Comparison of the microbial population in rabbits and guinea pigs by next generation sequencing

<div><p>This study aimed to determine the microbial composition of faeces from two groups of caecotrophagic animals; rabbits and guinea pigs. In addition the study aimed to determine the community present in the different organs in the rabbit. DNA was extracted from seven of the organs in wild rabbits (n = 5) and from faecal samples from domesticated rabbits (n = 6) and guinea pigs (n = 6). Partial regions of the small ribosomal sub-unit were amplified by PCR and then the sequences present in each sample were determined by next generation sequencing. Differences were detected between samples from rabbit and guinea pig faeces, suggesting that there is not a microbial community common to caecotrophagic animals. Differences were also detected in the different regions of the rabbits’ digestive tracts. As with previous work, many of the organisms detected were Firmicutes or unclassified species and there was a lack of Fibrobacteres, but for the first time we observed a high number of Bacteroidetes in rabbit samples. This work re-iterates high levels of Firmicutes and unclassified species are present in the rabbit gut, together with low number of Fibrobacteres. This suggests that in the rabbit gut, organisms other than the Fibrobacteres must be responsible for fibre digestion. However observation of high numbers of Bacteroidetes suggests that this phylum may indeed have a role to play in digestion in the rabbit gut.</p></div

A tankönyvellátás változásai a rendszerváltozás után

<p>Percentage of each phylum present in fresh faecal samples collected from domesticated rabbits and rectal samples collected from wild rabbits together with the percentage of sequences which could not be classified within a particular phylum.</p

Beef production from feedstuffs conserved using new technologies to reduce negative environmental impacts

End of project reportMost (ca. 86%) Irish farms make some silage. Besides directly providing feed for livestock, the provision of grass silage within integrated grassland systems makes an important positive contribution to effective grazing management and improved forage utilisation by grazing animals, and to effective feed budgeting by farmers. It can also contribute to maintaining the content of desirable species in pastures, and to livestock not succumbing to parasites at sensitive times of the year. Furthermore, the optimal recycling of nutrients collected from housed livestock can often be best achieved by spreading the manures on the land used for producing the conserved feed. On most Irish farms, grass silage will remain the main conserved forage for feeding to livestock during winter for the foreseeable future. However, on some farms high yields of whole-crop (i.e. grain + straw) cereals such as wheat, barley and triticale, and of forage maize, will be an alternative option provided that losses during harvesting, storage and feedout are minimised and that input costs are restrained. These alternative forages have the potential to reliably support high levels of animal performance while avoiding the production of effluent. Their production and use however will need to advantageously integrate into ruminant production systems. A range of technologies can be employed for crop production and conservation, and for beef production, and the optimal options need to be identified. Beef cattle being finished indoors are offered concentrate feedstuffs at rates that range from modest inputs through to ad libitum access. Such concentrates frequently contain high levels of cereals such as barley or wheat. These cereals are generally between 14% to 18% moisture content and tend to be rolled shortly before being included in coarse rations or are more finely processed prior to pelleting. Farmers thinking of using ‘high-moisture grain’ techniques for preserving and processing cereal grains destined for feeding to beef cattle need to know how the yield, conservation efficiency and feeding value of such grains compares with grains conserved using more conventional techniques. European Union policy strongly encourages a sustainable and multifunctional agriculture. Therefore, in addition to providing European consumers with quality food produced within approved systems, agriculture must also contribute positively to the conservation of natural resources and the upkeep of the rural landscape. Plastics are widely used in agriculture and their post-use fate on farms must not harm the environment - they must be managed to support the enduring sustainability of farming systems. There is an absence of information on the efficacy of some new options for covering and sealing silage with plastic sheeting and tyres, and an absence of an inventory of the use, re-use and post-use fate of plastic film on farms. Irish cattle farmers operate a large number of beef production systems, half of which use dairy bred calves. In the current, continuously changing production and market conditions, new beef systems must be considered. A computer package is required that will allow the rapid, repeatable simulation and assessment of alternate beef production systems using appropriate, standardised procedures. There is thus a need to construct, evaluate and utilise computer models of components of beef production systems and to develop mathematical relationships to link system components into a network that would support their integration into an optimal system model. This will provide a framework to integrate physical and financial on-farm conditions with models for estimating feed supply and animal growth patterns. Cash flow and profit/loss results will be developed. This will help identify optimal systems, indicate the cause of failure of imperfect systems and identify areas where applied research data are currently lacking, or more basic research is required

Mechanical design and development of TES bolometer detector arrays for the Advanced ACTPol experiment

The next generation Advanced ACTPol (AdvACT) experiment is currently underway and will consist of four Transition Edge Sensor (TES) bolometer arrays, with three operating together, totaling ~5800 detectors on the sky. Building on experience gained with the ACTPol detector arrays, AdvACT will utilize various new technologies, including 150mm detector wafers equipped with multichroic pixels, allowing for a more densely packed focal plane. Each set of detectors includes a feedhorn array of stacked silicon wafers which form a spline profile leading to each pixel. This is then followed by a waveguide interface plate, detector wafer, back short cavity plate, and backshort cap. Each array is housed in a custom designed structure manufactured from high purity copper and then gold plated. In addition to the detector array assembly, the array package also encloses cryogenic readout electronics. We present the full mechanical design of the AdvACT high frequency (HF) detector array package along with a detailed look at the detector array stack assemblies. This experiment will also make use of extensive hardware and software previously developed for ACT, which will be modified to incorporate the new AdvACT instruments. Therefore, we discuss the integration of all AdvACT arrays with pre-existing ACTPol infrastructure.Comment: 9 pages, 5 figures, SPIE Astronomical Telescopes and Instrumentation conference proceeding

Beef production from feedstuffs conserved using new technologies to reduce negative environmental impacts

End of Project ReportThe three separate components with parallel objectives to this programme were to: 1. Develop technologies for conserving and optimally feeding alternative/complimentary feedstuffs to grass silage. 2. Quantify the use and re-use of plastic sheeting or film used to seal ensiled feedstuffs or mulch maize, and evaluate some new options. 3. Develop computer programs that will facilitate investigating prototype models of forage-based beef production systems

Pressure-Regulated Volume Control vs Volume Control Ventilation in Infants After Surgery for Congenital Heart Disease

The objective of this investigation was to compare how two modes of positive pressure ventilation affect cardiac output, airway pressures, oxygenation, and carbon dioxide removal in children with congenital heart disease in the immediate postoperative period. The investigation used a one group pretest–post-test study design and was performed in the pediatric cardiac intensive care unit in a university-affiliated children's hospital. Nine infants were enrolled immediately after repair of tetralogy of Fallot (2) or atrioventricular septal defects (7) with mean weight = 5.5 kg (4.2–7.3 kg). Children were admitted to the pediatric cardiothoracic intensive care unit after complete surgical repair of their cardiac defect and stabilized on a Siemen's Servo 300 ventilator in volume control mode (VCV1) (volume-targeted ventilation with a square flow wave pattern). Tidal volume was set at 15 cc/kg (total). Hemodynamic parameters, airway pressures and ventilator settings, and an arterial blood gas were measured. Patients were then changed to pressure-regulated volume control mode (PRVC) (volume-targeted ventilation with decelerating flow wave pattern) with the tidal volume set as before. Measurements were repeated after 30 minutes. Patients were then returned to volume control mode (VCV2) and final measurements made after 30 minutes. The measurements and results are as follows:Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/42385/1/246-22-3-233_10220233.pd

Quail Genomics: a knowledgebase for Northern bobwhite

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The Quail Genomics knowledgebase (<url>http://www.quailgenomics.info</url>) has been initiated to share and develop functional genomic data for Northern bobwhite (<it>Colinus virginianus</it>). This web-based platform has been designed to allow researchers to perform analysis and curate genomic information for this non-model species that has little supporting information in GenBank.</p> <p>Description</p> <p>A multi-tissue, normalized cDNA library generated for Northern bobwhite was sequenced using 454 Life Sciences next generation sequencing. The Quail Genomics knowledgebase represents the 478,142 raw ESTs generated from the sequencing effort in addition to assembled nucleotide and protein sequences including 21,980 unigenes annotated with meta-data. A normalized MySQL relational database was established to provide comprehensive search parameters where meta-data can be retrieved using functional and structural information annotation such as gene name, pathways and protein domain. Additionally, blast hit cutoff levels and microarray expression data are available for batch searches. A Gene Ontology (GO) browser from Amigo is locally hosted providing 8,825 unigenes that are putative orthologs to chicken genes. In an effort to address over abundance of Northern bobwhite unigenes (71,384) caused by non-overlapping contigs and singletons, we have built a pipeline that generates scaffolds/supercontigs by aligning partial sequence fragments against the indexed protein database of chicken to build longer sequences that can be visualized in a web browser. </p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Our effort provides a central repository for storage and a platform for functional interrogation of the Northern bobwhite sequences providing comprehensive GO annotations, meta-data and a scaffold building pipeline. The Quail Genomics knowledgebase will be integrated with Japanese quail (<it>Coturnix coturnix</it>) data in future builds and incorporate a broader platform for these avian species. </p

Comparing complex impedance and bias step measurements of Simons Observatory transition edge sensors

The Simons Observatory (SO) will perform ground-based observations of the cosmic microwave background (CMB) with several small and large aperture telescopes, each outfitted with thousands to tens of thousands of superconducting aluminum manganese (AlMn) transition-edge sensor bolometers (TESs). In-situ characterization of TES responsivities and effective time constants will be required multiple times each observing-day for calibrating time-streams during CMB map-making. Effective time constants are typically estimated in the field by briefly applying small amplitude square-waves on top of the TES DC biases, and fitting exponential decays in the bolometer response. These so-called "bias step" measurements can be rapidly implemented across entire arrays and therefore are attractive because they take up little observing time. However, individual detector complex impedance measurements, while too slow to implement during observations, can provide a fuller picture of the TES model and a better understanding of its temporal response. Here, we present the results of dark TES characterization of many prototype SO bolometers and compare the effective thermal time constants measured via bias steps to those derived from complex impedance data.Comment: 10 pages, 6 figures, SPIE Astronomical Telescopes + Instrumentation 2020, Paper Number: 11453-18