Search results for "Sheep"
showing 10 items of 279 documents
Ovine corticotropin-releasing factor and dexamethasone responses in hyperandrogenic women
1990
Eighteen hyperandrogenic, hirsute women received ovine corticotropin-releasing factor (CRF; 1 microgram/kg) as well as a dexamethasone (DEX) suppression test. Nine of the 18 hirsute women exhibited increased DEX sensitivity. Plasma adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) responses after ovine CRF were significantly lower in the DEX-sensitive subgroup, but serum androstenedione was higher. Baseline serum androgen levels could not predict DEX responses. A significant negative correlation existed between the suppression of androgens after DEX and the increase in ACTH after ovine CRF. The suppression of androgen correlated with the ratio of the increase in androgen to the increase in ACTH after ovin…
Analysis of seroprevalence against Coxiella burnetii in a sample of farm workers in Western Sicily
2016
Introduction and objective. Little is known about the development of chronic Q fever caused by Coxiella burnetii in occupational risk groups and in the general population in Italy, as well as in many countries in the world. The aim of this study was to highlight the presence of the infection in a sample of workers operating outdoors (but not directly in contact with animals), in three provinces of western Sicily, in order to detect the human seroprevalence and compare the obtained data with those found in animals raised in the same territory. Materials and methods. The study included 126 generic seasonal agricultural workers (labourers), 84 male and 42 female; none of whom were aware of any…
Live nativity and brucellosis, Sicily.
2006
To the Editor: Worldwide, brucellosis remains a major zoonosis and an important cause of travel-associated illness (1). Brucellosis is transmitted to humans through the consumption of infected, unpasteurized, animal-milk products; direct contact with infected animal parts; or inhalation of infected aerosolized particles. We report an outbreak of brucellosis in a small village of the Ionic coast of Messina province (eastern Sicily). In 2003, health authorities in the Messina province were notified of 29 cases of brucellosis; 18 of the patients were members of 9 different families. All patients had observed a Nativity pantomime that used live animals and was organized by the local population.…
Occurrence of aflatoxins in feedstuff, sheep milk and dairy products in Western Sicily
2003
Samples of feedstuffs (15), milk (40), and cheese (30) coming from sheep and dairy farms (23) or market in WesternSicily were analyzed for their respective content of aflatoxin B1 (AFB1) and M1 (AFM1) to evidence any possible indirectmycotoxin contamination risk to the consumer. Analyses using HPLC and fluorescence detection were performed afterimmunoaffinity column sample extraction and cleanup; AFM1 was detected in 30% of the milk samples at levels rangingfrom 4 to 23 ng/l and in 13% of the cheeses from 21 to 101 ng/kg; in the feed the AFB1 ranged from None of the contaminated samples exceeded the legal limits set down by the European Union for milk (50 ng/l) and feed(5 μg/kg ), or tha…
Comparison of selection criteria for milk yield traits of Valle del Belice dairy sheep.
2006
Abstract The objectives of this work were to investigate alternative selection criteria for milk yield traits in the Valle del Belice sheep breed, which are either corrected for lactation length or not affected by lactation length, to estimate genetic parameters for these alternative selection criteria and to compare the estimated breeding values. The genetic correlations show that corrected milk yield (CMY), maximum test-day yield (MTY) and milk yield at hundred days (MYH), are moderately or weakly correlated with lactation length (LL) ( r g = 0.58, 0.16 and 0.39, respectively). Higher genetic correlation was found between total milk yield (TMY) and LL ( r g = 0.73). Rank correlations be…
Studies on the natural hemolytic system of the annelid worm Spirographis spallanzanii viviani (Polychaeta).
1981
Abstract Hemolytic activity in the hemolymph of Spirographis spallanzanii was estabilished against Bufo, sheep, calf, rabbit, rat, human A, B, O erythrocytes. Chemico-physical treatments suggest that the hemolytic factor could be a thermo-labile protein whose activity requires calcium ions and which is active over broad pH and temperature ranges. Some of these properties and the sigmoidal curve obtained by plotting the quantity of hemolymph against the percentage of hemolysis, produce some analogies with the mammalian lytic system.
Assessment of the anti-inflammatory activity and free radical scavenger activity of tiliroside
2003
Three flavonoids, gnaphaliin, pinocembrin and tiliroside, isolated from Helichrysum italicum, were studied in vitro for their antioxidant and/or scavenger properties and in vivo in different models of inflammation. In vitro tests included lipid peroxidation in rat liver microsomes, superoxide radical generation in the xanthine/xanthine oxidase system and the reduction of the stable radical 1,1-diphenyl-2-pycryl-hydrazyl (DPPH). Acute inflammation was induced by application of 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol 13-acetate (TPA) to the mouse ear or by subcutaneous injection of phospholipase A(2) or serotonin in the mouse paw. Eczema provoked on the mouse ear by repeated administration of TPA was selec…
Heart valve tissue engineering: how far is the bedside from the bench?
2015
Heart disease, including valve pathologies, is the leading cause of death worldwide. Despite the progress made thanks to improving transplantation techniques, a perfect valve substitute has not yet been developed: once a diseased valve is replaced with current technologies, the newly implanted valve still needs to be changed some time in the future. This situation is particularly dramatic in the case of children and young adults, because of the necessity of valve growth during the patient's life. Our review focuses on the current status of heart valve (HV) therapy and the challenges that must be solved in the development of new approaches based on tissue engineering. Scientists and physicia…
Importance of Propionibacterium acnes hemolytic activity in human intervertebral discs: A microbiological study
2018
Most patients with chronic lower back pain (CLBP) exhibit degenerative disc disease. Disc specimens obtained during initial therapeutic discectomies are often infected/colonized with Propionibacterium acnes, a Gram-positive commensal of the human skin. Although pain associated with infection is typically ascribed to the body's inflammatory response, the Gram-positive bacterium Staphylococcus aureus was recently observed to directly activate nociceptors by secreting pore-forming α-hemolysins that disrupt neuronal cell membranes. The hemolytic activity of P. acnes in cultured disc specimens obtained during routine therapeutic discectomies was assessed through incubation on sheep-blood agar. T…
Genetic analysis of early lamb survival in extensively reared lambs
2005
In sheep production, lamb survival is an important economic trait (Conington et al., 2004). Therefore, this trait has been studied by many scientists, especially in countries with an extensive husbandry system. In the United Kingdom, the number of lambs dying before weaning has been estimated ranging from 5 to 40% (Eales et al., 1983).