impact of coccidiosis control program and feeding plan on white striping prevalence and severity degree on broiler breast fillets evaluated at three growing ages

Abstract This study investigated the impact of 2 coccidiosis control systems (vaccine vs anticoccidial) and 2 feeding plans (standard energy vs low energy content, the latter supplemented with threonine and enzymes in the second half of the production cycle) on white striping (WS) prevalence and severity in chicken broiler breasts at commercial slaughter age (51 d). The age of lesion onset was also investigated with the sacrifice of 80 chicks at 12, and 80 chicks at 25 d of age. Seven hundred and twenty ROSS 708 strain male chicks were divided into 4 groups: a non-vaccinated group fed with standard diet (CONTROL); two groups vaccinated against coccidiosis but fed either a standard diet (VACC) or a low-energy diet supplemented with threonine and enzymes (VACC–LE plus); and a fourth group fed a standard diet containing anticoccidial additive except during the finishing period (COX). After live performance, yields, and fillet pH were measured, the breasts were weighed and scored as level 0 (no WS), level 1 (moderate WS), and level 2 (severe WS) at each of the 3 ages; data were covariate for slaughter weight. The results suggest an ameliorative effect of coccidiosis control systems when compared to the control group in terms of live weight, breast yield, and whole breast weight, with heavier fillets characterized by higher pH values. WS appeared at 25 d of age with an average prevalence of 11.5% and with lesions of moderate severity. There were no statistically significant differences due to the experimental treatment at this age. At commercial slaughter age, total average prevalence was 96%, with COX birds showing higher level 2 prevalence (77.6%). This could be related to the higher slaughter weight reached by the COX group (

Testing the Properties of Radon Barrier Materials and Home Ventilation to Mitigate Indoor Radon

Indoor radon is the second cause of lung cancer. Mitigation strategies are based on (i) building protection with radon barrier materials, (ii) increasing home ventilation or (iii) room pressurization. A scale model room created with a porous ignimbrite rich in radon precursors was used as an analogue to test the indoor radon reduction ability of various radon barrier materials in a real room. The properties of these materials were tested with and without room pressurization by introducing outdoor air at different flow rates. The best materials reduced indoor radon up to 80% and, when the highest pressurization was applied, to 93%

Triphasic scaffolds for the regeneration of the bone-ligament interface

A triphasic scaffold (TPS) for the regeneration of the bone-ligament interface was fabricated combining a 3D fiber deposited polycaprolactone structure and a polylactic co-glycolic acid electrospun. The scaffold presented a gradient of physical and mechanical properties which elicited different biological responses from human mesenchymal stem cells. Biological test were performed on the whole TPS and on scaffolds comprised of each single part of the TPS, considered as the controls. The TPS showed an increase of the metabolic activity with culturing time that seemed to be an average of the controls at each time point. The importance of differentiation media for bone and ligament regeneration was further investigated. Metabolic activity analysis on the different areas of the TPS showed a similar trend after 7 days in both differentiation media. Total alkaline phosphatase (ALP) activity analysis showed a statistically higher activity of the TPS in mineralization medium compared to the controls. A different glycosaminoglycans amount between the TPS and its controls was detected, displaying a similar trend with respect to ALP activity. Results clearly indicated that the integration of electrospinning and additive manufacturing represents a promising approach for the fabrication of scaffolds for the regeneration of tissue interfaces, such as the bone-to-ligament one, because it allows mimicking the structural environment combining different biomaterials at different scales

Design and Tests of the Silicon Sensors for the ZEUS Micro Vertex Detector

To fully exploit the HERA-II upgrade,the ZEUS experiment has installed a Micro Vertex Detector (MVD) using n-type, single-sided, silicon micro-strip sensors with capacitive charge division. The sensors have a readout pitch of 120 micrometers, with five intermediate strips (20 micrometer strip pitch). The designs of the silicon sensors and of the test structures used to verify the technological parameters, are presented. Results on the electrical measurements are discussed. A total of 1123 sensors with three different geometries have been produced by Hamamatsu Photonics K.K. Irradiation tests with reactor neutrons and Co-60 photons have been performed for a small sample of sensors. The results on neutron irradiation (with a fluence of 1 x 10^{13} 1 MeV equivalent neutrons / cm^2) are well described by empirical formulae for bulk damage. The Co-60 photons (with doses up to 2.9 kGy) show the presence of generation currents in the SiO_2-Si interface, a large shift of the flatband voltage and a decrease of the hole mobility.Comment: 33 pages, 25 figures, 3 tables, accepted for publication in NIM

Expression study of receptor tyrosine kinase targets of Imatinib mesylate in skull base chordomas

Chordomas are rare neoplasms arising along the axial skeleton. Up to now, the most suitable therapeutic approach is based on a combination of surgical excision and radiotherapy. Chemotherapy in not applied due to its reported low efficacy. Recently, evidence on the efficacy of Imatinib mesylate in two patients has been reported. We analyzed 14 chordoma samples for the expression of the Imatinib mesylate targets by means of RT-PCR and immunohistochemistry and found that PDGFR\u3b1 and PDGFR\u3b2 are in some cases expressed in neoplastic cells, while the stromal counterpart of the same tumor shows the above receptors. Findings on the PDGFA/PDGFB expression suggest a receptor-activated status. Our study provides new insights into the specific localization of Imatinib mesylate targets in skull base chordomas that could be taken into account for the setting up of a pharmacological treatment for this tumor

Noise spectra of SIU-GaAs pad detectors with guard rings

This paper presents current noise characterization of circular pad Schottky barrier diodes with guard rings. The diodes were fabricated from undopped semi-insulating GaAs, SIU-GaAs, at the University of Glasgow. Current noise spectra were obtained for the detectors for two pad sizes, with reverse bias applied. Three measurements were also made on one of the detectors under forward bias. The noise spectra show an excess noise component, with a low frequency corner at less than 1kHz, and a flat region at higher frequencies. The magnitude of the white noise is approximately half that expected from shot noise theory for the given leakage currents. A fall in the magnitude of the noise was observed at 20kHz which is attributed to the dielectric relaxation time of the material

Incidence of Shwachman-Diamond syndrome

No abstract availabl

Preliminary study of kaonic deuterium X-rays by the SIDDHARTA experiment at DAFNE

The study of the KbarN system at very low energies plays a key role for the understanding of the strong interaction between hadrons in the strangeness sector. At the DAFNE electron-positron collider of Laboratori Nazionali di Frascati we studied kaonic atoms with Z=1 and Z=2, taking advantage of the low-energy charged kaons from Phi-mesons decaying nearly at rest. The SIDDHARTA experiment used X-ray spectroscopy of the kaonic atoms to determine the transition yields and the strong interaction induced shift and width of the lowest experimentally accessible level (1s for H and D and 2p for He). Shift and width are connected to the real and imaginary part of the scattering length. To disentangle the isospin dependent scattering lengths of the antikaon-nucleon interaction, measurements of Kp and of Kd are needed. We report here on an exploratory deuterium measurement, from which a limit for the yield of the K-series transitions was derived: Y(K_tot)<0.0143 and Y(K_alpha)<0.0039 (CL 90%). Also, the upcoming SIDDHARTA-2 kaonic deuterium experiment is introduced.Comment: Accepted by Nuclear Physics

X-ray transition yields of low-Z kaonic atoms produced in Kapton

The X-ray transition yields of kaonic atoms produced in Kapton polyimide (C22H10N2O5) were measured for the first time in the SIDDHARTA experiment. X-ray yields of the kaonic atoms with low atomic numbers (Z = 6, 7, and 8) and transitions with high principal quantum numbers (n = 5-8) were determined. The relative yield ratios of the successive transitions and those of carbon-to-nitrogen (C:N) and carbon-to-oxygen (C:O) were also determined. These X-ray yields provide important information for understanding the capture ratios and cascade mechanisms of kaonic atoms produced in a compound material, such as Kapton.Comment: Accepted in Nucl. Phys. A (2013