Lactation performance and serum biochemistry of dairy cows fed supplemental chromium in the transition period

This study was conducted to evaluate the effect of supplemental chromium on performance and blood serum biochemistry of dairy cows. Thus, 20 multiparous Holstein cows (parity 3) were equally divided into two groups, group one (control), which received no chromium supplementation and group two (treatment) which received 5 g/day chromium methionine from week 5 prior to parturition until 12 weeks thereafter. Milk production and milk composition were evaluated on 4, 8 and 12 weeks after parturition. Serum biochemistry concentrations (serum glucose, cholesterol, triglyceride, total protein, and cortisol and insulin concentration) and blood hematology (red blood cell, hematocrit, hemoglobin concentration and percentage neutrophils, lymphocytes, monocytes, basophiles, eosinophils and ratio of neutrophils to lymphocytes) were measured on 2 and 5 weeks prior to parturition and 1 and 4 weeks thereafter. Results indicate that milk production was significantly affected by chromium-methionine supplementation during the entire period (P<0.01) but no significant effect on milk composition was found. Supplemental chromium had no significant effect on serum glucose, cholesterol, triglycerides and insulin concentration and blood hematology parameters (P<0.05). However, chromium supplementation tended to increase significantly, serum total protein concentration and decrease cortisol concentration (P<0.05). The results of this experiment showed that chromium methionine supplementation in multiparous dairy cows diet may improve their milk yield in transition period.Key words: Dairy cow, transition period, chromium-methionine, milk yield, serum biochemistry

Reproductive performance by dairy cows fed supplemental chromium-methionine (Cr-Met) in transition period

This study was conducted to study the effect of supplemental chromium on reproductive performance of dairy cows. Thus, forty multiparous Holstein cows (parity 3) were allocated to two treatments and 20 replicates in a completely randomized design. In this study, treatments consisted of: control group, which received no chromium supplementation and treatment group, which received 6 g/day chromium from chromium  methionine. The cows allocated to this experiment from week 3 prior to parturition until 9 weeks thereafter.  Reproduction parameters consisted of: insemination index and numbers of open days, clinical metabolic  disorders which include acidosis, milk fever, retained placenta and displaced abomasums, and also clinical  puerperal complications consisting of: mastitis, endometritis and ovarian cysts were determined. Results  indicate that Cr supplementation significantly causes decrease in the numbers of open days (p < 0.05). Clinical metabolic disorders and clinical puerperal complications were not affected by chromium methionine  supplementation. The results of this experiment showed that chromium methionine supplementation in  multiparous dairy cows diet may improve their reproductive performance in transition period.Key words: Dairy cow, Chromium methionine, reproductive performance

A Hybrid Direct-Indirect Approach for Solving the Singular Optimal Control Problems of Finite and Infinite Order

This paper presents a hybrid approach to solve singular optimal control problems. It combines the direct Euler method with a modified indirect shooting method. The presented method circumvents the main difficulties and drawbacks of both the direct and indirect methods, when applied to the singular optimal control problems. This method does not require a priori knowledge of the switching structure of the solution and it can be applied to finite or infinite order singular optimal control problems. It provides not only an approximate optimal solution for the problem but, remarkably, it also produces the switching times. We illustrate the features of this new approach treating numerically through two optimal control problems, one of finite order and the other with infinite order

Heuristic artificial bee colony algorithm for solving the Homicidal Chauffeur differential game

In this paper, we consider the Homicidal Chauffeur (HC) problem as an interesting and practical differential game. At first, we introduce a bilevel optimal control problem (BOCP) and prove that a saddle point solution for this game exists if and only if this BOCP has an optimal solution in which the optimal value of the objective function is equal to $1$. Then, BOCP is discretized and converted to a nonlinear bilevel programming problem. Finally, an Artificial Bee Colony (ABC) algorithm is used for solving this problem, in which the lower-level problem will be considered as a constraint and solved by an NLP-solver. Finally, to demonstrate the effectiveness of the presented method, various cases of HC problem are solved and the simulation results are reported

Spin dynamics during chirped pulses: applications to homonuclear decoupling and broadband excitation

Swept-frequency pulses have found applications in a wide range of areas including spectroscopic techniques where efficient control of spins is required. For many of these applications, a good understanding of the evolution of spin systems during these pulses plays a vital role, not only in describing the mechanism of techniques, but also in enabling new methodologies. In magnetic resonance spectroscopy, broadband inversion, refocusing, and excitation using these pulses are among the most used applications in NMR, ESR, MRI, and in vivo MRS. In the present survey, a general expression for chirped pulses will be introduced, and some numerical approaches to calculate the spin dynamics during chirped pulses via solutions of the well-known Liouville-von Neumann equation and the lesser-explored Wei-Norman Lie algebra along with comprehensive examples are presented. In both cases, spin state trajectories are calculated using the solution of differential equations. Additionally, applications of the proposed methods to study the spin dynamics during the PSYCHE pulse element for broadband homonuclear decoupling and the CHORUS sequence for broadband excitation will be presented

Chirp Excitation

A package containing NMR pulse sequences, waveform files, experimental data-sets, and MATLAB codes for ultra-broadband chirp excitatio

Supplementary_data_for_ESR_POISE

Additional Supplementary Information for "Indemnification of Instrumental Imperfection in ESR by On-the-fly Optimization":-- Simulations of resonator compensation for CHORUS sequence-- Shaped pulses for CHORUS sequence-- Python codes and data to reproduce figuresTHIS DATASET IS ARCHIVED AT DANS/EASY, BUT NOT ACCESSIBLE HERE. TO VIEW A LIST OF FILES AND ACCESS THE FILES IN THIS DATASET CLICK ON THE DOI-LINK ABOV

The effect of hydroalcoholic extract of Satureja hortensis on outcomes of stroke in rats

Background: Antioxidants can prevent oxidative stress produced by free radicals. Since Satureja hortensis contains various antioxidant compounds, this study was conducted to examine the effect of S. hortensis extract on blood-brain barrier permeability, brain edema and neurological deficits. Materials and Methods: In this experimental study, 70 male Wistar rats were randomly allocated into 5 groups (n=14). The control group received distilled water plus induction of ischemia, three experimental groups received the hydroalcoholic extract of S. hortensis with different doses of 50, 75 and 100mg/kg, respectively, plus induction of ischemia and the sham group received no treatment and induction of ischemia. Pretreatment with S. hortensis extract was performed for 30 days, orally through gavage. Each group was subdivided into two subgroups (n=7) in order to assess the blood-brain barrier permeability (concentration of Evans Blue) and brain edema (brain water content). Moreover, neurological deficit scores were evaluated in the two mentioned subgroups. Results: Results of the current study showed that S. hortensis extract reduced the concentrations of Evans Blue (8.93±0.75, 7.69±0.74, 6.68±0.56, respectively) and brain water content (82.21±0.71, 81.88±0.69, 80.50±0.89, respectively) in three groups received the extract compared to the control group (84.46±0.81), and reduced neurological deficit scores in the two groups received 75 and 100mg/kg doses of the extract (1.43±0.27 and 1±0.21, respectively) compared to the control group (3.36±0.32). Conclusion: It seems that S. hortensis extract can exert the neuroprotective effect against stroke damage by increasing the strength of blood-brain barrier and preventing brain edema

Ultra-broadband Chirp Excitation (CHORUS)

MATLAB functions, pulse sequence codes for CHORUS experiment, CHORUS chirp pulses, and experimental dat

Design of frequency-swept pulse sequences

Pulse sequence codes -- chirped and HS pulses in Bruker format -- experimental dataTHIS DATASET IS ARCHIVED AT DANS/EASY, BUT NOT ACCESSIBLE HERE. TO VIEW A LIST OF FILES AND ACCESS THE FILES IN THIS DATASET CLICK ON THE DOI-LINK ABOV