growth and nitrogen metabolism of sea bass fed graded levels of nucleic acid nitrogen from yeast or rna extract as partial substitute for protein nitrogen from fish meal

Some studies carried out in mammalian models have shown de novo synthesis and salvage of nucleotides to be a costly metabolic process and a dietary supplementation with nucleic acids (NA) or nucleotides has been suggested to result in a protein sparing action (Sanderson and He, 1994). On the other hand, high levels of dietary NA could have toxic effects and lead to disturbance in protein, lipid and carbohydrate metabolism in monogastric animals lacking uricase activity, an enzyme involved in NA degradation (Clifford and Story, 1976). So far, there is no clear indication of such effects in fish fed nucleic acid-enriched diets (Tacon and Cooke, 1980; Rumsey et al., 1992; Fournier et al., 2002). The aim of this experiment was to investigate growth response and N metabolism in juvenile sea bass (D. labrax) fed diets supplying graded levels of nucleic acid N from dry brewer's yeast or RNA extract as partial substitutes for protein nitrogen provided by fish meal

Pea protein concentrate as a substitute for fish meal protein in sea bass diet

Pea seeds, even if lower in protein than oilseed meals, have been shown to successfully replace moderate amounts of fish meal protein in diets for carnivorous fish species (Kaushik et al., 1993, Gouveia and Davies, 2000). A further processing of such pulses provides concentrated protein products which look very promising as fish meal substitutes in aquafeeds (Thiessen et al., 2003). The aim of the present study was to evaluate nutrient digestibility, growth response, nutrient and energy retention efficiencies and whole body composition of sea bass (Dicentrarchus labrax, L.) fed complete diets in which a pea protein concentrate (PPC) was used to replace graded levels of fish meal protein

Malignant struma ovarii harboring a unique NRAS mutation: case report and review of the literature

Struma ovarii (SO), a rare tumor containing at least 50% of thyroid tissue, represents approximately 5% of all ovarian teratomas; its malignant transformation rate is reported to occur in up to 10% of cases and metastases occur in about 5-6% of them. We describe a 36-year old woman who underwent laparoscopic left annessectomy two years earlier because of an ovarian cyst. Follow-up imaging revealed a right adnexal mass, ascitis and peritoneal nodes that were diagnosed as comprising a malignant SO with peritoneal secondary localizations at histopathology performed after intervention. Restaging with F-18-FDG-PE T/CT scan, abdominal CT and ultrasonography showed abnormalities in the perihepatic region and presacral space and left hypochondrium localizations. The patient underwent thyroidectomy, hepatic nodulectomy and cytoreductive peritonectomy: histopathological examination did not show any malignant disease in the thyroid and confirmed the presence of peritoneal localizations due to malignant SO; molecular analysis detected NRAS Q61K mutation in exon 3, whereas no mutations were identified on the BRAF gene. The patient underwent radioiodine treatment: serum Tg was decreased at first follow-up after three months of I-131-therapy. We believe that our case raises some interesting considerations. First, pathologists should be aware of this entity and should check for the presence of point mutations suggesting an aggressive disease behavior, which could be beneficial for an optimal therapeutic approach. Second, although most of the knowledge in this field comes from case reports, efforts should be made to standardize the management of patients affected by malignant SO, including use of practice guidelines

Characterization of water-soluble brown carbon chromophores from wildfire plumes in the western USA using size-exclusion chromatography

Wildfires are an important source of carbonaceous aerosol in the atmosphere. Organic aerosol that absorbs light in the ultraviolet to visible spectral range is referred to as brown carbon (BrC), and its impact on Earth's radiative budget has not been well characterized. We collected water-soluble brown carbon using a particle-into-liquid sampler (PILS) on board a Twin Otter aircraft during the Fire Influence on Regional to Global Environments and Air Quality (FIREX-AQ) campaign. Samples were collected downwind of wildfires in the western United States from August to September 2019. We applied size-exclusion chromatography (SEC) with ultraviolet-visible spectroscopy to characterize the molecular size distribution of BrC chromophores. The wildfire plumes had transport ages of 0 to 5 h, and the absorption was dominated by chromophores with molecular weights &lt;500 Da. With BrC normalized to a conserved biomass burning tracer, carbon monoxide, a consistent decrease in BrC absorption with plume age was not observed during FIREX-AQ. These findings are consistent with the variable trends in BrC absorption with plume age reported in recent studies. While BrC absorption trends were broadly consistent between the offline SEC analysis and the online PILS measurements, the absolute values of absorption and their spectral dependence differed. We investigate plausible explanations for the discrepancies observed between the online and offline analyses. This included solvent effects, pH, and sample storage. We suspect that sample storage impacted the absorption intensity of the offline measurements without impacting the molecular weight distribution of BrC chromophores.</p

Removal of ammonium from wastewater with geopolymer sorbents fabricated via additive manufacturing

Geopolymers have been recently explored as sorbents for wastewater treatment, thanks to their mechanical and chemical stability and to their low-energy manufacturing process. One specific application could be the removal of ammonium (NH4+) through exchange with Na+ ions. Additive manufacturing (AM) represents an especially interesting option for fabrication, as it allows to tailor the size, distribution, shape, and interconnectivity of pores, and therefore the access to charge-bearing sites. The present study provides a proof of concept for NH4+ removal from wastewater using porous geopolymer components fabricated via direct ink writing (DIW) AM approach. A metakaolin-based ink was employed for the fabrication of a log-pile structure with 45\ub0 rotation between layers, producing continuous yet tortuous macropores which are responsible for the high permeability of the sorbents. The ink consolidates in an amorphous, mesoporous network, with the mesopores acting as preferential sites for ion exchange. The printed sorbents were characterized for their physicochemical and mechanical properties and the NH4+ removal capacity in continuous-flow column experiments by using a model effluent. The lattices present high permeability and high cation exchange capacity and maintained a high amount of active ions after four cycles, allowing to reuse them multiple times

Major vascular traumas to the neck, upper limbs, and chest: Clinical presentation, diagnostic approach, and management strategies

Major vascular traumas to the neck, upper limbs, and chest may arise from penetrating and/or blunt mechanisms, resulting in a range of clinical scenarios. Lesions to the carotid arteries may also lead to neurologic complications, such as stroke. The increasing use of invasive arterial access for diagnostic and/or interventional purposes has increased the rate of iatrogenic injuries, which usually occur in older and hospitalized patients. Bleeding control and restoration of perfusion represent the two main goals of treatment for vascular traumatic lesions. Open surgery still represents the gold standard for most lesions, although endovascular approaches have increasingly emerged as feasible and effective options, particularly for management of subclavian and aortic injuries. In addition to advanced imaging (including ultrasound, contrast-enhanced cross-sectional imaging, and arteriography) and life support measures, multidisciplinary care is required, particularly in the setting of concomitant injuries to the bones, soft tissues, or other vital organs. Modern vascular surgeons should be familiar with the whole armamentarium of open and endovascular techniques needed to manage major vascular traumas safely and promptly

Anatomic feasibility of in-situ fenestration for isolate left subclavian artery preservation during thoracic endovascular aortic repair using an adjustable needle puncturing system

Objectives: To evaluate the feasibility of thoracic endovascular aortic repair (TEVAR) using the AnkuraTM device (Lifetech Scientific, Shenzhen, China) with left subclavian artery (LSA) in-situ fenestration (ISF) using an adjustable puncture device system. Methods: It is a single center, retrospective, financially unsupported cohort study of TEVAR performed from 16 February 2007 to 10 January 2023. Inclusion criteria were isolate LSA revascularization for elective or urgent/emergent “zone 2” TEVAR, and the availability of the preoperative computed tomography angiography. Results: Post-hoc analysis identified 52 TEVARs. There were 39 (75.0%) males, and 13 (25.0%) females: median age was 74.5 years (IQR, 65.5–78). Index TEVAR was performed for atherosclerotic aneurysm in 27 (51.9%) cases, dissection-related diseases in 18 (34.6%), penetrating aortic ulcer in 5 (9.6%), and blunt traumatic aortic injury in 2 (3.8%). Access-vessel feasibility rate of TEVAR using the AnkuraTM device would have been 98.1% (51/52). Considering the morphology of the aortic arch, ISF TEVAR feasibility would have been 61.5% (32/52). Binary logistic regression analysis identified LSA angulation (OR: 1.1, 95%CI: 1.03–1.14, p = 0.003) to be associated with ISF feasibility using this endograft and a self-centering adjustable needle-based puncture device. Conclusions: Potential feasibility of TEVAR using the AnkuraTM endograft with ISF using a self-centering adjustable needle system was 61.5%. Left subclavian artery angulation seems to be the most important and limiting anatomical constraint

Ultrahard magnetic nanostructures

The performance of hard-magnetic nanostructures is investigated by analyzing the size and geometry dependence of thin-film hysteresis loops. Compared to bulk magnets, weight and volume are much less important, but we find that the energy product remains the main figure of merit down to very small features sizes. However, hysteresis loops are much easier to control on small length scales, as epitomized by Fe-Co-Pt thin films with magnetizations of up to 1.78 T and coercivities of up to 2.52 T. Our numerical and analytical calculations show that the feature size and geometry have a big effect on the hysteresis loop. Layered soft regions, especially if they have a free surface, are more harmful to coercivity and energy product than spherical inclusions. In hard-soft nanocomposites, an additional complication is provided by the physical properties of the hard phases. For a given soft phase, the performance of a hard-soft composite is determined by the parameter (Ms - Mh)/Kh

Smiling at moral misbehaviors: the effect of violation benignness and psychological distance

Why do certain moral violations elicit amusement while others do not? According to McGraw and Warren’s (2010) benign-violation theory of humor, for a situation to elicit amusement it should involve a benign violation. Furthermore, the greater the psychological distance from the situation, the greater the amusement it will elicit. We tested this theory by recording spontaneous facial expressions and collecting self-ratings of amusement in response to classic scenarios of purity and harm violations, which we stated either from a psychologically close second-person perspective or a psychologically distant third-person perspective. A feature of these classic scenarios is that purity violations are relatively more benign (less malignant) than harm violations, which we independently found. The theory thus predicts more amusement elicitation for purity violations, which would be more pronounced when the hypothetical transgressor is a third party rather than the participant. We found that amusement was exclusively elicited by the more benign purity violations but no effect of psychological distance. Furthermore, the judged malignance of a violation was a strong predictor of amusement. Overall, the results partially support the benign violation theory of humor