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In this work, a stochastic diffuse interface model coupled with the Navier–Stokes equations has been exploited to numerically investigate vapor nucleation in a non-equilibrium system (a flowing liquid). Both homogeneous and heterogeneous nucleation is addressed and the influence of macroscopic flows on nucleation observables is discussed. The extended mesoscale simulations allow us to infer the spatial distributions of the nucleated bubbles via Voronoi tessellation analysis and to represent the nucleation phenomenon as a stochastic Random Poisson Point process. The findings open the way to design multiscale fluid simulations experiencing phase change. [Display omitted] • Fluctuating Hydrodynamics and Diffuse Interface describe non-equilibrium homogeneous and heterogeneous nucleation. • The share rate enhances the nucleation process. • Voronoi Tessellation analysis on large-scale simulations identifies the probability density of the spatial distribution of nucleated bubbles. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) genotyping tools, which can analyse thousands of SNPs covering the whole genome, have opened new opportunities to estimate the inbreeding level of animals directly using genome information. One of the most commonly used genomic inbreeding measures considers the proportion of the autosomal genome covered by runs of homozygosity (ROH), which are defined as continuous and uninterrupted chromosome portions showing homozygosity at all loci. In this study, we analysed the distribution of ROH in three commercial pig breeds (Italian Large White, n = 1968; Italian Duroc, n = 573; and Italian Landrace, n = 46) and four autochthonous breeds (Apulo-Calabrese, n = 90; Casertana, n = 90; Cinta Senese, n = 38; and Nero Siciliano, n = 48) raised in Italy, using SNP data generated from Illumina PorcineSNP60 BeadChip. We calculated ROH-based inbreeding coefficients (FROH) using ROH of different minimum length (1, 2, 4, 8, 16 Mbp) and compared them with several other genomic inbreeding coefficients (including the difference between observed and expected number of homozygous genotypes (FHOM)) and correlated all these genomic-based measures with the pedigree inbreeding coefficient (FPED) calculated for the pigs of some of these breeds. Autochthonous breeds had larger mean size of ROH than all three commercial breeds. FHOM was highly correlated (0.671 to 0.985) with FROH measures in all breeds. Apulo-Calabrese and Casertana had the highest FROH values considering all ROH minimum lengths (ranging from 0.273 to 0.189 and from 0.226 to 0.152, moving from ROH of minimum size of 1 Mbp (FROH1) to 16 Mbp (FROH16)), whereas the lowest FROH values were for Nero Siciliano (from 0.072 to 0.051) and Italian Large White (from 0.117 to 0.042). FROH decreased as the minimum length of ROH increased for all breeds. Italian Duroc had the highest correlations between all FROH measures and FPED (from 0.514 to 0.523) and between FHOM and FPED (0.485). Among all analysed breeds, Cinta Senese had the lowest correlation between FROH and FPED. This might be due to the imperfect measure of FPED, which, mainly in local breeds raised in extensive production systems, cannot consider a higher level of pedigree errors and a potential higher relatedness of the founder population. It appeared that ROH better captured inbreeding information in the analysed breeds and could complement pedigree-based inbreeding coefficients for the management of these genetic resources. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNP s) able to describe population differences can be used for important applications in livestock, including breed assignment of individual animals, authentication of mono-breed products and parentage verification among several other applications. To identify the most discriminating SNPs among thousands of markers in the available commercial SNP chip tools, several methods have been used. Random forest (RF) is a machine learning technique that has been proposed for this purpose. In this study, we used RF to analyse PorcineSNP60 BeadChip array genotyping data obtained from a total of 2737 pigs of 7 Italian pig breeds (3 cosmopolitan-derived breeds: Italian Large White, Italian Duroc and Italian Landrace, and 4 autochthonous breeds: Apulo-Calabrese, Casertana, Cinta Senese and Nero Siciliano) to identify breed informative and reduced SNP panels using the mean decrease in the Gini Index and the Mean Decrease in Accuracy parameters with stability evaluation. Other reduced informative SNP panels were obtained using Delta, Fixation index and principal component analysis statistics, and their performances were compared with those obtained using the RF-defined panels using the RF classification method and its derived Out Of Bag rates and correct prediction proportions. Therefore, the performances of a total of six reduced panels were evaluated. The correct assignment of the animals to its breed was close to 100% for all tested approaches. Porcine chromosome 8 harboured the largest number of selected SNPs across all panels. Many SNPs were included in genomic regions in which previous studies identified signatures of selection or genes (e.g. ESR1 , KITL and LCORL) that could contribute to explain, at least in part, phenotypically or economically relevant traits that might differentiate cosmopolitan and autochthonous pig breeds. Random forest used as preselection statistics highlighted informative SNPs that were not the same as those identified by other methods. This might be due to specific features of this machine learning methodology. It will be interesting to explore if the adaptation of RF methods for the identification of selection signature regions could be able to describe population-specific features that are not captured by other approaches. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Resorbable ceramics used as porous bone substitutes are designed to favor bone in-growth and to be gradually replaced by natural tissues after in vivo resorption. However, a lack of experimental techniques to quantitatively monitor the evolution of their mechanical properties during resorption is noted. In this paper, we propose to use spherical instrumented indentation to follow-up the resorption of microporous resorbable ceramics at a local scale. Tests were performed at the core and at the surface of samples immersed for different durations in model fluids. Instrumented indentation was found to be an efficient technique to characterize and to follow-up the resorption of microporous ceramics, in excellent agreement with microstructural changes observed with X-ray diffraction and X-ray tomography. Instrumented indentation has the ability to capture the presence of gradients in the samples, enables the direct testing of wet samples and appears as a superior technique to compression tests mostly used in the literature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives To investigate the role and feasibility of sentinel lymph node biopsy (SLNB) in breast cancer patients with a local recurrence and no clinically positive axillary lymph nodes. Materials and Methods A total of 71 patients underwent SLNB for breast cancer recurrence. At first surgery, they had received SLNB (46.5%), axillary lymph node dissection (ALND) (36.6%) or no axillary surgery (16.9%). Results Lymphatic migration was successful in 53 out of 71 patients (74.6%) and was significantly higher in patients with previous SLNB or no axillary surgery than in those with previous ALND (87.9% vs. 53.8%; p = 0.009). Aberrant lymphatic migration pathways were observed in 7 patients (13.2%). The surgical SLNB was successfully performed in 51 patients (71.8%). In 46 patients (90.2%) the SLN was histologically negative, in 3 patients (5.9%) micrometastastatic and in 2 patients (3.9%) macrometastatic. The 2 patients with a macrometastates in SLN underwent ALND, In 4 out of the 18 patients with failure of tracer migration ALND, performed as surgeon’s choice, did not find any metastatic node. After a median follow-up period of 39 months (range: 2–182 months), no axillary recurrence has been diagnosed. Conclusion A SLNB in patients with locally recurrent breast cancer, no previous ALND and negative axillary lymph nodes is technically feasible and impacts on the ALND rate. In patients who at primary surgery received ALND, migration rate is significantly lower, aberrant migration is frequent and no clinically useful information has been obtained. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Protected designation of origin dry-cured hams are obtained from heavy pigs (slaughtered at about 160 kg of live weight). A specific breeding program designed to improve meat quality for this production has included as key traits the level of intermuscular fat between the leg muscles and ham weight loss during the seasoning period together with a balance between fat and lean cuts. In this study we carried out genome-wide association studies for seven traits used in the genetic merit of Italian Duroc heavy pigs, five related to meat and carcass quality traits (visible intermuscular fat, ham weight loss at first salting, backfat thickness, ham weight and lean cuts), and two related to performance and efficiency traits (average daily gain and feed : gain ratio). A total of 573 performance-tested pigs were genotyped with the Illumina PorcineSNP60 BeadChip and genome-wide association analyses were carried out using the Bayes B approach with the 1 Mb window option of GenSel and random residuals for each of the seven traits. Detected windows were supported by independent single nucleotide polymorphism analyses with a linear mixed model (LMM) approach on the same animals for the same traits. A total of 30 windows identifying different quantitative trait loci (QTL) were detected and among those, 27 were confirmed by LMM in one of these traits. Among the confirmed windows, three QTL were reported for visible intermuscular fat, seven for ham weight loss at first salting and five and four for backfat thickness and lean cut, respectively. A total of eight QTL were detected for the other production traits. No overlapping QTL were reported except for one window on porcine chromosome 10 between lean cuts and ham weight that contained the CACNB2 gene that has been already associated with loin marbling score in other Duroc pigs. Several regions contained genes that have been already associated with production traits in other pig breeds, including Duroc lines, related to fat deposition or muscle structure. This work reports, for the first time, genome-wide association study results for several traits in Italian Duroc heavy pigs. These results will be useful to dissect the genetic basis for dry-cured ham production traits that determine the total genetic merit index of Italian Duroc pigs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper documents the numerical investigation of the effects of non-uniform magnetic fields, i.e. magnetic-ribs, on a liquid–metal flowing through a two-dimensional channel. The magnetic ribs are physically represented by electric currents flowing underneath the channel walls. The Lorentz forces generated by the magnetic ribs alter the flow field and, as consequence, the convective heat transfer and wall shear stress. The dimensionless numbers characterizing a liquid–metal flow through a magnetic field are the Reynolds ( Re ) and the Stuart ( N ) numbers. The latter provides the ratio of the Lorentz forces and the inertial forces. A liquid–metal flow in a laminar regime has been simulated in the absence of a magnetic field ( Re H = 1000, N = 0), and in two different magnetic ribs configurations for increasing values of the Stuart number ( Re H = 1000, N equal to 0.5, 2 and 5). The analysis of the resulting velocity, temperature and force fields has revealed the heat transport phenomena governing these magneto-hydro-dynamic flows. Moreover, it has been noticed that, by increasing the strength of the magnetic field, the convective heat transfer increases with local Nusselt numbers that are as much 27.0% larger if compared to those evaluated in the absence of the magnetic field. Such a convective heat transfer enhancement has been obtained at expenses of the pressure drop, which increases more than twice with respect to the non-magnetic case. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Genomic selection is becoming a common practise in dairy cattle, but only few works have studied its introduction in pig selection programs. Results described for this species are highly dependent on the considered traits and the specific population structure. This paper aims to simulate the impact of genomic selection in a pig population with a training cohort of performance-tested and slaughtered full sibs. This population is selected for performance, carcass and meat quality traits by full-sib testing of boars. Data were simulated using a forward-in-time simulation process that modeled around 60K single nucleotide polymorphisms and several quantitative trait loci distributed across the 18 porcine autosomes. Data were edited to obtain, for each cycle, 200 sires mated with 800 dams to produce 800 litters of 4 piglets each, two males and two females (needed for the sib test), for a total of 3200 newborns. At each cycle, a subset of 200 litters were sib tested, and 60 boars and 160 sows were selected to replace the same number of culled male and female parents. Simulated selection of boars based on performance test data of their full sibs (one castrated brother and two sisters per boar in 200 litters) lasted for 15 cycles. Genotyping and phenotyping of the three tested sibs (training population) and genotyping of the candidate boars (prediction population) were assumed. Breeding values were calculated for traits with two heritability levels (h2=0.40, carcass traits, and h2=0.10, meat quality parameters) on simulated pedigrees, phenotypes and genotypes. Genomic breeding values, estimated by various models (GBLUP from raw phenotype or using breeding values and single-step models), were compared with the classical BLUP Animal Model predictions in terms of predictive ability. Results obtained for traits with moderate heritability (h2=0.40), similar to the heritability of traits commonly measured within a sib-testing program, did not show any benefit from the introduction of genomic selection. None of the considered genomic models provided improvements in prediction ability of pigs with no recorded phenotype. However, a few advantages were found for traits with low heritability (h2=0.10). These heritability levels are characteristic for meat quality traits recorded after slaughtering or for reproduction or health traits, typically recorded on field and not in performance stations. Other scenarios of data recording and genotyping should be evaluated before considering the implementation of genomic selection in a pig-selection scheme based on sib testing of boars. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Food production significantly contributes to consumption of resources and presents remarkable environmental impacts to be evaluated through a life cycle approach. The present paper aims to present and discuss the results of a Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) performed on 13 tomato based products (tomato purée, chopped tomatoes and peeled tomatoes in tomato juice) produced in Italy by a Group representing one of largest agri-food industry European companies. The environmental hotspots of the whole supply chains of the investigated products have been identified and technical and managerial solutions have been defined. Agricultural phase and packaging production resulted to be the life-cycle stages with the highest impact in all the considered categories. The identified improvement options related to packaging subsystem are the reduction of weight and the switch to different packaging materials. Other improvement options can be adopted in the cultivation phase, such as use of organic fertilizers or inorganic fertilizers with lower nitrogen and phosphorus content, crop rotation and use of efficient irrigation systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The incidence of infectious complications due to several contributory causes is particularly elevated and life-threatening in patients undergoing peritonectomy and HIPEC procedure for peritoneal carcinomatosis. Following a previous experience, we started a prospective protocol study of preoperative screening, perioperative prophylaxis and postoperative surveillance and treatment. A total of 111 patients with peritoneal carcinomatosis of various origin underwent CRS with HIPEC between April 2004 and December 2012. The group was divided into a pilot group of 30 patients (04/04 to 05/08) and a main group of 81 patients (06/08 to 12/12). Overall postoperative morbidity rate was 44%, with 35.8% of symptomatic infections. No post-operative mortality was observed. Microorganisms were isolated in 24 patients (80.0%) in the first group and 54 (66.7%) in the second. They were symptomatic in 18 cases (75.0%) and 25 (46.3%) cases respectively. In addition, 7 invasive candidosis were recorded (25.9%). Colon resection (P = 0.01) and duration of surgery (P = 0.0008) were associated with infection at logistic regression model. Concerning symptomatic infections, only Infection Risk Index (P = 0.009) showed significance at multivariate analysis. Despite a significant incidence of infectious complications, establishment of a prevention, surveillance and treatment protocol lead to a zero mortality rate in the observed patients of our experience. Owing to the obtained results, we suggest the use of a standardized protocol for the prevention, monitoring and treatment in all patients enrolled for cytoreductive surgery and HIPEC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Zoledronic acid (ZA) reduces locoregional and distant metastases in estrogen receptor (ER)-positive breast cancer patients. Since ZA rapidly concentrates in the bone following i.v. administration, we hypothesized that this phenomenon involves the mechanism of action of ZA in bone tissue. Materials and methods: Migration assays were carried out in fibronectin-coated Boyden chambers. Activation of signaling proteins was analyzed with a phosphoprotein array. Chemokines and growth factors were measured by immunoassays and real-time PCR. Results: ZA significantly reduced in bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) the activation of AKT and mitogen-activated protein kinase and their ability to migrate. Conditioned medium (CM) from ZA-treated MSCs showed a reduced capacity to promote the migration of ER-positive MCF-7 breast cancer cells as compared with CM from untreated MSCs. The levels of the chemokine (C-C motif) ligand 5 (CCL5, also known as RANTES - Regulated upon Activation, Normal T-cell Expressed, and Secreted) and interleukin (IL)-6 were significantly reduced in MSC-CM following treatment with ZA. Anti-RANTES and anti-IL-6 antibodies almost completely abolished the migration of MCF-7 cells induced by MSC-CM. Recombinant RANTES and IL-6 significantly induced MCF-7 cell migration and their combination showed a cooperative effect. Similar results were observed in different breast cancer cell lines. Conclusion: ZA might exert its antitumor activity by inhibiting MSC migration and blocking MSCs’ secretion of factors involved in breast cancer progression. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Maintenance of adequate drug concentration at the site of infection is an important problem in mastitis antibiotic therapy, and the efficacy of intramammary β-lactams can be optimized by maintaining the drug concentration at the site of infection above the minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) as long as possible. The most important pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic parameter for efficacy evaluation is time during which drug concentrations exceed the MIC (t > MIC). In this study, we assessed the pharmacokinetic profile of cefquinome (CFQ) after repeated intramammary administration in healthy cows and cows subclinically infected with Staphylococcus aureus as well as the MIC of Staph. aureus field strains. In addition, the degree of drug passage was investigated from udder to bloodstream by measuring systemic drug absorption in healthy and infected animals. Cefquinome concentrations were quantified by HPLC (UV-visible detection) in milk samples collected from quarters and from blood serum samples. The systemic drug absorption was negligible in healthy and subclinically infected animals (maximum concentration 0.09 ± 0.02 and 0.1 ± 0.01 µg/mL in healthy and subclinically infected animals, respectively). The MIC90 value for CFQ in Staph. aureus field strains (n = 20) was 0.24 µg/mL. The pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic evaluation, determined by t > MIC, showed an equal persistence of CFQ in all quarters, indicating an equivalent activity of the drug regardless of the pathological status of the udder. Moreover, with literature data regarding CFQ MIC, the t > MIC has been calculated for other bacterial species. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: This work deals with the aflatoxins M1 detoxification of bovine milk by adsorption processes. Several types of natural and industrial sorbents have been analyzed by considering their effects on the quality of the treated milk and their removal efficiencies. Treated milk characterization tests in terms of organic acids, lactose, chlorides, pH and protein contents show a moderate alteration of the milk properties proportionally with the sorbent dosage. On the other hand, experimental evidences reveal that the highest removal efficiencies (η >90% for AFMs=0.5μg/kg) have been obtained for the activated carbons due to the concurrent effects of high surface area, sufficiently wide micropore size and higher affinity between the AFM molecules and the aromatic structure of the carbons. Also the bentonite shows significant removal efficiency, combined with lower side effects on the treated milk. Therefore, this preliminary analysis shows that an optimization of sorbent dosage should be considered to account for both a reliable detoxification of the milk and for assuring the acceptability of the treated milk in light of its direct reuse for human consumption or as raw material for dairy products. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Summary: Hospital cleaning continues to attract patient, media and political attention. In the UK it is still primarily assessed via visual inspection, which can be misleading. Calls have therefore been made for a more objective approach to assessing surface cleanliness. To improve the management of hospital cleaning the use of adenosine triphosphate (ATP) in combination with microbiological analysis has been proposed, with a general ATP benchmark value of 500 relative light units (RLU) for one combination of test and equipment. In this study, the same test combination was used to assess cleaning effectiveness in a 1300-bed teaching hospital after routine and modified cleaning protocols. Based upon the ATP results a revised stricter pass/fail benchmark of 250RLU is proposed for the range of surfaces used in this study. This was routinely achieved using modified best practice cleaning procedures which also gave reduced surface counts with, for example, aerobic colony counts reduced from >100 to <2.5cfu/cm2, and counts of Staphylococcus aureus reduced from up to 2.5 to <1cfu/cm2 (95% of the time). Benchmarking is linked to incremental quality improvements and both the original suggestion of 500RLU and the revised figure of 250RLU can be used by hospitals as part of this process. They can also be used in the assessment of novel cleaning methods, such as steam cleaning and microfibre cloths, which have potential use in the National Health Service. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

There are some concerns about the use of Pseudomonas-based products as biocontrol agents because of the hemolytic activity shown by their metabolites. The effects of Pseudomonas lipodepsipeptides (LDPs) on mammals via ingestion and the LDP degradation during the digestion and intestinal permeability have not been evaluated. In this research, the susceptibility of different LDPs to degradation was assayed with enzymatic gastrointestinal digestion, and intestinal permeability to LDPs was investigated in an in vitro system based on an intestinal cell layer system. Results demonstrated that trypsin and chymotrypsin hydrolyze up to 50% of the various LDPs, and that proteolysis was further increased by pronase E treatment. A decrease in LDP hemolytic activity matched LDP degradation during the various steps of the digestion process. Moreover, it was shown that syringomycin E (SRE), the main known LDE was not able to cross the intestinal cell layer, suggesting that SRE does not reach the bloodstream in vivo. It was concluded that the Pseudomonas-based biocontrol products do not represent a serious risk for consumer health. In fact, LDPs possibly present on biocontrol-treated agricultural commodities would likely be partially digested by gastrointestinal enzymes and would not be absorbed at the intestinal level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Neophobia is an innate response that can be defined as the reluctance to consume novel-tasting substances. The differential effect of previous aversive and nonaversive taste memory on a subsequent neophobic response was studied in young-adult (Experiment 1) and aged rats (Experiment 2). Surprising, a previous nonaversive taste experience eliminated the subsequent neophobic response to a solution of 1% sodium chloride (NaCl) in young-adult and aged rats. This result is interpreted as a generalization of the previous safe taste memory and the emotional responses that might be induced when a new taste is presented. However, a differential effect associated with aging was found for a previous aversive taste memory induced with a low dose of lithium chloride (0.15 M; 1% b.w.). While in young-adult rats this aversive taste memory did not change the neophobic response to an NaCl solution, in aged rats this memory potentiated the subsequent neophobic response to NaCl. This result is interpreted as an increase in the generalization of aversive taste memory and the emotional responses associated with aging. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Peanut allergy is one of the most serious food allergies. The major peanut allergens are designated Ara h 1, Ara h 2 and Ara h 3. A previously unidentified ara h 3-related cDNA, ara h 3-im, was isolated and its corresponding protein product confirmed in peanut seed by N-terminal sequencing. Ara h 3-im is distinct from other related allergens in having a novel N-terminal sequence, lacking two potential N-glycosylation sites, missing most of the fourth IgE-binding epitope found in Ara h 3, and having a different predicted three-dimensional structure. Immunoblotting showed that the 36kDa Ara h 3-im polypeptide was not recognized by IgE from the sera of peanut sensitive patients that recognized other major peanut allergen polypeptides. ara h 3-im is a new peanut arachin gene that encodes an expressed protein in peanut seed, Ara h 3-im, that shares features with other 11S globulin genes. Initial results indicate that Ara h 3-im has potentially lower allergenic properties than previously characterized peanut allergens which may aid in the production of a hypoallergenic peanut. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

In the present paper, we describe a biosensor for the detection of bacterial contamination in drinking water based on an immunoassay test. The biological component was made by a rabbit polyclonal antibody obtained utilising an environmental strain of Escherichia coli, DH5α. This strain, showed a capsular protein pattern typical of this species. Cells present in water samples were detected by a complete potentiometric alternating biosensor (PAB). The PAB system consists of a measuring chamber, acquisition and driving electronics and the appropriate software: the apparatus is computer controlled in order to obtain on-line acquisitions and recording of data. The transducer principle is based on a light addressable potentiometric sensor (LAPS) technology which, in our case, reveals the production of NH3 by a urease–E. coli antibody conjugate. The proposed system appears to be very sensitive and fast, in comparison with conventional methods: concentrations of 10 cells per ml were detected in an assay time of ca. 1.5 h. No signals were detected from other potential water polluting bacteria, such as Pseudomonas marina and Sphaerotilus natans and also from bacteria such as Klebsiella oxytoca phyletically related to E. coli. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

• Changes in the auditory contextual background affects taste learning similarly than physical properties of the environment. • The results demonstrate that this auditory context modulation of AN involves changes of the D1 dopamine receptors activity. • These results open research to explore the neural mechanisms of memory storage beyond spatial information processing. Taste recognition memory in rodents is evident as taste neophobia disappears upon repeated taste exposures without aversive consequences, thus increasing the consumption of familiar edibles. The attenuation of taste neophobia (AN) induced by taste familiarity is auditory context-dependent in mice since neophobia to a familiar taste reappears with a novel auditory background. This effect depends on the integrity of the dorsal hippocampus but the potential role of dopamine has remained unexplored. In order to explore the involvement of dopamine through D1 dopamine receptors in AN, C57BL/6 mice were exposed to a 3% vinegar taste solution for 10 min throughout several consecutive days. An experimentally-controlled auditory background was used to define a context, which could either change or remain constant throughout all the drinking sessions. Systemic administration of the D1 dopamine receptor antagonist SCH-23390 induced a similar effect to that of an auditory context change while it was kept constant and systemic administration of SKF-81297 prevented the contextual modulation of AN when the auditory context changed. Additionally, SCH-23390 injection on the following day to the auditory context change further impaired AN, thus suggesting the relevance of dopamine in the consolidation of the context dependency of taste recognition memory. We conclude that the context dependency of the AN involves dopaminergic activity mediated by D1 receptors which might be responsible for proper acquisition of safe taste recognition memory. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights • The PIV technique was used to study a low-speed rotating vapor flow of siloxane D 4. • The adopted seeding method resulted in a satisfactory particle distribution. • The ratio of particle peak intensity to the image noise level is acceptable. • High flow speeds warrant corrections for apparent shifts/blurring of particle images. Abstract This work assesses the feasibility of the planar PIV technique to study the characteristics of a siloxane vapor D 4. Titanium dioxide (TiO 2) seeding particles were used to track the motion around a rotating disk in a low speed flow. Vector fields of natural convection (NC) and a superposition of NC and rotating flow were selected as exemplary cases. The particles were capable of tracing the flow since the calculated Stokes number St is 6.5 × 10 - 5 . The quality of the experimental data is assessed by means of particle seeding density and particle image Signal to Noise ratio (S/N). The final results are deemed acceptable for an accurate assessment of the flow field. Rejected outliers are below 2.3% and the relative uncertainties corresponding to the average velocity fields are below 1%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We aimed at evaluating extension listing under UNOS status 1 (VA ECMO) and 2 (IABP and percutaneous endovascular device (PED)) with temporary devices. The UNOS thoracic transplant database for adult patients (Age>17years) listed after October 2018 was queried to identify patients listed as status 1 or 2 at anytime during their waiting period. Patients listed with temporary device receiving extension were identified and their waiting list outcomes were evaluated. A total of 15112 patients were listed since October 2018 of which 6533 (43%) were listed as status 2 and 1376 (9%) as status 1 at anytime during their waiting period. Of the status 2 patients 59% had IABP, 15% had PED. Of the status 1 patients, 64% had VAECMO. At least one extension was allowed for 11% VAECMO, 24% IABP and 30% PED patients. The median waiting list duration for extension patients was significantly higher (Table 1). Higher creatinine, Non-ischemic cardiomyopathy and blood group O were major factors associated with extension of status (Table 1). 25% VAECMO, 15% IABP and 12% PED patients downgraded their status to 3 or below. Figure 2 shows waiting list outcomes status 1 and 2 patients with temporary devices. 8% ECMO, 5% IABP and 5% PED patients coverted a durable VAD beyond their allowed period. Irrespective of guidelines, new UNOS heart allocation system allows temporary device patients extension in higher listing statutes and is commonly used by programs and is associated blood group, kidney function and etiology. The temporary device extensions should be re-evaluated by the UNOS committee with more objective criteria for adherence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]