investigation of the dgat1 k232a and vntr mutations in dairy and dual purpose cattle breeds

AbstractSeveral studies have reported that the centromeric end of bovine chromosome 14 harbours QTL for milk production and composition traits. The acyl-Coenzyme A:diacylglycerol acyltransferase 1 (DGAT1) gene was indicated to be the quantitative trait gene affecting these traits with a major effect on milk fat content. A two bp mutation in exon 8 causing a nonconservative lysine to alanine amino acid substitution at codon 232 (K232A) showed a confirmed effect across breeds with allele K resulting associated with an increase on fat yield, fat percentage and protein percentage while allele A was associated with higher milk yield. Another mutation in the 5' regulatory region of this gene, a variable number of tandem repeat (VNTR) of 18 bp, was suggested to affect fat percentage. The objective of the present work was to investigate the occurrence of the DGAT1 K232A and VNTR polymorphisms in several Italian dairy and dual purpose cattle breeds as a first step to evaluate their effects on milk production trait..

Endoscopic Endonasal Resection of a Schwannoma of the Anterior Cranial Fossa.

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4D Printing of Plasmon-Encoded Tunable Polydimethylsiloxane Lenses for On-Field Microscopy of Microbes

Here the 4D printing of a magnifying polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) lens encoded with a tunable plasmonic rejection filter is reported. The lens is formed by moldless printing of PDMS pre-polymer on a nanostructured porous silicon (PSi) templating layer. A nanometer-thick plasmonic filter is integrated on the lens surface by in situ synthesis of Ag and Au nanoparticles (NPs) with programmed density. The filter can be designed to reject light at the plasmonic resonance wavelength of the NPs with an optical density tunable from 0 to 3 and retreive light at longer wavelengths with a pass-to-stop band ratio tunable from 0 to 60 dB. Swelling of PDMS in hexane and ether is used to change the NP density on the lens surface and modulate, in turn, the transmittance properties of the NP-decorated lens over 3 orders of magnitude. The plasmon-encoded lens is coupled to a commercial smartphone demonstrating: shaping of the emission spectrum of a white light-emitting diode to tune the color from yellow to purple; real-time bright-field and fluorescence microscopy of living microbes in water, namely, the auto-fluorescent green alga Chlorogonium sp. and the ciliated protozoan Euplotes daidaleos

Characterization of street food consumption in palermo: possible effects on health

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Street Food (SF) consists of out-of-home food consumption and has old, historical roots with complex social-economic and cultural implications. Despite the emergence of modern fast food, traditional SF persists worldwide, but the relationship of SF consumption with overall health, well-being, and obesity is unknown.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>This is an observational, cross-sectional study. The study was performed in Palermo, the largest town of Sicily, Italy. Two groups were identified: consumers of SF (n = 687) and conventional restaurant food (RES) consumers (n = 315). Study subjects answered a questionnaire concerning their health conditions, nutritional preferences, frequency of consumption of SF and a score relative to SF consumption ranging from 0 to 20 was calculated.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Body mass index (BMI, kg/m²) was significantly and independently correlated with the score of street food consumption (r = 0,103; p < 0.002). The prevalence of different diseases, including hypertension and type 2 diabetes, and the use of medications did not differ between the two groups. Milza (a sandwich stuffed with thin slice of bovine spleen and lung) consumers had a significantly higher prevalence of hypertension (12.2% vs 6.2% in non consumers; p < 0.005) and in this subgroup the use of anti-hypertensive drugs was inversely correlated with the frequency of milza consumption (r = 0.11; P = 0.010).</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>This study suggests that SF consumption in Palermo is associated with a higher BMI and higher prevalence of hypertension in milza consumers. Further studies should evaluate whether frequent SF consumers have unfavourable metabolic and cardiovascular profile.</p

Progettazione di un componente software PLC di una macchina automatica per la lavorazione del legno con approccio Model-Based Design

La tesi consiste nell’applicazione del Model-Based Design alla progettazione di un software volto al controllo di una macchina automatica per la lavorazione del legno. Gli obbiettivi di questo lavoro sono: - progettare attraverso uno standard: si vuole verificare l’efficacia di un metodo di progettazione con delle fasi ben definite; - concentrare il più possibile la progettazione del software sul modello: si vuole progettare la logica di controllo interamente per via grafica e lasciare a un software il compito di tradurre i diagrammi in codice; - diminuire il tempo di test in macchina: si vuole ridurre il tempo di test del software di controllo in macchina grazie a una verifica efficace del codice in ambiente simulato. L’oggetto che si è scelto di modellare è un dispositivo binario con doppia retroazione: esso descrive il comportamento di molti aspetti della macchina ma in particolare si è scelto di concentrarsi sull’attuatore di una pneumatica bistabile con sensori di attivo e disattivo. I tool utilizzati nella progettazione sono Mechatronic UML e TITAN. Si è fatto estensivo uso del linguaggio Statechart di David Harel e della semantica di modellazione di MechatronicUML. Le fasi del Model-Based Design sono: analisi dei requisiti del prodotto, stesura degli scenari di utilizzo, stesura del modello, generazione del codice a partire dal modello, test del codice generato in ambiente simulato, adattamento del codice al sistema PLC esistente e implementazione e test in macchina