Somatic cell cloned transgenic bovine neurons for transplantation in parkinsonian rats

OBJECTIVE: To identify consistent relevant mechanisms of small intestinal dysfunction in cats with experimentally induced feline immunodeficiency virus infection (FIV) that developed chronic diarrhea during the time they were being used in studies of pathogenicity and transmission of FIV. ANIMALS: 10 cats. PROCEDURE: The following investigative tests and techniques were performed on each of the cats: routine hematologic and serum biochemical analyses; urinalysis; fecal parasitologic and microbiologic examinations; breath hydrogen lactulose (BH2LT) and xylose (BH2XT) tests; intestinal permeability test; endoscopic examination of the intestinal mucosa; bacteriologic culture of endoscopically collected small intestinal juice; and histologic examination of endoscopically obtained intestinal biopsy specimens. RESULTS: Neutrophilia was evident in 3 cats, and lymphopenia was detected in 2 cats. Serum biochemical abnormalities were not observed. Urinalysis results were unremarkable. Fecal bacteriologic and parasitologic results were normal, except for isolation of Campylobacter sp from 1 cat. Abnormal BH2XT values suggestive of D-xylose malabsorption were identified in 2 cats, and BH2LT values indicated evidence of small intestinal bacterial overgrowth in 1 cat. Finally, permeability test results, quantitation of bacterial flora from the proximal part of the small intestine and histologic examination of biopsy specimens did not reveal any abnormalities. CONCLUSIONS: Enteric pathogens did not account for the development of diarrhea in cats with experimentally induced FIV infection, and consistent relevant mechanisms of small intestinal dysfunction were not identified.     

Grating compensation of third-order material dispersion in thenormal dispersion regime: Sub-100-fs chirped-pulse amplification using afiber stretcher and grating-pair compressor

We describe a method for compensating large amounts of second- and third-order material dispersion, and we present two simple, compact and robust stretcher-compressor systems for microjoule-and millijoule-level chirped-pulse amplification. These systems, which use dispersive material to stretch and a modified grating pair to compress the pulse, provide expansion and compression with full cubic-phase compensation. Unlike previous fiber-stretcher systems which were limited to picosecond pulse durations, these systems can be used effectively with 50-fs microjoule pulses or 100-fs millijoule pulses. The results of our model are described, including the quartic-phase limitations for both systems. We discuss other applications of this grating pair to other areas of ultrafast optics, including intracavity dispersion compensation for femtosecond oscillators     

Kinetics of semicarbazide and nitrofurazone in chicken eggs and egg powders

The accumulation, depletion and partitioning of semicarbazide (SEM) and its parent compound nitrofurazone (NFZ) in eggs were studied using hens fed NFZ at therapeutic and sub-therapeutic levels. Dietary NFZ correlated strongly with NFZ and total SEM in eggs, while 28% of observed SEM was present in the form of parent NFZ. Depletion half-life in eggs was 2.4 days for SEM and 1.1 days for NFZ. NFZ accumulated preferentially in yolk (57-63%) as opposed to albumen, while 71-80% of SEM was found in yolk. In whole egg, 29% of SEM was present as tissue-bound residues compared with 80% in breast muscle. Whilst NFZ and SEM were partly degraded by pasteurization and spray drying, sufficient NFZ remained to suggest it might be detectable in egg powders when SEM is observed at low microg kg(-1) concentrations. NFZ was detectable in whole eggs during ingestion of only 0.1% of the therapeutic NFZ dose, making detection of intact NFZ in eggs a feasible means to prove conclusively the administration of this banned compound.     

Cyanobacterial blooms in the central basin of Lake Erie: Potentials for cyanotoxins and environmental drivers

Lake Erie western basin (WB) cyanobacterial blooms are a yearly summer occurrence; however, blooms have also been reported in the offshore waters of the central basin (CB), and very little is known about what drives these blooms or their potential for cyanobacterial toxins. Cyanobacteria Index was quantified using MODIS and MERIS data for the CB between 2003 and 2017, and water samples were collected between 2013 and 2017. The goals were to 1) quantify cyanobacteria, 2) determine environmental drivers of CB blooms, and 3) determine the potential for cyanobacterial toxins in the CB. Dolichospermum (Anabaena) occurred in the CB during July before the onset of the WB bloom, and then in August and September, the cyanobacteria community shifted towards Microcystis. The largest Dolichospermum blooms (2003, 2012, 2013, and 2015) were associated with reduced water clarity (Secchi disk depth?<?4?m), whereas large CB Microcystis blooms (2011 and 2015) were associated with large WB blooms. Dolichospermum blooms occurred in high nitrate concentrations (>20?μmol/L) and high nitrogen-to?phosphorus ratios (>100), which indicate nutrient concentrations or ratios did not select for Dolichospermum. Additionally, the sxtA gene, but not mcyE or microcystins, were detected in the CB during July 2016 and 2017. The mcyE gene and microcystins were detected in the CB during August 2016 and 2017. The results indicate the CB's potential for cyanotoxins shifts from saxitoxins to microcystins throughout the summer. Continued monitoring of cyanobacteria and multiple cyanobacterial toxins is recommended to ensure safe drinking water for CB coastal communities.     

A fully symmetric multi‐zone Galerkin boundary element method

This paper examines the efficient integration of a Symmetric Galerkin Boundary Element Analysis (SGBEA) method with multi‐zone resulting in a fully symmetric Galerkin multi‐zone formulation. In a previous approach, a Galerkin multi‐zone method was developed where the interfacial nodes are assigned degrees of freedom globally so that the displacement and traction continuity across the zonal interfaces are addressed directly. However, the method was only block symmetric. In the present paper, two new approaches are derived. In the first approach, the degrees of freedom for a particular zone are assigned locally, independent of the other zones. The usual linear set of equations, from the symmetric Galerkin approach, are augmented with an additional set of equations generated by the Galerkin form of hypersingular boundary integrals along the interfaces. Zonal continuity is imposed externally through Lagrange's constraints. This approach is also only block symmetric. The second approach derived from the first, uses the continuity constraints at the zonal assembly level to achieve full symmetry. These methods are compared to collocation multi‐zone and an earlier formulation, on two elasticity problems from the literature. It was found that the second method is much faster than the collocation method for medium to large scale problems, primarily due to its complete symmetry. It is also observed that these methods spend marginally more time on integration than the previous Galerkin multi‐zone method but are better suited to parallel processing. Copyright © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Magnetic and structural properties of ion beam sputtered Fe-Zr-Nb-B-Cu thin films

Magnetic and structural properties of Fe-Zr-Nb-B-Cu thin films, prepared by ion beam sputtering on silicon substrates by using a target made up of amorphous ribbons of nominal composition Fe₈₄Zr_3.5Nb_3.5B₈Cu₁, are reported. As-deposited thin film samples exhibit an in-plane uniaxial anisotropy, which can be ascribed to the preparation technique and the coupling of quenched-in internal stresses. Structural measurements indicate no significant variation of the grain size with thickness and with the annealing temperature. Increase in surface irregularities with annealing temperature and oxidation results in aggregates that would act as pinning centers, affecting the magnetic properties leading to magnetic hardening of the specimens. The role of the magnetic anisotropy is thoroughly discussed with the help of magnetic and ferromagnetic resonance measurements.     

Resources assignment model in maintenance activities scheduling

This paper proposes an analytical model for resources assignment in the context of maintenance activities scheduling. It takes into account the human as well as material resources availability constraints. It allows the decision maker to consider not only the preventive maintenance activities but also the potential failures which may occur during the scheduling horizon. Opportunistic maintenance may be considered as an option to improve the occupational rate mainly for maintenance operators. Additional constraints such as the completion time of some specific maintenance activities and the earliest starting works on a given machine may easily be considered in the model. Recall that the main purpose of this paper is to suggest an improved model for resources assignment to be implemented into a planning and scheduling module in CMMS software. The proposed model generates a feasible plan and makes sensitivity analysis possible in order to take into account the material and human resources fluctuations. A numerical example has been treated in order to illustrate the modelling process and to validate the coherence of the model. An attempt is made to develop a generic model which must be flexible and user friendly. Authors are investigating many other extensions of this work to fulfil some specific needs for the company which develops CMMS software. For the illustrative example presented in this paper, the explicit form of the mathematical model is provided in the Appendix of the paper.     

Development of a high-affinity anti-domoic acid sheep scFv and its use in detection of the toxin in shellfish

The potential of immunoassays as high-throughput screening tools for the detection of harmful substances in foods will only be realized when convenient methods are available for production of the high affinity antibodies needed for sensitive assay development. Recombinant antibodies offer advantages over traditional monoclonal antibodies in terms of ease of production, much greater antibody repertoire for selection, and versatility. We describe here the development of recombinant antibodies against the common shellfish toxin, domoic acid (DA), utilizing the sheep immunoglobulin system as an effective method for generating high affinity anti-hapten recombinant antibody fragments. A single-chain antibody fragment (scFv) library was generated from a sheep immunized with DA-bovine serum albumin conjugate, and anti-DA scFvs were isolated by phage-display. Three selected scFvs gave I50s of 2.6 to 58 ng/mL (8.3-186 nM) in competitive enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Assay optimization with one of these scFvs gave a very reproducible standard curve with a range of 0.3 to 5.6 ng/mL (1.0 to 17.9 nM), a mean limit of quantification (LOQ, defined as the I20) of 0.5 ng/mL (1.6 nM), and a mean I50 of 1.2 ng/mL (3.9 nM). When the assay was used for the analysis of crude methanolic extracts of scallop tissues, results obtained correlated well with standard HPLC assay results (R2, 0.90, n = 40; R2, 0.81, n = 34), although ELISA results were lower than HPLC results. Adjusting the cutoff point for DA concentration accordingly from the regulatory 20 mg/kg, the potential of the sheep scFv-based ELISA for use as a screening assay for DA in shellfish extracts was demonstrated.