142 research outputs found
Degradation of Cry1Ab protein from genetically modified maize (MON810) in relation to total dietary feed proteins in dairy cow digestion
To investigate the relative degradation and fragmentation pattern of the recombinant Cry1Ab protein from genetically modified (GM) maize MON810 throughout the gastrointestinal tract (GIT) of dairy cows, a 25 months GM maize feeding study was conducted on 36 lactating Bavarian Fleckvieh cows allocated into two groups (18 cows per group) fed diets containing either GM maize MON810 or nearly isogenic non-GM maize as the respective diet components. All cows were fed a partial total mixed ration (pTMR). During the feeding trial, 8 feed (4 transgenic (T) and 4 non-transgenic (NT) pTMR) and 42 feces (26 T and 18 NT) samples from the subset of cows fed T and NT diets, and at the end of the feeding trial, digesta contents of rumen, abomasum, small intestine, large intestine and cecum were collected after the slaughter of six cows of each feeding group. Samples were analyzed for Cry1Ab protein and total protein using Cry1Ab specific ELISA and bicinchoninic acid assay, respectively. Immunoblot analyses were performed to evaluate the integrity of Cry1Ab protein in feed, digesta and feces samples. A decrease to 44% in Cry1Ab protein concentration from T pTMR to the voided feces (9.40 versus 4.18 μg/g of total proteins) was recorded. Concentrations of Cry1Ab protein in GIT digesta of cows fed T diets varied between the lowest 0.38 μg/g of total proteins in abomasum to the highest 3.84 μg/g of total proteins in rumen. Immunoblot analysis revealed the extensive degradation of recombinant Cry1Ab protein into a smaller fragment of around 34 kDa in GIT. The results of the present study indicate that the recombinant Cry1Ab protein from MON810 is increasingly degraded into a small fragment during dairy cow digestion
The origin of mid-infrared emission in massive young stellar objects: multi-baseline VLTI observations of W33A
The circumstellar structure on 100 AU scales of the massive young stellar
object W33A is probed using the VLTI and the MIDI instrument. N-band
visibilities on 4 baselines are presented which are inconsistent with a
spherically symmetric geometry. The visibility spectra and SED are
simultaneously compared to 2D axi-symmetric dust radiative transfer models with
a geometry including a rotationally flattened envelope and outflow cavities. We
assume an O7.5 ZAMS star as the central source, consistent with the observed
bolometric luminosity. The observations are also compared to models with and
without (dusty and gaseous) accretion disks. A satisfactory model is
constructed which reproduces the visibility spectra for each (u,v) point. It
fits the silicate absorption, the mid-IR slope, the far-infrared peak, and the
(sub)mm of the SED. It produces a 350 micron morphology consistent with
observations. The 10 micron emission on 100 AU scales is dominated by the
irradiated walls of the cavity sculpted by the outflow. The visibilities rule
out the presence of dust disks with total (gas and dust) masses more than 0.01
Msun. However, optically thick accretion disks, interior to the dust
sublimation radius, are allowed to accrete at rates equalling the envelope's
mass infall rate (up to 10^(-3) Msun/yr) without substantially affecting the
visibilities due to the extinction by the extremely massive envelope of W33A.Comment: Accepted for publication in A&
Probing the envelopes of massive young stellar objects with diffraction limited mid-infrared imaging
Massive stars form whilst they are still embedded in dense envelopes. As a
result, the roles of rotation, mass loss and accretion in massive star
formation are not well understood. This study evaluates the source of the
Q-band, lambda=19.5 microns, emission of massive young stellar objects (MYSOs).
This allows us to determine the relative importance of rotation and outflow
activity in shaping the circumstellar environments of MYSOs on 1000 AU scales.
We obtained diffraction limited mid-infrared images of a sample of 20 MYSOs
using the VLT/VISIR and Subaru/COMICS instruments. For these 8 m class
telescopes and the sample selected, the diffraction limit, ~0.6", corresponds
to approximately 1000 AU. We compare the images and the spectral energy
distributions (SEDs) observed to a 2D, axis-symmetric dust radiative transfer
model that reproduces VLTI/MIDI observations of the MYSO W33A. We vary the
inclination, mass infall rate, and outflow opening angle to simultaneously
recreate the behaviour of the sample of MYSOs in the spatial and spectral
domains. The mid-IR emission of 70 percent of the MYSOs is spatially resolved.
In the majority of cases, the spatial extent of their emission and their SEDs
can be reproduced by the W33A model featuring an in-falling, rotating dusty
envelope with outflow cavities. There is independent evidence that most of the
sources which are not fit by the model are associated with ultracompact HII
regions and are thus more evolved. We find that, in general, the diverse 20
micron morphology of MYSOs can be attributed to warm dust in the walls of
outflow cavities seen at different inclinations. This implies that the warm
dust in the outflow cavity walls dominates the Q-band emission of MYSOs. In
turn, this emphasises that outflows are an ubiquitous feature of massive star
formation.Comment: Accepted for publication in A&A. The images in this version have been
compressed. A high resolution version is available on reques
Resolved 24.5 micron emission from massive young stellar objects
Massive young stellar objects (MYSO) are surrounded by massive dusty
envelopes. Our aim is to establish their density structure on scales of ~1000
AU, i.e. a factor 10 increase in angular resolution compared to similar studies
performed in the (sub)mm. We have obtained diffraction-limited (0.6") 24.5
micron images of 14 well-known massive star formation regions with
Subaru/COMICS. The images reveal the presence of discrete MYSO sources which
are resolved on arcsecond scales. For many sources, radiative transfer models
are capable of satisfactorily reproducing the observations. They are described
by density powerlaw distributions (n(r) ~ r^(-p)) with p = 1.0 +/-0.25. Such
distributions are shallower than those found on larger scales probed with
single-dish (sub)mm studies. Other sources have density laws that are
shallower/steeper than p = 1.0 and there is evidence that these MYSOs are
viewed near edge-on or near face-on, respectively. The images also reveal a
diffuse component tracing somewhat larger scale structures, particularly
visible in the regions S140, AFGL 2136, IRAS 20126+4104, Mon R2, and Cep A. We
thus find a flattening of the MYSO envelope density law going from ~10 000 AU
down to scales of ~1000 AU. We propose that this may be evidence of rotational
support of the envelope (abridged).Comment: 21 pages, accepted for A&
The Physical Conditions for Massive Star Formation: Dust Continuum Maps and Modeling
Fifty-one dense cores associated with water masers were mapped at 350 micron.
These cores are very luminous, 10^3 < Lbol/Lsun < 10^6, indicative of the
formation of massive stars. Dust continuum contour maps and photometry are
presented for these sources. The spectral energy distributions and normalized
radial profiles of dust continuum emission were modeled for 31 sources using a
one-dimensional dust radiative transfer code, assuming a power law density
distribution in the envelope, n = n_f (r/r_f)^{-p}. The best fit density power
law exponent, p, ranged from 0.75 to 2.5 with = 1.8 +/- 0.4. The mean value
of p is comparable to that found in regions forming only low mass stars. The
mean p is incompatible with a logatropic sphere (p = 1), but other star
formation models cannot be ruled out. Different mass estimates are compared and
mean masses of gas and dust are reported within a half-power radius determined
from the dust emission and within a radius where the total density exceeds 10^4
cm^3. Evolutionary indicators commonly used for low mass star formation may
have some utility for regions forming massive stars. For comparison with
extragalactic star formation studies, the luminosity to dust mass ratio is
calculated for these sources with a method most parallel to that used in
studies of distant galaxies and is found to be similar to that seen in high
redshift starburst galaxies.Comment: 45 pages, 20 figures, accepted to ApJ Supplemen
What is the impact of obtaining medical clearance to participate in a randomised controlled trial examining a physical activity intervention on the socio-demographic and risk factor profiles of included participants?
Loss of Secreted Frizzled-Related Protein 4 Correlates with an Aggressive Phenotype and Predicts Poor Outcome in Ovarian Cancer Patients
Background: Activation of the Wnt signaling pathway is implicated in aberrant cellular proliferation in various cancers. In 40% of endometrioid ovarian cancers, constitutive activation of the pathway is due to oncogenic mutations in β-catenin or other inactivating mutations in key negative regulators. Secreted frizzled-related protein 4 (SFRP4) has been proposed to have inhibitory activity through binding and sequestering Wnt ligands. Methodology/Principal Findings: We performed RT-qPCR and Western-blotting in primary cultures and ovarian cell lines for SFRP4 and its key downstream regulators activated β-catenin, β-catenin and GSK3β. SFRP4 was then examined by immunohistochemistry in a cohort of 721 patients and due to its proposed secretory function, in plasma, presenting the first ELISA for SFRP4. SFRP4 was most highly expressed in tubal epithelium and decreased with malignant transformation, both on RNA and on protein level, where it was even more profound in the membrane fraction (p<0.0001). SFRP4 was expressed on the protein level in all histotypes of ovarian cancer but was decreased from borderline tumors to cancers and with loss of cellular differentiation. Loss of membrane expression was an independent predictor of poor survival in ovarian cancer patients (p = 0.02 unadjusted; p = 0.089 adjusted), which increased the risk of a patient to die from this disease by the factor 1.8. Conclusions/Significance: Our results support a role for SFRP4 as a tumor suppressor gene in ovarian cancers via inhibition of the Wnt signaling pathway. This has not only predictive implications but could also facilitate a therapeutic role using epigenetic targets
The Thermoanalysis of Metal Single Crystals and a New Thermoelectric Effect of Bismuth Crystals Grown in Magnetic Fields
The ALPS project release 2.0: Open source software for strongly correlated systems
We present release 2.0 of the ALPS (Algorithms and Libraries for Physics
Simulations) project, an open source software project to develop libraries and
application programs for the simulation of strongly correlated quantum lattice
models such as quantum magnets, lattice bosons, and strongly correlated fermion
systems. The code development is centered on common XML and HDF5 data formats,
libraries to simplify and speed up code development, common evaluation and
plotting tools, and simulation programs. The programs enable non-experts to
start carrying out serial or parallel numerical simulations by providing basic
implementations of the important algorithms for quantum lattice models:
classical and quantum Monte Carlo (QMC) using non-local updates, extended
ensemble simulations, exact and full diagonalization (ED), the density matrix
renormalization group (DMRG) both in a static version and a dynamic
time-evolving block decimation (TEBD) code, and quantum Monte Carlo solvers for
dynamical mean field theory (DMFT). The ALPS libraries provide a powerful
framework for programers to develop their own applications, which, for
instance, greatly simplify the steps of porting a serial code onto a parallel,
distributed memory machine. Major changes in release 2.0 include the use of
HDF5 for binary data, evaluation tools in Python, support for the Windows
operating system, the use of CMake as build system and binary installation
packages for Mac OS X and Windows, and integration with the VisTrails workflow
provenance tool. The software is available from our web server at
http://alps.comp-phys.org/.Comment: 18 pages + 4 appendices, 7 figures, 12 code examples, 2 table
The Digital MIQE Guidelines Update: Minimum Information for Publication of Quantitative Digital PCR Experiments for 2020
Digital PCR (dPCR) has developed considerably since the publication of the Minimum Information for Publication of Digital PCR Experiments (dMIQE) guidelines in 2013, with advances in instrumentation, software, applications, and our understanding of its technological potential. Yet these developments also have associated challenges; data analysis steps, including threshold setting, can be difficult and preanalytical steps required to purify, concentrate, and modify nucleic acids can lead to measurement error. To assist independent corroboration of conclusions, comprehensive disclosure of all relevant experimental details is required. To support the community and reflect the growing use of dPCR, we present an update to dMIQE, dMIQE2020, including a simplified dMIQE table format to assist researchers in providing key experimental information and understanding of the associated experimental process. Adoption of dMIQE2020 by the scientific community will assist in standardizing experimental protocols, maximize efficient utilization of resources, and further enhance the impact of this powerful technology
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