Epidemiological evaluation of subclinical mastitis of dairy cows in Greece

ΔΕΝ ΔΙΑΤΙΘΕΤΑΙ ΠΕΡΙΛΗΨΗSubclinical mastitis, diagnosed by elevated somatic cell count (SCC) in milk, is an important monitoring parameter of dairy cows’ udder health, related to their productivity and welfare. The present retrospective study aims to evaluate the epidemiology of subclinical mastitis (SCM) among the 37 herds of the Holstein Association of Greece participating in the milk quality recording system “ΙΩ”, from the start of 2015 until the end of 2018. The herds’ inclusion criterion was the consistency of monthly SCC recording throughout at least one full year between 2015 and 2018, with a maximum interval of 61 days between two consecutive monthly SCC recordings. Twenty-six herds (8630 cows) in 2015, thirty herds (10763 cows) in 2016, thirty herds (10945 cows) in 2017 and twenty-six herds (9597 cows) in 2018 were included. The prevalence of SCM and chronic SCM, the incidence rate of new cases of SCM, as well as the average somatic cell score and bulk tank milk SCC were determined for each of the four years. The results indicate a progressive deterioration of udder health from the onset of the cow’s productive life until culling. A year-over-year increase in the number of cows with subclinical mastitis led to an overall SCM prevalence of 34.5%, chronic SCM prevalence of 26.9% and a bulk tank milk SCC of 463000 cells/mL, in 2018. The average somatic cell score, a base 2logarithm of individual cow’s SCC, was found persistently above the subclinical mastitis indicative cut-off in all four years, with a peak in 2018. At herd level, the incidence rate of new SCM cases was 12 new cases / 100 cows / month; the highest incidence rate was observed in the early lactation stage group (1-60 days-in-milk), in all four years, reaching a peak of 31 new cases / 100 cows / month, in 2018. In 2018, prevalence of heifers’ SCM and chronic SCM was23.4% and 16.9%, respectively. Despite the adequate average 305-days milk yield (9608 kg in 2018), the results were indicative of poor udder health status, pointed out by reduced duration of cows’ productive life (less than 3 lactations)and lower milk quality (elevated SCC). The severity and wide spreading of subclinical mastitis in Greek dairy herds highlights the necessity of a national mastitis control program, aiming to improve the productive efficacy, management decisions accuracy and quality of produced milk

A high-lift optimization methodology for the design of leading and trailing edges on morphing wings

Data Availability Statement - The experimental data presented in Figure 10 and Figure 11 are available in Reference [2] “Axelson, J.A.; Stevens, G.L. Investigation of a Slat in Several Different Positions on a NACA 64A010 Airfoil for a Wide Range of Subsonic Mach Numbers. Technical Note 3129; Ames Aeronautical Laboratory: Moffett Field, CA, USA, March 1954.”Morphing offers an attractive alternative compared to conventional hinged, multi-element high lift devices. In the present work, morphed shapes of a NACA 64A010 airfoil are optimized for maximum lift characteristics. Deformed shapes of the leading and trailing edge are represented through Bezier curves derived from locally defined control points. The optimization process employs the fast Foil2w in-house viscous-inviscid interaction solver for the calculation of aerodynamic characteristics. Transitional flow results indicate that combined leading and trailing edge morphing may increase maximum lift in the order of 100%. A 60–80% increase is achieved when morphing is applied to leading edge only—the so-called droop nose—while a 45% increase is obtained with trailing edge morphing. Out of the stochastic optimization algorithms tested, the Genetic Algorithm, the Evolution Strategies, and the Particle Swarm Optimizer, the latter performs best. It produces the designs of maximum lift increase with the lowest computational cost. For the optimum morphed designs, verification simulations using the high fidelity MaPFlow CFD solver ensure that the high lift requirements set by the optimization process are met. Although the deformed droop nose increases drag, the aerodynamic performance is improved ensuring the overall effectiveness of the airfoil design during take-off and landing

Experimental and theoretical investigation of the mechanism of the reduction of O2 from air to O22– by VIVO2+–N,N,N-amidate compounds and their potential use in fuel cells

The two-electron reductive activation of O2 to O22– is of particular interest to the scientific community mainly due to the use of peroxides as green oxidants and in powerful fuel cells. Despite of the great importance of vanadium(IV) species to activate the two-electron reductive activation of O2, the mechanism is still unclear. Reaction of VIVO2+ species with the tridentate-planar N,N,N-carboxamide (ΗL) ligands in solution (CH3OH:H2O) under atmospheric O2, at room temperature, resulted in the quick formation of [VV(═O)(η2-O2)(κ3-L)(H2O)] and cis-[VV(═O)2(κ3-L)] compounds. Oxidation of the VIVO2+ complexes with the sterically hindered tridentate-planar N,N,N-carboxamide ligands by atmospheric O2 gave only cis-[VV(═O)2(κ3-L)] compounds. The mechanism of formation of [VV(═O)(η2-O2)(κ3-L)(H2O)] (I) and cis-[VV(═O)2(κ3-L)] (II) complexes vs time, from the interaction of [VIV(═O)(κ3-L)(Η2Ο)2]+ with atmospheric O2, was investigated with 51V, 1H NMR, UV–vis, cw-X-band EPR, and 18O2 labeling IR and resonance Raman spectroscopies revealing the formation of a stable intermediate (Id). EPR, MS, and theoretical calculations of the mechanism of the formation of I and II revealed a pathway, through a binuclear [VIV(═O)(κ3-L)(H2O)(η1,η1-O2)VIV(═O)(κ3-L)(H2O)]2+ intermediate. The results from cw-EPR, 1H NMR spectroscopies, cyclic voltammetry, and the reactivity of the complexes [VIV(═O)(κ3-L)(Η2Ο)2]+ toward O2 reduction fit better to an intermediate with a binuclear nature. Dynamic experiments in combination with computational calculations were undertaken to fully elucidate the mechanism of the O2 reduction to O22– by [VIV(═O)(κ3-L)(Η2Ο)2]+. The galvanic cell {Zn|VIII,VII||Id, [VIVO(κ3-L)(H2O)2]+|O2|C(s)} was manufactured, demonstrating the important applicability of this new chemistry to Zn|H2O2 fuel cells technology generating H2O2 in situ from the atmospheric O2

Measurement of hadronic event shapes in high-p T multijet final states at √s = 13 TeV with the ATLAS detector

A measurement of event-shape variables in proton-proton collisions at large momentum transfer is presented using data collected at s = 13 TeV with the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider. Six event-shape variables calculated using hadronic jets are studied in inclusive multijet events using data corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 139 fb−1. Measurements are performed in bins of jet multiplicity and in different ranges of the scalar sum of the transverse momenta of the two leading jets, reaching scales beyond 2 TeV. These measurements are compared with predictions from Monte Carlo event generators containing leading-order or next-to-leading order matrix elements matched to parton showers simulated to leading-logarithm accuracy. At low jet multiplicities, shape discrepancies between the measurements and the Monte Carlo predictions are observed. At high jet multiplicities, the shapes are better described but discrepancies in the normalisation are observed. [Figure not available: see fulltext.

A search for the dimuon decay of the Standard Model Higgs boson with the ATLAS detector

A search for the dimuon decay of the Standard Model (SM) Higgs boson is performed using data corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 139 fb(-1) collected with the ATLAS detector in Run 2 pp collisions at root s = 13 TeV at the Large Hadron Collider. The observed (expected) significance over the background-only hypothesis for a Higgs boson with a mass of 125.09 GeV is 2.0 sigma (1.7 sigma). The observed upper limit on the cross section times branching ratio for pp -> H -> mu mu is 2.2 times the SM prediction at 95% confidence level, while the expected limit on a H -> mu mu signal assuming the absence (presence) of a SM signal is 1.1(2.0). The best-fit value of the signal strength parameter, defined as the ratio of the observed signal yield to the one expected in the SM, is mu = 1.2 +/- 0.6. (C) 2020 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier B.V

Alignment of the ATLAS Inner Detector in Run 2

The performance of the ATLAS Inner Detector alignment has been studied using pp collision data at v s = 13 TeV collected by the ATLAS experiment during Run 2 (2015-2018) of the Large Hadron Collider (LHC). The goal of the detector alignment is to determine the detector geometry as accurately as possible and correct for time-dependent movements. The Inner Detector alignment is based on the minimization of track-hit residuals in a sequence of hierarchical levels, from global mechanical assembly structures to local sensors. Subsequent levels have increasing numbers of degrees of freedom; in total there are almost 750,000. The alignment determines detector geometry on both short and long timescales, where short timescales describe movementswithin anLHCfill. The performance and possible track parameter biases originating from systematic detector deformations are evaluated. Momentum biases are studied using resonances decaying to muons or to electrons. The residual sagitta bias and momentum scale bias after alignment are reduced to less than similar to 0.1 TeV-1 and 0.9 x 10(-3), respectively. Impact parameter biases are also evaluated using tracks within jets

Constraints on Higgs boson properties using WW∗(→ eνμν) jj production in 36.1fb-1 of √s=13 TeV pp collisions with the ATLAS detector

This article presents the results of two studies of Higgs boson properties using the WW∗(→ eνμν) jj final state, based on a dataset corresponding to 36.1 fb - 1 of s=13 TeV proton–proton collisions recorded by the ATLAS experiment at the Large Hadron Collider. The first study targets Higgs boson production via gluon–gluon fusion and constrains the CP properties of the effective Higgs–gluon interaction. Using angular distributions and the overall rate, a value of tan (α) = 0.0 ± 0.4 (stat.) ± 0.3 (syst.) is obtained for the tangent of the mixing angle for CP-even and CP-odd contributions. The second study exploits the vector-boson fusion production mechanism to probe the Higgs boson couplings to longitudinally and transversely polarised W and Z bosons in both the production and the decay of the Higgs boson; these couplings have not been directly constrained previously. The polarisation-dependent coupling-strength scale factors are defined as the ratios of the measured polarisation-dependent coupling strengths to those predicted by the Standard Model, and are determined using rate and kinematic information to be aL=0.91-0.18+0.10(stat.)-0.17+0.09(syst.) and aT= 1.2 ± 0.4 (stat.)-0.3+0.2(syst.). These coupling strengths are translated into pseudo-observables, resulting in κVV=0.91-0.18+0.10(stat.)-0.17+0.09(syst.) and ϵVV=0.13-0.20+0.28 (stat.)-0.10+0.08(syst.). All results are consistent with the Standard Model predictions