Treatment with etamsylate reduces haemolactia in lactating dairy cows

This Research Communication describes the efficacy of etamsylate to reduce haemolactia in dairy cows. A dairy cow with haemolactia produces milk that is reddish or pinkish due to the presence of blood. Haemolactia causes economic loss because bloody milk is rejected by the industry and the consumers. A total of 58 dairy cows with haemolactia were included in the study and randomly divided into treated (n = 31) and control (n = 27) groups. Treatment consisted of three consecutive daily doses of etamsylate at 15 mg/kg, delivered intramuscularly. Milk production was recorded daily for 7 d, whether or not blood was detected in milk. The mean number of days with the presence of blood in milk in the treatment group was significantly lower (3·4 d) than in the control group (4·9 d). Treatment with etamsylate did not significantly affect milk yield. In conclusion, treatment with etamsylate reduces the number of days blood is observed in milk and it does not have any negative effect on milk production

Muon spin rotation and neutron scattering study of the non-centrosymmetric tetragonal compound CeAuAl3

We have investigated the non-centrosymmetric tetragonal heavy-fermion compound CeAuAl3 using muon spin rotation (muSR), neutron diffraction (ND) and inelastic neutron scattering (INS) measurements. We have also revisited the magnetic, transport and thermal properties. The magnetic susceptibility reveals an antiferromagnetic transition at 1.1 K with a possibility of another magnetic transition near 0.18 K. The heat capacity shows a sharp lambda-type anomaly at 1.1 K in zero-filed, which broadens and moves to higher temperature in applied magnetic field. Our zero-field muSR and ND measurements confirm the existence of a long-range magnetic ground state below 1.2 K. Further the ND study reveals an incommensurate magnetic ordering with a magnetic propagation vector k = (0, 0, 0.52) and a spiral structure of Ce moments coupled ferromagnetically within the ab-plane. Our INS study reveals the presence of two well-defined crystal electric field (CEF) excitations at 5.1 meV and 24.6 meV in the paramagnetic phase of CeAuAl3 which can be explained on the basis of the CEF theory. Furthermore, low energy quasi-elastic excitations show a Gaussian line shape below 30 K compared to a Lorentzian line shape above 30 K, indicating a slowdown of spin fluctuation below 30 K. We have estimated a Kondo temperature of TK=3.5 K from the quasi-elastic linewidth, which is in good agreement with that estimated from the heat capacity. This study also indicates the absence of any CEF-phonon coupling unlike that observed in isostructural CeCuAl3. The CEF parameters, energy level scheme and their wave functions obtained from the analysis of INS data explain satisfactorily the single crystal susceptibility in the presence of two-ion anisotropic exchange interaction in CeAuAl3.Comment: 28 pages and 17 figure

Nuclear astrophysics with radioactive ions at FAIR

The nucleosynthesis of elements beyond iron is dominated by neutron captures in the s and r processes. However, 32 stable, proton-rich isotopes cannot be formed during those processes, because they are shielded from the s-process flow and r-process beta-decay chains. These nuclei are attributed to the p and rp process. For all those processes, current research in nuclear astrophysics addresses the need for more precise reaction data involving radioactive isotopes. Depending on the particular reaction, direct or inverse kinematics, forward or time-reversed direction are investigated to determine or at least to constrain the desired reaction cross sections. The Facility for Antiproton and Ion Research (FAIR) will offer unique, unprecedented opportunities to investigate many of the important reactions. The high yield of radioactive isotopes, even far away from the valley of stability, allows the investigation of isotopes involved in processes as exotic as the r or rp processes

Elastic and break-up of the 1n-halo 11Be nucleus

This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License 2.0.-- Trabajo presentado a la: "International Nuclear Physics Conference" (INPC), celebrada en Firenze (Italia) del 2 al 7 de junio de 2013.-- et al.The elastic and break-up angular distributions of the 10,11Be+64Zn reactions measured at Ec.m. ≈1.4 VC have been analysed within the CCDC and O.M. frameworks. The suppression of the Coulomb-nuclear interference, observed in the 11Be scattering case with respect to the 10Be, has been interpreted as due to a long range absorption owing to the coupling with the break-up (Coulomb and nuclear) channels. The presence of 10Be events on the 11Be experiment data have been explained as due mainly to break-up processes. C Owned by the authors, published by EDP Sciences, 2014Peer Reviewe

Laponite as carrier for controlled in vitro delivery of dexamethasone in vitreous humor models

Laponite clay is able to retain dexamethasone by simple physisorption, presumably accomplished by hydrogen bonding formation and/or complexation with sodium counterions, as shown by solid state NMR. The physisorption can be somehow modulated by changing the solvent in the adsorption process. This simple system is able to deliver dexamethasone in a controlled manner to solutions used as models for vitreous humor. The proven biocompatibility of laponite as well as its transparency in the gel state, together with the simplicity of the preparation method, makes this system suitable for future in vivo tests of ophthalmic treatment.This study was supported by the Instituto de Salud Carlos III (project PI12/02285) and authors would like to acknowledge the financial support received from Diputación General de Aragón (E11 Group co-financed by the European Regional Development Funds).Peer Reviewe

Performance evaluation of SiPM detectors for PET imaging in the presence of magnetic fields

Proceeding of: 2008 IEEE Nuclear Science Symposium Conference Record (NSS '08), Dresden, Germany, 19-25 Oct. 2008The multi-pixel photon counter (MPPC) or silicon photo-multiplier (SiPM), recently introduced as a solid-state photodetector, consists of an array of Geiger-mode photodiodes(microcells). is a promising device for PET thanks to its potential for high photon detection efficiency (PDE) and immunity to high magnetic fields. is also very easy to use, with simple electronic read-out, high gain and small size. In this work we evaluate the performance of three 1 x 1 mm2 and one 6 x 6 mm2 (2 x 2 array) SiPMs offered by Hamamatsu for their use in PET. We examine the dependence of the energy resolution and the gain of these devices on the thermal and reverse bias when coupled to LYSO scintillator crystals. We find that the 400 and 1600 microcells models and the 2 x 2 array are suitable for small size crystals, like those employed in high resolution small animal scanners. The good performance of these devices up to 7 Tesla has also been confirmed.This work was supported in part by the MEC (FPA2007-07393), CDTEAM (CENIT-Ingenio 2010) Ministerio de Industria, Spain, UCM (Grupos UCM: 910059), CPAN (ConsoliderIngenio 2010) CSPD-2007-00042 projects, and the RECAVA-RETIC network

Fast-timing study of the l-forbidden 1/2+→3/2+ M1 transition in Sn129

R. Lică et al. ; 7 págs.; 5 figs.; 3 tabs. ; Open Access funded by Creative Commons Atribution Licence 3.0The levels in Sn129 populated from the β- decay of In129 isomers were investigated at the ISOLDE facility of CERN using the newly commissioned ISOLDE Decay Station (IDS). The lowest 12+ state and the 32+ ground state in Sn129 are expected to have configurations dominated by the neutron s12 (l=0) and d32 (l=2) single-particle states, respectively. Consequently, these states should be connected by a somewhat slow l-forbidden M1 transition. Using fast-timing spectroscopy we have measured the half-life of the 12+ 315.3-keV state, T12= 19(10) ps, which corresponds to a moderately fast M1 transition. Shell-model calculations using the CD-Bonn effective interaction, with standard effective charges and g factors, predict a 4-ns half-life for this level. We can reconcile the shell-model calculations to the measured T12 value by the renormalization of the M1 effective operator for neutron holes.This work was partially supported by the Spanish MINECO through Projects No. FPA2012-32443, No. FPA2013-41267-P, and CPAN Consolider (Project No. CSD-2007-00042), and by Romanian IFA Grant CERN/ISOLDE. It was also partly funded by the NuPNET network FATIMA (PRI-PIMNUP-2011-1338), by FWO-Vlaanderen (Belgium), by GOA/2010/010 (BOF KU Leuven), and by the Interuniversity Attraction Poles Programme initiated by the Belgian Science PolicyOffice (BriX network P7/12). Support from Grupo de Física Nuclear (GFN-UCM), Programmi di Ricerca Scientifica di Rilevante Interesse Nazionale (PRIN) Grant No. 2001024324 01302, German BMBF under Contracts No. 05P12PKFNE and No. 05P15PKCIA, the U.K. Science and Technology Facilities Council, and the European Union Seventh Framework through ENSAR (Contract No. 262010) is also acknowledged. Fasttiming electronics were provided by the Fast Timing Collaboration, the ISOLDE Decay Station collaboration, and MASTICON.Peer Reviewe

Characterization of the low-lying 0(+) and 2(+) states in Ni-68 via beta decay of the low-spin Co-68 isomer

The low-energy structure of the neutron-rich nucleus Ni-68 has been investigated by measuring the beta decay of the low-spin isomer in Co-68 selectively produced in the decay chain of Mn-68. A revised level scheme has been built based on the clear identification of beta-gamma-E0 delayed coincidences. Transitions between the three lowest-lying 0(+) and 2(+) states are discussed on the basis of measured intensities or their upper limits for unobserved branches and state-of-the-art shell model calculations

The PARP inhibitor olaparib enhances the sensitivity of Ewing sarcoma to trabectedin

This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License.-- et al.Recent preclinical evidence has suggested that Ewing Sarcoma (ES) bearing EWSR1-ETS fusions could be particularly sensitive to PARP inhibitors (PARPinh) in combination with DNA damage repair (DDR) agents. Trabectedin is an antitumoral agent that modulates EWSR1-FLI1 transcriptional functions, causing DNA damage. Interestingly, PARP1 is also a transcriptional regulator of EWSR1-FLI1, and PARPinh disrupts the DDR machinery. Thus, given the impact and apparent specificity of both agents with regard to the DNA damage/DDR system and EWSR1-FLI1 activity in ES, we decided to explore the activity of combining PARPinh and Trabectedin in in vitro and in vivo experiments. The combination of Olaparib and Trabectedin was found to be highly synergistic, inhibiting cell proliferation, inducing apoptosis, and the accumulation of G2/M. The drug combination also enhanced γH2AX intranuclear accumulation as a result of DNA damage induction, DNA fragmentation and global DDR deregulation, while EWSR1-FLI1 target expression remained unaffected. The effect of the drug combination was corroborated in a mouse xenograft model of ES and, more importantly, in two ES patient-derived xenograft (PDX) models in which the tumors showed complete regression. In conclusion, the combination of the two agents leads to a biologically significant deregulation of the DDR machinery that elicits relevant antitumor activity in preclinical models and might represent a promising therapeutic tool that should be further explored for translation to the clinical setting.Enrique de Álava’s lab is supported by the AECC (Asociación Española Contra el Cáncer), the Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness of Spain-FEDER (PI081828, RD06/0020/0059 RD12/0036/0017, PT13/0010/0056, PI110018, ISCIII Sara Borrell postdoc grant CD06/00001), the European Project EuroSARC (FP7-HEALTH-2011- two-stage, Project ID 278742 EUROSARC), Fundación Memoria de D. Manuel Solorzano Barruso, Fundación Cris contra el cancer, and Fundación María García Estrada. JLO was sponsored by the CSIC and the European Social Fund (post-doctoral grant JAE DOC) and is at present funded by the AECC. ATA is sponsored by the Fundaçao para a Ciência e Tecnologia, Portugal (fellowship SFRH/BD/69318/2010). OMT is funded by Fondo de Investigaciones Sanitarias-ISCIII (CES12/021) and the AECC. DHM is funded by the AECC. Work supported by the Xarxa de Bancs de Tumors de Catalunya (XBTC) sponsored by Pla Director d’Oncologia de Catalunya. AMC acknowledges funding from the European Union Seventh Framework Programme (FP7/2007-2013) under a Marie Curie International Reintegration Grant (PIRG-08- GA-2010-276998) and ISCIII-FEDER (CP13/00189).Peer Reviewe