Effect of Defoliation Frequency and Planting Density on Yield and Nutritive Value of \u3ci\u3eCoursetia ferruginea\u3c/i\u3e (HBK) Lavin

The aim of the present study was to asses the influence of the frequency of defoliation and density of sowing on yield and nutritive value of Coursetia ferruginea. Three defoliation frequencies (6, 8 and 10 weeks) and three densities of planting (1 x 1 m, 1 x 1.5 m and 1 x 2 m) were evaluated. A randomized block design, in a split plot arrangement and four repetitions, was used. Frequency of defoliation has a strong significant (P\u3c 0.01) effect on dry matter (DM) yield (13.6, 18.1 and 27.8 g DM/plant for 6, 8 and 10-week defoliation frequencies), plant height (63.5, 76.6 and 101.2 cm) and plant survival (71, 74 and 86%). Nutritive value was significantly (P\u3c 0.05) affected by the frequency of defoliation. Mineral content was reduced as the defoliation interval increased. Density of planting did not affect (P\u3e 0.05) any of the variables. It is concluded that, C. ferruginea is a forage shrub with potential to improve animal feed quality, but it does not stand frequent defoliation

Eficacia de la insuflación con dióxido de carbono en enteroscopia de un solo balón para determinar profundidad de intubación y dolor posprocedimiento en pacientes referidos para evaluación del intestino delgado

ResumenIntroducciónLa intubación profunda del intestino delgado es limitada por la distensión debido a la insuflación con aire durante el procedimiento. El dióxido de carbono (CO2) es rápidamente absorbido de la luz intestinal previniendo la distensión abdominal.ObjetivoComparar el efecto de la insuflación con CO2 y aire en la intubación profunda durante enteroscopia de un solo balón (ESB) y dolor posprocedimiento.DiseñoEstudio descriptivo de las series de casos y comparación de los resultados de sus variables, en un hospital terciario.Pacientes y métodosCiento cuarenta y siete ESB fueron realizadas en 130 pacientes con sospecha de enfermedad del intestino delgado usando insuflación con CO2 en 65 procedimientos y 82 con aire. Enteroscopio Olympus SIF 180-Q y bomba CO2 UCR Olympus fueron usados. Intubación profunda fue medida usando una escala validada. El dolor fue evaluado post-ESB y a las 12 h.ResultadosCiento cuarenta y siete ESB fueron realizadas en 130 pacientes con una media de intubación en el grupo CO2 significativamente mayor que en el grupo aire (p = 0.008). Noventa y cinco ESB anterógrada y 52 ESB retrógrada fueron realizadas con una media de intubación significativamente mayor en el grupo CO2 (p = 0.035 y p= 0.004, respectivamente). El dolor fue significativamente menor en el grupo CO.LimitacionesDiseño descriptivo de dos series de casos.ConclusiónInsuflación con CO2 mejora significativamente la profundidad de intubación en ESB y reduce el dolor abdominal.AbstractIntroductionThe intubation depth of the small bowel is limited by distention due to air insufflation during the procedure. Carbon dioxide (CO2) is rapidly absorbed from the bowel lumen and prevents distention of abdomen.ObjectiveA comparison was made between the effects of CO2 and air insufflations on the intubation depth during single balloon enteroscopy (SBE), as well as post-procedure pain.DesignDescriptive case series study and comparison of the results in a tertiary care hospital.Patients and methodsA total of 147 SBE procedures were performed on 130 patients with suspected small bowel disease using CO2 insufflation in 65 procedures, and air insufflation in 82. Enteroscopy was performed using an Olympus SIF 180-Q and a UCR CO2 pump. Intubation depth was recorded using a validated form, and pos-procedure pain immediately after SBE and 12 hours later were evaluated.ResultsA total of 147 SBE procedures were performed on 130 patients with a mean small bowel intubation depth in the CO2 group significantly larger than the air group (p=.008). An oral approach was used in 95 procedures, and anal in 52 procedureswith a mean intubation depth significantly larger in the CO2 group (p=.035 and p=.004, respectively). Patient pain was significantly reduced in the CO2 group.LimitationsDescriptive study of two case series.ConclusionCO2 insufflation significantly improves intubation depth in SBE and reduces abdominal pain

Artificial intelligence could alert for focal skeleton/bone marrow uptake in Hodgkin’s lymphoma patients staged with FDG-PET/CT

To develop an artificial intelligence (AI)-based method for the detection of focal skeleton/bone marrow uptake (BMU) in patients with Hodgkin’s lymphoma (HL) undergoing staging with FDG-PET/CT. The results of the AI in a separate test group were compared to the interpretations of independent physicians. The skeleton and bone marrow were segmented using a convolutional neural network. The training of AI was based on 153 un-treated patients. Bone uptake significantly higher than the mean BMU was marked as abnormal, and an index, based on the total squared abnormal uptake, was computed to identify the focal uptake. Patients with an index above a predefined threshold were interpreted as having focal uptake. As the test group, 48 un-treated patients who had undergone a staging FDG-PET/CT between 2017–2018 with biopsy-proven HL were retrospectively included. Ten physicians classified the 48 cases regarding focal skeleton/BMU. The majority of the physicians agreed with the AI in 39/48 cases (81%) regarding focal skeleton/bone marrow involvement. Inter-observer agreement between the physicians was moderate, Kappa 0.51 (range 0.25–0.80). An AI-based method can be developed to highlight suspicious focal skeleton/BMU in HL patients staged with FDG-PET/CT. Inter-observer agreement regarding focal BMU is moderate among nuclear medicine physicians

Rarefaction-singular shock dynamics for conserved volume gravity driven particle-laden thin film

We employ a recently proposed model [Murisic et al., "Dynamics of particle settling and resuspension in viscous liquids," J. Fluid. Mech. 717, 203-231 (2013)] to study a finite-volume, particle-laden thin film flowing under gravity on an incline. For negatively buoyant particles with concentration above a critical value and buoyant particles, the particles accumulate at the front of the flow forming a particle-rich ridge, whose similarity solution is of the rarefaction-singular shock type. We investigate the structure in detail and find that the particle/fluid front advances linearly to the leading order with time to the one-third power as predicted by the Huppert solution [H. E. Huppert, "Flow and instability of a viscous current down a slope," Nature 300, 427-419 (1982)] for clear fluid (i.e., in the absence of particles). We also explore a deviation from this law when the particle concentration is high. Several experiments are carried out with both buoyant and negatively buoyant particles whose results qualitatively agree with the theoretics

Metal Removal from Contaminated Soils Trough Bioleaching with Oxidizing Bacteria and Rhamnolipid Biosurfactants

The use of surfactants as a method for solubilization and removal of heavy metal contamination from soil has been reported before. Biosurfactants produced by some microorganisms are able to modify the surface of various metals and aggregate on interphases favoring the metal separation process from contaminated environments. We evaluated the feasibility of enhancing the removal of metal ions from mineral waste/contaminated soils using alternate cycles of treatment with rhamnolipid biosurfactants and bioleaching with a mixed bacterial culture of Acidithiobacillus thiooxidans and Acidithiobacillus ferrooxidans. Bioleaching alone removed 50% Zn and 19% Fe. When rhamnolipids were used at low concentration (0.4 mg/mL), 11% Fe and 25% Zn were removed, while at 1 mg/mL 19% Fe and 52% Zn removal were achieved. When using a cyclic treatment combining bioleaching and biosurfactants, metal removal reached up to 36% for Fe and 63% to 70% for Zn

Wordwide patterns of genetic differentiation imply multiple ‘domestications’of Aedes aegypti, a major vector of human diseases

Understanding the processes by which species colonize and adapt to human habitats is particularly important in the case of disease-vectoring arthropods. The mosquito species Aedes aegypti, a major vector of dengue and yellow fever viruses, probably originated as a wild, zoophilic species in sub-Saharan Africa, where some populations still breed in tree holes in forested habitats. Many populations of the species, however, have evolved to thrive in human habitats and to bite humans. This includes some populations within Africa as well as almost all those outside Africa. It is not clear whether all domestic populations are genetically related and represent a single ‘domestication’ event, or whether association with human habitats has developed multiple times independently within the species. To test the hypotheses above, we screened 24 worldwide population samples of Ae. aegypti at 12 polymorphic microsatellite loci. We identified two distinct genetic clusters: one included all domestic populations outside of Africa and the other included both domestic and forest populations within Africa. This suggests that human association in Africa occurred independently from that in domestic populations across the rest of the world. Additionally, measures of genetic diversity support Ae. aegypti in Africa as the ancestral form of the species. Individuals from domestic populations outside Africa can reliably be assigned back to their population of origin, which will help determine the origins of new introductions of Ae. aegypti

Discovery of a nitrogen-enhanced mildly metal-poor binary system: Possible evidence for pollution from an extinct AGB star

We report the serendipitous discovery of a nitrogen-rich, mildly metal-poor ([Fe/H] = -1.08) giant star in a single-lined spectroscopic binary system found in the SDSS-IV Apache Point Observatory Galactic Evolution Experiment (APOGEE-2) survey, Data Release 14 (DR14). Previous work has assumed that two percent of halo giants with unusual elemental abundances have been evaporated from globular clusters, but other origins for their abundance signatures, including binary mass transfer, must also be explored. We present the results of an abundance reanalysis of the APOGEE-2 high-resolution near-infrared spectrum of 2M12451043+1217401 with the Brussels Automatic Stellar Parameter (BACCHUS) automated spectral analysis code. We manually re-derive the main element families, namely light elements (C, N), elements (O, Mg, Si), the iron-peak element (Fe), s-process element (Ce), and light odd-Z element (Al). Our analysis confirms the N-rich nature of 2M12451043+1217401, which has a [N/Fe] ratio of +0.69, and shows that the abundances of C and Al are slightly discrepant from those of a typical mildly metal-poor red giant branch star, but exhibit Mg, Si, O and s-process abundances (Ce) of typical field stars. We also detect a particularly large variability in the radial velocity of this star over the period of the APOGEE-2 observations; the most likely orbit fit to the radial velocity data has a period of 730.89 +/- 106.86 days, a velocity semi-amplitude of 9.92 +/- 0.14 km s(-1), and an eccentricity of similar to 0.1276 +/- 0.1174. These data support the hypothesis of a binary companion, which has probably been polluted by a now-extinct asymptotic giant branch star

Energy and Flux Measurements of Ultra-High Energy Cosmic Rays Observed During the First ANITA Flight

The first flight of the Antarctic Impulsive Transient Antenna (ANITA) experiment recorded 16 radio signals that were emitted by cosmic-ray induced air showers. For 14 of these events, this radiation was reflected from the ice. The dominant contribution to the radiation from the deflection of positrons and electrons in the geomagnetic field, which is beamed in the direction of motion of the air shower. This radiation is reflected from the ice and subsequently detected by the ANITA experiment at a flight altitude of 36km. In this paper, we estimate the energy of the 14 individual events and find that the mean energy of the cosmic-ray sample is 2.9 EeV. By simulating the ANITA flight, we calculate its exposure for ultra-high energy cosmic rays. We estimate for the first time the cosmic-ray flux derived only from radio observations. In addition, we find that the Monte Carlo simulation of the ANITA data set is in agreement with the total number of observed events and with the properties of those events.Comment: Added more explanation of the experimental setup and textual improvement