Effects of Exogenous Cellulase Source on In Vitro Fermentation Characteristics and Methane Production of Crop Straws and Grasses

In vitro fermentation experiments were conducted to investigate the effects of 3 sources of exogenous cellulase products (EC) at 4 dose rates (DR) (0, 12, 37 and 62 IU/g of DM) on degradation of forage and methane production by mixed rumen micro-organisms of goats. The maximum gas production (Vf) of grasses was higher (P<0.001) in Neocallimastix patriciarum (NP) group than those in Trichoderma reesei (TR) and Trichoderma longibrachiatum (TL) groups. Quadratic increases in dry matter degradation (DMD) of forage and neutral detergent fiber (NDFD) of straw were observed for all EC, with optimum DR in the low range. Supplementation of EC originated from TR and NP increased (P<0.001) DMD of forage compared to that from TL. Addition of EC originated from TR and NP also decreased pH value, ammonia nitrogen (NH3-N) and methane (CH4) production compared to that from TL. Quadratic decreases in pH value, NH3-N and CH4 of forage were noted for EC of TR and NP, and with optimum DR in the low range. For short chain fatty acid, the EC of NP increased total volatile fatty acid (TVFA) and acetate concentration and the ratio of acetate to propionate of forage compared with EC of TL and TR, and with optimum DR in the low to medium range. It was concluded that the source of EC differed in fiber degradation and methane emission, and with optimum DR of TR in the low range (from 12 to 37 U/g DM) in improving fiber degradation and decreasing methane emission

Potential mainland Chinese cruise travelers’ expectations, motivations, and intentions

The global cruise industry is the fastest growing sector in the entire leisure market. Due to the limited development of the Chinese cruise sector and government controls on outbound travel, the cruise, especially the outbound cruise, is a new concept in China. Few studies have addressed Chinese consumers’ perceptions of cruises. This study aimed to explore the preferences of potential Chinese cruisers and their expectations, motivations, and intentions in relation to taking an outbound cruise. This study also proposed and tested a conceptual framework: the Expectation, Motivation, and Intention (EMI) Model. Data were collected in Beijing and Shanghai; 242 valid responses were received. The results partially supported the proposed model. The theoretical and practical contributions of the study are discussed

Relation Between Chiral Susceptibility and Solutions of Gap Equation in Nambu--Jona-Lasinio Model

We study the solutions of the gap equation, the thermodynamic potential and the chiral susceptibility in and beyond the chiral limit at finite chemical potential in the Nambu--Jona-Lasinio (NJL) model. We give an explicit relation between the chiral susceptibility and the thermodynamic potential in the NJL model. We find that the chiral susceptibility is a quantity being able to represent the furcation of the solutions of the gap equation and the concavo-convexity of the thermodynamic potential in NJL model. It indicates that the chiral susceptibility can identify the stable state and the possibility of the chiral phase transition in NJL model.Comment: 21 pages, 6 figures, misprints are correcte

Artificial Intelligence in Radiation Therapy

Artificial intelligence (AI) has great potential to transform the clinical workflow of radiotherapy. Since the introduction of deep neural networks, many AI-based methods have been proposed to address challenges in different aspects of radiotherapy. Commercial vendors have started to release AI-based tools that can be readily integrated to the established clinical workflow. To show the recent progress in AI-aided radiotherapy, we have reviewed AI-based studies in five major aspects of radiotherapy including image reconstruction, image registration, image segmentation, image synthesis, and automatic treatment planning. In each section, we summarized and categorized the recently published methods, followed by a discussion of the challenges, concerns, and future development. Given the rapid development of AI-aided radiotherapy, the efficiency and effectiveness of radiotherapy in the future could be substantially improved through intelligent automation of various aspects of radiotherapy

Search for the Chiral Magnetic Effect in Au+Au collisions at sNN=27\sqrt{s_{_{\rm{NN}}}}=27 GeV with the STAR forward Event Plane Detectors

A decisive experimental test of the Chiral Magnetic Effect (CME) is considered one of the major scientific goals at the Relativistic Heavy-Ion Collider (RHIC) towards understanding the nontrivial topological fluctuations of the Quantum Chromodynamics vacuum. In heavy-ion collisions, the CME is expected to result in a charge separation phenomenon across the reaction plane, whose strength could be strongly energy dependent. The previous CME searches have been focused on top RHIC energy collisions. In this Letter, we present a low energy search for the CME in Au+Au collisions at $\sqrt{s_{_{\rm{NN}}}}=27$ GeV. We measure elliptic flow scaled charge-dependent correlators relative to the event planes that are defined at both mid-rapidity $|\eta|<1.0$ and at forward rapidity $2.1 < |\eta|<5.1$. We compare the results based on the directed flow plane ($\Psi_1$) at forward rapidity and the elliptic flow plane ($\Psi_2$) at both central and forward rapidity. The CME scenario is expected to result in a larger correlation relative to $\Psi_1$ than to $\Psi_2$, while a flow driven background scenario would lead to a consistent result for both event planes[1,2]. In 10-50\% centrality, results using three different event planes are found to be consistent within experimental uncertainties, suggesting a flow driven background scenario dominating the measurement. We obtain an upper limit on the deviation from a flow driven background scenario at the 95\% confidence level. This work opens up a possible road map towards future CME search with the high statistics data from the RHIC Beam Energy Scan Phase-II.Comment: main: 8 pages, 5 figures; supplementary material: 2 pages, 1 figur

Risk profiles and one-year outcomes of patients with newly diagnosed atrial fibrillation in India: Insights from the GARFIELD-AF Registry.

BACKGROUND: The Global Anticoagulant Registry in the FIELD-Atrial Fibrillation (GARFIELD-AF) is an ongoing prospective noninterventional registry, which is providing important information on the baseline characteristics, treatment patterns, and 1-year outcomes in patients with newly diagnosed non-valvular atrial fibrillation (NVAF). This report describes data from Indian patients recruited in this registry. METHODS AND RESULTS: A total of 52,014 patients with newly diagnosed AF were enrolled globally; of these, 1388 patients were recruited from 26 sites within India (2012-2016). In India, the mean age was 65.8 years at diagnosis of NVAF. Hypertension was the most prevalent risk factor for AF, present in 68.5% of patients from India and in 76.3% of patients globally (P < 0.001). Diabetes and coronary artery disease (CAD) were prevalent in 36.2% and 28.1% of patients as compared with global prevalence of 22.2% and 21.6%, respectively (P < 0.001 for both). Antiplatelet therapy was the most common antithrombotic treatment in India. With increasing stroke risk, however, patients were more likely to receive oral anticoagulant therapy [mainly vitamin K antagonist (VKA)], but average international normalized ratio (INR) was lower among Indian patients [median INR value 1.6 (interquartile range {IQR}: 1.3-2.3) versus 2.3 (IQR 1.8-2.8) (P < 0.001)]. Compared with other countries, patients from India had markedly higher rates of all-cause mortality [7.68 per 100 person-years (95% confidence interval 6.32-9.35) vs 4.34 (4.16-4.53), P < 0.0001], while rates of stroke/systemic embolism and major bleeding were lower after 1 year of follow-up. CONCLUSION: Compared to previously published registries from India, the GARFIELD-AF registry describes clinical profiles and outcomes in Indian patients with AF of a different etiology. The registry data show that compared to the rest of the world, Indian AF patients are younger in age and have more diabetes and CAD. Patients with a higher stroke risk are more likely to receive anticoagulation therapy with VKA but are underdosed compared with the global average in the GARFIELD-AF. CLINICAL TRIAL REGISTRATION-URL: http://www.clinicaltrials.gov. Unique identifier: NCT01090362