This work presents a simple multimembered evolution strategy to solve global nonlinear optimization problems. The approach does not require the use of a penalty function. Instead, it uses a simple ...diversity mechanism based on allowing infeasible solutions to remain in the population. This technique helps the algorithm to find the global optimum despite reaching reasonably fast the feasible region of the search space. A simple feasibility-based comparison mechanism is used to guide the process toward the feasible region of the search space. Also, the initial stepsize of the evolution strategy is reduced in order to perform a finer search and a combined (discrete/intermediate) panmictic recombination technique improves its exploitation capabilities. The approach was tested with a well-known benchmark. The results obtained are very competitive when comparing the proposed approach against other state-of-the art techniques and its computational cost (measured by the number of fitness function evaluations) is lower than the cost required by the other techniques compared.
Precision livestock farming technologies, such as automatic milk feeding machines, have increased the availability of on-farm data collected from dairy operations. We analyzed feeding records from ...automatic milk feeding machines to evaluate the genetic background of milk feeding traits and bovine respiratory disease (BRD) in North American Holstein calves. Data from 10,076 preweaning female Holstein calves were collected daily over a period of 6 yr (3 yr included per-visit data), and daily milk consumption (DMC), per-visit milk consumption (PVMC), daily sum of drinking duration (DSDD), drinking duration per-visit, daily number of rewarded visits (DNRV), and total number of visits per day were recorded over a 60-d preweaning period. Additional traits were derived from these variables, including total consumption and duration variance (TCV and TDV), feeding interval, drinking speed (DS), and preweaning stayability. A single BRD-related trait was evaluated, which was the number of times a calf was treated for BRD (NTT). The NTT was determined by counting the number of BRD incidences before 60 d of age. All traits were analyzed using single-step genomic BLUP mixed-model equations and fitting either repeatability or random regression models in the BLUPF90+ suite of programs. A total of 10,076 calves with phenotypic records and genotypic information for 57,019 SNP after the quality control were included in the analyses. Feeding traits had low heritability estimates based on repeatability models (0.006 ± 0.0009 to 0.08 ± 0.004). However, total variance traits using an animal model had greater heritabilities of 0.21 ± 0.023 and 0.23 ± 0.024, for TCV and TDV, respectively. The heritability estimates increased with the repeatability model when using only the first 32 d preweaning (e.g., PVMC = 0.040 ± 0.003, DMC = 0.090 ± 0.009, DSDD = 0.100 ± 0.005, DS = 0.150 ± 0.007, DNRV = 0.020 ± 0.002). When fitting random regression models (RRM) using the full dataset (60-d period), greater heritability estimates were obtained (e.g., PVMC = 0.070 range: 0.020, 0.110, DMC = 0.460 range: 0.050, 0.680, DSDD = 0.180 range: 0.010, 0.340, DS = 0.19 range: 0.070, 0.430, DNRV = 0.120 range: 0.030, 0.450) for the majority of the traits, suggesting that RRM capture more genetic variability than the repeatability model with better fit being found for RRM. Moderate negative genetic correlations of −0.59 between DMC and NTT were observed, suggesting that automatic milk feeding machines records have the potential to be used for genetically improving disease resilience in Holstein calves. The results from this study provide key insights of the genetic background of early in-life traits in dairy cattle, which can be used for selecting animals with improved health outcomes and performance.
A single layer of polarized epithelial cells lining the colonic mucosa create a semipermeable barrier indispensable for gut homeostasis. The role of intestinal epithelial cell (IEC) polarization in ...the maintenance of the epithelial homeostasis and in the development of inflammatory bowel diseases is not fully understood. In this review, now we report that IEC polarization plays an essential role in the regulation of IL-6/STAT3 signaling in the colonic mucosa. Our results demonstrate that autocrine STAT3 activation in IECs is mediated by the apical secretion of IL-6 in response to the basolateral stimulation with IFN-γ. This process relies on the presence of functional, IFN-γ-producing CD4
T cells. In the absence of basolateral IFN-γ, the compartmentalization of the IL-6/STAT3 signaling is disrupted, and STAT3 is activated mainly in macrophages. Thus, in this study, we show that during inflammation, IFN-γ regulates IL-6/STAT3 signaling in IEC in the colonic mucosa.
Cocoa powders are highly subjected to caking, a phenomenon of solid particles agglomeration that impairs powder functionalities such as rehydration and flowing properties. This study aimed at ...identifying the main caking mechanisms occurring during storage of cocoa powders, according to their fat content and water activity, as well as storage temperature. The formation of caked powder was monitored at macroscopic scale by sieve analysis, showing that caking was significant only for fatty powders at 40 °C, in agreement with a caking mechanism controlled by fat melting. The similarity of results obtained at 0.2 and 0.7 water activity indicated that the humidity caking mechanism was not significant for these powders. Observations performed by TEM evidenced the formation of fat bridges, confirming the occurrence of the fat melting mechanism. Then, solvent extraction techniques designed to quantify fat fractions permitted to highlight that storage caused the conversion of encapsulated fat into free fat. At temperatures sufficient to melt cocoa fat (40 °C), this newly formed free fat migrates toward cocoa particle surface, enhancing its fat coverage, hence making cocoa particle sticky and prone to cake. Finally, XPS analysis of the extreme surface of cocoa powders confirmed that two conditions should be met to trigger significant cocoa powder caking: high fat content and elevated storage temperature.
•Storage-induced caking of cocoa powders occurred only if fat is present at particle surface and is in molten state.•No influence of powder water activity on caking was observed.•Caking mechanism implies the formation of liquid fat bridges between particles, which solidify upon cooling.
Cardiovascular disease is a major public health problem. Among cardiovascular disease's risk factors, tobacco smoking is considered the single most preventable cause of death, with thrombosis being ...the main mechanism of cardiovascular disease mortality in smokers. While tobacco smoking has been on the decline, the use of waterpipes/hookah has been rising, mainly due to the perception that they are less harmful than regular cigarettes. Strikingly, there are few studies on the negative effects of waterpipes on the cardiovascular system, and none regarding their direct contribution to thrombus formation. Approach and Results: We used a waterpipe whole-body exposure protocol that mimics real-life human exposure scenarios and investigated its effects, relative to clean air, on platelet function, hemostasis, and thrombogenesis. We found that waterpipe smoke (WPS)-exposed mice exhibited both shortened thrombus occlusion and bleeding times. Further, our results show that platelets from WPS-exposed mice are hyperactive, with enhanced agonist-induced aggregation, dense and α-granule secretion, αIIbβ3 integrin activation, phosphatidylserine expression, and platelet spreading, when compared with clean air-exposed platelets. Finally, at the molecular level, it was found that Akt (protein kinase B) and ERK (extracellular signal-regulated kinases) phosphorylation are enhanced in the WPS and in nicotine-treated platelets.
Our findings demonstrate that WPS exposure directly modulates hemostasis and increases the risk of thrombosis and that this is mediated, in part, via a state of platelet hyperactivity. The negative health impact of WPS/hookah, therefore, should not be underestimated. Moreover, this study should also help in raising public awareness of the toxic effects of waterpipe/hookah.
This paper presents a new general methodology to obtain an approximate analytical expression of the Saint-Venant's torsion. The shear stress in each of the principal Cartesian directions is obtained ...by the derivation of the stress function, whose analytical expression is obtained from the Prandtl analogy. The proposed methodology uses two variables quadratic piecewise functions to define the Prandtl membrane. This document shows that the approximate procedure is especially suitable for steel shapes, giving values very close to those obtained with more precise methods. The main advantage of the presented methodology is its simplicity, which makes it useful for both pedagogic and practical applications. Several examples are developed.
•The need of strain compatibility assumption in the design of RC slabs in shown.•Examples that reflect the error in the traditional design procedure are shown.•Behavior of the new formulation is ...compared with other methods.•Liability concerns of the traditional method are presented.
This paper presents a compact formulation of a new method for the design of RC slabs to ultimate state of shear, bending and torsion that overcomes the lack of strain compatibility substantiation presented by previous methods used in the available software. This new approach provides designs which behave closer to experiments than the previous ones due to the use of a necessary assumption in regard to strain compatibility. The fact that the new method gives higher amounts of reinforcement than the previous methods leads to a liability concern in the current design of RC slabs.
The authors present this new method in an easy to understand way. Existing experimental and numerical tests show the good behavior of the method.
•A new procedure for torsional buckling and torsional flexural buckling critical loads is presented.•This new approach uses equivalent forces.•Buckling loads are obtained in a simpler and shorter ...way.
There are three possible modes of buckling of thin-walled straight steel columns: flexural buckling, torsional buckling, and flexural-torsional buckling. These modes of buckling are considered in the specification for the design of steel structures, such as Eurocode 3, which includes the particular case of torsional-flexural buckling of centrically loaded members with monosymmetric cross-sections. The system of differential equations that governs the stability of centrically loaded weightless members was presented in the mid-twentieth century and has been widely addressed in both steel structures and instability books. In this work, a simpler way to obtain the differential equations of stability for both torsional and flexural-torsional buckling modes by using equivalent forces is presented. The presented idea is especially useful in the academic context of civil engineering. Students and faculty members will appreciate the deduction of the instability equations governing the equilibrium in a few simple steps.
Anti-neoplastic activity induced by cannabinoids has been extensively documented for a number of cancer cell types; however, this topic has been explored in gastric cancer cells only in a limited ...number of approaches. Thus, the need of integrative and comparative studies still persists.
In this study we tested and compared the effects of three different cannabinoid receptor agonists-anandamide (AEA), (R)-(+)-methanandamide (Meth-AEA) and CP 55,940 (CP)- on gastric cancer cell morphology, viability and death events in order to provide new insights to the use of these agents for therapeutic purposes.
The three agents tested exhibited similar concentration-dependent effects in the induction of changes in cell morphology and cell loss, as well as in the decrease of cell viability and DNA laddering in the human gastric adenocarcinoma cell line (AGS). Differences among the cannabinoids tested were mostly observed in the density of cells found in early and late apoptosis and necrosis, favoring AEA and CP as the more effective inducers of apoptotic mechanisms, and Meth-AEA as a more effective inducer of necrosis through transient and rapid apoptosis.
Through a comparative approach, our results support and confirm the therapeutic potential that cannabinoid receptor agonists exert in gastric cancer cells and open possibilities to use cannabinoids as part of a new gastric cancer therapy.
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