Protein hydrolysate from miscellaneous fish

A method to prepare fish protein hydrolysate from miscellaneous fish obtained as by catch from shrimp trawlers is outlined. Effect of temperature and concentration of enzyme papain on the yield of hydrolysates has been determined. It is seen that within 30 min at 55°C and pH 6.5 fish proteins can be effectively solubilized, provided the nitrogen content of the enzyme (activity 10 units/mg enzyme) and substrate are maintained in the ratio 1:30. This hydrolysate possesses the best amino acid pattern compared to those obtained after hydrolysis for 60 to 180 min

Private Carbon Credit Initiatives in the Agricultural Sector: Investigating Motivations and Understanding Their Effects

This thesis project examines the emergence of privately led soil carbon sequestration (SCS) credit programs, specifically for traditional cropping systems, in the agriculture sector in North America. Carbon credits have received renewed attention and legitimacy as a policy response to climate change in the wake of corporate net-zero and sustainability goals, as well as the Paris Climate Agreement’s establishment of a new carbon trading system. The climate-food nexus has become the focus of many international organizations and climate change mitigation initiatives. One proposed mitigation solution is the creation of carbon credit programs in the agricultural sector, particularly for the implementation of new cropping practices for soil carbon sequestration. While some of these carbon credit programs are government-run, most agricultural carbon credit programs are run by private agri-business firms in voluntary carbon markets. Employing a critical political economic theoretical framework, this study examines some of the motivating factors for agribusinesses to engage with private SCS credit initiatives, as well as the consequences that these initiatives have for agricultural practices, the economics of agriculture, and farmers in North America. Utilizing scholarly literature, document analysis, and interviews, this study demonstrates that agribusinesses have three main motivations for engaging with SCS credit initiatives: pre-emptive action and reactive responses to changing regulations; bolstering corporate reputations; and avenues for new profit through SCS initiatives, especially the use of farmer data collected through new digital monitoring technologies. These motivations demonstrate the desire of agribusinesses to shape responses to climate change in their favour, sustaining “business as usual” business practices, thereby maintaining and expanding opportunities for profit. The thesis also shows that private SCS credit initiatives encourage a lock-in of agriculture into industrial farming methods while precluding discussion on substantive change in the agriculture sector. SCS credit initiatives also continue the trend of the economization process that have been prevalent under neoliberal capitalism. By taking a market-based instrument approach to climate change, agribusinesses create new spaces for profit and control of agriculture supply chains. These initiatives also pose justice issues, with farmers likely bearing the cost of pursuing these private carbon credit programs. Lock-in of ecologically harmful farming practices, economization, and subsequent justice issues generated through private SCS credit initiatives create adverse effects for both farmers and the environment

Multivariate side-band subtraction using probabilistic event weights

A common situation in experimental physics is to have a signal which can not be separated from a non-interfering background through the use of any cut. In this paper, we describe a procedure for determining, on an event-by-event basis, a quality factor ($Q$-factor) that a given event originated from the signal distribution. This procedure generalizes the "side-band" subtraction method to higher dimensions without requiring the data to be divided into bins. The $Q$-factors can then be used as event weights in subsequent analysis procedures, allowing one to more directly access the true spectrum of the signal.Comment: 17 pages, 9 figure

Uppermost mantle (Pn) velocity model for the Afar region, Ethiopia: an insight into rifting processes

The Afar Depression, Ethiopia, offers unique opportunities to study the transition from continental rifting to oceanic spreading because the process is occurring onland. Using traveltime tomography and data from a temporary seismic deployment, we describe the first regional study of uppermost mantle P-wave velocities (VPn). We find two separate low VPn zones (as low as 7.2 km s−1) beneath regions of localized thinned crust in northern Afar, indicating the existence of high temperatures and, potentially, partial melt. The zones are beneath and off-axis from, contemporary crustal magma intrusions in active magmatic segments, the Dabbahu-Manda-Hararo and Erta'Ale segments. This suggests that these intrusions can be fed by off-axis delivery of melt in the uppermost mantle and that discrete areas of mantle upwelling and partial melting, thought to characterize segmentation of the uppermost mantle at seafloor spreading centres, are initiated during the final stages of break-up

Advances in precision medicine: tailoring individualised therapies

The traditional bench-to-bedside pipeline involves using model systems and patient samples to provide insights into pathways deregulated in cancer. This discovery reveals new biomarkers and therapeutic targets, ultimately stratifying patients and informing cohort-based treatment options. Precision medicine (molecular profiling of individual tumors combined with established clinical-pathological parameters) reveals, in real-time, individual patient's diagnostic and prognostic risk profile, informing tailored and tumor-specific treatment plans. Here we discuss advances in precision medicine presented at the Irish Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting, highlighting examples where personalized medicine approaches have led to precision discovery in individual tumors, informing customized treatment programs

Pregnant Sheep in a Farm Environment Did Not Develop Anaemia

The aim of this study was to document the haematological profile of pregnant ewes throughout gestation. Sheep were divided into three groups (n = 8 per group): non-pregnant, singleton, or twin pregnancy. Blood samples were collected every 14 days from day 55 of gestation for haemoglobin concentration; packed cell volume; total protein; and albumin concentration. On days 55 and 125 of gestation blood was collected for trace element estimation: soluble copper and zinc; glutathione peroxidase (GSHPx); and methylmalonic acid (MMA). Pooled faecal samples were collected on days 55, 97, and 139 of gestation. Pasture cuts were collected on days 97 and 153 of gestation. The haematology and protein concentrations were not different between groups throughout the study. Copper concentration increased in all animals during the study (p < 0.0001). Zinc concentration was lowest in the singleton and twin pregnant sheep on day 55 of gestation (p = 0.04). GSHPx was not different between groups during the study. MMA decreased in all animals during the study (p < 0.0001), but was not different between groups. Faecal samples were consistently negative for strongyle and nematode eggs, and coccidian oocysts. The pasture was good quality. Pregnant sheep in a farm environment with normal trace element status, no parasites, and an adequate diet, did not develop anaemia (PCV < 0.27)

Variational method to study vortex matter in mesoscopic superconductors

A simple variational model is proposed to analyze the superconducting state in long cylindrical type-II superconductor placed in the external magnetic field. In the framework of this model, it is possible to solve the Ginzburg-Landau equations for the states with axially symmetric distributions of the order parameter. Phase transitions between different superconducting states are studied in the presence of external magnetic field and an equilibrium phase diagram of thin cylinder is obtained. The lower critical field of the cylindrical type-II superconductor with arbitrary values of radius and Ginzburg-Landau parameter is found. The field dependence of the magnetization of thin cylinder, which can carry several magnetic flux quanta, is calculated.Comment: 10 pages, 5 figures, submitted to Physica

Factors determining hemoglobin carbamylation in renal failure

Factors determining hemoglobin carbamylation in renal failure. Carbamylated hemoglobin (carhb) is formed by the reaction of hemoglobin with cyanate, a product of in vivo urea dissociation. It is found in high levels in patients with renal failure and may be useful in their clinical evaluation. Accordingly, we measured carhb by HPLC after acid hydrolysis in 73 patients with renal failure and 11 controls. Mean carhb levels, (expressed as μg valine hydantoin/g Hb), were highest in chronic renal failure (CRF, 146 ± 13), intermediate in end-stage renal disease on hemodialysis (ESRD, 106 ± 7), and lowest in acute renal failure (ARF, 80 ± 12) when compared to normal subjects (27 ± 2). In all patients carhb was significantly correlated with BUN but not with creatinine, bicarbonate, or phosphate. For any level of BUN above 80 mg/dl, carhb was substantially higher in CRF than in ARF. Predialysis BUN and urea reduction ratio (URR) were significant predictors of carhb in ESRD. To investigate the effect of time of exposure and BUN level on the rate of carbamylation of hemoglobin, blood from normal subjects and dialysis patients was incubated in vitro with urea equivalent to BUN levels of 50, 100, 150, and 200 mg/dl and assayed for carhb at 0, 5, 9, and 14 days. Carhb increased linearly over the first nine days of urea exposure and leveled off thereafter. The rate of carbamylation increased as BUN increased and was significantly higher in hemoglobin from dialysis patients than from normal subjects. These results show that the higher the level of carhb at baseline, the higher the rate of carbamylation upon exposure to increasing urea concentrations. We conclude that carhb formation is dependent on urea concentration and length of exposure to urea. The rate of carhb formation for a given urea concentration is greater in hemoglobin already carbamylated, and this may explain why carhb is higher in CRF than in ARF at BUN levels greater than 80 mg/dl. Carhb may thus be a useful index of the duration and degree of exposure to high blood urea levels in patients with renal failure, and may potentially serve as an index of the adequacy of dialysis

Finding SDSS BALQSOs Using Non-Negative Matrix Factorisation

Modern spectroscopic databases provide a wealth of information about the physical processes and environments associated with astrophysical populations. Techniques such as blind source separation (BSS), in which sets of spectra are decomposed into a number of components, offer the prospect of identifying the signatures of the underlying physical emission processes. Principle Component Analysis (PCA) has been applied with some success but is severely limited by the inherent orthogonality restriction that the components must satisfy. Non-negative matrix factorisation (NMF) is a relatively new BSS technique that incorporates a non-negativity constraint on its components. In this respect, the resulting components may more closely reflect the physical emission signatures than is the case using PCA. We discuss some of the considerations that must be made when applying NMF and, through its application to the quasar spectra in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) DR6, we show that NMF is a fast method for generating compact and accurate reconstructions of the spectra. The ability to reconstruct spectra accurately has numerous astrophysical applications. Combined with improved SDSS redshifts, we apply NMF to the problem of defining robust continua for quasars that exhibit strong broad absorption line (BAL) systems. The resulting catalogue of SDSS DR6 BAL quasars will be the largest available. Importantly, the NMF approach allows quantitative error estimates to be derived for the Balnicity Indices as a function of key astrophysical and observational parameters, such as the quasar redshifts and the signal-to-noise ratio of the spectra.Comment: 7 pages, 2 figures, to appear in the proceedings of "Classification and Discovery in Large Astronomical Surveys", Ringberg Castle, 14-17 October 200