Search results for "Laboratory"
showing 10 items of 923 documents
The relevance for Public Health of the mid-term and interim analyses of seasonal influenza vaccination effectiveness
2019
Worldwide, influenza is commonly recognized as a respiratory virus that causes a high number of deaths every year, especially among elderly adults and people with chronic illnesses. In order to reduce morbidity and mortality, many countries have implemented, in the last decades, universal influenza vaccination programs with special attention on groups at increased risk of developing the disease, such as pregnant women, children aged 6–59 months, elderly adults and individuals with specific chronic medical conditions. In real-world conditions, observational (nonrandomized) studies on vaccine effectiveness (VE) could measure,the risk reduction of contracting a disease and are considered the g…
Evaluation of “Stress Relief” Dietary Supplement on Animal Stress Level and Locomotion
2018
Abstract Search of new approaches for harmless, non-medication treatment of body dysfunctions is still on the agenda of vet and human practitioners and researchers as well. This study presents evaluation of the effect of “Stress Relief” dietary supplement (SR) on mice behaviour under different acute short-term stress conditions and treatment duration. Five experiments were performed and in each 40 animals were randomly split into four (I–IV) groups, where I and II — non-stressed mice, III and IV — stressed animals, I and III received water with trace mineral solution (TMS), II and IV received water with SR. As stress factors, forced swimming, rodent predator odour or both together were appl…
Combining Quantitative and Qualitative Data in the Study of Feeding Behavior in Male Wistar Rats
2019
The first step in a behavioral study is represented by the organization of a suitable ethogram, that is, a formal description of individual components of the behavior. Then, each component of such a behavioral repertoire can be quantified (e.g., how many times it occurs, its duration, percent distribution, latency, etc.). However, it is our contention that the possibility to describe the behavior of a living being by means of hundreds or even thousands of numbers concerning isolated components, disjointed from the comprehensive behavioral architecture, does not imply the possibility to use those numbers to reconstruct the meaning of behavior. Such a level of comprehension requires a qualita…
Immune Modulating Effects of NKT Cells in a Physiologically Low Dose Leishmania major Infection Model after αGalCer Analog PBS57 Stimulation
2014
Leishmaniasis is a parasitic infection affecting ∼12 million people worldwide, mostly in developing countries. Treatment options are limited and no effective vaccines exist to date. Natural Killer T (NKT) cells are a conserved innate-like lymphocyte population with immunomodulating effects in various settings. A number of reports state a role of NKT cells in different models of Leishmania infection. Here, we investigated the effect of NKT cells in a physiologically relevant, intradermal low dose infection model. After inoculation of 103 infectious-stage L. major, comparable numbers of skin-immigrating NKT cells in both susceptible BALB/c mice and resistant C57BL/6 mice were noted. Compared …
Sex-specific effects of natural and sexual selection on the evolution of life span and ageing in Drosophila simulans
2014
Summary Variation in the strength of age-dependent natural selection shapes differences in ageing rates across species and populations. Likewise, sexual selection can promote divergent patterns of senescence across the sexes. However, the effects of these processes on the evolution of ageing have largely been considered independently, and interactions between them are poorly understood. We use experimental evolution to investigate how natural and sexual selection affect life span and ageing in Drosophila simulans. Replicate populations were evolved under lifetime monogamy (relaxed sexual selection) or lifetime polyandry (elevated sexual selection) and at one of two temperatures, 25 °C (rela…
The pain threshold of high-threshold mechanosensitive receptors subsequent to maximal eccentric exercise is a potential marker in the prediction of D…
2017
Background Delayed-onset muscle soreness (DOMS) refers to dull pain and discomfort in people after participating in exercise, sport or recreational physical activities. The aim of this study was to detect underlying mechanical thresholds in an experimental model of DOMS. Methods Randomised study to detect mechanical pain thresholds in a randomised order following experimentally induced DOMS of the non-dominant arm in healthy participants. Main outcome was the detection of the pressure pain threshold (PPT), secondary thresholds included mechanical detection (MDT) and pain thresholds (MPT), pain intensity, pain perceptions and the maximum isometric voluntary force (MIVF). Results Twenty volun…
Respiration and growth rates of F0 and F1 larval and juvenile European seabass Dicentrarchus labrax in response to ocean acidification and warming
2022
Ongoing climate change is leading to warmer and more acidic oceans. The future distribution of fish within the oceans depends on their capacity to adapt to these new environments. Only few studies have examined the effects of ocean acidification (OA) and warming (OW) on the metabolism of long-lived fish over successive generations. We therefore aimed to investigate the effect of OA on larval and juvenile growth and metabolism on two successive generations of European sea bass (Dicentrarchus labrax L.) as well as the effect of OAW on larval and juvenile growth and metabolism of the second generation. European sea bass is a large economically important fish species with a long generation time…
Laboratory evaluation of the effect of plant extracts on Tetranychus urticae Koch (Acariformes, Tetranychidae)
2005
Acetone extracts of Annona cherimola Mill., Melia azedarach L., Artemisia absinthium L. and Quassia spp., were tested in laboratory trials on young females of Tetranychus urticae Koch (Acariformes,Tetranychidae). In the post-infestation tests, extracts of Melia and Annona caused a high mortality of the target females (84% and 96% for Melia and Annona, respectively) after 24 hours and 100% for both extracts after 48 hours. On the other hand Artemisia extracts caused 84% mortality of females after 10 days even if the oviposition rate was statistically lower than in the controls (2.5 and 6.7 eggs/female/day for Artemisia and controls, respectively).
Combining hyperspectral UAV and multispectral Formosat-2 imagery for precision agriculture applications
2014
Remote sensing is a key tool for precision agriculture applications as it is capable of capturing spatial and temporal variations in crop status. However, satellites often have an inadequate spatial resolution for precision agriculture applications. High-resolution Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV) imagery can be obtained at flexible dates, but operational costs may limit the collection frequency. The current study utilizes data fusion to create a dataset which benefits from the temporal resolution of Formosat-2 imagery and the spatial resolution of UAV imagery with the purpose of monitoring crop growth in a potato field. The correlation of the Weighted Difference Vegetation Index (WDVI) from …
Emotional Dimensions of User Experience ? A User Psychological Analysis
2014
User psychology is a human–technology interaction research approach that uses psychological concepts, theories, and findings to structure problems of human–technology interaction. As the notion of user experience has become central in human–technology interaction research and in product development, it is necessary to investigate the user psychology of user experience. This analysis of emotional human–technology interaction is based on the psychological theory of basic emotions. Three studies, two laboratory experiments, and one field study are used to investigate the basic emotions and the emotional mind involved in user experience. The first and second experiments study the measurement of…