scholarly journals Fecal stress, nutrition and reproductive hormones for monitoring environmental impacts on tigers (Panthera tigris)

2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Samrat Mondol ◽  
Rebecca K Booth ◽  
Samuel K Wasser
Keyword(s):  
Thyroid Hormone ◽  
Metabolic Rate ◽  
High Performance ◽  
Cross Reactivity ◽  
Reproductive Hormones ◽  
Panthera Tigris ◽  
Biologically Relevant ◽  
Acth Challenge ◽  
Non Invasive ◽  
Glucose Depletion

Abstract Non-invasive stress and nutritional hormone analysis in relation to ecological and other biological indices have tremendous potential to address environmental disturbance impacts on wildlife health. To this end, we examined the relation between glucocorticoid (GC) and thyroid (T3) hormone indices of disturbance and nutritional stress in response to ACTH and TSH challenges in captive tigers, as well as how reproductive hormones vary by sex and reproductive condition. Glucocorticoid, thyroid, progesterone and androgen assays conducted on high-performance liquid chromatography separated fractions of biologically relevant fecal extracts revealed high cross-reactivity of these assays for their respective biologically relevant fecal hormone metabolites. Both adrenal and thyroid hormone metabolites were elevated in response to ACTH and TSH challenges. However, the adrenal and thyroid hormone responses to ACTH challenge were concurrent, whereas the adrenal response to TSH challenge was delayed relative to thyroid hormone elevation in both males and females. The concurrently elevated T3 in response to ACTH may serve to raise metabolic rate to maximize use of GC-mobilized glucose, whereas the relatively delayed GC rise following TSH challenge may be a response to glucose depletion due to increased metabolic rate associated with elevated T3. Progesterone, testosterone and androstenedione hormone metabolites were significantly elevated during gestation compared to lactation in a female monitored from conception through early lactation. Results suggest that the glucocorticoid, thyroid and reproductive hormone assays we tested can accurately measure the stress, nutrition and reproductive response from tiger feces, providing useful non-invasive tools to assess physiological responses to environmental stressors and their reproductive consequences in the wild.

scholarly journals A High-Performance Multiplex Immunoassay for Serodiagnosis of Flavivirus-Associated Neurological Diseases in Horses

2015 ◽  
Vol 2015 ◽  
pp. 1-13 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cécile Beck ◽  
Philippe Desprès ◽  
Sylvie Paulous ◽  
Jessica Vanhomwegen ◽  
Steeve Lowenski ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
High Performance ◽  
Neurological Diseases ◽  
Expression System ◽  
Cross Reactivity ◽  
Encephalitis Virus ◽  
Serological Tests ◽  
Multiplex Immunoassay ◽  
Tick Borne Encephalitis ◽  
Tick Borne Encephalitis Virus ◽  
Negative Controls

West Nile virus (WNV), Japanese encephalitis virus (JEV), and tick-borne encephalitis virus (TBEV) are flaviviruses responsible for severe neuroinvasive infections in humans and horses. The confirmation of flavivirus infections is mostly based on rapid serological tests such as enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISAs). These tests suffer from poor specificity, mainly due to antigenic cross-reactivity among flavivirus members. Robust diagnosis therefore needs to be validated through virus neutralisation tests (VNTs) which are time-consuming and require BSL3 facilities. The flavivirus envelope (E) glycoprotein ectodomain is composed of three domains (D) named DI, DII, and DIII, with EDIII containing virus-specific epitopes. In order to improve the serological differentiation of flavivirus infections, the recombinant soluble ectodomain of WNV E (WNV.sE) and EDIIIs (rEDIIIs) of WNV, JEV, and TBEV were synthesised using theDrosophilaS2 expression system. Purified antigens were covalently bonded to fluorescent beads. The microspheres coupled to WNV.sE or rEDIIIs were assayed with about 300 equine immune sera from natural and experimental flavivirus infections and 172 nonimmune equine sera as negative controls. rEDIII-coupled microspheres captured specific antibodies against WNV, TBEV, or JEV in positive horse sera. This innovative multiplex immunoassay is a powerful alternative to ELISAs and VNTs for veterinary diagnosis of flavivirus-related diseases.

Functional Coatings for Damage Detection in Aerospace Structures

2021 ◽  
Vol 22 (1) ◽  
pp. 95-103
Author(s):  
Agathe Demay ◽  
Johnathan Hernandez ◽  
Perla Latorre ◽  
Remelisa Esteves ◽  
Seetha Raghavan
Keyword(s):  
Damage Detection ◽  
High Performance ◽  
Structural Integrity ◽  
Alumina Nanoparticles ◽  
Functional Coatings ◽  
Aerospace Structures ◽  
Non Invasive ◽  
Damage Sensing ◽  
Composite Substrate ◽  
Open Hole

The future of aerospace structures is highly dependent on the advancement of reliable and high-performance materials, such as composite materials and metals. Innovation in high resolution non-invasive evaluation of these materials is needed for their qualification and monitoring for structural integrity. Aluminum oxide (or α-alumina) nanoparticles present photoluminescent properties that allow stress and damage sensing via photoluminescence piezospectroscopy. This work describes how these nanoparticles are added into a polymer matrix to create functional coatings that monitor the damage of the underlying composite or metallic substrates. Different volume fractions of α-alumina nanoparticles in the piezospectroscopic coatings were studied for determining the sensitivity of the coatings and successful damage detection was demonstrated for an open-hole tension composite substrate as well as 2024 aluminum tensile substrates with a subsurface notch.

scholarly journals Design and Implementation of Smart Non-Invasive Bone Conduction Ear-Plug System

2018 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 249
Author(s):  
Ravichandran G ◽  
M Krishnamurthy
Keyword(s):  
Low Power ◽  
Flash Memory ◽  
High Performance ◽  
Bone Conduction ◽  
Ultra Low Power ◽  
Audio Processing ◽  
Activity Tracker ◽  
Non Invasive ◽  
Run Up ◽  
Music Player

<p>The project aim is to design a smart earplug system integrated with non-invasive bone conduction technique which is capable of doing some advanced audio processing to provide voice enhancing, noise filtered audio for the hearing impaired people [2]. The system is also designed to work as an embedded music player, a life activity tracker and a Smartphone companion. It can even read the SMS that is just received on your smartphone into your ear. This project needs a very low power microcontroller but with high-performance signal processing requirements. STM32L476 from STMicroelectronics meets this needs and thus chosen as the main MCU. It is an ultra-low power ARM Cortex-M4 based microcontroller that can run up to 80MHz.  It has got 1MB of Flash memory and 128 KB RAM.</p>

scholarly journals Validation of a noninvasive technique to quantify stress in northern bobwhite (Colinus virginianus)

2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jessica L Mohlman ◽  
Kristen J Navara ◽  
Michael J Sheriff ◽  
Theron M Terhune ◽  
James A Martin
Keyword(s):  
Colinus Virginianus ◽  
Population Decline ◽  
Endocrine System ◽  
Northern Bobwhite ◽  
Noninvasive Technique ◽  
Acth Challenge ◽  
Non Invasive ◽  
Management Actions ◽  
Hunting Dog ◽  
Corticosterone Metabolites

Abstract Examination of the endocrine system through non-invasive fecal sampling may improve population management more than using demographic indicators alone. By addressing the physiological mechanisms that are influencing fitness, management actions can be proactively developed to alleviate stressors. Proactive determination of vulnerable populations is critical for species of concern, such as the Northern Bobwhite (Colinus virginianus), which have suffered decades of population decline. We validated an assay to noninvasively measure the adrenocortical response of captive reared bobwhite through fecal corticosterone metabolites (FCM). All individuals received three sequential 48-hour treatments in which samples were collected every 4 hours, including a reference period, an adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) challenge and a biological stressor (exposure to a hunting dog). Reference FCM values had a mean concentration of 16.75 pg/mg (95% CrI: 13.68, 19.91) with adrenocortical activity increasing by 73% for the duration of the ACTH challenge (29.00 pg/mg; CrI: 25.01, 33.78). FCM concentrations remained similar to that of the reference levels during the biological stressor (16.56 pg/mg; CrI: 13.33, 19.92). Our study validates the use of feces to detect changes in FCM levels in our subject species but also demonstrates the complexity of FCM and the importance of both physiological and biological validation prior to field implementation.

Plasma levels of human atrial natriuretic peptide in patients with hypertensive diseases

1987 ◽  
Vol 65 (8) ◽  
pp. 1701-1705 ◽  
Author(s):  
Osamu Iimura ◽  
Kazuaki Shimamoto ◽  
Toshiaki Ando ◽  
Nobuyuki Ura ◽  
Hiroyuki Ishida ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Atrial Natriuretic Peptide ◽  
Human Plasma ◽  
Natriuretic Peptide ◽  
High Performance ◽  
Cross Reactivity ◽  
Chromatographic Study ◽  
Human Atrial Natriuretic Peptide ◽  
Plasma Atrial Natriuretic Peptide ◽  
Hypertensive Diseases ◽  
Atrial Natriuretic

Three types of antihuman atrial natriuretic peptide antiserum were obtained. From the study of cross-reactivity to human atrial natriuretic peptide fragments, it was suggested that antisera-1, -2, and -3 are mostly specific to 1–28, 5–25, and the ring structure, respectively. The estimated values of this hormone were significantly lower in the order of antisera-1, -2, and -3. Moreover, high performance liquid chromatographic study showed that various types of fragments of atrial natriuretic peptide exist in human plasma. These findings suggested that the highly specific antiserum to 1–28 human atrial natriuretic peptide such as antiserum-1 should be used to estimate the 1–28 human atrial natriuretic peptide levels in human plasma. From the study by using antiserum-1, it was concluded that the plasma human atrial natriuretic peptide increased in essential hypertensives, and in patients with primary aldosteronism, chronic renal failure, and malignant hypertension. Regarding the pathophysiological significance of increased plasma atrial natriuretic peptide, it is unlikely that this plays an important role in the etiology of essential hypertension or other hypertensive diseases, because the plasma level of this hormone is elevated in these patients. The increase of plasma atrial natriuretic peptide level in these patients should be considered to be a secondary or compensatory reaction to high blood pressure.

scholarly journals Detection of cirrhosis through ultrasound imaging by intensity difference technique

2019 ◽  
Vol 2019 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Karan Aggarwal ◽  
Manjit Singh Bhamrah ◽  
Hardeep Singh Ryait
Keyword(s):  
High Performance ◽  
Research Work ◽  
Region Of Interest ◽  
Normal Liver ◽  
Cirrhotic Liver ◽  
Intensity Difference ◽  
Non Invasive ◽  
The Us ◽  
The Difference ◽  
Two Parameters

Abstract Cirrhosis is a liver disease that is considered to be among the most common diseases in healthcare. Due to its non-invasive nature, ultrasound (US) imaging is a widely accepted technology for the diagnosis of this disease. This research work proposed a method for discriminating the cirrhotic liver from normal liver through US images. The liver US images were obtained from the radiologist. The radiologist also specified the region of interest (ROI) from these images, and then the proposed method was applied to it. Two parameters were extracted from the US images through differences in intensity of neighboring pixels. Then, these parameters can be used to train a classifier by which cirrhotic region of test patient can be detected. A 2-D array was created by the difference in intensity of the neighboring pixels. From this array, two parameters were calculated. The decision was taken by checking these parameters. The validation of the proposed tool was done on 80 images of cirrhotic and 30 images of normal liver, and classification accuracy of 98.18% was achieved. The result was also verified by the radiologist. The results verified its possibility and applicability for high-performance cirrhotic liver discrimination.

Homologous amino-terminal radioimmunoassay for rat parathyroid hormone

1991 ◽  
Vol 261 (2) ◽  
pp. E262-E268 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. S. Calvo ◽  
C. M. Gundberg ◽  
H. Heath ◽  
J. Fox
Keyword(s):  
Parathyroid Hormone ◽  
High Performance ◽  
Specific Binding ◽  
Rat Plasma ◽  
Cross Reactivity ◽  
Standard Curve ◽  
Amino Terminal ◽  
Antiserum Dilution ◽  
Normal Rat ◽  
Assay Detection

Existing radioimmunoassays for parathyroid hormone (PTH) in rat plasma are based on cross-reactivity of rat PTH (rPTH) with heterologous antisera. We used the synthetic NH2-terminal fragment of rPTH [rPTH-(1-34)] to develop a homologous radioimmunoassay for circulating PTH. An antiserum to rPTH-(1-34) was raised in a goat (G-813), and the same peptide was used as radioligand (125I) and standard. Purification of the label by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) increased specific binding greater than twofold and sensitivity by 50-100%. With a final antiserum dilution of 1:70,000, maximum specific binding of 30-33%, nonspecific binding of 1-5%, and 50-microliters sample additions, the assay detection limit was 1.8-2.5 pmol/l. A midregional fragment of human PTH did not displace 125I-labeled rPTH-(1-34). HPLC of extracts of rat parathyroid glands and hyperparathyroid plasma showed only a single peak of immunoreactivity that eluted 2 min after rPTH-(1-34). Dose dilution curves for rat parathyroid gland extracts, rPTH-(1-34) added to rat plasma, and endogenous rat plasma PTH all paralleled the standard curve. Immunoreactive PTH (irPTH) was detectable in greater than 90% of fasting normal rat plasma and changed appropriately in response to hyper- and hypocalcemia induced by low-calcium and vitamin D-deficient diets, injections of calcium and EDTA, and after thyroparathyroidectomy. The normal range for rat plasma irPTH was less than 2.0-12 pmol/l, in general agreement with bioassay results of others. Thus rPTH-(1-34) is an excellent immunogen for raising antisera to rPTH, and assays incorporating it may be of great value in studying rat parathyroid physiology.

Combined liquid chromatography/radioimmunoassay with improved specificity for serum digoxin.

1985 ◽  
Vol 31 (8) ◽  
pp. 1272-1277 ◽  
Author(s):  
M H Gault ◽  
L Longerich ◽  
M Dawe ◽  
S C Vasdev
Keyword(s):  
Renal Failure ◽  
High Performance Liquid Chromatography ◽  
Liquid Chromatography ◽  
Present Method ◽  
High Performance ◽  
Cross Reactivity ◽  
Small Column ◽  
Polar Metabolites ◽  
Column Extraction ◽  
Digoxin Metabolites

Abstract This method for assaying digoxin in serum with improved specificity combines small-column extraction of serum, "high-performance" liquid chromatography, and RIA of the eluted fractions. Analytical recoveries of 1.0, 0.5, and 0.1 microgram/L standards were 95%, 93%, and 84%, respectively. The CVs for duplicates and replicates of sera with values of 0.5 to 1 microgram/L were 4 to 6%. Fifty-nine sera from 50 patients receiving digoxin were so studied. All digoxin metabolites appear to cross react with antibody to digoxin to various degrees. The most polar metabolites were quantitatively the most important, their average cross reactivity being 33%. For eight patients the value for digoxin by the present method was less than 60% of the RIA value. Sera from nine patients not taking digoxin but with falsely high digoxin values were also studied by the present method. The digoxin peak was well resolved from those for (a) digoxin metabolites (except dihydrodigoxin), (b) digitalis-like factors in neonates and in patients with renal failure or combined hepatic and renal failure, and (c) two cross reacting drugs and their metabolites.

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