The MIX and Compleat ELEFAN methods were used to analyse length-frequency distributions of females of the deep- water shrimp
Aristeus antennatus in order to estimate growth, mortality and ...yield-per-recruit. Length data were gathered in four seasonal experimental trawl surveys made in the Strait of Sicily (Mediterranean Sea). Up to four annual cohorts were distinguishable. Modal lengths were integrated and the parameters of the von Bertalanffy growth function estimated by a weighted non-linear regression, yielding an asymptotic carapace length of 69.1 mm and an annual Brody's coefficient
K = 0.532, with a location parameter
t
0 = 0 (line through the origin). The consistency of these estimates was evaluated by comparison with the corresponding parameters obtained applying ELEFAN-I and producing a confidence interval by bootstrap resampling; this last procedure revealed the presence of two possible solutions corresponding to a ‘slow’ and a ‘fast’ growth hypothesis. The growth estimates derived from the modal progression analysis in any case fall inside the confidence ellipse of the bivariate plot of the asymptotic lengths and growth coefficients derived from the bootstrapped data sets. The total annual mortality was estimated as
Z = 1.1, following Heincke's approximation; two values of annual natural mortality,
M
l = 0.5 and
M
h = 0.8, were used afterwards. As a negative allometric length-weight relationship (
b < 3) does exist, the incomplete beta function was applied to compute the yield-per-recruit values. Analysis of the
Y
R
curves suggests that the current
Y
R
can be improved by a moderate increase, from 1 to 1.5 years, in the age of first capture; this could be obtained by increasing the mesh size of the cod-end from the present 18 mm to 28 mm, without any economic loss, even short term.
In this work, the evolution of damages in pavement life cycle relative to rutting has been modeled in relevant pavement sections. Ground-penetrating radar (GPR) surveys were carried out at the rural ...road network scale using an air-launched pulsed radar system, 1GHz central frequency of investigation, linked to an instrumented van for collecting data at traffic speed. Surveys were performed in two time periods, six months apart from each other. By knowing the geometrical, traffic, climatic and construction information of each surveyed pavement section, and on the basis of comprehensive literature studies dealing with rutting versus time measurements in several flexible pavement sections during their life cycle, it has been possible to determine a reliable domain of existence by means of rutting versus time prediction curves, in which to locate the pavement section-specific prediction curve, case by case. Results have shown reliable relationships, wherein damage prediction is consistent with those suggested by literature.
A 4-month trial was carried out in Northern Italy to evaluate the possibility of recycling pig manure through pond carp production. Six ponds (600 m
2, 1.2 m deep) were stocked at the rate of 5300 ...fish/ ha with a mixture of common and grass carp (87% and 13% by number, respectively). The initial mean weight was 450 g (carp) and 440 g (grass carp). Ponds were fertilized with pig manure and/ or supplied with feed (dry matter weight on the basis of fish biomass) as follows: (A) 3% manure; (B) 1.5% manure and 1.5% feed; (C) 3% feed. Dry matter was around 13% (manure) and 88% (feed). Five days a week, manure was spread and/or feed distributed in ponds; every week the supplied amount was adjusted with estimated weight gains. The overall quantity of manure recycled per day was 575 (treatment A) and 288 kg/ha (treatment B). Survival was 100% in treatments B and C, and 88% in A. The total weight gain was different (
P ⩽ 0.05) in each treatment: 259 (A), 3369 (B) and 6312 (C) kg/ha. The final mean weight was 570, 1050 and 1670 g for common and 630,1330 and 1480 g for grass carp in treatments A, B and C, respectively. Feed conversion rate was 2.82 (B) and 1.52 (C), while the fertilization index (kg manure/kg weight gain biomass) was 36.1 for treatment A. The level of oxygen was different (
P ⩽ 0.05) among the treatments, i.e. 3.6 (A) vs. 4.5 (B) and 4.3 (C) mg/l. An over-fertilization effect could have been responsible for poor performances and the high mortality in treatment A. As a general conclusion, integrated pond systems using grass carp seem to be useful for pig manure recycling.
Abstract
Background
Outpatient parenteral antimicrobial therapy (OPAT) allows patients to receive prolonged antimicrobial therapy while reducing the length of hospitalization and healthcare costs. In ...the United States, most public and private insurance companies require prior authorization (PA) for OPAT. The impact of OPAT PA delays is not known. This study aimed to characterize discharge barriers and authorization delays associated with high-cost OPAT antibiotics.
Methods
IRB-approved study of adult patients discharged with high-cost OPAT antibiotics from January to December 2017. Antibiotics were included based on the frequency of OPAT use and average sales price (ASP) greater than $100 per day, including: daptomycin, ceftaroline, ertapenem, and the novel β-lactam β-lactam inhibitor combinations. Patients with an OPAT authorization delay >24 hours were compared with patients without an OPAT authorization delay. Primary endpoint: total direct hospital costs, starting from the start of treatment with the OPAT antibiotic, from the institutional perspective using Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project and Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services 2019 ASP Drug Pricing data. Secondary outcomes: discharge delay and 30-day readmission or mortality.
Results
Two-hundred patients included: 151 (76%) no OPAT delay vs. 49 (25%) OPAT delay. The use of antibiotics was similar between groups, except ertapenem was more common in the no OPAT delay group: 60 (43%) vs. 15 (25%), P = 0.022. Patients with no OPAT delay were more commonly discharged with home infusion and less commonly to a facility: 75 (53%) vs. 19 (32%), P = 0.007, and 52 (37%) vs. 37 (63%), P = 0.001, respectively. Discharge delays were more common in patients with OPAT delays: 21 (15%) vs. 31 (53%), P < 0.001. The median total direct hospital costs were higher in patients with OPAT delays: $7,770 (3,031–13,974) vs. $19,576 vs. (10,056–37,038), P < 0.001. Table 1 compares the total direct hospital costs of patients with and without an authorization delay.
Conclusion
OPAT with high-cost antibiotics requires significant care coordination. Authorization delays for these antibiotics are common and may contribute to a delay in discharge. OPAT transitions of care represent an important opportunity for Infectious Diseases providers to improve care and address access barriers.
Disclosures
All authors: No reported disclosures.
Activated phagocytes undergo a massive burst of metabolic acid generation, yet must be able to maintain their cytosolic pH (pHi) within physiological limits. Peroxides of vanadate (V(4+)-OOH), potent ...inhibitors of phosphotyrosine phosphatases, have recently been shown to produce activation of the respiratory burst in HL60 granulocytes. We therefore investigated the effects of V(4+)-OOH on pHi homoeostasis in HL60 granulocytes, using a pH-sensitive fluorescent dye. V(4+)-OOH stimulation induced a biphasic pH change: a transient cytosolic acidification followed by a significant alkalinization. The initial acidification was prevented by inhibition of the NADPH oxidase and was absent in undifferentiated cells lacking oxidase activity. Analysis of the alkalinization phase demonstrated the involvement of the Na+/H+ antiporter, and also provided evidence for activation of two alternative H(+)-extrusion pathways: a bafilomycin-sensitive component, likely reflecting vacuolar-type H(+)-ATPase activity, and a Zn(2+)-sensitive H(+)-conductive pathway. Our results indicate that V(4+)-OOH stimulation not only activated the NADPH oxidase but concomitantly stimulated H(+)-extrusion pathways, enabling the cells to compensate for the massive production of intracellular H+ associated with the respiratory burst.
Protein kinase CK2 is an ubiquitous and pleiotropic Ser/Thr protein kinase composed of two catalytic (alpha and/or alpha') and two regulatory (beta) subunits generally combined to form ...alpha(2)beta(2), alphaalpha'beta(2), or alpha'(2)beta(2) heterotetramers. To gain more insight into the role of CK2 in the control of proliferation in mammalian cells, overexpression of isolated CK2 subunits alpha, alpha', or beta was carried out in two fibroblast cell lines: NIH3T3 and CCL39. To interfere with CK2 cellular functions, cells were also transfected with a kinase-inactive mutant of CK2alpha catalytic subunit: CK2alpha-K68A. In NIH3T3 cells, overexpression of either wild-type subunit (alpha, alpha' or beta) had no effect on cell proliferation. In contrast, overexpression of the CK2alpha kinase-deficient mutant induced a marked inhibition of cell proliferation. This resulted from a defect in G1/S progression as demonstrated in transient transfection experiments in both NIH3T3 and CCL39 cells using BrdU incorporation measurements and in CCL39 clones stably overexpressing the CK2alpha-K68A mutant by growth curve analysis. We demonstrated that the kinase-negative mutant has the capacity to integrate the endogenous CK2 subunit pool both as an isolated kinase-inactive alpha subunit and as associated to the beta subunit in a kinase-inactive tetramer. Finally we showed that expression of the kinase-inactive mutant interferes with phosphorylation of an endogenous CK2 substrate; we speculate that optimal phosphorylation of target proteins by CK2 is required to achieve optimal cell cycle progression.
Stock identification of Raja clavata L Bottari, Teresa; Rinelli, Paola; Bianchini, Marco L ...
Hydrobiologia,
02/2013, Letnik:
703, Številka:
1
Journal Article
Recenzirano
The abundance, occurrence, biological features, growth and mortality parameters of the thornback ray, Raja clavata L. 1758 (Rajformes, Rajidae), coming from two contiguous areas of the Strait of ...Sicily (Central Mediterranean Sea) were analysed in order to discriminate the stocks. The two investigated areas include bottoms off southern Sicily (I-G16) and bottoms further at large (O-G16). The density indexes, biomass indexes and occurrences were substantially lower in I-G16 than O-G16. On the contrary, the biological traits were more similar, although significant differences were detected in the sex ratio, in the median total length of all specimens, in the length frequency distribution, in the estimated maximum length and in the female length-weight slope parameter. The median length of fully mature specimens did not significantly differ between the two areas. The von Bertalanffy's asymptotic length and the ratio of total mortality/von Bertalanffy's curvature parameter suggest a total mortality higher in the I-G16 than the O-G16 populations. This article supports the hypothesis that the investigated populations, in spite of a similar original life cycle, have evolved in two distinct unit stocks as a consequence of the different fishing efforts and the low-intermingling rate between the two areas. Keywords Raja clavata * Thornback ray * Bottom trawl surveys * Stock identification * Central Mediterranean Sea
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