Effects of dietary supplementation of lysine and methionine in tempeh-based diet on growth performance and feed utilization of tiger grouper, Epinephelus fuscoguttatus juveniles

The potential of tempeh (TMP) with supplementation of methionine (Met) and lysine (Lys) as a substitute of fishmeal (FM) was evaluated based on the growth performance and feed utilization for tiger grouper (Epinephelus fuscoguttatus) juveniles. Three diets were formulated to replace FM with TMP at 0% (D1, control diet), 40% without essential amino acids (EAAs) supplementation (D2) and 40% with EAAs supplementation (D3, 0.5% of Met and 0.5% of Lys) and fed to triplicate groups of fish (22.90±0.48g) twice a day for 8 weeks. Weight gain (WG), specific growth rate (SGR) and feed intake (FI) of D1 group (114.31%, 1.59%, and 45.51 g fish-1 , respectively) were significantly higher than those fed with TMP-based diets (P<0.05). On the other hand, supplementation of EAAs in D3 was able to significantly improve the protein efficiency ratio (PER) and net protein utilization (NPU) (1.17% and 23.13%, respectively) compared to other diets (P<0.05). Supplementation of EAAs reduced whole-body lipid (P0.05) of the fish. In the present study, results indicated that supplementation of EAAs was only able to improve feed utilization (PER and NPU) but not in growth performance (WG and SGR) of E. fuscoguttatus fed on TMP-based diets

Effects of dietary supplementation of lysine and methionine in tempeh-based diet on growth performance and feed utilization of E. fuscoguttatus, Epinephelus fuscoguttatus juveniles

The potential of tempeh (TMP) with supplementation of methionine (Met) and lysine (Lys) as a substitute of fishmeal (FM) was evaluated based on the growth performance and feed utilization for tiger grouper (Epinephelus fuscoguttatus) juveniles. Three diets were formulated to replace FM with TMP at 0% (D1, control diet), 40% without essential amino acids (EAAs) supplementation (D2) and 40% with EAAs supplementation (D3, 0.5% of Met and 0.5% of Lys) and fed to triplicate groups of fish (22.90±0.48g) twice a day for 8 weeks. Weight gain (WG), specific growth rate (SGR) and feed intake (FI) of D1 group (114.31%, 1.59%, and 45.51 g fish-1, respectively) were significantly higher than those fed with TMP-based diets (P0.05) of the fish. In the present study, results indicated that supplementation of EAAs was only able to improve feed utilization (PER and NPU) but not in growth performance (WG and SGR) of E. fuscoguttatus fed on TMP-based diets

Airborne dispersion of droplets during coughing: a physical model of viral transmission

The Covid-19 pandemic has focused attention on airborne transmission of viruses. Using realistic air flow simulation, we model droplet dispersion from coughing and study the transmission risk related to SARS-CoV-2. Although most airborne droplets are 8-16 $\mu$m in diameter, the droplets with the highest transmission potential are, in fact, 32-40 $\mu$m. Use of face masks is therefore recommended for both personal and social protection. We found social distancing effective at reducing transmission potential across all droplet sizes. However, the presence of a human body 1 m away modifies the aerodynamics so that downstream droplet dispersion is enhanced, which has implications on safe distancing in queues. Based on median viral load, we found that an average of 0.55 viral copies is inhaled at 1 m distance per cough. Droplet evaporation results in significant reduction in droplet counts, but airborne transmission remains possible even under low humidity conditions

A comparative analysis of the effect of low-cost fish and commercially compounded feed on growth performance and organoleptic quality of hybrid grouper (Epinephelus fuscoguttatus× Epinephelus lanceolatus) in cage farming in Kuala Penyu, Sabah, and nutritional costs

A 25-week feeding trial was conducted to assess the growth performance, organoleptic quality, and to estimate the viability of nourishing hybrid grouper (Epinephelus fuscoguttatus x Epinephelus lanceolatus) with low-cost fish (LCF) and commercially compound feed (CCF). A group of 3600 juvenile fish (182g) were released in four sea cages and fed with either LCF or CCF in duplicate. At the end of the trial, the hybrid grouper provided LCF attained a significantly higher (P0.05). Although technicalities of fish fed with LCF suggest that LCF is more efficient than CCF, feeding LCF to high-value fish is an unsustainable practice as LCF is usually obtained through trawling –a destructive fishing method for the marine ecosystem. Therefore, feeding with CCF without the use of LCF as the source of protein for its fishmeal will contribute to sustainable aquaculture. In order to convince the local farmers in Sabah to adopt the practice of feeding CCF, future research should focus on completing the species-specific diet formulation to promote optimum growth, and find ways to reduce the CCF local selling price

Nanofluids Research: Key Issues

Nanofluids are a new class of fluids engineered by dispersing nanometer-size structures (particles, fibers, tubes, droplets) in base fluids. The very essence of nanofluids research and development is to enhance fluid macroscopic and megascale properties such as thermal conductivity through manipulating microscopic physics (structures, properties and activities). Therefore, the success of nanofluid technology depends very much on how well we can address issues like effective means of microscale manipulation, interplays among physics at different scales and optimization of microscale physics for the optimal megascale properties. In this work, we take heat-conduction nanofluids as examples to review methodologies available to effectively tackle these key but difficult problems and identify the future research needs as well. The reviewed techniques include nanofluids synthesis through liquid-phase chemical reactions in continuous-flow microfluidic microreactors, scaling-up by the volume averaging and constructal design with the constructal theory. The identified areas of future research contain microfluidic nanofluids, thermal waves and constructal nanofluids

Dependency of NELF-E-SLUG-KAT2B epigenetic axis in breast cancer carcinogenesis.

Cancer cells undergo transcriptional reprogramming to drive tumor progression and metastasis. Using cancer cell lines and patient-derived tumor organoids, we demonstrate that loss of the negative elongation factor (NELF) complex inhibits breast cancer development through downregulating epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) and stemness-associated genes. Quantitative multiplexed Rapid Immunoprecipitation Mass spectrometry of Endogenous proteins (qPLEX-RIME) further reveals a significant rewiring of NELF-E-associated chromatin partners as a function of EMT and a co-option of NELF-E with the key EMT transcription factor SLUG. Accordingly, loss of NELF-E leads to impaired SLUG binding on chromatin. Through integrative transcriptomic and genomic analyses, we identify the histone acetyltransferase, KAT2B, as a key functional target of NELF-E-SLUG. Genetic and pharmacological inactivation of KAT2B ameliorate the expression of EMT markers, phenocopying NELF ablation. Elevated expression of NELF-E and KAT2B is associated with poorer prognosis in breast cancer patients, highlighting the clinical relevance of our findings. Taken together, we uncover a crucial role of the NELF-E-SLUG-KAT2B epigenetic axis in breast cancer carcinogenesis

Modified Gravity and Cosmology

In this review we present a thoroughly comprehensive survey of recent work on modified theories of gravity and their cosmological consequences. Amongst other things, we cover General Relativity, Scalar-Tensor, Einstein-Aether, and Bimetric theories, as well as TeVeS, f(R), general higher-order theories, Horava-Lifschitz gravity, Galileons, Ghost Condensates, and models of extra dimensions including Kaluza-Klein, Randall-Sundrum, DGP, and higher co-dimension braneworlds. We also review attempts to construct a Parameterised Post-Friedmannian formalism, that can be used to constrain deviations from General Relativity in cosmology, and that is suitable for comparison with data on the largest scales. These subjects have been intensively studied over the past decade, largely motivated by rapid progress in the field of observational cosmology that now allows, for the first time, precision tests of fundamental physics on the scale of the observable Universe. The purpose of this review is to provide a reference tool for researchers and students in cosmology and gravitational physics, as well as a self-contained, comprehensive and up-to-date introduction to the subject as a whole.Comment: 312 pages, 15 figure