Effects of dietary energy on reproductive function and production in suckled beef cows

Twenty-eight Hereford x Angus cows were utilized to determine the effects of dietary energy level before and after calving on reproductive function and production in suckled beef cows. Low levels of dietary energy before calving resulted in losses of body composition prior to calving, reduced calf birth weight, lengthened intervals from calving to ovulation, and decreased milk production and calf weight at 70 d of age (P\u3c.05). Low levels of dietary energy after calving decreased measures of body composition after calving, reduced the percentage of cows that ovulated following calving, and decreased cow milk production and calf weight at 70 d of age (P\u3c .05). We conclude that dietary energy before and after calving impacts the reproductive function and production of suckled beef cows

There’s more to Pradaxa’s problems than meets the eye

Pharmaceutical companies don’t have a particularly good reputation, for some very good reasons. But we can’t let suspicions about the motives of such companies cloud our assessments of drug safety because patients may also suffer. People with abnormal heart rhythms and other diseases that cause blood clots (thromboses) often require blood-thinning (anticoagulation) medications. For many decades, warfarin has been the most widely used such drug but it’s associated with a risk of bleeding (including fatal haemorrhage) and requires regular blood tests to monitor safety and efficacy. So the advent of new oral anticoagulant drugs was heralded as a major advance by both patients and clinicians – principally on the grounds that they appeared as effective as warfarin, may be associated with a lower risk of serious bleeding, and are cost-effective because patients don’t need ongoing blood monitoring. For these reasons, a number of these new drugs, including dabigatran (Pradaxa) and rivaroxaban (Xarelto) were fast-tracked through the regulatory approval processes in the United States and in New Zealand. Emerging problems But reports now suggest Pradaxa might be less safe than it appeared to be in clinical trials. Specifically, it’s claimed the drug may be responsible for higher-than-expected levels of abnormal bleeding, including hemorrhagic strokes, and that it may, in fact, be less safe than warfarin

Dynamic calorimetry and XRD studies of the nematic and twist-bend nematic phase transitions in a series of dimers with increasing spacer length

A modulated and conventional DSC study of the transitions between the twist-bend nematic (Ntb), regular nematic (N) and isotropic liquid (Iso) phases was performed on a series of difluoroterphenyl-based dimers with (CH2)n spacers; n = 5, 7, 9, 11. The enthalpy of Ntb–N transition decreases steeply with increasing n, while that of the N–Iso transition increases with n; hence, the greatest effect of increasing n is a lowering N phase enthalpy. Based on past and present X-ray scattering experiments, we estimate the average molecular conformation in the Ntb phase and perform torsion energy calculations on the spacer. From this, the lowering enthalpy of the N phase is attributed to the decreasing torsional energy cost of bringing the two terphenyls from an inclined twisted conformation in the Ntb phase, to almost parallel in the N phase. With increasing n the C–C bonds of the spacers twist less away from their trans conformation, thereby reducing the overall torsion energy of the N phase. It is speculated that the nearly continuous nature of the Ntb–N transition in n = 11 dimer is associated with the divergence of the helical pitch toward infinity which is intercepted by a final jump at the very weak (0.01 J g−1) first-order transition. Small-angle X-ray scattering results suggest similar local cybotactic layering in both nematic phases, with four sublayers, i.e. tails, mesogens, spacers, mesogens

Contribution of humic substances from different composts to the synthesis of humin in a tropical soil

The contribution of humic substances of different composts to the synthesis of humin in a tropical soil was evaluated. Increasing doses (0, 13, 26, 52, and 104 Mg ha-1) of five different composts consisting of agroinpowderrial residues were applied to a Red-Yellow Latosol. These composts were chemically characterized and 13C NMR determined and the quantity of the functional alkyl groups of humic acids applied to the soil as compost was estimated. Thirty days after application of the treatments, organic matter samples were collected for fractionation of humic acids (HA), fulvic acids (FA) and humin (HU), from which the ratios HA/FA and (HA + FA)/HU were calculated. The application of the composts based on castor cake resulted in the highest HU levels in the soil; alkyl groups of the HA fraction of the composts were predominant in the organic components added to the HU soil fraction.Avaliou-se a contribuição de substâncias húmicas provenientes de diferentes compostos orgânicos na síntese de humina em um solo tropical. Para isso, foram adicionadas doses crescentes (0, 13, 26, 52 e 104 Mg ha-1) de cinco diferentes compostos orgânicos formulados com resíduos orgânicos agroindustriais em um Latossolo Vermelho-Amarelo. As substâncias húmicas desses compostos foram caracterizadas quimicamente e por ressonância nuclear magnética do 13C, sendo estimados os quantitativos dos grupos funcionais alquil dos ácidos húmicos aplicados no solo via composto. Trinta dias após aplicação dos tratamentos, coletaram-se amostras de solo para fracionamento da matéria orgânica em ácidos húmicos (AH), ácidos fúlvicos (FA) e humina (HU), a partir dos quais foram calculadas as relações AH/FA e (AH + FA)/HU. A aplicação do composto à base de torta de mamona contribuiu para obtenção de teores mais elevados de HU no solo; a incorporação de componentes orgânicos à fração HU do solo foi regida pelo conteúdo de grupos alquil da fração AH dos compostos

Propriedades químicas de uma Terra Roxa Estruturada influenciadas pela cobertura vegetal de inverno e pela adubação orgânica e mineral

O presente trabalho teve por objetivo avaliar a influência da cobertura vegetal de inverno, constituída de uma associação de aveia preta (Avena strigosa Schreb) com nabo forrageiro (Raphanus sativus L.), da adubação orgânica com esterco de aves e da adubação mineral sobre propriedades químicas de uma Terra Roxa Estruturada do estado de Santa Catarina. As análises foram realizadas em amostras de solo coletadas em agosto de 1994 e janeiro de 1995, nas profundidades de 0-10, 10-20 e 20-30 cm, em um experimento iniciado em 1990. Observou-se que a cobertura vegetal de inverno mostrou-se eficiente na manutenção de nutrientes, especialmente o potássio, e dos níveis de carbono orgânico, dentro dos limites da camada arável. O uso de adubo orgânico proporcionou acúmulo de nutrientes no solo, enquanto os adubos organomineral e mineral mostraram tendência de redução, principalmente dos níveis de potássio do solo

Measurement of the cross section for isolated-photon plus jet production in pp collisions at √s=13 TeV using the ATLAS detector

The dynamics of isolated-photon production in association with a jet in proton–proton collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of 13 TeV are studied with the ATLAS detector at the LHC using a dataset with an integrated luminosity of 3.2 fb−1. Photons are required to have transverse energies above 125 GeV. Jets are identified using the anti- algorithm with radius parameter and required to have transverse momenta above 100 GeV. Measurements of isolated-photon plus jet cross sections are presented as functions of the leading-photon transverse energy, the leading-jet transverse momentum, the azimuthal angular separation between the photon and the jet, the photon–jet invariant mass and the scattering angle in the photon–jet centre-of-mass system. Tree-level plus parton-shower predictions from Sherpa and Pythia as well as next-to-leading-order QCD predictions from Jetphox and Sherpa are compared to the measurements

A search for resonances decaying into a Higgs boson and a new particle X in the XH → qqbb final state with the ATLAS detector

A search for heavy resonances decaying into a Higgs boson (H) and a new particle (X) is reported, utilizing 36.1 fb−1 of proton–proton collision data at collected during 2015 and 2016 with the ATLAS detector at the CERN Large Hadron Collider. The particle X is assumed to decay to a pair of light quarks, and the fully hadronic final state is analysed. The search considers the regime of high XH resonance masses, where the X and H bosons are both highly Lorentz-boosted and are each reconstructed using a single jet with large radius parameter. A two-dimensional phase space of XH mass versus X mass is scanned for evidence of a signal, over a range of XH resonance mass values between 1 TeV and 4 TeV, and for X particles with masses from 50 GeV to 1000 GeV. All search results are consistent with the expectations for the background due to Standard Model processes, and 95% CL upper limits are set, as a function of XH and X masses, on the production cross-section of the resonance

Measurement of event-shape observables in Z→ℓ+ℓ− events in pp collisions at √ s=7 TeV with the ATLAS detector at the LHC

Event-shape observables measured using charged particles in inclusive $Z$-boson events are presented, using the electron and muon decay modes of the $Z$ bosons. The measurements are based on an integrated luminosity of $1.1 {\rm fb}^{-1}$ of proton--proton collisions recorded by the ATLAS detector at the LHC at a centre-of-mass energy $\sqrt{s}=7$ TeV. Charged-particle distributions, excluding the lepton--antilepton pair from the $Z$-boson decay, are measured in different ranges of transverse momentum of the $Z$ boson. Distributions include multiplicity, scalar sum of transverse momenta, beam thrust, transverse thrust, spherocity, and $\mathcal{F}$-parameter, which are in particular sensitive to properties of the underlying event at small values of the $Z$-boson transverse momentum. The Sherpa event generator shows larger deviations from the measured observables than Pythia8 and Herwig7. Typically, all three Monte Carlo generators provide predictions that are in better agreement with the data at high $Z$-boson transverse momenta than at low $Z$-boson transverse momenta and for the observables that are less sensitive to the number of charged particles in the event.Comment: 36 pages plus author list + cover page (54 pages total), 14 figures, 4 tables, submitted to EPJC, All figures including auxiliary figures are available at http://atlas.web.cern.ch/Atlas/GROUPS/PHYSICS/PAPERS/STDM-2014-0