Effects of sodium selenite and coated sodium selenite on lactation performance,total tract nutrient digestion and rumen fermentation in Holstein dairy cows

Se can enhance lactation performance by improving nutrient utilization and antioxidant status. However, sodium selenite (SS) can be reduced to non-absorbable elemental Se in the rumen, thereby reducing the intestinal availability of Se. The study investigated the impacts of SS and coated SS (CSS) supplementation on lactation performance, nutrient digestibility, ruminal fermentation and microbiota in dairy cows. Sixty multiparous Holstein dairy cows were blocked by parity, daily milk yield and days in milk and randomly assigned to five treatments: control, SS addition (0.3 mg Se/kg DM as SS addition) or CSS addition (0.1, 0.2 and 0.3 mg Se/kg DM as CSS addition for low CSS (LCSS), medium CSS (MCSS) and high CSS (HCSS), respectively). Experiment period was 110 days with 20 days of adaptation and 90 days of sample collection. Dry matter intake was higher for MCSS and HCSS compared with control. Yields of milk, milk fat and milk protein and feed efficiency were higher for MCSS and HCSS than for control, SS and LCSS. Digestibility of DM and organic matter was highest for CSS addition, followed by SS addition and then control. Digestibility of CP was higher for MCSS and HCSS than for control, SS and LCSS. Higher digestibility of ether extract, NDF and ADF was observed for SS or CSS addition. Ruminal pH decreased with dietary Se addition. Acetate to propionate ratio and ammonia N were lower, and total volatile fatty acids (VFAs) concentration was greater for SS, MCSS and HCSS than control. Ruminal H ion concentration was highest for MCSS and HCSS and lowest for control. Activities of cellobiase, carboxymethyl-cellulase, xylanase and protease and copies of total bacteria, fungi, Ruminococcus flavefaciens, Fibrobacter succinogenes and Ruminococcus amylophilus increased with SS or CSS addition. Activity of α-amylase, copies of protozoa, Ruminococcus albus and Butyrivibrio fibrisolvens and serum glucose, total protein, albumin and glutathione peroxidase were higher for SS, MCSS and HCSS than for control and LCSS. Dietary SS or CSS supplementation elevated blood Se concentration and total antioxidant capacity activity. The data implied that milk yield was elevated due to the increase in total tract nutrient digestibility, total VFA concentration and microorganism population with 0.2 or 0.3 mg Se/kg DM from CSS supplementation in dairy cows. Compared with SS, HCSS addition was more efficient in promoting lactation performance of dairy cows.     

Artificial neural network and response surface methodology: a comparative analysis for optimizing rice straw pretreatment and saccharification

Abstract

The present study demonstrates a comparative analysis between the artificial neural network (ANN) and response surface methodology (RSM) as optimization tools for pretreatment and enzymatic hydrolysis of lignocellulosic rice straw. The efficacy for both the processes, that is, pretreatment and enzymatic hydrolysis was evaluated using correlation coefficient (R²) & mean squared error (MSE). The values of R² obtained by ANN after training, validation, and testing were 1, 0.9005, and 0.997 for pretreatment and 0.962, 0.923, and 0.9941 for enzymatic saccharification, respectively. On the other hand, the R² values obtained with RSM were 0.9965 for cellulose recovery and 0.9994 for saccharification efficiency. Thus, ANN and RSM together successfully identify the substantial process conditions for rice straw pretreatment and enzymatic saccharification. The percentage of error for ANN and RSM were 0.009 and 0.01 for cellulose recovery and for 0.004 and 0.005 for saccharification efficiency, respectively, which showed the authority of ANN in exemplifying the non-linear behavior of the system.     

Seasonal variations in colonization dynamics of periphytic protozoa in coastal waters of the Yellow Sea,northern China

The colonization features of periphytic protozoa have proved to be a useful tool for indicating water quality status in aquatic ecosystems. In order to reveal the seasonal variations in colonization dynamics of the protozoa, a 1-year baseline survey was carried out in coastal waters of the Yellow Sea, northern China. Using glass slides as artificial substrates, a total of 240 slides were collected at a depth of 1 m in four seasons after colonization periods of 3, 7, 10, 14, 21, and 28 days. A total of 122 ciliate species were identified with 21 dominant species. The colonization dynamics of the protozoa were well fitted to the MacArthur-Wilson and logistic models in all four seasons (P < 0.05). However, the equilibrium species numbers (S_eq), colonization rates (G), and the time to 90% S_eq (T_90%) represented a clear seasonal variability: (1) more or less similar levels in spring and autumn (S_eq = 29/23; G = 0.301/0.296; T_90%=7.650/7.779); (2) with a significant difference in summer and winter (S_eq = 32/121; G = 0.708/0.005; T_90% = 3.252/479.705). Multivariate approaches demonstrated that the exposure time for the species composition and community structure of the protozoa to an equilibrium period were 10–14 days in spring and autumn, but less and more time periods were needed in summer and winter, respectively. Based on the results, we suggest that the colonization dynamics of periphytic protozoa were different within four seasons, and an optimal sampling strategy for monitoring surveys should be modified during different seasons in marine ecosystems.     

(鼲)属(啮齿目,仓鼠科)同域分布物种形态学鉴别特征组的筛选

现有的分类系统尚缺乏可用于减少䶄属物种种间鉴定不确定性的形态学鉴别特征。鉴于此,本研究旨在筛选出能够对同域分布的棕背䶄（Myodes rufocanus）, 红背䶄（M. rutilus）和堤岸䶄（M. glareolus）进行可靠鉴定的头骨形态指标和方法。为了达到以上目的,本文一方面筛选出能够用于种间鉴别的头骨和齿列形态特征,另一方面提出可用于鉴别以上三个物种的计算公式。对不同研究者提出来用于鉴别以上三个同域分布物种的35个特征进行筛选。头骨形态测量数据的获取需要花费较长的时间,而且结果变异很大。在本研究中,在分析中剔除15个形态特征,20个相对保守的特征被选择用于分析（包括来自头盖骨、牙齿和头骨其它部位的特征）。在20个特征中,有8个特征被选择出来,并使用Statistica 10 计算出判别公式。这些特征使准确鉴定不同个体各自所属种类成为可能。     

Voice Pathologies Classification and Detection Using EMD-DWT Analysis Based on Higher Order Statistic Features

BackgroundThe voice is a prominent tool allowing people to communicate and to change information in their daily activities. However, any slight alteration in the voice production system may affect the voice quality. Over the last years, researchers in biomedical engineering field worked to develop a robust automatic system that may help clinicians to perform a preventive diagnosis in order to detect the voice pathologies in an early stage.MethodIn this context, pathological voice detection and classification method based on EMD-DWT analysis and Higher Order Statistics (HOS) features, is proposed. Also DWT coefficients features are extracted and tested. To carry out our experiments a wide subset of voice signal from normal subjects and subjects which suffer from the five most frequent pathologies in the Saarbrücken Voice Database (SVD), is selected. In The first step, we applied the Empirical Mode Decomposition (EMD) to the voice signal. Afterwards, among the obtained candidates of Intrinsic Mode Functions (IMFs), we choose the robust one based on temporal energy criterion. In the second step, the selected IMF was decomposed via the Discrete Wavelet Transform (DWT). As a result, two features vector includes six HOSs parameters, and a features vector includes six DWT features were formed from both approximation and detail coefficients. In order to classify the obtained data a support vector machine (SVM) is employed. After having trained the proposed system using the SVD database, the system was evaluated using voice signals of volunteer's subjects from the Neurological department of RABTA Hospital of Tunis.ResultsThe proposed method gives promising results in pathological voices detection. The accuracies reached 99.26% using HOS features and 93.1% using DWT features for SVD database. In the classification, an accuracy of 100% was reached for “Funktionelle Dysphonia vs. Rekrrensparese” based on HOS features. Nevertheless, using DWT features the accuracy achieved was 90.32% for “Hyperfunktionelle Dysphonia vs. Rekurrensparse”. Furthermore, in the validation the accuracies reached were 94.82%, 91.37% for HOS and DWT features, respectively. In the classification the highest accuracies reached were for classifying “Parkinson versus Paralysis” 94.44% and 88.87% based on HOS and DWT features, respectively.ConclusionHOS features show promising results in the automatic voice pathology detection and classification compared to DWT features. Thus, it can reliably be used as noninvasive tool to assist clinical evaluation for pathological voices identification.     

Comparative analysis of root sprouting and its vigour in temperate herbs: anatomical correlates and environmental predictors

Background and AimsRoot sprouting (RS), i.e. the ability to form adventitious buds on roots, is an important form of clonal growth in a number of species, and serves as both a survival strategy and a means of spatial expansion, particularly in plants growing in severely and recurrently disturbed habitats. Occurrence and/or success of plants in severely and recurrently disturbed habitats are determined by two components, namely the ability to produce adventitious buds on roots and the vigour of their production. As mechanisms behind different magnitudes of RS remain unclear, our study investigates: (1) whether the presence or absence of specific tissues in roots can promote or limit RS; and (2) whether there is some relationship between RS ability, RS vigour and species niche.MethodsWe studied RS ability together with RS vigour in 182 Central European herbaceous species under controlled experimental conditions. We used phylogenetic logistic regressions to model the presence of RS, RS vigour, the relationship between RS and anatomical traits and the relationship between RS and parameters of species niches.Key ResultsA quarter of herbs examined were able to produce adventitious buds on roots. They were characterized by their preference for open dry habitats, the presence of secondary root thickening and the occurrence of sclerified cortical cells in roots. Root sprouting vigour was not associated with any specific anatomical pattern, but was correlated with the environmental niches of different species, indicating that preferred disturbed and dry habitats might represent a selection pressure for more vigorous root sprouters than undisturbed and wet habitats.ConclusionsOur study shows that sprouting from roots is quite common in temperate dicotyledonous herbs. Two components of RS – ability and vigour – should be considered separately in future studies. We would also like to focus more attention on RS in herbs from other regions as well as on external forces and internal mechanisms regulating evolution and the functions of RS in both disturbed and undisturbed habitats.