Wachstum und Produktqualität verschiedener Schweineherkünfte aus ökologischer Haltung

In order to investigate if there are differences between endangered or modern pig breeds concerning growth and product quality a total of ninety fattened pigs were housed and fed after the principles of the organic farming. During the fattening period the animals got regularly weight and measured alive with magnetic resonance tomo-graphy (MRT) in order to research tissue growth. After achieving a live weight of about 120 kilogram the pigs got slaughtered. After slaughtering the carcass quality was acquired, samples were taken for investigating the meat quality and one carcass side was measured again with the MRT. Results point out that differences exist between the breeds concerning the attributes of growth, carcass and meat quality

Base wake dynamics and its influence on driving stability of passenger vehicles in crosswind

The unsteady flow around a travelling vehicle induces fluctuating aerodynamic loads. Automotive manufacturers usually set targets on the time-averaged lift forces to ensure good straight-line stability performance at high speeds. These targets are generally sufficient in preventing unstable vehicle designs. Yet, small changes in averaged values occasionally yield unexpectedly large differences in the stability performance, indicating that the changes in averaged normal loads cannot solely explain these differences. The unsteady aerodynamic effects on driving stability are, therefore, an interesting topic to study. The objective of the present work is to investigate the differences in wake dynamics and fluctuating aerodynamic loads for two variants of a roof spoiler on a sports utility vehicle: a baseline that was known to cause stability issues and an improved design which resolved them. The vehicle designs were investigated using accurate time-resolved CFD simulations for a set of crosswind conditions. The unsteady aerodynamic response was coupled to a vehicle dynamics model to analyse the resulting impact on driving stability. It was shown that in crosswinds the baseline spoiler, contrary to the improved spoiler, has bi-stable wake dynamics that induce lift force fluctuations at frequencies close to the 1st natural frequency of the rear suspension

High speed driving stability of road vehicles under crosswinds: an aerodynamic and vehicle dynamic parametric sensitivity analysis

Crosswinds affect vehicle driving stability and their influence increase with driving speed. To improve high speed driving stability, interdisciplinary research using unsteady aerodynamics and vehicle dynamics is necessary. The current demands of faster development times require robust virtual methods for assessing stability performance in early design phases. This paper employs a numerical one-way coupling between the two disciplines and uses a variety of realistic crosswind gust profiles for the aerodynamic simulations to output representative forces and moments on three vehicle dynamic models of different fidelity levels, ranging from a one-track model to a full multi-body dynamic model of a sports utility vehicle. An investigation on required model fidelity was conducted along with a sensitivity study to find key aerodynamic and vehicle dynamic characteristics to minimise the yaw velocity and lateral acceleration response during crosswinds. Transient aerodynamic simulations were used to model crosswind gusts at high speeds. Analysis of the forces and moments showed that rapid changing gusts generate overshoots in the yaw moment, due to the phase delay of the flow between the front and rear of the vehicle. A methodology for modelling this phase delay is proposed. The response of the vehicle was captured equally well by the enhanced model (mid-level fidelity) and the full multi-body dynamic model, while the simplest one-track model failed to emulate the correct vehicle response. The sensitivity study showed the importance of the positioning of the centre of gravity, the aerodynamic coefficient of yaw moment, wheel base, vehicle mass and yaw inertia. In addition, the axles\u27 side force steer gradients and other suspension parameters revealed potential in improving crosswind stability

Quantitative High Speed Stability Assessment of a Sports Utility Vehicle and Classification of Wind Gust Profiles

The automotive trends of vehicles with lower aerodynamic drag and more powerful drivetrains have caused increasing concern regarding stability issues at high speeds, since more streamlined bodies show greater sensitivity to crosswinds. This is especially pronounced for high vehicles, such as sports utility vehicles. Besides, the competitiveness in the automotive industry requires faster development times and, thus, a need to evaluate the high speed stability performance in an early design phase, preferable using simulation tools. The usefulness of these simulation tools partly relies on realistic boundary conditions for the wind and quantitative measures for assessing stability without the subjective evaluation of experienced drivers. This study employs an on-road experimental measurements setup to define relevant wind conditions and to find an objective methodology to evaluate high speed stability. The paper focuses on the events in proximity to the drivers’ subjective triggers of instability. Wind direction and magnitude, vehicle motion response, along with the subjective event triggering were measured at different conditions of the natural wind. A statistical approach was utilized to analyze the correlation between the vehicle response and subjective triggers together with the wind conditions. A correlation was established between the subjective triggers and a rapid change in lateral acceleration and yaw velocity response. The paper also proposes a set of four crosswind gust profiles of interest for driving stability, combining results from previous research and the experimental data of the natural wind obtained in this study. These findings can be used as objective measures for virtually assessing stability performance and as realistic boundary conditions for simulating wind gusts

Loss of MDC1 in Endometrial Carcinoma Is Associated With Loss of MRN Complex and MMR Deficiency

AIM: To evaluate the frequency of loss of mediator of DNA damage checkpoint protein 1 (MDC1) protein expression in endometrial cancer (EC) and to determine whether loss of MDC1 is associated with certain clinicopathological parameters. MATERIALS AND METHODS: MDC1 expression was examined in 426 samples of EC. The nuclear immunoreactivity of the protein was defined as: negative, weak, moderate and strong. RESULTS: Loss of MDC1 expression (defined as negative nuclear staining) was found in 8.9% (38/426) of ECs and was significantly associated with the loss of MRE11 homolog, double-strand break repair nuclease, RAD50 double-strand break repair protein and nibrin complex components. In addition, loss of expression of MDC1 showed a significant correlation with any mismatch repair deficiency, with endometrioid histological subtype and low tumour grading. CONCLUSION: Based on these findings, we suggest that MDC1 loss frequently occurs in ECs with microsatellite instability. Due to deficient homologous recombination DNA repair, MDC1-negative ECs might show an increased sensitivity to poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase-inhibitory therapy

Placental findings are not associated with neurodevelopmental outcome in neonates with hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy - an 11-year single-center experience

OBJECTIVES: Although neonates with moderate to severe hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy (HIE) receive therapeutic hypothermia (TH), 40-50% die or have significant neurological disability. The aim of this study is to analyse the association of placental pathology and neurodevelopmental outcome in cooled neonates with HIE at 18-24 months of age. METHODS: Retrospective analysis of prospectively collected data on 120 neonates registered in the Swiss National Asphyxia and Cooling Register born between 2007 and 2017. This descriptive study examines the frequency and range of pathologic findings in placentas of neonates with HIE. Placenta pathology was available of 69/120 neonates, whose results are summarized as placental findings. As neonates with HIE staged Sarnat score 1 (21/69) did not routinely undergo follow-up assessments and of six neonates staged Sarnat Score 2/3 no follow-up assessments were available, 42/48 (88%) neonates remain to assess the association between placental findings and outcome. RESULTS: Of the 42/48 (88%) neonates with available follow up 29% (12/42) neonates died. Major placenta abnormalities occurred in 48% (20/42). Major placenta abnormality was neither associated with outcome at 18-24 months of age (OR 1.75 [95% CI 0.50-6.36, p=0.381]), nor with death by 2 years of age (OR 1.96 [95% CI 0.53-7.78, p=0.320]). CONCLUSIONS: In this study cohort there could not be shown an association between the placenta findings and the neurodevelopmental outcome at 18-24 months of age

Long-term field-realistic exposure to a next-generation pesticide, flupyradifurone, impairs honey bee behaviour and survival

10openInternationalInternational coauthor/editorThe assessment of pesticide risks to insect pollinators have typically focused on short-term, lethal impacts. The environmental ramifications of many of the world’s most commonly employed pesticides, such as those exhibiting systemic properties that can result in long-lasting exposure to insects, may thus be severely underestimated. Here, seven laboratories from Europe and North America performed a standardised experiment (a ring-test) to study the long-term lethal and sublethal impacts of the relatively recently approved ‘bee safe’ butenolide pesticide flupyradifurone (FPF, active ingredient in Sivanto®) on honey bees. The emerging contaminant, FPF, impaired bee survival and behaviour at field-realistic doses (down to 11 ng/bee/day, corresponding to 400 µg/kg) that were up to 101-fold lower than those reported by risk assessments (1110 ng/bee/day), despite an absence of time-reinforced toxicity. Our findings raise concerns about the chronic impact of pesticides on pollinators at a global scale and support a novel methodology for a refined risk assessmentopenTosi, Simone; Nieh, James C; Brandt, Annely; Colli, Monica; Fourrier, Julie; Giffard, Herve; Hernández-López, Javier; Malagnini, Valeria; Williams, Geoffrey R; Simon-Delso, NoaTosi, S.; Nieh, J.C.; Brandt, A.; Colli, M.; Fourrier, J.; Giffard, H.; Hernández-López, J.; Malagnini, V.; Williams, G.R.; Simon-Delso, N

Therapeutic and Adverse Effects of a Non-Steroidal Glucocorticoid Receptor Ligand in a Mouse Model of Multiple Sclerosis

-methyl-ethylammonium chloride (CpdA), a dissociating non-steroidal GR ligand, in the context of experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE), an animal model of multiple sclerosis (MS).. Administration of high-dose CpdA to mice was lethal while treatment of EAE with low to intermediate amounts of CpdA dissolved in water significantly ameliorated the disease. The beneficial effect of CpdA required expression of the GR in T cells and was achieved by down regulating LFA-1 and CD44 on peripheral Th cells and by repressing IL-17 production.. Hence, non-steroidal GR ligands require careful analysis prior to their translation into new therapeutic concepts