Evidence for narrow resonant structures at W≈1.68W \approx 1.68 and W≈1.72W \approx 1.72 GeV in real Compton scattering off the proton

First measurement of the beam asymmetry $\Sigma$ for Compton scattering off the proton in the energy range $E_{\gamma}=0.85 - 1.25$ GeV is presented. The data reveals two narrow structures at $E_{\gamma}= 1.036$ and $E_{\gamma}=1.119$ GeV. They may signal narrow resonances with masses near $1.68$ and $1.72$ GeV, or they may be generated by the sub-threshold $K\Lambda$ and $\omega p$ production. Their decisive identification requires additional theoretical and experimental efforts.Comment: Published versio

Stochastic Resonance in Two Dimensional Landau Ginzburg Equation

We study the mechanism of stochastic resonance in a two dimensional Landau Ginzburg equation perturbed by a white noise. We shortly review how to renormalize the equation in order to avoid ultraviolet divergences. Next we show that the renormalization amplifies the effect of the small periodic perturbation in the system. We finally argue that stochastic resonance can be used to highlight the effect of renormalization in spatially extended system with a bistable equilibria

Distribution of functional variants within Runs of Homozygosity in four Italian cattle breeds

Several methods have been used to identify genomic regions subjected to selective sweeps. An alternative method can make use of runs of homozygosity (ROH), defined as stretches of homozygous regions in a genome. The aim of the present study was to detect selective sweeps using ROH in four cattle breeds. Individuals of Cinisara (71), Modicana (72),Reggiana (168) and Italian Holstein (96) were genotyped with the Illumina Bovine50SNP v2 BeadChip. To identify genomic regions that were most commonly associated with ROH within each breed, the percentage of occurrences of a single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) in ROH was calculated across animals. The genomic regions most commonly associated with ROH were identified by selecting the top 1% of the SNPs most commonly observed in ROH in each breed. This approach resulted in the identification of 11 genomic regions in the Cinisara and Italian Holstein, and 8 in Modicana and Reggiana showing increased frequency of ROH. Generally, ROH patterns differed between breeds. There were two commons genomic regions between breed pairs, and in particular one in BTA6 between Modicana and Reggiana and one in BTA10 between Cinisara and Italian Holstein. A highly homozygous region (> 45% of individuals with ROH) was found only in Modicana breed in BTA6 (6:37,019,972- 39,069,719) within a QTL affecting milk fat and protein concentration. In these genomic regions we identified from 126 to 347 genes for each breed. According to Panther and KEGG database, a majority of the genes was involved in multiple signaling and signal transduction pathways in a wide variety of cellular and biochemical processes. Several of these genes were also comprised in a list of genes related to phenotypes for which cattle breeds have been subjected to strong positive selection. For most genes associated with ROH islands, a biological link to traits such as milk yield and composition, reproduction, immune response, coat colour, genetic disorders and resistance/susceptibility to infectious and diseases, which are known to be under selection, can be hypothesized. These results showed that selective sweeps detected with ROH approach are shared among breeds and that scanning the genome for ROH might be an alternative or complementary strategy to detect selective sweep related with important economically traits

Full-length sequencing and identification of novel polymorphisms in the ACACA gene of Valle del Belice sheep breed

The essential role of the acetyl-CoA carboxylase (ACACA) enzyme in milk fatty acid (FA) synthesis suggests that it may be responsible for the phenotypic variability observed in milk. Before attempting association analyses between this gene and/or enzyme and phenotypic traits, a study on the genetic variability within this locus is required. The aim of this work was to sequence the entire coding region of ACACA gene in Valle del Belice sheep breed to identify polymorphic sites. A total of 51 coding exons of ACACA gene were sequenced in 32 individuals of Valle del Belice sheep breed. Sequencing analysis and alignment of obtained sequences showed the presence of 23 polymorphic sites. The most polymorphic was exon 53 which showed presence of 12 single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), of which eight were missense mutations, caused amino acid changes and therefore may affect protein function or stability causing variation in phenotype. The identified polymorphisms showed high variability of the ACACA gene. Sequences analysis allowed to find six new SNPs in exon 53 (6832C>T; 6835C>A; 6840G>A; 6847G>T; 6852C>T and 6860G>C). A total of 31 haplotypes were inferred. Although this study could not provide association study with production traits, it shows finding of novel SNPs that might be important in future studies and laid the basis for further association analyses needed to evaluate the potential use of these SNPs as genetic markers for fat content and FAs composition in milk of Valle del Belice sheep breed

Force balance and membrane shedding at the Red Blood Cell surface

During the aging of the red-blood cell, or under conditions of extreme echinocytosis, membrane is shed from the cell plasma membrane in the form of nano-vesicles. We propose that this process is the result of the self-adaptation of the membrane surface area to the elastic stress imposed by the spectrin cytoskeleton, via the local buckling of membrane under increasing cytoskeleton stiffness. This model introduces the concept of force balance as a regulatory process at the cell membrane, and quantitatively reproduces the rate of area loss in aging red-blood cells.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figure

A First Investigation into the Use of Differential Somatic Cell Count as a Predictor of Udder Health in Sheep

Differential somatic cell count (DSCC), the percentage of somatic cell count (SCC) due to polymorphonuclear leukocytes (PMNs) and lymphocytes (LYMs), is a promising effective diagnostic marker for dairy animals with infected mammary glands. Well-explored in dairy cows, DSCC is also potentially valid in sheep, where clinical and subclinical mastitis outbreaks are among the principal causes of culling. We pioneered the application of DSCC in dairy ewes by applying receiver-operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis to define the most accurate thresholds to facilitate early discrimination of sheep with potential intramammary infection (IMI) from healthy animals. We tested four predefined SCC cut-offs established in previous research. Specifically, we applied SCC cut-offs of 265 × 103 cells/mL, 500 × 103 cells/mL, 645 × 103 cells/mL, and 1000 × 103 cells/mL. The performance of DSCC as a diagnostic test was assessed by examining sensitivity (Se), specificity (Sp), positive predictive value (PPV), negative predictive value (NPV), and area under curve (AUC) analyses. The designated threshold value for DSCC in the detection of subclinical mastitis is established at 79.8%. This threshold exhibits Se and Sp of 0.84 and 0.81, accompanied by an AUC of 0.88. This study represents the inaugural exploration of the potential use of DSCC in sheep’s milk as an early indicator of udder inflammation