Effects of different levels of protein-to-energy ratios on nutrient digestibility and digestive enzyme activity in Leiothrix luteal

Effects of different levels of protein-to-energy ratios (PER) on nutrient utilization, digestive organs index and digestive enzymes activities in Leiothrix luteal were investigated in this research. It was found that different PER feedstuff had no significant effects on the utilization of dry matter (DM), calcium (Ca) and total phosphorus (TP). With the improvement of the PER, average daily feed intake (ADFI) gradually increased, the apparent utilization rate of energy and fat gradually improved, while the apparent utilization rate of crude protein increased at first and then decreased. Development of digestive organs of L. luteal was affected by the level of dietary PER, with the increase in PER, the digestive organ indices of muscular stomach, duodenum, jejunoileum and rectum exhibited a downward trend, the main influencing factors were the level of metabolizable energy in diets. With the intestinal tract moving backward, the relative activity of proteases gradually reduced, manifesting as pancreas > duodenum > jejunoileum. The relative activity of carbohydrate digestion enzymes gradually increased as the intestinal tract moved backward. With the improvement of PER, the relative activity of lipase gradually decreased in pancreas, duodenum, and jejunoileum. L. luteal possessed a strong ability to digest crude fiber and total phosphorus; the reason might be closely related to the types and quantities of intestinal flora, which was affected by the feeding habits of this bird. By comprehensively considering the nutrient utilization, digestive organ indices and digestive enzymes activities, the formula of PER II was more appropriate for nutritional needs of L. luteal in captivity.Keywords: Leiothrix luteal, protein-to-energy ratios, nutrients, digestion and utilization, enzyme activitiesAfrican Journal of Biotechnology Vol. 12(15), pp. 1902-190

A Rational Threshold Signature Model and Protocol Based on Different Permissions

This paper develops a novel model and protocol used in some specific scenarios, in which the participants of multiple groups with different permissions can finish the signature together. We apply the secret sharing scheme based on difference equation to the private key distribution phase and secret reconstruction phrase of our threshold signature scheme. In addition, our scheme can achieve the signature success because of the punishment strategy of the repeated rational secret sharing. Besides, the bit commitment and verification method used to detect players' cheating behavior acts as a contributing factor to prevent the internal fraud. Using bit commitments, verifiable parameters, and time sequences, this paper constructs a dynamic game model, which has the features of threshold signature management with different permissions, cheat proof, and forward security.Mathematics, AppliedSCI(E)[email protected]

Effect of Evodia rutaecarpa (Juss) Benth extract on Alzheimer disease in mice

Purpose: To investigate the protective effect of Evodia rutaecarpa (Juss.) Benth. extract (ERBE) against Alzheimer's disease in 3xTg-AD mice. Methods: The cognitive function of 3xTg-AD mice was assessed using Morris water maze test. The levels of amyloid beta deposits and NeuN in the mouse hippocampus were evaluated by immunohistochemistry. Brain neurotrophic derived factor (BDNF) and tyrosine kinase B (TrkB) expressions were determined by western blot analysis. Results: ERBE treatment significantly ameliorated learning and memory deficits in AD mice, as shown by increased time spent in the target zone during probe tests. The escape latency in the animals treated with 400 mg/kg ERBE (20.5 ± 1.3 s) was significantly higher than untreated 3xTg-AD mice (12.4 ± 1.3 s, p < 0.01). In addition, ERBE significantly decreased Aβ deposits, increased NeuN-positive cells, and upregulated the expressions of BDNF (1.4 ± 0.2, p < 0.05) and TrkB (1.1 ± 0.2, p < 0.05) in 3xTg AD mice. Conclusion: The results suggest that ERBE administration may be a useful strategy for treating memory impairment induced by several neurodegenerative diseases. Keywords: Evodia rutaecarpa, Alzheimer, Memory impairment, NeuN-positive cell

Data-driven design of fault diagnosis for three-phase PWM rectifier using random forests technique with transient synthetic features

A three-phase pulse-width modulation (PWM) rectifier can usually maintain operation when open-circuit faults occur in insulated-gate bipolar transistors (IGBTs), which will lead the system to be unstable and unsafe. Aiming at this problem, based on random forests with transient synthetic features, a data-driven online fault diagnosis method is proposed to locate the open-circuit faults of IGBTs timely and effectively in this study. Firstly, by analysing the open-circuit fault features of IGBTs in the three-phase PWM rectifier, it is found that the occurrence of the fault features is related to the fault location and time, and the fault features do not always appear immediately with the occurrence of the fault. Secondly, different data-driven fault diagnosis methods are compared and evaluated, the performance of random forests algorithm is better than that of support vector machine or artificial neural networks. Meanwhile, the accuracy of fault diagnosis classifier trained by transient synthetic features is higher than that trained by original features. Also, the random forests fault diagnosis classifier trained by multiplicative features is the best with fault diagnosis accuracy can reach 98.32%. Finally, the online fault diagnosis experiments are carried out and the results demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed method, which can accurately locate the open-circuit faults in IGBTs while ensuring system safety.Comment: IET Power Electronic

Extranuclear Estrogen Receptors Mediate the Neuroprotective Effects of Estrogen in the Rat Hippocampus

17beta-estradiol (E2) has been implicated to exert neuroprotective effects in the brain following cerebral ischemia. Classically, E2 is thought to exert its effects via genomic signaling mediated by interaction with nuclear estrogen receptors. However, the role and contribution of extranuclear estrogen receptors (ER) is unclear and was the subject of the current study.To accomplish this goal, we employed two E2 conjugates (E2 dendrimer, EDC, and E2-BSA) that can interact with extranuclear ER and exert rapid nongenomic signaling, but lack the ability to interact with nuclear ER due to their inability to enter the nucleus. EDC or E2-BSA (10 microM) was injected icv 60 min prior to global cerebral ischemia (GCI). FITC-tagged EDC or E2-BSA revealed high uptake in the hippocampal CA1 region after icv injection, with a membrane (extranuclear) localization pattern in cells. Both EDC and E2-BSA exerted robust neuroprotection in the CA1 against GCI, and the effect was blocked by the ER antagonist, ICI182,780. EDC and E2-BSA both rapidly enhanced activation of the prosurvival kinases, ERK and Akt, while attenuating activation of the proapoptotic kinase, JNK following GCI, effects that were blocked by ICI182,780. Administration of an MEK or PI3K inhibitor blocked the neuroprotective effects of EDC and E2-BSA. Further studies showed that EDC increased p-CREB and BDNF in the CA1 region in an ERK- and Akt-dependent manner, and that cognitive outcome after GCI was preserved by EDC in an ER-dependent manner.In conclusion, the current study demonstrates that activation of extranuclear ER results in induction of ERK-Akt-CREB-BDNF signaling in the hippocampal CA1 region, which significantly reduces ischemic neuronal injury and preserves cognitive function following GCI. The study adds to a growing literature that suggests that extranuclear ER can have important actions in the brain

Enhancement of the Wettability and Lubrication of Shale Rock via Nanoemulsions

Nanoemulsions have been widely used as additives for drilling fluids in recent years. With the development of nanotechnology, multifunctional nanomaterials have been added to nanoemulsions. The improvement of wettability of the surfaces, alteration of oil-wet on shale rock surfaces, and environmentally friendly conditions are considered as the future development directions of nanoemulsions. In this work, a novel nanoemulsion was prepared by using hydrocarbon-based polyoxyethylene ether, oil (hydrocarbon), distilled water, and formation crude oil as the main raw materials. The shale rocks before and after immersion with as-prepared nanoemulsion were characterized by contact angle measurement, atomic force microscope (AFM), and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). It is clearly observed that the nanoemulsion greatly improved the wettability of the sandstone and rock surface by forming a layer of active agent film on the surface of the rock. The as-prepared nanoemulsion had good ability to curb the anticollapse and lubricate and protect the oil and gas layer

Boolean Game on Scale-free Networks

Inspired by the local minority game, we propose a network Boolean game and investigate its dynamical properties on scale-free networks. The system can self-organize to a stable state with better performance than random choice game, although only the local information is available to the agent. By introducing the heterogeneity of local interactions, we find the system has the best performance when each agent's interaction frequency is linear correlated with its information capacity. Generally, the agents with more information gain more than those with less information, while in the optimal case, each agent almost has the same average profit. In addition, we investigate the role of irrational factor and find an interesting symmetrical behavior.Comment: 12 pages and 6 figure

Seroprevalence of Toxoplasma gondii infection in pet dogs in Kunming, Southwest China

BACKGROUND: Toxoplasmosis is a zoonotic parasitic disease caused by the protozoan Toxoplasma gondii, which infects almost all warm-blooded animals, including humans, with a worldwide distribution. However, little is known of T. gondii seroprevalence in pet dogs in Kunming, the capital of Yunnan Province, southwest China. The objective of this investigation was to estimate the seroprevalence of T. gondii infection in pet dogs in this area. METHODS: A total of 611 serum samples were collected from 7 pet hospitals in Kunming, and assayed for T. gondii antibodies by the indirect haemagglutination (IHA) using a commercially-marked kit. RESULTS: 132 (21.6%) pet dogs were positive for T. gondii antibodies, and the seroprevalence ranged from 17.3% to 34.7% among different sampling regions, the difference was statistically significant (P < 0.05). The T. gondii seroprevalence in female and male dogs were 20.8% and 22.4%, respectively, the difference was not statistically significant (P > 0.05). The seroprevalence ranged from 17.5% to 23.6% among different age groups, but the difference was not statistically significant (P > 0.05), and there were no interactions in statistics (P > 0.05) between gender and age of pet dogs in the region. CONCLUSIONS: The findings of the present survey indicate high T. gondii seroprevalance in pet dogs in Kunming, southwest China, posing significant public health concern. It is necessary to enhance integrated strategies and measures to prevent and control T. gondii infection in pet dogs in this area