Le Peneroplidi dei sedimenti recenti del Mediterraneo e del Golfo Persico

Questa nota riguarda lo studio di popolazioni differenti di Peneroplidi e le loro variazioni morfologiche individuali. I campioni sono stati prelevati, sempre a debole profondità, vicino alla costa. In Sardegna lungo la spiaggia di Golfo Aranci, nel Golfo Persico lungo la spiaggia di Aziziyah (a 1O Km circa a Sud di Alkhobar) e nella laguna interna Rawhat as Sayh

The prognostic importance of chronic end-stage diseases in geriatric patients admitted to 163 Italian ICUs

BACKGROUND: The number of elderly patients undergoing major surgical interventions and then needing admission to intensive care unit (ICU) grows steadily. We investigated this issue in a cohort of 232,278 patients admitted in five years (2011-2015) to 163 Italian general ICUs. METHODS: Surgical patients older than 75 registered in the GiViTI MargheritaPROSAFE project were analyzed. The impact on hospital mortality of important chronic conditions (severe COPD, NYHA class IV, dementia, end-stage renal disease, cirrhosis with portal hypertension) was investigated with two prognostic models developed yearly on patients staying in the ICU less or more than 24 hours. RESULTS: 44,551 elderly patients (19.2%) underwent emergency (47.3%) or elective surgery (52.7%). At least one severe comorbidity was present in 14.6% of them, yielding a higher hospital mortality (32.4%, vs. 21.1% without severe comorbidity). In the models for patients staying in the ICU 24 hours or more, cirrhosis, NYHA class IV, and severe COPD were constant independent predictors of death (adjusted odds ratios [ORs] range 1.67-1.97, 1.54-1.91, and 1.34-1.50, respectively), while dementia was statistically significant in four out of five models (adjusted ORs 1.23-1.28). End-stage renal disease, instead, never resulted to be an independent prognostic factor. For patients staying in the ICU less than 24 hours, chronic comorbidities were only occasionally independent predictors of death. CONCLUSIONS: Our study confirms that elderly surgical patients represent a relevant part of all ICUs admissions. About one of seven bear at least one severe chronic comorbidity, that, excluding end-stage renal disease, are all strong independent predictors of hospital death

Simple gene transfer technique based on I-SceI meganuclease and cytoplasmic injection in IVF bovine embryos

Although transgenic methods in mammals are inefficient, an easy and highly efficient transgenesis systemusing I-SceI meganuclease (intron-encoded endonuclease fromS. cerevisiae)was recently described in Xenopus. The method consisted of injection into fertilized eggs of an I-SceI reaction mixture with a plasmid DNA carrying the transgene, flanked by the meganuclease recognition sites (pIS). In the present study, the effects of I-SceI on gene transfer were tested apparently for the first time in mammals, in particular, in cattle. Various conditions were evaluated, including three concentrations of the plasmid pIS Pax6egfp, carrying I-SceI recognition sites flanking egfp under Pax6 promoter and two injection times (before IVM and after IVF) of pIS CAGegfp, carrying I-SceI sites fanking egfp under CAG promoter. In addition, the quantity of transgenewasmeasured using quantitative polymerase chain reaction, and presence of transgene signals was evaluated using fluorescence in situ hybridization analysis. Transgene expression rateswere higher (P< 0.05) for groups treated after IVF (79.1%, 91/115 and 63.0%, 75/ 119) than before IVM (32.6%, 31/95 and 34.7%, 33/95), with and without I-SceI, respectively. Interestingly, injectionwith pIS plus I-SceI after IVF increased frequency (P<0.05) of nonmosaic transgene-expressing embryos (58.3%, 42/72 vs. 29.7%, 25/84) for pIS plus I-SceI and pIS alone. Based on fluorescence in situ hybridization analysis, injectionwith I-SceI increased (P<0.05) the proportion of embryos with transgene signals in all blastomeres compared with pIS alone (44.0%,11/25 vs. 6.9%, 2/29) for pIS plus I-SceI and pIS alone. In addition, transgene copy number was numerically higher for the group treated with pIS plus I-SceI compared with pIS alone. In conclusion, I-SceI gene transfer increased transgene signals in bovine embryos.Fil: Bevacqua, Romina Jimena. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Agronomía. Pabellón de Zootecnica. Laboratorio de Biotecnología Animal; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Parque Centenario; ArgentinaFil: Canel, Natalia Gabriela. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Agronomía. Pabellón de Zootecnica. Laboratorio de Biotecnología Animal; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Parque Centenario; ArgentinaFil: Hiriart, María Inés. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Agronomía. Pabellón de Zootecnica. Laboratorio de Biotecnología Animal; ArgentinaFil: Sipowicz, P.. Universidad Nacional de San Martín. Laboratorio de Neuro y Citogenética Molecular; ArgentinaFil: Rozenblum, G. T.. Universidad Maimónides. Area de Investigaciones Biomédicas y Biotecnológicas. Centro de Estudios Biomédicos, Biotecnológicos, Ambientales y de Diagnóstico; ArgentinaFil: Vitullo, Alfredo Daniel. Universidad Maimónides. Area de Investigaciones Biomédicas y Biotecnológicas. Centro de Estudios Biomédicos, Biotecnológicos, Ambientales y de Diagnóstico; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Parque Centenario; ArgentinaFil: Radrizzani Helguera, Martin. Universidad Nacional de San Martín. Laboratorio de Neuro y Citogenética Molecular; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Parque Centenario; ArgentinaFil: Fernández y Martín, Rafael. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Agronomía. Pabellón de Zootecnica. Laboratorio de Biotecnología Animal; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Parque Centenario; ArgentinaFil: Salamone, Daniel Felipe. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Agronomía. Pabellón de Zootecnica. Laboratorio de Biotecnología Animal; Argentin

The Effect of \u3cem\u3eLeucaena leucocephala\u3c/em\u3e on Beef Production and Toxicity in the Chaco Region of Argentina

Hedgerows of the fodder tree legume, Leucaena leucocephala (Lam.) de Wit ssp. glabrata (Rose Zárate) (leucaena), planted with companion grass, provide productive, profitable and sustainable tropical pasture (Shelton and Dalzell 2007). Although leucaena can improve beef production from tropical pastures, poor grower adoption has limited development of leucaena in the Chaco Region of Argentina. This can be partly attributed to: (1) unsuccessful establishment; (2) limited understanding of leucaena management as a forage resource; and (3) concerns about mimosine toxicity. These 3 limitations have been overcome in other regions of the world (e.g. northern Australia and the Chaco Region of Paraguay), but little is known about leucaena management and the protection status of ruminants against mimosine toxicosis in Argentina. The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of leucaena on beef production and toxicity in the west of the Argentinean Chaco Region. We hypothesise that the introduction of leucaena into grass pastures will significantly increase beef productivity if mimosine toxicosis does not appear

Space GlucoseControl system for blood glucose control in intensive care patients:a European multicentre observational study

BACKGROUND: Glycaemia control (GC) remains an important therapeutic goal in critically ill patients. The enhanced Model Predictive Control (eMPC) algorithm, which models the behaviour of blood glucose (BG) and insulin sensitivity in individual ICU patients with variable blood samples, is an effective, clinically proven computer based protocol successfully tested at multiple institutions on medical and surgical patients with different nutritional protocols. eMPC has been integrated into the B.Braun Space GlucoseControl system (SGC), which allows direct data communication between pumps and microprocessor. The present study was undertaken to assess the clinical performance and safety of the SGC for glycaemia control in critically ill patients under routine conditions in different ICU settings and with various nutritional protocols. METHODS: The study endpoints were the percentage of time the BG was within the target range 4.4 – 8.3 mmol.l(−1), the frequency of hypoglycaemic episodes, adherence to the advice of the SGC and BG measurement intervals. BG was monitored, and insulin was given as a continuous infusion according to the advice of the SGC. Nutritional management (enteral, parenteral or both) was carried out at the discretion of each centre. RESULTS: 17 centres from 9 European countries included a total of 508 patients, the median study time was 2.9 (1.9-6.1) days. The median (IQR) time–in–target was 83.0 (68.7-93.1) % of time with the mean proposed measurement interval 2.0 ± 0.5 hours. 99.6 % of the SGC advices on insulin infusion rate were accepted by the user. Only 4 episodes (0.01 % of all BG measurements) of severe hypoglycaemia <2.2 mmol.l(−1) in 4 patients occurred (0.8 %; 95 % CI 0.02-1.6 %). CONCLUSION: Under routine conditions and under different nutritional protocols the Space GlucoseControl system with integrated eMPC algorithm has exhibited its suitability for glycaemia control in critically ill patients. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ClinicalTrials.gov NCT0152366

Battery model impact on time-optimal co-design for electric racing cars: review and application

The sustainable mobility trend touches the racing world as well, from the hybridization of Formula 1 (F1) and Le Mans Hypercars to the fully electric Formula E racing class. In this scenario, the research community is studying how to push electric racing vehicles to their limit, combining vehicle dynamics and energy management, to successfully solve the minimum lap time problem. Recently, this class of problems has been enlarged towards optimal sizing, with a particular interest in batteries, which represent the main bottleneck for electric vehicle performance. In this work, starting from a thorough review of literature approaches, we define a general optimization framework of minimum lap and race time problems for electric vehicles, suitable to figure out the impact of different modeling choices on both problem structure and optimal variables profiles. Exploiting a case study on Generation 3 (Gen 3) of Formula E cars, we delve into the impact of battery models' complexity on both optimal sizing and optimal battery usage. We show how highly detailed models are necessary to study the evolution of both battery and vehicle control variables during the race, while, simple models are more than sufficient to address the battery sizing problem.Comment: Accepted for publication on IEEE Transactions on Transportation Electrificatio

The effect of Leucaena leucocephala on beef production and its toxicity in the Chaco Region of Argentina

Hedgerows of the fodder tree legume, Leucaena leucocephala ssp. glabrata (leucaena), planted with a companion grass, provide productive, profitable and sustainable tropical pasture (Shelton and Dalzell 2007). Although leucaena can improve beef production, poor grower adoption has limited development of leucaena in the Chaco Region of Argentina. Factors contributing to poor adoption include: (1) unsuccessful establishment; (2) limited understanding of leucaena management as a forage resource; and (3) concerns about mimosine toxici-ty. While these 3 limitations have been overcome in other regions of the world (e.g. northern Australia and the Chaco Region of Paraguay), in Argentina little is known about leucaena management and the protection of ruminants against mimosine toxicosis.Instituto de Investigación Animal del Chaco SemiáridoFil: Radrizzani Bonadeo, Alejandro. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria (INTA). Instituto de Investigación Animal del Chaco Semiárido; Argentina.Fil: Nasca, Jose Andres. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria (INTA). Instituto de Investigación Animal del Chaco Semiárido; Argentina

Virtual-bike emulation in a series-parallel human-powered electric bike

Combining the advantages of standard bicycles and electrified vehicles, electric bikes (e-Bikes) are promising vehicles to reduce emission and traffic. The current literature on e-Bikes ranges from works on the energy management to the vehicle control to properly govern the human-vehicle interaction. This last point is fundamental in chain-less series bikes, where the link between the human and the vehicle behavior is only given by a control law. In this work, we address this problem in a series-parallel bike. In particular, we provide an extension of the virtual-chain concept, born for series bikes, and then we improve it developing a virtual-bike framework. Experimental results are used to validate the effectiveness of the solutions, when the cyclist is actually riding the bike.Comment: Accepted for publication at the IFAC World Congress 202

Reinhold et l’héritage de Bode

Cet article se fixe pour but d’examiner l’articulation entre l’engagement Maçonnique de Reinhold et sa carrière philosophique dans les années 1788–1794. Cette période est marquée par un événement majeur, qui survient en décembre 1793: la mort de Johann Christoph Bode, qui, après la crise de l’Illuminisme survenue en 1787, s’était appliqué à redéfinir l’orientation de l’Ordre. Reinhold, qui avait été étroitement associé aux travaux de Bode, se sent appelé à endosser son héritage

Reinhold et l’héritage de Bode

Cet article se fixe pour but d’examiner l’articulation entre l’engagement Maçonnique de Reinhold et sa carrière philosophique dans les années 1788–1794. Cette période est marquée par un événement majeur, qui survient en décembre 1793: la mort de Johann Christoph Bode, qui, après la crise de l’Illuminisme survenue en 1787, s’était appliqué à redéfinir l’orientation de l’Ordre. Reinhold, qui avait été étroitement associé aux travaux de Bode, se sent appelé à endosser son héritage