Fate of maize intrinsic and recombinant genes in calves fed genetically modified maize Bt11

The presence of maize intrinsic and recombinant cry1Ab genes in the gastrointestinal (GI) contents, peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC), and visceral organs of calves fed genetically modified Bt11 maize was examined by PCR in a subchronic 90-day performance study. Samples were collected from six Japanese Black/Holstein calves fed Bt11 maize and from six calves fed non-Bt maize. Fragments of maize zein (Ze1), invertase, chloroplast, and cry1Ab were detected inconsistently in the rumen fluid and rectal contents 5 and 18 h after feeding. The chloroplast DNA fragments of ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase/oxygenase and tRNA were detected inconsistently in the PBMC, the visceral organs, and the longissimus muscle, while the cry1Ab gene was never detected in PBMC or in the visceral organs. These results suggest that feed-derived maize DNA was mostly degraded in the GI tract but that fragmented DNA was detectable in the GI contents as a possible source of transfer to calf tissues. These results also suggest that the recombinant cry1Ab genes were not transferred to the PBMC and tissues of calves fed Bt11 maize.     

Effect of octreotide on gastric and duodenal motility

Intraparotid facial nerve schwannomas have been documented sporadically throughout the medical literature. These benign tumours of neurogenic origin should be considered in the differential diagnosis of parotid region masses. A case report is presented, followed by a brief literature review and discussion of appropriate diagnostic and treatment modalities.     

Thermophysical properties of americium-containing barium plutonate

Polycrystalline specimens of americium-containing barium plutonate have been prepared by mixing the appropriate amounts of (Pu_0.91Am_0.09)O₂ and BaCO₃ powders followed by reacting and sintering at 1600 K under the flowing gas atmosphere of dry-air. The sintered specimens had a single phase of orthorhombic perovskite structure and were crack-free. Elastic moduli were determined from longitudinal and shear sound velocities. Debye temperature was also determined from sound velocities and lattice parameter measurements. Thermal conductivity was calculated from measured density at room temperature, literature values of heat capacity and thermal diffusivity measured by laser flash method in vacuum. Thermal conductivity of americium-containing barium plutonate was roughly independent of temperature and registered almost the same magnitude as that of BaPuO₃ and BaUO₃.     

Thermophysical properties of several nitrides prepared by spark plasma sintering

Relatively high-density nitride pellets of TiN, ZrN, DyN, UN and their composites have been prepared by spark plasma sintering (SPS) technique without any milling process and sintering additive. The sintering process finished within 30 min for all the samples. The short sintering time and moderate sintering temperature strongly prohibited the grain growth in the sintering process. The SPS-prepared sample showed high Vickers hardness due to the small grain size. Despite of the grain size, the thermal conductivity remains the high value. The result indicates that the impurity layer on particle surface was removed in SPS process. The SPS pelletizing permits easy densification of nitrides without any deterioration of thermal properties, considered to be suitable as a preparation method of nitride fuels.     

Comparison of secondary electron emission in helium ion microscope with gallium ion and electron microscopes

To evaluate secondary electron (SE) image characteristics in helium ion microscope, Si surfaces with a rod and step structures is scanned by 30 keV He and Ga ion beams and 1 keV electron beam. The topographic sensitivity of He ions is in principle higher than that for scanning electron microscope (SEM) because of the stronger dependency of SE yield versus incident angle for He ions. As shrinking to sub nm patterns, the pseudo-images constructed from line profile of SE intensity by the electron beam lose their sharpness, however, the images for the He and Ga ion beams keep clearness due to darkening the bottom corners of the pattern. Here, the sputter erosion for Ga ions must be considered. Furthermore, trajectories of emitted SEs are simulated for a rectangular Al surface scanned by the beams to study voltage contrast, where positive and negative voltages are applied to the small area of the sample. Both less high energy component in the energy distribution of SEs and dominant contribution of direct SE excitation by a projectile He ion keep a high voltage contrast down to a sub nm sized area positively biased against the zero-potential surroundings.     

Ab initio study of hydrogen diffusion in zirconium oxide

Hydrogen diffusion in monoclinic and tetragonal zirconium oxides has been studied by electronic state calculations. In both structures, the optimized hydrogen site lies near the center of a distorted fluorite structure. The activation energy was calculated to be 120–200 kJ/mol, which is similar to experimentally measured values. The effects of compressive stress, alloying elements, and oxygen defects are considered individually. Compressive stress reduces the hydrogen diffusion coefficient by 40%/GPa. Oxygen defects and substituted Fe and Cr are thought to act as trapping sites for hydrogen, which probably reduces hydrogen diffusion in zirconium oxide.     

Synthesis and thermal conductivity of Y6UO12

Y₆UO₁₂ was synthesized by solid-state reactions of Y₂O₃ and U₃O₈. The high-density pellet of Y₆UO₁₂ was prepared by the spark plasma sintering followed by heat treatment in air for oxygen supplementation. The thermal conductivity (κ) was evaluated using the laser flash method from room temperature to 1173 K. The κ of Y₆UO₁₂ decreased with increasing temperature in the whole temperature range, indicating that the phonon contribution was predominant. The room temperature κ value of Y₆UO₁₂ was 4.90 Wm^?1K^?1. The magnitude relationship of κ among Y₆UO₁₂, Y₆WO₁₂, and Yb₆WO₁₂, i.e. κ of Yb₆WO₁₂ < κ of Y₆UO₁₂ < κ of Y₆WO₁₂, was discussed based on the general lattice thermal conductivity theory.     

The δ′/δ phase transition in hafnium hydride and deuteride

Bulk samples of hafnium (Hf) hydride and deuteride were prepared and the thermal properties, heat capacity (C_P) and thermal conductivity (κ) were measured. In the C_P–temperature curves for both samples, typical lambda-type peaks were observed at around 350 K, which was due to the second-order phase transition from the δ′-phase to the δ-phase. In Hf hydride, it is considered that the δ′-phase and the δ-phase consist of regularly arranged and randomly arranged hydrogen atoms, respectively. Therefore, it can be said that the δ′/δ phase transition observed in both Hf hydride and deuteride is an order–disorder phase transition. The values of κ as well as C_P changed significantly at around the phase transition temperature.     

Structural analyses and integrated design of the MITICA Injector assembly

In the framework of the activities foreseen for PRIMA (Padova Research on Injector Megavolt Accelerated) the MITICA neutral beam injector plays the role of main experiment, aiming to build, operate, test and optimize a full power and full scale prototype of the ITER Heating Neutral Beam Injector [1], [2], [3].The entire MITICA system will be housed in special buildings, suitably designed to provide all the necessary supports, interfaces and shielding walls for nuclear radiation safety. Therefore an integrated design of the MITICA system and relevant buildings shall be developed and verified carefully, considering all the different configurations, operational modes and load combinations.This paper presents the numerical models and the results of MITICA assembly integrated analyses. The model takes into account properly constraints to ground and surrounding buildings, to study and verify the static and seismic response of the whole assembly.The load cases are defined and the numerical analyses described. Load definition and analyses have been performed considering the requirements of both the ASME [4] and the National Standard NTC2008 [5] for the seismic verification of structures subject to design response spectra.The obtained results are finally shown in detail and discussed, also comparing some different design options for design optimization.     

Pentose metabolism in Mycobacterium smegmatis: specificity of induction of pentose isomerases

The induction of D-xylose, D-ribose, L-arabinose, and D-lyxose isomerases by various sugars was studied to determine the configuration necessary for induction. D-Xylose isomerase was only induced by D-xylose, whereas D-ribose isomerase was induced by D-ribose, L-rhamnose, and L-lyxose. L-arabinose isomerase was induced by L-arabinose, D-galactose, L-arabitol, D-fucose, and dulcitol, whereas D-lyxose isomerase was induced by D-lyxose, D-mannose, D-ribose, dulcitol, and myoinositol. Some compounds such as dulcitol, D-galactose, and D- or L-fucose which do not support growth are still able to serve as inducers for various pentose isomerases.