The CUORE Cryostat: A 1-Ton Scale Setup for Bolometric Detectors

The cryogenic underground observatory for rare events (CUORE) is a 1-ton scale bolometric experiment whose detector consists of an array of 988 TeO2 crystals arranged in a cylindrical compact structure of 19 towers. This will be the largest bolometric mass ever operated. The experiment will work at a temperature around or below 10 mK. CUORE cryostat consists of a cryogen-free system based on pulse tubes and a custom high power dilution refrigerator, designed to match these specifications. The cryostat has been commissioned in 2014 at the Gran Sasso National Laboratories and reached a record temperature of 6 mK on a cubic meter scale. In this paper, we present results of CUORE commissioning runs. Details on the thermal characteristics and cryogenic performances of the system will be also given.Comment: 7 pages, 2 figures, LTD16 conference proceedin

Fatty acid composition of beef steers as affected by diet and fat depot

Abstract Subcutaneous and perirenal fatty acid (FA) profiles were compared in steers fed a control diet (70 : 30 red clover silage (RC) : barley concentrate), a diet with sunflower seed (SS) substituted for barley, and diets with 15% or 30% wheat dried distillers' grain with solubles (DDGS-15 and DDGS-30) substituted for RC and SS. Perirenal fat (PRF) versus subcutaneous fat (SCF) had greater proportions of total saturated FA (SFA) and branched chain FA (BCFA), and lower proportions of total and major cis-monounsaturated FA (c-MUFA). Addition of SS to the diet did not change the proportions of total and major c-MUFA and n-6 polyunsaturated FA (PUFA), but led to decreases in the proportions of total and major SFA, BCFA and n-3 PUFA. Progressive substitutions with DDGS led to no further changes in the proportions of total and major SFA and n-3 PUFA, but decreased the proportions of BCFA and c9-16:1, and increased the proportions of c9-18:1 and n-6 PUFA. Feeding SS and DDGS-15 diets yielded the largest proportions of total and major t-18:1 (t11-and t13-/t14-18:1) isomers in PRF and conjugated lineolic acid (CLA) isomers (t7,c9-and t9,c11-18:2) in SCF, but responses were diminished when feeding the DDGS-30 diet. Subcutaneous fat versus PRF from steers fed SS and DGGS diets had larger proportions of non-conjugated 18:2 biohydrogenation products (i.e. atypical dienes) than the control diet. Overall, feeding SS and DDGS-15 diets raised the proportions of t11-18:1 in PRF and c9,t11-18:2 in SCF, which have potential human health benefits, but feeding DDGS-30 was less effective

Purification and biochemical characterization of four iron superoxide dismutases in Trypanosoma cruzi

Four superoxide dismutase (SOD) activities (SOD I, II, III, and IV) have been characterized in the epimastigote form of Trypanosoma cruzi . The total extract was subjected to two successive ammonium sulphate additions between 35 and 85%, and the resulting fraction was purified using two continuous chromatography processes (ion exchange and filtration). Enzymes were insensitive to cyanide but sensitive to hydrogen peroxide, properties characteristic of iron-containing SODs. The molecular masses of the different SODs were 20 kDa (SOD I), 60 kDa (SOD II), 50 kDa (SOD III) and 25 kDa (SOD IV), whereas the isoelectric points were 6.9, 6.8, 5.2 and 3.8, respectively. Subcellular location and digitonin experiments have shown that these SODs are mainly cytosolic, with small amounts in the low- mass organelles (SOD II and SOD I) and the mitochondrion (SOD III), where these enzymes play an important role in minimizing oxidative damage.Financial support: CGL2006-27889-E/BOS, Ministerio de Ciencia y Tecnología

The CUORE cryostat: commissioning and performance

The Cryogenic Underground Observatory for Rare Events (CUORE) will search for the 0vββ decay in 130Te using a cryogenic array of TeO2 bolometers, operated at a base temperature of ~10mK. CUORE will consist of a closely packed array of 19 towers each containing 52 crystals, for a total mass of 741kg. The detector assembly is hosted in one of the largest cryostats ever constructed and will be cooled down to base temperature using a custom-built cryogen free dilution refrigerator. The CUORE cryostat along with the pulse tube based dilution refrigerator has been already commissioned at Laboratori Nazionali del Gran Sasso (LNGS) and a record base temperature, on a cubic meter scale, of ~6mK was achieved during one of the integration runs. We present the results from integration runs, characterizing the system and the cooling performance of the dilution refrigerator, effectively showcasing its stability at base temperature for the expected thermal load

Elevation of the Yields of Very Long Chain Polyunsaturated Fatty Acids via Minimal Codon Optimization of Two Key Biosynthetic Enzymes

Eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA, 20:5Δ5,8,11,14,17) and Docosahexaenoic acid (DHA, 22:6Δ4,7,10,13,16,19) are nutritionally beneficial to human health. Transgenic production of EPA and DHA in oilseed crops by transferring genes originating from lower eukaryotes, such as microalgae and fungi, has been attempted in recent years. However, the low yield of EPA and DHA produced in these transgenic crops is a major hurdle for the commercialization of these transgenics. Many factors can negatively affect transgene expression, leading to a low level of converted fatty acid products. Among these the codon bias between the transgene donor and the host crop is one of the major contributing factors. Therefore, we carried out codon optimization of a fatty acid delta-6 desaturase gene PinD6 from the fungus Phytophthora infestans, and a delta-9 elongase gene, IgASE1 from the microalga Isochrysis galbana for expression in Saccharomyces cerevisiae and Arabidopsis respectively. These are the two key genes encoding enzymes for driving the first catalytic steps in the Δ6 desaturation/ Δ6 elongation and the Δ9 elongation/Δ8 desaturation pathways for EPA/DHA biosynthesis. Hence expression levels of these two genes are important in determining the final yield of EPA/DHA. Via PCR-based mutagenesis we optimized the least preferred codons within the first 16 codons at their N-termini, as well as the most biased CGC codons (coding for arginine) within the entire sequences of both genes. An expression study showed that transgenic Arabidopsis plants harbouring the codon-optimized IgASE1 contained 64% more elongated fatty acid products than plants expressing the native IgASE1 sequence, whilst Saccharomyces cerevisiae expressing the codon optimized PinD6 yielded 20 times more desaturated products than yeast expressing wild-type (WT) PinD6. Thus the codon optimization strategy we developed here offers a simple, effective and low-cost alternative to whole gene synthesis for high expression of foreign genes in yeast and Arabidopsis

The streamlined genome of Phytomonas spp. relative to human pathogenic kinetoplastids reveals a parasite tailored for plants

Members of the family Trypanosomatidae infect many organisms, including animals, plants and humans. Plant-infecting trypanosomes are grouped under the single genus Phytomonas, failing to reflect the wide biological and pathological diversity of these protists. While some Phytomonas spp. multiply in the latex of plants, or in fruit or seeds without apparent pathogenicity, others colonize the phloem sap and afflict plants of substantial economic value, including the coffee tree, coconut and oil palms. Plant trypanosomes have not been studied extensively at the genome level, a major gap in understanding and controlling pathogenesis. We describe the genome sequences of two plant trypanosomatids, one pathogenic isolate from a Guianan coconut and one non-symptomatic isolate from Euphorbia collected in France. Although these parasites have extremely distinct pathogenic impacts, very few genes are unique to either, with the vast majority of genes shared by both isolates. Significantly, both Phytomonas spp. genomes consist essentially of single copy genes for the bulk of their metabolic enzymes, whereas other trypanosomatids e.g. Leishmania and Trypanosoma possess multiple paralogous genes or families. Indeed, comparison with other trypanosomatid genomes revealed a highly streamlined genome, encoding for a minimized metabolic system while conserving the major pathways, and with retention of a full complement of endomembrane organelles, but with no evidence for functional complexity. Identification of the metabolic genes of Phytomonas provides opportunities for establishing in vitro culturing of these fastidious parasites and new tools for the control of agricultural plant disease. © 2014 Porcel et al

Maternal and paternal genomes differentially affect myofibre characteristics and muscle weights of bovine fetuses at midgestation

Postnatal myofibre characteristics and muscle mass are largely determined during fetal development and may be significantly affected by epigenetic parent-of-origin effects. However, data on such effects in prenatal muscle development that could help understand unexplained variation in postnatal muscle traits are lacking. In a bovine model we studied effects of distinct maternal and paternal genomes, fetal sex, and non-genetic maternal effects on fetal myofibre characteristics and muscle mass. Data from 73 fetuses (Day153, 54% term) of four genetic groups with purebred and reciprocal cross Angus and Brahman genetics were analyzed using general linear models. Parental genomes explained the greatest proportion of variation in myofibre size of Musculus semitendinosus (80–96%) and in absolute and relative weights of M. supraspinatus, M. longissimus dorsi, M. quadriceps femoris and M. semimembranosus (82–89% and 56–93%, respectively). Paternal genome in interaction with maternal genome (P<0.05) explained most genetic variation in cross sectional area (CSA) of fast myotubes (68%), while maternal genome alone explained most genetic variation in CSA of fast myofibres (93%, P<0.01). Furthermore, maternal genome independently (M. semimembranosus, 88%, P<0.0001) or in combination (M. supraspinatus, 82%; M. longissimus dorsi, 93%; M. quadriceps femoris, 86%) with nested maternal weight effect (5–6%, P<0.05), was the predominant source of variation for absolute muscle weights. Effects of paternal genome on muscle mass decreased from thoracic to pelvic limb and accounted for all (M. supraspinatus, 97%, P<0.0001) or most (M. longissimus dorsi, 69%, P<0.0001; M. quadriceps femoris, 54%, P<0.001) genetic variation in relative weights. An interaction between maternal and paternal genomes (P<0.01) and effects of maternal weight (P<0.05) on expression of H19, a master regulator of an imprinted gene network, and negative correlations between H19 expression and fetal muscle mass (P<0.001), suggested imprinted genes and miRNA interference as mechanisms for differential effects of maternal and paternal genomes on fetal muscle.Ruidong Xiang, Mani Ghanipoor-Samami, William H. Johns, Tanja Eindorf, David L. Rutley, Zbigniew A. Kruk, Carolyn J. Fitzsimmons, Dana A. Thomsen, Claire T. Roberts, Brian M. Burns, Gail I. Anderson, Paul L. Greenwood, Stefan Hiendlede

CAT - Cryogeny Analysis Tools For Online and Offline Monitoring and Analysis of Large Size Cryostats

The Cryogenic Analysis Tools (CAT) is a LabVIEW and Root-based Software Package that has been developed in order to study the performances of large size cryostats, where many parameters, input and control variables need to be acquired and analyzed at the same time. The code has a 3-step-based fundamental architecture. First, a LabVIEW class of codes (VIs) collects all the data coming from different kind of instruments and pass these raw data to a dedicated Root module, called CryoNtuplizer, which produce custom Root-ntuples (CryoNtuples). At the end, a so-called Automatic Analyzer (AutoANA) analyzes the CryoNtuples, performing a complete and totally customized analysis of the data collected from the cryostat instrumentation. CAT is also able to work in stand-alone mode being able, in this way, to perform an offline analysis of the whole cryostat performances