ehrlich ascites carcinoma in Swiss albino mice

PubMed Central

Soliman, Amel M; Fahmy, Sohair R; El-Abied, Salma A

2015-01-01

Objectives: With the development of sophisticated instruments for the isolation and elucidation of natural products structures from marine and freshwater organisms, major advances have been made in the discovery of aquatic derived therapeutics. Present investigations were carried out to evaluate cuttlefish (Sepia officinalis) ink extract (IE) and freshwater clam (Coelatura aegyptiaca) extract (CE) for their anticancer and antioxidant activities as compared to 5-flurouracil (5-Fu), in Ehrlich ascites carcinoma (EAC). Methods: Sixty female Swiss albino mice were divided into five groups (n = 12). All groups except group I received EAC cells (5 × 106 cells/mouse i.p.) and this was taken as the 0th day. Group I served as saline control (5 ml/kg 0.9% NaCl w/v p.o). Group II served as EAC control. Rats of groups III, IV and V received IE, CE (200 mg/kg body weight i.p.), and reference drug (5-Fu, 20 mg/kg body weight i.p.), respectively. Results: The reduction in tumor volume, packed cell volume, tumor cell counts and increase in median survival time and percentage increase in life span in treated animals were observed. There was a significant increase in RBC count; Hb content in treated animals and reduction in total WBC count. There was a significant decrease in AST, ALT, ALP and liver MDA levels and increase in GSH, SOD and NO levels were observed in all treated animals. Conclusion: Both IE and CE were effective in inhibiting the tumor growth in ascitic tumor models. The biochemical, antioxidants and histopathological studies were also supported their antitumor properties. PMID:26097537

Ameliorating Role of Lycopene, Tomato Puree, and Spirulina + Tomato Puree on the Hematology of Fluoride-Exposed Swiss Albino Mice.

PubMed

Sharma, Shweta; Parashar, Puneet; Sharma, Subhasini; Sharma, Kanta Prasad

2018-01-16

Plant species rich in antioxidants (vitamins, flavonoids, lignans, and carotenoids) have been explored for complementary therapy of chronic diseases (cancers, coronary heart disease) and mitigation of pollutant toxicity. This article investigates their ameliorative role on selective hematological and serum biochemical parameters in fluoride-exposed (190 mg/kg body weight) Swiss albino mice pretreated with the antioxidant-rich diet supplements tomato puree (with and without peels), spirulina (cyanobacteria), and lycopene (present in tomato) for 45 days prior to entry into experimental protocol. Compared with standard feed control, diet-modulated controls had more hairy and lustrous white fur, hemodilution, increase in platelet counts (2- to 5-fold), red blood cell (RBC) size (11%-14%), mean corpuscular hemoglobin (Hb) concentration (MCHC; 5%-14%), and serum albumin (23%-27%). Fluoride-exposed mice reared on standard feed had less hairy, pale white, lusterless fur and black nails, reduction in RBC and white blood cell (WBC) counts and Hb content, and morphological abnormalities in RBCs (poikilocytosis). By contrast, fur quality of fluoride-treated diet-modulated groups was similar to standard feed control; counts and morphology of their RBCs and Hb content similar to the respective controls, and increase in WBC counts greater than controls. In comparison to the fluoride-treated standard feed group, platelet counts were higher in the treated mice of the diet-modulated groups. This study thus revealed the hemoprotective role of diet supplements in fluoride-treated mice. Considering the prevalence of fluoride-induced chronic toxicity in developing countries, our findings have relevance in minimizing hematological disorders among people residing in the fluoride-affected areas, because indigenously cultivated low-price tomato fruits are easily available for consumption.

Oxidative stress due to (R)-styrene oxide exposure and the role of antioxidants in non-Swiss albino (NSA) mice.

PubMed

Meszka-Jordan, Anna; Mahlapuu, Riina; Soomets, Ursel; Carlson, Gary P

2009-01-01

Styrene produces lung and liver damage that may be related to oxidative stress. The purpose of this study was to investigate the toxicity of (R)-styrene oxide (R-SO), the more active enantiomeric metabolite of styrene, and the protective properties of the antioxidants glutathione (GSH), N-acetylcysteine (NAC), and 4-methoxy-L-tyrosinyl-gamma-L-glutamyl-L-cysteinyl-glycine (UPF1) against R-SO-induced toxicity in non-Swiss Albino (NSA) mice. UPF1 is a synthetic GSH analog that was shown to have 60 times the ability to scavenge reactive oxygen species (ROS) in comparison to GSH. R-SO toxicity to the lung was measured by elevations in the activity of lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), protein concentration, and number of cells in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF). Toxicity to the liver was measured by increases in serum sorbitol dehydrogenase (SDH) activity. Antioxidants were not able to decrease the adverse effects of R-SO on lung. However, NAC (200 mg/kg) ip and GSH (600 mg/kg), administered orally prior to R-SO (300 mg/kg) ip, showed significant protection against liver toxicity as measured by SDH activity. Unexpectedly, a synthetic GSH analog, UPF1 (0.8 mg/kg), administered intravenously (iv) prior to R-SO, produced a synergistic effect with regard to liver and lung toxicity. Treatment with UPF1 (0.8 mg/kg) iv every other day for 1 wk for preconditioning prior to R-SO ip did not result in any protection against liver and lung toxicity, but rather enhanced the toxicity when administered prior R-SO. The results of the present study demonstrated protection against R-SO toxicity in liver but not lung by the administration of the antioxidants NAC and GSH.

Quercetin ameliorates chronic unpredicted stress-induced behavioral dysfunction in male Swiss albino mice by modulating hippocampal insulin signaling pathway.

PubMed

Mehta, Vineet; Singh, Tiratha Raj; Udayabanu, Malairaman

2017-12-01

Chronic stress is associated with impaired neurogenesis, neurodegeneration and behavioral dysfunction, whereas the mechanism underlying stress-mediated neurological complications is still not clear. In the present study, we aimed to investigate whether chronic unpredicted stress (CUS) mediated neurological alterations are associated with impaired hippocampal insulin signaling or not, and studied the effect of quercetin in this scenario. Male Swiss albino mice were subjected to 21day CUS, during which 30mg/kg quercetin treatment was given orally. After 21days, behavioral functions were evaluated in terms of locomotor activity (Actophotometer), muscle coordination (Rota-rod), depression (Tail Suspension Test (TST), Forced Swim Test (FST)) and memory performance (Passive-avoidance step-down task (PASD)). Further, hippocampal insulin signaling was evaluated in terms of protein expression of insulin, insulin receptor (IR) and glucose transporter 4 (GLUT-4) and neurogenesis was evaluated in terms of doublecortin (DCX) expression. 21day CUS significantly impaired locomotion and had no effect on muscle coordination. Stressed animals were depressed and showed markedly impaired memory functions. Quercetin treatment significantly improvement stress-mediated behavior dysfunction as indicated by improved locomotion, lesser immobility time and greater frequency of upward turning in TST and FST and increased transfer latency on the day 2 (short-term memory) and day 5 (long-term memory) in PASD test. We observed significantly higher IR expression and significantly lower GLUT-4 expression in the hippocampus of stressed animals, despite of nonsignificant difference in insulin levels. Further, chronic stress impaired hippocampal neurogenesis, as indicated by the significantly reduced levels of hippocampal DCX expression. Quercetin treatment significantly lowered insulin and IR expression and significantly enhanced GLUT-4 and DCX expression in the hippocampus, when compared to CUS. In

The protective role of melatonin on L-arginine-induced acute pancreatitis in adult male albino rats.

PubMed

Sadek, A S; Khattab, R T

2017-01-01

Acute pancreatitis (AP) is an inflammatory disease that has an increasing incidence worldwide. AP is associated with high morbidity and mortality rates ranging 15-40% in its severe form. Oxidative stress plays an important role in pancreatic acinar cell injury in case of AP. Melatonin (Mel) is proven to have both antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effects. The aim of the work was to investigate the protective role of Mel against L-arginine (L-arg)-induced AP in adult male albino rats. Thirty-six adult male albino rats were used in this study. Animals were divided into four groups; Control group (Group A; n = 6), Mel group (Group B; n = 6), L-arg group (Group C; n = 12) receiving two doses of L-arg injection with 1 h interval in-between, and L-arg+Mel group (Group D; n = 12) receiving Mel 1 h after each L-arg injection. 24 h after the second L-arg injection, the serum levels of amylase (AM), lipase (LP), interleukin-6 (IL-6) and tumour necrotic factor-alpha (TNF-α) were determined. Then, pancreatic specimens were processed for histological and immunohistochemical staining with vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and the area percentage of VEGF and collagen content were measured by digital image analysis. Microscopic examination revealed that animals received L-arg only (Group C) showed loss of the pancreatic lobular architecture with marked fibrosis, acinar degeneration, inflammatory reaction and marked oedema with vascular congestion. Also, L-arg-induced AP caused a significant elevation of the serum levels of AM, LP, IL-6. All these histo-pathological and serological parameters were markedly improved by Mel administration. Melatonin exhibits strong therapeutic effects in the course of AP. Hence, the use of Mel as adjuvant treatment in AP is recommended.

Anti-tumor activity of Aloe vera against DMBA/croton oil-induced skin papillomagenesis in Swiss albino mice.

PubMed

Saini, M; Goyal, Pradeep Kumar; Chaudhary, Geeta

2010-01-01

Human populations are increasingly exposed to various carcinogens such as chemicals, radiation, and viruses in the environment. Chemopreventive drugs of plant origin are a promising strategy for cancer control because they are generally nontoxic or less toxic than synthetic che-mopreventive agents, and can be effective at different stages of carcinogenesis. The present investigation was undertaken to explore the antitumor activity of topical treatment with aloe vera (Aloe vera) gel, oral treatment with aloe vera extract, and topical and oral treatment with both gel and extract in stage-2 skin carcinogenesis in Swiss albino mice induced by 7,12-dim ethylbenz(a)anthracene (DMBA) and promoted croton (Croton tiglium) oil. The animals were randomly divided into 4 groups and treated as follows: Group I, DMBA + croton oil only (controls); Group II, DMBA + croton oil + topical aloe vera gel; Group III, DMBA + croton oil + oral aloe vera extract; Group I V, DMBA + croton oil + topical aloe vera gel + oral aloe vera extract. Results showed that body weight was significantly increased from 78.6% in the control group (Group I) to 92.5%, 87.5%, and 90.0% in Groups II, III, and I V, respectively. A 100% incidence of tumor development was noted in Group I, which was decreased to 50%, 60%, and 40% in Groups II, III, and I V, respectively. Also in Groups II, III, and IV, the cumulative number of papillomas was reduced significantly from 36 to 12, 15, and 11; tumor yield from 3.6 to 1.2, 1.5, and 1.1; and tumor burden from 3.6 to 2.4, 2.50, and 2.75, respectively, after treatment with aloe vera. Conversely, the average latent period increased significantly from 4.9 (Group I) to 5.23, 5.0, and 6.01 weeks in Groups II, III, and I V, respectively. We conclude that aloe vera protects mice against DMBA/croton oil-induced skin papillomagenesis, likely due to the chemopreventive activity of high concentrations of antioxidants such as vitamins A, C, and E; glutathione peroxidase; several

Evaluation of Ratnaprash for its effect on strength, stamina and fatigue using swim endurance test and biochemical estimation in swiss albino mice

PubMed Central

Gupta, Arun; Kumar, Satyendra; Rajput, Rashmi; Srivastava, Ruchi; Rai, Rajiv K.; Sastry, J. L. N.

2015-01-01

Context: Traditional medicines have been considered as important resources for postponing fatigue, accelerating elimination of fatigue related metabolites and improving physical ability. Rasāyanās or rejuvenative therapies are mentioned as one of the eight clinical specialties in Ayurveda for attaining longevity, healthy life and regulation of bodily balance. Eventhough more detailed studies are needed to confirm the claims of benefits in the light of evidence based research, Ratnaprash, a herbo-mineral rasāyana formulation, is proposed here to be an antifatigue supplement that is good in promoting strength and stamina. Materials and Methods: In the present study, anti fatigue, strength and stamina enhancing properties of Ratnaprash were examined based on swim endurance capacity and the change in biochemical parameters in Swiss Albino mice. Treatment groups were orally administered Ratnaprash at various test doses (500, 1000, 2000 mg/Kg per day), while the control group received distilled water at similar dose volumes. Effect of therapy was evaluated after 28 days of treatment. Results: At the end of study period, the swimming times to exhaustion were longer in the treated groups than in the control group. Plasma lactate levels of treated groups were lower than those of the control group (P < 0.05) while tissue ATP levels were higher. These effects were dose dependent and the strongest effect was seen in groups treated at 1000 mg/Kg. Conclusion: Ratnaprash enhanced the forced swimming capacity of mice and exhibited elevated anti-fatigue activity, reduced blood lactate levels and increased tissue ATP levels in preclinical models in comparison to vehicle control, exhibiting possible role in increasing strength and stamina and contributing anti-fatigue activity. PMID:26600664

Evaluation of Ratnaprash for its effect on strength, stamina and fatigue using swim endurance test and biochemical estimation in swiss albino mice.

PubMed

Gupta, Arun; Kumar, Satyendra; Rajput, Rashmi; Srivastava, Ruchi; Rai, Rajiv K; Sastry, J L N

2015-01-01

Traditional medicines have been considered as important resources for postponing fatigue, accelerating elimination of fatigue related metabolites and improving physical ability. Rasāyanās or rejuvenative therapies are mentioned as one of the eight clinical specialties in Ayurveda for attaining longevity, healthy life and regulation of bodily balance. Eventhough more detailed studies are needed to confirm the claims of benefits in the light of evidence based research, Ratnaprash, a herbo-mineral rasāyana formulation, is proposed here to be an antifatigue supplement that is good in promoting strength and stamina. In the present study, anti fatigue, strength and stamina enhancing properties of Ratnaprash were examined based on swim endurance capacity and the change in biochemical parameters in Swiss Albino mice. Treatment groups were orally administered Ratnaprash at various test doses (500, 1000, 2000 mg/Kg per day), while the control group received distilled water at similar dose volumes. Effect of therapy was evaluated after 28 days of treatment. At the end of study period, the swimming times to exhaustion were longer in the treated groups than in the control group. Plasma lactate levels of treated groups were lower than those of the control group (P < 0.05) while tissue ATP levels were higher. These effects were dose dependent and the strongest effect was seen in groups treated at 1000 mg/Kg. Ratnaprash enhanced the forced swimming capacity of mice and exhibited elevated anti-fatigue activity, reduced blood lactate levels and increased tissue ATP levels in preclinical models in comparison to vehicle control, exhibiting possible role in increasing strength and stamina and contributing anti-fatigue activity.

A comparative study of the effect of diet and soda carbonated drinks on the histology of the cerebellum of adult female albino Wistar rats.

PubMed

Eluwa, M A; Inyangmme, I I; Akpantah, A O; Ekanem, T B; Ekong, M B; Asuquo, O R; Nwakanma, A A

2013-09-01

Carbonated drinks are widely consumed because of their taste and their ability to refresh and quench thirst. These carbonated drinks also exist in the form of diet drinks, for example Diet Coke®, Pepsi®, extra. A comparative effect of the diet and regular soda carbonated drinks on the histology of the cerebellum of female albino Wistar rats was investigated. Fifteen adult female Wistar rats weighing between 180-200 g were divided into 3 groups; designated as groups A, B and C, and each group consisted of five rats. Group A was the Control group and received distilled water, while groups B and C were the experimental groups. Group B was administered 50 ml of regular soda (RS), and group C was administered 50 ml of diet soda (DS) each per day for 21 days, and the rats were sacrificed on Day 22, and their cerebellums excised and preserved. Histological result of the sections of the cerebellum showed shrunken and degenerated Purkinje cells with hypertrophied dendrites, especially in the DS group, which was less in the RS group compared to the control group. These results suggest that diet soda has adverse effect on the cerebellum of adult female albino Wistar rats.

Tolerance of an albino fish to ultraviolet-B radiation

USGS Publications Warehouse

Fabacher, David L.; Little, Edward E.; Ostrander, Gary K.

1999-01-01

We exposed albino and pigmented medakaOryzias latipes to simulated solar ultraviolet-B (UVB) radiation to determine if albino medaka were less tolerant of UVB radiation than medaka pigmented with melanin. There was no difference in the number of albino and pigmented medaka that died during the exposure period. Spectrophotometric analyses of the outer dorsal skin layers from albino and pigmented medaka indicated that, prior to exposure, both groups of fish had similar amounts of an apparent colorless non-melanin photoprotective substance that appears to protect other fish species from UVB radiation. Our results indicate that albino medaka were as tolerant of UVB radiation as pigmented medaka because they had similar amounts of this photoprotective substance in the outer layers of the skin.

The protective effect of royal jelly on chronic lambda-cyhalothrin toxicity: serum biochemical parameters, lipid peroxidation, and genotoxic and histopathological alterations in swiss albino mice.

PubMed

Cavuşoğlu, Kültiğin; Yapar, Kürşad; Oruç, Ertan; Yalçın, Emine

2011-10-01

The present study was undertaken to investigate the protective effect of royal jelly (RJ) against toxicity induced by a synthetic pyrethroid insecticide, lambda-cyhalothrin (LCT), in Swiss albino mice. Animals were randomly divided into six groups of six animals each. The control group received distilled water alone, whereas mice in the treatment groups received RJ alone (100 or 250 mg/kg of body weight), LCT alone (668 ppm), or RJ+LCT for 21 days. All mice (100%) survived until the end of experiment and were sacrificed at the end of 24 hours. Blood, bone marrow, and liver and kidney tissues were analyzed for aspartate aminotransferase (AST), alanine aminotransferase (ALT), blood urea nitrogen (BUN), creatinine, malondialdehyde (MDA), and reduced glutathione (GSH) levels and micronucleus (MN) frequency, chromosomal aberrations (CAs), and pathological damages. Serum AST, ALT, BUN, and creatinine levels were elevated in mice treated with LCT alone compared with the other tested groups (P<.05). LCT-induced oxidative damage caused a significant decrease in GSH levels and a significant rise in MDA levels of liver and kidney tissues. LCT alone-treated mice presented higher frequencies (P<.05) of MNs, CAs, and abnormal metaphases compared with the controls; moreover, the mitotic index was lower than in controls (P<.05). Oral treatment with RJ significantly ameliorated the indices of hepatotoxicity, nephrotoxicity, lipid peroxidation, and genotoxicity induced by LCT. Both doses of RJ tested provided significant protection against LCT-induced toxicity, and its strongest effect was observed at the dose level of 250 mg/kg of body weight. In vivo results suggest that RJ is a potent antioxidant against LCT-induced toxicity, and its protective effect is dose dependent.

An Indian Desert Shrub 'Hiran Chabba', Farsetia Hamiltonii Royle, Exhibits Potent Antioxidant and Hepatoprotective Effect Against Iron-Overload Induced Liver Toxicity in Swiss Albino Mice.

PubMed

Basu, Tapasree; Kumar, Bipul; Shendge, Anil Khushalrao; Panja, Sourav; Chugh, Heerak; Gautam, Hemant K; Mandal, Nripendranath

2018-04-18

Farsetia hamiltonii Royle, also known as Hiran Chabba grows in desert regions. It is widely used as folk medicine to treat joint pains, diarrhea and diabetes. However, its antioxidant and iron chelation abilities both in vitro and in vivo have not yet been investigated. The 70% methanolic extract of F.hamiltonii (FHME) was investigated for its free radical scavenging and iron chelation potential, in vitro. An iron-overload situation was established by intraperitoneal injection of iron-dextran in Swiss albino mice, followed by oral administration of FHME. Liver damage and serum parameters due to iron-overload were measured biochemically and histopathologically to test iron-overload remediation and hepatoprotective potential of FHME. Phytochemical analyses were performed to determine its probable bioactive components. FHME showed promising antioxidant activity, scavenged various reactive oxygen and nitrogen species and chelated iron in vitro. FHME reduced liver iron, serum ferritin, normalized serum parameters, reduced oxidative stress in liver, serum and improved liver antioxidant status in iron-overloaded mice. It also alleviated liver damage and fibrosis as evident from biochemical parameters and morphological analysis of liver sections. The phytochemical analyses of FHME reflected the presence of alkaloids, phenols, flavonoids and tannins. HPLC analysis indicated presence of tannic acid, quercetin, methyl gallate, catechin, reserpine, ascorbic acid and gallic acid. Based on the experimental outcome, FHME, an ethnologically important plant can be envisaged as excellent antioxidant and iron chelator drug capable of remediating iron-overload induced hepatotoxicity and the bioactive compounds present in FHME might be responsible for its efficacy. Copyright© Bentham Science Publishers; For any queries, please email at epub@benthamscience.org.

Neonatal transection of the corpus callosum affects paw preference lateralization of adult Swiss mice.

PubMed

Manhães, Alex C; Krahe, Thomas E; Caparelli-Dáquer, Egas; Ribeiro-Carvalho, Anderson; Schmidt, Sergio L; Filgueiras, Cláudio C

2003-09-11

In the present work, the hypothesis that the ontogenetic development of the corpus callosum (CC) affects the establishment of behavioral lateralization was tested by studying paw preference performance in adult Swiss mice that were subjected to mid-sagittal transection of the CC on the first postnatal day. Magnitude and direction of laterality were evaluated independently. No significant differences between groups were found for the magnitude of paw preference. On the other hand, the transected group presented a significant populational bias favoring the left paw that was not present in the control groups. These results lend support to the hypothesis that the development of the CC plays a role in the establishment of the normal pattern of behavioral lateralization.

Influence of environmental enrichment vs. time-of-day on behavioral repertoire of male albino Swiss mice.

PubMed

Loss, Cássio Morais; Binder, Luisa Bandeira; Muccini, Eduarda; Martins, Wagner Carbolin; de Oliveira, Paulo Alexandre; Vandresen-Filho, Samuel; Prediger, Rui Daniel; Tasca, Carla Inês; Zimmer, Eduardo R; Costa-Schmidt, Luiz Ernesto; de Oliveira, Diogo Losch; Viola, Giordano Gubert

2015-11-01

Environmental enrichment (EE) is a non-pharmacological manipulation that promotes diverse forms of benefits in the central nervous system of captive animals. It is thought that EE influences animal behavior in a specie-(strain)-specific manner. Since rodents in general present different behaviors during distinct periods of the day, in this study we aimed to investigate the influence of time-of-day on behavioral repertoire of Swiss mice that reared in EE. Forty male Swiss mice (21days old) were housed in standard (SC) or enriched conditions (EC) for 60days. Behavioral assessments were conducted during the light phase (in presence of light) or dark phase (in absence of light) in the following tasks: open field, object recognition and elevated plus maze. First, we observed that the locomotor and exploratory activities are distinct between SC and EC groups only during the light phase. Second, we observed that "self-protective behaviors" were increased in EC group only when mice were tested during the light phase. However, "less defensive behaviors" were not affected by both housing conditions and time-of-day. Third, we showed that the performance of EE animals in object recognition task was improved in both light and dark conditions. Our findings highlight that EE-induced alterations in exploratory and emotional behaviors are just evident during light conditions. However, EE-induced cognitive benefits are remarkable even during dark conditions, when exploratory and emotional behaviors were similar between groups. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Toxicity of tomato red, a popular food dye blend on male albino mice.

PubMed

Sharma, Shipra; Goyal, Rajendra P; Chakravarty, Geetanjali; Sharma, Anjali

2008-06-01

Colour in food is an integral part of our culture and is also indispensable to the modern day consumer. During the past several decades, the technology of food processing has changed dramatically and the growth in the use of synthetic food colours as an individual dye or in the form of blends has increased enormously. In the present investigation, an attempt has been made to evaluate the toxic effects of a commonly used dye blend, tomato red on male Swiss albino mice. The mice were treated orally with 2 and 6g/kg body weight/day for 42 days. The present study revealed an increase in the body weight and liver weight. However, a decrease was recorded in the weights of kidneys and testes. Histopathological study revealed severe degenerative changes in the liver, kidney and testes. In conclusion, the use of the dye blend in various food items has adverse effect on the vital organs.

Amelioration effects against N-nitrosodiethylamine and CCl(4)-induced hepatocarcinogenesis in Swiss albino rats by whole plant extract of Achyranthes aspera.

PubMed

Kartik, R; Rao, Ch V; Trivedi, S P; Pushpangadan, P; Reddy, G D

2010-12-01

The prevalence of oxidative stress may be implicated in the etiology of many pathological conditions. Protective antioxidant action imparted by many plant extracts and plant products make them a promising therapeutic drug for free-radical-induced pathologies. In this study, we assessed the antioxidant potential and suppressive effects of Achyranthes aspera by evaluating the hepatic diagnostic markers on chemical-induced hepatocarcinogenesis. The in vivo model of hepatocarcinogenesis was studied in Swiss albino rats. Experimental rats were divided into five groups: control, positive control (NDEA and CCl(4)), A. aspera treated (100, 200, and 400 mg/kg b.w.). At 20 weeks after the administration of NDEA and CCl(4), treated rats received A. aspera extract (AAE) at a dose of 100, 200, and 400 mg/kg once daily route. At the end of 24 weeks, the liver and relative liver weight and body weight were estimated. Lipid peroxidation (LPO), superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT), glutathione peroxidase (GPx), glutathione-S-transferase (GST), and reduced glutathione (GSH) were assayed. The hepatic diagnostic markers namely serum glutamic oxaloacetic transminase (AST), serum glutamic pyruvate transminase (ALT), serum alkaline phosphatase (ALP), gamma glutamyl transpeptidase (GGT), and bilirubin (BL) were also assayed, and the histopathological studies were investigated in control, positive control, and experimental groups. The extract did not show acute toxicity and the per se effect of the extract showed decrease in LPO, demonstrating antioxidant potential and furthermore no change in the hepatic diagnosis markers was observed. Administration of AAE suppressed hepatic diagnostic and oxidative stress markers as revealed by decrease in NDEA and CCl(4) -induced elevated levels of SGPT, SGOT, SALP, GGT, bilirubin, and LPO. There was also a significant elevation in the levels of SOD, CAT, GPx, GST, and GSH as observed after AAE treatment. The liver and relative liver weight were

Effect of cigarette smoke on body weight, food intake and reproductive organs in adult albino rats.

PubMed

Audi, Sumedha S; Abraham, Marjorie E; Borker, Abhaya S

2006-07-01

One hour daily exposure to cigarette smoke for two months significantly decreased the body weight and food intake in male and female albino rats. The latency for conception increased significantly and the litter size decreased. Mortality rate per litter increased and grayish discoloration of the skin in the experimental group was the only congenital anomaly seen. Testes and ovaries showed a significant decrease in weight. The stroma of the ovaries were occupied by very few Graafian follicles. Testes showed disruption of the normal orderly progression of the spermatogonia. The tubules showed only one layer of spermatogonia and very few germinal cells. The number of sperms was less in the testes. The results show that exposure to cigarette smoke is detrimental to the reproductivity in both, male and female albino rats.

Psychological aspects of albinism: an exploratory study with Nigerian (Igbo) albino subjects.

PubMed

Ezeilo, B N

1989-01-01

This paper reviews some studies done on the psychological aspects of albinism. Studies on the intellectual ability of albinos produce equivocal results. Results from personality studies seem more consistent and show albinos to be more emotionally unstable than non-albinos. This paper also reports a study by the author which examines the phenomenon of albinism from the albino's viewpoint. It examined the responses of three undergraduate albino subjects--one female and two males--to the author's request for each to write an essay on the merits and demerits of being an albino based on personal experiences. All consider being an albino to be more of a demerit than a merit. The demerits include conspicuous colour, delicate skin which blisters under the sun, defective sight, interpersonal, especially heterosexual, problems and society's unkind attitude. The paper ends with a discussion of possible future research in the area and a recommendation of the need for psychological rehabilitation as part of the management programme for albinos.

Methyl parathion inhibits the nuclear maturation, decreases the cytoplasmic quality in oocytes and alters the developmental potential of embryos of Swiss albino mice

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Nair, Ramya; Singh, Vikram Jeet; Salian, Sujith Raj

Methyl parathion (MP) is one of the most commonly used and extremely toxic organophosphorous group of pesticide. A large number of studies in the literature suggest that it has adverse effects on the male reproductive system. However, there is limited information about its toxicity to the female reproductive system. In the present study we report the toxic effects of methyl parathion on the female reproductive system using Swiss albino mice as the experimental model. The female mice were administered orally with 5, 10 and 20 mg/kg of MP. One week later, the mice were superovulated with pregnant mare serum gonadotrophinmore » (PMSG) and human chorionic gonadotrophin (hCG) to study the quality of the oocytes, spindle organization, developmental potential of early embryos and the DNA integrity in blastocysts. MP exposure resulted in a non-significant decrease in the number of primordial follicles and increased DNA damage in granulosa cells. Though MP did not have any effect on the ovulation it had a significant inhibitory effect on the nuclear maturity of oocytes which was associated with spindle deformity. In addition, the oocytes had higher cytoplasmic abnormalities with depleted glutathione level. Even though it did not have any effect on the fertilization and blastocyst rate at lower doses, at 20 mg/kg MP it resulted in a significant decrease in blastocyst hatching, decrease in cell number and high DNA damage. While low body weight gain was observed in F1 generation from 5 mg/kg group, at higher dose, the body weight in F1 generation was marginally higher than control. Post-natal death in F1 generation was observed only in mice treated with 20 mg/kg MP. In conclusion, we report that MP has adverse effects on the oocyte quality, developmental potential of the embryo and reproductive outcome. - Highlights: • Methyl parathion induces severe cytoplasmic abnormalities in oocytes. • Inhibits nuclear maturation and spindle damage • Poor blastocyst quality and

Effects of L-cysteine on lead acetate induced neurotoxicity in albino mice.

PubMed

Mahmoud, Y I; Sayed, S S

2016-07-01

Lead is a toxic heavy metal that adversely affects nervous tissues; it often occurs as an environmental pollutant. We investigated histological changes in the cerebral cortex, hippocampus and cerebellum of adult albino mice following exposure to lead acetate. We also studied the possible ameliorative effect of the chelating agent, L-cysteine, on lead-induced neurotoxicity. We divided albino mice into six groups: 1) vehicle-only control, 2) L-cysteine control, 3 and 4) treated for 7 days with 20 and 40 mg/kg lead acetate, respectively, and 5 and 6) treated for 7 days with 20 and 40 mg/kg lead acetate, respectively, followed by 50 mg/kg L-cysteine for 7 days. Lead acetate administration caused disorganization of cell layers, neuronal loss and degeneration, and neuropil vacuolization. Brain sections from lead-intoxicated mice treated with L-cysteine showed fewer pathological changes; the neuropil showed less vacuolization and the neurons appeared less damaged. L-cysteine at the dose we used only marginally alleviated lead-induced toxicity.

New anthropometry-based age- and sex-specific reference values for urinary 24-hour creatinine excretion based on the adult Swiss population.

PubMed

Forni Ogna, Valentina; Ogna, Adam; Vuistiner, Philippe; Pruijm, Menno; Ponte, Belen; Ackermann, Daniel; Gabutti, Luca; Vakilzadeh, Nima; Mohaupt, Markus; Martin, Pierre-Yves; Guessous, Idris; Péchère-Bertschi, Antoinette; Paccaud, Fred; Bochud, Murielle; Burnier, Michel

2015-02-27

Urinary creatinine excretion is used as a marker of completeness of timed urine collections, which are a keystone of several metabolic evaluations in clinical investigations and epidemiological surveys. We used data from two independent Swiss cross-sectional population-based studies with standardised 24-hour urinary collection and measured anthropometric variables. Only data from adults of European descent, with estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) ≥60 ml/min/1.73 m2 and reported completeness of the urinary collection were retained. A linear regression model was developed to predict centiles of the 24-hour urinary creatinine excretion in 1,137 participants from the Swiss Survey on Salt and validated in 994 participants from the Swiss Kidney Project on Genes in Hypertension. The mean urinary creatinine excretion was 193 ± 41 μmol/kg/24 hours in men and 151 ± 38 μmol/kg/24 hours in women in the Swiss Survey on Salt. The values were inversely correlated with age and body mass index (BMI). We propose a validated prediction equation for 24-hour urinary creatinine excretion in the general European population, based on readily available variables such as age, sex and BMI, and a few derived normograms to ease its clinical application. This should help healthcare providers to interpret the completeness of a 24-hour urine collection in daily clinical practice and in epidemiological population studies.

Metabolic rate and thermal insulation in albino and hairless mice

PubMed Central

Mount, L. E.

1971-01-01

1. Rates of oxygen consumption of albino and hairless mice were measured in a metabolism chamber during periods of approximately 5 or 24 hr. Rectal temperature was measured before and after each period. The chamber temperatures used were 22, 30 and 32° C for both albino and hairless, and in addition 34 and 36° C for the hairless mice. 2. The mean age and body weight of the albino mice were 102 days and 34·6 g; the corresponding values for the hairless mice were 87 days and 32·8 g. 3. The mean minimum rates of oxygen consumption (ml./kg.min) were 31·0 for the albino and 38·8 for the hairless mouse; the corresponding estimated critical temperatures were in the ranges 30-32° C for the albino mouse and 32-34° C for the hairless mouse. 4. The mean values for core-ambient thermal insulation (° C.m2.hr/kcal) were 0·418 and 0·328 for the albino mouse, and 0·275 and 0·221 for the hairless mouse, at 22 and 30° C respectively in each case. PMID:5097602

Alcohol policy changes and 22-year trends in individual alcohol consumption in a Swiss adult population: a 1993-2014 cross-sectional population-based study.

PubMed

Dumont, Shireen; Marques-Vidal, Pedro; Favrod-Coune, Thierry; Theler, Jean-Marc; Gaspoz, Jean-Michel; Broers, Barbara; Guessous, Idris

2017-03-15

Evidence on the impact of legislative changes on individual alcohol consumption is limited. Using an observational study design, we assessed trends in individual alcohol consumption of a Swiss adult population following the public policy changes that took place between 1993 and 2014, while considering individual characteristics and secular trends. Cross-sectional study. Swiss general adult population. Data from 18 963 participants were collected between 1993 and 2014 (aged 18-75 years). We used data from the 'Bus Santé' study, an annual health survey conducted in random samples of the adult population in the State of Geneva, Switzerland. Individual alcohol intake was assessed using a validated food frequency questionnaire. Individual characteristics including education were self-reported. 7 policy changes (6 about alcohol and 1 about tobacco) that occurred between 1993 and 2014 defined 6 different periods. We predicted alcohol intake using quantile regression with multivariate analysis for each period adjusting for participants' characteristics and tested significance periods. Sensitivity analysis was performed including drinkers only, the 10th centile of highest drinkers and smoker's status. Between 1993 and 2014, participants' individual alcohol intake decreased from 7.1 to 5.4 g/day (24% reduction, p<0.001). Men decreased their alcohol intake by 34% compared with 22% for women (p<0.001). The decrease in alcohol intake remained significant when considering drinkers only (28% decrease, p<0.001) and the 10th centile highest drinkers (24% decrease, p<0.001). Consumption of all alcoholic beverages decreased between 1993 and 2014 except for the moderate consumption of beer, which increased. After adjustment for participants' characteristics and secular trends, no independent association between alcohol legislative changes and individual alcohol intake was found. Between 1993 and 2014, alcohol consumption decreased in the Swiss adult population independently of

Amelioration effects against N-nitrosodiethylamine and CCl4-induced hepatocarcinogenesis in Swiss albino rats by whole plant extract of Achyranthes aspera

PubMed Central

Kartik, R.; Rao, Ch. V.; Trivedi, S.P.; Pushpangadan, P.; Reddy, G.D.

2010-01-01

Objective: The prevalence of oxidative stress may be implicated in the etiology of many pathological conditions. Protective antioxidant action imparted by many plant extracts and plant products make them a promising therapeutic drug for free-radical-induced pathologies. In this study, we assessed the antioxidant potential and suppressive effects of Achyranthes aspera by evaluating the hepatic diagnostic markers on chemical-induced hepatocarcinogenesis. Materials and Methods: The in vivo model of hepatocarcinogenesis was studied in Swiss albino rats. Experimental rats were divided into five groups: control, positive control (NDEA and CCl4), A. aspera treated (100, 200, and 400 mg/kg b.w.). At 20 weeks after the administration of NDEA and CCl4, treated rats received A. aspera extract (AAE) at a dose of 100, 200, and 400 mg/kg once daily route. At the end of 24 weeks, the liver and relative liver weight and body weight were estimated. Lipid peroxidation (LPO), superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT), glutathione peroxidase (GPx), glutathione-S-transferase (GST), and reduced glutathione (GSH) were assayed. The hepatic diagnostic markers namely serum glutamic oxaloacetic transminase (AST), serum glutamic pyruvate transminase (ALT), serum alkaline phosphatase (ALP), gamma glutamyl transpeptidase (GGT), and bilirubin (BL) were also assayed, and the histopathological studies were investigated in control, positive control, and experimental groups. Results: The extract did not show acute toxicity and the per se effect of the extract showed decrease in LPO, demonstrating antioxidant potential and furthermore no change in the hepatic diagnosis markers was observed. Administration of AAE suppressed hepatic diagnostic and oxidative stress markers as revealed by decrease in NDEA and CCl4 -induced elevated levels of SGPT, SGOT, SALP, GGT, bilirubin, and LPO. There was also a significant elevation in the levels of SOD, CAT, GPx, GST, and GSH as observed after AAE treatment. The

Dose- dependent ameliorative effects of quercetin and l-Carnitine against atrazine- induced reproductive toxicity in adult male Albino rats.

PubMed

Abdel Aziz, Rabie L; Abdel-Wahab, Ahmed; Abo El-Ela, Fatma I; Hassan, Nour El-Houda Y; El-Nahass, El-Shaymaa; Ibrahim, Marwa A; Khalil, Abdel-Tawab A Y

2018-06-01

This study aimed to determine the protective effects of co-administration of Quercetin (QT) or l-Carnitine (LC) against the oxidative stress induced by Atrazine (ATZ) in the reproductive system of intact male Albino rats. 36 rats were divided equally into 6 groups. Rats in the control negative "CNT" group received 1.5 ml distilled water for 21 days. All rats in the other groups received ATZ (120 mg/kg bw) through gavage. Groups 3 and 4 were co-administered with either low or high dose of QT (10 "ATZLQT" and 50 "ATZHQT" mg/kg bw, respectively). Groups 5 and 6 were co-administered with either low or high dose of LC (200 "ATZLLC" and 400 "ATZHLC" mg/kg bw, respectively). At the end of the experiment, animals were sacrificed and all samples were collected. ATZ significantly increased serum level of malondialdehyde (MDA) and decreased total antioxidant capacity (TAC). Also, ATZ increased significantly the sperm cell abnormalities and reduced both testicular IgA and serum testosterone levels. Testicular DNA laddering % and CYP17A1 mRNA expression were significantly reduced in ATZ group. Interestingly, co-administration with low dose QT or different doses of LC succeeded to counteract the negative toxic effects of ATZ on serum oxidative stress indicators, serum testosterone levels, testicular IgA level and improved testicular CYP17A1 mRNA expression. In conclusion, QT in low dose and LC in both low and high doses exerted a significant protective action against the reproductive toxicity of ATZ, while higher dose of QT failed induce immune-stimulant effect against ATZ in adult male Albino rats. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.

Delayed nootropic effects of arginine vasopressin after early postnatal chronic administration to albino rat pups.

PubMed

Kim, P A; Voskresenskaya, O G; Kamensky, A A

2009-06-01

Intranasal administration of arginine vasopressin (10 microg/kg) to albino rat pups had a strong nootropic effect during training with positive and negative reinforcement. This effect was different in animals of various age groups: training with positive reinforcement was improved in "adolescent" rats and pubertal animals, while during training with negative reinforcement, the nootropic effect of the peptide was more prolonged and persisted also in adult animals.

Effect of Variable Doses of Zinc Oxide Nanoparticles on Male Albino Mice Behavior.

PubMed

Zahra, Javeria; Iqbal, Shahid; Zahra, Kiran; Javed, Zulha; Shad, Muhammad Aslam; Akbar, Atif; Ashiq, Muhammad Naeem; Iqbal, Furhan

2017-02-01

Zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnO NPs) have diverse utility these days ranging from being part of nanosensors to be ingredient of cosmetics. Present study was designed to report the effect of variable doses of ZnO NPs on selected aspects of male albino mice behavior. Nano particles were synthesized by sol-gel auto-combustion method (Data not shown here). 10 week old male albino mice were divided into four experimental groups; group A, B and C were orally supplemented with 50 (low dose), 300 (medium dose) and 600 mg/ml solvent/kg body weight (high dose) of ZnO NPs for 4 days. Group D (control) orally received 0.2 M sodium phosphate buffer (solvent for ZnO NPs) for the same duration. A series of neurological tests (Rota rod, open field, novel object and light-dark box test) were conducted in all groups and performance was compared between ZnO NPs treated and control group. Muscular functioning during rota rod test was significantly improved in all ZnO NPs treated mice as compared to control group. While no significant differences in open field, novel object and light-dark box test performance were observed when data from studied parameters of specific ZnO NPs treatment were compared with the control group indicating that applied doses of ZnO NPs did not affect the exploratory, anxiolytic behavior and object recognition capability of adult male albino mice.

Variation in treatment strategies of Swiss general practitioners for subclinical hypothyroidism in older adults.

PubMed

Baumgartner, Christine; den Elzen, Wendy P J; Blum, Manuel R; Coslovsky, Michael; Streit, Sven; Frey, Peter; Herzig, Lilli; Haller, Dagmar M; Mooijaart, Simon P; Bischoff, Thomas; Rosemann, Thomas; Gussekloo, Jacobijn; Rodondi, Nicolas

2015-01-01

As the best management of subclinical hypothyroidism is controversial, we aimed to assess variations in treatment strategies depending on different Swiss regions, physician and patient characteristics. We performed a case-based survey among general practitioners (GPs) in different Swiss regions, which consisted of eight hypothetical cases presenting a female patient with subclinical hypothyroidism and nonspecific complaints differing by age, vitality status and thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) concentration. A total of 262 GPs participated in the survey. There was considerable variation in the levothyroxine starting dose chosen by GPs, ranging from 25 µg to 100 µg. Across the Swiss regions, GPs in the Bern region were significantly more inclined to treat, with a higher probability of initiating treatment (60%, p = 0.01) and higher mean starting doses (45 µg, p <0.01) compared with the French-speaking region (44%, 36 µg); the Zurich region had intermediate values (52%, 39 µg). We found no association between treatment rate and other physician characteristics. GPs were more reluctant to initiate treatment in 85-year-old than in 70-year-old women (odds ratio [OR] 0.77, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.63-0.94), and more likely to treat women with a TSH of 15 mU/l than those with a TSH of 6mU/l (OR 8.71, 95% CI 6.21-12.20). There are strong variations in treatment strategies for elderly patients with subclinical hypothyroidism across different Swiss regions, including use of higher starting doses than the recommended 25 µg in the Swiss guidelines, which recommend a starting dose of 25 µg. These variations likely reflect the current uncertainty about the benefits of treatment, which arise from the current lack of evidence from adequately powered clinical trials.

Multivariate analysis of dietary patterns in 939 Swiss adults: sociodemographic parameters and alcohol consumption profiles.

PubMed

Gex-Fabry, M; Raymond, L; Jeanneret, O

1988-09-01

A dietary survey of 939 Swiss adults, randomly selected from the population of Geneva and its surrounding communities, was performed according to the history method. A factor analysis, using average weekly intakes for 33 food variables, reveals three principal components of the diet: satiating capacity, healthfulness and culinary complexity. These characteristics, together with the energy content of the diet, were analysed for differences according to sex, age, relative weight index, birthplace, marital status and occupation. All of these sociodemographic variables influence some dimension of dietary habits. Alcohol consumption is positively associated with satiating, protein rich diets, but energy intake from foods does not significantly differ between various groups of abstainers and drinkers. Although the energy contribution of alcoholic beverages is globally additive, we suggest that cultural and societal norms may modulate the relationship of alcohol and diet.

Spatiotemporal features of early neuronogenesis differ in wild-type and albino mouse retina

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Rachel, Rivka A.; Dolen, Gul; Hayes, Nancy L.; Lu, Alice; Erskine, Lynda; Nowakowski, Richard S.; Mason, Carol A.

2002-01-01

In albino mammals, lack of pigment in the retinal pigment epithelium is associated with retinal defects, including poor visual acuity from a photoreceptor deficit in the central retina and poor depth perception from a decrease in ipsilaterally projecting retinal fibers. Possible contributors to these abnormalities are reported delays in neuronogenesis (Ilia and Jeffery, 1996) and retinal maturation (Webster and Rowe, 1991). To further determine possible perturbations in neuronogenesis and/or differentiation, we used cell-specific markers and refined birth dating methods to examine these events during retinal ganglion cell (RGC) genesis in albino and pigmented mice from embryonic day 11 (E11) to E18. Our data indicate that relative to pigmented mice, more ganglion cells are born in the early stages of neuronogenesis in the albino retina, although the initiation of RGC genesis in the albino is unchanged. The cellular organization of the albino retina is perturbed as early as E12. In addition, cell cycle kinetics and output along the nasotemporal axis differ in retinas of albino and pigmented mice, both absolutely, with the temporal aspect of the retina expanded in albino, and relative to the position of the optic nerve head. Finally, blocking melanin synthesis in pigmented eyecups in culture leads to an increase in RGC differentiation, consistent with a role for melanin formation in regulating RGC neuronogenesis. These results point to spatiotemporal defects in neuronal production in the albino retina, which could perturb expression of genes that specify cell fate, number, and/or projection phenotype.

Mistletoes and mutant albino shoots on woody plants as mineral nutrient traps

PubMed Central

Lo Gullo, M. A.; Glatzel, G.; Devkota, M.; Raimondo, F.; Trifilò, P.; Richter, H.

2012-01-01

Background and Aims Potassium, sulphur and zinc contents of mistletoe leaves are generally higher than in their hosts. This is attributed to the fact that chemical elements which are cycled between xylem and phloem in the process of phloem loading of sugars are trapped in the mistletoe, because these parasites do not feed their hosts. Here it is hypothesized that mutant albino shoots on otherwise green plants should behave similarly, because they lack photosynthesis and thus cannot recycle elements involved in sugar loading. Methods The mineral nutrition of the mistletoe Scurrula elata was compared with that of albino shoots on Citrus sinensis and Nerium oleander. The potential for selective nutrient uptake by the mistletoe was studied by comparing element contents of host leaves on infected and uninfected branches and by manipulation of the haustorium–shoot ratio in mistletoes. Phloem anatomy of albino leaves was compared with that of green leaves. Key Results Both mistletoes and albino leaves had higher contents of potassium, sulphur and zinc than hosts or green leaves, respectively. Hypothetical discrimination of nutrient elements during the uptake by the haustorium is not supported by our data. Anatomical studies of albino leaves showed characteristics of release phloem. Conclusions Both albino shoots and mistletoes are traps for elements normally recycled between xylem and phloem, because retranslocation of phloem mobile elements into the mother plant or the host is low or absent. It can be assumed that the lack of photosynthetic activity in albino shoots and thus of sugars needed in phloem loading is responsible for the accumulation of elements. The absence of phloem loading is reflected in phloem anatomy of these abnormal shoots. In mistletoes the evolution of a parasitic lifestyle has obviously eliminated substantial feeding of the host with photosynthates produced by the mistletoe. PMID:22442343

7 CFR 58.712 - Swiss.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-01-01

....712 Swiss. Swiss cheese used in the manufacture of pasteurized process cheese and related products should be equivalent to U.S. Grade B or better, except that the cheese may be blind or possess finish... 7 Agriculture 3 2014-01-01 2014-01-01 false Swiss. 58.712 Section 58.712 Agriculture Regulations...

7 CFR 58.712 - Swiss.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-01-01

....712 Swiss. Swiss cheese used in the manufacture of pasteurized process cheese and related products should be equivalent to U.S. Grade B or better, except that the cheese may be blind or possess finish... 7 Agriculture 3 2012-01-01 2012-01-01 false Swiss. 58.712 Section 58.712 Agriculture Regulations...

7 CFR 58.712 - Swiss.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-01-01

....712 Swiss. Swiss cheese used in the manufacture of pasteurized process cheese and related products should be equivalent to U.S. Grade B or better, except that the cheese may be blind or possess finish... 7 Agriculture 3 2013-01-01 2013-01-01 false Swiss. 58.712 Section 58.712 Agriculture Regulations...

7 CFR 58.712 - Swiss.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-01-01

....712 Swiss. Swiss cheese used in the manufacture of pasteurized process cheese and related products should be equivalent to U.S. Grade B or better, except that the cheese may be blind or possess finish... 7 Agriculture 3 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Swiss. 58.712 Section 58.712 Agriculture Regulations...

7 CFR 58.712 - Swiss.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-01-01

....712 Swiss. Swiss cheese used in the manufacture of pasteurized process cheese and related products should be equivalent to U.S. Grade B or better, except that the cheese may be blind or possess finish... 7 Agriculture 3 2011-01-01 2011-01-01 false Swiss. 58.712 Section 58.712 Agriculture Regulations...

Disruption of emmetropization and high susceptibility to deprivation myopia in albino guinea pigs.

PubMed

Jiang, Liqin; Long, Keli; Schaeffel, Frank; Zhang, Sen; Zhou, Xiangtian; Lu, Fan; Qu, Jia

2011-08-03

To compare emmetropization in albino and pigmented guinea pigs. Distributions of refractive state were examined in 214 albino and 234 pigmented guinea pigs. Albino (A) and pigmented (P) guinea pigs were divided into two groups, hyperopic (H) and myopic (M). Eye development was separately followed in 10 randomly selected animals from each group (AH, AM, PH, PM) from 2 to 10 weeks of age. In addition, deprivation myopia was induced in 36 age-matched albino (18 AH and 18 AM) and 36 pigmented (18 PH and 18 PM) guinea pigs by diffusers that were worn from 2 to 6 weeks of age. Finally, sclera fibril diameters were measured using transmission electron microscopy. Strikingly, the distributions of refractive errors were bimodal at 2 weeks of age, both in albino and pigmented animals, with clearly different averages (-2.86 ± 5.60 diopters [D] vs. 2.13 ± 5.27 D respectively; t = 9.712; P < 0.001). Spontaneous myopia was more common in albino animals: 70.1% were myopic (AM) and 29.9% hyperopic (AH), whereas only 28.6% were myopic (PM) and 71.4% hyperopic (PH) in pigmented guinea pigs. Different from PM and AM did not show any recovery from myopia. With diffusers, AH became more myopic (-7.61 ± 2.71 D and -11.17 ± 2.55 D) than PH (-4.48 ± 1.46 D and -8.28 ± 2.13 D) after 2 and 4 weeks, respectively. Deprivation myopia could still be induced in PM (-1.64 ± 1.44 D and -5.17 ± 1.88 D after 2 and 4 weeks, respectively; P < 0.01) but not in AM. Scleral fibril diameters were smaller in myopic animals, both albino and pigmented. Deprivation myopia could not be induced in spontaneously myopic but only in hyperopic albino guinea pigs, where it was even higher than in pigmented animals. The distinct effects of albinism on emmetropization will help to elucidate the mechanisms underlying the emmetropization.

Comparison of adult physical activity levels in three Swiss alpine communities with varying access to motorized transportation.

PubMed

Dombois, Oliver Thommen; Braun-Fahrländer, Charlotte; Martin-Diener, Eva

2007-09-01

To compare physical activity levels of residents of three Swiss alpine communities with varying access to motorized transport and to investigate whether socio-demographic factors, the settlement structure or means of transport affect these levels. Between January and February 2004 a computer assisted telephone interview was conducted with 901 randomly selected adults aged 18 years or older living in three Swiss alpine communities. In particular, information on moderate and vigorous intensity physical activities and on transport behaviour was collected. Respondents were categorized as 'sufficiently active' or 'insufficiently active' according to self-reported physical activity. People living in community 1 without access to motorized traffic were significantly more likely to be sufficiently active (Sex- and age-adjusted prevalences of sufficient total physical activity, 43.9% 95% CI: 38.3%-49.8%) compared to individuals living in the other two communities (community 2: 35.9%, 95% CI: 30.6%-41.6%, community 3: 32.7%, 95% CI: 27.5%-38.3%). The differences were due to higher levels of moderate physical activities. Vigorous physical activity levels did not differ between the communities. Community differences were explained by passive means of transport to work and for leisure time activities. Although the environment encountered in the three alpine communities is generally conducive to physical activity the majority of the participants did not achieve recommended activity levels. Passive mode of transport to work and during leisure time was strongly associated with insufficient total physical activity. Walking and cycling for transportation is thus a promising approach to promote health enhancing physical activity.

Retinal compensatory changes after light damage in albino mice

PubMed Central

Montalbán-Soler, Luis; Alarcón-Martínez, Luis; Jiménez-López, Manuel; Salinas-Navarro, Manuel; Galindo-Romero, Caridad; Bezerra de Sá, Fabrízio; García-Ayuso, Diego; Avilés-Trigueros, Marcelino; Vidal-Sanz, Manuel; Agudo-Barriuso, Marta

2012-01-01

Purpose To investigate the anatomic and functional changes triggered by light exposure in the albino mouse retina and compare them with those observed in the albino rat. Methods BALB/c albino mice were exposed to 3,000 lx of white light during 24 h and their retinas analyzed from 1 to 180 days after light exposure (ALE). Left pupil mydriasis was induced with topical atropine. Retinal function was analyzed by electroretinographic (ERG) recording. To assess retinal degeneration, hematoxylin and eosin staining, the TdT-mediated dUTP nick-end labeling (TUNEL) technique, and quantitative immunohistofluorescence for synaptophysin and protein kinase Cα (PKCα) were used in cross sections. Intravenous injection of horseradish peroxidase and Fluoro-Gold™ tracing were used in whole-mounted retinas to study the retinal vasculature and the retinal ganglion cell (RGC) population, respectively. Results Light exposure caused apoptotic photoreceptor death in the central retina. This death was more severe in the dorsal than in the ventral retina, sparing the periphery. Neither retinal vascular leakage nor retinal ganglion cell death was observed ALE. The electroretinographic a-wave was permanently impaired, while the b-wave decreased but recovered gradually by 180 days ALE. The scotopic threshold responses, associated with the inner retinal function, diminished at first but recovered completely by 14 days ALE. This functional recovery was concomitant with the upregulation of protein kinase Cα and synaptophysin. Similar results were obtained in both eyes, irrespective of mydriasis. Conclusions In albino mice, light exposure induces substantial retinal damage, but the surviving photoreceptors, together with compensatory morphological/molecular changes, allow an important restoration of the retinal function. PMID:22509098

THE EFFECT OF FICUS CARICA L. (ANJIR) LEAF EXTRACT ON GENTAMICIN INDUCED NEPHROTOXICITY IN ADULT MALE ALBINO MICE.

PubMed

Ghaffar, Ammara; Tahir, Mohammad; Lone, Khalid Pervez; Faisal, Bushra; Latif, Waqas

2015-01-01

Gentamicin is an aminoglycoside isolated from Micromonospora purpurea known for its nephrotoxicity. Ficus carica L is known to treat many ailments. This study was designed to investigate the effects of Ficus carica L. (Anjir) leaf extract on renal oxidative stress induced by gentamicin in albino mice. In this laboratory based experimental study 30 mice were divided into three groups, containing 10 mice each. Group A being the control; groups B and C were experimental and treated with gentamicin 200 mg/kg/day intraperitoneally and, Ficus carica L. leaf extract 400 mg/kg/day orally with gentamicin 200 mg/kg/day intraperitoneally respectively for a period of 8 days. Blood samples were taken 24 hours after completion of the experimental period by cardiac puncture under anesthesia and kidneys of each mouse were taken out for microscopic examination. Gentamicin treatment increased serum urea and creatinine levels (group B). Ficus carica L. leaf extract treated animals showed significant reduction in biochemical markers of kidney functions in group C. The histopathological examination of group A showed normal renal structure which was deranged in group B treated with only gentamicin, whereas, group C exhibited marked improvement in histological structure. Ficus carica L. leaf extract is effective in preventing gentamicin induced functional and structural changes in kidney of albino mice.

Antidepressant Activity of Brahmi in Albino Mice

PubMed Central

Kadali, SLDV Ramana Murty; M.C., Das; Rao A.S.R., Srinivasa; Sri G, Karuna

2014-01-01

Context: In traditional system of medicine brahmi has been used to enhance memory. Recently it has been reported to have action in psychiatric disorders. With these backgrounds the work has been undertaken to study antidepressant activity of brahmi in albino mice. Aim: To evaluate antidepressant activity of brahmi in experimental models. Materials and Methods: The antidepressant activity was studied in albino mice using forced swimming test (FST), tail suspension test (TST) and shock induced depression (SID). Imipramine (10mg/kg), fluoxetine (30mg/kg) were used as standard drugs and brahmi (10, 20, 30mg/kg) was used as test drug. Results: Brahmi exhibited significant decrease in duration of immobility in FST and reduced the shock induced decrease in activity in SID models. It didn’t show any activity in the TST model. Conclusion: Brahmi has shown antidepressant activity in FST and SID. PMID:24783074

The albino chick as a model for studying ocular developmental anomalies, including refractive errors, associated with albinism.

PubMed

Rymer, Jodi; Choh, Vivian; Bharadwaj, Shrikant; Padmanabhan, Varuna; Modilevsky, Laura; Jovanovich, Elizabeth; Yeh, Brenda; Zhang, Zhan; Guan, Huanxian; Payne, W; Wildsoet, Christine F

2007-10-01

Albinism is associated with a variety of ocular anomalies including refractive errors. The purpose of this study was to investigate the ocular development of an albino chick line. The ocular development of both albino and normally pigmented chicks was monitored using retinoscopy to measure refractive errors and high frequency A-scan ultrasonography to measure axial ocular dimensions. Functional tests included an optokinetic nystagmus paradigm to assess visual acuity, and flash ERGs to assess retinal function. The underlying genetic abnormality was characterized using a gene microarray, PCR and a tyrosinase assay. The ultrastructure of the retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) was examined using transmission electron microscopy. PCR confirmed that the genetic abnormality in this line is a deletion in exon 1 of the tyrosinase gene. Tyrosinase gene expression in isolated RPE cells was minimally detectable, and there was minimal enzyme activity in albino feather bulbs. The albino chicks had pink eyes and their eyes transilluminated, reflecting the lack of melanin in all ocular tissues. All three main components, anterior chamber, crystalline lens and vitreous chamber, showed axial expansion over time in both normal and albino animals, but the anterior chambers of albino chicks were consistently shallower than those of normal chicks, while in contrast, their vitreous chambers were longer. Albino chicks remained relatively myopic, with higher astigmatism than the normally pigmented chicks, even though both groups underwent developmental emmetropization. Albino chicks had reduced visual acuity yet the ERG a- and b-wave components had larger amplitudes and shorter than normal implicit times. Developmental emmetropization occurs in the albino chick but is impaired, likely because of functional abnormalities in the RPE and/or retina as well as optical factors. In very young chicks the underlying genetic mutation may also contribute to refractive error and eye shape abnormalities.

21 CFR 133.196 - Swiss cheese for manufacturing.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-04-01

... 21 Food and Drugs 2 2013-04-01 2013-04-01 false Swiss cheese for manufacturing. 133.196 Section... Standardized Cheese and Related Products § 133.196 Swiss cheese for manufacturing. Swiss cheese for manufacturing conforms to the definition and standard of identity prescribed for swiss cheese by § 133.195...

21 CFR 133.196 - Swiss cheese for manufacturing.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-04-01

... 21 Food and Drugs 2 2012-04-01 2012-04-01 false Swiss cheese for manufacturing. 133.196 Section... Standardized Cheese and Related Products § 133.196 Swiss cheese for manufacturing. Swiss cheese for manufacturing conforms to the definition and standard of identity prescribed for swiss cheese by § 133.195...

21 CFR 133.196 - Swiss cheese for manufacturing.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-04-01

... 21 Food and Drugs 2 2014-04-01 2014-04-01 false Swiss cheese for manufacturing. 133.196 Section... Standardized Cheese and Related Products § 133.196 Swiss cheese for manufacturing. Swiss cheese for manufacturing conforms to the definition and standard of identity prescribed for swiss cheese by § 133.195...

Light intensity and the oestrous cycle in albino and normally pigmented mice.

PubMed

Donnelly, H; Saibaba, P

1993-10-01

The effects of light intensity (15-20 lux & 220-290 lux) on the oestrous cycle of albino and normally pigmented mice were examined. The oestrous cycle of both types of mice was shorter at the lower intensity but the difference was significant only with the black mice. The proportion of albino mice from which embryos were recovered was significantly smaller than the proportion of black mice at 15-20 lux but not at 220-290 lux. No significant differences due to strain or light intensity were found in the number of embryos recovered. We conclude that pigmented mice respond in the same way as albino mice to changes in light intensity within the range normally found in laboratory animal accommodation. That is, increased light intensity prolongs the oestrous cycle and the period of vaginal cornification.

Vigabatrin can enhance electroretinographic responses in pigmented and albino rats.

PubMed

Akula, James D; Noonan, Emily R; Di Nardo, Alessia; Favazza, Tara L; Zhang, Nan; Sahin, Mustafa; Hansen, Ronald M; Fulton, Anne B

2015-08-01

To evaluate the effects of the antiepileptic medication vigabatrin (VGB) on the retina of pigmented rats. Scotopic and photopic electroretinograms were recorded from dark- and light-adapted Long-Evans (pigmented) and Sprague Dawley (albino) rats administered, daily, 52-55 injections of 250 mg·kg(-1)·day(-1) VGB or 25-26 injections of 500 mg·kg(-1)·day(-1) VGB, or a corresponding number of sham injections. Sensitivity and saturated amplitude of the rod photoresponse (S, Rm(P3)) and postreceptor response (1/σ, Vm) were derived, as were sensitivity and amplitude of the cone-mediated postreceptor response (1/σ(cone), Vm(cone)). The oscillatory potentials and responses to a series of flickering lights (6.25, 12.5, 25 and 50 Hz) were studied in the time and frequency domains. A subset of rats' eyes was harvested for Western blotting or histology. Of the parameters derived from dark-adapted ERG responses, in both pigmented and albino rats, VGB repeatedly and reliably enhanced electroretinographic parameters; no significant ERG deficits were noted. No significant alterations were observed in ER/oxidative stress or in the Akt cell death/survival pathway. There were migrations of photoreceptor nuclei toward the RPE and outgrowths of bipolar cell dendrites into the outer nuclear layer in VGB-treated rats; these were never observed in sham-treated animals. Although VGB is associated with retinal dysfunction in patients and VGB toxicity has been demonstrated by other laboratories in the albino rat, in our pigmented and albino rats, VGB did not induce deficits in, but rather enhanced, retinal function. Nonetheless, retinal neuronal dysplasia was observed.

Early behavioral changes and quantitative analysis of neuropathological features in murine prion disease

PubMed Central

Borner, Roseane; Bento-Torres, João; Souza, Diego RV; Sadala, Danyelle B; Trevia, Nonata; Farias, José Augusto; Lins, Nara; Passos, Aline; Quintairos, Amanda; Diniz, José Antônio; Perry, Victor Hugh; Vasconcelos, Pedro Fernando; Cunningham, Colm

2011-01-01

Behavioral and neuropathological changes have been widely investigated in murine prion disease but stereological based unbiased estimates of key neuropathological features have not been carried out. After injections of ME7 infected (ME7) or normal brain homogenates (NBH) into dorsal CA1 of albino Swiss mice and C57BL6, we assessed behavioral changes on hippocampal-dependent tasks. We also estimated by optical fractionator at 15 and 18 weeks post-injections (w.p.i.) the total number of neurons, reactive astrocytes, activated microglia and perineuronal nets (PN) in the polymorphic layer of dentate gyrus (PolDG), CA1 and septum in albino Swiss mice. On average, early behavioral changes in albino Swiss mice start four weeks later than in C57BL6. Cluster and discriminant analysis of behavioral data in albino Swiss mice revealed that four of nine subjects start to change their behavior at 12 w.p.i. and reach terminal stage at 22 w.p.i and the remaining subjects start at 22 w.p.i. and reach terminal stage at 26 w.p.i. Biotinylated dextran-amine BDA-tracer experiments in mossy fiber pathway confirmed axonal degeneration and stereological data showed that early astrocytosis, microgliosis and reduction in the perineuronal nets are independent of a change in the number of neuronal cell bodies. Statistical analysis revealed that the septal region had greater levels of neuroinflammation and extracellular matrix damage than CA1. This stereological and multivariate analysis at early stages of disease in an outbred model of prion disease provided new insights connecting behavioral changes and neuroinflammation and seems to be important to understand the mechanisms of prion disease progression. PMID:21862877

The effect of Tributyltin on thyroid follicular cells of adult male albino rats and the possible protective role of green tea: a toxicological, histological and biochemical study.

PubMed

Badr El Dine, Fatma M M; Nabil, Iman M; Dwedar, Fatma I

2017-01-01

Tributyltin is one of the important and wide-spread persistent organic contaminants that accumulate in the food chain. It is suspected to cause endocrine-disrupting effects in mammals, due in part to its possible transfer through marine food chains and to the consumption of contaminated seafood. Was to study the possible toxic effect of Tributyltin on thyroid follicular cells of adult male albino rats and to evaluate the possible protective role of green tea. Forty-five adult male albino rats were included and randomly divided into 3 equal groups: a control group (Group I); Group II: received tributyltin chloride (TBT) dissolved in corn oil orally in a dose of 5 mg/kg for 30 days. Group III: received tributyltin chloride in the same dose with concomitant oral administration of green tea extract for 30 days. At the end of the experiment, the animals were sacrificed and blood samples were subjected to hormonal assay for T3, T4 and TSH levels. Malondialdehyde and reduced glutathione were assessed. The thyroid tissue was processed for histological and ultrastructure examination. The colloid area of thyroid follicles was evaluated morphometrically and statistically analyzed. A significant decrease in T3 and T4 levels and serum reduced glutathione in the group II when compared with the other groups. Furthermore, a significant increase in serum Malondialdehyde and TSH levels was recorded in group II treated group by comparison to the other two groups. Histopathological and ultrastructural changes of thyroid gland follicles were detected in tributyltin treated rats; the follicular cells appeared swollen and vacuolated. Epithelial stratification was noticed in some foci with excessive vacuolation of the colloid. Dilated rough endoplasmic reticulum filled with flocculent material and increased number of lysosomes were also detected together with variation in shape and size of the nuclei. A marked improvement in the histological features of thyroid follicles was noticed in

Effects of stabilization exercises with a Swiss ball on neck-shoulder pain and mobility of adults with prolonged exposure to VDTs.

PubMed

Ahn, Jeoung-Ah; Kim, Joong-Hwi; Bendik, Anthony L; Shin, Ju-Yong

2015-04-01

[Purpose] This study compared the effects on neck-shoulder pain and mobility of strengthening exercises for the neck flexors and scapular retractors performed on a Swiss ball and a mat. [Subjects] Twenty student volunteers were the subjects. [Methods] The students were randomly assigned to two groups: Mat group (n=10), and Swiss ball group (n=10). At pre-test, post-test, and 1-week follow-up pain was assessed using the visual analogue scale (VAS), the pain pressure threshold (PPT) of the shoulder was measured with an algometer, and neck mobility was measured with a Zebris. [Results] The data analysis revealed that there was a significant decrease in pain and significant increase in neck flexion in both groups, and the Swiss ball group showed better results. [Conclusion] Strengthening the neck flexors and scapular retractors for stabilization of the neck using exercises on a Swiss ball was more effective at reducing the pain and stabilizing the neck than mat exercises.

The exposure to water with cigarette residue changes the anti-predator response in female Swiss albino mice.

PubMed

Cardoso, Letícia Silva; Estrela, Fernanda Neves; Chagas, Thales Quintão; da Silva, Wellington Alves Mizael; Costa, Denys Ribeiro de Oliveira; Pereira, Igor; Vaz, Boniek Gontijo; Rodrigues, Aline Sueli de Lima; Malafaia, Guilherme

2018-03-01

Recent studies have shown that cigarette consumption affects much more than human health. Smoked cigarette butt (SCB) disposal into the environment can bring little-known negative biological consequences to mammals, since it contains many organic and inorganic toxic chemical constituents. Thus, we aim at assessing whether the ingestion of water with leached SCB for 60 days by female Swiss mice changes their defensive behavioral response to potential predators (cats and snakes). We worked with the following groups of animals: control (pollutant-free water), water with environmental concentration of SCB (1.9 μg/L of nicotine), and concentration 1000 times higher (EC1000×). Our data show that the treatments did not cause locomotor, visual, auditory, and olfactory deficit in the animals. However, we observed that the animals exposed to the pollutants did not present behavioral differences in the test session with or without the snake. On the other hand, animals in all groups showed defensive behavior when the test was conducted with the cat in the apparatus. However, female mice presented weaker response than the control. Thus, our data point towards the potential neurotoxic damage caused to mice who have ingested water with SCB residues, even at low concentrations.

The reproductive dysfunction effects of gasoline inhalation in albino rats.

PubMed

Ugwoke, C C; Nwobodo, E D; Unekwe, P; Odike, M; Chukwumai, S T; Amilo, G

2005-01-01

Daily exposure to fuel vapour may pose significant health risk to exposed individuals. Fifteen each of male and female albino rats weighing between 110-230g were divided into test (10) and control (5) groups each. The test animals; were exposed to inhalation gasoline for one hour daily for twenty-one consecutive days. All animals were then bled and the serum levels of the reproductive hormones determined. The results showed significant [P < 0.05] reduction in the serum levels of all the hormones of reproduction in both the male and female test animals. The results suggest that inhalation gasoline exposure significantly [P < 0.05] lowers the levels of reproductive hormones in albino rats and may thus interfere with reproduction.

21 CFR 133.196 - Swiss cheese for manufacturing.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-04-01

... 21 Food and Drugs 2 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Swiss cheese for manufacturing. 133.196 Section... (CONTINUED) FOOD FOR HUMAN CONSUMPTION CHEESES AND RELATED CHEESE PRODUCTS Requirements for Specific Standardized Cheese and Related Products § 133.196 Swiss cheese for manufacturing. Swiss cheese for...

21 CFR 133.196 - Swiss cheese for manufacturing.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-04-01

... 21 Food and Drugs 2 2011-04-01 2011-04-01 false Swiss cheese for manufacturing. 133.196 Section... (CONTINUED) FOOD FOR HUMAN CONSUMPTION CHEESES AND RELATED CHEESE PRODUCTS Requirements for Specific Standardized Cheese and Related Products § 133.196 Swiss cheese for manufacturing. Swiss cheese for...

Evaluation of antidepressant like property of amisulpride per se and its comparison with fluoxetine and olanzapine using forced swimming test in albino mice.

PubMed

Pawar, Ganesh R; Agrawal, Rajendra P; Phadnis, Pradeep; Paliwal, Abhay; Vyas, Savita; Solanki, Pooja

2009-01-01

Amisulpride, an atypical antipsychotic was evaluated for antidepressant like activity in forced swimming test in Swiss albino mice. The effect of amisulpride was compared with that of fluoxetine, the standard antidepressant and olanzapine, another atypical antipsychotic claimed to have antidepressant like activity. Both acute and chronic studies were carried out. In both the studies, animals were divided into four groups (n = 8 each) and subjected to oral drug interventions as follows -- Group 1- control (distilled water, 1 mL/kg); Group 2- fluoxetine in a dose of 10 mg/kg 23.5, 5 and 1 h before the test; Group 3-amisulpride in a dose of 70 mg/kg 23.5, 5 and 1 h before the test; Group 4- olanzapine in a dose of 2 mg/kg 23.5, 5 and 1 h before the study. In the chronic study, the treatment was given daily for 28 days with last dose being given 2 h prior to the test. A time sampling method was used to score the behavioral activity in each group. Results of both the studies indicated that animals given amisulpride displayed significant improvement in swimming behavior (p < 0.01), while markedly reducing immobility as compared to control group (p <0.01). Fluoxetine also showed significant difference in activity as compared to amisulpride and olanzapine (p < 0.01). There was no statistically significant difference between amisulpride and olanzapine in terms of effect on immobility and swimming phases in albino mice (p > 0.05). We conclude that amisulpride per se has an antidepressant like activity comparable to that of olanzapine though the activity was significantly less than that of fluoxetine.

21 CFR 133.195 - Swiss and emmentaler cheese.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-04-01

... 21 Food and Drugs 2 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Swiss and emmentaler cheese. 133.195 Section 133...) FOOD FOR HUMAN CONSUMPTION CHEESES AND RELATED CHEESE PRODUCTS Requirements for Specific Standardized Cheese and Related Products § 133.195 Swiss and emmentaler cheese. (a) Description. (1) Swiss cheese...

21 CFR 133.195 - Swiss and emmentaler cheese.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-04-01

... 21 Food and Drugs 2 2011-04-01 2011-04-01 false Swiss and emmentaler cheese. 133.195 Section 133...) FOOD FOR HUMAN CONSUMPTION CHEESES AND RELATED CHEESE PRODUCTS Requirements for Specific Standardized Cheese and Related Products § 133.195 Swiss and emmentaler cheese. (a) Description. (1) Swiss cheese...

Accuracy of genotype imputation in Swiss cattle breeds

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

The objective of this study was to evaluate the accuracy of imputation from Illumina Bovine3k Bead Chip (3k) and Illumina BovineLD (6k) to 54k chip information in Swiss dairy cattle breeds. Genotype data comprised of 54k SNP chip data of Original Braunvieh (OB), Brown Swiss (BS), Swiss Fleckvieh (SF...

Therapeutic Body Wraps in Swiss public adult acute inpatient wards. A retrospective descriptive cohort study.

PubMed

Opsommer, E; Dubois, J; Bangerter, G; Panchaud, R; Martin, D; Skuza, K

2016-04-01

WHAT IS KNOWN ON THE SUBJECT?: Various expert opinions reported relational benefits and tranquilizing effects of therapeutic body wraps (TBW) in adults experiencing high anxiety in the context of psychosis. Yet, this tranquilizing effect was never investigated in larger samples and in the context of modern psychopharmacology. WHAT THIS PAPER ADDS TO EXISTING KNOWLEDGE?: This is the first study to establish descriptive statistics of this mind-body therapy in French-speaking Switzerland where TBWs are routinely used in two public psychiatric hospitals. It brings knowledge on patients nowadays treated with TBW. Moreover, it opens a new area of investigation on the potential of this nursing technique, which may contribute to reduce anxiolytic medication in severely ill patients. WHAT ARE THE IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE?: This study sheds light on a clinical practice in mental health nursing and upon nurses' specific contribution to psychiatric clinic. It investigates a potential for TBWs to reduce the use of anxiolytic medications by patients who agreed to have TBW as part of their treatment. It may help to inform the mental health nursing practice. Introduction Many patients suffering from serious mental illness experience severe anxiety and those with psychosis often report the feeling of their bodies falling apart. While it is believed that these patients benefit from therapeutic body wraps (TBWs), the use of this adjunct therapy has rarely been studied in adult patients. Aims The aim of this study was to obtain descriptive statistics on the clinical, social-demographic and institutional reality of TBW therapy in Swiss public adult inpatient wards. Methods Retrospective data related to a cohort of 172 adult inpatients were retrieved from records of two public hospitals. Correlations between TBW and the prescriptions of lorazepam were explored. Results TBWs were primarily used for patients diagnosed with either schizophrenia, schizotypal, delusional and other non

Perspective: Opportunities for ultrafast science at SwissFEL

PubMed Central

Abela, Rafael; Beaud, Paul; van Bokhoven, Jeroen A.; Chergui, Majed; Feurer, Thomas; Haase, Johannes; Ingold, Gerhard; Johnson, Steven L.; Knopp, Gregor; Lemke, Henrik; Milne, Chris J.; Pedrini, Bill; Radi, Peter; Schertler, Gebhard; Standfuss, Jörg; Staub, Urs; Patthey, Luc

2018-01-01

We present the main specifications of the newly constructed Swiss Free Electron Laser, SwissFEL, and explore its potential impact on ultrafast science. In light of recent achievements at current X-ray free electron lasers, we discuss the potential territory for new scientific breakthroughs offered by SwissFEL in Chemistry, Biology, and Materials Science, as well as nonlinear X-ray science. PMID:29376109

Effect of allo- and xenotransplantation of embryonic nervous tissue and umbilical cord blood-derived stem cells on structural and functional state of cerebral cortex of albino rats in posttraumatic period.

PubMed

Ereniev, S I; Semchenko, V V; Sysheva, E V; Bogdashin, I V; Shapovalova, V V; Khizhnyak, A S; Gasanenko, L N

2005-11-01

Comparative study of the structural and functional state of cerebral cortex of adult albino rats after intracerebral allo- and xenotransplantation of embryonic nervous tissue and intravenous injection of umbilical cord blood-derived stem cells at different terms after diffuse-focal cerebral trauma revealed the best cerebroprotective effect on day 7 of posttraumatic period in animals receiving embryonic nervous tissue.

More South Polar "Swiss Cheese"

NASA Image and Video Library

2000-04-24

This image is illuminated by sunlight from the upper left. Some of the surface of the residual south polar cap has a pattern that resembles that of sliced, swiss cheese. Shown here at the very start of southern spring is a frost-covered surface in which there are two layers evident--a brighter upper layer into which are set swiss cheese-like holes, and a darker, lower layer that lies beneath the "swiss cheese" pattern. Nothing like this exists anywhere on Mars except within the south polar cap. This is a Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) image acquired on August 2, 1999. It is located near 84.8°S, 71.8°W, and covers an area 3 km across and about 6.1 km long (1.9 by 3.8 miles). http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA02368

A proposal for refining the forced swim test in Swiss mice.

PubMed

Costa, Ana Paula Ramos; Vieira, Cintia; Bohner, Lauren O L; Silva, Cristiane Felisbino; Santos, Evelyn Cristina da Silva; De Lima, Thereza Christina Monteiro; Lino-de-Oliveira, Cilene

2013-08-01

The forced swim test (FST) is a preclinical test to the screening of antidepressants based on rats or mice behaviours, which is also sensitive to stimulants of motor activity. This work standardised and validated a method to register the active and passive behaviours of Swiss mice during the FST in order to strength the specificity of the test. Adult male Swiss mice were subjected to the FST for 6 min without any treatment or after intraperitoneal injection of saline (0.1 ml/10 g), antidepressants (imipramine, desipramine, or fluoxetine, 30 mg/kg) or stimulants (caffeine, 30 mg/kg or apomorphine, 10mg/kg). The latency, frequency and duration of behaviours (immobility, swimming, and climbing) were scored and summarised in bins of 6, 4, 2 or 1 min. Parameters were first analysed using Principal Components Analysis generating components putatively related to antidepressant (first and second) or to stimulant effects (third). Antidepressants and stimulants affected similarly the parameters grouped into all components. Effects of stimulants on climbing were better distinguished of antidepressants when analysed during the last 4 min of the FST. Surprisingly, the effects of antidepressants on immobility were better distinguished from saline when parameters were scored in the first 2 min. The method proposed here is able to distinguish antidepressants from stimulants of motor activity using Swiss mice in the FST. This refinement should reduce the number of mice used in preclinical evaluation of antidepressants. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

The SwissLipids knowledgebase for lipid biology

PubMed Central

Liechti, Robin; Hyka-Nouspikel, Nevila; Niknejad, Anne; Gleizes, Anne; Götz, Lou; Kuznetsov, Dmitry; David, Fabrice P.A.; van der Goot, F. Gisou; Riezman, Howard; Bougueleret, Lydie; Xenarios, Ioannis; Bridge, Alan

2015-01-01

Motivation: Lipids are a large and diverse group of biological molecules with roles in membrane formation, energy storage and signaling. Cellular lipidomes may contain tens of thousands of structures, a staggering degree of complexity whose significance is not yet fully understood. High-throughput mass spectrometry-based platforms provide a means to study this complexity, but the interpretation of lipidomic data and its integration with prior knowledge of lipid biology suffers from a lack of appropriate tools to manage the data and extract knowledge from it. Results: To facilitate the description and exploration of lipidomic data and its integration with prior biological knowledge, we have developed a knowledge resource for lipids and their biology—SwissLipids. SwissLipids provides curated knowledge of lipid structures and metabolism which is used to generate an in silico library of feasible lipid structures. These are arranged in a hierarchical classification that links mass spectrometry analytical outputs to all possible lipid structures, metabolic reactions and enzymes. SwissLipids provides a reference namespace for lipidomic data publication, data exploration and hypothesis generation. The current version of SwissLipids includes over 244 000 known and theoretically possible lipid structures, over 800 proteins, and curated links to published knowledge from over 620 peer-reviewed publications. We are continually updating the SwissLipids hierarchy with new lipid categories and new expert curated knowledge. Availability: SwissLipids is freely available at http://www.swisslipids.org/. Contact: alan.bridge@isb-sib.ch Supplementary information: Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online. PMID:25943471

Swiss identity smells like chocolate: Social identity shapes olfactory judgments

PubMed Central

Coppin, Géraldine; Pool, Eva; Delplanque, Sylvain; Oud, Bastiaan; Margot, Christian; Sander, David; Van Bavel, Jay J.

2016-01-01

There is extensive evidence that social identities can shape people’s attitudes and behavior, but what about sensory judgments? We examined the possibility that social identity concerns may also shape the judgment of non-social properties—namely, olfactory judgment. In two experiments, we presented Swiss and non-Swiss participants with the odor of chocolate, for which Switzerland is world-famous, and a control odor (popcorn). Swiss participants primed with Swiss identity reported the odor of chocolate (but not popcorn) as more intense than non-Swiss participants (Experiments 1 and 2) and than Swiss participants primed with individual identity or not primed (Experiment 2). The self-reported intensity of chocolate smell tended to increase as identity accessibility increased—but only among Swiss participants (Experiment 1). These results suggest that identity priming can counter-act classic sensory habituation effects, allowing identity-relevant smells to maintain their intensity after repeated presentations. This suggests that social identity dynamically influences sensory judgment. We discuss the potential implications for models of social identity and chemosensory perception. PMID:27725715

Swiss identity smells like chocolate: Social identity shapes olfactory judgments.

PubMed

Coppin, Géraldine; Pool, Eva; Delplanque, Sylvain; Oud, Bastiaan; Margot, Christian; Sander, David; Van Bavel, Jay J

2016-10-11

There is extensive evidence that social identities can shape people's attitudes and behavior, but what about sensory judgments? We examined the possibility that social identity concerns may also shape the judgment of non-social properties-namely, olfactory judgment. In two experiments, we presented Swiss and non-Swiss participants with the odor of chocolate, for which Switzerland is world-famous, and a control odor (popcorn). Swiss participants primed with Swiss identity reported the odor of chocolate (but not popcorn) as more intense than non-Swiss participants (Experiments 1 and 2) and than Swiss participants primed with individual identity or not primed (Experiment 2). The self-reported intensity of chocolate smell tended to increase as identity accessibility increased-but only among Swiss participants (Experiment 1). These results suggest that identity priming can counter-act classic sensory habituation effects, allowing identity-relevant smells to maintain their intensity after repeated presentations. This suggests that social identity dynamically influences sensory judgment. We discuss the potential implications for models of social identity and chemosensory perception.

Cytotoxic effect of aspartame (diet sweet) on the histological and genetic structures of female albino rats and their offspring.

PubMed

Abd Elfatah, Azza A M; Ghaly, Inas S; Hanafy, Safaa M

2012-10-01

The present study evaluated the effect of aspartame intake on the histological and genetic structures of mother albino rats and their offspring. Sixty adult female albino rats and 180 of their offspring were equally divided into two groups (control and treated), each group divided into three subgroups. Each subgroup consisted of 10 pregnant rats and 30 of their offspring. The experimental design divided into three periods: (1) the gestation period (subgroup one), (2) the gestation period and three weeks after delivery (subgroup two) and (3) animals in the third subgroup treated as subgroup two then left till the end of the ninth week after delivery. Each pregnant rat in the treated subgroups was given a single daily dose of 1 mL aspartame solution (50.4 mg) by gastric gavage throughout the time intervals of experimental design. At the end of each experimental period for control and treated subgroups, the liver of half of both control and treated groups were subjected for histological study while the liver and bone marrow of the other halves were subjected for cytogenetic studies. Body weight of both groups were recorded individually twice weekly in the morning before offering the diet. The results revealed that the rats and their offspring in the subgroups of control animals showed increases in body weight, normal histological sections, low chromosomal aberration and low DNA fragmentation. The treated animals in the three subgroups rats and their offspring revealed decreases in body weight, high histological lesions, increases in the chromosomal aberration and DNA fragmentation compared with control groups. In conclusion, the consumption of aspartame leads to histopathological lesions in the liver and alterations of the genetic system in the liver and bone marrow of mother albino rats and their offspring. These toxicological changes were directly proportional to the duration of its administration and improved after its withdrawal.

Aetiology of adult burns treated from 2000 to 2012 in a Swiss University Hospital.

PubMed

Müller, M; Moser, E M; Pfortmueller, C A; Olariu, R; Lehmann, B; Exadaktylos, A K

2016-06-01

Burns in Switzerland are frequent and lead to high economic and social costs. However, little is known about the aetiology of burns suffered by patients seeking treatment in hospital emergency departments. This knowledge could be used to develop preventive measures. This retrospective analysis included all patients (≥16 years old) with acute thermal injuries of known cause admitted to the adult emergency department in Bern University Hospital (Switzerland, not a specialised burns unit) between 2000 and 2012. Clinical and sociodemographic data were extracted from medical records, i.e. the environment in which the burn occurred, as well as details of burn severity and aetiology. Seven hundred and one (701) patients with a mean age of 35.0±14.5 years (56% men) were included in the analysis. The winter season and the days around Christmas, turn of the year and Swiss National Day were identified as times with high risk of burns. Household (45%) and workplace (31%) were the most common locations/settings in which the burns occurred. Approximately every second burn was caused by scald, every fourth by flame and every seventh by hot objects. The analysis identified cooking, tar and electricity in workplace accidents, barbecues and the use of gasoline as aetiological factors in burns in leisure time, together with water in domestic thermal injuries. Burns occurred predominantly on non-protected skin on the hand and arms. The most severe burns were seen in electrical and flame burns. Men suffered more severe burns than women in all settings except psychopathology. The data suggest that the incidence and severity of burns in Switzerland could be reduced by preventive strategies and public campaigns, including education on fire protection systems, raising awareness about the times and locations where the risks of burns are greater, further improvement in workplace safety, particularly with cooking facilities and electrical equipment, and the development of innovative safety

Recovery, growth and development of Macroorchis spinulosus in albino rats

PubMed Central

Woo, Ho-Chun; Chai, Jong-Yil

2003-01-01

The developmental features, growth and organogenesis of Macroorchis spinulosus were observed in albino rats. Globular and thick walled metacercariae, possessed a stylet, Y-shaped excretory bladder and extracecal testes. In albino rats, M. spinulosus showed habitat shifting. The majority of M. spinulosus reside in the jejunum for the first four days post infection (p.i.) and migrate to the duodenum at the later stage of infection. M. spinulosus grew rapidly during the first four days and reached full maturity at 14 days p.i. and later reduced in size. The ovary was separated from the genital primodium at one day p.i. The seminal vesicle appeared on the third day and divided into two sacs on the fourth day p.i. and intrauterine eggs and sperm mass were produced on the fourth day. Organogenesis and enlargement of reproductive organs governed the growth of M. spinulosus. The similarity of related species of the genus Macroorchis to M. spinulosus was discussed in consideration to developmental features. PMID:12666727

Characterization and comparison of proteomes of albino sea cucumber Apostichopus japonicus (Selenka) by iTRAQ analysis.

PubMed

Xia, Chang-Ge; Zhang, Dijun; Ma, Chengnv; Zhou, Jun; He, Shan; Su, Xiu-Rong

2016-04-01

Sea cucumber is a commercially important marine organism in China. Of the different colored varieties sold in China, albino sea cucumber has the greatest appeal among consumers. Identification of factors contributing to albinism in sea cucumber is therefore likely to provide a scientific basis for improving the cultivability of these strains. In this study, two-dimensional liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry coupled with isobaric tags for relative and absolute quantification labeling was used for the first time to quantitatively define the proteome of sea cucumbers and reveal proteomic characteristics unique to albino sea cucumbers. A total of 549 proteins were identified and quantified in albino sea cucumber and the functional annotations of 485 proteins have been exhibited based on COG database. Compared with green sea cucumber, 12 proteins were identified as differentially expressed in the intestine and 16 proteins in the body wall of albino sea cucumber. Among them, 5 proteins were up-regulated in the intestine and 8 proteins were down-regulated in body wall. Gene ontology annotations of these differentially expressed proteins consisted mostly of 'biological process'. The large number of differentially expressed proteins identified here should be highly useful in further elucidating the mechanisms underlying albinism in sea cucumber. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Freedom of choice of specialist physicians is important to Swiss resident: a cross-sectional study.

PubMed

Peytremann-Bridevaux, Isabelle; Ruffieux, Christiane; Burnand, Bernard

2011-12-19

To assess how important the possibility to choose specialist physicians is for Swiss residents and to determine which variables are associated with this opinion. This cross-sectional study used data from the 2007 Swiss population-based health survey and included 13,642 non-institutionalised adults who responded to the telephone and paper questionnaires. The dependent variable included answers to the question "How important is it for you to be able to choose the specialist you would like to visit?" Independent variables included socio-demographics, health and past year healthcare use measures. Crude and adjusted logistic regressions for the importance of being able to choose specialist physicians were performed, accounting for the survey design. 45% of participants found it very important to be able to choose the specialist physician they wanted to visit. The answers "rather important", "rather not important" and "not important" were reported by 28%, 20% and 7% of respondents. Women, individuals in middle/high executive position, those with an ordinary insurance scheme, those reporting ≥2 chronic conditions or poorer subjective health, or those who had had ≥2 outpatient visits in the preceding year were more likely to find this choice very important. In 2007, almost half of all Swiss residents found it very important to be able to choose his/her specialist physician. The further development of physician networks or other chronic disease management initiatives in Switzerland, towards integrated care, need to pay attention to the freedom of choice of specialist physicians that Swiss residents value. Future surveys should provide information on access and consultations with specialist physicians.

The Swiss regulatory framework for paediatric health research.

PubMed

Junod, Valerie

2008-07-01

Medical research on minors entails both risks and benefits. Under Swiss law, clinical trials on children, including nontherapeutic drug trials, are permissible. However, ethics committees must systematically verify that all clinical studies have a favorable risk-benefit profile. Additional safeguards are designed to ensure that children are not unnecessarily involved in research and that proper consent is always obtained. Federal Swiss law is undergoing revision to extend these protections beyond clinical trials to a broad array of health research. The Swiss drug agency also seeks to improve the incentives for pharmaceutical firms to develop new paediatric drugs and relevant paediatric drug labels.

Electroencephalographic changes in albino rats subjected to stress

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Mercier, J.; Assouline, G.; Fondarai, J.

1980-01-01

Twenty one albino Wistar rats were subjected to stress for 7 hours. There was a significant difference in the slopes of regression lines for 7 nonulcerous rats and those for 14 ulcerous rats. Nonulcerous rats subjected to stress showed greater EEG curve synchronization than did ulcerous rats. If curve synchronization can be equated to a relaxed state, it may therefore be possible to explain the protective action of hypnotics, tranquilizers and analgesics on ulcers.

Chickenpox in a Swiss prison: susceptibility, post-exposure vaccination and control measures.

PubMed

Gétaz, Laurent; Siegrist, Claire-Anne; Stoll, Béat; Humair, Jean-Paul; Scherrer, Yvan; Franziskakis, Constantin; Sudre, Philippe; Gaspoz, Jean-Michel; Wolff, Hans

2010-12-01

After the occurrence of a case of chickenpox in Switzerland's largest pre-trial prison, protective measures including post-exposure vaccination were implemented, as chickenpox can cause severe complications in adults. Serology for chickenpox was carried out for all contacts of the index case and rapid post-exposure vaccination proposed to all prisoners with a negative history for chickenpox. Susceptibility was found in 14 out of 110 prisoners (12.7%; 95% confidence interval 6.5-18.9). The positive predictive value of a history of chickenpox was 90%. In this predominantly migrant population, susceptibility to chickenpox was approximately 6 times higher than in the general Swiss adult population. Since the attack rate among susceptible household contacts is usually high, preventive measures such as vaccination and quarantine probably allowed containment of the spread of infection.

Comparison between the protective effects of vitamin K and vitamin A on the modulation of hypervitaminosis D3 short-term toxicity in adult albino rats.

PubMed

Elshama, Said Said; Osman, Hosam-Eldin Hussein; El-Kenawy, Ayman El-Meghawry; Youseef, Hamdi Mohamed

2016-02-17

Vitamin D3 has increased risk of toxicity due to its common use in multivitamin preparations. Vitamin K and vitamin A play an important role in vitamin D action. The goal of the current study was to compare the protective effects of vitamin K and vitamin A on the modulation of hypervitaminosis D3 toxicity in rats by assessing serum calcium, renal function tests, cardiac enzymes, and related histopathological changes. Eighty adult albino rats were divided into four groups; each group consisted of 20 rats. The first group received water; the second received a toxic dose of vitamin D3; the third received a toxic dose of vitamin D3 with vitamin A; and the fourth received a toxic dose of vitamin D3 with vitamin K. Vitamin D3 toxicity led to significant abnormalities of cardiac enzymes, renal function tests, and serum calcium associated with histopathological changes in the kidney, heart, lung, adrenal gland, and aorta. Individual administration of vitamin A or vitamin K with a toxic dose of vitamin D improved the biochemical and histopathological abnormalities of hypervitaminosis D3. Vitamins A and K showed the same protective effects in the modulation of hypervitaminosis D3 short-term toxicity.

Silviculture and Swiss needle cast: research and recommendations.

Treesearch

Gregory M. Filip; A. Kanaskie; K. Kavanagh; G. Johnson; R. Johnson; D. Maguire

2000-01-01

For the past ten years, Douglas-fir on the Oregon and Washington coast has shown a progressive decrease in height and diameter increment as a result of Swiss needle cast, which is caused by Phaeocryptopus gaeumannii. In this contribution, we discuss the effects of silvicultural operations on Swiss needle cast and recommend specific actions to...

Vitis vinifera Extract Ameliorate Hepatic and Renal Dysfunction Induced by Dexamethasone in Albino Rats

PubMed Central

Hasona, Nabil A.; Alrashidi, Ahmed A.; Aldugieman, Thamer Z.; Alshdokhi, Ali M.; Ahmed, Mohammed Q.

2017-01-01

This study was conducted to evaluate the biochemical effects of grape seed extract against dexamethasone-induced hepatic and renal dysfunction in a female albino rat. Twenty-eight adult female rats were divided randomly into four equal groups: Group 1: animals were injected subcutaneously with saline and consider as normal control one. Group 2: animals were injected subcutaneously with dexamethasone in a dose of 0.1 mg/kg body weight. Group 3: animals were injected subcutaneously with 0.1 mg/kg body weight of dexamethasone, and then treated with a grape seed extract in a dose of 200 mg/kg body weight by oral gavage. Group 4: animals were injected subcutaneously with 0.1 mg/kg body weight of dexamethasone, and then treated with a grape seed extract in a dose of 400 mg/kg body weight by oral gavage. After 4 weeks, serum alanine aminotransferase (ALT), aspartate aminotransferase (AST) activities, albumin, uric acid, creatinine, and glucose levels were assayed. Hepatic reduced glutathione (GSH), total protein content, and catalase and glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase activities were also assayed. Dexamethasone administration caused elevation of serum levels of glucose, uric acid, creatinine, ALT, AST activities, and a decrease in other parameters such as hepatic glutathione, total protein levels, and catalase enzyme activity. Treatment with Vitis vinifera L. seed extract showed a significant increase in the body weight of rats in the group treated with Vitis vinifera L. seed extract orally compared with the dexamethasone control group. An increase in GSH and catalase activity in response to oral treatment with Vitis vinifera L. seed extract was observed after treatment. Grape seed extract positively affects glucocorticoid-induced hepatic and renal alteration in albino rats. PMID:29051443

Ligia Grischa: A Successful Swiss Colony on the Dakota Territory Frontier

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Quinn, Todd; Benedict, Karl; Dickey, Jeff

2012-01-01

In 1877 a small group of Swiss immigrants from the Graubunden canton formed a cooperative with another Swiss group in Stillwater, Minnesota, to begin a colony in eastern South Dakota. These settlers founded the Badus Swiss colony on the open prairie in Lake County, Dakota Territory (later South Dakota), based on cooperative rules written in…

Szekeres Swiss-cheese model and supernova observations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bolejko, Krzysztof; Célérier, Marie-Noëlle

2010-11-01

We use different particular classes of axially symmetric Szekeres Swiss-cheese models for the study of the apparent dimming of the supernovae of type Ia. We compare the results with those obtained in the corresponding Lemaître-Tolman Swiss-cheese models. Although the quantitative picture is different the qualitative results are comparable, i.e., one cannot fully explain the dimming of the supernovae using small-scale (˜50Mpc) inhomogeneities. To fit successfully the data we need structures of order of 500 Mpc size or larger. However, this result might be an artifact due to the use of axial light rays in axially symmetric models. Anyhow, this work is a first step in trying to use Szekeres Swiss-cheese models in cosmology and it will be followed by the study of more physical models with still less symmetry.

Light refraction in the Swiss-cheese model

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Csapó, Adelinda; Bene, Gyula

2012-08-01

We investigate light propagation in the Swiss-cheese model. On both sides of Swiss-cheese sphere surfaces, observers resting in the flat Friedmann-Robertson-Walker (FRW) space and the Schwarzschild space respectively, see the same light ray enclosing different angles with the normal. We examine light refraction at each crossing of the boundary surfaces, showing that the angle of refraction is larger than the angle of incidence for both directions of the light.

More South Polar 'Swiss Cheese'

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

2000-01-01

This image is illuminated by sunlight from the upper left.

Some of the surface of the residual south polar cap has a pattern that resembles that of sliced, swiss cheese. Shown here at the very start of southern spring is a frost-covered surface in which there are two layers evident--a brighter upper layer into which are set swiss cheese-like holes, and a darker, lower layer that lies beneath the 'swiss cheese' pattern. Nothing like this exists anywhere on Mars except within the south polar cap.

This is a Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) image acquired on August 2,1999. It is located near 84.8oS, 71.8oW, and covers an area 3 km across and about 6.1 km long (1.9 by 3.8 miles).

Malin Space Science Systems and the California Institute of Technology built the MOC using spare hardware from the Mars Observer mission. MSSS operates the camera from its facilities in San Diego, CA. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory's Mars Surveyor Operations Project operates the Mars Global Surveyor spacecraft with its industrial partner, Lockheed Martin Astronautics, from facilities in Pasadena, CA and Denver, CO.

Transcription profiling using RNA-Seq demonstrates expression differences in the body walls of juvenile albino and normal sea cucumbers Apostichopus japonicus

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ma, Deyou; Yang, Hongsheng; Sun, Lina; Chen, Muyan

2014-01-01

Sea cucumbers Apostichopus japonicus are one of the most important aquaculture species in China. Their normal body color is black to fit their surroundings. Wild albinos are rare and hard to breed. To understand the differences between albino and normal (control) sea cucumbers at the transcriptional level, we sequenced the transcriptomes in their body-wall tissues using RNA-Seq high-throughput sequencing. Approximately 4.876 million (M) and 4.884 M 200-nucleotide-long cDNA reads were produced in the cDNA libraries derived from the body walls of albino and control samples, respectively. A total of 9 561 (46.89%) putative genes were identified from among the RNA-Seq reads in both libraries. After filtering, 837 significantly differentially regulated genes were identified in the albino library compared with in the control library, and 3.6% of the differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were found to have changed those more than five-fold. The expression levels of 10 DEGs were checked by real-time PCR and the results were in full accord with the RNA-Seq expression trends, although the amplitude of the differences in expression levels was lower in all cases. A series of pathways were significantly enriched for the DEGs. These pathways were closely related to phagocytosis, the complement and coagulation cascades, apoptosis-related diseases, cytokine-cytokine receptor interaction, and cell adhesion. The differences in gene expression and enriched pathways between the albino and control sea cucumbers offer control targets for cultivating excellent albino A. japonicus strains in the future.

Skin cancers in albinos in a teaching Hospital in eastern Nigeria - presentation and challenges of care.

PubMed

Opara, Kingsley O; Jiburum, Bernard C

2010-08-25

Albinism is a genetic disorder characterized by lack of skin pigmentation. It has a worldwide distribution but is commoner in areas close to the equator like Nigeria. Skin cancers are a major risk associated with albinism and are thought to be a major cause of death in African albinos. Challenges faced in the care of these patients need to be highlighted in order to develop a holistic management approach with a significant public health impact. The aim of the study was to determine the pattern of skin cancers seen in Albinos, and to highlight problems encountered in their management. Case records of albinos managed in Imo state University teaching Hospital from June 2007 to May 2009 were reviewed. The data obtained was analyzed using descriptive statistics. In the period under review, albinos accounted for 67% of patients managed for primary skin cancers. There were twenty patients with thirty eight (38) lesions. Sixty one percent of the patients were below 40 years. Average duration of symptoms at presentation was 26 months. The commonest reason for late presentation was the lack of funds. Squamous cell carcinoma was the commonest histologic variant. Most patients were unable to complete treatment due to lack of funds. Albinism appears to be the most important risk factor in the development of skin cancers in our environment. Late presentation and poor rate of completion of treatment due to poverty are major challenges.

Profiling and comparison of color body wall transcriptome of normal juvenile sea cucumber ( Apostichopus japonicus) and those produced by crossing albino

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ma, Deyou; Yang, Hongsheng; Sun, Lina

2014-12-01

Sea cucumber ( Apostichopus japonicus) is one of the most important aquaculture animals in China. Usually its normal body color is black that fits its living environment. The juvenile individuals obtained by crossing albino sea cucumber segregated in body color. To document the transcriptome difference between albino associating sea cucumber and the control, we sequenced their transcriptomes with RNA-seq. Approximately, 4.790 million (M) and 4.884 M reads, 200 nt in length, were generated from the body wall of albino associating sea cucumber and the control, respectively, from them, 9550 (46.81%) putative genes were identified. In total, 583 genes were found to express differentially between albino associating sea cucumber and the control. Of these differentially expressed genes (DEGs), 4.8% changed more than five-folds. The expression levels of eight DEGs were confirmed with real-time PCR. The changing trend of these DEGs detected with real-time PCR agreed well with that detected with RNA-seq, although the change degree of some DEGs was different. Four significantly enriched pathways were identified for DEGs, which included phagocytosis, Staphylococcus aureus infection, ECM-receptor interaction and focal adhesion. These pathways were helpful for understanding the physiological difference between albino associating sea cucumber and the control.

Experts' perspectives on SwissDRG: Second class care for vulnerable patient groups?

PubMed

Leu, A; Wepf, H; Elger, B; Wangmo, T

2018-03-14

On the 1st of January 2012, Switzerland introduced the diagnosis-related group hospital tariff structure (SwissDRG). It was recognised that healthcare provided to the most vulnerable patient groups would be a challenge for the new SwissDRG. Coincident with the implementation of SwissDRG, we explored hospital experts' perceptions of which patient groups are vulnerable under the SwissDRG system, what has changed for this group, as well as solutions to ensure adequate access to health care for them. We interviewed 43 experts from 40 Swiss hospitals. Participating experts named several vulnerable patient groups who share some common characteristics. These hospital experts were concerned about the patient groups that are not financially profitable and questioned the practicability of the current regulation. At the same time, they highlighted the complexity associated with caring for this group under the new SwissDRG and reported measures at the macro, meso, and micro levels to protect vulnerable patient groups from negative effects. To curb negative outcomes for vulnerable patient groups after the introduction of the SwissDRG, the Swiss legislation has introduced various instruments including the acute and transitional care (ATC) measures. We conclude that ATC measures do not produce the expected effect the legislators had hoped for. More health data is needed to identify situations where vulnerable patient groups are more susceptible to inadequate health care access in Switzerland. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Perspective view of the Swiss Chalet to duplicate that seen ...

Library of Congress Historic Buildings Survey, Historic Engineering Record, Historic Landscapes Survey

Perspective view of the Swiss Chalet to duplicate that seen in MD-1109-O-22; view looking from approximately the same vantage point - National Park Seminary, Swiss Chalet, 2802 Woodstock Avenue, Silver Spring, Montgomery County, MD

The Concept of English Philologists' Training at Swiss Universities

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Zasluzhena, Alla

2016-01-01

The issue of plurilingual approach usage to the study of foreign languages has been made actual on case study of Swiss universities. Basic concepts of English philologists' formation at Swiss universities have been determined. These components have been analyzed with relation to their relevance to the prospective philologist in English Linguistics…

SwissPalm: Protein Palmitoylation database.

PubMed

Blanc, Mathieu; David, Fabrice; Abrami, Laurence; Migliozzi, Daniel; Armand, Florence; Bürgi, Jérôme; van der Goot, Françoise Gisou

2015-01-01

Protein S-palmitoylation is a reversible post-translational modification that regulates many key biological processes, although the full extent and functions of protein S-palmitoylation remain largely unexplored. Recent developments of new chemical methods have allowed the establishment of palmitoyl-proteomes of a variety of cell lines and tissues from different species.  As the amount of information generated by these high-throughput studies is increasing, the field requires centralization and comparison of this information. Here we present SwissPalm ( http://swisspalm.epfl.ch), our open, comprehensive, manually curated resource to study protein S-palmitoylation. It currently encompasses more than 5000 S-palmitoylated protein hits from seven species, and contains more than 500 specific sites of S-palmitoylation. SwissPalm also provides curated information and filters that increase the confidence in true positive hits, and integrates predictions of S-palmitoylated cysteine scores, orthologs and isoform multiple alignments. Systems analysis of the palmitoyl-proteome screens indicate that 10% or more of the human proteome is susceptible to S-palmitoylation. Moreover, ontology and pathway analyses of the human palmitoyl-proteome reveal that key biological functions involve this reversible lipid modification. Comparative analysis finally shows a strong crosstalk between S-palmitoylation and other post-translational modifications. Through the compilation of data and continuous updates, SwissPalm will provide a powerful tool to unravel the global importance of protein S-palmitoylation.

SwissPalm: Protein Palmitoylation database

PubMed Central

Abrami, Laurence; Migliozzi, Daniel; Armand, Florence; Bürgi, Jérôme; van der Goot, Françoise Gisou

2015-01-01

Protein S-palmitoylation is a reversible post-translational modification that regulates many key biological processes, although the full extent and functions of protein S-palmitoylation remain largely unexplored. Recent developments of new chemical methods have allowed the establishment of palmitoyl-proteomes of a variety of cell lines and tissues from different species.  As the amount of information generated by these high-throughput studies is increasing, the field requires centralization and comparison of this information. Here we present SwissPalm ( http://swisspalm.epfl.ch), our open, comprehensive, manually curated resource to study protein S-palmitoylation. It currently encompasses more than 5000 S-palmitoylated protein hits from seven species, and contains more than 500 specific sites of S-palmitoylation. SwissPalm also provides curated information and filters that increase the confidence in true positive hits, and integrates predictions of S-palmitoylated cysteine scores, orthologs and isoform multiple alignments. Systems analysis of the palmitoyl-proteome screens indicate that 10% or more of the human proteome is susceptible to S-palmitoylation. Moreover, ontology and pathway analyses of the human palmitoyl-proteome reveal that key biological functions involve this reversible lipid modification. Comparative analysis finally shows a strong crosstalk between S-palmitoylation and other post-translational modifications. Through the compilation of data and continuous updates, SwissPalm will provide a powerful tool to unravel the global importance of protein S-palmitoylation. PMID:26339475

Molecular mapping within the mouse albino-deletion complex.

PubMed Central

Johnson, D K; Hand, R E; Rinchik, E M

1989-01-01

Induced germ-line deletion mutations in the mouse provide a malleable experimental system for in-depth molecular and functional analysis of large segments of the mammalian genome. To obtain an initial bank of molecular probes for the region of mouse chromosome 7 associated with the albino-deletion complex, random anonymous DNA clones, derived from a library constructed from flow-sorted chromosomes, were screened on DNAs from Mus musculus-Mus spretus F1 hybrids carrying large, multilocus, lethal albino deletions. Clones falling within a given deletion interval can easily be recognized because hybridization bands that represent restriction fragment length polymorphisms specific for the mutant (deleted) chromosome inherited from the M. musculus parent will be absent. Among 72 informative clones used as probes, one, which defines the locus D7OR1, mapped within two deletions that are 6-11 centimorgans in length. Submapping of this anonymous clone across a panel of 27 smaller deletions localized D7OR1 distal to a chromosomal subregion important for survival of the preimplantation embryo, proximal to globin [beta-chain (Hbb)], and near the shaker-1 (sh-1) locus. The results of these deletion-mapping experiments were also confirmed by standard three-point linkage analysis. This strategy for selection and rapid mapping of anonymous DNA probes to chromosomal segments corresponding to germ-line deletion mutations should contribute to the generation of more detailed physical and functional maps of genomic regions associated with mutant developmental phenotypes. Images PMID:2813427

Impact of flavor attributes on consumer liking of Swiss cheese.

PubMed

Liggett, R E; Drake, M A; Delwiche, J F

2008-02-01

Although Swiss cheese is growing in popularity, no research has examined what flavor characteristics consumers desire in Swiss cheese, which was the main objective of this study. To this end, a large group of commercially available Swiss-type cheeses (10 domestic Swiss cheeses, 4 domestic Baby Swiss cheeses, and one imported Swiss Emmenthal) were assessed both by 12 trained panelists for flavor and feeling factors and by 101 consumers for overall liking. In addition, a separate panel of 24 consumers rated the same cheeses for dissimilarity. On the basis of liking ratings, the 101 consumers were segmented by cluster analysis into 2 groups: nondistinguishers (n = 40) and varying responders (n = 61). Partial least squares regression, a statistical modeling technique that relates 2 data sets (in this case, a set of descriptive analysis data and a set of consumer liking data), was used to determine which flavor attributes assessed by the trained panel were important variables in overall liking of the cheeses for the varying responders. The model explained 93% of the liking variance on 3 normally distributed components and had 49% predictability. Diacetyl, whey, milk fat, and umami were found to be drivers of liking, whereas cabbage, cooked, and vinegar were drivers of disliking. Nutty flavor was not particularly important to liking and it was present in only 2 of the cheeses. The dissimilarity ratings were combined with the liking ratings of both segments and analyzed by probabilistic multidimensional scaling. The ideals of each segment completely overlapped, with the variance of the varying responders being smaller than the variance of the non-distinguishers. This model indicated that the Baby Swiss cheeses were closer to the consumers' ideals than were the other cheeses. Taken together, the 2 models suggest that the partial least squares regression failed to capture one or more attributes that contribute to consumer acceptance, although the descriptive analysis of

Antiproliferative efficacy of curcumin mimics through microtubule destabilization.

PubMed

Khwaja, Sadiya; Fatima, Kaneez; Hasanain, Mohammad; Behera, Chittaranjan; Kour, Avneet; Singh, Arjun; Luqman, Suaib; Sarkar, Jayanta; Chanda, Debabrata; Shanker, Karuna; Gupta, A K; Mondhe, D M; Negi, Arvind S

2018-05-10

Curcumin possesses an attractive chemical structure with highly conjugated diferuloylmethane core. Curcumin mimics have been designed and prepared with an additional bridged phenyl ring in conjugation. Fourteen diverse analogues were evaluated against a panel of human cancer cell lines. The best analogue of the series i.e. compound 6a exhibited potent cytotoxicity against A431, epidermoid carcinoma cell line (IC 50  = 1.5 μM) and DLD1, colorectal adenocarcinoma cell line (IC 50  = 6.9 μM). In tubulin kinetics experiment, compound 6a destabilized polymerisation process (IC 50  = 4.68 μM). In cell cycle analysis, compound 6a exerted G2/M phase arrest in A431 cells and induced apoptosis. In Ehrlich Ascites Carcinoma in Swiss-albino mice, compound 6a showed 78.6% tumour reduction at 80 mg/kg dose and 57% solid tumour reduction at 150 mg/kg dose. Further, in acute-oral toxicity experiment in rodent model, compound 6a was given in three different oral doses to Swiss albino mice. There were non-significant changes in various biochemical parameters and major body organs studied, including their absolute and relative weights. It was tolerable up to 300 mg/kg dose in Swiss-albino mice. The present study shows that the novel curcumin mimic 6a is a safe and efficacious anticancer compound. However, it needs to be optimized for better efficacy. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.

Safety climate in Swiss hospital units: Swiss version of the Safety Climate Survey

PubMed Central

Gehring, Katrin; Mascherek, Anna C.; Bezzola, Paula

2015-01-01

Abstract Rationale, aims and objectives Safety climate measurements are a broadly used element of improvement initiatives. In order to provide a sound and easy‐to‐administer instrument for the use in Swiss hospitals, we translated the Safety Climate Survey into German and French. Methods After translating the Safety Climate Survey into French and German, a cross‐sectional survey study was conducted with health care professionals (HCPs) in operating room (OR) teams and on OR‐related wards in 10 Swiss hospitals. Validity of the instrument was examined by means of Cronbach's alpha and missing rates of the single items. Item‐descriptive statistics group differences and percentage of ‘problematic responses’ (PPR) were calculated. Results 3153 HCPs completed the survey (response rate: 63.4%). 1308 individuals were excluded from the analyses because of a profession other than doctor or nurse or invalid answers (n = 1845; nurses = 1321, doctors = 523). Internal consistency of the translated Safety Climate Survey was good (Cronbach's alpha G erman = 0.86; Cronbach's alpha F rench = 0.84). Missing rates at item level were rather low (0.23–4.3%). We found significant group differences in safety climate values regarding profession, managerial function, work area and time spent in direct patient care. At item level, 14 out of 21 items showed a PPR higher than 10%. Conclusions Results indicate that the French and German translations of the Safety Climate Survey might be a useful measurement instrument for safety climate in Swiss hospital units. Analyses at item level allow for differentiating facets of safety climate into more positive and critical safety climate aspects. PMID:25656302

Reproductive toxicity of Roundup herbicide exposure in male albino rat.

PubMed

Owagboriaye, Folarin O; Dedeke, Gabriel A; Ademolu, Kehinde O; Olujimi, Olarenwaju O; Ashidi, Joseph S; Adeyinka, Aladesida A

2017-09-05

The incidence of infertility in human is on the increase and the use of Roundup herbicide and presence of its residues in foodstuff is a major concern. This study therefore aim to assess the effect of Roundup on the reproductive capacity of 32 adult male albino rats randomized into 4 groups of 8 rats per group orally exposed to Roundup at 3.6mg/kg body weight(bw), 50.4mg/kgbw and 248.4mg/kgbw of glyphosate concentrations for 12 weeks while the control group was given distilled water. Serum level of reproductive hormone (testosterone, luteinizing hormone (LH), follicle stimulating hormone (FSH) and prolactin), oxidative stress indices in the testicular tissue, epididymal sperm morphology assessment and testicular histopathology of the rats were used as a diagnostic marker of reproductive dysfunction. Significant (p<0.05) alterations in the level of all the reproductive hormones and oxidative stress markers assayed were observed in rats exposed to Roundup. Significant reductions (p<0.05) in sperm count, percentage motility and significant (p<0.05) increased in abnormal sperm cells were observed in the exposed rats. Histopathologically, severe degenerative testicular architectural lesions were seen in the Roundup exposed rats. Roundup may interfere with spermatogenesis and impair fertility in male gonad. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier GmbH. All rights reserved.

Immunoreactivities for glutathione S-transferases and glutathione peroxidase in the lateral wall of pigmented and albino guinea pig cochlea.

PubMed

Fujimura, Takeyuki; Suzuki, Hideaki; Udaka, Tsuyoshi; Shiomori, Teruo; Mori, Takanori; Inaba, Tsuyoshi; Hiraki, Nobuaki; Kayashima, Kotaro; Doi, Yoshiaki

2008-09-01

Dark-skinned people are known to be more tolerant of ototraumatic noise than are light-skinned people, and pigmented animals are more tolerant of ototraumatic noise and aminoglycoside ototoxicity than are albino animals. Such tolerance may be dependent on the local ability of detoxification and antioxidant enzymes, including glutathione S-transferase (GST) and glutathione peroxidase (GSPx). In the present study, we examined the difference in GST/GSPx expression in the lateral wall of the cochlea between pigmented and albino guinea pigs. Eight-week-old male pigmented and albino guinea pigs were killed by transcardiac perfusion with 2% paraformaldehyde. The cochlear ducts were isolated, further fixed with 4% paraformaldehyde, decalcified, and then embedded in paraffin. Sections prepared at 5-microm thickness were incubated with anti-GST-alpha,-mu,-pi, or anti-GSPx antibody, reacted with Alexa Fluorconjugated secondary antibody, and examined under a Carl Zeiss Axioskop 2 plus fluorescence microscope. The cochlea ducts were also subjected to immunoelectron microscopy for GST-pi by the postembedment method. The stria vascularis of pigmented guinea pigs was strongly immunoreactive for GST-alpha,-mu,-pi, and GSPx, whereas no or only weak immunoreactivities were seen in the stria vascularis of albino guinea pigs. The spiral ligament showed positive but different immunoreactivities for these enzymes between the strains. Double-stained immunofluorescence micrographs for GST-pi and GSPx showed a close resemblance of localization between the two enzymes in both pigmented and albino guinea pigs. At the ultrastructural level, immunoreactivity for GST-pi was localized preferentially in the melanin cells of pigmented guinea pigs. These results suggest that correlation between pigmentation and inner ear susceptibility is, at least partially, attributed to the different distribution of GST/GSPx in the stria vascularis.

Effects of analogues of hydra peptide morphogen on DNA synthesis in the myocardium of newborn albino rats.

PubMed

Sazonova, E N; Yakovenko, I G; Kryzhanovskaya, S Yu; Budylev, A A; Timoshin, S S

2012-01-01

DNA-synthetic activity of myocardial cells was studied by (3)H-thymidine autoradiography in newborn albino rats after intraperitoneal injection of hydra peptide morphogen and its analogues. Administration of hydra peptide morphogen stimulated proliferative activity in the myocardium. Short analogues of hydra peptide morphogen, 6C and 3C peptides, produced a similar effect. Administration of arginine-containing analogue of hydra peptide morphogen significantly reduced the number of DNA-synthesizing nuclei in the ventricular myocardium of newborn albino rats. The role of the structure of the peptide molecule in the realization of the morphogenetic effects of hydra peptide morphogen is discussed.

Population structure and genomic inbreeding in nine Swiss dairy cattle populations.

PubMed

Signer-Hasler, Heidi; Burren, Alexander; Neuditschko, Markus; Frischknecht, Mirjam; Garrick, Dorian; Stricker, Christian; Gredler, Birgit; Bapst, Beat; Flury, Christine

2017-11-07

Domestication, breed formation and intensive selection have resulted in divergent cattle breeds that likely exhibit their own genomic signatures. In this study, we used genotypes from 27,612 autosomal single nucleotide polymorphisms to characterize population structure based on 9214 sires representing nine Swiss dairy cattle populations: Brown Swiss (BS), Braunvieh (BV), Original Braunvieh (OB), Holstein (HO), Red Holstein (RH), Swiss Fleckvieh (SF), Simmental (SI), Eringer (ER) and Evolèner (EV). Genomic inbreeding (F ROH ) and signatures of selection were determined by calculating runs of homozygosity (ROH). The results build the basis for a better understanding of the genetic development of Swiss dairy cattle populations and highlight differences between the original populations (i.e. OB, SI, ER and EV) and those that have become more popular in Switzerland as currently reflected by their larger populations (i.e. BS, BV, HO, RH and SF). The levels of genetic diversity were highest and lowest in the SF and BS breeds, respectively. Based on F ST values, we conclude that, among all pairwise comparisons, BS and HO (0.156) differ more than the other pairs of populations. The original Swiss cattle populations OB, SI, ER, and EV are clearly genetically separated from the Swiss cattle populations that are now more common and represented by larger numbers of cows. Mean levels of F ROH ranged from 0.027 (ER) to 0.091 (BS). Three of the original Swiss cattle populations, ER (F ROH : 0.027), OB (F ROH : 0.029), and SI (F ROH : 0.039), showed low levels of genomic inbreeding, whereas it was much higher in EV (F ROH : 0.074). Private signatures of selection for the original Swiss cattle populations are reported for BTA4, 5, 11 and 26. The low levels of genomic inbreeding observed in the original Swiss cattle populations ER, OB and SI compared to the other breeds are explained by a lesser use of artificial insemination and greater use of natural service. Natural service

[Variability in nursing workload within Swiss Diagnosis Related Groups].

PubMed

Baumberger, Dieter; Bürgin, Reto; Bartholomeyczik, Sabine

2014-04-01

Nursing care inputs represent one of the major cost components in the Swiss Diagnosis Related Group (DRG) structure. High and low nursing workloads in individual cases are supposed to balance out via the DRG group. Research results indicating possible problems in this area cannot be reliably extrapolated to SwissDRG. An analysis of nursing workload figures with DRG indicators was carried out in order to decide whether there is a need to develop SwissDRG classification criteria that are specific to nursing care. The case groups were determined with SwissDRG 0.1, and nursing workload with LEP Nursing 2. Robust statistical methods were used. The evaluation of classification accuracy was carried out with R2 as the measurement of variance reduction and the coefficient of homogeneity (CH). To ensure reliable conclusions, statistical tests with bootstrapping methods were performed. The sample included 213 groups with a total of 73930 cases from ten hospitals. The DRG classification was seen to have limited explanatory power for variability in nursing workload inputs, both for all cases (R2 = 0.16) and for inliers (R2 = 0.32). Nursing workload homogeneity was statistically significant unsatisfactory (CH < 0.67) in 123 groups, including 24 groups in which it was significant defective (CH < 0.60). Therefore, there is a high risk of high and low nursing workloads not balancing out in these groups, and, as a result, of financial resources being wrongly allocated. The development of nursing-care-specific SwissDRG classification criteria for improved homogeneity and variance reduction is therefore indicated.

Variation in animal response to different toxicants

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hilado, C. J.; Cumming, H. J.

1977-01-01

The variation in response of different lots of male Swiss albino mice to pyrolysis effluents from surgical cotton and from bisphenol A polycarbonate, and to pure carbon monoxide, is discussed. The variation appeared to be less with the pyrolysis gases from polycarbonate than with pure carbon monoxide.

A quantitative study of the effects of vasectomy on spermatogenesis in rats.

PubMed Central

McDonald, S W; Scothorne, R J

1988-01-01

A large sample of cross sectional profiles of seminiferous tubules from the left testes of five Albino Swiss rats 6 months after left unilateral vasectomy was compared with those of sham-operated controls. Using the classification of Leblond & Clermont (1952), based primarily on the morphology of the spermatids, the frequency of each stage of the seminiferous cycle was recorded. Profiles were also analysed for distension, reduction in epithelial area and changes in spermatocyte numbers. The lack of significant alterations in either the seminiferous cycle, the numbers of pachytene spermatocyte nuclei or epithelial area in the tubular profiles indicated that there was no alteration in spermatogenic rate after vasectomy. The lack of tubular distension, reduction in spermatocytes per unit length of perimeter or of the presence of mature spermatozoa at inappropriate stages of the cycle indicated the absence of sperm retention. The study makes clear that, at least in Albino Swiss rats 6 months after vasectomy, the apparently healthy tubules were indeed normal. PMID:3248969

Protein sequence annotation in the genome era: the annotation concept of SWISS-PROT+TREMBL.

PubMed

Apweiler, R; Gateau, A; Contrino, S; Martin, M J; Junker, V; O'Donovan, C; Lang, F; Mitaritonna, N; Kappus, S; Bairoch, A

1997-01-01

SWISS-PROT is a curated protein sequence database which strives to provide a high level of annotation, a minimal level of redundancy and high level of integration with other databases. Ongoing genome sequencing projects have dramatically increased the number of protein sequences to be incorporated into SWISS-PROT. Since we do not want to dilute the quality standards of SWISS-PROT by incorporating sequences without proper sequence analysis and annotation, we cannot speed up the incorporation of new incoming data indefinitely. However, as we also want to make the sequences available as fast as possible, we introduced TREMBL (TRanslation of EMBL nucleotide sequence database), a supplement to SWISS-PROT. TREMBL consists of computer-annotated entries in SWISS-PROT format derived from the translation of all coding sequences (CDS) in the EMBL nucleotide sequence database, except for CDS already included in SWISS-PROT. While TREMBL is already of immense value, its computer-generated annotation does not match the quality of SWISS-PROTs. The main difference is in the protein functional information attached to sequences. With this in mind, we are dedicating substantial effort to develop and apply computer methods to enhance the functional information attached to TREMBL entries.

Social inequality and smoking in young Swiss men: intergenerational transmission of cultural capital and health orientation.

PubMed

Schori, Dominik; Hofmann, Karen; Abel, Thomas

2014-04-01

Smoking is related to income and education and contributes to social inequality in morbidity and mortality. Socialisation theories focus on one's family of origin as regards acquisition of norms, attitudes and behaviours. Aim of this study is to assess associations of daily smoking with health orientation and academic track in young Swiss men. Further, to assess associations of health orientation and academic track with family healthy lifestyle, parents' cultural capital, and parents' economic capital. Cross-sectional data were collected during recruitment for compulsory military service in Switzerland during 2010 and 2011. A structural equation model was fitted to a sample of 18- to 25-year-old Swiss men (N = 10,546). Smoking in young adults was negatively associated with academic track and health orientation. Smoking was negatively associated with parents' cultural capital through academic track. Smoking was negatively associated with health orientation which in turn was positively associated with a healthy lifestyle in the family of origin. Results suggest two different mechanisms of intergenerational transmissions: first, the family transmission path of health-related dispositions, and secondly, the structural transmission path of educational inequality.

CMB seen through random Swiss Cheese

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lavinto, Mikko; Räsänen, Syksy

2015-10-01

We consider a Swiss Cheese model with a random arrangement of Lemaȋtre-Tolman-Bondi holes in ΛCDM cheese. We study two kinds of holes with radius rb=50 h-1 Mpc, with either an underdense or an overdense centre, called the open and closed case, respectively. We calculate the effect of the holes on the temperature, angular diameter distance and, for the first time in Swiss Cheese models, shear of the CMB . We quantify the systematic shift of the mean and the statistical scatter, and calculate the power spectra. In the open case, the temperature power spectrum is three orders of magnitude below the linear ISW spectrum. It is sensitive to the details of the hole, in the closed case the amplitude is two orders of magnitude smaller. In contrast, the power spectra of the distance and shear are more robust, and agree with perturbation theory and previous Swiss Cheese results. We do not find a statistically significant mean shift in the sky average of the angular diameter distance, and obtain the 95% limit |Δ DA/bar DA|lesssim 10-4. We consider the argument that areas of spherical surfaces are nearly unaffected by perturbations, which is often invoked in light propagation calculations. The closed case is consistent with this at 1σ, whereas in the open case the probability is only 1.4%.

Reimbursement of care for severe trauma under SwissDRG.

PubMed

Moos, Rudolf M; Sprengel, Kai; Jensen, Kai Oliver; Jentzsch, Thorsten; Simmen, Hans-Peter; Seifert, Burkhardt; Ciritsis, Bernhard; Neuhaus, Valentin; Volbracht, Jörk; Mehra, Tarun

2016-01-01

Treatment of patients with severe injuries is costly, with best results achieved in specialised care centres. However, diagnosis-related group (DRG)-based prospective payment systems have difficulties in depicting treatment costs for specialised care. We analysed reimbursement of care for severe trauma in the first 3 years after the introduction of the Swiss DRG reimbursement system (2012-2014). The study included all patients with solely basic insurance, hospital admission after 01.01.2011 and discharge in 2011 or 2012, who were admitted to the resuscitation room of the University Hospital of Zurich, aged ≥16 years and with an injury severity score (ISS) ≥16 (n = 364). Clinical, financial and administrative data were extracted from the electronic medical records. All cases were grouped into DRGs according to different SwissDRG versions. We considered results to be significant if p ≤0.002. The mean deficit decreased from 12 065 CHF under SwissDRG 1.0 (2012) to 2 902 CHF under SwissDRG 3.0 (2014). The main reason for the reduction of average deficits was a refinement of the DRG algorithm with a regrouping of 23 cases with an ISS ≥16 from MDC 01 to DRGs within MDC21A. Predictors of an increased total loss per case could be identified: for example, high total number of surgical interventions, surgeries on multiple anatomical regions or operations on the pelvis (p ≤0.002). Psychiatric diagnoses in general were also significant predictors of deficit per case (p<0.001). The reimbursement for care of severely injured patients needs further improvement. Cost neutral treatment was not possible under the first three versions of SwissDRG.

Beliefs and practices concerning twins, hermaphrodites, and albinos among the Bamana and Maninka of Mali.

PubMed

Imperato, Gavin H; Imperato, Pascal James

2006-06-01

The Bamana and Maninka of Mali greatly value twins, and have elaborated a range of cultural beliefs and practices to assure their survival. Rates of twinning among these two ethnic groups average from 15.2/1000 to 17.9/1000 births compared to 10.5/1000 births (without assisted reproduction) in the United States and Great Britain. Twins (flaniw) are regarded as extraordinary beings with unusual powers, and as a gift from the supreme deity. A small altar (sinzin) is maintained in the home of twins, and periodic sacrifices of chicken blood, kola nuts, millet paste and millet beer regularly made to assure their protection. Albinos (yéfeguéw) and true and pseudo-hermaphrodites (tyéténousotéw) are also considered twin beings. However, they are believed to be the result of aberrant parental social behavior. The Bamana and Maninka believe that all four groups (twins, albinos, hermaphrodites, and pseudo-harmaphrodites) are closely linked to Faro, an androgynous supernatural being who provides equilibrium in the world. Faro is the original albino and hermaphrodite who gave birth to the first pair of twins after self-impregnation. Whenever a twin dies, a small wooden statue is sculpted called a flanitokélé (twin that remains). This commemorative figure is kept close to the surviving twin, reflecting a belief in the inseparability of twins. Eventually, the surviving twin takes responsibility for the figure. When a surviving twin marries, another figure is often sculpted in the opposite sex from the deceased twin, and placed with the original sculpture. Such commemorative sculptures are not created upon the death of those who are albinos, hermaphrodites, or pseudo-hermaphrodites. In recent years, transformational belief patterns have evolved as increasing numbers of Bamana and Maninka embrace Islam. Traditional beliefs are often given Islamic myths of origin. However, even in this Islamic context, many practices that assure twin survival are maintained.

How did the swiss cheese plant get its holes?

PubMed

Muir, Christopher D

2013-02-01

Adult leaf fenestration in "Swiss cheese" plants (Monstera Adans.) is an unusual leaf shape trait lacking a convincing evolutionary explanation. Monstera are secondary hemiepiphytes that inhabit the understory of tropical rainforests, where photosynthesis from sunflecks often makes up a large proportion of daily carbon assimilation. Here I present a simple model of leaf-level photosynthesis and whole-plant canopy dynamics in a stochastic light environment. The model demonstrates that leaf fenestration can reduce the variance in plant growth and thereby increase geometric mean fitness. This growth-variance hypothesis also suggests explanations for conspicuous ontogenetic changes in leaf morphology (heteroblasty) in Monstera, as well as the absence of leaf fenestration in co-occurring juvenile tree species. The model provides a testable hypothesis of the adaptive significance of a unique leaf shape and illustrates how variance in growth rate could be an important factor shaping plant morphology and physiology.

Effects of gamma radiation on hard dental tissues of albino rats: investigation by light microscopy.

PubMed

El-Faramawy, Nabil; Ameen, Reham; El-Haddad, Khaled; El-Zainy, Medhat

2013-08-01

The present work aims at studying the effect of gamma radiation on the hard dental tissues. Eighty adult male albino rats with weights of about 250 g were used. The rats were irradiated at 0.2, 0.5, 1.0, 2.0, 4.0 and 6.0 Gy whole-body gamma doses. The effects on hard dental tissue samples were investigated after 48 h in histological and ground sections using light microscopy. Areas of acid phosphatase activity were detected using tartrate-resistant acid phosphatase (TRAP) stains. Observation of histological sections revealed disturbance in predentin thickness and odontoblastic layer as the irradiation dose increased. In cementum, widened cementocytes lacunae were occasionally detected even with low irradiated doses. On the other hand, relatively homogenous enamel was detected with darkened areas in enamel surface at doses over than 0.5 Gy. TRAP-positive cells were detected on the surface of the dentin of irradiated groups as well as cementum surface. Minimal detectable changes were observed in ground sections.

Behavioral Assessment of NIH Swiss Mice Acutely Intoxicated with Tetramethylenedisulfotetramine

PubMed Central

Flannery, Brenna M.; Silverman, Jill L.; Bruun, Donald A.; Puhger, Kyle R.; McCoy, Mark R.; Hammock, Bruce D.; Crawley, Jacqueline N.; Lein, Pamela J.

2014-01-01

Tetramethylenedisulfotetramine (TETS) is a potent convulsant poison that is thought to trigger seizures by inhibiting the function of the type A gamma-aminobutyric acid receptor (GABAAR). Acute intoxication with TETS can cause vomiting, convulsions, status epilepticus (SE) and even death. Clinical case reports indicate that individuals who survive poisoning may exhibit long-term neuropsychological issues and cognitive deficits. Therefore, the objective of this research was to determine whether a recently described mouse model of acute TETS intoxication exhibits persistent behavioral deficits. Young adult male NIH Swiss mice received a seizure-inducing dose of TETS (0.15 mg/kg, ip) and then were rescued from lethality by administration of diazepam (5 mg/kg, ip) approximately 20 min post-TETS-exposure. TETS-intoxicated mice typically exhibited 2 clonic seizures prior to administration of diazepam with no subsequent seizures post-diazepam injection as assessed using behavioral criteria. Seizures lasted an average of 72 seconds. Locomotor activity, anxiety-like and depression-relevant behaviors and cognition were assessed at 1 week, 1 month and 2 months post-TETS exposure using open field, elevated-plus maze, light↔dark transitions, tail suspension, forced swim and novel object recognition tasks. Interestingly, preliminary validation tests indicated that NIH Swiss mice do not respond to the shock in fear conditioning tasks. Subsequent evaluation of hot plate and tail flick nociception tasks revealed that this strain exhibits significantly decreased pain sensitivity relative to age- and sex-matched C57BL/6J mice, which displayed normal contextual fear conditioning. NIH Swiss mice acutely intoxicated with TETS exhibited no significant anxiety-related, depression-relevant, learning or memory deficits relative to vehicle controls at any of the time points assessed with the exception of significantly increased locomotor activity at 2 months post-TETS intoxication. The

Bacopa monniera Stabilized Silver Nanoparticles Attenuates Oxidative Stress Induced by Aluminum in Albino Mice.

PubMed

Mahitha, B; Deva Prasad Raju, B; Mallikarjuna, K; Durga Mahalakshmi, Ch N; Sushmal, N John

2015-02-01

In the recent years usage of nanomedicine plays a promising strategy in the improvement of medical treatment. The ecofriendly synthesized silver nanoparticles has introduced a new opportunity to increase the efficacy of drug by reducing its side effects. In the present study, we investigated the antioxidant property of Bacopa monniera stabilized silver nanoparticles against aluminum induced toxicity in albino mice. Forty male albino mice were randomly divided into five groups. First group was treated as control, second group received aluminum acetate (5 mg/kg b . w), third group received Bacopa monniera extract (5 mg/kg b . w), fourth group received BmSNPs (5 mg/kg b . w), fifth group received aluminum acetate plus BmSNPs. Exposure to aluminum acetate significantly increased lipid peroxidation levels with a significant decrease in the antioxidant enzymes such as superoxide dismutase, catalase and glutathione peroxidase activities in the brain, liver and kidney of mice. Degenerative changes were also observed in brain, liver and kidney of aluminum treated mice. No significant changes in the oxidative stress were observed in the Bacopa monniera and BmSNPs alone treated mice. Whereas, co-administration of BmSNPs to Al treated mice showed a significant decrease in lipid peroxidation levels with a significant increase of SOD, CAT and GPx indicating the antioxidant potential of nanoparticles and in counteracting Al induced oxidative stress and histological response in male albino mice. These findings clearly implicate that BmSNPs are able to eradicate the oxidative stress and prevent the tissue damage in aluminum exposed mice.

Hot cheese: a processed Swiss cheese model.

PubMed

Li, Y; Thimbleby, H

2014-01-01

James Reason's classic Swiss cheese model is a vivid and memorable way to visualise how patient harm happens only when all system defences fail. Although Reason's model has been criticised for its simplicity and static portrait of complex systems, its use has been growing, largely because of the direct clarity of its simple and memorable metaphor. A more general, more flexible and equally memorable model of accident causation in complex systems is needed. We present the hot cheese model, which is more realistic, particularly in portraying defence layers as dynamic and active - more defences may cause more hazards. The hot cheese model, being more flexible, encourages deeper discussion of incidents than the simpler Swiss cheese model permits.

Swiss Strategic Communication in the Defense Sector and Its Implications for Swiss Security Policy

DTIC Science & Technology

2017-12-01

rejected because of its projected higher costs compared to buying the fighter jets.392 Through a public -private partnership, the needed Gripens would...necessary military strategies, overall efficiency and coherence can be augmented to the benefit of national security, the public finances, and the...NAVAL POSTGRADUATE SCHOOL MONTEREY, CALIFORNIA THESIS Approved for public release. Distribution is unlimited. SWISS STRATEGIC

[Development of a set of nursing-sensitive indicators for Swiss practice].

PubMed

Kleinknecht-Dolf, Michael; Baumberger, Dieter; Jucker, Thomas; Kliem, Uwe; Zimmermann, Natalie; Spirig, Rebecca

2016-02-01

The SwissDRG prospective payment system is known to inadequately account for nursing intensity due to the DRG group criteria insufficiently describing the variability of nursing intensity within individual diagnosis-related groups. In order to allow for appropriate reimbursement and resource allocation, nursing intensity must be able to be explicitly quantified and accounted for. The aim of this project was to develop a set of nursing-sensitive indicators intended to reduce the variation within individual diagnosis-related groups, supplementary to existing SwissDRG group criteria. The approach comprised a variety of methods. A systematic literature review, input from an advisory board and an expert panel, as well as three focus group interviews with nurses and nurse managers formed the basis for the synthesis of data and information gathered from these sources. A set of 14 nursing-sensitive indicators was developed. The indicators are intended to improve the homogeneity of nursing intensity within SwissDRG diagnosis-related groups. Before these nursing indicators can be adopted as group criteria, they must be formulated to conform with SwissDRG and tested empirically. This set of indicators can be seen at as a first step towards nursing intensity being adequately represented in SwissDRG diagnosis-related groups. The next challenge to be met is operationalising the indicators in codable form.

Concentration of Swiss Elite Orienteers.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Seiler, Roland; Wetzel, Jorg

1997-01-01

A visual discrimination task was used to measure concentration among 43 members of Swiss national orienteering teams. Subjects were above average in the number of target objects dealt with and in duration of continuous concentration. For females only, ranking in orienteering performance was related to quality of concentration (ratio of correct to…

Cognitive and biochemical effects of monosodium glutamate and aspartame, administered individually and in combination in male albino mice.

PubMed

Abu-Taweel, Gasem M; A, Zyadah M; Ajarem, Jamaan S; Ahmad, Mohammad

2014-01-01

The present study was designed to investigate the in vivo effects of monosodium glutamate (MSG) and aspartame (ASM) individually and in combination on the cognitive behavior and biochemical parameters like neurotransmitters and oxidative stress indices in the brain tissue of mice. Forty male Swiss albino mice were randomly divided into four groups of ten each and were exposed to MSG and ASM through drinking water for one month. Group I was the control and was given normal tap water. Groups II and III received MSG (8 mg/kg) and ASM (32 mg/kg) respectively dissolved in tap water. Group IV received MSG and ASM together in the same doses. After the exposure period, the animals were subjected to cognitive behavioral tests in a shuttle box and a water maze. Thereafter, the animals were sacrificed and the neurotransmitters and oxidative stress indices were estimated in their forebrain tissue. Both MSG and ASM individually as well as in combination had significant disruptive effects on the cognitive responses, memory retention and learning capabilities of the mice in the order (MSG+ASM)>ASM>MSG. Furthermore, while MSG and ASM individually were unable to alter the brain neurotransmitters and the oxidative stress indices, their combination dose (MSG+ASM) decreased significantly the levels of neurotransmitters (dopamine and serotonin) and it also caused oxidative stress by increasing the lipid peroxides measured in the form of thiobarbituric acid-reactive substances (TBARS) and decreasing the level of total glutathione (GSH). Further studies are required to evaluate the synergistic effects of MSG and ASM on the neurotransmitters and oxidative stress indices and their involvement in cognitive dysfunctions. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Biochemical and immunological changes on oral glutamate feeding in male albino rats

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kumar, D.; Bansal, Anju; Thomas, Pauline; Sairam, M.; Sharma, S. K.; Mongia, S. S.; Singh, R.; Selvamurthy, W.

High altitude stress leads to lipid peroxidation and free radical formation which results in cell membrane damage in organs and tissues, and associated mountain diseases. This paper discusses the changes in biochemical parameters and antibody response on feeding glutamate to male albino Sprague Dawley rats under hypoxic stress. Exposure of rats to simulated hypoxia at 7576 m, for 6 h daily for 5 consecutive days, in an animal decompression chamber at 32+/-2° C resulted in an increase in plasma malondialdehyde level with a concomitant decrease in blood glutathione (reduced) level. Supplementation of glutamate orally at an optimal dose (27 mg/kg body weight) in male albino rats under hypoxia enhanced glutathione level and decreased malondialdehyde concentration significantly. Glutamate feeding improved total plasma protein and glucose levels under hypoxia. The activities of serum glutamate oxaloacetate transaminase (SGOT) and serum glutamate pyruvate transaminase (SGPT) and the urea level remained elevated on glutamate supplementation under hypoxia. Glutamate supplementation increased the humoral response against sheep red blood cells (antibody titre). These results indicate a possible utility of glutamate in the amelioration of hypoxia-induced oxidative stress.

Temperature-sensitive albino gene TCD5, encoding a monooxygenase, affects chloroplast development at low temperatures.

PubMed

Wang, Yufeng; Zhang, Jianhui; Shi, Xiaoliang; Peng, Yu; Li, Ping; Lin, Dongzhi; Dong, Yanjun; Teng, Sheng

2016-09-01

Chloroplasts are essential for photosynthesis and play critical roles in plant development. In this study, we characterized the temperature-sensitive chlorophyll-deficient rice mutant tcd5, which develops albino leaves at low temperatures (20 °C) and normal green leaves at high temperatures (32 °C). The development of chloroplasts and etioplasts is impaired in tcd5 plants at 20 °C, and the temperature-sensitive period for the albino phenotype is the P4 stage of leaf development. The development of thylakoid membranes is arrested at the mid-P4 stage in tcd5 plants at 20 °C. We performed positional cloning of TCD5 and then complementation and knock-down experiments, and the results showed that the transcript LOC_Os05g34040.1 from the LOC_Os05g34040 gene corresponded to the tcd5 phenotype. TCD5 encodes a conserved plastid-targeted monooxygenase family protein which has not been previously reported associated with a temperature-sensitive albino phenotype in plants. TCD5 is abundantly expressed in young leaves and immature spikes, and low temperatures increased this expression. The transcription of some genes involved in plastid transcription/translation and photosynthesis varied in the tcd5 mutant. Although the phenotype and temperature dependence of the TCD5 orthologous mutant phenotype were different in rice and Arabidopsis, OsTCD5 could rescue the phenotype of the Arabidopsis mutant, suggesting that TCD5 function is conserved between monocots and dicots. © The Author 2016. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Society for Experimental Biology.

Effect of Hawthorn (Crataegus aronia syn. Azarolus (L)) on platelet function in albino Wistar rats.

PubMed

Shatoor, Abdullah S; Soliman, Hesham; Al-Hashem, Fahaid; Gamal, Basiouny El-; Othman, Adel; El-Menshawy, Nadia

2012-07-01

This study was designed to investigate the possible antiplatelet effect of aqueous whole-plant C. aronia syn: Azarolus (L) extract using Wistar albino rats as a model. Forty-two male albino Wistar rats weighing 200 to 250 g were divided into seven groups with six rats in each group. Group 1 served as the control and received equal volumes of distilled water. Groups 2-6 served as the experimental groups and were given C. aronia extract at doses of 100, 200, 500, 1,000, and 2,000 mg/kg, while group 7 served as a positive control and was given aspirin (25mg/kg). All the doses were administered orally once a day and the treatment was continued for seven days. In all groups, at the end of the experimental procedure, blood samples were obtained for platelet function measurements, including PFA-100, thromboxane B2 levels, platelet count, and haematocrit. The bleeding time was determined using a modified tail cutting method described previously. The aqueous C. aronia syn. Azarolus (L) extract significantly altered the bleeding time and the closure time, as determined by the PFA-100 and thromboxane B2 levels, suggesting significant platelet function inhibition. These effects were observed with C. aronia doses between 100 - 500 mg/kg, which yielded thromboxane B2 levels of 1,000 mg/kg, whereas the higher dose (2,000 mg/kg) produced opposite effects on these parameters. C. aronia syn. Azarolus (L) aqueous extract has antiplatelet effects in Wistar albino rats. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Swiss roll nanomembranes with controlled proton diffusion as redox micro-supercapacitors.

PubMed

Ji, Hengxing; Mei, Yongfeng; Schmidt, Oliver G

2010-06-14

We demonstrate a redox Swiss roll micro-supercapacitor by rolling up a multilayered nanomembrane with an electrochemical active layer at either the outer or inner surface for different proton diffusion behaviors. The Swiss roll micro-supercapacitor could achieve high performance (e.g. capacity and life time) in a microscale power source and is helpful for studying charge transfer at the electrolyte/electrode interface.

Aggression as Positive Reinforcement in Mice under Various Ratio- and Time-Based Reinforcement Schedules

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

May, Michael E.; Kennedy, Craig H.

2009-01-01

There is evidence suggesting aggression may be a positive reinforcer in many species. However, only a few studies have examined the characteristics of aggression as a positive reinforcer in mice. Four types of reinforcement schedules were examined in the current experiment using male Swiss CFW albino mice in a resident-intruder model of aggression…

Martian "Swiss Cheese"

NASA Image and Video Library

2000-04-24

This image is illuminated by sunlight from the upper left. Looking like pieces of sliced and broken swiss cheese, the upper layer of the martian south polar residual cap has been eroded, leaving flat-topped mesas into which are set circular depressions such as those shown here. The circular features are depressions, not hills. The largest mesas here stand about 4 meters (13 feet) high and may be composed of frozen carbon dioxide and/or water. Nothing like this has ever been seen anywhere on Mars except within the south polar cap, leading to some speculation that these landforms may have something to do with the carbon dioxide thought to be frozen in the south polar region. On Earth, we know frozen carbon dioxide as "dry ice." On Mars, as this picture might be suggesting, there may be entire landforms larger than a small town and taller than 2 to 3 men and women that consist, in part, of dry ice. No one knows for certain whether frozen carbon dioxide has played a role in the creation of the "swiss cheese" and other bizarre landforms seen in this picture. The picture covers an area 3 x 9 kilometers (1.9 x 5.6 miles) near 85.6°S, 74.4°W at a resolution of 7.3 meters (24 feet) per pixel. This picture was taken by the Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) during early southern spring on August 3, 1999. http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA02367

Swiss Adolescents' and Adults' Perceptions of Cannabis Use: A Qualitative Study

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Menghrajani, P.; Klaue, K.; Dubois-Arber, F.; Michaud, P.-A.

2005-01-01

Few studies have attempted to investigate the nature of adolescents and adults conceptions and perceptions of cannabis use. Our objectives were to explore adolescent and adult perception of use and misuse of cannabis, and their opinions and beliefs about the current legal context and preventive strategies. We used focus group discussions with four…

Effect of GABAB receptor antagonists (CGP 35348 and CGP 55845) on serum interleukin 6 and 18 concentrations in albino mice following neonatal hypoxia ischemia insult.

PubMed

Gillani, Quratulane; Ali, Muhammad; Iqbal, Furhan

2016-09-01

Interleukin (IL) 6 and 18 plays an important role in inflammatory response following hypoxia ischemia encephalopathy (HIE). Present study was designed to demonstrate the effect of two GABAB receptor antagonists (CGP 35348 and 55845), respectively, on the serum IL6 and IL 18 concentrations in albino mice. Albino mice pups (of both genders) were subjected to Murine model of hypoxia-ischemia encephalopathy on postnatal day 10 (right common carotid artery was ligated followed by 8% hypoxia for 25 minutes). After neonatal brain damage and following weaning, mice were divided in three groups, in gender specific manner, and fed on normal rodent diet till they were 13 week old. At this time point, group 1 received intraperitonial saline solution (control group), group 2 was supplemented with CGP 35348 (1mg/ml solvent/Kg body weight) and group 3 with CGP 55845 (1mg/ml solvent/Kg body weight), intraperitonially, for 12 days and IL 6 and 18 concentrations were determined in serum by ELISA. It was observed that CGP 35348 supplementation resulted in reduced interlukin-6 and interlukin-18 concentrations in male albino mice. While CGP 55845 supplementation increased IL-6 and IL-18 concentrations in female albino mice following HIE. Our results are indicating that GABAB receptor antagonist's supplementation affects IL concentrations in albino mice in a gender specific manner following neonatal brain damage and can be further explored for the treatments of hypoxia ischemia associated neurological ailments.

The rat pink-eyed dilution (p) mutation: an identical intragenic deletion in pink-eye dilute-coat strains and several Wistar-derived albino strains.

PubMed

Kuramoto, Takashi; Gohma, Hiroshi; Kimura, Kunio; Wedekind, Dirk; Hedrich, Hans J; Serikawa, Tadao

2005-09-01

We identified the rat pink-eyed dilution (p) and pink eye Mishima (p(m)) mutations. The p(m) mutation, which was isolated from a wild rat caught in Mishima Japan in 1961 and is carried in the NIG-III strain, is a splice donor site mutation in intron 5. The p mutation, which was first described in 1914 and is carried in several p/p rats including the RCS and BDV strains, is an intragenic deletion including exons 17 and 18. In addition to RCS and BDV strains, several albino strains, KHR, KMI and WNA, all descendants of albino stock of the Wistar Institute, are homozygous for the p allele. Analyses revealed that the colored p strains and the Wistar-derived albino p strains had the same marker haplotype spanning approximately 4 Mb around the P locus. This indicates that these p strains share a common ancestor and the p allele did not arise independently via recurrent mutations. The historical relationship among the p strains suggests that the p deletion had been maintained in stock heterogeneous for the C and P loci and then was inherited independently by the ancestor of the Wistar albino stock and the ancestor of the pink-eyed agouti rats in Europe.

Common and Specific Protein Accumulation Patterns in Different Albino/Pale-Green Mutants Reveals Regulon Organization at the Proteome Level1[W

PubMed Central

Motohashi, Reiko; Rödiger, Anja; Agne, Birgit; Baerenfaller, Katja; Baginsky, Sacha

2012-01-01

Research interest in proteomics is increasingly shifting toward the reverse genetic characterization of gene function at the proteome level. In plants, several distinct gene defects perturb photosynthetic capacity, resulting in the loss of chlorophyll and an albino or pale-green phenotype. Because photosynthesis is interconnected with the entire plant metabolism and its regulation, all albino plants share common characteristics that are determined by the switch from autotrophic to heterotrophic growth. Reverse genetic characterizations of such plants often cannot distinguish between specific consequences of a gene defect from generic effects in response to perturbations in photosynthetic capacity. Here, we set out to define common and specific features of protein accumulation in three different albino/pale-green plant lines. Using quantitative proteomics, we report a common molecular phenotype that connects the loss of photosynthetic capacity with other chloroplast and cellular functions, such as protein folding and stability, plastid protein import, and the expression of stress-related genes. Surprisingly, we do not find significant differences in the expression of key transcriptional regulators, suggesting that substantial regulation occurs at the posttranscriptional level. We examine the influence of different normalization schemes on the quantitative proteomics data and report all identified proteins along with their fold changes and P values in albino plants in comparison with the wild type. Our analysis provides initial guidance for the distinction between general and specific adaptations of the proteome in photosynthesis-impaired plants. PMID:23027667

A scenario planning approach for disasters on Swiss road network

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mendes, G. A.; Axhausen, K. W.; Andrade, J. S.; Herrmann, H. J.

2014-05-01

We study a vehicular traffic scenario on Swiss roads in an emergency situation, calculating how sequentially roads block due to excessive traffic load until global collapse (gridlock) occurs and in this way displays the fragilities of the system. We used a database from Bundesamt für Raumentwicklung which contains length and maximum allowed speed of all roads in Switzerland. The present work could be interesting for government agencies in planning and managing for emergency logistics for a country or a big city. The model used to generate the flux on the Swiss road network was proposed by Mendes et al. [Physica A 391, 362 (2012)]. It is based on the conservation of the number of vehicles and allows for an easy and fast way to follow the formation of traffic jams in large systems. We also analyze the difference between a nonlinear and a linear model and the distribution of fluxes on the Swiss road.

[Main results of the Swiss study on DRGs (Casemix Study)].

PubMed

Casemix, E

1989-01-01

Sponsored by the Health Administrations of nine cantons, this study was conducted by the University Institute of Social and Preventive Medicine in Lausanne in order to assess how DRGs could be used within the Swiss context. A data base mainly provided by the Swiss VESKA statistics was used. The first step provided the transformation of Swiss diagnostic and intervention codes into US codes, allowing direct use of the Yale Grouper for DRG. The second step showed that the overall performance of DRG in terms of variability reduction of the length of stay was similar to the one observed in US; there are, however, problems when the homogeneity of medicotechnical procedures for DRG is considered. The third steps showed how DRG could be used as an account unit in hospital, and how costs per DRG could be estimated. Other examples of applications of DRG were examined, for example comparison of Casemix or length of stay between hospitals.

Radiocaesium transfer from volcanic soils to Swiss chard, cabbage and sweet corn.

PubMed

Schuller, Paulina; Castillo, Alejandra; Voigt, Gabriele; Semioshkina, Natalia

2018-06-18

The root uptake of radiocaesium by different plant parts of Swiss chard (Beta vulgaris L. var. cicla), cabbage (Brassica oleracea L. var. capitata) and sweet corn (Zea mays L. var. saccharata) and the potential influence of K-fertilising on the transfer behaviour was studied in allophanic volcanic soils (umbric andosol and dystric fluvisol) in Chile under temperate climate and heavy rainfall conditions (∼2660 mm y -1 ) over several vegetation periods. The soils were spiked homogeneously to 0.20 m depth with 100 kBq 134 Cs m -2 and activity concentrations measured. The transfer factor (TF, on a dry mass basis) to Swiss chard had a clear exponential decrease within each crop year for both soil types, either K-fertilised or unfertilised. The highest values of the TFs to Swiss chard were at the beginning of the harvests, and the half-times of TF decrease ranged between 52 and 137 d for umbric andosol and between 40 and 164 d for dystric fluvisol. Over the five seasons there was no consistent ageing effect based on TF in either soil types for the three studied crops. The effect of 134 Cs foliar uptake by Swiss chard from resuspended soil was estimated to account for about 70% (external leaves) and 30% (internal leaves) increase in the TF for the K-unfertilised umbric andosol, and showed an ambiguous behaviour for the K-fertilised umbric andosol. Consequently foliar uptake does not explain the 370 and 500% increase of the TF to Swiss chard leaves determined during the third growing period in the umbric andosol without and with K-fertilisation, respectively. Therefore an uncertainty factor of 3-5 is recommended to be taken into account when using this parameter for dose calculations. The TF to Swiss chard was found to be higher than previously reported values. The TF to cabbage and sweet corn plant parts was found to be within the range of previously reported values. Normal K-fertilisation resulted in about 2.4-fold reduction in 134 Cs TF to Swiss chard, 2

Anti-inflammatory activities of Aller-7, a novel polyherbal formulation for allergic rhinitis.

PubMed

Pratibha, N; Saxena, V S; Amit, A; D'Souza, P; Bagchi, M; Bagchi, D

2004-01-01

Allergic rhinitis is an immunological disorder and an inflammatory response of nasal mucosal membranes. Allergic rhinitis, a state of hypersensitivity, occurs when the body overreacts to a substance such as pollens or dust. A novel, safe polyherbal formulation (Aller-7/NR-A2) has been developed for the treatment of allergic rhinitis using a unique combination of extracts from seven medicinal plants including Phyllanthus emblica, Terminalia chebula, Terminalia bellerica, Albizia lebbeck, Piper nigrum, Zingiber officinale and Piper longum. Since inflammation is an integral mechanistic component of allergy, the present study aimed to determine the anti-inflammatory activity of Aller-7 in various in vivo models. The efficacy of Aller-7 was investigated in compound 48/80-induced paw edema both in Balb/c mice and Swiss Albino mice, carrageenan-induced paw edema in Wistar Albino rats and Freund's adjuvant-induced arthritis in Wistar Albino rats. The trypsin inhibitory activity of Aller-7 was also determined and compared with ovomucoid. At a dose of 250 mg/kg, Aller-7 demonstrated 62.55% inhibition against compound 48/80-induced paw edema in Balb/c mice, while under the same conditions prednisolone at an oral dose of 14 mg/kg exhibited 44.7% inhibition. Aller-7 significantly inhibited compound 48/80-induced paw edema at all three doses of 175, 225 or 275 mg/kg in Swiss Albino mice, while the most potent effect was observed at 225 mg/kg. Aller-7 (120 mg/kg, p.o.) demonstrated 31.3% inhibition against carrageenan-induced acute inflammation in Wistar Albino rats, while ibuprofen (50 mg/kg, p.o.) exerted 68.1% inhibition. Aller-7 also exhibited a dose-dependent (150-350 mg/kg) anti-inflammatory effect against Freund's adjuvant-induced arthritis in Wistar Albino rats and an approximately 63% inhibitory effect was observed at a dose of 350 mg/kg. The trypsin inhibitory activity of Aller-7 was determined, using ovomucoid as a positive control. Ovomucoid and Aller-7 demonstrated

Receptive Multilingualism in the Swiss Army

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Berthele, Raphael; Wittlin, Gabriele

2013-01-01

In this paper a particular context where receptive multilingualism at work can be observed is discussed. The Swiss armed forces underwent a series of quite dramatic downsizing measures, which lead to a situation with increased amount of mixed groups and linguistically mixed situations regarding the first/native language of officers and the…

Effect of extract of Hibiscus on the ultrastructure of the testis in adult mice.

PubMed

Mahmoud, Yomna Ibrahim

2012-07-01

Hibiscus sabdariffa extract is a popular beverage in many tropical and sub-tropical countries. Although, Hibiscus tea is known for its medicinal effects for thousands of years, scientific evidence of its systemic safety is very limited. The current study aimed to assess the potential adverse effects of H. sabdariffa extract on sperm morphology and testicular ultrastructure of albino mice. Thirty adult male albino mice were divided into three equal groups and were given: (a) distilled water, (b) cold Hibiscus aqueous extract, and (c) boiled Hibiscus aqueous extract. Hibiscus extract was administered orally daily for 4 weeks in a dose of 200 mg/kg body weight/mouse. Twenty-four hours after the last treatment, mice were decapitated and the testes and epididymides were excised and processed for transmission electron microscopy to assess ultrastructural and sperm abnormalities. The results clearly demonstrate that aqueous extracts from dried calyx of H. sabdariffa, either cold or boiled, alter normal sperm morphology and testicular ultrastructure and adversely influence the male reproductive fertility in albino mice. The current data suggest that Hibiscus extract should be consumed with caution, and reasonable estimates of the human risk associated with its consumption should be provided. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier GmbH. All rights reserved.

Trapezius Muscle Load, Heart Rate and Time Pressure during Day and Night Shift in Swiss and Japanese Nurses

PubMed Central

NICOLETTI, Corinne; MÜLLER, Christian; TOBITA, Itoko; NAKASEKO, Masaru; LÄUBLI, Thomas

2014-01-01

The aim of the present study was to analyze the activity of the trapezius muscle, the heart rate and the time pressure of Swiss and Japanese nurses during day and night shifts. The parameters were measured during a day and a night shift of 17 Swiss and 22 Japanese nurses. The observed rest time of the trapezius muscle was longer for Swiss than for Japanese nurses during both shifts. The 10th and the 50th percentile of the trapezius muscle activity showed a different effect for Swiss than for Japanese nurses. It was higher during the day shift of Swiss nurses and higher during the night shift of Japanese nurses. Heart rate was higher for both Swiss and Japanese nurses during the day. The time pressure was significantly higher for Japanese than for Swiss nurses. Over the duration of the shifts, time pressure increased for Japanese nurses and slightly decreased for those from Switzerland. Considering trapezius muscle activity and time pressure, the nursing profession was more burdening for the examined Japanese nurses than for Swiss nurses. In particular, the night shift for Japanese nurses was characterized by a high trapezius muscle activity and only few rest times for the trapezius muscle. PMID:24633074

Trapezius muscle load, heart rate and time pressure during day and night shift in Swiss and Japanese nurses.

PubMed

Nicoletti, Corinne; Müller, Christian; Tobita, Itoko; Nakaseko, Masaru; Läubli, Thomas

2014-01-01

The aim of the present study was to analyze the activity of the trapezius muscle, the heart rate and the time pressure of Swiss and Japanese nurses during day and night shifts. The parameters were measured during a day and a night shift of 17 Swiss and 22 Japanese nurses. The observed rest time of the trapezius muscle was longer for Swiss than for Japanese nurses during both shifts. The 10th and the 50th percentile of the trapezius muscle activity showed a different effect for Swiss than for Japanese nurses. It was higher during the day shift of Swiss nurses and higher during the night shift of Japanese nurses. Heart rate was higher for both Swiss and Japanese nurses during the day. The time pressure was significantly higher for Japanese than for Swiss nurses. Over the duration of the shifts, time pressure increased for Japanese nurses and slightly decreased for those from Switzerland. Considering trapezius muscle activity and time pressure, the nursing profession was more burdening for the examined Japanese nurses than for Swiss nurses. In particular, the night shift for Japanese nurses was characterized by a high trapezius muscle activity and only few rest times for the trapezius muscle.

Transcatheter renal denervation for the treatment of resistant arterial hypertension: the Swiss expert consensus.

PubMed

Wuerzner, Gregoire; Muller, Olivier; Erne, Paul; Cook, Stéphane; Sudano, Isabella; Lüscher, Thomas F; Noll, Georg; Kaufmann, Urs; Rickli, Hans; Waeber, Bernard; Kaiser, Christophe; Sticherling, Christian; Pechère-Bertschi, Antoinette; Baumgartner, Iris; Jacob, Augustinus L; Burnier, Michel; Qanadli, Salah D

2014-03-20

Transcatheter (or percutaneous) renal denervation is a novel technique developed for the treatment of resistant hypertension. So far, only one randomised controlled trial has been published, which has shown a reduction of office blood pressure. The Swiss Society of Hypertension, the Swiss Society of Cardiology, The Swiss Society of Angiology and the Swiss Society of Interventional Radiology decided to establish recommendations to practicing physicians and specialists for good clinical practice. The eligibility of patients for transcatheter renal denervation needs (1.) confirmation of truly resistant hypertension, (2.) exclusion of secondary forms of hypertension, (3.) a multidisciplinary decision confirming the eligibility, (4.) facilities that guarantee procedural safety and (5.) a long-term follow-up of the patients, if possible in cooperation with a hypertension specialist. These steps are essential until long-term data on safety and efficacy are available.

Diuretic Activity of Ethanolic Root Extract of Mimosa Pudica in Albino Rats

PubMed Central

SL, Shruthi; PS, Vaibhavi; VH, Pushpa; AM, Satish; Sibgatullah, Mohammad

2015-01-01

Introducation Diuretics are the drugs which increase the urine output. This property is useful in various pathological conditions of fluid overload. The presently available diuretics have lot of adverse effects. Our study has evaluated the diuretic activity of ethanolic root extract of Mimosa pudica as an alternative/new drug which may induce diuresis. Aim To evaluate the diuretic activity of ethanolic root extract of Mimosa pudicaa in albino rats. Materials and Methods Ethanolic root extract of Mimosa pudica (EEMP) was prepared using soxhlet’s apparatus. Albino rats were divided into 5 groups of 6 rats each. Group-I (Control) received distilled water 25ml/kg orally. Group-II (Standard) received Furosemide 20mg/kg orally. Group-III received EEMP 100 mg/kg, Group-IV received EEMP 200 mg/kg and Group-V received EEMP 400 mg/kg. The urine samples were collected for all the groups upto 5 hours after dosing and urine volume was measured. Urine was analysed for electrolytes (Na+, K+ and Cl-). ANOVA, Dunnet’s test and p-values were measured and data was analysed. Results EEMP exhibited significant diuretic activity by increasing urine volume and also by enhancing elimination of Sodium (Na+), Potassium (K+) and Chloride (Cl-) at doses of 100 and 200mg/kg. Conclusion EEMP possesses significant diuretic activity and has a beneficial role in volume overload conditions. PMID:26870704

Low prevalence of Chlamydia trachomatis infection in asymptomatic young Swiss men.

PubMed

Baud, David; Jaton, Katia; Bertelli, Claire; Kulling, Jean-Pierre; Greub, Gilbert

2008-04-12

Prevalence and risk factors for Chlamydia trachomatis infection among young men in Switzerland is still unknown. The objective of the present study was to assess prevalence and risk factors for C. trachomatis infection in young Swiss men. 517 young Swiss men were enrolled in this cross-sectional study during their compulsory military recruitment. Participants completed a questionnaire and gave urine samples which were screened for C. trachomatis DNA by PCR. Genotyping of positive samples was done by amplification and sequencing the ompA gene. The prevalence of chlamydial infection among young Swiss male was 1.2% (95% confidence interval [95%CI], 0.4-2.5%). C. trachomatis infection was only identified among the 306 men having multiple sexual partner. Although frequent, neither unprotected sex (absence of condom use), nor alcohol and drug abuse were associated with chlamydial infection. Men living in cities were more frequently infected (2.9%, 95%CI 0.8-7.4%) than men living in rural areas (0.5%, 95%CI 0.1-1.9%, p = 0.046). Moreover, naturalised Swiss citizens were more often positive (4.9%, 95%CI 1.3-12.5%) than native-born Swiss men (0.5%, 95%CI 0.1-1.7%, p = 0.003). In comparison with other countries, the prevalence of chlamydial infection in men is extremely low in Switzerland, despite a significant prevalence of risky sexual behaviour. C. trachomatis infection was especially prevalent in men with multiple sexual partners. Further research is required (i) to define which subgroup of the general population should be routinely screened, and (ii) to test whether such a targeted screening strategy will be effective to reduce the prevalence of chlamydial infection among this population.

Genetics studies involving Swiss needle cast.

Treesearch

R. Johnson; F. Temel; K. Jayawickrama

2002-01-01

Three studies were analyzed this year that examined genetic aspects of Swiss needle cast (SNC) tolerance . Families sampled across the Siuslaw National forest showed differences in foliage health traits, but very little of the variation could be explained by environmental or climatic conditions at the parent tree location. Five test sites of the Nehalem series of...

Improvement of sperm density in neem-oil induced infertile male albino rats by Ipomoea digitata Linn.

PubMed

Mahajan, Ghanashyam Keshav; Mahajan, Raghunath Totaram; Mahajan, Arun Y

2015-01-01

Investigation has been carried out to validate folkloric claim of the potential of Ipomoea digitata (ID) based on reproductive health status in experimentally induced male albino rats. Emulsified neem oil fed albino rats were orally administered root powder of ID suspended in water for the doses of 250 and 500 mg/kg body weight for 40 days. Change in organ weight, sperm density and motility, serum hormonal levels and histomorphological changes were evaluated. Significant increase in the sperm density and the sperm motility (P < 0.01) along with increase in the testis, and epididymes weight in neem-oil induced infertile rats treated with ID at both dose levels. This effect is vis-à-vis to serum hormonal levels. Presence of β-sitosterol in the root of ID likely to enhance the process of spermatogenesis as it is evident from histomorphological studies. Results of the present investigation reveal that ID is a good candidate for the management of male infertility.

Electromyographic analysis of upper body, lower body, and abdominal muscles during advanced Swiss ball exercises.

PubMed

Marshall, Paul W M; Desai, Imtiaz

2010-06-01

Although there is now some evidence examining the use of a Swiss ball during core stability and resistance exercises, this has commonly been performed using basic or isometric exercises. There is currently no evidence examining more advanced Swiss ball exercises. The purpose of this study was to determine whether or not muscle activity measured during advanced Swiss ball exercises was at an approximate intensity recommended for strength or endurance training in advanced, or novice individuals. After a familiarization session, 14 recreationally active subjects performed 6 different "advanced" Swiss ball exercises in a randomized order. The primary dependent variables in this study were the activity levels collected from anterior deltoid, pectoralis major, rectus abdominis (RA), external obliques, lumbar erector spinae, vastus lateralis (VL), and biceps femoris using surface electromyography. All signals were normalized to maximal voluntary isometric contractions performed before testing for each muscle. The results of this study showed that the Swiss ball roll elicited muscle activity in triceps brachii (72.5+/-32.4%) and VL (83.6+/-44.2%) commensurate with the intensity recommended for strength exercises in advanced trainers. Rectus abdominis activity was greatest during the bridge exercise (61.3+/-28.5%, pSwiss ball exercise providing a significant whole-body stimulus, the practical difficulty and risks of performing these more complicated Swiss ball exercises may outweigh potential benefits.

Royal jelly modulates oxidative stress and tissue injury in gamma irradiated male Wister Albino rats.

PubMed

Azab, Khaled Shaaban; Bashandy, Mohamed; Salem, Mahmoud; Ahmed, Osama; Tawfik, Zaki; Helal, Hamed

2011-06-01

Royal jelly is a nutritive secretion produced by the worker bees, rich in proteins, carbohydrates, vitamins and minerals. The present study was designed to determine the possible protective effects of royal jelly against radiation induced oxidative stress, hematological, biochemical and histological alterations in male Wister albino rats. Male Wister albino rats were exposed to a fractionated dose of gamma radiation (2 Gy every 3 days up to 8 Gy total doses). Royal jelly was administrated (g/Kg/day) by gavages 14 days before exposure to the 1(st) radiation fraction and the treatment was continued for 15 days after the 1(st) irradiation fraction till the end of the experiment. The rats were sacrificed 3(rd), equivalent to 3rd post 2nd irradiation fraction, and equivalent to 3rd day post last irradiation fraction. In the present study, gamma- irradiation induced hematological, biochemical and histological effects in male Wister albino rats. In royal jelly treated irradiated group, there was a noticeable decrease recorded in thiobarbituric reactive substances concentration when compared to γ-irradiated group. Also, the serum nitric oxide concentration was significantly improved. The administration of royal jelly to irradiated rats according to the current experimental design significantly ameliorates the changes induced in serum lipid profile. Moreover, in royal jelly treated irradiated group, there was a noticeable amelioration recorded in all hematological parameters along the three experimental intervals. The microscopic examination of cardiac muscle of royal jelly treated irradiated rats demonstrated structural amelioration, improved nuclei and normal features of capillaries and veins in endomysium when compared to gamma-irradiated rats. It was suggested that the biochemical, hematological and histological amelioration observed in royal jelly (g/Kg/day) treated irradiated rats might be due to the antioxidant capacity of royal jelly active constituents.

Surface elevation and mass changes of all Swiss glaciers 1980-2010

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fischer, M.; Huss, M.; Hoelzle, M.

2015-03-01

Since the mid-1980s, glaciers in the European Alps have shown widespread and accelerating mass losses. This article presents glacier-specific changes in surface elevation, volume and mass balance for all glaciers in the Swiss Alps from 1980 to 2010. Together with glacier outlines from the 1973 inventory, the DHM25 Level 1 digital elevation models (DEMs) for which the source data over glacierized areas were acquired from 1961 to 1991 are compared to the swissALTI3D DEMs from 2008 to 2011 combined with the new Swiss Glacier Inventory SGI2010. Due to the significant differences in acquisition dates of the source data used, mass changes are temporally homogenized to directly compare individual glaciers or glacierized catchments. Along with an in-depth accuracy assessment, results are validated against volume changes from independent photogrammetrically derived DEMs of single glaciers. Observed volume changes are largest between 2700 and 2800 m a.s.l. and remarkable even above 3500 m a.s.l. The mean geodetic mass balance is -0.62 ± 0.07 m w.e. yr-1 for the entire Swiss Alps over the reference period 1980-2010. For the main hydrological catchments, it ranges from -0.52 to -1.07 m w.e. yr-1. The overall volume loss calculated from the DEM differencing is -22.51 ± 1.76 km3.

Surface elevation and mass changes of all Swiss glaciers 1980-2010

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fischer, M.; Huss, M.; Hoelzle, M.

2014-08-01

Since the mid-1980s, glaciers in the European Alps have shown widespread and accelerating mass losses. This article presents glacier-specific changes in surface elevation, volume and mass balance for all glaciers in the Swiss Alps from 1980 to 2010. Together with glacier outlines from the 1973 inventory, the DHM25 Level 1 Digital Elevation Models (DEMs) for which the source data over glacierized areas was acquired from 1961 to 1991 are compared to the swissALTI3D DEMs from 2008-2011 combined with the new Swiss Glacier Inventory SGI2010. Due to the significant differences in acquisition date of the source data used, resulting mass changes are temporally homogenized to directly compare individual glaciers or glacierized catchments. Along with an in-depth accuracy assessment, results are validated against volume changes from independent photogrammetrically derived DEMs of single glaciers. Observed volume changes are largest between 2700-2800 m a.s.l. and remarkable even above 3500 m a.s.l. The mean geodetic mass balance is -0.62 ± 0.03 m w.e. yr-1 for the entire Swiss Alps over the reference period 1980-2010. For the main hydrological catchments, it ranges from -0.52 to -1.07 m w.e. yr-1. The overall volume loss calculated from the DEM differencing is -22.51 ± 0.97 km3.

Swiss-cheese models and the Dyer-Roeder approximation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fleury, Pierre

2014-06-01

In view of interpreting the cosmological observations precisely, especially when they involve narrow light beams, it is crucial to understand how light propagates in our statistically homogeneous, clumpy, Universe. Among the various approaches to tackle this issue, Swiss-cheese models propose an inhomogeneous spacetime geometry which is an exact solution of Einstein's equation, while the Dyer-Roeder approximation deals with inhomogeneity in an effective way. In this article, we demonstrate that the distance-redshift relation of a certain class of Swiss-cheese models is the same as the one predicted by the Dyer-Roeder approach, at a well-controlled level of approximation. Both methods are therefore equivalent when applied to the interpretation of, e.g., supernova obervations. The proof relies on completely analytical arguments, and is illustrated by numerical results.

A study of the toxicology of pyrolysis gases from synthetic polymers

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Young, W.; Hilado, C. J.; Kourtides, D. A.; Parker, J. A.

1976-01-01

An apparatus and procedure for evaluating the toxicity of pyrolysis gases from synthetic polymers are described. In each test, four Swiss albino mice are exposed in a 5-liter chamber to the gases from materials pyrolyzed at 700 C. The apparatus is simple in design, easy to clean, inexpensive and gives reproducible results. Data on several fluorine-containing and polyamide polymers are presented.

Martian 'Swiss Cheese'

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

2000-01-01

This image is illuminated by sunlight from the upper left.

Looking like pieces of sliced and broken swiss cheese, the upper layer of the martian south polar residual cap has been eroded, leaving flat-topped mesas into which are set circular depressions such as those shown here. The circular features are depressions, not hills. The largest mesas here stand about 4 meters (13 feet) high and may be composed of frozen carbon dioxide and/or water. Nothing like this has ever been seen anywhere on Mars except within the south polar cap, leading to some speculation that these landforms may have something to do with the carbon dioxide thought to be frozen in the south polar region. On Earth, we know frozen carbon dioxide as 'dry ice'. On Mars, as this picture might be suggesting, there may be entire landforms larger than a small town and taller than 2 to 3 men and women that consist, in part, of dry ice.

No one knows for certain whether frozen carbon dioxide has played a role in the creation of the 'swiss cheese' and other bizarre landforms seen in this picture. The picture covers an area 3 x 9 kilometers (1.9 x 5.6 miles) near 85.6oS, 74.4oW at a resolution of 7.3 meters (24 feet) per pixel. This picture was taken by the Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) during early southern spring on August 3, 1999.

Malin Space Science Systems and the California Institute of Technology built the MOC using spare hardware from the Mars Observer mission. MSSS operates the camera from its facilities in San Diego, CA. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory's Mars Surveyor Operations Project operates the Mars Global Surveyor spacecraft with its industrial partner, Lockheed Martin Astronautics, from facilities in Pasadena, CA and Denver, CO.

Generating Chimeric Mice by Using Embryos from Nonsuperovulated BALB/c Mice Compared with Superovulated BALB/c and Albino C57BL/6 Mice.

PubMed

Esmail, Michael Y; Qi, Peimin; Connor, Aurora Burds; Fox, James G; García, Alexis

2016-01-01

The reliable generation of high-percentage chimeras from gene-targeted C57BL/6 embryonic stem cells has proven challenging, despite optimization of cell culture and microinjection techniques. To improve the efficiency of this procedure, we compared the generation of chimeras by using 3 different inbred, albino host, embryo-generating protocols: BALB/cAnNTac (BALB/c) donor mice superovulated at 4 wk of age, 12-wk-old BALB/c donor mice without superovulation, and C57BL/6NTac-Tyr(tm1Arte) (albino B6) mice superovulated at 4 wk of age. Key parameters measured included the average number of injectable embryos per donor, the percentage of live pups born from the total number of embryos transferred to recipients, and the number of chimeric pups with high embryonic-stem-cell contribution by coat color. Although albino B6 donors produced significantly more injectable embryos than did BALB/c donors, 12-wk-old BALB/c donor produced high-percentage (at least 70%) chimeras more than 2.5 times as often as did albino B6 mice and 20 times more efficiently than did 4-wk-old BALB/c donors. These findings clearly suggest that 12-wk-old BALB/c mice be used as blastocyst donors to reduce the number of mice used to generate each chimera, reduce the production of low-percentage chimeras, and maximize the generation of high-percentage chimeras from C57BL/6 embryonic stem cells.

Effect of parsley (Petroselinum crispum, Apiaceae) juice against cadmium neurotoxicity in albino mice (Mus musculus).

PubMed

Maodaa, Saleh N; Allam, Ahmed A; Ajarem, Jamaan; Abdel-Maksoud, Mostafa A; Al-Basher, Gadah I; Wang, Zun Yao

2016-02-04

Parsley was employed as an experimental probe to prevent the behavioral, biochemical and morphological changes in the brain tissue of the albino mice following chronic cadmium (Cd) administration. Non-anesthetized adult male mice were given parsley juice (Petroselinum crispum, Apiaceae) daily by gastric intubation at doses of 10 and 20 g/kg/day. The animals were divided into six groups: Group A, mice were exposed to saline; Groups B and C, were given low and high doses of parsley juice, respectively; Group D, mice were exposed to Cd; Groups E and F, were exposed to Cd and concomitantly given low and high doses of parsley, respectively. Cd intoxication can cause behavioral abnormalities, biochemical and histopathological disturbances in treated mice. Parsley juice has significantly improved the Cd-associated behavioral changes, reduced the elevation of lipid peroxidation and normalized the Cd effect on reduced glutathione and peroxidase activities in the brain of treated mice. Histological data have supported these foundations whereas Cd treatment has induced neuronal degeneration, chromatolysis and pyknosis in the cerebrum, cerebellum and medulla oblongata. The low dose (5 g/kg/day) of parsley exhibited beneficial effects in reducing the deleterious changes associated with Cd treatment on the behavior, neurotransmitters level, oxidative stress and brain neurons of the Cd-treated mice.

Is the swiss health care system a model for the United States?

PubMed

Chaufan, Claudia

2014-01-01

Both supporters and critics of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) have argued that it is similar to Switzerland's Federal Law on Health Insurance (LAMal), which currently governs Swiss health care, and have either praised or condemned the ACA on the basis of this alleged similarity. I challenge these observers on the grounds that they overlook critical problems with the Swiss model, such as its inequities in access, and critical differences between it and the ACA, such as the roots in, and continuing commitment to, social insurance of the Swiss model. Indeed, the daunting challenge of attempting to impose the tightly regulated model of operation of the Swiss model on mega-corporations like UnitedHealth, WellPoint, or Aetna is likely to trigger no less ferocious resistance than a fully public, single-payer system would. I also conclude that the ACA might unravel in ways unintended or even opposed by its designers and supporters, as employers, confronted with ever-rising costs, retreat from sponsoring insurance, and workers react in outrage as they confront the unaffordable underinsurance mandated by the ACA. A new political and ideological landscape may then ensue that finally ushers in a truly national health program.

Effect of caricapryl-99 seed alkaloid extract on the serum levels of sex hormones and pituitary gonadotrophins in male albino rats.

PubMed

Udoh, P B; Udoh, F V; Umoren, E B; James, U W; Okeke, C P; Agwu, B

2009-06-01

Activity of alkaloid extract of caricapryl-99 seeds [Carica papaya Linn seeds] on the serum levels of steroid hormones was studied in adult male albino rats. Three tolerated doses obtained from the graph of percentage toxicity [10, 50 and 150 mg/kg] were separately administered orally, daily for three days to three groups of male rats [n=5] while group four of 5 rats received the vehicle [corn oil] as control. The results showed that 10 mg/kg/d caused increase serum levels of FSH and estrogen but decrease in the serum levels of LH and testosterone compared to control; 50 mg/kg/d elevated the serum levels of FSH, estrogen but inhibited testosterone; while 150 mg/kg/d pretreatments caused a significant decrease [p<0.01] in the serum levels of FSH, LH and testosterone. The results suggest that caricapryl-99 treatment inhibited the serum level of the androgen, testosterone which might result in a male infertility.

Reproductive activities of Heliotropium indicum isolate against Helopeltis theivora and toxicity evaluation in mice.

PubMed

Dolui, A K; Debnath, Manabendra; De, B; Kumar, Atul

2012-05-01

A new compound E was isolated from the methanolic extract of the leaves of Heliotropium indicum by chromatographic fractionation. In the present study, the effect of the compound E on reproduction of Helopeltis theivora has been evaluated. The acute toxicity study (LD50) and sub-acute toxicity studies (haematological, biochemical and histopathological parameters) in albino Swiss mice were carried out to evaluate the safety aspect of the compound E. The compound showed significant inhibitory effect on the reproductive life of H. theivora. The oviposition period, fecundity and hatching percentage of H. theivora were found to be 15.67 days, 39.33 and 28.00% respectively after treatment with 2% compound E, whereas the control value were found to be 20.33 days, 77.67 and 77.33% respectively. The LD50 of the compound was found to be 780 mg kg(-1) in Swiss albino female mice. The compound did not show any toxicity in mice at sub-lethal dose treatment (78 mg kg(-1) b. wt., once daily) for 21 days as evident from different haematological, biochemical and histopathological parameters in compound E treated group when compared with control.

Different roles of retinal dopamine in albino Guinea pig myopia.

PubMed

Mao, Junfeng; Liu, Shuangzhen

2017-02-03

To investigate whether the different role of ocular dopamine was involved in the myopic development between spontaneous myopia (SM) and form deprivation myopia (FDM) in albino guinea pigs. 55 myopic animals were randomly divided into SM, Levodapa (L-DOPA), L-DOPA+carbidopa and vehicle. 70 non-myopic animals were randomly divided into normal control, FDM, L-DOPA+FDM, L-DOPA+carbidopa+FDM and vehicle. Once per day, for 14days, L-DOPA (10mg/kg) was injected intraperitoneally, and carbidopa (1μg) was injected at the same time into the peribulbar space of the right eye. Refractive parameters and dopamine content in neural retina and RPE/choroid complex were measured. In SM animals, high myopia was formed at 5 week of ages. L-DOPA treatment could reduce its myopic degree, and inhibit the increase of axial length and vitreous chamber depth with the increase of retinal dopamine in both eyes. Administration of carbidopa could prevent the increase of retinal dopamine induced by L-DOPA, but no influenced on its refractive state in the injected eyes. In non-SM animals, intraperitoneal L-DOPA could inhibit FDM, accompanied by the increase of retinal dopamine. Carbidopa treatment diminished the inhibition of FDM and prevented the increase in retinal dopamine by L-Dopa. Retinal dopamine was highly correlated with ocular refraction in FDM, but not in SM. There was no significant difference in dopamine content of RPE/choroid complex among all groups. The role of retinal dopamine was different between SM and FDM in albino guinea pigs. Although systemic L-DOPA could inhibit the development of SM and FDM, retinal dopamine was only involved in the L-DOPA inhibition on FDM, but not on SM. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Effects of gamma radiation on hard dental tissues of albino rats using scanning electron microscope - Part 1

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

El-Faramawy, Nabil; Ameen, Reham; El-Haddad, Khaled; Maghraby, Ahmed; El-Zainy, Medhat

2011-12-01

In the present study, 40 adult male albino rats were used to study the effect of gamma radiation on the hard dental tissues (enamel surface, dentinal tubules and the cementum surface). The rats were irradiated at 0.2, 0.5, 1.0, 2.0, 4.0 and 6.0 Gy gamma doses. The effects of irradiated hard dental tissues samples were investigated using a scanning electron microscope. For doses up to 0.5 Gy, there was no evidence of the existence of cracks on the enamel surface. With 1 Gy irradiation dose, cracks were clearly observed with localized erosive areas. At 2 Gy irradiation dose, the enamel showed morphological alterations as disturbed prismatic and interprismatic areas. An increase in dentinal tubules diameter and a contemporary inter-tubular dentine volume decrease were observed with higher irradiation dose. Concerning cementum, low doses,<0.5 Gy, showed surface irregularities and with increase in the irradiation dose to≥1 Gy, noticeable surface irregularities and erosive areas with decrease in Sharpey's fiber sites were observed. These observations could shed light on the hazardous effects of irradiation fields to the functioning of the human teeth.

Reactor physics teaching and research in the Swiss nuclear engineering master

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Chawla, R.; Paul Scherrer Inst., CH-5232 Villigen PSI

Since 2008, a Master of Science program in Nuclear Engineering (NE) has been running in Switzerland, thanks to the combined efforts of the country's key players in nuclear teaching and research, viz. the Swiss Federal Inst.s of Technology at Lausanne (EPFL) and at Zurich (ETHZ), the Paul Scherrer Inst. (PSI) at Villigen and the Swiss Nuclear Utilities (Swissnuclear). The present paper, while outlining the academic program as a whole, lays emphasis on the reactor physics teaching and research training accorded to the students in the framework of the developed curriculum. (authors)

Perceptions of Learning among Swiss Watch Managers

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Tajeddini, Kayhan

2009-01-01

Purpose: This paper aims to explore managers' perceptions of learning within a sample of Swiss watch firms. Design/methodology/approach: A purposeful (judgmental) stratified sampling method was employed, where in-depth interviews with 13 marketing managers and owners were carried out over a three-month period. Meaning units (MUs) were abstracted,…

Use of simulation-based medical training in Swiss pediatric hospitals: a national survey.

PubMed

Stocker, Martin; Laine, Kathryn; Ulmer, Francis

2017-06-17

Simulation-based medical training (SBMT) is a powerful tool for continuing medical education. In contrast to the Anglo-Saxon medical education community, up until recently, SBMT was scarce in continental Europe's pediatric health care education: In 2009, only 3 Swiss pediatric health care institutions used SBMT. The Swiss catalogue of objectives in Pediatrics does not acknowledge SBMT. The aim of this survey is to describe and analyze the current state of SBMT in Swiss pediatric hospitals and health care departments. A survey was carried out with medical education representatives of every institution. SBMT was defined as any kind of training with a mannequin excluding national and/or international standardized courses. The survey reference day was May 31st 2015. Thirty Swiss pediatric hospitals and health care departments answered our survey (response rate 96.8%) with 66.6% (20 out of 30) offering SBMT. Four of the 20 hospitals offering SMBT had two independently operating training simulation units, resulting in 24 educational units as the basis for our SBMT analysis. More than 90% of the educational units offering SBMT (22 out of 24 units) were conducting in-situ training and 62.5% (15 out of 24) were using high-technology mannequins. Technical skills, communication and leadership ranked among the top training priorities. All institutions catered to inter-professional participants. The vast majority conducted training that was neither embedded within a larger educational curriculum (19 out of 24: 79.2%) nor evaluated (16 out of 24: 66.6%) by its participants. Only 5 institutions (20.8%) extended their training to at least two thirds of their hospital staff. Two thirds of the Swiss pediatric hospitals and health care departments are offering SBMT. Swiss pediatric SBMT is inter-professional, mainly in-situ based, covering technical as well as non-technical skills, and often employing high-technology mannequins. The absence of a systematic approach and reaching only

Dried distillers grains with solubles do not always cause late blowing in baby Swiss cheese.

PubMed

Sankarlal, V Manimanna; Testroet, E D; Beitz, D C; Clark, S

2015-12-01

Late blowing in Swiss cheese, a result of unwanted gas production, is unacceptable to consumers and causes economic loss to manufacturers. Cheese processors have raised concerns that feeding dried distillers grains with solubles (DDGS) to cows leads to this defect, in part because of clostridial spores. We hypothesized that spores in DDGS would affect the quality of milk and baby Swiss cheese by promoting late-blowing defects. Thirty healthy multiparous and mid-lactation Holstein cows were fed total mixed ration containing DDGS (0, 10, and 20%; 10 cows per treatment group) by dietary dry matter in a 3×3 Latin square design. One complete milking from all cows within a treatment was collected and pooled for baby Swiss cheese, twice within each month of the 3-mo study. Additionally, individual milk samples from the 3 milkings of one day were collected weekly for proximate analysis. Incubation in reinforced clostridial medium-lactate medium tubes inoculated with milk, cheese, total mixed ration, or manure showed gas formation. Conversely, the DDGS used in our study did not contain gas-producing, spore-forming bacteria. Feeding 20% DDGS decreased milk fat percent and increased the solids nonfat, protein, and lactose percent of milk. After 60 d of ripening, baby Swiss cheese had typical propionic acid Swiss cheese aroma. Regardless of dietary treatment, pinholes, slits, splits, cracks, or a combination of these, were seen throughout most cheeses. Feeding of DDGS increased the amount of long-chain unsaturated fatty acids and decreased short-chain and most medium-chain fatty acids in the baby Swiss cheese. Although feeding cows diets with DDGS modified milk composition, and subsequently cheese composition, DDGS was not a source for gas-producing, spore-forming bacteria or for quality defects in Swiss cheese. Rather, the gas-producing, spore-forming bacteria likely originated from the environment or the cows themselves. Copyright © 2015 American Dairy Science Association

Evaluation of Musa (Paradisiaca Linn. cultivar)--"Puttubale" stem juice for antilithiatic activity in albino rats.

PubMed

Prasad, K V; Bharathi, K; Srinivasan, K K

1993-10-01

The fresh juice of Musa stem (Puttubale) was tested for its antilithiatic activity. Zinc discs were implanted in the urinary bladder of albino rats to induce urolithiasis. The stones formed were mainly of magnesium ammonium phosphate with traces of calcium oxalate. Musa stem juice (3 mL/rat/day orally) was found to be effective in reducing the formation and also in dissolving the pre-formed stones.

Tools for the Classroom. Gruezi Miteinand! A Focus on Swiss-German Culture and Language Online.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Moehle-Vieregge, Linda

1999-01-01

Swiss-German language and culture rarely form the core focus in basic German language instruction. This article examines Swiss-German culture, focusing on geography and history, language, sports, world organizations, legendary figures, literature, music, art, holidays, and food. It points out online resources that touch upon aspects of Swiss…

"big" Divisor D3/D7 Swiss-Cheese Phenomenology

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Misra, Aalok

We review progress made over the past couple of years in the field of Swiss-Cheese Phenomenology involving a mobile spacetime filling D3-brane and stack(s) of fluxed D7-branes wrapping the "big" (as opposed to the "small") divisor in (the orientifold of (a) Swiss-Cheese Calabi-Yau. The topics reviewed include reconciliation of large volume cosmology and phenomenology, evaluation of soft supersymmetry breaking parameters, one-loop RG-flow equations' solutions for scalar masses, obtaining fermionic (possibly first two generations' quarks/leptons) mass scales in the {O}(MeV--GeV)-regime as well as (first two generations') neutrino masses (and their one-loop RG flow) of around an eV. The heavy sparticles and the light fermions indicate the possibility of "split SUSY" large volume scenario.

Medication incidents in primary care medicine: a prospective study in the Swiss Sentinel Surveillance Network (Sentinella).

PubMed

Gnädinger, Markus; Conen, Dieter; Herzig, Lilli; Puhan, Milo A; Staehelin, Alfred; Zoller, Marco; Ceschi, Alessandro

2017-07-26

To describe the type, frequency, seasonal and regional distribution of medication incidents in primary care in Switzerland and to elucidate possible risk factors for medication incidents. Prospective surveillance study. Swiss primary healthcare, Swiss Sentinel Surveillance Network. Patients with drug treatment who experienced any erroneous event related to the medication process and interfering with normal treatment course, as judged by their physician. The 180 physicians in the study were general practitioners or paediatricians participating in the Swiss Federal Sentinel reporting system in 2015. Primary: medication incidents; secondary: potential risk factors like age, gender, polymedication, morbidity, care-dependency, previous hospitalisation. The mean rates of detected medication incidents were 2.07 per general practitioner per year (46.5 per 1 00 000 contacts) and 0.15 per paediatrician per year (2.8 per 1 00 000 contacts), respectively. The following factors were associated with medication incidents (OR, 95% CI): higher age 1.004 per year (1.001; 1.006), care by community nurse 1.458 (1.025; 2.073) and care by an institution 1.802 (1.399; 2.323), chronic conditions 1.052 (1.029; 1.075) per condition, medications 1.052 (1.030; 1.074) per medication, as well as Thurgau Morbidity Index for stage 4: 1.292 (1.004; 1.662), stage 5: 1.420 (1.078; 1.868) and stage 6: 1.680 (1.178; 2.396), respectively. Most cases were linked to an incorrect dosage for a given patient, while prescription of an erroneous medication was the second most common error. Medication incidents are common in adult primary care, whereas they rarely occur in paediatrics. Older and multimorbid patients are at a particularly high risk for medication incidents. Reasons for medication incidents are diverse but often seem to be linked to communication problems. © Article author(s) (or their employer(s) unless otherwise stated in the text of the article) 2017. All rights reserved. No

Hypolipidemic and antioxidant activity of the aqueous extract from the uneaten pulp of the fruit from Cordia dichotoma in healthy and hyperlipidemic Wistar albino rats.

PubMed

El-Newary, Samah A; Sulieman, A M; El-Attar, S R; Sitohy, M Z

2016-07-01

Hyperlipidemia is a major risk factor for coronary heart disease. Hyperlipidemia increases the incidence of myocardial ischemia and cardiac events. This study evaluated the potential hypolipidemic and antioxidant action of the aqueous extract from the uneaten pulp of the fruit from Cordia dichotoma ("CDNP extract"). In vivo studies were performed for 10 weeks on dietary hyperlipidemic and healthy Wistar albino rat models that received two dose levels of the CDNP extract (0.50 and 1.00 g/kg body weight). Serum lipid profiles were determined for the experimental animals. Dietary hyperlipidemic rats were characterized by an elevated lipid profile compared to the healthy control, i.e., increased levels of serum total cholesterol (TC), low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), very low density lipoprotein cholesterol (VLDL-C), and triglycerides (TG), although the level of high-density lipoprotein (HDL-C) was reduced. Levels of antioxidant enzymes, i.e., glutathione reductase (GR), glutathione peroxidase (GPx), glutathione-S-transferase (GST), superoxide dismutase (SOD), and catalase (CAT), were significantly higher in the dietary hyperlipidemic rats than in the normal healthy ones, while the level of malondialdehyde (MDA) was significantly lower. Force-feeding hyperlipidemic Wistar albino rats with the CDNP extract at two doses decreased TC, LDL-C, VLDL-C, and TG to normal levels. The risk ratio, which was as high as 870 % for the hyperlipidemic rats was decreased by the treatment to levels close to that calculated for the healthy control rats. Levels of high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) were very low in the hyperlipidemic Wistar albino rats but increased significantly when CDNP extract was adminstered, attaining similar HDL-C levels to those of healthy control rats. Treatment with the CDNP extract also improved the levels of antioxidant enzymes (GR, GST, GPx, SOD, and CAT) in hyperlipidemic Wistar albino rats. Thus, the CDNP extract improves the lipid

Destructive and regenerative changes in the albino rat kidney during mercuric chloride necrotizing nephrosis

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Andreev, V.P.

1985-08-01

This paper describes the results of a morphological analysis of destructive and regenerative changes observed during a study of serial semithin sections of the kidneys of albino rats with mercuric chloride necrotizing nephrosis. The results of this investigation indicate that injury to the epithelium of the urinary tubules by mercuric chloride is heterogenous in depth, and this has a substantial influence on the viability of the animals and on the subsequent process of repair of the damage.

Juvenile Papillomatosis (Swiss-Cheese Disease) of Breast in an Adult Male With Sequential Diagnoses of Ipsilateral Intraductal, Invasive, and Widely Metastatic Carcinoma: A Case Report and Review of the Disease in Males.

PubMed

Viswanathan, Kartik; McMillen, Brian; Cheng, Esther; D'Alfonso, Timothy; Patel, Ami; Hoda, Syed A

2017-09-01

Juvenile papillomatosis of the breast (JPB, also known as Swiss cheese disease) is a rare ailment that typically afflicts young females, and presents as a mass-forming lesion. The lesional mass usually comprises multiple cysts and duct stasis, amid a variety of proliferative and nonproliferative epithelial changes. The proliferative changes include papillary hyperplasia, florid hyperplasia, and papillary apocrine hyperplasia. Concurrent carcinoma (either in situ or invasive) is present in approximately 10% of cases at presentation, and subsequent carcinoma (either in situ or invasive) is diagnosed in about 10% of patients. About 20% of patients have a strong family history of breast carcinoma. A total of 10 cases of JPB have been previously reported in males, both children and adults, only one of which, in a 33-year-old, was associated with invasive carcinoma. Here, another case of JPB in a 45-year-old male-one with subsequent sequential diagnoses of ipsilateral intraductal carcinoma, invasive carcinoma, and widely metastatic carcinoma over the course of 15 years-is reported.

Primary care at Swiss universities - current state and perspective

PubMed Central

2014-01-01

Background There is increasing evidence that a strong primary care is a cornerstone of an efficient health care system. But Switzerland is facing a shortage of primary care physicians (PCPs). This pushed the Federal Council of Switzerland to introduce a multifaceted political programme to strengthen the position of primary care, including its academic role. The aim of this paper is to provide a comprehensive overview of the situation of academic primary care at the five Swiss universities by the end of year 2012. Results Although primary care teaching activities have a long tradition at the five Swiss universities with activities starting in the beginning of the 1980ies; the academic institutes of primary care were only established in recent years (2005 – 2009). Only one of them has an established chair. Human and financial resources vary substantially. At all universities a broad variety of courses and lectures are offered, including teaching in private primary care practices with 1331 PCPs involved. Regarding research, differences among the institutes are tremendous, mainly caused by entirely different human resources and skills. Conclusion So far, the activities of the existing institutes at the Swiss Universities are mainly focused on teaching. However, for a complete academic institutionalization as well as an increased acceptance and attractiveness, more research activities are needed. In addition to an adequate basic funding of research positions, competitive research grants have to be created to establish a specialty-specific research culture. PMID:24885148

Primary care at Swiss universities--current state and perspective.

PubMed

Tandjung, Ryan; Ritter, Catherine; Haller, Dagmar M; Tschudi, Peter; Schaufelberger, Mireille; Bischoff, Thomas; Herzig, Lilli; Rosemann, Thomas; Sommer, Johanna

2014-05-22

There is increasing evidence that a strong primary care is a cornerstone of an efficient health care system. But Switzerland is facing a shortage of primary care physicians (PCPs). This pushed the Federal Council of Switzerland to introduce a multifaceted political programme to strengthen the position of primary care, including its academic role. The aim of this paper is to provide a comprehensive overview of the situation of academic primary care at the five Swiss universities by the end of year 2012. Although primary care teaching activities have a long tradition at the five Swiss universities with activities starting in the beginning of the 1980ies; the academic institutes of primary care were only established in recent years (2005 - 2009). Only one of them has an established chair. Human and financial resources vary substantially. At all universities a broad variety of courses and lectures are offered, including teaching in private primary care practices with 1331 PCPs involved. Regarding research, differences among the institutes are tremendous, mainly caused by entirely different human resources and skills. So far, the activities of the existing institutes at the Swiss Universities are mainly focused on teaching. However, for a complete academic institutionalization as well as an increased acceptance and attractiveness, more research activities are needed. In addition to an adequate basic funding of research positions, competitive research grants have to be created to establish a specialty-specific research culture.

Rapid determination of Swiss cheese composition by Fourier transform infrared/attenuated total reflectance spectroscopy.

PubMed

Rodriguez-Saona, L E; Koca, N; Harper, W J; Alvarez, V B

2006-05-01

There is a need for rapid and simple techniques that can be used to predict the quality of cheese. The aim of this research was to develop a simple and rapid screening tool for monitoring Swiss cheese composition by using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. Twenty Swiss cheese samples from different manufacturers and degree of maturity were evaluated. Direct measurements of Swiss cheese slices (approximately 0.5 g) were made using a MIRacle 3-reflection diamond attenuated total reflectance (ATR) accessory. Reference methods for moisture (vacuum oven), protein content (Kjeldahl), and fat (Babcock) were used. Calibration models were developed based on a cross-validated (leave-one-out approach) partial least squares regression. The information-rich infrared spectral range for Swiss cheese samples was from 3,000 to 2,800 cm(-1) and 1,800 to 900 cm(-1). The performance statistics for cross-validated models gave estimates for standard error of cross-validation of 0.45, 0.25, and 0.21% for moisture, protein, and fat respectively, and correlation coefficients r > 0.96. Furthermore, the ATR infrared protocol allowed for the classification of cheeses according to manufacturer and aging based on unique spectral information, especially of carbonyl groups, probably due to their distinctive lipid composition. Attenuated total reflectance infrared spectroscopy allowed for the rapid (approximately 3-min analysis time) and accurate analysis of the composition of Swiss cheese. This technique could contribute to the development of simple and rapid protocols for monitoring complex biochemical changes, and predicting the final quality of the cheese.

Compliance with guidelines for disease management in diabetes: results from the SwissDiab Registry.

PubMed

Schimke, Katrin E; Renström, Frida; Meier, Sandro; Stettler, Christoph; Brändle, Michael

2018-01-01

Tight glycemic control and aggressive treatment of additional cardiovascular risk factors can substantially reduce risk of diabetes-related complications. In 2013, the Swiss Society of Endocrinology and Diabetology (SSED) established national criteria on good disease management in diabetes, but little is known about compliance in clinical care. Here we assessed to what extent patients from two tertiary care centers in the German-speaking part of Switzerland enrolled in the Swiss Diabetes (SwissDiab) Registry adhere to the SSED criteria. SwissDiab is a prospective observational cohort study of patients regularly treated at Swiss tertiary diabetes centers. Data were collected through standardized annual health examinations. Baseline participant descriptive statistics, stratified by diabetes mellitus type 1 (DM1) and type 2 (DM2), were compared with SSED targets for glycemic control, blood pressure, blood lipids, weight maintenance, and ophthalmic examination. By the end of 2016, 604 participants with DM1 (40%) and DM2 (60%) had data available for analyses, 36% and 29% women, respectively. At baseline, all the SSED targets were met with two exceptions: a glycated hemoglobin A1c value <7% was measured in 32% of participants with DM1 (SSED target: ≥40%) and 47% and 56% of overweight or obese participants with DM1 and DM2, respectively, received nutritional counseling in the previous year (SSED target: ≥80%). The SSED targets for good disease management in diabetes were achieved in the majority of participants at the time of enrollment, but results also highlight areas where disease management can be improved, particularly the role of nutrition counseling.

Change of sleep quality from pre- to 3 years post-solid organ transplantation: The Swiss Transplant Cohort Study

PubMed Central

Denhaerynck, Kris; Huynh-Do, Uyen; Binet, Isabelle; Hadaya, Karine; De Geest, Sabina

2017-01-01

Background Poor sleep quality (SQ) is common after solid organ transplantation; however, very little is known about its natural history. We assessed the changes in SQ from pre- to 3 years post-transplant in adult heart, kidney, liver and lung recipients included in the prospective nation-wide Swiss Transplant Cohort Study. We explored associations with selected variables in patients suffering persistent poor SQ compared to those with good or variable SQ. Methods Adult single organ transplant recipients enrolled in the Swiss Transplant Cohort Study with pre-transplant and at least 3 post-transplant SQ assessment data were included. SQ was self-reported pre-transplant (at listing), then at 6, 12, 24 and 36 months post-transplant. A single SQ item was used to identify poor (0–5) and good sleepers (6–10). Between organ groups, SQ was compared via logistic regression analysis with generalized estimating equations. Within the group reporting persistently poor SQ, we used logistic regression or Kaplan-Meier analysis as appropriate to check for differences in global quality of life and survival. Results In a sample of 1173 transplant patients (age: 52.1±13.2 years; 65% males; 66% kidney, 17% liver, 10% lung, 7% heart) transplanted between 2008 and 2012, pre- transplant poor SQ was highest in liver (50%) and heart (49%) recipients. Overall, poor SQ decreased significantly from pre-transplant (38%) to 24 months post-transplant (26%) and remained stable at 3 years (29%). Patients reporting persistently poor SQ had significantly more depressive symptomatology and lower global quality of life. Conclusion Because self-reported poor SQ is related to poorer global quality of life, these results emphasize the need for further studies to find suitable treatment options for poor SQ in transplant recipients. PMID:29020112

Patterns of Strategies in Swiss Higher Education Institutions

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Fumasoli, Tatiana; Lepori, Benedetto

2011-01-01

This paper contributes to the debate on strategic capability of academic organizations by presenting three case studies of Swiss Higher Education Institutions. Strategies are conceived as instruments by which universities manage their organizational processes and deal with their environments in order to select a portfolio of activities and find an…

Wound healing activity of methanolic stem extract of Musa paradisiaca Linn. (Banana) in Wistar albino rats.

PubMed

Amutha, Kuppusamy; Selvakumari, Ulagesan

2016-10-01

This study is designed to explore the phytochemical, antibacterial and wound healing activity of methanolic stem extract of Musa paradisiaca Linn. (Banana). The phytochemical analysis was performed for the methanolic stem extract of Musa paradisiaca Linn. Results indicates that the Musa paradisiaca Linn. was rich in glucosides, tannins and alkaloids, saponins, flavonoids and phenols were present in moderate quantities. The extract shows antibacterial activity against Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Staphylococcus aureus with the zone of inhibition of Pseudomonas aeruginosa was 21 mm and Staphylococcus aureus was 19 mm at concentration of 500 µg/disc. The minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) was also evaluated for the extract. Wistar albino rats were selected for wound healing activity. The burn wound was created by using red hot steel rod from above the hind limb region. The methanolic extract was applied on the wound and the progressive changes were monitored every day. The wound contraction rate was absorbed based on the histopathological examination. It was concluded that the methanolic extract of Musa paradisiaca Linn. showed greater healing activity compared to control in Wistar albino rats. © 2014 The Authors. International Wound Journal © 2014 Medicalhelplines.com Inc and John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Effect of chronic exposure to aspartame on oxidative stress in the brain of albino rats.

PubMed

Iyyaswamy, Ashok; Rathinasamy, Sheeladevi

2012-09-01

This study was aimed at investigating the chronic effect of the artificial sweetener aspartame on oxidative stress in brain regions of Wistar strain albino rats. Many controversial reports are available on the use of aspartame as it releases methanol as one of its metabolite during metabolism. The present study proposed to investigate whether chronic aspartame (75 mg/kg) administration could release methanol and induce oxidative stress in the rat brain. To mimic the human methanol metabolism, methotrexate (MTX)-treated rats were included to study the aspartame effects. Wistar strain male albino rats were administered with aspartame orally and studied along with controls and MTX-treated controls. The blood methanol level was estimated, the animal was sacrificed and the free radical changes were observed in brain discrete regions by assessing the scavenging enzymes, reduced glutathione, lipid peroxidation (LPO) and protein thiol levels. It was observed that there was a significant increase in LPO levels, superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity, GPx levels and CAT activity with a significant decrease in GSH and protein thiol. Moreover, the increases in some of these enzymes were region specific. Chronic exposure of aspartame resulted in detectable methanol in blood. Methanol per se and its metabolites may be responsible for the generation of oxidative stress in brain regions.

Reduced-fat Cheddar and Swiss-type cheeses harboring exopolysaccharide-producing probiotic Lactobacillus mucosae DPC 6426.

PubMed

Ryan, P M; Burdíková, Z; Beresford, T; Auty, M A E; Fitzgerald, G F; Ross, R P; Sheehan, J J; Stanton, C

2015-12-01

Exopolysaccharide-producing Lactobacillus mucosae DPC 6426 was previously shown to have promising hypocholesterolemic activity in the atherosclerosis-prone apolipoprotein-E-deficient (apoE(-/-)) murine model. The aim of this study was to investigate the suitability of reduced-fat Cheddar and Swiss-type cheeses as functional (carrier) foods for delivery of this probiotic strain. All cheeses were manufactured at pilot-scale (500-L vats) in triplicate, with standard commercially available starters: for Cheddar, Lactococcus lactis; and for Swiss-type cheese, Streptococcus thermophilus, Lactobacillus helveticus, and Propionibacterium freudenreichii. Lactobacillus mucosae DPC 6426 was used as an adjunct culture during cheese manufacture, at a level of ~10(6) cfu·mL(-1) cheese milk (subsequently present in the cheese curd at>10(7) cfu·g(-1)). The adjunct strain remained viable at >5×10(7) cfu·g(-1) in both Swiss-type and Cheddar cheeses following ripening for 6 mo. Sensory analysis revealed that the presence of the adjunct culture imparted a more appealing appearance in Swiss-type cheese, but had no significant effect on the sensory characteristics of Cheddar cheeses. Moreover, the adjunct culture had no significant effect on cheese composition, proteolysis, pH, or instrumentally quantified textural characteristics of Cheddar cheeses. These data indicate that low-fat Swiss-type and Cheddar cheeses represent suitable food matrices for the delivery of the hypocholesterolemic Lactobacillus mucosae DPC 6426 in an industrial setting. Copyright © 2015 American Dairy Science Association. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

[Swiss surgery: quo vadis? Reader and market analysis for strategic positioning of a specialty journal].

PubMed

Freiermuth, O; Todorov, A; Bolli, M; Heberer, M

2003-01-01

Scientific journals currently face challenges including cost pressures caused by economic constraints, increasing rivalry among competitors, limited market potential of non-english speaking journals, increasing medical specialization with resulting market fragmentation, and internet-based competition. We therefore analyzed strategic opportunities of the journal Swiss Surgery on the basis of customer surveys and of a market analysis. Swiss surgeons expressed their interest in the continuation of the journal but also indicated their support for changes in its concept and for an increased use of electronic media. An international market analysis points-out the difficulties of national, non-english speaking journals in gaining impact points and in attracting authors and readers of scientific medical articles. Therefore, a journal such as Swiss Surgery should identify and use publication niches. The demand for a concept addressing surgical training including continuous postgraduate education was confirmed by the customers of Swiss Surgery. A corresponding offer does not presently exist in the area and could become the new focus of the journal. This change of concept may have a number of consequences: A journal focusing on surgical training and education should use the results of readers' surveys rather than impact point assignment to evaluate quality. The journal should increasingly use electronic services including data bases, pictures, videos and closed user groups to supplement the print version. At short term, however, the printed version should be continued and not be substituted by the electronic version in order to maintain the established brand "Swiss Surgery".

Characterization of (/sup 3/H)forskolin binding sites in the iris-ciliary body of the albino rabbit

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Goldman, M.E.; Mallorga, P.; Pettibone, D.J.

1988-01-01

(/sup 3/H)forskolin binding sites were identified using membranes prepared from the iris-ciliary body of adult, albino rabbits. Scatchard analysis of saturation binding experiments demonstrated that (/sup 3/H)forskolin bound to a single population of high affinity sites. The K/sub d/ and B/sub max/ values were 8.7 +- 0.9 nM and 119.0 +- 30.9 fmolmg prot. using membranes prepared from frozen tissue and 17.0 +- 6.2 nM and 184.4 +- 47.2 fmolmg prot. using fresh tissue. The binding of (/sup 3/H)forskolin was magnesium-dependent. The B/sub max/ was enhanced by sodium fluoride and Gpp(NH)p, a nonhydrolyzable guanine nucleotide analog. Forskolin was the mostmore » potent inhibitor of (/sup 3/H)forskolin binding; two commercially-available analogs were weaker inhibitors. In an adenylate cyclase assay, there was the same rank order of potency to enhance enzyme activity. Based upon binding affinities, magnesium-dependence, sensitivity to sodium fluoride and Gpp(NH)p, rank order of potencies of analogs and correlation of binding with adenylate cyclase activity, these studies suggest that the (/sup 3/H)forskolin binding site in the iris-ciliary body is similar to the binding site in other tissues« less

PHARMACOLOGICAL VALIDATION OF Musa paradisiaca BHASMA FOR ANTIULCER ACTIVITY IN ALBINO RATS - A PRELIMINARY STUDY.

PubMed

Vadivelan, R; Elango, K; Suresh, B; Ramesh, B R

2006-01-01

Siddha system of medicine is one of the ancient systems of medicine in India. According to Siddhars, peptic ulcer is known as Valigunmam with its signs and symptoms as detailed in Siddha literature matching modern terminology of peptic ulcer. Bhasma refers to calcinated metals and minerals. During this study the Bhasma of Musa paradisiaca Linn, is prepared and evaluated for its antiulcer effect in albino wistar rats which could not be attempted by researchers earlier.

Compliance with guidelines for disease management in diabetes: results from the SwissDiab Registry

PubMed Central

Schimke, Katrin E; Meier, Sandro; Stettler, Christoph; Brändle, Michael

2018-01-01

Objective Tight glycemic control and aggressive treatment of additional cardiovascular risk factors can substantially reduce risk of diabetes-related complications. In 2013, the Swiss Society of Endocrinology and Diabetology (SSED) established national criteria on good disease management in diabetes, but little is known about compliance in clinical care. Here we assessed to what extent patients from two tertiary care centers in the German-speaking part of Switzerland enrolled in the Swiss Diabetes (SwissDiab) Registry adhere to the SSED criteria. Research design and methods SwissDiab is a prospective observational cohort study of patients regularly treated at Swiss tertiary diabetes centers. Data were collected through standardized annual health examinations. Baseline participant descriptive statistics, stratified by diabetes mellitus type 1 (DM1) and type 2 (DM2), were compared with SSED targets for glycemic control, blood pressure, blood lipids, weight maintenance, and ophthalmic examination. Results By the end of 2016, 604 participants with DM1 (40%) and DM2 (60%) had data available for analyses, 36% and 29% women, respectively. At baseline, all the SSED targets were met with two exceptions: a glycated hemoglobin A1c value <7% was measured in 32% of participants with DM1 (SSED target: ≥40%) and 47% and 56% of overweight or obese participants with DM1 and DM2, respectively, received nutritional counseling in the previous year (SSED target: ≥80%). Conclusions The SSED targets for good disease management in diabetes were achieved in the majority of participants at the time of enrollment, but results also highlight areas where disease management can be improved, particularly the role of nutrition counseling. PMID:29527307

Light propagation in Swiss-cheese cosmologies

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Szybka, Sebastian J.

2011-08-01

We study the effect of inhomogeneities on light propagation. The Sachs equations are solved numerically in the Swiss-cheese models with inhomogeneities modeled by the Lemaître-Tolman solutions. Our results imply that, within the models we study, inhomogeneities may partially mimic the accelerated expansion of the Universe provided the light propagates through regions with lower than the average density. The effect of inhomogeneities is small and full randomization of the photons’ trajectories reduces it to an insignificant level.

Suicide in adolescents: findings from the Swiss National cohort.

PubMed

Steck, Nicole; Egger, Matthias; Schimmelmann, Benno G; Kupferschmid, Stephan

2018-01-01

Suicide in adolescents is the second most common cause of death in this age group and an important public health problem. We examined sociodemographic factors associated with suicide in Swiss adolescents and analysed time trends in youth suicide in the Swiss National Cohort (SNC). The SNC is a longitudinal study of the whole Swiss resident population, based on linkage of census and mortality records. We identified suicides in adolescents aged 10-18 years from 1991 to 2013. A total of 2.396 million adolescents were included and 592 suicides were recorded, corresponding to a rate of 3.7 per 100,000 [95% confidence interval (CI) 3.4-4.0]. Rates increased with age from 0.0 per 100,000 at age 10 years to 14.8 per 100,000 (95% CI 12.6-17.5) at 18 years in boys, and from 0.0 to 5.4 per 100,000 (4.1-7.2) in girls. Being a boy, living in a single parent household, being an only or middle-born child, and living in rural regions were factors associated with a higher rate of suicide. Hanging was the most common method in boys, and railway suicides were most frequent in girls. There was no clear evidence for an increase or decrease over calendar time. We conclude that familial and socioeconomic factors including type of household, birth order and urbanity are associated with youth suicide in Switzerland. These factors should be considered when designing prevention programmes for youth suicide.

Evaluation of in vivo anti-hyperglycemic and antioxidant potentials of α-santalol and sandalwood oil.

PubMed

Misra, Biswapriya B; Dey, Satyahari

2013-03-15

Sandalwood finds numerous mentions across diverse traditional medicinal systems in use worldwide. The objective of this study was to evaluate the in vivo anti-hyperglycemic and antioxidant potential of sandalwood oil and its major constituent α-santalol. The in vivo anti-hyperglycemic experiment was conducted in alloxan-induced diabetic male Swiss albino mice models. The in vivo antioxidant experiment was performed in d-galactose mediated oxidative stress induced male Swiss albino mice models. Intraperitoneal administration of α-santalol (100mg/kg BW) and sandalwood oil (1g/kg BW) for an week modulated parameters such as body weight, blood glucose, serum bilirubin, liver glycogen, and lipid peroxides contents to normoglycemic levels in the alloxan-induced diabetic mice. Similarly, intraperitoneal administration of α-santalol (100mg/kg BW) and sandalwood oil (1g/kg BW) for two weeks modulated parameters such as serum aminotransferases, alkaline phosphatase, bilirubin, superoxide dismutase, catalase, free sulfhydryl, protein carbonyl, nitric oxide, liver lipid peroxide contents, and antioxidant capacity in d-galactose mediated oxidative stress induced mice. Besides, it was observed that the beneficial effects of α-santalol were well complimented, differentially by other constituents present in sandalwood oil, thus indicating synergism in biological activity of this traditionally used bioresource. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier GmbH. All rights reserved.

Evaluation of antinociceptive activity of aqueous extract of bark of psidium guajava in albino rats and albino mice.

PubMed

Sekhar, N Chandra; Jayasree, T; Ubedulla, Shaikh; Dixit, Rohit; V S, Manohar; J, Shankar

2014-09-01

Psidium guajava is commonly known as guava. Psidium guajava is a medium sized tree belonging to the family Myrtaceae found throughout the tropics. All the parts of the plant, the leaves, followed by the fruits, bark and the roots are used in traditional medicine. The traditional uses of the plant are Antidiarrheal, Antimicrobial Activity, Antimalarial/Antiparasitic Activity, Antitussive and antihyperglycaemic. Leaves are used as Anti-inflammatory, Analgesic and Antinociceptive effects. To evaluate the antinociceptive activity of aqueous extract of bark of Psidium guajava in albino rats with that of control and standard analgesic drugs aspirin and tramadol. Mechanical (Tail clip method) and thermal (Tail flick method using Analgesiometer), 0.6% solution of acetic acid writhing models of nociception were used to evaluate the extract antinociceptive activity. Six groups of animals, each consists of 10 animals, first one as control, second and third as standard drugs, Aspirin and Tramadol, fourth, fifth and sixth groups as text received the extract (100, 200, and 400 mg/ kg) orally 60 min prior to subjection to the respective test. The results obtained demonstrated that aqueous extract of bark of Psidium guajava produced significant antinociceptive response in all the mechanical and thermal-induced nociception models. AEPG antinociceptive activity involves activation of the peripheral and central mechanisms.

Toxicological Effects of Cypermethrin on Female Albino Rats

PubMed Central

Sangha, G. K.; Kaur, Kamalpreet; Khera, K. S.; Singh, Balwinder

2011-01-01

A study was undertaken to evaluate the effects of cypermethrin on reproduction of female albino rats. The experimental rats were fed cypermethrin at 50 mg/kg b. wt. continuously for a period of 2 and 4 weeks. Feed and water intake was also noted daily for control, vehicle treated and cypermethrin-treated rats. It was observed that there was no effect on feed and water intake in treated rats as compared to the control group. Chronic exposure to cypermethrin for 4 weeks resulted in loose fecal pellets and hyperirritability in the treated rats. Treatment related mortality also occurred at the 4th wk of treatment. Significant changes in body weight and various organ weights due to cypermethrin were observed along with disruption of estrous cycle in rats. The body weight gain in treated rats was lower at both 2 and 4 weeks as compared to the control rats. The weight of liver and spleen decreased, while that of kidneys increased as compared to the control rats. Thyroid and adrenal showed increase in weight at both 2 and 4 weeks of treatments. PMID:21430912

Development of a monitoring instrument to assess the performance of the Swiss primary care system.

PubMed

Ebert, Sonja T; Pittet, Valérie; Cornuz, Jacques; Senn, Nicolas

2017-11-29

The Swiss health system is customer-driven with fee-for-service paiement scheme and universal coverage. It is highly performing but expensive and health information systems are scarcely implemented. The Swiss Primary Care Active Monitoring (SPAM) program aims to develop an instrument able to describe the performance and effectiveness of the Swiss PC system. Based on a Literature review we developed a conceptual framework and selected indicators according to their ability to reflect the Swiss PC system. A two round modified RAND method with 24 inter-/national experts took place to select primary/secondary indicators (validity, clarity, agreement). A limited set of priority indicators was selected (importance, priority) in a third round. A conceptual framework covering three domains (structure, process, outcome) subdivided into twelve sections (funding, access, organisation/ workflow of resources, (Para-)Medical training, management of knowledge, clinical-/interpersonal care, health status, satisfaction of PC providers/ consumers, equity) was generated. 365 indicators were pre-selected and 335 were finally retained. 56 were kept as priority indicators.- Among the remaining, 199 were identified as primary and 80 as secondary indicators. All domains and sections are represented. The development of the SPAM program allowed the construction of a consensual instrument in a traditionally unregulated health system through a modified RAND method. The selected 56 priority indicators render the SPAM instrument a comprehensive tool supporting a better understanding of the Swiss PC system's performance and effectiveness as well as in identifying potential ways to improve quality of care. Further challenges will be to update indicators regularly and to assess validity and sensitivity-to-change over time.

Swiss Elementary School Teachers' Attitudes toward Forest Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lindemann-Matthies, Petra; Knecht, Sarah

2011-01-01

This article investigates benefits and challenges of forest education in view of 257 Swiss elementary school teachers (1st-3rd grade), by means of a written questionnaire and 15 in-depth interviews. Two thirds of the teachers carried out forest education during normal lesson hours (mean visits = eight per year). Forests were clearly considered as…

Swiss ball abdominal crunch with added elastic resistance is an effective alternative to training machines.

PubMed

Sundstrup, Emil; Jakobsen, Markus D; Andersen, Christoffer H; Jay, Kenneth; Andersen, Lars L

2012-08-01

Swiss ball training is recommended as a low intensity modality to improve joint position, posture, balance, and neural feedback. However, proper training intensity is difficult to obtain during Swiss ball exercises whereas strengthening exercises on machines usually are performed to induce high level of muscle activation. To compare muscle activation as measured by electromyography (EMG) of global core and thigh muscles during abdominal crunches performed on Swiss ball with elastic resistance or on an isotonic training machine when normalized for training intensity. 42 untrained individuals (18 men and 24 women) aged 28-67 years participated in the study. EMG activity was measured in 13 muscles during 3 repetitions with a 10 RM load during both abdominal crunches on training ball with elastic resistance and in the same movement utilizing a training machine (seated crunch, Technogym, Cesena, Italy). The order of performance of the exercises was randomized, and EMG amplitude was normalized to maximum voluntary isometric contraction (MVIC) EMG. When comparing between muscles, normalized EMG was highest in the rectus abdominis (P<0.01) and the external obliques (P<0.01). However, crunches on Swiss ball with elastic resistance showed higher activity of the rectus abdominis than crunches performed on the machine (104±3.8 vs 84±3.8% nEMG respectively, P<0.0001). By contrast, crunches performed on Swiss ball induced lower activity of the rectus femoris than crunches in training machine (27±3.7 vs 65±3.8% nEMG respectively, P<0.0001) Further, gender, age and musculoskeletal pain did not significantly influence the findings. Crunches on a Swiss ball with added elastic resistance induces high rectus abdominis activity accompanied by low hip flexor activity which could be beneficial for individuals with low back pain. In opposition, the lower rectus abdominis activity and higher rectus femoris activity observed in machine warrant caution for individuals with lumbar pain

Estradiol enhances object recognition memory in Swiss female mice by activating hippocampal estrogen receptor α.

PubMed

Pereira, Luciana M; Bastos, Cristiane P; de Souza, Jéssica M; Ribeiro, Fabíola M; Pereira, Grace S

2014-10-01

In rodents, 17β-estradiol (E2) enhances hippocampal function and improves performance in several memory tasks. Regarding the object recognition paradigm, E2 commonly act as a cognitive enhancer. However, the types of estrogen receptor (ER) involved, as well as the underlying molecular mechanisms are still under investigation. In the present study, we asked whether E2 enhances object recognition memory by activating ERα and/or ERβ in the hippocampus of Swiss female mice. First, we showed that immediately post-training intraperitoneal (i.p.) injection of E2 (0.2 mg/kg) allowed object recognition memory to persist 48 h in ovariectomized (OVX) Swiss female mice. This result indicates that Swiss female mice are sensitive to the promnesic effects of E2 and is in accordance with other studies, which used C57/BL6 female mice. To verify if the activation of hippocampal ERα or ERβ would be sufficient to improve object memory, we used PPT and DPN, which are selective ERα and ERβ agonists, respectively. We found that PPT, but not DPN, improved object memory in Swiss female mice. However, DPN was able to improve memory in C57/BL6 female mice, which is in accordance with other studies. Next, we tested if the E2 effect on improving object memory depends on ER activation in the hippocampus. Thus, we tested if the infusion of intra-hippocampal TPBM and PHTPP, selective antagonists of ERα and ERβ, respectively, would block the memory enhancement effect of E2. Our results showed that TPBM, but not PHTPP, blunted the promnesic effect of E2, strongly suggesting that in Swiss female mice, the ERα and not the ERβ is the receptor involved in the promnesic effect of E2. It was already demonstrated that E2, as well as PPT and DPN, increase the phospho-ERK2 level in the dorsal hippocampus of C57/BL6 mice. Here we observed that PPT increased phospho-ERK1, while DPN decreased phospho-ERK2 in the dorsal hippocampus of Swiss female mice subjected to the object recognition sample phase

Serial snapshot crystallography for materials science with SwissFEL

DOE PAGES

Dejoie, Catherine; Smeets, Stef; Baerlocher, Christian; ...

2015-04-21

New opportunities for studying (sub)microcrystalline materials with small unit cells, both organic and inorganic, will open up when the X-ray free electron laser (XFEL) presently being constructed in Switzerland (SwissFEL) comes online in 2017. Our synchrotron-based experiments mimicking the 4%-energy-bandpass mode of the SwissFEL beam show that it will be possible to record a diffraction pattern of up to 10 randomly oriented crystals in a single snapshot, to index the resulting reflections, and to extract their intensities reliably. The crystals are destroyed with each XFEL pulse, but by combining snapshots from several sets of crystals, a complete set of datamore » can be assembled, and crystal structures of materials that are difficult to analyze otherwise will become accessible. Even with a single shot, at least a partial analysis of the crystal structure will be possible, and with 10–50 femtosecond pulses, this offers tantalizing possibilities for time-resolved studies.« less

A First Standardized Swiss Electronic Maternity Record.

PubMed

Murbach, Michel; Martin, Sabine; Denecke, Kerstin; Nüssli, Stephan

2017-01-01

During the nine months of pregnancy, women have to regularly visit several physicians for continuous monitoring of the health and development of the fetus and mother. Comprehensive examination results of different types are generated in this process; documentation and data transmission standards are still unavailable or not in use. Relevant information is collected in a paper-based maternity record carried by the pregnant women. To improve availability and transmission of data, we aim at developing a first prototype for an electronic maternity record for Switzerland. By analyzing the documentation workflow during pregnancy, we determined a maternity record data set. Further, we collected requirements towards a digital maternity record. As data exchange format, the Swiss specific exchange format SMEEX (swiss medical data exchange) was exploited. Feedback from 27 potential users was collected to identify further improvements. The relevant data is extracted from the primary care information system as SMEEX file, stored in a database and made available in a web and a mobile application, developed as prototypes of an electronic maternity record. The user confirmed the usefulness of the system and provided multiple suggestions for an extension. An electronical maternity record as developed in this work could be in future linked to the electronic patient record.

Effect of saffron (Crocus sativus L.) on sodium valporate induced cytogenetic and testicular alterations in albino rats

PubMed Central

Zowail, Mohamed E.; Marzouk, Amera M.

2014-01-01

The present study investigated the cytogenetic and testicular damage induced by the antiepileptic drug, sodium valporate (SVP) in albino rats and the effect of saffron aqueous extracts. Treating rats with SVP caused a significant increase in the chromosomal aberrations either structural or numerical and decreased the mitotic index. Besides, animals administered SVP showed DNA damage appeared in the single strand breaks (comet assay). Testis of SVP-treated rats showed many histopathological changes. A significant decrease in seminiferous tubules and their epithelial heights diameters and inhibition of spermatogenesis was recorded. In addition, the number of sperm head abnormalities was increased. Biochemical results revealed an increase in malondialdhyde (MDA) which is lipid peroxidation marker and a significant decrease in the level of serum antioxidant enzyme, catalase (CAT) and reducing antioxidant power (RAP). Animals given SVP and saffron showed an improvement in chromosomal aberrations, mitotic index, DNA damage and testicular alterations caused by SVP. Moreover, MDA decreased and CAT and RAP increased. It is concluded from the present results that the ameliorative effects of saffron extract against SVP-induced cytogenetic and testicular damage in albino rats may be due to the presence of one or more antioxidant components of saffron. PMID:25276476

Effect of saffron (Crocus sativus L.) on sodium valporate induced cytogenetic and testicular alterations in albino rats.

PubMed

Sakr, Saber A; Zowail, Mohamed E; Marzouk, Amera M

2014-09-01

The present study investigated the cytogenetic and testicular damage induced by the antiepileptic drug, sodium valporate (SVP) in albino rats and the effect of saffron aqueous extracts. Treating rats with SVP caused a significant increase in the chromosomal aberrations either structural or numerical and decreased the mitotic index. Besides, animals administered SVP showed DNA damage appeared in the single strand breaks (comet assay). Testis of SVP-treated rats showed many histopathological changes. A significant decrease in seminiferous tubules and their epithelial heights diameters and inhibition of spermatogenesis was recorded. In addition, the number of sperm head abnormalities was increased. Biochemical results revealed an increase in malondialdhyde (MDA) which is lipid peroxidation marker and a significant decrease in the level of serum antioxidant enzyme, catalase (CAT) and reducing antioxidant power (RAP). Animals given SVP and saffron showed an improvement in chromosomal aberrations, mitotic index, DNA damage and testicular alterations caused by SVP. Moreover, MDA decreased and CAT and RAP increased. It is concluded from the present results that the ameliorative effects of saffron extract against SVP-induced cytogenetic and testicular damage in albino rats may be due to the presence of one or more antioxidant components of saffron.

Biochemical Effects of Energy Drinks Alone or in Combination with Alcohol in Normal Albino Rats

PubMed Central

2014-01-01

Purpose: To determine the biochemical effects of energy drink alone or in combination with alcohol in normal albino rats. Methods: Twenty male albino rats weighing 160-180g were assigned into groups A-E of four rats per group. Group A and B rats were given low and high doses of ED, respectively, groups C and D were administered low and high doses of EDmA, respectively while group E rats were given distilled water and served as control. The treatment lasted for 30 days after which the animals were killed and their blood collected for laboratory analyses using standard methods. Results: There were no significant differences in body weight, packed cell volume and haemoglobin concentration with either administration of ED or EDmA in comparison to the control. Energy drink alone or EDmA has significant effects on total white blood cell count, plasma potassium, calcium, renal functions, liver enzymes and plasma triglycerides, with EDmA having more effects than ED alone, except for body weight where the energy drink alone has higher effect. Conclusion: Consumption of energy drink alone or in combination with alcohol is associated with significant alterations in some biochemical parameters. Caution should be exercised while consuming either of them. Public health education is urgently needed to correct the wrong impression already formed by the unsuspecting consumers, especially the youths. PMID:24409412

Swiss-Cheese Gravitino Dark Matter

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Misra, Aalok

2014-06-01

We present a phenomenological model which we show can be obtained as a local realization of large volume D 3 / D 7 μ-Split SUSY on a nearly special Lagrangian three-cycle embedded in the big divisor of a Swiss-Cheese Calabi-Yau [Mansi Dhuria, Aalok Misra, arxiv:arXiv:1207.2774 [hep-ph], Nucl. Phys. B867 (2013) 636-748]. After identification of the first generation of SM leptons and quarks with fermionic super-partners of four Wilson line moduli, we discuss the identification of gravitino as a potential dark matter candidate. We also show that it is possible to obtain a 125 GeV light Higgs in our setup.

Attitudes of Swiss Health Care Providers Toward Childhood Immunizations.

PubMed

Schuler, Marianne; Schaedelin, Sabine; Aebi, Christoph; Berger, Christoph; Crisinel, Pierre-Alex; Diana, Alessandro; Niederer-Loher, Anita; Siegrist, Claire-Anne; Vaudaux, Bernard; Heininger, Ulrich

2017-06-01

INFOVAC is a network providing information about immunization issues to health professionals. The aim of this study was to assess the attitude of INFOVAC subscribers toward the current Swiss immunization schedule, potential modifications, and current and hypothetical immunization practices regarding their own children. In March 2015, a Web-based survey was sent to 4260 physicians and pharmacists subscribed to INFOVAC. Participation was anonymous and voluntary. The following information was obtained: (1) current immunization status of own children; (2) which immunizations would currently be accepted for a hypothetical own child and (3) attitudes toward potential modifications of the Swiss immunization schedule. Descriptive methods and multivariate models to correct for covariables were used for data analysis. Nine hundred and fifty-five valid questionnaires were received: 886/3704 (23.9%) from physicians and 69/556 (12.4%) from pharmacists. Current (>95%) and hypothetical (>99%) immunization rates were high for diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis, poliomyelitis and measles-mumps-rubella. Most pediatricians (61%) would support more vaccines for their children than currently recommended by the Swiss immunization advisory committee, whereas about 50% of other physicians and pharmacists would decline at least one of the recommended immunizations, most frequently varicella, pneumococcal or meningococcal C conjugate vaccines. Strong general support was expressed for the expansion of human papillomavirus immunization to males, acceleration of the measles-mumps-rubella schedule and a 2 + 1 instead of 3 + 1 diphtheria-tetanus-pertussis, acellular-inactivated poliomyelitis vaccine (DTPa-IPV)/Haemophilus influenzae type b ± hepatitis B virus (HBV) schedule. Survey participants generally demonstrated a positive attitude toward immunization, with pediatricians being the most progressive subgroup with the largest percentage of participants (63.1%) neither declining nor postponing any

[[History of Community Health in Africa. The Swiss Medical Missionaries' Endeavour in South Africa].

PubMed

Mabika, Hines

2015-01-01

It was not Dutch settlers nor British colonizers who introduced public and community health practice in north-eastern South Africa but medical doctors of the Swiss mission in southern Africa. While the history of medical knowledge transfer into 19th-20th century Africa emphasises colonial powers, this paper shows how countries without colonies contributed to expand western medical cultures, including public health. The Swiss took advantage of the local authorities' negligence, and implemented their own model of medicalization of African societies, understood as the way of improving health standards. They moved from a tolerated hospital-centred medicine to the practice of community health, which was uncommon at the time. Elim hospital's physicians moved back boundaries of segregationist policies, and sometime gave the impression of being involved in the political struggle against Apartheid. Thus, Swiss public health activities could later be seen as sorts of seeds that were planted and would partly reappear in 1994 with the ANC-projected national health policy.

Predictors of In-Hospital Death After Aneurysmal Subarachnoid Hemorrhage: Analysis of a Nationwide Database (Swiss SOS [Swiss Study on Aneurysmal Subarachnoid Hemorrhage]).

PubMed

Stienen, Martin Nikolaus; Germans, Menno; Burkhardt, Jan-Karl; Neidert, Marian C; Fung, Christian; Bervini, David; Zumofen, Daniel; Röthlisberger, Michel; Marbacher, Serge; Maduri, Rodolfo; Robert, Thomas; Seule, Martin A; Bijlenga, Philippe; Schaller, Karl; Fandino, Javier; Smoll, Nicolas R; Maldaner, Nicolai; Finkenstädt, Sina; Esposito, Giuseppe; Schatlo, Bawarjan; Keller, Emanuela; Bozinov, Oliver; Regli, Luca

2018-02-01

To identify predictors of in-hospital mortality in patients with aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage and to estimate their impact. Retrospective analysis of prospective data from a nationwide multicenter registry on all aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage cases admitted to a tertiary neurosurgical department in Switzerland (Swiss SOS [Swiss Study on Aneurysmal Subarachnoid Hemorrhage]; 2009-2015). Both clinical and radiological independent predictors of in-hospital mortality were identified, and their effect size was determined by calculating adjusted odds ratios (aORs) using multivariate logistic regression. Survival was displayed using Kaplan-Meier curves. Data of n=1866 aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage patients in the Swiss SOS database were available. In-hospital mortality was 20% (n=373). In n=197 patients (10.6%), active treatment was discontinued after hospital admission (no aneurysm occlusion attempted), and this cohort was excluded from analysis of the main statistical model. In the remaining n=1669 patients, the rate of in-hospital mortality was 13.9% (n=232). Strong independent predictors of in-hospital mortality were rebleeding (aOR, 7.69; 95% confidence interval, 3.00-19.71; P <0.001), cerebral infarction attributable to delayed cerebral ischemia (aOR, 3.66; 95% confidence interval, 1.94-6.89; P <0.001), intraventricular hemorrhage (aOR, 2.65; 95% confidence interval, 1.38-5.09; P =0.003), and new infarction post-treatment (aOR, 2.57; 95% confidence interval, 1.43-4.62; P =0.002). Several-and among them modifiable-factors seem to be associated with in-hospital mortality after aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage. Our data suggest that strategies aiming to reduce the risk of rebleeding are most promising in patients where active treatment is initially pursued. URL: http://www.clinicaltrials.gov. Unique identifier: NCT03245866. © 2018 American Heart Association, Inc.

Integration of upper air data in the MeteoSwiss Data Warehouse

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Musa, M.; Haeberli, Ch.; Ruffieux, D.

2010-09-01

Over the last 10 years MeteoSwiss established a Data Warehouse in order to get one single, integrated data platform for all kinds of meteorological and climatological data. In the MeteoSwiss Data Warehouse data and metadata are hold in a metadata driven relational database. To reach this goal, we started with the integration of the actual and historical data from our surface stations in a first step, including routines for aggregation and calculation and the implementation of enhanced Quality Control tools. In 2008 we started with the integration of actual and historical upper air data like soundings (PTU, Wind and Ozone), any kind of profilers like wind profiler or radiometer, profiles calculated from numerical weather models and AMDAR data in the Data Warehouse. The dataset includes also high resolution sounding data from the station Payerne and TEMP data from 20 European stations since 1942. A critical point was to work out a concept for the general architecture which could deal with all different types of data. While integrating the data itself all metadata of the aerological station Payerne was transferred and imported in the central metadata repository of the Data Warehouse. The implementation of the real time and daily QC tools as well as the routines for aggregation and calculation were realized in an analog way as for the surface data. The Quality Control tools include plausibility tests like limit tests, consistency tests in the same level and vertical consistency tests. From the beginning it was the aim to support the MeteoSwiss integration strategy which deals with all aspects of integration like various observing technologies and platforms, observing systems outside MeteoSwiss and the data and metadata itself. This kind of integration comprises all aspects of "Enterprise Data Integration". After the integration, the historical as well as the actual upper air data are now available for the climatologists and meteorologists with standardized access for

Evaluation of Antinociceptive Activity of Aqueous Extract of Bark of Psidium Guajava in Albino Rats and Albino Mice

PubMed Central

Jayasree, T.; Ubedulla, Shaikh; Dixit, Rohit; V S, Manohar; J, Shankar

2014-01-01

Background: Psidium guajava is commonly known as guava. Psidium guajava is a medium sized tree belonging to the family Myrtaceae found throughout the tropics. All the parts of the plant, the leaves, followed by the fruits, bark and the roots are used in traditional medicine. The traditional uses of the plant are Antidiarrheal, Antimicrobial Activity, Antimalarial/Antiparasitic Activity, Antitussive and antihyperglycaemic. Leaves are used as Anti-inflammatory, Analgesic and Antinociceptive effects. Aim: To evaluate the antinociceptive activity of aqueous extract of bark of Psidium guajava in albino rats with that of control and standard analgesic drugs aspirin and tramadol. Materials and Methods: Mechanical (Tail clip method) and thermal (Tail flick method using Analgesiometer), 0.6% solution of acetic acid writhing models of nociception were used to evaluate the extract antinociceptive activity. Six groups of animals, each consists of 10 animals, first one as control, second and third as standard drugs, Aspirin and Tramadol, fourth, fifth and sixth groups as text received the extract (100, 200, and 400 mg/ kg) orally 60 min prior to subjection to the respective test. Results: The results obtained demonstrated that aqueous extract of bark of Psidium guajava produced significant antinociceptive response in all the mechanical and thermal-induced nociception models. Conclusion: AEPG antinociceptive activity involves activation of the peripheral and central mechanisms. PMID:25386462

Effect of vagal stimulation on gastric mucosal barrier in albino rats.

PubMed

Somasundaram, K; Ganguly, A K

1987-01-01

To study the influence of vagus nerves on gastric mucosal barrier in albino rats, gastric adherent mucus and mucosal epithelial neutral glycoproteins were quantitatively assessed after vagal stimulation at the cardio-esophageal region by a specially designed circular electrode. Gastric adherent mucus and epithelial mucus were studied from oxyntic and pyloric gland areas by Alcian blue binding and periodic acid Schiff's (PAS) staining method respectively. The results when compared with sham operated control animals showed increase in the visible mucus concurrent with decrease in PAS positive materials. The stimulation at the cardio-esophageal region of vagotomized animals did not produce these effects. This study indicates that in an acute condition, increased vagal influence is important in increasing mucus secretion and strengthening the first line of defence of the mucosal barrier.

Effects of dopaminergic agents on progression of naturally occurring myopia in albino guinea pigs (Cavia porcellus).

PubMed

Jiang, Liqin; Long, Keli; Schaeffel, Frank; Zhou, Xiangtian; Zheng, Yibo; Ying, Huangfang; Lu, Fan; Stell, William K; Qu, Jia

2014-09-30

Disruption of dopaminergic signaling has been implicated in the abnormalities of ocular development in albinism, and many experiments have shown that retinal dopamine is a major regulator of postnatal eye growth and myopia in animal models. Therefore, in the present study we investigated whether progressive myopia, which can occur in albino guinea pigs without experimental manipulation of visual conditions, is affected by dopaminergic agents. Two-week-old albino guinea pigs, selected for being myopic (range refractive error [RE], -2 to -10 diopters [D]), received unilateral peribulbar injections of apomorphine (nonselective dopamine receptor agonist; 0, 7.5, 25, 75, 250, 750, and 2500 ng; n = 112), SKF38393 (D1-like agonist; 0, 10, 100, 1000 ng; n = 63), SCH23390 (D1-like antagonist; 0, 2500 ng; n = 27), quinpirole (D2-like agonist; 0, 10, 100, 1000 ng; n = 58), or sulpiride (D2-like antagonist; 0, 2500 ng; n = 24) once a day for four weeks. One noninjected group (n = 19) served as untreated control. Refractive states and axial dimensions of the eyes were measured without cycloplegia or general anesthetic, using eccentric infrared photoretinoscopy and A-scan ultrasonography, respectively, before treatment, and after 2 and 4 weeks of treatment. The main drug effects were analyzed by paired t-test or 2-way repeated measures ANOVA, as required. The naturally occurring progression of myopic RE was inhibited by apomorphine at relatively high doses (250 and 750 ng), SKF38393 at 100 ng (D1-like agonist), and sulpiride at 2500 ng (D2-like antagonist), but promoted by apomorphine at a lower dose (25 ng), quinpirole at 100 ng (D2-like agonist), and SCH23390 at 2500 ng (D1-like antagonist). All drugs affected primarily vitreous chamber depth, rather than anterior segment dimensions. Our data suggest that the activation of D1-like receptors inhibits, whereas activation of D2-like receptors promotes, progressive myopia in this animal model. The robust effects of antagonists

Sexual Behavior and Concerns in a Sample of Elderly, Former Indentured Swiss Child Laborers

PubMed Central

Burri, Andrea; Maercker, Andreas

2015-01-01

Abstract Introduction Past research suggests a link between post‐traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and an increased risk for sexual problems. However, there is still no clear picture whether these higher rates are related to trauma exposure or to PTSD itself. Aim The aim of the present study was to complement existing knowledge on the relative impact of trauma and PTSD on sexuality in later life, considering different aspects of trauma exposure on both men and women. Methods The study was conducted on a unique population sample of former Swiss indentured child laborers (55 men, M age 78, age range 60–95 years) who have repeatedly experienced a variety of severe childhood traumas. Main Outcome Measures Sexual outcomes were measured using two scales from the Trauma Symptom Inventory—Dysfunctional Sexual Behavior (DSB) and Sexual Concerns (SC). PTSD symptoms and trauma were assessed with the Short Screening Scale for PTSD and the Composite International Diagnostic Interview, respectively. Results Twenty‐two individuals showed PTSD symptoms, and 53 reported having experienced childhood trauma. Significant differences between men and women were reported for DSB and SC. Men reported a significantly higher prevalence of both SC and DSB compared with women. Conclusions This is the very first study investigating DSB and SC in a sample of older adults exposed to similar traumatic experiences and settings. However, some study limitations need to be considered such as the small sample size. Additional studies are needed to further explore the relative role of traumatization and PTSD on sexual behavior and well‐being, especially to improve sexual therapy for patients who experience trauma. Rechsteiner K, Burri A, and Maercker A. Sexual behavior and concerns in a sample of elderly, former indentured Swiss child laborers. Sex Med 2015;3:305–314. PMID:26797066

Swiss Atlas of PHYsical properties of Rocks (SAPHYR)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zappone, Alba; Kissling, Eduard

2015-04-01

The Swiss Atlas of PHYsical properties of Rocks (SAPHYR), is a multi-year project, funded entirely by Swiss Commission for Geophysics (SGPK), with the aim to compile a comprehensive data set in digital form on physical properties of rocks exposed in Switzerland and surrounding regions. The ultimate goal of SAPHYR is to make these data accessible to an open and wide public including industrial, engineering, land and resource planning companies, as well as academic institutions, or simply people interested in geology. Since the early sixties worldwide many scientists, i.e. geophysicists, petrologists, and engineers, focused their work on laboratory measurements of rocks physical properties, and their relations with microstructures, mineralogical compositions and other rock parameters, in the effort to constrain the geological interpretation of geophysical surveys. Particularly in the years in which seismic reflection and refraction crustal scale projects were investigating the deep structures of the Alps, laboratories capable to reproduce the pressure and temperature ranges of the continental crust were collecting measurements of various rock parameters on a wide variety of lithologies, developing in the meantime more and more sophisticated experimental methodologies. In recent years, the increasing interest of European Countries on non-traditional energy supply, (i.e. Deep Geothermal Energy and shale gas) and CO2 storage renovated the interests in physical characterization of the deep underground. SAPHYR aims to organize all those laboratory data into a geographically referenced database (GIS). The data refer to density, porosity, permeability, and seismic, magnetic, thermal and electric properties. In the past years, effort has been placed on collecting samples and measuring the physical properties of lithologies that were poorly documented in literature. The phase of laboratory measurements is still in progress. Recently, SAPHYR project focused towards developing

Study on the diuretic activity of Euphorbia fusiformis Buch.-Ham. in albino rats.

PubMed

Ashok, B K; Bhat, Savitha D; Shukla, V J; Ravishankar, B

2011-07-01

The present study was undertaken to evaluate diuretic activity of Euphorbia fusiformis root powder in Wistar strain albino rats. Randomly selected animals were divided into three groups of six animals each. The root powder was suspended in distilled water and administered orally at a dose of 90 mg/kg therapeutically equivalent dose (TED) and 180 mg/kg (TED × 02) to overnight fasted rats. The diuretic activity was evaluated by determination of urine volume and urinary electrolyte concentrations. Test drug showed significant increase in urine volume and urinary electrolyte excretion in a dose-dependant manner. Thus, from this study, it can be concluded that roots of E. fusiformis possess diuretic activity.

PHARMACOLOGICAL VALIDATION OF Musa paradisiaca BHASMA FOR ANTIULCER ACTIVITY IN ALBINO RATS – A PRELIMINARY STUDY

PubMed Central

Vadivelan, R.; Elango, K.; Suresh, B.; Ramesh, B. R.

2006-01-01

Siddha system of medicine is one of the ancient systems of medicine in India. According to Siddhars, peptic ulcer is known as Valigunmam with its signs and symptoms as detailed in Siddha literature matching modern terminology of peptic ulcer. Bhasma refers to calcinated metals and minerals. During this study the Bhasma of Musa paradisiaca Linn, is prepared and evaluated for its antiulcer effect in albino wistar rats which could not be attempted by researchers earlier. PMID:22557209

The Relationship Between Fusobacterium Species and Other Flora in Mixed Infection

DTIC Science & Technology

1986-01-01

inhibition with antibiotics and by quanti- tative cultures of abscess contents. 1-_4r (X) Animals d Male Swiss Alb*ino mice, 20-25 g, were obtained from...of the length and width is zole. Antibiotic levels were determined in serum tr’,, proportional to the outer surface of the abscess. This abscess fluid...at -70 C comparative measure. By this criterion, after 5 days until they were assayed. without antibiotic therapy the abscesses caused by a single

SAPHYR: the Swiss Atlas of PHYsical properties of Rocks

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wenning, Q. C.; Zappone, A. S.; Kissling, E.

2015-12-01

The Swiss Atlas of PHYsical properties of Rocks (SAPHYR) is a multi-year project, aiming to compile a comprehensive data set on physical properties of rocks exposed in Switzerland and surrounding areas. The ultimate goal of SAPHYR is to make these data accessible to an open and wide public, such as industrial, engineering, land and resource planning companies, as well as academic institutions. Since the early sixties worldwide geophysicists, petrologists, and engineers, focused their work on laboratory measurements of rocks physical properties, and their relations with microstructures, mineralogical compositions and other rock parameters, in the effort to constrain the geological interpretation of geophysical surveys. In combination with efforts to investigate deep structure of the continental crust by controlled source seismology, laboratories capable to reproduce pressure and temperature conditions to depth of 50km and more collected measurements of various parameters on a wide variety of rock types. In recent years, the increasing interest on non-traditional energy supply, (deep geothermal energy, shale gas) and CO2 storage renovated the interests in physical characterization of the deep underground. The idea to organize those laboratory data into a geographically referenced database (GIS) is supported by the Swiss Commission for Geophysics. The data refer to density and porosity, seismic, magnetic, thermal properties, permeability and electrical properties. An effort has been placed on collecting samples and measuring the physical properties of lithologies that are poorly documented in literature. The phase of laboratory measurements is still in progress. At present SAPHYR focuses towards developing a 3-D physical properties model of the Swiss subsurface, using the structure of the exposed geology, boreholes data and seismic surveys, combined with lab determined pressure and temperature derivatives. An early version of the final product is presented here.

Aerial surveys for Swiss needle cast in Western Oregon.

Treesearch

A. Kanaskie; M. McWilliams; J. Prukop; D. Overhulser; K. Sprengel

2002-01-01

In the last decade, Swiss needle cast (SNC), caused by the native fungus Phaeocryptopus gaeumannii, has severely damaged Douglas-fir in the Coast Range of western Oregon. The primary impact of the pathogen on Douglas-fir (the only susceptible tree species) is premature loss of foliage, which results in significant reduction in tree growth. Recent...

The revision of the Swiss Inventory of Geosites (2006-2012)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Reynard, Emmanuel

2013-04-01

Switzerland has a long history of geoconservation but it is only during the last two decades that a growing attention has been given to geoheritage protection and promotion. In order to disseminate knowledge of Swiss geoheritage and to encourage the Swiss Confederation and the cantons to protect this heritage accordingly, the Swiss Academy of Sciences (SCNAT) created a working group on Geotopes in 1993. The working group undertook the compilation of a list of geosites of national importance. This work was not a real inventory, based on a common methodology, but rather a list of proposals made by experts from various parts of the country, various fields (palaeontology, mineralogy, geomorphology, etc.), and various institutions (cantonal administrations, nature historical museums, universities, etc.). More than 800 proposals were received from which the working group retained 401 geosites. This list suffered several problems. One of them was its heterogeneity both in terms of content (regional discrepancy, differences between the various fields of Earth sciences) and of form (some proposals were very well documented in spite of others which were limited to the name of the site without any details of perimeter and description). Moreover, there was no information in digital form. As a result, a revision of the inventory was carried out in 2006 by the working group, with the financial support of the SCNAT and the Federal Office for the Environment (FOEN). The revision was both formal and digital. A relational database was created and hosted on the SCNAT server. It allowed project contributors to introduce information in the system by completing a form from their office. In parallel, all the geographical information - especially the perimeters - was managed within a Geographical Information System (GIS) in order to simplify use by the public administrations. At the end of the project, the list was published on the Geological data viewer (www.geologieviewer.ch) of the

Time course and specificity of lipolysis in Swiss cheese.

PubMed

Dherbécourt, Julien; Bourlieu, Claire; Maillard, Marie-Bernadette; Aubert-Frogerais, Lydie; Richoux, Romain; Thierry, Anne

2010-11-24

Controlling lipolysis in cheese is necessary to ensure the formation of desirable flavor. To get a better understanding of the mechanism of lipolysis in Swiss cheese, cheeses were manufactured with and without (control) the addition of Propionibacterium freudenreichii. Products of lipolysis were quantified throughout ripening. Half of the free fatty acids (FFA) released in milk (3.66 mg/g fat), in particular the short-chain FFA, were lost in the whey during curd drainage, whereas diglycerides and monoglycerides were retained within the curd. P. freudenreichii was responsible for the release of most FFA during ripening (10.84 and 0.39 mg/g fat in propionibacteria-containing and control cheeses, respectively). Indices of lipolysis displayed low specificity. All types of FFA were released, but butyric and palmitic acids more significantly, which could be due to a low sn-1,3 regioselectivity. All glycerides were hydrolyzed in the following order: monoglycerides>diglycerides>triglycerides. The results of this study show the quantitative and qualitative contributions of the different lipolytic agents to Swiss cheese lipolysis.

Evolution of body weight parameters up to 3 years after solid organ transplantation: The prospective Swiss Transplant Cohort Study.

PubMed

Beckmann, Sonja; Nikolic, Nataša; Denhaerynck, Kris; Binet, Isabelle; Koller, Michael; Boely, Elsa; De Geest, Sabina

2017-03-01

Obesity and weight gain are serious concerns after solid organ transplantation (Tx); however, no unbiased comparison regarding body weight parameter evolution across organ groups has yet been performed. Using data from the prospective nationwide Swiss Transplant Cohort Study, we compared the evolution of weight parameters up to 3 years post-Tx in 1359 adult kidney (58.3%), liver (21.7%), lung (11.6%), and heart (8.4%) recipients transplanted between May 2008 and May 2012. Changes in mean weight and body mass index (BMI) category were compared to reference values from 6 months post-Tx. At 3 years post-Tx, compared to other organ groups, liver Tx recipients showed the greatest weight gain (mean 4.8±10.4 kg), 57.4% gained >5% body weight, and they had the highest incidence of obesity (38.1%). After 3 years, based on their BMI categories at 6 months, normal weight and obese liver Tx patients, as well as underweight kidney, lung and heart Tx patients had the highest weight gains. Judged against international Tx patient data, the majority of our Swiss Tx recipients' experienced lower post-Tx weight gain. However, our findings show weight gain pattern differences, both within and across organ Tx groups that call for preventive measures. © 2016 John Wiley & Sons A/S. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

A Comprehensive Analysis of Swiss Alpine Glaciers Using Helicopter-Borne Ground-Penetrating-Radar

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rabenstein, L.; Maurer, H.; Bauder, A.; Langhammer, L.; Lucas, C.; Rutishauser, A.; Lathion, P.

2014-12-01

Detailed information exists on the surface area of glaciers in Switzerland and long-term mass balance observations are available but because glacial thickness remains elusive and so only a rough estimate of the present ice volume is available. After the successful recording of approximately 1000 km of helicopter ground penetrating radar (GPR) profiles on Swiss glaciers during the last three years, the Swiss Competence Center for Energy Research (SCCER) and the Swiss Geophysical Commission (SGPK) began an initiative to obtain for the first time an accurate estimate of the total ice volume located in the Swiss Alps. Steps towards this goal include the delineation of 3D bedrock topography beneath glacerized regions. The final ice volume estimation will comprise an ice flux computation model constrained by a dense network of helicopter-borne GPR profiles. Different systems that have been recently tested for acquiring helicopter GPR data in the Swiss Alps include towed systems (the HERA-G+ and the BGR-P30) and rigidly mounted systems of standard commercial GPR ground units (the GSSI and PulsEkko), all operating in the frequency range of 30 to 70 Mhz. Some measurements were ground-truthed using the same GPR antenna systems. Analyses of these data sets revealed a wealth of useful information on the glacier bed topography and some internal structures. For instance, at depths between 30 and 60 m, we often observe zones of low backscattering followed by a more reflective zone. In the glacial accumulation areas these features are interpreted as firn layers, in which the water percolates down to its base. The same test flights also provided useful technical information on the radar installation. For towed systems it is difficult to maintain a constant orientation of the antennas during the flight. In contrast, the rigidly mounted systems do not suffer from the orientation problem, but ringing effects are pronounced. We applied an SVD-based (singular value decomposition) multi

Effect of mesenchymal stem cells on anti-Thy1,1 induced kidney injury in albino rats

PubMed Central

Sakr, Saber; Rashed, Laila; Zarouk, Waheba; El-Shamy, Rania

2013-01-01

Objective To evaluate the effect of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) in rats with anti-Thy1,1 nephritis. Methods Female albino rats were divided into three groups, control group, anti-Thy1,1 group and treatment with i.v. MSCs group. MSCs were derived from bone marrow of male albino rats, Y-chromosome gene was detected by polymerase chain reaction in the kidney. Serum urea and creatinine were estimated for all groups. Kidney of all studied groups was examined histologically and histochemically (total carbohydrates and total proteins). DNA fragmentation and expression of α-SMA were detected. Results Kidney of animals injected with anti-Thy1,1 showed inflammatory leucocytic infiltration, hypertrophied glomeruli, tubular necrosis and congestion in the renal blood vessels. The kidney tissue also showed reduction of carbohydrates and total proteins together with increase in apoptosis and in expression of α-SMA. Moreover, the levels of urea and creatinine were elevated. Treating animals with MSCs revealed that kidney tissue displayed an improvement in the histological and histochemical changes. Apoptosis and α-SMA expression were decreased, and the levels of urea and creatinine decreased. Conclusions The obtained results demonstrated the potential of MSCs to ameliorate the structure and function of the kidney in rats with anti-Thy1,1 nephritis possibly through the release of paracrine growth factor(s). PMID:23620833

Effect of Schizandra chinensis lignans on cell division in the corneal epithelium and tongue of albino rats exposed to chronic cold stress

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Mel'nik, E.I.; Lupandin, A.V.; Timoshin, S.S.

The authors study the possibility of correcting cellular manifestations of disadaptation following chronic exposure to cold stress by means of preparations of Sch. chinensis. The model of chronic stress was cooling male albino rats daily for 1.5 h to a temperature of 28-30 C for 28 days. Since differences between levels of proliferation in intact animals and in the rats receiving 1.9% ethanol solution were absent, values obtained in the group of intact animals are presented in a table as the control. The animals underwent euthanasia 48 hours after the final exposure to the cold. The rats received an injectionmore » of tritium-thymidine one hour before sacrifice. It is shown that the results confirm those in previous studies of stimulation of DNA synthesis and mitotic activity in the corneal and lingual epithelium of albino rats during chronic exposure to stress.« less

78 FR 69640 - Notice of Decision To Authorize the Importation of Swiss Chard From Colombia Into the Continental...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2013-11-20

... States of Swiss chard from Colombia. Based on the findings of a pest risk analysis, which we made..., based on the findings of a pest risk analysis (PRA), can be safely imported subject to one or more of... introducing or disseminating plant pests or noxious weeds via the importation of Swiss chard from Colombia...

Muscle activation when performing the chest press and shoulder press on a stable bench vs. a Swiss ball.

PubMed

Uribe, Brandon P; Coburn, Jared W; Brown, Lee E; Judelson, Daniel A; Khamoui, Andy V; Nguyen, Diamond

2010-04-01

The aim of this study was to examine the effects of a stable surface (bench) vs. an unstable surface (Swiss ball) on muscle activation when performing the dumbbell chest press and shoulder press. Sixteen healthy men (24.19 +/- 2.17 years) performed 1 repetition maximum (1RM) tests for the chest press and shoulder press on a stable surface. A minimum of 48 hours post 1RM, subjects returned to perform 3 consecutive repetitions each of the chest press and shoulder press at 80% 1RM under 4 different randomized conditions (chest press on bench, chest press on Swiss ball, shoulder press on bench, shoulder press on Swiss ball). Electromyography was used to assess muscle activation of the anterior deltoid, pectoralis major, and rectus abdominus. The results revealed no significant difference in muscle activation between surface types for either exercise. This suggests that using an unstable surface neither improves nor impairs muscle activation under the current conditions. Coaches and other practitioners can expect similar muscle activation when using a Swiss ball vs. a bench.

Interdisciplinarity in Swiss Schools: A Difficult Step into the Future

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ghisla, Gianni; Bausch, Luca; Bonoli, Lorenzo

2010-01-01

Multi- and interdisciplinary education is a major postulate in the Swiss school system and has considerable weight in educational programs and learning objectives, both in compulsory school and at the upper secondary school level. However, materializing this postulate still poses problems at the political and institutional level, where the…

Anti-Alzheimer activity of isolated karanjin from Pongamia pinnata (L.) pierre and embelin from Embelia ribes Burm.f.

PubMed

Saini, Prachi; Lakshmayya, L; Bisht, Vinod Singh

2017-01-01

The aim of this study is to find out the anti-Alzheimer's activity of isolated karanjin and embelin. Karanjin isolated from Pongamia pinnata (L.) pierre and embelin from Embelia ribes Burm.f. and their purity was confirmed by ultraviolet spectrophotometric and Thin layer chromatography based study. Anti-Alzheimer's activity of isolated compounds were evaluated through elevated plus maze and Morris water maze model on Swiss albino mice. Diazepam (1 mg/kg body weight, intraperitoneally) was used for the induction of Alzheimer's like effects (amnesia) on Swiss albino mice and piracetam (200 mg/kg body weight, oral) used as a standard treatment. In EPM, embelin and karanjin decrease the transfer latency time in dose dependent manner and escape latency time in MWM method. A significant ( P < 0.01) reduction in amnesia with an anti-Alzheimer's effect found when results of isolated compounds were compared with standard and vehicle control. Diazepam (1 mg/kg) treated group showed significant increase in escape latency and transfer latency when compared with vehicle control; which indicates impairment in learning and memory. Both isolated compounds and standard significantly reversed the amnesia induced by diazepam and improved learning and memory of mice in dose and time dependent manner. This study supports the ethnobotanical use of these two plants in India for the management of nerve or brain related problems.

Pharmacokinetics of topically applied pilocarpine in the albino rabbit eye.

PubMed

Makoid, M C; Robinson, J R

1979-04-01

The temporal and spatial pattern of [3H]-pilocarpine nitrate distribution in the albino rabbit eye following topical administration was determined. A four-compartment caternary chain model describing this disposition corresponds to the precorneal area, the cornea, the aqueous humor, and the lens and vitreous. Simultaneous computer fitting of data from tissue corresponding to some compartments in the model supported the proposed model. Additional support was provided by the excellent correlation between predicted and observed values in multiple-dosing studies. Several important aspects of ocular drug disposition are evident from the model. The extensive parallel elimination at the absorption site gives rise to an apparent absorption rate constant that is one to two orders of magnitude larger than the true absorption rate constant. In addition, aqueous flow accounts for most of the drug removal. Thus, major effects on absorption and elimination, independent of the drug structure, suggest the possibility of similar pharmacokinetics for vastly different drugs.

Swiss Life Sciences - a science communication project for both schools and the wider public led by the foundation Science et Cité.

PubMed

Röthlisberger, Michael

2012-01-01

The foundation Science et Cité was founded 1998 with the aim to inform the wider Swiss public about current scientific topics and to generate a dialogue between science and society. Initiated as an independent foundation by the former State Secretary for Science and Research, Dr. Charles Kleiber, Science et Cité is now attached to the Swiss Academies of Arts and Sciences as a competence center for dialogue with the public. Due to its branches in all language regions of the country, the foundation is ideally suited to initiate and implement communication projects on a nationwide scale. These projects are subdivided into three categories: i) science communication for children/adolescents, ii) establishing a dialogue between science and the wider public, and iii) conducting the role of a national center of competence and networking in science communication. Swiss Life Sciences is a project that fits into all of these categories: a year-round program for schools is complemented with an annual event for the wider public. With the involvement of most of the major Swiss universities, the Swiss National Science Foundation, the foundation Gen Suisse and many other partners, Swiss Life Sciences also sets an example of national networking within the science communication community.

Effect of different doses of monosodium glutamate on the thyroid follicular cells of adult male albino rats: a histological study

PubMed Central

Khalaf, Hanaa A; Arafat, Eetmad A

2015-01-01

Monosodium glutamate (MSG) is a major flavor enhancer used as a food additive. The present study investigates the effects of different doses of MSG on the morphometric and histological changes of the thyroid gland. 28 male albino rats were used. The rats were divided into four groups: group I control, group II, III and IV treated with MSG (0.25 g/kg, 3 g/kg, 6 g/kg daily for one month) respectively. The thyroid glands were dissected out and prepared for light and electron microscopic examination. Light microscopic examination of thyroid gland of group II revealed increase in follicular epithelial height. Groups III & IV showed decrease in the follicular diameter and irregularity in the shape of some follicles with discontinuity of basement membrane. Follicular hyperplasia was detected in some follicles with appearance of multiple pyknotic nuclei in follicular and interfollicular cells and multiple exfoliated cells in the colloid. In addition, areas of loss of follicular pattern were appeared in group IV. Immunohistochemical examination of BCL2 immunoexpression of the thyroid glands of groups III & IV reveals weak positive reaction in the follicular cells cytoplasm. Ultrathin sections examination of groups III & IV revealed follicular cells with irregular hyperchromatic nuclei, marked dilatation of rER and increased lysosomes with areas of short or lost apical microvilli. In addition, vacuolation of mitochondria was detected in group IV. The results displayed that MSG even at low doses is capable of producing alterations in the body weights and thyroid tissue function and histology. PMID:26884820

[Anthropometry of the Swiss junior and elite judo national team - a descriptive study].

PubMed

Spieser, Laura; Clijsen, Ron; Rucker, Alfred M L; Cabri, Jan; Clarys, Peter

2012-12-01

To establish the anthropometrical characteristics and the hand grip strength of the Swiss junior and elite judo national team. The measured values were compared with data from the literature. 24 members, 19 males (23.01 ± 4.91 years) and five females (19.95 ± 2.02 years), were measured. The following anthropometric measurements were made: body size, body weight, six skinfolds (SFT), two breadths, two circumferences, body fat (tanita scale, Durnin and Womersley method), BMI and determination of somatotypes. In addition, the hand grip strength was measured. The anthropometric measurements were carried out in accordance with ISAK guidelines. The literature search was done electronically using PubMed. The mean somatotype of male judoka was 2,2 ± 0,8 for the endomorphy, 6,0 ± 0,9 for the mesomorphy and 2,0 ± 0,7 for the ectomorphy. The mean somatotype was balanced mesomorph. The mean hand grip strength of male judoka was 47,4 ± 6,7 kg. The mean somatotype of female judoka was 3.7 ± 1.2 for the endomorphy, 4,9 ± 0,7 for the mesomorphy and 1,5 ± 0,3 for the ectomorphy. The mean somatotype was mesomorphic endomorph. The mean hand grip strength of the female judoka was 27,0 ± 3,1 kg. There were anthropometric differences between the Swiss juniors and elite judoka and between the Swiss athletes and the athletes of the reference studies. The anthropometric data and the results of the hand grip strength give information, which components Swiss judoka should improve. A judoka who does not match the ideal profile can still be successful with the help of other factors (technical, tactical, mental strength). © Georg Thieme Verlag KG Stuttgart · New York.

Surface chemistry at Swiss Universities of Applied Sciences.

PubMed

Brodard, Pierre; Pfeifer, Marc E; Adlhart, Christian D; Pieles, Uwe; Shahgaldian, Patrick

2014-01-01

In the Swiss Universities of Applied Sciences, a number of research groups are involved in surface science, with different methodological approaches and a broad range of sophisticated characterization techniques. A snapshot of the current research going on in different groups from the University of Applied Sciences and Arts Western Switzerland (HES-SO), the Zurich University of Applied Sciences (ZHAW) and the University of Applied Sciences and Arts Northwestern Switzerland (FHNW) is given.

Differential effects of MK-801 on cerebrocortical neuronal injury in C57BL/6J, NSA, and ICR mice.

PubMed

Brosnan-Watters, G; Ogimi, T; Ford, D; Tatekawa, L; Gilliam, D; Bilsky, E J; Nash, D

2000-08-01

1. Antagonists of the N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) glutamate (Glu) receptor, including [(+)-5-methyl-10,11-dihydro-5H-dibenzo[a,d]cyclohepten-5,10-imine maleate], dizocilpine maleate (MK-801), injure pyramidal neurons in the posterior cingulate/retrosplenial (PC/RS) cortex when administered systemically to adult rats and mice. 2. These results have, to our knowledge, only been reported previously in Harlan Sprague Dawley albino rats and International Cancer Research (ICR) mice, an outbred albino strain. 3. Male Non-Swiss Albino (NSA) mice, an albino outbred strain, and male C57BL/6J (B6) mice, a pigmented inbred strain, were injected systemically with 1 mg/kg of MK-801 in the first experiment. This dose of MK-801 reliably produces cytoplasmic vacuoles in neurons in layers III and IV of the PC/RS cortex in 100% of ICR mice treated 4. There was a significant difference in the number of vacuolated neurons in B6 and NSA mice, as assessed by ANOVA. The NSA were not significantly different than previously examined ICR mice, but the B6 had fewer vacuolated neurons than either of the two outbred strains. 5. In the second experiment, male NSA, ICR, and B6 mice were injected systemically with a high dose, 10 mg/kg, of MK-801. This dose has been demonstrated to result in necrosis in the same population of neurons injured by lower doses of MK-801. 6. An ANOVA indicated that there was a significant difference among the three strains of mice, and a Fisher's protected t revealed that the B6 mice were significantly different from both the NSA and ICR, but that, with our test, those two strains were indistinguishable. 7. Male ICR, NSA, and B6 mice were tested in the holeboard food search task 5 hours after 1 mg/kg of MK-801. There were significant differences between the strains in performance both pre and posttreatment. The effect of the drug was not statistically significant. 8. These results suggest that there may be a genetically mediated difference in the reaction to NMDA

Analysis of geohazards events along Swiss roads from autumn 2011 to present

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Voumard, Jérémie; Jaboyedoff, Michel; Derron, Marc-Henri

2014-05-01

In Switzerland, roads and railways are threatened throughout the year by several natural hazards. Some of these events reach transport infrastructure many time per year leading to the closing of transportation corridors, loss of access, deviation travels and sometimes infrastructures damages and loss of human lives (3 fatalities during the period considered). The aim of this inventory of events is to investigate the number of natural events affecting roads and railways in Switzerland since autumn 2011 until now. Natural hazards affecting roads and railway can be classified in five categories: rockfalls, landslides, debris flows, snow avalanches and floods. They potentially cause several important direct damages on transportation infrastructure (roads, railway), vehicles (slightly or very damaged) or human life (slightly or seriously injured person, death). These direct damages can be easily evaluated from press articles or from Swiss police press releases. Indirect damages such as deviation cost are not taken into account in this work. During the two a half last years, about 50 events affecting the Swiss roads and Swiss railways infrastructures were inventoried. The proportion of events due to rockfalls is 45%, to landslides 25%, to debris flows 15%, to snow avalanches 10% and to floods 5%. During this period, three fatalities and two persons were injured while 23 vehicles (car, trains and coach) and 24 roads and railways were damaged. We can see that floods occur mainly on the Swiss Plateau whereas rockfalls, debris flow, snow avalanches and landslides are mostly located in the Alpine area. Most of events occur on secondary mountain roads and railways. The events are well distributed on the whole Alpine area except for the Gotthard hotspot, where an important European North-South motorway (hit in 2003 with two fatalities) and railway (hit three times in 2012 with one fatalities) are more frequently affected. According to the observed events in border regions of

Gastric tumorigenesis by a single dose of 4-(hydroxymethyl)benzenediazonium ion of Agaricus bisporus.

PubMed Central

Toth, B.; Nagel, D.; Ross, A.

1982-01-01

4-(Hydroxymethyl-benzenediazonium tetrafluoroborate was administered as a single intragastric instillation at 400 micrograms/g to Swiss albino mice. The treatment gave rise to glandular stomach tumours in incidences of 30% in females and 32% in males. Histopathologically, the tumours were classified as polypoid adenomas and adenocarcinomas. This diazonium ion is an ingredient of the cultivated mushroom of commerce, Agaricus bisporus. The implications are self-evident. Images Fig. 1 Fig. 2 Fig. 3 Fig. 4 Fig. 5 Fig. 6 PMID:6889885

Can a fake fir tell the truth about Swiss needle cast?

EPA Science Inventory

A key question in dendrochronology to reconstruct forest disturbance history is how to distinguish between the effects of Swiss needle cast (SNC) and other forest disturbance agents (e.g., Douglas-fir beetle, tussock moth, western spruce budworm, laminated root rot, Armillaria ro...

Influence of starter culture ratios and warm room treatment on free fatty acid and amino acid in Swiss cheese.

PubMed

Ji, T; Alvarez, V B; Harper, W J

2004-07-01

Quantification of water-soluble volatile free fatty acids (FFA) and free amino acids (FAA) was performed as a ripening index and an indirect measure of flavor development in Swiss-type cheeses. The objective of this research was to assess the effect of warm room treatment (WRT) and usage ratio of starter cultures, Streptococcus thermophilus and Lactobacillus helveticus vs. propionibacteria, on the concentration of FFA and FAA in pilot plant-scale Swiss cheese. A capillary gas chromatograph equipped with a flame ionization detector was used for the analysis of FFA in Swiss cheese. Free amino acids were analyzed by the Cd-ninhydrin method. Starter culture ratios did not affect development of FAA during the cheese ripening. However, duration of WRT had an effect on the concentration of FAA in the Swiss cheese. Free amino acids increased considerably during WRT. A continuous increase in FAA was shown during 70-d ripening time after WRT. The concentrations of C2:0 and C3:0 fatty acids were affected by starter culture ratios after 2-wk WRT, but these differences had mostly disappeared after 3-wk WRT. Similar concentrations of FFA and FAA reported in previous studies were developed in Swiss cheese with a 3-wk WRT and a 0.33:1 ratio of Streptococcus thermophilus and Lactobacillus helveticus to propionibacteria.

Preliminary study of ultrasonic structural quality control of Swiss-type cheese.

PubMed

Eskelinen, J J; Alavuotunki, A P; Haeggström, E; Alatossava, T

2007-09-01

There is demand for a new nondestructive cheese-structure analysis method for Swiss-type cheese. Such a method would provide the cheese-making industry the means to enhance process control and quality assurance. This paper presents a feasibility study on ultrasonic monitoring of the structural quality of Swiss cheese by using a single-transducer 2-MHz longitudinal mode pulse-echo setup. A volumetric ultrasonic image of a cheese sample featuring gas holes (cheese-eyes) and defects (cracks) in the scan area is presented. The image is compared with an optical reference image constructed from dissection images of the same sample. The results show that the ultrasonic method is capable of monitoring the gas-solid structure of the cheese during the ripening process. Moreover, the method can be used to detect and to characterize cheese-eyes and cracks in ripened cheese. Industrial application demands were taken into account when conducting the measurements.

ATLAS computing on Swiss Cloud SWITCHengines

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Haug, S.; Sciacca, F. G.; ATLAS Collaboration

2017-10-01

Consolidation towards more computing at flat budgets beyond what pure chip technology can offer, is a requirement for the full scientific exploitation of the future data from the Large Hadron Collider at CERN in Geneva. One consolidation measure is to exploit cloud infrastructures whenever they are financially competitive. We report on the technical solutions and the performances used and achieved running simulation tasks for the ATLAS experiment on SWITCHengines. SWITCHengines is a new infrastructure as a service offered to Swiss academia by the National Research and Education Network SWITCH. While solutions and performances are general, financial considerations and policies, on which we also report, are country specific.

78 FR 40688 - Notice of Availability of a Pest Risk Analysis for the Importation of Swiss Chard From Colombia...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2013-07-08

...] Notice of Availability of a Pest Risk Analysis for the Importation of Swiss Chard From Colombia Into the... availability. SUMMARY: We are advising the public that we have prepared a pest risk analysis that evaluates the... weeds via the importation of Swiss chard from Colombia. We are making the pest risk analysis available...

Fog Chemistry at Different Altitudes in the Swiss Alps

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Michna, P.; Eugster, W.; Wanner, H.

2010-07-01

During two extended summer seasons in 2006 and 2007, we installed two battery driven versions of the Caltech active strand cloud water collector (MiniCASCC) at the Niesen mountain in the northern Swiss Alps. Along, we measured air temperature, relative humidity, wind, and visibility. During these two field operation phases we gained weekly samples of fogwater, where we analysed the major anions and cations, and the stable water isotopes δD and δ18O. The fog collectors were installed at an altitude of 2300 and 1600 m asl to resolve altitudinal differences in fog chemistry. We found a large variability between the events, but no clear altitudinal gradient. At both sites, the most important ions were nitrate, ammonium, and sulphate. Higher concentrations occured preferably in late spring (start of sampling period) and in autumn (end of sampling). Compared to previous studies at lower elevations in the Swiss Plateau during wintertime, our measurements showed considerable lower ion loads in the fogwater. The combination of these results suggest that lowest ion loads are found in convective clouds with a short lifetime and that the highest ion loads occur during radiation fog events at lower elevations.

Aqueous seed extract of Cola nitida rubra reduces serum reproductive hormone concentrations and sperm count in adult male albino Wistar rats.

PubMed

Umoh, I O; Emmanuel, O A; Nna, V U

2014-11-01

Following the high rate of consumption of Cola nitida (cola nut) among the male population in Nigeria, this study seeks to determine the effects of consumption of Cola nitida on serum reproductive hormones and sperm count, which are major determinants of male fertility. Thirty-two male albino wistar rats weighing 180-220 g were used for this study and were divided into 4 groups of eight animals each. Group 1 served as control, group 2 received 2 mg/kg Cola nitida extract (Test 1), group 3 received 6 mg/kg Cola nitida extract (Test 2) and group 4 received 10 mg/kg Cola nitida extract (Test 3). After 6 weeks of treatment, reproductive hormonal assay was carried out using the rat serum. Epididymal spermatozoa were collected and sperm count determined. Serum concentrations of luteinizing hormone (LH) and testosterone were significantly (P < 0.05) reduced in test 2 and 3, compared with control. Sperm count was significantly lower in test group 1 (P < 0.05), 2 (P < 0.001) and 3 (P < 0.001) compared with control, with test 3 significantly (P < 0.05) lower compared with test 1. There was no significant difference in testicular and epididymis weight in the different experimental groups studied. Aqueous seed extract of Cola nitida rubra resulted in reduced serum reproductive hormone concentrations and sperm count in male wistar rats, and may therefore be detrimental to reproductive health, hence the need for regulation of its consumption.

UniProtKB/Swiss-Prot, the Manually Annotated Section of the UniProt KnowledgeBase: How to Use the Entry View.

PubMed

Boutet, Emmanuel; Lieberherr, Damien; Tognolli, Michael; Schneider, Michel; Bansal, Parit; Bridge, Alan J; Poux, Sylvain; Bougueleret, Lydie; Xenarios, Ioannis

2016-01-01

The Universal Protein Resource (UniProt, http://www.uniprot.org ) consortium is an initiative of the SIB Swiss Institute of Bioinformatics (SIB), the European Bioinformatics Institute (EBI) and the Protein Information Resource (PIR) to provide the scientific community with a central resource for protein sequences and functional information. The UniProt consortium maintains the UniProt KnowledgeBase (UniProtKB), updated every 4 weeks, and several supplementary databases including the UniProt Reference Clusters (UniRef) and the UniProt Archive (UniParc).The Swiss-Prot section of the UniProt KnowledgeBase (UniProtKB/Swiss-Prot) contains publicly available expertly manually annotated protein sequences obtained from a broad spectrum of organisms. Plant protein entries are produced in the frame of the Plant Proteome Annotation Program (PPAP), with an emphasis on characterized proteins of Arabidopsis thaliana and Oryza sativa. High level annotations provided by UniProtKB/Swiss-Prot are widely used to predict annotation of newly available proteins through automatic pipelines.The purpose of this chapter is to present a guided tour of a UniProtKB/Swiss-Prot entry. We will also present some of the tools and databases that are linked to each entry.

A Swiss Manufacturer Sees the Industrial Revolution in England*

PubMed Central

Buess, Heinrich

1962-01-01

I have recently come across the diaries of Johann Conrad Fischer. These diaries span six decades and cover the years of social, economic, and technological upheaval which marked the industrial revolution in England. The reader is given a picture of these years through the eyes of a Swiss manufacturer with a good perception of history, and his notes are of some value to historians. PMID:13874462

Optical design of the ARAMIS-beamlines at SwissFEL

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Follath, R.; Flechsig, U.; Milne, C.

2016-07-27

SwissFEL is a free electron laser facility for hard and soft X-rays at the Paul Scherrer Institut in Switzerland. The first hard X-ray FEL named ARAMIS will deliver photons in the wavelength range from 1 Å to 7 Å in up to three beamlines alternatively. The beamlines are equipped with crystal monochromators, cover the full wavelength range and offer a variety of operational modes.

The Effect of In Vivo Mobilization of Bone Marrow Stem Cells on the Pancreas of Diabetic Albino Rats (A Histological & Immunohistochemical Study)

PubMed Central

Ismail, Zeinab Mohamed Kamel; Kamel, Ashraf Mahmoud Fawzy; Yacoub, Mira Farouk Youssef; Aboulkhair, Alshaymaa Gamal

2013-01-01

Background and Objectives The rapidly increasing number of diabetic patients across the world drew the attention to develop more effective therapeutic approaches. Recent investigations on newly differentiated insulin producing cells (IPCs) revealed that they could be derived from embryonic, adult mesenchymal and hematopoietic stem cells. This work was planned to evaluate the role of StemEnhance (Aphanizomenon flos-aquae [AFA] plant extract) in mobilizing naturally occurring bone marrow stem cells as well as in improving streptozotocin-induced diabetic rats. Methods and Results Twenty adult male albino rats were divided into four groups namely the control, the diabetic, the positive control-StemEnhance and the diabetic-StemEnhance groups. After diabetes induction by streptozotocin (STZ), rats received StemEnhance for four weeks. The mean number of blood CD34 immunopositive cells was measured by flowcytometry and random blood sugar was measured weekly. The pancreas was removed from the sacrificed rats and processed for staining with H&E and immunohistochemical staining for CD34+ve and insulin +ve cells. CD34+ve cells increased in the blood after introduction of StemEnhance. CD34+ve cells were observed in the pancreas and the insulin producing cells in the islets of Langerhans were increased from the second to the fourth week of treatment. Blood glucose level improved but it was still higher than the control level after four weeks of StemEnhance treatment. Conclusions This work points to the significant role of StemEnhance in stem cell mobilization and the improvement of diabetes mellitus. PMID:24298369

Can a fake fir tell the truth about Swiss needle cast? (paper)

EPA Science Inventory

A key question in dendrochronology to reconstruct forest disturbance history is how to distinguish between the effects of Swiss needle cast (SNC) and other forest disturbance agents (e.g., Arceuthobium spp., Armillaria, Phaseolus schweinitzii, Dendroctonus ponderosae, Dendroctonu...

Comparison of mouse strains for susceptibility to styrene-induced hepatotoxicity and pneumotoxicity

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Carlson, G.P.

1997-10-01

Styrene is known to cause both hepatotoxicity and pneumotoxicity in mice. Strain differences have been reported by other investigators suggesting that Swiss mice are less susceptible than non-Swiss mice to styrene-induced liver damage. In this study, All and C57BL16 mice were found to be similar to non-Swiss albino (NSA) mice in susceptibility whereas CD-1 (Swiss) mice were more resistant to hepatotoxicity as assessed by serum sorbitol dehydrogenase levels and pneumotoxicity as determined by gamma-glutamyltranspeptidase and lactate dehydrogenase measurements in bronchoalveolar ravage fluid. Styrene was hepatotoxic in CD-1 mice treated with pyridine to induce CYP2E1. CYP2E1 apoprotein levels and p-nitrophenol hydroxylasemore » activities in control and pyridine-induced mice were similar in the two strains. Hepatic and pulmonary microsomal preparations from both strains metabolized styrene to styrene oxide at similar rates. CD-1 mice were as susceptible as the NSA mice to the effects of styrene oxide. The data suggest that there are no differences in the bioactivation of styrene to styrene oxide or innate susceptibility to the active metabolite that would account for the differences between the CD-1 and NSA mice. 26 refs., 6 tabs.« less

Health information given by Swiss travel agencies.

PubMed

Schwitz, Fabienne M; Haley, Timothy J L; Stat, C; Hatz, Christoph F R

2006-01-01

Many of the 1 million Swiss traveling to tropical or subtropical countries book their trip through travel agencies every year. These agencies are thus an important source of information about malaria and other important health risks and little is known about the appropriate health information provided by these. A study was conducted to assess health-related information in members of the Swiss Federation of Travel Agencies in the metropolitan area of Zurich, Switzerland. A covert investigator (F.M.S.) visited these agencies and requested information on a package holiday for 2 or 3 weeks to Kenya. Following an in-person interview, the investigator recorded any health-related information provided on a pretested form. If none was mentioned, the agent was prompted using a standardized procedure. A total of 88 agencies were visited. Spontaneous health advice was given in 44% of all visits. After prompting, 99% of all travel agents mentioned preventive measures against malaria, but only 69% indicated the need for vaccinations against other diseases. Spontaneous advice on malaria risk and vaccinations was better than advice given upon prompting. One fifth of all travel agents neither mentioned malaria prevention measures spontaneously nor recommended seeing a health specialist. Overall, travel medicine knowledge of travel agents in the Zurich area needs improvement as many tended to draw attention to health risks only when prompted. Attitude, personal knowledge, and experience of individual travel agents were key to the health information given. Up-to-date and readily available information on health risks should be provided to travel agencies and structured training given in collaboration with health professionals.

Rapid profiling of Swiss cheese by attenuated total reflectance (ATR) infrared spectroscopy and descriptive sensory analysis.

PubMed

Kocaoglu-Vurma, N A; Eliardi, A; Drake, M A; Rodriguez-Saona, L E; Harper, W J

2009-08-01

The acceptability of cheese depends largely on the flavor formed during ripening. The flavor profiles of cheeses are complex and region- or manufacturer-specific which have made it challenging to understand the chemistry of flavor development and its correlation with sensory properties. Infrared spectroscopy is an attractive technology for the rapid, sensitive, and high-throughput analysis of foods, providing information related to its composition and conformation of food components from the spectra. Our objectives were to establish infrared spectral profiles to discriminate Swiss cheeses produced by different manufacturers in the United States and to develop predictive models for determination of sensory attributes based on infrared spectra. Fifteen samples from 3 Swiss cheese manufacturers were received and analyzed using attenuated total reflectance infrared spectroscopy (ATR-IR). The spectra were analyzed using soft independent modeling of class analogy (SIMCA) to build a classification model. The cheeses were profiled by a trained sensory panel using descriptive sensory analysis. The relationship between the descriptive sensory scores and ATR-IR spectra was assessed using partial least square regression (PLSR) analysis. SIMCA discriminated the Swiss cheeses based on manufacturer and production region. PLSR analysis generated prediction models with correlation coefficients of validation (rVal) between 0.69 and 0.96 with standard error of cross-validation (SECV) ranging from 0.04 to 0.29. Implementation of rapid infrared analysis by the Swiss cheese industry would help to streamline quality assurance.

The inequity of the Swiss Health Care system financing from a federal state perspective.

PubMed

Crivelli, Luca; Salari, Paola

2014-02-14

Previous studies have shown that Swiss health-care financing is particularly regressive. However, as it has been emphasized in the 2011 OECD Review of the Swiss Health System, the inter cantonal variations of income-related inequities are still broadly unexplored. The present paper aims to fill this gap by analyzing the differences in the level of equity of health-care system financing across cantons and its evolution over time using household data. Following the methodology proposed by Wagstaff et al. (JHE 11:361-387, 1992) we use the Kakwani index as a summary measure of regressivity and we compute it for each canton and for each of the sources that have a role in financing the health care system. We graphed concentration curves and performed relative dominance tests, which utilize the full distribution of expenditures.The microdata come from the Swiss Household Income and Expenditure Survey (SHIES) based on a sample of the Swiss population (about 3500 households per year), for the years 1998 - 2005. The empirical evidence confirms that the health-care financing in Switzerland has remained regressive since the major reform of 1996 and shows that the variations in equity across cantons are quite significant: the difference between the most and the least regressive canton is about the same as between two extremely different financing systems like the US and Sweden. There is no evidence, instead, of a clear evolution over time of regressivity. The significant variation in equity across cantons can be explained by fiscal federalism and the related autonomy in the design of tax and social policies. In particular, the results highlight that earmarked subsidies, the policy adopted to smooth the regressivity of the premiums, appear to be not enough; in the practice of federal states the combination of allowances with mandatory community-rated health insurance premiums might lead to a modest outcome in terms of equity.

Early genetic testing of coastal Douglas-fir for Swiss needle cast tolerance.

Treesearch

Fatih Temel; G.R. Johnson; W.T. Adams

2005-01-01

The possibility of early testing coastal Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii var. menziesii (Mirb.) Franco) for Swiss needle cast (SNC; caused by Phaeocryptopus gaeumannii (Rohde) Petrak) tolerance was investigated using 55 Douglas-fir families from western Oregon. Seedlings were inoculated with P...

Solidarity and cost management: Swiss citizens' reasons for priorities regarding health insurance coverage.

PubMed

Schindler, Mélinée; Danis, Marion; Goold, Susan D; Hurst, Samia A

2018-04-14

Approaches to priority-setting for scarce resources have shifted to public deliberation as trade-offs become more difficult. We report results of a qualitative analysis of public deliberation in Switzerland, a country with high health-care costs, an individual health insurance mandate and a strong tradition of direct democracy with frequent votes related to health care. We adapted the Choosing Healthplans All Together (CHAT) tool, an exercise developed to transform complex health-care allocation decisions into easily understandable choices, for use in Switzerland. We conducted focus groups in twelve Swiss cities, recruiting from a range of socio-economic backgrounds in the three language regions. Participants developed strategic arguments based on the importance of basic coverage for all, and of cost-benefit evaluation. They also expressed arguments relying on a principle of solidarity, in particular the importance of protection for vulnerable groups, and on the importance of medical care. They struggled with the place of personal responsibility in coverage decisions. In commenting on the exercise, participants found the degree of consensus despite differing opinions surprising and valuable. The Swiss population is particularly attentive to the costs of health care and means of reducing these costs. Swiss citizens are capable of making trade-offs and setting priorities for complex health issues. © 2018 The Authors Health Expectations published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Does antecedent precipitation play a role for floods in (small) Swiss catchments?

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Froidevaux, Paul; Schwanbeck, Jan; Weingartner, Rolf; Chevalier, Clément; Romppainen-Martius, Olivia

2014-05-01

River flooding is one of the most devastating natural hazards worldwide. In Switzerland, like in many other regions, the building of flood protection infrastructures is complicated by difficulties in assessing flood risk due to: - The large year-to-year variability in flood losses. The variations amount to several orders of magnitude (see for ex. Hilker et al., 2009). - The non-stationarity of the flood risk at longer time scales. A pronounced decadal variability in flood risk has been observed by Schmocker-Fackel and Naef (2010) and Köplin et al. (2013) show that climate change will induce diverse and complex regional changes in flood risk. A better understanding of flood processes is therefore required in order to better predict changes in flood frequency. It has been hypothesized that flood frequency variations are linked to changes in the atmospheric circulation. Consequently, the whole mechanism chain starting from atmospheric circulation patterns triggering severe precipitation weather and ending with extreme river discharge must be considered. In a step in that direction we characterize precipitation events that triggered observed annual maximum discharges at 120 discharge stations during the last 53 years in Switzerland. The precipitation dataset is a temporally-homogeneous complex interpolation of daily rain gauge data on a 1 by 1 km grid covering the Swiss territory (MeteoSwiss, 2011). We test the relationship between different catchment-averaged precipitation indices and flood occurrence. We explicitly separate antecedent and event-associated precipitation. The preliminary results show that antecedent precipitation (weekly to monthly sums ending 3 days before the event) are no significant flood predictors for most of the catchments. On the other hand, a very strong signal is found for the 1-3 days precipitation sums. Lessons for flood modeling in Swiss catchments is that a strong effort is required in order to represent the flood-associated weather

Lead nitrate induced unallied expression of liver and kidney functions in male albino rats.

PubMed

Chougule, Priti; Patil, Bhagyashree; Kanase, Aruna

2005-06-01

To determine the effects of lead where lead accumulates maximum (liver followed by kidney), liver and kidney functions were studied using low oral dose of lead nitrate for prolonged duration. Dose of 20 mg lead nitrate/kg body wt/day was used in male albino rats. AST and ALT levels altered independently. When ALT remained unaltered after 7 and 21 days of treatment, it is decreased by 13.21% after 14 days treatment. AST was marginally lowered after 7 days, increased after 14 days and increased marginally after 21 days. Bilirubin (conjugated, unconjugated and total) decreased after 7 and 14 days and increased after 21 days. Urea increase was directly proportional to duration. Creatinine remained unaltered.

Analgesic activity of Nelsonia canescens (Lam.) Spreng.root in albino rats

PubMed Central

Mohaddesi, Behzad; Dwivedi, Ravindra; Ashok, B. K.; Aghera, Hetal; Acharya, Rabinarayan; Shukla, V. J.

2013-01-01

Present study was undertaken to evaluate analgesic activity of root of Nelsonia canescens (Lam.) Spreng, a folklore medicinal plant used as the one of the source plant of Rasna. Study was carried out at two dose levels (270 mg/kg and 540 mg/kg) in albino rats. Analgesic activity was evaluated in formalin induced paw licking, and tail flick methods whereas indomethacin and pentazocine were used as standard analgesic drugs, respectively. At both the dose levels, test drug non-significantly decreased paw licking response at both time intervals. In tail flick model, the administration of the test drug increased pain threshold response in a dose dependent manner. In therapeutically equivalent dose level, analgesic activity was observed only after 180 min while in TED ×2 treated group analgesia was observed at 30 min and lasted even up to 240 min. The results suggested that N.canescens root possess moderate analgesic activity. PMID:24250136

Melanopsin changes in neonatal albino rat independent of rods and cones.

PubMed

Hannibal, Jens; Georg, Birgitte; Fahrenkrug, Jan

2007-01-08

Intrinsically photosensitive retinal ganglion cells employ the photopigment melanopsin and provide light information to brain areas responsible for the regulation of circadian rhythms. The expression of melanopsin is regulated by environmental illumination, but it remains to be clarified whether the rods and cones are involved. Here, we examined the influence of 5 days of constant light and dark conditions on melanopsin mRNA and protein expression in newborn albino rats, in which functional rods and cones have not yet been developed. We found that the melanopsin mRNA level was unaffected, whereas the melanopsin protein level was more than two-fold higher in the darkness-adapted group than in pups raised in constant light. In pups raised during 12 : 12 h light/dark cycles, the melanopsin protein level was significantly higher during the day than at night. Our findings indicate that melanopsin protein changes are independent of input from the rods and cones.

Learning Documentations in VET Systems: An Analysis of Current Swiss Practices

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Caruso, Valentina; Cattaneo, Alberto; Gurtner, Jean-Luc

2016-01-01

Swiss vocational education and training (VET) is defined as a dual-track system where apprentices weekly alternate between vocational school and a (real) workplace. At the workplace, they have to keep a learning documentation throughout their training, in which they are expected to regularly document their professional development. The actual use…

Environmental impoverishment and aging alter object recognition, spatial learning, and dentate gyrus astrocytes.

PubMed

Diniz, Daniel G; Foro, César A R; Rego, Carla M D; Gloria, David A; de Oliveira, Fabio R R; Paes, Juliana M P; de Sousa, Aline A; Tokuhashi, Tatyana P; Trindade, Lucas S; Turiel, Maíra C P; Vasconcelos, Erick G R; Torres, João B; Cunnigham, Colm; Perry, Victor H; Vasconcelos, Pedro F da Costa; Diniz, Cristovam W P

2010-08-01

Environmental and age-related effects on learning and memory were analysed and compared with changes observed in astrocyte laminar distribution in the dentate gyrus. Aged (20 months) and young (6 months) adult female albino Swiss mice were housed from weaning either in impoverished conditions or in enriched conditions, and tested for episodic-like and water maze spatial memories. After these behavioral tests, brain hippocampal sections were immunolabeled for glial fibrillary acid protein to identify astrocytes. The effects of environmental enrichment on episodic-like memory were not dependent on age, and may protect water maze spatial learning and memory from declines induced by aging or impoverished environment. In the dentate gyrus, the number of astrocytes increased with both aging and enriched environment in the molecular layer, increased only with aging in the polymorphic layer, and was unchanged in the granular layer. We suggest that long-term experience-induced glial plasticity by enriched environment may represent at least part of the circuitry groundwork for improvements in behavioral performance in the aged mice brain.

Antidepressant-like effects of methanol extract of Hibiscus tiliaceus flowers in mice

PubMed Central

2012-01-01

Background Hibiscus tiliaceus L. (Malvaceae) is used in postpartum disorders. Our purpose was to examine the antidepressant, anxiolytic and sedative actions of the methanol extract of H. tiliaceus flowers using animal models. Methods Adult male Swiss albino mice were treated with saline, standard drugs or methanol extract of H. tiliaceus and then subjected to behavioral tests. The forced swimming and tail suspension tests were used as predictive animal models of antidepressant activity, where the time of immobility was considered. The animals were submitted to the elevated plus-maze and ketamine-induced sleeping time to assess anxiolytic and sedative activities, respectively. Results Methanol extract of H. tiliaceus significantly decreased the duration of immobility in both animal models of antidepressant activity, forced swimming and tail suspension tests. This extract did not potentiate the effect of ketamine-induced hypnosis, as determined by the time to onset and duration of sleeping time. Conclusion Our results indicate an antidepressant-like profile of action for the extract of Hibiscus tiliaceus without sedative side effect. PMID:22494845

Global Biodiversity Loss by Freshwater Consumption and Eutrophication from Swiss Food Consumption.

PubMed

Scherer, Laura; Pfister, Stephan

2016-07-05

We investigated water-related resource use, emissions and ecosystem impacts of food consumed in Switzerland. To do so, we coupled LCA methodologies on freshwater consumption, freshwater eutrophication and the consequent local and global biodiversity impacts with Swiss customs data and multiregional input-output analysis. Most of the resource use, emissions and impacts occur outside the national boundaries which illustrates the extent of environmental outsourcing facilitated by international trade. Countries that are severely affected by Swiss food consumption include Spain, the United States and Ecuador. Cocoa, coffee, and almonds stood out as products with high impacts. By identifying spatial hotspots and impactful products, awareness of policy-makers as well as individual consumers can be raised and efforts of detailed assessments can be streamlined. However, political and economic constraints and the resistance by individual consumers limit the high potential of changes in diets and trade relations to decrease the environmental impacts of food.

Immunomodulatory activity of methanolic leaf extract of Moringa oleifera in Wistar albino rats

PubMed Central

Nfambi, Joshua; Bbosa, Godfrey S.; Sembajwe, Lawrence Fred; Gakunga, James; Kasolo, Josephine N.

2015-01-01

Background Globally, Moringa oleifera is used by different communities to treat various ailments including modulation of the immune system though with limited scientific evidence. Aim To study the immunomodulatory activity of M. oleifera methanolic leaf extract in Wistar albino rats. Methods An experimental laboratory-based study was done following standard methods and procedures. Nine experimental groups (I, II, III, IV, V, VI, VII, VIII, IX) each comprising of six animals were used. Group I received normal saline. Groups II to IX received 200 mg/kg bwt cyclophosphamide at the beginning of the study. Group III received 50 mg/kg bwt of an immunostimulatory drug levamisole. Groups IV to IX were dosed daily for 14 days with extract at doses of 250, 500, and 1000 mg/kg bwt, respectively, using an intragastric tube. Complete blood count (CBC), delayed-type hypersensitivity reaction (DTH), neutrophil adhesion test, and hemagglutination antibody titer were determined using standard methods and procedures. Statistical analysis was performed using GraphPad prism 5.0a Software. Results There was an increment in WBC, lymphocyte, and neutrophil counts at a dose of 1000 mg/kg bwt similar to the levamisole-positive control group. The neutrophil adhesion was statistically significant (p ≤ 0.05) for treatment groups that received 1000 mg/kg bwt (29.94%) and 500 mg/kg bwt at 17.28%. The mean percentage increment in footpad thickness was highest (26.9%) after 8 h of injection of antigen in the footpad of rats dosed 500 mg/kg bwt and this later reduced to 25.6% after 24 h. There was a dose-dependent increment in the mean hemagglutination antibody titer to sheep red blood cells (SRBC) from 10.73±0.57 HA units/μL for the 250 mg/kg bwt to 26.22±1.70 HA units/μL for the 1000 mg/kg bwt. Conclusions Methanolic leaf extract of M. oleifera caused a significant immunostimulatory effect on both the cell-mediated and humoral immune systems in the Wistar albino rats. PMID:26103628

Immunomodulatory activity of methanolic leaf extract of Moringa oleifera in Wistar albino rats.

PubMed

Nfambi, Joshua; Bbosa, Godfrey S; Sembajwe, Lawrence Fred; Gakunga, James; Kasolo, Josephine N

2015-11-01

Globally, Moringa oleifera is used by different communities to treat various ailments including modulation of the immune system though with limited scientific evidence. The aim was to study the immunomodulatory activity of M. oleifera methanolic leaf extract in Wistar albino rats. An experimental laboratory-based study was done following standard methods and procedures. Nine experimental groups (I, II, III, IV, V, VI, VII, VIII, IX) each comprising of six animals were used. Group I received normal saline. Groups II to IX received 200 mg/kg bwt cyclophosphamide at the beginning of the study. Group III received 50 mg/kg bwt of an immunostimulatory drug levamisole. Groups IV to IX were dosed daily for 14 days with extract at doses of 250, 500, and 1000 mg/kg bwt, respectively, using an intragastric tube. Complete blood count (CBC), delayed-type hypersensitivity reaction (DTH), neutrophil adhesion test, and hemagglutination antibody titer were determined using standard methods and procedures. Statistical analysis was performed using GraphPad prism 5.0a Software. There was an increment in WBC, lymphocyte, and neutrophil counts at a dose of 1000 mg/kg bwt similar to the levamisole-positive control group. The neutrophil adhesion was statistically significant (p≤0.05) for treatment groups that received 1000 mg/kg bwt (29.94%) and 500 mg/kg bwt at 17.28%. The mean percentage increment in footpad thickness was highest (26.9%) after 8 h of injection of antigen in the footpad of rats dosed 500 mg/kg bwt and this later reduced to 25.6% after 24 h. There was a dose-dependent increment in the mean hemagglutination antibody titer to sheep red blood cells (SRBC) from 10.73±0.57 HA units/μL for the 250 mg/kg bwt to 26.22±1.70 HA units/μL for the 1000 mg/kg bwt. Methanolic leaf extract of M. oleifera caused a significant immunostimulatory effect on both the cell-mediated and humoral immune systems in the Wistar albino rats.

[Histochemical detection of glycoproteins and glycosaminoglycans in the respiratory mucosa of albino rats during estrous cycle, pregnancy and puerperium].

PubMed

Pontes, P A; Simões, M J; Merzel, J

1989-11-01

In this work we attempted to detect, with histochemical methods, the possible modifications in the mucus of the respiratory mucosa of albino female rats during estral cycle, pregnancy and puerperium. Based on its results, it was possible to conclude that: a--There were no modifications in the nature of the epithelial and supraepithelial mucus during the studied periods: b--The Alcian Blue staining from lamina propria is absent during pregnancy and present during puerperium.

Comparison of Swiss basic health insurance costs of complementary and conventional medicine.

PubMed

Studer, Hans-Peter; Busato, André

2011-01-01

From 1999 to 2005, 5 methods of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) applied by physicians were provisionally included into mandatory Swiss basic health insurance. Between 2012 and 2017, this will be the case again. Within this process, an evaluation of cost-effectiveness is required. The goal of this study is to compare practice costs of physicians applying CAM with those of physicians applying solely conventional medicine (COM). The study was designed as a cross-sectional investigation of claims data of mandatory health insurance. For the years 2002 and 2003, practice costs of 562 primary care physicians with and without a certificate for CAM were analyzed and compared with patient-reported outcomes. Linear models were used to obtain estimates of practice costs controlling for different patient populations and structural characteristics of practices across CAM and COM. Statistical procedures show similar total practice costs for CAM and COM, with the exception of homeopathy with 15.4% lower costs than COM. Furthermore, there were significant differences between CAM and COM in cost structure especially for the ratio between costs for consultations and costs for medication at the expense of basic health insurance. Patients reported better quality of the patient-physician relationship and fewer adverse side effects in CAM; higher cost-effectiveness for CAM can be deduced from this perspective. This study uses a health system perspective and demonstrates at least equal or better cost-effectiveness of CAM in the setting of Swiss ambulatory care. CAM can therefore be seen as a valid complement to COM within Swiss health care. Copyright © 2011 S. Karger AG, Basel.

Infrared spectroscopic analysis of skin tumor of mice treated with several medicinal plants

PubMed Central

Ali, Huma; Dixit, Savita

2013-01-01

Objective To evaluate the differences between cancerous tissue, drug treated tissue and its corresponding normal tissue by infrared spectroscopic analysis. Methods Methanolic extracts of Azadirachta indica, Ocimum sanctum, Aloe barbandesis, Tinospora cordifolia and Triticum aestivum were assessed for the isolation and purification of active compound. After that, combine crude and combine isolated samples were prepared. Skin tumor was induced by topical application of 7, 12-dimethyl benz (a) anthracene and promoted by croton oil in Swiss albino mice. To assess the chemopreventive potential of different drugs, it was administered at a concentration of 400 mg/kg body weight daily up to 16 weeks. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy analysis was used to differentiate the drug treated tissues with the normal and cancerous tissue. In the present study, spectra of different tissues were recorded in the range of 400-4 000 cm−1. Results The results of the present study have shown that the remarkable difference exists between the IR spectra of normal, drugs treated and cancerous tissue in terms of frequencies and intensities of prominent bands of cellular biomolecules. Conclusions Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy analysis suggests the chemopreventive effect of above treated drugs and the best result was observed in combine crude sample and in combine isolated sample or synergistic effect of individual crude and isolated extract in 7, 12-dimethyl benz (a) anthracene croton oil induced skin carcinogenesis in Swiss albino mice.

Anti-Alzheimer activity of isolated karanjin from Pongamia pinnata (L.) pierre and embelin from Embelia ribes Burm.f.

PubMed Central

Saini, Prachi; Lakshmayya, L.; Bisht, Vinod Singh

2017-01-01

Aim: The aim of this study is to find out the anti-Alzheimer’s activity of isolated karanjin and embelin. Materials and Methods: Karanjin isolated from Pongamia pinnata (L.) pierre and embelin from Embelia ribes Burm.f. and their purity was confirmed by ultraviolet spectrophotometric and Thin layer chromatography based study. Anti-Alzheimer’s activity of isolated compounds were evaluated through elevated plus maze and Morris water maze model on Swiss albino mice. Diazepam (1 mg/kg body weight, intraperitoneally) was used for the induction of Alzheimer’s like effects (amnesia) on Swiss albino mice and piracetam (200 mg/kg body weight, oral) used as a standard treatment. Results: In EPM, embelin and karanjin decrease the transfer latency time in dose dependent manner and escape latency time in MWM method. A significant (P < 0.01) reduction in amnesia with an anti-Alzheimer’s effect found when results of isolated compounds were compared with standard and vehicle control. Diazepam (1 mg/kg) treated group showed significant increase in escape latency and transfer latency when compared with vehicle control; which indicates impairment in learning and memory. Conclusion: Both isolated compounds and standard significantly reversed the amnesia induced by diazepam and improved learning and memory of mice in dose and time dependent manner. This study supports the ethnobotanical use of these two plants in India for the management of nerve or brain related problems. PMID:29861598

The Swiss Seismological Service in Greenland: Network Building and Research Initiatives

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Husen, S.; Clinton, J. F.; Olivieri, M.; Giardini, D.

2010-12-01

In recent years the Swiss Seismological Service (SED) at the ETH Zürich has begun active work in NW Greenland. As part of the GreenLand Ice Sheet monitoring Network (GLISN), a new international, broadband seismic capability for Greenland, the SED has installed 3 observation quality stations, recording in realtime, with data freely open to the community. Each site is located at a village - two are within 60km of productive calving glacier fronts (Rink and Jakobshavn); the other station is 30km from inland ice calving directly into the ocean. This paper presents the stations and discusses the data quality. The capability of broadband seismic sensors at local distances to record a wide spectrum of ground motion induced by large calving events is becoming clear. Associated with a major calving event, we observe energy at 1. high frequencies (1-5Hz) due to ice fracture; 2. at mid periods (40-60s - visible at teleseismic distances) likely due to large, rapid displacement of the calved ice across the fjord floor; and 3. at longer periods (100-1000s) measuring fjord seiche generated by the calved iceberg. We are developing an automated detector for events using the GLISN dataset, with focus on the Swiss stations. Additionally, the SED, with the ETH Glaciology unit, intend to operate a broadband / short period seismic network on the ice near SwissCamp in summer 2011. The goal is to improve understanding of how sub-glacial water affects glacial bed coupling. We aim to generate an icequake catalogue with characterized sources, and to model transient changes in ice structure than may be indicative of water flow. We present a summary of the proposed work and installation plans.

Role of the brain dopaminergic and opioid system in the regulation of "child's" (maternal bonding) behavior of newborn albino rats.

PubMed

Stovolosov, I S; Dubynin, V A; Kamensky, A A

2011-01-01

Administration of D(2) receptor antagonist clebopride in a dose not affecting locomotor activity was followed by a decrease in maternal bonding behavior of 10-day-old and 15-day-old albino rat pups. D(1) receptor antagonist SCH23390 had a stimulatory effect only on the behavior of 10-day-old newborns. Opioid peptide β-casomorphin-7 abolished the effect of clebopride in rat pups of the older age group.

Swiss cheese striatum: clinical implications.

PubMed

Burnett, Melinda S; Witte, Robert J; Ahlskog, J Eric

2014-06-01

Markedly enlarged Virchow-Robin spaces throughout the striatum appear occasionally on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans of the elderly, and this type of striatum is known as the Swiss cheese striatum (SCS); however, its clinical impact is unknown. To determine the clinical features associated with SCS detected on MRI scans. A blinded, retrospective case-control study using medical records from 2000 to 2007 obtained from an MRI database at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, of residents 40 years of age or older of Olmsted County, Minnesota, who had extensive Mayo Clinic medical records and MRI reports suggestive of SCS. Cases with a severe form of SCS (n = 27) were randomly selected for comparison with age-, sex-, and examination year-matched controls (n = 52) with a minimal form of SCS or no SCS. Magnetic resonance imaging. Associations of clinical and imaging features with the presence of a severe form of SCS. Medical records were reviewed for clinical features such as parkinsonism, dementia, and vascular risk factors. The MRI scans were visually scored for degree of leukoaraiosis, central atrophy, and cortical atrophy. No significant differences were found between those with a severe form of SCS and controls in rates of parkinsonism (19% vs 17%; odds ratio, 1.09 [95% CI, 0.28-4.16]) or dementia of any type (30% vs 21%; odds ratio, 1.57 [95% CI, 0.48-5.13]). Vascular risk factors were not significantly different between groups. Swiss cheese striatum correlated with degree of leukoaraiosis (P < .001). Potential associations with visualized cortical atrophy (P = .01), nonobstructive urinary incontinence (18.5% vs 3.9%; P = .04), and syncope (37% vs 9.6%; P = .01) did not hold up after correction for the false discovery rate. Our study suggests that marked cribriform change in the striatum was not associated with the development of extrapyramidal clinical disorders, including parkinsonism. The association of SCS with leukoaraiosis

A Descriptive Study of Gambling Among Emerging Adult Males in French-Speaking Switzerland.

PubMed

Tomei, Alexander; Tichelli, Emmanuel; Ewering, Neil; Nunweiler-Hardegger, Sophie; Simon, Olivier

2015-09-01

The aims were twofold: to examine the gambling habits of emerging adult males in the French-speaking regions of Switzerland and to what extent these habits predict problem gambling within this population. We also evaluated problem gambling rates and provided data concerning variables such as gambling location, level of information about problem gambling and awareness of treatment centers. 606 Swiss male conscripts, aged 18-22 years, completed a self-report questionnaire. This was administered during their army recruitment day in 2012. Problem gambling was assessed through the Problem Gambling Severity Index (PGSI) (Ferris and Wynne 2001). 78.5% of the respondents were lifetime gamblers, 56.1% were past-year gamblers. Four out of ten past-year gamblers played in private spaces and in back rooms. The PGSI indicated that 10.8% of past-year gamblers presented with moderate gambling problems, whilst 1.4% appeared to be problem gamblers. The majority of respondents had never received information about problem gambling. Moreover, they were unaware of the existence of treatment centers for problem gambling in their region. PGSI scores were significantly predicted by the variety of games played. Problem gambling rates among young men appear to be higher than those of the general Swiss population. This confirms that emerging adult males are a particularly vulnerable population with regards to gambling addiction. The implications of this are considered for youth gambling-prevention programs.

Impact of recession on Swiss pension program.

PubMed

McArdle, F B

1978-04-01

Legislation drafted in Switzerland in 1975--77 aims at countering the effects of inflation and recession by bringing increased revenues into the system, reducing expenditures, devising a mechanism to adjust pensions automatically, and improving income maintenance for the unemployed. The proposed legislation to place the social security system on a sound financial basis now needs voter approval in a referendum. Swiss voters meanwhile rejected (in mid-1977) a government-proposed value-added tax designed to finance increasing government contributions during 1978-82. Still to be resolved, therefore, is the problem of how the government will finance higher contributions and still achieve its staged goal of a balanced budget.

The Swiss Society of Microbiology: Small Bugs, Big Questions and Cool Answers.

PubMed

Greub, Gilbert; Holliger, Christof; Sanglard, Dominique; Schrenzel, Jacques; Thiel, Volker; Viollier, Patrick

2016-12-21

The Swiss Society for Microbiology (SSM) represents around 700 scientists working in the fields of medical (human and veterinary), microbial biotechnology as well as fundamental, environmental, and food microbiology. Five sections: Clinical Microbiology, Environmental Microbiology, Mycology, Prokaryotic Biology, and Virology reflects the main interests of the membership.

"Cooking Lunch, That's Swiss": Constructing Hybrid Identities Based on Socio-Cultural Practices

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gonçalves, Kellie

2013-01-01

This study looks at the discursive construction and negotiation of hybrid identities within binational couples. I analyze conversations produced by Anglophones married to German-speaking Swiss residing in central Switzerland. I employ Bucholtz & Hall's sociocultural linguistic model (2004, 2005, 2010), which views identity as emergent in…

A wild 'albino' bilberry (Vaccinium myrtillus L.) from Slovenia shows three bottlenecks in the anthocyanin pathway and significant differences in the expression of several regulatory genes compared to the common blue berry type.

PubMed

Zorenc, Zala; Veberic, Robert; Slatnar, Ana; Koron, Darinka; Miosic, Silvija; Chen, Ming-Hui; Haselmair-Gosch, Christian; Halbwirth, Heidi; Mikulic-Petkovsek, Maja

2017-01-01

Relative expressions of structural genes and a number of transcription factors of the anthocyanin pathway relevant in Vaccinium species, and related key enzyme activities were compared with the composition and content of metabolites in skins of ripe fruits of wild albino and blue bilberry (Vaccinium myrtillus) found in Slovenia. Compared to the common blue type, the albino variant had a 151-fold lower total anthocyanin and a 7-fold lower total phenolic content in their berry skin, which correlated with lower gene expression of flavonoid 3-O-glycosyltransferase (FGT; 33-fold), flavanone 3-hydroxylase (FHT; 18-fold), anthocyanidin synthase (ANS; 11-fold), chalcone synthase (CHS, 7.6-fold) and MYBPA1 transcription factor (22-fold). The expression of chalcone isomerase (CHI), dihydroflavonol 4-reductase (DFR), leucoanthocyanidin reductase (LAR), anthocyanidin reductase (ANR) and MYBC2 transcription factor was reduced only by a factor of 1.5-2 in the albino berry skins, while MYBR3 and flavonoid 3',5'-hydroxylase (F3'5'H) were increased to a similar extent. Expression of the SQUAMOSA class transcription factor TDR4, in contrast, was independent of the color type and does therefore not seem to be correlated with anthocyanin formation in this variant. At the level of enzymes, significantly lower FHT and DFR activities, but not of phenylalanine ammonia-lyase (PAL) and CHS/CHI, were observed in the fruit skins of albino bilberries. A strong increase in relative hydroxycinnamic acid derivative concentrations indicates the presence of an additional bottleneck in the general phenylpropanoid pathway at a so far unknown step between PAL and CHS.

The effect of GABAmimetics on the duration of immobility in the forced swim test in albino mice.

PubMed

El Zahaf, Najwa Ahmed; Salem Elhwuegi, Abdalla

2014-01-01

Studies regarding the role of gamma aminobutyric acid (GABA) in depression are conflicting. Therefore, it was decided to examine the effect of different drugs that enhance the GABA system on the time of immobility induced by the forced swim test (FST). Adult albino mice were divided into several groups of six animals. Each group received an intraperitoneal injection of either imipramine (10, 20, or 30 mg/kg), diazepam (0.5, 1, or 2 mg/kg), vigabatrin (100, 200, or 300 mg/kg), zolpidem (2.5, 5, or 10 mg/kg), or alprazolam (1, 2.5, or 5 mg/kg). Control groups received the appropriate vehicle. One hour after injection, the duration of immobility was measured for 5 min in the FST. The percentage change in the duration of immobility from the control was calculated for each group. The statistical test of the difference between the treated and the control groups was calculated using unpaired Student's t-test. Imipramine produced a significant dose-dependent decrease in the duration of immobility (78, 74, and 56%, respectively). Different doses of diazepam, vigabatrin, and zolpidem produced a significant increase in the duration of immobility (119, 126, and 128%), (116, 124, and 128%), and (108, 109, and 119%), respectively. The two low doses of alprazolam produced a significant increase (115 and 120%), while the high dose produced a significant decrease in the duration of immobility (74%). Increasing central GABAergic activity by different mechanisms has resulted in a depressant-like activity measured as an increase in the duration of immobility in the FST model of depression.

Developing a Screening Model to Establish Human Risk from Glacial Meltwater Release of Legacy Organochlorine Pollutants at the Silvretta Glacier in the Swiss Alps

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Miner, K. R.

2017-12-01

Organochlorine pollutants (OCPs) banned globally by the Stockholm Convention in 2004 are reemerging from melting glaciers in numerous alpine ecosystems. Despite the known OCP influx from glaciers, a study of human risk from uptake of pesticides in glacial meltwater has never been attempted. Our study qualifies human uptake routes and quantifies risk utilizing published meltwater data from the Silvretta Glacier in the Swiss Alps in combination with methodology established by the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Relatively high concentrations of OCPs in Silvretta glacier meltwater reflect proximity to use near high density populations and provide the best estimate of a 95th percentile human risk scenario. This screening level model assesses direct PCB risk to humans through consumption of fish tissue and meltwater. Our model shows a risk for both cancer and non-cancer disease impacts to children with lifetime exposure to glacial meltwater and an average local fish consumption. For adults with an abbreviated 30 year exposure timeframe, the risk for non-cancer effects is negligible and cancer effects are only barely above screening level. Populations that consume higher quantities of local fish are at greater risk, with additional challenges borne by children. Further direct study into the individual level risk to Swiss residents from glacial meltwater pollution is deemed necessary by our screening study.

Protective effect of Withania somnifera roots extract on hematoserological profiles against lead nitrate-induced toxicity in mice.

PubMed

Sharma, Veena; Sharma, Sadhana; Pracheta

2012-12-01

The in vivo protective role of hydro-methanolic root extract of Withania somnifera (WS) was evaluated in alleviating lead nitrate (LN)-induced toxicity in male Swiss albino mice by measuring hematoserological profiles. The lead-treated (20 mg/kg body wt, p.o.) albino mice (25-30 g) concurrently received the root extract (200 and 500 mg/kg body wt, p.o.) once daily for the duration of six weeks. Animals exposed to LN showed significant (P < 0.001) decline in haemoglobin content, red blood cell count, white blood cell count, packed cell volume and insignificant decrease in mean corpuscular haemoglobin and mean corpuscular haemoglobin content, while mean corpuscular volume and platelet count were increased. A significant elevation (P < 0.001) in serum glutamate oxaloacetate transaminase, serum glutamate pyruvate transaminase, alkaline phosphatase, acid phosphatase and total cholesterol were also observed, when compared with control mice. Thus, the study demonstrated that the concurrent daily administration of root extract of WS protected the adverse effects of LN intoxication in mice.

Relative toxicity of pyrolysis products of some polyurethane and polychloroprene foams

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hilado, C. J.; Slattengren, C. L.; Kourtides, D. A.; Parker, J. A.

1977-01-01

Results of toxicity screening tests on some polyurethane and polychloroprene flexible foams are presented. The test method involves the exposure of four Swiss albino male mice in a 4.2-liter hemispherical chamber to the pyrolysis effluents from 1 g of sample exposed to temperatures rising from 200 to 800 C at a rate of 40 C/min. Mortality and times to incapacitation and to death are recorded. Comparisons indicate that flexible polyurethane foams without fire retardant are more toxic than the corresponding foams containing fire retardant, and polychloroprene foams are least toxic.

High resolution humidity, temperature and aerosol profiling with MeteoSwiss Raman lidar

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dinoev, Todor; Arshinov, Yuri; Bobrovnikov, Sergei; Serikov, Ilya; Calpini, Bertrand; van den Bergh, Hubert; Parlange, Marc B.; Simeonov, Valentin

2010-05-01

Meteorological services rely, in part, on numerical weather prediction (NWP). Twice a day radiosonde observations of water vapor provide the required data for assimilation but this time resolution is insufficient to resolve certain meteorological phenomena. High time resolution temperature profiles from microwave radiometers are available as well but have rather low vertical resolution. The Raman LIDARs are able to provide temperature and humidity profiles with high time and range resolution, suitable for NWP model assimilation and validation. They are as well indispensible tools for continuous aerosol profiling for high resolution atmospheric boundary layer studies. To improve the database available for direct meteorological applications the Swiss meteo-service (MeteoSwiss), the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne (EPFL) and the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF) initiated a project to design and build an automated Raman lidar for day and night vertical profiling of tropospheric water vapor with the possibility to further upgrade it with an aerosol and temperature channels. The project was initiated in 2004 and RALMO (Raman Lidar for meteorological observations) was inaugurated in August 2008 at MeteoSwiss aerological station at Payerne. RALMO is currently operational and continuously profiles water vapor mixing ratio, aerosol backscatter ratio and aerosol extinction. The instrument is a fully automated, self-contained, eye-safe Raman lidar operated at 355 nm. Narrow field-of-view multi-telescope receiver and narrow band detection allow day and night-time vertical profiling of the atmospheric humidity. The rotational-vibrational Raman lidar responses from water vapor and nitrogen are spectrally separated by a high-throughput fiber coupled diffraction grating polychromator. The elastic backscatter and pure-rotational Raman lidar responses (PRR) from oxygen and nitrogen are spectrally isolated by a double grating polychromator and are used to

Mental Preparation and Evaluation: A Sportpsychological Project with the Swiss Orienteering National Team.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Venzl, Reto

1994-01-01

Lists the training themes and levels of intervention of a psychological orienteering project for Swiss athletes. Presents an outline for preparation and evaluation of team or individual performance over time on technical, physical, mental, and environmental aspects of orienteering. (SV)

Evaluation of Cholesterol-lowering Activity of Standardized Extract of Mangifera indica in Albino Wistar Rats.

PubMed

Gururaja, G M; Mundkinajeddu, Deepak; Kumar, A Senthil; Dethe, Shekhar Michael; Allan, J Joshua; Agarwal, Amit

2017-01-01

Cholesterol lowering activity of Mangifera indica L. has been determined by earlier researchers and kernel, leaf and bark have shown significant activity. However, the specific cholesterol lowering activity of leaf methanol extract has not been determined. The present study involved evaluation of cholesterol lowering potential of methanol extract of M. indica leaves using high cholesterol diet model in albino Wistar rats. The acute oral toxicity at a dose of 5000 mg/ kg body weight was also determined in female albino Wistar rats. Phytoconstituents Iriflophenone 3-C-β-D-glucoside and mangiferin were quantified in methanol extracts of different varieties of mango leaves using high performance liquid chromatography. Significant cholesterol lowering activity was observed with methanol extract of M. indica leaves, at dose of 90 mg/kg body weight in rats and it was also found to be safe at dose of 5000 mg/kg rat body. Iriflophenone 3-C-β-D-glucoside and mangiferin were found to be in the range of 1.2 to 2.8% w/w and 3.9 to 4.6% w/w, respectively which along with 3 β taraxerol and other sterols could be contributing to the cholesterol lowering activity of mango leaves extract. The phytosterols rich extract of Mangifera indica leaves is a good source of nutraceutical ingredient that have the potential to lower serum cholesterol levels. The Mangifera indica leaves methanolic extract showed significant cholesterol lowering activity in high cholesterol diet induced hypercholesterolaemia model in rats when evaluated at a dose of 90 mg/kg rat body weight. The extract was found to contain Iriflophenone 3-C-β-D-glucoside and mangiferin which along with 3 β taraxerol and other sterols could be contributing to the cholesterol lowering activity.

Evaluation of Cholesterol-lowering Activity of Standardized Extract of Mangifera indica in Albino Wistar Rats

PubMed Central

Gururaja, G. M.; Mundkinajeddu, Deepak; Kumar, A. Senthil; Dethe, Shekhar Michael; Allan, J. Joshua; Agarwal, Amit

2017-01-01

Introduction: Cholesterol lowering activity of Mangifera indica L. has been determined by earlier researchers and kernel, leaf and bark have shown significant activity. However, the specific cholesterol lowering activity of leaf methanol extract has not been determined. Materials and Methods: The present study involved evaluation of cholesterol lowering potential of methanol extract of M. indica leaves using high cholesterol diet model in albino Wistar rats. The acute oral toxicity at a dose of 5000 mg/ kg body weight was also determined in female albino Wistar rats. Phytoconstituents Iriflophenone 3-C-β-D-glucoside and mangiferin were quantified in methanol extracts of different varieties of mango leaves using high performance liquid chromatography. Results and Discussion: Significant cholesterol lowering activity was observed with methanol extract of M. indica leaves, at dose of 90 mg/kg body weight in rats and it was also found to be safe at dose of 5000 mg/kg rat body. Iriflophenone 3-C-β-D-glucoside and mangiferin were found to be in the range of 1.2 to 2.8% w/w and 3.9 to 4.6% w/w, respectively which along with 3 β taraxerol and other sterols could be contributing to the cholesterol lowering activity of mango leaves extract. Conclusions: The phytosterols rich extract of Mangifera indica leaves is a good source of nutraceutical ingredient that have the potential to lower serum cholesterol levels. SUMMARY The Mangifera indica leaves methanolic extract showed significant cholesterol lowering activity in high cholesterol diet induced hypercholesterolaemia model in rats when evaluated at a dose of 90 mg/kg rat body weight. The extract was found to contain Iriflophenone 3-C-β-D-glucoside and mangiferin which along with 3 β taraxerol and other sterols could be contributing to the cholesterol lowering activity. PMID:28250649

HOW to Identify and Control Rhabdocline and Swiss Needlecasts of Douglas-Fir

Treesearch

Darrell D. Skilling; Harrison L. Morton

1983-01-01

Two needlecast fungus diseases- Rhabdocline (Rhabdocline pseudotsugae) and Swiss needlecast (Phaeocryptus gaumanni)- have become serious problems in Douglas-fir plantations across the United States, particularly in the Northeast and more recently in the Pacific Northwest. These two diseases cause premature needle loss resulting in trees with thin foliage. This...

The inequity of the Swiss health care system financing from a federal state perspective

PubMed Central

2014-01-01

Introduction Previous studies have shown that Swiss health-care financing is particularly regressive. However, as it has been emphasized in the 2011 OECD Review of the Swiss Health System, the inter cantonal variations of income-related inequities are still broadly unexplored. The present paper aims to fill this gap by analyzing the differences in the level of equity of health-care system financing across cantons and its evolution over time using household data. Methods Following the methodology proposed by Wagstaff et al. (JHE 11:361–387, 1992) we use the Kakwani index as a summary measure of regressivity and we compute it for each canton and for each of the sources that have a role in financing the health care system. We graphed concentration curves and performed relative dominance tests, which utilize the full distribution of expenditures. The microdata come from the Swiss Household Income and Expenditure Survey (SHIES) based on a sample of the Swiss population (about 3500 households per year), for the years 1998 - 2005. Results The empirical evidence confirms that the health-care financing in Switzerland has remained regressive since the major reform of 1996 and shows that the variations in equity across cantons are quite significant: the difference between the most and the least regressive canton is about the same as between two extremely different financing systems like the US and Sweden. There is no evidence, instead, of a clear evolution over time of regressivity. Conclusions The significant variation in equity across cantons can be explained by fiscal federalism and the related autonomy in the design of tax and social policies. In particular, the results highlight that earmarked subsidies, the policy adopted to smooth the regressivity of the premiums, appear to be not enough; in the practice of federal states the combination of allowances with mandatory community-rated health insurance premiums might lead to a modest outcome in terms of equity. PMID

The Impact of Foreign Accent on Credibility: An Analysis of Cognitive Statement Ratings in a Swiss Context.

PubMed

Stocker, Ladina

2017-06-01

The present paper reports on a study investigating whether the presence of a foreign accent negatively affects credibility judgments. Previous research suggests that trivia statements recorded by speakers with a foreign accent are judged as less credible than when recorded by native speakers due to increased cognitive demands (Lev-Ari and Keysar in J Exp Soc Psychol 46(6):1093-1096, 2010. doi: 10.1016/j.jesp.2010.05.025 ). In the present study, 194 French- and 183 Swiss-German-speaking participants were asked to judge the truthfulness of 48 trivia statements recorded by speakers with French, Swiss-German, Italian and English accents by means of an online survey. Before submitting the survey, raters were asked to attribute given labels-including adjectives referring to credibility-to a language group aiming to elicit raters' stereotypes in a direct manner. Although the results of this task indicate that the raters do hold different stereotypes concerning credibility of speech communities, foreign accent does not seem to have an impact on credibility ratings in the Swiss context.

Nephroprotective Effect of the Leaves of Aloe barbadensis (Aloe Vera) against Toxicity Induced by Diclofenac Sodium in Albino Rabbits

PubMed Central

Iftikhar, A; Hasan, IJ; Sarfraz, M; Jafri, L; Ashraf, MA

2015-01-01

ABSTRACT Background: The present study was designed to evaluate the nephroprotective effect of the leaves of Aloe barbadensis against toxicity induced by diclofenac sodium in albino rabbits. Subjects and Method: Thirty-six healthy albino rabbits were randomly divided into six groups each with six animals. Group 1 served as the untreated control, group 2 was treated only with diclofenac sodium, group 3 with the nephroprotective drug silymarin and groups 4, 5, and 6 were treated with different doses of Aloe barbadensis, ie 200 mg/kg, 400 mg/kg and 600 mg/kg, respectively after being treated with diclofenac sodium. Blood samples were collected after every five days up to fifteen days. Haematological and histopathological parameters were determined by using diagnostic kits. Results: Results of haematological studies showed that use of the powder of Aloe barbadensis normalized the level of different factors eg, white blood cells (WBCs), red blood cells (RBCs), platelet count, packed cell volume (PCV), mean cell volume (MCV) and haemoglobin (Hb) values. Histopathological studies showed that Aloe barbadensis ameliorated pyknotic nuclei in the renal epithelial cells and reduced oxidative stress by increasing the level of catalase and decreasing malondialdehyde (MDA) level. Conclusion: These results have shown that Aloe barbadensis can normalize oxidative stress and can be used as an effective nephroprotective agent against drug-induced nephrotoxicity. PMID:27398602

Ameliorative Effects of Acacia Honey against Sodium Arsenite-Induced Oxidative Stress in Some Viscera of Male Wistar Albino Rats.

PubMed

Aliyu, Muhammad; Ibrahim, Sani; Inuwa, Hajiya M; Sallau, Abdullahi B; Abbas, Olagunju; Aimola, Idowu A; Habila, Nathan; Uche, Ndidi S

2013-01-01

Cancer is a leading cause of death worldwide and its development is frequently associated with oxidative stress-induced by carcinogens such as arsenicals. Most foods are basically health-promoting or disease-preventing and a typical example of such type is honey. This study was undertaken to investigate the ameliorative effects of Acacia honey on sodium arsenite-induced oxidative stress in the heart, lung and kidney tissues of male Wistar rats. Male Wistar albino rats divided into four groups of five rats each were administered distilled water, Acacia honey (20%), sodium arsenite (5 mg/kg body weight), Acacia honey, and sodium arsenite daily for one week. They were sacrificed anesthetically using 60 mg/kg sodium pentothal. The tissues were used for the assessment of glutathione peroxidase, catalase, and superoxide dismutase activities, protein content and lipid peroxidation. Sodium arsenite significantly (P < 0.05) suppressed the glutathione peroxidase, catalase, superoxide dismutase activities with simultaneous induction of lipid peroxidation. Administration of Acacia honey significantly increased (P < 0.05) glutathione peroxidase, catalase, and superoxide dismutase activities with concomitant suppression of lipid peroxidation as evident by the decrease in malondialdehyde level. From the results obtained, Acacia honey mitigates sodium arsenite induced-oxidative stress in male Wistar albino rats, which suggest that it may attenuate oxidative stress implicated in chemical carcinogenesis.

Thermoregulatory responses of Holstein and Brown Swiss Heat-Stressed dairy cows to two different cooling systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Correa-Calderon, Abelardo; Armstrong, Dennis; Ray, Donald; DeNise, Sue; Enns, Mark; Howison, Christine

. Thirty-seven Holstein and 26 Brown Swiss dairy cows were used to evaluate the effect of two different cooling systems on physiological and hormonal responses during the summer. A control group of cows had access only to shade (C). A second group was cooled with spray and fans (S/F) and the third group was under an evaporative cooling system called Korral Kool (KK). The maximum temperature humidity index during the trial was from 73 to 85. Rectal temperatures and respiration rates of the C group were higher (P < 0.05) than those of the S/F and KK groups in both Holstein and Brown Swiss cows. Triiodothyronine levels in milk were higher (P < 0.05) in the KK group than in the S/F and C groups, while cortisol levels were lower (P < 0.05) in the C group than in S/F and KK. There was no significant difference in the hormonal response of the two breeds. These results demonstrate that both cooling systems may be used increase the comfort of Holstein and Brown Swiss cows during summer in hot, dry climates.

Effects of Swiss-ball core strength training on strength, endurance, flexibility, and balance in sedentary women.

PubMed

Sekendiz, Betül; Cuğ, Mutlu; Korkusuz, Feza

2010-11-01

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of Swiss-ball core strength training on trunk extensor (abdominal)/flexor (lower back) and lower limb extensor (quadriceps)/flexor (hamstring) muscular strength, abdominal, lower back and leg endurance, flexibility and dynamic balance in sedentary women (n = 21; age = 34 ± 8.09; height = 1.63 ± 6.91 cm; weight = 64 ± 8.69 kg) trained for 45 minutes, 3 d·wk-1 for 12 weeks. Results of multivariate analysis revealed significant difference (p ≤ 0.05) between pre and postmeasures of 60 and 90° s trunk flexion/extension, 60 and 240° s-1 lower limb flexion/extension (Biodex Isokinetic Dynamometer), abdominal endurance (curl-up test), lower back muscular endurance (modified Sorensen test), lower limb endurance (repetitive squat test), lower back flexibility (sit and reach test), and dynamic balance (functional reach test). The results support the fact that Swiss-ball core strength training exercises can be used to provide improvement in the aforementioned measures in sedentary women. In conclusion, this study provides practical implications for sedentary individuals, physiotherapists, strength and conditioning specialists who can benefit from core strength training with Swiss balls.

Production versus environmental impact trade-offs for Swiss cropping systems: a model-based approach

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Necpalova, Magdalena; Lee, Juhwan; Six, Johan

2017-04-01

There is a growing need to improve sustainability of agricultural systems. The key focus remains on optimizing current production systems in order to deliver food security at low environmental costs. It is therefore essential to identify and evaluate agricultural management practices for their potential to maintain or increase productivity and mitigate climate change and N pollution. Previous research on Swiss cropping systems has been concentrated on increasing crop productivity and soil fertility. Thus, relatively little is known about management effects on net soil greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and environmental N losses in the long-term. The aim of this study was to extrapolate findings from Swiss long-term field experiments and to evaluate the system-level sustainability of a wide range of cropping systems under conditions beyond field experimentation by comparing their crop productivity and impacts on soil carbon, net soil GHG emissions, NO3 leaching and soil N balance over 30 years. The DayCent model was previously parameterized for common Swiss crops and crop-specific management practices and evaluated for productivity, soil carbon dynamics and N2O emissions from Swiss cropping systems. Based on a prediction uncertainty criterion for crop productivity and soil carbon (rRMSE<0.3), in total 39 cropping systems were selected. Each system was evaluated under soil and climate conditions representative of Therwil, Frick, Reckenholz and Changins sites with four replications. Soil inputs were sampled from normal probability distributions defined by available site-specific data using the Latin hypercube sampling method. Net soil GHG emissions were derived from changes in soil carbon, N2O emissions and CH4 oxidation and the annual net global warming potential (GWP) was calculated using IPCC (2014). For statistical analyses, the systems were grouped into the following categories: (a) farming system: organic (ORG), integrated (IN) and mineral (MIN); (b) tillage

Bulletin suisse de linguistique appliquee, 2003 (Swiss Bulletin for Applied Linguistics, 2003).

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Murray, Heather, Ed.

2003-01-01

This issue, written in English and French, focuses on the increasing role of English in Switzerland, as it affects both the general public and the education system. The articles include the following: "The Function of English in Swiss Advertisement" [written in French] (Marc Bonhomme); "Unpacking before Take-Off: English for Swiss…

Comparative distribution of misonidazole and its amine metabolite in female Swiss Webster mice

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Born, J.L.; Hadley, W.M.

1985-06-01

The distribution of misonidazole and its terminal reduction product 1-(2-amino-1-imidazolyl)-3-methoxy-2-propanol (misoamine) were compared in female Swiss Webster mice to determine if either misonidazole or misoamine is distributed to peripheral nerves. Female Swiss Webster mice received a 100 mg/kg (5 ..mu..Ci/..mu..mole) i.p. dose of either /sup 3/H-misonidazole or /sup 3/H-miso-amine and the distribution of radioactivity was determined in various tissues including sciatic nerves and other myelinated nerves. Misonidazole produced higher initial tissue concentrations of radioactivity than did miso-amine. The relative tissue concentrations of radioactivity produced by misonidazole or miso-amine were similar, although not identical, 48 hours after administration of the drugs.more » Both sciatic and other myelinated nerves were found to retain radioactivity following the administration of either misonidazole or miso-amine.« less

Genetic variation within and between strains of outbred Swiss mice.

PubMed

Cui, S; Chesson, C; Hope, R

1993-04-01

The aim of this survey was to measure levels of genetic variation within and between 5 different strains of outbred Swiss mice. Ten to 15 animals from each strain (NIH, Q(S), ARC, IMVS and STUD) were typed, using allozyme electrophoresis, at 10 gene loci: Mod-1, Idh-1, Gpi-I, Es-1, Es-3, Hbb, Pep-3, Gr-1, Got-2 and Pgm-1. Polymorphic variation in at least one of the 5 strains was detected at all 10 loci. The proportion of polymorphic loci ranged from 0.3 (NIH) to 0.8 (IMVS) with a mean of 0.52. Average expected heterozygosities ranged from 0.08 (NIH) to 0.37 (IMVS) with a mean of 0.21. The inbred strain SWR was, as expected, homozygous at all 10 loci. The amount of allelic substitution between pairs of strains was quantified using Nei's genetic distance, and a dendrogram based on these genetic distances showed a close overall similarity in its branching pattern to the known genealogy of the strains. This survey showed that a considerable degree of genetic variation persists in the 5 strains examined, a level of variation similar to that previously detected by Rice and O'Brien (1980) in 3 other outbred Swiss strains.

The Swiss cheese model of safety incidents: are there holes in the metaphor?

PubMed Central

Perneger, Thomas V

2005-01-01

Background Reason's Swiss cheese model has become the dominant paradigm for analysing medical errors and patient safety incidents. The aim of this study was to determine if the components of the model are understood in the same way by quality and safety professionals. Methods Survey of a volunteer sample of persons who claimed familiarity with the model, recruited at a conference on quality in health care, and on the internet through quality-related websites. The questionnaire proposed several interpretations of components of the Swiss cheese model: a) slice of cheese, b) hole, c) arrow, d) active error, e) how to make the system safer. Eleven interpretations were compatible with this author's interpretation of the model, 12 were not. Results Eighty five respondents stated that they were very or quite familiar with the model. They gave on average 15.3 (SD 2.3, range 10 to 21) "correct" answers out of 23 (66.5%) – significantly more than 11.5 "correct" answers that would expected by chance (p < 0.001). Respondents gave on average 2.4 "correct" answers regarding the slice of cheese (out of 4), 2.7 "correct" answers about holes (out of 5), 2.8 "correct" answers about the arrow (out of 4), 3.3 "correct" answers about the active error (out of 5), and 4.1 "correct" answers about improving safety (out of 5). Conclusion The interpretations of specific features of the Swiss cheese model varied considerably among quality and safety professionals. Reaching consensus about concepts of patient safety requires further work. PMID:16280077

Effect of single and repeated injections of selective D2-antagonist clebopride on maternal behavior of albino rats.

PubMed

Tanaeva, K K; Dobryakova, Yu V; Dubynin, V A; Kamensky, A A

2012-06-01

This study examined the effect of clebopride at low concentration that did not modify the motor activity on the parental care in female albino rats. Single injection of the drug attenuated the parental care reactions on postinjection minute 20, but not one day thereafter. The daily injection of the drug during the post partum period (1-6 days) resulted in significantly more pronounced and stable effects. The data obtained substantiated the views on the major contribution of D(2)-receptors in the development of behavioral manifestations of puerperal depression.

Generalized Swiss-cheese cosmologies. II. Spherical dust

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Grenon, Cédric; Lake, Kayll

2011-10-01

The generalized Swiss-cheese model, consisting of a Lemaître-Tolman (inhomogeneous dust) region matched, by way of a comoving boundary surface, onto a Robertson-Walker background of homogeneous dust, has become a standard construction in modern cosmology. Here, we ask if this construction can be made more realistic by introducing some evolution of the boundary surface. The answer we find is no. To maintain a boundary surface using the Darmois-Israel junction conditions, as opposed to the introduction of a surface layer, the boundary must remain exactly comoving. The options are to drop the assumption of dust or allow the development of surface layers. Either option fundamentally changes the original construction.

Population Dynamics of Lactobacillus helveticus in Swiss Gruyère-Type Cheese Manufactured With Natural Whey Cultures.

PubMed

Moser, Aline; Schafroth, Karl; Meile, Leo; Egger, Lotti; Badertscher, René; Irmler, Stefan

2018-01-01

Lactobacillus helveticus , a ubiquitous bacterial species in natural whey cultures (NWCs) used for Swiss Gruyère cheese production, is considered to have crucial functions for cheese ripening such as enhancing proteolysis. We tracked the diversity and abundance of L. helveticus strains during 6 months of ripening in eight Swiss Gruyère-type cheeses using a culture-independent typing method. The study showed that the L. helveticus population present in NWCs persisted in cheese and demonstrated a stable multi-strain coexistence during cheese ripening. With regard to proteolysis, one of the eight L. helveticus populations exhibited less protein degradation during ripening.

Bulletin suisse de linguistique appliquee, 2002 (Swiss Bulletin for Applied Linguistics, 2002).

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Adamzik, Kirsten, Ed; Roos, Eva, Ed.

2002-01-01

This special issue, written in German and French, is a collection of articles that were presented to the Swiss Association for Applied Linguistics during 2001 and which can be categorized as "linguistic biographies" organized under the auspices and support of the Forum du bilingualisme (Forum of Bilingualism) in Bienne (Biel) and the…

Aeronautical education and research at the Swiss Institute of Technology in Zurich

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Karner, L; Ackeret, J

1931-01-01

Progress in the scientific and practical fields of aviation has caused the Swiss Institute of Technology to organize lectures and practical training courses in all three branches of aeronautics and to found centers of scientific research, laboratories, etc., in order to supply the government and industries with scientifically and technically trained engineers.

Young Learner Writing Performance in Swiss Elementary Schools--Which Teacher Variables Matter?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Loder Buechel, Laura

2015-01-01

Elementary school English language teachers in Swiss public schools often question the role of writing in early years language instruction because there is a significant disparity in messages they receive from Board of Education members, from fellow teachers and from teacher trainers. This study describes the issues concerning writing in the first…

On expert curation and scalability: UniProtKB/Swiss-Prot as a case study

PubMed Central

Arighi, Cecilia N; Magrane, Michele; Bateman, Alex; Wei, Chih-Hsuan; Lu, Zhiyong; Boutet, Emmanuel; Bye-A-Jee, Hema; Famiglietti, Maria Livia; Roechert, Bernd; UniProt Consortium, The

2017-01-01

Abstract Motivation Biological knowledgebases, such as UniProtKB/Swiss-Prot, constitute an essential component of daily scientific research by offering distilled, summarized and computable knowledge extracted from the literature by expert curators. While knowledgebases play an increasingly important role in the scientific community, their ability to keep up with the growth of biomedical literature is under scrutiny. Using UniProtKB/Swiss-Prot as a case study, we address this concern via multiple literature triage approaches. Results With the assistance of the PubTator text-mining tool, we tagged more than 10 000 articles to assess the ratio of papers relevant for curation. We first show that curators read and evaluate many more papers than they curate, and that measuring the number of curated publications is insufficient to provide a complete picture as demonstrated by the fact that 8000–10 000 papers are curated in UniProt each year while curators evaluate 50 000–70 000 papers per year. We show that 90% of the papers in PubMed are out of the scope of UniProt, that a maximum of 2–3% of the papers indexed in PubMed each year are relevant for UniProt curation, and that, despite appearances, expert curation in UniProt is scalable. Availability and implementation UniProt is freely available at http://www.uniprot.org/. Contact sylvain.poux@sib.swiss Supplementary information Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online. PMID:29036270

Origin and outcome of multiple pregnancies in Bern, Switzerland, 1995-2006 and the current proposal of the Swiss parliament to revise the Swiss law of reproductive medicine: Switzerland quo vadis?

PubMed

Wunder, Dorothea; Neurohr, Eva-Maria; Faouzi, Mohamed; Birkhäuser, Martin H

2013-09-19

Infertility treatments are a major source of the increase in multiple pregnancies (MPs). The aims of the present study were (1.) to investigate the origin and maternal/neonatal outcomes of MP and (2.) to review the different measures that can be adopted to reduce these serious complications. The study included all women with multiple births between 1 January 1995 and 31 December 2006 at the University Hospital of Bern, Switzerland. The outcomes associated with the various origins of MP (natural conception, ovarian stimulation [OS]--in-vitro fertilisation [IVF-ICSI]) were analysed using a multinomial logistic regression model. An analysis of the Swiss law on reproductive medicine and its current proposed revision, as well as a literature review using Pubmed, was carried out. A total of 592 MP were registered, 91% (n = 537) resulted in live births. There was significantly more neonatal/maternal morbidity in MP after OS compared with natural conception and even with the IVF-ICSI group. With a policy of elective single embryo transfer (eSET), twin rates after IVF-ICSI can be reduced to <5% and triplets to <1%. After OS, more triplets are found and the outcome of MP is worse. MP is known to be associated with morbidity, mortality, and economic and social risks. To counteract these complications (1.) better training for physicians performing OS should be encouraged and (2.) the Swiss law on reproductive medicine needs to be changed, with the introduction of eSET policies. This would lead to a dramatic decrease in neonatal and maternal morbidity/mortality as well as significant cost reductions for the Swiss healthcare system.

A profile of travelers--an analysis from a large swiss travel clinic.

PubMed

Bühler, Silja; Rüegg, Rolanda; Steffen, Robert; Hatz, Christoph; Jaeger, Veronika K

2014-01-01

Globally, the Swiss have one of the highest proportions of the population traveling to tropical and subtropical countries. Large travel clinics serve an increasing number of customers with specific pre-travel needs including uncommon destinations and preexisting medical conditions. This study aims to identify health characteristics and travel patterns of travelers seeking advice in the largest Swiss travel clinic so that tailored advice can be delivered. A descriptive analysis was performed on pre-travel visits between July 2010 and August 2012 at the Travel Clinic of the Institute of Social and Preventive Medicine, University of Zurich, Switzerland. A total of 22,584 travelers sought pre-travel advice. Tourism was the main reason for travel (17,875, 81.5%), followed by visiting friends and relatives (VFRs; 1,715, 7.8%), traveling for business (1,223, 5.6%), and "other reasons" (ie, volunteer work, pilgrimage, study abroad, and emigration; 1,112, 5.1%). The main travel destination was Thailand. In the VFR group, the highest proportions of traveling children (258, 15.1%) and of pregnant or breastfeeding women (23, 3.9%) were observed. Mental disorders were more prominent in VFRs (93, 5.4%) and in travel for "other reasons" (63, 5.7%). The latter stayed for the longest periods abroad; 272 (24.9%) stayed longer than 6 months. VFR travelers received the highest percentage of yellow fever vaccinations (523, 30.5%); in contrast, rabies (269, 24.2%) and typhoid vaccinations (279, 25.1%) were given more often to the "other travel reasons" group. New insights into the characteristics of a selected and large population of Swiss international travelers results in improved understanding of the special needs of an increasingly diverse population and, thus, in targeted preventive advice and interventions. © 2014 International Society of Travel Medicine.

Landscape History of Grosses Moos, NW Swiss Alpine Foreland.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Joanna Heer, Aleksandra; Adamiec, Grzegorz; Veit, Heinz; May, Jan-Hendrik; Novenko, Elena; Hajdas, Irka

2017-04-01

The western Swiss Plateau with Lake Neuchâtel is part of the alpine foreland and among the key areas for the reconstruction of environmental changes since the last postglacial. This study was carried out in a landscape located NE of the lake and called Grosses Moos (The Large Fen) - currently designated the Swiss largest, continuous farming area, after the fen was drained in course of landscape engineering projects performed in Switzerland at the end of the 19th century. The study contributes new results from nine excavations of littoral ridges identified in Grosses Moos, and integrates sedimentology, paleo-environmental analysis and three independent chronological methods. Radiocarbon dating, pollen analysis and optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) were applied to the sediments. While pollen and radiocarbon follow the standard procedures, the evaluation of the luminescence age estimates demanded adjustment according to the physical and microdosimetric properties of the alpine quartz, and consideration of the peculiarities of the changing littoral environments of Grosses Moos. The Grosses Moos landscape developed on the temporary surface of the post-Last Glacial sedimentary infill of the over-deepened glacial Aare valley. In this study the landscape history has been fitted into the existing supraregional time scales of NGRIP, the Swiss bio-zones system and the human history based on archaeological and historic records and covers a time span of up to 15'000 yr b2k. The wide-ranging suite of geomorphic features and sedimentary sequences, including littoral lake sediments, beach ridges, dunes, palaeo-channels, peat and colluvial deposits, enable the extensive reconstruction of spatially and temporally variable natural shaping processes. In addition, our results indicate remobilization of soil, colluvium, and sediment due to human settlement activities since the Neolithic - with an important increase in sediment load and spatial variability since the Bronze Age

Genetic selection in coastal Douglas-fir for tolerance to Swiss needle cast disease

Treesearch

Keith J.S. Jayawickrama; David Shaw; Terrance Z. Ye

2012-01-01

Swiss needle cast (SNC) of Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii (Mirb.) Franco), caused by the ascomycete fungus Phaeocryptopus gaeumannii, is associated with significant volume growth losses (20 to 50 percent) along the Oregon Coast. Although the pathogen is endemic, disease symptoms have intensified in coastal forests of Oregon...

Hepatopancreatic intoxication of lambda cyhalothrin insecticide on albino rats.

PubMed

Elhalwagy, Manal Ea; Abd-Alrahman, Sherif H; Nahas, A A; Ziada, Reem M; Mohamady, Aziza H

2015-01-01

Despite the known adverse effects of lambda cyhalothrin insecticide, little is known about its hepatopancreatic intoxication effects. The present study was carried out to elucidate sub-chronic effect of Karat 2.5% EC formulation of lambda cyhalothrin on male albino rats. To explore the effects of exposure to lambda cyhalothrin on rats and its mechanism, low (1/40 of LD50, 5 mg/kg/day) and high dose (1/4 of LD50, 50 mg/kg/day) lambda cyhalothrin were applied to rats via drinking water for 3 months. Blood samples were collected monthly, and the animals were dissected for liver and pancreas's examination at the end of the experiment. Lambda cyhalothrin administration was associated with the elevation in lipid peroxidation marker, malondialdehyde (MDA), reduction in SH-protein a major marker for antioxidant, as well as basel paraoxonase (PON) in both treated groups throughout the experimental periods. In addition, significant elevations in liver enzymes alanin amino transferase, (ALT), and aspartate amino transferase (AST), as well as plasma acetylcholinesterase (AChE) and glucose level. While, significant reduction in insulin level through the experimental periods. Results of histopathological and histochemical studies showed that lambda cyhalothrin exposure induces liver and pancreatic tissues damage and depletion in glycogen content was pronounced in liver of both treated groups. In conclusion subchronic intoxication with lambda cyhalothrin formulation induced remarkable changes in the examined parameters.

Spatial profiles of methane at the Swiss Plateau: A confrontation between measurements and emission inventories.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bamberger, Ines; Eugster, Werner; Buchmann, Nina

2013-04-01

Methane and carbon dioxide are the two most prominent greenhouse gases in the atmosphere and a detailed knowledge about their sources is essential for climate predictions (Solomon et al., 2007). The knowledge about greenhouse gas fluxes is usually merged, albeit including considerable uncertainties, to emission inventories. To increase the quality of the inventories a comparison with measurements is necessary. We evaluate the values given by a Swiss emission inventory with regard to atmospheric measurements of methane in Switzerland. Spatial profiles of carbon dioxide and methane were investigated at the Swiss Plateau during two consecutive warm and sunny summer days in July 2012. For the mobile methane and carbon dioxide measurements a LGR methane analyser and a LI-COR closed-path infrared gas analyser (IRGA) were mounted on a car together with an AIRMAR WeatherStation to track geodetic-coordinates and meteorological parameters. First results of the measurements including aerial profiles of the greenhouse gases and bin-averaged elevation profiles of methane and temperature will be presented and a highly-resolved methane emission inventory will be evaluated in comparison with the spatial profiles of atmospheric methane at the Swiss Plateau. References: Solomon, S., Qin D., et al. (Eds.) (2007) Contribution of Working Group I to the Fourth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, 996 S. pp., Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.

Constraining Swiss Methane Emissions from Atmospheric Observations: Sensitivities and Temporal Development

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Henne, Stephan; Leuenberger, Markus; Steinbacher, Martin; Eugster, Werner; Meinhardt, Frank; Bergamaschi, Peter; Emmenegger, Lukas; Brunner, Dominik

2017-04-01

Similar to other Western European countries, agricultural sources dominate the methane (CH4) emission budget in Switzerland. 'Bottom-up' estimates of these emissions are still connected with relatively large uncertainties due to considerable variability and uncertainties in observed emission factors for the underlying processes (e.g., enteric fermentation, manure management). Here, we present a regional-scale (˜300 x 200 km2) atmospheric inversion study of CH4 emissions in Switzerland making use of the recently established CarboCount-CH network of four stations on the Swiss Plateau as well as the neighbouring mountain-top sites Jungfraujoch and Schauinsland (Germany). Continuous observations from all CarboCount-CH sites are available since 2013. We use a high-resolution (7 x 7 km2) Lagrangian particle dispersion model (FLEXPART-COSMO) in connection with two different inversion systems (Bayesian and extended Kalman filter) to estimate spatially and temporally resolved CH4 emissions for the Swiss domain in the period 2013 to 2016. An extensive set of sensitivity inversions is used to assess the overall uncertainty of our inverse approach. In general we find good agreement of the total Swiss CH4 emissions between our 'top-down' estimate and the national 'bottom-up' reporting. In addition, a robust emission seasonality, with reduced winter time values, can be seen in all years. No significant trend or year-to-year variability was observed for the analysed four-year period, again in agreement with a very small downward trend in the national 'bottom-up' reporting. Special attention is given to the influence of boundary conditions as taken from different global scale model simulations (TM5, FLEXPART) and remote observations. We find that uncertainties in the boundary conditions can induce large offsets in the national total emissions. However, spatial emission patterns are less sensitive to the choice of boundary condition. Furthermore and in order to demonstrate the

Financial impact of introducing the Swiss-DRG reimbursement system on potentially avoidable readmissions at a university hospital.

PubMed

Wasserfallen, Jean-Blaise; Zufferey, Jade

2015-01-01

Thirty-day readmissions can be classified as potentially avoidable (PARs) or not avoidable (NARs) by following a specific algorithm (SQLape®). We wanted to assess the financial impact of the Swiss-DRG system, which regroups some readmissions occurring within 18 days after discharge within the initial hospital stay, on PARs at our hospital. First, PARs were identified from all hospitalisations recorded in 2011 at our university hospital. Second, 2012 Swiss-DRG readmission rules were applied, regrouped readmissions (RR) were identified, and their financial impact computed. Third, RRs were classified as potentially avoidable (PARRs), not avoidable (NARRs), and others causes (OCRRs). Characteristics of PARR patients and stays were retrieved, and the financial impact of PARRS was computed. A total of 36,777 hospitalisations were recorded in 2011, of which 3,140 were considered as readmissions (8.5%): 1,470 PARs (46.8%) and 1,733 NARs (53.2%). The 2012 Swiss-DRG rules would have resulted in 910 RRs (2.5% of hospitalisations, 29% of readmissions): 395 PARRs (43% of RR), 181 NARRs (20%), and 334 OCRRs (37%). Loss in reimbursement would have amounted to CHF 3.157 million (0.6% of total reimbursement). As many as 95% of the 395 PARR patients lived at home. In total, 28% of PARRs occurred within 3 days after discharge, and 58% lasted less than 5 days; 79% of the patients were discharged home again. Loss in reimbursement would amount to CHF 1.771 million. PARs represent a sizeable number of 30-day readmissions, as do PARRs of 18-day RRs in the 2012 Swiss DRG system. They should be the focus of attention, as the PARRs represent an avoidable loss in reimbursement.

Physiological differences and changes in global DNA methylation levels in Agave angustifolia Haw. albino variant somaclones during the micropropagation process.

PubMed

Duarte-Aké, Fátima; Castillo-Castro, Eduardo; Pool, Felipe Barredo; Espadas, Francisco; Santamaría, Jorge M; Robert, Manuel L; De-la-Peña, Clelia

2016-12-01

Global DNA methylation changes caused by in vitro conditions are associated with the subculturing and phenotypic variation in Agave angustifolia Haw. While the relationship between the development of albinism and in vitro culture is well documented, the role of epigenetic processes in this development leaves some important questions unanswered. During the micropropagation of Agave angustifolia Haw., we found three different phenotypes, green (G), variegated (V) and albino (A). To understand the physiological and epigenetic differences among the somaclones, we analyzed several morphophysiological parameters and changes in the DNA methylation patterns in the three phenotypes during their in vitro development. We found that under in vitro conditions, the V plantlets maintained their CAM photosynthetic capacity, while the A variant showed no pigments and lost its CAM photosynthetic ability. Epigenetic analysis revealed that global DNA methylation increased in the G phenotype during the first two subcultures. However, after that time, DNA methylation levels declined. This hypomethylation correlated with the appearance of V shoots in the G plantlets. A similar correlation occurred in the V phenotype, where an increase of 2 % in the global DNA methylation levels was correlated with the generation of A shoots in the V plantlets. This suggests that an "epigenetic stress memory" during in vitro conditions causes a chromatin shift that favors the generation of variegated and albino shoots.

Vitamin D3 May Ameliorate the Ketoconazole Induced Adrenal Injury: Histological and Immunohistochemical Studies on Albino Rats

PubMed Central

Khalil, Mahmoud Salah

2015-01-01

Ketoconazole (KZ) is used widely for treating the superficial, systemic fungal activities and hyperandrogenemic states. Its uses are limited by its deleterious effect on histological structure and function of the adrenal cortex. This study investigates whether vitamin D3 supplement can ameliorate the morphological changes induced by KZ. Thirty four adult male albino rats were randomized into control group (Group I) which was subdivided into: control 1 (n=7) and control 2 (n=7): In control 1, rats were intraperitoneal (I.P) injected once with 1 ml of polyethylene glycol-400 for 15 consecutive days and control 2 rats were injected I.P with (1 μg/kg) of vitamin D3 for the same period. Group II (n=10): rats were I.P injected with KZ (10 mg/100 g of body weight) once daily for 15 days; Group III (n=10): rats were I.P concomitantly injected with KZ and vitamin D3 similar doses to animals in groups II and control 2 respectively. Blood samples were collected to determine plasma ACTH, corticosterone and aldosterone levels. The right adrenal specimens sections were stained with Haematoxylin & Eosin and Masson Trichrome for histological studies and treated with Bax, Ubiquitin and vitamin D receptors for immunohistochemical studies. KZ induced adrenal cortical morphological changes in forms of disturbed adrenocorticocyte cytological architecture, nuclear changes, and intracellular lipid accumulation. KZ also increased adrenal Bax and Ub but decreased the vitamin D receptors immunopositive staining expression, in addition to increased plasma ACTH as well as decreased corticosterone and aldosterone levels. These changes were ameliorated by supplementing with vitamin D3. PMID:26379312

Vitamin D3 May Ameliorate the Ketoconazole Induced Adrenal Injury: Histological and Immunohistochemical Studies on Albino Rats.

PubMed

Khalil, Mahmoud Salah

2015-08-27

Ketoconazole (KZ) is used widely for treating the superficial, systemic fungal activities and hyperandrogenemic states. Its uses are limited by its deleterious effect on histological structure and function of the adrenal cortex. This study investigates whether vitamin D3 supplement can ameliorate the morphological changes induced by KZ. Thirty four adult male albino rats were randomized into control group (Group I) which was subdivided into: control 1 (n=7) and control 2 (n=7): In control 1, rats were intraperitoneal (I.P) injected once with 1 ml of polyethylene glycol-400 for 15 consecutive days and control 2 rats were injected I.P with (1 μg/kg) of vitamin D3 for the same period. Group II (n=10): rats were I.P injected with KZ (10 mg/100 g of body weight) once daily for 15 days; Group III (n=10): rats were I.P concomitantly injected with KZ and vitamin D3 similar doses to animals in groups II and control 2 respectively. Blood samples were collected to determine plasma ACTH, corticosterone and aldosterone levels. The right adrenal specimens sections were stained with Haematoxylin & Eosin and Masson Trichrome for histological studies and treated with Bax, Ubiquitin and vitamin D receptors for immunohistochemical studies. KZ induced adrenal cortical morphological changes in forms of disturbed adrenocorticocyte cytological architecture, nuclear changes, and intracellular lipid accumulation. KZ also increased adrenal Bax and Ub but decreased the vitamin D receptors immunopositive staining expression, in addition to increased plasma ACTH as well as decreased corticosterone and aldosterone levels. These changes were ameliorated by supplementing with vitamin D3.

The effect of GABAmimetics on the duration of immobility in the forced swim test in albino mice.

PubMed

El Zahaf, Najwa Ahmed; Elhwuegi, Abdalla Salem

2014-01-01

Objectives Studies regarding the role of gamma aminobutyric acid (GABA) in depression are conflicting. Therefore, it was decided to examine the effect of different drugs that enhance the GABA system on the time of immobility induced by the forced swim test (FST). Materials and methods Adult albino mice were divided into several groups of six animals. Each group received an intraperitoneal injection of either imipramine (10, 20, or 30 mg/kg), diazepam (0.5, 1, or 2 mg/kg), vigabatrin (100, 200, or 300 mg/kg), zolpidem (2.5, 5, or 10 mg/kg), or alprazolam (1, 2.5, or 5 mg/kg). Control groups received the appropriate vehicle. One hour after injection, the duration of immobility was measured for 5 min in the FST. The percentage change in the duration of immobility from the control was calculated for each group. The statistical test of the difference between the treated and the control groups was calculated using unpaired Student's t-test. Results Imipramine produced a significant dose-dependent decrease in the duration of immobility (78, 74, and 56%, respectively). Different doses of diazepam, vigabatrin, and zolpidem produced a significant increase in the duration of immobility (119, 126, and 128%), (116, 124, and 128%), and (108, 109, and 119%), respectively. The two low doses of alprazolam produced a significant increase (115 and 120%), while the high dose produced a significant decrease in the duration of immobility (74%). Conclusion Increasing central GABAergic activity by different mechanisms has resulted in a depressant-like activity measured as an increase in the duration of immobility in the FST model of depression.

Reflections on the Swiss Consensus Statement in the context of qualitative interviews with heterosexuals living with HIV.

PubMed

Persson, A

2010-12-01

In 2008, the Swiss Federal AIDS Commission released a statement concluding that people with HIV who are on treatment and have an undetectable viral load are non-infectious and can safely practice unprotected sex with their HIV-negative partner under certain conditions. Contradicting over 25 years of HIV prevention messages, the so called Swiss Consensus Statement sparked a polarised international debate. One key concern is that the Statement will be misinterpreted to imply that everybody on treatment can have unprotected sex. Therefore, critics warn against any departure from the emphasis on condoms as the most effective prevention method. Given this concern, it is useful to reflect on what relevance the Swiss Statement may have for those concerned. This paper draws on qualitative interviews with HIV-positive heterosexuals and HIV-negative partners in Australia. Conducted both before and after the release of the Statement, these interviews revealed that sexual decision-making was not based solely on calculations of risk, but shaped by complex emotions and relationship priorities. The interviews also revealed that participants were sceptical towards the Statement's prevention message. These findings call into question the central concerns that drive this debate.

Swiss Experiment: Design, implemention and use of a cross-disciplinary infrastructure for data intensive science

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dawes, N.; Salehi, A.; Clifton, A.; Bavay, M.; Aberer, K.; Parlange, M. B.; Lehning, M.

2010-12-01

It has long been known that environmental processes are cross-disciplinary, but data has continued to be acquired and held for a single purpose. Swiss Experiment is a rapidly evolving cross-disciplinary, distributed sensor data infrastructure, where tools for the environmental science community stem directly from computer science research. The platform uses the bleeding edge of computer science to acquire, store and distribute data and metadata from all environmental science disciplines at a variety of temporal and spatial resolutions. SwissEx is simultaneously developing new technologies to allow low cost, high spatial and temporal resolution measurements such that small areas can be intensely monitored. This data is then combined with existing widespread, low density measurements in the cross-disciplinary platform to provide well documented datasets, which are of use to multiple research disciplines. We present a flexible, generic infrastructure at an advanced stage of development. The infrastructure makes the most of Web 2.0 technologies for a collaborative working environment and as a user interface for a metadata database. This environment is already closely integrated with GSN, an open-source database middleware developed under Swiss Experiment for acquisition and storage of generic time-series data (2D and 3D). GSN can be queried directly by common data processing packages and makes data available in real-time to models and 3rd party software interfaces via its web service interface. It also provides real-time push or pull data exchange between instances, a user management system which leaves data owners in charge of their data, advanced real-time processing and much more. The SwissEx interface is increasingly gaining users and supporting environmental science in Switzerland. It is also an integral part of environmental education projects ClimAtscope and O3E, where the technologies can provide rapid feedback of results for children of all ages and where the

Surveillance for European bat lyssavirus in Swiss bats.

PubMed

Megali, A; Yannic, G; Zahno, M-L; Brügger, D; Bertoni, G; Christe, P; Zanoni, R

2010-10-01

Most countries in Western Europe are currently free of rabies in terrestrial mammals. Nevertheless, rabies remains a residual risk to public health due to the natural circulation of bat-specific viruses, such as European bat lyssaviruses (EBLVs). European bat lyssavirus types 1 and 2 (EBLV-1 and EBLV-2) are widely distributed throughout Europe, but little is known of their true prevalence and epidemiology. We report that only three out of 837 brains taken from bats submitted to the Swiss Rabies Centre between 1976 and 2009 were found by immunofluorescence (FAT) to be positive for EBLVs. All three positive cases were in Myotis daubentoni, from 1992, 1993 and 2002. In addition to this passive surveillance, we undertook a targeted survey in 2009, aimed at detecting lyssaviruses in live bats in Switzerland. A total of 237 bats of the species M. daubentoni, Myotis myotis, Eptesicus serotinus and Nyctalus noctula were captured at different sites in western Switzerland. Oropharyngeal swabs and blood from each individual were analysed by RT-PCR and rapid fluorescent focus inhibition test (RFFIT), respectively. RNA corresponding to EBLV-2 was detected from oropharyngeal swabs of a single M. daubentoni bat, but no infectious virus was found. Molecular phylogenetic analysis revealed that the corresponding sequence was closely related to the other EBLV-2 sequences identified in previous rabies isolates from Swiss bats (particularly to that found at Geneva in 2002). Three M. daubentoni bats were found to be seropositive by RFFIT. In conclusion, even though the prevalence is low in Switzerland, continuous management and surveillance are required to assess the potential risk to public health.

Swiss University Students' Attitudes toward Pharmacological Cognitive Enhancement.

PubMed

Maier, Larissa J; Liakoni, Evangelia; Schildmann, Jan; Schaub, Michael P; Liechti, Matthias E

2015-01-01

Pharmacological cognitive enhancement (PCE) refers to the nonmedical use of prescription or recreational drugs to enhance cognitive performance. Several concerns about PCE have been raised in the public. The aim of the present study was to investigate students' attitudes toward PCE. Students at three Swiss universities were invited by e-mail to participate in a web-based survey. Of the 29,282 students who were contacted, 3,056 participated. Of these students, 22% indicated that they had used prescription drugs (12%) or recreational substances including alcohol (14%) at least once for PCE. The use of prescription drugs or recreational substances including alcohol prior to the last exam was reported by 16%. Users of pharmacological cognitive enhancers were more likely to consider PCE fair (24%) compared with nonusers (11%). Only a minority of the participants agreed with the nonmedical use of prescription drugs by fellow students when assuming weak (7%) or hypothetically strong efficacy and availability to everyone (14%). Two-thirds (68%) considered performance that is obtained with PCE less worthy of recognition. Additionally, 80% disagreed that PCE is acceptable in a competitive environment. More than half (64%) agreed that PCE in academia is similar to doping in sports. Nearly half (48%) claimed that unregulated access to pharmacological cognitive enhancers increases the pressure to engage in PCE and educational inequality (55%). In conclusion, Swiss students' main concerns regarding PCE were related to coercion and fairness. As expected, these concerns were more prevalent among nonusers than among users of pharmacological cognitive enhancers. More balanced information on PCE should be shared with students, and future monitoring of PCE is recommended.

Swiss University Students’ Attitudes toward Pharmacological Cognitive Enhancement

PubMed Central

Maier, Larissa J.; Liakoni, Evangelia; Schildmann, Jan; Schaub, Michael P.; Liechti, Matthias E.

2015-01-01

Pharmacological cognitive enhancement (PCE) refers to the nonmedical use of prescription or recreational drugs to enhance cognitive performance. Several concerns about PCE have been raised in the public. The aim of the present study was to investigate students’ attitudes toward PCE. Students at three Swiss universities were invited by e-mail to participate in a web-based survey. Of the 29,282 students who were contacted, 3,056 participated. Of these students, 22% indicated that they had used prescription drugs (12%) or recreational substances including alcohol (14%) at least once for PCE. The use of prescription drugs or recreational substances including alcohol prior to the last exam was reported by 16%. Users of pharmacological cognitive enhancers were more likely to consider PCE fair (24%) compared with nonusers (11%). Only a minority of the participants agreed with the nonmedical use of prescription drugs by fellow students when assuming weak (7%) or hypothetically strong efficacy and availability to everyone (14%). Two-thirds (68%) considered performance that is obtained with PCE less worthy of recognition. Additionally, 80% disagreed that PCE is acceptable in a competitive environment. More than half (64%) agreed that PCE in academia is similar to doping in sports. Nearly half (48%) claimed that unregulated access to pharmacological cognitive enhancers increases the pressure to engage in PCE and educational inequality (55%). In conclusion, Swiss students’ main concerns regarding PCE were related to coercion and fairness. As expected, these concerns were more prevalent among nonusers than among users of pharmacological cognitive enhancers. More balanced information on PCE should be shared with students, and future monitoring of PCE is recommended. PMID:26657300

Challenges for Human Rights Education in Swiss Secondary Schools from a Teacher Perspective

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rinaldi, Stefanie

2017-01-01

In Swiss high schools, teachers have significant leeway in determining the learning objectives and contents of curricula, including the recommended transversal theme of human rights. Teachers' views on human rights and human rights education (HRE) are, therefore, a determining factor for HRE's successful implementation. This article presents the…

Effect on gastric function and symptoms of drinking wine, black tea, or schnapps with a Swiss cheese fondue: randomised controlled crossover trial.

PubMed

Heinrich, Henriette; Goetze, Oliver; Menne, Dieter; Iten, Peter X; Fruehauf, Heiko; Vavricka, Stephan R; Schwizer, Werner; Fried, Michael; Fox, Mark

2010-12-14

To compare the effects of drinking white wine or black tea with Swiss cheese fondue followed by a shot of cherry schnapps on gastric emptying, appetite, and abdominal symptoms. Randomised controlled crossover study. 20 healthy adults (14 men) aged 23-58. Cheese fondue (3260 kJ, 32% fat) labelled with 150 mg sodium (13)Carbon-octanoate was consumed with 300 ml of white wine (13%, 40 g alcohol) or black tea in randomised order, followed by 20 ml schnapps (40%, 8 g alcohol) or water in randomised order. Cumulative percentage dose of (13)C substrate recovered over four hours (higher values indicate faster gastric emptying) and appetite and dyspeptic symptoms (visual analogue scales). Gastric emptying was significantly faster when fondue was consumed with tea or water than with wine or schnapps (cumulative percentage dose of (13)C recovered 18.1%, 95% confidence interval 15.2% to 20.9% v 7.4%, 4.6% to 10.3%; P<0.001). An inverse dose-response relation between alcohol intake and gastric emptying was evident. Appetite was similar with consumption of wine or tea (difference 0.11, -0.12 to 0.34; P=0.35), but reduced if both wine and schnapps were consumed (difference -0.40, -0.01 to -0.79; P<0.046). No difference in dyspeptic symptoms was present. Gastric emptying after a Swiss cheese fondue is noticeably slower and appetite suppressed if consumed with higher doses of alcohol. This effect was not associated with dyspeptic symptoms. ClinicalTrials.gov NCT00943696.

Population Dynamics of Lactobacillus helveticus in Swiss Gruyère-Type Cheese Manufactured With Natural Whey Cultures

PubMed Central

Moser, Aline; Schafroth, Karl; Meile, Leo; Egger, Lotti; Badertscher, René; Irmler, Stefan

2018-01-01

Lactobacillus helveticus, a ubiquitous bacterial species in natural whey cultures (NWCs) used for Swiss Gruyère cheese production, is considered to have crucial functions for cheese ripening such as enhancing proteolysis. We tracked the diversity and abundance of L. helveticus strains during 6 months of ripening in eight Swiss Gruyère-type cheeses using a culture-independent typing method. The study showed that the L. helveticus population present in NWCs persisted in cheese and demonstrated a stable multi-strain coexistence during cheese ripening. With regard to proteolysis, one of the eight L. helveticus populations exhibited less protein degradation during ripening. PMID:29670601

Amelioration of lead-induced hepatotoxicity by Allium sativum extracts in Swiss albino mice

PubMed Central

Sharma, Arti; Sharma, Veena; Kansal, Leena

2010-01-01

Lead is a blue–gray and highly toxic divalent metal that occurs naturally in the earth's crust and is spread throughout the environment by various human activities. The efficacy of garlic (Allium sativum) to reduce hepatotoxicity induced by lead nitrate was evaluated experimentally in male mice. Oral treatment with lead nitrate at a dose of 50 mg/kg body weight daily for 40 days (1/45 of LD50) induced a significant increase in the levels of hepatic aspartate aminotransferase, alanine aminotransferase, alkaline phosphatase, acid phosphatase, cholesterol, lipid peroxidation, and lead nitrate. In parallel, hepatic protein levels in lead-exposed mice were significantly depleted. Lead nitrate exposure also produced detrimental effects on the redox status of the liver indicated by a significant decline in the levels of liver antioxidants such as superoxide dismutase, catalase, and glutathione. After exposure to lead nitrate (50 mg/kg body weight for 10 days), the animals received aqueous garlic extract (250 mg/kg body weight and 500 mg/kg body weight) and ethanolic garlic extract (100 mg/kg body weight and 250 mg/kg body weight), and partially restored the deranged parameters significantly. Histological examination of the liver also revealed pathophysiological changes in lead nitrate-exposed group and treatment with garlic improved liver histology. Our data suggest that garlic is a phytoantioxidant that can counteract the deleterious effects of lead nitrate. PMID:21483544

Adaptogenic Activity of Lyophilized Hydroethanol Extract of Pandanus odoratissimus in Swiss Albino Mice

PubMed Central

Jadhav, Pranita P.; Ambavade, Shirishkumar D.; Shelke, Tushar

2014-01-01

Background. The leaves of Pandanus odoratissimus Linn have been widely used in Ayurveda to treat a variety of common and stress related disorders. In the present investigation, hydroethanol extract of leaves of Pandanus odoratissimus Linn (LEPO) were evaluated for antistress activity in normal and stress induced mice. Furthermore, the extract was studied for nootropic (adaptogenic) activity in mice and in vitro antioxidant potential to correlate with its adaptogenic and antistress activity. LEPO (100 and 200 mg/kg p.o) was evaluated against forced swimming endurance stress test, anoxia stress tolerance and immobilization stress and chronic cold resistant stress tests, and biomarkers (serum glucose, Corticosterone, WBC, RBC, and DLC count) to assess the antistress activity in mice. Withania somnifera (WS) (100 mg/kg p.o) was selected as reference standard. The parameters like anoxia stress tolerance time were recorded in anoxia stress and estimation of biochemical marker levels and determination of organs weight were carried out in immobilization stress models. Results. Concomitant treatment with LEPO 200 mg/kg significantly increased in anoxia stress tolerance time. Dose dependent significant reduction in serum glucose, corticosterone, and WBC, RBC, and DLC was observed in immobilisation stress model as compared to stressed group. LEOP 200 mg/kg and WS 100 mg/kg significantly reversed/inhibited the stress induced changes in these parameters. The results from the present study indicate that these values also express that dose dependent significant adaptogenic activity in stressed animals. Conclusion. The present study provides scientific support for the antistress (adaptogenic) and nootropic activities of lyophilized hydroethanol extract of Pandanus odoratissimus Linn and substantiate the traditional claims for the usage of Pandanus in stress induced disorders. PMID:27379263

Local D3/D7 μ-SPLIT SUSY, 125 GeV Higgs and Large Volume Ricci-Flat Swiss-Cheese Metrics:. a Brief Review

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Misra, Aalok

In this paper, we review briefly recent progress made in realizing local(ized around a mobile spacetime filling D3-brane in) D3/D7 μ-split Supersymmetry in (the large volume limit of Type IIB) String Theory (compactified on Swiss-Cheese Calabi-Yau orientifolds) as well as obtaining a 125 GeV (light) Higgs in the same setup. We also discuss obtaining the geometric Kähler potential (and hence the Ricci-flat metric) for the Swiss-Cheese Calabi-Yau in the large volume limit using the Donaldson's algorithm and intuition from GLSM-based calculations — we present new results for Swiss-Cheese Calabi-Yau (used in the setup) metrics at points finitely away from the "big" divisor.

Time delay in Swiss cheese gravitational lensing

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chen, B.; Kantowski, R.; Dai, X.

2010-08-01

We compute time delays for gravitational lensing in a flat Λ dominated cold dark matter Swiss cheese universe. We assume a primary and secondary pair of light rays are deflected by a single point mass condensation described by a Kottler metric (Schwarzschild with Λ) embedded in an otherwise homogeneous cosmology. We find that the cosmological constant’s effect on the difference in arrival times is nonlinear and at most around 0.002% for a large cluster lens; however, we find differences from time delays predicted by conventional linear lensing theory that can reach ˜4% for these large lenses. The differences in predicted delay times are due to the failure of conventional lensing to incorporate the lensing mass into the mean mass density of the universe.

Development of spermatic granuloma in albino rats following administration of water extract of Heliotropium bacciferum Forssk

PubMed Central

Alanazi, Khalid; Alahmadi, Bassam A.; Alhimaidi, Ahmed; Abou-Tarboush, Faisal M.; Farah, Mohammad Abul; Mahmoud, Ahmed; Alfaifi, Mohamed

2015-01-01

A spermatic granuloma is a chronic inflammatory reaction produced in response to extravasated sperm within the intertubular connective tissue. The present study investigates the possible toxic effects of water extract of Heliotropium bacciferum on the reproductive system of male albino rats and the associated potential for the development of spermatic granulomas. H. bacciferum is a herbal plant used in traditional medicine and reported to have cytotoxic effects due to pyrrolizidine alkaloids. Histological examinations revealed no changes in the tissues of the testes, although, some changes were detected in the cauda epididymis, the most important of which was the development of small lesions of spermatic granulomas. Clear gaps were observed between the epithelial linings of the epididymal tubules. PMID:26858543

Development of spermatic granuloma in albino rats following administration of water extract of Heliotropium bacciferum Forssk.

PubMed

Alanazi, Khalid; Alahmadi, Bassam A; Alhimaidi, Ahmed; Abou-Tarboush, Faisal M; Farah, Mohammad Abul; Mahmoud, Ahmed; Alfaifi, Mohamed

2016-01-01

A spermatic granuloma is a chronic inflammatory reaction produced in response to extravasated sperm within the intertubular connective tissue. The present study investigates the possible toxic effects of water extract of Heliotropium bacciferum on the reproductive system of male albino rats and the associated potential for the development of spermatic granulomas. H. bacciferum is a herbal plant used in traditional medicine and reported to have cytotoxic effects due to pyrrolizidine alkaloids. Histological examinations revealed no changes in the tissues of the testes, although, some changes were detected in the cauda epididymis, the most important of which was the development of small lesions of spermatic granulomas. Clear gaps were observed between the epithelial linings of the epididymal tubules.

Nanoparticle mediated brain targeted delivery of gallic acid: in vivo behavioral and biochemical studies for improved antioxidant and antidepressant-like activity.

PubMed

Nagpal, Kalpana; Singh, Shailendra Kumar; Mishra, Dina Nath

2012-11-01

Gallic acid had been reported to possess antidepressant like activity, which may be attributed to its CNS effects like increase in reduced glutathione levels, increased catalase activity and decreased malonaldehyde levels in brain. This study was designed to enhance the antidepressant-like activity of gallic acid (GA) using nanoparticulate delivery system in swiss male albino mice and to explore the possible underlying mechanisms for this activity. GA loaded chitosan nanoparticles (GANP) and corresponding tween 80 coated batch (cGANP) were formulated for brain targeting of GA and characterized for physicochemical parameters, morphology, differential scanning calorimetry and in vitro drug release. GA, GANP, cGANP (dose equivalent to GA 10 mg/kg, i.p.) and positive control drug, Fluoxetine (10 mg/kg, i.p.) were administered for successive seven days to male swiss albino mice. Then, the in vivo antidepressant-like activity was evaluated using Despair Swim Test (DST) and Tail Suspension Test (TST); along with the evaluation of MAO-A activity, reduced glutathione, malonaldehyde level, catalase and locomotor activity in mice. KEYFINDINGS: cGANP (equivalent to 10 mg/kg, i.p.) significantly decreased immobility period of mice in DST and TST, indicating significant antidepressant-like activity. There was no significant effect on locomotor activity of the mice by GA and its nanoparticle formulations. cGANP (10 mg/kg, i.p.) significantly decreased Monoamine oxidase-A (MAO-A) activity, malondialdehyde levels, and catalase activity in mice. GA possess significant antidepressant like activity and ligand coated nanoparticle approach with improved brain targeting may serve as an effective approach to enhance such effect.

Vitis vinifera peel and seed gold nanoparticles exhibit chemopreventive potential, antioxidant activity and induce apoptosis through mutant p53, Bcl-2 and pan cytokeratin down-regulation in experimental animals.

PubMed

Nirmala, J Grace; Narendhirakannan, R T

2017-05-01

Several studies suggest surface modifications of gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) by capping agents or surface coatings could play an important role in biological systems, and site directed delivery. The present study was carried out to assess the antioxidant and apoptotic activities of the Vitis vinifera peel and seed gold nanoparticles in experimentally induced cancer in Swiss albino mice. 12-dimethylbenz [a] anthracene (DMBA) (single application) and 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol 13-acetate (TPA) (thrice a week) were applied on the dorsal area of the skin to induce skin papillomagenesis in Swiss albino mice for 16 weeks. Gold nanoparticles were synthesized using Vitis vinifera peel and seed aqueous extracts and characterized by Transmission electron microscopic (TEM) analyses. On topical application, peel and seed gold nanoparticles demonstrated chemopreventive potential by significantly (p<0.05) reducing the cumulative number of tumors while increasing the antioxidant enzyme activities in the gold nanoparticles treated mice. The down-regulated expression of mutant p53, Bcl-2 and the levels of pan-cytokeratins might have facilitated the process of apoptosis in the chemical carcinogenesis process. The results were supported by the histopathological evaluation which exhibited mild dysplasia and acanthosis in the skin tissues of Vitis vinifera peel and seed AuNPs treated mice. Based on the present study, the chemopreventive action of Vitis vinifera peel and seed AuNPs is probably due to its ability to stimulate the antioxidant enzymes within the cells and suppressed abnormal skin cell proliferation that occurred during DMBA-induced skin papillomagenesis. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.

Antimutagenic effects of garlic extract on chromosomal aberrations.

PubMed

Shukla, Yogeshwer; Taneja, Pankaj

2002-02-08

Garlic (Allium sativum) has been used since ancient times, as a spice and also for its medicinal properties. In present set of investigations antimutagenic effect of garlic extract (GE) has been evaluated using 'in vivo chromosomal aberration assay' in Swiss albino mice. Cyclophosphamide (CP), a well-known mutagen, was given at a single dose of 25 mg/kg b.w. intraperitoneally. Pretreatment with 1, 2.5 and 5% of freshly prepared GE was given through oral intubation for 5 days prior to CP administration. Animals from all the groups were sacrificed at sampling times of 24 and 48 h and their bone marrow tissue was analyzed for chromosomal damage. The animals of the positive control group (CP alone) shows a significant increase in chromosomal aberrations both at 24 and 48 h sampling time. GE, alone did not significantly induced aberrations at either sampling time, confirming its non-mutagenicity. However in the GE pre-treated and CP post-treated groups, a dose dependent decrease in cytogenetic damage was recorded. A significant suppression in the chromosomal aberrations was recorded following pretreatment with 2.5 and 5% GE administration. The anticytotoxic effects of GE were also evident, as observed by significant increase in mitotic index, when compared to positive control group. Reduction in CP induced clastogenicity by GE was evident at 24 h and to a much greater extent at 48 h of cell cycle. Thus results of the present investigations revealed that GE has chemopreventive potential against CP induced chromosomal mutations in Swiss albino mice.

Sub-acute toxicological effects of Jobelyn on pregnant albino rats

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Adebayo, Abiodun Humphrey; Yakubu, Omolara Faith; Egbung, Godwin Eneji; Williams, Olabisi Ibidun; Okubena, Olajuwon

2018-04-01

The aim of the present study was to investigate the sub-acute toxicological effects of Jobelyn® on pregnant albino rats by employing biochemical, haematological and histopathological methods. A total of 32 pregnant female rats were randomly assigned to four different groups of eight rats each. The control group received distilled water and different doses of Jobelyn®; 250, 500, 1000 mg kg-1 were administered orally once a day for 2 weeks to the other groups. Biochemical analysis revealed a significant decrease (p<0.05) in the levels of alanine aminotransferase, albumin, urea, PCV and Hb in the treatment groups when compared to the control. However, the significant decrease in PCV and Hb was observed solely in the group treated with 1000 mg kg-1body weight, suggesting that this decrease could be dose-dependent. Alkaline phosphatase, total protein, triglycerides, cholesterol, HDL cholesterol, LDL cholesterol, eosinophils, basophils, neutrophils, monocytes, lymphocytes, WBC count, revealed no significant difference (p<0.05) when compared to the control. The results show that at an appropriate dosage, the use of Jobelyn® during pregnancy may have no adverse effect on the liver and kidney tissues and may possess hepatoprotective and nephroprotective properties however the histopathological studies revealed that very high levels of Jobelyn may be hepatotoxic.

Caffeic acid phenethyl ester protects 661W cells from H2O2-mediated cell death and enhances electroretinography response in dim-reared albino rats

PubMed Central

Chen, Hui; Tran, Julie-Thu A.; Anderson, Robert E.

2012-01-01

Purpose Caffeic acid phenethyl ester (CAPE), an active component of honeybee propolis, has a wide range of beneficial properties. The purpose of this study was to test the protective role of CAPE in 661W cells (in vitro) against H2O2-mediated cell death and in albino rats (in vivo) against various light conditions. Methods The 661W cells were pretreated with CAPE and then stressed with H2O2. Cell death was measured with lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) release assay, and mRNA and proteins were analyzed. Sprague Dawley rats were raised on either a control or CAPE (0.02%) diet and exposed to various light conditions for short or long periods. Retinal histology, mRNA, protein, lipid composition, and retinal function by electroretinography (ERG) were measured at the end of feeding. Results Pretreatment of 661W cells with CAPE reduced H2O2-mediated cell death in a dose-dependent manner and induced expression of heme oxygenase-1 (Ho1). Albino rats fed with CAPE had greater expression of Ho1 and intercellular adhesion molecule 1 (Icam1), less expression of FOS-like antigen (Fosl) and lipoxygenase 12 (Lox12) genes in the retina, less translocation of nuclear factor kappaB protein to the nucleus, and a lower molar ratio of n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids. Further, the ERGs of the retinas of CAPE-fed rats were significantly higher than those of the control-fed rats when raised in dim light. Conclusions CAPE can activate the antioxidative gene expression pathway in retinal cells in vitro and in vivo. Feeding CAPE to albino rats can enhance ERG responses and change the lipid profile in the rats’ retinas. PMID:22690111

Comparison of primary human fibroblasts and keratinocytes with immortalized cell lines regarding their sensitivity to sodium dodecyl sulfate in a neutral red uptake cytotoxicity assay.

PubMed

Olschläger, Veronika; Schrader, Andreas; Hockertz, Stefan

2009-01-01

Cell lines present a valuable tool for in vitro assessment of skin damage caused by application of cosmeticals or pharmaceuticals. They form a reproducible test system under controllable test conditions and, in many cases, can be used as alternatives to animal testing in order to assess the compatibility of drugs or cosmetics and human skin. Yet, it can not necessarily be assumed that the behavior of cultured cells, when treated with different substances, is exactly consistent with the behavior of cells being part of a live organism. Becoming immortal, cells exhibit changes in genotype and/or phenotype, possibly resulting in modified reactions to external influences. Therefore, to obtain results close to in vivo studies, it seems apparent to use primary cells for testing that have not yet undergone any modifications. To compare the properties of primary fibroblasts (Normal Human Dermal Fibroblasts, NHDF) and primary keratinocytes (Normal Human Epidermal Keratinocytes, NHEK) with those of immortal cell lines (3T3 (ACC 173) Swiss albino mouse fibroblasts and HaCaT (human, adult, low calcium, high temperature, human adult skin keratinocytes) cells), their sensitivities in cytotoxicity assays have been assessed. While both fibroblast cell cultures showed similar sensitivities towards sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS), primary keratinocytes died at SDS concentrations about three times lower than the immortal HaCaT cells.

Explaining regional variations in health care utilization between Swiss cantons using panel econometric models

PubMed Central

2012-01-01

Background In spite of a detailed and nation-wide legislation frame, there exist large cantonal disparities in consumed quantities of health care services in Switzerland. In this study, the most important factors of influence causing these regional disparities are determined. The findings can also be productive for discussing the containment of health care consumption in other countries. Methods Based on the literature, relevant factors that cause geographic disparities of quantities and costs in western health care systems are identified. Using a selected set of these factors, individual panel econometric models are calculated to explain the variation of the utilization in each of the six largest health care service groups (general practitioners, specialist doctors, hospital inpatient, hospital outpatient, medication, and nursing homes) in Swiss mandatory health insurance (MHI). The main data source is 'Datenpool santésuisse', a database of Swiss health insurers. Results For all six health care service groups, significant factors influencing the utilization frequency over time and across cantons are found. A greater supply of service providers tends to have strong interrelations with per capita consumption of MHI services. On the demand side, older populations and higher population densities represent the clearest driving factors. Conclusions Strategies to contain consumption and costs in health care should include several elements. In the federalist Swiss system, the structure of regional health care supply seems to generate significant effects. However, the extent of driving factors on the demand side (e.g., social deprivation) or financing instruments (e.g., high deductibles) should also be considered. PMID:22413884

[Experimental model of activated Lamblia (Giardia) muris infection in albino mice].

PubMed

Irikov, O A; Kovalenko, F P

2007-01-01

Experimental L. muris infection was reproduced in 100% of the intact albino mice intragastrically given levomycin in an average total dose of 15.88-34.84 or 0.88-1.02 g/kg for 18-34 days. With levomycin administration, the intensity of giardiasis was 1121.6-8540.1 (mean 4830.9) thousand L. muris trophozoites per animal. The total number of trophozoites per animal decreased to 302.2-3481.4 (mean 1546.4) thousand and 28.1-324.0 (mean 109.4) thousand specimens 5-8 and 11-13 days after discontinuation of the antibiotic, respectively. The maximum number of L. muris trophozoites was observed in the proximal and middle portions of the murine small intestine during and after the administration oflevomycin. The highest isolation of cysts was seen 12-14 days after the initiation of administration of the antibiotic. Following 8-10 days of terminations of a course of levomycin therapy the native smear of animal feces showed no Lamblia cysts. In mice with activated infection, the isolation rate of Lamblia cysts was directly related to the intensity of intestinal infection with trophozoites of the parasite.

Protective effects of fennel oil extract against sodium valproate-induced hepatorenal damage in albino rats.

PubMed

Al-Amoudi, Wael M

2017-05-01

Foeniculum vulgare (Apiaceae) is commonly known as fennel. This herb is well-known worldwide and traditionally used as curative herbal therapy for the treatment of epileptic disease, seizurescarminative, digestive, lactogogue, diuretic, treating respiratory and gastrointestinal disorders. The aim of present study is to investigate the possible effect of fennel oil against the toxicity of Sodium-Valproic (SVP) in albino rats. In order to assess the protection of fennel oil on SVP induced hepato- and nephro-toxicity, male albino rats were treated with 1 ml/kg b.w fennel oil 3 days/week for 6 weeks. The biochemical analyses of hepatic enzymes were evaluated by estimating blood biomarkers of liver and renal damage along with histological examination. The results obtained from this work showed that treating animals with SVP lead to many histopathological alterations in the liver and kidney tissues. The effect appeared in the liver tissue include leukocyte infiltrations, cytoplasmic vacuolization of the hepatocytes, fatty degeneration and congestion of blood vessels. This commonly used chemical (SVP) caused some unwanted effects on the kidney cortex which histologically observed as degeneration in renal tubules, atrophy of the glomeruli and edema. Biochemical results also revealed an abnormal increase in the enzyme level of AST, SAT, ALP, bilirubin, creatinine and urea-nitrogen, with a noticed decrease in total protein content. However, the results of treated rats with SVP plus fennel oil showed some positive histopathological changes in both the liver and kidney tissues. These results have confirmed that fennel oil has positive effects on the histological structure of the liver and kidney and the biochemical levels of AST, ALT, ALP, bilirubin, total proteins, creatinine and urea. It is concluded that fennel oil has various pharmacological properties including antioxidant, anti-cancer activity, anti-inflammatory. These valuable effects might be due to the presence of

The Association of Flexibility, Balance, and Lumbar Strength with Balance Ability: Risk of Falls in Older Adults

PubMed Central

Emilio, Emilio J. Martínez-López; Hita-Contreras, Fidel; Jiménez-Lara, Pilar M.; Latorre-Román, Pedro; Martínez-Amat, Antonio

2014-01-01

The purpose of the present study was to determine the effects of a proprioceptive training program on older adults, as well as to analyze the association between flexibility, balance and lumbar strength (physical fitness test) with balance ability and fall risk (functional balance tests). This study was a controlled, longitudinal trial with a 12-week follow-up period. Subjects from a population of older adults were allocated to the intervention group (n = 28) or to the usual care (control) group (n = 26). Subjects performed proprioceptive training twice weekly (6 specific exercises with Swiss ball and BOSU). Each session included 50 minutes (10 minutes of warm-up with slow walk, 10 minutes of mobility and stretching exercises, 30 minutes of proprioceptive exercises). The outcome variables were physical fitness (lower-body flexibility, hip-joint mobility, dynamic balance, static balance, and lumbar strength) and functional balance (Berg scale and Tinetti test). The experimental group obtained significantly higher values than the control group in lower-body flexibility, dynamic balance, and lumbar strength (p = 0.019, p < 0.001, and p = 0.034 respectively). Hip-joint mobility, dynamic balance, and lumbar strength were positively associated with balance ability (p < 0.001, p < 0.001, and p = 0.014, respectively) and the prevention of falls (p = 0.001, p < 0.001, and p = 0.017 respectively). These findings suggest that a 12-week proprioception program intervention (twice a week) significantly improves flexibility, balance, and lumbar strength in older adults. Hip-joint mobility, dynamic balance and lumbar strength are positively associated to balance ability and the risk of falls in older adults. This proprioceptive training does not show a significant improvement in hip-joint mobility or static balance. Key points A 12-week proprioceptive intervention program (two times per week) significantly improves flexibility, balance, and lumbar strength in older adults. The

Microbiological, chemical, and sensory characteristics of Swiss cheese manufactured with adjunct Lactobacillus strains using a low cooking temperature.

PubMed

Kocaoglu-Vurma, N A; Harper, W J; Drake, M A; Courtney, P D

2008-08-01

The effect of nonstarter Lactobacillus adjunct cultures on the microbial, chemical, and sensory characteristics of Swiss cheese manufactured using the "kosher make procedure" was investigated. The kosher make procedure, which uses a lower cooking temperature than traditional Swiss cheese making, is used by many American cheese manufacturers to allow for kosher-certified whey. Cheeses were manufactured using a commercial starter culture combination and 1 of 3 non-starter Lactobacillus strains previously isolated from Swiss cheeses, Lactobacillus casei A26, L. casei B21, and Lactobacillus rhamnosus H2, as an adjunct. Control cheeses lacked the adjunct culture. Cheeses were analyzed during ripening for microbial and chemical composition. Adjunct strain L. casei A26, which utilized citrate most readily in laboratory medium, dominated the Lactobacillus population within 30 d, faster than the other adjunct cultures. There were no significant differences in Propionibacterium counts, Streptococcus thermophilus counts, protein, fat, moisture, salt, and pH among the cheeses. Free amino acid concentration ranged from 5 to 7 mmol/100 g of cheese at 90 d of ripening and was adjunct strain dependent. Lactic, acetic, and propionic acid concentrations were not significantly different among the cheeses after a 90-d ripening period; however differences in propionic acid concentrations were apparent at 60 d, with the cheeses made with L. casei adjuncts containing less propionic acid. Citric acid was depleted by the end of warm room ripening in cheeses manufactured with adjunct L. casei strains, but not with adjunct L. rhamnosus. Cheeses made with L. casei A26 were most similar to the control cheeses in diacetyl and butyric/isobutyric acid abundance as evaluated by electronic nose during the first 3 mo of ripening. The 4 cheese types differed in their descriptive sensory profiles at 8 mo of age, indicating an adjunct strain-dependent effect on particular flavor attributes. Adjunct

Impacts of highway traffic exhaust in alpine valleys on the respiratory health in adults: a cross-sectional study

PubMed Central

2011-01-01

Background Most studies having shown respiratory health effects from traffic exhaust were conducted in urban areas with a complex mixture of air pollution sources. This study has investigated the potential impact of traffic exhaust on respiratory symptoms among adults living along a Swiss alpine highway corridor, where traffic exhaust from the respective trans-Alpine highway is the predominate source of air pollution. Methods In summer 2005, we recruited 1839 adults aged 15 to 70 from a random sample of 10 communities along the Swiss alpine highway corridors. Subjects answered a questionnaire on respiratory health (asthmatic and bronchitic symptoms), risk factors, and potential confounding variables. We used logistic regression models to assess associations between respiratory symptoms and traffic exposure being defined a) as living within 200 m of the highway, and b) as a bell-shaped function simulating the decrease of pollution levels with increasing distance to the highway. Results Positive associations were found between living close to a highway and wheezing without cold (OR = 3.10, 95%-CI: 1.27-7.55) and chronic cough (OR = 2.88, 95%-CI: 1.17-7.05). The models using a bell-shaped function suggested that symptoms reached background levels after 400-500 m from the highway. The association with chronic cough was driven by a subgroup reporting hay fever or allergic rhinitis. Conclusions Highway traffic exhaust in alpine highway corridors, in the absence of other industrial sources, showed negative associations with the respiratory health of adults, higher than those previously found in urban areas. PMID:21371339

Impacts of highway traffic exhaust in alpine valleys on the respiratory health in adults: a cross-sectional study.

PubMed

Hazenkamp-von Arx, Marianne E; Schindler, Christian; Ragettli, Martina S; Künzli, Nino; Braun-Fahrländer, Charlotte; Liu, Lee-Jane S

2011-03-04

Most studies having shown respiratory health effects from traffic exhaust were conducted in urban areas with a complex mixture of air pollution sources. This study has investigated the potential impact of traffic exhaust on respiratory symptoms among adults living along a Swiss alpine highway corridor, where traffic exhaust from the respective trans-Alpine highway is the predominate source of air pollution. In summer 2005, we recruited 1839 adults aged 15 to 70 from a random sample of 10 communities along the Swiss alpine highway corridors. Subjects answered a questionnaire on respiratory health (asthmatic and bronchitic symptoms), risk factors, and potential confounding variables. We used logistic regression models to assess associations between respiratory symptoms and traffic exposure being defined a) as living within 200 m of the highway, and b) as a bell-shaped function simulating the decrease of pollution levels with increasing distance to the highway. Positive associations were found between living close to a highway and wheezing without cold (OR = 3.10, 95%-CI: 1.27-7.55) and chronic cough (OR = 2.88, 95%-CI: 1.17-7.05). The models using a bell-shaped function suggested that symptoms reached background levels after 400-500 m from the highway. The association with chronic cough was driven by a subgroup reporting hay fever or allergic rhinitis. Highway traffic exhaust in alpine highway corridors, in the absence of other industrial sources, showed negative associations with the respiratory health of adults, higher than those previously found in urban areas.

How representative is pesticide monitoring in Swiss streams?

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Munz, Nicole; Wittmer, Irene; Strahm, Ivo; Leu, Christian; Stamm, Christian

2013-04-01

The surveillance of surface water quality in Switzerland is the task of the 26 cantons. This includes the assessment of the level of pesticide pollution. Each of the cantons may follow different procedures, which makes a comparison difficult and cumbersome. Nevertheless, in this study presents the main results of the first nation-wide compilation and interpretation of cantonal and federal monitoring data as well as results from specific research projects on agricultural and urban pesticides are presented. Overall, more than 345'000 concentration data of 281 biocidal compounds have been analyzed. This set of substances includes 203 compounds that have been registered either only as agricultural plant protection (N = 149) product or only as urban biocide (N = 18), but also some (N = 36) which were registered for both uses. This data set contains 70 out of the 100 most sold agricultural plant protection products in 2010. A comparable assessment for the representativeness of the biocide data is hardly possible due to a lack of systematic use data. The data stem from 565 measuring sites. However, these sites are not representative for all size classes of the Swiss stream network. While about 75% of the total length of the stream network is made up by small streams (Strahler order 1 and 2), only 28% of the measuring sites are located on such streams. In combination with the sampling strategies that have been used - about 50% grab samples and 50% composite samples - it can be concluded that the 2% of measured values > 100 ng L-1 most probably severely underestimates the true level of pesticide pollution in the Swiss stream network. In the future, more emphasis has to be put on small streams, where higher concentrations are expected and thus also actual ecological effects.

Hepatopancreatic intoxication of lambda cyhalothrin insecticide on albino rats

PubMed Central

Elhalwagy, Manal EA; Abd-Alrahman, Sherif H; Nahas, AA; Ziada, Reem M; Mohamady, Aziza H

2015-01-01

Background: Despite the known adverse effects of lambda cyhalothrin insecticide, little is known about its hepatopancreatic intoxication effects. The present study was carried out to elucidate sub-chronic effect of Karat 2.5% EC formulation of lambda cyhalothrin on male albino rats. Methods: To explore the effects of exposure to lambda cyhalothrin on rats and its mechanism, low (1/40 of LD50, 5 mg/kg/day) and high dose (1/4 of LD50, 50 mg/kg/day) lambda cyhalothrin were applied to rats via drinking water for 3 months. Blood samples were collected monthly, and the animals were dissected for liver and pancreas’s examination at the end of the experiment. Lambda cyhalothrin administration was associated with the elevation in lipid peroxidation marker, malondialdehyde (MDA), reduction in SH-protein a major marker for antioxidant, as well as basel paraoxonase (PON) in both treated groups throughout the experimental periods. Results: In addition, significant elevations in liver enzymes alanin amino transferase, (ALT), and aspartate amino transferase (AST), as well as plasma acetylcholinesterase (AChE) and glucose level. While, significant reduction in insulin level through the experimental periods. Results of histopathological and histochemical studies showed that lambda cyhalothrin exposure induces liver and pancreatic tissues damage and depletion in glycogen content was pronounced in liver of both treated groups. Conclusions: In conclusion subchronic intoxication with lambda cyhalothrin formulation induced remarkable changes in the examined parameters. PMID:26221269

[September 11 from the viewpoint of a Swiss trauma fellow in New York].

PubMed

Borens, O

2002-01-01

This is the report of the events of September 11th seen through the eyes of a Swiss Trauma Fellow. This ill-fated day is described by someone who went down to ground zero with other doctors to help and save lives and came back frustrated because there was so little to be done.

Grid Data Management and Customer Demands at MeteoSwiss

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rigo, G.; Lukasczyk, Ch.

2010-09-01

Data grids constitute the required input form for a variety of applications. Therefore, customers increasingly expect climate services to not only provide measured data, but also grids of these with the required configurations on an operational basis. Currently, MeteoSwiss is establishing a production chain for delivering data grids by subscription directly from the data warehouse in order to meet the demand for precipitation data grids by governmental, business and science customers. The MeteoSwiss data warehouse runs on an Oracle database linked with an ArcGIS Standard edition geodatabase. The grids are produced by Unix-based software written in R called GRIDMCH which extracts the station data from the data warehouse and stores the files in the file system. By scripts, the netcdf-v4 files are imported via an FME interface into the database. Currently daily and monthly deliveries of daily precipitation grids are available from MeteoSwiss with a spatial resolution of 2.2km x 2.2km. These daily delivered grids are a preliminary based on 100 measuring sites whilst the grid of the monthly delivery of daily sums is calculated out of about 430 stations. Crucial for the absorption by the customers is the understanding of and the trust into the new grid product. Clearly stating needs which can be covered by grid products, the customers require a certain lead time to develop applications making use of the particular grid. Therefore, early contacts and a continuous attendance as well as flexibility in adjusting the production process to fulfill emerging customer needs are important during the introduction period. Gridding over complex terrain can lead to temporally elevated uncertainties in certain areas depending on the weather situation and coverage of measurements. Therefore, careful instructions on the quality and use and the possibility to communicate the uncertainties of gridded data proofed to be essential especially to the business and science customers who require

Immunopathological and antimicrobial effect of black pepper, ginger and thyme extracts on experimental model of acute hematogenous pyelonephritis in albino rats.

PubMed

Nassan, M A; Mohamed, E H

2014-01-01

Recent studies showed prominent antimicrobial activity of various plant extracts on certain pathogenic microorganisms, therefore we prepared crude aqueous extracts of black pepper, ginger and thyme and carried out an in vitro study by measuring antimicrobial activity of these extracts using the agar well diffusion method. An in vivo study was carried out on 50 adult healthy male albino rats which were divided into 5 groups, 10 rats each. Group 1: negative control group which received saline solution intragastrically daily; Group 2: Positive control group, injected with mixed bacterial suspension of S.aureus and E.coli as a model of pyelonephritis, then received saline solution intragastrically daily; Group 3: injected with the same dose of mixed bacterial suspension, then received 100 mg/kg/day black pepper extract intragastrically; Group 4: injected with mixed bacterial suspension then received 500 mg/kg/day ginger extract intragastrically. Group 5: injected with mixed bacterial suspension then received 500 mg/kg/day thyme extract intragastrically. All groups were sacrificed after either 1 or 4 weeks. Serum and blood samples were collected for lysozyme activity estimation using agarose lysoplate, measurement of nitric oxide production, and lymphocyte transformation test as well as for counting both total and differential leukocytes and erythrocytes. Kidney samples were tested histopathologically. Both in vivo and in vitro results confirm the efficacy of these extracts as natural antimicrobials and suggest the possibility of using them in treatment procedures.

Insecticide susceptibility of Aedes albopictus and Ae. aegypti from Brazil and the Swiss-Italian border region.

PubMed

Suter, Tobias; Crespo, Mônica Maria; de Oliveira, Mariana Francelino; de Oliveira, Thaynan Sama Alves; de Melo-Santos, Maria Alice Varjal; de Oliveira, Cláudia Maria Fontes; Ayres, Constância Flávia Junqueira; Barbosa, Rosângela Maria Rodrigues; Araújo, Ana Paula; Regis, Lêda Narcisa; Flacio, Eleonora; Engeler, Lukas; Müller, Pie; Silva-Filha, Maria Helena Neves Lobo

2017-09-19

Aedes aegypti and Ae. albopictus are two highly invasive mosquito species, both vectors of several viruses, including dengue, chikungunya and Zika. While Ae. aegypti is the primary vector in the tropics and sub-tropics, Ae. albopictus is increasingly under the public health watch as it has been implicated in arbovirus-transmission in more temperate regions, including continental Europe. Vector control using insecticides is the pillar of most control programmes; hence development of insecticide resistance is of great concern. As part of a Brazilian-Swiss Joint Research Programme we set out to assess whether there are any signs of existing or incipient insecticide resistance primarily against the larvicide Bacillus thuringiensis svar. israelensis (Bti), but also against currently applied and potentially alternative insecticides in our areas, Recife (Brazil) and the Swiss-Italian border region. Following World Health Organization guidelines, dose-response curves for a range of insecticides were established for both colonized and field caught Ae. aegypti and Ae. albopictus. The larvicides included Bti, two of its toxins, Cry11Aa and Cry4Ba, Lysinibacillus sphaericus, Vectomax CG®, a formulated combination of Bti and L. sphaericus, and diflubenzuron. In addition to the larvicides, the Swiss-Italian Ae. albopictus populations were also tested against five adulticides (bendiocarb, dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane, malathion, permethrin and λ-cyhalothrin). Showing a similar dose-response, all mosquito populations were fully susceptible to the larvicides tested and, in particular, to Bti which is currently used both in Brazil and Switzerland. In addition, there were no signs of incipient resistance against Bti as larvae were equally susceptible to the individual toxins, Cry11Aa and Cry4Ba. The field-caught Swiss-Italian populations were susceptible to the adulticides tested but DDT mortality rates showed signs of reduced susceptibility. The insecticides currently used for

Internalization of Escherichia coli O157:H7 gfp+ in rocket and Swiss chard baby leaves as affected by abiotic and biotic damage.

PubMed

Hartmann, R; Fricke, A; Stützel, H; Mansourian, S; Dekker, T; Wohanka, W; Alsanius, B

2017-07-01

Internalization of human pathogens in edible parts of vegetables eaten raw is a major concern, since once internalized they are protected from sanitizing treatments. In this study, we examined the invasion of gfp-labelled Escherichia coli O157:H7 into intact and biotically (infection with Xanthomonas campestris/Pseudomonas syringae) and abiotically (grating with silicon carbide) damaged leaves of wild rocket (Diplotaxis tenuifolia) and Swiss chard (Beta vulgaris subsp. cicla) using laser scanning confocal microscopy. Bacterial cells were found in internal locations of the tissue, irrespective of tissue health status. Contaminated leaf sections of biotically and abiotically damaged wild rocket leaves showed higher susceptibility to microbial invasion, while the pathogen was internalized in greater numbers into intact Swiss chard leaf sections when abiotically, but not biotically, damaged. The greatest differences were observed between the plant species; after surface sanitization, E. coli O157:H7 was still detected in wild rocket leaves, but not in Swiss chard leaves. Contamination of leafy vegetables with Escherichia coli O157:H7 is a growing problem, as reported outbreaks are increasing. However, establishment of this human pathogen in the phyllosphere is not completely understood. Using laser scanning confocal microscopy, we demonstrated that E. coli O157:H7gfp+ can invade plant tissue of Swiss chard and wild rocket leaves and that the bacterium is more sensitive to surface sanitization of Swiss chard leaves. Damage to leaf tissue promoted leaf invasion, but the nature of the damage (abiotic or biotic) and plant species had an impact. © 2017 The Society for Applied Microbiology.

Back analysis of Swiss flood danger map to define local flood hazards

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Choffet, Marc; Derron, Marc-Henri; Jaboyedoff, Michel; Leroi, Eric; Mayis, Arnaud

2010-05-01

The flood hazard maps for the entire Switzerland will be available at the end of 2011. Furthermore, the Swiss territory has been covered by aerial laser scanning (ALS) providing high resolution digital elevation model (DEM). This paper describes the development of a method for analyzing the local flood hazard based on Swiss hazard maps and HR-DEM. In their original state, Swiss hazard maps are constructed on the basis of an aggregation of information, a matrix intensity, and frequency. The degree of danger represented by the yellow, blue and red zones gives no information on the water level at each point of the territory. The developed method is based on a superposition of the danger map with the HR-DEM to determine the water level in a hazard area. To perform this method, (1) a triangulation is based on the intersection of the hazard map with the HR-DEM. It uses the limits of area where information is contrain. The hazard map perimeter and the boundaries of hazard areas give information on the widest possible overflow in case of flooding. It is also possible to associate it with a return period. (2) Based on these areas and the difference with the DEM, it is possible to calibrate the highest flood level and the extract water levels for the entire area. This analysis of existing documents opens up interesting perspectives for understanding how infrastructures are threatened by flood hazard by predicting water levels and potential damages to buildings while proposing remedial measures. Indeed, this method allows estimating the water level at each point of a building in case of flooding. It is designed to provide spatial information on water height levels; this offers a different approach of buildings in danger zones. Indeed, it is possible to discern several elements, such as areas of water accumulation involving longer flood duration, possible structural damages to buildings due to high hydrostatic pressure, determination of a local hazard, or the display of water

Transcriptome and proteomic analyses reveal multiple differences associated with chloroplast development in the spaceflight-induced wheat albino mutant mta.

PubMed

Shi, Kui; Gu, Jiayu; Guo, Huijun; Zhao, Linshu; Xie, Yongdun; Xiong, Hongchun; Li, Junhui; Zhao, Shirong; Song, Xiyun; Liu, Luxiang

2017-01-01

Chloroplast development is an integral part of plant survival and growth, and occurs in parallel with chlorophyll biosynthesis. However, little is known about the mechanisms underlying chloroplast development in hexaploid wheat. Here, we obtained a spaceflight-induced wheat albino mutant mta. Chloroplast ultra-structural observation showed that chloroplasts of mta exhibit abnormal morphology and distribution compared to wild type. Photosynthetic pigments content was also significantly decreased in mta. Transcriptome and chloroplast proteome profiling of mta and wild type were done to identify differentially expressed genes (DEGs) and proteins (DEPs), respectively. In total 4,588 DEGs including 1,980 up- and 2,608 down-regulated, and 48 chloroplast DEPs including 15 up- and 33 down-regulated were identified in mta. Classification of DEGs revealed that most were involved in chloroplast development, chlorophyll biosynthesis, or photosynthesis. Besides, transcription factors such as PIF3, GLK and MYB which might participate in those pathways were also identified. The correlation analysis between DEGs and DEPs revealed that the transcript-to-protein in abundance was functioned into photosynthesis and chloroplast relevant groups. Real time qPCR analysis validated that the expression level of genes encoding photosynthetic proteins was significantly decreased in mta. Together, our results suggest that the molecular mechanism for albino leaf color formation in mta is a thoroughly regulated and complicated process. The combined analysis of transcriptome and proteome afford comprehensive information for further research on chloroplast development mechanism in wheat. And spaceflight provides a potential means for mutagenesis in crop breeding.

Ascorbic acid treatment elevates follicle stimulating hormone and testosterone plasma levels and enhances sperm quality in albino Wistar rats.

PubMed

Okon, Uduak Akpan; Utuk, Ikponoabasi Ibanga

2016-01-01

Infertility issues have been linked to the effect of oxidative reaction in the reproductive system. This study evaluated the effect of ascorbic acid, on fertility parameters of male albino Wistar rats was studied. Eighteen albino Wistar rats weighed between 178 g and 241 g were used, randomly assigned into three groups. Group 1 was the control group; oral gavaged 5 ml of distilled water; Groups 2 and 3 were administered medium dose (250 mg/kg) and high dose of ascorbic acid (400 mg/kg), respectively; twice daily for 21 days. Blood samples were obtained by cardiac puncture, and blood serum was obtained for hormonal assay, and the testes were harvested for sperm analysis. Follicle stimulating hormone levels significantly increased in the high-dose group as compared to both the control and medium dose groups. Luteinizing hormone levels in the medium dose group decreased significantly as compared to the control group. Testosterone significantly increased in both the medium- and high-dose groups as compared to the control group. Sperm motility increased significantly in the high-dose group as compared to both control and medium-dose groups. Percentage sperm concentration decreased significantly in the medium-dose group when compared to the control and increased significantly in the high-dose group as compared to the medium-dose group. For percentage normal morphology, there was a dose-dependent increase in the test groups when compared to control group. These results are indicative of a positive influence of ascorbic acid on male fertility modulators and may therefore, serve as a potential adjuvant treatment for male infertility cases.

Dropouts in Swiss Vocational Education and the Effect of Training Companies' Trainee Selection Methods

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Forsblom, Lara; Negrini, Lucio; Gurtner, Jean-Luc; Schumann, Stephan

2016-01-01

In the Swiss vocational education system, which is often called a "Dual System", trainees enter into an apprenticeship contract with a training company. On average, 25% of those contracts are terminated prematurely (PCT). This article examines the relationship between training companies' selection methods and PCTs. The investigation is…

26 CFR 509.106 - Control of a United States enterprise by a Swiss enterprise.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-04-01

... 26 Internal Revenue 19 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Control of a United States enterprise by a Swiss enterprise. 509.106 Section 509.106 Internal Revenue INTERNAL REVENUE SERVICE, DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY (CONTINUED) REGULATIONS UNDER TAX CONVENTIONS SWITZERLAND General Income Tax § 509.106 Control of...

Hypoglycaemic and Tissue-Protective Effects of the Aqueous Extract of Persea Americana Seeds on Alloxan-Induced Albino Rats

PubMed Central

EZEJIOFOR, Anthonet Ndidi; OKORIE, Abednego; ORISAKWE, Orish Ebere

2013-01-01

Background: The tissue-protective potential of Persea americana necessitated a look into the histopathological effects of the plant extract on the pancreas, liver, and kidneys. This study was conceived and designed based on the gaps in the research that has been performed and what is known about the plant. The hypoglycaemic and tissue-protective effects of hot aqueous Persea americana (avocado pear) seed extracts on alloxan-induced albino rats were investigated. Methods: Persea americana seeds were extracted using hot water, and different concentrations of the extract were prepared. The effects of different concentrations (20, 30, 40 g/L) of the hot aqueous P. americana seed extract on alloxan-induced Wistar albino rats were compared with those of a reference drug, glibenclamide. The glucose level of the rats was measured daily, and the weight of the animal was monitored on a weekly basis for 21 days. The oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT) was performed at 0, 30, 60, 90 and 120 minutes, and the histopathologies of the liver, kidneys, and pancreas were investigated. Phytochemical analysis of P. americana seed extracts indicated the presence of glycosides, tannins, saponins, carbohydrates, flavonoids, and alkaloids. Results: The results showed that the extract possessed a significant hypoglycaemic (P < 0.05) effect and reversed the histopathological damage that occurred in alloxan-induced diabetic rats, comparable to the effects glibenclamide. The seeds of P. americana also had anti-diabetic and protective effects on some rat tissues such as the pancreas, kidneys, and liver. Conclusion: In conclusion, the present study provides a pharmacological basis for the folkloric use of the hot-water extract of P. americana seeds in the management of diabetes mellitus. PMID:24643349

Hypoglycaemic and tissue-protective effects of the aqueous extract of persea americana seeds on alloxan-induced albino rats.

PubMed

Ezejiofor, Anthonet Ndidi; Okorie, Abednego; Orisakwe, Orish Ebere

2013-10-01

The tissue-protective potential of Persea americana necessitated a look into the histopathological effects of the plant extract on the pancreas, liver, and kidneys. This study was conceived and designed based on the gaps in the research that has been performed and what is known about the plant. The hypoglycaemic and tissue-protective effects of hot aqueous Persea americana (avocado pear) seed extracts on alloxan-induced albino rats were investigated. Persea americana seeds were extracted using hot water, and different concentrations of the extract were prepared. The effects of different concentrations (20, 30, 40 g/L) of the hot aqueous P. americana seed extract on alloxan-induced Wistar albino rats were compared with those of a reference drug, glibenclamide. The glucose level of the rats was measured daily, and the weight of the animal was monitored on a weekly basis for 21 days. The oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT) was performed at 0, 30, 60, 90 and 120 minutes, and the histopathologies of the liver, kidneys, and pancreas were investigated. Phytochemical analysis of P. americana seed extracts indicated the presence of glycosides, tannins, saponins, carbohydrates, flavonoids, and alkaloids. The results showed that the extract possessed a significant hypoglycaemic (P < 0.05) effect and reversed the histopathological damage that occurred in alloxan-induced diabetic rats, comparable to the effects glibenclamide. The seeds of P. americana also had anti-diabetic and protective effects on some rat tissues such as the pancreas, kidneys, and liver. In conclusion, the present study provides a pharmacological basis for the folkloric use of the hot-water extract of P. americana seeds in the management of diabetes mellitus.

Histopathological changes in Wistar albino rats exposed to aqueous extract of unripe Carica papaya.

PubMed

Oduola, Taofeeq; Bello, Ibrahim; Idowu, Thomas; Avwioro, Godwin; Adeosun, Ganiyu; Olatubosun, Luqman

2010-05-01

Exposure of animals to xenobiotics may or may not trigger adverse response at cellular levels. Aqueous extract of unripe Carica papaya is consumed by sickle cell patients as antisickling agent in Western Nigeria. This study was undertaken to investigate the effects of Carica papaya on certain organs in Wister albino rats exposed to aqueous extract of unripe Carica papaya. Different doses of aqueous extract of unripe Carica papaya were administered orally daily for 42 days to six groups of rats. At the end of exposure, the animals were sacrificed and tissue sections were prepared from livers, kidneys, hearts and small intestines using standard techniques. Histopathological results showed that no pathological changes were observed in tissue sections of experimental animals when compared with tissue sections of the same organs in control animals. No pathological changes were elicited in the organs of rats exposed to aqueous extract of unripe Carica papaya.

Reduction of alcohol induced sleep time in albino mice by potentized Nux vomica prepared with 90% ethanol.

PubMed

Sukul, A; Sinhabau, S P; Sukul, N C

1999-04-01

Male adult albino mice were administered potentized Nux vomica 30 c (Nux v). The drug was mixed with sterile distilled water at 0.05 ml/2 ml water and given at 0.05 ml/individual. Control consisted of blank ethanol solution. Ethanolic extract from the seeds of Strychnos nuxvomica L was mixed with 90% ethanol 1:100 and sonicated for 30 s at 20 KHz. This was further diluted and sonicated in 30 steps to produce Nux v 30 c. Six hours after treatment, mice were given 25% ethanol i.p. at 4 g/kg body wt. The duration of sleep time starting from the loss of righting reflex until its restoration was recorded for each mouse. The duration of sleep time with ethanol was recorded in four sessions for the same group of mice with an interval of 10 d between sessions. session 1 with control solution, 2 with Nux v (oral), 3 with control solution and 4 with Nux v (i.p.). Nux v (oral) produced the shortest sleep time as compared to other treatments which did not differ from each other significantly with respect to sleep time. In another experiment Nux v 30 c was prepared with distilled water and pure absolute ethanol by the above process of successive dilution and sonication. These two preparations together with Nux v 30 c, prepared with 90% ethanol, were tested on mice for their effect on alcohol-induced sleep time. Only Nux v 30 c prepared with 90% ethanol was effective in reducing the sleep time in mice. It is concluded that the solution structure of ethanol/water mixture carries the specificity of the Nux v at ultra high dilution. It is further concluded that the effect is mediated through oral receptors.

Effect on gastric function and symptoms of drinking wine, black tea, or schnapps with a Swiss cheese fondue: randomised controlled crossover trial

PubMed Central

Heinrich, Henriette; Goetze, Oliver; Menne, Dieter; Iten, Peter X; Fruehauf, Heiko; Vavricka, Stephan R; Schwizer, Werner; Fried, Michael

2010-01-01

Objective To compare the effects of drinking white wine or black tea with Swiss cheese fondue followed by a shot of cherry schnapps on gastric emptying, appetite, and abdominal symptoms. Design Randomised controlled crossover study. Participants 20 healthy adults (14 men) aged 23-58. Interventions Cheese fondue (3260 kJ, 32% fat) labelled with 150 mg sodium 13Carbon-octanoate was consumed with 300 ml of white wine (13%, 40 g alcohol) or black tea in randomised order, followed by 20 ml schnapps (40%, 8 g alcohol) or water in randomised order. Main outcome measures Cumulative percentage dose of 13C substrate recovered over four hours (higher values indicate faster gastric emptying) and appetite and dyspeptic symptoms (visual analogue scales). Results Gastric emptying was significantly faster when fondue was consumed with tea or water than with wine or schnapps (cumulative percentage dose of 13C recovered 18.1%, 95% confidence interval 15.2% to 20.9% v 7.4%, 4.6% to 10.3%; P<0.001). An inverse dose-response relation between alcohol intake and gastric emptying was evident. Appetite was similar with consumption of wine or tea (difference 0.11, −0.12 to 0.34; P=0.35), but reduced if both wine and schnapps were consumed (difference −0.40, −0.01 to −0.79; P<0.046). No difference in dyspeptic symptoms was present. Conclusions Gastric emptying after a Swiss cheese fondue is noticeably slower and appetite suppressed if consumed with higher doses of alcohol. This effect was not associated with dyspeptic symptoms. Trial registration ClinicalTrials.gov NCT00943696. PMID:21156747

[The development of a Nursing Research Agenda for Pediatrics for the years 2007 to 2017 as an integrative part of the national "Swiss Research Agenda"-project].

PubMed

Cignacco, Eva

2008-12-01

In the German-speaking part of Europe research in the pediatric field has been dominated by research with a biomedical focus. Nursing research investigating and evaluating the treatment and care process in the pediatric field has been marginal and, in the last decades, provided little evidence to enhance the development of specific criteria for nursing sensitive outcomes in this patient population. This fact is all the more problematic as the linear transfer of evidence from nursing research in the adult care setting is not feasible, i.e. the pediatric population has unique needs which are different from those of adults. Given that 22% of the Swiss population are children and adolescents up to 19 years, there is an urgent need for developing interdisciplinary nursing research projects in order to promote research which is oriented towards a bio-psychosocial model. Such research will provide the evidence needed to enhance the general well-being of children and adolescents with acute and chronic diseases as well as the well-being of their parents. To date, there has been no nursing research agenda based on the literature and on expert opinion in the pediatric field in Switzerland. This report aims to bridge this gap: it presents suggestions for a nursing research agenda in the pediatric field for the time from 2007 to 2017. Three research priorities emerged from the development process of the present agenda: 1) Evaluation of the effectiveness of nursing interventions, 2) Conceptualization and evaluation of practical impacts of family systems on the treatment process of children, 3) Research-based development of new nursing care services in a changing health care system. This report was developed in the context of the national project, "Swiss Research Agenda for Nursing". The presented agenda can be used as a basis for discussions on the strategic direction and for the development of an action plan to promote nursing research in the pediatric field in Switzerland.

Smartphones and Other Mobile Devices: The Swiss Army Knives of the 21st Century

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Livingston, Alan

2004-01-01

MIAD stands for "mobile Internet access device." MIADs are the Swiss Army knives of the 21st century; they help users perform specific tasks in specific situations (including academic tasks in academic situations), thereby making users smarter and more productive. There are, however, significant obstacles to their effective use in higher…

Assessing the "Good Life" in a Military Context: How Does Life and Work-Satisfaction Relate to Orientations to Happiness and Career-Success among Swiss Professional Officers?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Proyer, Rene T.; Annen, Hubert; Eggimann, Nadine; Schneider, Andrea; Ruch, Willibald

2012-01-01

The study examines work- and life satisfaction along with orientation to happiness, and their relation to subjective but also objective career success, among Swiss military professional officers. They frequently report worsening of their working conditions due to two reforms that have recently been conducted. A total of N = 221 Swiss career…

Prevalence of acute mountain sickness in the Swiss Alps.

PubMed Central

Maggiorini, M; Bühler, B; Walter, M; Oelz, O

1990-01-01

OBJECTIVE--To assess the prevalence of symptoms and signs of acute mountain sickness of the Swiss Alps. DESIGN--A study using an interview and clinical examination in a representative population of mountaineers. Positive symptoms and signs were assigned scores to quantify the severity of acute mountain sickness. SETTING--Four huts in the Swiss Alps at 2850 m, 3050 m, 3650 m, and 4559 m. SUBJECTS--466 Climbers, mostly recreational: 47 at 2850 m, 128 at 3050 m, 82 at 3650, and 209 at 4559 m. RESULTS--In all, 117 of the subjects were entirely free of symptoms and clinical signs of acute mountain sickness; 191 had one or two symptoms and signs; and 158 had more than two. Those with more than two symptoms and signs were defined as suffering from acute mountain sickness. At 4559 m 11 climbers presented with high altitude pulmonary oedema or cerebral oedema, or both. Men and women were equally affected. The prevalence of acute mountain sickness correlated with altitude: it was 9% at 2850 m, 13% at 3050 m, 34% at 3650 m, and 53% at 4559 m. The most frequent symptoms and signs were insomnia, headache, peripheral oedema, and scanty pulmonary rales. Severe headache, vomiting, dizziness, tachypnoea, and pronounced pulmonary rales were associated with other symptoms and signs and therefore characteristic of acute mountain sickness. CONCLUSION--Acute mountain sickness is not an uncommon disease at moderately high altitude--that is, above 2800 m. Severe headache, vomiting, dizziness, tachypnoea, and pronounced pulmonary rales indicate severe acute mountain sickness, and subjects who suffer these should immediately descend to lower altitudes. PMID:2282425

Use of nanoparticles in Swiss Industry: a targeted survey.

PubMed

Schmid, Kaspar; Riediker, Michael

2008-04-01

A large number of applications using manufactured nanoparticles of less than 100 nm are currently being introduced into industrial processes. There is an urgent need to evaluate the risks of these novel particles to ensure their safe production, handling, use, and disposal. However, today we lack even rudimentary knowledge about type and quantity of industrially used manufactured nanoparticles and the level of exposure in Swiss industry. The goal of this study was to evaluate the use of nanoparticles, the currently implemented safety measures, and the number of potentially exposed workers in all types of industry. To evaluate this, a targeted telephone survey was conducted among health and safety representatives from 197 Swiss companies. The survey showed that nanoparticles are already used in many industrial sectors; not only in companies in the new field of nanotechnology, but also in more traditional sectors, such as paints. Forty-three companies declared to use or produce nanoparticles, and 11 imported and traded with prepackaged goods that contain nanoparticles. The following nanoparticles were found to be used in considerable quantities (> 1000 kg/year per company): Ag, Al-Ox, Fe-Ox, SiO2, TiO2, and ZnO. The median reported quantity of handled nanoparticles was 100 kg/year. The production of cosmetics, food, paints, powders, and the treatment of surfaces used the largest quantities of these nanoparticles. Generally, the safety measures were found to be higher in powder-based than in liquid-based applications. However, the respondents had many open questions about best practices, which points to the need for rapid development of guidelines and protection strategies.

Tree-ring analysis of the fungal disease Swiss needle cast in Western Oregon coastal forests

EPA Science Inventory

Swiss needle cast (SNC) is a foliage disease caused by the fungus Phaeocryptopus gaeumannii, which is specific to Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii). The goal of this study was to reconstruct the history of the disease and determine the climatic conditions that influence the di...

Introducing Mushroom Fruiting Patterns from the Swiss National Poisons Information Centre

PubMed Central

Schenk-Jäger, Katharina M.; Egli, Simon; Hanimann, David; Senn-Irlet, Beatrice; Kupferschmidt, Hugo; Büntgen, Ulf

2016-01-01

Changes in the ecology of macrofungi are poorly understood, not only because much of their life cycle is hidden belowground, but also because experiments often miss real-world complexity and most fruitbody inventories are limited in space and time. The National Poisons Information Centre ‘Tox Info Suisse’ provides countrywide 24hours/7days medical advice in case of poisonings since 1966. Here, we introduce a total of 12,126 mushroom-related phone calls that were received by Tox Info Suisse between 1966 and 2014. This indirect source of mycological information is dominated by the families of Boletaceae (11%), Agaricaceae (10%) and Amanitaceae (8%), which account for ~30% of all cases. Mushroom fruiting patterns revealed by the Poisons Centre inventory statistically resemble changes in fungal phenology, productivity and diversity as reflected by the Swiss National Data Centre ‘SwissFungi’. Although the newly developed Tox Info Suisse dataset provides an innovative basis for timely environmental research, caution is advised when interpreting some of the observed long-term changes and autumnal extremes. Uncertainty of the new record relates to possible data incompleteness, imprecise species description and/or identification, as well as the inclusion of cultivated and non-indigenous mushrooms. Nevertheless, we hope that the Tox Info Suisse inventory will stimulate and enable a variety of ecological-oriented follow-up studies. PMID:27648562

Introducing Mushroom Fruiting Patterns from the Swiss National Poisons Information Centre.

PubMed

Schenk-Jäger, Katharina M; Egli, Simon; Hanimann, David; Senn-Irlet, Beatrice; Kupferschmidt, Hugo; Büntgen, Ulf

2016-01-01

Changes in the ecology of macrofungi are poorly understood, not only because much of their life cycle is hidden belowground, but also because experiments often miss real-world complexity and most fruitbody inventories are limited in space and time. The National Poisons Information Centre 'Tox Info Suisse' provides countrywide 24hours/7days medical advice in case of poisonings since 1966. Here, we introduce a total of 12,126 mushroom-related phone calls that were received by Tox Info Suisse between 1966 and 2014. This indirect source of mycological information is dominated by the families of Boletaceae (11%), Agaricaceae (10%) and Amanitaceae (8%), which account for ~30% of all cases. Mushroom fruiting patterns revealed by the Poisons Centre inventory statistically resemble changes in fungal phenology, productivity and diversity as reflected by the Swiss National Data Centre 'SwissFungi'. Although the newly developed Tox Info Suisse dataset provides an innovative basis for timely environmental research, caution is advised when interpreting some of the observed long-term changes and autumnal extremes. Uncertainty of the new record relates to possible data incompleteness, imprecise species description and/or identification, as well as the inclusion of cultivated and non-indigenous mushrooms. Nevertheless, we hope that the Tox Info Suisse inventory will stimulate and enable a variety of ecological-oriented follow-up studies.

Looking at biological community level to improve ecotoxicological assessment of freshwater sediments: report on a first French-Swiss workshop.

PubMed

Pesce, Stéphane; Perceval, Olivier; Bonnineau, Chloé; Casado-Martinez, Carmen; Dabrin, Aymeric; Lyautey, Emilie; Naffrechoux, Emmanuel; Ferrari, Benoit J D

2018-01-01

The first French-Swiss workshop on ecotoxicology of freshwater sediment communities was co-organized by the French Research Institute of Science and Technology for Environment and Agriculture (Irstea) and the Swiss Centre for Applied Ecotoxicology (Ecotox Centre EAWAG-EPFL) in Villié-Morgon (Beaujolais Region, France) on April 27-28, 2017. The workshop brought together scientists working in different fields of expertise (ecotoxicologists, ecologists, environmental chemists…), environmental stakeholder groups and managers, as well as economic players (start-ups and consultancies) to better connect research needs of potential end-users with research outputs. The objectives of this workshop were (i) to establish the state of the art of research in the characterization of sediment contamination and in the evaluation of the effects on sediment-associated biological communities and ecosystem functioning and (ii) to give an overview of the French and Swiss regulations dealing with the assessment of contaminated sediments in freshwater ecosystems. The ultimate goal was to collectively identify research needs and knowledge gaps, as well as to highlight ways to improve the ecotoxicological assessment of sediments in freshwater environments by further considering the structure and functions of associated microbial and invertebrate communities.

Impact of the foliar pathogen Swiss needle cast on wood quality of Douglas-fir.

Treesearch

G.R. Johnson; Amy T. Grotta; Barbara L. Gartner; Geoff. Downes

2005-01-01

Many stands of Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii (Mirb.) Franco) near coastal areas of Oregon and Washington are heavily infected with the foliar pathogen causing Swiss needle cast (SNC) disease, and yet there is very little research on the resulting wood quality. Modulus of elasticity(MOE), modulus of rupture (MOR), microfibril angle (MFA), wood...

Swiss Children's Moral and Psychological Judgments about Inclusion and Exclusion of Children with Disabilities

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gasser, Luciano; Malti, Tina; Buholzer, Alois

2014-01-01

Children's judgments about inclusion and exclusion of children with disabilities were investigated in a Swiss sample of 6-, 9-, and 12-year-old children from inclusive and noninclusive classrooms (N = 422). Overall, the majority of children judged it as morally wrong to exclude children with disabilities. Yet, participants were less likely to…

Evaluation of the Hepato and Nephron-Protective Effect of a Polyherbal Mixture using Wistar Albino Rats

PubMed Central

Adebesin, Olumide Adedapo; Okpuzor, Joy

2014-01-01

Aim: A polyherbal formulation prepared from a mixture of leaves of Gongronema latifolia, Ocimum gratissimum and Vernonia amygdalina (GOV) was evaluated for hepato-nephro protective properties against acetaminophen-induced toxicity in Wistar albino rats. Materials and Methods: Normal Wistar albino rats were orally treated with different doses of GOV extract (2, 4 and 8 g/kg b. wt), distilled water and some standard hepatoprotective drugs such as Liv 52 and silymarin for 14 days. However, a day prior to the 14th day, 3 g/kg body weight dose of Acetaminophen (APAP) was administered p.o. 1h before GOV and the standard drugs to induce hepatic and renal damage. The normal control was setup which received only distilled water. The serum levels of liver marker enzymes, biochemical analytes, antioxidant enzymes and hematological parameters were monitored. Results: The results showed that pretreatment of experimental animals with a different doses of the polyherbal formulation dose dependently caused a significant (p≤0.05) increase in the levels of most of the measured hematological parameters but significantly (p≤0.05) reduced the levels of MCV and monocytes when compared to the APAP induced toxin control group. Rats pretreated with GOV exhibited significant (p < 0.05) increase in serum levels of ALP, ALT, AST, GGT, LDH, Cholesterol, Triglycerides, Urea and a subsequent decrease in Albumin, Creatine and Total protein when compared to the normal rats. This trend in enzyme and biochemical analytes levels were significantly (p < 0.05) reversed when compared to toxin control group. GOV significantly (p < 0.05) and dose dependently increased the serum, kidney and hepatic CAT, GPx, GSH, GST, SOD and total protein activity in APAP induced damage in rats compared to the toxin control groups. Conclusion: The data from this study suggest that the polyherbal formulation possess hepato and nephron-protective potential against acetaminophen induced hepatotoxicity in rats, thus

Prevalence of humeral head osteochondrosis in the Greater Swiss Mountain dog and the Border Collie in Switzerland.

PubMed

Ohlerth, S; Senn, S; Geissbühler, U; Kircher, P; Flückiger, M

2016-11-01

Osteochondrosis (OC) is common in large-breed dogs. According to the breeding guidelines of the Swiss kennel clubs, the shoulder joints are included in the radiographic screening for joint diseases in the Greater Swiss Mountain dog (GSMD) and the Border Collie (BC) since 1993 and 2003, respectively. The aim of this study was to estimate the overall prevalence of humeral head OC in these 2 breeds in Switzerland based on the data of the Swiss National Dysplasia Committees. All radiographs were re-evaluated to assess single radiographic changes. From 1993 and 2003, accordingly, until 2013, the overall prevalence was 14% for the GSMD and 8% for the BC, respectively. Affected joints showed a focally reduced opacity or a flattened/indented contour of the caudal section of the humeral head. Articular flaps were only seen occasionally. Degenerative joint disease was significantly more common in OC affected joints (GSMD: 32%; BC: 20%) than in joints without OC. The present study is the first report on the prevalence of humeral head OC in a large cohort of GSMD and the BC over a long study period. In comparison to other breeds, the herein reported prevalences are in the mid to upper range. Results of the present study should alert veterinarians to the disease in these breeds and may serve as a starting point for further epidemiological and genetic studies.

Sub-chronic indomethacin treatment and its effect on the male reproductive system of albino rats: possible protective role of black tea extract.

PubMed

Bagoji, Ishwar B; Hadimani, Gavishiddappa A; Yendigeri, Saeed M; Das, Kusal K

2017-05-01

Indomethacin is commonly used as a nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) to treat inflammation, arthritis and joint pains. Unfortunately, it has a wide range of adverse effects on the physiological system, including gonads. This study aimed to assess possible beneficial effects of black tea extract (BTE) against indomethacin-induced alteration of gonadal hormone levels in male rats. Adult male rats were divided into Group I (control), Group II (indomethacin, 5 mg/kg body weight [bwt.]; i.p., 21 days), Group III (BTE, 2.5 g tea leaf/dL of water, i.e. 2.5% of aqueous BTE, orally, 21 days) and Group IV (indomethacin+BTE, 21 days). Sperm count and motility, serum luteinising hormone (LH), follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) and testosterone, along with histopathology of testes were studied. One-way ANOVA, followed by post-hoc t-test were conducted. Indomethacin-treated rats showed significant decrease in testicular weight, sperm count, sperm motility, serum gonadotropins and testosterone concentrations. Histopathology of the testes showed tortuous and distorted seminiferous tubules, marked thickening of the tubular basement membrane, reduced spermatogenesis process (>30%) and marked decrease in the number of interstitial cells of Leydig in indomethacin-treated rats. Interestingly, rats supplemented with BTE showed remarkable improvements in testicular weight gain, sperm count and motility, serum gonadotropins and testosterone concentrations, along with testicular histopathology. The results suggest that BTE might have potential ameliorative effects against sub-chronic indomethacin-induced alteration of gonadal hormone levels in male albino rats.

Occurrence of Propionibacterium freudenreichii bacteriophages in swiss cheese.

PubMed Central

Gautier, M; Rouault, A; Sommer, P; Briandet, R

1995-01-01

We isolated bacteriophages active against Propionibacterium freudenreichii from 16 of 32 swiss cheese samples. Bacteriophage concentrations ranged from 14 to 7 x 10(5) PFU/g, depending on the sample and the sensitive strain used for detection. Only a few strains, 8 of the 44 strains of P. freudenreichii in our collection, were sensitive. We observed that multiplication of bacteriophages occurred in the cheese loaf during multiplication of propionibacteria in a warm curing room, but it seems that these bacteriophages have no adverse effect on the development of the propionic flora. We also found that sensitive cells, originating from either the starter or the cheese-making milk, were present at a high level (10(9) CFU/g) in the cheese. PMID:7618869

Tree-ring analysis of the fungal disease Swiss needle cast in the Western Oregon coast

EPA Science Inventory

Swiss needle cast (SNC) disease is specific to Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii) and is native to the Pacific Northwest. The SNC disease is caused by the fungus Phaeocryptopus gaeumannii and has been found to occur primarily in sites where mild winters and wet summers favor th...

Alteration in apoptotic rate of testicular cells and sperms following administration of Bisphenol A (BPA) in Wistar albino rats.

PubMed

Srivastava, Seema; Gupta, Priya

2018-05-21

The aim of the study was to evaluate the effect of Bisphenol A [BPA] widely used as a plasticizer in the formation of polycarbonate plastics and epoxy resins, exposure causing alteration in apoptosis rate, and protective effect of Vitamin E when supplemented with BPA orally. Adult male Wistar albino rats aged 3 months were randomly divided into seven groups: control (olive oil treated) BPA-treated (dose 5, 50,100 μg/100gmBW) and Vitamin E intervention group (dose 5, 50, 100 μg/100gmBW BPA+ Vitamin E dose 4 mg/100gmBW). Animals were sacrificed 3 months later, and blood and tissue samples were collected. Apoptotic changes were analyzed in epididymal spermatozoa and testis tissue by binding of annexin V apoptotic biomarker. A significant decline in the weight of testis, testosterone level, and sperm count was observed. Histopathological and apoptotic changes were observed in testis tissue. In epididymal sperms, the early apoptotic cells were observed by staining of annexin V-conjugated FITC and PI green fluorescence in spermatozoa head which indicated the damage of membrane and late apoptotic cells. These changes reduced significantly in Vitamin E-treated groups though were not found to be comparable to control animals. All these changes were attributed to disrupted spermatogenesis that would interfere with sperm formation. Thus, the study infers that BPA affects the apoptosis process in the testis and epididymal sperm that would interfere with its function and contribute to infertility, whereas Vitamin E-supplemented dose has a protective effect towards these changes, indicating its role in improving male fertility.

Risk perception by healthcare professionals related to drug use during pregnancy: a Swiss survey.

PubMed

Csajka, Chantal; Jaquet, Aurélie; Winterfeld, Ursula; Meyer, Yvonne; Einarson, Adrienne; Panchaud, Alice

2014-03-07

Healthcare professionals' (HCPs') perception of risk associated with drug use in pregnancy may have an impact on the pharmacological treatment of some women. The aim of this study was to examine this risk perception in a sample of Swiss HCPs with a special focus on their knowledge and use of available specialised information sources. An online, French and German, questionnaire was e-mailed to 7,136 members of four Swiss professional societies (gynaecologists, paediatricians, midwives and pharmacists). The questionnaire was designed (a) to collect demographic characteristics, (b) to evaluate the frequency of use of several specialised sources of information on drugs in pregnancy in their daily practice, and (c) to examine the perception of risk associated with drug use during pregnancy. A total of 1,310 questionnaires were collected (response rate of 18.4%). More than 80% of the respondent HCPs use the Swiss Drug Reference Book (Compendium) to assess the risk associated with drugs during pregnancy and are not aware of available specialised information sources (books, websites or information centres). Despite some disparities between HPCs, the risk related to drug intake was overall highly misperceived. Blinded reading of three product monographs in the Compendium was associated with an overestimated perception of risk (e.g., after reading the "paracetamol" monograph, 38% of the participants stated they would probably not advise the use of this drug to a pregnant patient). Overall, an overestimation of the risk associated with drug use during pregnancy has been observed in our sample of HCPs, which might be related to the underuse of specialised information source among other factors. These findings evidenced the need for increased training for HCPs in order to optimise medication use during pregnancy. Further studies are needed to confirm these results and identify causes.

The acute lethal dose 50 (LD50) of caffeine in albino rats.

PubMed

Adamson, Richard H

2016-10-01

An acute LD50 is a statistically derived amount of a substance that can be expected to cause death in 50% of the animals when given by a specified route as a single dose and the animals observed for a specified time period. Although conducting routine acute toxicity testing in rodents has been criticized, it can serve useful functions and also have practical implications. Material safety data sheets (MSDS) will reflect the acute toxicity of a substance and may require workers to wear protective gear, if appropriate, based on the LD50. There is no information in the scientific published literature which calculates a mean LD50 and standard deviation for caffeine administered orally to rats, using studies performed under good laboratory practice (GLP) or equivalent. This report does that and should be useful to manufacturers, packagers, transporters and regulators of this material. Using data from studies that are reproducible and reliable, the most accurate estimate of the acute LD50 of caffeine administered orally in male albino rats is hereby reported to be 367/mg/kg. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Chemoprotective and chemosensitizing properties of selenium nanoparticle (Nano-Se) during adjuvant therapy with cyclophosphamide in tumor-bearing mice.

PubMed

Bhattacharjee, Arin; Basu, Abhishek; Biswas, Jaydip; Sen, Tuhinadri; Bhattacharya, Sudin

2017-01-01

Cyclophosphamide (CP) is one of the widely used anticancer agents; however, it has serious deleterious effects on normal host cells due to its nonspecific action. The essential trace element Selenium (Se) is suggested to have chemopreventive and chemotherapeutic efficacy and currently used in pharmaceutical formulations. Previous report had shown Nano-Se could protect CP-induced hepatotoxicity and genotoxicity in normal Swiss albino mice; however, its role in cancer management is still not clear. The aim of present study is to investigate the chemoprotective efficacy of Nano-Se against CP-induced toxicity as well as its chemoenhancing capability when used along with CP in Swiss albino mice against Ehrlich's ascites carcinoma (EAC) cells. CP was administered (25 mg/kg b.w., i.p.) and Nano-Se was given (2 mg Se/kg b.w., p.o.) in concomitant and pretreatment schedule. Increase levels of serum hepatic marker, hepatic lipid peroxidation, DNA damage, and chromosomal aberration in CP-treated mice were significantly (P < 0.05) reversed by Nano-Se. The lowered status of various antioxidant enzymes in tumor-bearing mice after CP treatment was also effectively increased by Nano-Se. Administration of Nano-Se along with CP caused a significant reduction in tumor volume, packed cell volume, viable tumor cell count, and increased the survivability of the tumor-bearing hosts. The results suggest that Nano-Se exhibits significant antitumor and antioxidant effects in EAC-bearing mice. The potential for Nano-Se to ameliorate the CP-evoked toxicity as well as to improve the chemotherapeutic effect could have beneficial implications for patients undergoing chemotherapy with CP.

Implementation of the new international standards in Swiss legislation on radon protection in dwellings.

PubMed

Palacios Gruson, Martha; Barazza, Fabio; Murith, Christophe; Ryf, Salome

2015-04-01

The current revision of the Swiss Radiological Protection Ordinance aims to bring Swiss legislation in line with new international standards. In future, the control of radon exposure in dwellings will be based on a reference level of 300 Bq m(-3). Since this value is exceeded in >10 % of the buildings so far investigated nationwide, the new strategy requires the development of efficient measures to reduce radon-related health risks at an acceptable cost. The minimisation of radon concentrations in new buildings is therefore of great importance. This can be achieved, for example, through the enforcement of building regulations and the education of construction professionals. With regard to radon mitigation in existing buildings, synergies with the ongoing renewal of the building stock should be exploited. In addition, the dissemination of knowledge about radon and its risks needs to be focused on specific target groups, e.g. notaries, who play an important information role in real estate transactions. © The Author 2014. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.

[Nutrient content and adequacy of roughage for horse nutrition: an investigation under Swiss conditions].

PubMed

Nater, S; Wanner, M; Wichert, B

2007-03-01

For horses no special tables related to nutrients for Swiss roughage exist. For this reason samples of hay, straw, silage/haylage and green forage were taken from 46 horse keeping farms in 22 cantons. The samples were judged by sense and following the nutrient--and macromineral--content as well as the content of fructans were analysed. Regarding its quality no sample was totally inadequate for horses. The mean contents of crude protein in Swiss hay for horses were clearly lower than in hay for ruminants and in German hay for horses. The mineral contents (calcium, magnesium, phosphorus) showed a wide range. On average they were also lower than the values provided in tables for ruminants. Except for one sample the silages/haylages showed a dry matter content of more than 40 %. No nutrient tables for silage or haylage, which are such high in dry matter contents, were found in the literature. The contents offructans in silage/haylage and green forage also showed a wide range with a maximum of 94 g/kg DM fructan.

Unusual development of light-reflecting pigment cells in intact and regenerating tail in the periodic albino mutant of Xenopus laevis.

PubMed

Fukuzawa, Toshihiko

2010-10-01

Unusual light-reflecting pigment cells, "white pigment cells", specifically appear in the periodic albino mutant (a(p) /a(p)) of Xenopus laevis and localize in the same place where melanophores normally differentiate in the wild-type. The mechanism responsible for the development of unusual pigment cells is unclear. In this study, white pigment cells in the periodic albino were compared with melanophores in the wild-type, using a cell culture system and a tail-regenerating system. Observations of both intact and cultured cells demonstrate that white pigment cells are unique in (1) showing characteristics of melanophore precursors at various stages of development, (2) accumulating reflecting platelets characteristic of iridophores, and (3) exhibiting pigment dispersion in response to α-melanocyte stimulating hormone (α-MSH) in the same way that melanophores do. When a tadpole tail is amputated, a functionally competent new tail is regenerated. White pigment cells appear in the mutant regenerating tail, whereas melanophores differentiate in the wild-type regenerating tail. White pigment cells in the mutant regenerating tail are essentially similar to melanophores in the wild-type regenerating tail with respect to their localization, number, and response to α-MSH. In addition to white pigment cells, iridophores which are never present in the intact tadpole tail appear specifically in the somites near the amputation level in the mutant regenerating tail. Iridophores are distinct from white pigment cells in size, shape, blue light-induced fluorescence, and response to α-MSH. These findings strongly suggest that white pigment cells in the mutant arise from melanophore precursors and accumulate reflecting platelets characteristic of iridophores.

Unusual development of light-reflecting pigment cells in intact and regenerating tail in the periodic albino mutant of Xenopus laevis

PubMed Central

2010-01-01

Unusual light-reflecting pigment cells, “white pigment cells”, specifically appear in the periodic albino mutant (ap/ap) of Xenopus laevis and localize in the same place where melanophores normally differentiate in the wild-type. The mechanism responsible for the development of unusual pigment cells is unclear. In this study, white pigment cells in the periodic albino were compared with melanophores in the wild-type, using a cell culture system and a tail-regenerating system. Observations of both intact and cultured cells demonstrate that white pigment cells are unique in (1) showing characteristics of melanophore precursors at various stages of development, (2) accumulating reflecting platelets characteristic of iridophores, and (3) exhibiting pigment dispersion in response to α-melanocyte stimulating hormone (α-MSH) in the same way that melanophores do. When a tadpole tail is amputated, a functionally competent new tail is regenerated. White pigment cells appear in the mutant regenerating tail, whereas melanophores differentiate in the wild-type regenerating tail. White pigment cells in the mutant regenerating tail are essentially similar to melanophores in the wild-type regenerating tail with respect to their localization, number, and response to α-MSH. In addition to white pigment cells, iridophores which are never present in the intact tadpole tail appear specifically in the somites near the amputation level in the mutant regenerating tail. Iridophores are distinct from white pigment cells in size, shape, blue light-induced fluorescence, and response to α-MSH. These findings strongly suggest that white pigment cells in the mutant arise from melanophore precursors and accumulate reflecting platelets characteristic of iridophores. PMID:20859642

Swiss family physicians' perceptions and attitudes towards knowledge translation practices.

PubMed

Bengough, Theresa; Bovet, Emilie; Bécherraz, Camille; Schlegel, Susanne; Burnand, Bernard; Pidoux, Vincent

2015-12-11

Several studies have been performed to understand the way family physicians apply knowledge from medical research in practice. However, very little is known concerning family physicians in Switzerland. In an environment in which information constantly accumulates, it is crucial to identify the major sources of scientific information that are used by family physicians to keep their medical knowledge up to date and barriers to use these sources. Our main objective was to examine medical knowledge translation (KT) practices of Swiss family physicians. The population consisted of French- and German-speaking private practice physicians specialised in family medicine. We conducted four interviews and three focus groups (n = 25). The interview guides of the semi-structured interviews and focus groups focused on (a) ways and means used by physicians to keep updated with information relevant to clinical practice; (b) how they consider their role in translating knowledge into practice; (c) potential barriers to KT; (d) solutions proposed by physicians for effective KT. Family physicians find themselves rather ambivalent about the translation of knowledge based on scientific literature, but generally express much interest in KT. They often feel overwhelmed by "information floods" and perceive clinical practice guidelines and other supports to be of limited usefulness for their practice. They often combine various formal and informal information sources to keep their knowledge up to date. Swiss family physicians report considering themselves as artisans, caring for patients with complex needs. Improved performance of KT initiatives in family medicine should be tailored to actual needs and based on high quality evidence-based sources.

Development and validation of a food pyramid for Swiss athletes.

PubMed

Mettler, Samuel; Mannhart, Christof; Colombani, Paolo C

2009-10-01

Food-guide pyramids help translate nutrient goals into a visual representation of suggested food intake on a population level. No such guidance system has ever been specifically designed for athletes. Therefore, the authors developed a Food Pyramid for Swiss Athletes that illustrates the number of servings per food group needed in relation to the training volume of an athlete. As a first step, an average energy expenditure of 0.1 kcal . kg(-1) . min(-1) for exercise was defined, which then was translated into servings of different food groups per hour of exercise per day. Variable serving sizes were defined for athletes' different body-mass categories. The pyramid was validated by designing 168 daily meal plans according to the recommendations of the pyramid for male and female athletes of different body-mass categories and training volumes of up to 4 hr/d. The energy intake of the meal plans met the calculated reference energy requirement by 97% +/- 9%. The carbohydrate and protein intakes were linearly graded from 4.6 +/- 0.6-8.5 +/- 0.8 g . kg(-1) . d(-1) and 1.6 +/- 0.2-1.9 +/- 0.2 g . kg(-1) . d(-1), respectively, for training volumes of 1-4 hr of exercise per day. The average micronutrient intake depended particularly on the dietary energy intake level but was well above the dietary reference intake values for most micronutrients. No tolerable upper intake level was exceeded for any micronutrient. Therefore, this Food Pyramid for Swiss Athletes may be used as a new tool in sports nutrition education (e.g., teaching and counseling).

The Swiss "Willensnation" at Risk: Teachers in the Cultural Gap during the First World War

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Brühwiler, Ingrid

2015-01-01

As a neutral and multilingual country, Switzerland struggled with major domestic political conflicts during the First World War due to the two cultures of the French-speaking and German-speaking parts of the country. The divided cultural loyalties ("fossé moral", "Röstigraben"), consisting of Swiss-Germans supporting Germany…

Application of Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy for monitoring short-chain free fatty acids in Swiss cheese.

PubMed

Koca, N; Rodriguez-Saona, L E; Harper, W J; Alvarez, V B

2007-08-01

Short-chain free fatty acids (FFA) are important sources of cheese flavor and have been reported to be indicators for assessing quality. The objective of this research was to develop a simple and rapid screening tool for monitoring the short-chain FFA contents in Swiss cheese by using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). Forty-four Swiss cheese samples were evaluated by using a MIRacle three-reflection diamond attenuated total reflectance (ATR) accessory. Two different sampling techniques were used for FTIR/ATR measurement: direct measurement of Swiss cheese slices (approximately 0.5 g) and measurement of a water-soluble fraction of cheese. The amounts of FFA (propionic, acetic, and butyric acids) in the water-soluble fraction of samples were analyzed by gas chromatography-flame ion-ization detection as a reference method. Calibration models for both direct measurement and the water-soluble fraction of cheese were developed based on a cross-validated (leave-one-out approach) partial least squares regression by using the regions of 3,000 to 2,800, 1,775 to 1,680, and 1,500 to 900 cm(-1) for short-chain FFA in cheese. Promising performance statistics were obtained for the calibration models of both direct measurement and the water-soluble fraction, with improved performance statistics obtained from the water-soluble extract, particularly for propionic acid. Partial least squares models generated from FTIR/ATR spectra by direct measurement of cheeses gave standard errors of cross-validation of 9.7 mg/100 g of cheese for propionic acid, 9.3 mg/100 g of cheese for acetic acid, and 5.5 mg/100 g of cheese for butyric acid, and correlation coefficients >0.9. Standard error of cross-validation values for the water-soluble fraction were 4.4 mg/100 g of cheese for propionic acid, 9.2 mg/100 g of cheese for acetic acid, and 5.2 mg/100 g of cheese for butyric acid with correlation coefficients of 0.98, 0.95, and 0.92, respectively. Infrared spectroscopy and

Growth of young Douglas-fir plantations across a gradient in Swiss needle cast severity.

Treesearch

D.A. Maguire; A. Kanaskie; W. Voelker; R. Johnson; G. Johnson

2002-01-01

During the past decade, Swiss needle cast (SNC) damage has intensified in many Douglas-fir plantations in the Coast Range of Oregon, particularly along the immediate north coast. In plantations with severe symptoms, growth losses and reduced tree vigor are evident, but the magnitude of growth losses associated with varying intensities of damage is not known. A growth...

SLS-2 – the upgrade of the Swiss Light Source

PubMed Central

Streun, Andreas; Garvey, Terence; Rivkin, Lenny; Schlott, Volker; Schmidt, Thomas; Willmott, Philip; Wrulich, Albin

2018-01-01

An upgrade of the Swiss Light Source (SLS) is planned for 2021–2024 and includes the exchange of the existing storage ring by a new one providing about 40–50 times lower emittance in user operation mode. This will extend the performance of SLS in particular in the fields of coherent imaging, full-field tomography, soft X-ray angle-resolved photoelectron spectroscopy and resonant inelastic X-ray scattering. A science case and a conceptual design for the machine have been established. As a summary of these reports, the novel lattice design, undulator developments and scientific highlights are presented. PMID:29714174

Suicide tourism: a pilot study on the Swiss phenomenon.

PubMed

Gauthier, Saskia; Mausbach, Julian; Reisch, Thomas; Bartsch, Christine

2015-08-01

While assisted suicide (AS) is strictly restricted in many countries, it is not clearly regulated by law in Switzerland. This imbalance leads to an influx of people-'suicide tourists'-coming to Switzerland, mainly to the Canton of Zurich, for the sole purpose of committing suicide. Political debate regarding 'suicide tourism' is taking place in many countries. Swiss medicolegal experts are confronted with these cases almost daily, which prompted our scientific investigation of the phenomenon. The present study has three aims: (1) to determine selected details about AS in the study group (age, gender and country of residence of the suicide tourists, the organisation involved, the ingested substance leading to death and any diseases that were the main reason for AS); (2) to find out the countries from which suicide tourists come and to review existing laws in the top three in order to test the hypothesis that suicide tourism leads to the amendment of existing regulations in foreign countries; and (3) to compare our results with those of earlier studies in Zurich. We did a retrospective data analysis of the Zurich Institute of Legal Medicine database on AS of non-Swiss residents in the last 5 years (2008-2012), and internet research for current legislation and political debate in the three foreign countries most concerned. We analysed 611 cases from 31 countries all over the world. Non-terminal conditions such as neurological and rheumatic diseases are increasing among suicide tourists. The unique phenomenon of suicide tourism in Switzerland may indeed result in the amendment or supplementary guidelines to existing regulations in foreign countries. Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not already granted under a licence) please go to http://group.bmj.com/group/rights-licensing/permissions.

ANTI – TUMOUR EFFECT OF BERBERIS ASIATICA ROXB. EX. DC. ON DALTON'S LYMPHOMA ASCITE

PubMed Central

Kumar, E.P.; Elshurafa, Allam Ahmed; Elango, K.; Subburaju, T.; Suresh, B.

1998-01-01

Berberis asiatica Roxb. Ex. Dc., non Griff. Belongs to the family berberidaceae commonly occurring in the dry outer Himalaya, Assam etc. Roots along with stem bark s a reputed drug in Ayurvedic medicine contain several alkaloids. 50% Ethaolnic extract of roots reported to posses anti-cancer activity. The present study examines the antitumour effect of ethanolic root extract (BRE) against Dalton's lymphoma ascites tumour cells and solid tumour in swiss albino mice, A significant enhancement of mean survival time of BRE treated tumour bearing mice was found. Oral administration of BRE reduced the solid tumour induced by DLE and restored the altered haematological parameters to normal. PMID:22556858

Economic evaluation of the eradication program for bovine viral diarrhea in the Swiss dairy sector.

PubMed

Thomann, B; Tschopp, A; Magouras, I; Meylan, M; Schüpbach-Regula, G; Häsler, B

2017-09-15

Since 2008, the Swiss veterinary service has been running a mandatory eradication program for Bovine Viral Diarrhea (BVD) that is focused on detecting and eliminating persistently infected (PI) animals. Detection was initially based on antigen testing from ear tag samples of the entire cattle population, followed by antigen testing of all newborn calves until 2012. Since then, bulk milk serology (dairy herds) and blood sample serology (beef herds) have been used for the surveillance of disease-free herds. From 2008 to 2012, the proportion of newborn PI calves decreased from 1.4% to less than 0.02%. However, this success was associated with substantial expenditures. The aim of this study was to conduct an economic evaluation of the BVD eradication program in the Swiss dairy sector. The situation before the start of the program (herd-level prevalence: 20%) served as a baseline scenario. Production models for three dairy farm types were used to estimate gross margins as well as net production losses and expenditures caused by BVD. The total economic benefit was estimated as the difference in disease costs between the baseline scenario and the implemented eradication program and was compared to the total eradication costs in a benefit-cost analysis. Data on the impact of BVD virus (BVDV) infection on animal health, fertility and production parameters were obtained empirically in a retrospective epidemiological case-control study in Swiss dairy herds and complemented by literature. Economic and additional production parameters were based on benchmarking data and published agricultural statistics. The eradication costs comprised the cumulative expenses for sampling and diagnostics. The economic model consisted of a stochastic simulation in @Risk for Excel with 20,000 iterations and was conducted for a time period of 14 years (2008-2021). The estimated annual financial losses in BVDV infected herds were CHF 85-89 per dairy cow and CHF 1337-2535 for an average farm

Cost-effectiveness of oral alitretinoin in patients with severe chronic hand eczema - a long-term analysis from a Swiss perspective

PubMed Central

2010-01-01

Background The impact on patients suffering from chronic hand eczema (CHE) is enormous, as no licensed systemic treatment option with proven efficacy for CHE is available. Alitretinoin is a novel agent which showed high clinical efficacy in patients with severe, refractory CHE. We assessed the cost-effectiveness of alitretinoin for CHE patient treatment from a Swiss third party payer perspective. A further objective of this study was to determine the burden of disease in Switzerland. Methods A long-term Markov cohort simulation model was used to estimate direct medical costs (€) and clinical effectiveness (quality adjusted life years, QALYs) of treating severe CHE patients with alitretinoin. Comparison was against the standard treatment of supportive care (optimised emollient therapy). Information on response rates were derived from a randomized controlled clinical trial. Costs were considered from the perspective of the Swiss health system. Swiss epidemiological data was derived from official Swiss Statistic institutions. Results Annual costs of alitretinoin treatment accounted for €2'212. After a time horizon of 22.4 years, average remaining long-term costs accounted for €42'208 or €38'795 in the alitretinoin and the standard treatment arm, respectively. Compared with the standard therapy, the addition of alitretinoin yielded an average gain of 0.230 QALYs at the end of the simulation. Accordingly, the incremental cost-effectiveness ratio resulted in €14'816/QALY gained. These results were robust to changes in key model assumptions. Conclusion The therapy for CHE patients is currently insufficient. In our long-term model we identified the treatment with alitretinoin as a cost-effective alternative for the therapy of CHE patients in Switzerland. PMID:20579358

Robotic Gastric Bypass Surgery in the Swiss Health Care System: Analysis of Hospital Costs and Reimbursement.

PubMed

Hagen, Monika E; Rohner, Peter; Jung, Minoa K; Amirghasemi, Nicolas; Buchs, Nicolas C; Fakhro, Jassim; Buehler, Leo; Morel, Philippe

2017-08-01

Robotic technology shows some promising early outcomes indicating potentially improved outcomes particularly for challenging bariatric procedures. Still, health care providers face significant clinical and economic challenges when introducing innovations. Prospectively derived administrative cost data of patients who were coded with a primary diagnosis of obesity (ICD-10 code E.66.X), a procedure of gastric bypass surgery (CHOP code 44.3), and a robotic identifier (CHOP codes 00.90.50 or 00.39) during the years 2012 to 2015 was analyzed and compared to the triggered reimbursement for this patient cohort. A total of 348 patients were identified. The mean number of diagnoses was 2.7 and the mean length of stay was 5.9 days. The overall mean cost per patients was Swiss Francs (CHF) from 2012 to 2014 that was 21,527, with a mean reimbursement of CHF 24,917. Cost of the surgery in 2015 was comparable to the previous years with CHF 22,550.0 (p = 0.6618), but reimbursement decreased significantly to CHF 20,499.0 (0.0001). The average cost for robotic gastric bypass surgery fell well below the average reimbursement within the Swiss DRG system between 2012 and 2014, and this robotic procedure was a DRG winner for that period. However, the Swiss DRG system has matured over the years with a significant decrease resulting in a deficit for robotic gastric bypass surgery in 2015. This stipulates a discussion as to how health care providers should continue offering robotic gastric bypass surgery, particularly in the light of developing clinical evidence.

Comprehensive model-based prediction of micropollutants from diffuse sources in the Swiss river network

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Strahm, Ivo; Munz, Nicole; Braun, Christian; Gälli, René; Leu, Christian; Stamm, Christian

2014-05-01

Water quality in the Swiss river network is affected by many micropollutants from a variety of diffuse sources. This study compares, for the first time, in a comprehensive manner the diffuse sources and the substance groups that contribute the most to water contamination in Swiss streams and highlights the major regions for water pollution. For this a simple but comprehensive model was developed to estimate emission from diffuse sources for the entire Swiss river network of 65 000 km. Based on emission factors the model calculates catchment specific losses to streams for more than 15 diffuse sources (such as crop lands, grassland, vineyards, fruit orchards, roads, railways, facades, roofs, green space in urban areas, landfills, etc.) and more than 130 different substances from 5 different substance groups (pesticides, biocides, heavy metals, human drugs, animal drugs). For more than 180 000 stream sections estimates of mean annual pollutant loads and mean annual concentration levels were modeled. This data was validated with a set of monitoring data and evaluated based on annual average environmental quality standards (AA-EQS). Model validation showed that the estimated mean annual concentration levels are within the range of measured data. Therefore simulations were considered as adequately robust for identifying the major sources of diffuse pollution. The analysis depicted that in Switzerland widespread pollution of streams can be expected. Along more than 18 000 km of the river network one or more simulated substances has a concentration exceeding the AA-EQS. In single stream sections it could be more than 50 different substances. Moreover, the simulations showed that in two-thirds of small streams (Strahler order 1 and 2) at least one AA-EQS is always exceeded. The highest number of substances exceeding the AA-EQS are in areas with large fractions of arable cropping, vineyards and fruit orchards. Urban areas are also of concern even without considering

Effect of Excess Iodide Intake on Salivary Glands in a Swiss Albino Mice Model

PubMed Central

Ross, Gloria Romina; Fabersani, Emanuel; Russo, Matías; Gómez, Alba; Japaze, Hugo; González, Silvia Nelina

2017-01-01

Iodine is an important micronutrient required for nutrition. Excess iodine has adverse effects on thyroid, but there is not enough information regarding its effect on salivary glands. In addition to food and iodized salt, skin disinfectants and maternal nutritional supplements contain iodide, so its intake could be excessive during pregnancy, lactation, and infancy. The aim of this work was to evaluate the effect of excess iodide ingestion on salivary glands during mating, gestation, lactation, and postweaning period in mouse. During assay, mice were allocated into groups: control and treatment groups (received distilled water with NaI 1 mg/mL). Water intake, glandular weight, and histology were analyzed. Treatment groups showed an increase in glandular weight and a significantly (p < 0.05) higher water intake than control groups. Lymphocyte infiltration was observed in animals of treatment groups, while there was no infiltration in glandular sections of control groups. Results demonstrated that a negative relationship could exist between iodide excess and salivary glands. This work is novel evidence that high levels of iodide intake could induce mononuclear infiltration in salivary glands. These results should be considered, especially in pregnant/lactating women, to whom a higher iodine intake is usually recommended. PMID:29250546

Boric acid enhances in vivo Ehrlich ascites carcinoma cell proliferation in Swiss albino mice.

PubMed

Qureshi, S; Al-Shabanah, O A; Al-Harbi, M M; Al-Bekairi, A M; Raza, M

2001-08-13

The influence of boric acid, a boron carrier, on Ehrlich ascites carcinoma (EAC) cell-bearing mice was investigated in view of its importance in the boron neutron capture therapy and the influence of boron on proliferation and progression of cancer cells mediated by proteoglycans and collagen. The present study included the evaluation of boric acid for the effects on total count and viability of EAC cells in addition to their non-protein sulfhydryls (NP-SH) and malondialdehyde (MDA) contents as parameters for conjugative detoxication potency and possible oxidative damage. The EAC cell-bearing animals were also observed for the effect on survival, body weight changes, and histopathological evaluation of the tumors grown at the site of inoculation. The treatment with boric acid significantly increased the total number of peritoneal EAC cells and their viability. A significant increase in the body weight was observed that dose-dependently reached plateau levels by 20 days of treatment. Conversely, a reduction in the duration of survival of these animals was evident with the same protocol. Boric acid treatment resulted in a decrease in NP-SH contents with a concomitant increase in MDA levels in EAC cells as revealed by the results of the biochemical analysis. These data are supported by our results on histopathological investigations, which apparently showed fast growth, in addition to several mitotic figures and mixed inflammatory reaction, after treatment with boric acid. It seems likely that a particular combination of properties of boric acid, rather than a single characteristic alone, will provide useful information on the use of this boron carrier in neutron capture therapy.

Bulky Trichomonad Genomes: Encoding a Swiss Army Knife.

PubMed

Barratt, Joel; Gough, Rory; Stark, Damien; Ellis, John

2016-10-01

The trichomonads are a remarkably successful lineage of ancient, predominantly parasitic protozoa. Recent molecular analyses have revealed extensive duplication of certain genetic loci in trichomonads. Consequently, their genomes are exceptionally large compared to other parasitic protozoa. Retention of these large gene expansions across different trichomonad families raises the question: do these duplications afford an advantage? Many duplicated genes are linked to the parasitic lifestyle and some are regulated differently to their paralogues, suggesting they have acquired new functions. It is proposed that these large genomes encode a Swiss army knife of sorts, packed with a multitude of tools for use in many different circumstances. This may have bestowed trichomonads with the extraordinary versatility that has undoubtedly contributed to their success. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Predicted cycloartenol synthase protein from Kandelia obovata and Rhizophora stylosa using online software of Phyre2 and Swiss-model

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Basyuni, M.; Sulistiyono, N.; Wati, R.; Sumardi; Oku, H.; Baba, S.; Sagami, H.

2018-03-01

Cloning of Kandelia obovata KcCAS gene (previously known as Kandelia candel) and Rhizophora stylosa RsCAS have already have been reported and encoded cycloartenol synthases. In this study, the predicted KcCAS and RsCAS protein were analyzed using online software of Phyre2 and Swiss-model. The protein modelling for KcCAS and RsCAS cycloartenol synthases was determined using Pyre2 had similar results with slightly different in sequence identity. By contrast, the Swiss-model for KcCAS slightly had higher sequence identity (47.31%) and Qmean (0.70) compared to RsCAS. No difference of ligands binding site which is considered as modulators for both cycloartenol synthases. The range of predicted protein derived from 91-757 amino acid residues with coverage sequence similarities 0.86, respectively from template model of lanosterol synthase from the human. Homology modelling revealed that 706 residues (93% of the amino acid sequence) had been modelled with 100.0% confidence by the single highest scoring template for both KcCAS and RsCAS using Phyre2. This coverage was more elevated than swiss-model predicted (86%). The present study suggested that both genes are responsible for the genesis of cycloartenol in these mangrove plants.

[Intestinal microecology of the adult population of Mongolia, Switzerland, and Russia].

PubMed

Korshunov, V M; Potashnik, L V; Efimov, B A; Korshunova, O V; Smeianov, V V; Gyr, K; Frei, R; Ierendorzh, D

2001-01-01

The study of intestinal microflora was made in clinically healthy young adults living in rural areas of Mongolia, in Russia (Moscow) and in Switzerland, as well as in Swiss citizens of elderly age groups (55-68 and 87-94 years). Essential differences in the quantitative and qualitative characteristics of intestinal microflora both in the inhabitants of different countries as well as in people belonging to different age groups in the same country were established. The results of the study demonstrated the expediency of working out the criteria of the norm for intestinal microflora both for the population of different countries and for people living in the same country, but belonging to different age groups.

Delayed Induction of Human NTE (PNPLA6) Rescues Neurodegeneration and Mobility Defects of Drosophila swiss cheese (sws) Mutants.

PubMed

Sujkowski, Alyson; Rainier, Shirley; Fink, John K; Wessells, Robert J

2015-01-01

Human PNPLA6 gene encodes Neuropathy Target Esterase protein (NTE). PNPLA6 gene mutations cause hereditary spastic paraplegia (SPG39 HSP), Gordon-Holmes syndrome, Boucher-Neuhäuser syndromes, Laurence-Moon syndrome, and Oliver-McFarlane syndrome. Mutations in the Drosophila NTE homolog swiss cheese (sws) cause early-onset, progressive behavioral defects and neurodegeneration characterized by vacuole formation. We investigated sws5 flies and show for the first time that this allele causes progressive vacuolar formation in the brain and progressive deterioration of negative geotaxis speed and endurance. We demonstrate that inducible, neuron-specific expression of full-length human wildtype NTE reduces vacuole formation and substantially rescues mobility. Indeed, neuron-specific expression of wildtype human NTE is capable of rescuing mobility defects after 10 days of adult life at 29°C, when significant degeneration has already occurred, and significantly extends longevity of mutants at 25°C. These results raise the exciting possibility that late induction of NTE function may reduce or ameliorate neurodegeneration in humans even after symptoms begin. In addition, these results highlight the utility of negative geotaxis endurance as a new assay for longitudinal tracking of degenerative phenotypes in Drosophila.

Short-term hydro generation and interchange contract scheduling for Swiss Rail

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Christoforidis, M.; Awobamise, B.; Tong, S.

This paper describes the Short-Term Resource Scheduling (STRS) function that has been developed by Siemens-Empros as part of the new SBB/Direktion Kraftwerk (Swiss Rail) Energy Management System. Optimal scheduling of the single-phase hydro plants, single-phase and three-phase energy accounts, and purchase and sale of three phase energy subject to a multitude of physical and contractual constraints (including spinning and regulating reserve requirements), is the main objective of the STRS function. The operations planning horizon of STRS is one day to one week using an hourly time increment.

Dietary Patterns Are Associated with Cardiovascular and Cancer Mortality among Swiss Adults in a Census-Linked Cohort

PubMed Central

Cabaset, Sophie; Pestoni, Giulia; Rohrmann, Sabine; Faeh, David

2018-01-01

Defining dietary guidelines requires a quantitative assessment of the influence of diet on the development of diseases. The aim of the study was to investigate how dietary patterns were associated with mortality in a general population sample of Switzerland. We included 15,936 participants from two population-based studies (National Research Program 1A (NRP1A) and Monitoring of Trends and Determinants in Cardiovascular Disease (MONICA)—1977 to 1993) who fully answered a simplified 24-h dietary recall. Mortality data were available through anonymous record linkage with the Swiss National Cohort (follow-up of up to 37.9 years). Multiple correspondence analysis and hierarchical clustering were used to define data-driven qualitative dietary patterns. Mortality hazard ratios were calculated for all-cause, cancer and cardiovascular mortality using Cox regression. Two patterns were characterized by a low dietary variety (“Sausage and Vegetables”, “Meat and Salad”), two by a higher variety (“Traditional”, “High-fiber foods”) and one by a high fish intake (“Fish”). Males with unhealthy lifestyle (smokers, low physical activity and high alcohol intake) were overrepresented in the low-variety patterns and underrepresented in the high-variety and “Fish” patterns. In multivariable-adjusted models, the “Fish” (hazard ratio = 0.82, 95% CI (0.68–0.99)) and “High-fiber foods” (0.85 (0.72–1.00)) patterns were associated with lower cancer mortality. In men, the “Fish” (0.73 (0.55–0.97)) and “Traditional” (0.76 (0.59–0.98)) patterns were associated with lower cardiovascular mortality. In summary, our results support the notion that dietary patterns affect mortality and that these patterns strongly cluster with other health determinants. PMID:29518908

Chronic alcoholism-mediated metabolic disorders in albino rat testes.

PubMed

Shayakhmetova, Ganna M; Bondarenko, Larysa B; Matvienko, Anatoliy V; Kovalenko, Valentina M

2014-09-01

There is good evidence for impairment of spermatogenesis and reductions in sperm counts and testosterone levels in chronic alcoholics. The mechanisms for these effects have not yet been studied in detail. The consequences of chronic alcohol consumption on the structure and/or metabolism of testis cell macromolecules require to be intensively investigated. The present work reports the effects of chronic alcoholism on contents of free amino acids, levels of cytochrome P450 3A2 (CYP3A2) mRNA expression and DNA fragmentation, as well as on contents of different cholesterol fractions and protein thiol groups in rat testes. Wistar albino male rats were divided into two groups: I - control (intact animals), II - chronic alcoholism (15% ethanol self-administration during 150 days). Following 150 days of alcohol consumption, testicular free amino acid content was found to be significantly changed as compared with control. The most profound changes were registered for contents of lysine (-53%) and methionine (+133%). The intensity of DNA fragmentation in alcohol-treated rat testes was considerably increased, on the contrary CYP3A2 mRNA expression in testis cells was inhibited, testicular contents of total and etherified cholesterol increased by 25% and 45% respectively, and protein SH-groups decreased by 13%. Multidirectional changes of the activities of testicular dehydrogenases were detected. We thus obtained complex assessment of chronic alcoholism effects in male gonads, affecting especially amino acid, protein, ATP and NADPH metabolism. Our results demonstrated profound changes in testes on the level of proteome and genome. We suggest that the revealed metabolic disorders can have negative implication on cellular regulation of spermatogenesis under long-term ethanol exposure.

Care workers health in Swiss nursing homes and its association with psychosocial work environment: A cross-sectional study.

PubMed

Dhaini, Suzanne R; Zúñiga, Franziska; Ausserhofer, Dietmar; Simon, Michael; Kunz, Regina; De Geest, Sabina; Schwendimann, Rene

2016-01-01

Previous studies have demonstrated poor health of care workers in nursing homes. Yet, little is known about the prevalence of physical and mental health outcomes, and their associations with the psychosocial work environment in nursing homes. (1) To explore the prevalence of physical and mental health outcomes of care workers in Swiss nursing homes, (2) their association with psychosocial work environment. This is a secondary data analysis of the cross-sectional Swiss Nursing Home Human Resources Project (SHURP). We used survey data on socio-demographic characteristics and work environment factors from care workers (N=3471) working in Swiss nursing homes (N=155), collected between May 2012 and April 2013. GEE logistic regression models were used to estimate the relationship between psychosocial work environment and physical and mental health outcomes, taking into account care workers' age. Back pain (19.0%) and emotional exhaustion (24.2%) were the most frequent self-reported physical and mental health. Back pain was associated with increased workload (odds ratios (OR) 1.52, confidence interval (CI) 1.29-1.79), conflict with other health professionals and lack of recognition (OR 1.72, CI 1.40-2.11), and frequent verbal aggression by residents (OR 1.36, CI 1.06-1.74), and inversely associated with staffing adequacy (OR 0.69, CI 0.56-0.84); emotional exhaustion was associated with increased workload (OR 1.96, CI 1.65-2.34), lack of job preparation (OR 1.41, CI 1.14-1.73), and conflict with other health professionals and lack of recognition (OR 1.68, CI 1.37-2.06), and inversely associated with leadership (OR 0.70, CI 0.56-0.87). Physical and mental health among care workers in Swiss nursing homes is of concern. Modifying psychosocial work environment factors offer promising strategies to improve health. Longitudinal studies are needed to conduct targeted assessments of care workers health status, taking into account their age, along with the exposure to all four

To Dope or Not to Dope: Neuroenhancement with Prescription Drugs and Drugs of Abuse among Swiss University Students

PubMed Central

Maier, Larissa J.; Liechti, Matthias E.; Herzig, Fiona; Schaub, Michael P.

2013-01-01

Background Neuroenhancement is the use of substances by healthy subjects to enhance mood or cognitive function. The prevalence of neuroenhancement among Swiss university students is unknown. Investigating the prevalence of neuroenhancement among students is important to monitor problematic use and evaluate the necessity of prevention programs. Study aim To describe the prevalence of the use of prescription medications and drugs of abuse for neuroenhancement among Swiss university students. Method In this cross-sectional study, students at the University of Zurich, University of Basel, and Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich were invited via e-mail to participate in an online survey. Results A total of 28,118 students were contacted, and 6,275 students completed the survey. Across all of the institutions, 13.8% of the respondents indicated that they had used prescription drugs (7.6%) or drugs of abuse including alcohol (7.8%) at least once specifically for neuroenhancement. The most frequently used prescription drugs for neuroenhancement were methylphenidate (4.1%), sedatives (2.7%), and beta-blockers (1.2%). Alcohol was used for this purpose by 5.6% of the participants, followed by cannabis (2.5%), amphetamines (0.4%), and cocaine (0.2%). Arguments for neuroenhancement included increased learning (66.2%), relaxation or sleep improvement (51.2%), reduced nervousness (39.1%), coping with performance pressure (34.9%), increased performance (32.2%), and experimentation (20%). Neuroenhancement was significantly more prevalent among more senior students, students who reported higher levels of stress, and students who had previously used illicit drugs. Although “soft enhancers”, including coffee, energy drinks, vitamins, and tonics, were used daily in the month prior to an exam, prescription drugs or drugs of abuse were used much less frequently. Conclusions A significant proportion of Swiss university students across most academic disciplines reported

To dope or not to dope: neuroenhancement with prescription drugs and drugs of abuse among Swiss university students.

PubMed

Maier, Larissa J; Liechti, Matthias E; Herzig, Fiona; Schaub, Michael P

2013-01-01

Neuroenhancement is the use of substances by healthy subjects to enhance mood or cognitive function. The prevalence of neuroenhancement among Swiss university students is unknown. Investigating the prevalence of neuroenhancement among students is important to monitor problematic use and evaluate the necessity of prevention programs. To describe the prevalence of the use of prescription medications and drugs of abuse for neuroenhancement among Swiss university students. In this cross-sectional study, students at the University of Zurich, University of Basel, and Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich were invited via e-mail to participate in an online survey. A total of 28,118 students were contacted, and 6,275 students completed the survey. Across all of the institutions, 13.8% of the respondents indicated that they had used prescription drugs (7.6%) or drugs of abuse including alcohol (7.8%) at least once specifically for neuroenhancement. The most frequently used prescription drugs for neuroenhancement were methylphenidate (4.1%), sedatives (2.7%), and beta-blockers (1.2%). Alcohol was used for this purpose by 5.6% of the participants, followed by cannabis (2.5%), amphetamines (0.4%), and cocaine (0.2%). Arguments for neuroenhancement included increased learning (66.2%), relaxation or sleep improvement (51.2%), reduced nervousness (39.1%), coping with performance pressure (34.9%), increased performance (32.2%), and experimentation (20%). Neuroenhancement was significantly more prevalent among more senior students, students who reported higher levels of stress, and students who had previously used illicit drugs. Although "soft enhancers", including coffee, energy drinks, vitamins, and tonics, were used daily in the month prior to an exam, prescription drugs or drugs of abuse were used much less frequently. A significant proportion of Swiss university students across most academic disciplines reported neuroenhancement with prescription drugs and drugs of

Anticataleptic and antiepileptic activity of ethanolic extract of leaves of Mucuna pruriens: A study on role of dopaminergic system in epilepsy in albino rats.

PubMed

Champatisingh, D; Sahu, P K; Pal, A; Nanda, G S

2011-04-01

To assess the anticataleptic and antiepileptic activity of leaves of Mucuna pruriens in albino rats. Haloperidol-induced catalepsy (HIC), maximum electro-shock (MES) method, pilocarpine-induced Status epilepticus (PISE) and single-dose effect of M. pruriens were employed. M. pruriens (100 mg/kg) had significant anticataleptic and antiepileptic activity in HIC, MES, and PISE. M. pruriens extract has the potential to be an anticataleptic and antiepileptic drug. Dopamine and 5-HT may have a role in such activity.

Mutagenicity of the Musa paradisiaca (Musaceae) fruit peel extract in mouse peripheral blood cells in vivo.

PubMed

Andrade, C U B; Perazzo, F F; Maistro, E L

2008-01-01

Plants are a source of many biologically active products and nowadays they are of great interest to the pharmaceutical industry. In the present study, the mutagenic potential of the Musa paradisiaca fruit peel extract was assessed by the single-cell gel electrophoresis (SCGE) and micronucleus assays. Animals were treated orally with three different concentrations of the extract (1000, 1500, and 2000 mg/kg body weight). Peripheral blood cells of Swiss mice were collected 24 h after treatment for the SCGE assay and 48 and 72 h for the micronucleus test. The results showed that the two higher doses of the extract of M. paradisiaca induced statistically significant increases in the average numbers of DNA damage in peripheral blood leukocytes for the two higher doses and a significant increase in the mean of micronucleated polychromatic erythrocytes in the three doses tested. The polychromatic/normochromatic erythrocyte ratio scored in the treated groups was not statistically different from the negative control. The data obtained indicate that fruit peel extract from M. paradisiaca showed mutagenic effect in the peripheral blood cells of Swiss albino mice.

Swiss-German Music Books in the Mason-McConathy Collection: Accounts from Europe to the United States.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Howe, Sondra Wieland

2000-01-01

Provides an examination of the Swiss-German music books in the Luther Whiting Mason-Osbourne McConathy Collection. Based on research undertaken to learn about music education in nineteenth century Switzerland and its influence on U.S. music education. (CMK)

The ``Swiss cheese'' instability of bacterial biofilms

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jang, Hongchul; Rusconi, Roberto; Stocker, Roman

2012-11-01

Bacteria often adhere to surfaces, where they develop polymer-encased communities (biofilms) that display dramatic resistance to antibiotic treatment. A better understanding of cell detachment from biofilms may lead to novel strategies for biofilm disruption. Here we describe a new detachment mode, whereby a biofilm develops a nearly regular array of ~50-100 μm holes. Using surface-treated microfluidic devices, we create biofilms of controlled shape and size. After the passage of an air plug, the break-up of the residual thin liquid film scrapes and rearranges bacteria on the surface, such that a ``Swiss cheese'' pattern is left in the residual biofilm. Fluorescent staining of the polymeric matrix (EPS) reveals that resistance to cell dislodgement correlates with local biofilm age, early settlers having had more time to hunker down. Because few survivors suffice to regrow a biofilm, these results point at the importance of considering microscale heterogeneity in assessing the effectiveness of biofilm removal strategies.

Moduli thermalization and finite temperature effects in "big" divisor large volume D3/ D7 Swiss-cheese compactification

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shukla, Pramod

2011-01-01

In the context of Type IIB compactified on a large volume Swiss-Cheese orientifold in the presence of a mobile space-time filling D3-brane and stacks of fluxed D7-branes wrapping the "big" divisor Σ B of a Swiss-Cheese Calabi Yau in WCP 4[1, 1, 1, 6, 9], we explore various implications of moduli dynamics and discuss their couplings and decay into MSSM (-like) matter fields early in the history of universe to reach thermal equilibrium. Like finite temperature effects in O'KKLT, we observe that the local minimum of zero-temperature effective scalar potential is stable against any finite temperature corrections (up to two-loops) in large volume scenarios as well. Also we find that moduli are heavy enough to avoid any cosmological moduli problem.

IgE-mediated food allergies in Swiss infants and children.

PubMed

Ferrari, Giovanni Gaspare; Eng, Peter Andreas

2011-10-12

To determine the most frequent food allergens causing immediate hypersensitivity reactions in Swiss children of different age groups and to investigate the clinical manifestation of IgE-mediated food allergies in young patients. The study was a prospective analysis of children referred for assessment of immediate type I food hypersensitivity reactions. The diagnostic strategy included a careful history, skin prick tests with commercial extracts and native foods, in vitro determination of specific IgE to food proteins and food challenges when appropriate. A total of 278 food allergies were identified in 151 children with a median age of 1.9 years at diagnosis. Overall, the most frequent food allergens were hen's egg (23.7%), cow's milk (20.1%), peanut (14.0%), hazelnut (10.4%), wheat (6.1%), fish (4.3%), kiwi and soy (2.2% each). In infancy, cow's milk, hen's egg and wheat were the most common allergens. In the second and third year of life however, the top three food allergens were hen's egg, cow's milk and peanut, whereas above the age of 3 years, peanut was number one, followed by hen's egg and fish. Overall, urticaria (59.0%) and angioedema (30.2%) were the most frequent clinical manifestations. Gastrointestinal symptoms were found in 25.9% and respiratory involvement in 25.2%. There were 13 cases (4.7%) of anaphylaxis to peanut, fish, cow's milk, hen's egg, wheat and shrimps. A total of eight allergens account for 83% of IgE-mediated food allergies in Swiss infants and children, with differences in the distribution and order of the most frequently involved food allergens between paediatric age groups.

Patulin in apple juice and its risk assessments on albino mice.

PubMed

Al-Hazmi, Mansour A

2014-07-01

The contamination of apple juice with patulin mycotoxin is a major risk factor in food safety. This study focuses to assess the biochemical and histopathological effects of patulin in apple juice samples collected from different outlets retailing in Jeddah, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. On the basis of the selected dose level, 152.5 ppb patulin/ml was administered daily orally for up to 6 weeks to male albino mice. The exposure to contaminated samples revealed significant elevation of all the studied blood parameters (alanine aminotransferase, aspartate aminotransferase and alkaline phosphatase activities as well as creatinine, urea and uric acid contents). On the other hand, and with regard to the accumulated neuronal toxicity of the tested dose level, the toxic signs were recorded as significant increase in the aggressive and locomotor behavioral changes. In addition, the brain areas monoamines concentration revealed variable increased changes. The potential maximal changes in norepinephrine, dopamine and serotonin5-hydroxytryptamine levels attained in cortex, hypothalamus, striatum, hippocampus, midbrain and pons and medulla were assessed. Moreover, the histological examination revealed degeneration and necrosis in liver tissues and degenerated glomeruli and hemorrhage between the tubules of the cortical region in kidney tissues. The study declared that patulin-contaminated (152.5 ppb) apple juice exhibited liver, kidney and neurotoxicological effects in 6 weeks orally administered mice. © The Author(s) 2012.

Psychosocial and professional characteristics of burnout in Swiss primary care practitioners: a cross-sectional survey.

PubMed

Goehring, Catherine; Bouvier Gallacchi, Martine; Künzi, Beat; Bovier, Patrick

2005-02-19

To measure the prevalence of burnout and explore its professional and psychosocial predictors among Swiss primary care practitioners. A cross-sectional postal survey was conducted to measure burnout, work-related stressors, professional and psychosocial characteristics among a representative sample of primary care practitioners. Answers to the Maslach burnout inventory were used to categorize respondents into moderate and high degree of burnout. 1784 physicians responded to the survey (65% response rate) and 1755 questionnaires could be analysed. 19% of respondents had a high score for emotional exhaustion, 22% had a high score for depersonalisation/cynicism and 16% had a low score for professional accomplishment; 32% had a high score on either the emotional exhaustion or the depersonalisation/cynicism scale (moderate degree of burnout) and 4% had scores in the range of burnout in all three scales (high degree of burnout). Predictors of moderate burnout were male sex, age 45-55 years and excessive perceived stress due to global workload, health-insurance-related work, difficulties to balance professional and private life, changes in the health care system and medical care uncertainty. A high degree of burnout was associated with male sex, practicing in a rural area, and excessive perceived stress due to global workload, patient's expectations, difficulties to balance professional and private life, economic constraints in relation to the practice, medical care uncertainty and difficult relations with non-medical staff at the practice. About one third of Swiss primary care practitioners presented a moderate or a high degree of burnout, which was mainly associated with extrinsic work-related stressors. Medical doctors and politicians in charge of redesigning the health care system should address this phenomenon to maintain an efficient Swiss primary care physician workforce in the future.

Phytochemical analysis and a study on the antiestrogenic antifertility effect of leaves of Piper betel in female albino rat

PubMed Central

Biswal, Sasmita

2014-01-01

Objective: To study the effect of graded doses of the aqueous and methanolic extract of the leaves of Piper betel (PB) Linn (PBL) on the estrous cycle of female albino rats. Materials and Methods: Both the extracts were tested for their effect on the estrous cycle at three dose levels of 500, 1000 and 1500 mg/kg/day and the vaginal smears were examined daily microscopically for the different phases of the estrous cycle for a period of 30 days. Result: The estrous cycle was irregular and prolonged in the treated groups indicating anestrus condition, which would result in infertility. Both types of the extract showed a significant decrease in the duration of proestrus and estrus with a prolonged diestrus at 1000 mg/kg/day and 1500 mg/kg/day doses as compared with control. However, no change was seen in the metestrus phase. The rats treated with PB showed a significant (P < 0.05), dose-dependent decrease in the estrus phase, in comparison to the control group, the effect was more with the methanolic extract. Large, cornified cells appeared after proestrus phase with decreased number of cornified cells. There was a significant reduction in the number of the estrous cycle, in the PBL treated group. Anestrus phase appeared in all the rats treated with the aqueous and methanolic PB extract, which was not observed in the control group. However, the aqueous extract at a dose of 500 mg/kg/day had no effect either on the estrous cycle or on its different phases. The observed effect of PB leaves could be due to the flavonoids and saponin contents, which also contributes to its antiestrogenic mechanism of action. Conclusion: Both the aqueous and methanolic extract of PBL possesses antifertility effect in female albino rats. PMID:25737606

Homicide-suicide cases in Switzerland and their impact on the Swiss Weapon Law.

PubMed

Grabherr, Silke; Johner, Stephan; Dilitz, Carine; Buck, Ursula; Killias, Martin; Mangin, Patrice; Plattner, Thomas

2010-12-01

Homicide followed by the suicide of the offender is a well-known phenomenon. In most cases, it takes place in the context of the so-called "family tragedies." A recent series of such family tragedies in Switzerland prompted an intensive debate in the media and the Swiss government concerning the Swiss Weapon Law, in particular the requirement to keep personal army weapons at home. The present study of Homicide-Suicide cases in Switzerland, thus focuses on the role played by guns, especially military weapons, in such crimes. We investigated retrospectively 75 cases of Homicide-Suicide, comprising 172 individuals and spanning a period of 23 years in western and central Switzerland. Our results show that if guns were used in 76% of the cases, army weapons were the cause of death in 25% of the total. In 28% of the deaths caused by a gunshot, the exact type of the gun and its origin could not be determined. Thus, the majority of Homicide-Suicide cases in Switzerland involve the use of guns. The exact percentage of cases were military weapons were involved could not be defined. In our opinion, a stricter weapons law, restricting access to firearms, would be a factor of prevention of Homicide- Suicide cases in Switzerland.

[The Swiss population and drug problems: perception of the problems and proposals for solutions].

PubMed

Leuthold, A; Cattaneo, M; Dubois-Arber, F

1993-01-01

The aim of this study is to investigate which problems in relation with drug abuse are considered to be the most important by the Swiss population and which measures do they support to reduce them. Base for this study are the results of a representative telephone survey realized in october 1991 with 1004 Swiss residents. People are mostly concerned with problems related to the danger for youth and those concerning public order but also with the human condition of addicts. Drug addicts are considered as people who have lost the sense of live, as sick but also as dangerous and less truthful. Supported are overall prevention, offers for therapies, the repression of trafficking and money-laundering but not of drug users as well as measures going in the direction of harm-minimisation (shooting rooms, medical prescription of drugs). Younger people, those with higher education and the german-speaking population have a more positive view of drug addicts and support measures in the sense of harm-minimisation. Elder people and the french-speaking population have a rather negative view of drug addicts and don't favour measures for harm-minimisation.

Effect of ethanolic fruit extract of Cucumis trigonus Roxb. on antioxidants and lipid peroxidation in urolithiasis induced wistar albino rats

PubMed Central

Balakrishnan, A.; Kokilavani, R; Gurusamy, K.; Teepa, K. S. Ananta; Sathya, M.

2011-01-01

Urolithiasis was induced using ethylene glycol in wistar albino rats, the formation of calcium stones in the kidney results with the damage of antioxidant system. Ethanolic extract of Cucumis trigonus Roxb fruit of family Curcurbitaceae was used to treat urolithiasis. On this course, the extract also repairs the changes that happened in the enzymatic, non enzymatic antioxidants and lipid peroxidation in liver and kidney of urolithiasis induced rats. The results obtained from the analysis were compared at 5% level of significance using one way ANOVA. The results show that the ethanolic fruit extract has repaired the levels of antioxidants and malondialdehyde to their normal levels. PMID:22736884

Oral supplementation of Lanthanum Zirconate nanoparticles moderately affected behavior but drastically disturbed leukocyte count, serum cholesterol levels and antioxidant parameters from vital organs of albino mice in a gender specific manner.

PubMed

Aftab, Muhammad Nazar; Akram, Irum Naz; Khosa, Tafheem; Zahra, Syeda Qandeel; Bashir, Irum; Ashiq, Muhammad Naeem; Iqbal, Furhan

2018-05-21

Lanthanum Zirconate nanoparticles (NPs) are used in blades of gas turbine engines to thermally insulate them and to protect them against hot and corrosive gas streams. However, the information regarding their biocompatibility is limited. The present study was aimed to report the effect of Lanthanum Zirconate NPs on selected aspects of behavior, serum biochemistry, complete blood count and antioxidant parameters from vital organs of albino mice in a gender specific manner. Albino mice, seven weeks old, were orally treated with 75 mg/ml solvent/Kg body weight of Lanthanum Zirconate nanoparticles for consecutive 22 days. Saline treated control groups were maintained in parallel. It was observed that rearing frequency was significantly decreased (P = 0.01) in NPs treated male mice. Complete blood count analysis indicated that NPs treated female mice had significantly reduced white blood cells (P = 0.05) and lymphocytes count (P = 0.03). NPs treated male had significantly reduced serum cholesterol levels (P = 0.05) than control group. It was observed that Superoxide dismutase concentrations in liver (P = 0.025) and kidney (P = 0.008), Malondialdehyde concentrations in liver (P = 0.044) of female and Malondialdehyde concentrations in kidney (P < 0.001) and brain (P < 0.001) and catalase concentrations in liver (P = 0.05) of NPs treated male mice were significantly higher than their respective control groups.. In conclusion, we are reporting that oral supplementation with 75 mg/ml solvent/Kg body weight of Lanthanum Zirconate nanoparticles can affect the behavior, leukocyte count, serum cholesterol and antioxidant metabolites from vital organs of albino mice in a gender specific manner.

Relationship between canopy structure, microclimate, and Swiss needle cast severity among different ages of Douglas-fir forests

EPA Science Inventory

Swiss needle cast (SNC) is an endemic disease of Douglas-fir caused by Phaeocryptopus gaeumannii. The fungus infects newly emerged needles between May and August. As the fungus develops, its fruiting bodies (pseudothecia) block the stomata and inhibit gas exchange, reducing the p...

Isolation of histamine-producing Lactobacillus buchneri from Swiss cheese implicated in a food poisoning outbreak.

PubMed Central

Sumner, S S; Speckhard, M W; Somers, E B; Taylor, S L

1985-01-01

A histamine-producing strain of Lactobacillus buchneri was isolated from Swiss cheese that had been implicated in an outbreak of histamine poisoning. It produced up to 4,070 nmol of histamine per ml in MRS broth supplemented with 0.1% histidine. The identification of this isolate was based on its biochemical, bacteriological, and DNA characterizations. PMID:4083875

Some Suggestive Features of the Swiss School System. Bulletin, 1913, No. 56. Whole Number 567

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Tate, William Knox

1914-01-01

The demand grows constantly more urgent for the closer adaptation of schools to the needs of the communities in which they are located and by which they are supported. Some countries have succeeded in this better than others. Among those that have succeeded best are the Swiss Cantons. Believing that a careful study of the methods by which they…

The teratogenic effects of dietary Cassava on the pregnant albino rat: a preliminary report.

PubMed

Singh, J D

1981-12-01

Cassava is a tuberous root of a shrublike plant cultivated in tropical rain forests as a staple food in South Eastern Nigeria. Reports are on record showing correlation between cassava intake and occurrence of various types of neuropathies (Money, '59; Monekosso and Wilson, '66; Osuntokun et al., '68,'69). About 0.1-2 mg of cyanide/100 gm is released from Cassava by action of hydrolase (Paula and Rangel, '46). It has been suspected by several local clinicians as a cause of congenital anomalies if consumed in excess during pregnancy. However, it remains a controversial problem and precise scientific data is lacking. This study was conducted on albino rats by giving them milled cassava powder as 50% and 80% of their diet during the first 5 days of pregnancy. Fetuses collected on day 20 from the group receiving cassava as 80% of the diet showed a low incidence of limb defects, open eye, microcephaly, and growth retardation in the rat. Interpretation of this data for the human should be made with caution.

Global Trends and Local Realities: Lessons about Economic Benefits, Selves and Identity from a Swiss Context

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Csillagh, Virág

2015-01-01

Inspired by the unexpected results of a standardized questionnaire survey of Swiss university students' motivation and attitudes toward English, the paper discusses the influence of global and local contexts on language learners' motivation and identity. As a result of the unprecedented spread of English as a foreign language (Crystal, 2003;…

Combined radiogrammetry and texture analysis for early diagnosis of osteoporosis using Indian and Swiss data.

PubMed

Areeckal, Anu Shaju; Kamath, Jagannath; Zawadynski, Sophie; Kocher, Michel; S, Sumam David

2018-05-26

Osteoporosis is a bone disorder characterized by bone loss and decreased bone strength. The most widely used technique for detection of osteoporosis is the measurement of bone mineral density (BMD) using dual energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA). But DXA scans are expensive and not widely available in low-income economies. In this paper, we propose a low cost pre-screening tool for the detection of low bone mass, using cortical radiogrammetry of third metacarpal bone and trabecular texture analysis of distal radius from hand and wrist radiographs. An automatic segmentation algorithm to automatically locate and segment the third metacarpal bone and distal radius region of interest (ROI) is proposed. Cortical measurements such as combined cortical thickness (CCT), cortical area (CA), percent cortical area (PCA) and Barnett Nordin index (BNI) were taken from the shaft of third metacarpal bone. Texture analysis of trabecular network at the distal radius was performed using features obtained from histogram, gray level Co-occurrence matrix (GLCM) and morphological gradient method (MGM). The significant cortical and texture features were selected using independent sample t-test and used to train classifiers to classify healthy subjects and people with low bone mass. The proposed pre-screening tool was validated on two ethnic groups, Indian sample population and Swiss sample population. Data of 134 subjects from Indian sample population and 65 subjects from Swiss sample population were analysed. The proposed automatic segmentation approach shows a detection accuracy of 86% in detecting the third metacarpal bone shaft and 90% in accurately locating the distal radius ROI. Comparison of the automatic radiogrammetry to the ground truth provided by experts show a mean absolute error of 0.04 mm for cortical width of healthy group, 0.12 mm for cortical width of low bone mass group, 0.22 mm for medullary width of healthy group, and 0.26 mm for medullary width of low bone mass

In vivo immunoprotective role of Indigofera tinctoria and Scoparia dulcis aqueous extracts against chronic noise stress induced immune abnormalities in Wistar albino rats.

PubMed

Madakkannu, Boothapandi; Ravichandran, Ramanibai

2017-01-01

Indigofera tinctoria and Scoparia dulcis are being widely used in Indian folk medicine for the treatment of various disorders. Environmental noise pollution is thought to be an important factor for many health problems and it causes immune abnormalities. In the present study immune-regulating potential of I. tinctoria and S. dulcis aqueous extracts on innate and adaptive immune system of wistar albino rats was evaluated during normal and chronic noise induced stress conditions. The results demonstrated that both I. tinctoria and S. dulcis aqueous extracts (200 mg/kg b.w) showed immunostimulant effect on both innate and adaptive immune response of wistar albino rat compared to control group under normal condition. The noise stress (100 dB for 1 h, 20 days) induced animals showed suppressive effects on immune response by decreasing macrophage phagocytosis, antibody secretion by spleen cells, humoral immune response, proliferation of lymphocytes, cytotoxicity, TNF α expression, granzyme B and perforin expression in splenic NK cells. Similarly, noise stress also caused DNA damage in tissues. However, the suppressed effects induced by noise stress on rat immune system were significantly prevented by oral administration of both I. tinctoria and S. dulcis aqueous extracts. Considering all these results it is suggested that the selected medicinal plant's aqueous extracts have the potential to prevent the effects of noise stress induced rat immune system and explore a strong immunostimulant potential applicable to clinical practices.

Discrimination of Swiss cheese from 5 different factories by high impact volatile organic compound profiles determined by odor activity value using selected ion flow tube mass spectrometry and odor threshold.

PubMed

Taylor, Kaitlyn; Wick, Cheryl; Castada, Hardy; Kent, Kyle; Harper, W James

2013-10-01

Swiss cheese contains more than 200 volatile organic compounds (VOCs). Gas chromatography-mass spectrometry has been utilized for the analysis of volatile compounds in food products; however, it is not sensitive enough to measure VOCs directly in the headspace of a food at low concentrations. Selected ion flow tube mass spectrometry (SIFT-MS) provides a basis for determining the concentrations of VOCs in the head space of the sample in real time at low concentration levels of parts per billion/trillion by volume. Of the Swiss cheese VOCs, relatively few have a major impact on flavor quality. VOCs with odor activity values (OAVs) (concentration/odor threshold) greater than one are considered high-impact flavor compounds. The objective of this study was to utilize SIFT-MS concentrations in conjunction with odor threshold values to determine OAVs thereby identifying high-impact VOCs to use for differentiating Swiss cheese from five factories and identify the factory variability. Seventeen high-impact VOCs were identified for Swiss cheese based on an OAV greater than one in at least 1 of the 5 Swiss cheese factories. Of these, 2,3-butanedione was the only compound with significantly different OAVs in all factories; however, cheese from any pair of factories had multiple statistically different compounds based on OAV. Principal component analysis using soft independent modeling of class analogy statistical differentiation plots, with all of the OAVs, showed differentiation between the 5 factories. Overall, Swiss cheese from different factories was determined to have different OAV profiles utilizing SIFT-MS to determine OAVs of high impact compounds. © 2013 Institute of Food Technologists®

The Effects of Ochratoxin A on the Immune Response of Swiss Mice

PubMed Central

Prior, M.G.; Sisodia, C.S.

1982-01-01

The acute intraperitoneal toxicity of ochratoxin A (OA) for adult female Swiss mice is presented. The seven-day LD50 was calculated to be 48 ± 3.2 mg/kg. Daily intraperitoneal administrations of 10 mg OA/kg resulted in 50% mortality by the tenth day of injection. Clinical symptoms included depression, huddling, roughened hair coats, humped backs and reduced weight gains. Mice injected intraperitoneally daily for 50 days with 5 mg OA/kg had a significantly (P<0.01) depressed antibody response to killed Brucella abortus. In contrast, oral administrations of OA at 4 ppm in feed for 50 days did not depress titre levels. Ochratoxin A also significantly (P<0.01 intraperitoneal; P<0.05 oral administrations) reduced body weight gain over the period of the trials. Neither oral nor intraperitoneal administration of OA for 50 days affected the response of mice to sheep red blood cells although both the number of antibody-forming cells and the number of cells per spleen were significantly lowered (P<0.01) by cyclophosphamide. Both spleen and body weights were significantly lowered (P<0.05) in the groups given OA. There was a significant depression of blast transformation (P<0.01) in mice treated intraperitoneally with either OA or cyclophosphamide and stimulated with concanavalin A; oral administration of OA did not depress blast transformation. It would appear that lower levels of exposure, e.g. 4 ppm OA in feed, do not cause depression of the immune response of mice. The depressive effect seen at much higher levels may be a result of a nonselective toxic effect. PMID:6804072

Impact of experimental hypothyroidism on monoamines level in discrete brain regions and other peripheral tissues of young and adult male rats.

PubMed

Hassan, Wafaa A; Aly, Mona S; Rahman, Taghride Abdel; Shahat, Asmaa S

2013-06-01

The levels of dopamine (DA), norepinephrine (NE) and serotonin (5-HT) in different brain regions as well as in blood plasma, cardiac muscle and adrenal gland of young and adult male albino rats were measured following experimentally induced hypothyroidism. Hypothyroidism induced by daily oral administration of propylthiouracil (PTU, 5mg/kg body wt) caused a significant reduction in DA levels in most of the tissues examined of both young and adult rats after 21 and 28 days, in NE levels after all the time intervals studied in young rats, and after 21 and 28 days in adult rats. 5-HT exhibited a significant reduction in the selected brain regions and blood plasma after 21 and 28 days and in cardiac muscle after all the time intervals in the two age groups of animals. It may be suggested that the changes in monoamine levels induced by hypothyroidism may be due to disturbance in the synthesis and release of these amines through the neurons impairment or may be due to an alteration pattern of their synthesizing and/or degradative enzymes. Copyright © 2013 ISDN. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Adolescent delinquency and antisocial tendencies as precursors to adult violent offending: a prospective study of a representative sample of swiss men.

PubMed

Laubacher, Arja; Rossegger, Astrid; Endrass, Jérôme; Angst, Jules; Urbaniok, Frank; Vetter, Stefan

2014-05-01

Studies on adult sex and violent offenders have found high rates of adolescent delinquency, while early delinquency has been shown to be significantly associated with adult offending. The examined subsample (n = 123) of a longitudinal prospective study (n = 6,315) includes all men who at the age of 19 had an entry in the criminal records. During the observation period of 34 years, 68.3% of the sample had been reconvicted as adults, 23.6% for violent or sex offenses. The odds of adult sex or violent offending were 2.8 times higher for those who had committed a violent offense in adolescence and 1.05 times higher for any offense committed before the age of 19. The characteristics of criminal history showed the highest discriminative values (area under the curve [AUC] = 0.61-0.65). The most important finding of this study was that characteristics of adolescent delinquency predicted adult violent or sex offending, whereas socioeconomic and psychiatric characteristics did not.

NASA Rodent Foodbar: Long Term Effects in Swiss Webster Mice

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Santiago, D. L.; Yu, D. S.; Naficy, N. H.; Roghani, P. M.; Dalton, B. P.; Barrett, J. E.; Dalton, Bonnie (Technical Monitor)

2001-01-01

Swiss Webster male and female mice (150 of each) were fed NASA Rodent Foodbar for more than 110 days to test the diet's nutritional adequacy for use in future long-term studies aboard the International Space Station. Mice were grouped three to a cage (one cage = one sample) and cages were assigned to either Foodbar or Purina Chow #5001 (control) diet groups. Body weights, food intake, and water intake were obtained throughout the study. There were no significant differences in body weights between male Foodbar fed and Chow fed males (p=0.58), and at 15 weeks into the female mouse study there appear to be no significant body weight differences. Both male and female Foodbar fed groups consumed more food and less water than their Chow controls, both factors thought to be attributable to the high moisture content of the Foodbars (26% versus 10% for Chow). All differences in gross food and water consumption had p-values of less than 0.01. When food and water intake were adjusted for the moisture content in the food, both male and female Foodbar fed animals consumed less food, but still had a lower water intake rate than their controls. (p is less than 0.01). Preliminary analysis on blood samples from male and female halfway point dissections suggests differences in glucose and fat metabolism. In both male and female Foodbar fed animals, blood glucose values were significantly lower (p is less than 0.01) but there were no significant differences in cholesterol levels (p=0.51). In Foodbar fed females, triglycerides were significantly higher (p is less than 0.01). These data suggest that Foodbars allow for normal growth in Swiss Webster mice, but affect some blood chemistry parameters.

Baicalein abrogates reactive oxygen species (ROS)-mediated mitochondrial dysfunction during experimental pulmonary carcinogenesis in vivo.

PubMed

Naveenkumar, Chandrashekar; Raghunandhakumar, Subramanian; Asokkumar, Selvamani; Devaki, Thiruvengadam

2013-04-01

Our current study aimed to evaluate the chemotherapeutic efficacy of baicalein (BE) in Swiss albino mice, which is exposed to benzo(a)pyrene [B(a)P] for its ability to alleviate mitochondrial dysfunction and systolic failure. Here, we report that oral administration of B(a)P (50 mg/kg body weight)-induced pulmonary genotoxicities in mice was assessed in terms of elevation in reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation and DNA damage in lung mitochondria. MDA-DNA adducts were formed in immunohistochemical analysis, which confirmed nuclear DNA damage. mRNA expression levels studied by RT-PCR analysis of voltage-dependent anion channel (VDAC) and adenine nucleotide translocase (ANT) were found to be significantly decreased and showed a marked increase in membrane permeability transition pore (MPTP) opening. Accompanied by up-regulated Bcl-xL and down-regulated Bid, Bim and Cyt-c proteins studied by immunoblot were observed in B(a)P-induced lung cancer-bearing animals. Administration of BE (12 mg/kg body weight) significantly reversed all the above deleterious changes. Moreover, assessment of mitochondrial enzyme system revealed that BE treatment effectively counteracts B(a)P-induced down-regulated levels/activities of isocitrate dehydrogenase, α-ketoglutarate dehydrogenase, succinate dehydrogenase, malate dehydrogenase, NADH dehydrogenase, cytochrome-C-oxidase and ATP levels. Restoration of mitochondria from oxidative damage was further confirmed by transmission electron microscopic examination. Further analysis of lipid peroxidation, superoxide dismutase, catalase, glutathione peroxidase, glutathione-S-transferase, glutathione reductase, reduced glutathione, vitamin E and vitamin C in lung mitochondria was carried out to substantiate the antioxidant effect of BE. The overall data conclude that chemotherapeutic efficacy of BE might have strong mitochondria protective and restoration capacity in sub-cellular level against lung carcinogenesis in Swiss albino mice. © 2012

Qualitative and Semiquantitative Analysis of Doping Products Seized at the Swiss Border.

PubMed

Weber, Christina; Krug, Oliver; Kamber, Matthias; Thevis, Mario

2017-05-12

Substances developed for therapeutic use are also known to be misused by athletes as doping agents and, outside of regulated sport, for image-enhancement. This has generated a market for counterfeit doping substances. Counterfeit doping agents may be of poor pharmaceutical quality and therefore constitute health risks to consumers. This study aims to investigate the pharmaceutical quality of 1,190 doping products seized at the Swiss border. Swiss customs authorities seize incoming shipments potentially containing doping agents. Qualitative and semiquantitative analyses were performed in order to test for prohibited doping substances. The main analytical methods utilized for characterizing confiscated compounds were liquid chromatography-high resolution mass spectrometry, polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis with subsequent in-gel tryptic digestion and identification of peptidic compounds using nanoliquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry, and electrochemiluminescence immuno assay. For 889 (75%) of the analyzed products, the label suggested the content of anabolic agents, for 146 samples (12%) peptide hormones or growth factors, and for 113 items (9%) antiestrogens, aromatase inhibitors or other metabolic modulators. For the majority of the investigated products, the pharmaceutical quality was an unsatisfactory standard: nonapproved substances were detected and less than 20% of the products contained the claimed substance in the respective amount. A comprehensive sample of confiscated doping products was analyzed, allowing for monitoring of developments regarding the use of doping substances in Switzerland and for anticipating future trends and challenges in sports drug testing. An alarming number of tested products was of substandard pharmaceutical quality.

Evaluation of the National Skin Cancer Campaign: a Swiss experience of Euromelanoma.

PubMed

Lieberherr, Sven; Seyed Jafari, S Morteza; Cazzaniga, Simone; Bianchi, Enrica; Schlagenhauff, Bettina; Tscharner, Gion; Hafner, Jürg; Mainetti, Carlo; Lapointe, Anne-Karine; Hunger, Robert E

2017-10-24

Skin cancer is a burden to healthcare and patients worldwide. The incidence of skin cancer has been rising during recent decades and this trend is expected to continue in the future. Numerous risk factors have been identified and prevention strategies developed. The Euromelanoma campaign is a pan-European skin cancer prevention programme, targeted to both primary and secondary prevention of malignant melanoma. The current study aimed to evaluate the results of the Swiss skin cancer screening day 2016. A questionnaire was used to obtain data on characteristics and suspected skin cancers of all participants. Follow-up of patients with suspicious lesions was performed 3 to 6 months later. During the campaign, 2795 people were screened. Of the screened individuals, 157 participants (58% female, 42% male; mean age 58.8 years) underwent further evaluations; 6 cutaneous malignant melanomas, 21 basal cell carcinomas and 2 squamous cell carcinomas were detected. Detection rates were 0.21% for cutaneous melanoma, 0.75% for basal cell carcinoma and 0.07% for squamous cell carcinoma. Our study provides an up-to-date evaluation of the Swiss Euromelanoma campaign 2016. The results are mostly in line with data from other European studies. Considering the morbidity, mortality and financial and social impact of skin cancer, the capacity to raise awareness of risk factors, skin cancer prevention methods and educating high-risk and at-risk individuals, we may assume that a National Screening Day has a crucial impact on the public health system.

Language Policy, Tacit Knowledge, and Institutional Learning: The Case of the Swiss Public Service Broadcaster SRG SSR

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Perrin, Daniel

2011-01-01

"Promoting public understanding" is what the programming mandate asks the Swiss public broadcasting company SRG SSR to do. From a sociolinguistic perspective, this means linking speech communities with other speech communities, both between and within the German-, French-, Italian-, and Romansh-speaking parts of Switzerland. In the…

In vivo postirradiation protection by a vitamin E analog, alpha-TMG.

PubMed

Satyamitra, Merriline; Uma Devi, P; Murase, Hironobu; Kagiya, V T

2003-12-01

The water-soluble vitamin E derivative alpha-TMG is an excellent radical scavenger. A dose of 600 mg/kg TMG significantly reduced radiation clastogenicity in mouse bone marrow when administered after irradiation. The present study was aimed at investigating the radioprotective effect of postirradiation treatment with alpha-TMG against a range of whole-body lethal (8.5-12 Gy) and sublethal (1-5 Gy) doses of radiation in adult Swiss albino mice. Protection against lethal irradiation was evaluated from 30-day mouse survival and against sublethal doses was assessed from micronuclei and chromosomal aberrations in the bone marrow 24 h after irradiation. An intraperitoneal injection of 600 mg/kg TMG within 10 min of lethal irradiation increased survival, giving a dose modification factor (DMF) of 1.09. TMG at doses of 400 mg/kg and 600 mg/kg significantly reduced the percentage of aberrant metaphases, the different types of aberrations, and the number of micronucleated erythrocytes. DMFs of 1.22 and 1.48 for percentage aberrant metaphases and 1.6 and 1.98 for micronuclei were obtained for 400 mg/kg and 600 mg/kg TMG, respectively. No drug toxicity was observed at these doses. The effectiveness of TMG when administered postirradiation suggests its possible utility for protection against unplanned radiation exposures.

Just Scan It!-Weapon Reconstruction in Computed Tomography on Historical and Current Swiss Military Guns.

PubMed

Franckenberg, Sabine; Binder, Thomas; Bolliger, Stephan; Thali, Michael J; Ross, Steffen G

2016-09-01

Cross-sectional imaging, such as computed tomography, has been increasingly implemented in both historic and recent postmortem forensic investigations. It aids in determining cause and manner of death as well as in correlating injuries to possible weapons. This study illuminates the feasibility of reconstructing guns in computed tomography and gives a distinct overview of historic and recent Swiss Army guns.

Performance Evaluation of a Pose Estimation Method based on the SwissRanger SR4000

DTIC Science & Technology

2012-08-01

however, not suitable for navigating a small robot. Commercially available Flash LIDAR now has sufficient accuracy for robotic application. A...Flash LIDAR simultaneously produces intensity and range images of the scene at a video frame rate. It has the following advantages over stereovision...fully dense depth data across its field-of-view. The commercially available Flash LIDAR includes the SwissRanger [17] and TigerEye 3D [18

Ethyl ester formation is enhanced by ethanol addition in mini Swiss cheese with and without added propionibacteria.

PubMed

Thierry, Anne; Maillard, Marie-Bernadette; Richoux, Romain; Lortal, Sylvie

2006-09-06

Esters are important contributors to cheese flavor, but their mechanisms of synthesis in cheese are largely unknown. This study aimed to determine whether ethanol concentration limits the formation of ethyl esters in cheese. Mini Swiss cheeses were manufactured with (E) or without (C) the addition of ethanol to cheese milk. Ethanol concentrations (enzymatic analysis) were 64 +/- 17 and 330 +/- 82 microg g(-1), respectively, in C and E cheeses. E cheeses also contained 5.4 +/- 2.3 times more of the five ethyl esters quantified than C cheeses, regardless of the concentrations of esters in C cheeses (range 1-128 ng g(-1)). Furthermore, the presence of propionibacteria added as acid-producing secondary starters was associated with greater concentrations of esters, due to the increase in acid concentrations that propionibacteria induced and/or to an involvement of propionibacteria enzymes in ester synthesis. This study demonstrates that ethanol is the limiting factor of ethyl ester synthesis in Swiss cheese.

Spatially resolved NMR spectra for the Swiss cheese model in heavy fermion PuCoGa5 superconductor

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Das, Tanmoy; Zhu, Jian-Xin; Balatsky, A. V.; Graf, M. J.

2011-03-01

Spatially resolved NMR experiments, which probe the local electronic excitations, play a vital role for studying the pairing symmetry of unconventional superconductors. Here we calculate the spatial modulation of the NMR spin-lattice relaxation rate (1/T1) for the Swiss cheese model as a function of impurity concentration in PuCoGa5 superconductor. The local suppression of the superconducting order parameter due to impurities is related to the number of holes in the Swiss cheese model. Our results indicate that Friedel-like oscillations,as seen in the local-density of states near an impurity, are also present in the behavior of 1/T1 as one moves away from the impurity site. We demonstrate that the gap nodes, which are filled by disorder, can be probed by NMR through the local information encoded in the spectra. The advantage of spatially resolved NMR compared to STM measurements is that the former probe is not sensitive to surface states. Work is supported by US DOE.

Swiss national MD-PhD-program: an outcome analysis.

PubMed

Kuehnle, Katrin; Winkler, David T; Meier-Abt, Peter J

2009-09-19

This study aims at a first evaluation of the outcome of the Swiss national MD-PhD program during the last 16 years. One hundred and twenty six former and current students in the Swiss national MD-PhD program were surveyed via a Web-based questionnaire in September 2007. Twenty-four questions assessed information regarding participant demographics, information on the PhD thesis and publication activity, current positions and research activity, as well as participant's opinions, attitudes and career goals. Eighty questionnaires were received from 126 MD-PhD students and graduates (63.5% response rate). The responders consisted of present students (36%), former graduates (56%), and dropouts (8%). The percentage of women in the program was 23%, and the average duration of the program was 4.2 +/- 1.4 years. Research interests were predominantly in the fields of neuroscience, immunology, molecular biology and cancer research. A considerable portion of the MD-PhD graduates had an excellent publication record stemming from their PhD research work, and 89% were planning to continue a research-orientated career. Over 50% of those MD-PhD graduates completing their thesis before 2002 had already reached an assistant or full professor position at the time of the survey. Nearly all participants considered the MD-PhD training helpful to their career and high quality standards were assigned to the acquired practical and intellectual skills. However, criticism was expressed concerning the general mentoring and the career related mentoring. Moreover, general mentoring and career related mentoring were significantly less well perceived in research groups employing more than seven PhD students at the same time. The MD-PhD students and graduates surveyed were satisfied with their education and most of them continued a research-orientated career. Regarding the overall positive evaluation, this study supports the view that MD-PhD graduates are well qualified for a successful career in

Anticataleptic and antiepileptic activity of ethanolic extract of leaves of Mucuna pruriens: A study on role of dopaminergic system in epilepsy in albino rats

PubMed Central

Champatisingh, D.; Sahu, P.K.; Pal, A.; Nanda, G.S.

2011-01-01

Objective: To assess the anticataleptic and antiepileptic activity of leaves of Mucuna pruriens in albino rats. Materials and Methods: Haloperidol-induced catalepsy (HIC), maximum electro-shock (MES) method, pilocarpine-induced Status epilepticus (PISE) and single-dose effect of M. pruriens were employed. Results: M. pruriens (100 mg/kg) had significant anticataleptic and antiepileptic activity in HIC, MES, and PISE. Conclusions: M. pruriens extract has the potential to be an anticataleptic and antiepileptic drug. Dopamine and 5-HT may have a role in such activity. PMID:21572658

Bisphenol A exposure and healing effects of Adiantum capillus-veneris L. plant extract (APE) in bisphenol A-induced reproductive toxicity in albino rats.

PubMed

Yousaf, Balal; Amina; Liu, Guijian; Wang, Ruwei; Qadir, Abdul; Ali, Muhammad Ubaid; Kanwal, Qudsia; Munir, Bushra; Asmatullah; Abbas, Zaigham

2016-06-01

The current study presents the bisphenol A exposure and the ameliorative effects of Adiantum capillus-veneris on testicular toxicity induced by bisphenol A. Adult male albino rats were divided into five groups of five animals each: A (control), B (vehicle control), C (toxic), D (protective), and E (ameliorative) were served distilled water, olive oil, bisphenol A (BPA) at 100 mg/kg body weight, A. capillus-veneris plant extract at 25 mg/kg body weight, and BPA + A. capillus-veneris, respectively. All of the doses were administered orally for 15 days, and the rats were then sacrificed. Blood samples for the testosterone assay and both testes were collected for histological examination. The body weight, paired testes weight, relative tissue weight index, Johnsen scoring of tubules, and level of serum testosterone decreased in BPA-treated rats. Similarly, histological examination of the testes in BPA-treated animals revealed a lower number of Leydig cells, an irregular basement membrane, sloughing of germinal layers, vacuolization, a lower number of spermatocytes, and debris in the lumen. However, co-administration of A. capillus-veneris with BPA increased the total antioxidative capacity (330.82 ± 22.46 μmol/mg protein) of the testes and restored the serum testosterone level (1.70 ng/ml); histological features showed restoration in the stages of spermatogenesis. Conclusively, A. capillus-veneris plant extract overcomes the estrogenic effects of BPA on the reproductive system of rats and protects rats' testes against BPA-induced injury/damage via an antioxidative mechanism that appears to be conciliated.

Genetic variation in tolerance of Douglas-fir to Swiss needle cast as assessed by symptom expression.

Treesearch

G.R. Jonhson

2002-01-01

The incidence of Swiss needle cast on Douglas-fir has increased significantly in recent years on the Oregon coast. Genetic variation in symptoms of disease infection, as measured by foliage traits, was assessed in two series of progeny trials to determine whether these "crown health" indicators were under genetic control and correlated with tolerance;...

Differential distribution of Y-chromosome haplotypes in Swiss and Southern European goat breeds.

PubMed

Vidal, Oriol; Drögemüller, Cord; Obexer-Ruff, Gabriela; Reber, Irene; Jordana, Jordi; Martínez, Amparo; Bâlteanu, Valentin Adrian; Delgado, Juan Vicente; Eghbalsaied, Shahin; Landi, Vincenzo; Goyache, Felix; Traoré, Amadou; Pazzola, Michele; Vacca, Giuseppe Massimo; Badaoui, Bouabid; Pilla, Fabio; D'Andrea, Mariasilvia; Álvarez, Isabel; Capote, Juan; Sharaf, Abdoallah; Pons, Àgueda; Amills, Marcel

2017-11-23

The analysis of Y-chromosome variation has provided valuable clues about the paternal history of domestic animal populations. The main goal of the current work was to characterize Y-chromosome diversity in 31 goat populations from Central Eastern (Switzerland and Romania) and Southern Europe (Spain and Italy) as well as in reference populations from Africa and the Near East. Towards this end, we have genotyped seven single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), mapping to the SRY, ZFY, AMELY and DDX3Y Y-linked loci, in 275 bucks from 31 populations. We have observed a low level of variability in the goat Y-chromosome, with just five haplotypes segregating in the whole set of populations. We have also found that Swiss bucks carry exclusively Y1 haplotypes (Y1A: 24%, Y1B1: 15%, Y1B2: 43% and Y1C: 18%), while in Italian and Spanish bucks Y2A is the most abundant haplotype (77%). Interestingly, in Carpathian goats from Romania the Y2A haplotype is also frequent (42%). The high Y-chromosome differentiation between Swiss and Italian/Spanish breeds might be due to the post-domestication spread of two different Near Eastern genetic stocks through the Danubian and Mediterranean corridors. Historical gene flow between Southern European and Northern African goats might have also contributed to generate such pattern of genetic differentiation.

Dynamic residual pattern of azoxystrobin in Swiss chard with contribution to safety evaluation.

PubMed

Farha, Waziha; Abd El-Aty, A M; Rahman, Md Musfiqur; Kabir, Md Humayun; Chung, Hyung Suk; Lee, Han Sol; Jeon, Jong-Sup; Wang, Jing; Chang, Byung-Joon; Shin, Ho-Chul; Shim, Jae-Han

2018-02-01

This study aimed at quantifying the residual amount of azoxystrobin in Swiss chard samples grown under greenhouse conditions at two different locations (Gwangju and Naju, Republic of Korea). Samples were extracted with acetonitrile, separated by salting out, and subjected to purification by using solid-phase extraction. The analyte was identified using liquid chromatography-ultraviolet detection. The linearity of the calibration range was excellent with coefficient of determination 1.00. Recovery at three different spiking levels (0.1, 0.5, and 4 mg/kg) ranged between 82.89 and 109.46% with relative standard deviation <3. The limit of quantification, 0.01 mg/kg, was considerably much lower than the maximum residue limit (50 mg/kg) set by the Korean Ministry of Food and Drug Safety. The developed methodology was successfully used for field-treated leaves, which were collected randomly at 0-14 days following azoxystrobin application. The rate of disappearance in/on Swiss chard was ascribed to first-order kinetics with a half-life of 8 and 5 days, in leaves grown in Gwangju and Naju greenhouses, respectively. Risk assessments revealed that the acceptable daily intake percentage is substantially below the risk level of consumption at day 0 (in both areas), thus encouraging its safe consumption. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Temporal change to self-rated health in the Swiss population from 1997 to 2012: the roles of age, gender, and education.

PubMed

Volken, T; Wieber, F; Rüesch, P; Huber, M; Crawford, R J

2017-09-01

Our study aimed to describe the temporal changes in self-rated health status (SRH) from 1997 to 2012 in adults aged 25 to 84 residing in Switzerland, with a view to identifying groups at risk for declining health. Secondary analysis of population-based cross-sectional health surveys. Data were collected from the cross-sectional, population-based, five-year Swiss Health Survey, from 1997, 2002, 2007 and 2012. A total of 63,861 individuals' data were included. Multilevel mixed-effect logistic regression analysis was employed to estimate the probability of very good and good health within the framework of a hierarchical cross-classified age-period-cohort model (HAPC), adjusting for education level, gender, civil status, smoking status and body mass index. Individuals with higher education were substantially more likely than those with primary education to report good SRH (OR = 2.12; 95% CI = 1.93-2.33 for secondary education and OR = 3.79; 95% CI = 3.39-4.23 for tertiary education). The education effect depended on birth cohort and age: higher proportions of good SRH were reported by secondary (8%-17%) and tertiary (10%-22%) compared with primary educated individuals from the 1940 birth cohort onward; the proportion of secondary/tertiary (compared to primary) educated people reporting good SRH increased with age (by 10/11% at 45-50 years and 25/36% at 80-84 years). Gender health equality was achieved by the 1955 (primary educated) and 1960 (secondary educated) birth cohorts, while these women overtook men in reporting good SRH from the 1975 birth cohort onward. Tertiary educated younger women were significantly less likely to report good SRH than men but parity was achieved at around pension age. Similarly, gender inequality in those with primary and secondary education reduced in the younger ages to not be significant at around age 55, with women overtaking men from age 65. Younger birth cohorts with lower education levels appear most vulnerable in terms of

New lakes in deglaciating high-mountain areas: Regional intercomparison of current and future risks from impact waves due to rock/ice avalanches in the Swiss Alps

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Schaub, Y.; Huggel, C.; Serraino, M.; Haeberli, W.

2012-04-01

The changes in high-mountain environments are increasingly fast and complex. GIS-based models of the Swiss Alps show that numerous topographic overdeepenings are likely to appear on progressively exposed glacier beds, which are considered as potential sites of future lake formation. In many cases these newly forming lakes will be situated in an over-steepened and destabilized high-mountain environment and are, therefore, prone to impact waves from landslides. The risk of glacier lake outburst floods, endangering infrastructure, residential areas and persons further downvalley, is increasing with further lake formation and glacier recession. This risk may persist for many decades if not centuries. Future-oriented hazard assessments have to be integrative and must deal with all possible process chains. Reference studies and methodologies are still scarce, however. We present an approach to compare risks resulting from high-mountain lakes in the Swiss Alps amongst each other. Already existing lakes are thereby as much included in the analysis as future ones. The presented risk assessment approach integrates the envisaged high-mountain hazard process chain with present and future socio-economic conditions. Applying the concept of integral risk management, the hazard and damage potentials have to be analyzed. The areas that feature the topographic potential for rock/iceavalanches to reach a lake were analyzed regarding their susceptibility to slope failure including the factors slope inclination, permafrost occurrence, glacier recession and bedrock lithology. Together with the analysis of the lakes (volume and runout path of potential outburst floods), the hazard analysis of the process chain was completed. As an example, high long-term hazard potentials in the Swiss Alps have, for instance, to be expected in the area of the Great Aletsch glacier. A methodology for the assessment of the damage potential was elaborated and will be presented. In order to estimate the

Marked increase in measles vaccination coverage among young adults in Switzerland: a campaign or cohort effect?

PubMed

Altpeter, Ekkehardt; Wymann, Monica N; Richard, Jean-Luc; Mäusezahl-Feuz, Mirjam

2018-06-01

To evaluate the impact of the Swiss measles elimination strategy-including a mass media campaign-on vaccination coverage and awareness among young adults aged 20-29 years. Comparison of the results of two cross-sectional population surveys in 2012 and 2015. Documented vaccination coverage increased from 77 to 88% for two doses of measles vaccine. Major determinants of complete vaccination were survey year, birth cohort, sex and the absence of prior measles disease. If birth cohort and prior history of measles disease are included as factors in a multivariate model, the difference between 2012 and 2015 vanishes. The marked increase in complete measles vaccination coverage is due to a cohort effect, owing to the introduction of the second dose of vaccine in 1996. Most of the vaccinations were administered before the national strategy was implemented and vaccination catch-ups did not increase during the campaign in young adults. Nevertheless, this study provides evidence of an improvement in the awareness of measles and measles vaccination in young adults, which may result in an impact on measles vaccination coverage in the near future.

Effect of clozapine and molindone on plasma and brain levels of mescaline in mice.

PubMed

Shah, N S; Gulati, O D

1984-01-01

Levels of unchanged mescaline were examined in the plasma and brain of albino Swiss-Webster mice pretreated with various doses of either clozapine or molindone. In clozapine treated mice, the mescaline levels were statistically significantly higher at 2 and 3 h with 7.5 and 15.0 mg/kg and at 1, 2 and 3 h with 30 mg/kg. Molindone at 4.0 and 8.0 mg/kg produced no significant effect; at 16.0 and 48.0 mg/kg, the levels were significantly higher at 1 and 2 h. Elevated brain levels of mescaline by clozapine and molindone indicate an adverse metabolic interaction between a hallucinogen and drugs that are commonly used to treat mescaline-induced psychosis.

Influence of jute (Corchorus olitorius) seed protein enriched diet on some enzymes and liver lipids of albino rats (Rattus norvegicus).

PubMed

Laskar, S; Majumdar, S G; Basak, B; Dey, C D

1986-01-01

The effect of protein, isolated from Jute (Corchorus olitorius) seed was studied upon albino rats with respect to some of their serum, liver and intestinal enzymes and liver lipids. An increase in the body weight (including the weight of the liver) was noted in test animals after feeding with a Jute seed protein enriched diet. It was also observed that AST, ALT and total lipid of liver increased significantly whereas AST and ALT of serum were decreased. An increase in the concentration of lipids in the liver was found and this may be due to excess of the seed protein in the diet. An overall observation reveals that there is slight fatty infiltration in the liver of test animals.

Lenvatinib in Advanced Radioiodine-Refractory Thyroid Cancer - A Retrospective Analysis of the Swiss Lenvatinib Named Patient Program.

PubMed

Balmelli, Catharina; Railic, Nikola; Siano, Marco; Feuerlein, Kristin; Cathomas, Richard; Cristina, Valerie; Güthner, Christiane; Zimmermann, Stefan; Weidner, Sabine; Pless, Miklos; Stenner, Frank; Rothschild, Sacha I

2018-01-01

Purpose: Differentiated thyroid cancer (DTC) accounts for approximately 95% of thyroid carcinomas. In the metastatic RAI-refractory disease, chemotherapy has very limited efficacy and is associated with substantial toxicity. With increasing knowledge of the molecular pathogenesis of DTC, novel targeted therapies have been developed. Lenvatinib is a tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI) with promising clinical activity based on the randomized phase III SELECT trial. In Switzerland, a Named Patient Program (NPP) was installed to bridge the time gap to Swissmedic approval. Here, we report the results from the Swiss Lenvatinib NPP including patients with metastatic RAI-refractory DTC. Methods: Main inclusion criteria for the Swiss NPP were RAI-refractory DTC, documented disease progression, Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG) performance status 0-3. The number of previous therapies was not limited. The Swiss Lenvatinib NPP was initiated in June 2014 and was closed in October 2015 with the approval of the drug. Results: Between June 2014 and October 2015, 13 patients with a median age of 72 years have been enrolled. Most patients (69%) had at least one prior systemic therapy, mainly sorafenib. 31% of patients showed a PR and 31% SD. Median progression free survival was 7.2 months and the median overall survival was 22.7 months. Dose reduction due to adverse events was necessary in 7 patients (53%). At the time of analysis 6 patients (47%) were still on treatment with a median time on treatment of 9.98 months. Conclusions: Our results show that lenvatinib has reasonable clinical activity in unselected patients with RAI-refractory thyroid cancer with nearly two-third of patients showing clinical benefit. The toxicity profile of lenvatinib is manageable.

Lenvatinib in Advanced Radioiodine-Refractory Thyroid Cancer - A Retrospective Analysis of the Swiss Lenvatinib Named Patient Program

PubMed Central

Balmelli, Catharina; Railic, Nikola; Siano, Marco; Feuerlein, Kristin; Cathomas, Richard; Cristina, Valerie; Güthner, Christiane; Zimmermann, Stefan; Weidner, Sabine; Pless, Miklos; Stenner, Frank; Rothschild, Sacha I.

2018-01-01

Purpose:Differentiated thyroid cancer (DTC) accounts for approximately 95% of thyroid carcinomas. In the metastatic RAI-refractory disease, chemotherapy has very limited efficacy and is associated with substantial toxicity. With increasing knowledge of the molecular pathogenesis of DTC, novel targeted therapies have been developed. Lenvatinib is a tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI) with promising clinical activity based on the randomized phase III SELECT trial. In Switzerland, a Named Patient Program (NPP) was installed to bridge the time gap to Swissmedic approval. Here, we report the results from the Swiss Lenvatinib NPP including patients with metastatic RAI-refractory DTC. Methods:Main inclusion criteria for the Swiss NPP were RAI-refractory DTC, documented disease progression, Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG) performance status 0-3. The number of previous therapies was not limited. The Swiss Lenvatinib NPP was initiated in June 2014 and was closed in October 2015 with the approval of the drug. Results:Between June 2014 and October 2015, 13 patients with a median age of 72 years have been enrolled. Most patients (69%) had at least one prior systemic therapy, mainly sorafenib. 31% of patients showed a PR and 31% SD. Median progression free survival was 7.2 months and the median overall survival was 22.7 months. Dose reduction due to adverse events was necessary in 7 patients (53%). At the time of analysis 6 patients (47%) were still on treatment with a median time on treatment of 9.98 months. Conclusions:Our results show that lenvatinib has reasonable clinical activity in unselected patients with RAI-refractory thyroid cancer with nearly two-third of patients showing clinical benefit. The toxicity profile of lenvatinib is manageable. PMID:29344270

Long-term outcome after arterial ischemic stroke in children and young adults.

PubMed

Goeggel Simonetti, Barbara; Cavelti, Ariane; Arnold, Marcel; Bigi, Sandra; Regényi, Mária; Mattle, Heinrich P; Gralla, Jan; Fluss, Joel; Weber, Peter; Hackenberg, Annette; Steinlin, Maja; Fischer, Urs

2015-05-12

To compare long-term outcome of children and young adults with arterial ischemic stroke (AIS) from 2 large registries. Prospective cohort study comparing functional and psychosocial long-term outcome (≥2 years after AIS) in patients who had AIS during childhood (1 month-16 years) or young adulthood (16.1-45 years) between January 2000 and December 2008, who consented to follow-up. Data of children were collected prospectively in the Swiss Neuropediatric Stroke Registry, young adults in the Bernese stroke database. Follow-up information was available in 95/116 children and 154/187 young adults. Median follow-up of survivors was 6.9 years (interquartile range 4.7-9.4) and did not differ between the groups (p = 0.122). Long-term functional outcome was similar (p = 0.896): 53 (56%) children and 84 (55%) young adults had a favorable outcome (modified Rankin Scale 0-1). Mortality in children was 14% (13/95) and in young adults 7% (11/154) (p = 0.121) and recurrence rate did not differ (p = 0.759). Overall psychosocial impairment and quality of life did not differ, except for more behavioral problems among children (13% vs 5%, p = 0.040) and more frequent reports of an impact of AIS on everyday life among adults (27% vs 64%, p < 0.001). In a multivariate regression analysis, low Pediatric NIH Stroke Scale/NIH Stroke Scale score was the most important predictor of favorable outcome (p < 0.001). There were no major differences in long-term outcome after AIS in children and young adults for mortality, disability, quality of life, psychological, or social variables. © 2015 American Academy of Neurology.

A Raman Lidar as Operational Tool for Long-Term Water Vapor, Temperature and Aerosol Profiling in the Swiss Meteorological Office

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Simeonov, Dr; Dinoev, Dr; Serikov, Dr; Calpini, Dr; Bobrovnikov, Dr; Arshinov, Dr; Ristori, Dr; van den Bergh, Dr; Parlange, Dr

2010-09-01

To satisfy the rising demands on the quality and frequency of atmospheric water vapor, temperature and aerosol measurements used for numerical weather prediction models, climate change observations and special events (volcanoes, dust and smoke transport) monitoring, MeteoSwiss decided to implement a lidar at his main aerological station in Payerne. The instrument is narrow field of view, narrowband UV Raman lidar designed for continuous day and night operational profiling of tropospheric water vapor, aerosol and temperature The lidar was developed and built by the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology- Lausanne (EPFL) within a joint project with MeteoSwiss. To satisfy the requirements for operational exploitation in a meteorological network the lidar had to satisfy a number of criteria, the most important of which are: accuracy and precision, traceability of the measurement, long-term data consistency, long-term system stability, automated operation, requiring minimal maintenance by a technician, and eye safety. All this requirements were taken into account during the design phase of the lidar. After a ten months test phase of the lidar at Payerne it has been in regular operation since August 2008. Selected data illustrating interesting atmospheric phenomena captured by the lidar as well as long-term intercomparison with collocated microwave radiometer, GPS, radiosonding and an airborne DIAL will be presented and discussed. The talk will address also the technical availability, alignment and calibration stabilities of the instrument.

Grape Leucoanthocyanidin Protects Liver Tissue in Albino Rabbits with Nonalcoholic Hepatic Steatosis.

PubMed

Franklin, Reginaldo; Bispo, Rodrigo Freitas Monte; Sousa-Rodrigues, Célio Fernando; Pires, Lucas Alves Sarmento; Fonseca, Albino; Babinski, Marcio Antonio

2018-06-18

Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is a common ailment. It is usually found in association with diabetes or obesity. There are no approved drugs to treat this condition. The study of flavonoid consumption has increased over the decades due to their antioxidative properties, although the literature is scarce when it comes to their effects in liver tissue. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the role of leucoanthocyanidin in nonalcoholic hepatic steatosis. Thirty male albino rabbits were divided in 3 groups. Group 1 had a regular commercial diet. The second group had a regular diet and 10 mL of egg yolk and 1.5 g of pure cholesterol. The rabbits of the third group were on the same regimen as the second, but were also treated with grape leucoanthocyanidin (50 mg/kg/day) for 100 days. On the last day of the experiment, the animals were euthanized, and the livers excised and fixated in a 10% formalin solution. Afterwards, fragments of each liver were removed and histologically processed and analyzed. The stereological evaluation showed that leucoanthocyanidin reduced NAFLD in comparison with the nontreated group. This was also observed in the histological analysis of the liver tissue, as the treated group had less foci of fatty tissue. Leucoanthocyanidin may therefore be a promising substance to treat NAFLD, although further studies are needed. © 2018 S. Karger AG, Basel.

Finding big shots: small-area mapping and spatial modelling of obesity among Swiss male conscripts.

PubMed

Panczak, Radoslaw; Held, Leonhard; Moser, André; Jones, Philip A; Rühli, Frank J; Staub, Kaspar

2016-01-01

In Switzerland, as in other developed countries, the prevalence of overweight and obesity has increased substantially since the early 1990s. Most of the analyses so far have been based on sporadic surveys or self-reported data and did not offer potential for small-area analyses. The goal of this study was to investigate spatial variation and determinants of obesity among young Swiss men using recent conscription data. A complete, anonymized dataset of conscription records for the 2010-2012 period were provided by Swiss Armed Forces. We used a series of Bayesian hierarchical logistic regression models to investigate the spatial pattern of obesity across 3,187 postcodes, varying them by type of random effects (spatially unstructured and structured), level of adjustment by individual (age and professional status) and area-based [urbanicity and index of socio-economic position (SEP)] characteristics. The analysed dataset consisted of 100,919 conscripts, out of which 5,892 (5.8 %) were obese. Crude obesity prevalence increased with age among conscripts of lower individual and area-based SEP and varied greatly over postcodes. Best model's estimates of adjusted odds ratios of obesity on postcode level ranged from 0.61 to 1.93 and showed a strong spatial pattern of obesity risk across the country. Odds ratios above 1 concentrated in central and north Switzerland. Smaller pockets of elevated obesity risk also emerged around cities of Geneva, Fribourg and Lausanne. Lower estimates were observed in North-East and East as well as south of the Alps. Importantly, small regional outliers were observed and patterning did not follow administrative boundaries. Similarly as with crude obesity prevalence, the best fitting model confirmed increasing risk of obesity with age and among conscripts of lower professional status. The risk decreased with higher area-based SEP and, to a lesser degree - in rural areas. In Switzerland, there is a substantial spatial variation in obesity risk

Douglas-fir displays a range of growth responses to temperature, water, and Swiss needle cast in western Oregon, USA

EPA Science Inventory

Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii var. menziesii (Mirb.) Franco) growth in the Pacific Northwest is affected by climatic, edaphic factors and Swiss needle cast (SNC) disease. We examine Douglas-fir growth responses to temperature, dewpoint deficit (DPD), soil moisture, and SNC ...

What Does a Swiss Franc Mortgage Cost? The Tale of Polish Trust for Foreign Currency Denominated Mortgages: Implications for Well-Being and Health.

PubMed

Białowolski, Piotr; Węziak-Białowolska, Dorota

2017-01-01

It is commonly agreed that excessive household financial debts are detrimental to psychological and physical health. Research also demonstrates that housing instability, mortgage indebtedness and mortgage foreclosure negatively influence subjective well-being. In Poland at the beginning of 2015, homeowners with Swiss franc denominated mortgages suffered from an abrupt swing in the Swiss franc/Polish zloty (CHF/PLN) exchange rate, which resulted in considerable increase in the local currency value of their mortgages. These adverse financial circumstances were hypothesised to affect not only household finance but also negatively affect the psychological well-being and physical health of peoples. The 2013 and 2015 waves of the Polish representative household panel 'Social Diagnosis' were used to examine impact of the abrupt change in the CHF/PLN exchange rate in Jan. 2015 on well-being and health. Causal inference was investigated using a difference-in-differences matching estimator. Results showed that although impact of Swiss franc appreciation on the mortgage related financial burden was considerable, it did not affect well-being or health outcomes. Any manifestation of adverse effects was absent in the short term, which does not however preclude their long term existence.

Carbon and oxygen isotope signatures in conifers from the Swiss National Park

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Churakova (Sidorova), Olga; Saurer, Matthias; Siegwolf, Rolf; Bryukhanova, Marina; Bigler, Christof

2015-04-01

Our study investigates the physiological response and plasticity of trees under climatic changes for larch (Larix decidua) and mountain pine (Pinus mugo var. uncinata) in the Swiss National Park.This research was done in the context of investigation tree mortality and their potential to survive under the harsh mountainous conditions. For the stable isotope analysis we selected four mountain pine and four larch trees from each a south- and north-facing slope. Oxygen isotope ratios can give insight into water sources and evaporative processes. To understand the differential response of mountain pine and larch to short-term climatic changes we measured 18O/16O in water extracted from twigs and needles as well as soil samples for each species at both sites. The seasonal variabilities in 18O/16O needles and twigs of mountain pine and larch trees as well as soil samples were related to changes in climate conditions from end of May until middle of October. To reveal the main climatic factors driving tree growth of pine and larch trees in the long-term, tree-ring width chronologies were built and bulk 18O/16O, 13C/12C wood chronologies were analyzed and correlated with climatic parameters over the last 100 years. The results indicate a strong influence of spring and summer temperatures for larch trees, while variation of spring and summer precipitations is more relevant for mountain pine trees. This work is supported by the Swiss National Science Foundation, Marie-Heim Vögtlin Program PMPDP-2 145507

Effect of helium-neon laser irradiation on hair follicle growth cycle of Swiss albino mice.

PubMed

Shukla, S; Sahu, K; Verma, Y; Rao, K D; Dube, A; Gupta, P K

2010-01-01

We report the results of a study carried out to investigate the effect of helium-neon (He-Ne) laser (632.8 nm) irradiation on the hair follicle growth cycle of testosterone-treated and untreated mice. Both histology and optical coherence tomography (OCT) were used for the measurement of hair follicle length and the relative percentage of hair follicles in different growth phases. A positive correlation (R = 0.96) was observed for the lengths of hair follicles measured by both methods. Further, the ratios of the lengths of hair follicles in the anagen and catagen phases obtained by both methods were nearly the same. However, the length of the hair follicles measured by both methods differed by a factor of 1.6, with histology showing smaller lengths. He-Ne laser irradiation (at approximately 1 J/cm(2)) of the skin of both the control and the testosterone-treated mice was observed to lead to a significant increase (p < 0.05) in % anagen, indicating stimulation of hair growth. The study also demonstrates that OCT can be used to monitor the hair follicle growth cycle, and thus hair follicle disorders or treatment efficacy during alopecia. (c) 2009 S. Karger AG, Basel.

Synthesis and biological evaluation of some novel 1-substituted fentanyl analogs in Swiss albino mice

PubMed Central

Yadav, Shiv Kumar; Maurya, Chandra Kant; Gupta, Pradeep Kumar; Jain, Ajai Kumar; Ganesan, Kumaran

2014-01-01

Fentanyl [N-(1-phenethyl-4-piperidinyl)propionanilide] is a potent opioid analgesic agent, but a has narrow therapeutic index. We reported earlier on the synthesis and bioefficacy of fentanyl and its 1-substituted analogs (1–4) in mice. Here we report the synthesis and biological evaluation of four additional analogs, viz. N-isopropyl-3-(4-(N-phenylpropionamido)piperidin-1-yl)propanamide (5), N-t-butyl-3-(4-(N-phenylpropionamido)piperidin-1-yl)propanamide (6), isopropyl 2-[4-(N-phenylpropionamido)piperidin-1-yl]propionate (7) and t-butyl 2-[4-(N-phenylpropionamido)piperidin-1-yl]propionate (8). The median lethal dose (LD50) determined by intravenous, intraperitoneal and oral routes suggests these analogs to be comparatively less toxic than fentanyl. On the basis of observational assessment on spontaneous activities of the central, peripheral, and autonomic nervous systems, all the analogs were found to be similar to fentanyl. Naloxone hydrochloride abolished the neurotoxic effects of these analogs, thereby ascertaining their opioid receptor-mediated effects. All the analogs displayed significant analgesic effects, measured by formalin-induced hind paw licking and tail immersion tests at their respective median effective dose (ED50). They also exhibited 8–12 fold increase in therapeutic index over fentanyl. However, 5 and 6 alone produced lower ED50 (20.5 and 21.0 µg/kg, respectively) and higher potency ratio (1.37 and 1.33, respectively) compared to fentanyl. They could thus be considered for further studies on pain management. PMID:26109885

Reno-protective effects of propolis on gentamicin-induced acute renal toxicity in swiss albino mice.

PubMed

Aldahmash, Badr Abdullah; El-Nagar, Doaa Mohamed; Ibrahim, Khalid Elfakki

Kidney is a vital organ which plays an important and irreplaceable role in detoxification and removal of xenobiotics. And therefore is vulnerable to develop various forms of injuries. Hence, making it immensely important to search for natural reno-protective compounds. This study therefore, aims to evaluate the reno-protective properties of propolis against gentamicin induced renal toxicity in mice. Three groups of 10 male mice each were used for this study. First group served as control, the second group (Gm group) was administered orally 80mg/kg body weight gentamicin for 7 days, and the third group (GmP group) was administered same dose of gentamicin with propolis (500mg/kg body weight) for 7 days. Various parameters were used to study the renal toxicity. Gentamicin caused significant renal damage as evident by the rise in BUN levels, diminished glomeruli hypocellularity, moderately dilated tubules, and mild loss of brush border, severe infiltration, extensive tubular degeneration and presence of tubular cast. Histochemistry results show presence of collagen and reticular fibres. Immunohistochemical reactions show kidney injury (Kim-1 gene-expression), oxidative stress (MDA gene-expression), and an increase in apoptosis (caspase-3 gene-expression). Co-administration of propolis with gentamicin showed significant decrease in BUN levels, appearance of healthy glomeruli with normal cellularity, reduction of tubular injury, decrease of collagen and reticular fibres deposition, reduction of apoptosis, kidney injury and oxidative stress. Results presented in this study clearly show the reno-protective role of propolis against gentamicin-induced toxicity on mice kidney. Copyright © 2016 Sociedad Española de Nefrología. Published by Elsevier España, S.L.U. All rights reserved.

Technology and science in classroom and interview talk with Swiss lower secondary school students: a Marxist sociological approach

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Roth, Wolff-Michael

2013-06-01

In much of science education research, the content of talk tends to be attributed to the persons who produce the sound-words in a speech situation. A radically different, sociological perspective on language-in-use grounded in Marxism derives from the work of L. S. Vygotsky and the members of the circle around M. M. Bakhtin. Accordingly, each word belongs to speaker and recipient simultaneously. It represents collective consciousness and, therefore, shared ideology, which can no longer be attributed to the individual. The purpose of this study is to develop a sociological perspective on language in science education, a perspective in which language continuously changes. I articulate this position in the context of classroom and interview talk with 14-year-old Swiss non-academically streamed lower secondary students about technology and science. In this context, science classrooms and interviews are shown to be microcosms of Swiss (German) culture and society reproduced in and through the situated talk about science and technology.

Fingerprints of a forest fungus: Swiss needle cast, carbon isotopes, carbohydrates, and growth in Douglas-fir

Treesearch

Andrea Watts; Frederick Meinzer; Brandy J. Saffell

2014-01-01

Swiss needle cast is caused by a fungus native to the Pacific Northwest. Its host is Douglas-fir, an iconic evergreen tree in the region. The fungus does not kill its host, but it adversely affects the tree's growth. The fungal fruiting bodies block the stomata, small openings on the underside of the needle where carbon dioxide, water vapor, and other gases are...

Key mechanisms of metabolic changes in mountain pine and larch under drought in the Swiss National Park

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Churakova, Olga; Bigler, Christof; Bryukhanova, Marina; Siegwolf, Rolf

2014-05-01

Forests are of great ecological, economic and social importance worldwide. In many regions they have been recently affected by water deficits during summer droughts due to increasing temperatures and shortage of precipitation (Allen et al. 2010). Climate models predict that drought frequency will continue to increase during the 21st century and beyond (CH 2011). Since the foundation of the Swiss National Park (SNP) in 1914 these forests have not been managed any more, which allows to study natural processes in these forest ecosystems. Since the 1990s, annual and spring temperatures increased in the SNP up to 0.5 ºC and 1.02 ºC, respectively, and average summer temperature increased up to 0.6 ºC. Annual precipitation decreased by 81 mm compared to the mean values (927 mm) from 1917 to 1989. Therefore, detailed studies of drought effects on the physiological functioning of trees over the last decades are needed. Recently, mortality processes of mountain pines were observed in the Swiss National Park (Bigler, Rigling 2013). It is of great interest to investigate and compare the physiological responses of mountain pine and larch to drought and to understand the mechanisms behind the mortality processes. The goal of our study is to investigate the key mechanisms of tree physiological responses to drought in the SNP using state-of-the-art methods of classical dendrochronology, tree physiology, stable isotope, and compound-specific isotope analyses. Long-term responses of mountain pine and larch trees from north- and south-facing sites to drought will be inferred from tree-ring width data. Based on climatic data a drought index will be calculated and reconstructed back in time. New chronologies for stable carbon and oxygen isotope ratios derived from both pine and larch tree-ring cellulose will provide retrospective insight into the long-term whole-plant physiological control of gas exchange derived from estimates of stomatal conductance, photosynthetic rate and

[Long-term outcome following multiple trauma in working age : A prospective study in a Swiss trauma center].

PubMed

Gross, T; Amsler, F

2016-11-01

Given the lack of data in the available literature, we were interested in the disability rate and corresponding insurance costs following multiple trauma in Switzerland. The possible impact of demographic, traumatic and hospital process factors as well as subjective and objective longer-term outcome variables on insurance data acquired were examined. Following multiple trauma the clinical and socioeconomic parameters in 145 survivors of working age were investigated over 2 and 4 years post-injury at a Swiss trauma center (University Hospital Basel). The correlation with the corresponding data provided by the largest Swiss accident insurance company (Suva, n = 63) was tested by univariate and multivariate analysis and patients insured at Suva were compared with those insured elsewhere (n = 82). The mean level of disability in this cohort of multiple trauma patients insured at Suva was 43 %. The insurer expected costs of more than 1 million Swiss Francs per multiply injured patient. In univariate analysis, only discrete correlations (maximum r = 0.37) were found with resulting disability, but significant correlations were found in subsequent multivariate testing most of all for age and the sequential organ failure assessment (SOFA 11 % and 15 % predictive capacity, p = 0.001; corrected R 2  = 0.26). Among variables of longer-term outcome the Euro Quality of Life Group health-related quality of life in five dimensions (EQ-5D) correlated almost as highly with the objective extent of disability as did the reduced capacity to work declared by the patients (0.64 and 0.7, respectively). The estimation of long-term disability following multiple trauma based on primary data following injury appears to be possible only to a limited extent. Given the clinical and socioeconomic relevance, comparable analyses are necessary by including all insurance providers involved.

Cultural capital and smoking in young adults: applying new indicators to explore social inequalities in health behaviour.

PubMed

Gagné, Thierry; Frohlich, Katherine L; Abel, Thomas

2015-10-01

Associations between social status and health behaviours are well documented, but the mechanisms involved are less understood. Cultural capital theory may contribute to a better understanding by expanding the scope of inequality indicators to include individuals' knowledge, skills, beliefs and material goods to examine how these indicators impact individuals' health lifestyles. We explore the structure and applicability of a set of cultural capital indicators in the empirical exploration of smoking behaviour among young male adults. We analysed data from the Swiss Federal Survey of Adolescents (CH-X) 2010-11 panel of young Swiss males (n = 10 736). A set of nine theoretically relevant variables (including incorporated, institutionalized and objectified cultural capital) were investigated using exploratory factor analysis. Regression models were run to observe the association between factor scores and smoking outcomes. Outcome measures consisted of daily smoking status and the number of cigarettes smoked by daily smokers. Cultural capital indicators aggregated in a three-factor solution representing 'health values', 'education and knowledge' and 'family resources'. Each factor score predicted the smoking outcomes. In young males, scoring low on health values, education and knowledge and family resources was associated with a higher risk of being a daily smoker and of smoking more cigarettes daily. Cultural capital measures that include, but go beyond, educational attainment can improve prediction models of smoking in young male adults. New measures of cultural capital may thus contribute to our understanding of the social status-based resources that individuals can use towards health behaviours. © The Author 2015. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the European Public Health Association. All rights reserved.

Effect of gasoline fumes on reproductive function in male albino rats.

PubMed

Owagboriaye, Folarin O; Dedeke, Gabriel A; Ashidi, Joseph S; Aladesida, Adeyinka A; Olooto, Wasiu E

2018-02-01

The increase in the frequency of exposure to gasoline fumes and the growing incidence of infertility among humans has been a major concern and subject of discussion over the years in Nigeria. We therefore present the reproductive effect of gasoline fumes on inhalation exposure in 40 male albino rats. The rats were randomized into five experimental treatments (T) with eight rats per treatment. T1 (control) was exposed to distilled water while T2, T3, T4, and T5 were exposed to gasoline fumes in exposure chambers for 1, 3, 5, and 9 h daily respectively for 12 weeks. Serum level of testosterone, follicle stimulating hormone (FSH), luteinizing hormone (LH), prolactin, oxidative stress markers in the testicular tissue, epididymal sperm health assessment, and testicular histopathology of the rats were used as a diagnostic marker of reproductive dysfunction. Significant (p < 0.05) alterations in the levels of all the reproductive hormones and oxidative stress markers assayed were observed in rats exposed to gasoline fume. Significant reductions (p < 0.05) in sperm count and percentage motility in the exposed rats were observed. Significant (p < 0.05) increased in abnormal sperm cells characterized by damaged head, bent tail, damaged tail, and without head were also observed in the exposed rats. Histopathologically, severe degenerative testicular architectural lesions characterized by alterations in all the generations of sperm cells and reduction of interstitial cells were seen in the exposed rats. Gasoline fume is thus said to interfere with spermatogenesis and impair fertility in male gonad.

Impact of an Energy Drink on the Structure of Stomach and Pancreas of Albino Rat: Can Omega-3 Provide a Protection?

PubMed

Ayuob, Nasra; ElBeshbeishy, Rana

2016-01-01

A controversy developed between the benefits of energy drinks (EDs) versus the possible health threats since its revolution. Lack of information was a call to assess the effect of chronic consumption of Power Horse (PH) as one of the EDs, on the structure of pancreas and fundic mucosa of stomach in rats, and possible protective role of Omega-3. Thirty two adult male albino rats were divided equally into 4 groups; control received group which only received a standard diet, Omega-3 group, PH group which given PH and PH plus Omega-3 group received both PH plus Omega-3 for 4 weeks. Biochemical assessment of blood glucose, serum insulin, gastrin, tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α) and inducible nitric oxide synthetase (iNOS) was performed. The antioxidant activity and histopathological examination of both pancreatic tissue and fundic mucosa of stomach were assessed. Administration of PH significantly increased serum insulin and glucose levels while it significantly reduced serum gastrin level compared to control. PH also caused oxidants/antioxidants imbalance in both pancreas and fundic mucosa. The latter revealed degenerative changes and increased apoptosis which was evident by increased caspase-3 immunoexpression. Pancreas exhibited signs of β-cells overstimulation. Fundic mucosa showed reduced number of parietal cells, gastrin hormone expression compared to control group. Omega-3 administration could alleviate, to some extent, these changes. It significantly decreased TNF-α, iNOS and reduced glutathione (GSH) as well as significantly increasing superoxide dismutase (SOD) and glutathione peroxidase (GPx) activities compared to the group which received PH alone. Power Horse intake significantly injures islet cells, pancreatic acini as well as the glandular cells of the fundic mucosa. Omega-3 decreases these detrimental effects mostly through its antioxidant and anti-inflammatory action.

Five years database of landslides and floods affecting Swiss transportation networks

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Voumard, Jérémie; Derron, Marc-Henri; Jaboyedoff, Michel

2017-04-01

Switzerland is a country threatened by a lot of natural hazards. Many events occur in built environment, affecting infrastructures, buildings or transportation networks and producing occasionally expensive damages. This is the reason why large landslides are generally well studied and monitored in Switzerland to reduce the financial and human risks. However, we have noticed a lack of data on small events which have impacted roads and railways these last years. This is why we have collect all the reported natural hazard events which have affected the Swiss transportation networks since 2012 in a database. More than 800 roads and railways closures have been recorded in five years from 2012 to 2016. These event are classified into six classes: earth flow, debris flow, rockfall, flood, avalanche and others. Data come from Swiss online press articles sorted by Google Alerts. The search is based on more than thirty keywords, in three languages (Italian, French, German). After verifying that the article relates indeed an event which has affected a road or a railways track, it is studied in details. We get finally information on about sixty attributes by event about event date, event type, event localisation, meteorological conditions as well as impacts and damages on the track and human damages. From this database, many trends over the five years of data collection can be outlined: in particular, the spatial and temporal distributions of the events, as well as their consequences in term of traffic (closure duration, deviation, etc.). Even if the database is imperfect (by the way it was built and because of the short time period considered), it highlights the not negligible impact of small natural hazard events on roads and railways in Switzerland at a national level. This database helps to better understand and quantify this events, to better integrate them in risk assessment.

Sex-related trends in participation and performance in the 'Swiss Bike Masters' from 1994-2012.

PubMed

Gloor, Roman Urs; Knechtle, Beat; Knechtle, Patrizia; Rüst, Christoph Alexander; Haupt, Samuel; Rosemann, Thomas; Lepers, Romuald

2013-04-01

General participation in contests such as ultra-marathons and ultra-triathlons has increased considerably over the past 30 years, especially among women. This study investigated performance trends in the Swiss Bike Masters, one of the first and most prestigious mountain bike, ultra-endurance races in its class, with comparisons of participation and performance trends to similar races. The development of performance in the Swiss Bike Masters held between 1994 and 2012 was investigated by analysing the number of finishers, their age, sex, and cycling speed. Between 1994 and 2009, the athletes had to cover 120 kilometers with a total difference in altitude of 5,000 meters. Since 2010, the race distance was shortened to 105 kilometers and the total difference in altitude was reduced to 4,400 meters. The total men participating and total finishing decreased significantly, while women's participation has remained low. The age of the annual winners and the annual top three finishers showed no changes over time. Performances of the annual fastest women improved, while performances of the annual fastest men remained unchanged. To summarize, rate of finishing has decreased for men and has been stable, but low, among women. The sex difference in cycling speed for the best cyclists has decreased across the years.

From facts to arguments: A study of the 2014 Swiss controversy over systematic mammography screening.

PubMed

Perrenoud, Caroline; Stiefel, Friedrich; Bourquin, Céline

2018-06-01

The Swiss Medical Board (SMB) has recently revived the controversy over mammography screening by recommending to stop the introduction of new systematic mammography screening programs. This study aimed to examine the Swiss media coverage of the release of the SMB report. The dataset consisted of 25 newspaper and "medical magazine" articles, and TV/radio interviews. The analytic approach was based on argumentation theory. Authority and community arguments were the most frequent types of arguments. With respect to authority arguments, stakeholders for instance challenged or supported the expertise of the SMB by referring to the competence of external figures of authority. Community arguments were based on common values such as life (saved thanks to systematic mammography screening) and money (costs associated with unnecessary care induced by systematic mammography screening). The efficiency of mammography screening which was the key issue of the debate appeared to be largely eluded, and the question of what women should do endures. While interpersonal and interprofessional communication has become a major topic of interest in the medical community, it appears that media communication on mammography screening is still rather ineffective. We call in particular for a more fact-based discussion. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Potential effects of Cramoll 1,4 lectin on murine Schistosomiasis mansoni.

PubMed

Melo, Cristiane Moutinho Lagos de; de Lima, Amanda Lucena Rosendo; Beltrão, Eduardo Isidoro Carneiro; Cavalcanti, Carmelita C Bezerra; de Melo-Júnior, Mário Ribeiro; Montenegro, Silvia Maria L; Coelho, Luana Cassandra B Barroso; Correia, Maria Tereza dos Santos; Carneiro-Leão, Ana Maria dos Anjos

2011-05-01

Cratylia mollis is a natural forage plant from the Northeast of Brazil. C. mollis seed lectin (Cramoll) containing molecular forms 1 and 4 (Cramoll 1,4) has shown anti-inflammatory and wound-healing activities. This work analyzed the effect of Cramoll 1,4 on experimental schistosomiasis in mice. Experimental groups (n=15/group) were composed of female albino Swiss mice, which were subcutaneously and caudally infected with Schistosoma mansoni (BH strain, 100 cercariae/mouse) and were treated with an intraperitoneal dose after infection as follows: (1) Cramoll 1,4 (50 mg kg(-1) single dose - after 40 days of infection), (2) Cramoll 1,4 (7 mg kg(-1) daily dose - for 7 days after infection) and control (untreated mice). Mice were sacrificed 8 weeks after infection and adult worms were recovered from the portal-hepatic system. Livers were fixed in 10% (v/v) formaldehyde/0.15M NaCl and tissue sections were processed for haematoxilin and Masson's trichrome stainings. Mice infected subcutaneously harboured no or very few worms and hence the effect of Cramoll 1,4 could not be assessed. Results (P≤0.05) were obtained with Cramoll 1,4 using the two treatments, with reduction of: egg excretion (79 and 80%), adult worm recovery (71 and 79%) and liver granulomas (40 and 73.5%) in relation to control. This study showed the potential anti-helminthic activity of Cramoll 1,4 when tested against Schistosomiasis mansoni infection in mice. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Patterns of Increasing Swiss Needle Cast Impacts on Growth of 20- and 40-year-old Douglas-fir from Tillamook

EPA Science Inventory

Currently, Swiss Needle Cast (SNC) is causing an epidemic west of the Oregon Coast Range from Coos Bay to Astoria. The most severely infected Douglas-fir trees are located on BLM land and Stimson Lumber plantations in Tillamook where environmental conditions are highly favorable ...