Tributyrin and anise mixture supplementation improves growth performance, nutrient digestibility, jejunal villus height, and fecal microbiota in weaned pigs

IntroductionThe objective of this study was to investigate the effects of dietary supplementation of tributyrin and anise mixture (TA) on growth performance, apparent nutrient digestibility, fecal noxious gas emission, fecal score, jejunal villus height, hematology parameters, and fecal microbiota of weaned pigs.MethodsA total of 150 21-day-old crossbred weaned pigs [(Landrace × Yorkshire) × Duroc] were used in a randomized complete block design experiment. All pigs were randomly assigned to 3 groups based on the initial body weight (6.19 ± 0.29 kg). Each group had 10 replicate pens with 5 pigs (three barrows and two gilts) per pen. The experimental period was 42 days and consisted of 3 phases (phase 1, days 1–7; phase 2, days 8–21; phase 3, days 22–42). Dietary treatments were based on a corn-soybean meal-basal diet and supplemented with 0.000, 0.075, or 0.150% TA.Results and discussionWe found that dietary supplementation of graded levels of TA linearly improved body weight, body weight gain, average daily feed intake, and feed efficiency (P < 0.05). TA supplementation also had positive effects on apparent dry matter, crude protein, and energy digestibility (P < 0.05) and jejunal villus height (P < 0.05). The emission of ammonia from feces decreased linearly with the dose of TA increased (P < 0.05). Moreover, TA supplementation was capable to regulate the fecal microbiota diversity, manifesting in a linearly increased Chao1 index and observed species and a linearly decreased Pielou's index (P < 0.05). The abundance of Lactobacillus reuteri, Lactobacillus amylovorus, Clostridium butyricum were increased, while the abundance of Prevotella copri was decreased, by treatment (P < 0.05). Therefore, we speculated that TA supplementation would improve growth performance and reduce fecal ammonia emission through improving nutrient digestibility, which was attributed to the increase of jejunal villus height and the regulation of fecal microbiota

>1000-Fold Lifetime Extension of a Nickel Electromechanical Contact Device via Graphene

Micro-/nano-electromechanical (M/NEM) switches have received significant attention as promising switching devices for a wide range of applications such as computing, radio frequency communication, and power gating devices. However, M/NEM switches still suffer from unacceptably low reliability because of irreversible degradation at the contacting interfaces, hindering adoption in practical applications and further development. Here, we evaluate and verify graphene as a contact material for reliability-enhanced M/NEM switching devices. Atomic force microscopy experiments and quantum mechanics calculations reveal that energy-efficient mechanical contact–separation characteristics are achieved when a few layers of graphene are used as a contact material on a nickel surface, reducing the energy dissipation by 96.6% relative to that of a bare nickel surface. Importantly, graphene displays almost elastic contact–separation, indicating that little atomic-scale wear, including plastic deformation, fracture, and atomic attrition, is generated. We also develop a feasible fabrication method to demonstrate a MEM switch, which has high-quality graphene as the contact material, and verify that the devices with graphene show mechanically stable and elastic-like contact properties, consistent with our nanoscale contact experiment. The graphene coating extends the switch lifetime >103 times under hot switching conditions

Improvement of morning headache in adults with obstructive sleep apnea after positive airway pressure therapy

Abstract The aim of this study was to evaluate the association between obstructive sleep apnea and morning headache and to assess the improvement of morning headache following positive airway pressure therapy. One hundred and sixteen participants were enrolled in this study; all of them received positive airway pressure therapy for at least 3 months. We checked the differences in various sleep apnea-related parameters according to the presence of morning headache and evaluated the improvement of morning headache following positive airway pressure therapy. Among the 116 study participants, 103 were men, with a mean age and body mass index of 50.34 ± 10.23 years and 28.00 ± 4.21 kg/m2, respectively. The severity of morning headache was higher in the severe obstructive sleep apnea group than in the mild to moderate group (2.16 ± 1.70 vs. 1.50 ± 1.57, P = 0.027). However, the various polysomnographic parameters did not significantly differ according to the presence of headache. The Epworth sleepiness scale score was significantly higher in the morning headache presence group than in the absence group (10.90 ± 5.45 vs. 8.13 ± 4.27, P = 0.003). Furthermore, a notable correlation was observed between the reduction in daytime sleepiness and the improvement in morning headache following PAP treatment (r = 0.503, P < 0.001). Morning headache significantly improved following positive airway pressure therapy (prevalence: 53.4–16.4%; severity: 1.92 ± 1.67 vs. 0.86 ± 0.80, all P < 0.001), especially in the patients with morning headache before positive airway pressure therapy. Morning headache is significantly associated with daytime sleepiness and positive airway pressure therapy improves morning headache

Employability of graduates of De La Salle University (DLSU) College of Business & Economics (CBE): A comparison of Bachelor of Science in Accountancy (BSA) graduates and selected non-BSA graduates (academic years 2006 to 2010)

The purpose of this study is to compare accounting graduates and non-accounting graduates of the College of Business and Economics (CBE) at De La Salle University-Manila (DLSU) from academic years 2006 to 2010 in terms of employment rate, relatedness of their job to their attained degree, and the length of job search before they are employed. The study will then determine if there is a difference in the employability of accounting graduates compared to other selected graduates of DLSU-CBE and to find out other factors associated with the graduates\u27 employability. Survey questionnaires were emailed to all 1,696 graduates of Accountancy, Management in Financial Institution, Business Management, and Marketing Management from school years 2006 to 2010. Of these graduates, 11 percent replied. Survey results showed that all CBE graduates, except for those pursuing further studies, have high employability. The average duration of job search is 1.33 months with slightly more than half of the graduates were either able to find a job or establish a business in less than a month. Most graduates found jobs using personal networks. Only a few benefitted from school-initiated activities such as job postings, job fairs, and referrals. While the Bachelor of Science in Accountancy (BSA) curriculum appears to be highly relevant to the current job market, some improvements are still needed for the Business Management (BMG) curriculum. The study recommends that the university should initiate a reassessment on the relevance of the BMG curriculum as well as its activities in assisting graduates during their job search

Thermal performance of copper micro-pillar structure fabricated by powder injection molding

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Fabrication of U-10wt.%Zr-RE Fuel Slugs by Recycling of Metallic Fuel Scraps

U-10wt.%Zr-5wt.%RE fuel slugs for a sodium-cooled fast reactor (SFR) were conventionally prepared by a modified injection casting method, which had the drawback of a low fabrication yield rate of approximately 60% because of the formation of many metallic fuel scraps, such as melt residue and unsuitable fuel slug butts. Moreover, the metallic fuel scraps were classified as a radioactive waste and stored in temporary storage without recycling. It is necessary to develop a recycling process technology for scrap wastes in order to reduce the radioactive wastes of the fuel scraps and improve the fabrication yield of the fuel slugs. In this study, the additive recycling process of the metallic fuel scraps was introduced to re-fabricate the U-10wt.%Zr-5wt.%RE fuel slugs. The U-10wt.%Zr-5wt.%RE fuel scraps were cleaned on the surface impurity layers with a mechanical treatment that used an electric brush under an Ar atmosphere. The U-10wt.%Zr-5wt.%RE fuel slugs were soundly re-fabricated and examined to evaluate the feasibility of the additive process compared with the metallic fuel slugs that used pure metals