Digestion of Protein in Premature and Term Infants.

Premature birth rates and premature infant morbidity remain discouragingly high. Improving nourishment for these infants is the key for accelerating their development and decreasing disease risk. Dietary protein is essential for growth and development of infants. Studies on protein nourishment for premature infants have focused on protein requirements for catch-up growth, nitrogen balance, and digestive protease concentrations and activities. However, little is known about the processes and products of protein digestion in the premature infant. This review briefly summarizes the protein requirements of term and preterm infants, and the protein content of milk from women delivering preterm and at term. An in-depth review is presented of the current knowledge of term and preterm infant dietary protein digestion, including human milk protease and anti-protease concentrations; neonatal intestinal pH, and enzyme activities and concentrations; and protein fermentation by intestinal bacteria. The advantages and disadvantages of incomplete protein digestion as well as factors that increase resistance to proteolysis of particular proteins are discussed. In order to better understand protein digestion in preterm and term infants, future studies should examine protein and peptide fragment products of digestion in saliva, gastric, intestinal and fecal samples, as well as the effects of the gut micro biome on protein degradation. The confluence of new mass spectrometry technology and new bioinformatics programs will now allow thorough identification of the array of peptides produced in the infant as they are digested

Dysfunctional telomeres in primary cells from Fanconi anemia FANCD2 patients

© 2012 Joksic et al. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.This article has been made available through the Brunel Open Access Publishing Fund.Background: Fanconi anemia (FA) is characterized by sensitivity to DNA cross-linking agents, mild cellular, and marked clinical radio sensitivity. In this study we investigated telomeric abnormalities of non-immortalized primary cells (lymphocytes and fibroblasts) derived from FA patients of the FA-D2 complementation group, which provides a more accurate physiological assessment than is possible with transformed cells or animal models. Results: We analyzed telomere length, telomere dysfunction-induced foci (TIFs), sister chromatid exchanges (SCE), telomere sister chromatid exchanges (T-SCE), apoptosis and expression of shelterin components TRF1 and TRF2. FANCD2 lymphocytes exhibited multiple types of telomeric abnormalities, including premature telomere shortening, increase in telomeric recombination and aberrant telomeric structures ranging from fragile to long-string extended telomeres. The baseline incidence of SCE in FANCD2 lymphocytes was reduced when compared to control, but in response to diepoxybutane (DEB) the 2-fold higher rate of SCE was observed. In contrast, control lymphocytes showed decreased SCE incidence in response to DEB treatment. FANCD2 fibroblasts revealed a high percentage of TIFs, decreased expression of TRF1 and invariable expression of TRF2. The percentage of TIFs inversely correlated with telomere length, emphasizing that telomere shortening is the major reason for the loss of telomere capping function. Upon irradiation, a significant decrease of TIFs was observed at all recovery times. Surprisingly, a considerable percentage of TIF positive cells disappeared at the same time when incidence of γ-H2AX foci was maximal. Both FANCD2 leucocytes and fibroblasts appeared to die spontaneously at higher rate than control. This trend was more evident upon irradiation; the percentage of leucocytes underwent apoptosis was 2.59- fold higher than that in control, while fibroblasts exhibited a 2- h delay before entering apoptosis. Conclusion: The results of our study showed that primary cells originating from FA-D2 patients display shorten telomeres, elevated incidence of T-SCEs and high frequency of TIFs. Disappearance of TIFs in early response to irradiation represent distinctive feature of FANCD2 cells that should be examined further.This article is made available through the Brunel Open Access Publishing Fund. This work was supported by the Ministry of Education and Science of the Republic of Serbia (Project No.173046)

Strength Analysis of Eight-Wheel Bogie of Bucket Wheel Excavator

Crawler travel gear is a type of heavy vehicle propulsion that is commonly found in tanks, excavators, and specialized off-road vehicles. They have an advantage over wheels when it comes to robust vehicle weight distribution over soft terrain, and some disadvantages as well. They can damage paved roads and have complex design so, considering the enormous weight they must carry, their reliability must be determined and verified. The main parts of the assembly are the drive wheels, which move the crawler, and the supporting structure that holds four-wheel bogies and two-wheel bogies. In this paper, we present a methodology for FEM analysis of parts of an eight-wheel bogie according to DIN 22261-2 standard

Tolerability and safety of the intake of bovine milk oligosaccharides extracted from cheese whey in healthy human adults.

Mechanistic research suggests a unique evolutionary relationship between complex milk oligosaccharides and cognate bifidobacteria enriched in breast-fed infants. Bovine milk oligosaccharides (BMO) were recently identified as structurally and functionally similar to human milk oligosaccharides. The present single-blind three-way crossover study is the first to determine the safety and tolerability of BMO consumption by healthy human participants (n 12) and its effects on faecal microbiota and microbial metabolism. Participants consumed each supplement (placebo-control; low- and high-BMO doses) for eleven consecutive days, followed by a 2-week washout period prior to initiating the next supplement arm. Low and high BMO doses were consumed as 25 and 35 % of each individual's daily fibre intake, respectively. Safety and tolerability were measured using standardised questionnaires on gut and stomach discomfort and stool consistency. Faecal extracts were profiled for bacterial populations by next-generation sequencing (NGS) and bifidobacteria presence was confirmed using quantitative PCR. Urine was analysed for changes in microbial metabolism using nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy (1H-NMR). Consumption of both the low and high BMO doses was well tolerated and did not change stool consistency from baseline. Multivariate analysis of the NGS results demonstrated no change in faecal microbiota phyla among the placebo-control and BMO supplement groups. In conclusion, BMO supplementation was well tolerated in healthy adults and has the potential to shift faecal microbiota toward beneficial strains as part of a synbiotic treatment with probiotic cultures that selectively metabolise oligosaccharides

Real-time marker-less multi-person 3D pose estimation in RGB-Depth camera networks

This paper proposes a novel system to estimate and track the 3D poses of multiple persons in calibrated RGB-Depth camera networks. The multi-view 3D pose of each person is computed by a central node which receives the single-view outcomes from each camera of the network. Each single-view outcome is computed by using a CNN for 2D pose estimation and extending the resulting skeletons to 3D by means of the sensor depth. The proposed system is marker-less, multi-person, independent of background and does not make any assumption on people appearance and initial pose. The system provides real-time outcomes, thus being perfectly suited for applications requiring user interaction. Experimental results show the effectiveness of this work with respect to a baseline multi-view approach in different scenarios. To foster research and applications based on this work, we released the source code in OpenPTrack, an open source project for RGB-D people tracking.Comment: Submitted to the 2018 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automatio

Block-Spin Approach to Electron Correlations

We consider an expansion of the ground state wavefunction of quantum lattice many-body systems in a basis whose states are tensor products of block-spin wavefunctions. We demonstrate by applying the method to the antiferromagnetic spin-1/2 chain that by selecting the most important many-body states the technique affords a severe truncation of the Hilbert space while maintaining high accuracy.Comment: 17 pages, 3 Postscript figure

On the ground states of the Bernasconi model

The ground states of the Bernasconi model are binary +1/-1 sequences of length N with low autocorrelations. We introduce the notion of perfect sequences, binary sequences with one-valued off-peak correlations of minimum amount. If they exist, they are ground states. Using results from the mathematical theory of cyclic difference sets, we specify all values of N for which perfect sequences do exist and how to construct them. For other values of N, we investigate almost perfect sequences, i.e. sequences with two-valued off-peak correlations of minimum amount. Numerical and analytical results support the conjecture that almost perfect sequences do exist for all values of N, but that they are not always ground states. We present a construction for low-energy configurations that works if N is the product of two odd primes.Comment: 12 pages, LaTeX2e; extended content, added references; submitted to J.Phys.

Intelligent dual curve-driven tool path optimization and virtual CMM inspection for sculptured surface CNC machining

This paper investigates the profitability of a dual‐curve driven surface finish tool path under the concept of optimizing crucial machining parameters such as toroidal end‐mill diameter, lead angle and tilt angle. Surface machining error as well as tool path time are treated as optimization objectives under a multi‐criteria sense, whilst a central composite design is conducted to obtain experimental outputs for examination and, finally, fit a full quadratic model considered as the fitness function for process optimization by means of a genetic algorithm. A benchmark sculptured surface given as a second‐order parametric equation was tested and simulated using a cutting‐edge manufacturing modeling software and best parameters recommended by the genetic algorithm were implemented for validation. Further assessment involves the virtual inspection to selected profile sections on the part. It was shown that the approach can produce dual‐curve driven tool trajectories capable of eliminating sharp scallop heights, maximizing machining strip widths as well as maintaining smoothness quality and machining efficiency

Carbono acumulado en la biomasa vegetal de la reserva de Villavicencio (Mendoza-Argentina)

Carbon storage in the plant biomass of the Villavicencio Nature Reserve (Mendoza-Argentina). Nature reserves play a relevant role in carbon storage in arid lands. The vegetation of theNature Reserve of Villavicencio stores 98798 Mg (2.1 Mg/ha) of carbon in total; considering the Punaand unburned Monte vegetation, 91.2% of carbon occurs in aboveground parts (leaves and stems)and 8.8% in the root system. Monte vegetation, characterized by Larrea cuneifolia shrubland, stores77905 Mg C (3.9 Mg/ha), 78.8% of the total carbon in the area. Nanophanerophytes store 28.8% in theunburned shrubland, and 50.4% in the area burned in 2000, while chamaephytes store 95.5% in thearea burned in 2005. In the Puna belt, with 20893 Mg C (0.78 Mg/ha) stored, Jarava vaginata grasslanddominates and stores 88% of carbon, aboveground parts (leaves of grasses and leaves and stems ofchamaephytes) store 90% of carbon. In general, and taking into account both vegetation belts, 19.8% ofthe carbon present in the Reserve is stored in nanophanerophytes, 32.8% in hemicryptophytes, 28.8% inchamaephytes and 18.4% in succulents (cactaceae). Assessment of carbon storage, taking into accountthe different phytogeographic units, is necessary for management of the protected area and for a betterunderstanding of the role of these environments in the mitigation of atmospheric carbon.Las reservas naturales en las zonas áridas cumplen un papel destacado en el almacenamiento de carbono. La vegetación de la Reserva de Villavicencio acumula en total 98798 Mg (2,1 Mg/ha) de carbono; considerando la vegetación de la Puna y del Monte no quemado el 91,2% del carbono se encuentra en la parte aérea (hojas y tallo) y el 8,8 % restante en el sistema radical. La vegetación del Monte, caracterizada por el matorral de Larrea cuneifolia, acumula 77905 Mg (3,9 Mg/ha), 78,8% del carbono total del área. En el matorral no quemado las nanofanerófitas acumulan el 28,8%, en el área incendiada en el 2000 el 50,4% y en la quemada en el 2005 las caméfitas el 95,5%. En la vegetación del piso de la Puna, con 20893 Mg de carbono (0,78 Mg/ha) Almacenado, domina el pastizal de Jarava vaginata que acumula el 88% del carbono; la parte aérea (follaje de gramíneas y hojas y tallos de caméfitas) almacena el 90% del carbono. En general, y considerando ambos pisos de vegetación, 19,8% del carbono presente en toda la Reserva lo acumulan las nanofanerófitas, las hemicriptófitas el 32,8%, las caméfitas el 28,8% y las suculentas (cactáceas) el 18,4%. La evaluación del carbono acumulado, considerando las diversas unidades de vegetación, es necesaria para el manejo del área protegida y para una mejor comprensión del papel de estos ambientes en la mitigación del carbono atmosféric

Growth and Morbidity of Gambian Infants are Influenced by Maternal Milk Oligosaccharides and Infant Gut Microbiota.

Human milk oligosaccharides (HMOs) play an important role in the health of an infant as substrate for beneficial gut bacteria. Little is known about the effects of HMO composition and its changes on the morbidity and growth outcomes of infants living in areas with high infection rates. Mother's HMO composition and infant gut microbiota from 33 Gambian mother/infant pairs at 4, 16, and 20 weeks postpartum were analyzed for relationships between HMOs, microbiota, and infant morbidity and growth. The data indicate that lacto-N-fucopentaose I was associated with decreased infant morbidity, and 3'-sialyllactose was found to be a good indicator of infant weight-for-age. Because HMOs, gut microbiota, and infant health are interrelated, the relationship between infant health and their microbiome were analyzed. While bifidobacteria were the dominant genus in the infant gut overall, Dialister and Prevotella were negatively correlated with morbidity, and Bacteroides was increased in infants with abnormal calprotectin. Mothers nursing in the wet season (July to October) produced significantly less oligosaccharides compared to those nursing in the dry season (November to June). These results suggest that specific types and structures of HMOs are sensitive to environmental conditions, protective of morbidity, predictive of growth, and correlated with specific microbiota