Elephant grass genotypes for bioenergy production by direct biomass combustion

The objective of this work was to evaluate elephant grass (Pennisetum purpureum Schum.) genotypes for bioenergy production by direct biomass combustion. Five elephant grass genotypes grown in two different soil types, both of low fertility, were evaluated. The experiment was carried out at Embrapa Agrobiologia field station in Seropédica, RJ, Brazil. The design was in randomized complete blocks, with split plots and four replicates. The genotypes studied were Cameroon, Bag 02, Gramafante, Roxo and CNPGL F06-3. Evaluations were made for biomass production, total biomass nitrogen, biomass nitrogen from biological fixation, carbon/nitrogen and stem/leaf ratios, and contents of fiber, lignin, cellulose and ash. The dry matter yields ranged from 45 to 67 Mg ha-1. Genotype Roxo had the lowest yield and genotypes Bag 02 and Cameroon had the highest ones. The biomass nitrogen accumulation varied from 240 to 343 kg ha-1. The plant nitrogen from biological fixation was 51% in average. The carbon/nitrogen and stem/leaf ratios and the contents of fiber, lignin, cellulose and ash did not vary among the genotypes. The five genotypes are suitable for energy production through combustion.

Formation of a direct arterial blood supply to the anterior pituitary gland following complete or partial interruption of the hypophyseal portal vessels

If regions of the anterior pituitary gland received systemic blood via a direct arterial blood supply these regions would escape hypothalamic regulation and thus be a sequela in endocrine disorders. Since, in the untreated rat, all of the blood supply to the anterior pituitary gland is via the hypophyseal portal vessels, we hypothesized that partial interruption of the portal vessels could provoke the establishment of a direct arterial blood supply (arteriogenesis). We utilized the injection of polystyrene microspheres (15 or 9 micron diameter) into the left ventricle of the heart to test this hypothesis. Microspheres are trapped in the first capillary plexus they reach since they are too large to traverse the capillaries. No microspheres reached the anterior pituitary gland of control rats, a finding consistent with the fact that the anterior pituitary gland receives all of its blood supply via the hypophyseal portal blood vessels. Microspheres were observed in the primary portal capillary plexus in the infundibulum (median eminence), infundibular stalk (pituitary stalk), and infundibular process (pars nervosa), the first capillary plexus which they reached. A lesion of the medial basal hypothalamus (MBH) which destroyed the long portal vessels did not result in arteriogenesis since few, if any, microspheres were observed in the anterior pituitary gland. We confirmed, using vascular casts, that these lesions resulted in the long-term destruction of the primary portal capillaries in the infundibulum and of the long portal vessels. In MBH-lesioned animals it appears that all of the blood supply of the anterior pituitary gland is via short portal vessels arising from the infundibular stem and process.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Impact of direct seeding mulch-based cropping systems on soil nematodes in a long-term experiment in Madagascar

The objective of this work was to assess the effects of conventional tillage and of different direct seeding mulch-based cropping systems (DMC) on soil nematofauna characteristics. The long-term field experiment was carried out in the highlands of Madagascar on an andic Dystrustept soil. Soil samples were taken once a year during three successive years (14 to 16 years after installation of the treatments) from a 0-5-cm soil layer of a conventional tillage system and of three kinds of DMC: direct seeding on mulch from rotation soybean-maize residues; direct seeding of maize-maize rotation on living mulch of silverleaf (Desmodium uncinatum); direct seeding of bean (Phaseolus vulgaris)-soybean rotation on living mulch of kikuyu grass (Pennisetum clandestinum). The samples were compared with samples from natural fallows. The soil nematofauna, characterized by the abundance of different trophic groups and indices (MI, maturity index; EI and SI, enrichment and structure indices), allowed the discrimination of the different cropping systems. The different DMC treatments had a more complex soil food web than the tillage treatment: SI and MI were significantly greater in DMC systems. Moreover, DMC with dead mulch had a lower density of free-living nematodes than DMC with living mulch, which suggested a lower microbial activity.

Direct Observation of Magnetic Metastability in Individual Iron Nanoparticles

X-ray photoemission electron microscopy combined with x-ray magnetic circular dichroism is used to study the magnetic properties of individual iron nanoparticles with sizes ranging from 20 down to 8 nm. While the magnetocrystalline anisotropy of bulk iron suggests superparamagnetic behavior in this size range, ferromagnetically blocked particles are also found at all sizes. Spontaneous transitions from the blocked state to the superparamagnetic state are observed in single particles and suggest that the enhanced magnetic energy barriers in the ferromagnetic particles are due to metastable, structurally excited states with unexpected life times

Direct Observation of Magnetic Metastability in Individual Iron Nanoparticles

X-ray photoemission electron microscopy combined with x-ray magnetic circular dichroism is used to study the magnetic properties of individual iron nanoparticles with sizes ranging from 20 down to 8 nm. While the magnetocrystalline anisotropy of bulk iron suggests superparamagnetic behavior in this size range, ferromagnetically blocked particles are also found at all sizes. Spontaneous transitions from the blocked state to the superparamagnetic state are observed in single particles and suggest that the enhanced magnetic energy barriers in the ferromagnetic particles are due to metastable, structurally excited states with unexpected life times

FY15 Enrich Iowa Report Direct State Aid Funding Use & Impacts from Iowa Public Libraries, January 12, 2016

This report details the amount and use of Enrich Iowa funding Iowa libraries received for the Direct State Aid program. Annually, Iowa libraries are required to report on the use of this funding in set categories, but libraries are also given the opportunity to provide comments or stories on the impacts of these funds. The right column includes the comments submitted by Iowa libraries.

Clinical effectiveness of direct class II restorations: a meta-analysis.

Purpose: More than five hundred million direct dental restorations are placed each year worldwide. In about 55% of the cases, resin composites or compomers are used, and in 45% amalgam. The longevity of posterior resin restorations is well documented. However, data on resin composites that are placed without enamel/dentin conditioning and resin composites placed with self-etching adhesive systems are missing. Material and Methods: The database SCOPUS was searched for clinical trials on posterior resin composites without restricting the search to the year of publication. The inclusion criteria were: (1) prospective clinical trial with at least 2 years of observation; (2) minimum number of restorations at last recall = 20; (3) report on dropout rate; (4) report of operative technique and materials used; (5) utilization of Ryge or modified Ryge evaluation criteria. For amalgam, only those studies were included that directly compared composite resin restorations with amalgam. For the statistical analysis, a linear mixed model was used with random effects to account for the heterogeneity between the studies. P-values under 0.05 were considered significant. Results: Of the 373 clinical trials, 59 studies met the inclusion criteria. In 70% of the studies, Class II and Class I restorations had been placed. The overall success rate of composite resin restorations was about 90% after 10 years, which was not different from that of amalgam. Restorations with compomers had a significantly lower longevity. The main reason for replacement were bulk fractures and caries adjacent to restorations. Both of these incidents were infrequent in most studies and accounted only for about 6% of all replaced restorations after 10 years. Restorations with macrofilled composites and compomer suffered significantly more loss of anatomical form than restorations with other types of material. Restorations that were placed without enamel acid etching and a dentin bonding agent showed significantly more marginal staining and detectable margins compared to those restorations placed using the enamel-etch or etch-and-rinse technique; restorations with self-etching systems were between the other groups. Restorations with compomer suffered significantly more chippings (repairable fracture) than restorations with other materials, which did not statistically differ among each other. Restorations that were placed with a rubber-dam showed significantly fewer material fractures that needed replacement, and this also had a significant effect on the overall longevity. Conclusion: Restorations with hybrid and microfilled composites that were placed with the enamel-etching technique and rubber-dam showed the best overall performance; the longevity of these restorations was similar to amalgam restorations. Compomer restorations, restorations placed with macrofilled composites, and resin restorations with no-etching or self-etching adhesives demonstrated significant shortcomings and shorter longevity.

Feasibility of direct mapping of cerebral fluorodeoxy-D-glucose metabolism in situ at subcellular resolution using soft X-ray fluorescence.

Glucose metabolism is difficult to image with cellular resolution in mammalian brain tissue, particularly with (18) fluorodeoxy-D-glucose (FDG) positron emission tomography (PET). To this end, we explored the potential of synchrotron-based low-energy X-ray fluorescence (LEXRF) to image the stable isotope of fluorine (F) in phosphorylated FDG (DG-6P) at 1 μm(2) spatial resolution in 3-μm-thick brain slices. The excitation-dependent fluorescence F signal at 676 eV varied linearly with FDG concentration between 0.5 and 10 mM, whereas the endogenous background F signal was undetectable in brain. To validate LEXRF mapping of fluorine, FDG was administered in vitro and in vivo, and the fluorine LEXRF signal from intracellular trapped FDG-6P over selected brain areas rich in radial glia was spectrally quantitated at 1 μm(2) resolution. The subsequent generation of spatial LEXRF maps of F reproduced the expected localization and gradients of glucose metabolism in retinal Müller glia. In addition, FDG uptake was localized to periventricular hypothalamic tanycytes, whose morphological features were imaged simultaneously by X-ray absorption. We conclude that the high specificity of photon emission from F and its spatial mapping at ≤1 μm resolution demonstrates the ability to identify glucose uptake at subcellular resolution and holds remarkable potential for imaging glucose metabolism in biological tissue. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Direct Care Worker in Nursing Facilities Turnover Report, December 2015

The 2008 general assembly acknowledged in House File (HF) 2539, Section 71 that employee turnover rates in nursing facilities should be documented but also recognized that this information was not currently being collected. The department was directed to modify the nursing facility cost report to capture information on the turnover rates of direct care and other employees of nursing facilities. The department was also required to submit a report on an annual basis to the governor and general assembly which provides an analysis of direct care worker and other nursing facility employee turnover by individual nursing facility, a comparison of the turnover rate in each individual nursing facility with the state wide average, and an analysis of any improvement or decline in meeting any accountability goals or other measures related to turnover rates. The annual report was to include any data available regarding turnover rate trends, and other information the department deemed appropriate.

Glucocorticoids exert direct toxicity on microvasculature: analysis of cell death mechanisms.

Glucocorticoids (GCs) are routinely administered systemically or injected into the eye when treating numerous ocular diseases; however, their toxicity on the retinal microvasculature has not been previously investigated. In this article, the effects of hydrocortisone (Hydro), dexamethasone, dexamethasone-phosphate and triamcinolone acetonide (TA) were evaluated in vitro on human skin microcirculation cells and, bovine endothelial retinal cells, ex-vivo, on flat mounted rat retinas. The degree of GCs induced endothelial cell death varied according to the endothelial cell type and GCs chemical properties. GCs toxicity was higher in skin microvascular endothelial cells and for hydrophobic GC formulations. The mechanism of cell death differed between GCs, Hydro and TA activated the leukocyte elastase inhibitor/L-DNase II pathways but did not activate caspases. The mechanisms of cell death observed in cell cultures were similar to those observed in rat retinal explants. Taken together these results indicate that particular attention should be paid to the potential vascular side effects when administrating GCs clinically and in particular when developing sustained-release intraocular devices.