Productive evaluations of Aberdeen Angus and Argentina Criollo beef in two feeding systems in the northeast of The Pampa. Argentina

The objective of the study is to evaluate the productivity of two winter pastures under a rotational grazing system with and without energetic concentrates in the diet; in order to evaluate the productive behavior in Aberdeen Angus and Argentine Criollo beef. Sixty steer, castrated males of the breed Aberdeen Angus, of 6-7 months of age and 175 kg, and Argentine Criollo, at 8-9 months of age and 199 kg. The steer study were divided into four groups of 15 steer each. The study was conducted for 13 months in the first five months they grazed on oat farming (Avena sativa); and the following seven months on cebadilla (Bromus uniloides) and Lucerne (Medicago sativa) sown grassland, and the final month on oat. As a supplement they received ground grain sorghum (33 percent of the diet). The weight increment during the 13 months of the study went from 294,23 kg; 239,20 kg; 214,00 kg and 203,19 kg; an average weight gain of 0,754 kg/d; 0,613 kg/d; 0,549 kg/d and 0,520 kg/ d; a production per hectare of 374 kg/ha; 304 kg/ ha; 272 kg/ha and 258 kg/ha; and a stock efficiency of 77 percent, 67 percent, 59 percent, and 61 percent in the groups ACS, ASS, CCS and CSS, respectively.El objetivo del estudio es evaluar la productividad de dos invernadas pastoriles, bajo un sistema de pastoreo rotativo con y sin complemento de concentrados energéticos en la dieta; así como evaluar el comportamiento productivo de terneros Aberdeen Angus (AA) y Criollo Argentino (CA). Se cuenta con 60 terneros, machos castrados, de las razas Aberdeen Angus, con 6-7 meses de edad y 175 kg de peso, y Criollo Argentino, 8-9 meses de edad y 199 kg de peso. Se forman cuatro lotes de 15 terneros (ASS= Aberdeen sin complemento, ACS= Aberdeen con complemento, CSS= Criollo sin complemento y CCS= Criollo con complemento). El ensayo se realiza durante 13 meses: en los 5 primeros pastan en un cultivo de avena (Avena sativa) los siete meses siguientes en una pradera de alfalfa (Medicago sativa) y de cebadilla (Bromus uniloides) y en el último mes en un cultivo de avena. Como suplemento reciben grano de sorgo molido (33 p.100 de la dieta). El incremento medio de peso de los terneros, en los 13 meses de ensayo, fue 294,23 kg; 239,20 kg; 214,00 kg y 203,19 kg; la ganancia media de peso de 0,754 kg/d; 0,613 kg/d; 0,549 kg/d y 0,520 kg/d; la producción por hectárea de 374 kg/ ha, 304 kg/ha, 272kg/ha y 258 kg/ha; y la eficiencia en los lotes ACS, ASS, CCS y CSS, fue del 77, 67, 59 y 61 p.100, respectivamente

Effect of population density on size of edible snail helix aspersa müller

An assessment was made of the effects of population density on Helix aspersa Müller snails at their nursery stage. A sample of 3420 animals was used, grouped at eighteen density levels: from 600 to 11100 snails/m2. The results demonstrate that higher population density decreased growth (p<0.001). Furthermore the optimum snail population density at the nursery stage ranged from 600 to 4300 snails/m2.Se estudia el efecto de la densidad sobre el tamaño del Helix aspersa Müller durante la primera fase de crecimiento. Se utilizan 18 niveles de densidad entre 600 a 11100 animales/m2. Los resultados indican la existencia de diferencias significativas en el crecimiento según el nivel de densidad (p<0,001), de modo que a medida que se incrementa la densidad disminuye el tamaño. La densidad óptima, en primera edad, oscila entre 600 y 4300 animales/m2

Screening of yeast strains with pectinolytic activity

The present study was undertaken to find yeast strains with high pectinolytic activity. Yeast strains isolated from citrus fruits, were screened for pectinase production. The species with the best pectinase activity was selected to evaluate their ability to produce pectic enzymes by submerged fermentation processes. The effect of different carbon sources on polygalacturonase (PGase) production was studied. Different vegetable tissues were used for tests of maceration with the crude enzyme extract. Among 154 yeast strains isolated, yeast Nº 111 was positive for pectinase activity and was identified as Geotrichum sp. Maximum PGase production obtained was 90.7 EU/ml when this yeast grown in shake flasks under the presence of glucose and citrus pectin as carbon sources. All tissues studied were macerated by the enzyme extract, microscopic examination showed a suspension of loose single cells. Lysis of cells was not observed.El objetivo del presente trabajo fue el aislamiento de cepas de levaduras con buena actividad pectinolítica. Las levaduras aisladas a partir de frutas cítricas fueron seleccionadas en base a sus actividades pectinolíticas. Se evaluó la capacidad de producción de enzimas pécticas por fermentación en medio líquido de la levadura con mayor actividad pectinolítica. Se estudió la influencia de diferentes fuentes de carbono sobre la producción de poligalacturonasa (PGasa) y la capacidad macerante de los extractos enzimáticos sobre tejidos vegetales. De 154 levaduras aisladas, la cepa Nº 111 mostró actividad pectinolítica y fue identificada como Geotrichum sp. La máxima producción de PGasa obtenida fue de 90,7 EU/ml, cuando esta levadura creció en medio líquido con glucosa y pectina de citrus como fuentes de carbono. Los tejidos vegetales estudiados fueron macerados por el extracto enzimático. El examen microscópico mostró células simples liberadas, no observándose lisis por destrucción de la pared celular.Centro de Investigación y Desarrollo en Fermentaciones Industriale

VAMOS: a Pathfinder for the HAWC Gamma-Ray Observatory

VAMOS was a prototype detector built in 2011 at an altitude of 4100m a.s.l. in the state of Puebla, Mexico. The aim of VAMOS was to finalize the design, construction techniques and data acquisition system of the HAWC observatory. HAWC is an air-shower array currently under construction at the same site of VAMOS with the purpose to study the TeV sky. The VAMOS setup included six water Cherenkov detectors and two different data acquisition systems. It was in operation between October 2011 and May 2012 with an average live time of 30%. Besides the scientific verification purposes, the eight months of data were used to obtain the results presented in this paper: the detector response to the Forbush decrease of March 2012, and the analysis of possible emission, at energies above 30 GeV, for long gamma-ray bursts GRB111016B and GRB120328B.Comment: Accepted for pubblication in Astroparticle Physics Journal (20 pages, 10 figures). Corresponding authors: A.Marinelli and D.Zaboro

Predictive factors and early biomarkers of response in multiple sclerosis patients treated with natalizumab

There are an increasing number of treatments available for multiple sclerosis (MS). The early identification of optimal responders to individual treatments is important to achieve individualized therapy. With this aim, we performed a multicenter retrospective longitudinal study including 186 MS patients treated with natalizumab who were followed for 2 years. We analyzed the following variables at recruitment: sex, current age, age at disease onset, disease duration, EDSS, number of T2 and Gd + lesions, IgG and IgM oligoclonal bands, HLA class II (DR, DRB, DQA, DQB, and DRB1*15:01), IgG and IgM antibody titers against human herpesvirus 6 (HHV-6) and the antibody response to Epstein–Barr virus (EBV) through the measurement of the anti-EBNA-1 and anti-VCA IgG titers, in relation to clinical response (no relapses or disability progression), and to NEDA-3 (no evidence of disease activity in terms of clinical response and no changes in MRI scans either) after 2-years follow-up. Baseline EDSS score, baseline EBNA-1 IgG titers and percentage change of HHV6 IgG titers between baseline and 6 month visits were significantly different in clinical responders and in NEDA-3 status (all of them remained significant in the multivariate analysis). We identified three variables for the early identification of natalizumab optimal responders in a rapid and cost-effective approach

Proteomic analysis of a media conditioned by growing deer antler tissues: identification of its neurite growth promoting proteins

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Analytical techniques for multiplex analysis of protein biomarkers

Introduction: The importance of biomarkers for pharmaceutical drug development and clinical diagnostics is more significant than ever in the current shift toward personalized medicine. Biomarkers have taken a central position either as companion markers to support drug development and patient selection, or as indicators aiming to detect the earliest perturbations indicative of disease, minimizing therapeutic intervention or even enabling disease reversal. Protein biomarkers are of particular interest given their central role in biochemical pathways. Hence, capabilities to analyze multiple protein biomarkers in one assay are highly interesting for biomedical research. Areas covered: We here review multiple methods that are suitable for robust, high throughput, standardized, and affordable analysis of protein biomarkers in a multiplex format. We describe innovative developments in immunoassays, the vanguard of methods in clinical laboratories, and mass spectrometry, increasingly implemented for protein biomarker analysis. Moreover, emerging techniques are discussed with potentially improved protein capture, separation, and detection that will further boost multiplex analyses. Expert commentary: The development of clinically applied multiplex protein biomarker assays is essential as multi-protein signatures provide more comprehensive information about biological systems than single biomarkers, leading to improved insights in mechanisms of disease, diagnostics, and the effect of personalized medicine

On the sensitivity of the HAWC observatory to gamma-ray bursts

We present the sensitivity of HAWC to Gamma Ray Bursts (GRBs). HAWC is a very high-energy gamma-ray observatory currently under construction in Mexico at an altitude of 4100 m. It will observe atmospheric air showers via the water Cherenkov method. HAWC will consist of 300 large water tanks instrumented with 4 photomultipliers each. HAWC has two data acquisition (DAQ) systems. The main DAQ system reads out coincident signals in the tanks and reconstructs the direction and energy of individual atmospheric showers. The scaler DAQ counts the hits in each photomultiplier tube (PMT) in the detector and searches for a statistical excess over the noise of all PMTs. We show that HAWC has a realistic opportunity to observe the high-energy power law components of GRBs that extend at least up to 30 GeV, as it has been observed by Fermi LAT. The two DAQ systems have an energy threshold that is low enough to observe events similar to GRB 090510 and GRB 090902b with the characteristics observed by Fermi LAT. HAWC will provide information about the high-energy spectra of GRBs which in turn could help to understanding about e-pair attenuation in GRB jets, extragalactic background light absorption, as well as establishing the highest energy to which GRBs accelerate particles