Falta de estructura genética en las poblaciones chipriotas de Alectoris chukar (Aves, Galliformes), deducida de los datos de secuenciación del ADNmt

The Chukar (Alectoris chukar cypriotes) is the most common game bird in Cyprus. Since 1990 the Cypriot Government has established a restocking program with captive–reared birds. However, this program has not been guaranteed by checking the genetic nature of wild and farmed samples, either in the areas controlled by the Cypriot Government or in northern Cyprus. The sequencing of both Cytochrome–b and Control Region of the mitochondrial DNA was carried out for 61 Cypriot representatives and 14 specimens of the same subspecies from Crete and Israel. Only the A. chukar maternal lineage was found. A partitioning of Cypriot specimens among different clades was not reliably supported, whereas robust bootstrap values weighted for an evolutionary divergence between Cypriot and Cretan Chukars. An overall genetic homogeny of the Cypriot populations was disclosed, whatever their status (captive vs. wild stocks) and origin (Government controlled vs. occupied areas) would be, a higher nucleotide diversity of the wild vs. captive representatives notwithstanding. Key words: Chukar, Control Region, Cytochrome–b, Genetic diversity, mtDNA, Partridges.Una subespecie de la perdiz chucar (Alectoris chukar cypriotes) es el ave de caza más común de Chipre. A partir de 1990 el gobierno chipriota estableció un programa de repoblación utilizando aves criadas en cautividad. No obstante, dicho programa no ha sido avalado mediante la comprobación de la naturaleza genética de muestras tanto de ejemplares salvajes como de granja, ni en las zonas controladas por el gobierno chipriota ni en el norte de Chipre. Se ha llevado a cabo la secuenciación del citocromo-b y de la región de control del ADN mitocondrial de 61 ejemplares chipriotas y de 14 especimenes de la misma subespecie de Creta y de Israel. Sólo se encontró el linaje materno de A. chukar. No se pudo demostrar con fiabilidad el reparto de los especimenes chipriotas en distintos clados, mientras que unos valores bootstrap muy consistentes sustentaban una divergencia evolutiva entre las perdices chucar chipriotas y cretenses. Se reveló la existencia de una homogeneidad genética en las poblaciones chipriotas, cualquiera que fuera su estatus (linajes cautivos frente a salvajes) o su origen (zonas controladas por el gobierno frente a zonas ocupadas), por más que se diera una mayor diversidad de nucleótidos de los ejemplares salvajes frente a los cautivos. Palabras clave: Perdiz chucar, Región de control, Citocromo-b, Diversidad genética, ADNmt, Perdices

Scientific basis of nanotechnology, implications for the food sector and future trends

Nanotechnologies are opening up new horizons in almost all scientific and technological fields. Among these, applications of nanotechnologies are expected to bring large benefits and add value to the food and food-related industries through the current regulatory framework whole food chain, from production to processing, safety, packaging, transportation, storage and delivery. Nanotechnology consists in the realization and manipulation of nano-sized matter, the unique properties of which with respect to their bulk counterparts are illustrated and discussed. Then, the main tools and techniques routinely used in nanotechnology for the nanoscale characterization of food matrices as well as for the analytical determination of nanomaterials in food samples are reviewed. Finally, safety and risk assessment issues are discussed and an overview of applications of nanotechnology to the food sector is provided along with a description of th

Capillary waves with surface viscosity

Experiments over the last 50 years have suggested a tentative correlation between the surface (shear) viscosity and the stability of a foam or emulsion. We examine this link theoretically using small-amplitude capillary waves in the presence of a surfactant solution of dilute concentrations where the associated Marangoni and surface viscosity effects are modelled via the Boussinesq-Scriven formulation. The resulting integro-differential initial value problem is solved analytically and surface viscosity is found to contribute an overall damping effect on the amplitude of the capillary wave with varying degrees depending on the lengthscale of the system. Numerically, we find the critical damping wavelength to increase for increasing surface concentration but the rate of increase remains different for both the surface viscosity and the Marangoni effect

Two knots in an umbilical cord with seventy centimeter length: A case report

Our case was a newborn with two umbilical knots that delivered 39 weeks gastation and did not experience any developmental disruptions. The risk factors of fetus for true knot formation in the umbilical cord were gender and the umbilical cord size. © 2020 The Authors. Clinical Case Reports published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd

Persistent pulmonary congestion before discharge predicts rehospitalization in heart failure: a lung ultrasound study

BACKGROUND: B-lines evaluated by lung ultrasound (LUS) are the sonographic sign of pulmonary congestion, a major predictor of morbidity and mortality in patients with heart failure (HF). Our aim was to assess the prognostic value of B-lines at discharge to predict rehospitalization at 6 months in patients with acute HF (AHF). METHODS: A prospective cohort of 100 patients admitted to a Cardiology Department for dyspnea and/or clinical suspicion of AHF were enrolled (mean age 70 ± 11 years). B-lines were evaluated at admission and before discharge. Subjects were followed-up for 6-months after discharge. RESULTS: Mean B-lines at admission was 48 ± 48 with a statistically significant reduction before discharge (20 ± 23, p 15) (log rank χ(2) 20.5, p 15 before discharge (hazard ratio [HR] 11.74; 95 % confidence interval [CI] 1.30-106.16) was an independent predictor of events at 6 months. CONCLUSIONS: Persistent pulmonary congestion before discharge evaluated by ultrasound strongly predicts rehospitalization for HF at 6-months. Absence or a mild degree of B-lines identify a subgroup at extremely low risk to be readmitted for HF decompensation