Lipidic characterization of Santa Ines lamb shoulder

The edible portion of the shoulder of 12 castrated and 12 non-castrated Santa Ines lambs slaughtered at different ages (84, 168, 210, 252 days) were used. The shoulders were chemically analyzed to determine the quantity of total lipids, cholesterol, and fatty acids composition. Castrated and non-castrated lambs gained body weight (p = 0.0393, p = 0.0017) and half carcass weight (p = 0.0240, p = 0.0017), respectively. The shoulder weight was increased in the carcasses of non-castrated lambs (p = 0.0110). The edible portion of the shoulder of castrated lambs presented higher total lipids (16.09 g.100 g(-1)). The cholesterol content was influenced by castration (p = 0.0001) reducing with age. Castrated animals presented higher content of C18:1 T11, CLA, and C18:0. The shoulder weight is only increased with increasing age in the carcasses of non-castrated lambs. Castration influences the cholesterol content of the shoulder; however, both castrated and non-castrated lambs had their cholesterol contents reduced with increasing age. Castration and age interfered in the estearic acid concentration of the edible portion of lamb shoulder.31250851

Basal and ?-Adrenergic cardiomyocytes contractility dysfunction induced by dietary protein restriction is associated with downregulation of SERCA2a expression and disturbance of endoplasmic reticulum Ca2+ regulation in rats.

Background: The mechanisms responsible for the cardiac dysfunction associated with dietary protein restriction (PR) are poorly understood. Thus, this study was designed to evaluate the effects of PR on calcium kinetics, basal and ?-adrenergic contractility in murine ventricular cardiomyocytes. Methods: After breastfeeding male Fisher rats were distributed into a control group (CG, n = 20) and a protein-restricted group (PRG, n = 20), receiving isocaloric diets for 35 days containing 15% and 6% protein, respectively. Biometric and hemodynamic variables were measured. After euthanasia left ventricles (LV) were collected for histopathological evaluation, SERCA2a expression, cardiomyocytes contractility and Ca2+ sparks analysis. Results: PRG animals showed reduced general growth, increased heart rate and arterial pressure. These animals presented extracellular matrix expansion and disorganization, cardiomyocytes hypotrophy, reduced amplitudes of shortening and maximum velocity of contraction and relaxation at baseline and after ?-adrenergic stimulation. Reduced SERCA2a expression as well as higher frequency and lower amplitude of Ca2+ sparks were observed in PRG cardiomyocytes. Conclusion: The observations reveal that protein restriction induces marked myocardial morphofunctional damage. The pathological changes of cardiomyocyte mechanics suggest the potential involvement of the ?-adrenergic system, which is possibly associated with changes in SERCA2a expression and disturbances in Ca2+ intracellular kinetics

Measurement of the inclusive and dijet cross-sections of b-jets in pp collisions at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV with the ATLAS detector

The inclusive and dijet production cross-sections have been measured for jets containing b-hadrons (b-jets) in proton-proton collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of sqrt(s) = 7 TeV, using the ATLAS detector at the LHC. The measurements use data corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 34 pb^-1. The b-jets are identified using either a lifetime-based method, where secondary decay vertices of b-hadrons in jets are reconstructed using information from the tracking detectors, or a muon-based method where the presence of a muon is used to identify semileptonic decays of b-hadrons inside jets. The inclusive b-jet cross-section is measured as a function of transverse momentum in the range 20 < pT < 400 GeV and rapidity in the range |y| < 2.1. The bbbar-dijet cross-section is measured as a function of the dijet invariant mass in the range 110 < m_jj < 760 GeV, the azimuthal angle difference between the two jets and the angular variable chi in two dijet mass regions. The results are compared with next-to-leading-order QCD predictions. Good agreement is observed between the measured cross-sections and the predictions obtained using POWHEG + Pythia. MC@NLO + Herwig shows good agreement with the measured bbbar-dijet cross-section. However, it does not reproduce the measured inclusive cross-section well, particularly for central b-jets with large transverse momenta.Comment: 10 pages plus author list (21 pages total), 8 figures, 1 table, final version published in European Physical Journal

Expected Performance of the ATLAS Experiment - Detector, Trigger and Physics

A detailed study is presented of the expected performance of the ATLAS detector. The reconstruction of tracks, leptons, photons, missing energy and jets is investigated, together with the performance of b-tagging and the trigger. The physics potential for a variety of interesting physics processes, within the Standard Model and beyond, is examined. The study comprises a series of notes based on simulations of the detector and physics processes, with particular emphasis given to the data expected from the first years of operation of the LHC at CERN

An update of the Worldwide Integrated Assessment (WIA) on systemic insecticides. Part 2: impacts on organisms and ecosystems

New information on the lethal and sublethal effects of neonicotinoids and fipronil on organisms is presented in this review, complementing the previous WIA in 2015. The high toxicity of these systemic insecticides to invertebrates has been confirmed and expanded to include more species and compounds. Most of the recent research has focused on bees and the sublethal and ecological impacts these insecticides have on pollinators. Toxic effects on other invertebrate taxa also covered predatory and parasitoid natural enemies and aquatic arthropods. Little, while not much new information has been gathered on soil organisms. The impact on marine coastal ecosystems is still largely uncharted. The chronic lethality of neonicotinoids to insects and crustaceans, and the strengthened evidence that these chemicals also impair the immune system and reproduction, highlights the dangers of this particular insecticidal classneonicotinoids and fipronil. , withContinued large scale – mostly prophylactic – use of these persistent organochlorine pesticides has the potential to greatly decreasecompletely eliminate populations of arthropods in both terrestrial and aquatic environments. Sublethal effects on fish, reptiles, frogs, birds and mammals are also reported, showing a better understanding of the mechanisms of toxicity of these insecticides in vertebrates, and their deleterious impacts on growth, reproduction and neurobehaviour of most of the species tested. This review concludes with a summary of impacts on the ecosystem services and functioning, particularly on pollination, soil biota and aquatic invertebrate communities, thus reinforcing the previous WIA conclusions (van der Sluijs et al. 2015)

Measurement of D s ^± production asymmetry in pp collisions at √s=7 and 8 TeV

The inclusive $D_s^{\pm}$ production asymmetry is measured in $pp$ collisions collected by the LHCb experiment at centre-of-mass energies of $\sqrt{s} =7$ and 8 TeV. Promptly produced $D_s^{\pm}$ mesons are used, which decay as $D_s^{\pm}\to\phi\pi^{\pm}$, with $\phi\to K^+K^-$. The measurement is performed in bins of transverse momentum, $p_{\rm T}$, and rapidity, $y$, covering the range $2.5<p_{\rm T}<25.0$ GeV$/c$ and $2.0<y<4.5$. No kinematic dependence is observed. Evidence of nonzero $D_s^{\pm}$ production asymmetry is found with a significance of 3.3 standard deviations.Comment: All figures and tables, along with any supplementary material and additional information, are available at https://cern.ch/lhcbproject/Publications/p/LHCb-PAPER-2018-010.htm

Observation of B(s)0→J/ψpp¯ decays and precision measurements of the B(s)0 masses

The first observation of the decays B 0 ( s ) → J / ψ p ¯ p is reported, using proton-proton collision data corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 5.2     fb − 1 , collected with the LHCb detector. These decays are suppressed due to limited available phase space, as well as due to Okubo-Zweig-Iizuka or Cabibbo suppression. The measured branching fractions are B ( B 0 → J / ψ p ¯ p ) = [ 4.51 ± 0.40 ( stat ) ± 0.44 ( syst ) ] × 10 − 7 , B ( B 0 s → J / ψ p ¯ p ) = [ 3.58 ± 0.19 ( stat ) ± 0.39 ( syst ) ] × 10 − 6 . For the B 0 s meson, the result is much higher than the expected value of O ( 10 − 9 ) . The small available phase space in these decays also allows for the most precise single measurement of both the B 0 mass as 5279.74 ± 0.30 ( stat ) ± 0.10 ( syst )     MeV and the B 0 s mass as 5366.85 ± 0.19 ( stat ) ± 0.13 ( syst )     MeV

Multi-messenger observations of a binary neutron star merger

On 2017 August 17 a binary neutron star coalescence candidate (later designated GW170817) with merger time 12:41:04 UTC was observed through gravitational waves by the Advanced LIGO and Advanced Virgo detectors. The Fermi Gamma-ray Burst Monitor independently detected a gamma-ray burst (GRB 170817A) with a time delay of ~1.7 s with respect to the merger time. From the gravitational-wave signal, the source was initially localized to a sky region of 31 deg2 at a luminosity distance of 40+8-8 Mpc and with component masses consistent with neutron stars. The component masses were later measured to be in the range 0.86 to 2.26 Mo. An extensive observing campaign was launched across the electromagnetic spectrum leading to the discovery of a bright optical transient (SSS17a, now with the IAU identification of AT 2017gfo) in NGC 4993 (at ~40 Mpc) less than 11 hours after the merger by the One- Meter, Two Hemisphere (1M2H) team using the 1 m Swope Telescope. The optical transient was independently detected by multiple teams within an hour. Subsequent observations targeted the object and its environment. Early ultraviolet observations revealed a blue transient that faded within 48 hours. Optical and infrared observations showed a redward evolution over ~10 days. Following early non-detections, X-ray and radio emission were discovered at the transient’s position ~9 and ~16 days, respectively, after the merger. Both the X-ray and radio emission likely arise from a physical process that is distinct from the one that generates the UV/optical/near-infrared emission. No ultra-high-energy gamma-rays and no neutrino candidates consistent with the source were found in follow-up searches. These observations support the hypothesis that GW170817 was produced by the merger of two neutron stars in NGC4993 followed by a short gamma-ray burst (GRB 170817A) and a kilonova/macronova powered by the radioactive decay of r-process nuclei synthesized in the ejecta

Laparoscopy in management of appendicitis in high-, middle-, and low-income countries: a multicenter, prospective, cohort study.

BACKGROUND: Appendicitis is the most common abdominal surgical emergency worldwide. Differences between high- and low-income settings in the availability of laparoscopic appendectomy, alternative management choices, and outcomes are poorly described. The aim was to identify variation in surgical management and outcomes of appendicitis within low-, middle-, and high-Human Development Index (HDI) countries worldwide. METHODS: This is a multicenter, international prospective cohort study. Consecutive sampling of patients undergoing emergency appendectomy over 6 months was conducted. Follow-up lasted 30 days. RESULTS: 4546 patients from 52 countries underwent appendectomy (2499 high-, 1540 middle-, and 507 low-HDI groups). Surgical site infection (SSI) rates were higher in low-HDI (OR 2.57, 95% CI 1.33-4.99, p = 0.005) but not middle-HDI countries (OR 1.38, 95% CI 0.76-2.52, p = 0.291), compared with high-HDI countries after adjustment. A laparoscopic approach was common in high-HDI countries (1693/2499, 67.7%), but infrequent in low-HDI (41/507, 8.1%) and middle-HDI (132/1540, 8.6%) groups. After accounting for case-mix, laparoscopy was still associated with fewer overall complications (OR 0.55, 95% CI 0.42-0.71, p < 0.001) and SSIs (OR 0.22, 95% CI 0.14-0.33, p < 0.001). In propensity-score matched groups within low-/middle-HDI countries, laparoscopy was still associated with fewer overall complications (OR 0.23 95% CI 0.11-0.44) and SSI (OR 0.21 95% CI 0.09-0.45). CONCLUSION: A laparoscopic approach is associated with better outcomes and availability appears to differ by country HDI. Despite the profound clinical, operational, and financial barriers to its widespread introduction, laparoscopy could significantly improve outcomes for patients in low-resource environments. TRIAL REGISTRATION: NCT02179112