Electrokinetic separation of chiral compounds

Femtomole amounts of racemic mixtures of derivatized amino acids were resolved and analyzed rapidly in about 10 minutes by means of high-voltage zone electrophoresis with laser-fluorescence detection. The electrophoresis was performed in capillary columns containing a chiral support electrolyte. A number of dansyl amino acids were resolved by the diastereomeric interaction between the DL-amino acid and the copper(II) complex of L-histidine present in the support electrolyte. A combination of electro-osmotic and electrophoretic action caused all species, positively charged, neutral, and negatively charged, to pass through the 0.5- nanoliter detection volume where they were subjected to laser excitation.     

Comparative cardiovascular, analgesic, and sedative effects of medetomidine, medetomidine-hydromorphone, and medetomidine-butorphanol in dogs

OBJECTIVE: To compare sedative, analgesic, and cardiopulmonary effects after IV administration of medetomidine (20 microg/kg), medetomidine-hydromorphone (20 microg of medetomidine/kg and 0.1 mg of hydromorphone/kg), and medetomidine-butorphanol (20 microg of medetomidine/kg and 0.2 mg of butorphanol tartrate/kg) in dogs. ANIMALS: 6 dogs healthy mixed-breed dogs. PROCEDURE: Instruments were surgically inserted, and heart rate (HR), respiratory rate (RR), systolic arterial pressure (SAP), mean arterial pressure (MAP), diastolic arterial pressure (DAP), mean pulmonary arterial pressure (MPAP), pulmonary capillary wedge pressure (PCWP), central venous pressure (CVP), core body temperature, and cardiac output (CO) were measured 0, 5, 10, 15, 30, 45, and 60 minutes after injection. Cardiac index (CI), stroke volume (SV), stroke index (SI), systemic vascular resistance (SVR), and pulmonary vascular resistance (PVR) were calculated. Arterial samples for blood gas analysis were collected 0, 15, and 45 minutes after injection. Intensity of analgesia, degree of sedation, and degree of muscle relaxation were evaluated at aforementioned time points and 75, 90, 120, 150, 180, and 210 minutes after injection. RESULTS: Administration of medetomidine, medetomidine-hydromorphone, and medetomidine-butorphanol was associated with increases in SAP, MAP, DAP, MPAP, PCWP, CVP, SVR, PVR, core body temperature, and PaCO2 and decreases in HR, CO, CI, SV, SI, RR, pH, and PaO2. Clinically important differences were not detected among treatments. Medetomidine-hydromorphone and medetomidine-butorphanol provided a longer duration of sedation and better quality of analgesia, compared with medetomidine alone. CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL RELEVANCE: Medetomidine-hydromorphone or medetomidine-butorphanol is associated with improved analgesia and sedation but has cardiopulmonary effects comparable to those for medetomidine alone.     

Effects of Interferon‐Tau and Steroids on Cytochrome P450 Activity in Bovine Endometrial Epithelial Cells

The objective of the current study was to examine cyclooxygenase (COX), cytochrome P450 1A (CYP1A) and 2C (CYP2C) activity in bovine endometrial cell cultures following exposure to oxytocin (OT), interferon‐τ (IFN), estradiol (E2) and/or progesterone (P4). Bovine endometrial epithelial cells were treated with OT, IFN, a combination of OT+IFN or control (CON) media for 24 h. For the second experiment, cells were treated with E2, P4, a combination of E2 + P4 or CON media for 24 h. Treatments were performed in triplicate, and the experiment was repeated four times (n = 12 per treatment). Treatment with OT alone increased (p < 0.01) activity of COX compared with CON; however, OT alone did not alter activity of CYP1A (p = 0.55) or CYP2C (p = 0.46) compared with CON. Activity of CYP1A and CYP2C was decreased in cells exposed to IFN (p < 0.01) or OT+IFN (p < 0.01) compared with CON. Treatment with E2 alone did not alter activity of CYP1A (p = 0.64) or CYP2C (p = 0.06) compared with CON. Activity of CYP1A and CYP2C was decreased (p < 0.01) in P4 vs CON. In summary, IFN exposure, irrespective of OT treatment, decreased the activity of CYP1A and CYP2C. Activity of CYP1A was decreased following P4 treatment alone, while that of CYP2C was decreased following both P4 and E2 + P4 treatment. The mixed function monooxygenase enzymes, CYP1A and CYP2C, have been implicated in synthesizing embryotoxic compounds; therefore, downregulation in the endometrium may be necessary during maternal recognition of pregnancy.     

魔芋种芋包衣技术研究

以膨润土、高岭土、观音土、耐火泥4种黏性较好的土样为载体,并添加一定量的魔芋包衣试剂1或试剂2、石灰、锯末等辅助材料,对魔芋种芋进行丸化包衣技术研究。结果表明,T-22(高岭土+石灰+试剂1+水+锯末)、T-23(观音土+石灰+试剂1+水+锯末)、T-25(膨润土+石灰+试剂2+水+锯末)处理的包衣表面光滑,厚度在2.1~3.6 mm,可避免种芋碰伤。与不做包衣处理(对照)相比,包衣后不影响种芋的正常呼吸,呼吸强度在108.57~113.96 mg/(kg·h);种芋过氧化物酶和多酚氧化酶活性降低,过氧化氢酶活性升高;出苗率和出苗时间差异均不显著。表明T-22、T-23、T-25是适宜魔芋种芋的丸化包衣技术。     

A comparative study on the estimation of evapotranspiration using backpropagation neural network: Penman�CMonteith method versus pan evaporation method

The study compares the prediction performances of evapotranspiration by the FAO56 Penman–Monteith method and the pan evaporation method using the artificial neural network. A backpropagation neural network was adopted to determine the relationship between meteorological factors and evapotranspiration or evaporation. The evapotranspiration in the ChiaNan irrigated area of Tainan was considered. Weather data compiled by Irrigation Experiment Station of ChiaNan Irrigation Association were the input layer variables, including (1) the highest temperature, (2) the lowest temperature, (3) the average temperature, (4) the relative humidity, (5) the wind speed, (6) hours of sunlight, (7) amount of solar radiation, (8) the dew point, (9) morning ground temperature and (10) afternoon ground temperature. The importance of the ten weather factors was ranked by the general influence (GI) factor. Results show that the correlation coefficient between the evapotranspiration in 2004 calculated by FAO56 Penman–Monteith method and the one predicted by the neural network model with a hidden layer of ten nodes is 0.993. The actual evapotranspiration is 911.6 cm, and value prediction by the neural network is 896.4 cm, between which two values the error is 1.67%. The results reveal that the backpropagation neural network based on the FAO56 Penman–Monteith method can accurately predict evapotranspiration. However, the correlation coefficient between the actual evaporation in 2004 and the value prediction by the neural network with a hidden layer of ten nodes and an output layer with the pan evaporation as its target output is 0.708. The pan evaporation is 1,673.1 cm, while the value predicted by the backpropagation neural network is 1,451.7 cm, between which values the error is 13.23%. The backpropagation neural networks with pan evaporation as target outputs predict the evaporation with large errors. Moreover, the use of four agricultural weather factors (determined by the GI) including wind speed, average temperature, dew point and maximum temperature as input variables, and a hidden layer of three nodes in the backpropagation neural network model can successfully predict evapotranspiration based on the FAO56 Penman–Monteith method (R = 0.98, error = 1.35%).     

Digital innovation for promoting knowledge of paddy functions

The purpose of this paper is to launch a new platform for advocating three functions of paddies including economics, society and environment through the cross-field integration of the agricultural hydrology, information technology and children’s picture book, which is novel. We translate literatures of paddy agriculture to popular content. Scientific visualization is applied to develop digital value-added content for enhancing effects according to computer graphics technologies. For developing the Internet channel, we take web-based architecture coupled with Java3D and Flash visualization as the main solution for engaging attention of virtual communities. With a web browser, we present paddy knowledge that is based on the above-mentioned popular content related to three functions of rice paddies. Furthermore, for the general public, the tiled display wall is employed to build up a fixed-site channel. In this paper, the demonstration of promoting interest in paddy fields has been established. Through exploring this digital paddy, not only children could be encouraged to learn, but also the public could accumulate the knowledge related to paddy agriculture.     

东北平原适应全球气候变化的若干粮食生产对策的模拟研究

采用GISS Transient B模型和黑河、哈尔滨、长春、沈阳、延吉等5个样点近4 0年的逐日气候资料, 在计算机上生成了我国东北平原未来10年、 30年和50年的气候渐变情景; 将CERES系列模型(包括大豆、玉米、水稻3种作物)在上述各样点不同年份的气候渐变情景下运行, 并将模拟结果与当前气候条件下的模拟值相比较, 评价了气候变化及