Male dogs are often castrated based on the thought that it facilitates well-behavedness. However, the causal evidence for this from prospective studies lacks and the existing associative studies ...present mixed results depending on the studied behaviours. We aimed to gain insight into possible factors driving an owner's decision to castrate their male dog, through a quantitative survey based on a convenience sample. We determined the advice owners received from three types of dog professionals (veterinarian practitioners, behavioural trainers, behavioural therapists) and the owners' assessments of castration's behavioural effects. Data on 491 Dutch owners of castrated and intact male dogs were analysed with Chi-square tests. Results indicate that owners of both castrated and intact dogs received castration advice most often from veterinarian practitioners, with pro-castration at higher frequencies for owners of castrated dogs (Chi-square, P0.001). Overall, most owners disagreed with or were neutral about statements on castration positively affecting male dog behaviour at a population level. Nevertheless, 58% (N = 145) of the owners of castrated dogs (N = 249) reported that correcting unwanted behaviour was a reason to castrate their own male dog. Unwanted behaviour involved aggression in 50% (N = 70) of the owner-dog dyads. Castrated dogs aggression changes were reported on most as no change. The second most common answer indicated an aggression decrease in dogs castrated to correct unwanted behaviour and an increase in dogs castrated for other reasons (Chi-square, P0.001). The increase in aggression in a subset of castrated dogs is concerning, as aggression can pose risks to the dogs welfare. We acknowledge the limitations of our study which identifies associations rather than provides causal evidence. Still, we recommend professionals awareness of possible negative behavioural changes following castration, like increased aggression. Future research on behavioural consequences of castrating dogs needs to build a more solid knowledge base for balanced advice regarding castration.
•The transcriptome of iPSC-derived cortical neurons and brain biopsies were assessed.•sAD iPSC-derived neurons & brain samples showed many similar AD-related processes.•iPSCs exposed to toxicants ...increases our knowledge of their AD-inducing properties.
Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is the most common cause of dementia, characterized by the progressive impairment of cognition and memory loss. Sporadic AD (sAD) represents approximately 95 % of the AD cases and is induced by a complex interplay between genetic and environmental factors called “Alzheimerogens”. Heavy metals (e.g. copper) and pesticides (e.g. fipronil) can affect many AD-related processes, including neuroinflammation (considered as AD-inducing factor). Research would benefit from in vitro models to investigate effects of Alzheimerogens. We compared transcriptomics changes in sAD induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC) derived cortical neurons to differentially expressed genes (DEGs) identified in post-mortem AD brain tissue. These analyses showed that many AD-related processes could be identified in the sAD iPSC-derived neurons, and furthermore, could even identify more DEGs functioning in these processes than post-mortem AD-brain tissue. Thereafter, we exposed the iPSCs to AD-inducing factors (copper(II)chloride, fipronil sulfone and an inflammatory cytokine cocktail). Cytokine exposure induced expression of immune related genes while copper-exposure affected genes involved in lipid and cholesterol metabolism, which are known AD-related processes. Fipronil-exposure did not result in significant transcriptomic changes, although prolonged exposures or higher doses may be necessary. Overall, we show that iPSC-derived cortical neurons can be beneficial in vitro models to identify Alzheimerogens and AD-related molecular mechanisms.
Differences in biological responses to exposure to hazardous airborne substances between children and adults have been reported, suggesting children to be more susceptible. Aim of this study was to ...improve our understanding of differences in susceptibility in cancer risk associated with air pollution by comparing genome-wide gene expression profiles in peripheral blood of children and their parents. Gene expression analysis was performed in blood from children and parents living in two different regions in the Czech Republic with different levels of air pollution. Data were analyzed by two different approaches: one method first selected significantly differentially expressed genes and analyzed these gene lists for overrepresented biological processes, whereas the other applied the T-profiler tool to directly perform pathway analyses on the total gene set without preselection of significantly modulated gene expressions. In addition, gene expressions in both children and adults were investigated for associations with micronuclei frequencies. Both analysis approaches returned considerably more genes or gene groups and pathways that significantly differed between children from both regions than between parents. Very little overlap was observed between children and adults. The two most important biological processes or molecular functions significantly modulated in children, but not in adults, are nucleosome and immune response related. Our study suggests differences between children and adults in relation to air pollution exposure at the transcriptome level. The findings underline the necessity of implementing environmental health policy measures specifically for protecting children's health.
In mountainous, cold temperate and polar sites, the presence of snow cover can affect relative seismic velocity changes (dV/V) derived from ambient noise correlation, but this relation is relatively ...poorly documented and ambiguous. In this study, we analyzed raw seismic recordings from a snowy flat field site located above Davos (Switzerland), during one entire winter season (from December 2018 to June 2019). We identified three snowfall events with a substantial response of dV/V measurements (drops of several percent between 15 and 25 Hz), suggesting a detectable change in elastic properties of the medium due to the additional fresh snow. To better interpret the measurements, we used a physical model to compute frequency-dependent changes in the Rayleigh wave velocity computed before and after the events. Elastic parameters of the ground subsurface were obtained from a seismic refraction survey, whereas snow cover properties were obtained from the snow cover model SNOWPACK. The decrease in dV/V due to a snowfall was well reproduced, with the same order of magnitude as observed values, confirming the importance of the effect of fresh and dry snow on seismic measurements. We also observed a decrease in dV/V with snowmelt periods, but we were not able to reproduce those changes with our model. Overall, our results highlight the effect of the snow cover on seismic measurements, but more work is needed to accurately model this response, in particular for the presence of liquid water in the snowpack.
The amount of water contained in a snowpack, known as
snow water equivalent (SWE), is used to anticipate the amount of snowmelt that could supply hydroelectric power plants, fill water reservoirs, or
...sometimes cause flooding. This work introduces a wireless, non-destructive
method for monitoring the SWE of a dry snowpack. The system is based on an
array of low-cost passive radiofrequency identification (RFID) tags, placed
under the snow and read at 865–868 MHz by a reader located above the snow.
The SWE was deduced from the phase delay of the tag's backscattered
response, which increases with the amount of snow traversed by the
radiofrequency wave. Measurements taken in the laboratory, during snowfall events and over
4.5 months at the Col de Porte test field, were consistent with reference
measurements of cosmic rays, precipitation and snow pits. SWE accuracy was
±18 kg m−2 throughout the season (averaged over three tags) and
±3 kg m−2 during dry snowfall events (averaged over data from two
antennas and four or five tags). The overall uncertainty compared to snow
weighing was ±10 % for snow density in the
range 61–390 kg m−3. The main limitations observed were measurement
bias caused by wet snow (biased data were discarded) and the need for phase
unwrapping. The method has a number of advantages: it allows for continuous
measurement (1 min sampling rate in dry snow), it can provide complementary
measurement of tag temperature, it does not require the reception of
external data, and it opens the way towards spatialized measurements. The
results presented also demonstrate that RFID propagation-based sensing can remotely monitor the permittivity of a low-loss dielectric material with
scientific-level accuracy.
The aim of this study was to compare the efficacy of a gentamicin antibiotic intraoperative irrigation regimen (regimen A) with a povidone-iodine intraoperative irrigation regimen (regimen B) and to ...evaluate the ability of adjunctive local vancomycin powder (regimen C) to reduce the surgical site infection (SSI) rate following idiopathic scoliosis correction.
This was a retrospective, single centre, two-surgeon cohort study of paediatric scoliosis procedures involving 118 patients under the age of 18 years who underwent correction for idiopathic scoliosis over a period of 42 months. Patients' baseline characteristics, pseudarthrosis and rates of SSI were compared.
Baseline characteristics were comparable in all three groups, with the exception of sex distribution. Over a quarter (27%) of patients with regimen B were male compared with 13% and 6% for regimens A and C respectively. Patients were mostly followed up for a minimum of 12 months. The SSI rate for both superficial and deep infections was higher with regimen A (26.7%) than with regimens B and C (7.0% and 6.3% respectively). The SSI rates for regimens B and C were comparable. No patients developed complications related to vancomycin toxicity, metalwork failure or pseudarthrosis.
Wound irrigation with a povidone-iodine solution reduces SSIs following adolescent idiopathic scoliosis surgery. The direct application of vancomycin powder to the wound is safe but does not reduce the SSI rate further in low risk patients. Additional studies are needed to elucidate whether it is effective at higher doses and in high risk patient groups.
Cyclosporine A (CsA) is an undecapeptide with strong immunosuppressant activities and is used a lot after organ transplantation. Furthermore, it may induce cholestasis in the liver. In general, the ...drug-induced cholestasis (DIC) pathway includes genes involved in the uptake, synthesis, conjugation, and secretion of bile acids. However, whether CsA-induced changes in the cholestasis pathway in vitro are persistent for repeated dose toxicity has not yet been investigated. To explore this, primary human hepatocytes (PHH) were exposed to a subcytotoxic dose of 30 μM CsA daily for 3 and 5 days. To investigate the persistence of induced changes upon terminating CsA exposure after 5 days, a subset of PHH was subjected to a washout period (WO-period) of 3 days. Multiple -omics analyses, comprising whole genome analysis of DNA methylation, gene expression, and microRNA expression, were performed. The CsA-treatment resulted after 3 and 5 days, respectively, in 476 and 20 differentially methylated genes (DMGs), 1353 and 1481 differentially expressed genes (DEGs), and in 22 and 29 differentially expressed microRNAs (DE-miRs). Cholestasis-related pathways appeared induced during CsA-treatment. Interestingly, 828 persistent DEGs and 6 persistent DE-miRs but no persistent DMGs were found after the WO-period. These persistent DEGs and DE-miRs showed concordance for 22 genes. Furthermore, 29 persistent DEGs changed into the same direction as observed in livers from cholestasis patients. None of those 29 DEGs which among others relate to oxidative stress and lipid metabolism are yet present in the DIC pathway or cholestasis adverse outcome pathway (AOP) thus presenting novel findings. In summary, we have demonstrated for the first time a persistent impact of repeated dose administration of CsA on genes and microRNAs related to DIC in the gold standard human liver in vitro model with PHH.
► Fecal water genotoxicity significantly increased after an increase in red meat intake to 300g/day for 7days. ► Oxidative DNA damage is a large contributor to the overall level of fecal water ...genotoxicity following a red meat diet. ► The red meat diet did not increase endogenous formation of N-nitroso compounds. ► Fecal water genotoxicity was transcriptomically correlated with pathways indicative of genotoxicity and carcinogenicity. ► Our results corroborate the genotoxic and potentially carcinogenic effect of diets high in red meat in the human colon.
Red meat consumption is associated with an increased colorectal cancer (CRC) risk, which may be due to an increased endogenous formation of genotoxic N-nitroso compounds (NOCs). To assess the impact of red meat consumption on potential risk factors of CRC, we investigated the effect of a 7-day dietary red meat intervention in human subjects on endogenous NOC formation and fecal water genotoxicity in relation to genome-wide transcriptomic changes induced in colonic tissue. The intervention showed no effect on fecal NOC excretion but fecal water genotoxicity significantly increased in response to red meat intake. Colonic inflammation caused by inflammatory bowel disease, which has been suggested to stimulate endogenous nitrosation, did not influence fecal NOC excretion or fecal water genotoxicity. Transcriptomic analyses revealed that genes significantly correlating with the increase in fecal water genotoxicity were involved in biological pathways indicative of genotoxic effects, including modifications in DNA damage repair, cell cycle, and apoptosis pathways. Moreover, WNT signaling and nucleosome remodeling pathways were modulated which are implicated in human CRC development. We conclude that the gene expression changes identified in this study corroborate the genotoxic potential of diets high in red meat and point towards a potentially increased CRC risk in humans.
PDF
