Abundance and Genetic Diversity of nifH Gene Sequences in Anthropogenically Affected Brazilian Mangrove Sediments

Although mangroves represent ecosystems of global importance, the genetic diversity and abundance of functional genes that are key to their functioning scarcely have been explored. Here, we present a survey based on the nifH gene across transects of sediments of two mangrove systems located along the coast line of Sao Paulo state (Brazil) which differed by degree of disturbance, i.e., an oil-spill-affected and an unaffected mangrove. The diazotrophic communities were assessed by denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE), quantitative PCR (qPCR), and clone libraries. The nifH gene abundance was similar across the two mangrove sediment systems, as evidenced by qPCR. However, the nifH-based PCR-DGGE profiles revealed clear differences between the mangroves. Moreover, shifts in the nifH gene diversities were noted along the land-sea transect within the previously oiled mangrove. The nifH gene diversity depicted the presence of nitrogen-fixing bacteria affiliated with a wide range of taxa, encompassing members of the Alphaproteobacteria, Betaproteobacteria, Gammaproteobacteria, Firmicutes, and also a group of anaerobic sulfate-reducing bacteria. We also detected a unique mangrove-specific cluster of sequences denoted Mgv-nifH. Our results indicate that nitrogen-fixing bacterial guilds can be partially endemic to mangroves, and these communities are modulated by oil contamination, which has important implications for conservation strategies.

Treatment of malignant gastroduodenal obstruction with a nitinol self-expanding metal stent: An international prospective multicentre registry

Background: Duodenal stenting has become a broadly accepted first line of treatment for patients with advanced malignant gastroduodenal obstruction as these patients are difficult to treat and are poor surgical candidates. Aims: To document duodenal stent performance for palliative management of malignant gastroduodenal obstruction. Methods: Multicentre, single arm, prospective registry documenting peroral endoscopic duodenal stenting procedures in 202 patients. Results: Technical success achieved in 98% (CI. 95%, 99%) of stent placements. Increase of Gastric Outlet Obstruction Score by at least 1 point compared to baseline was achieved in 91% (CI, 86%, 95%) of patients persisting for a median of 184 days (CI, 109, 266). By day 5 (CI, 4,6) after stent placement, 50% of patients experienced a score increase of at least 1 point. Improvement from 14% of patients at baseline tolerating soft solids or low residue/normal diet to 84% at 15 days, 86% at 30 days, 81% at 90 days, 79% at 180 days, and 70% at 270 days. Complications included stent ingrowth and/or overgrowth (12.4%), transient periprocedural symptoms (3%), bleeding (3%), stent migration (1.5%), and perforation (0.5%). Conclusions: Safety and effectiveness of duodenal stenting for palliation of malignant gastroduodenal obstruction was confirmed in the largest international prospective series to date. (C) 2011 Editrice Gastroenterologica Italiana S.r.l. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Geometrical and kinematic properties of interfacial waves in stratified oil-water flow in inclined pipe

The stratified oil-water flow pattern is common in the petroleum industry, especially in offshore directional wells and pipelines. Previous studies have shown that the phenomenon of flow pattern transition in stratified flow can be related to the interfacial wave structure (problem of hydrodynamic instability). The study of the wavy stratified flow pattern requires the characterization of the interfacial wave properties, i.e., average shape, celerity and geometric properties (amplitude and wavelength) as a function of holdup, inclination angle and phases' relative velocity. However, the data available in the literature on wavy stratified flow is scanty, especially in inclined pipes and when oil is viscous. This paper presents new geometric and kinematic interfacial wave properties as a function of a proposed two-phase Froude number in the wavy-stratified liquid-liquid flow. The experimental work was conducted in a glass test line of 12 m and 0.026 m id., oil (density and viscosity of 828 kg/m(3) and 0.3 Pa s at 20 degrees C, respectively) and water as the working fluids at several inclinations from horizontal (-20 degrees, -10 degrees, 0 degrees, 10 degrees, 20 degrees). The results suggest a physical relation between wave shape and the hydrodynamic stability of the stratified liquid-liquid flow pattern. (C) 2011 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Activation profile of CXCL8-stimulated neutrophils and aging

Neutrophils are pivotal effector cells of innate immunity representing the first line of defense against aggression. They are the first cells to arrive at the site of the aggression, where they can directly eliminate the invading microorganisms. Their activation and recruitment into peripheral tissues is indispensable for host defense. With aging, there are alterations of the receptor by driven functions of human neutrophils as a decrease in the functional changes in signaling elicited by specific receptors, as CXCR1. We investigated the activation of neutrophils from elderly after the cells were cultivated with CXCL8. Although, CXCL8 induced elastase (ELA) secretion, data showed neither myeloperoxidase (MPO) activity nor production of IL-6, IL-10, GM-CSF by neutrophils from elderly compared with young individuals. On the other hand, in the presence of only LPS or LPS associated with CXCL8 neutrophils from elderly individuals, there were significant levels of IL-6, IL-10, GM-CSF but not MPO. These results indicate that neutrophils from elderly do not respond to CXCL8 stimulus, but they are activated by LPS to produce cytokines. However, MPO activity from elderly individuals was not different in the presence or absence of LPS and CXCL8

Blood transfusion in cardiac surgery is a risk factor for increased hospital length of stay in adult patients

Abstract Background Allogeneic red blood cell (RBC) transfusion has been proposed as a negative indicator of quality in cardiac surgery. Hospital length of stay (LOS) may be a surrogate of poor outcome in transfused patients. Methods Data from 502 patients included in Transfusion Requirements After Cardiac Surgery (TRACS) study were analyzed to assess the relationship between RBC transfusion and hospital LOS in patients undergoing cardiac surgery and enrolled in the TRACS study. Results According to the status of RBC transfusion, patients were categorized into the following three groups: 1) 199 patients (40%) who did not receive RBC, 2) 241 patients (48%) who received 3 RBC units or fewer (low transfusion requirement group), and 3) 62 patients (12%) who received more than 3 RBC units (high transfusion requirement group). In a multivariable Cox proportional hazards model, the following factors were predictive of a prolonged hospital length of stay: age higher than 65 years, EuroSCORE, valvular surgery, combined procedure, LVEF lower than 40% and RBC transfusion of > 3 units. Conclusion RBC transfusion is an independent risk factor for increased LOS in patients undergoing cardiac surgery. This finding highlights the adequacy of a restrictive transfusion therapy in patients undergoing cardiac surgery. Trial registration Clinicaltrials.gov identifier: http://NCT01021631.

Comparison of different ultrasonic vibration modes for post removal

This in vitro study compared different ultrasonic vibration modes for intraradicular cast post removal. The crowns of 24 maxillary canines were removed, the roots were embedded in acrylic resin blocks, and the canals were treated endodontically. The post holes were prepared and root canal impressions were taken with self-cured resin acrylic. After casting, the posts were cemented with zinc phosphate cement. The samples were randomly distributed into 3 groups (n=8): G1: no ultrasonic vibration (control); G2: tip of the ultrasonic device positioned perpendicularly to core surface and close to the incisal edge; and G3: tip of the ultrasonic device positioned perpendicularly to core surface at cervical region, close to the line of cementation. An Enac OE-5 ultrasound unit with an ST-09 tip was used. All samples were submitted to the tensile test using an universal testing machine at a crosshead speed of 1 mm/min. Data were subjected to one-way ANOVA and Tukey's post-hoc tests (α=0.05). Mean values of the load to dislodge the posts (MPa) were: G1 = 4.6 (± 1.4) A; G2 = 2.8 (± 0.9) B, and G3= 0.9 (± 0.3) C. Therefore, the ultrasonic vibration applied with the tip of device close to the core's cervical area showed higher ability to reduce the retention of cast post to root canal.

Reactive sputter magnetron reactor for preparation of thin films and simultaneous in-situ structural study by X-ray diffraction.

Reactive Sputter Magnetron (RSM) is a widely used technique to thin films growing of compounds both, in research laboratories and in industrial processes. The nature of the deposited compound will depend then on the nature of the magnetron target and the nature of the ions generated in the plasma. One important aspect of the problem is the knowledge of the evolution of the film during the process of growing itself. In this work, we present the design, construction of a chamber to be installed in the Huber goniometer in the XRD2 line of LNLS in Campinas, which allows in situ growing kinetic studies of thin films.

Processing of spectrally resolved x-ray images of inertial confinement fusion implosion cores recorded with multimonochromatic x-ray imagers

[EN] We discuss the processing of data recorded with multimonochromatic x-ray imagers (MMI) in inertial confinement fusion experiments. The MMI records hundreds of gated, spectrally resolved images that can be used to unravel the spatial structure of the implosion core. In particular, we present a new method to determine the centers in all the array of images, a better reconstruction technique of narrowband implosion core images, two algorithms to determine the shape and size of the implosion core volume based on reconstructed broadband images recorded along three-quasiorthogonal lines of sight, and the removal of artifacts from the space-integrated spectra.

Perfil de rendimiento en el campeonato del mundo de baloncesto (Ankara 2013) para personas con discapacidad intelectual: implicaciones en el sistema de elegibilidad

[ES] Este estudio tiene por objetivo caracterizar el perfil de rendimiento individual del jugador de baloncesto con DI y distinguir entre los equipos ganadores y perdedores. Para ello, en línea con la literatura científica en el baloncesto convencional, se analizaron las estadísticas oficiales de juego del Campeonato del Mundo de baloncesto para jugadores con DI (Ankara, 2013).

Genomic characterization of the italian wolf (Canis lupus): the genes involved in black coat colour determination and application of microarray technique for snps detection.

This study provides a comprehensive genetic overview on the endangered Italian wolf population. In particular, it focuses on two research lines. On one hand, we focalised on melanism in wolf in order to isolate a mutation related with black coat colour in canids. With several reported black individuals (an exception at European level), the Italian wolf population constituted a challenging research field posing many unanswered questions. As found in North American wolf, we reported that melanism in the Italian population is caused by a different melanocortin pathway component, the K locus, in which a beta-defensin protein acts as an alternative ligand for the Mc1r. This research project was conducted in collaboration with Prof. Gregory Barsh, Department of Genetics and Paediatrics, Stanford University. On the other hand, we performed analysis on a high number of SNPs thanks to a customized Canine microarray useful to integrate or substitute the STR markers for genotyping individuals and detecting wolf-dog hybrids. Thanks to DNA microchip technology, we obtained an impressive amount of genetic data which provides a solid base for future functional genomic studies. This study was undertaken in collaboration with Prof. Robert K. Wayne, Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA).

A molecular phylogeny of bivalve mollusks: ancient radiations and divergences as revealed by mitochondrial genes

The main scope of my PhD is the reconstruction of the large-scale bivalve phylogeny on the basis of four mitochondrial genes, with samples taken from all major groups of the class. To my knowledge, it is the first attempt of such a breadth in Bivalvia. I decided to focus on both ribosomal and protein coding DNA sequences (two ribosomal encoding genes -12s and 16s -, and two protein coding ones - cytochrome c oxidase I and cytochrome b), since either bibliography and my preliminary results confirmed the importance of combined gene signals in improving evolutionary pathways of the group. Moreover, I wanted to propose a methodological pipeline that proved to be useful to obtain robust results in bivalves phylogeny. Actually, best-performing taxon sampling and alignment strategies were tested, and several data partitioning and molecular evolution models were analyzed, thus demonstrating the importance of molding and implementing non-trivial evolutionary models. In the line of a more rigorous approach to data analysis, I also proposed a new method to assess taxon sampling, by developing Clarke and Warwick statistics: taxon sampling is a major concern in phylogenetic studies, and incomplete, biased, or improper taxon assemblies can lead to misleading results in reconstructing evolutionary trees. Theoretical methods are already available to optimize taxon choice in phylogenetic analyses, but most involve some knowledge about genetic relationships of the group of interest, or even a well-established phylogeny itself; these data are not always available in general phylogenetic applications. The method I proposed measures the "phylogenetic representativeness" of a given sample or set of samples and it is based entirely on the pre-existing available taxonomy of the ingroup, which is commonly known to investigators. Moreover, it also accounts for instability and discordance in taxonomies. A Python-based script suite, called PhyRe, has been developed to implement all analyses.

'Defending the rights'. An integrated model of collective action for "public water" in Italy

In many communities, supplying water for the people is a huge task and the fact that this essential service can be carried out by the private sector respecting the right to water, is a debated issue. This dissertation investigates the mechanisms through which a 'perceived rights violation' - which represents a specific form of perceived injustice which derives from the violation of absolute moral principles – can promote collective action. Indeed, literature on morality and collective action suggests that even if many people apparently sustain high moral principles (like human rights), only a minority decides to act in order to defend them. Taking advantage of the political situation in Italy, and the recent mobilization for "public water" we hypothesized that, because of its "sacred value", the perceived violation of the right to water facilitates identification with the social movement and activism. Through five studies adopting qualitative and quantitative methods, we confirmed our hypotheses demonstrating that the perceived violation of the right to water can sustain activism and it can influence vote intentions at the referendum for 'public water'. This path to collective action coexists with other 'classical' predictors of collective action, like instrumental factors (personal advantages, efficacy beliefs) and anger. The perceived rights violation can derive both from personal values (i.e. universalism) and external factors (i.e. a mobilization campaign). Furthermore, we demonstrated that it is possible to enhance the perceived violation of the right to water and anger through a specifically designed communication campaign. The final chapter summarizes the main findings and discusses the results, suggesting some innovative line of research for collective action literature.

The Role of Multiple Social Categorisation in Promoting the Inclusion in the Human Group of Outgroup Members

Innovation and economic performance of the firms in the service sector: relevant issues and open problems

This thesis is a collection of essays related to the topic of innovation in the service sector. The choice of this structure is functional to the purpose of single out some of the relevant issues and try to tackle them, revising first the state of the literature and then proposing a way forward. Three relevant issues has been therefore selected: (i) the definition of innovation in the service sector and the connected question of measurement of innovation; (ii) the issue of productivity in services; (iii) the classification of innovative firms in the service sector. Facing the first issue, chapter II shows how the initial width of the original Schumpeterian definition of innovation has been narrowed and then passed to the service sector form the manufacturing one in a reduce technological form. Chapter III tackle the issue of productivity in services, discussing the difficulties for measuring productivity in a context where the output is often immaterial. We reconstruct the dispute on the Baumol’s cost disease argument and propose two different ways to go forward in the research on productivity in services: redefining the output along the line of a characteristic approach; and redefining the inputs, particularly analysing which kind of input it’s worth saving. Chapter IV derives an integrated taxonomy of innovative service and manufacturing firms, using data coming from the 2008 CIS survey for Italy. This taxonomy is based on the enlarged definition of “innovative firm” deriving from the Schumpeterian definition of innovation and classify firms using a cluster analysis techniques. The result is the emergence of a four cluster solution, where firms are differentiated by the breadth of the innovation activities in which they are involved. Chapter 5 reports some of the main conclusions of each singular previous chapter and the points worth of further research in the future.

Mass measurements on neutron-deficient nuclides at SHIPTRAP and commissioning of a cryogenic narrow-band FT-ICR mass spectrometer

The dissertation presented here deals with high-precision Penning trap mass spectrometry on short-lived radionuclides. Owed to the ability of revealing all nucleonic interactions, mass measurements far off the line of ß-stability are expected to bring new insight to the current knowledge of nuclear properties and serve to test the predictive power of mass models and formulas. In nuclear astrophysics, atomic masses are fundamental parameters for the understanding of the synthesis of nuclei in the stellar environments. This thesis presents ten mass values of radionuclides around A = 90 interspersed in the predicted rp-process pathway. Six of them have been experimentally determined for the first time. The measurements have been carried out at the Penning-trap mass spectrometer SHIPTRAP using the destructive time-of-fligh ion-cyclotron-resonance (TOF-ICR) detection technique. Given the limited performance of the TOF-ICR detection when trying to investigate heavy/superheavy species with small production cross sections (σ< 1 μb), a new detection system is found to be necessary. Thus, the second part of this thesis deals with the commissioning of a cryogenic double-Penning trap system for the application of a highly-sensitive, narrow-band Fourier-transform ion-cyclotron-resonance (FT-ICR) detection technique. With the non-destructive FT-ICR detection method a single singly-charged trapped ion will provide the required information to determine its mass. First off-line tests of a new detector system based on a channeltron with an attached conversion dynode, of a cryogenic pumping barrier, to guarantee ultra-high vacuum conditions during mass determination, and of the detection electronics for the required single-ion sensitivity are reported.