Effect of Adding Different Levels of Astaxanthin Extracted From an Algae Haematococcus Pluvialis to The Diet on Some Immunological Characteristics of Broilers Reared Under Natural and Elevated Environmental Conditions'

This experiment was conducted at the poultry farm/Department of Animal Production/College of Agriculture/Al-Qasim Green University And for two experiments, The first for the period from 27/4/2019 to 7/6/2019 and the second from 1/7/2019 to 4/8/2019 for the second experiment to see the effect of adding different levels of astaxanthin to the broiler diet on some immune characteristics of broilers raised under environmental conditions Natural and elevated. Use 240 unsexed birds of one day age ROSS 308 strain, distributed randomly into five treatments by 48 birds/treatment and the birds of each treatment were divided into three replicates (16 birds/replicate). The chicks were fed on three diets that included the initiator, growth and final 23, 21.5 and 19.44% crude protein respectively, and the representative energy was 3000.5, 3100.7 and 3199.25 kcal/kg feed, respectively, in addition to the astaxanthin powder at levels 0, 10, 20, 30, 40 mg/kg of feed for T1, T2, T3, T4 and T5 treatments, respectively. The results of the first trial showed a significant superiority (P<0.05) for treatment T2 in the relative weight of the fabrichia gland and for the fabrichia index, and significant superiority for treatment T5 and T3 in the size standard of antibodies directed against Newcastle disease, while treatment T2 and T3 outperformed the size criterion of antibodies directed against camboro disease compared With the control treatment T1, and the second trial, the additional factors T2, T3, T4 and T5 achieved significant superiority (P<0.01) in all the immunological characteristics studied by treatment T1. It is concluded from this study that the addition of astaxanthin to the broiler meat diet led to an improvement in the immune characteristics of broilers raised under normal and elevated environmental temperatures.

Mass-Like Fat at the Medial Midfoot: A Common Pseudolesion

Background Fatty masses are common and may be encountered in the foot and ankle. In some cases, normal subcutaneous fat may be mistaken for a discrete mass. Aims The aim of this study was to evaluate the common finding of prominent subcutaneous fat at the medial midfoot resembling a lipoma and to determine the prevalence of this pseudolesion by applying a series of potential size cutoff criteria. Materials and Methods Three musculoskeletal radiologists retrospectively evaluated 91 sequentially performed magnetic resonance imaging examinations of the ankle to measure fat resembling a discrete lipoma at the medial midfoot. Each blinded reader measured the largest area of continuous subcutaneous fat in orthogonal axial, coronal craniocaudal, and coronal transverse dimensions. Patient age, sex, and study indications were also recorded. Statistical analysis was performed with R and SAS 9.4 software Results A discrete fatty pseudolesion as defined by measuring at least 1 cm in all planes by measurements of at least two of three readers was present in 87% of cases (79 of 91). When a size criterion of 1.5 cm was used, a pseudolesion was documented in 14% of cases (13 of 91). There was a significant correlation between larger pseudolesion size and female sex in the axial plane; however, there was no correlation in the coronal craniocaudal and coronal transverse dimensions. Conclusions Subcutaneous fat at the medial midfoot often has a mass-like appearance that could be mistaken for a lipoma. It is important to recognize this pseudolesion variant and not to confuse the imaging appearance for a discrete mass.

Architectural and Urban Attractiveness of Small Towns: A Case Study of Polish Coastal Cittaslow Towns on the Pomeranian Way of St. James

The paper presents the results of a study on the attractiveness to tourists and natives of the cultural qualities of coastal towns on The Pomeranian Way of St. James that are members of the Cittaslow network. Attention to the quality of urban life is inscribed in the development policies of towns applying to join the Cittaslow movement. In order to join the network (apart from the size criterion), towns need to meet a minimum of 50% plus one of the 72 criteria grouped into seven categories. One of the category is Quality of Urban Life Policy, so the towns applying to join Cittaslow commit themselves to actions aimed at improving the quality of urban life. The study on the attractiveness of cultural qualities of towns to tourists and natives was conducted using the author’s BRB method, whose added value is its universality and the possibility to study small towns regardless of their membership in the Cittaslow network. BRB is an acronym that stands for BUILDINGS, RELATIONSHIPS, BALANCE, and comprises three scopes of activities: BUILDINGS (iconic building and important sites where the inhabitants and the tourists are present); RELATIONSHIPS (the visual effects of the relations between the inhabitants and the town) and BALANCE (solutions that implement modern technologies). This method enables identification of places that are important to the inhabitants, where urban life takes place and which are often created with the involvement of the inhabitants. These are often the same spaces as those that attract tourists and perhaps stimulate them the desire to visit the town again (BRB—be right back). The aim of the BRB method is shown the attractiveness of small towns. The study has shown that the characteristic feature of Polish Cittaslow towns is their diversity: the architectural attractiveness of three towns is high both to tourists and natives. On the other hand, the urban attractiveness of the examined towns is an insufficient.

Adaptive hybrid steepest descent algorithms involving an inertial extrapolation term for split monotone variational inclusion problems

In this paper, we discuss the split monotone variational inclusion problem and propose two new inertial algorithms in infinite-dimensional Hilbert spaces. As well as, the iterative sequence by the proposed algorithms converges strongly to the solution of a certain variational inequality with the help of the hybrid steepest descent method. Furthermore, an adaptive step size criterion is considered in suggested algorithms to avoid the difficulty of calculating the operator norm. Finally, some numerical experiments show that our algorithms are realistic and summarize the known results.

Does the 45 mm Size Cutoff for Ascending Aortic Replacement Predict Better Early Outcomes in Bicuspid Aortic Valve?

Background The aim of this study is to test if the newly proposed 45 mm size criterion for ascending aortic replacement (AAR) in bicuspid aortic valve (BAV) patients undergoing aortic valve replacement (AVR) is predictive of improved early outcomes. Methods Data of 306 BAV patients with an aortic diameter of ≥45 mm undergoing AVR alone or with AAR were retrospectively analyzed. Patients were divided into groups of AVR + AAR (n = 220) and AVR only (n = 86) based on if surgery was performed according to the 45 mm criterion. End point was early adverse events, including 30-day and in-hospital mortality, cardiac events, acute renal failure, stroke, and reoperation for bleeding. Cox regression was used to assess if conformance to 45 mm criterion could predict fewer early adverse events. Results AVR + AAR group had significantly higher postoperative left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) (0.59 ± 0.09 vs. 0.55 ± 0.11, p = 0.006) and longer cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB) time (128 vs. 111 minutes, p = 0.002). Early adverse events occurred in 45 patients (14.7%), which was more prevalent in the AVR-only group (22.1% vs. 11.8%, p = 0.020). Conformance to the 45 mm criterion predicted lower rate of early adverse events (hazard ratio [HR]: 0.53, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.28–0.98, p = 0.042). After adjustment for gender, age, AAo diameter, sinuses of Valsalva diameter, preoperative LVEF, Sievers subtypes, BAV valvulopathy, and CPB and cross-clamp times, conformance to the 45 mm size criterion still predicted lower incidence of early adverse events (HR: 0.37, 95% CI: 0.15–0.90, p = 0.028). Conclusions This study shows that conformance to 45 mm size cutoff for preemptive AAR during aortic valve replacement in patients with BAV was not associated with increased risk for adverse events and may improve early surgical outcomes.

Small Intracranial Aneurysms and Subarachnoid Hemorrhage: Is the Size Criterion for Risk of Rupture Relevant?

The current understanding is that small intracranial aneurysms (&#x3c;7 mm) are not at a significant risk for rupture. However, there have been several published series of rupture and subarachnoid hemorrhage from aneurysms &#x3c;5 mm. Three cases of intracranial aneurysms rupturing at &#x3c;3 mm are presented in this paper. Patient age ranged between 38 and 57 years. The aneurysms were located in different parts of the circulation in the brain. This case series highlights that the size criterion alone is not adequate when evaluating patients with unruptured brain aneurysms for observational follow-up or treatment.

Contribution to the Valuation of BRVM’s Assets: A Conditional CAPM Approach

The conditional capital asset pricing model (CAPM) theory postulates that the systematic risk ( β ) of an asset or portfolio varies over time. Several dynamics are thus given to systematic risk in the literature. This article looks for the dynamic that seems to best explain the returns of the assets of the Regional Stock Exchange of West Africa (BRVM) by comparing two dynamics: one by the Kalman filter (assuming that the β follow a random walk) and the other by the Markov switching (MS) model (assuming that β varies according to regimes) for four portfolios of the BRVM. Having found a link between the beta of the market portfolio and the size criterion (measured by capitalization), the two previous models were re-estimated with the addition of the SMB (Small Minus Big) variable. The results show according to the RMSE criterion that the estimation by the Kalman filter fits better than MS, which suggests that investors cannot anticipate systematic risk because of its high volatility.

Single synapse indicators of impaired glutamate clearance derived from fast iGluu imaging of cortical afferents in the striatum of normal and Huntington (Q175) mice

ABSTRACTChanges in the balance between glutamate (Glu) release and uptake may stimulate synaptic reorganization and even synapse loss. In the case of neurodegeneration, a mismatch between astroglial Glu uptake and presynaptic Glu release could be detected if both parameters were assessed independently and at a single synapse level. This has now become possible due to a new imaging assay with the genetically encoded ultrafast Glu sensor iGluu. We report findings from individual corticostriatal synapses in acute slices prepared from mice aged >1 year. Contrasting patterns of short-term plasticity and a size criterion identified 2 classes of terminals, presumably corresponding to the previously defined IT and PT synapses. The latter exhibited a higher degree of frequency potentiation/residual Glu accumulation and were selected for our first iGluu single synapse study in Q175 mice, a model of Huntington’s disease (HD). It was found that in HD the time constant of perisynaptic [Glu] decay (TauD, as indicator of uptake) and the peak iGluu amplitude (as indicator of release) were prolonged and reduced, respectively. Treatment of WT preparations with the astrocytic Glu uptake blocker TFB-TBOA (100 nM) mimicked the TauD changes in homozygotes (HOM). Considering the largest TauD values encountered in WT, about 40% of PT terminals tested in Q175 heterozygotes (HET) can be classified as dysfunctional. Moreover, HD but not WT synapses exhibited a positive correlation between TauD and the peak amplitude of iGluu. Finally, EAAT2 immunoreactivity was reduced next to corticostriatal terminals. Thus, astrocytic Glu transport remains a promising target for therapeutic intervention.SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENTAlterations in astrocytic Glu uptake can play a role in synaptic plasticity and neurodegeneration. Until now, sensitivity of synaptic responses to pharmacological transport block and the resulting activation of NMDA receptors were regarded as reliable evidence for a mismatch between synaptic uptake and release. But the latter parameters are interdependent. Using a new genetically encoded sensor to monitor [Glu] at individual corticostriatal synapses we can now quantify the time constant of perisynaptic [Glu] decay (as indicator of uptake) and the maximal [Glu] elevation next to the active zone (as indicator of Glu release). The results provide a positive answer to the hitherto unresolved question whether neurodegeneration (e.g. Huntington’s disease) associates with a glutamate uptake deficit at tripartite excitatory synapses.