Effects of different heat processing methods of rapeseed on ruminal and post-ruminal nutrient disappearance

Due to improving the nutritive value of oilseeds and changing their digestion site in ruminants, processing, including heat treatment, seems necessary. The present research was conducted to evaluate the effect of applying heat processing such as roasting, microwaving and autoclaving on nutritive values; the amount and rate of degradability in rumen, and the disappearance of rapeseed nutrients in rumen, post-rumen and total tract. This evaluation was performed using mobile nylon bags techniques; three-step method of digestion and protein CNCPS fraction. A completely randomized design was used to investigate the effect of applying heat processing, and SAS software was used to analyze the data. The field Emission Scanning Electron Microscope was used to monitored the effect of heat treatment on surface of rapeseed. The application of heat processing in this research (roasting, microwaving and autoclaving) had no significant effect on the chemical composition of rapeseed. The results obtained from mobile nylon bags method and three-step digestion method showed that raw rapeseed has the highest disappearance of DM and CP in rumen and therefore has a significant difference with processed seeds (P<0.05). Also, the disappearance of DM and CP of processed rapeseed in intestines was significantly higher than raw seed (P<0.05), and this was higher than other processing for autoclaved rapeseed. According to the results obtained from CNCPS protein fractionation, applying heat processing altering protein fractionation (P<0.05). Applying microwave processing has created cracks in the surface of the rapeseed wall, and this condition was not observed in the wall surface of other heated seeds. In general, it can be said that in addition to increasing the digestibility of rapeseed in the entire gastrointestinal tract, applying heat processing reduces its degradability in the rumen and has increased the disappearance of nutrients in the intestine, that it can be stated the digestion site is altered from rumen to intestine, which can prevent the loss of protein sources in ruminant feed

Case study of energy recovery in workshops using induction heating systems

International audienceThe aim of this study is to improve the energy efficiency of an industrial process including an induction heating device by recovering fatal losses coming either from inductor Joule losses or from heated pieces after treatment. Software tool based on the pinch method was developed in Modelica language. A specific model for the induction heating device was written, taking into account the temperature dependence of the thermal properties of the heated metal and of the heating efficiency of the induction device. The collected energy can be reused in relay of a boiler inside the process line for heating pickling baths or washing baths or for space heating or domestic hot water production. It can also be converted into electricity (Organic Rankine Cycle, thermoelectricity). In this paper, the authors present case studies realized in a typical steel forging workshop and in a cast iron foundry. They show that direct reuse of the thermal energy has a payback around 3 years. It requires a coil cooling circuit at high temperature (typically 70 to 300 °C). The conversion into electricity is not relevant because of a very long payback

HOW FAST α PARTICLES ARE EMITTED IN "MASSIVE TRANSFER" REACTIONS ?

No abstract availabl

Impact of content and length of curauá fibers on mechanical behavior of extruded cementitious composites: Analysis of variance

[EN] The use of composite materials in construction has grown considerably in recent years, such as cementitious matrices and concrete reinforced with fibers. The vegetable fibers have become an alternative due to its abundance, low cost and low energy consumption for its production, and appropriate properties mechanical. Curauá fiber is a plant native from Amazonas harvested manually in commercial farming and it is used in the manufacture of ropes and baskets or as reinforcement in composite with organic matrix of components for cars, buses and trucks. On the other hand, the extrusion process can produce composites with high-density matrix with fibers, low permeability and good interface between fiber and matrix. This process is also compatible with the use of vegetable fibers as raw materials in the production of cost-effective construction elements such as ceiling panels and drywalls. The objective of this research was use the analysis of variance (ANOVA) for evaluating with rigor mathematical the influence of content and length of curauá fibers on the mechanical behavior of the extruded cementitious composites. Composites without fibers and reinforced with 1% and 2% by mass of fibers as well as 6 mm and 10 mm of length these curauá fibers were evaluated. The composites with fibers of 10 mm have showed better mechanical results. Besides, the composites with fibers curauá after 200 accelerated aging cycles were better than one non-aging.The authors acknowledge the financial support provided by Brazilian Agencies: Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP, Grant nº 2013/03823-8 and 2012/51467-3); Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES, Grant nº 3886/2014); and Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq, Grant nº 406429/2015 and 312151/2016-0). The authors thank the Brazilian companies Fibria S.A., Infibra S.A. and Imbralit Ltda. for technical support to the development of this work.Teixeria, R.; Santos, S.; Christoforo, A.; Paya Bernabeu, JJ.; Savastano Jr., H.; Rocco Lhar, F. (2019). Impact of content and length of curauá fibers on mechanical behavior of extruded cementitious composites: Analysis of variance. Cement and Concrete Composites. 102:134-144. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cemconcomp.2019.04.022S13414410

Gravity Evidence for a Larger Limpopo Belt in Southern Africa and Geodynamic Implications

The Limpopo Belt of southern Africa is a Neoarchean orogenic belt located between two older Archean provinces, the Zimbabwe craton to the north and the Kaapvaal craton to the south. Previous studies considered the Limpopo Belt to be a linearly trending east-northeast belt with a width of ∼250 km and ∼600 km long. We provide evidence from gravity data constrained by seismic and geochronologic data suggesting that the Limpopo Belt is much larger than previously assumed and includes the Shashe Belt in Botswana, thus defining a southward convex orogenic arc sandwiched between the two cratons. The 2 Ga Magondi orogenic belt truncates the Limpopo-Shahse Belt to the west. The northern marginal, central and southern marginal tectonic zones define a single gravity anomaly on upward continued maps, indicating that they had the same exhumation history. This interpretation requires a tectonic model involving convergence between the Kaapvaal and Zimbabwe cratons during a Neoarchean orogeny that preserved the thick cratonic keel that has been imaged in tomographic models

Genetic variation in hippocampal microRNA expression differences in C57BL/6 J X DBA/2 J (BXD) recombinant inbred mouse strains

miRNAs are short single-stranded non-coding RNAs involved in post-transcriptional gene regulation that play a major role in normal biological functions and diseases. Little is currently known about how expression of miRNAs is regulated. We surveyed variation in miRNA abundance in the hippocampus of mouse inbred strains, allowing us to take a genetic approach to the study of miRNA regulation, which is novel for miRNAs. The BXD recombinant inbred panel is a very well characterized genetic reference panel which allows quantitative trait locus (QTL) analysis of miRNA abundance and detection of correlates in a large store of brain and behavioural phenotypes.|We found five suggestive trans QTLs for the regulation of miRNAs investigated. Further analysis of these QTLs revealed two genes, Tnik and Phf17, under the miR-212 regulatory QTLs, whose expression levels were significantly correlated with miR-212 expression. We found that miR-212 expression is correlated with cocaine-related behaviour, consistent with a reported role for this miRNA in the control of cocaine consumption. miR-31 is correlated with anxiety and alcohol related behaviours. KEGG pathway analysis of each miRNA's expression correlates revealed enrichment of pathways including MAP kinase, cancer, long-term potentiation, axonal guidance and WNT signalling.|The BXD reference panel allowed us to establish genetic regulation and characterize biological function of specific miRNAs. QTL analysis enabled detection of genetic loci that regulate the expression of these miRNAs. eQTLs that regulate miRNA abundance are a new mechanism by which genetic variation influences brain and behaviour. Analysis of one of these QTLs revealed a gene, Tnik, which may regulate the expression of a miRNA, a molecular pathway and a behavioural phenotype. Evidence of genetic covariation of miR-212 abundance and cocaine related behaviours is strongly supported by previous functional studies, demonstrating the value of this approach for discovery of new functional roles and downstream processes regulated by miRNA

Mechanical and physical performance of low alkalinity cementitiouscomposites reinforced with recycled cellulosic fibres pulp fromcement kraft bags

The objective of this work was to study the addition of cellulosic pulp in low alkalinity cement composites as well as its mechanical behavior under bending stresses before and after accelerated aging cycles.The cellulosic pulp was obtained from recycled Portland cement kraft bags used for packaging. Lowalkaline cementitious matrices were tested, reducing from 80 to 85% the content of Portland cement, inorder to reduce the use of the conventional raw materials, energy cost and mainly to avoid a possiblealkaline degradation of the cellulosic pulps. The cement matrix resulted from the ternary blend Portlandcement gypsum pozzolan (fly ash or catalytic cracking catalyst residue), with 50% by weight of gypsumand different percentages by weight of pozzolans. These composites were prepared in the laboratory usinga slurry vacuum dewatering followed by pressing technique. The four point-bending tests were carriedout to evaluate the mechanical behavior of the low alkalinity cementitious composites and compositewithout pozzolans at 28 days and after soak and dry accelerated aging tests. The low alkaline cementcomposites presented average values of modulus of rupture about 10 MPa after the aging cycles, with theindication that its flexural strength was not significantly affected by the degradation tests. In addition, theaverage values of specific energy of these composites were also acceptable after 100 soak and dry cyclesas compared to the composites with the Portland cement plain matrix. These results suggest that theuse of low alkalinity ternary binder system can be an effective contribution in order to avoid the severedamage on cellulosic fibers (which occurred when traditional pure Portland cement matrix is applied).Authors would thank International Relationship Department of the Universitat Politecnica de Valencia for the scholarship awarded and to the financial support and scholarships provided by Brazilian Agencies Fapesp and CNPq for the work carried out at FZEA USP Pirassununga.Marmol De Los Dolores, G.; Santos, SF.; Savastano, HJ.; Borrachero Rosado, MV.; Monzó Balbuena, JM.; Paya Bernabeu, JJ. (2013). Mechanical and physical performance of low alkalinity cementitiouscomposites reinforced with recycled cellulosic fibres pulp fromcement kraft bags. Industrial Crops and Products. 49:422-427. doi:10.1016/j.indcrop.2013.04.051S4224274

Immune signatures and disorder-specific patterns in a cross-disorder gene expression analysis

BACKGROUND: Recent studies point to overlap between neuropsychiatric disorders in symptomatology and genetic aetiology. AIMS: To systematically investigate genomics overlap between childhood and adult attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and major depressive disorder (MDD). METHOD: Analysis of whole-genome blood gene expression and genetic risk scores of 318 individuals. Participants included individuals affected with adult ADHD (n = 93), childhood ADHD (n = 17), MDD (n = 63), ASD (n = 51), childhood dual diagnosis of ADHD-ASD (n = 16) and healthy controls (n = 78). RESULTS: Weighted gene co-expression analysis results reveal disorder-specific signatures for childhood ADHD and MDD, and also highlight two immune-related gene co-expression modules correlating inversely with MDD and adult ADHD disease status. We find no significant relationship between polygenic risk scores and gene expression signatures. CONCLUSIONS: Our results reveal disorder overlap and specificity at the genetic and gene expression level. They suggest new pathways contributing to distinct pathophysiology in psychiatric disorders and shed light on potential shared genomic risk factors

Spatiotemporally Controlled Cardiac Conduction Block Using High-Frequency Electrical Stimulation

Background: Methods for the electrical inhibition of cardiac excitation have long been sought to control excitability and conduction, but to date remain largely impractical. High-amplitude alternating current (AC) stimulation has been known to extend cardiac action potentials (APs), and has been recently exploited to terminate reentrant arrhythmias by producing reversible conduction blocks. Yet, low-amplitude currents at similar frequencies have been shown to entrain cardiac tissues by generation of repetitive APs, leading in some cases to ventricular fibrillation and hemodynamic collapse in vivo. Therefore, an inhibition method that does not lead to entrainment – irrespective of the stimulation amplitude (bound to fluctuate in an in vivo setting) – is highly desirable. Methodology/Principal Findings: We investigated the effects of broader amplitude and frequency ranges on the inhibitory effects of extracellular AC stimulation on HL-1 cardiomyocytes cultured on microelectrode arrays, using both sinusoidal and square waveforms. Our results indicate that, at sufficiently high frequencies, cardiac tissue exhibits a binary response to stimulus amplitude with either prolonged APs or no effect, thereby effectively avoiding the risks of entrainment by repetitive firing observed at lower frequencies. We further demonstrate the ability to precisely define reversible local conduction blocks in beating cultures without influencing the propagation activity in non-blocked areas. The conduction blocks were spatiotemporally controlled by electrode geometry and stimuli duration, respectively, and sustainable for long durations (300 s). Conclusion/Significance: Inhibition of cardiac excitation induced by high-frequency AC stimulation exhibits a binary response to amplitude above a threshold frequency, enabling the generation of reversible conduction blocks without the risks of entrainment. This inhibition method could yield novel approaches for arrhythmia modeling in vitro, as well as safer and more efficacious tools for in vivo cardiac mapping and radio-frequency ablation guidance applications