Correlations of gestational hemoglobin, placental mineral elements and reproductive performances in pregnant sows

Iron status of sows has a great influence on reproductive performance. Iron deficiency reduces reproductive performance and newborn piglet survival rate of sow. The hemoglobin is a potential predictor for iron status of sows and is convenient for rapid detection in pig farms. However, the relationship between iron status, hemoglobin, placental trace elements and reproductive performance remains unclear. In this study, the hemoglobin and reproductive performance of more than 500 sows with 1 st to 6 th parities at different gestation stages (25, 55, 75, 95, 110 days of gestation) in two large-scale sow farms were collected, and content of placental Fe, Zn, Mn and Cu was analyzed. The results show hemoglobin of sows during pregnancy (d 75, d 95, d 110) decreased significantly (P < 0.001). As the parity increases, the hemoglobin levels of sows at d 25, d 55 of gestation and placental mineral element contents included Fe, Zn, Mn and Cu at delivery decreased (P < 0.05), while the litter size, birth alive and litter weights increased gradually (P < 0.001). Furthermore, hemoglobin during pregnancy had a negative linear correlation with litter weight and average weight (P < 0.05), higher hemoglobin at d 25 of gestation may reduce the number of stillbirths (P = 0.05), but higher hemoglobin at d 110 of gestation was tend to be benefit for the birth (P = 0.01). And there was a significant positive linear correlation between hemoglobin at d 110 of gestation and placental Fe and Mn levels (P = 0.002, P = 0.013). There was also a significant positive linear correlation among Fe, Zn, Mn and Cu in the placenta (P < 0.001). The levels of Fe, Zn, and Mn in placental at delivery were positive related to the average weight of the fetus (P = 0.048, P = 0.027, P = 0.047), and placental Cu was linearly correlated with litter size (P = 0.029). Our research revealed the requirements for iron during gestation were varied in different gestation periods and parities. The feeds should be adjusted according to the gestation periods, parities or iron status to meet the iron requirements of sows and fetal pigs.

Potential quality pitfalls of digitalized whole slide image of breast pathology in routine practice

Using digitalized whole slide images (WSI) in routine histopathology practice is a revolutionary technology. This study aims to assess the clinical impacts of WSI quality and representation of the corresponding glass slides. 40,160 breast WSIs were examined and compared with their corresponding glass slides. The presence, frequency, location, tissue type, and the clinical impacts of missing tissue were assessed. Scanning time, type of the specimens, time to WSIs implementation, and quality control (QC) measures were also considered. The frequency of missing tissue ranged from 2% to 19%. The area size of the missed tissue ranged from 1–70%. In most cases (>75%), the missing tissue area size was <10% and peripherally located. In all cases the missed tissue was fat with or without small entrapped normal breast parenchyma. No missing tissue was identified in WSIs of the core biopsy specimens. QC measures improved images quality and reduced WSI failure rates by seven-fold. A negative linear correlation between the frequency of missing tissue and both the scanning time and the image file size was observed (p < 0.05). None of the WSI with missing tissues resulted in a change in the final diagnosis. Missing tissue on breast WSI is observed but with variable frequency and little diagnostic consequence. Balancing between WSI quality and scanning time/image file size should be considered and pathology laboratories should undertake their own assessments of risk and provide the relevant mitigations with the appropriate level of caution.

The Aggregation Induced Emission Probe of Detecting Enhanced Permeation and Retention Effects is Structured for Evaluating the Applicability of Nanotherapy to Different Tumor Individuals

Enhanced permeation and retention (EPR) effect, the mechanism by which nanodrugs accumulate in tumors and acquire superior curative effect. The questions of these mechanisms occur because of limited clinical transformation of engineered nanomaterials after 30 years. The difference of EPR limits the therapeutic effect of nanodrugs in the individual patient. Evaluation of the EPR effect in the individual patient will aid in selecting patients who will accumulate higher amounts of nanotherapeutics and show better therapeutic efficacy. Based on varied TIMP1/MMP-9 in serum, an aggregation-induced emission luminogen probe was designed and constructed to detect and evaluate the EPR effect in model mouse. The result showed that the ratio of TIMP1/MMP-9 (in the range 0.2–1.2) and fluorescence intensity of the probe were negative linear correlation and the effects of BSA-rhodamine accumulation in tumor were individualized differences as well as correlated with the relative ratio of TIMP-1/MMP-9 in serum. Our data support the development of these biomarkers probes based on the personalized nanotherapy of tumor.

Dietary β-Carotene on Postpartum Uterine Recovery in Mice: Crosstalk Between Gut Microbiota and Inflammation

As the precursor of vitamin A, β-carotene has a positive effect on reproductive performance. Our previous study has shown that β-carotene can increase antioxidant enzyme activity potentially through regulating gut microbiota in pregnant sows. This study aimed to clarify the effect of β-carotene on reproductive performance and postpartum uterine recovery from the aspect of inflammation and gut microbiota by using a mouse model. Twenty-seven 6 weeks old female Kunming mice were randomly assigned into 3 groups (n=9), and fed with a diet containing 0, 30 or 90 mg/kg β-carotene, respectively. The results showed that dietary supplementation of β-carotene reduced postpartum uterine hyperemia and uterine mass index (P&lt;0.05), improved intestinal villus height and villus height to crypt depth ratio, decreased serum TNF-α and IL-4 concentration (P&lt;0.05), while no differences were observed in litter size and litter weight among three treatments. Characterization of gut microbiota revealed that β-carotene up-regulated the relative abundance of genera Akkermansia, Candidatus Stoquefichus and Faecalibaculum, but down-regulated the relative abundance of Alloprevotella and Helicobacter. Correlation analysis revealed that Akkermansia was negatively correlated with the IL-4 concentration, while Candidatus Stoquefichus and Faecalibaculum had a negative linear correlation with both TNF-α and IL-4 concentration. On the other hand, Alloprevotella was positively correlated with the TNF-α, and Helicobacter had a positive correlation with both TNF-α and IL-4 concentration. These data demonstrated that dietary supplementation of β-carotene contributes to postpartum uterine recovery by decreasing postpartum uterine hemorrhage and inhibiting the production of inflammatory cytokines potentially through modulating gut microbiota.

Experimental Study on Proportioning Optimized Ultra-Fine Aggregate Cementing Materials with Full Gold Tailings Using Response Surface Method

In order to prepare the ultra-fine full gold tailing aggregate cementing materials, the gold tailing powders were mixed with cement under different proportions. Then the effect of sand quantity, water quantity and dosage of water-reducing agent on the compressive strength of the full tailing aggregate cementing materials was studied using response surface method in Design-Expert software. Based on the regression analysis of test results, a visual model was provided. The research results show that when the relative mass dosage of cement is 1, the amount of sand is greater than 1.1, the amount of water is greater than 0.24, and the amount of water reducing agent is 0.01. The 7d compressive strength of tailings concrete shows a significant negative linear correlation with the amount of sand and water. That implays the concrete strength decreases with the increase of the amount of sand and water. When the relative mass of cement is 1, the maximum 7d strength of concrete appears at the relative mass of sand 1.0, the amount of water is 0.22, and the amount of water reducer is 0.01. The maximum 7d compressive strength is about 75.43MPa.

WSPM-System: Providing Real Data of Rotor Speed and Pitch Angle for Numerical Simulation of Downwash Airflow from a Multirotor UAV Sprayer

The accurate setting of input parameters in the numerical simulation of downwash airflow from a UAV sprayer is important for acceptable simulation results. To provide real data of simulation parameters (rotor speed and pitch angle) for the numerical simulation of downwash airflow, a wireless simulation parameter measurement system (WSPM-System) was designed and tested in this study. The system consists of hardware and software designed based on Arduino and LabVIEW, respectively. Wireless communication was realized by nRF24L01. The lattice Boltzmann method (LBM) was applied for the numerical simulation of downwash airflow. The results showed that the valid communication distance of the WSPM-System was 100 m, with a packet loss rate of less than 1%. While hovering, the rotor speed dropped by about 30% when the load of the UAV sprayer changed from 16 kg to 4 kg, which resulted in the maximum vertical downward velocity (VVD) on the horizontal detection surface dropping by about 23%. Under forward flight, the rotor speed in the front (n1, n6) and rear (n3, n4) of the UAV sprayer, respectively, showed a negative linear correlation and positive linear correlation with flight speed (R2 > 0.95). Meanwhile, the rotor speed in the middle (n2, n5) was consistent with the rotor speed while hovering under the same load; the pitch angle showed a positive linear correlation with flight speed (R2 > 0.94). A correlation analysis of measured and simulated values of the VVD revealed that the numerical simulation of downwash airflow with the parameters provided by the WSPM-System was reliable (R2 = 0.91). This study confirmed that the input value of the rotor speed in the fluid software needed to be determined according to the application parameters of the UAV sprayer, thus providing a feasible method and system for obtaining real simulation parameters.

Footwear microclimate and its effects on the microbial community of the plantar skin

The association between the footwear microclimate and microbial community on the foot plantar skin was investigated by experiments with three participants. Novel methods were developed for measuring in-shoe temperature and humidity at five footwear regions, as well as the overall ventilation rate inside the footwear. Three types of footwear were tested including casual shoes, running shoes, and perforated shoes for pairwise comparison of footwear microclimate and corresponding microbial community on the skin. The major findings are as follows: (1) footwear types make a significant difference to in-shoe temperature at the instep region with the casual shoes sustaining the warmest of all types; (2) significant differences were observed in local internal absolute humidity between footwear types, with the casual shoes sustaining the highest level of humidity at most regions; (3) the perforated shoes provided the highest ventilation rate, followed by running and casual shoes, and the faster the gait, the larger the discrepancy in ventilation rate between footwear types; (4) the casual shoes seemed to provide the most favorable internal environment for bacterial growth at the distal plantar skin; and (5) the bacterial growth at the distal plantar skin showed a positive linear correlation with the in-shoe temperature and absolute humidity, and a negative linear correlation with the ventilation rate. The ventilation rate seemed to be a more reliable indicator of the bacterial growth. Above all, we can conclude that footwear microclimate varies in footwear types, which makes contributions to the bacterial growth on the foot plantar skin.

Alpha-Ketoglutarate: A Potential Inner Mitochondrial and Cytosolic Protector against Peroxynitrite and Peroxynitrite-Induced Nitration?

The generation of peroxynitrite (ONOO−) is associated with several diseases, including atherosclerosis, hypertension, neurodegeneration, cancer, inflammation, and sepsis. Alpha-ketoglutarate (αKG) is a known potential highly antioxidative agent for radical oxidative species such as peroxides. The question arises as to whether αKG is also a potential scavenger of ONOO− and a potential protector against ONOO−-mediated nitration of proteins. NMR studies of 1 mM αKG in 100 mM phosphate-buffered saline at pH 7.4 and pH 6.0 were carried out in the presence or absence of a final concentration of 2 mM ONOO−. An ONOO−–luminol-induced chemiluminescence reaction was used to measure the scavenging function of several concentrations of αKG; quantification of αKG was performed via spectrophotometric enzymatic assay of αKG in the absence or presence of 0, 1, or 2 mM ONOO−. The nitration of tyrosine residues on proteins was measured on ONOO−-treated bovine serum albumin (BSA) in the presence or absence of 0–24 mM αKG by an ELISA technique using a specific anti-IgG against nitro-tyrosine. The addition of ONOO− to αKG led to the formation of succinic acid and nitrite at pH 7.0, but not at pH 6.0, as αKG was stable against ONOO−. The absorbance of enzymatically estimated αKG at the time point of 30 min was significantly lower in favour of ONOO− (1 mM: 0.21 ± 0.03, 2 mM: 0.12 ± 0.05 vs. 0 mM: 0.32 ± 0.02; p < 0.001). The luminol technique showed an inverse logarithmic correlation of the ONOO− and αKG concentrations (y = −2 × 105 ln(x) + 1 × 106; r2 = 0.99). The usage of 4 mM αKG showed a significant reduction by nearly half in the chemiluminescence signal (284,456 ± 29,293 cps, p < 0.001) compared to the control (474,401 ± 18,259); for 20 and 200 mM αKG, there were further reductions to 163,546 ± 26,196 cps (p < 0.001) and 12,658 ± 1928 cps (p < 0.001). Nitrated tyrosine residues were estimated using the ELISA technique. A negative linear correlation was obtained by estimating nitrated tyrosine residues in the presence of αKG (r2 = 0.94): a reduction by half of nitrated tyrosine was estimated using 12 mM αKG compared to the control (326.1 ± 39.6 nmol vs. 844.5 ± 128.4 nmol; p < 0.001).

Mineralogical and Geochemistry Study of Darnah Formation in Wadi Al Kharsha, Northeast Libya

This paper has been carried out to determine the mineralogical and geochemical characteristics of Eocene Darnah limestone which outcrops at Wadi Al Kharsha as an example of the Darnah Formation. The most conspicuous phenomenon is the upward increase of the dolomitization process, whereas, the dolomite content ranges from 4.34 to 15.48 % with an average value of 8.99%. The lime (CaO) represents the major predominant with a high content (48.08%), it can be blend with other carbonates to improve its quality to meet the specifications of raw material for cement manufacture. The relationship between calcium (CaO) and magnesium (MgO) exhibits a significantly strong negative linear correlation coefficient (R2 = 0.967), which emphasizes the dolomitization process, while the relationship between SiO2 and Al2O3 is a positive linear significant relationship with a strong correlation coefficient (R2 = 0.98), whereas, the SiO2 increases with increasing of Al2O3. The calculated mineralogical composition revealed that halite, gypsum, and hematite are considered to be minor constituents, almost less than 1.0%. Keywords: Limestone; Darnah Formation; Mineralogy; Geochemistry; Dolomitization; Characterizations; Cement

Dominant Processing Factors in Two-Step Fabrication of Pure Sulfide CIGS Absorbers

Pure sulfide CIGS solar cells are interesting candidates for standalone solar cells or top cells in a tandem configuration. To understand the limits and improve the power conversion efficiency of these devices, a comprehensive approach aimed at composition, interface, and process engineering should be employed. Here, the latter was explored. Using a two-step fabrication technique and one-variable-at-a-time methodology, we found the four processing factors affecting the absorber the most. While two were already backed by the previous literature, we found new and statistical evidence for two other important factors as well. The impact of alkali barrier diffusion was also established with statistical significance and under various processing conditions. Furthermore, the absorber roughness for samples without a barrier indicated a significant negative linear correlation with the devices’ efficiency. This contribution could aid engineers in more efficient process designs.