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Binding densities to dopamine D1-like and D2-like receptors (D1DR and D2DR) were studied in brain regions of animals with genetic generalized audiogenic (AGS) and/or absence (AbS) epilepsy (KM, WAG/Rij-AGS, and WAG/Rij rats, respectively) as compared to non-epileptic Wistar (WS) rats. Convulsive epilepsy (AGS) exerted a major effect on the striatal subregional binding densities for D1DR and D2DR. An increased binding density to D1DR was found in the dorsal striatal subregions of AGS-prone rats. Similar changes were seen for D2DR in the central and dorsal striatal territories. Subregions of the nucleus accumbens demonstrated consistent subregional decreases in the binding densities of D1DR and D2DR in epileptic animals, irrespective of epilepsy types. This was seen for D1DR in the dorsal core, dorsal, and ventrolateral shell; and for D2DR in the dorsal, dorsolateral, and ventrolateral shell. An increased density of D2DR was found in the motor cortex of AGS-prone rats. An AGS-related increase in binding densities to D1DR and D2DR in the dorsal striatum and motor cortex, areas responsible for motor activity, possibly reflects the activation of brain anticonvulsive loops. General epilepsy-related decreases in binding densities to D1DR and D2DR in the accumbal subregions might contribute to behavioral comorbidities of epilepsy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Smoking, exposure to environmental tobacco smoke (ETS) and occupational exposure to vapours, gases, dusts or fumes (VGDF) increase asthma symptoms. The impact of combined exposure is less well established. We aimed to evaluate the risk of combined exposure to smoking, ETS and VGDF on the prevalence of current asthma and asthma‐related symptoms with a postal survey among a random population of 16,000 adults, aged 20–69 years (response rate 51.5%). The 836 responders with physician‐diagnosed asthma were included in the analysis. Of them, 81.9% had current asthma defined as physician‐diagnosed asthma with current asthma medication use or reported symptoms. There was a consistently increasing trend in the prevalence of current asthma by increased exposure. The highest prevalence of multiple symptoms was in smokers with VGDF exposure (92.1%) compared to the unexposed (73.9%, p = 0.001). In logistic regression analysis, combined exposure to several exposures increased the risk in all analysed symptoms (p = 0.002–0.007). In conclusion, smoking and exposure to ETS or VGDF increased the prevalence of current asthma and multiple symptoms. The combined exposure carried the highest risk. Preventive strategies are called for to mitigate exposure to tobacco smoke and VGDF. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Soluble urokinase plasminogen activator receptor (suPAR) has emerged as a novel biomarker for various inflammatory conditions and has been proposed to associate with the severity of asthma. However, the relationship between suPAR and clinical asthma features is poorly understood. Objective: To examine associations of serum suPAR levels with clinical characteristics of asthma and to define the phenotype with high suPAR levels in patients with adult-onset asthma. Methods: Serum suPAR levels were measured with ELISA from patients with adult-onset asthma participating in the 12-year follow-up visit in the Seinäjoki Adult Asthma Study. Results: In total, 201 patients were divided into quartiles according to suPAR values. High suPAR patients had more severe asthma symptoms and poorer asthma control. They also had higher levels of interleukin 8 (IL-8), interleukin 6 (IL-6), matrix metalloproteinase 9 (MMP-9), and blood neutrophil counts than those with low suPAR levels. The use of high-dose inhaled and oral corticosteroids was more common in patients with elevated suPAR. Such patients also had visited healthcare more frequently during the follow-up period, had more comorbidities, and were physically less active than those with low suPAR levels. The above-mentioned results remained similar after excluding the patients with co-existing COPD; only association to hospitalizations was lost. In multivariable binary regression analyses, the highest suPAR quartile was associated with higher cumulative dispensed oral corticosteroid use, more severe symptoms, and uncontrolled asthma. Conclusion: High suPAR levels occur in uncontrolled adult-onset asthma patients characterized by neutrophilic inflammation, high corticosteroid use, frequent healthcare visits, and multimorbidity with unhealthy lifestyle. This biomarker could be useful in determining asthma phenotypes and target new asthma treatments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Education in itself and as a proxy for socioeconomic status, may influence asthma control, but remains poorly studied in adult-onset asthma. Our aim was to study the association between the level of education and asthma control in adult-onset asthma. Subjects with current asthma with onset >15 years were examined within the Obstructive Lung Disease in Northern Sweden study (OLIN, n = 593), Seinäjoki Adult Asthma Study (SAAS, n = 200), and West Sweden Asthma Study (WSAS, n = 301) in 2009–2014 in a cross-sectional setting. Educational level was classified as primary, secondary and tertiary. Uncontrolled asthma was defined as Asthma Control Test (ACT) score ≤19. Altogether, 896 subjects with complete data on ACT and education were included (OLIN n = 511, SAAS n = 200 and WSAS n = 185). In each cohort and in pooled data of all cohorts, median ACT score was lower among those with primary education than in those with secondary and tertiary education. Uncontrolled asthma was most common among those with primary education, especially among daily ICS users (42.6% primary, 28.6% secondary and 24.2% tertiary; p = 0.001). In adjusted analysis, primary education was associated with uncontrolled asthma in daily ICS users (OR 1.92, 95% CI 1.15–3.20). When stratified by atopy, the association between primary education and uncontrolled asthma was seen in non-atopic (OR 3.42, 95% CI 1.30–8.96) but not in atopic subjects. In high-income Nordic countries, lower educational level was a risk factor for uncontrolled asthma in subjects with adult-onset asthma. Educational level should be considered in the management of adult-onset asthma. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights • Finishing bulls had more synchronised behaviour in pastures than in pens. • This was the case for lying, eating and standing, as well as for them together. • The higher level of synchronisation may imply more natural social behaviour. • The effects of allelomimicry and concurrence on the difference are discussed. Abstract The objective of the present study was to compare the synchronisation of the lying, feeding and standing behaviour of bulls housed in an uninsulated barn and in a pasture. Dairy (Ayrshire and Holstein-Friesian) and beef (Hereford) bulls were housed in June-July in either partly bedded pens in an uninsulated barn (PEN bulls; five groups of four or five bulls with 6.4 or 8.0 m2/bull) or in a pasture (PAS bulls; five groups of four or five bulls with 680, 1000 or 1250 m2/bull). The PEN bulls were fed grass silage ad libitum. For concentrate supplementation both the PEN and PAS bulls received rolled barley 4.4 kg dry matter/animal/day. The behaviour of the bulls was observed for two 24-h periods. The animals were 15–17 months old during the observations. Instantaneous sampling with a 6-min sampling interval (IS-6 min) was used originally for collecting the data. Lying, eating and standing (=all other activities performed in a standing posture) were recorded during the IS-6 observations. The Fleiss' Kappa coefficient was used as an index of behavioural synchronisation. It was calculated for each of the groups of four or five animals across 24 (IS-60 min) and 12 (IS-120 min) time points within a 24-h day to increase the independency of the data points. The Fleiss' kappa coefficient was calculated in two ways: combining all three behavioural classes of each observation day (K FO) as well as separately for lying (K FL), eating (K FE), and standing (K FS). The results were analysed using a selected multilevel linear mixed model. The IS-60 min (presented in the abstract) and IS-120 min results were essentially identical. PAS bulls displayed more synchronised behaviour than the PEN bulls (P < 0.05), the K FO s being 0.618 vs. 0.328 (SEM = 0.035), respectively. The Kappa coefficients calculated separately for the three behaviour classes showed that the differences in the combined kappa coefficients were due to parallel differences in all these three: 0.776 vs. 0.376 (SEM = 0.047) for lying, 0.464 vs. 0.211 (SEM = 0.069) for eating, and 0.518 vs. 0.316 (SEM = 0.048) for standing. Behaviour synchronization is an essential feature of species-specific behaviour in cattle, and our results might point towards a welfare benefit for keeping the bulls in a pasture instead of in a more restricted housing environment. However, there are few other studies to support this welfare conclusion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]