Identification of bovine material in porcine spray-dried blood derivatives using the Polymerase Chain Reaction technique

Due to the widely supported theory of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) spread in cattle by contaminated animal feeds, screening of feed products has become essential. For many years, manufacturers have used blood and plasma proteins as high quality ingredients of foods for both pets and farm animals. However, in Europe, the Commission Regulation 1234/2003/EC temporally bans the use of processed animal proteins, including blood-derivative products, in feedstuffs for all farm animals which are fattened or bred for the production of food. This regulation has some exceptions, such as the use of non ruminant blood products into the feed of farm fish. Authorization of the re-introduction of these proteins into animal feed formulations, especially non ruminant proteins into the feed for non ruminant farm animals, is expected when adequate control methods to discriminate ruminant proteins exist. Currently, the number of validated methods to differentiate the species of origin for most of the animal by-products is limited. Here we report the development of a rapid and sensitive polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-based assay, which allows detection of bovine or porcine specific mitochondrial DNAfrom spray-dried blood derivate products (plasma, whole blood and red cells), as a marker for bovine contamination in porcine products. Sample extracts, suitable for PCR, were easily and quickly obtained with the commercial PrepManTM Ultra reagent (Applied Biosystems). To confirm the porcine origin of the samples, primers targeting a specific region of 134 bp of the porcine cytochrome b coding sequence were designed (cytbporc1-F and cytbporc2-R). Previously published PCR primers (L8129 and H8357), specific for a 271 bp fragment of the bovine mitochondrial ATPase 8-ATPase 6 genes, were chosen to accomplish amplification of bovine DNA. The limit of detection (LOD) of the bovine PCR assay was at least of 0.05% (v/v) of bovine inclusion in spray-dried porcine plasma or red cells fraction. In dried whole blood samples, sensitivity of the method was found to be at least of 0.1 % (v/v). Since the method described here exhibits high specificity and sensitivity and it is rapid, simple and consistent, it could be successfully utilized as a routine control assay to evaluate the presence of bovine materials in spray-dried blood products

Energy Assessment of Pressurized Water Systems

[EN] This paper presents three new indicators for assessing the energy efficiency of a pressurized water system and the potential energy savings relative to the available technology and economic framework. The first two indicators are the ideal and real efficiencies of the system and reflect the values of the minimum energy required by users the minimum amount of energy to be supplied to the system (because of its ideal behavior) and the actual energy consumed. The third indicator is the energy performance target, and it is estimated by setting an ambitious but achievable level of energy loss attributable to inefficiencies in the system (e.g., pumping stations, leakage, friction loss). The information provided by these three key performance indicators can make a significant contribution towards increasing system efficiency. The real efficiency indicator shows the actual performance of the system; the energy performance target provides a realistic goal on how the system should be performing; and finally, the ideal efficiency provides the maximum and unachievable level of efficiency (limited by the topographic energy linked to the network topography). The applicability and usefulness of these metrics will be demonstrated with an application in a real case study.The authors acknowledge the very valuable contributions made by the reviewers of this paper, because their comments and suggestions have helped to significantly improve the contents. Additionally, we thank the staff of Aguas de Valencia for providing helpful advice and real case studies used to tune the software tool developed based on this paper. And last but not least, the research leading to these results received funding from the European Union Seventh Framework Programme (FP7/2007-2013) under grant agreement number 265122. The translation of this paper was funded by the Universitat Politècnica de València, Spain.Cabrera Marcet, E.; Gomez Selles, E.; Cabrera Rochera, E.; Soriano Olivares, J.; Espert Alemany, VB. (2014). Energy Assessment of Pressurized Water Systems. Journal of Water Resources Planning and Management. 141(8):1-12. https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)WR.1943-5452.0000494S112141

Reducing Power Losses in Smart Grids with Cooperative Game Theory

In a theoretical framework of game theory, one can distinguish between the noncooperative and the cooperative game theory. While the theory of noncooperative games is about modeling competitive behavior, cooperative game theory is dedicated to the study of cooperation among a number of players. The cooperative game theory includes mostly two branches: the Nash negotiation and the coalitional game theory. In this chapter, we restrict our attention to the latter. In recent years, the concept of efficient management of electric power has become more complex as a result of the high integration of distributed energy resources in the scenarios to be considered, mainly distributed generation, energy storage distributed, and demand management. This situation has been accentuated with the appearance of new consumption elements, such as electric vehicles, which could cause a high impact on distribution gridworks if they are not managed properly. This chapter presents an innovative approach toward an efficient energy model through the application of the theory of cooperative games with transferable utility in which the management, capacity, and control of distributed energy resources are integrated to provide optimal energy solutions that allow achieving significant savings in associated costs. This chapter presents a general description of the potential of the application of the theory to address Smart Grid, providing a systematic treatment

Bacterial flora in the sputum and comorbidity in patients with acute exacerbations of COPD

To determine in patients admitted with an acute exacerbation of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (AE-COPD) the association between the isolation of potential pathogens in a conventional sputum culture and comorbidities. The ESMI study is a multicenter observational study. Patients with AE-COPD admitted to the Internal Medicine departments of 70 hospitals were included. The clinical characteristics, treatments, and comorbidities were gathered. The results of conventional sputum cultures were recorded. A total of 536 patients were included, of which 161 produced valid sputum and a potentially pathogenic microorganism was isolated from 88 subjects (16.4%). The isolation of Pseudomonas aeruginosa (30.7%) was associated with a greater severity of the lung disease (previous admissions [ P = 0.026], dyspnea scale [ P =0.047], post-broncodilator forced expiratory volume in 1 second (FEV) [ P =0.005], and the BODEx index [ P =0.009]); also with higher prevalence of cor pulmonale (P =0.017), heart failure (P =0.048), and cerebrovascular disease (P =0.026). Streptococcus pneumoniae (26.1%) was associated with more comorbidity according to number of diseases (P =0.018); notably, peripheral artery disease (P =0.033), hypertension (P =0.029), dyslipidemia (P =0.039), osteoporosis (P =0.0001), and depression (P =0.005). Patients with AE-COPD and P. aeruginosa present higher severity of COPD, while those with S. pneumoniae present greater comorbidity. The potentially pathogenic microorganism obtained in the sputum culture depends on the associated comorbidities

Bacterial flora in the sputum and comorbidity in patients with acute exacerbations of COPD

Objective: To determine in patients admitted with an acute exacerbation of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (AE-COPD) the association between the isolation of potential pathogens in a conventional sputum culture and comorbidities. Patients and methods: The ESMI study is a multicenter observational study. Patients with AE-COPD admitted to the Internal Medicine departments of 70 hospitals were included. The clinical characteristics, treatments, and comorbidities were gathered. The results of conventional sputum cultures were recorded. Results: A total of 536 patients were included, of which 161 produced valid sputum and a potentially pathogenic microorganism was isolated from 88 subjects (16.4%). The isolation of Pseudomonas aeruginosa (30.7%) was associated with a greater severity of the lung disease (previous admissions P= 0.026], dyspnea scale P=0.047], post-broncodilator forced expiratory volume in 1 second (FEV1) P=0.005], and the BODEx index P=0.009]); also with higher prevalence of cor pulmonale (P=0.017), heart failure (P=0.048), and cerebrovascular disease (P=0.026). Streptococcus pneumoniae (26.1%) was associated with more comorbidity according to number of diseases (P=0.018); notably, peripheral artery disease (P=0.033), hypertension (P=0.029), dyslipidemia (P=0.039), osteoporosis (P=0.0001), and depression (P=0.005). Conclusion: Patients with AE-COPD and P. aeruginosa present higher severity of COPD, while those with S. pneumoniae present greater comorbidity. The potentially pathogenic microorganism obtained in the sputum culture depends on the associated comorbidities

Combined Tevatron upper limit on gg -> H -> W+W- and constraints on the Higgs boson mass in fourth-generation fermion models

12 páginas, 4 figuras, 2 tablas.-- CDF Collaboration: et al.We combine results from searches by the CDF and D0 collaborations for a standard model Higgs boson (H) in the process gg -> H -> W+W- in p (p) over bar collisions at the Fermilab Tevatron Collider at root s = 1.96 TeV. With 4.8 fb(-1) of integrated luminosity analyzed at CDF and 5.4 fb(-1) at D0, the 95% confidence level upper limit on sigma(gg -> H) x B(H -> W+W-) is 1.75 pb at m(H) = 120 GeV, 0.38 pb at m(H) = 165 GeV, and 0.83 pb at m(H) = 200 GeV. Assuming the presence of a fourth sequential generation of fermions with large masses, we exclude at the 95% confidence level a standard-model-like Higgs boson with a mass between 131 and 204 GeV.We thank the Fermilab staff and the technical staffs of the participating institutions for their vital contributions. This work was supported by DOE and NSF (USA), CONICET and UBACyT (Argentina), CNPq, FAPERJ, FAPESP and FUNDUNESP (Brazil), CRC Program, CFI, NSERC and WestGrid Project (Canada), CAS and CNSF (China), Colciencias (Colombia), MSMT and GACR (Czech Republic), Academy of Finland (Finland), CEA and CNRS/IN2P3 (France), BMBF and DFG (Germany), Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (Japan), World Class University Program, National Research Foundation (Korea), KRF and KOSEF (Korea), DAE and DST (India), SFI (Ireland), INFN (Italy), CONACyT (Mexico), NSC(Republic of China), FASI, Rosatom and RFBR (Russia), Slovak R&D Agency (Slovakia), Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación, and Programa Consolider-Ingenio 2010 (Spain), The Swedish Research Council (Sweden), Swiss National Science Foundation (Switzerland), FOM (The Netherlands), STFC and the Royal Society (UK), and the A.P. Sloan Foundation (USA).Peer reviewe

Search for standard model Higgs boson production in association with a W boson using a neural network discriminant at CDF

15 páginas, 4 figuras, 7 tablas.-- CDF Collaboration: et al.We present a search for standard model Higgs boson production in association with a W boson in proton-antiproton collisions (pp ->(WH)-H-+/--> l nu bb) at a center of mass energy of 1.96 TeV. The search employs data collected with the CDF II detector that correspond to an integrated luminosity of approximately 1.9 fb(-1). We select events consistent with a signature of a single charged lepton (e(+/-)/mu(+/-)), missing transverse energy, and two jets. Jets corresponding to bottom quarks are identified with a secondary vertex tagging method, a jet probability tagging method, and a neural network filter. We use kinematic information in an artificial neural network to improve discrimination between signal and background compared to previous analyses. The observed number of events and the neural network output distributions are consistent with the standard model background expectations, and we set 95% confidence level upper limits on the production cross section times branching fraction ranging from 1.2 to 1.1 pb or 7.5 to 102 times the standard model expectation for Higgs boson masses from 110 to 150 GeV/c(2), respectively.We thank the Fermilab staff and the technical staffs of the participating institutions for their vital contributions. This work was supported by the U.S. Department of Energy and National Science Foundation; the Italian Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare; the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology of Japan; the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada; the National Science Council of the Republic of China; the Swiss National Science Foundation; the A.P. Sloan Foundation; the Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung, Germany; the Korean Science and Engineering Foundation and the Korean Research Foundation; the Science and Technology Facilities Council and the Royal Society, UK; the Institut National de Physique Nucleaire et Physique des Particules/CNRS; the Russian Foundation for Basic Research; the Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación, and Programa Consolider- Ingenio 2010, Spain; the Slovak R&D Agency; and the Academy of Finland.Peer reviewe