20 research outputs found
Computational Analysis of Polymeric Biodegradable and Customizable Airway Stent Designs
No full textAuthor Contributions: Study design, M.M., C.D.-J., C.S.-M. and J.L.L.-V.; conceptualization, C.D.-J.,
R.F.-P. and M.M.; stent geometries, M.M., C.S.-M. and J.L.L.-V.; numerical model and simulations,
A.A.-A. and M.M.; data curation experimental model, C.D.-J. and A.P.-J.; writing—original draft
preparation, M.M., C.S.-M., R.F.-P., C.D.-J. and J.L.L.-V.; writing—review and editing, M.M., C.S.-M.,
J.L.L.-V., R.F.-P. and C.D.-J.; supervision, M.M., C.D.-J., R.F.-P., C.S.-M. and J.L.L.-V.; funding acquisition, M.M., C.D.-J. and R.F.-P. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of
the manuscript.The placement of endotracheal prostheses is a procedure used to treat tracheal lesions when
no other surgical options are available. Unfortunately, this technique remains controversial. Both
silicon and metallic stents are used with unpredictable success rates, as they have advantages but also
disadvantages. Typical side effects include restenosis due to epithelial hyperplasia, obstruction and
granuloma formation. Repeat interventions are often required. Biodegradable stents are promising in
the field of cardiovascular biomechanics but are not yet approved for use in the respiratory system.
The aim of the present study is to summarize important information and to evaluate the role of
different geometrical features for the fabrication of a new tracheo-bronchial prosthesis prototype,
which should be biodegradable, adaptable to the patient’s lesion and producible by 3D printing. A
parametric design and subsequent computational analysis using the finite element method is carried
out. Two different stent designs are parameterized and analyzed. The biodegradable material chosen
for simulations is polylactic acid. Experimental tests are conducted for assessing its mechanical
properties. The role of the key design parameters on the radial force of the biodegradable prosthesis
is investigated. The computational results allow us to elucidate the role of the pitch angle, the wire
thickness and the number of cells or units, among other parameters, on the radial force. This work
may be useful for the design of ad hoc airway stents according to the patient and type of lesion.Biotecnologí
In Praise of death: history and poetry in Medieval Marwar (South Asia)
No full textThis study is meant as a contribution to debates about literary and martial cultures in history as conducted by Joshua Goldstein (2001), Sheldon Pollock (2003) and the celebrated Indian historian Romila Thapar (1999). It offers insights into martial ethics and identity politics through an analysis of the development of medieval and contemporary heroic and epic genres. And it adds to our understanding of the literary-historical processes that lead to the deification of warrior-heroes in South Asia. By describing the different degrees of narrative importance that Rajasthani poets attached to battle-death and the martial and/or religious role ascribed to warrior-heroes in Rajasthan and Sindh, the author suggests new ways of interpreting the region's past
Comparative pangenomic analysis of Campylobacter fetus isolated from Spanish bulls and other mammalian species
No full textAuthor contributions: G.A. and A.H. conceived the study and participated in its design. N.P.F. and N.K. performed laboratory analysis. N.P.F., M.O., J.L.L. and L.G. participated in the bioinformatics analysis. N.P.F. wrote the manuscript, with
interpretation of results and discussion inputs from GA, AH, E.C., M.O., N.K., J.L.L. and L.G. All authors read
and approved the fnal manuscript.Campylobacter fetus comprises two closely related mammal-associated subspecies: Campylobacter fetus subsp. fetus (Cff) and Campylobacter fetus subsp. venerealis (Cfv). The latter causes bovine genital campylobacteriosis, a sexually-transmitted disease endemic in Spain that results in significant economic losses in the cattle industry. Here, 33 C. fetus Spanish isolates were whole-genome sequenced and compared with 62 publicly available C. fetus genomes from other countries. Genome-based taxonomic identification revealed high concordance with in silico PCR, confirming Spanish isolates as Cff (n = 4), Cfv (n = 9) and Cfv biovar intermedius (Cfvi, n = 20). MLST analysis assigned the Spanish isolates to 6 STs, including three novel: ST-76 and ST-77 for Cfv and ST-78 for Cff. Core genome SNP phylogenetic analysis of the 95 genomes identified multiple clusters, revealing associations at subspecies and biovar level between genomes with the same ST and separating the Cfvi genomes from Spain and other countries. A genome-wide association study identified pqqL as a Cfv-specific gene and a potential candidate for more accurate identification methods. Functionality analysis revealed variations in the accessory genome of C. fetus subspecies and biovars that deserve further studies. These results provide valuable information about the regional variants of C. fetus present in Spain and the genetic diversity and predicted functionality of the different subspecies.Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación (España)Depto. de Sanidad AnimalFac. de VeterinariaTRUEpu
Econometric analysis of the performance of cooperatives and investor owned firms in the European dairy industry
No full textKeywords: Cooperatives, IOFs, European dairy industry, logistic regression, stochastic frontier analysis, inter- and intra-firm efficiency, catch-up component, data envelopment analysis, hyperbolic technical efficiency, overall efficiency, scale efficiency, bootstrapping. In this study we measure the performance of cooperatives and investor-owned firms in the European dairy processing industry. Comparing the performance between cooperatives and investor-owned firms requires accounting for differences in their mission and objectives. Traditionally, cooperatives were established by farmers to gain access to markets, balance market powers and have a secured and sustainable income. Generally, there is a consensus in the economic literature that a cooperative can be defined as a (members)user-owned and (members)user-controlled organization that aims to benefit its (members)user. Cooperatives are transaction oriented, the members provide themselves with services they could not secure otherwise. In addition member are owners and determine the mission and strategy of cooperatives equally as the owners of the cooperative enterprise. Our study takes into account the consequences of members’ strategies for the cooperatives’ organizational structure and subsequently the significance of structure on (technical and economical) efficiencies. Although the theoretical literature emphasizes the difference in economic behavior between cooperatives and IOFs, the empirical studies have failed to follow up with theoretical approaches. The failure of the empirical studies to apply the models proposed by the theoretical literature seems to be due to either the inaccessibility of data, the inability to take into account the interests of all the various types of members and stakeholders of the cooperative, or the difficulty in testing the various hypotheses in practice. An empirical analysis of differences in financial indicators between IOFs and cooperatives in six European countries shows that cooperatives are less profitable but operationally more efficient, they have higher material costs and lower debts than IOFs. Furthermore, cooperatives display a substantially greater variation in financial indicators than IOFs. Stochastic Frontier Analysis is used to measure and compare the efficiency and production technology of cooperatives and IOFs. Cooperatives are found to have a more productive technology than IOFs, but they use their production potential less efficiently. A further empirical analysis of technical efficiency using Data Envelopment Analysis shows that explicit accounting for the objectives of cooperatives generates different outcomes compared with treating cooperatives as if they were IOFs. The results of the empirical analyses in this study promote the conclusion that measuring the performance of cooperatives as if they were IOFs produces misleading insights about the cooperatives’ performance suggesting performance suggesting that cooperatives’ performance is influenced by their organizational characteristics and members objectives. <br/
Enucleation Due to Ocular Abscess in a Captive Chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes): A Case Report from the Republic of Congo
No full textAuthor Contributions:
Conceptualization, software, validation, formal analysis, investigation, M.F.-R., J.L.L.-H., L.G.-C., A.R.-L., J.A.D.P.-M., P.M.-E., L.R. and R.A.; methodology, M.F.-R.; writing—original draft preparation, M.F.-R.; writing—review and editing, J.A.D.P.-M., P.M.-E. and R.A.; visualization, R.A.; supervision, L.R. and R.A.; project administration, R.A.; funding acquisition, M.F.-R., J.A.D.P.-M., P.M.-E., L.R. and R.A. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.Chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) rescued from the illegal wildlife trade often suffer from chronic, traumatic injuries that require specialized and prolonged medical treatment in wildlife rehabilitation centers. We present the case report of a two-year-old male chimpanzee admitted at the Tchimpounga Chimpanzee Rehabilitation Center in the Republic of Congo with a chronic periorbital abscess, likely caused by a machete wound sustained during the poaching of his mother. Despite receiving extended antimicrobial therapy, his condition was never fully controlled and progressed to a chronic orbital infection, causing him discomfort and producing chronic purulent discharge. Enucleation was performed under general anesthesia using ketamine and medetomidine, with surgical approach adapted to the distinctive orbital anatomy of chimpanzees. During the procedure, ligation of the optic nerve and ophthalmic vessels was required due to the confined orbital apex and extensive vascularization, ensuring adequate haemostasias and procedural safety. The chimpanzee made an uneventful postoperative recovery, resuming normal feeding and social behavior within 48 h, with complete wound healing occurring within two weeks. This case report highlights the importance of prompt surgical intervention when conservative medical management fails to resolve refractory ocular infections in chimpanzees. It also emphasizes the importance of specific anesthetic protocols, refined surgical techniques and tailored postoperative care in wildlife rehabilitation centers. Documenting and sharing detailed case reports such as this contributes to the limited veterinary literature on great ape surgery and supports evidence-based clinical decision-making to improve the welfare and treatment outcomes of rescued chimpanzeesDepto. de FisiologíaDepto. de Medicina y Cirugía AnimalDepto. de Genética, Fisiología y MicrobiologíaDepto. de Farmacología y ToxicologíaFac. de VeterinariaFac. de Ciencias BiológicasTRUEpu
Defects in semiconductors
No full textThis article may be downloaded for personal use only. Any other use requires prior permission of the author and AIP Publishing. This article appeared in Cyrus E. Dreyer, Anderson Janotti, John L. Lyons, Darshana Wickramaratne; Defects in semiconductors. J. Appl. Phys. 21 November 2024; 136 (19): 190401. https://doi.org/10.1063/5.0244142 and may be found at https://doi.org/10.1063/5.0244142.
© 2024 Author(s). Published under an exclusive license by AIP Publishing.
This article will be embargoed until 11/20/2025.Defects are crucial to understanding semiconductor materials and designing semiconductor-based devices. In using the term “defects,” we include not only native point defects (such as vacancies and interstitials), but also dopant impurities, unintentional contaminants, and complexes between these species. While some defects can lead to detrimental nonradiative recombination and carrier trapping, other defects can be used to provide free carriers that are necessary for the design of transistors, light-emitting devices, and solar cells. Since the advent of semiconductors, a significant amount of research has focused on how to deduce and control the behavior of these defects. While traditional materials (such as silicon, germanium, and gallium arsenide) continue to present challenges in terms of understanding defects, a surge of interest in power electronics has motivated the study of newer classes of materials such as two-dimensional semiconductors and wide-bandgap nitrides and oxides. Growing interest in this area has sustained the relevance of longstanding international conferences such as the International Conference on Defects in Semiconductors.1
As sources of electrical, optical, magnetic, and vibrational signals, defects in semiconductors provide an excellent testing ground for both theory and experiment. This Special Topic brings together contributions from researchers with wide-ranging expertise in the field of defects in semiconductors, documenting advances in our understanding of established materials like silicon carbide and gallium arsenide, but also includes progress in promising new materials, such as the II-IV-VI ternary compounds and ultrawide-bandgap oxides. While showcasing the latest breakthroughs in defects in semiconductors, we also wish to acknowledge the passing of our dear colleagues Audrius Alkauskas2 and Wladyslaw Walukiewicz,3 both of whom made fundamental contributions to this field.C.E.D. acknowledges support from the National Science Foundation under Grant No. DMR-2237674. The Flatiron Institute is a division of the Simons Foundation. J.L.L. and D.W. acknowledge support by the Office of Naval Research through the Naval Research Laboratory’s Basic Research Program. A.J. was supported by the UD-CHARM University of Delaware Materials Research Science and Engineering Center (No. DMR-2011824) and the National Science Foundation Award No. OIA-2217786. The guest editors thank the authors and reviewers who contributed to the “Defects in Semiconductors” Special Topic. They especially thank Jessica Trudeau and Jaimee-Ian Rodriguez for their editorial assistance, and also thank the staff at the Journal of Applied Physics, including Editor Julia Greer and Manager Brian Solis
The genome and lifestage-specific transcriptomes of a plant-parasitic nematode and its host reveal susceptibility genes involved in trans-kingdom synthesis of vitamin B5
No full textFull author list
Shahid Siddique1, Zoran S. Radakovic2†, Clarissa Hiltl2†, Clement Pellegrin3†, Thomas J. Baum4, Helen Beasley3, Oliver Chitambo2 , Divykriti Chopra2, Etienne G.J. Danchin5, Eric Grenier6, Samer S. Habash2, Shamim Hasan2, Hans Helder7, Tarek Hewezi8, Julia Holbein2, Martijn Holterman7, Sławomir Janakowski9, Georgios D. Koutsovoulos5, Olaf P. Kranse2, Jose L. Lozano-Torres7, Tom R. Maier3, Rick E. Masonbrink10, Badou Mendy2, Esther Rimer2, Mirosław Sobczak9, Unnati Sonawala2, Mark G. Sterken7, Peter Thorpe11, Joris J.M. van Steenbrugge7, Nageena Zahid12, Florian Grundler*2, and Sebastian Eves-van den Akker*3
1 Department of Entomology and Nematology, University of California Davis, One Shields Avenue, Davis, CA 95616, USA
2 Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-University of Bonn, INRES - Molecular Phytomedicine, Karlrobert- Kreiten-Straße 13, D-53115 Bonn, Germany
3 The Crop Science Centre, Department of Plant Sciences, University of Cambridge, UK, CB2 3EA
4 Department of Plant Pathology and Microbiology, Iowa State University, Ames, IA 50011, USA
5 Université Côte d’Azur, INRAE, CNRS, Institut Sophia Agrobiotech, Sophia-Antipolis, France
6 IGEPP, INRAE, Institut Agro, Univ Rennes, 35650, Le Rheu, France
7 Laboratory of Nematology, Wageningen University & Research, Droevendaalsesteeg 1, 6708PB, Wageningen, The Netherlands
8 Department of Plant Sciences, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN 37996, USA
9 Department of Botany, Institute of Biology, Warsaw University of Life Sciences (SGGW), Nowoursynowska 159, 02-787 Warsaw, Poland
10 Genome Informatics Facility, Iowa State University, Ames, IA 50010, USA
11 Mackenzie Institute for early diagnosis, School of Medicine, University of St Andrews, North Haugh, St Andrews KY16 9TF, UK.
12 Institute for Microbiology and Biotechnology, Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-University of Bonn, Meckenheimer Allee 168, 53115 Bonn Germany.
†equal contributions
*corresponding authors. [email protected] and [email protected]
Samer S. Habash current address; BASF Vegetable Seeds, Napoleonsweg 152, 6083 AB Nunhem, the Netherlands
Zoran S. Radakovic current address: P.H. Petersen Saatzucht Lundsgaard GmbH , 24977 Grundhof, Germany
Abstract
Plant-parasitic nematodes are a major, and in some cases a dominant, threat to crop production in all agricultural systems. The relative scarcity of classical resistance genes highlights a pressing need to identify new ways to develop nematode-resistant germplasm. Here, we sequence and assemble a high-quality genome of the model cyst nematode Heterodera schachtii to provide a platform for the first system-wide dual analysis of host and parasite gene expression over time, covering all major stages of the interaction. This novel approach enabled the analysis of metabolic pathways that were incomplete in the parasite but complemented by the host. Using a combination of bioinformatic, genetic, and biochemical approaches, we show that the highly atypical completion of vitamin B5 biosynthesis by the parasite, putatively enabled by a horizontal gene transfer from a bacterium, is critically important for parasitism. Knockout of either the plant-encoded or the now nematode-encoded steps in the pathway block parasitism. Our experiments establish a reference for cyst nematodes, use this platform to further our fundamental understanding of the evolution of plant-parasitism by nematodes, and show that understanding congruent differential expression of metabolic pathways represents a new way to find nematode susceptibility genes, and thereby, targets for future genome editing-mediated generation of nematode-resistant crops.
Funding
The work at University of Bonn was supported by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research, Germany (BMBF) (Grant 031A326B to FMWG) and by the German Research Foundation (DFG) (Grant SI1739/3-1 and SI1739/5-1 to SS). MSH was supported by a fellowship from German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD). The work at UC Davis was supported by the National Science Foundation (NSF) (Grant IOS-1954929) and National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) (Grant 20-3994). Work on plant-parasitic nematodes at the University of Cambridge is supported by DEFRA licence 125034/359149/3, and funded by BBSRC grants BB/R011311/1, BB/N021908/1, and BB/S006397/1. CP received funding from the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 882941. PT was supported by the University of St Andrews Bioinformatics Unit, funded by Wellcome Trust ISSF awards 105621/Z/14/Z and 204821/Z/16/Z. Work at Iowa State University was supported by Hatch and State of Iowa funds and a grant by the North Central Soybean Research Program. J.L.L-T was supported by a NWO domain applied Applied and Engineering Sciences VENI grant (14250) and a Wageningen University & Research Experimental Plant Sciences strategic funds grant. MGS was supported by NWO domain Applied and Engineering Sciences VENI grant (17282).The work at University of Bonn was supported by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research, Germany (BMBF) (Grant 031A326B to FMWG) and by the German Research Foundation (DFG) (Grant SI1739/3-1 and SI1739/5-1 to SS). MSH was supported by a fellowship from German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD). The work at UC Davis was supported by the National Science Foundation (NSF) (Grant IOS-1954929) and National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) (Grant 20-3994). Work on plant-parasitic nematodes at the University of Cambridge is supported by DEFRA licence 125034/359149/3, and funded by BBSRC grants BB/R011311/1, BB/N021908/1, and BB/S006397/1. CP received funding from the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 882941. PT was supported by the University of St Andrews Bioinformatics Unit, funded by Wellcome Trust ISSF awards 105621/Z/14/Z and 204821/Z/16/Z. Work at Iowa State University was supported by Hatch and State of Iowa funds and a grant by the North Central Soybean Research Program. J.L.L-T was supported by a NWO domain applied Applied and Engineering Sciences VENI grant (14250) and a Wageningen University & Research Experimental Plant Sciences strategic funds grant. MGS was supported by NWO domain Applied and Engineering Sciences VENI grant (17282)
Author Correction: One sixth of Amazonian tree diversity is dependent on river floodplains
No full text
