318 research outputs found
Over and beyond the Primate baubellum Surface: A âJewel Boneâ Shielded in Museums
Computed Tomography (CT), mostly used in the medical field, has also recently been involved in Cultural Heritage studies, thanks to its efficiency and total non-invasiveness. Due to the large variety of sizes and compositions typical of Cultural Heritage objects, different X-ray sources, detectors, and setups are necessary to meet the different needs of various case studies. Here, we focus on the use of micro-CT to explore the morphology and shape of a small, neglected bone found inside the clitoris of non-human primates (the baubellum), which we obtained by accessing two prestigious primatological collections of the American Museum of Natural History (New York, NY, USA) and the National Museum of Natural History (Washington, DC, USA). Overcoming methodological limits imposed by the absence of homologous landmarks, we combined the use of the non-invasive 3D micro-CT and a recently released landmark-free shape analysis (the alpha-shape technique) to objectively describe and quantify the shape complexity of scanned primate baubella. Micro-CT provided high-resolution results, overcoming constraints linked to museum policy about non-disruptive sampling and preserving samples for future research. Finally, it proved appropriate as post-mortem sampling had no impact on protected wild primate populations
Weak Concordance between Fish and Macroinvertebrates in Mediterranean Streams.
Although anthropogenic degradation of riverine systems stimulated a multi-taxon bioassessment of their ecological integrity in EU countries, specific responses of different taxonomic groups to human pressure are poorly investigated in Mediterranean rivers. Here, we assess if richness and composition of macroinvertebrate and fish assemblages show concordant variation along a gradient of anthropogenic pressure in 31 reaches across 13 wadeable streams in central Italy. Fish and invertebrate taxonomic richness was not correlated across sites. However, Mantel test showed that the two groups were significantly, albeit weakly, correlated even after statistically controlling for the effect of environmental variables and site proximity. Variance partitioning with partial Canonical Correspondence Analysis showed that the assemblages of the two groups were influenced by different set of environmental drivers: invertebrates were influenced by water organic content, channel and substratum features, while fish were related to stream temperature (mirroring elevation) and local land-use. Variance partitioning revealed the importance of biotic interactions between the two groups as a possible mechanisms determining concordance. Although significant, the congruence between the groups was weak, indicating that they should not be used as surrogate of each other for environmental assessments in these Mediterranean catchments. Indeed, both richness and patterns in nestedness (i.e. where depauperate locations host only a subset of taxa found in richer locations) appeared influenced by different environmental drivers suggesting that the observed concordance did not result from a co-loss of taxa along similar environmental gradients. As fish and macroinvertebrates appeared sensitive to different environmental factors, we argue that monitoring programmes should consider a multi-assemblage assessment, as also required by the Water Framework Directive
Performance of the first reverse electrodialysis pilot plant for power production from saline waters and concentrated brines
This work reports experimental data collected for the first time on a full-scale RED pilot plant operated with natural streams in a real environment. The plant - located in the South of Italy - represents the final accomplishment of the REAPower project (www.reapower.eu). A RED unit equipped with almost 50m2 of IEMs (125 cell pairs, 44x44cm2) was tested, using both artificial and natural feed solutions, these latter corresponding to brackish water (â0.03M NaClequivalent) and saturated brine (4-5M NaClequivalent). A power output up to around 40W (i.e. 1.6W/m2 of cell pair) was reached using natural solutions, while an increase of 60% was observed when testing the system with artificial NaCl solutions, reaching up to â65W (2.7W/m2 of cell pair). The unit performance was monitored over a period of five months under, and no significant performance losses were observed due to scaling, fouling or ageing phenomena. Such results are of paramount importance to assess the potential of the technology, towards the successful development on the industrial scale. A scale-up of the pilot plant is planned through the installation of two additional RED modules, with an expected power output in the order of 1 kW
Conserving indigenous crayfish: stock assessment and habitat requirements in the threatened Austropotamobius italicus.
International audienceAs part of the Austropotamobius pallipes species complex, the crayfish Austropotamobius italicus is a species of community interest whose preservation requires the designation of Special Areas of Conservation (SACs) (Annex II, EU Habitats Directive). This study aimed at (1) assessing the conservation status of this threatened indigenous species by stock assessment in central Italy and (2) identifying some aspects of its elective habitat
Anti-Transglutaminase Antibody Assay of the Culture Medium of Intestinal Biopsy Specimen Can Improve the Accuracy of Celiac Disease Diagnosis.
BACKGROUND:
We measured anti-transglutaminase (anti-tTG) antibody in the culture medium of intestinal biopsy specimens from patients with suspected celiac disease (CD) and evaluated the relationship between antibody production and severity of intestinal mucosal damage.
METHODS:
We performed diagnostic testing for CD on 273 consecutive patients. In addition to routine histologic evaluation of duodenal biopsy specimens, we assayed anti-tTG antibodies in serum and in the culture medium of duodenal biopsy specimens.
RESULTS:
CD was diagnosed in 191 of the 273 patients. Sensitivity and specificity of the serum anti-endomysium (EmA) and anti-tTG assays were 83% and 85% and 99% and 95%, respectively, and both had 88% diagnostic accuracy. EmA and anti-tTG assayed in the culture medium had 98% sensitivity, 100% specificity, and 98% diagnostic accuracy (vs serum assays; P <0.0001). Twenty-nine CD patient specimens (16%) were negative for serum anti-tTG and EmA; for 24 of these patients, anti-tTG assay of the culture medium was positive. The CD patients whose biopsy specimens were positive for serum antibodies showed the following intestinal histologies: total villous atrophy, 35%; severe villous atrophy, 25%; mild atrophy, 25%; villi with no atrophy but with increased intraepithelial lymphocytes, 15%. None of the CD patients whose specimens were negative for serum antibodies showed total or severe villous atrophy; 77% had mild villous atrophy, and 23% had no villous atrophy but had increased intraepithelial lymphocyte counts. Mild villous atrophy was also seen in specimens from approximately 15% of patients without CD.
CONCLUSION:
Anti-tTG assay of the culture medium of biopsy specimens can improve the accuracy of CD diagnosis in patients negative for serum antibodies
Diagnostic accuracy of fecal calprotectin assay in distinguishing organic causes of chronic diarrhea from irritable bowel syndrome: a prospective study in adults and children
Fecal calprotectin (FC) has been proposed as a marker of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), but few studies have evaluated its usefulness in patients with chronic diarrhea of various causes. We evaluated the diagnostic accuracy of a FC assay in identifying "organic" causes of chronic diarrhea in consecutive adults and children
RAD6 promotes DNA repair and stem cell signaling in ovarian cancer and is a promising therapeutic target to prevent and treat acquired chemoresistance
Ovarian cancer (OC) is the most deadly gynecological cancer and unlike most other neoplasms, survival rates for OC have not significantly improved in recent decades. We show that RAD6, an ubiquitin-conjugating enzyme, is significantly overexpressed in ovarian tumors and its expression increases in response to carboplatin chemotherapy. RAD6 expression correlated strongly with acquired chemoresistance and malignant behavior of OC cells, expression of stem cell genes and poor prognosis of OC patients, suggesting an important role for RAD6 in ovarian tumor progression. Upregulated RAD6 enhances DNA damage tolerance and repair efficiency of OC cells and promotes their survival. Increased RAD6 levels cause histone 2B ubiquitination-mediated epigenetic changes that stimulate transcription of stem cell genes, including ALDH1A1 and SOX2, leading to a cancer stem cell phenotype, which is implicated in disease recurrence and metastasis. Downregulation of RAD6 or its inhibition using a small molecule inhibitor attenuated DNA repair signaling and expression of cancer stem cells markers and sensitized chemoresistant OC cells to carboplatin. Together, these results suggest that RAD6 could be a therapeutic target to prevent and treat acquired chemoresistance and disease recurrence in OC and enhance the efficacy of standard chemotherapy
Breeding progress and preparedness for massâscale deployment of perennial lignocellulosic biomass crops switchgrass, miscanthus, willow and poplar
UK: The UKâled miscanthus research and breeding was mainly supported by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC), Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), the BBSRC CSP strategic funding grant BB/CSP1730/1, Innovate UK/BBSRC âMUSTâ BB/N016149/1, CERES Inc. and Terravesta Ltd. through the GIANTâLINK project (LK0863). Genomic selection and genomewide association study activities were supported by BBSRC grant BB/K01711X/1, the BBSRC strategic programme grant on Energy Grasses & Bioârefining BBS/E/W/10963A01. The UKâled willow R&D work reported here was supported by BBSRC (BBS/E/C/00005199, BBS/E/C/00005201, BB/G016216/1, BB/E006833/1, BB/G00580X/1 and BBS/E/C/000I0410), Defra (NF0424) and the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) (B/W6/00599/00/00). IT: The Brain Gain Program (Rientro dei cervelli) of the Italian Ministry of Education, University, and Research supports Antoine Harfouche. US: Contributions by Gerald Tuskan to this manuscript were supported by the Center for Bioenergy Innovation, a US Department of Energy Bioenergy Research Center supported by the Office of Biological and Environmental Research in the DOE Office of Science, under contract number DEâAC05â00OR22725. Willow breeding efforts at Cornell University have been supported by grants from the US Department of Agriculture National Institute of Food and Agriculture. Contributions by the University of Illinois were supported primarily by the DOE Office of Science; Office of Biological and Environmental Research (BER); grant nos. DEâSC0006634, DEâSC0012379 and DEâSC0018420 (Center for Advanced Bioenergy and Bioproducts Innovation); and the Energy Biosciences Institute. EU: We would like to further acknowledge contributions from the EU projects âOPTIMISCâ FP7â289159 on miscanthus and âWATBIOâ FP7â311929 on poplar and miscanthus as well as âGRACEâ H2020âEU.3.2.6. Bioâbased Industries Joint Technology Initiative (BBIâJTI) Project ID 745012 on miscanthus.Peer reviewedPostprintPublisher PD
Detection of very-high-energy {\gamma}-ray emission from the colliding wind binary {\eta} Car with H.E.S.S
Aims. Colliding wind binary systems have long been suspected to be
high-energy (HE; 100 MeV < E < 100 GeV) {\gamma}-ray emitters. {\eta} Car is
the most prominent member of this object class and is confirmed to emit
phase-locked HE {\gamma} rays from hundreds of MeV to ~100 GeV energies. This
work aims to search for and characterise the very-high-energy (VHE; E >100 GeV)
{\gamma}-ray emission from {\eta} Car around the last periastron passage in
2014 with the ground-based High Energy Stereoscopic System (H.E.S.S.). Methods.
The region around {\eta} Car was observed with H.E.S.S. between orbital phase p
= 0.78 - 1.10, with a closer sampling at p {\approx} 0.95 and p {\approx} 1.10
(assuming a period of 2023 days). Optimised hardware settings as well as
adjustments to the data reduction, reconstruction, and signal selection were
needed to suppress and take into account the strong, extended, and
inhomogeneous night sky background (NSB) in the {\eta} Car field of view.
Tailored run-wise Monte-Carlo simulations (RWS) were required to accurately
treat the additional noise from NSB photons in the instrument response
functions. Results. H.E.S.S. detected VHE {\gamma}-ray emission from the
direction of {\eta} Car shortly before and after the minimum in the X-ray
light-curve close to periastron. Using the point spread function provided by
RWS, the reconstructed signal is point-like and the spectrum is best described
by a power law. The overall flux and spectral index in VHE {\gamma} rays agree
within statistical and systematic errors before and after periastron. The
{\gamma}-ray spectrum extends up to at least ~400 GeV. This implies a maximum
magnetic field in a leptonic scenario in the emission region of 0.5 Gauss. No
indication for phase-locked flux variations is detected in the H.E.S.S. data.Comment: 9 pages, 4 figures, 3 tables, in press with A&
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