Transcriptomic analysis of two sheep breeds during lactation, using a new custom microarray platform

We aim at understanding the genomic influence on milk quality and synthesis by comparing two sheep breeds using sheep-specific microarray technology. From sheep ESTs deposited at NCBI we generated a chip carrying about 22,000 non-redundant features in quadruplicate, achieving very good technical outcomes. Oligos were in situ generated on chip using the Combimatrix equipment. We analysed the mammary transcriptome in individuals of two sheep breeds at two lactation stages, to identify genes controlling milk production and metabolic pathways in which these genes are involved. With |FC|>1.4, and p-value≤0.05, 142 and 14 genes resulted differentially expressed in stages 01 and 02, respectively

Successful Pre- and Posttransplant Sofosbuvir-Based Anti-Hepatitis C Virus Treatment in Persons Living With Human Immunodeficiency Virus Infection

This retrospective study reports the data of sofosbuvir-based anti-hepatitis C virus treatment in 24 candidates and 24 recipients of liver transplantation coinfected with human immunodeficiency virus. Sustained virologic response was cumulatively 85% (90% and 100% in those treated with optimal schedules pre- and posttransplant, respectively).This retrospective study reports the data of sofosbuvir-based anti-hepatitis C virus treatment in 24 candidates and 24 recipients of liver transplantation coinfected with human immunodeficiency virus. Sustained virologic response was cumulatively 85% (90% and 100% in those treated with optimal schedules pre- and posttransplant, respectively)

A Tool for Sheep Product Quality: Custom Microarrays from Public Databases

Milk and dairy products are an essential food and an economic resource in many countries. Milk component synthesis and secretion by the mammary gland involve expression of a large number of genes whose nutritional regulation remains poorly defined. The purpose of this study was to gain an understanding of the genomic influence on milk quality and synthesis by comparing two sheep breeds with different milking attitude (Sarda and Gentile di Puglia) using sheep-specific microarray technology. From sheep ESTs deposited at NCBI, we have generated the first annotated microarray developed for sheep with a coverage of most of the genome

Attosecond pulse shaping using a seeded free-electron laser

Attosecond pulses are central to the investigation of valence- and core-electron dynamics on their natural timescales1–3. The reproducible generation and characterization of attosecond waveforms has been demonstrated so far only through the process of high-order harmonic generation4–7. Several methods for shaping attosecond waveforms have been proposed, including the use of metallic filters8,9, multilayer mirrors10 and manipulation of the driving field11. However, none of these approaches allows the flexible manipulation of the temporal characteristics of the attosecond waveforms, and they suffer from the low conversion efficiency of the high-order harmonic generation process. Free-electron lasers, by contrast, deliver femtosecond, extreme-ultraviolet and X-ray pulses with energies ranging from tens of microjoules to a few millijoules12,13. Recent experiments have shown that they can generate subfemtosecond spikes, but with temporal characteristics that change shot-to-shot14–16. Here we report reproducible generation of high-energy (microjoule level) attosecond waveforms using a seeded free-electron laser17. We demonstrate amplitude and phase manipulation of the harmonic components of an attosecond pulse train in combination with an approach for its temporal reconstruction. The results presented here open the way to performing attosecond time-resolved experiments with free-electron lasers

Complex attosecond waveform synthesis at fel fermi

Free-electron lasers (FELs) can produce radiation in the short wavelength range extending from the extreme ultraviolet (XUV) to the X-rays with a few to a few tens of femtoseconds pulse duration. These facilities have enabled significant breakthroughs in the field of atomic, molecular, and optical physics, implementing different schemes based on two-color photoionization mechanisms. In this article, we present the generation of attosecond pulse trains (APTs) at the seeded FEL FERMI using the beating of multiple phase-locked harmonics. We demonstrate the complex attosecond waveform shaping of the generated APTs, exploiting the ability to manipulate independently the amplitudes and the phases of the harmonics. The described generalized attosecond waveform synthesis technique with an arbitrary number of phase-locked harmonics will allow the generation of sub-100 as pulses with programmable electric fields

Pre-combustion CO2 capture by MDEA process in IGCC based on air-blown gasification

AbstractThis work aims at assessing the performance of IGCC power plants with CO2 capture based on air-blown gasification, which is a field scarcely assessed in the open literature. The whole process is modelled and simulated, from coal gasification to syngas cooling and cleaning, to the syngas utilization in the power island. Particular attention is paid to the capture section, based on a two-stage H2S-CO2 selective separation using MDEA as solvent, which was accurately modelled with a rate based approach. The final results show competitive performance of the assessed plants in terms of efficiency and specific emissions with respect to more conventional IGCC systems based on oxygen-blown gasification

Assessment of MDEA absorption process for sequential H2S removal and CO2 capture in air-blown IGCC plants

This work deals with pre-combustion CO2 capture by Methyldiethanolamine (MDEA) scrubbing in air-blown integrated gasification combined cycles (IGCCs). Two types of coal, with low- and high-sulphur content, are considered as fuel input in power plants, as well as two combustion turbines, with different turbine inlet temperature, representative of state-of-the-art and advanced technologies. The gasification section and the power island are simulated by means of the proprietary code GS. Acid gas removal (AGR), consisting in the sequential H2S removal and CO2 capture from the syngas by MDEA solvent, is calculated with Aspen Plus®. MDEA concentration and solvent circulation are varied in each of the assessed cases to comply with the target CO2 capture efficiency and with the CO2 and H2S purity specifications. The resulting heat duties for H2S and CO2 stripping, the consumption of the auxiliaries in the AGR plants, as well as the CO2 compression work are used to calculate the energy and mass balances of the integrated gasification combined cycles. Sensitivity analysis on the temperature approach in the recuperative heat exchanger of the CO2 capture section and on the pressure of the CO2 stripping column have been performed to assess potential energy savings. Results are compared with benchmark IGCC plants without CO2 capture. Net electric efficiencies between 36.6% and 40.4%, with 95% of CO2 capture efficiency, are achieved depending on the coal quality (i.e. the sulphur content), the combustion turbine technology and the MDEA regeneration pressure and heat exchanger temperature difference. Correspondingly, a specific primary energy consumption for CO2 avoided (SPECCA) between 2.85 and 3.2 MJ/kgCO2 for the low-sulphur coal cases and between 3.2 and 3.7 MJ/kgCO2 for the high-sulphur coal cases have been calculated

Isobaric Vapor-Liquid Equilibrium Data for the Isopropanol-Water System

This work presents experimental isobaric vapor-liquid equilibrium data for the isopropanol-water system collected at 150 kPa, 200 kPa, 250 kPa and 300 kPa at the Process Thermodynamics laboratory (PT lab) of Politecnico di Milano and its representation with the thermodynamic models PSRK, NRTL, UNIFAC and Wilson. The system is strongly non-ideal, with the presence of a minimum boiling azeotrope which has been found at all the analyzed pressures. Data at the considered pressures for the system are not available in the literature, though being of interest for the thermodynamic modeling based on the use of models for the description of strongly non-ideal mixtures which employ thermodynamic parameters regressed on the basis of experimental points. The reliability of the operation of the experimental unit and of the measurements has been checked by determining the vapor pressure curve of the single components and by comparing it with the ones from the literature and by comparing the collected data for the binary system with those available in the literature at atmospheric pressure. In addition, the test on thermodynamic consistency has been performed for all the collected data