Influence of Quaternary Benzophenantridine and Protopine Alkaloids on Growth Performance, Dietary Energy, Carcass Traits, Visceral Mass, and Rumen Health in Finishing Ewes under Conditions of Severe Temperature-humidity Index.

Twenty Pelibuey×Katahdin ewes (35±2.3 kg) were used to determine the effects of the consumption of standardized plant extract containing a mixture of quaternary benzophenanthridine alkaloids and protopine alkaloids (QBA+PA) on growth performance, dietary energetics, visceral mass, and ruminal epithelial health in heat-stressed ewes fed with a high-energy corn-based diet. The basal diet (13.9% crude protein and 2.09 Mcal of net energy [NE] of maintenance/kg of dry matter) contained 49.7% starch and 15.3% neutral detergent fiber. Source of QBA+PA was Sangrovit RS (SANG) which contains 3 g of quaternary benzophenathridine and protopine alkaloids per kg of product. Treatments consisted of a daily consumption of 0 or 0.5 g SANG/ewe. Ewes were grouped by weight and assigned to 10 pens (5 pens/treatment), with two ewes per pen. The experimental period lasted 70 days. The mean temperature humidity index during the course of this experiment was 81.7±1.0 (severe heat stress). There were no treatment effects on water intake. Dry matter intake was not affected (p = 0.70) by treatments, but the group fed SANG had a numerically (11.2%) higher gain in comparison to the control group, SANG improved gain efficiency (8.3%, p = 0.04), dietary NE (5.2%, p<0.01) and the observed-to-expected NE (5.9%, p<0.01). Supplemental SANG did not affect (p≥0.12) carcass characteristics, chemical composition of shoulder, and organ weights (g/kg empty body weight) of stomach complex, intestines, and heart/lung. Supplemental SANG decreased liver weight (10.3%, p = 0.02) and increased visceral fat (16.9%, p = 0.02). Rumen epithelium of ewes fed SANG had lower scores for cellular dropsical degeneration (2.08 vs 2.34, p = 0.02), parakeratosis (1.30 vs 1.82, p = 0.03) and neutrophil infiltration (2.08 vs 2.86, p = 0.05) than controls. It is concluded that SANG supplementation helped ameliorate the negative effects of severe heat on growth performance of feedlot ewes fed high-energy corn-based diets. Improvement in energetic efficiency may have been mediated, in part, by anti-inflammatory effects of supplemental SANG and corresponding enhancement of nutrient uptake

Evaluación de la competencia profesional en personas con discapacidad intelectual. Una propuesta de adaptación de la metodología e instrumentos INCUAL para la igualdad de oportunidades

La incorporación efectiva al empleo de las personas con discapacidad intelectual requiere atender especialmente a los procesos de transición a la vida adulta, con la formación y la orientación laboral como estrategias relevantes. La posibilidad de demostrar lo que son capaces de hacer mediante pruebas adecuadas para ello, además de avanzar en la igualdad de oportunidades, representaría un proceso de habilitación para la inserción laboral. Desde esta perspectiva, tomando como referencia las orientaciones del Instituto Nacional de las Cualificaciones (INCUAL), se ha procedido a adaptar y aplicar los instrumentos de evaluación de competencias profesionales para determinar la capacidad de desempeño del perfil profesional de operaciones básicas de montaje del alumnado con discapacidad intelectual de un centro ocupacional. Los resultados confirman la validez de la adaptación, la ampliación de posibilidades de inserción laboral en la Comarca do Sar (Galicia), así como el efecto retroalimentador en los itinerarios formativos y de orientación laboral del centr

Histologic features of bone regenerated by means of negative pressure in the context of odontogenic keratocyst

Propósito: El objetivo de la presente investigación es describir las características histológicas del hueso regenerado mediante presión negativa (sugosteogénesis) en un grupo de pacientes con diagnóstico de queratoquiste odontogénico (QO) sometidos a descompresión activa y sugosteogénesis por distracción (ADDS) en nuestra institución. Materiales y métodos: Los autores diseñaron un estudio retrospectivo de serie de casos. La población incluyó pacientes con diagnóstico histológico de queratoquiste odontogénico en los que se realizó descompresión activa y sugosteogénesis por distracción seguida de enucleación. Todos los pacientes fueron atendidos y seguidos desde julio de 2019 hasta enero de 2021. La investigación fue aprobada por la Junta de Revisión Institucional, y observó la Declaración de Helsinki sobre protocolo médico. Las variables de este estudio incluyeron la edad, el sexo, la localización anatómica (mandíbula o maxilar) y las características histológicas del hueso regenerado mediante presión negativa. Las características histológicas se definieron como consistentes o inconsistentes con hueso maduro viable. Resultados: Se consideraron las biopsias óseas de 6 pacientes. En total, el 83,33% de los pacientes eran varones y el 16,66% mujeres. El cien por cien de las muestras óseas sometidas a presión negativa mostraban características de hueso maduro viable. Conclusiones: En este estudio, las características histológicas del hueso sometido a presión negativa demostraron las características normales del hueso maduro normal. 2022, El/los autor/es, bajo licencia exclusiva de Springer-Verlag GmbH Alemania, parte de Springer Nature.Purpose: The objective of the present research is to describe the histologic features of the bone regenerated by means of negative pressure (sugosteogenesis) in a group of patients diagnosed with odontogenic keratocyst (OKC) who underwent active decompression and distraction sugosteogenesis (ADDS) at our institution. Materials and methods: The authors designed a retrospective case series study. The population included patients with a histologic diagnosis of odontogenic keratocyst in whom active decompression and distraction sugosteogenesis followed by enucleation was performed. All patients were seen and followed from July 2019 to January 2021. The investigation was approved by the Institutional Review Board, and it observed the Declaration of Helsinki on medical protocol. Variables of this study included age, gender, anatomic location (mandible or maxilla), and histologic characteristics of the bone regenerated by means of negative pressure. Histologic features were defined as being consistent or inconsistent with viable mature bone. Results: Bone biopsies of 6 patients were considered. In total, 83.33% of patients were males and 16.66% females. One hundred percent of the bone samples subjected to negative pressure showed features of viable mature bone. Conclusions: In this study, the histological features of the bone subjected to negative pressure demonstrated the normal characteristics of the mature, normal bone. © 2022, The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature

Plant and soil metal concentrations in serpentine soils and their influence on the diet of extensive livestock animals

Background: Grazing circuits and resources consumed differ strongly throughout the year and within a territory. For this reason, animals’ diet composition, as well as their exposure to metals, is variable. No studies have been performed on how habitat use affects the metal concentrations to which sheep and goats reared in serpentine soil areas are exposed. Objective: The aim of the present study was to investigate the metal exposure of grazing animals raised in a serpentine soil area of the north-east of Portugal, taking into account the spatial distribution of metal concentrations in soils and plants. Methods: The habitat use and foraging behaviour of six flocks of sheep and goats were studied. The concentrations of Ca, Mg, Mn, Cr and Ni were determined in the soils and plant species most consumed by those animals. Results: The highest Mg, Mn, Cr and Ni concentrations were found in the soils of the ultramafic complex. Ni concentrations above the recommended threshold for agricultural soils (30 μg/g) were found in some sites. A positive correlation between Ni concentration in soils and plants was found (0.634). Ni concentrations higher than 10 μg/g were found in some samples of the following plant species: Sorghum × drummondii (Steud.) Millsp. & Chase,Quercus rotundifolia Lam., Cytisus multiflorus (L’Hér.) Sweet, Cistus ladanifer L. and Erica scoparia L. Significant differences (p ≤ 0.05) in metal concentrations of the plants most consumed by each flock were observed. Conclusion: Grazing circuits have an important role in the metal exposure of animals raised in this serpentine soil area.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Two-bands superconductivity with intra- and interband pairing for synthetic superlattices

We consider a model for superconductivity in a two-band superconductor, having an anisotropic electronic structure made of two partially overlapping bands with a first hole-like and a second electron-like fermi surface. In this pairing scenario, driven by the interplay between interband $V_{i,j}$ and intraband $V_{i,i}$ pairing terms, we have solved the two gap equations at the critical temperature $T = T_c$ and calculate $T_c$ and the chemical potential $\mu$ as a function of the number of carriers $n$ for various values of pairing interactions, $V_{1,1}$, $V_{2,2}$, and $V_{1,2}$. The results show the complexity of the physics of condensates with multiple order parameters with the chemical potential near band edges.Comment: 6 pages, 2 figure

A new method for unveiling Open Clusters in Gaia: new nearby Open Clusters confirmed by DR2

Context. The publication of the Gaia Data Release 2 (Gaia DR2) opens a new era in astronomy. It includes precise astrometric data (positions, proper motions, and parallaxes) for more than 1.3 billion sources, mostly stars. To analyse such a vast amount of new data, the use of data-mining techniques and machine-learning algorithms is mandatory. Aims. A great example of the application of such techniques and algorithms is the search for open clusters (OCs), groups of stars that were born and move together, located in the disc. Our aim is to develop a method to automatically explore the data space, requiring minimal manual intervention. Methods. We explore the performance of a density-based clustering algorithm, DBSCAN, to find clusters in the data together with a supervised learning method such as an artificial neural network (ANN) to automatically distinguish between real OCs and statistical clusters. Results. The development and implementation of this method in a five-dimensional space (l, b, ϖ, μα*, μδ) with the Tycho-Gaia Astrometric Solution (TGAS) data, and a posterior validation using Gaia DR2 data, lead to the proposal of a set of new nearby OCs. Conclusions. We have developed a method to find OCs in astrometric data, designed to be applied to the full Gaia DR2 archive

The multiplicity fraction in 202 open clusters from Gaia

In this study, we estimate the fraction of binaries with high mass ratios for 202 open clusters in the extended solar neighbourhood (closer than 1.5 kpc from the Sun). This is one of the largest homogeneous catalogues of multiplicity fractions in open clusters to date, including the unresolved and total (close-binary) multiplicity fractions of main-sequence systems with mass ratio larger than $0.6_{-0.15}^{+0.05}$. The unresolved multiplicity fractions are estimated applying a flexible mixture model to the observed Gaia colour-magnitude diagrams of the open clusters. Then we use custom Gaia simulations to account for the resolved systems and derive the total multiplicity fractions. The studied open clusters have ages between 6.6 Myr and 3.0 Gyr and total high-mass-ratio multiplicity fractions between 6% and 80%, with a median of 18%. The multiplicity fractions increase with the mass of the primary star, as expected. The average multiplicity fraction per cluster displays an overall decreasing trend with the open cluster age up to ages about 100 Myr, above which the trend increases. Our simulations show that most of this trend is caused by complex selection effects (introduced by the mass dependence of the multiplicity fraction and the magnitude limit of our sample). Furthermore, the multiplicity fraction is not significantly correlated with the clusters' position in the Galaxy. The spread in multiplicity fraction decreases significantly with the number of cluster members (used as a proxy for cluster mass). We also find that the multiplicity fraction decreases with metallicity, in line with recent studies using field stars.Comment: 17 pages, 13 figures, resubmitted to A&A following referee comment

Influencia de diferentes ácidos orgánicos y aminoácidos sobre a determinación de succinato por la succinato deshidrogenasa de mitocondria de hígado de rata

Se ha estudiado la determinación enzimática de succinato en muestras biológicas mediante la succinato deshidrogenasa de mito­condria de hígado de rata. La enzima conserva su actividad a -20°C durante varios días. Se han utilizado como reacciones acopladas la reducción de violeta de p-yodol1iJrotetrazolio 'y la reducción del ferricianuro. En este último caso la reacción tiene poca sensibilidad ya que sólo 'cumple la ley de Lambert elevadas concentraciones de succinato'. Se ha estudiado el efecto de los ácidos oxalacético, málico, fumárico y malónico ' solos o en presencia de succinato, variando las proporciones relativas de ambos (0.1, 1, 10 y 100 veces la concentra ción de succinato). Todos ellos presentan un carácter inhibidor por lo que interfieren en la determinación enzimática del succinato. Por otra parte se ha ensayado el efecto de los aminoácidos aspártico, glutámico, 4-aminobutírico y glutamina en las mismas condiciones. Sólo el glutámico ejerce un marcado efecto activador de la reacción, pudiendo llegar hasta un 100% de incremento de los valores de D.O. observada. De los demás aminoácidos ensayados, el aspártico es un fuerte inhibidor, mientras que los restantes prácticamente no influyen. Por ello creemos imprescindible la separación previa de los aminoácidos presentes en la muestra a valorar para evitar interferencias en, el sistema de determinación.Succinate from biological samples have been enzymatically determined by rat liver succinate dehydrogenase. The enzyme· is active for 6-8 days kept at -20°C. Colorimetric determination ,of ferricyanide or p-iodonitrotetrazolium violet has been used. The sensitivity of the first method is lesser than the second. Oxalacetic, malic fumaric and malonic acids have been tested as interfering reaction, as cell as the aminoacids aspartic, glutamic, 4-aminobutyric and glutamine. Glutamic acid shows a clear activator effec.+. even at 0.1 foId Succinate concentration. Therefore the aminoacids pres,ents in ,the biological Samples must been eliminat'ed before succinate determination