Search results for "Quine"
showing 10 items of 140 documents
Inhibition of autophagy rescues muscle atrophy in a LGMDD2 Drosophila model
2021
Limb-girdle muscular dystrophy D2 (LGMDD2) is an ultrarare autosomal dominant myopathy caused by mutation of the normal stop codon of the TNPO3 nuclear importin. The mutant protein carries a 15 amino acid C-terminal extension associated with pathogenicity. Here we report the first animal model of the disease by expressing the human mutant TNPO3 gene in Drosophila musculature or motor neurons and concomitantly silencing the endogenous expression of the fly protein ortholog. A similar genotype expressing wildtype TNPO3 served as a control. Phenotypes characterization revealed that mutant TNPO3 expression targeted at muscles or motor neurons caused LGMDD2-like phenotypes such as muscle degener…
Oral administration of pharmacological doses of Vitamins C and E reduces reproductive fitness and impairs the ovarian and uterine functions of female…
2002
This study aims to ascertain whether oral administration of pharmacological doses of Vitamins C and E has any detrimental effect on reproductive fitness of female mice. We fed hybrid female mice from the first day of weaning a standard diet supplemented or not supplemented with pharmacological doses of Vitamins C and E. At the age of 28 weeks, we individually caged females with a male for the rest of their reproductive life. We performed a series of mating experiments to ascertain the number of oocytes ovulated and the potential for embryo development in vitro to the blastocyst stage and in vivo to Day 12 of gestation. The antioxidant diet decreased the frequency of litters, litter size, to…
Comparison of three different staining methods for the assessment of epididymal red deer sperm morphometry by computerized analysis with ISAS®
2005
When collection of ejaculated sperm samples is not possible, as is the case with wild species, the epididymides of sacrificed wild males become the only possible source of spermatozoa. Mature cauda epididymal spermatozoa display characteristics similar to those of ejaculated sperm cells. The present work proposes a sperm staining technique suitable for the morphometric evaluation of red deer epididymal sperm using a new computerized system. Epididymides from wild animals were extracted no later than 2 h post mortem. After epididymal sectioning, sperm samples were collected, cooled to and equilibrated at 5 °C, and frozen in liquid nitrogen. Before staining, sperm samples were thawed for 20 s…
Multicentre Italian study of SARS-CoV-2 infection in children and adolescents, preliminary data as at 10 April 2020
2020
Data on features of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) in children and adolescents are scarce. We report preliminary results of an Italian multicentre study comprising 168 laboratory-confirmed paediatric cases (median: 2.3 years, range: 1 day–17.7 years, 55.9% males), of which 67.9% were hospitalised and 19.6% had comorbidities. Fever was the most common symptom, gastrointestinal manifestations were frequent; two children required intensive care, five had seizures, 49 received experimental treatments and all recovered.
Development of a universal short patient satisfaction questionnaire on the basis of SERVQUAL: Psychometric analyses with data of diabetes and stroke …
2019
ObjectiveA short questionnaire which can be applied for assessing patient satisfaction in different contexts and different countries is to be developed.MethodsSix items addressing tangibles, reliability, responsiveness, assurance, empathy, and communication were analysed. The first five items stem from SERVQUAL (SERVice QUALity), the last stems from the discussion about SERVQUAL. The analyses were performed with data from 12 surveys conducted in six different countries (England, Finland, Germany, Greece, the Netherlands, Spain) covering two different conditions (type 2 diabetes, stroke). Sample sizes for included participants are 247 in England, 160 in Finland, 231 in Germany, 152 in Greece…
Black Pete through the eyes of Dutch children
2016
The traditional figure of Black Pete seen during the December festivities around Sinterklaas (the Dutch Santa Claus) in the Netherlands has sparked fierce debates about his racial stereotypical characteristics and his potentially negative effects on children’s opinions about black people. The Black Pete phenomenon has even been discussed by the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, resulting in a report urging the Netherlands to eliminate this form of racial stereotyping. The adult debate about Black Pete is clearly important, but Sinterklaas is essentially a children’s holiday. Surprisingly, there have never been any systematic studies to examine children’s…
Computer assisted morphometric analysis of ram sperm heads: Evaluation of different fixative techniques
1998
The recent development of automated systems for morphometric sperm head analysis has provided a series of objective parameters which have facilitated the standardization of morphological semen evaluation. This current work attempts to establish the optimum fixing conditions for the morphometric characterization of ram spermatozoa. Ejaculates were obtained from 5 Merino rams used for periodic collection of semen and were diluted at 1:50 with TEST medium. Air-dried smears were fixed either in ethanol-ether (1:1), 50% methanol, 2% glutaraldehyde or SUZA fixative, in which case the smear was pretreated with chloramine. The samples were then stained with commercial kit Hemacolor. Once the prepar…
Synthesis of 3-azabicyclo[3.2.2]nonanes and their antiprotozoal activities.
2015
Several bicyclic compounds, 3-azabicyclo[3.2.2]nonanes, have been prepared. The new compounds were tested for their activities against one strain of the causative organism of Malaria tropica, Plasmodium falciparum K1, which is resistant against chloroquine and pyrimethamine. In addition, their cytotoxicity and their activity against the pathogen of the East African form of sleeping sickness, Trypanosoma brucei rhodesiense, were investigated. Structure-activity relationships are discussed considering data of readily prepared compounds. For the first time, a distinct in vivo activity was observed against Plasmodium berghei in a mouse model. The active compound was further investigated.
When animals cry: The effect of adding tears to animal expressions on human judgment
2020
At a time of growing interest in and awareness about the relationships between humans and animals, it is of relevance to scientifically analyse the intrinsic nature of these interactions. Reactions to emotional tears show our extraordinary capacity for detecting micro-nuances when judging another human’s face. Regarding such behaviour, previous studies carried out in our laboratory have pointed to an adaptive function of emotional tears: i.e. their inhibitory influence on perceived aggressiveness. In the present work we aimed to further explore that hypothesis by extending our investigation from humans to animals, using pictures of five different animal faces (cat, dog, horse, chimpanzee, h…
A comparative study of the sperm nuclear morphometry in cattle, goat, sheep, and pigs using a new computer-assisted method (CASMA-F)
2012
This study was designed to compare the sperm nuclear morphometry of four species of domestic artiodactyls (cattle, sheep, goats, and pigs), using the newly developed automatic computer-assisted sperm morphometry analysis-F. The study was divided into two experiments. In the first experiment, samples from 20 males from each species were collected, diluted, and divided into four sample aliquots. The first was labeled directly with Hoechst 33342, and the others were processed as smears. Between smears, one group was directly labeled with Hoechst after air drying, and the other was fixed either with glutaraldehyde (GLUT), or with methanol, and afterward labeled with Hoechst. Digital images of t…