Largest Portion (largest + portion)

Distribution by Scientific Domains


Selected Abstracts


Dietary Na does not reduce dietary Cu uptake by juvenile rainbow trout

JOURNAL OF FISH BIOLOGY, Issue 2 2005
V. A. Kjoss
Rainbow trout Oncorhynchus mykiss fry in moderately hard water were exposed to control or high levels of dietary Cu (c. 6 and 580 ug Cu g food,1) at one of three levels of Na (1·5, 3·0 or 4·5%) in the diet, i.e. six experimental groups. Fish were fed a 4% body mass ration daily for 28 days and 10 individuals from each group were sampled every 7 days. Concentrations of Cu and Na were measured in the gills, liver, gut and remaining carcass of sampled fish. Growth was not affected and no consistent differences were found in mass, total lengths (LT) or indices of body condition among any of the groups on any sampling day. Copper concentration was significantly higher in tissues of Cu-exposed groups, although within treatment types (control Cu v. high Cu diet), it did not differ consistently among groups that received different levels of dietary Na. Tissue Na concentration did not differ among any of the groups and did not show any marked changes over time. In Cu-exposed groups, the proportion of total body Cu burden contained in the liver approximately doubled over time, from c. 30% on day 7 to c. 60% on day 28. In unexposed fish, the liver maintained c. 25% of the total Cu burden throughout the experiment. In contrast, the proportion of the total body Cu burden contained in the gut decreased somewhat over time in Cu-exposed fish, from c. 40% on day 7 to c. 30% on day 28, and remained fairly stable at c. 25,30% in control groups, i.e. approximately equal to liver values. In all groups, the carcass contained by far the largest portion of the total Na content (>80%). Measurements made 36 h post-feeding indicated that all six groups had much higher Na efflux relative to influx, suggesting that the fish were eliminating excess Na taken up from the diet, and differences in Na influx rates were small. Na efflux rate was significantly higher in the high Cu and high Na group than in the high Cu and low Na group. The results indicate that at the concentrations used in this experiment, dietary Na has little effect on dietary Cu uptake by juvenile rainbow trout, and dietary Cu has little effect on Na homeostasis. [source]


Markers of Overcrowding in a Pediatric Emergency Department

ACADEMIC EMERGENCY MEDICINE, Issue 2 2010
Antonia S. Stang MD
Abstract Objectives:, The objective of this study was to identify markers of overcrowding in pediatric emergency departments (PEDs) according to expert opinion and then to use statistical methods to further explore the underlying construct of overcrowding. Methods:, A cross-sectional survey of all PED directors (n = 12) and pediatric emergency medicine fellowship program directors (n = 10) across Canada was conducted to elicit expert opinion on relevant markers of emergency department (ED) crowding. The list of markers was reduced to those specific to the ED for which data could be extracted from one tertiary care PED from an existing computerized patient tracking system. Data representing 2,190 consecutive shifts and 138,361 patient visits were collected between April 2005 and March 2007. Common factor analysis (CFA) was used to determine the underlying factors that best represented overcrowding as determined by markers identified by experts in pediatric emergency medicine Results:, The main markers of overcrowding identified by the survey included measures of patient volume (25%), ED operational processes (55%), and delays in transferring patients to inpatient beds (13%). Data collected on 41 markers were retained for the CFA. The results of the CFA indicated that the largest portion of variation in the data (48%) was accounted for by markers describing patient volumes and flow through the ED. Measures of admission delays accounted for a smaller proportion of variability (9%). Conclusions:, The results suggest that for this tertiary PED, markers of ED operational processes and patient volume may be more relevant for determination of overcrowding than markers reflecting delays in transferring patients to inpatient beds. This study provides a foundation for further research on markers of overcrowding specific to the pediatric setting. ACADEMIC EMERGENCY MEDICINE 2010; 17:151,156 © 2010 by the Society for Academic Emergency Medicine [source]


Genetic linkage map construction and location of QTLs for fruit-related traits in cucumber

PLANT BREEDING, Issue 2 2008
X. J. Yuan
Abstract A 173-point genetic linkage map of cucumber (Cucumis sativus L.), consisting of 116 SRAPs, 33 RAPDs, 11 SSRs, 9 SCARs, 3 ISSRs, and 1 STS, was constructed using 130 F2 progeny derived from a narrow cross between line S94 (Northern China open-field type) and line S06 (greenhouse European type). The seven linkage groups spanned 1016 cM with a mean marker interval of 5.9 cM. Using the F2 population and its F3 derived families, a total of 38 QTLs were detected on five linkage groups with an LOD threshold of 3.0 for nine fruit-related traits: fruit weight, length, and diameter, fruit flesh thickness, seed-cavity diameter, fruit-stalk length, fruit pedicel length, length/diameter and length/stalk ratio. Of the identified QTLs, fsl4.3 for fruit-stalk length explained the largest portion of phenotypic variation (r2 = ,30%). Several QTLs were detected in the same linkage region in different generations and different seasons. Additionally, several QTLs for various fruit traits were mapped to the same or neighbouring marker intervals, suggesting they are possible character associations for controlling cucumber fruit development. [source]


Macroscopic and Microscopic Anatomy of the Oviduct in the Sexually Mature Rhea (Rhea americana)

ANATOMIA, HISTOLOGIA, EMBRYOLOGIA, Issue 3 2008
R. C. Parizzi
Summary The morphological characteristics of the oviduct of 12 sexually mature rheas (Rhea americana) were studied. Only the left oviduct is developed as a long tube with a length of 122 ± 23.1 cm, and is subdivided into infundibulum (15.2 ± 4.0 cm), magnum (63.3 ± 9.4 cm), isthmus (5.6 ± 3.1 cm), uterus (16.0 ± 4.2 cm) and vagina (11.5 ± 1.4 cm). The mucous membrane of the oviduct, as a whole, possesses luminal folds covered by ciliated columnar epithelium with secretory cells. The infundibulum part presents a cranial opening with thin and long fimbriae with few tubular glands in caudal tubular portion. In the magnum, the largest portion of the oviduct, the folds are thicker and are filled with tubular glands. The isthmus is short and presents less bulky folds and a few tubular glands. A bag-shaped uterus in the cranial area shows thin folds, and in the caudal region (shell gland) more ramified folds with few tubular glands. The vagina has long luminal folds and a thick muscular tunic; no glands with sperm-storage characteristics have been observed. In conclusion, the oviduct in sexually mature rhea has morphological similarities with the other species of birds already described; however it presents its own characteristics to produce a big egg. [source]


Public IP network infrastructure evolutions to support emerging digital video services

BELL LABS TECHNICAL JOURNAL, Issue 2 2009
Marc Verhoeyen
Of all the services offered over a worldwide public network, digital video-based services, even at this early stage of development, are growing at such an astonishing rate that they will soon constitute the largest portion of Internet traffic. We are witnessing this today with the Internet television (TV) phenomenon, with YouTube, Netflix's online offering, and BBC's iPlayer serving as prominent examples. To optimize video-dominated networks with respect to the required transport capacity (and also to reduce the response time the end user experiences), these services need to be supported by new networking capabilities. Caching in conjunction with specific unicast and multicast techniques for ingress and egress traffic can achieve this goal. In this paper we discuss how, explicitly by using cache cooperation techniques, we can deal with heterogeneous content preferences among end users. The paper shows simulation results and discusses relevant parameters with respect to the Internet TV use cases mentioned. Finally, it provides an outlook on the longer term and demonstrates that investment in these new capabilities is future-safe. © 2009 Alcatel-Lucent. [source]