Quality Assessment of Smoked Selais (Cryptopterus Bicirrhis) Results Using Laban Wood Smoke with Different Methods for the Storage Room Temperature

This research was conducted to determine the quality of smoked selais fish is stored at roomtemperature using different curing methods. five types of smoked selais fish were preserved usingliquid smoke from laban's wood with treatment concentration of 6%, 8% which soaked in liquidsmoke rough, and concentration of 6%, 8% in the distillation of liquid smoke, immersion time 60and 90 minutes as the traditional fumigation control. Smoked selais fish were observed for 10, 20,30, 40 days. The results indicated that the smoked fish have a good and uniform quality of alltreatments, with the organoleptic quality assessment, water contain, pH, and peroxide

Remote Identification of Polar Bear Maternal Den Habitat in Northern Alaska

Polar bears (Ursus maritimus) give birth in dens of ice and snow to protect their altricial young. During the snow-free season, we visited 25 den sites located previously by radiotelemetry and characterized the den site physiognomy. Seven dens occurred in habitats with minimal relief. Eighteen dens (72%) were in coastal and river banks. These "banks" were identifiable on aerial photographs. We then searched high-resolution aerial photographs (n=3000) for habitats similar to those of the 18 dens. On aerial photos, we mapped 1782 km of bank habitats suitable for denning. Bank habitats comprised 0.18% of our study area between the Colville River and the Tamayariak River in northern Alaska. The final map, which correctly identified 88% of bank denning habitat in this region, will help minimize the potential for disruptions of maternal dens by winter petroleum exploration activities.Les ourses polaires (Ursus maritimus) donnent naissance dans des tanières de glace et de neige afin de protéger leurs petits qui sont nidicoles. Durant la saison libre de neige, on a visité 25 lieux de mise bas repérés précédemment par télémesure et on a caractérisé la structure physionomique de ces lieux. Sept tanières étaient localisées au sein d'habitats au relief très peu prononcé. Dix-huit tanières, soit 72 p. cent, se trouvaient sur des berges côtières ou fluviales. Ces «berges» étaient identifiables sur des clichés aériens. On a ensuite cherché sur des clichés aériens (n=3000) pris à haute résolution des habitats semblables à ceux des 18 tanières. Sur ces clichés, on a cartographié 1782 km d'habitats de berges appropriés à l'établissement de tanières. Les habitats de berges constituaient 0,18 p. cent de notre zone d'étude entre la rivière Colville et la Tamayariak dans l'Alaska septentrional. La carte finalisée, qui identifiait correctement 88 p. cent de l'habitat contenant des berges propres à l'établissement de tanières dans la région, aidera à minimiser le potentiel de perturbation des tanières d' ourses due aux activités de prospection pétrolière hivernales

Polar Bear Maternal Den Habitat in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, Alaska

Polar bears (Ursus maritimus) give birth during mid-winter in dens of ice and snow. Denning polar bears subjected to human disturbances may abandon dens before their altricial young can survive the rigors of the Arctic winter. Because the Arctic coastal plain of Alaska is an area of high petroleum potential and contains existing and planned oil field developments, the distribution of polar bear dens on the plain is of interest to land managers. Therefore, as part of a study of denning habitats along the entire Arctic coast of Alaska, we examined high-resolution aerial photographs (n = 1655) of the 7994 km2 coastal plain included in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) and mapped 3621 km of bank habitat suitable for denning by polar bears. Such habitats were distributed uniformly and comprised 0.29% (23.2 km2) of the coastal plain between the Canning River and the Canadian border. Ground-truth sampling suggested that we had correctly identified 91.5% of bank denning habitats on the ANWR coastal plain. Knowledge of the distribution of these habitats will help facilitate informed management of human activities and minimize disruption of polar bears in maternal dens.Les ours polaires (Ursus maritimus) mettent bas au beau milieu de l’hiver dans des tanières de glace et de neige. Les ours polaires des tanières qui sont la cible de dérangements occasionnés par l’être humain peuvent abandonner leur tanière avant que leurs petits ne soient prêts à survivre les rigueurs de l’hiver de l’Arctique. Puisque la plaine côtière arctique de l’Alaska renferme de grandes possibilités sur le plan pétrolier et comprend des champs pétrolifères mis en valeur ou dont la mise en valeur est planifiée, la répartition des tanières d’ours polaires sur la plaine revêt de l’intérêt chez les gestionnaires des terres. Par conséquent, dans le cadre d’une étude portant sur les habitats des tanières tout le long de la côte arctique de l’Alaska, on a examiné des photographies aériennes de haute résolution (n = 1655) portant sur une superficie de 7994 km2 de la plaine côtière faisant partie de la Réserve faunique nationale de l’Arctique (la Réserve), puis on a cartographié 3621 km d’habitats de berges propices à l’établissement de tanières. Ces habitats étaient répartis de manière uniforme et représentaient 0,29 % (23,2 km2) de la plaine côtière entre la rivière Canning et la frontière canadienne. L’échantillonnage des données de terrain suggérait qu’on avait correctement repéré 91,5 % des habitats de tanières de berges sur la plaine côtière de la Réserve. Le fait de connaître la répartition de ces habitats favorisera une bonne gestion de l’activité humaine et permettra de déranger les ours polaires le moins possible dans leurs tanières maternelles

Substantia nigra hyperechogenicity in Polish patients with Parkinson’s disease

Background: Hyperechogenicity of the substantia nigra (SN) measured by transcranial sonography (TCS) is a characteristic feature observed in patients with Parkinson’s disease (PD). To our knowledge, no SN hyperechogenicity data are available for Polish population. Moreover most of studies come from few centres, which used the one type of ultrasound device. The main aim of the study was to investigate the association between PD and SN hyperechogenicity measured by sonographic machine, not assessed so far.Materials and methods: In this study cross-sectional study SN hyperechogenicity was evaluated in 102 PD patients and 95 control subjects. Midbrain was visualised by Aloka Prosound 7 ultrasound device. SN area measurement, the relation to the clinical features of PD, inter- and intra-observer reliability were evaluated.Results: We confirmed that SN echogenicity is significantly increased in PD patients compared to control subjects (p < 0.001). The area under curve for PD patients vs. controls was 0.93. Receiver operating characteristic analysis indicated a cut-offs for SN echogenicity at 0.19 cm2 with accuracy equal to 90%, specificity — 86% and sensitivity — 93.7%. The SN hyperechogenicity was not related to PD clinical findings. Reliability was good if an experienced sonographer performed the SN measurements.Conclusions: This study shows that the SN abnormality observed by TCS isa specific feature, which can be helpful in the process of PD diagnosing

Genetics of rapid eye movement sleep in humans.

The trait-like nature of electroencephalogram (EEG) is well established. Furthermore, EEG of wake and non-rapid eye movement (non-REM) sleep has been shown to be highly heritable. However, the genetic effects on REM sleep EEG microstructure are as yet unknown. REM sleep is of special interest since animal and human data suggest a connection between REM sleep abnormalities and the pathophysiology of psychiatric and neurological diseases. Here we report the results of a study in monozygotic (MZ) and dizygotic (DZ) twins examining the heritability of REM sleep EEG. We studied the architecture, spectral composition and phasic parameters of REM sleep and identified genetic effects on whole investigated EEG frequency spectrum as well as phasic REM parameters (REM density, REM activity and organization of REMs in bursts). In addition, cluster analysis based on the morphology of the EEG frequency spectrum revealed that the similarity among MZ twins is close to intra-individual stability. The observed strong genetic effects on REM sleep characteristics establish REM sleep as an important source of endophenotypes for psychiatric and neurological diseases

Structure of interleukin 16 resembles a PDZ domain with an occluded peptide binding site.

The structure of a folded core of IL-16 is similar to that of intracellular protein modules called PDZ domains. IL-16 is thus the first extracellular protein found to have a PDZ-like fold. However, it does not exhibit normal peptide binding properties of PDZ domains. This is due to alterations of the structure at the 'PDZ-like binding site' of IL-16 (the GLGF cleft): the GLGF cleft of IL-16 is much smaller than those of PDZ-domains and is additionally blocked with a tryptophan side chain at its center. Our experiments indicate also that IL-16 nonspecifically aggregates in solution; but formation of a homo-tetrameric protein is not required, in contrast to previous suggestions, for its chemo-attractant activity

The role of expectations for market design – on structural regulatory uncertainty in electricity markets

Ongoing policy discussions on the reconfiguration of bidding zones in European electricity markets induce structural uncertainty about the future market design. This paper deals with the question of how this structural uncertainty affects market participants and their long-run investment decisions in generation and transmission capacity. We propose a stochastic multilevel model, which incorporates generation capacity investment, network expansion and redispatch, taking into account uncertainty about the future market design. Using a stylized two-node network, we disentangle different effects that uncertainty has on market outcomes. Our results reveal that expectations about future market structures have an important effect on investment decisions. Unlike most parametric uncertainties, structural uncertainty about the future market design can have a positive effect on welfare, even if a market design change does not actually take place, although there are distributional effects. This also implies that the welfare gains of a change to a more efficient market design are lower if market participants already anticipate this change

Differential spatiotemporal targeting of Toxoplasma and Salmonella by GBP1 assembles caspase signalling platforms

Human guanylate binding proteins (GBPs), a family of IFNγ-inducible GTPases, promote cell-intrinsic defence against pathogens and host cell death. We previously identified GBP1 as a mediator of cell death of human macrophages infected with Toxoplasma gondii (Tg) or Salmonella Typhimurium (STm). How GBP1 targets microbes for AIM2 activation during Tg infection and caspase-4 during STm infection remains unclear. Here, using correlative light and electron microscopy and EdU labelling of Tg-DNA, we reveal that GBP1-decorated parasitophorous vacuoles (PVs) lose membrane integrity and release Tg-DNA for detection by AIM2-ASC-CASP8. In contrast, differential staining of cytosolic and vacuolar STm revealed that GBP1 does not contribute to STm escape into the cytosol but decorates almost all cytosolic STm leading to the recruitment of caspase-4. Caspase-5, which can bind LPS and whose expression is upregulated by IFNγ, does not target STm pointing to a key role for caspase-4 in pyroptosis. We also uncover a regulatory mechanism involving the inactivation of GBP1 by its cleavage at Asp192 by caspase-1. Cells expressing non-cleavable GBP1D192E therefore undergo higher caspase-4-driven pyroptosis during STm infection. Taken together, our comparative studies elucidate microbe-specific spatiotemporal roles of GBP1 in inducing cell death by leading to assembly and regulation of divergent caspase signalling platforms

Body Composition Estimation in Youth Athletes: Agreement Between Two-Component Methods

Body composition techniques such as skinfold measurements, air displacement plethysmography, and underwater weighing are commonly performed in athletic populations, particularly in youth athletes who may not have access to other laboratory methods. However, little is known whether such body composition estimates can be directly compared across techniques. PURPOSE: To determine the agreement between common two-component (2C) body composition techniques. METHODS: 90 youth athletes (Males: 39; Females: 51; Age: 18.2 ± 2.4 years; Height: 172.0 ± 9.9 cm; Body Mass: 69.0 ± 12.5 kg; Underwater Weighing [UWW] Body Fat Percentage [%BF]: 20.2 ± 7.0%) participated in this study. 2C estimates of %BF were determined via UWW, air displacement plethysmography (ADP), and 7-site skinfold (SKF) using the applicable Jackson-Pollock equation. Body mass was measured via calibrated scale. Agreement between methods was quantified using Lin’s concordance correlation coefficients (CCC). Estimates of body fat percentage were also compared between techniques using paired samples t-tests (α \u3c 0.05) and equivalence testing, with the threshold of equivalence set at ± 2% body fat. RESULTS: Mean ± SD %BF estimates were 20.2 ± 7.0% (UWW), 18.7 ± 7.3% (ADP), and 16.1 ± 7.2% (SKF). Mean differences between methods were 1.6% [95% CI: 0.8, 2.3] for UWW vs. ADP, 4.1% [95% CI: 3.4, 4.8] for UWW vs. SKF, and 2.6% [95% CI: 1.9, 3.2] for ADP vs. SKF. Paired-samples t-tests revealed significant differences between %BF estimates for each comparison. Likewise, no methods were found to be equivalent, based on a ± 2% BF equivalence range. CCC values were 0.855 for UWW vs. ADP, 0.759 for UWW vs. SKF, and 0.844 for ADP vs. SKF. CONCLUSION: This study suggests limited agreement between 2C %BF estimates derived from three common assessment techniques. Hypothesis testing revealed significant differences between methods, and the magnitude of these differences resulted in non-equivalence at ± 2% BF. Based on these results, it appears that direct comparisons between 2C %BF estimates from these different techniques should be avoided if possible. Though the magnitude of the differences between techniques may be acceptable in certain contexts, coaches and clinicians should strive to utilize the same assessment methodology when examining and comparing body composition results across time