Effect of type of food and culture density on growth and lipid composition of Seriola dumerili juveniles

The aim of this study was to determine the effect of three different types of food and two stocking densities on growth, survival and lipid composition of muscle and liver of Seriola dumerili juveniles. Juvenile of S. dumerili were randomly distributed in groups of 15 fish/tank (low stocking density, LD) and groups of 25 fish/tank (high stocking density, HD) and fed with three different types of food: commercial pellets for Sparidae (SP), commercial pellets for S. dumerili (SE) and frozen Mackerel (MA). Samples of muscle and liver were taken for lipid analysis at the end of trial (86 days). Fish fed with SP showed growth significantly lower than the groups fed with SE and MA for both stocking densities. Higher survival rates was observed in fish fed diet SE and MA held at LD. Lipid composition analyses revealed important differences between fish fed with different diets but no difference between groups with different stocking density were detected. Total lipid content in muscle and liver from fish fed with SE was very much higher than in fish fed with SP and MA, which was reflected in higher tryglicerides and lower cholesterol contents. The fatty acid composition of tissues clearly reflected the composition of the diet supplied. The groups fed with MA presented the highest proportion of docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), arachidonic acid (ARA) and the lower amounts of eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA). In contrast, fish fed with SE presented the lower amounts of ARA and DHA and higher content in 18:2n-6 specifically in the liver. In consequence, fish fed with MA presented a higher DHA/EPA ratio and a lower EPA/AA ratio in both tissues while the opposite was observed in group SE. These preliminary results indicate that SE diet allows get better performance than SP diet obtaining growth and survival rates comparable to fish fed with MA, although with a higher lipid deposition in tissues

A search for spectral features in the XMM-Newton observation of UGC11763

This is an electronic version of an article published in Revista Mexicana de Astronomía y Astrofísica. Cardaci, M.V. et al. A search for spectral features in the XMM-Newton observation of UGC11763. Revista Mexicana de Astronomía y Astrofísica 32 (2008): 13

Palaeoecological and genetic evidence for Neanderthal power locomotion as an adaptation to a woodland environment

The prevailing explanation for Neanderthal body form is the cold (glacial) adaptation hypothesis. However, palaeoecological associations appear to indicate a less cold woodland environment. Under such conditions, encounter and ambush (rather than pursuit) hunting e and thus muscular power and sprint (rather than endurance) capacity e would have been favoured. We hypothesise that the highly muscular Neanderthal body form reflects an adaptation to hunting conditions rather than cold, and here both review the palaeoecological evidence that they inhabited a mainly woodland environment, and present preliminary genetic analyses in support of this new hypothesis

Direct and sequential radiative three-body reaction rates at low temperatures

We investigate the low-temperature reaction rates for radiative capture processes of three particles. We compare direct and sequential capture mechanisms and rates using realistic phenomenological parametrizations of the corresponding photodissociation cross sections.Energy conservation prohibits sequential capture for energies smaller than that of the intermediate two-body structure. A finite width or a finite temperature allows this capture mechanism. We study generic effects of positions and widths of two- and three-body resonances for very low temperatures. We focus on nuclear reactions relevant for astrophysics, and we illustrate with realistic estimates for the $\alpha$-$\alpha$-$\alpha$ and $\alpha$-$\alpha$-$n$ radiative capture processes. The direct capture mechanism leads to reaction rates which for temperatures smaller than 0.1 GK can be several orders of magnitude larger than those of the NACRE compilation.Comment: To be published in European Physical Journal