2,590 research outputs found
Effect of broiler breast abnormality and freezing on meat quality and metabolites assessed by 1H-NMR spectroscopy
ABSTRACT The present study aimed at investigating the impact of the current growth-related abnormalities (White-Striping—WS, Wooden Breast—WB, and Spaghetti Meat—SM) affecting broilers Pectoralis major muscles on the main quality traits, the oxidative stability of both the lipid and protein fraction as well as the water mobility assessed in fresh and frozen/thawed meat. In addition, Nuclear Magnetic Resonance spectroscopy (1 H-NMR) was applied to quantify free amino acids, histidine-containing dipeptides and metabolites involved in energy-generating pathways. Overall, the occurrence of WS, WB, and SM abnormalities remarkably affected the quality traits (pH, color, and water holding capacity) and oxidative stability of the meat, with the WB condition leading to the most detrimental effects. However, overall, freezing and subsequent thawing only partially worsened the aforementioned traits. Significant variations in free amino acids and histidine-containing dipeptides were found between abnormal muscles and their unaffected counterpart by 1 H-NMR spectroscopy and, aside from the occurrence of muscular defects, their content was remarkably reduced in frozen/thawed meat. The findings obtained by analyzing the metabolites through 1 H-NMR spectroscopy allowed to advance the knowledge concerning the impact of freezing and subsequent thawing on meat quality traits and provided useful information concerning the underlying mechanisms responsible for the development of WS, WB, and SM abnormalities in broilers
Familial hypercholesterolaemia in Portugal
Familial hypercholesterolaemia (FH) is characterised clinically by an increased level of circulating LDL cholesterol that leads to lipid accumulation in tendons and arteries, premature atherosclerosis and increased risk of coronary heart disease (CHD). Although Portugal should have about 20,000 cases, this disease is severely under-diagnosed in our country, this being the first presentation of Portuguese data on FH. A total of 602 blood samples were collected from 184 index patients and 418 relatives from several centres throughout Portugal. Fifty-three different mutations were found in 83 index patients, 79 heterozygous and 4 with two defective LDLR alleles. Additionally, 4 putative alterations were found in 8 patients but were not considered mutations causing disease, mainly because they did not co-segregate with hypercholesterolaemia in the families. Three unrelated patients were found to be heterozygous for the APOB(3500) mutation and two unrelated patients were found to be heterozygous for a novel mutation in PCSK9, predicted to cause a single amino acid substitution, D374H. Cascade screening increased the number of FH patients identified genetically to 204. The newly identified FH patients are now receiving counselling and treatment based on the genetic diagnosis. The early identification of FH patients can increase their life expectancy and quality of life by preventing the development of premature CHD if patients receive appropriate pharmacological treatment
The neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio : A narrative review
Peer reviewedPublisher PD
Favorable and unfavorable lactation modulates the effects of electrical stimulation on brain excitability: A spreading depression study in adult rats
AbstractAimsWe investigated how different nutritional states resulting from distinct lactation conditions modulate the effects of cortical electrical stimulation (CES) on the excitability-related phenomenon known as cortical spreading depression (CSD).Main methodsWistar rats were reared in different litter sizes with 12, 6 or 3 pups, designated as malnourished (M), well-nourished (W) and overnourished (Ov), respectively. CSD was recorded for 4h on 2 cortical points of each cerebral hemisphere at baseline and after CES. CES was applied for 20min on the left cortex using a bipolar electrode placed between the CSD recording electrodes. Paired Student t test and ANOVA followed by Tukey test were used for statistical analysis (p<0.05).Key findingsThe lactation conditions significantly influenced body weight (the M and Ov groups presented the lowest and largest average weight, respectively) and modified the CSD velocities of propagation in adulthood (Ov<W<M CSD velocity). CES increased CSD velocity of propagation in the stimulated hemisphere in all groups, and in the non-stimulated hemisphere (8.66%±1.38) in the Ov group only. We observed nutritional-dependent CES effects on cortical excitability as evaluated by the different CSD velocities across the three groups (mean±sem, M (10.13%±1.70), Ov (14.65%±1.10) and W (25.70%±5.05)).SignificanceThese findings suggest valuable mechanisms of action for the brain stimulation techniques, which have gained importance because of their increasing use for the treatment of neuropsychiatric diseases. Data also suggest modulation of CES-effects by baseline excitability (as determined by the early nutritional state)
ANN-based energy reconstruction procedure for TACTIC gamma-ray telescope and its comparison with other conventional methods
The energy estimation procedures employed by different groups, for
determining the energy of the primary -ray using a single atmospheric
Cherenkov imaging telescope, include methods like polynomial fitting in SIZE
and DISTANCE, general least square fitting and look-up table based
interpolation. A novel energy reconstruction procedure, based on the
utilization of Artificial Neural Network (ANN), has been developed for the
TACTIC atmospheric Cherenkov imaging telescope. The procedure uses a 3:30:1 ANN
configuration with resilient backpropagation algorithm to estimate the energy
of a -ray like event on the basis of its image SIZE, DISTANCE and
zenith angle. The new ANN-based energy reconstruction method, apart from
yielding an energy resolution of 26%, which is comparable to that of
other single imaging telescopes, has the added advantage that it considers
zenith angle dependence as well. Details of the ANN-based energy estimation
procedure along with its comparative performance with other conventional energy
reconstruction methods are presented in the paper and the results indicate that
amongst all the methods considered in this work, ANN method yields the best
results. The performance of the ANN-based energy reconstruction has also been
validated by determining the energy spectrum of the Crab Nebula in the energy
range 1-16 TeV, as measured by the TACTIC telescope.Comment: 23pages, 9 figures Accepted for publication in NIM
Exploring the Unitarity Triangle through CP violation observables in
We discuss the determination of the CKM parameters from the forthcoming
violation observables in decays. Combining the information on
mixing induced CP violation in , with the
precision observable and the -- mixing phase
, we propose a determination of the unitarity triangle . Computing the penguin parameters within QCD
factorization yield precise determination of , reflected
by a weak dependence on the which is shown as a second order effect.
The impact of the direct CP violation observable on the penguin
parameters are investigated and a lower bound on is extracted. We also
discuss the effect of the -- new physics mixing phase on
the penguin parameters and . Using the SU(3)-flavour
symmetry argument and the current -factories data provided by the modes, we complement the CP-violating
observables in a variety of ways, in particular we find that .
Finally we analyze systematically the SU(3)-symmetry breaking factor within QCD
factorization.Comment: 22 pages, 6 figures, typos corrected, reference and some remarks
adde
Basic kinetic wealth-exchange models: common features and open problems
We review the basic kinetic wealth-exchange models of Angle [J. Angle, Social
Forces 65 (1986) 293; J. Math. Sociol. 26 (2002) 217], Bennati [E. Bennati,
Rivista Internazionale di Scienze Economiche e Commerciali 35 (1988) 735],
Chakraborti and Chakrabarti [A. Chakraborti, B. K. Chakrabarti, Eur. Phys. J. B
17 (2000) 167], and of Dragulescu and Yakovenko [A. Dragulescu, V. M.
Yakovenko, Eur. Phys. J. B 17 (2000) 723]. Analytical fitting forms for the
equilibrium wealth distributions are proposed. The influence of heterogeneity
is investigated, the appearance of the fat tail in the wealth distribution and
the relaxation to equilibrium are discussed. A unified reformulation of the
models considered is suggested.Comment: Updated version; 9 pages, 5 figures, 2 table
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