Fermentation Quality and in Vitro Nutrient Digestibility of Fresh Rice Straw-Based Silage Treated with Lactic Acid Bacteria

The aim of the experiment was to evaluate fermentation characteristics and in vitro nutrient digestibility of fresh rice straw-based silage ensiled with addition of epiphytic lactic acid bacteria (LAB) inoculant. The experiment was arranged in a completely randomized design, with 2 × 2 factorial arrangement of treatments. The first factor was the ratio of fresh rice straw (FRS), tofu waste (TW) and cassava waste (CW) consisted of two levels i.e., 40 : 20 : 40 and 40 : 25 : 35, on dry matter (DM) basis). The second factor was the level of LAB inoculant with two levels ie., 0 and 20 mL/kg FM. The treatments were (A) FRS + TW + CW with the ratio of 40 : 20 : 40, without LAB inoculant; (B) FRS + TW + CW with the ratio of 40 : 20 : 40 + LAB inoculant; (C) FRS + TW + CW with the ratio of 40 : 25 : 35, without LAB inoculant; (D) FRS + TW + CW with ratio of 40 : 25 : 35 + LAB inoculant. Results showed that addition of LAB inoculant in silage increased lactic acid concentration (P0.05) on chemical composition, fermentation quality of silage and in vitro digestibility. It was concluded that mixture silage with ratio of 40 : 20 : 40 with the addition of LAB inoculant had the best fermentation quality and nutrient digestibility than other silages

Reduced Phase Space Quantization and Dirac Observables

In her recent work, Dittrich generalized Rovelli's idea of partial observables to construct Dirac observables for constrained systems to the general case of an arbitrary first class constraint algebra with structure functions rather than structure constants. Here we use this framework and propose a new way for how to implement explicitly a reduced phase space quantization of a given system, at least in principle, without the need to compute the gauge equivalence classes. The degree of practicality of this programme depends on the choice of the partial observables involved. The (multi-fingered) time evolution was shown to correspond to an automorphism on the set of Dirac observables so generated and interesting representations of the latter will be those for which a suitable preferred subgroup is realized unitarily. We sketch how such a programme might look like for General Relativity. We also observe that the ideas by Dittrich can be used in order to generate constraints equivalent to those of the Hamiltonian constraints for General Relativity such that they are spatially diffeomorphism invariant. This has the important consequence that one can now quantize the new Hamiltonian constraints on the partially reduced Hilbert space of spatially diffeomorphism invariant states, just as for the recently proposed Master constraint programme.Comment: 18 pages, no figure

Transaminase Enzyme and Liver Histological Profile of Mice Administered Extract of Pegagan (Centella Asiatica (L.) Urban)

The purpose of this study was to determine whether pegagan caused toxic effects on the liver. This study used completely randomized design with four treatments, ie 125, 200, 275 mg/kg BW and control, each treatment consisting of six replicates. Variables observed were the level of GPT, GOT and histological profile of liver. GPT and GOT levels were analyzed by analysis of single variant of 0.05. Histological picture of the liver include central venous dilation, inflammation, and damage to the structure of liver cells were performed by descriptive evaluation. Pegagan leaf extract did not show significant effect on GPT and GOT level in the liver of mice, whereas the histology results did not reveal any visible damage to liver cells in each dose. Administration of pegagan extract up to dose of 275 mg/kg BW was safe and would not cause damage to the liver cells

Dependence of shock-tube boundary layers on shock strength

Using familiar considerations of vorticity transport, the essential behavior of shock-tube boundary layers is explicitly exhibited; the nearly constant functions that cannot be calculated analytically are evaluated numerically and compared with Mirels' correlations

Lamb shift of non-degenerate energy level systems placed between two infinite parallel conducting plates

The issue of the observability of the Lamb shift in systems with non-degenerate energy levels is put to question. To this end, we compute the Lamb shift of such systems in the electromagnetic environment provided by two infinite parallel conducting plates, which is instrumental in demonstrating the existence of the so-called Casimir effect. A formula giving the relative change in the Lamb shift (as compared to the standard one in vacuum) is explicitly obtained for spherical semiconductor Quantum Dots (QD). It is the result of a careful mathematical treatment of divergences in the calculations involving distribution theory, which also settles a controversy on two different expressions in the existing literature. It suggests a possibility of QD non-degenerate energy spectrum fine-tuning for experimental purposes as well as a Gedankenexperiment to observe the Lamb shift in spherical semiconductor quantum dots.Comment: submit/040994

Dielectrophoretic levitation of droplets and bubbles

Uncharged droplets and bubbles can be levitated dielectrophoretically in liquids using strong, nonuniform electric fields. The general equations of motion for a droplet or bubble in an axisymmetric, divergence-free electrostatic field allow determination of the conditions necessary and sufficient for stable levitation. The design of dielectrophoretic (DEP) levitation electrode structures is simplified by a Taylor-series expansion of cusped axisymmetric electrostatic fields. Extensive experimental measurements on bubbles in insulating liquids verify the simple dielectrophoretic model. Other have extended dielectrophoretic levitation to very small particles in aqueous media. Applications of DEP levitation to the study of gas bubbles, liquid droplets, and solid particles are discussed. Some of these applications are of special interest in the reduced gravitational field of a spacecraft

Miniature battery-operated electromagnetic system for blood flow measurements

System consisting of solid state electronics package and a pair of standard flow-transducer cuffs is useful in cardiovascular studies. Device shows good zero stability and calibrations, and low noise levels