bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Effects of zinc methionine supplementation on laying performance, zinc status, intestinal morphology, and expressions of zinc transporters' mRNA in laying hens
Authors: Li Lanlan , Li Huaiyu , Zhou Wenting , Feng Jie , Zou Xiaoting 
Published: July 2019

AbstractBACKGROUNDThis study was conducted to investigate effects of dietary zinc methionine (Zn‐Met) supplementation on laying performance, zinc (Zn) status, intestinal morphology, and Zn transporters in laying hens compared with zinc sulfate (ZnSO4). A total of 384 Hyline Grey laying hens (38 weeks old) with similar performance (1.42 ± 0.07 kg) were randomly allotted to four dietary treatments and fed with a basal diet (control) or the basal diet supplemented with Zn, either as Zn‐Met at 40 and 80 mg Zn/kilogram diet or as ZnSO4 at 80 mg Zn/kilogram diet, for 10 weeks.RESULTSThere was no difference in egg weight, egg production, feed intake, and feed conversation ratio among all groups (P > 0.05). Compared with the control, Zn contents were increased (P < 0.05) in the liver, duodenum, and jejunum of laying hens fed diets supplemented with different Zn sources. There was no difference (P > 0.05) in Zn contents in liver, duodenum, and jejunum between diets supplemented with Zn‐Met or ZnSO4 at 80 mg Zn/kilogram diet. Compared with the control and the ZnSO4 group (80 mg Zn/kilogram diet), supplementation with Zn‐Met of 80 mg Zn/kilogram diet increased (P < 0.05) villus height, villus area, and villus height/crypt depth ratio but reduced (P < 0.05) crypt depth in jejunum. Expression of metallothionein messenger RNA of jejunum in the group fed a diet containing Zn‐Met (80 mg Zn/kilogram diet) was higher (P < 0.05) than that in the control.CONCLUSIONThese results indicated that Zn‐Met has positive effects on the Zn status of liver, duodenum, and jejunum, intestinal morphology, and metallothionein messenger RNA expression in jejunum of laying hens compared with ZnSO4. © 2019 Society of Chemical Industry
Rapid detection of rice disease using microscopy image identification based on the synergistic judgment of texture and shape features and decision tree–confusion matrix method
Authors: Yang Ning , Qian Yong , EL‐Mesery Hany S , Zhang Rongbiao , Wang Aiying , Tang Jian 
Published: July 2019

AbstractBACKGROUNDRice smut and rice blast are listed as two of the three major diseases of rice. Owing to the small size and similar structure of rice blast and rice smut spores, traditional microscopic methods are troublesome to detect them. Therefore, this paper uses microscopy image identification based on the synergistic judgment of texture and shape features and the decision tree–confusion matrix method.RESULTSThe distance transformation–Gaussian filtering–watershed algorithm method was proposed to separate the adherent rice blast spores, and the accuracy was increased by about 10%. Four shape features (area, perimeter, ellipticity, complexity) and three texture features (entropy, homogeneity, contrast) were selected for decision‐tree model classification. The confusion‐matrix algorithm was used to calculate the classification accuracy, in which global accuracy is 82% and the Kappa coefficient is 0.81. At the same time, the detection accuracy is as high as 94%.CONCLUSIONSThe synergistic judgment of texture and shape features and the decision tree–confusion matrix method can be used to detect rice disease quickly and precisely. The proposed method can be combined with a spore trap, which is vital to devise strategies early and to control rice disease effectively. © 2019 Society of Chemical Industry
Polymer phase transition characteristics coupled with GC‐MS for the determination of phthalate esters
Authors: Chen Xiaomei , Xin Ladi , Xu Yidong , Liu Jie , Li Zhiqiang , Wang Yi , Zhao Jingchan 
Published: July 2019

AbstractPhthalate esters are easily released from plastics materials and migrate into the soil and water environment, causing serious pollution and posing a great threat to the health of human beings. A novel temperature‐sensitive extractant combined with liquid–liquid microextraction was developed to preconcentrate three phthalates in the water environment. To optimize the extraction efficiency for the three phthalate esters, various parameters, including polymer molecular weight, salt type, salt addition, adsorption time, desorption solvent, desorption volume, and desorption time have been studied. Under optimal conditions, limits of detection and limits of quantification were in the range of 0.007–0.120 and 0.021–0.350 µg/L, respectively. Linearities varied in the range of 5–1000 µg/L, with the correlation coefficients of 0.9867–0.9997. The preconcentration factors were in the range of 25–75. The relative recoveries of the three phthalate esters were in the range of 82.2–105.6% at the spiked levels. The relative standard deviations were in the range of 0.7–9.2% based on triplicate measurements. The results indicate that the temperature‐sensitive material is a good extractant for phthalate esters in water samples.
Tourist value orientations and conflicts at a marine protected area in Hawaii
Authors: Philips Li P. , Szuster Brian W. , Needham Mark D. 
Published: July 2019

AbstractMarine tourism is increasing in popularity, which may cause conflicts among tourists who value different aspects of settings and experiences. Visitors surveyed before and after tours to Molokini Shoal Marine Life Conservation District in Hawaii (USA) reported considerable (63%) in‐group conflicts (bump into people and rude or discourteous) between snorkelers and other snorkelers. One third of scuba divers experienced conflicts with other divers. Most conflicts were interpersonal (interactions between individuals interfering with experiences). There were fewer out‐group conflicts between snorkelers and divers (15–28%) and minimal social values conflicts (6–13%; negative preconceptions without interactions). Many visitors had strong biocentric and protectionist value orientations toward the environment and coral reefs, and these individuals were most likely to report conflicts.
Drivers of soil carbon stabilization in oil palm plantations
Authors: Rüegg Johanna , Quezada Juan Carlos , Santonja Mathieu , Ghazoul Jaboury , Kuzyakov Yakov , Buttler Alexandre , Guillaume Thomas 
Published: July 2019

AbstractIncreasing soil organic carbon (SOC) in agroecosystems is necessary to mitigate climate change and soil degradation. Management practices designed to reach this goal call for a deeper understanding of the processes and drivers of soil carbon input stabilization. We identified main drivers of SOC stabilization in oil palm plantations using the well‐defined spatial patterns of nutrients and litter application resulting from the usual management scheme. The stabilization of oil palm‐derived SOC (OP‐SOC) was quantified by δ13C from a shift of C4 (savanna) to C3 (oil palm) vegetations. Soil organic carbon stocks under frond piles were 20% and 22% higher compared with harvest paths and interzones, respectively. Fertilization and frond stacking did not influence the decomposition of savanna‐derived SOC. Depending on management zones, net OP‐SOC stabilization equalled 16–27% of the fine root biomass accumulated for 9 years. This fraction was similar between frond piles and litter‐free interzones, where mineral NPK fertilization is identical, indicating that carbon inputs from dead fronds did not stabilize in SOC. A path analysis confirmed that the OP‐SOC distribution was largely explained by the distribution of oil palm fine roots, which itself depended on management practices. SOC mineralization was proportional to SOC content and was independent on phosphorus availability. We conclude that SOC stabilization was driven by C inputs from fine roots and was independent of alteration of SOC mineralization due to management. Practices favouring root growth of oil palms would increase carbon sequestration in soils without necessarily relying on the limited supply of organic residues.
Genomic adaptation of marine phytoplankton populations regulates phosphate uptake
Authors: Martiny Adam C. , Ustick Lucas , A. Garcia Catherine , Lomas Michael W. 
Published: July 2019

AbstractIn this study, we combined “reciprocal transplant experiments,” cell‐sorting, and metagenomics to understand how phytoplankton adapt to differences in phosphate availability and the implications for nutrient uptake rates. Reciprocal transplant experiments were conducted on six stations ranging from cold, nutrient‐rich water in the Labrador Sea to warm, extremely P‐deplete water in the Sargasso Sea. In most cases, the direct impact of environmental conditions and likely P availability was the strongest control on phosphate uptake. However, especially the transplant experiments between the northern and southern stations revealed that there are situations where changes in community composition and functional genes have an important effect on uptake rates. Phytoplankton lineages responded uniquely to changing environmental conditions. The picoeukaryotic phytoplankton P uptake response was strongly regulated by the phosphate concentration, whereas the effect of community composition was larger for Prochlorococcus and Synechococcus. In support, we found a tight negative relationship between ambient phosphate concentration and the frequency of P acquisition genes in both Prochlorococcus and Synechococcus, and such differences in genome content could be linked to lineage‐specific shifts in uptake rates. Linking genes with ocean biogeochemistry is a major scientific and technical challenge and most studies rely on correlations between genotypes and environmental conditions. However, our study demonstrates how reciprocal transplant experiments are a possible tool for understanding the relative role of environmental condition vs. plankton diversity in regulating important open ocean ecosystem processes.
Modifying the Properties of Thermogelling Poloxamer 407 Solutions through Covalent Modification and the Use of Polymer Additives
Authors: Abou‐Shamat Mohamad A. , Calvo‐Castro Jesus , Stair Jacqueline L. , Cook Michael T. 
Published: July 2019

AbstractThermoresponsive polymers that undergo sol–gel transition in a physiological temperature range have applications in biomedical science. Poloxamer 407 (P407) is commonly used as thermogelling material and has been approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in licenced medicines. However, it has significant drawbacks which limit its performance, particularly in drug delivery systems. In order to improve these properties, the chemical structure of P407 has been modified to produce stronger gels by either conjugating P407 with other polymers or introducing inter‐micelle linkers to the terminal hydroxyl groups of P407. However, chemical modifications have several undesirable side‐effects. The change in the chemical structure makes the polymer a novel excipient, and additional safety risks are possible, requiring expensive and time‐consuming toxicity testing prior to regulatory approval. An alternative approach to covalent modification is modifying the P407 formulations with additives including hydrophilic polymers and nanoparticles, in an attempt to improve the properties of these materials. This review investigates the approaches used to modify the properties of P407 thermogelling materials, including the use of polymer additives and covalent modification. Several recommendations are made, based on efficacy and consideration of regulatory risk to guide the development of these materials toward use in real clinical applications.
A Study of Finite Size Effects and Periodic Boundary Conditions to Simulations of a Novel Theoretical Self‐Consistent Mean‐Field Approach
Authors: Yang Guanda , Nilsson Fritjof , Schubert Dirk W. 
Published: July 2019

AbstractIn a previous work, a very promising mathematical model for predicting the electrical conductivity below the electrical percolation threshold, for both isotropic and anisotropic composites, was published by Schubert. In this work, periodic boundary condition of the simulation is utilized. The results are also compared to the previous work and other theoretical models. The truncated fibers due to finite size of the simulation volume are considered as two individual pieces so that the real aspect ratios will also be taken into consideration. A comparison is made between two groups, in which the length and the radius of the carbon fibers are changed, respectively, under certain aspect ratios. With three different sizes of the simulation volumes, the influence on the results due to the finite size effect is calculated.
Fundamental mechanisms and their interactions in shear‐clinching technology and investigation of the process robustness
Authors: Wiesenmayer S. , Han D. , Müller M. , Hörhold R. , Meschut G. , Merklein M. 
Published: July 2019

AbstractThe compliance with increasingly stricter emission standards is a challenge for the automotive industry, which requires the utilization of lightweight materials e. g. aluminium and high‐strength steels. Hereby, the load‐optimized design of body parts and the reduction of wall thicknesses are enabled. But, due to the use of dissimilar materials, common joining technologies are reaching their limits. On the one hand, joining by welding is often not possible because of different melting temperatures. On the other hand, joining by forming with additional fasteners increases the cycle time and the costs. However, joining by forming without fasteners is often limited by the mechanical properties of the joining partners. The innovative shear‐clinching technology combines shear‐cutting and clinching in a single stage process and thereby enables joining by forming of materials with high differences regarding their mechanical properties. However, by the combination of the sub‐processes cutting and joining, the complexity of the technology is increased. Thus, within the scope of this work, the fundamental mechanisms in shear‐clinching and their interactions as well as the robustness of the process are analysed, in order to promote the applicability of the technology.
Differential regulation of mycelial growth and aflatoxin biosynthesis by Aspergillus flavus under different temperatures as revealed by strand‐specific RNA‐Seq
Authors: Han Guomin , Zhao Kai , Yan Xiaodan , Xiang Fangzhi , Li Xuede , Tao Fang 
Published: July 2019

AbstractAlthough several regulatory pathways have been reported for Aspergillus flavus, the regulation of aflatoxin production and mycelial growth under different temperatures remains unclear. In this study, A. flavus differentially expressed genes (DEGs) and regulatory pathways were analyzed under three temperatures, by strand‐specific RNA‐Seq. Results show that a total of 2,428 and 1,474 DEGs were identified in fungal mycelia cultured at 20°C and 37°C, respectively, as compared with the control (28°C). Approximately ~ 79% of DEGs in the 37°C samples were up‐regulated genes, while ~ 63% of DEGs in the 20°C samples were down‐regulated genes. Most of the DEG pathways enriched by lower temperatures differed from those enriched by higher temperatures, while only a small portion of the pathways were shared by A. flavus grown under different temperatures. Aflatoxin biosynthesis, Butanoate metabolism, oxidation–reduction process, and benzene‐containing compound metabolic process were the shared down‐regulated pathways, while steroid biosynthesis, oxidoreductase activity, cellular protein modification process, DNA binding, protein complex were the shared up‐regulated pathways between lower and higher temperatures. The shared genes and pathways are the key regulatory candidates for aflatoxin biosynthesis with changes of temperature. In addition, the identification of both up‐regulated and down‐regulated genes provides a useful gene set for further investigation of the aflatoxin biosynthesis among Aspergillus.
A method using the cephalic vein for superdrainage in breast reconstruction
Authors: Tokumoto Hideki , Akita Shinsuke , Arai Minami , Kubota Yoshitaka , Kuriyama Motone , Mitsukawa Nobuyuki 
Published: July 2019

AbstractBackgroundIn breast reconstruction, a superdrainage procedure using the superficial inferior epigastric vein has been described. The purpose of this study was to investigate whether the utility of cephalic vein (CV) was equivalent to that of serratus anterior muscle branch of the thoracodorsal vein (SA) and lateral thoracic vein (LTV) for recipient vein.MethodsEighty‐eight patients were enrolled in this study. The superdrainage was not performed if the internal mammary vein diameter was greater than, or equal to, that of the deep inferior epigastric vein diameter. In superdrainage cases, the SA or LTV was used as the recipient vein firstly, and the CV was used when both of them were unsuitable.ResultsThe superdrainage was performed in 45 (51.1%) patients. No significant differences were observed between with and without superdrainage. In superdrainage group, the CV was used in 7 (15.5%) patients. In two groups (CV vs. LTV and SA), because we added to perform superdrainage to the CV at the time of re‐exploration and tried to use the SA or the LTV firstly, the re‐exploration rate (28.6 vs. 0%) and operating time (652.1 vs. 591.1 min) of CV group were significantly high (p = .023 and .028). No complications were observed, due to CV harvesting. Other characteristics showed no significant differences.ConclusionsAt the point of superdrainage, the CV was equivalent to the SA and LTV. Using of the CV would only be essential in rare cases; nonetheless, the possibility of its use should be considered.
Highly efficient differential rectenna for RF energy harvesting
Authors: Chang Yumei , Zhang Peng , Wang Lin 
Published: July 2019

AbstractA highly efficient balanced rectenna is proposed in this work. To decrease the sensitive input power density of the rectenna, a rectifying circuit with balanced bandpass filter connects the dipole to the diodes. Using this technique, the proposed rectenna can capture incident RF signal with low power density, that is, when the incident power density Pin is 2 mW, the RF‐DC conversion efficiency for our design at 2.45 GHz can remain above 20%, while the best performance happens at Pin = 18.5 dBm, which can reach up to 72.3% in simulations. To verify our proposal, a sample is fabricated and measured, and the measured RF‐DC conversion efficiency can reach up to 50% or so when the captured power on the dipole is about 17 dBm and the load resistor is 350 Ω.
HYDRA: Hybrid deep magnetic resonance fingerprinting
Authors: Song Pingfan , Eldar Yonina C. , Mazor Gal , Rodrigues Miguel R. D. 
Published: July 2019

PurposeMagnetic resonance fingerprinting (MRF) methods typically rely on dictionary matching to map the temporal MRF signals to quantitative tissue parameters. Such approaches suffer from inherent discretization errors, as well as high computational complexity as the dictionary size grows. To alleviate these issues, we propose a HYbrid Deep magnetic ResonAnce fingerprinting (HYDRA) approach, referred to as HYDRA.MethodsHYDRA involves two stages: a model‐based signature restoration phase and a learning‐based parameter restoration phase. Signal restoration is implemented using low‐rank based de‐aliasing techniques while parameter restoration is performed using a deep nonlocal residual convolutional neural network. The designed network is trained on synthesized MRF data simulated with the Bloch equations and fast imaging with steady‐state precession (FISP) sequences. In test mode, it takes a temporal MRF signal as input and produces the corresponding tissue parameters.ResultsWe validated our approach on both synthetic data and anatomical data generated from a healthy subject. The results demonstrate that, in contrast to conventional dictionary matching‐based MRF techniques, our approach significantly improves inference speed by eliminating the time‐consuming dictionary matching operation, and alleviates discretization errors by outputting continuous‐valued parameters. We further avoid the need to store a large dictionary, thus reducing memory requirements.ConclusionsOur approach demonstrates advantages in terms of inference speed, accuracy, and storage requirements over competing MRF methods.
Magnetic Resonance Elastography of kidneys: SE‐EPI MRE reproducibility and its comparison to GRE MRE
Authors: Gandhi Deep , Kalra Prateek , Raterman Brian , Mo Xiaokui , Dong Huiming , Kolipaka Arunark 
Published: July 2019

The purpose of this study is 1) to demonstrate reproducibility of spin echo‐echo planar imaging (SE‐EPI) magnetic resonance elastography (MRE) to estimate kidney stiffness; and 2) to compare SE‐EPI MRE and gradient recalled echo (GRE) MRE‐derived stiffness estimations in various anatomical regions of the kidney.Kidney MRE was performed on 33 healthy subjects (8 for SE‐EPI MRE reproducibility and 25 for comparison with GRE MRE; age range: 22–66 years) in a 3 T MRI scanner. To demonstrate SE‐EPI MRE reproducibility, subjects were scanned for the first scan and then asked to leave the scan room and repositioned again for the second (repeat) scan. Similar set‐up was used for GRE MRE as well. The displacement data was then processed to obtain overall stiffness estimates of the kidney. Concordance correlation analyses were performed to determine SE‐EPI MRE reproducibility and agreement between GRE MRE and SE‐EPI MRE derived stiffness.A high concordance correlation (ρc = 0.95; p‐value<0.0001) was obtained for SE‐EPI MRE reproducibility. Good concordance correlation was observed (ρc = 0.84; p < 0.0001 for both kidneys, ρc = 0.91; p < 0.0001 for right kidney and ρc = 0.78; p < 0.0001 for left kidney) between GRE MRE and SE‐EPI MRE derived stiffness measurements. Paired t‐test results showed that stiffness value of medulla was significantly (p < 0.0001) greater than cortex using SE‐EPI MRE as well as GRE MRE.SE‐EPI MRE was reproducible and good agreement was observed in MRE‐derived stiffness measurements obtained using SE‐EPI and GRE sequences. Therefore, SE‐EPI can be used for kidney MRE applications.
β3‐Adrenergic Activation Improves Maternal and Offspring Perinatal Outcomes in Diet‐Induced Prepregnancy Obesity in Mice
Authors: Zhang Jun‐Kai , Miao Jun , Chen Zu‐Qin , Duan Si‐Zhang , Zhang Xin , Ji Wen‐Jie , Niu Jian‐Min , Yuan Fei , Zhou Xin , Li Yu‐Ming , Zhang Zhuoli 
Published: July 2019

ObjectivePrepregnancy obesity is an epidemic disorder that seriously threatens both maternal and offspring health. This study investigated the effects of β3‐adrenergic receptor (β3‐AR) activation on the perinatal outcomes in a diet‐induced prepregnancy obese (PPO) murine model.MethodsFour‐week‐old female C57BL/6 mice were fed high‐fat diet or chow diet for 16 weeks to yield PPO mice and chow‐fed (CF) lean mice, respectively. After successful mating with CF males, the PPO and CF mice were both randomly divided into vehicle control‐ or CL316,243 (a highly selective β3‐AR agonist)‐treated groups. On gestational day 7, subcutaneous infusion of CL316,243 or saline vehicle (1 mg/kg/d) was provided using osmotic pumps. The perinatal outcomes, adipose tissue morphology, and metabolic and inflammatory markers were examined.ResultsChronic β3‐AR agonist infusion induced brown adipose tissue activation and white adipose tissue browning and countered obesity‐induced alterations in lipid profiles, insulin resistance, and systemic and local inflammatory states. Moreover, β3‐AR activation was associated with improved placental perfusion and offspring outcomes.ConclusionsOur results provide proof‐of‐principle evidence that pharmacological β3‐AR activation may be of therapeutic potential in preventing prepregnancy‐obesity‐associated adverse maternal and offspring perinatal outcomes.