An experiment was conducted to test the hypothesis that differences in the apparent total tract digestibility (ATTD) and standardized total tract digestibility (STTD) of Ca exist among Ca supplements ...and that inclusion of microbial phytase increases the ATTD and STTD of Ca. One hundred and four growing barrows (average initial BW of 17.73 ± 2.53 kg) were allotted to a randomized complete block design with 13 dietary treatments and 8 pigs per treatment. A basal diet containing corn, cornstarch, potato protein isolate, soybean oil, calcium carbonate, monosodium phosphate, vitamins, and minerals was formulated. Five additional diets were formulated by adding monocalcium phosphate (MCP), dicalcium phosphate (DCP), calcium carbonate, Lithothamnium calcareum Ca, or a high-Ca sugar beet co-product to the basal diet at the expense of cornstarch. Six additional diets that were similar to the previous 6 diets with the exception that they also contained 500 units per kilogram of microbial phytase were also formulated. A Ca-free diet was used to determine basal endogenous losses of Ca. Feces were collected using the marker-to-marker approach. Results indicated that regardless of inclusion of microbial phytase, MCP had the greatest (P < 0.05) ATTD and STTD of Ca. The ATTD and STTD of Ca in DCP were greater (P < 0.05) than in calcium carbonate, L. calcareumC a, or in the sugar beet co-product, but no differences were observed among the ATTD and STTD of Ca in calcium carbonate, L. calcareum Ca, or sugar beet co-product. Inclusion of microbial phytase increased (P < 0.05) the ATTD and STTD of Ca in the diets, but this was not the case in the Ca supplements. Regardless of inclusion of microbial phytase, the ATTD of P was greater ( P< 0.05) in pigs fed basal, MCP, or DCP diets than in pigs fed calcium carbonate, L. calcareum Ca, or the sugar beet co-product, but pigs fed calcium carbonate diets had greater ( P< 0.05) ATTD of P than pigs fed L. calcareumCa or the sugar beet co-product. Regardless of Ca source, inclusion of microbial phytase increased (P < 0.001) the ATTD of P. In conclusion, MCP has the greatest ATTD and STTD of Ca among the calcium supplements used in this experiment, followed by DCP. Basal, MCP, and DCP diets had greater ATTD of P than the other diets, and inclusion of microbial phytase increased the ATTD and STTD of Ca and the ATTD of P in the diets.
To prevent and control foodborne diseases, there is a fundamental need to identify the foods that are most likely to cause illness. The goal of this study was to rank 25 commonly consumed food ...products associated with Salmonella enterica contamination in the Central Region of Mexico. A multicriteria decision analysis (MCDA) framework was developed to obtain an S. enterica risk score for each food product based on four criteria: probability of exposure to S. enterica through domestic food consumption (Se); S. enterica growth potential during home storage (Sg); per capita consumption (Pcc); and food attribution of S. enterica outbreak (So). Risk scores were calculated by the equation Se*W1+Sg*W2+Pcc*W3+So*W4, where each criterion was assigned a normalized value (1–5) and the relative weights (W) were defined by 22 experts’ opinion. Se had the largest effect on the risk score being the criterion with the highest weight (35%; IC95% 20%–60%), followed by So (24%; 5%–50%), Sg (23%; 10%–40%), and Pcc (18%; 10%–35%). The results identified chicken (4.4 ± 0.6), pork (4.2 ± 0.6), and beef (4.2 ± 0.5) as the highest risk foods, followed by seed fruits (3.6 ± 0.5), tropical fruits (3.4 ± 0.4), and dried fruits and nuts (3.4 ± 0.5), while the food products with the lowest risk were yogurt (2.1 ± 0.3), chorizo (2.1 ± 0.4), and cream (2.0 ± 0.3). Approaches with expert‐based weighting and equal weighting showed good correlation (R2 = 0.96) and did not show significant differences among the ranking order in the top 20 tier. This study can help risk managers select interventions and develop targeted surveillance programs against S. enterica in high‐risk food products.
Demonstrating a quantum computational speed-up is a crucial milestone for near-term quantum technology. Recently, sampling protocols for quantum simulators have been proposed that have the potential ...to show such a quantum advantage, based on commonly made assumptions. The key challenge in the theoretical analysis of this scheme-as of other comparable schemes such as boson sampling-is to lessen the assumptions and close the theoretical loopholes, replacing them by rigorous arguments. In this work, we prove two open conjectures for a simple sampling protocol that is based on the continuous time evolution of a translation-invariant Ising Hamiltonian: anticoncentration of the generated probability distributions and average-case hardness of exactly evaluating those probabilities. The latter is proven building upon recently developed techniques for random circuit sampling. For the former, we exploit the insight that approximate 2-designs for the unitary group admit anticoncentration. We then develop new techniques to prove that the 2D time evolution of the protocol gives rise to approximate 2-designs. Our work provides the strongest theoretical evidence to date that Hamiltonian quantum simulators are classically intractable.
This paper introduces the multi-depot open location routing problem (MD-OLRP) with a heterogeneous fixed fleet. The problem is inspired by the collection problem of a company which collects raw ...materials from different suppliers coordinating several carriers. Each carrier has a heterogeneous fixed fleet. Moreover, there is a fixed cost for contracting each vehicle and a variable cost associated with the distance traveled. The empty haul return to the vehicles depot is not considered in the cost. The raw materials collected are delivered to a single delivery point. The problem is modeled as a Mixed Integer Linear Program (MILP) that minimizes the total cost, selecting the carriers to be contracted, the vehicles to be used from each contracted carrier and the collection routes. For small instances, the model can be solved to optimality. However, approximate procedures are necessary to handle larger instances. In this sense, in the present work we propose an intelligent metaheuristic which incorporates problem specific knowledge to solve it. The computational results show that the solution method is computationally efficient and provides high quality solutions. In particular, the new solution obtained for the case of study generates savings of 30.86% to the company.
The main contributions of the paper are the new problem statement that was not found in the literature, its association to the real problem of a company and the intelligent metaheuristic proposed to solve it. Additional experimentation used the model proposed to solve a simpler problem obtaining new best solutions compared to those reported in the recent literature.
•Multi-depot open location routing problem with heterogeneous fixed fleet.•The case study instance was solved optimally with commercial software.•A metaheuristic was developed to solve potential larger instances.•A good performance of the metaheuristic in terms of quality and speed.
The Thomas–Fermi approach to galaxy structure determines self-consistently the gravitational potential of the fermionic warm dark matter (WDM) given its distribution function f(E). This framework is ...appropriate for macroscopic quantum systems as neutron stars, white dwarfs and WDM galaxies. Compact dwarf galaxies are near the quantum degenerate regime, while large galaxies are in the classical Boltzmann regime. We derive analytic scaling relations for the main galaxy magnitudes: halo radius r
h, mass M
h and phase-space density. Small deviations from the exact scaling show up for compact dwarfs due to quantum macroscopic effects. We contrast the theoretical curves for the circular galaxy velocities v
c(r) and density profiles ρ(r) with those obtained from observations using the empirical Burkert profile. Results are independent of any WDM particle physics model, they only follow from the gravitational interaction of the WDM particles and their fermionic nature. The theoretical rotation curves and density profiles reproduce very well the observational curves for r ≲ r
h obtained from 10 different and independent sets of data for galaxy masses from 5 × 109 to 5 × 1011 M⊙. Our normalized theoretical circular velocities and normalized density profiles turn to be universal functions of r/r
h for all galaxies. In addition, they agree extremely well with the observational curves described by the Burkert profile for r ≲ 2 r
h. These results show that the Thomas–Fermi approach correctly describes the galaxy structures.
Meta-analysis of Telomere Length in Alzheimer's Disease Forero, Diego A; González-Giraldo, Yeimy; López-Quintero, Catalina ...
The journals of gerontology. Series A, Biological sciences and medical sciences,
08/2016, Letnik:
71, Številka:
8
Journal Article
Recenzirano
Odprti dostop
Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a common and severe neurodegenerative disorder. Human telomeres are fundamental for the maintenance of genomic stability and play prominent roles in both cellular ...senescence and organismal aging. Regulation of telomere length (TL) is the result of the complex interplay between environmental and genetic factors. Alterations in TL are increasingly being studied as a possible risk factor for AD, and published studies on TL in AD show discrepant results, highlighting the need for a meta-analysis.
In the current study, we carried out a meta-analysis of published studies of TL in AD patients and healthy controls. PubMed, Web of Science and Google Scholar databases (from inception to September 2015) were used to identify relevant articles reporting TL in humans with AD, from which we retrieved data such as sample size, experimental methods, and mean TL for cases and controls. A random-effects model was used for meta-analytical procedures.
The meta-analysis included 13 primary studies and demonstrated a significant difference in TL between 860 AD patients and 2,022 controls, with a standardized mean difference of -0.984 (confidence interval: -1.433 to -0.535; p value: <.001).
Our results show a consistent evidence of shorter telomeres in AD patients and highlight the importance of the analysis of epigenomic markers associated with neurodegeneration and with the risk for common and severe neurological diseases, such as AD.
Abstract
The objective of this experiment was to investigate the effects of dietary crude protein (CP) content and crystalline amino acids (CAA) supplementation patterns in low CP (LCP) diets on ...intestinal bacteria and their metabolites in weaned pigs raised under clean (CSC) or unclean sanitary conditions (USC). One hundred forty-four piglets (6.35 ± 0.63 kg) were assigned to one of six treatments in a 3 × 2 factorial arrangement based on CP content and sanitary conditions in a randomized complete block design to give eight replicates with three pigs per pen over a 21-d period. Diets consisted of a high CP (HCP; 21%) and two LCP (18%) diets supplemented with 9 CAA (Lys, Met, Thr, Trp, Val, Ile, Leu, His, and Phe) or only six CAA (Lys, Met, Thr, Trp, Val, and Ile) to meet the requirements. The CSC room was washed weekly, whereas the USC room had sow manure spread in the pens from the beginning of the study and was not washed throughout the experiment. Jejunum and colon digesta were sampled on day 21. Both jejunum and colon digesta were analyzed for ammonia nitrogen, short-chain fatty acids, and biogenic amines but only colon digesta was analyzed for microbiome composition (16s rRNA sequencing on MiSeq). Data were analyzed using R software for 16S rRNA and the MIXED procedure of SAS for microbial metabolites. Sanitation, CP content, and CAA supplementation patterns did not affect the diversity of colonic bacterial composition in weaned pigs. Pigs raised under USC had greater (P < 0.05) jejunal ammonia nitrogen concentration than those raised under CSC. Pigs fed LCP diets had reduced (P < 0.05) jejunal ammonia nitrogen concentration compared to those fed the HCP diet. Interactions between sanitation and dietary CP content were observed (P < 0.05) for: (1) jejunal acetate and (2) colonic spermidine and spermine, whereby (1) acetate concentrations decreased from NCP to LCP in pigs raised under the CSC but those concentrations increased under the USC, and (2) spermidine and spermine concentrations increased in LCP diets compared to HCP diet under USC, unlike CSC which did not show any difference between HCP and LCP. In conclusion, reducing dietary CP lowered ammonia nitrogen content regardless of sanitation and increased microbial metabolites in weaned pigs raised under USC. However, LCP diets with different CAA supplementation patterns did not affect bacterial diversity in weaned pigs, regardless of the hygienic conditions where the animals were housed.
Lowering dietary protein has the potential to improve intestinal health in weaned pigs raised in commercial swine farms.
Lay Summary
Lowering dietary crude protein concentration by 3% to 4% units has been used as one of the strategies to promote growth and improve the gut health of weaned pigs. Undigested and endogenous protein could be available for microbial fermentation, and protein fermentation is considered detrimental to the gut health of the host animal. The unclean sanitary condition model mimics commercial raising conditions and stimulates a low-grade inflammatory and immune response. Ammonia nitrogen is one of the harmful metabolites derived by protein fermentation and pigs fed low-protein diets had decreased ammonia nitrogen than those fed high-protein diets. Also, pigs raised under unclean sanitation had greater ammonia nitrogen than those raised under clean sanitation. However, sanitation, protein content, and crystalline amino acids supplementation patterns did not affect the diversity of colonic bacterial composition in weaned pigs. The results obtained from the present study showed that a low protein diet could be used to improve gut health in weaned pigs.
Abstract
The objective of this study was to determine the energy utilization responses of growing pigs and broiler chickens to poultry meal that was autoclaved at 134 °C for 0 to 180 min. Poultry ...meal from the same batch was autoclaved at 134 °C for 7 autoclaving times of 0, 30, 60, 90, 120, 150, or 180 min to generate 7 samples. Eight experimental diets consisting of a basal diet based on corn and soybean meal, and seven test diets in which 15% of energy-contributing ingredients in the basal diet were replaced with each of the seven poultry meal samples were used. In experiment 1, there were 64 barrows (initial body weight = 19.4 ± 1.0 kg) allotted to 8 experimental diets in a randomized complete block design with body weight as a blocking factor. Each pig received an experimental diet during 5 d of adaptation followed by 5 d of quantitative total, but separate, collection of urine and feces. In experiment 2, a total of 512 male broiler chickens at day 17 post-hatching (initial body weight = 660 ± 80 g) in 8 replicate cages were allotted to 8 experimental diets in a randomized complete block design with body weight as a blocking factor. Excreta were collected from days 20 to 22 post-hatching, and birds were euthanized by CO2 asphyxiation for ileal digesta collection. Data from experiments 1 and 2 were pooled together for statistical analysis as a 2 × 7 factorial treatment arrangement with the effect of species (pigs or broiler chickens) and autoclaving time of poultry meal (7 autoclaving times between 0 and 180 min). An interaction between species and their linear effect of autoclaving time was observed (P < 0.05) in metabolizable energy (ME) of poultry meal. Specifically, linear decrease in ME values in poultry meal with increasing autoclaving time was greater (P < 0.05) in growing pigs (4,792 to 3,897 kcal/kg dry matter) compared with broiler chickens (3,591 to 3,306 kcal/kg dry matter). The ME value of unautoclaved poultry meal was greater (P < 0.01) for pigs than broiler chickens at 4,792 vs. 3,591 kcal/kg dry matter. Although decrease in ME values with autoclaving time of poultry meal was greater in growing pigs than in broiler chickens, the ME in autoclaved poultry meal fed to pigs was greater than ME in non-autoclaved poultry meal fed to broiler chickens. Furthermore, the ratio of cysteine to crude protein concentration is a potential indicator for estimating the ratio of ME to gross energy in poultry meal for growing pigs (r2 = 0.81) and broiler chickens (r2 = 0.84).
Lay Summary
Poultry meal is a rendered product that consists of clean flesh and skin-derived from the parts of whole carcasses of slaughtered poultry. Because poultry meal has a highly digestible protein concentration and optimal amino acid profile, it is widely used in swine and poultry diets. During the rendering process, poultry meal is heated, which may affect energy utilization. In the current study, poultry meal was autoclaved at 134 °C for 0, 30, 60, 90, 120, 150, or 180 min to mimic heating of poultry meal. These seven poultry meal samples were fed to growing pigs and broiler chickens. Reduction in energy utilization with autoclaving time of poultry meal was greater in growing pigs compared with broiler chickens. However, despite a larger decrease in energy utilization in poultry meal by autoclaving in growing pigs, metabolizable energy values were still greater in growing pigs compared with broiler chickens.
Given the species differences in energy utilization response to severity of heat damage, target species should be considered when using metabolizable energy value of poultry meal in feed formulation.
There are clear differences in embryo development between angiosperm and gymnosperm species. Most of the current knowledge on gene expression and regulation during plant embryo development has ...derived from studies on angiosperms species, in particular from the model plant Arabidopsis thaliana. The few published studies on transcript profiling of conifer embryogenesis show the existence of many putative embryo-specific transcripts without an assigned function. In order to extend the knowledge on the transcriptomic expression during conifer embryogenesis, we sequenced the transcriptome of zygotic embryos for several developmental stages that cover most of Pinus pinaster (maritime pine) embryogenesis.
Total RNA samples collected from five zygotic embryo developmental stages were sequenced with Illumina technology. A de novo transcriptome was assembled as no genome sequence is yet published for Pinus pinaster. The transcriptome of reference for the period of zygotic embryogenesis in maritime pine contains 67,429 transcripts, which likely encode 58,527 proteins. The annotation shows a significant percentage, 31%, of predicted proteins exclusively present in pine embryogenesis. Functional categories and enrichment analysis of the differentially expressed transcripts evidenced carbohydrate transport and metabolism over-representation in early embryo stages, as highlighted by the identification of many putative glycoside hydrolases, possibly associated with cell wall modification, and carbohydrate transport transcripts. Moreover, the predominance of chromatin remodelling events was detected in early to middle embryogenesis, associated with an active synthesis of histones and their post-translational modifiers related to increased transcription, as well as silencing of transposons.
Our results extend the understanding of gene expression and regulation during zygotic embryogenesis in conifers and are a valuable resource to support further improvements in somatic embryogenesis for vegetative propagation of conifer species. Specific transcripts associated with carbohydrate metabolism, monosaccharide transport and epigenetic regulation seem to play an important role in pine early embryogenesis and may be a source of reliable molecular markers for early embryogenesis.
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