1,618 research outputs found
In Vivo Photoacoustic Imaging of Anterior Ocular Vasculature: A Random Sample Consensus Approach
Visualizing ocular vasculature is important in clinical ophthalmology because ocular circulation abnormalities are early signs of ocular diseases. Photoacoustic microscopy (PAM) images the ocular vasculature without using exogenous contrast agents, avoiding associated side effects. Moreover, 3D PAM images can be useful in understanding vessel-related eye disease. However, the complex structure of the multi-layered vessels still present challenges in evaluating ocular vasculature. In this study, we demonstrate a new method to evaluate blood circulation in the eye by combining in vivo PAM imaging and an ocular surface estimation method based on a machine learning algorithm: a random sample consensus algorithm. By using the developed estimation method, we were able to visualize the PA ocular vascular image intuitively and demonstrate layer-by-layer analysis of injured ocular vasculature. We believe that our method can provide more accurate evaluations of the eye circulation in ophthalmic applications. ? The Author(s) 2017.1110Ysciescopu
Palm kernel expellers as an alternative ingredient in growing pig diets
This study evaluated the effects of palm kernel expellers in growing diets on growth performance, nutrient digestibility, and carcass and meat quality characteristics of growing-finishing pigs. A total of 88 growing pigs were randomly assigned to two dietary treatment groups. The control diet (CON) was a typical growing or finishing diet based on corn-soybean meal, and the treatment diet (PKE) was formulated by replacing CON with 20% palm kernel expellers. The PKE-CON group was fed the PKE diet during the growing period (six weeks) and the CON diet during the finishing period (12 weeks). The CON-CON group was fed the CON diets during both growing and finishing periods. The PKE-CON group showed significantly depressed growth performance and lower nutrient digestibility than the CON-CON group during the growing period. However, after feeding the typical finisher diets during the finishing period, the PKE-CON group showed no difference in growth performance in comparison with the CON-CON group during both the finishing and overall experimental periods. In addition, carcass and meat quality characteristics were not significantly different between the PKE-CON and the CON-CON groups. The results of this study imply that palm kernel expellers can be an alternative ingredient in the growing diets of growing-finishing pigs if the combined feeding strategy (PKE for the growing period and CON for the finishing period) is used.Keywords: Feed alternatives, growing pig diet, growth performance, meat quality traits, palm kernel expelle
Supersymmetric Singlet Majorons and Cosmology
We examine cosmological constraints on the lepton number breaking scale in
supersymmetric singlet majoron models. Special attention is drawn to the model
dependence arising from the particular choice of a certain majoron extension
and a cosmological scenario. We find that the bounds on the symmetry breaking
scale can vary substantially. Large values of this scale can be allowed if the
decoupling temperature of smajoron and majorino exceeds the reheating
temperature of inflation. In the opposite case an upper bound depending on the
majoron model can be obtained which, however, is unlikely to be much larger
than GeV.Comment: 14 pages, 2 figures, IC/94/40, SNUTP 94-15, TUM - TH - 164/9
Effect of protease on growth performance and carcass characteristics of growing-finishing pigs
No Abstrac
Scalar Hair of Global Defect and Black Brane World
We consider a complex scalar field in (p+3)-dimensional bulk with a negative
cosmological constant and study global vortices in two extra-dimensions. We
reexamine carefully the coupled scalar and Einstein equations, and show that
the boundary value of scalar amplitude at infinity of the extra-dimensions
should be smaller than vacuum expectation value. The brane world has a
cigar-like geometry with an exponentially decaying warp factor and a flat thick
p-brane is embedded. Since a coordinate transformation identifies the obtained
brane world as a black p-brane world bounded by a horizon, this strange
boundary condition of the scalar amplitude is understood as existence of a
short scalar hair.Comment: 26 pages, 2 figure
Effects of reducing dietary crude protein and metabolic energy in weaned piglets
The objective of this experiment was to determine the effects of a pure reduction in the dietary crude protein (CP) and metabolic energy (ME) contents on growth performance, nutrient digestibility, blood profile, faecal microflora and odour gas emission in weaned pigs. A total of 80 weaned piglets ((Landrace × Yorkshire) × Duroc) with a mean initial bodyweight (BW) of 6.8 ± 0.5 kg were randomly allotted to four treatments with four replicate pens of five piglets per pen (based on average BW) for 45 days. The dietary treatments consisted of i) CON: basal diet; ii) LME: reduction of 10% of ME in basal diet; iii) LCP: reduction of 10% of CP in basal diet; iv) MECP: reduction of 10% of CP and 10% of ME in basal diet. During the experimental period, average daily feed intake (ADFI) improved in piglets fed the LME and LCP diets, compared with those fed the CON diets. Average daily gain (ADG) and gain to feed (G : F) ratio decreased in piglets fed LCP, LME, and MECP diet, when compared with those fed the CON diet. However, during the total experimental period, ADG and G : F ratio were not affected by dietary treatment. With regard to nutrient digestibility, apparent total track digestibility (ATTD) of CP was not affected by experimental diets. The concentration of blood urea nitrogen (BUN) in blood decreased more in piglets fed LME, LCP, and MECP than those fed the CON diet. The emissions of ammonia (NH3), hydrogen sufide (H2S), and volatile fatty acids (VFAs) were lower in piglets fed LME, LCP, and MECP diet than those fed the CON diet. In conclusion, these results indicate that reduction in dietary CP and ME content did not decrease growth performance and nutrient digestibility, and they increased positive effects such as BUN and gas emission reduction.Keywords: Blood profile, digestibility, growth performance, odour emission, pi
Boson-fermion mapping and dynamical supersymmetry in fermion models
We show that a dynamical supersymmetry can appear in a purely fermionic
system. This ``supersymmetry without bosons" is constructed by application of a
recently introduced boson-fermion Dyson mapping from a fermion space to a space
comprised of collective bosons and ideal fermions. In some algebraic fermion
models of nuclear structure, particular Hamiltonians may lead to collective
spectra of even and odd nuclei that can be unified using the dynamical
supersymmetry concept with Pauli correlations exactly taken into account.Comment: 20 pages. Revtex. One PostScript figure available on request from P
A Kinetic Study of Microwave Start-up of Tokamak Plasmas
A kinetic model for studying the time evolution of the distribution function for microwave startup is presented. The model for the distribution function is two dimensional in momentum space, but, for simplicity and rapid calculations, has no spatial dependence. Experiments on the Mega Amp Spherical Tokamak have shown that the plasma current is carried mainly by electrons with energies greater than 70 keV, and effects thought to be important in these experiments are included, i.e. particle sources, orbital losses, the loop voltage and microwave heating, with suitable volume averaging where necessary to give terms independent of spatial dimensions. The model predicts current carried by electrons with the same energies as inferred from the experiments, though the current drive effciency is smaller
Long-term trends in tropical cyclone tracks around Korea and Japan in late summer and early fall
This study investigates long-term trends in tropical cyclones (TCs) over the extratropical western North Pacific (WNP) over a period of 35 years (1982-2016). The area analyzed extended across 30-45 degrees N and 120-150 degrees E, including the regions of Korea and Japan that were seriously affected by TCs. The northward migration of TCs over the WNP to the mid-latitudes showed a sharp increase in early fall. In addition, the duration of TCs over the WNP that migrated northwards showed an increase, specifically in early to mid-September. Therefore, more recently, TC tracks have been observed to significantly extend into the mid-latitudes. The recent northward extension of TC tracks over the WNP in early fall was observed to be associated with changes in environmental conditions that were favorable for TC activities, including an increase in sea surface temperature (SST), decrease in vertical wind shear, expansion of subtropical highs, strong easterly steering winds, and an increase in relative vorticity. In contrast, northward migrations of TCs to Korea and Japan showed a decline in late August, because of the presence of unfavorable environmental conditions for TC activities. These changes in environmental conditions, such as SST and vertical wind shear, can be partially associated with the Pacific decadal oscillation
Topologically Stable Electroweak Flux Tube
We show that for a large range of parameters in a
electroweak theory with two Higgs doublets there may exist classically stable
flux tubes of Z boson magnetic field. In a limit of an extra global symmetry, these flux-tubes become topologically stable. These results are
automatically valid even if is gauged.Comment: 10 pages, LATE
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