The effect of colostrum storage conditions on dairy heifer calf serum immunoglobulin G concentration and preweaning health and growth rate

The objective of the present study was to compare serum IgG concentration, weight gain, and health characteristics in Irish spring-born dairy calves fed colostrum stored using a range of conditions. Immediately after birth, 75 dairy heifer calves were assigned to 1 of 5 experimental colostrum treatments: (1) fresh pasteurized colostrum, fed immediately after pasteurization; (2) fresh colostrum, fed immediately after collection but not pasteurized; (3) colostrum stored unpasteurized at 4°C in a temperature-controlled unit for 2 d before being fed to calves; (4) colostrum stored unpasteurized at 13°C in a temperature-controlled unit for 2 d before being fed to calves; and (5) colostrum stored unpasteurized at 22°C in a temperature-controlled unit for 2 d before being fed to calves. All colostrum had IgG concentrations >50 g/L and was fed to calves promptly after birth. Blood samples were obtained from calves via the jugular vein at 0 h (before colostrum feeding) and at 24 h of age to determine the rate of passive transfer of IgG; individual calf live-weights were recorded to monitor weight gain (kg/d) from birth to weaning. Colostrum stored in warmer conditions (i.e., 22°C) had >42 times more bacteria present and a pH that was 0.85 units lower and resulted in a serum IgG concentration that was almost 2 times lower compared with colostrum that was pasteurized, untreated, or stored at 4°C for 2 d. Colostrum stored at 4°C for 2 d had more bacteria present than pasteurized and fresh colostrum but did not result in reduced calf serum IgG concentrations. Average daily weight gain from birth to weaning did not differ among treatments. Even if colostrum has sufficient IgG (>50 g/L) but cannot be fed to calves when freshly collected, storage at ≤4°C for 2 d is advisable to ensure adequate passive transfer when it is consumed by the calf.     

Enhanced adhesion of PMMA to copper with black oxide for electrodeposition of high aspect ratio nickel-iron microstructures

 Copper is widely used as a plating base for soft magnetic alloy electrodeposition in sensors and actuators. PMMA, the X-ray resist used in the LIGA process, typically has poor adhesion with copper. The use of black oxide of copper to enhance PMMA-copper adhesion was investigated. In this work, peel strength as a function of treatment time and the method of bonding was evaluated using an ASTM standard T-peel test. Peel strength increased with increasing treatment time. The feasibility of producing microstructures with predictable 3-D geometry for use in resonating sensors was investigated using the process developed. Nickel-iron structures of 100-1000 micrometers wide and 500 micrometers tall were successfully electrodeposited. Growth of other representative microstructures is being investigated. Received: 25 August 1997/Accepted: 3 September 1977     

Effect of temperature on raw whole milk density and its potential impact on milk payment in the dairy industry

The objective of this study was to determine the effect of temperature on whole milk density measured at four different temperatures: 5, 10, 15, and 20 °C. A total of ninety-three individual milk samples were collected from morning milking of thirty-two Holstein Friesian dairy cows, of national average genetic merit, once every two weeks over a period of 4 weeks and were assessed by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy for milk composition analysis. Density of the milk was evaluated using two different analytical methods: a portable density meter DMA35 and a standard desktop model DMA4500M (Anton Paar GmbH, UK). Milk density was analysed with a linear mixed model with the fixed effects of sampling period, temperature and analysis method; triple interaction of sampling period x analysis method x temperature; and the random effect of cow to account for repeated measures. The effect of temperature on milk density (ρ) was also evaluated including temperature (t) as covariate with linear and quadratic effects within each analytic method. The regression equation describing the curvature and density–temperature relationship for the DMA35 instrument was ρ = 1.0338−0.00017T−0.0000122T² (R² = 0.64), while it was ρ = 1.0334 + 0.000057T−0.00001T² (R² = 0.61) for DMA4500 instrument. The mean density determined with DMA4500 at 5 °C was 1.0334 g cm⁻³, with corresponding figures of 1.0330, 1.0320 and 1.0305 g cm⁻³ at 10, 15 and 20 °C, respectively. The milk density values obtained in this study at specific temperatures will help to address any bias in weight–volume calculations and thus may also improve the financial and operational control for the dairy processors in Ireland and internationally.     

Robot-Assisted Bridge Inspection

The Center for Robot-Assisted Search and Rescue (CRASAR®) deployed a customized AEOS man-portable unmanned surface vehicle and two commercially available underwater vehicles (the autonomous YSI EcoMapper and the tethered VideoRay) for inspection of the Rollover Pass bridge in the Bolivar peninsula of Texas in the aftermath of Hurricane Ike. A preliminary domain analysis with the vehicles identified key tasks in subsurface bridge inspection (mapping of the debris field and inspecting the bridge footings for scour), control challenges (navigation under loss of GPS, underwater obstacle avoidance, and stable positioning in high currents without GPS), possible improvements to human-robot interaction (having additional display units so that mission specialists can view and operate on imagery independently of the operator control unit, incorporating 2-way audio to allow operator and field personnel to communicate while launching or recovering the vehicle, and increased state sensing for reliability), and discussed the cooperative use of surface, underwater, and aerial vehicles. The article posits seven milestones in the development of a fully functional UMV for bridge inspection: standardize mission payloads, add health monitoring, improve teleoperation through better human-robot interaction, add 3D obstacle avoidance, improve station-keeping, handle large data sets, and support cooperative sensing.     

Functional properties of the acidic and basic subunits of the glycinin (11S) soy protein fraction

The functional properties of low- and high-M.W. (LMW and HMW, respectively) acidic subunits and the basic subunit separated from the 11S soy protein fraction were studied and compared with the functional properties of the 11S fraction. Among the functional properties investigated were solubility, emulsification, and viscosity. The results showed that the LMW acidic subunit had higher solubility than the HMW acidic subunit. Among all the samples, the LMW subunit separated by using β-mercaptoethanol (ME) was the most soluble, with a solubility of 98–100% at a pH of 6–12. The solubility profile of the HMW subunit followed a pattern similar to the solubility of 11S. The lowest solubility was observed around pH values in the range close to the isoelectric point for both the LMW and HMW subunit. The basic subunit was not soluble in the pH range 3–10; however, the solubility increased more than 50% at pH 13 compared to the solubility at pH 10. The emulsification capacity of all subunits was higher than 11S in the following descending order: LMW, basic, HMW, 11S. Emulsification activity and stability of the subunits were greater than those of the 11S samples at room temperature and 95°C. With the exception of the LMW subunit separated with ME, the subunits had a higher viscosity than 11S. The basic subunit separated with sodium bisulfite had the highest viscosity of all the samples tested.     

Thermal decomposition behavior of poly[3,3-bis(ethoxymethyl) oxetane] and related polyethers

The thermal decomposition behavior of poly[3,3-bis(ethoxymethyl)oxetane] (polyBEMO) was examined and compared to the decomposition of poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO) and poly(tetramethylene oxide) (polyTHF). Differential scanning calorimetric (DSC) studies as a function of heating rates and at constant temperature as a function of time yielded activation energies of 45–50 kcal/mol, characteristic of polyether decomposition. First-order decomposition kinetics were found. The reaction is endothermic, with a heat of decomposition of 18.6 kcal/mol. Effusion mass spectroscopy on polyBEMO showed major peaks at 112, 140, 168, and 174 amu. A mechanism is proposed in which the thermal scission of the ether bonds in both the polymer chain and in the appendanges initiates the decomposition. The main decomposition reaction for polyBEMO can be written as where the appendages and main chain are cleaved in an unknown order.     

Incorporating a Polyethyleneglycol Linker to Enhance the Hydrophilicity of Mitochondria-Targeted Triphenylphosphonium Constructs

The targeting of bioactive molecules and probes to mitochondria can be achieved by coupling to the lipophilic triphenyl phosphonium (TPP) cation, which accumulates several hundred-fold within mitochondria in response to the mitochondrial membrane potential (Δψ_m). Typically, a simple alkane links the TPP to its “cargo”, increasing overall hydrophobicity. As it would be beneficial to enhance the water solubility of mitochondria-targeted compounds we explored the effects of replacing the alkyl linker with a polyethylene glycol (PEG). We found that the use of PEG led to compounds that were readily taken up by isolated mitochondria and by mitochondria inside cells. Within mitochondria the PEG linker greatly decreased adsorption of the TPP constructs to the matrix-facing face of the mitochondrial inner membrane. These findings will allow the distribution of mitochondria-targeted TPP compounds within mitochondria to be fine-tuned.     

Glycosylation in Indolent,Significant and Aggressive Prostate Cancer by Automated High-Throughput N-Glycan Profiling

The diagnosis and treatment of prostate cancer (PCa) is a major health-care concern worldwide. This cancer can manifest itself in many distinct forms and the transition from clinically indolent PCa to the more invasive aggressive form remains poorly understood. It is now universally accepted that glycan expression patterns change with the cellular modifications that accompany the onset of tumorigenesis. The aim of this study was to investigate if differential glycosylation patterns could distinguish between indolent, significant, and aggressive PCa. Whole serum N-glycan profiling was carried out on 117 prostate cancer patients’ serum using our automated, high-throughput analysis platform for glycan-profiling which utilizes ultra-performance liquid chromatography (UPLC) to obtain high resolution separation of N-linked glycans released from the serum glycoproteins. We observed increases in hybrid, oligomannose, and biantennary digalactosylated monosialylated glycans (M5A1G1S1, M8, and A2G2S1), bisecting glycans (A2B, A2(6)BG1) and monoantennary glycans (A1), and decreases in triantennary trigalactosylated trisialylated glycans with and without core fucose (A3G3S3 and FA3G3S3) with PCa progression from indolent through significant and aggressive disease. These changes give us an insight into the disease pathogenesis and identify potential biomarkers for monitoring the PCa progression, however these need further confirmation studies.     

Synergistic toughening and electrical functionalization of an epoxy using MWCNTs and silane- /plasma-activated basalt fibers

This work studied the effects of adding short basalt fibers (BFs) and multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs), both separately and in combination, on the mechanical properties, fracture toughness, and electrical conductivity of an epoxy polymer. The surfaces of the short BFs were either treated using a silane coupling agent or further functionalized by atmospheric plasma to enhance the adhesion between the BFs and the epoxy. The results of a single fiber fragmentation test demonstrated a significantly improved BF/epoxy adhesion upon applying the plasma treatment to the BFs. This resulted in better mechanical properties and fracture toughness of the composites containing the plasma-activated BFs. The improved BF/epoxy adhesion also affected the hybrid toughening performance of the BFs and MWCNTs. In particular, synergistic toughening effects were observed when the plasma-activated BFs/MWCNTs hybrid modifiers were used, while only additive toughening effects occurred for the silane-sized BFs/MWCNTs hybrid modifiers. This work demonstrated a potential to develop strong, tough, and electrically conductive epoxy composites by adding hybrid BF/MWCNT modifiers.     

Cellulose acetate: Interactions with aqueous phenol and a transition temperature of about 20°C

Sorption of aqueous phenol onto powdered cellulose acetate can be described with the Langmuir equation at phenol concentrations below 0.10M. Unacetylated hydroxyl groups are probably the primary sites where phenol hydrogen bonds. As the phenol concentration is increased (> 0.13M), additional hydrogen bonding may occur with the carbonyl oxygens on the primary acetate groups, followed by secondary acetates and the beta glucosidic oxygens. Sorption at higher concentrations shows a negative slope for the Langmuir equation, perhaps caused by crowding and partial blocking of sites. Extrapolations to higher phenolic concentrations using the equation from the negative slope isotherm and plotting N versus °C reveal two lines with a point of intersection at 0.77M. Because of the increase slope above 0.77M, cellulose acetate may be dissolving in phenol. At concentrations below 0.10M, two processes were identified using a Van't Hoff plot (9.33 ± 0.30) × 10³ and (?1.36 ± 0.18) X 10³ J/mol. The initial moisture present in the polymer appears to be an important experimental variable and a transition temperature of 20.1 ± 0.2°C, probably due to polymer swelling, is reported.