Biochemical and nutritional traits of sea bass (Dicentrachus labrax) from different rearing systems.

Farmed European sea bass (Dicentrarchus labrax), sampled from three different culture systems (intensive in sea-cages, intensive in land-based basins and extensive in lagoon and storage basins of salt-work), of the Northern, Central and Southern Italy, were analyzed with the aim to employ nutritional trait to describe and to distinguish the "origin" of the product. Lipid and fatty acid profile, strongly affected by the feeding history and environmental factors, responsible of the nu- tritional and perceived quality of fish product, are proposed as marker of origin

Experimental investigation on the exploitation of an active mechanism to restore the operability of malfunctioning RF-MEMS switches

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Effects of floor type, stocking density, slaughter age and gender on productive and qualitative traits of rabbits reared in collective pens

At 34 d of age, 376 crossbred rabbits of both sexes were housed in 16 open-top collective pens (1.68 m2) according to a 2 72 72 factorial arrangement with two types of pen floor (wooden v. plastic slatted), two stocking densities (12 v. 16 animals/m2), and two slaughter ages (76 v. 83 d). The rabbits were examined for growth performance, slaughter results, and meat quality. The effect of gender was also examined. The percentage of rabbits with wounds due to aggression varied with stocking density (8.2% v. 26.2% for 12 v. 16 animals/m2; P 64 0.001), slaughter age (15.0% v. 22.0% at 76 v. 83 d; P 64 0.10), and gender (11.3% v. 25.8% for females v. males; P 64 0.001). Rearing rabbits on a plastic rather than a wooden slatted floor promoted slaughter weight (2795 g v. 2567 g; P 64 0.001), dressing percentage (61.4% v. 60.9%; P 64 0.01), dissectible fat (2.4% v. 2.0%; P 64 0.01), and hind leg muscle-to-bone ratio (5.81 v. 5.35; P 64 0.001). Increased stocking density impaired daily growth (38.5 g/d v. 35.9 g/d; P 64 0.05) and feed intake (140 g/d v. 134 g/d; P 64 0.01) during the second period (55 d to slaughter) and decreased slaughter weight (2725 g v. 2637 g; P 64 0.01). At the older slaughter age, the feed conversion ratio was impaired (2.98 v. 3.18; P 64 0.001); the slaughter weight (2574 g v. 2788 g; P 64 0.001), dissectible fat (2.0% v. 2.4%; P 64 0.01), and hind leg muscle to bone ratio (5.41 v. 5.75; P 64 0.01) increased; meat thawing losses, cooking losses, and shear force decreased (P 64 0.05). The main differences between the females and males were found in the slaughter for transport losses (2.6% v. 2.2%; P 64 0.01) and l. lumborum proportions (13.0% v. 12.4%; P 64 0.01). In conclusion, the growth performance of pen-housed rabbits was largely determined by the type of floor and less affected by stocking density. The meat quality depended on ontogenetic factors, such as slaughter age and gender, and not on housing conditions. The differences in the percentages of wounded animals due to experimental factors deserve further investigation from the perspective of animal welfare issues

investigation of the agouti gene for the identification of useful markers for coat colour association studies in domestic rabbits

AbstractIn wild-type mice, it is well known that Agouti is expressed in skin where it controls the banded-hair Agouti phenotype. Molecular genetics and pharmacological studies show that mutually exclusive binding of the melanocortin 1 receptor (MC1R) by the Agouti protein or by -melanocyte-stimulating hormone (a-MSH) signals hair-bulb melanocytes to synthesise preferentially either pheomelanin (yellow-red pigment) or eumelanin (black-brown pigment), respectively. In mice as well as in other species, loss-of-function mutations of the Agouti gene determine only the production of eumelanin while gain-of-function mutations lead to pheomelanin production. A variety of coat colours appear as a result of these alterations that show also epistatic interactions with MC1R mutations. In rabbit, classical studies have suggested the presence of three alleles at the Agouti locus: A (wild type allele), at (black and tan) and a (non-agouti). We recently showed that mutations in the rabbit MC1R gene are associated with c..

Pyroxene reflectance spectra: Minor absorption bands and effects of elemental substitutions

Reflectance spectra of a suite of compositionally diverse pyroxenes exhibit variable spectral properties which are associated with various elemental substitutions. Those associated with transition series elements, such as Cr, Ti, V, and Mn, give rise to a number of minor absorption bands in the visible spectral region and, in some cases (e.g., Mn), at longer wavelengths. Substitutions by other cations, such as Li and Zr, do not result in distinct absorption bands. The spectra of these pyroxenes are dominated by the transition series elements that may be present in the samples. The visible wavelength region of low-calcium pyroxene reflectance spectra exhibit a number of absorption bands which are attributable to Fe2+ spin-forbidden crystal field transitions. Fe2+-Fe3+ intervalence charge transfer absorption bands near 0.77 μm are common in terrestrial pyroxenes which contain both ferrous and ferric iron. Collectively, these results indicate that the presence of various transition series elements can be detected in reflectance spectra and that their oxidation states and site occupancies can also be determined on the basis of unique spectral characteristics present in their reflectance spectra, thereby greatly increasing the range of compositional information which can be derived from analysis of their reflectance spectra.This study was supported by grants-in-aid of research from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC), Sigma Xi, The Scientific Research Society, the Geological Society of America, a research contract from the Canadian Space Agency, and a start-up grant from the University of Winnipeg.This study was supported by grants-in-aid of research from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC), Sigma Xi, The Scientific Research Society, the Geological Society of America, a research contract from the Canadian Space Agency, and a start-up grant from the University of Winnipeg.https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1029/2001JE00159

A Positive Exploitation of ESD Events: Micro-welding Induction on Ohmic MEMS Contacts

The adoption of ESD events to systematically induce micro-welding formation on ohmic RF-MEMS switches is proposed. The established procedure for accelerated testing was verified with success on electrostatically actuated micro-machined switches having different topologies, and it was used to assess the efficiency of a heat-based active restoring mechanism

Thomsonite: a detailed refinement with cross checking by crystal energy calculations

The thomsonite [12399-54-1], from Death Valley, California, is orthorhombic, space group Pncn, with a = 13.089, b = 13.047, and c = 13.218 Å. The structure was refined to a final R of 0.035. The ordering scheme for the Si-Al distribution doubles the value of the c parameter, typical of all other fibrous zeolites. The possible Si-Al distribution is discussed for samples with an Si/Al ratio >1. Two cation sites were found. One site, occupied by Ca and Na, is at the center of a regular square antiprism, which is linked to 2 equiv. polyhedrons forming a chain parallel to c. The other site, occupied by Ca and Sr, statistically distributed over 2 equiv. positions near a center of symmetry, and is 6-fold coordinated. Four H2O mols. were found at all the H atoms located. The cation distribution and the H positions were verified by electrostatic energy calcns

Breakdown characterization of gate oxides in 35 and 70 angstrom BCD8 smart power technology

The breakdown of 35 Å and 70 Å thick NMOS and PMOS silicon Gate oxides used in 1.8 V and 3.3 V BCD8 Smart Power technological node was investigated in this work. Both voltage to breakdown, from DC down to the ESD time domain, and time-dependent breakdown analysis have been carried out. We present also the evidence that breakdown is not affected by cumulative stress and it is mainly driven by voltage stress