1,005 research outputs found
Diachronic analysis of farmers' strategies within a protected area of central Italy
The farm can be considered as the decision unit in the agricultural
land management, therefore it is the most suitable scale to analyse the
farmers’ strategies of production. In this paper we describe the results
of a comparison between two enquiries carried out in 1992-93 and
2009-10 on more than 30 farms, corresponding to about 1500 ha of
utilised agricultural area (UAA), within the boundaries of the San
Rossore, Migliarino, Massaciuccoli Regional Park (central-western
Italy). We calculate a set of agri-environmental indicators both at territory
and farm scale in order to point out the changes occurred over
almost twenty years in the farms’ structure, management and production
features. The results showed that the major differences were related
to fertilisers management (clearly decreasing), to the reduction of
some crop types (industrial crops) and to the strong decrease of the
gross marketable production. Furthermore, apparently stable indicators,
such as the utilised agricultural area and the farm tractors’ power,
were actually the result of the compensation of contrasting trends.
Farmers’ behaviours were substantially homogeneous within the same
typology of farm, highlighting common evolution strategies. The desirability
of the occurred changes was also evaluated, underlining the
improvement of environmental sustainability of the current cropping
systems and a greater social acceptability of agricultural activities,
while the evaluation from the farmers’ point of view was less satisfactory
The values of intrapleural pressure before the removal of chest tube in non-complicated pulmonary lobectomies
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Microwave-assisted and solvent-free peroxidative oxidation of 1-phenylethanol to acetophenone with a CuII–TEMPO catalytic system
Abstract The water-soluble copper(II) complex [Cu(H2R)(HL)]∙H2O (1) was prepared by reaction of copper(II) nitrate hydrate with (E)-2-(((1-hydroxynaphthalen-2-yl)methylene)amino) benzenesulfonic acid (H2L) and diethanolamine (H3R). It was characterized by IR and ESI-MS spectroscopies, elemental and X-ray crystal structural analyses. 1 shows a high catalytic activity for the solvent-free microwave (MW) assisted oxidation of 1-phenylethanol with tert-butylhydroperoxide, leading, in the presence of TEMPO, to yields up to 85% (TON = 850) in a remarkably short reaction time (15 min, with the corresponding TOF value of 3.40 × 103 h− 1) under low power (25 W) MW irradiation
Enzyme replacement therapy with agalsidase beta improves cardiac involvement in Fabry's disease.
Fabry's disease is an X-linked lysosomal storage disease caused by a deficiency of alpha-galactosidase that results in an accumulation of neutral glycosphingolipids throughout the body, including the cardiovascular system. Fabry cardiomyopathy, characterized by progressive severe concentric left ventricular (LV) hypertrophy, is very frequent and is the most important cause of death in affected patients. Enzyme replacement therapy (ERT) allows a specific treatment for this disease, however, there are very few data on the effectiveness of therapy on cardiac involvement. Nine patients with Fabry cardiac disease were studied on basal condition and after 6 and 12 months of treatment with algasidase beta (Fabrazyme). A complete clinical, electrocardiographic and echocardiographic evaluation was performed in all patients. Interpretable Doppler recordings of transmitral flow and pulmonary flow velocity curves were also acquired. At baseline, the patients with Fabry's disease had increased LV septum and posterior wall thickness, normal LV fractional shortening, LV ejection fraction, normal Doppler parameters of mitral inflow but a duration of pulmonary vein flow velocity wave exceeding that of the mitral wave at atrial systole. ERT did not affect heart rate and arterial pressure. LV internal diameters did not change, there was a slight but not significant decrease in the LV posterior wall thickening and a progressive decrease in the interventricular septum thickening (p < 0.025) and in LV mass (p < 0.001) The difference in duration between pulmonary vein flow velocity wave and mitral wave at atrial systole significantly decreased (p < 0.001). These results suggest that ERT in patients with Fabry cardiomyopathy is able to reduce the LV mass and ameliorate the LV stiffness
Causality and defect formation in the dynamics of an engineered quantum phase transition in a coupled binary Bose-Einstein condensate
Continuous phase transitions occur in a wide range of physical systems, and
provide a context for the study of non-equilibrium dynamics and the formation
of topological defects. The Kibble-Zurek (KZ) mechanism predicts the scaling of
the resulting density of defects as a function of the quench rate through a
critical point, and this can provide an estimate of the critical exponents of a
phase transition. In this work we extend our previous study of the
miscible-immiscible phase transition of a binary Bose-Einstein condensate (BEC)
composed of two hyperfine states in which the spin dynamics are confined to one
dimension [J. Sabbatini et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 107, 230402 (2011)]. The
transition is engineered by controlling a Hamiltonian quench of the coupling
amplitude of the two hyperfine states, and results in the formation of a random
pattern of spatial domains. Using the numerical truncated Wigner phase space
method, we show that in a ring BEC the number of domains formed in the phase
transitions scales as predicted by the KZ theory. We also consider the same
experiment performed with a harmonically trapped BEC, and investigate how the
density inhomogeneity modifies the dynamics of the phase transition and the KZ
scaling law for the number of domains. We then make use of the symmetry between
inhomogeneous phase transitions in anisotropic systems, and an inhomogeneous
quench in a homogeneous system, to engineer coupling quenches that allow us to
quantify several aspects of inhomogeneous phase transitions. In particular, we
quantify the effect of causality in the propagation of the phase transition
front on the resulting formation of domain walls, and find indications that the
density of defects is determined during the impulse to adiabatic transition
after the crossing of the critical point.Comment: 23 pages, 10 figures. Minor corrections, typos, additional referenc
Saccharomyces cerevisiae CNCM I-3856 as a New Therapeutic Agent Against Oropharyngeal Candidiasis
Oropharyngeal candidiasis is a common opportunistic mucosal infection of the oral cavity, mainly caused by an overgrowth of Candida albicans. This infection can inhibit nutritional intakes and strongly affect quality of life. To date, standard therapeutic strategies involving the administration of antifungal drugs can bring several side effects, not least the emergence of drug-resistant strains. The purpose of this study is to investigate the effectiveness of Saccharomyces cerevisiae CNCM I-3856 (live or inactivated cells) against oropharyngeal candidiasis. Our results show that administration of S. cerevisiae CNCM I-3856 (live or inactivated cells) in the oral cavity of C57BL/6J mice resulted in a protective effect against oropharyngeal candidiasis. The strongest effect was obtained with live S. cerevisiae CNCM I-3856. This was related to: (1) a decrease in C. albicans load in the oral cavity, esophagus, stomach, and duodenum; (2) an early resolution of inflammatory process in the tongue; (3) a marked reduction in C. albicans virulence factors; and (4) a consistent increase in neutrophil antimicrobial capacity. These findings suggest that S. cerevisiae products are potentially beneficial in the treatment of oropharyngeal candidiasis
Submm/FIR astronomy in Antarctica: Potential for a large telescope facility
20International audiencePreliminary site testing datasets suggest that Dome C in Antarctica is one of the best sites on Earth for astronomical observations in the 200 to 500 micron regime, i.e. for far-infrared (FIR) and submillimetre (submm) astronomy. We present an overview of potential science cases that could be addressed with a large telescope facility at Dome C. This paper also includes a presentation of the current knowledge about the site characterics in terms of atmospheric transmission, stability, sky noise and polar constraints on telescopes. Current and future site testing campaigns are finally described
Effect of Cyclooxygenase(COX)-1 and COX-2 inhibition on furosemide-induced renal responses and isoform immunolocalization in the healthy cat kidney
BACKGROUND: The role of cyclooxygenase(COX)-1 and COX-2 in the saluretic and renin-angiotensin responses to loop diuretics in the cat is unknown. We propose in vivo characterisation of isoform roles in a furosemide model by administering non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) with differing selectivity profiles: robenacoxib (COX-2 selective) and ketoprofen (COX-1 selective). RESULTS: In this four period crossover study, we compared the effect of four treatments: placebo, robenacoxib once or twice daily and ketoprofen once daily concomitantly with furosemide in seven healthy cats. For each period, urine and blood samples were collected at baseline and within 48 h of treatment starting. Plasma renin activity (PRA), plasma and urinary aldosterone concentrations, glomerular filtration rate (GFR) and 24 h urinary volumes, electrolytes and eicosanoids (PGE(2), 6-keto-PGF1(α,) TxB(2)), renal injury biomarker excretions [N-acetyl-beta-D-glucosaminidase (NAG) and Gamma-Glutamyltransferase] were measured. Urine volume (24 h) and urinary sodium, chloride and calcium excretions increased from baseline with all treatments. Plasma creatinine increased with all treatments except placebo, whereas GFR was significantly decreased from baseline only with ketoprofen. PRA increased significantly with placebo and once daily robenacoxib and the increase was significantly higher with placebo compared to ketoprofen (10.5 ± 4.4 vs 4.9 ± 5.0 ng ml(−1) h(−1)). Urinary aldosterone excretion increased with all treatments but this increase was inhibited by 75 % with ketoprofen and 65 % with once daily robenacoxib compared to placebo. Urinary PGE(2) excretion decreased with all treatments and excretion was significantly lower with ketoprofen compared to placebo. Urinary TxB(2) excretion was significantly increased from baseline only with placebo. NAG increased from baseline with all treatments. Immunohistochemistry on post-mortem renal specimens, obtained from a different group of cats that died naturally of non-renal causes, suggested constitutive COX-1 and COX-2 co-localization in many renal structures including the macula densa (MD). CONCLUSIONS: These data suggest that both COX-1 and COX-2 could generate the signal from the MD to the renin secreting cells in cats exposed to furosemide. Co-localization of COX isoenzymes in MD cells supports the functional data reported here. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12917-015-0598-z) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users
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