Understanding the stress responses of organisms is of importance in the performance and welfare of farmed animals, including fish. Especially fish in aquaculture commonly face stressors, and better ...knowledge of their responses may assist in proper husbandry and selection of breeding stocks. European sea bass (Dicentrarchus labrax), a species with high cortisol concentrations, is of major importance in this respect. The main objectives of the present study were to assess the repeatability and consistency of cortisol stress response and to identify differences in liver transcription profiles of European sea bass individuals, showing a consistent low (LR) or high (HR) cortisol response. The progeny of six full sib families was used, and sampled for plasma cortisol after an acute stress challenge once per month, for four consecutive months. Results suggest that cortisol responsiveness was a repeatable trait with LR and HR fish showing low or high resting, free and post-stress cortisol concentrations respectively. Finally, the liver transcription profiles of LR and HR fish showed some important differences, indicating differential hepatic regulation between these divergent phenotypes. These transcription differences were related to various metabolic and immunological processes, with 169 transcripts being transcribed exclusively in LR fish and 161 exclusively in HR fish.
This paper presents the single-event upset characterization of a commercial field programmable gate array (FPGA) using electron radiation. FPGA radiation test results under high energy electrons are ...described and the dependence between electron energy and SEU cross section is highlighted. A technological cross section is performed to evaluate the back end of line (BEOL) layers composition and thickness. These values are used to perform Monte Carlo simulations of the commercial FPGA exposed to 20-MeV primary electron beam. Calculation results show that electrons are able to generate SEU on the FPGA embedded RAM and confirmed experimental data. SEU rates induced by Jovian electrons are estimated using two different tools: Monte Carlo in GEANT4 and the OMERE Software.
The sensitivity of the LM139A quad voltage comparator toward simultaneous single-event transient has been investigated through laser single photon absorption. The results have been supported and ...compared to heavy-ion tests. The analysis of sensitivity leads to the observation of two sensitive cases related to internal charge-sharing mechanism between comparator function and input line coupling effects.
To compare and contrast three databases, that is, The International Centre for Nephrogenic Systemic Fibrosis Registry (ICNSFR), the Food and Drug Administration Adverse Event Reporting System (FAERS) ...and a legal data set, through pharmacovigilance and to evaluate international nephrogenic systemic fibrosis (NSF) safety efforts.
The Research on Adverse Drug events And Reports methodology was used for assessment-the FAERS (through June 2009), ICNSFR and the legal data set (January 2002 to December 2010). Safety information was obtained from the European Medicines Agency, the Danish Medicine Agency and the Food and Drug Administration.
The FAERS encompassed the largest number (n = 1395) of NSF reports. The ICNSFR contained the most complete (n = 335, 100%) histopathological data. A total of 382 individual biopsy-proven, product-specific NSF cases were analysed from the legal data set. 76.2% (291/382) identified exposure to gadodiamide, of which 67.7% (197/291) were unconfounded. Additionally, 40.1% (153/382) of cases involved gadopentetate dimeglumine, of which 48.4% (74/153) were unconfounded, while gadoversetamide was identified in 7.3% (28/382) of which 28.6% (8/28) were unconfounded. Some cases involved gadobenate dimeglumine or gadoteridol, 5.8% (22/382), all of which were confounded. The mean number of exposures to gadolinium-based contrast agents (GBCAs) was gadodiamide (3), gadopentetate dimeglumine (5) and gadoversetamide (2). Of the 279 unconfounded cases, all involved a linear-structured GBCA. 205 (73.5%) were a non-ionic GBCA while 74 (26.5%) were an ionic GBCA.
Clinical and legal databases exhibit unique characteristics that prove complementary in safety evaluations. Use of the legal data set allowed the identification of the most commonly implicated GBCA.
This article is the first to demonstrate explicitly the utility of a legal data set to pharmacovigilance research.
The evolution of coastal and transitional environments depends upon the interplay of human activities and natural drivers, two factors that are strongly connected and many times conflicting. The urge ...for efficient tools for characterising and predicting the behaviour of such systems is nowadays particularly pressing, especially under the effects of a changing climate, and requires a deeper understanding of the connections among different drivers and different scales. To this aim, the present paper reviews the results of a set of interdisciplinary and coordinated experiences carried out in the Adriatic Sea (north-eastern Mediterranean region), discussing state-of-the art methods for coastal dynamics assessment and monitoring, and suggests strategies towards a more efficient coastal management. Coupled with detailed geomorphological information, the methodologies currently available for evaluating the different components of relative sea level rise facilitate a first identification of the flooding hazard in coastal areas, providing a fundamental element for the prioritization and identification of the sustainability of possible interventions and policies. In addition, hydro- and morpho-dynamic models are achieving significant advances in terms of spatial resolution and physical insight, also in a climatological context, improving the description of the interactions between meteooceanographic processes at the regional scale to coastal dynamics at the local scale. We point out that a coordinated use of the described tools should be promptly promoted in the design of survey and monitoring activities as well as in the exploitation of already collected data. Moreover, expected benefits from this strategy include the production of services and infrastructures for coastal protection with a focus on short-term forecast and rapid response, enabling the implementation of an event-oriented sampling strategy.
The effects of different tank volumes (2000, 500 and 40 l) on European sea bass Dicentrarchus labrax larval rearing, relating to growth, survival, quality and stress variables, were investigated. A ...dynamic energy budget (DEB) model was used to analyse the results. The hydrodynamics of the tanks exhibited differences, with the water currents in the 2000 l tanks to be almost one order of magnitude stronger than those in the 40 l ones. Important differences in fish growth were observed between small and large tank‐rearing volumes, with the smallest tank resulting in the slowest growth. Based on the DEB model analysis, growth differences were related to feeding rates, with growth in the smaller tank limited by food availability. Differences in survival rates were not statistically significant among the tank‐rearing volumes. The quality evaluation of the fry (in terms of swimbladder, jaw and skeletal abnormalities) showed differences, with the smallest tank having the highest percentage of deformed individuals. This could be attributed to both the feeding variances and the hydrodynamics in the tanks. No differences were observed in terms of whole‐body cortisol at the two developmental stages; flexion, and when the larvae body was fully covered by melanophores; when analysis was performed. This indicates that the allostatic load exerted on fish of different groups was similar and inside the fish‐coping abilities range, in terms of the cortisol response axis. The selection of the experimental scale is of importance, especially when the results are to be transferred and applied on an industrial scale.
Linear and two-photon laser testing is used to investigate the single-event latchup sensitive depth of SRAM CY7C1069 embedded in CARMEN satellite experiment. Results are discussed and compared with ...heavy ion and flight data.
An experimental study was performed to determine the accuracy of designing a statically indeterminate deep beam with three openings using the strut-and-tie modeling method in accordance with Appendix ...A of ACI 318-08. In this present study, four strut-and-tie models (STM) were independently developed, to closely match the flow of forces according to a finite element analysis. Four specimens were fabricated based on the associated STM, and confining reinforcement was provided at each load and support point. In all four specimens, the failure load exceeded the factored nominal design strength, demonstrating the conservatism of the STM method. The mode of failure in each specimen was dependent on the stress concentrations revealed in the elastic analysis and the STM chosen for the design.
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