Effects of duckweed (Lemna minor) as dietary fishmeal substitute for silver barb (Barbodes gonionotus Bleeker)

A 60-day long growth trial was conducted to evaluate the suitability of duckweed Lemna minor as dietary fish meal substitute for silver barb (Borbodes gonionotus Bleeker). Five iso-nitrogenous diets were formulated to contain 35% protein and each treatment had three replicates with 15 fish in each aquarium with a mean initial weight of 1.5 ± 0.2 g. Duckweed was used in the experiment to replace 10, 20, 30 and 35% of the dietary fish meal in diet 2, 3, 4 and 5 respectively. Fish meal was used as the sole source of protein in control diet (Diet 1). Fish were fed three times daily at satiation level. In terms of growth, food conversion and protein utilization, the control diet and diet containing 17.07% duckweed showed the best (P<0.05) performance followed by diets containing 34.14%, 51.21% and 59.24% duckweed. Fish fed diets containing higher levels of duckweed had higher carcass moisture and lower lipid content compared to the control diet. Histopathological examination revealed abnormalities in the liver of fish fed diets containing higher inclusion of duckweed. It was noted that 10% of the dietary fish meal protein could be replaced by duckweed (L. minor) in the diet of silver barb (B. gonionotus)

Red seaweed liquid fertilizer increases growth, chlorophyll and yield of mungbean (Vigna radiata)

Received: October 29th, 2022 ; Accepted: February 12th, 2023 ; Published: April 3rd, 2023 ; Corresponding author: [email protected] demand for chemical fertilizers in Bangladesh is increasing by the day. Seaweed extracts are high in a variety of bioactive substances that can be used as a biostimulant as an alternative to agricultural plants. To assess the impact of foliar spraying of red seaweed (Gracilaria tenuistipitata var. liui) extracts at 5, 10, 15, 20 and 25% concentrationsin comparison to the control condition (water spray only) and soil application of recommended doses of fertilizer (RDF) as basal on growth, chlorophyll and yield of mungbean variety BU mug5, a pot experiment was conducted at the Department of Agronomy, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Agricultural University (BSMRAU), Gazipur, Bangladesh during Kharif-1 season (March to May 2021). Seven (7) treatments: T1 – Control (foliar spray using water), T2 – Recommended doses of fertilizers (RDF) as basal, T3 – Foliar spray of 5% seaweed extracts, T4 – Foliar spray of 10% seaweed extracts, T5 – Foliar spray of 15% seaweed extracts, T6 – Foliar spray of 20% seaweed extracts and T7 – Foliar spray of 25% seaweed extracts were imposed following completely randomized design (CRD) with three replications. The results revealed that seaweed liquid fertilizer at 20% concentration increased leaf area, total dry matter and chlorophyll (SPAD value) by 25.00, 40.21 and 9.11% over the control and 15.42, 8.27 and 2.08% compared to RDF, respectively. Seed yield increased by 93.14% when compared to a control with 20% seaweed foliar spray, and by 9.04%, when compared to RDF. Foliar application of 20% seaweed liquid fertilizer performed best among the treatments in terms of mungbean growth and yield, according to findings of the experiment. The results of this study suggest that red seaweed extracts from Gracilaria tenuistipitata var. liui may be used as a fertilizer to reduce the chemical fertilizer to boost mungbean yield

Effect of Polyvinylpyrrolidone on Vitrification of Buffalo (Bubalus bubalis) Oocytes

Vitrification, a method of rapid cooling, is an alternate cryopreservation method of oocytes and embryos. The present study was aimed to examine the effect of polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) on vitrification of buffalo oocytes. Cumulus oocyte complexes (COCs) with fully grown oocytes (120-130 µm in diameter) were aspirated from slaughtered buffalo ovaries for vitrification. COCs were treated with equilibration solution at room temperature for 5 min and then transferred to a vitrification solution for 1 min. Then the COCs were submerged into liquid nitrogen (-196̊C) for a while using cryotops. The COCs were thawed, diluted, and washed in a washing solution for 5 min, respectively. Vitrified oocytes were incubated for in vitro maturation (IVM) at 38.5̊C under an atmosphere of 5% CO2 in the air for 24 hrs. Cumulus cells surrounding the oocytes were removed mechanically, oocytes were fixed in acetic acid and ethanol, and stained with aceto-orcein to examine the meiotic stages of oocytes. The numbers of morphologically normal oocytes after vitrification were higher in 5% PVP than 0 and 10% PVP groups. A proportion of oocytes treated with 5% PVP reached the metaphase II (MII) stage while none of the oocytes from 0% and 10% PVP groupsdeveloped beyond anaphase I and metaphase I (MI) stages, respectively. These results show that PVP can be used as a cryoprotectant for the vitrification of buffalo oocytes

c-Axis tunneling in YBa2Cu3O7-\delta/PrBa2Cu3O7-\delta superlattices

In this work we report c-axis conductance measurements done on a superlattice based on a stack of 2 layers YBa2Cu3O{7-\delta} and 7 layers PrBa2Cu3O{7-\delta} (2:7). We find that these quasi-2D structures show no clear superconducting coupling along the c-axis. Instead, we observe tunneling with a gap of \Delta_c=5.0\pm 0.5 meV for the direction perpendicular to the superconducting planes. The conductance spectrum show well defined quasi-periodic structures which are attributed to the superlattice structure. From this data we deduce a low temperature c-axis coherence length of \xi_c=0.24\pm 0.03 nm.Comment: 15 pages, 5 figures. To appear in Phys.Rev.

Ruling out four-neutrino oscillation interpretations of the LSND anomaly?

Prompted by recent solar and atmospheric data, we re-analyze the four-neutrino description of current global neutrino oscillation data, including the LSND evidence for oscillations. The higher degree of rejection for non-active solar and atmospheric oscillation solutions implied by the SNO neutral current result as well as by the latest 1489-day Super-K atmospheric neutrino data allows us to rule out (2+2) oscillation schemes proposed to reconcile LSND with the rest of current neutrino oscillation data. Using an improved goodness of fit (gof) method especially sensitive to the combination of data sets we obtain a gof of only 1.6 times 10^{-6} for (2+2) schemes. Further, we re-evaluate the status of (3+1) oscillations using two different analyses of the LSND data sample. We find that also (3+1) schemes are strongly disfavoured by the data. Depending on the LSND analysis we obtain a gof of 5.6 times 10^{-3} or 7.6 times 10^{-5}. This leads to the conclusion that all four-neutrino descriptions of the LSND anomaly, both in (2+2) as well as (3+1) realizations, are highly disfavoured. Our analysis brings the LSND hint to a more puzzling status.Comment: 21 pages, 7 figure

Nuclear Physics meets Medicine and Biology: Boron Neutron Capture Therapy

BNCT is a tumour treatment based on thermal-neutron irradiation of tissues enriched with 10B, which according to the 10B(n, )7Li reaction produces particles with high Linear Energy Transfer and short range. Since this treatment can deliver a therapeutic tumour dose sparing normal tissues, BNCT represents an alternative for diffuse tumours and metastases, which show poor response to surgery and photontherapy. In 2001 and 2003, in Pavia BNCT was applied to an isolated liver, which was infused with boron, explanted, irradiated and re-implanted. A new project was then initiated for lung tumours, developing a protocol for Boron concentration measurements and performing organ-dose Monte Carlo calculations; in parallel, radiobiology studies are ongoing to characterize the BNCT effects down to cellular level. After a brief introduction, herein we will present the main activities ongoing in Pavia including the radiobiological ones, which are under investigation not only experimentally but also theoretically, basing on a Monte Carlo code recently extended to simulate cell killing

New results from the NA57 experiment

We report results from the experiment NA57 at CERN SPS on hyperon production at midrapidity in Pb-Pb collisions at 158 $A$ GeV/$c$ and 40 $A$ GeV/$c$. $\Lambda$, $\Xi$ and $\Omega$ yields are compared with those from the STAR experiment at the higher energy of the BNL RHIC. $\Lambda$, $\Xi$, $\Omega$\ and preliminary $K_S^0$ transverse mass spectra are presented and interpreted within the framework of a hydro-dynamical blast wave model.Comment: 8 pages, 3 figures, contribution to the proceedings of The XXXVIIIth Rencontres de Moriond "QCD and High Energy Hadronic Interactions

Expansion dynamics of Pb-Pb collisions at 40 A GeV/c viewed by negatively charged hadrons

In this paper we present results on transverse mass spectra and Hanbury-Brown and Twiss correlation functions of negatively charged hadrons, which are expected to be mostly negative pions, measured in Pb-Pb collisions at 40 A GeV/c beam momentum. Based on these data, the collision dynamics and the space-time extent of the system at the thermal freeze-out are studied over a centrality range corresponding to the most central 53% of the Pb--Pb inelastic cross section. Comparisons with freeze-out conditions of strange particles and HBT results from other experiments are discussed.Comment: 29 pages, 18 figure

Results on hyperon production from the NA57 experiment

Recent results on hyperon production in Pb--Pb collisions from the NA57 experiment are reported. Strangeness enhancement and the transverse mass spectra properties at 158 GeV per nucleon are described.Comment: submitted to Acta Phys. Hung. A (Heavy Ion Physics

Chronic Wasting Disease in Bank Voles: Characterisation of the Shortest Incubation Time Model for Prion Diseases

In order to assess the susceptibility of bank voles to chronic wasting disease (CWD), we inoculated voles carrying isoleucine or methionine at codon 109 (Bv109I and Bv109M, respectively) with CWD isolates from elk, mule deer and white-tailed deer. Efficient transmission rate (100%) was observed with mean survival times ranging from 156 to 281 days post inoculation. Subsequent passages in Bv109I allowed us to isolate from all CWD sources the same vole-adapted CWD strain (Bv109ICWD), typified by unprecedented short incubation times of 25–28 days and survival times of ~35 days. Neuropathological and molecular characterisation of Bv109ICWD showed that the classical features of mammalian prion diseases were all recapitulated in less than one month after intracerebral inoculation. Bv109ICWD was characterised by a mild and discrete distribution of spongiosis and relatively low levels of protease-resistant PrPSc (PrPres) in the same brain regions. Despite the low PrPres levels and the short time lapse available for its accumulation, end-point titration revealed that brains from terminally-ill voles contained up to 108,4 i.c. ID50 infectious units per gram. Bv109ICWD was efficiently replicated by protein misfolding cyclic amplification (PMCA) and the infectivity faithfully generated in vitro, as demonstrated by the preservation of the peculiar Bv109ICWD strain features on re-isolation in Bv109I. Overall, we provide evidence that the same CWD strain was isolated in Bv109I from the three-cervid species. Bv109ICWD showed unique characteristics of “virulence”, low PrPres accumulation and high infectivity, thus providing exceptional opportunities to improve basic knowledge of the relationship between PrPSc, neurodegeneration and infectivity