The Effect of Harvesting Strategy of Grass Silage on Milk Production

Timing of harvest in primary growth of grass is a major factor affecting D-value (digestible organic matter, g/kg DM) of silage and dry matter (DM) consumption and milk production of dairy cows (Rinne, 2000). The objective of this research was to investigate whether there is a similar pattern in regrowths of grass

The Effect of Harvesting Strategy of Grass Silage on Milk Production

Timing of harvest in primary growth of grass is a major factor affecting D-value (digestible organic matter, g/kg DM) of silage and dry matter (DM) consumption and milk production of dairy cows (Rinne, 2000). The objective of this research was to investigate whether there is a similar pattern in regrowths of grass

Prediction of Indigestible NDF Content of Grass and Legume Silages by NIRS

The future feed evaluation systems based on mechanistic digestion models require reliable estimates of forage digestible and indigestible NDF content (DNDF and INDF). The objective of this study was to examine the potential of near infrared reflectance spectroscopy (NIRS) in predicting INDF content of grass and legume silages

Light scattering by the Martian dust analog, palagonite, modeled with ellipsoids

We have investigated the suitability of the ellipsoidal model particles to mimic scattering by Martian dust particles by comparing simulations against laboratory data for palagonite, a Mars analog sample. By optimizing the shape distribution of ellipsoids, a very good match with a laboratory-measured scattering matrix was obtained. Even an equiprobable distribution of ellipsoids performed well. The asymmetry parameter and single-scattering albedo were found to depend on the assumed shape distribution as much as on the typical uncertainties associated with refractive indices and size, suggesting that shape is an important parameter that potentially influences remote retrievals of dust particle properties

3-(3-Bromophenyl)-7-acetoxycoumarin

In natural product synthesis, the procurement of easily accessible starting materials is crucial. Chromenones and their subclass, coumarins, are a wide family of small, oxygen-containing aromatic heterocycles. Phenylcoumarins offer a particularly excellent starting point for a diverse chemical space of natural products, and thus are excellent staring materials for more complex natural products. Herein, we report an efficient synthesis of an easily accessible 3-phenylcoumarin bearing two orthogonally substitutable groups, bromine, and an acetyl-protected phenylic hydroxyl group

Evaluation of MRI-only based online adaptive radiotherapy of abdominal region on MR-linac

Purpose A hybrid magnetic resonance linear accelerator (MRL) can perform magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) with high soft-tissue contrast to be used for online adaptive radiotherapy (oART). To obtain electron densities needed for the oART dose calculation, a computed tomography (CT) is often deformably registered to MRI. Our aim was to evaluate an MRI-only based synthetic CT (sCT) generation as an alternative to the deformed CT (dCT)-based oART in the abdominal region. Methods The study data consisted of 57 patients who were treated on a 0.35 T MRL system mainly for abdominal tumors. Simulation MRI-CT pairs of 43 patients were used for training and validation of a prototype convolutional neural network sCT-generation algorithm, based on HighRes3DNet, for the abdominal region. For remaining test patients, sCT images were produced from simulation MRIs and daily MRIs. The dCT-based plans were re-calculated on sCT with identical calculation parameters. The sCT and dCT were compared in terms of geometric agreement and calculated dose. Results The mean and one standard deviation of the geometric agreement metrics over dCT-sCT-pairs were: mean error of 8 +/- 10 HU, mean absolute error of 49 +/- 10 HU, and Dice similarity coefficient of 55 +/- 12%, 60 +/- 5%, and 82 +/- 15% for bone, fat, and lung tissues, respectively. The dose differences between the sCT and dCT-based dose for planning target volumes were 0.5 +/- 0.9%, 0.6 +/- 0.8%, and 0.5 +/- 0.8% at D-2%, D-50%, and D-98% in physical dose and 0.8 +/- 1.4%, 0.8 +/- 1.2%, and 0.6 +/- 1.1% in biologically effective dose (BED). For organs-at-risk, the dose differences of all evaluated dose-volume histogram points were within [-4.5%, 7.8%] and [-1.1 Gy, 3.5 Gy] in both physical dose and BED. Conclusions The geometric agreement metrics were within typically reported values and most average relative dose differences were within 1%. Thus, an MRI-only sCT-based approach is a promising alternative to the current clinical practice of the abdominal oART on MRL.Peer reviewe

Disk and circumsolar radiances in the presence of ice clouds

The impact of ice clouds on solar disk and circumsolar radiances is investigated using a Monte Carlo radiative transfer model. The monochromatic direct and diffuse radiances are simulated at angles of 0 to 8° from the center of the sun. Input data for the model are derived from measurements conducted during the 2010 Small Particles in Cirrus (SPARTICUS) campaign together with state-of-the-art databases of optical properties of ice crystals and aerosols. For selected cases, the simulated radiances are compared with ground-based radiance measurements obtained by the Sun and Aureole Measurements (SAM) instrument. First, the sensitivity of the radiances to the ice cloud properties and aerosol optical thickness is addressed. The angular dependence of the disk and circumsolar radiances is found to be most sensitive to assumptions about ice crystal roughness (or, more generally, non-ideal features of ice crystals) and size distribution, with ice crystal habit playing a somewhat smaller role. Second, in comparisons with SAM data, the ice cloud optical thickness is adjusted for each case so that the simulated radiances agree closely (i.e., within 3 %) with the measured disk radiances. Circumsolar radiances at angles larger than ≈ 3° are systematically underestimated when assuming smooth ice crystals, whereas the agreement with the measurements is better when rough ice crystals are assumed. Our results suggest that it may well be possible to infer the particle roughness directly from ground-based SAM measurements. In addition, the results show the necessity of correcting the ground-based measurements of direct radiation for the presence of diffuse radiation in the instrument's field of view, in particular in the presence of ice clouds.Peer reviewe

Artturi Assists Finnish Advisers and Farmers to Succeed in Grass-Based Dairy Production

Artturi is a collective name for a wide range of services. It is a common tool for different bodies who share an interest in strengthening grass-based dairy production in Finland: research, advisory service and industries. The Service is named after A. I. (Artturi Ilmari) Virtanen, the Finnish scientist who was awarded the Nobel prize in 1945, partly based on his work in developing the ensiling process of grass. The Artturi web site is available in Internet at: http://www.agronet.fi/artturi. Access to Artturi Services is free and no registration is required. The language used is Finnish. During summer 2003, 15,000 visits were recorded at the web site

Vanillic acid and methoxyhydroquinone production from guaiacyl units and related aromatic compounds using Aspergillus niger cell factories

Background The aromatic compounds vanillin and vanillic acid are important fragrances used in the food, beverage, cosmetic and pharmaceutical industries. Currently, most aromatic compounds used in products are chemically synthesized, while only a small percentage is extracted from natural sources. The metabolism of vanillin and vanillic acid has been studied for decades in microorganisms and many studies have been conducted that showed that both can be produced from ferulic acid using bacteria. In contrast, the degradation of vanillin and vanillic acid by fungi is poorly studied and no genes involved in this metabolic pathway have been identified. In this study, we aimed to clarify this metabolic pathway in Aspergillus niger and identify the genes involved. Results Using whole-genome transcriptome data, four genes involved in vanillin and vanillic acid metabolism were identified. These include vanillin dehydrogenase (vdhA), vanillic acid hydroxylase (vhyA), and two genes encoding novel enzymes, which function as methoxyhydroquinone 1,2-dioxygenase (mhdA) and 4-oxo-monomethyl adipate esterase (omeA). Deletion of these genes in A. niger confirmed their role in aromatic metabolism and the enzymatic activities of these enzymes were verified. In addition, we demonstrated that mhdA and vhyA deletion mutants can be used as fungal cell factories for the accumulation of vanillic acid and methoxyhydroquinone from guaiacyl lignin units and related aromatic compounds. Conclusions This study provides new insights into the fungal aromatic metabolic pathways involved in the degradation of guaiacyl units and related aromatic compounds. The identification of the involved genes unlocks new potential for engineering aromatic compound-producing fungal cell factories.Peer reviewe

Maternal tiredness and cytokine concentrations in mid-pregnancy

Objective: Sleep disturbances relate to altered levels of inflammatory mediators in general population, but not much is known about the associations between sleep disturbances and inflammatory mediators during pregnancy. The present exploratory study investigated whether insomnia, tiredness, general sleep quality, and insufficient sleep duration during pregnancy relate to the concentrations of maternal peripheral circulating cytokines. As sleep disturbances are frequently observed in mood disorders, the results were controlled for symptoms of depression and anxiety. Methods: 137 participants were randomly drawn from a representative FinnBrain Birth Cohort. Serum concentrations of selected cytokines were analyzed using Multiplex bead arrays from blood samples drawn at the gestational week 24. The sleep disturbances were evaluated using the Basic Nordic Sleep Questionnaire. Depressive and anxiety symptoms were measured with the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale and the anxiety subscale of the self-rated Symptom Checklist 90, respectively. Results: Enhanced tiredness was associated with cytokine concentrations of IL-2, IL-10, IL-12, IL-13, and TNF-alpha. The observed associations resembled a reversed U-shaped curve rather than being linear. Having a good general sleep quality was associated with higher logarithmic cytokine concentrations of IL-2, IL-4, IL-6, IL-10, IL-12, IL-13, and IFN-gamma. There was no evidence for associations between insomnia or sleep loss and cytokines. Conclusions: Maternal subjective tiredness and good general sleep quality were associated with altered levels of immunological markers during pregnancy. The association was independent from symptoms of depression and anxiety.Peer reviewe