Downward shift of infrared conductivity spectral weight at the DDW transition: role of anisotropy

We consider the motion of conductivity spectral weight at a finite-temperature phase transition at which $d_{x^2-y^2}$ density-wave (DDW) order develops. We show that there is a shift of spectral weight to higher frequencies if the quasiparticle lifetime is assumed to be isotropic, but a shift to lower frequencies if the quasiparticle lifetime is assumed to be anisotropic. We suggest that this is consistent with recent experiments on the pseudogap phase of the cuprate superconductors and, therefore, conclude that the observation of a downward shift in the spectral weight at the pseudogap temperature does not militate against the DDW theory of the pseudogap.Comment: 8 pages, 7 figures. Added reference

Study of possible reduction or withdrawal of vitamin premix during finisher period in floor and battery cage broiler raising systems

The effect of dietary vitamin premix withdrawal or reduction between 29 and 35, 36 and 42, and 29 and 42 days of age on broiler chicken performance and immunocompetence was evaluated. The diets were formulated based on wheat and barley, and the experiment was conducted in floor pens (experiment 1) and battery cage (experiment 2) rearing systems in 7 treatments and 4 replicates for each treatment. The results of experiment 1 showed that vitamin premix reduction and withdrawal at 29 days of age did not impair performance during the final period of broiler chicken (29 to 42 days). The results of experiment 2 showed that there were no significant differences in performance with reduction or withdrawal of vitamin premix from diets in 29 to 35 days, but in 36 to 42 days of age, performance of birds fed with a diet that has no vitamin premix (T1) was significantly lower than other treatments (P < 0.05). The results of the two experiments demonstrated that immunocompetence response was not affected by treatments in the finisher period (P > 0.05). In conclusion, the results of this study indicated that in the battery cage system, it is possible to reduce dietary vitamin premix during finisher period, but withdrawal can negatively affect performance of broiler chickens, while in the floor system, it is possible to withdraw vitamin supplements in broilers’ finisher diets.Key words: Vitamin premix, reduction, broiler, wheat, immunocompetence

Criticality and oscillatory behavior in non-Markovian Contact Process

A Non-Markovian generalization of one-dimensional Contact Process (CP) is being introduced in which every particle has an age and will be annihilated at its maximum age $\tau$. There is an absorbing state phase transition which is controlled by this parameter. The model can demonstrate oscillatory behavior in its approach to the stationary state. These oscillations are also present in the mean-field approximation which is a first-order differential equation with time-delay. Studying dynamical critical exponents suggests that the model belongs to the DP universlity class.Comment: 4 pages, 5 figures, to be published in Phys. Rev.

Acute toxicity and behavioral changes of Caspian kutum (Rutilus frisii Kutum Kamensky, 1991) and Caspian roach (Rutilus rutilus caspicus Jakowlew, 1870) exposed to the fungicide hinosan

Pesticides are used in agriculture to control pest and protect human health and animals. Excessive use of pesticides caused risk for human health and threated non-target organisms, polluted water, soil and air. Hinosan is a component of organophosphate pesticide which is used as a fungicide in agricultural fields. In the study, lethal concentration (LC50) of Hinosan was calculated for Rutilus frisii kutum and Rutilus rutilus caspicus with a mean weight of 3 ± 1 g [mean ± SD]. The experiment were carried out in static condition and based on instructions of O.E.C.D in four days under controlled water physicochemical factors with pH = 7 to 8.5, dissolved oxygen = 200 mg L-1 (CaCO3) and temperature = 20 ± 1°C. Fishes were acclimatized in 70x40x30 cm aquarium for 10 days. Five treated aquariums with concentration ranges 1, 2, 4, 8, 16 ppm of hinosan (Technical 95 Edifenphos) with one control group (no toxic concentration), were performed. Data were analysed using the probit analysis. LC1, LC10, LC30, LC50, LC70, LC90 and LC99 were calculated in 24, 48, 72 and 96 h. Our results indicate that LC50 96 h hinosan for R. frisii Kutum and R. rutilus caspicus were obtained 3.61 and 2.88 ppm, respectively. These findings suggest that hinosan is medium toxicity for these two species. Clinical symptoms including irregular protrusion of the eyes and irregular swimming were observed.Key words: Organophosphore, hinosan, Rutilus frisii kutum, Rutilus rutilus caspicus, LC50, pollution

Short communication: Application of machine-vision to assess weight of fish (Case study: Oncorhynchus mykiss)

Computer Vision (CV) is a relatively young discipline which has been widely used to automate quality evaluation. CV inspection of fish and fish products can provide efficient, consistent and cost effective alternative, so efforts focused on speed and accuracy of machine vision as a substitute for human inspection of foods. Machine vision is explained as the construction of explicit informative and meaningful descriptions of a physical object via image analysis. Actually it encloses the capturing, processing and analysis of two-dimensional images, and by modeling human vision electronically perceives and understands images. ... This study tries to evaluate the relationship between weight of fish and visual features derived from image processing and present best fit relationship between weight and visual features

A TRAF3-NIK module differentially regulates DNA vs RNA pathways in innate immune signaling.

Detection of viral genomes by the innate immune system elicits an antiviral gene program mediated by type I interferons (IFNs). While viral RNA and DNA species induce IFN via separate pathways, the mechanisms by which these pathways are differentially modulated are unknown. Here we show that the positive regulator of IFN in the RNA pathway, TRAF3, has an inhibitory function in the DNA pathway. Loss of TRAF3 coincides with increased expression of the alternative NF-κB-inducing molecule, NIK, which interacts with the DNA pathway adaptor, STING, to enhance IFN induction. Cells lacking NIK display defective IFN activation in the DNA pathway due to impaired STING signaling, and NIK-deficient mice are more susceptible to DNA virus infection. Mechanistically, NIK operates independently from alternative NF-κB signaling components and instead requires autophosphorylation and oligomerization to activate STING. Thus a previously undescribed pathway for NIK exists in activating IFN in the DNA pathway

Surface Analysis of Coal Indicating Neutral Red Enhances the Precursor Steps of Methanogenesis

Artificially stimulated, high-yield microbial production of methane from coal is a challenging problem that continues to generate research interest. Decomposition of organic matter and production of methane from coal are the results of multiple redox reactions carried out by different communities of bacteria and archaea. Recent work by our group (Beckmann et al., 2015) demonstrated that the presence of the redox-mediating molecule neutral red, in its crystalline form on a coal surface, can increase methane production. However, hydrolysis and the acetogenesis of the coal surface are essential precursor steps for methane production by archaea. Acetogenesis is the preparation phase of methanogenesis because methanogens can only assimilate acetate, CO2 and H2 among the products formed during this process. In the present study, the surface chemical analysis of neutral red treated coal using attenuated total reflectance-fourier transform infrared (ATR-FTIR) spectroscopy and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) demonstrate that the acetate production and resulting oxidation of the coal only occurred at few nanometers into the coal surface (at the nanoscale <5 nm). We observed that in the presence of neutral red and groundwater microbes, acetate signals in coal surface chemistry increased. This is the first evidence suggesting that neutral red enhances the biological conversion of coal into acetate. Microscopy demonstrated that neutral red crystals were co-localize with cells at the surface of coal in groundwater. This is consistent with neutral red crystals serving as a redox hub, concentrating and distributing reducing equivalents amongst the microbial community. In this study, the chemical changes of neutral red treated coal indicated that neutral red doubles the concentration of acetate over the control (coal without neutral red), emphasizing the importance of maximizing the fracture surface coverage of this redox mediator. Overall, results suggested that, neutral red not only can benefit acetoclastic methanogens, but also the fermentative and acetogenic bacteria involved in generating acetate

First Detection of Nosema ceranae, a Microsporidian Protozoa of European Honeybees (Apis mellifera) In Iran

Background: Nosemosis of European honey bee (Apis mellifera) is present in bee colonies world­wide. Until recently, Nosema apis had been regarded as the causative agent of the disease, that causes heavy economic losses in apicultures. Nosema ceranae is an emerging microsporidian para­site of European honeybees, A. mellifera, but its distribution is not well known. Previously, nosemosis in honeybees in Iran was attributed exclusively to N. apis.Methods: Six Nosema positive samples (determined from light microscopy of spores) of adult worker bees from one province of Iran (Savadkouh- Mazandaran, northern Iran) were tested to determine Nosema species using previously- developed PCR primers of the 16 S rRNA gene. As it is difficult to distinguish N. ceranae and N. apis morphologically, a PCR assay based on 16 S ribosomal RNA has been used to differentiate N. apis and N. ceranae.Results: Only N. ceranae was found in all samples, indicating that this species present in Iran apiar­ies.Conclusion: This is the first report of N. ceranae in colonies of A. mellifera in Iran. It seems that intensive surveys are needed to determine the distribution and prevalence of N. ceranae in differ­ent regions of Iran

A double masked randomised 4-week, placebo-controlled study in the USA, Thailand and Taiwan to compare the efficacy of oral valganciclovir and topical 2% ganciclovir in the treatment of cytomegalovirus anterior uveitis: study protocol.

IntroductionCytomegalovirus (CMV) anterior uveitis is a recognised cause of anterior uveitis in immunocompetent patients and is preventable cause of vision loss. Ocular sequelae include corneal endothelial damage which can cause corneal oedema and failure, as well as glaucoma. Recurrences of inflammation are common and therefore patients are often exposed to long-term therapy. Oral therapy is available in the form of valganciclovir, although with the caveat of systemic side effects such as bone marrow suppression and renal failure necessitating regular interval laboratory monitoring. Recent reports have demonstrated that topical 2% ganciclovir solution may offer promising treatment outcomes in patients with CMV anterior uveitis with superior safety, cost-effectiveness and convenience profiles. An investigation into the relative equipoise of these therapies is warranted for these reasons.Methods and analysisThe Systemic and Topical Control of Cytomegalovirus Anterior uveitis: Treatment Outcomes (STACCATO) trial is designed as a multicentre, block randomised by site, double-masked, placebo-controlled trial comparing the efficacy of oral valganciclovir, 2% topical ganciclovir and placebo in treating PCR-proven CMV anterior uveitis. Participant clinical evaluation will occur at three study time points by a masked study ophthalmologist over a 28-day period to assess resolution of ocular inflammation (secondary outcome). A control group will provide additional information about the possible impact that the infected host's immune response may play in controlling local viral replication. The primary analysis is an analysis of covariance (three arms) correcting for baseline to compare quantitative CMV viral load in the anterior chamber (AC) aqueous fluid before and 7 days after treatment.Ethics and disseminationThe University of California San Francisco Committee on Human Research and the Khon Kaen University Institutional Review Board have given ethical approval. The results of this trial will be presented at local and international meetings and submitted for peer-reviewed journals for publication.Trial registration numberNCT03576898

Guidance of sentinel lymph node biopsy decisions in patients with T1-T2 melanoma using gene expression profiling.

AIM: Can gene expression profiling be used to identify patients with T1-T2 melanoma at low risk for sentinel lymph node (SLN) positivity? PATIENTS & METHODS: Bioinformatics modeling determined a population in which a 31-gene expression profile test predicted \u3c5% SLN positivity. Multicenter, prospectively-tested (n = 1421) and retrospective (n = 690) cohorts were used for validation and outcomes, respectively. RESULTS: Patients 55-64 years and ≥65 years with a class 1A (low-risk) profile had SLN positivity rates of 4.9% and 1.6%. Class 2B (high-risk) patients had SLN positivity rates of 30.8% and 11.9%. Melanoma-specific survival was 99.3% for patients ≥55 years with class 1A, T1-T2 tumors and 55.0% for class 2B, SLN-positive, T1-T2 tumors. CONCLUSION: The 31-gene expression profile test identifies patients who could potentially avoid SLN biopsy