Odour from animal production facilities: its relationship to diet

Though bad odour has always been associated with animal production, it did not attract much research attention until in many countries the odour production and emission from intensified animal production caused serious nuisance and was implicated in the health problems of individuals living near animal farms. Odour from pig production facilities is generated by the microbial conversion of feed in the large intestine of pigs and by the microbial conversion of pig excreta under anaerobic conditions and in manure stores. Assuming that primary odour-causing compounds arise from an excess of degradable protein and a lack of specific fermentable carbohydrates during microbial fermentation, the main dietary components that can be altered to reduce odour are protein and fermentable carbohydrates. In the present paper we aim to give an up-to-date review of studies on the relationship between diet composition and odour production, with the emphasis on protein and fermentable carbohydrates. We hypothesise how odour might be changed and/or reduced by altering the diet of pigs. Research so far has mainly focused on the single effects of different levels of crude protein and fermentable carbohydrates on odour production. However, also important for odour formation are the sources of protein and fermentable carbohydrates. In addition, it is not only the amount and source of these compounds that is important, but also the balance between them. On the basis of our review of the literature, we hypothesise that odour nuisance from pig production facilities might be reduced significantly if there is an optimum balance between protein and fermentable carbohydrates in the diet of pig

Large non-Gaussian Halo Bias from Single Field Inflation

We calculate Large Scale Structure observables for non-Gaussianity arising from non-Bunch-Davies initial states in single field inflation. These scenarios can have substantial primordial non-Gaussianity from squeezed (but observable) momentum configurations. They generate a term in the halo bias that may be more strongly scale-dependent than the contribution from the local ansatz. We also discuss theoretical considerations required to generate an observable signature.Comment: 30 pages, 14 figures, typos corrected and minor changes to match published version JCAP09(2012)00

Segurança Na Mudança Direta De Natalizumabe Para Fingolimode Em Um Grupo De Pacientes Com Esclerose Múltipla E Positivos Para Jcv

To assess safety of the switch between natalizumab and fingolimod without a washout period. Methods: Prospective data on 25 JCV positive patients who underwent this medication switch were collected and analyzed. Results: After a median period of nine months from the medication switch, there were no safety issues to report. The patients had good disease control and no adverse events were reported. Conclusion: Washout may not be necessary in daily practice when switching from natalizumab to fingolimod. Expertise on multiple sclerosis management, however, is essential for drug switching. © 2016, Associacao Arquivos de Neuro-Psiquiatria. All Rights Reserved.74865065

Conductance fluctuations in diffusive rings: Berry phase effects and criteria for adiabaticity

We study Berry phase effects on conductance properties of diffusive mesoscopic conductors, which are caused by an electron spin moving through an orientationally inhomogeneous magnetic field. Extending previous work, we start with an exact, i.e. not assuming adiabaticity, calculation of the universal conductance fluctuations in a diffusive ring within the weak localization regime, based on a differential equation which we derive for the diffuson in the presence of Zeeman coupling to a magnetic field texture. We calculate the field strength required for adiabaticity and show that this strength is reduced by the diffusive motion. We demonstrate that not only the phases but also the amplitudes of the h/2e Aharonov-Bohm oscillations are strongly affected by the Berry phase. In particular, we show that these amplitudes are completely suppressed at certain magic tilt angles of the external fields, and thereby provide a useful criterion for experimental searches. We also discuss Berry phase-like effects resulting from spin-orbit interaction in diffusive conductors and derive exact formulas for both magnetoconductance and conductance fluctuations. We discuss the power spectra of the magnetoconductance and the conductance fluctuations for inhomogeneous magnetic fields and for spin-orbit interaction.Comment: 18 pages, 13 figures; minor revisions. To appear in Phys. Rev.

Pulsar Timing and its Application for Navigation and Gravitational Wave Detection

Pulsars are natural cosmic clocks. On long timescales they rival the precision of terrestrial atomic clocks. Using a technique called pulsar timing, the exact measurement of pulse arrival times allows a number of applications, ranging from testing theories of gravity to detecting gravitational waves. Also an external reference system suitable for autonomous space navigation can be defined by pulsars, using them as natural navigation beacons, not unlike the use of GPS satellites for navigation on Earth. By comparing pulse arrival times measured on-board a spacecraft with predicted pulse arrivals at a reference location (e.g. the solar system barycenter), the spacecraft position can be determined autonomously and with high accuracy everywhere in the solar system and beyond. We describe the unique properties of pulsars that suggest that such a navigation system will certainly have its application in future astronautics. We also describe the on-going experiments to use the clock-like nature of pulsars to "construct" a galactic-sized gravitational wave detector for low-frequency (f_GW ~1E-9 - 1E-7 Hz) gravitational waves. We present the current status and provide an outlook for the future.Comment: 30 pages, 9 figures. To appear in Vol 63: High Performance Clocks, Springer Space Science Review

Odour from pig production facilities: its relation to diet

Onderzoek naar de mogelijkheden om de geur van varkens aangenamer te make

Alterations to nuclear architecture and genome behavior in senescent cells.

The organization of the genome within interphase nuclei, and how it interacts with nuclear structures is important for the regulation of nuclear functions. Many of the studies researching the importance of genome organization and nuclear structure are performed in young, proliferating, and often transformed cells. These studies do not reveal anything about the nucleus or genome in nonproliferating cells, which may be relevant for the regulation of both proliferation and replicative senescence. Here, we provide an overview of what is known about the genome and nuclear structure in senescent cells. We review the evidence that nuclear structures, such as the nuclear lamina, nucleoli, the nuclear matrix, nuclear bodies (such as promyelocytic leukemia bodies), and nuclear morphology all become altered within growth-arrested or senescent cells. Specific alterations to the genome in senescent cells, as compared to young proliferating cells, are described, including aneuploidy, chromatin modifications, chromosome positioning, relocation of heterochromatin, and changes to telomeres

Categorizing Different Approaches to the Cosmological Constant Problem

We have found that proposals addressing the old cosmological constant problem come in various categories. The aim of this paper is to identify as many different, credible mechanisms as possible and to provide them with a code for future reference. We find that they all can be classified into five different schemes of which we indicate the advantages and drawbacks. Besides, we add a new approach based on a symmetry principle mapping real to imaginary spacetime.Comment: updated version, accepted for publicatio

The Deuteron Spin-dependent Structure Function g1d and its First Moment

We present a measurement of the deuteron spin-dependent structure function g1d based on the data collected by the COMPASS experiment at CERN during the years 2002-2004. The data provide an accurate evaluation for Gamma_1^d, the first moment of g1d(x), and for the matrix element of the singlet axial current, a0. The results of QCD fits in the next to leading order (NLO) on all g1 deep inelastic scattering data are also presented. They provide two solutions with the gluon spin distribution function Delta G positive or negative, which describe the data equally well. In both cases, at Q^2 = 3 (GeV/c)^2 the first moment of Delta G is found to be of the order of 0.2 - 0.3 in absolute value.Comment: fits redone using MRST2004 instead of MRSV1998 for G(x), correlation matrix adde