Optimization of salts in medium for production of carboxymethylcellulase by a psychrophilic marine bacterium, <Emphasis Type="Italic">Psychrobacter aquimaris</Emphasis> LBH-10 using two statistical methods

The concentration of four mineral salts in the medium for the production of carboxymethylcellulase (CMCase) by Psychrobacter aquimaris LBH-10 were optimized using orthogonal array method (OAM) and response surface method (RSM) and their results from two statistical methods were compared. The analysis of variance (ANOVA) of data from central composite design (CCD) based on OAM indicated that potassium phosphate gave the highest percentage participation for cell growth as well as production of CMCase. However, their relative participations of four salts for cell growth were different from those for production of CMCase. The ANOVA of results from RSM indicated that highly significant factors (“probe>F” less than 0.0001) for cell growth were K₂HPO₄ and (NH₄)₂SO₄, whereas those for production of CMCase were K₂HPO₄, NaCl, and MgSO₄·7H₂O. The optimal concentration of K₂HPO₄, NaCl, MgSO₄·7H₂O, and (NH₄)₂SO₄ for cell growth extracted by Design Expert Software based on RSM were 7.10, 0.84, 0.24, and 0.33 g/L, respectively, whereas those for production of CMCase were 3.00, 0.52, 0.34, and 0.45 g/L. The optimal concentrations of salts for cell growth and production of CMCase using RSM basically coincided with those using OAM as well as those from ‘one-factor-at-a-time’ method. The production of CMCase by P. aquimaris LBH-10 with optimized concentrations of salts was 273.0 U/mL, which was enhanced by 1.27 times higher than the previous report.     

Nanostructured alignment layer for liquid crystals

A new type of nanostructured alignment surface is proposed and demonstrated. As in previous nanostructured alignment surfaces, a large pretilt angle of near 45° can be produced reliably. Moreover, this new structure is fabricated with a mask, and there is no randomness involved. The uniformity and anchoring properties of this new surface have been measured to be of excellent quality.     

Interactive direct illumination in dynamic scenes using graphics APIS

Abstract

We present a progressive refinement system for rendering direct illumination at interactive rates for dynamic scenes using available graphics APIs. We achieve the progression by subdividing object surfaces using a quad‐tree approach. Integrating the visibility and illumination, we can render scenes with soft shadows, taking into account the BRDFs of the scene objects. Our system allows a user to specify the desired frame rates, and the system will achieve such rates with the available time budget. Our system can also render dynamic scenes where the system restores the initial meshes and calculates illumination, producing finer but accurate soft shadows during iterative refinements.     

Effects of Saccharomyces cerevisiae fermentation products on dairy calves: Performance and health

The aim of the study was to evaluate the effects of Saccharomyces cerevisiae fermentation products (SCFP) on performance and health of calves during the first 63 d of age. Sixty Holstein calves (30 males and 30 females) at 2 d of age were blocked by sex and date of birth then randomly assigned within blocks to 1 of 3 treatments. A texturized calf starter was fed ad libitum containing 0 (control), 0.5, or 1% SCFP (Original XPC, Diamond V, Cedar Rapids, IA) of DM. In addition, the supplemented calves were fed 1 g/d SCFP (SmartCare, Diamond V) in milk until d 30. All calves were fed 4 L of colostrum within 1 h of birth and were subsequently fed milk twice daily until weaned at 56 d of age. Male calves were harvested on d 56. Performance and health of weaned female calves were monitored until 63 d of age to determine the effect of preweaning treatment of SCFP on weaning stress. Starter intake, fecal scores, and medical treatments were recorded daily. Body weight measures and blood samples were collected on d 2, 28, 56, and 63. Serum was analyzed for blood urea nitrogen, fatty acids, insulin-like growth factor-1, glucose, and total protein. Oxidative biomarkers and total antioxidant capacity were also evaluated in the serum. Body weight, DMI, blood parameters, and oxidative biomarkers did not differ among treatments. Supplementation of SCFP lowered fecal scores in the pre- and postweaning periods. Saccharomyces cerevisiae fermentation products can be used to reduce the diarrhea in calves grown under normal commercial conditions.     

Evolution of fabric during undrained cyclic loading

Abstract

Undrained cyclic triaxial tests are performed on specimens of Ottawa sand to study the evolution of fabric during undrained cyclic loading. Isotropic consolidation tests and triaxial drained compression or extension tests are conducted before or after cyclic loading to characterize the state of fabric indirectly. The effects of stress path, cyclic stress ratio, cyclic number, and initial fabric on fabric evolution during undrained cyclic loading are investigated.     

The effect of touch-key size on the usability of In-Vehicle Information Systems and driving safety during simulated driving

Investigating the effect of touch-key size on usability of In-Vehicle Information Systems (IVISs) is one of the most important research issues since it is closely related to safety issues besides its usability. This study investigated the effects of the touch-key size of IVISs with respect to safety issues (the standard deviation of lane position, the speed variation, the total glance time, the mean glance time, the mean time between glances, and the mean number of glances) and the usability of IVISs (the task completion time, error rate, subjective preference, and NASA-TLX) through a driving simulation. A total of 30 drivers participated in the task of entering 5-digit numbers with various touch-key sizes while performing simulated driving. The size of the touch-key was 7.5 mm, 12.5 mm, 17.5 mm, 22.5 mm and 27.5 mm, and the speed of driving was set to 0 km/h (stationary state), 50 km/h and 100 km/h. As a result, both the driving safety and the usability of the IVISs increased as the touch-key size increased up to a certain size (17.5 mm in this study), at which they reached asymptotes. We performed Fitts' law analysis of our data, and this revealed that the data from the dual task experiment did not follow Fitts' law.     

Microglial Cell Activation Increases Saturated and Decreases Monounsaturated Fatty Acid Content,but Both Lipid Species are Proinflammatory

Neuroinflammation is a component of age-related neurodegenerative diseases and cognitive decline. Saturated (SFA) and monounsaturated (MUFA) fatty acids are bioactive molecules that may play different extrinsic and intrinsic roles in neuroinflammation, serving as exogenous ligands for cellular receptors, or endogenous components of cell structural, energetic and signaling pathways. We determined the fatty acyl profile of BV2 microglial cells before and after acute activation with lipopolysaccharide (LPS). We also investigated the effect of SFA and MUFA pretreatment on the production of an invasive, neurotoxic phenotype in BV2 cells. Acute activation of BV2 microglia resulted in an increase in the relative content of SFA (12:0, 16:0, 18:0, 20:0, 22:0, and 24:0 increased significantly), and a relative decrease in the content of MUFA (16:1n7, 18:1n7, 18:1n9, 20:1n9, 24:1n9 decreased significantly). In agreement, the major stearoyl-CoA desaturase (SCD) isoform in BV2 cells, SCD2, was significantly down-regulated by LPS. We next treated cells with SFA (16:0 or 18:0) or MUFA (16:1n7 or 18:1n9), and found that levels of secreted IL6 were increased, as was secreted MMP9-mediated proteolytic activity. To test the functional significance, we treated SH-SY5Y neuronal cells with conditioned medium from BV2 cells pretreated with fatty acids, and found a small but significant induction of cell death. Our findings suggest differential intrinsic roles for SFA and MUFA in activated microglial cells, but similar extrinsic roles for these fatty acid species in inducing activation. Expansion of SFA is important during microglial cell activation, but either supplemental SFA or MUFA may contribute to chronic low-grade neuroinflammation.     

Efficiency improvement of InGaP/GaAs/Ge solar cells by hydrothermal-deposited ZnO nanotube structure

In this paper, a zinc oxide (ZnO) nanotube, fabricated by the hydrothermal growth method on triple-junction (T-J) solar cell devices to enhance efficiency, is investigated. Compared to those of bare T-J solar cells (without antireflection (AR) coating) and solar cells with Si₃N₄ AR coatings, the experimental results show that the T-J solar cells, which use a ZnO nanotube as an AR coating, have the lowest reflectance in the short wavelength spectrum. The ZnO nanotube has the lowest light reflection among all experimental samples, especially in the range of 350 to 500 nm from ultraviolet (UV) to visible light. It was found that a ZnO nanotube can enhance the conversion efficiency by 4.9%, compared with a conventional T-J solar cell. The Si₃N₄ AR coatings also enhance the conversion efficiency by 3.2%.The results show that a cell with ZnO nanotube coating could greatly improve solar cell performances.