Ensilability and Silage Quality of Different \u3cem\u3eFestulolium\u3c/em\u3e Hybrids in Comparison to \u3cem\u3eFestuca arundinacea\u3c/em\u3e

Festulolium hybrids as cool-season grasses may be used as dominant species for winter pastures in year-round outdoor livestock systems. The utilisation of these species during summer is limited due to low intake as a fresh pasture grass by grazing ruminants. Therefore, ensiling the primary growths of these hybrids may be an alternative approach to using these species during the growing season. However, information on the quality of Festulolium silages under central European conditions is not available. The objective of this research was to determine ensilability and silage quality of four Festulolium cultivars (of festucoid or loloid type) compared to one Festuca arundinacea cultivar

Effect of Agronomic Management on Feeding Value of Festulolium Hybrids for Winter Pasture

Festulolium spp. are considered to combine the distinctive winterhardiness of Festuca species with the high forage quality of Lolium species. Such cultivars may be particularly appropriate for winter pastures, but knowledge about quality aspects during winter under central European conditions is not available. The objective of this research was to determine forage quality of four Festulolium cultivars (festucoid type or loloid type) during winter under varying agronomic treatments

Limb imaging of the Venus O2 visible nightglow with the Venus Monitoring Camera

We investigated the Venus O2 visible nightglow with imagery from the Venus Monitoring Camera on Venus Express. Drawing from data collected between April 2007 and January 2011, we study the global distribution of this emission, discovered in the late 70s by the Venera 9 and 10 missions. The inferred limb-viewing intensities are on the order of 150 kiloRayleighs at the lower latitudes and seem to drop somewhat towards the poles. The emission is generally stable, although there are episodes when the intensities rise up to 500 kR. We compare a set of Venus Monitoring Camera observations with coincident measurements of the O2 nightglow at 1.27 {\mu}m made with the Visible and Infrared Thermal Imaging Spectrometer, also on Venus Express. From the evidence gathered in this and past works, we suggest a direct correlation between the instantaneous emissions from the two O2 nightglow systems. Possible implications regarding the uncertain origin of the atomic oxygen green line at 557.7 nm are noted.Comment: 7 pages, 3 figure

Avaliação da cultura de segurança do paciente na Amazônia Ocidental

Introdução: A cultura de segurança do paciente é fator contribuinte para a manutenção do bem-estar do usuário no sistema de saúde, pois por meio dela obtém-se uma sistematização organizada e de qualidade do cuidado ao paciente, prevenindo possíveis intercorrências que possam trazer danos. Objetivo: Analisar a Cultura de Segurança do Paciente (CSP) na perspectiva dos profissionais de saúde no Hospital de Referência do Alto Rio Juruá, na Amazônia Ocidental Brasileira. Método: Trata-se de um estudo transversal desenvolvido em um hospital público de médio porte em um município da Amazônia Ocidental. O questionário Hospital Survey on Patient Safety Culture, da Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality foi aplicado em 280 profissionais, no período dezembro de 2016 a fevereiro de 2017. Foi realizada a análise descritiva dos dados e a consistência interna do instrumento. Resultados: Os resultados apontam as melhores avaliações nas dimensões de Trabalho em equipe nos âmbitos das unidades (60%) e Aprendizado organizacional (60%). Os aspectos com os piores resultados foram as dimensões de Respostas não punitivas aos erros (18%) e Frequência de eventos relatados (32%). A análise de confiabilidade interna (Alpha de Cronbach) das dimensões variou entre 0,35 a 0,90. Conclusão: A cultura do medo parece predominar nesse hospital, contudo o estudo demonstrou que há possibilidades de melhoria em todas as dimensões da CSP. Os valores do Alpha de Cronbach apresentaram semelhança com os resultados obtidos pelo processo de validação.Introduction: The safety culture of the patient is a contributing factor for the maintenance of the user’s well-being in the health system because, through it, an organized systematization and quality of patient care are obtained, preventing possible intercurrences that can cause damages. Objective: To analyze the Patient Safety Culture (PSC) from the perspective of health professionals at the Reference Hospital of the Upper Juruá River, in the Brazilian Western Amazon. Methods: This is a cross-sectional study developed in a medium-sized public hospital in a municipality in Western Amazonia. The Survey for Patient Safety Culture survey of the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality was applied to 280 professionals from December 2016 to February 2017. Descriptive analysis of the data and the internal consistency of the instrument were performed. Results: The results indicate the best evaluations in the dimensions of Teamwork in the scopes of the units (60%) and Organizational learning (60%). The aspects with the worst results were the dimensions of non-punitive responses to errors (18%) and frequency of events reported (32%). The internal reliability (Cronbach’s Alpha) analysis of the dimensions ranged from 0.35 to 0.90. Conclusion: The "culture of fear" seems to predominate in this hospital, however, the study showed that there is scope for improvement in all dimensions of CSP. The values of Cronbach’s Alpha presented similarity to the results obtained by the validation process

Transport properties of copper phthalocyanine based organic electronic devices

Ambipolar charge carrier transport in Copper phthalocyanine (CuPc) is studied experimentally in field-effect transistors and metal-insulator-semiconductor diodes at various temperatures. The electronic structure and the transport properties of CuPc attached to leads are calculated using density functional theory and scattering theory at the non-equilibrium Green's function level. We discuss, in particular, the electronic structure of CuPc molecules attached to gold chains in different geometries to mimic the different experimental setups. The combined experimental and theoretical analysis explains the dependence of the mobilityand the transmission coefficient on the charge carrier type (electrons or holes) and on the contact geometry. We demonstrate the correspondence between our experimental results on thick films and our theoretical studies of single molecule contacts. Preliminary results for fluorinated CuPc are discussed.Comment: 18 pages, 16 figures; to be published in Eur. Phys. J. Special Topic

Statistics of counter-streaming solar wind suprathermal electrons at solar minimum : STEREO observations

Previous work has shown that solar wind suprathermal electrons can display a number of features in terms of their anisotropy. Of importance is the occurrence of counter-streaming electron patterns, i.e., with "beams" both parallel and anti-parallel to the local magnetic field, which is believed to shed light on the heliospheric magnetic field topology. In the present study, we use STEREO data to obtain the statistical properties of counter-streaming suprathermal electrons (CSEs) in the vicinity of corotating interaction regions (CIRs) during the period March–December 2007. Because this period corresponds to a minimum of solar activity, the results are unrelated to the sampling of large-scale coronal mass ejections, which can lead to CSE owing to their closed magnetic field topology. The present study statistically confirms that CSEs are primarily the result of suprathermal electron leakage from the compressed CIR into the upstream regions with the combined occurrence of halo depletion at 90° pitch angle. The occurrence rate of CSE is found to be about 15–20% on average during the period analyzed (depending on the criteria used), but superposed epoch analysis demonstrates that CSEs are preferentially observed both before and after the passage of the stream interface (with peak occurrence rate >35% in the trailing high speed stream), as well as both inside and outside CIRs. The results quantitatively show that CSEs are common in the solar wind during solar minimum, but yet they suggest that such distributions would be much more common if pitch angle scattering were absent. We further argue that (1) the formation of shocks contributes to the occurrence of enhanced counter-streaming sunward-directed fluxes, but does not appear to be a necessary condition, and (2) that the presence of small-scale transients with closed-field topologies likely also contributes to the occurrence of counter-streaming patterns, but only in the slow solar wind prior to CIRs

Hypoxia Routes Tryptophan Homeostasis Towards Increased Tryptamine Production

The liver is the central hub for processing and maintaining homeostatic levels of dietary nutrients especially essential amino acids such as tryptophan (Trp). Trp is required not only to sustain protein synthesis but also as a precursor for the production of NAD, neurotransmitters and immunosuppressive metabolites. In light of these roles of Trp and its metabolic products, maintaining homeostatic levels of Trp is essential for health and well-being. The liver regulates global Trp supply by the immunosuppressive enzyme tryptophan-2,3-dioxygenase (TDO2), which degrades Trp down the kynurenine pathway (KP). In the current study, we show that isolated primary hepatocytes when exposed to hypoxic environments, extensively rewire their Trp metabolism by reducing constitutive Tdo2 expression and differentially regulating other Trp pathway enzymes and transporters. Mathematical modelling of Trp metabolism in liver cells under hypoxia predicted decreased flux through the KP while metabolic flux through the tryptamine branch significantly increased. In line, the model also revealed an increased accumulation of tryptamines under hypoxia, at the expense of kynurenines. Metabolic measurements in hypoxic hepatocytes confirmed the predicted reduction in KP metabolites as well as accumulation of tryptamine. Tdo2 expression in cultured primary hepatocytes was reduced upon hypoxia inducible factor (HIF) stabilisation by dimethyloxalylglycine (DMOG), demonstrating that HIFs are involved in the hypoxic downregulation of hepatic Tdo2. DMOG abrogated hepatic luciferase signals in Tdo2 reporter mice, indicating that HIF stability also recapitulates hypoxic rewiring of Trp metabolism in vivo. Also in WT mice HIF stabilization drove homeostatic Trp metabolism away from the KP towards enhanced tryptamine production, leading to enhanced levels of tryptamine in liver, serum and brain. As tryptamines are the most potent hallucinogens known, the observed upregulation of tryptamine in response to hypoxic exposure of hepatocytes may be involved in the generation of hallucinations occurring at high altitude. KP metabolites are known to activate the aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AHR). The AHR-activating properties of tryptamines may explain why immunosuppressive AHR activity is maintained under hypoxia despite downregulation of the KP. In summary our results identify hypoxia as an important factor controlling Trp metabolism in the liver with possible implications for immunosuppressive AHR activation and mental disturbances

A novel curcumin-based vaginal cream Vacurin selectively eliminates apposed human cervical cancer cells

Objective. Human papillomavirus (HPV) infections remain a leading cause of mortality worldwide. In the U.S. strategies via screening and vaccination prevent HPV-associated cervical neoplasms, but consume im- mense healthcare costs. The spice component curcumin has potent anticancer and antiviral properties, which have been difficult to harness as a treatment, due to its poor systemic bioavailability. This project tests the possibility of developing a curcumin-based therapy for cervical cancer. Methods. Using four HPV(+) cervical cancer cell lines and normal fibroblasts we first tested the selectivity and potency of curcumin in eliminating HPV(+) cells. Subsequently, we developed a curcumin-based cervical cream and tested its efficacy in eliminating apposed HPV(+) cells and also its possible side effects on the vaginal epithelium of healthy mice. Results. Curcumin selectively eliminates a variety of HPV(+) cervical cancer cells (HeLa, ME-180, SiHa, and SW756), suppresses the transforming antigen E6, dramatically inhibits the expression of the pro-cancer protein epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR), and concomitantly induces p53. Additionally, Vacurin, a uniform colloidal solution of curcumin in a clinically used amphipathic vaginal cream, eliminates apposed HeLa cells while suppressing the expression of EGFR. In mice, daily intravaginal application of Vacurin for three weeks produced no change in body weight and when the mice were sacrificed, the vaginal tract epithelium showed no Vacurin-evoked adverse effects. Conclusion. We have developed a curcumin-based vaginal cream, which effectively eradicates HPV(+) cancer cells and does not affect non-cancerous tissue. Our preclinical data support a novel approach for the treatment of cervical HPV infection