Sperm DNA fragmentation is one of the major causes of infertility; the sperm chromatin dispersion test (SCDt) evaluates this parameter and offers the advantage of species‐specific validated protocol ...and ease of use under field conditions. The main purpose of this study was to evaluate sperm DNA fragmentation dynamics in both fresh and post‐thaw bottlenose dolphin sperm using the SCDt following different cryopreservation protocols to gain new information about the post‐thaw differential sperm DNA longevity in this species. Fresh and cryopreserved semen samples from five bottlenose dolphins were examined for sperm DNA fragmentation dynamics using the SCDt (Halomax®). Sperm DNA fragmentation was assessed immediately at collection and following cryopreservation (T0) and then after 0.5, 1, 4, 8, 24, 48 and 72 h incubation at 37°C. Serially collected ejaculates from four dolphins were frozen using different cryopreservation protocols in a TES‐TRIS‐fructose buffer (TTF), an egg‐yolk‐free vegetable lipid LP1 buffer (LP1) and human sperm preservation medium (HSPM). Fresh ejaculated spermatozoa initially showed low levels of DNA fragmentation for up to 48 h. Lower Sperm DNA fragmentation (SDF) was found in the second fresh ejaculate compared to the first when more than one sample was collected on the same day (p < 0.05); this difference was not apparent in any other seminal characteristic. While there was no difference observed in SDF between fresh and frozen–thawed sperm using the different cryopreservation protocols immediately after thawing (T0), frozen–thawed spermatozoa incubated at 37°C showed an increase in the rate of SDF after 24 h. Sperm frozen in the LP1℗buffer had higher levels (p < 0.05) of DNA fragmentation after 24‐ and 48‐h incubation than those frozen in TTF or HSPM. No correlation was found between any seminal characteristic and DNA fragmentation in either fresh and/or frozen–thawed samples.
Feeding cycles entrain biological rhythms, which enables animals to anticipate feeding times and so maximizes food utilization. In this article the effect of mealtime on locomotor activity, blood ...glucose, gastric pH and digestive enzymes was studied in two groups of seabream (
Sparus aurata): one group received a single daily meal at random times either during the light or the dark (random feeding, RF), whereas the other group received the meal during the light period every day at the same time (periodic feeding, PF). PF fish showed strong synchronisation of locomotor activity to the light phase (97.9
±
0.2% of their total daily activity during daytime). In addition, the locomotor activity rhythm of PF fish showed a statistically significant daily rhythm (p
<
0.05) for a period of 24
h, whereas RF fish did not display a statistically significant rhythm. Blood glucose levels were higher in RF fish during the 8
h following feeding. Gastric pH showed a postprandial decrease in both groups, but RF fish showed a lower daily average value (4.31
±
0.21 compared with 5.52
±
0.20). Amylase and alkaline protease activity increased some hours before mealtime in PF fish, whereas amylase activity increased 1
h after feeding and alkaline protease showed no statistically significant differences in RF fish. Acid protease activity showed no statistically significant differences in any group. Taken together, these results demonstrate that altering the feeding time affects the physiology and behaviour of seabream, which have the capacity to prepare themselves for a forthcoming meal.
This study reports the effect that adding spent mushroom substrate (SMS) to a representative vineyard soil from La Rioja region (Spain) has on the behaviour of azoxystrobin in two different ...environmental scenarios. Field dissipation experiments were conducted on experimental plots amended at rates of 50 and 150 t ha−1, and similar dissipation experiments were simultaneously conducted in the laboratory to identify differences under controlled conditions. Azoxystrobin dissipation followed biphasic kinetics in both scenarios, although the initial dissipation phase was much faster in the field than in the laboratory experiments, and the half-life (DT50) values obtained in the two experiments were 0.34–46.3 days and 89.2–148 days, respectively. Fungicide residues in the soil profile increased in the SMS amended soil and they were much higher in the top two layers (0–20 cm) than in deeper layers. The persistence of fungicide in the soil profile is consistent with changes in azoxystrobin adsorption by unamended and amended soils over time. Changes in the dehydrogenase activity (DHA) of soils under different treatments assayed in the field and in the laboratory indicated that SMS and the fungicide had a stimulatory effect on soil DHA. The results reveal that the laboratory studies usually reported in the literature to explain the fate of pesticides in amended soils are insufficient to explain azoxystrobin behaviour under real conditions. Field studies are necessary to set up efficient applications of SMS and fungicide, with a view to preventing the possible risk of water contamination.
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•Azoxystrobin dissipation was evaluated under field and laboratory conditions.•Fungicide dissipation was faster in unamended soil than in SMS-amended soils.•Initial dissipation was much faster in the field than in the laboratory experiments.•Fungicide mobility through the soil profile was observed in all the treatments.•Field studies are necessary to explain azoxystrobin behaviour under real conditions.
BackgroundFrom October 2015, an Antimicrobial Stewardship Programme (ASP) was implemented in an internal medicine department by a multidisciplinary team. One of the interventions developed within ...this ASP was to promote the early switch of intravenous antimicrobial therapy to oral therapy through the introduction of Early Oral Switch Therapy (EOST) recommendations.PurposeWe aimed to assess the impact on consumption, cost and duration of intravenous antimicrobials of the introduction of EOST recommendations by clinical pharmacists as a part of an ASP.Material and methodsThe study was prospective with a before–after design, divided into a pre-intervention phase (January–May 2015) and a post-intervention phase (January–May 2016). The intervention consisted of writing the advice of the EOST by the clinical pharmacist on the patient’s clinical chart. Target patients were those admitted to hospital internal medicine floors. They had all received more than 72 hours of selected intravenous antimicrobial treatment (co-amoxiclav, ceftriaxone, levofloxacin) and had clinical and analytical stability.Variables compared between the study phases were: consumption of selected and general antimicrobials calculated by defined daily dose per 100 stays (DDD/100 stays); cost of selected and general antimicrobial treatment, calculated by total spending per 100 stays; duration of selected and general antimicrobial treatments, calculated by total days of antimicrobial treatment per patient. All statistical analysis were performed using SPSS v.19.0, with a significance level of p<0.05.ResultsDuring the pre-intervention phase, mean consumption of IV antimicrobials was 6.3 DDD/100 stays (4.7–7.9), and during the post-intervention phase it was 6.1 DDD/100 stays (4.3–7.9) (p=0.07). The associated mean costs were of €8.9/100 stays versus €8.1/100 stays (p=0.90). In terms of duration, the length of intravenous antimicrobial treatment during the pre-intervention phase was 4.3 days/patient (4.2–4.5), and during the post-intervention phase it was 3.5 days/patient (3.4–3.7) (p=0.05).ConclusionThis study suggests successful implementation of an EOST. Differences were not statistically significant, but we found a trend towards decreasing intravenous antimicrobial duration, consumption and cost. ASP carried out by a multidisciplinary teams may result in a decrease in the overuse of intravenous antimicrobial treatments.References and/or acknowledgementsMartínez Vazquez, MJ. Estrategia de conversion de la vía intravenosa a la vía oral. Vigo: Ediciones Mayo 2002.No conflict of interest
There is a current upsurge in research on nonvolatile two-terminal resistance random access memory (RRAM) for next generation electronic applications. The RRAM is composed of a simple sandwich of a ...semiconductor with two metal electrodes. We introduce here an initial model for RRAM with the assumption that the semiconducting part has a nonpercolating domain structure. We solve the model using numerical simulations and the basic carrier transfer mechanism is unveiled in detail. Our model captures three key features observed in experiments: multilevel switchability of the resistance, its memory retention, and hysteretic behavior in the current-voltage curve.
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Antioxidants have been widely used during in vitro production to decrease the negative effect of reactive oxygen species. It was reported that the complex resveratrol–methyl β‐cyclodextrin ...(RV‐CD) improves resveratrol's stability and bioavailability and increases its antioxidant activity. This study evaluates the effect of RV‐CD during in vitro oocyte maturation (IVM) or in vitro embryo culture (IVC) on developmental competence and quantitative changes in gene expression of developmental important genes. In experiment 1, RV‐CD was added to IVM media and maturation level, embryo development and oocytes, cumulus cells, and blastocysts gene expression by RT‐qPCR were examined. In experiment 2, presumptive zygotes were cultured in SOF supplemented with RV‐CD and embryo development and blastocysts gene expression by RT‐qPCR were studied. A group without RV‐CD (control−) and a group with cyclodextrin (control+) were included. No differences were found in cleavage rate or blastocyst yield between groups. However, the expression of LIPE was higher in blastocysts derived from oocytes treated with resveratrol compared with control groups (p < .05). Blastocysts produced by IVC with resveratrol showed that RV‐CD could modify the expression of genes related to lipid metabolism (CYP51A1, PNPLA2 and MTORC1) compared with control groups (p < .05). RV‐CD in the IVM and IVC media could reduce accumulated fat by increasing lipolysis and suppressing lipogenesis of blastocysts.
•Functionalization ZSM-5 with Ag+ and study of antibacterial and fungal properties.•ZSM-5Ag inhibits the growth of resistant microorganisms at septic conditions.•Silver ions confer antifungal and ...antibacterial properties to the zeolite ZSM-5.•The functionalized zeolite inhibits the growth of the bacteria and fungus.
Antimicrobial properties of high SiO2/Al2O3 ratio zeolites functionalized with silver have been scarcely reported in the literature. The antimicrobial properties of the ZSM-5 type zeolite functionalized with Ag+ ions were evaluated using culture media by placing in contact the resultant zeolite with the Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa bacteria and the Candida albicans fungus. The effect of the time on bactericidal activity was examined with a kinetic study carried out to analyze the microorganism growth. The results indicated that this functionalized zeolite inhibits the bacteria and fungus proliferation.
Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) has become one of the most widely used and powerful tools for noninvasive clinical diagnosis owing to its high degree of soft tissue contrast, spatial resolution, and ...depth of penetration. MRI signal intensity is related to the relaxation times (T 1, spin-lattice relaxation and T 2, spin-spin relaxation) of in vivo water protons. To increase contrast, various inorganic nanoparticles and complexes (the so-called contrast agents) are administered prior to the scanning. Shortening T 1 and T 2 increases the corresponding relaxation rates, 1/T 1 and 1/T 2, producing hyperintense and hypointense signals respectively in shorter times. Moreover, the signal-to-noise ratio can be improved with the acquisition of a large number of measurements. The contrast agents used are generally based on either iron oxide nanoparticles or ferrites, providing negative contrast in T 2-weighted images; or complexes of lanthanide metals (mostly containing gadolinium ions), providing positive contrast in T 1-weighted images. Recently, lanthanide complexes have been immobilized in nanostructured materials in order to develop a new class of contrast agents with functions including blood-pool and organ (or tumor) targeting. Meanwhile, to overcome the limitations of individual imaging modalities, multimodal imaging techniques have been developed. An important challenge is to design all-in-one contrast agents that can be detected by multimodal techniques. Magnetoliposomes are efficient multimodal contrast agents. They can simultaneously bear both kinds of contrast and can, furthermore, incorporate targeting ligands and chains of polyethylene glycol to enhance the accumulation of nanoparticles at the site of interest and the bioavailability, respectively. Here, we review the most important characteristics of the nanoparticles or complexes used as MRI contrast agents.
Background and ImportanceConstipation is a common complication during hospitalisation due to the presence of risk factors such as bed rest, diseases causing reduced bowel motility or administration ...of medications (opioids, anticholinergic drugs…). The standard therapy is laxative drugs. Murphy’s enema (ME) is used for the treatment of constipation and faecal impaction when patients do not respond to laxatives. It consist of administering an evacuating solution (milk 300 mL, liquid vaseline 100 mL, oxygenated water 200 mL and saline solution 500 mL) through a rectal probe during 6 hours (53 drops/min), leading to a softening of the stool and osmotic evacuation. Although this is a common clinical practice in our hospital, we have not found any published study evaluating its effectiveness and safety.Aim and ObjectivesTo assess the effectiveness and safety of ME for the treatment of constipation and faecal impaction.Material and MethodsWe performed a descriptive, retrospective study of effectiveness and safety of the administration of ME in patients with admitted in a tertiary hospital. We included patients who received ME from June-2020 to August-2022. We registered data of comorbidities, defecation achievement and adverse events related to the administration. Data were obtained from the electronic prescription program and the electronic health records.ResultsWe included 33 patients, 18 women and 15 men, with a mean age of 76 years. Two patients were readmitted, therefore a total of 37 ME were administrated. The most frequent comorbidities were hypertension (40,5%), chronic constipation (33,3%), diabetes mellitus II (21,2%), heart failure (18,1%), atrial fibrillation (18,1%), dyslipidemia (12,1%), cognitive impairment (12,1%) and kidney failure (12,1%). The indication of ME was constipation (67,5%), faecal impaction (27,2%) and paralytic ileum (5,4%). ME was effective in the 64,8% of cases, with defecation achievement after administration. ME was overall well tolerated; one case of hypotension, one of nausea and one of abdominal pain were registered.Conclusion and RelevanceME constitutes a safe and effective alternative for patients with constipation and faecal impaction not responding to the usual therapies. Furthermore, there is no published evidence regarding this practice, so this study may constitute a starting point for the development of further studies with larger sample sizes.References and/or AcknowledgementsConflict of InterestNo conflict of interest
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