Rectangular two-dimensional antiferromagnetic systems: Analysis of copper(II) pyrazine dibromide and dichloride

The structure of copper pyrazine dibromide (or dichloride) consists of dihalide-bridged copper chains parallel to the c-axis with the copper sites linked in a perpendicular direction by bridging pyrazine molecules parallel to the b-axis. Superexchange interactions are propagated through both halides and pyrazine so the magnetic structure is a rectangular layer with two exchange strengths, J and J′ (J′ = αJ), where 0 < α < 1. The susceptibility of a rectangular antiferromagnetic Heisenberg lattice with S = 1/2 has been simulated using Quantum Monte Carlo techniques and the results compared to the experimental data. Best fits of the magnetic susceptibility data to the simulated data yield: for Cu(pz)Br₂, α = 0.20(5), C = 0.430(1) emu K/mol, 2J = ?46(1) K, and 2J′ = ?9(2) K and for Cu(pz)Cl₂, α = 0.30(5), C = 0.426(1) emu K/mol, 2J = ?28(1) K, and 2J′ = ?8(2)) K. The values are in good agreement with the literature and thus demonstrate the effectiveness of the technique for rectangular lattices.     

EMG normalization to study muscle activation in cycling

The value of electromyography (EMG) is sensitive to many physiological and non-physiological factors. The purpose of the present study was to determine if the torque–velocity test (T–V) can be used to normalize EMG signals into a framework of biological significance. Peak EMG amplitude of gluteus maximus (GMAX), vastus lateralis (VL), rectus femoris (RF), biceps femoris long head (BF), gastrocnemius medialis (GAS) and soleus (SOL) was calculated for nine subjects during isometric maximal voluntary contractions (IMVC) and torque–velocity bicycling tests (T–V). Then, the reference EMG signals obtained from IMVC and T–V bicycling tests were used to normalize the amplitude of the EMG signals collected for 15 different submaximal pedaling conditions. The results of this study showed that the repeatability of the measurements between IMVC (from 10% to 23%) and T–V (from 8% to 20%) was comparable. The amplitude of the peak EMG of VL was 99 ± 43% higher (p < 0.001) when measured during T–V. Moreover, the inter-individual variability of the EMG patterns calculated for submaximal cycling exercises differed significantly when using T–V bicycling normalization method (GMAX: 0.33 ± 0.16 vs. 1.09 ± 0.04, VL: 0.07 ± 0.02 vs. 0.64 ± 0.14, SOL: 0.07 ± 0.03 vs. 1.00 ± 0.07, RF: 1.21 ± 0.20 vs. 0.92 ± 0.13, BF: 1.47 ± 0.47 vs. 0.84 ± 0.11). It was concluded that T–V bicycling test offers the advantage to be less time and energy-consuming and to be as repeatable as IMVC tests to measure peak EMG amplitude. Furthermore, this normalization method avoids the impact of non-physiological factors on the amplitude of the EMG signals so that it allows quantifying better the activation level of lower limb muscles and the variability of the EMG patterns during submaximal bicycling exercises.     

Remote sensing of chlorophyll-a concentration for drinking water source using genetic algorithms (GA)-partial least square (PLS) modeling

Accurate estimation of phytoplankton chlorophyll-a (Chl-a) concentration in turbid waters through remote sensing is a challenge due to the optical complexity of water constituents. Reflectance spectra and concurrent water quality parameters of 225 samples across the Shitoukoumen Reservoir, the drinking water resource for Changchun City, were used to retrieve Chl-a concentration with high total suspended matter (TSM) during 2006–2008. A combination of genetic algorithms and partial least square (GA-PLS) model was established for Chl-a retrieval through GA to select sensitive spectral variables and PLS for regression. To compare GA-PLS performances, the widely accepted three-band algorithm was implemented for Chl-a concentration estimation. Both GA-PLS and the three-band algorithm have stable performance for the aggregated dataset (R² = 0.85 and 0.81; RPD = 3.95 and 3.61; relative RMSE = 31.7% and 34.2%), with the GA-PLS model performing marginally better. The temporal transferability of the models was validated with the dataset collected in 2006 and 2007 respectively as independent dataset, showing that GA-PLS outperformed the three-band algorithm. Our result also indicated that relative error [(Chl-a_predicted − Chl-a_measured) / Chl-a_measured] showed good linear relation to TSM: Chl-a ratio (R² = 0.84), which implied that TSM concentration exerted significant impact on the accuracy of Chl-a estimation in this case study. As the results were derived from a large number of samples representing a wide range of spatiotemporal variations of pigment under TSM (3.7–472.8 mg/L) concentration influence, the GA-PLS model has great potential for Chl-a estimation for inland waters with similar backgrounds. Nevertheless, the three-band algorithm also has its own merit considering its simplicity for implementation.     

Proximal femoral diaphyseal cross-sectional geometry in Orrorin tugenensis

Functional adaptations in femora attributed to Orrorin tugenensis provide a unique opportunity to examine locomotor behavior very early in the hominin lineage. This study examines relative cortical thickness, cortical area (CA) relative to the polar moment of area (J), and J relative to femoral head superoinferior diameter (FHD) in the proximal femur of O. tugenensis (BAR 1002’00 and BAR 1003’00), and compares patterns in this early hominin with those in a sample of modern humans (N = 31), Plio-Pleistocene fossil hominins (N = 8), Pan troglodytes troglodytes (N = 13), and Pan paniscus (N = 3). Relative cortical thickness and CA relative to J in the proximal femur of O. tugenensis are comparable to patterns generally found in other fossil hominins. Proximal femoral diaphyseal J relative to FHD in BAR 1002’00 is similar to patterns found in fossil hominins typically attributed to a non-Homo genus (i.e. SK 82, SK 97, and KNM-ER 738). Cross-sectional geometric patterns in the proximal femur of Orrorin are not unlike those generally found in australopithecines and fossil Homo. While the results of this study cannot confirm unequivocally that Orrorin was an obligate biped, a mode of locomotion comparable to that proposed for australopithecines cannot be ruled out.     

Synthesis,structures and magnetic properties of pentanuclear and trinuclear heterometallic complexes with bended and linear cyano-bridges (tren = tris(2-aminoethyl)amine)

The reaction of [Cu(tren)(OH₂)](ClO₄)₂ with KCN gave a mononuclear complex [Cu(tren)(CN)](ClO₄) (1) (tren = tris(2-aminoethyl)amine). Using 1 as a building block, one pentanuclear compound, [{Cu(tren)(NC)}₄Ni](ClO₄)₆ (2) and two trinuclear complexes, [{Cu(tren)NC}₂Co(tren)](ClO₄)₅ · 2H₂O (3), [{Cu(tren)CN}₂NiL](ClO₄)₄ (4) (L = 3,10-bis(2-hydroxyethyl)-1,3,5,8,10,12-hexaazacyclotetradecane) were prepared and characterized by single crystal X-ray analysis. In 1, Cu(II) atom adopts a distorted trigonal bipyramidal (TBP) geometry. In 2, the Ni(II) atom occupies the center of the pentanuclear compound with a square-planar coordination geometry. In 3, the six-coordinated Co(III) atom presents a distorted octahedral geometry with four nitrogen atoms from tren and two carbon atoms of bridged cyano groups in cis-positions. In 4, the nickel atom is located in an inversion center and coordinated with two [(tren)CuCN]⁺ moieties through cyano-bridging ligands. Magnetic susceptibility measurements of 2–4 show that the magnetic interactions between the heterometallic ions are antiferromagnetical coupling through the cyano bridges with g = 2.25, J = −0.142 cm⁻¹ and J′ = −0.167 cm⁻¹ for 2, g = 2.06, J = −0.094 cm⁻¹ for 3, and g = 2.20, J = −33.133 cm⁻¹ for 4. The correlations between the structures and the J values are discussed.     

Prevalence,distribution and intraspecific variation of Heterodera schachtii populations from semiarid environment

A two-year survey study was carried-out to identify and determine the distribution, community characteristics and intraspecific variation of the sugar beet cyst nematode, Heterodera schachtii populations collected from the six major sugar beet-producing governorates in Syria, west Asia. A total of 178 composite rhizosphere soil samples were collected from the six governorates during 2009 and 2010 growing seasons as follows: Aleppo (26), Ar Raqqah (17), Dayr az Zawr (33), Idlib (34), Hamah (41) and Homs (27 samples). The nematode was originally identified on the basis of morphometrics and morphological features of the cyst vulvar cones and second-stage juveniles (J₂). The communities of H. schachtii were then analyzed using the criteria of frequency of occurrence (FO%), mean population density (PD) and prominence value (PV). Results showed that H. schachtii was the most frequent and prominent in Homs (FO% = 70.37% and PV = 23472.37) and the least frequent and prominent in Ar Raqqah (FO% = 5.88% and PV = 28.86). The highest nematode population density was also recorded in Homs in 2009 (50,545 J₂ + eggs/100 g soil) while the least was recorded in Ar Raqqah in 2010 (119 J₂ + eggs/100 g soil). The morphometric data of cyst vulvar cone, second-stage juveniles (J₂) and eggs were also subjected to a multivariate principal component analysis to analyze the relationships between the studied populations, and to identify the variables that show the highest multiple correlations with these populations. Results showed that at the high order of hierarchical cluster analysis, four populations (Idlib, Hamah, Homs and Aleppo) formed one main cluster, while Dair az Zawr and Ar Raqqah failed to form clusters and separated individually. However, at low distance value, the main cluster further subdivided to separate the Aleppo population from Idlib, Hamah and Homs populations. The morphometric distance values ranged from 0.07 to 0.61. Hamah and Homs were the closest populations while Dair az Zawr showed the most diverse population. This study also revealed the value of J₂ body length, egg length and width, fenestral length and width and the number of bullae inside the cyst vulvar cone in determining the intraspecific variations among the Syrian populations of H. schachtii.     

Evaluation of the association of mercury(II) with some dicysteinyl tripeptides

The present study was undertaken to gain insight into the associations of mercury(II) with dicysteinyl tripeptides in buffered media at pH 7.4. We investigated the effects of increasing the distance between cysteinyl residues on mercury(II) associations and complex formations. The peptide–mercury(II) formation constants and their associated thermodynamic parameters in 3-(N-morpholino)propanesulfonic acid (MOPS) buffered solutions were evaluated by isothermal titration calorimetry. Complexes formed in different relative ratios of mercury(II) to cysteinyl peptides in ammonium formate buffered solutions were characterized by LTQ Orbitrap mass spectrometry. The results from these studies show that n-alkyl dicysteinyl peptides (CP 1–4), and an aryl dicysteinyl peptide (CP 5) can serve as effective “double anchors” to accommodate the coordination sites of mercury(II) to form predominantly one-to-one Hg(peptide) complexes. The aryl dicysteinyl peptide (CP 5) also forms the two-to-two Hg₂(peptide)₂ complex. In the presence of excess peptide, Hg(peptide)₂ complexes are also detected. Notably, increasing the distance between the ligating groups or “anchor points” in CP 1–5 does not significantly affect their affinity for mercury(II). However, the enthalpy change (ΔH) values (ΔH₁ ∼ −91 kJ mol⁻¹ and ΔH₂ ∼ −66 kJ mol⁻¹) for complex formation between CP 4 and 5 with mercury(II) are about one and a half times larger than the related values for CP 1, 2 and 3 (ΔH₁ ∼ −66 kJ mol⁻¹ and ΔH₂ ∼ 46 kJ mol⁻¹). The corresponding entropy change (ΔS) values (ΔS₁ ∼ −129 J K⁻¹ mol⁻¹ and ΔS₂ ∼ −116 J K⁻¹ mol⁻¹) of the structurally larger dicysteinyl peptides CP 4 and 5 are less entropically favorable than for CP 1, 2 and 3 (ΔS₁ ∼ −48 J K⁻¹ mol⁻¹ and ΔS₂ ∼ −44 J K⁻¹ mol⁻¹). Generally, these associations result in a decrease in entropy, indicating that these peptide–mercury complexes potentially form highly ordered structures. The results from this study show that dicysteinyl tripeptides are effective in binding mercury(II) and they are promising motifs for the design of multi-cysteinyl peptides for binding more than one mercury(II) ion per peptide.     

On the usability of intramuscular EMG for prosthetic control: A Fitts’ Law approach

Previous studies on intramuscular EMG based control used offline data analysis. The current study investigates the usability of intramuscular EMG in two degree-of-freedom using a Fitts’ Law approach by combining classification and proportional control to perform a task, with real time feedback of user performance. Nine able-bodied subjects participated in the study. Intramuscular and surface EMG signals were recorded concurrently from the right forearm. Five performance metrics (Throughput, Path efficiency, Average Speed, Overshoot and Completion Rate) were used for quantification of usability. Intramuscular EMG based control performed significantly better than surface EMG for Path Efficiency (80.5 ± 2.4% vs. 71.5 ± 3.8%, P = 0.004) and Overshoot (22.0 ± 3.0% vs. 45.1 ± 6.6%, P = 0.01). No difference was found between Throughput and Completion Rate. However the Average Speed was significantly higher for surface (51.8 ± 5.5%) than for intramuscular EMG (35.7 ± 2.7%). The results obtained in this study imply that intramuscular EMG has great potential as control source for advanced myoelectric prosthetic devices.     

Innervation zone shift at different levels of isometric contraction in the biceps brachii muscle

Experiments were carried out to examine whether innervation zone (IZ) location remains stable at different levels of isometric contraction in the biceps brachii muscle (BB), and to determine how the proximity of the IZ affects common surface electromyography (sEMG) parameters. Twelve subjects performed maximal (MVC) and submaximal voluntary isometric contractions at 10%, 20%, 30%, 40%, 50% and 75% of MVC. sEMG signals were recorded with a 13 rows × 5 columns grid of electrodes from the short head of BB. The IZ shifted in the proximal direction by up to 2.4 cm, depending upon the subject and electrode column. The mean shift of all the columns was 0.6 ± 0.4 cm (10% vs. 100% MVC, P < 0.001). This shift biased the average values of mean frequency (+21.8 ± 9.9 Hz, P < 0.001), root mean square (?0.16 ± 0.15 mV, P < 0.05) and conduction velocity (?1.15 ± 0.93 m/s, P < 0.01) in the channels immediately proximal to the IZ. The shift in IZ could be explained by shortening of the muscle fibers, and thus lengthening of the (distal) tendon due to increasing force. These results underline the importance of individual investigation of IZ locations before the placement of sEMG electrodes, even in isometric contractions.     

Atrioventricular nodal function during atrial fibrillation: Model building and robust estimation

Statistical modeling of atrioventricular (AV) nodal function during atrial fibrillation (AF) is revisited for the purpose of defining model properties and improving parameter estimation. The characterization of AV nodal pathways is made more detailed and the number of pathways is now determined by the Bayesian information criterion, rather than just producing a probability as was previously done. Robust estimation of the shorter refractory period (i.e., of the slow pathway) is accomplished by a Hough-based technique which is applied to a Poincaré plot of RR intervals. The performance is evaluated on simulated data as well as on ECG data acquired from AF patients during rest and head-up tilt test. The simulation results suggest that the refractory period of the slow pathway can be accurately estimated even in the presence of many artifacts. They also show that the number of pathways can be accurately determined. The results from ECG data show that the refined AV node model provides significantly better fit than did the original model, increasing from 85 ± 5% to 88 ± 4% during rest, and from 86 ± 5% to 87 ± 3% during tilt. When assessing the effect of sympathetic stimulation, the AF frequency increased significantly during tilt (6.25 ± 0.58 Hz vs. 6.32 ± 0.61 Hz, p < 0.05, rest vs. tilt) and the prolongation of the refractory periods of both pathways decreased significantly (slow pathway: 0.23 ± 0.20 s vs. 0.11 ± 0.10 s, p < 0.001, rest vs. tilt; fast pathway: 0.24 ± 0.31 s vs. 0.16 ± 0.19 s, p < 0.05, rest vs. tilt). The results show that AV node characteristics can be assessed noninvasively for the purpose of quantifying changes induced by autonomic stimulation.     

Estimation of gross primary production of irrigated maize using Landsat-8 imagery and Eddy Covariance data

A study was conducted to understand the potential of Landsat-8 in the estimation of gross primary production (GPP) and to quantify the productivity of maize crop cultivated under hyper-arid conditions of Saudi Arabia. The GPP of maize crop was estimated by using the Vegetation Photosynthesis Model (VPM) utilizing remote sensing data from Landsat-8 reflectance (GPP_VPM) as well as the meteorological data provided by Eddy Covariance (EC) system (GPP_EC), for the period from August to November 2015. Results revealed that the cumulative GPP_EC for the entire growth period of maize crop was 1871 g C m⁻². However, the cumulative GPP determined as a function of the enhanced vegetation index – EVI (GPP_EVI) was 1979 g C m⁻², and that determined as a function of the normalized difference vegetation index – NDVI (GPP_NDVI) was 1754 g C m⁻². These results indicated that the GPP_EVI was significantly higher than the GPP_EC (R² = 0.96, P = 0.0241 and RMSE = 12.6%). While, the GPP_NDVI was significantly lower than the GPP_EC (R² = 0.93, P = 0.0384 and RMSE = 19.7%). However, the recorded relative error between the GPP_EC and both the GPP_EVI and the GPP_NDVI was −6.22% and 5.76%, respectively. These results demonstrated the potential of the landsat-8 driven VPM model for the estimation of GPP, which is relevant to the productivity and carbon fluxes.     

Detection of surface electromyography recording time interval without muscle fatigue effect for biceps brachii muscle during maximum voluntary contraction

The effects of fatigue on maximum voluntary contraction (MVC) parameters were examined by using force and surface electromyography (sEMG) signals of the biceps brachii muscles (BBM) of 12 subjects. The purpose of the study was to find the sEMG time interval of the MVC recordings which is not affected by the muscle fatigue. At least 10 s of force and sEMG signals of BBM were recorded simultaneously during MVC. The subjects reached the maximum force level within 2 s by slightly increasing the force, and then contracted the BBM maximally. The time index of each sEMG and force signal were labeled with respect to the time index of the maximum force (i.e. after the time normalization, each sEMG or force signal’s 0 s time index corresponds to maximum force point). Then, the first 8 s of sEMG and force signals were divided into 0.5 s intervals. Mean force, median frequency (MF) and integrated EMG (iEMG) values were calculated for each interval. Amplitude normalization was performed by dividing the force signals to their mean values of 0 s time intervals (i.e. ?0.25 to 0.25 s). A similar amplitude normalization procedure was repeated for the iEMG and MF signals. Statistical analysis (Friedman test with Dunn’s post hoc test) was performed on the time and amplitude normalized signals (MF, iEMG). Although the ANOVA results did not give statistically significant information about the onset of the muscle fatigue, linear regression (mean force vs. time) showed a decreasing slope (Pearson-r = 0.9462, p < 0.0001) starting from the 0 s time interval. Thus, it might be assumed that the muscle fatigue starts after the 0 s time interval as the muscles cannot attain their peak force levels. This implies that the most reliable interval for MVC calculation which is not affected by the muscle fatigue is from the onset of the EMG activity to the peak force time. Mean, SD, and range of this interval (excluding 2 s gradual increase time) for 12 subjects were 2353, 1258 ms and 536–4186 ms, respectively. Exceeding this interval introduces estimation errors in the maximum amplitude calculations of MVC–sEMG studies for BBM. It was shown that, simultaneous recording of force and sEMG signals was required to calculate the maximum amplitude of the MVC–sEMG more accurately.     

Magnetic properties of six-coordinated high-spin cobalt(II) complexes: Theoretical background and its application

In this contribution we study and analyse the influence of the different parameters involved in the magnetic susceptibility of six-coordinated high-spin Co(II) complexes. We propose an empirical expression to fit the magnetic susceptibility of polycrystalline samples of mononuclear Co(II) complexes with an axial distortion, the variable parameters being Δ (axial distortion), α (orbital reduction factor) and λ (spin–orbit coupling). This expression avoids solving the 12 × 12 matrix associated to the distortion of the ⁴T_1g term. In order to take into account the magnetic coupling (J) in the polynuclear Co(II) complexes, a perturbational approach is proposed to describe their magnetic susceptibility in the whole temperature range (2–300 K) as a function of J, Δ, α and λ. This approach is valid in the limit of the weak magnetic coupling as compared to the spin–orbit coupling, |J/λ| < 0.1. The model allows the treatment of each cobalt(II) ion in axial symmetry as an effective spin S_eff = 1/2. That causes a drastic reduction of the matrix size of the polynuclear compounds from 12ⁿ × 12ⁿ to 2ⁿ × 2ⁿ, n being the number of Co(II) ions in the complex. The main advantage of the model is to make possible the fit of the magnetic susceptibility data of those polynuclear Co(II) complexes whose high nuclearity involved intractable matrices.     

Myoelectric manifestations of fatigue in vastus lateralis,medialis obliquus and medialis longus muscles

The purpose of this study was to determine whether surface electromyography (EMG) assessment of myoelectric manifestations of muscle fatigue is capable of detecting differences between the vastus lateralis and medialis muscles which are consistent with the results of previous biopsy studies. Surface EMG signals were recorded from the vastus medialis longus (VML), vastus medialis obliquus (VMO) and vastus lateralis (VL) muscles during isometric knee extension contractions at 60% and 80% of the maximum voluntary contraction (MVC) for 10 s and 60 s, respectively. Initial values and rate of change of mean frequency (MNF), average rectified value (ARV) and conduction velocity (CV) of the EMG signal were calculated. Comparisons between the two force levels revealed that the initial values of MNF for the VL muscle were greater at 80% MVC compared to 60% MVC (P < 0.01). Comparisons between the vasti muscles demonstrated lower initial values of CV for VMO compared to VL at 60% MVC (P < 0.01) and lower than VML and VL at 80% MVC (P < 0.01). In addition, initial values of MNF were higher for VL with respect to both VML and VMO at 80% MVC (P < 0.01) and initial estimates of ARV were higher for VMO compared to VML at both force levels (P < 0.01 at 60% MVC and P < 0.05 at 80% MVC). For the sustained contraction at 80% MVC, VL demonstrated a greater decrease in CV over time compared to VMO (P < 0.05).These findings suggest that surface EMG signals and their time course during sustained isometric contractions may be useful to non-invasively describe functional differences between the vasti muscles.     

On estimating intraventricular hemodynamic forces from endocardial dynamics: A comparative study with 4D flow MRI

Intraventricular pressure gradients or hemodynamic forces, which are their global measure integrated over the left ventricular volume, have a fundamental importance in ventricular function. They may help revealing a sub-optimal cardiac function that is not evident in terms of tissue motion, which is naturally heterogeneous and variable, and can influence cardiac adaptation. However, hemodynamic forces are not utilized in clinical cardiology due to the unavailability of simple non-invasive measurement tools.Hemodynamic forces depend on the intraventricular flow; nevertheless, most of them are imputable to the dynamics of the endocardial flow boundary and to the exchange of momentum across the mitral and aortic orifices. In this study, we introduce a simplified model based on first principles of fluid dynamics that allows estimating hemodynamic forces without knowing the velocity field inside the LV.The model is validated with 3D phase-contrast MRI (known as 4D flow MRI) in 15 subjects, (5 healthy and 10 patients) using the endocardial surface reconstructed from the three standard long-axis projections. Results demonstrate that the model provides consistent estimates for the base-apex component (mean correlation coefficient r = 0.77 for instantaneous values and r = 0.88 for root mean square) and good estimates of the inferolateral-anteroseptal component (r = 0.50 and 0.84, respectively).The present method represents a potential integration to the existing ones quantifying endocardial deformation in MRI and echocardiography to add a physics-based estimation of the corresponding hemodynamic forces. These could help the clinician to early detect sub-clinical diseases and differentiate between different cardiac dysfunctional states.     

Effect of heating rate on pDNA production by E. coli

The effects of heating rate (HR) on the performance of two-phase (batch followed by fed-batch) high cell-density cultivations (HCDC) of E. coli DH5α for the production of plasmid DNA (pDNA) were investigated. Optimal temperatures for the HCDC, as selected from shake flask experiments at constant temperatures between 30 and 45 °C, were 35 °C for biomass accumulation in the batch phase and 42 °C for inducing pDNA replication during the fed-batch. In HCDC the temperature was increased at HR of 0.025, 0.05, 0.10 and 0.25 °C/min and the performance of the cultivations were compared to a HCDC run at constant temperature (35 °C). Compared to constant 35 °C, heat-induced HCDC accumulated up to 50% less biomass within the same cultivation time and acetate and glucose accumulated to high concentrations. The overall specific productivity (Q_P) and average pDNA yield (Y_p/x) in HCDC at 35 °C were 0.22 ± 0.02 mg/g h and 5.3 ± 0.00 mg/g, respectively. Such parameters were maximum at a HR of 0.05 °C/min, reaching 0.56 ± 0.06 mg/g h and 9.3 ± 0.6 mg/g, respectively. At HR above 0.5 °C/min, Y_p/x remained relatively constant, whereas Q_P tended to decrease. The supercoiled pDNA fraction remained around 80% at all HR. Bioreactors were equipped with a capacitance/conductivity probe. In all cases biomass concentration correlated closely with the capacitance signal and acetate and glucose accumulation was accompanied by an increase in the conductivity signal. Thus, it was possible to calculate acetate and biomass concentrations, as well as μ, from online capacitance and conductivity signals using estimators. Altogether, in this study it was shown that it is possible to maximize pDNA productivity by choosing an appropriate HR and that relevant parameters can be estimated by capacitance/conductivity signals, which are useful for better process control and development.     

Novel formulation of a double threshold algorithm for the estimation of muscle activation intervals designed for variable SNR environments

The aim of this work is the development of an improved formulation of the double threshold algorithm for sEMG onset–offset detection presented by Bonato and co-workers. The original formulation, which keeps the threshold fixed, suffers from performance degradation whenever the SNR changes during the analysis. The novel approach is designed to be adaptive to SNR changes in either burst or inter-burst zones of sEMG signals recorded in static and dynamic conditions. The detection parameters (i.e. detection and false alarm probabilities) are updated on the basis of an on-line estimation of the SNR. The proposed formulation has been assessed on both simulated and real sEMG data. For constant SNR the performance of the original formulation is confirmed (for SNR > 8 dB, bias and standard deviation less than 10 and 15 ms, respectively; detection percentage higher than 95%), while the novel implementation performs better with time-varying SNR (for SNR varying in the range 10–25 dB the standard approach detection percentage decreases at 50%). Detection on signals recorded during isometric contractions at different force levels confirms the performance on simulated signals (StD = 134 ms; FP = 22%, and StD = 42 ms; FP = 2%, respectively for standard and novel implementation calculated as average on five experimental trials). The pseudo real-time detection allowed by this formulation can be profitably exploited by biofeedback applications based on myoelectric information.     

Persistent efficacy of long-acting moxidectin for control of trichostrongylid infections of sheep

The objective was to evaluate long-acting moxidectin (Cydectin^® 2% LA for sheep) against trichostrongylids in sheep. We performed a blocked, parallel, controlled clinical trial. We included 45 ewe-lambs, allocated into treated (n = 30, 1.0 mg moxidectin per kg bw, subcutaneously at base of ear on D 0) or controls (n = 15). Animals had been naturally infected (pre-treatment geometric mean epg counts: 233 and 249, respectively) and throughout the study grazed at the same pasture. Fortnightly, we collected faecal samples and performed established parasitological techniques (epg counts, coprocultures). We used analysis of covariance for post-treatment results, using pre-treatment counts as covariate, treatment as fixed effect, block as random effect. Geometric mean epg counts in treated animals were 0 up to D 112, 1 on D 126, 4 on D 140 and 13 on D 161. Respective figures for controls were 369–820 up to D 140 and 168 on D 161 (p < 0.05). Persistent efficacy (>90%) was 140 d for Teladorsagia, 119 d for Haemonchus and 115 d for Trichostrongylus. This is the first reported clinical trial of efficacy of long-acting moxidectin in sheep in Europe. Cydectin 2% LA was found to be effective against trichostrongylids of sheep. The particularly long persistent efficacy can provide new possibilities in formulating anthelmintic programs for sheep.     

Production of the postharvest biocontrol agent Bacillus subtilis CPA-8 using low cost commercial products and by-products

The aim of this research was to identify a low cost medium based on commercial products and by-products that provided maximum Bacillus subtilis CPA-8 growth and maintained biocontrol efficacy. Low cost media combining economical nitrogen and carbon sources such as yeast extract, peptone, soy products, sucrose, maltose and molasses were tested. Tests were carried out in 250-ml flasks containing 50 ml of each tested medium. Maximum cell growth (>3 × 10⁹ CFU ml^?1) was obtained in defatted soy flour 44% combined with sucrose or molasses media. Second, CPA-8 production was scaled up in a 5-l fermenter and CPA-8 population dynamics, pH and oxygen consumption in the optimized medium (defatted soy flour 44% – molasses) was recorded. In these tests, there was a 5-h lag phase before growth, after which exponential growth occurred and maximum production was 3 × 10⁹ CFU ml^?1 after 20 h. Fruit trials with cells and cell free supernatants from CPA-8 grown in optimized medium maintained biocontrol efficacy against Monilinia fructicola on peaches, resulting in disease reductions up to 95%. CPA-8 populations survived in wounds on inoculated peaches, regardless of the culture media used. The results show that B. subtilis CPA-8 can be produced in a low cost medium combining inexpensive nitrogen and carbon sources (40 g l^?1 defatted soy flour 44%, 5 g l^?1 molasses plus mineral trace supplements) in shake flasks and a laboratory fermenter (5 l). The results could be used to provide a reliable basis for scaling up the fermentation process to an industrial level.