The Influence of Diets Containing Phenols and Condensed Tannins on Protein Picture, Clinical Profile and Rumen Characteristics in Omani Sheep

A study was carried out to investigate the effects of feeding low quality non-conventional feeds (NCF) containing phenols and condensed tannins on health and performance characteristics in Omani sheep. Twelve Omani sheep were fed one of two base roughages, urea-treated palm frond (UTPF) or Rhodesgrass hay, (RGH) plus a commercial concentrate for 63 days. Haematological, serum biochemical and urine analyses were used to assess sheep health. Serum protein fractions were measured using electrophoresis. Urea-treated palm frond contained higher levels of polyphenols and condensed tannins and fiber than Rhodesgrass hay or concentrate feed. Animals fed UTPF had lower feed intake (P<0.05) and lower body gain (P<0.001) than those fed RGH. Rumen liquor of UTPF-fed animals had higher pH, ammonia-nitrogen and butyric fatty acid but lower acetic fatty acid (P<0.05). Animals fed UTPF had  higher neutrophil (P<0.05) but lower lymphocyte (P<0.05) and monocyte (P<0.001) counts by the end of the trial than those fed RGH. There were no effects of diet on serum albumin or globulin fraction levels or albumin:globulin ratio. There were no major effects on urine analysis but there was a trend by control animals to have higher protein and specific gravity than treated ones. This study indicated that feeding low quality non-conventional feeds containing polyphenols or tannins would reduce body gain and may produce some effects on clinical parameters. Although tannins are known to influence protein digestion and absorption in ruminants, it did not significantly affect the serum protein picture in sheep

High-resolution study of 0+ and 2+ excitations in 168Er with the (p,t) reaction

Excited states in the deformed nucleus 168Er have been studied with high-energy resolution, in the (p, t ) reaction, with the Munich Q3D spectrograph. A number of 25 excited 0+ states (four tentative) and 63 2+ states have been assigned up to 4.0 MeV excitation energy. This unusually rich characterization of the 0+ and 2+ states in a deformed nucleus, close to a complete level scheme, offers a unique opportunity to check, in detail, models of nuclear structure that incorporate many excitation modes. A comparison of the experimental data is made with two such models: the quasiparticle-phonon model (QPM), and the projected shell model (PSM). The PSM wave functions appear to contain fewer correlations than those of the QPM and than required by the data

Extensive investigation of 0⁺ states in rare earth region nuclei

The nature of 0+ excitations, especially in transitional and deformed nuclei, has attracted new attention. Following a recent experiment studying 158Gd, we investigated a large group of nuclei in the rare-earth region with the (p,t) pickup reaction using the Q3D magnetic spectrograph at the University of Munich MP tandem accelerator laboratory. Outgoing tritons were recorded at various lab angles, and their angular distributions are compared to those calculated using the distorted-wave Born approximation. Using the unique shape of the L=0 angular distribution, more than double the number of 0+ states than were previously known are identified. The distribution of 0+ energies and cross sections is discussed in terms of collective and noncollective degrees of freedom, and the density of low-lying 0+ states is discussed as a corroboration of a characteristic feature of phase transition regions. The degree of level mixing, as extracted from Brody distribution fits to the energy spacings of adjacent 0+ levels, is also explored.</p

Membrane transport proteins in human melanoma: associations with tumour aggressiveness and metastasis

BACKGROUND: Malignant melanoma, generally described as incurable, is notoriously refractory to chemotherapy. The mechanisms contributing to this have not yet been defined and the contributions of drug efflux pumps, implicated in chemo-resistance of many other cancer types, have not been extensively investigated in melanoma. METHODS: In this study, expression of multi-drug resistant (MDR1/P-gp and MRP-1) proteins was examined, by immunohistochemistry, in archival specimens from 134 melanoma patients. This included 92 primary tumours and 42 metastases. RESULTS: On assessing all specimens, MRP-1 and MDR1/P-gp expression was found to be common, with the majority (81%) of melanomas expressing at least one of these efflux pumps. Although there is significant association between expression of these pumps (P=0.007), MRP-1 was found to be the predominant (67% of cases) form detected. chi(2) analysis showed significant associations between expression of MRP-1 and/or MDR1/P-gp and the aggressive nature of this disease specifically increased Breslow's depth, Clark's level and spread to lymph nodes. This association with aggressiveness and spread is further supported by the observation that a significantly higher percentage of metastases, than primary tumours, express MRP-1 (91% vs 57%; P<0.0001) and MDR1/P-gp (74% vs 50%; P=0.010). CONCLUSION: The predominant expression of these pumps and, in particular, MRP-1 suggests that they may be important contributors to the inherent aggressive and resistant nature of malignant melanoma

Revival of the magnetar PSR J1622-4950: observations with MeerKAT, Parkes, XMM-Newton, Swift, Chandra, and NuSTAR

New radio (MeerKAT and Parkes) and X-ray (XMM-Newton, Swift, Chandra, and NuSTAR) observations of PSR J1622-4950 indicate that the magnetar, in a quiescent state since at least early 2015, reactivated between 2017 March 19 and April 5. The radio flux density, while variable, is approximately 100x larger than during its dormant state. The X-ray flux one month after reactivation was at least 800x larger than during quiescence, and has been decaying exponentially on a 111+/-19 day timescale. This high-flux state, together with a radio-derived rotational ephemeris, enabled for the first time the detection of X-ray pulsations for this magnetar. At 5%, the 0.3-6 keV pulsed fraction is comparable to the smallest observed for magnetars. The overall pulsar geometry inferred from polarized radio emission appears to be broadly consistent with that determined 6-8 years earlier. However, rotating vector model fits suggest that we are now seeing radio emission from a different location in the magnetosphere than previously. This indicates a novel way in which radio emission from magnetars can differ from that of ordinary pulsars. The torque on the neutron star is varying rapidly and unsteadily, as is common for magnetars following outburst, having changed by a factor of 7 within six months of reactivation.Comment: Published in ApJ (2018 April 5); 13 pages, 4 figure