726 research outputs found
efficiency and safety of human reproductive cell tissue vitrification
Vitrification is a cryopreservation technique increasingly applied in clinical practice for cells and tissue. This review article focuses mainly on the efficiency of vitrification of human reproductive cells and tissue, by analysing the clinical results reported in the literature. The second aspect discussed is safety of vitrification procedure. Different procedures and different types of carriers can be used, and in some cases vitrification requires a direct contact between cell/tissue/carrier and liquid nitrogen; this causes concern regarding the safety of this cryopreservation technique. Although the risk of contamination during cryopreservation remains negligible, this article explains how to overcome the hypothetical risk of contamination when using different types of vitrification carriers, in order to satisfy all existing directives
Prevalence and genetic parameters for hip dysplasia in Italian population of purebred dogs
This paper aimed to assess the prevalence of hip dysplasia (HD) in some breeds of dogs widely diffused in Italy and to estimate heritability of HD in German Shepherd and Boxer Italian populations. Data consisted of radiographic findings taken on 32,900 dogs (18,665 females and 14,225 males) of 7 breeds (German Shepherd; Boxer; Labrador Retriever; Golden Retriever; Rottweiler; Dobermann; Cane Corso) screened at an age of 17.9 ± 7.0 months. Radiographs of the coxofemoral joints, taken by 478 veterinarians, were scored for HD grade by a single veterinarian panelist according to a grading procedure based on a 5-class linear system (from A, no signs of dysplasia, to E, severe dysplastic hip changes). Logistic regression analysis was used for studying the relationships between selected explanatory variables with the out- come of the diagnosis for HD. Variance components, direct and maternal heritability have been estimated for German Shepherd and Boxer dogs using a REML animal model procedure. Prevalence of HD (hip joint graded C or worse) for the pool of breeds involved approached 22%, with large differences among breeds. In dogs diagnosed as dysplastic, the mild form (grade C) was largely prevalent for all breeds. When compared to the German Shepherd, the Cane Corso exhibit- ed a significantly higher risk, whereas the Dobermann, Labrador and Rottweiler showed a significantly lower risk of being affected by HD. The probability of being diagnosed as dysplastic increased with the increasing of the age of dogs at screening and with the decreasing of experience of x-raying veterinarians. The effect of birth year of dogs on the out- come of the HD diagnosis was significant, but evidenced an inconsistent trend through years. Heritability estimates approached 0.24 and 0.15 for Boxers and German Shepherds, respectively, whereas maternal heritability was close to 0.03 for both breeds. Results from this study demonstrated that HD is fairly prevalent in some breeds of dogs common- ly found in Italy, and its reduction should be a goal in breeding schemes of purebred dogs. Age at screening and expe- rience of the x-raying veterinarians are disturbance factors to be considered in screening programs for HD. Heritability estimates for HD was low, but additive genetic variance seems enough for conjecturing selection programs aimed to decrease hip joints disease. Given the low heritability values, current selection schemes based on phenotypic records seem ineffective, whereas the use of breeding values estimated under BLUP animal model procedures should be recom- mended for gaining genetic progress of Italian dog populations
A study on the risk of subaortic and pulmonic stenosis and on genetic aspects of echocardiography measurements in the Italian Boxer dog
Subaortic and pulmonic stenosis are congenital cardiac defects affecting several dog breeds (Jacobs, 1990; Buchanan, 1992; Tidholm, 1997). Subaortic stenosis (SAS) is characterized by a fibrous ring of tissue placed immediately below the aortic valve
The application of the Boolean Stochastic Generation Method to model seepage under levees in heterogeneous soils
Soil heterogeneity plays an important role in incrementing the uncertainty about the reliability of geotechnical engineering works, especially levees. The presence of thin layers of soils more permeable than the surrounding matrix significantly changes the seepage flow net below and within the dike. However, the detection of these layers is extremely difficult. Consequently, to evaluate the overall safety of dikes it may be useful to adopt stochastic computation methods. The paper presents the calibration of a seepage model of an operational river embankment subject to sand boils. The levee, located along the Adige River (South Tyrol, Italy), has been monitored since 2016. Piezometers and spot temperature sensors are installed in the lateral banks while a distributed fiber optic sensors (FOS), buried in a 350 m long trench at the toe of the levee, is used to check temperature distribution in the subground. The Boolean Stochastic Generation (BoSG) method addresses the influence of layers of material with different properties with respect of the surrounding soil. 360 soil configurations were generated for a two-dimensional groundwater flow model of the levee and confronted with the monitoring data of two piezometers. This analysis permits to identify the configuration that has effects more congruent with piezometers data, which in this case is a configuration with a major presence of lenses on the waterside respect the field-side. This evidence could guide strategies for remedial works
A new FSA approach for in situ -ray spectroscopy
An increasing demand of environmental radioactivity monitoring comes both
from the scientific community and from the society. This requires accurate,
reliable and fast response preferably from portable radiation detectors. Thanks
to recent improvements in the technology, -spectroscopy with sodium
iodide scintillators has been proved to be an excellent tool for in-situ
measurements for the identification and quantitative determination of
-ray emitting radioisotopes, reducing time and costs. Both for
geological and civil purposes not only K, U, and Th have
to be measured, but there is also a growing interest to determine the
abundances of anthropic elements, like Cs and I, which are used
to monitor the effect of nuclear accidents or other human activities.
The Full Spectrum Analysis (FSA) approach has been chosen to analyze the
-spectra. The Non Negative Least Square (NNLS) and the energy
calibration adjustment have been implemented in this method for the first time
in order to correct the intrinsic problem related with the
minimization which could lead to artifacts and non physical results in the
analysis.
A new calibration procedure has been developed for the FSA method by using in
situ -spectra instead of calibration pad spectra. Finally, the new
method has been validated by acquiring -spectra with a 10.16 cm x 10.16
cm sodium iodide detector in 80 different sites in the Ombrone basin, in
Tuscany. The results from the FSA method have been compared with the laboratory
measurements by using HPGe detectors on soil samples collected in the different
sites, showing a satisfactory agreement between them. In particular, the
Cs isotopes has been implemented in the analysis since it has been
found not negligible during the in-situ measurements.Comment: accepted by Science of Total Environment: 8 pages, 10 figures, 3
table
Comparação de fontes de fertilizante potássico para adubação do capim zuri.
Na intensificação da produção de pastagens é necessária especial atenção à adubação equilibrada e em especial à adubação potássica, por ser um dos nutrientes extraídos do solo em maiores quantidades
On Sylow normalizers of finite groups
Electronic version of an article published as Journal of Algebra and Its Applications
Vol. 13, No. 3 (2014) 1350116 (20 pages). DOI 10.1142/S0219498813501168. © [copyright World Scientific Publishing Company] http://www.worldscientific.com/[EN] The paper considers the influence of Sylow normalizers, i.e. normalizers of Sylow subgroups, on the structure of finite groups. In the universe of finite soluble groups it is known that classes of groups with nilpotent Hall subgroups for given sets of primes are exactly the subgroup- closed saturated formations satisfying the following property: a group belongs to the class if and only if its Sylow normalizers do so. The paper analyzes the extension of this research to the universe of all finite groups.The second and third authors have been supported by Proyecto MTM2010-19938C03-02, Ministerio de Econom ia y Competitividad, Spain. The first author would like to thank the Universitat de Valencia and the Universitat Politecnica de Valencia for their warm hospitality during the preparation of this paper. He has been also supported by RFBR Project 13-01-00469.Kazarin, L.; Martínez Pastor, A.; Perez Ramos, MD. (2014). On Sylow normalizers of finite groups. Journal of Algebra and Its Applications. 13(3):1-20. https://doi.org/10.1142/S0219498813501168S12013
49Cr: Towards full spectroscopy up to 4 MeV
The nucleus 49Cr has been studied analysing gamma-gamma coincidences in the
reaction 46Ti(alpha,n)49Cr at the bombarding energy of 12 MeV. The level scheme
has been greatly extended at low excitation energy and several new lifetimes
have been determined by means of the Doppler Shift Attenuation Method.
Shell model calculations in the full pf configuration space reproduce well
negative-parity levels. Satisfactory agreement is obtained for positive parity
levels by extending the configuration space to include a nucleon-hole either in
the 1d3/2 or in the 2s1/2 orbitals.
A nearly one-to-one correspondence is found between experimental and
theoretical levels up to an excitation energy of 4 MeV.
Experimental data and shell model calculations are interpreted in terms of
the Nilsson diagram and the particle-rotor model, showing the strongly coupled
nature of the bands in this prolate nucleus. Nine values of K(pi) are proposed
for the levels observed in this experiment.
As a by-result it is shown that the values of the experimental magnetic
moments in 1f7/2 nuclei are well reproduced without quenching the nucleon
g-factors.Comment: 13 pages, 8 figure
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