A stochastic min-driven coalescence process and its hydrodynamical limit

A stochastic system of particles is considered in which the sizes of the particles increase by successive binary mergers with the constraint that each coagulation event involves a particle with minimal size. Convergence of a suitably renormalised version of this process to a deterministic hydrodynamical limit is shown and the time evolution of the minimal size is studied for both deterministic and stochastic models

New Data and Analysis on Non-tariff Measures in Agri-food Trade

We outline new data on non-tariff measures (NTMs) in agricultural trade collected as part of the NTM-Impact project. The data cover product and process standards, conformity assessment measures, and country requirements for the EU and 10 other countries. We create a Heterogeneity Index of Trade (HIT) regulations to aggregate data on different measures, and estimate the impact of regulatory heterogeneity on trade using a gravity framework. Our results suggest that differences in standards reduce trade in beef and pig meat, but have little impact on trade in other agri-food products.Non-tariff measures (NTMs), import requirements, agri-food trade, gravity estimation, Agricultural and Food Policy, International Relations/Trade,

Identification of rumen microbial biomarkers linked to methane emission in Holstein dairy cows

Mitigation of greenhouse gas emissions is relevant for reducing the environmental impact of ruminant production. In this study, the rumen microbiome from Holstein cows was characterized through a combination of 16S rRNA gene and shotgun metagenomic sequencing. Methane production (CH4) and dry matter intake (DMI) were individually measured over 4–6 weeks to calculate the CH4 yield (CH4y = CH4/DMI) per cow. We implemented a combination of clustering, multivariate and mixed model analyses to identify a set of operational taxonomic unit (OTU) jointly associated with CH4y and the structure of ruminal microbial communities. Three ruminotype clusters (R1, R2 and R3) were identified, and R2 was associated with higher CH4y. The taxonomic composition on R2 had lower abundance of Succinivibrionaceae and Methanosphaera, and higher abundance of Ruminococcaceae, Christensenellaceae and Lachnospiraceae. Metagenomic data confirmed the lower abundance of Succinivibrionaceae and Methanosphaera in R2 and identified genera (Fibrobacter and unclassified Bacteroidales) not highlighted by metataxonomic analysis. In addition, the functional metagenomic analysis revealed that samples classified in cluster R2 were overrepresented by genes coding for KEGG modules associated with methanogenesis, including a significant relative abundance of the methyl‐coenzyme M reductase enzyme. Based on the cluster assignment, we applied a sparse partial least‐squares discriminant analysis at the taxonomic and functional levels. In addition, we implemented a sPLS regression model using the phenotypic variation of CH4y. By combining these two approaches, we identified 86 discriminant bacterial OTUs, notably including families linked to CH4 emission such as Succinivibrionaceae, Ruminococcaceae, Christensenellaceae, Lachnospiraceae and Rikenellaceae. These selected OTUs explained 24% of the CH4y phenotypic variance, whereas the host genome contribution was ~14%. In summary, we identified rumen microbial biomarkers associated with the methane production of dairy cows; these biomarkers could be used for targeted methane‐reduction selection programmes in the dairy cattle industry provided they are heritable.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Profiling the landscape of transcription, chromatin accessibility and chromosome conformation of cattle, pig, chicken and goat genomes [FAANG pilot project]

Functional annotation of livestock genomes is a critical and obvious next step to derive maximum benefit for agriculture, animal science, animal welfare and human health. The aim of the Fr-AgENCODE project is to generate multi-species functional genome annotations by applying high-throughput molecular assays on three target tissues/cells relevant to the study of immune and metabolic traits. An extensive collection of stored samples from other tissues is available for further use (FAANG Biosamples ‘FR-AGENCODE’). From each of two males and two females per species (pig, cattle, goat, chicken), strand-oriented RNA-seq and chromatin accessibility ATAC-seq assays were performed on liver tissue and on two T-cell types (CD3+CD4+&CD3+CD8+) sorted from blood (mammals) or spleen (chicken). Chromosome Conformation Capture (in situ Hi-C) was also carried out on liver. Sequencing reads from the 3 assays were processed using standard processing pipelines. While most (50–70%) RNA-seq reads mapped to annotated exons, thousands of novel transcripts and genes were found, including extensions of annotated protein-coding genes and new lncRNAs (see abstract #69857). Consistency of ATAC-seq results was confirmed by the significant proportion of called peaks in promoter regions (36–66%) and by the specific accumulation pattern of peaks around gene starts (TSS) v. gene ends (TTS). Principal Component Analyses for RNA-seq (based on quantified gene expression) and ATAC-seq (based on quantified chromatin accessibility) highlighted clusters characterised by cell type and sex in all species. From Hi-C data, we generated 40kb-resolution interaction maps, profiled a genome-wide Directionality Index and identified from 4,100 (chicken) to 12,100 (pig) topologically-associating do- mains (TADs). Correlations were reported between RNA-seq and ATAC-seq results (see abstract #71581). In summary, we present here an overview of the first multi-species and -tissue annotations of chromatin accessibility and genome architecture related to gene expression for farm animals

[(18)F]Fluoroethyltyrosine- positron emission tomography-guided radiotherapy for high-grade glioma

BACKGROUND: To compare morphological gross tumor volumes (GTVs), defined as pre- and postoperative gadolinium enhancement on T1-weighted magnetic resonance imaging to biological tumor volumes (BTVs), defined by the uptake of (18)F fluoroethyltyrosine (FET) for the radiotherapy planning of high-grade glioma, using a dedicated positron emission tomography (PET)-CT scanner equipped with three triangulation lasers for patient positioning. METHODS: Nineteen patients with malignant glioma were included into a prospective protocol using FET PET-CT for radiotherapy planning. To be eligible, patients had to present with residual disease after surgery. Planning was performed using the clinical target volume (CTV = GTV union or logical sum BTV) and planning target volume (PTV = CTV + 20 mm). First, the interrater reliability for BTV delineation was assessed among three observers. Second, the BTV and GTV were quantified and compared. Finally, the geometrical relationships between GTV and BTV were assessed. RESULTS: Interrater agreement for BTV delineation was excellent (intraclass correlation coefficient 0.9). Although, BTVs and GTVs were not significantly different (p = 0.9), CTVs (mean 57.8 +/- 30.4 cm(3)) were significantly larger than BTVs (mean 42.1 +/- 24.4 cm(3); p < 0.01) or GTVs (mean 38.7 +/- 25.7 cm(3); p < 0.01). In 13 (68%) and 6 (32%) of 19 patients, FET uptake extended >or= 10 and 20 mm from the margin of the gadolinium enhancement. CONCLUSION: Using FET, the interrater reliability had excellent agreement for BTV delineation. With FET PET-CT planning, the size and geometrical location of GTVs and BTVs differed in a majority of patients

Assessment of spatial variability of multiple ecosystem services in grasslands of different intensities

Grasslands provide multiple Ecosystem Services (ES) such as forage provision, carbon sequestration or habitat provision. Knowledge about the trade-offs between these ES is of great importance for grassland management. Yet, the outcome of different management strategies on ES provision is highly uncertain due to spatial variability. We aim to characterize the provision (level and spatial variability) of grassland ES under various management strategies. To do so, we combine empirical data for multiple ES with spatially explicit census data on land use intensities. We analyzed the variations of five ES (forage provision, climate regulation, pollination, biodiversity conservation and outdoor recreation) using data from biodiversity fieldwork, experimental plots for carbon as well as social network data from Flickr. These data were used to calculate the distribution of modelled individual and multiple ES values from different grassland management types in a Swiss case study region using spatial explicit information for 17,383 grassland parcels. Our results show that (1) management regime and intensity levels play an important role in ES provision but their impact depends on the ES. In general, extensive management, especially in pastures, favors all ES but forage provision, whereas intensive management favors only forage provision and outdoor recreation; (2) ES potential provision varies between parcels under the same management due to the influence of environmental drivers, related to topography and landscape structure; (3) there is a trade-offs between forage provision and other ES at the cantonal level but a synergy between forage provision and biodiversity conservation within the grassland categories, due to the negative impact of elevation on both ES. Information about multiple ES provision is key to support effective agri-environmental measures and information about the spatial variability can prevent uncertain outputs of decision-making processes

Demonstration of surface electron rejection with interleaved germanium detectors for dark matter searches

The following article appeared in Applied Physics Letters 103.16 (2013): 164105 and may be found at http://scitation.aip.org/content/aip/journal/apl/100/26/10.1063/1.4729825The SuperCDMS experiment in the Soudan Underground Laboratory searches for dark matter with a 9-kg array of cryogenic germanium detectors. Symmetric sensors on opposite sides measure both charge and phonons from each particle interaction, providing excellent discrimination between electron and nuclear recoils, and between surface and interior events. Surface event rejection capabilities were tested with two 210 Pb sources producing ∼130 beta decays/hr. In ∼800 live hours, no events leaked into the 8–115 keV signal region, giving upper limit leakage fraction 1.7 × 10−5 at 90% C.L., corresponding to < 0.6 surface event background in the future 200-kg SuperCDMS SNOLAB experiment.This work is supported in part by the National Science Foundation (Grant Nos. AST-9978911, NSF-0847342, PHY-1102795,NSF-1151869, PHY-0542066, PHY-0503729, PHY-0503629, PHY-0503641, PHY-0504224, PHY-0705052,PHY-0801708, PHY-0801712, PHY-0802575, PHY-0847342, PHY-0855299, PHY-0855525, and PHY-1205898), by the Department of Energy (Contract Nos. DE-AC03-76SF00098, DE-FG02-92ER40701, DE-FG02-94ER40823,DE-FG03-90ER40569, DE-FG03-91ER40618, and DESC0004022),by NSERC Canada (Grant Nos. SAPIN 341314 and SAPPJ 386399), and by MULTIDARK CSD2009-00064 and FPA2012-34694. Fermilab is operated by Fermi Research Alliance, LLC under Contract No. De-AC02-07CH11359, while SLAC is operated under Contract No. DE-AC02-76SF00515 with the United States Department of Energy

The GRAVITY+ Project: Towards All-sky, Faint-Science, High-Contrast Near-Infrared Interferometry at the VLTI

The GRAVITY instrument has been revolutionary for near-infrared interferometry by pushing sensitivity and precision to previously unknown limits. With the upgrade of GRAVITY and the Very Large Telescope Interferometer (VLTI) in GRAVITY+, these limits will be pushed even further, with vastly improved sky coverage, as well as faint-science and high-contrast capabilities. This upgrade includes the implementation of wide-field off-axis fringe-tracking, new adaptive optics systems on all Unit Telescopes, and laser guide stars in an upgraded facility. GRAVITY+ will open up the sky to the measurement of black hole masses across cosmic time in hundreds of active galactic nuclei, use the faint stars in the Galactic centre to probe General Relativity, and enable the characterisation of dozens of young exoplanets to study their formation, bearing the promise of another scientific revolution to come at the VLTI.Comment: Published in the ESO Messenge