Efficient Support for Video Communications in Wireless Home Networks

This paper investigates the performance of video communications over wireless networks employing the recently proposed Time-Division Unbalanced Carrier Sense Multiple access (TDuCSMA) coordination function. TDuCSMA is fully IEEE 802.11 standard compliant but offers novel bandwidth management capabilities. In this work the peculiar characteristics of TDuCSMA are configured and exploited to maximize the performance of video communications in a realistic home networking scenario. Simulation results show significant performance improvements with respect to legacy IEEE 802.11 network. The video quality gains are up to 13 dB PSNR with 500 ms playout buffer, while the average delay of the video packets is much lower, for the same amount of video traffic offered to the network. These results significantly contribute to enhance the quality of experience of the users of the video communicatio

Visceral adiposity index and DHEAS are useful markers of diabetes risk in women with polycystic ovary syndrome

Objective: On the basis of the known diabetes risk in polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), recent guidelines of the Endocrine Society recommend the use of an oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT) to screen for impaired glucose tolerance (IGT) and type 2 diabetes (T2DM) in all women with PCOS. However, given the high prevalence of PCOS, OGTTwould have ahigh cost-benefit ratio. In this study, we identified, through a receiver operating characteristic analysis, simple predictive markers of the composite endpoint (impaired fasting glucose (IFG) or IGT or IFGCIGT or T2DM) in women with PCOS according to the Rotterdam criteria.Design: We conducted a cross-sectional study of 241 women with PCOS in a university hospital setting.Methods: Clinical, anthropometric, and metabolic (including OGTT) parameters were evaluated. The homeostasis model assessment of insulin resistance (HOMA2-IR), the Matsuda index of insulin sensitivity, and the oral dispositional index and visceral adiposity index (VAI) were determined.Results: Out of 241 women included in this study, 28 (11.6%) had an IFG, 13 (5.4%) had IGT, four (1.7%) had IFGCIGT, and four (1.7%) had T2DM. Among the anthropometric variables examined, the VAI had a significantly higher C-statistic compared with BMI (0.760 (95% CI: 0.70-0.81) vs 0.613 (95% CI: 0.54-0.67); PZ0.014) and waist circumference (0.760 (95% CI: 0.70-0.81) vs 0.619 (95% CI: 0.55-0.68); PZ0.028). Among all the hormonal and metabolic serum variables examined, DHEAS showed the highest C-statistic (0.720 (95% CI: 0.65-0.77); P<0.001).Conclusions: In addition to fasting glucose, the VAI and DHEAS may be considered useful tools for prescreening in all women with PCOS without the classical risk factors for diabetes

Receiving Stocker Cattle Performance is Similar With Either Corn or Sorghum Wet Distillers Grains

Distillers grains are an excellent energy and protein feed source for beef cattle. Corn distillers grains have been fed to beef cattle for many years, but sorghum distillers grains are becoming more popular and may be more cost effective than corn. Sorghum is very comparable to corn in terms of energy, but has a higher crude protein value. All distillers grains are available in a wet and dry form. The moist texture of wet distillers grains can help to reduce sorting at the bunk and appears to improve intake in young calves. The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of corn and sorghum wet distillers grains on performance and digestibility of receiving stocker calves

Short communication: Gender and heat stress effects on hypothalamic gene expression and feed intake in broilers

Our study aims to evaluate gender and heat stress effects on animal performance and on the expression of five hypothalamic genes related to feed consumption: neuropeptide Y (NPY), ghrelin (GHRL), pro-opiomelanocortin (POMC), AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPKα-1), and liver kinase B1 (LKB1). To assay these effects, 42-day-old male and female broilers were maintained in thermal comfort or were subjected to heat stress (HS, 38°C for 24 hours). All animals were fed with diets formulated to meet their nutritional requirements. Broilers subjected to HS showed lower weight gain (p=0.0065) and tended to have lower feed intake (p=0.0687) than broilers kept in comfortable conditions. We observed gender and heat stress interaction effects on NPY (p=0.0225), AMPKα-1 (p=0.0398), and POMC expression (p=0.0072). The highest NPY gene expression was observed in male broilers from the thermal comfort group. Male broilers exposed to HS showed the highest AMPKα-1 gene expression levels. Comparing POMC expression between males and females at the comfortable temperature, we observed that females showed higher POMC expression levels than male broilers. A gender effect was also observed on LKB1 and AMPKα-1 gene expression (p=0.0256 and p=0.0001, respectively); increased expression was observed in male broilers. Our results indicate that the expression of some hypothalamic genes related to food consumption may contribute to the observed differences in voluntary feed intake between animals of different gender exposed to different environmental conditions

Evaluation of the Productivity of a Single Subcutaneous Injection of LongRange in Stocker Calves Compared With a Positive (Dectomax) and a Negative (Saline) Control

Subclinical parasitism is commonly observed in stocker cattle. Treatment of internal parasites helps to improve weight gains, feed conversion, and immune status and decreases morbidity and mortality of beef cattle (Hawkins, 1993). Some of the most concerning classes of internal parasites include Cooperia, Haemonchus, and Ostertagia. Commonly used anthelmintics come in the form of pour-ons, oral drenches, and subcutaneous injections. A majority of these drugs are designed to be administered in a single dose and provide defense against stomach worms for approximately 14 to 42 days, but the typical grazing season lasts for approximately 120 days. For grazing cattle to have season-long protection from parasites, they may require a second dose of anthelmintic treatment, which would require cattle to be gathered and processed through a chute in the middle of the grazing season. LongRange (Merial, Duluth, GA) is the first single-dose extended release anthelmintic that provides approximately 100 to 150 days of protection. This is accomplished by combining two forms of the active ingredient: one that is released into the blood immediately after injection and a second that consists of a slow-release polymer that releases the active ingredient gradually throughout the grazing period. The objective of this study was to measure body weight productivity, fecal egg counts, and fly repellent capabilities of LongRange when administered once subcutaneously at 1.0 mg/kg body weight as a long-acting solution compared with a commercially available injectable (Dectomax; Zoetis, Florham Park, NJ) and saline in stocker cattle

Anthracnose susceptibility for grapevines with resistance loci to downy and powdery mildew in Southern Brazil

Anthracnose, downy and powdery mildew are the principal fungal diseases of grapes in tropical and subtropical regions. The pesticide active ingredients that control downy and powdery mildew diseases provide some protection against anthracnose attack. The release of varieties with resistance alleles to downy and powdery mildew results in less pesticide use that can increase anthracnose attack. Thus, the present work aimed to evaluate anthracnose susceptibility of genotypes with resistance loci to downy and powdery mildew under Southern Brazilian conditions. Genotype susceptibility was tested, as well as the influence of the environment (location and crop season) on increased susceptibility to anthracnose infection. To accomplish the objective, a trifactorial design was established that included 20 genotypes, two locations, and two crop seasons. Anthracnose incidence and severity were evaluated under natural infection in the field. Temperature around 16 °C and relative humidity at 84 % increased susceptibility to anthracnose infection compared to temperature around 20 °C and relative humidity at 75 %. All tested genotypes with resistance alleles to downy and powdery mildew presented symptoms of anthracnose. 'Baron', 'Cabernet Cortis' and 'Calardis Blanc' showed the least susceptibility to anthracnose, whereas 'Aromera', 'Felicia', 'Gf.2004-043-0004' and 'Gf.2004-043-0021' were the most susceptible and bore symptoms of anthracnose. Other genotypes showed variable susceptibility during the evaluation period, depending on environmental conditions. Overall, all interactions among the three tested factors were highly significant

Mercury clathration-driven phase transition in a luminescent bipyrazolate metal-organic framework: a multitechnique investigation

Mercury is one of the most toxic heavy metals. By virtue of its triple bond, the novel ligand 1,2-bis(1H-pyrazol-4-yl)ethyne (H2BPE) was expressly designed and synthesized to devise metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) exhibiting high chemical affinity for mercury. Two MOFs, Zn(BPE) and Zn(BPE)·nDMF [interpenetrated i-Zn and noninterpenetrated ni-Zn·S, respectively; DMF = dimethylformamide], were isolated as microcrystalline powders. While i-Zn is stable in water for at least 15 days, its suspension in HgCl2 aqueous solutions prompts its conversion into HgCl2@ni-Zn. A multitechnique approach allowed us to shed light onto the observed HgCl2-triggered i-Zn-to-HgCl2@ni-Zn transformation at the molecular level. Density functional theory calculations on model systems suggested that HgCl2 interacts via the mercury atom with the carbon-carbon triple bond exclusively in ni-Zn. Powder X-ray diffraction enabled us to quantify the extent of the i-Zn-to-HgCl2@ni-Zn transition in 100-5000 ppm HgCl2 (aq) solutions, while X-ray fluorescence and inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry allowed us to demonstrate that HgCl2 is quantitatively sequestered from the aqueous phase. Irradiating at 365 nm, an intense fluorescence is observed at 470 nm for ni-Zn·S, which is partially quenched for i-Zn. This spectral benchmark was exploited to monitor in real time the i-Zn-to-HgCl2@ni-Zn conversion kinetics at different HgCl2 (aq) concentrations. A sizeable fluorescence increase was observed, within a 1 h time lapse, even at a concentration of 5 ppb. Overall, this comprehensive investigation unraveled an intriguing molecular mechanism, featuring the disaggregation of a water-stable MOF in the presence of HgCl2 and the self-assembly of a different crystalline phase around the pollutant, which is sequestered and simultaneously quantified by means of a luminescence change. Such a case study might open the way to new-conception strategies to achieve real-time sensing of mercury-containing pollutants in wastewaters and, eventually, pursue their straightforward and cost-effective purification

Double-stranded flanking ends affect the folding kinetics and conformational equilibrium of G-quadruplexes forming sequences within the promoter of KIT oncogene

G-quadruplexes embedded within promoters play a crucial role in regulating the gene expression. KIT is a widely studied oncogene, whose promoter contains three G-quadruplex forming sequences, c-kit1, c-kit2 and c-kit 17. For these sequences available studies cover ensemble and single-molecule analyses, although for kit 17 the latter were limited to a study on a promoter domain comprising all of them. Recently, c-kit2 has been reported to fold according to a multi-step process involving folding intermediates. Here, by exploiting fluorescence resonance energy transfer, both in ensemble and at the single molecule level, we investigated the folding of expressly designed constructs in which, alike in the physiological context, either c-kit2 or c-kit 17 are flanked by double stranded DNA segments. To assess whether the presence of flanking ends at the borders of the G-quadruplex affects the folding, we studied under the same protocols oligonucleotides corresponding to the minimal G-quadruplex forming sequences. Data suggest that addition of flanking ends results in biasing both the final equilibrium state and the folding kinetics. A previously unconsidered aspect is thereby unravelled, which ought to be taken into account to achieve a deeper insight of the complex relationships underlying the fine tuning of the gene-regulatory properties of these fascinating DNA structures

A narrow band neutrino beam with high precision flux measurements

The ENUBET facility is a proposed narrow band neutrino beam where lepton production is monitored at single particle level in the instrumented decay tunnel. This facility addresses simultaneously the two most important challenges for the next generation of cross section experiments: a superior control of the flux and flavor composition at source and a high level of tunability and precision in the selection of the energy of the outcoming neutrinos. We report here the latest results in the development and test of the instrumentation for the decay tunnel. Special emphasis is given to irradiation tests of the photo-sensors performed at INFN-LNL and CERN in 2017 and to the first application of polysiloxane-based scintillators in high energy physics.Comment: Poster presented at NuPhys2017 (London, 20-22 December 2017). 5 pages, 2 figure