Protein Sources for Growing Beef Steers Fed with a Diet Based on Corn Silage

This study was conducted to determine the effect of different protein sources in growing beef cattle (25 Aberdeen Angus steers) fed with a corn silage based diet on daily live weight gain (DLWG), dry matter intake (DMI) and feed conversion (FC). Five treatments with different supplies of crude, degradable and metabolizable protein (MP) were used. The treatments were formulated with different protein sources to provide different rate and extents of protein degradation, as follow: a negative control (T0) without protein supplements and below animal requirements, urea (T1), soybean meal (T2), whole cotton seed (T3) and a positive control (T4), which include a mixture of protein sources in excess of animal requirements. The treatments were planned to be isoenergetics (2.63 Mcal ME kg -1 DM) and also T1, T2 and T3 were isoprotein. The data were analyzed statistically by ANOVA. The DGWG were significant different 730, 869, 1006, 946 and 979 g.day-1 for T0, T1, T2, T3, and T4 respectively. The main differences in DMI were obtained in the isoprotein treatments. Exceeding the animal requirements of metabolizable protein to achieve a suitable nitrogenous supply to rumen did not produce any improvement in the animal performance. The supply of nitrogenous in diets based on corn silage improves the DLWG and FC. This effect was higher with the use of true protein

Evaluation of Forage Sorghum Silages with the Addition of Sorghum Grain

The aim of this experiment was to evaluate the effect of additional sorghum grain and stage of maturity of forage sorghum silage on the animal performance. Two feeding trials were conducted with forage sorghum silage made at different stage of plant maturity. In trial 1, early silage was made with the crop harvested in early bloom stage. Four diets based on different ratios of silage: sorghum grain were evaluated: 100% silage (ES); 80% silage: 20% dry grain (ES20D); 60% silage: 40% dry grain (ES40D) and 60% silage: 40% wet grain silage (ES40W). In trial 2, late silage was made with the forage sorghum crop in dough maturity stage. Four diets combining different proportions of silage and sorghum grain (wet grain silage) were evaluated: 100% silage (LS); 90% silage: 10% grain (LS10W); 80% silage: 20% grain (LS20W); 70% silage: 30% grain (LS30W). In all components and diets, chemical composition was analyzed and animal performance was determined. In all cases the addition of sorghum grain to the forage sorghum silage improved the diet chemical composition. With early silage there was a high response in the daily live weigh gain (DLWG) (g/day) to the addition of sorghum grain (ES: 232; ES20D: 477, ES40D: 788; ES40W: 687), but there was no difference in dry matter intake between treatments with an average of 92 g DM/ kg 0.75 BW. With late silage, the DLWG only was higher than LS when grain was added in 30% of the diet (LS: 505; LS10W: 529; LS20W: 583, LS30W: 688). There was difference in the DLWG and in feed intake between the two maturity stages of the silages (ES vs LS)

Supplementation Under Intensive Grazing, Silage- Or Grain-Based Diets for Beef Production on Steer Performance and Meat Fatty Acid Composition

Alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.) is the main cultivated pasture in Argentina. In beef production enhanced productivity and profit depend on high stocking rates and pasture utilisation, with grain supplementation necessary to maintain high individual live weight gains (LWG) and to increase production per ha (Ustarroz, 1999). Substitution of grazed grass by concentrate can affect meat fatty acid (FA) composition (French et al., 2000). The objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of intensifying an alfalfa-based grazing system and two confinement dietary regimens for beef steer finishing on animal performance and meat FA composition

Morphology and microstructure evolution of gold nanostructures in the limited volume porous matrices

The modern development of nanotechnology requires the discovery of simple approaches that ensure the controlled formation of functional nanostructures with a predetermined morphology. One of the simplest approaches is the self-assembly of nanostructures. The widespread implementation of self-assembly is limited by the complexity of controlled processes in a large volume where, due to the temperature, ion concentration, and other thermodynamics factors, local changes in diffusion-limited processes may occur, leading to unexpected nanostructure growth. The easiest ways to control the diffusion-limited processes are spatial limitation and localized growth of nanostructures in a porous matrix. In this paper, we propose to apply the method of controlled self-assembly of gold nanostructures in a limited pore volume of a silicon oxide matrix with submicron pore sizes. A detailed study of achieved gold nanostructures’ morphology, microstructure, and surface composition at different formation stages is carried out to understand the peculiarities of realized nanostructures. Based on the obtained results, a mechanism for the growth of gold nanostructures in a limited volume, which can be used for the controlled formation of nanostructures with a predetermined geometry and composition, has been proposed. The results observed in the present study can be useful for the design of plasmonic-active surfaces for surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy-based detection of ultra-low concentration of different chemical or biological analytes, where the size of the localized gold nanostructures is comparable with the spot area of the focused laser beam. © 2020 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.3.1.5.1Ministry of Education and Science of the Russian Federation, Minobrnauka: К-2018-036, N 211Russian Foundation for Fundamental Investigations, RFFI: 19-32-50058European Commission, ECMinistry of Science and Technology, MOSTFunding: This research was funded by H2020-MSCA-RISE2017-778308-SPINMULTIFILM Project, the scientific– technical program, ‘Technology-SG’ [project number 3.1.5.1], Ministry of Education and Science of the Russian Federation in the framework of Increase Competitiveness Program of NUST «MISiS» [№ К-2018-036], implemented by a governmental decree dated 16th of March 2013, N 211 and Russian Foundation for Fundamental Investigations [project number 19-32-50058].Acknowledgments: D.V.Y. greatly acknowledges the World Federation of Scientists National Scholarship Program. E.Yu.K., D.V.Y., V.D.B., and V.S. greatly acknowledge the European Union program Mobility Scheme for Targeted People-to-People-Contacts (MOST) for supporting research visits

Epilepsy and neuropsychiatric comorbidities in mice carrying a recurrent Dravet syndrome SCN1A missense mutation

Dravet Syndrome (DS) is an encephalopathy with epilepsy associated with multiple neuropsychiatric comorbidities. In up to 90% of cases, it is caused by functional happloinsufficiency of the SCN1A gene, which encodes the alpha subunit of a voltage-dependent sodium channel (Nav1.1). Preclinical development of new targeted therapies requires accessible animal models which recapitulate the disease at the genetic and clinical levels. Here we describe that a C57BL/6 J knock-in mouse strain carrying a heterozygous, clinically relevant SCN1A mutation (A1783V) presents a full spectrum of DS manifestations. This includes 70% mortality rate during the first 8 weeks of age, reduced threshold for heat-induced seizures (4.7 °C lower compared with control littermates), cognitive impairment, motor disturbances, anxiety, hyperactive behavior and defects in the interaction with the environment. In contrast, sociability was relatively preserved. Electrophysiological studies showed spontaneous interictal epileptiform discharges, which increased in a temperature-dependent manner. Seizures were multifocal, with different origins within and across individuals. They showed intra/inter-hemispheric propagation and often resulted in generalized tonic-clonic seizures. 18F-labelled flourodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography (FDG-PET) revealed a global increase in glucose uptake in the brain of Scn1aWT/A1783V mice. We conclude that the Scn1aWT/A1783V model is a robust research platform for the evaluation of new therapies against DS

Elucidating the Cathodic Electrodeposition Mechanism of Lead/Lead Oxide Formation in Nitrate Solutions

The production of crystalline lead oxide (PbO) structures, directly on the surface of an electrode in (nitrate) solution, via electrochemical deposition of lead ions (Pb2+), is unequivocally demonstrated and the formation mechanism elucidated. Boron doped diamond electrodes are used as the deposition platform. We show the effect of electrode potential, deposition time, presence of oxygen, and temperature on the formation process. At room temperature, under both deoxygenated and aerated conditions, high-resolution microscopy reveals a predominant nanoparticle (NP) morphology. In contrast, under laser-heated conditions, both NPs and half-hexagon shaped “plates” result. Transmission electron microscopy reveals these “plates” to be crystalline β-PbO. Plate prominence, under heated conditions, increases as the driving potential and deposition time is increased. By deoxygenating the solution and applying a deposition potential such that hydroxide ion (OH–) formation is negligible, only NPs are observed, which, from cyclic voltammetry data, are confirmed to be elemental Pb. We thus propose that Pb NPs and OH– play a crucial role in the PbO formation process. Electrodeposited Pb NPs catalyze OH– generation from either oxygen or nitrate reduction (oxygen reduction occurs at a less negative applied potential than nitrate reduction) driving the formation of lead hydroxide (Pb(OH)2) via a precipitation route. The Pb(OH)2 subsequently dehydrates to PbO, a process significantly accelerated by temperature. Hence, by controlling temperature, potential, and solution conditions, cathodic electrodeposition of Pb2+ can lead to the preferential formation of PbO crystalline structures on the electrode surface