41. Luteal activity and effect of dietary energy restriction on follicular development in lactating cowsAntonella Comin, Tanja Peric, M. Montillo, Alberto Cappa, Vittorio Marchi, Maria Cristina Veronesi, Alberto Prandi, 2017, original scientific article Abstract: The aim of this research has been to evaluate the presence of anomalies in the ovarian cycle activity during postpartum and to verify whether 72-hr dietary fasting during the dominance phase, the phase before ovulation, might modify the ovarian follicle population. The presence of anomalies in ovarian cycle activity has been evaluated in 30 Italian Friesian cows starting from 20 days postpartum until 211 days of lactation. Long oestrus and brief dioestrus or scarce luteal activity have been the main anomalies found through measuring progesterone concentrations in the whey. Until 100 days of lactation, the BCS values of the problematic animals have been significantly lower than those in animals with normal ovarian activity. After 100 days of lactation, the ovarian anomalies continued to appear despite the fact that all the animals have reached comparable BCS values. Starting from the results of this trial, the effect of 72-hr
dietary fasting on dominant follicles has been studied in six cows. Ultrasonography revealed that the diameter of the follicles at 71 days postpartum has been significantly lower than at 181 days. A 72-hr dietary restriction at 101 and 211 days postpartum did not affect the size of the dominant follicle. However, at 101 days postpartum, half of the animals presented follicular cysts. The effect of fasting differed if the animal has been in early postpartum or 211 days of lactation. Further researches are necessary to understand
how different metabolic conditions can modify the follicular population but on the other hand the study shows the utility for farmers and field veterinarians of monitoring the resumption of the ovarian cycle postpartum through the whey progesterone
concentrations.
Keywords: dairy cow, cyclic activity, follicles, fasting
Published in RUNG: 06.04.2017; Views: 4403; Downloads: 0
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42. Hair cortisol and testosterone concentrations and semen production of Bos taurus bullsGiuseppe Stradaioli, Tanja Peric, Marta Montillo, Antonella Comin, Mirco Corazzin, Maria Cristina Veronesi, Alberto Prandi, 2017, original scientific article Abstract: The experiment was aimed to evaluate the usefulness of hair cortisol concentrations (HCC) in revealing the activation of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis due to the passage of
young bulls from genetic rearing stations to artificial insemination (AI) centre and the influence of this passage on hair testosterone concentrations (HTC). Hair samples on 33 yearling bulls were collected at the time of arrival (ST1) to the AI centre and 3 more hair samples (ST2, ST3, ST4) were collected at monthly intervals. After the end of quarantine each animal was submitted to the standard procedures for collection and production of semen. Overall HCC were significantly affected by period of collection (p<.01). In particular, HCC was higher in samples obtained after finishing the quarantine period (ST2) compared with those obtained on ST1. After ST2, the HCC decreased reaching at ST4 a value similar to that recorded at ST1. An effect of sampling time on HTC was not found (p>.05). The effect of breed was observed only for HTC that was higher in PRI than BS (p<.01). The HCC group have not influenced the semen variables
(p>.05). On the contrary, the effect of breed was evident. The results of this study replicated the effects of a major environmental stressor on mean cortisol concentrations assessed in hair, and add to the growing body of evidence that HCC is an effective and simply collected marker for long-term activity of the HPA system in response to persistent environmental challenge.
Keywords: Hair, bulls, cortisol, testosterone, semen
Published in RUNG: 20.03.2017; Views: 5598; Downloads: 0
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43. Formation of Hybrid Electronic States in FePc Chains Mediated by the Au(110) SurfaceMaria Grazia Betti, Pierluigi Gargiani, Carlo Mariani, Stefano Turchini, Nicola Zema, Sara Fortuna, Arrigo Calzolari, Stefano Fabris, 2012, original scientific article Abstract: Iron–phthalocyanine (FePc) molecules deposited on the Au(110) surface self-organize in ordered chains driven by the reconstructed Au channels. The interaction process induces a rehybridization of the electronic states localized on the central metal atom, breaking the 4-fold symmetry of the molecular orbitals of the FePc molecules. The molecular adsorption is controlled by a symmetry-determined mixing between the electronic states of the Fe metal center and of the Au substrate, as deduced by photoemission and absorption spectroscopy exploiting light polarization. DFT calculations rationalize this mixing of the Fe and Au states on the basis of symmetry arguments. The calculated electronic structure reproduces the main experimental spectral features, which are associated to a distorted molecular structure displaying a trigonal bipyramidal geometry of the ligands around the metal center.
Keywords: phthalocyanine, Au(110), gold, surface, DFT, density functional theory, calculation, simulation
Published in RUNG: 13.10.2016; Views: 4917; Downloads: 0
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44. Structural phases of ordered FePc-nanochains self-assembled on Au(110)Betti Maria Grazia, Pierluigi Gargiani, Carlo Mariani, Roberto Biagi, Jun Fujii, Giorgio Rossi, Andrea Resta, Stefano Fabris, Sara Fortuna, Xavier Torrelles, Manvendra Kumar, Maddalena Pedio, 2012, original scientific article Abstract: Iron-phthalocyanine molecules deposited on the Au(110) reconstructed channels assemble into one-dimensional molecular chains, whose spatial distribution evolves into different structural phases at increasing molecular density. The plasticity of the Au channels first induces an ordered phase with a 5×5 symmetry, followed by a second long-range ordered structure composed by denser chains with a 5×7 periodicity with respect to the bare Au surface, as observed in the low-energy electron-diffraction (LEED) and grazing incidence X-ray diffraction (GIXRD) patterns. The geometry of the FePc molecular assemblies in the Au nanorails is determined by scanning tunneling microscopy (STM). For the 5×7 phases, the GIXRD analysis identifies a “4-3” rows profile along the [001] direction in the Au surface and an on-top FePc adsorption site, further confirmed by density functional theory (DFT) calculations. The latter also reveals the electronic mixing of the interface states. The chain assembly is driven by the molecule–molecule interaction and the chains interact with the Au nanorails via the central metal atom, while the chain–chain distance in the different structural phases is primarily driven by the plasticity of the Au surface.
Keywords: STM, LEED, DFT, density functional theory, phthalocyanine, Au(110), gold, surface
Published in RUNG: 13.10.2016; Views: 4801; Downloads: 0
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45. Spin and orbital configuration of metal phthalocyanine chains assembled on the Au(110) surfaceGargiani Pierluigi, Giorgio Rossi, Roberto Biagi, Valdis Corradini, Maddalena Pedio, Sara Fortuna, Arrigo Calzolari, Stefano Fabris, Julio Criginski Cezar, N. B. Brookes, Maria Grazia Betti, 2013, original scientific article Abstract: The spin and orbital configuration of magnetic metal phthalocyanines (MPcs) deposited on metallic substrates are strongly influenced by the rehybridization of the molecular states with the underlying metal. FePc, CoPc, and CuPc isolated molecules are archetypal systems to investigate the interrelationship between magnetic moments and orbital symmetry after deposition on a metallic substrate. MPcs form long-range ordered chains self-assembled along the reconstructed channels of the Au(110) surface. X-ray magnetic circular dichroism from the L2,3 absorption edges of Fe, Co, and Cu shows that the orbital and spin configuration are strongly modified upon adsorption on the Au(110) surface if the orbitals responsible of the magnetic moment are involved in the interaction process. The magnetic moment for a single layer of molecular chains is completely quenched for the CoPc molecules, fully preserved for the CuPc and reduced for the FePc ones. The modified magnetic configuration is confined to the very interface layer, i.e., to the MPc molecules bound to the metal substrate up to the compact packing of the single layer. The different response can be rationalized in terms of the symmetry/orientation of the metal-ion d states interacting with the substrate states, as indicated by density functional theory calculations in agreement with experimental findings.
Keywords: phthalocyanine, Au(110), gold, self-assembly, pattern, configuration, density functional theory, DFT, CuPc, FePc
Published in RUNG: 12.10.2016; Views: 4771; Downloads: 0
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46. Molecule-Driven Substrate Reconstruction in the Two-Dimensional Self-Organization of Fe-Phthalocyanines on Au(110)Sara Fortuna, Pierluigi Gargiani, Maria Grazia Betti, Carlo Mariani, Arrigo Calzolari, Silvio Modesti, Stefano Fabris, 2012, original scientific article Abstract: The structural patterns formed by molecular self-assembly at surfaces are usually controlled by the relative strengths of the intermolecular and molecule–substrate interactions. An additional steering effect is present when the substrate can easily reconstruct upon molecular adsorption, which therefore drives a self-templating effect on the metal support. This is here demonstrated for the model case of Fe-phthalocyanine molecules adsorbed on the Au(110) surface. Scanning tunneling microscopy shows that molecular adsorption promotes a local (1 × 5) surface reconstruction, which drives the assembly of molecular chains along the [11̅0] direction. The order and periodicity of the molecular assemblies are determined with low energy electron diffraction patterns. Density functional theory calculations reveal the energetic origins of the molecule-driven substrate reconstruction. Since the function of molecular overlayers at surfaces is strongly correlated to their structure, these results have implications in the design of new metal/molecular interfaces.
Keywords: self-assembly, phthalocyanine, Au(110), DFT, density functional theory, simulation, surface, recontruction
Published in RUNG: 11.10.2016; Views: 4691; Downloads: 0
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47. Water pollution in the impact areas of the two abandoned metal ore mines in Slovenia and PortugalDoroteja Gošar, 2015, undergraduate thesis Abstract: Mining in both Mežica zinc and lead mine and in Freixeda gold mine caused negative environmental impacts. The main objective of the thesis was to study negative impacts on water quality through time. During the process various literature sources were studied, field work and chemical analyses were performed and interpretation of results with different statistical methods was done.
In Mežica mine the quality of surface water has improved through time and nowadays the Meža River is of good quality. The biggest change was shown in the case of Helena rivulet, where Pb, Zn and Cd concentration between 2002 and 2015 lowered below limit values. Preventive measures and treatment of waste deposits had positive impact on water quality and based on standards for drinking water, groundwater from mine could be a source of drinking water. In Freixeda stream concentration of heavy metals lowered through time and in 2015 values of Zn, Pb, Cd and Cu in Freixeda stream before confluence with the Tua River were below the limit value. An exception is the increased value of As, which was caused by acid mine drainage (AMD) inflow from the mine, but also by the discharge from confined aquifer to Freixeda stream. Treatment of AMD was efficient for a while but due to lack of maintenance it is no longer effective.
Keywords: Abandoned mines, heavy metals, pollution, Mežica mine, Freixeda mine
Published in RUNG: 05.10.2015; Views: 6019; Downloads: 320
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