Valoración del forraje verde hidropónico de maíz (FVH) sobre la calidad de la canal del conejo raza Nueva Zelanda

La ganancia de peso, conformación morfológica, los rendimientos en canal y la composición tisular son indicadores de la calidad de la canal del conejo dependientes de la dieta especialmente. Por esta razón, fue valorado el forraje verde hidropónico de maíz (FVHM) en la dieta de alimentación de conejos. Para ello, se alimentaron 18 conejos de raza Nueva Zelanda de 45 días de edad con tres dietas: T0: testigo (100% alimento balanceado comercial; T1: 30% FVHMy 70% alimento balanceado comercial y T2: 60% FVHM y 40% alimento balanceado comercial durante un periodo de ocho semanas. Fueron analizados parámetros como la ganancia de peso, conformación morfológica, los rendimientos en canal y la composición tisular y el color de la carne. Los resultados obtenidos mostraron que el FVHM no afetan los parámetros medidos, pero sí afecta el color de la carne haciéndola de color más atractivo para el consumidor

Investigating RFX6 Function in Human Gastric Development

Mitchell-Riley syndrome (MRS) is a condition affecting the human gastrointestinal system and is due to a mutation in regulatory factor X6 (RFX6), a gene whose function is not well understood. To better define the role of RFX6 in the human stomach, we used human gastric organoids, three-dimensional models of human stomachs that develop from stem cells in a petri dish. In the organoids, we increased RFX6 expression by adding a substance known as doxycycline. The results indicated that RFX6 directly correlates to expression of another gene, pancreatic and duodenal homeobox 1 (PDX1), which is important for the structural formation of different regions of the human stomach. Additionally, the data demonstrates that RFX6 expression is important to the formation of cells that release hormones in the stomach. Building this foundational knowledge base of the influence of RFX6 in the stomach provides means to advance understanding of gastrointestinal development and improve treatments and outcomes for MRS patients

Outcomes of percutaneous endovascular intervention for type II endoleak with aneurysm expansion

ObjectiveType II endoleak (T2EL) with aneurysm expansion is believed to place patients at risk for aneurysm-related mortality (ARM). Treatment with glue and/or coil embolization of the aneurysm sac, inferior mesenteric artery (IMA), and lumbar branches via translumbar or transarterial approaches has been utilized to ablate such endoleaks, and thus decrease ARM. We evaluated the midterm results of percutaneous endovascular treatment of T2EL with aneurysm expansion.MethodsSingle-institution, 5-year (January 2003 to August 2008) retrospective study of all endovascular interventions for T2EL with sac expansion. Blinded, independent review of all available pre- and post-T2EL intervention computed tomography (CT) scans was performed. Aneurysm sac maximal transverse diameters and aneurysm sac growth rates prior to and following T2EL intervention were analyzed.ResultsForty-two patients (34 male, eight female; mean age, 75) underwent T2EL intervention at 26 ± 20 months after endovascular aneurysm repair (EVAR) and were subsequently followed for 23 ± 20 months. Seven out of 42 patients (17%) underwent repeat T2EL intervention. Interventions included 44 translumbar sac embolizations, and transcatheter embolizations of nine IMAs and seven lumbar/hypogastric arteries. Aneurysm diameter was 6.1 ± 1.6 cm at EVAR, 6.6 ± 1.5 cm at initial T2EL treatment, and 6.9 ± 1.7 cm at last follow-up. There were no significant differences in the rates of aneurysm sac growth pre- and post-T2EL treatment. At last follow-up imaging, recurrent or persistent T2EL was noted in 72% of patients. Of 42 patients, nine (21%) received operative endoluminal correction of occult type I or type III endoleaks that were diagnosed during the T2EL angiographic intervention. There were no aneurysm ruptures or ARMs during follow-up; overall mortality for the 5-year study period was 24%.ConclusionsIn this series, percutaneous endovascular intervention for type II endoleak with aneurysm sac growth does not appear to alter the rate of aneurysm sac growth, and the majority of patients display persistent/recurrent endoleak. However, diagnostic angiographic evaluation may reveal unexpected type I and III endoleaks and is therefore recommended for all patients with T2EL and sac growth. While coil and glue embolization of aneurysm sac and selected branch vessels does not appear to yield benefit in our series, the diagnosis and subsequent definitive treatment of previously occult type I and III endoleaks may explain the absence of delayed rupture and ARM in our series

Genomic analysis of Campylobacter fetus subspecies: identification of candidate virulence determinants and diagnostic assay targets

Background: Campylobacter fetus subspecies venerealis is the causative agent of bovine genital campylobacteriosis, asymptomatic in bulls the disease is spread to female cattle causing extensive reproductive loss. The microbiological and molecular differentiation of C. fetus subsp. venerealis from C. fetus subsp. fetus is extremely difficult. This study describes the analysis of the available C. fetus subsp. venerealis AZUL-94 strain genome (~75–80%) to identify elements exclusively found in C. fetus subsp. venerealis strains as potential diagnostic targets and the characterisation of subspecies virulence genes. Results: Eighty Kb of genomic sequence (22 contigs) was identified as unique to C. fetus subsp. venerealis AZUL-94 and consisted of type IV secretory pathway components, putative plasmid genes and hypothetical proteins. Of the 9 PCR assays developed to target C. fetus subsp. venerealis type IV secretion system genes, 4 of these were specific for C. fetus subsp. venerealis biovar venerealis and did not detect C. fetus subsp. venerealis biovar intermedius. Two assays were specific for C. fetus subsp. venerealis AZUL-94 strain, with a further single assay specific for the AZUL-94 strain and C. fetus subsp. venerealis biovar intermedius (and not the remaining C. fetus subsp. venerealis biovar venerealis strains tested). C. fetus subsp. fetus and C. fetus subsp. venerealis were found to share most common Campylobacter virulence factors such as SAP, chemotaxis, flagellar biosynthesis, 2-component systems and cytolethal distending toxin subunits (A, B, C). We did not however, identify in C. fetus the full complement of bacterial adherence candidates commonly found in other Campylobacter spp. Conclusion: The comparison of the available C. fetus subsp. venerealis genome sequence with the C. fetus subsp. fetus genome identified 80 kb of unique C. fetus subsp. venerealis AZUL94 sequence, with subsequent PCR confirmation demonstrating inconsistent amplification of these targets in all other C. fetus subsp. venerealis strains and biovars tested. The assays developed here highlight the complexity of targeting strain specific virulence genes for field studies for the molecular identification and epidemiology of C. fetus

Emergence of Superlattice Dirac Points in Graphene on Hexagonal Boron Nitride

The Schr\"odinger equation dictates that the propagation of nearly free electrons through a weak periodic potential results in the opening of band gaps near points of the reciprocal lattice known as Brillouin zone boundaries. However, in the case of massless Dirac fermions, it has been predicted that the chirality of the charge carriers prevents the opening of a band gap and instead new Dirac points appear in the electronic structure of the material. Graphene on hexagonal boron nitride (hBN) exhibits a rotation dependent Moir\'e pattern. In this letter, we show experimentally and theoretically that this Moir\'e pattern acts as a weak periodic potential and thereby leads to the emergence of a new set of Dirac points at an energy determined by its wavelength. The new massless Dirac fermions generated at these superlattice Dirac points are characterized by a significantly reduced Fermi velocity. The local density of states near these Dirac cones exhibits hexagonal modulations indicating an anisotropic Fermi velocity.Comment: 16 pages, 6 figure

GEMS: Galaxy Evolution from Morphologies and SEDs

GEMS, Galaxy Evolution from Morphologies and SEDs, is a large-area (800 arcmin2) two-color (F606W and F850LP) imaging survey with the Advanced Camera for Surveys on HST. Centered on the Chandra Deep Field South, it covers an area of ~28'x28', or about 120 Hubble Deep Field areas, to a depth of m_AB(F606W)=28.3 (5sigma and m_AB(F850LP)=27.1 (5sigma) for compact sources. In its central ~1/4, GEMS incorporates ACS imaging from the GOODS project. Focusing on the redshift range 0.2<=z<=1.1, GEMS provides morphologies and structural parameters for nearly 10,000 galaxies where redshift estimates, luminosities and SEDs exist from COMBO-17. At the same time, GEMS contains detectable host galaxy images for several hundred faint AGN. This paper provides an overview of the science goals, the experiment design, the data reduction and the science analysis plan for GEMS.Comment: 24 pages, TeX with 6 eps Figures; to appear in ApJ Supplement. Low resolution figures only. Full resolution at http://zwicky.as.arizona.edu/~rix/Misc/GEMS.ps.g

Determination of the Bending Rigidity of Graphene via Electrostatic Actuation of Buckled Membranes

The small mass and atomic-scale thickness of graphene membranes make them highly suitable for nanoelectromechanical devices such as e.g. mass sensors, high frequency resonators or memory elements. Although only atomically thick, many of the mechanical properties of graphene membranes can be described by classical continuum mechanics. An important parameter for predicting the performance and linearity of graphene nanoelectromechanical devices as well as for describing ripple formation and other properties such as electron scattering mechanisms, is the bending rigidity, {\kappa}. In spite of the importance of this parameter it has so far only been estimated indirectly for monolayer graphene from the phonon spectrum of graphite, estimated from AFM measurements or predicted from ab initio calculations or bond-order potential models. Here, we employ a new approach to the experimental determination of {\kappa} by exploiting the snap-through instability in pre-buckled graphene membranes. We demonstrate the reproducible fabrication of convex buckled graphene membranes by controlling the thermal stress during the fabrication procedure and show the abrupt switching from convex to concave geometry that occurs when electrostatic pressure is applied via an underlying gate electrode. The bending rigidity of bilayer graphene membranes under ambient conditions was determined to be $35.5^{+20}_{-15}$ eV. Monolayers have significantly lower {\kappa} than bilayers

Amalgame: Cosmological Constraints from the First Combined Photometric Supernova Sample

Future constraints of cosmological parameters from Type Ia supernovae (SNe Ia) will depend on the use of photometric samples, those samples without spectroscopic measurements of the SNe Ia. There is a growing number of analyses that show that photometric samples can be utilised for precision cosmological studies with minimal systematic uncertainties. To investigate this claim, we perform the first analysis that combines two separate photometric samples, SDSS and Pan-STARRS, without including a low-redshift anchor. We evaluate the consistency of the cosmological parameters from these two samples and find they are consistent with each other to under $1\sigma$. From the combined sample, named Amalgame, we measure $\Omega_M = 0.328 \pm 0.024$ with SN alone in a flat $\Lambda$CDM model, and $\Omega_M = 0.330 \pm 0.018$ and $w = -1.016^{+0.055}_{-0.058}$ when combining with a Planck data prior and a flat $w$CDM model. These results are consistent with constraints from the Pantheon+ analysis of only spectroscopically confirmed SNe Ia, and show that there are no significant impediments to analyses of purely photometric samples of SNe Ia.Comment: Submitting to MNRAS; comments welcom