Genetic and environmental influences on in vitro digestibility of alfalfa

To study the relationships between in vitro NDF or true dry matter digestibility (NDFD and IVTDMD) and forage fibre content, 95 alfalfa samples from 5 cultivars grown in 3 different locations and from different cuts were analysed for fibre fractions and evaluated for NDFD and IVTDMD. NDFD was mainly influenced by order of cut and age of the fields. The multifoliate cultivar controlled did not appear to differ for fibre composition and NDFD from the other ones. Fibre fractions contents explained a large part of the difference in NDFD and IVTDMD, and no significant differences in this relationships appeared for first-cut vs. aftermath forage. The best predictive equation of NDFD from fibre factions was: NDFD = 73.61 -0.62 * NDF (% DM) – 56.33 * ADL/NDF (R2=0.39). Variations in fibre content and quality do not completely explain differences in NDFD suggesting the interference of other factors that are worth to be better studied

Type 3 hypersensitivity in COVID-19 vasculitis

Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) is an ongoing public health emergency and new knowledge about its immunopathogenic mechanisms is deemed necessary in the attempt to reduce the death burden, globally. For the first time in worldwide literature, we provide scientific evidence that in COVID-19 vasculitis a life-threatening escalation from type 2 T-helper immune response (humoral immunity) to type 3 hypersensitivity (immune complex disease) takes place. The subsequent deposition of immune complexes inside the vascular walls is supposed to induce a severe inflammatory state and a cytokine release syndrome, whose interleukin-6 is the key myokine, from the smooth muscle cells of blood vessels

Design and Studies of μ-strip Stacked Module Prototypes for Tracking at Super-LHC

AbstractExperience at high luminosity hadrons collider experiments shows that tracking information enhances the trigger rejection capabilities while retaining high efficiency for interesting physics events. The design of a tracking based trigger for Super LHC (S-LHC), the already envisaged high luminosity upgrade of the LHC collider, is an extremely challenging task, and requires the identification of high-momentum particle tracks as a part of the Level 1 Trigger.Simulation studies show that this can be achieved by correlating hits on two closely spaced silicon strip sensors. The progresses on the design and development of this micro-strip stacked prototype modules and the performance of few prototype detectors will be presented. The prototypes have been built with the silicon sensors and electronics used to equip the present CMS[1] Tracker.Preliminary results of a simulated tracker layout equipped with stacked modules are discussed in terms of pT resolution and triggering capabilities.The study of real prototypes in terms of signal over noise and tracking performance with cosmic rays and a dedicated beam test experiment will also be shown

Clinical outcome of kidney transplantation in HIV-infected recipients: a retrospective study

Kidney transplantation is a safe and effective option for HIV-positive (HIV+) patients. We conducted a retrospective study on HIV+ kidney transplant recipients who underwent transplantation from March 2008 to September 2016.Inclusion criteria for transplantation were CD4þ T-cell count 200 per mm3 and undetectable HIV load. The current study reports the outcome of 19 HIV+ recipients, mostly of Caucasian origin (79%) with a median age of 50 years (interquartile range [IQR], 42–52), who were followed up for a median period of 2.4 years (IQR, 1.2–4.6) after transplantation. Compared with HIV-negative (HIV-) controls, HIV+ recipients had similar one- and three-year graft and patient survival, but significantly lower five-year patient survival (P¼0.03). The differences in graft outcome became less evident with the analysis of death-censored graft survival rates. Cumulative incidence of allograft rejection at one year was 32.9%. Rates of infections were not particularly elevated and HIV replication remained well controlled in all but one patient. A high prevalence of metabolic and endocrine complications (68%) was reported after transplantation. Further studies are needed to evaluate long-term outcomes of HIV+ recipients who underwent kidney transplantation

Results on Multiple Coulomb Scattering from 12 and 20 GeV electrons on Carbon targets

Multiple scattering effects of 12 and 20 GeV electrons on 8 and 20 mm thickness carbon targets have been studied with high-resolution silicon microstrip detectors of the UA9 apparatus at the H8 line at CERN. Comparison of the scattering angle between data and GEANT4 simulation shows excellent agreement in the core of the distributions leaving some residual disagreement in the tails.Comment: 14 pages, 16 figures. Updated to match published versio

Evaluation of a system for sorbent-assisted peritoneal dialysis in a uremic pig model

A system for sorbent-assisted peritoneal dialysis (SAPD) has been developed that continuously recirculates dialysate via a tidal mode using a single-lumen peritoneal catheter with the regeneration of spent dialysate by means of sorbents. SAPD treatment may improve plasma clearance by the maintenance of a high plasma-to-dialysate concentration gradient and by increasing the mass transfer area coefficient (MTAC) of solutes. The system is designed for daily 8-hr treatment (12 kg, nighttime system). A wearable system (2.3 kg, daytime system) may further enhance the clearance of phosphate and organic waste solutes during the day. Uremic pigs (n = 3) were treated with the day- (n = 3) and nighttime system (n = 15) for 4-8 hr per treatment. Plasma clearance (Cl), MTAC, and total mass transport (MT) of urea, creatinine, phosphate, and potassium were compared with a static dwell (n = 28). Cl, MTAC, and MT of urea, creatinine, phosphate, and potassium were low in the pig as compared to humans due to the pig's low peritoneal transport status and could be enhanced only to a limited extent by SAPD treatment compared with a static dwell (nighttime system: Cl urea: ×1.5 (p = .029), Cl creatinine: ×1.7 (p = .054), Cl phosphate: ×1.5 (p = .158), Cl potassium: ×1.6 (p = .011); daytime system: Cl creatinine: ×2.7 (p = .040), Cl phosphate: ×2.2 (p = .039)). Sorbent-assisted peritoneal dialysis treatment in a uremic pig model is safe and enhances small solute clearance as compared to a static dwell. Future studies in humans or animal species with higher peritoneal transport should elucidate whether our SAPD system enhances clearance to a clinically relevant extent as compared to conventional PD