In this paper, the dual-pulsed transient electroluminescence (EL) characteristics in organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs) with NPB/Alq3 multiple quantum-well (MQW) structures are investigated in ...detail. The threshold duty-ratio ( δth) is found in the NPB/Alq3 MQW devices, whereas the bilayer NPB/Alq3 device does not appear. Then the δth in single and double wells are 0.68 and 0.35, respectively. In the single QW device, the second pulsed intensity will be greater than the first pulsed strength after reaching the δth, while the double QW device is the opposite. This is due to the charge diffusion effect in the Alq3 well layer near the cathode of MQW devices. As the well numbers increase, it is different from the fall time remaining almost constant, the transient delay time will increase linearly, which is totally caused by the recombination position of excitons.
Carotenoids can be enzymatically converted to apocarotenoids by carotenoid cleavage dioxygenases. Insect genomes encode only one member of this ancestral enzyme family. We cloned and characterized ...the ninaB genes from the silk worm (Bombyx mori) and the flour beetle (Tribolium castaneum). We expressed BmNinaB and TcNinaB in E. coli and analyzed their biochemical properties. Both enzymes catalyzed a conversion of carotenoids into cis-retinoids. The enzymes catalyzed a combined trans to cis isomerization at the C11, C12 double bond and oxidative cleavage reaction at the C15, C15′ bond of the carotenoid carbon backbone. Analyses of the spatial and temporal expression patterns revealed that ninaB genes were differentially expressed during the beetle and moth life cycles with high expression in reproductive organs. In Bombyx mori, ninaB was almost exclusively expressed in female reproductive organs of the pupa and adult. In Tribolium castaneum, low expression was found in reproductive organs of females but high expressions in male reproductive organs of the pupa and imagoes. We performed RNAi experiments to characterize the role of NinaB in insect reproduction. We observed that RNAi treatment significantly decreased the expression levels of BmninaB and TcninaB and reduced the egg laying capacity of both insects. Together, our study revealed that NinaB's unique enzymatic properties are well conserved among insects and implicate NinaB function in insect reproduction.
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•NinaB's oxygenase and isomerase activity for the bicyclic carotenoid substrates is well conserved among insects.•Both BmninaB and TcninaB are differentially expressed between male and female reproductive organs.•RNAi of BmninaB and TcninaB reduce the capacity of reproduction in both Bombyx mori and Tribolium castaneum.
This paper mainly introduces the research and development process of tea bud identification. Identification of tea bud is one of the key technologies of automatic tea picking. In this paper, RGB ...analysis was carried out on the collected images of tea bud, and it was found that the method of displaying each component of the image and histogram could not directly find the bud. After using HSI color transformation, it was found that the characteristics of young buds were relatively obvious. In order to compare and analyze the results of color space transformation, HSV space transformation is used and the picture is segmented. The method of combining three channel components by setting threshold value could obtain the image of young buds, and the practical application effect was good.
Recent research studies have revealed that probiotics such as Lactobacillus are good antibiotic alternatives in the poultry industry. We previously isolated Lactobacillus reuteri SL001 from the ...gastric contents of rabbits and proved that dietary inclusion of SL001 could positively improve the composition of the intestinal bacterial community in Alzheimer's disease model mice. In the present study, we explored the effects of dietary SL001 on growth performance, health-related parameters, intestinal morphology and microbiota of broiler chickens. Our results showed that SL001 supplementation in diets promoted the growth performance of broilers, strengthened immunity, and improved antioxidant stress as well as intestinal morphology and microbiota, implying its potential application in boiler feeding. It was assumed that dietary inclusion of Lactobacillus reuteri SL001 isolated from the gastric contents of rabbits could act as an alternative to feed antibiotics to improve the growth performance of broiler chickens. We randomly assigned 360 one-day-old AA white-feathered chicks in three treatments: basal diet (control), basal diet plus zinc bacitracin (antibiotic), and basal diet plus L. reuteri SL001 (SL001) treatment. The results showed the total BW gain and average daily gain (ADG) of broilers in SL001 treatment increased significantly (p < 0.05, respectively) compared with the control group from day 0 to 42. Moreover, we observed higher levels of immune globulins in both the SL001 group and the antibiotic group. Total antioxidant capacity and levels of antioxidant factors were also significantly increased (p ≤ 0.05, respectively) in the SL001 treatment group, while the interleukin 6, interleukin 4, creatinine, uric acid, total cholesterol, triglyceride, VLDL, LDL and malondialdehyde were remarkably decreased (p < 0.05, respectively). In the ileum of SL001 treatment broilers, the height of villi and the ratio of villi height to crypt depth were significantly increased (p < 0.05). Meanwhile, the crypt depth reduced (p < 0.01) and the ratio of villi height to crypt depth increased (p < 0.05) in the jejunum compared to the control. The abundance of microbiota increased in the gut of broilers supplemented with SL001. Dietary SL001 significantly increased the relative abundance of Actinobacteria in the cecal contents of broilers (p < 0.01) at the phylum level. In conclusion, L. reuteri SL001 supplementation promotes the growth performance of broiler chickens and exhibits the potential application value in the industry of broiler feeding.
Collision-induced rotational energy transfer of CO (A
1
Π,
v=3) with He, Ne and Ar is studied experimentally via two-color 2
+
1
+
1 REMPI technique. The propensity of ± parity-conservation is ...observed. The cross-sections
σ(
Π
+→
Π
+)>
σ(
Π
−→
Π
−), and the abnormal phenomenon of
σ
ΔJ=0
±→∓<
σ
ΔJ=±1
±→∓ for He and Ne are found. Relationship of
σ with
ΔJ,
J and temperatures, and relationship of
σ with different partners are discussed.
To identify parametrial infiltration (PMI) in cervical cancer with voxel-based segmentation of integrated PET/MRI images.
This retrospective study enrolled 79 cervical cancer patients confirmed by ...pathology (FIGO stage IB to IIB) who underwent
F-FDG PET/MRI prior to surgery. Region of interest (ROI) at the largest tumor level was delineated on the T2W-MR image, and the ROI was applied to PET image of the corresponding layer. Then, these images were postprocessed with segmentation and gray level calculations in the parauterine area.
In total, 37 patients (46.8%) had postoperative pathology-confirmed PMI, and 42 patients (53.2%) showed no PMI. There was a moderate correlation between pathological results and the gray level values of each region (rs > 0.5, P < 0.001). According to FIGO stage, as the cervical lesions became more malignant, the gray level values gradually increased. The diagnostic results of MRI and PET/MRI were in good agreement (kappa = 0.693, P < 0.001); the accuracy (78.5%), sensitivity (64.9%) and NPV (74.5%) of PET/MRI were slightly higher than those of MRI (74.7%,59.5%,71.2%, respectively), with no statistically significant difference (P = 1.000). The diagnostic results of MRI and PET/MRI+gray level values were generally consistent (kappa = 0.475, P < 0.001); the accuracy (87.3%), sensitivity(83.8%) and NPV(86.4%) of PET/MRI+gray level values were higher than those of MRI, with statistically significant differences (all P values < 0.05).
It is feasible to evaluate PMI based on PET/T2W-MRI voxel segmentation and to obtain quantitative and visual indicators. PET/MRI and gray level values considered together can also improve the accuracy, sensitivity and NPV of PMI diagnosis.
This study isolates and identifies
(
) AR
, and studies its effect on the growth and health of weaned pigs. A
strain from solid wine koji is isolated and identified using 26S rDNA analysis, and its ...culture conditions are optimized. Heat tolerance, bile salt tolerance, artificial gastric, and intestinal juice tolerance are evaluated. In our methodology, thirty 28 d Large White × Landrace × Rongchang weaned pigs were randomly divided into three groups with 10 barrows in each, and fed a maize-soybean meal diet and orally administered 0.85% saline (CK), 1 mL 1 × 10
cfu/mL
(
), and 1 mL 1 × 10
cfu/mL
once daily for 28 days. A
strain was identified and named
AR
.
AR
grew best in yeast extract peptone dextrose medium with pH 5.0 at 28 °C, 180 r/min and could tolerate 45 °C for 0.5 h, 0.2% pig bile salts, simulated gastric fluid, and 1.0% simulated intestinal fluid. Our results show that compared with the CK group, orally administered
AR
increases average daily gain, the ileal villus height, the ileal mucosal concentrations of occludin and zonula occluens-1, the serum glucose and total protein concentration, total superoxide dismutase, glutathione peroxidase, and total antioxidative capacity activity, the trypsin and lipase activity in jejunal and ileal contents, the jejunal and ileal mucosa mRNA levels of ALP, TNF-α, and TLR-2, and the relative abundance of Bacteroidetes, Actinobacteria, Succinivibrionaceae, Lachnospiraceae, and Prevotellaceae (
< 0.05). Compared with the CK group, oral administration of
AR
decreased the incidence of diarrhea, aspartate aminotransferase activity, alanine amino-transferase-activity, malondialdehyde, D-lactic acid and endotoxin content in serum, the mRNA level of aminopeptidase N of ileum mucosa, and the relative abundance of Proteobacteria, Clostridiaceae, Campylobacteraceae, Vibrionaceae,
, and Pseudon (
< 0.05). Collectively, the study indicates that
AR
can tolerate high acidity and high bile salts, and has high survivability in the artificial gastric intestinal juice environment. Oral administration of
AR
improves the growth performance, reduces the incidence of diarrhea, enhances intestinal barrier function, and improves microflora in weaned pigs.
Background:Identifying regulatory measures to promote glucose oxidative metabolism while simultaneously reducing amino acid oxidative metabolism is one of the foremost challenges in formulating ...low-protein (LP) diets designed to reduce the excretion of nitrogen-containing substances known to be potential pollutants. In this study, we investigated the effects of adding sodium dichloroacetate (DCA) to a LP diet on nitrogen balance and amino acid metabolism in the portal-drained viscera (PDV) and liver of pigs. To measure nitrogen balance, 18 barrows (40 ± 1.0 kg) were fed one of three diets (n=6 per group):18％crude protein (CP, control), 13.5％CP (LP), and 13.5％CP+100 mg DCA/kg dry matter (LP-DCA). To measure amino acid metabolism in the PDV and liver, 15 barrows (40 ± 1.0 kg) were randomly assigned to one of the three diets (n=5 per group). Four essential amino acids (Lys, Met, Thr, and Trp) were added to the LP diets such that these had amino acid levels comparable to those of the control diet. Results:The LP-DCA diet reduced nitrogen excretion in pigs relative to that of pigs fed the control diet (P<0.05), without any negative effects on nitrogen retention (P>0.05). There were no differences between the control and LP-DCA groups with respect to amino acid supply to the liver and extra-hepatic tissues in pigs (P>0.05). The net release of ammonia into the portal vein and production rate of urea in the liver of pigs fed the LP-DCA diet was reduced relative to that of pigs fed the control and LP diets (P<0.05). Conclusion:The results indicated that addition of DCA to a LP diet can efficiently reduce nitrogen excretion in pigs and maximize the supply of amino acids to the liver and extra-hepatic tissues.
In this report, we examined the gene expression related to carotenoid transport for a silkworm F1 hybrid with yellow cocoon generated by crossing two white-cocoon strains, Qiubai and 12-260. Our ...results showed that, in Qiubai, Cameo2, a transmembrane protein gene belonging to the CD36 family genes, was expressed normally in the silk gland, but no intact carotenoid-binding protein (CBP) mRNA (only the truncated CBP mRNA) was detected in the midgut. In 12-260, we detected the intact CBP mRNA expression in the midgut, but no Cameo2 expression in the silk gland. Regarding the F1 hybrid from crossing Qiubai and 12-260, both Cameo2 and intact CBP mRNA expressed normally in the silk gland and midgut. HPLC detection confirmed that in the F1 hybrid the carotenoids could be absorbed from dietary mulberry leaves through the midgut and transferred to silk gland via the hemolymph, which eventually colored cocoons into yellow. We also identified four CBP mRNA isoforms expressed in the midgut of the F1 hybrid, subsequently named as variants 5–8. Our results provide further evidences for the roles of Cameo2 and CBP in the formation of yellow cocoon of silkworm.
•A silkworm F1 hybrid from crossing two white-cocoon strains produce yellow cocoon.•CBP and Cameo2 are two of the crucial genes in the producing of yellow cocoon.•Cameo2 expression was undetected in silkgland of silkworm strain named 12-260.•There was no intact form of CBP mRNA detected in a silkworm strain with white-blood.•There were at least 4 types of CBP mRNA detected in a silkworm F1 hybrid.
