Short-term screening of multiple phytogenic compounds for their potential to modulate chewing behavior,ruminal fermentation profile,and pH in cattle fed grain-rich diets

In cattle, proper rumen functioning and digestion are intimately linked to chewing behavior. Yet, high grain feeding impairs chewing activity, increasing the risk of subacute ruminal acidosis and dysfermentation. This study aimed to screen 9 different phytogenic compounds for their potential to modulate chewing activity, meal size, rumino-reticular short-chain fatty acids (SCFA), and pH during consumption in a first daily meal and shortly thereafter in cattle fed a grain-rich diet. Treatments were control (total mixed ration without phytogenic) or addition of a phytogenic compound at a low or high dose. Phytogenic compounds and doses (all in mg/kg) were angelica root (6.6 and 66), capsaicin (10 and 100), gentian root (6.6 and 66), garlic oil (0.3 and 3), ginger extract (40 and 400), L-menthol (6.7 and 67), mint oil (15.3 and 153), thyme oil (9.4 and 94), and thymol (5 and 50), for the low and high groups, respectively. Before the start of the screening experiment, cows were fed to reach subacute ruminal acidosis conditions, confirmed with the time of ruminal pH <5.8 being 655 ± 148.2 min/d. During the screening experiment, the treatments were offered in a controlled meal (2.5 kg of DM for 4 h) as part of the daily diet with 65% concentrate. Each treatment was tested in 4 of the 9 cannulated Holstein cows using an incomplete Latin square design. Ruminal and reticular fluids were sampled before and after each treatment, and data collected before the meal were used as covariates. Chewing and ruminal pH were monitored during the treatment, followed by 2 h of complete feed restriction, and then 4 h of ad libitum feed intake without phytogenic. Data showed that supplementation of angelica root tended to linearly increase rumination time immediately after the first meal when feed was restricted (27.3, 41.9, and 42.6 ± 5.99 min for control, low and high groups, respectively). Capsaicin increased eating time (43.6, 49.4, and 66.4 ± 4.93 min) during consumption but did not affect ruminal total SCFA or mean ruminal pH. Garlic oil reduced the concentration of reticular total SCFA (75.7, 71.3, and 60.1 mM) and tended to decrease ruminal acetate-to-propionate ratio (2.50, 1.78, and 1.87 ± 0.177) with no effect on ruminal pH. The L-menthol affected reticular total SCFA quadratically (76.1, 64.9, and 81.0 ± 4.22%), and ruminal pH responded quadratically when feed was reintroduced ad libitum (6.0, 6.3, and 6.1 ± 0.07). Mint oil did not affect chewing or total SCFA during consumption, but the low dose increased ruminal pH (6.5, 6.7, and 6.5 ± 0.08). Thyme oil tended to lower the severity of ruminal acidosis. Overall, phytogenic compounds demonstrated distinct dose-dependent effects to beneficially influence chewing behavior, modulate fermentation, and mitigate ruminal acidosis in dairy cows under a high-grain challenge diet.     

Accuracy analysis of the amplitude estimation of a sine-wave by the energy-based method using the direct and indirect procedures

The energy-based method (EBM) can be used to estimate the amplitude of a sine-wave either directly from Discrete Fourier Transform (DFT) samples or indirectly. In this paper the accuracies achieved with both these approaches are compared when some of the most commonly used cosine class windows are adopted. The effect on the estimation accuracy of the algorithm error, the spectral interference from the image component, and wideband noise superimposed to the sine-wave signal are separately evaluated and compared. The statistical efficiencies of both procedures with respect to the unbiased single-tone Cramér-Rao lower bound are determined and compared. Moreover, the overall root mean square of the amplitude estimation error achieved when taking into account all the three contributions above is derived for both direct and indirect estimation procedures. The accuracy of the obtained expressions is verified by means of computer simulations. Besides, experimental data validate the theoretical results.     

Influence of powder composition and manufacturing method on electrical and chromium barrier properties of atmospheric plasma sprayed spinel coatings prepared from MnCo2O4 and Mn2CoO4 + Co powders on Crofer 22 APU interconnectors

Protective coatings based on manganese cobalt oxide spinels are required in solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs) to prevent the evaporation of volatile Cr(VI)-compounds from the metallic interconnectors and to minimize high temperature corrosion. Atmospheric plasma spraying (APS) was used to manufacture dense manganese cobalt oxide protective coatings on Crofer 22 APU substrates by employing two different spinel powders. The spray powders were MnCo₂O₄ and Mn₂CoO₄ + Co (equivalence for Mn_1.5Co_1.5O₄). The Mn₂CoO₄ + Co powder was prepared by agglomerating the oxide powder with fine metallic cobalt powder. The coated substrates were oxidized at 700 °C in air for 1000 h. During the high temperature oxidation, a four-point on-line measurement technique with a current density of 640 mA/cm² was simultaneously used for area specific resistance (ASR) studies. The coatings were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), field-emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), an energy dispersive spectrometer (EDS) and Raman spectroscopy.     

Halogen retention, organohalogens, and the role of organic matter decomposition on halogen enrichment in two Chilean peat bogs

Natural formation of organohalogen compounds can be shown to occur in all natural environments. Peat bogs, which are built up exclusively of organic matter and cover approximately 3% of the total continental world area, are potentially significant reservoirs for organohalogen formation. Up to now, fluxes and retention rates of halogens and organohalogen formation in peat bogs were mostly unquantified. In our study, we investigated the retention of atmospheric derived halogens and the natural formation of organohalogens by differential halogen analysis in two peat bogs in southernmost Chile. Atmospheric wet deposition rates of chlorine, bromine, and iodine range between 600 and 36000, 6 and 160, and 1 and 3 mg m(-2) yr(-1), respectively. Mean annual net accumulation rates of these halogens in peat are calculated to be 12-72 mg of Cl m(-2), 1.7-12 mg of Br m(-2), and 0.4-1.2 mg of l m(-2). Retention rates are similarly high for iodine (36-46%) and bromine (7.5-50%), and substantially lower for chlorine (0.2-2%). To evaluate influences of peat decomposition processes on halogen enrichment, halogen concentrations were compared to carbon/nitrogen ratios (C/N). Our results indicate that up to 95% of chlorine, 91% of bromine, and 81% of iodine in peat exist in an organically bound form. The results also indicate that the concentrations of halogens, especially of bromine and iodine, in peat are largely determined by peat decomposition processes and that halogens are not conservative in bogs.     

Rapid electrochemiluminoimmunoassay of human C-reactive protein at planar disposable oxide-coated silicon electrodes

Electrochemiluminescence (ECL) of aromatic Tb(III) chelates at thin insulating film-coated electrodes provides a means for extremely sensitive detection of Tb(III) chelates and also of biologically interesting compounds if these chelates are used as labels in bioaffinity assays. The suitability of silicon electrodes coated with thermally grown silicon dioxide film as disposable working electrodes in sensitive time-resolved ECL measurements is demonstrated, and a rapid electrochemiluminoimmunoassay (ECLIA) of human C-reactive protein (hCRP) is described. Tb(III) chelate labels can be detected almost down to picomolar level, and the calibration curve of these labels covers more than 6 orders of magnitude of chelate concentration. The calibration curve of the present immunometric hCRP assay was found to be linear over a wide range, approximately 4 orders of magnitude of hCRP concentration, the detection limit of the protein being 0.3 ng mL(-1) (mean background + 2SD) on CV values of about 10-30%, depending on the immunoassay incubation time. In the ECLIA measurements, different incubation times were tested from 15 min (giving above-mentioned performance) to as short as only 2 min, which still gave successful results with approximately 20,000 times better detection limit levels than traditional commercial assay methods. During the ECLIA process, also the Si electrode surface morphology was also investigated by atomic force microscope monitoring.     

Structural geometry effect on the size-scaling of strength

The sensitivity of the empirical exponent of Bazant's size-effect scaling law on structural geometry is clarified through numerical experiments. For large centre- cracked tension panels, made of a linearly softening material, the best-fitting exponent is 0.90, whereas for large edge-cracked panels it is 0.75. For edge-cracked panels, the value of the exponent increases as a function of increasing crack-length-to-width-ratio. The results indicate that with structures of brittleness numbers below unity, reliable predictions of strength require the size-effect scaling law to be fitted for any particular structural geometry.     

Impact of intended emotion intensity on cue utilization and decoding accuracy in vocal expression of emotion.

Actors vocally portrayed happiness, sadness, anger, fear, and disgust with weak and strong emotion intensity while reading brief verbal phrases aloud. The portrayals were recorded and analyzed according to 20 acoustic cues. 15 listeners (7 men and 8 women, aged 19-44 yrs) decoded each portrayal by using forced-choice or quantitative ratings. The results showed that (a) portrayals with strong emotion intensity yielded higher decoding accuracy than portrayals with weak intensity, (b) listeners were able to decode the intensity of portrayals, (c) portrayals of the same emotion with different intensity yielded different patterns of acoustic cues, and (d) certain acoustic cues (e.g., fundamental frequency, high-frequency energy) were highly predictive of listeners' ratings of emotion intensity. It is argued that lack of control for emotion intensity may account for some of the inconsistencies in cue utilization reported in the literature. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Massively Parallel Probabilistic Reasoning with Boltzmann Machines

We present a method for mapping a given Bayesian network to a Boltzmann machine architecture, in the sense that the the updating process of the resulting Boltzmann machine model probably converges to a state which can be mapped back to a maximum a posteriori (MAP) probability state in the probability distribution represented by the Bayesian network. The Boltzmann machine model can be implemented efficiently on massively parallel hardware, since the resulting structure can be divided into two separate clusters where all the nodes in one cluster can be updated simultaneously. This means that the proposed mapping can be used for providing Bayesian network models with a massively parallel probabilistic reasoning module, capable of finding the MAP states in a computationally efficient manner. From the neural network point of view, the mapping from a Bayesian network to a Boltzmann machine can be seen as a method for automatically determining the structure and the connection weights of a Boltzmann machine by incorporating high-level, probabilistic information directly into the neural network architecture, without recourse to a time-consuming and unreliable learning process.     

Self-Contained Underwater Adhesion and Informational Labeling Enabled by Arene-Functionalized Polymeric Ionogels

Adhesives and water exhibit a conflicting correlation as indicated by the failure of most synthetic adhesives in submerged and humid environments. Development of instant, strong, reversible, and long-lasting adhesives that can adhere to wet surfaces and function in underwater environments presents a formidable challenge, yet it is of paramount importance in biomedical and engineering applications. Herein, viscoelastic and moldable ionogels are developed based on synergistic engineering of aromatic substituents, fluorinated counterions, ionic building blocks, and 3D cross-linked networks. The molecular design and structural engineering result in a facile synthesis, two bonding methods (glue- and tape-type), and the combined mechanisms of enhanced adhesion and cohesion. The high underwater adhesion strength of over 8.9 MPa is among the best-performing tape-type underwater adhesives reported to date. A combination of excellent durability, reliability, deformation resistance, salt tolerance, water proof, antiswelling, and self-healing properties demonstrates the “self-contained” underwater adhesion. Furthermore, the extended π-conjugation of the aromatic pendant groups confers a new functionality to the ionogels – visible fluorescence, enabling intriguing applications such as underwater labeling, information encryption, and signal transmission. This study shines lights on the fabrication of ionogel-based adhesives and provides their future perspectives in underwater sealing, self-repair, crack diagnosis, and informational labeling.     

Training in virtual reality enables learning of a complex sports movement

Virtual Reality - Despite the increased use in sports, it is still unclear to what extent VR training tools can be applied for motor learning of complex movements. Previous VR studies primarily...