Intestinal morphology and enteral nutrient absorption of pigeon pea seed meal in piglets

This study was conducted to establish the relationship between histological alterations of the intestinal villus and intestinal function, and to histologically assess the enteral nutrient absorption of raw pigeon pea seed meal (PM). Piglets were allotted into five groups: feed withdrawal for 3 days or 5 days, refeeding soybean meal (SM) or PM for 2 days after the 3‐day fast, and access ad libitum to conventional feed for the last 2 days without fasting. After the end of each experiment, the intestinal segment and duodenum of each piglet were processed and examined by light and scanning electron microscopy, respectively. After fasting, villus height, cell area and cell mitosis number were decreased in most parts of each intestinal segment, and duodenal villus tips had a smooth surface. After refeeding SM or PM, the decrease in body weight improved, but there was not a significant difference between them. The atrophic morphology of the intestine was reversed by refeeding SM, suggesting that the intestinal villi might be activated by absorption of SM. On the other hand, in the piglets refed PM, the recovery of light microscopic parameters and duodenal villus tip morphology was less clear than with SM. The present histological results suggest that although the absorption of PM is less than that of SM, the PM nutrients might be effectively absorbed, even in the raw form, and establish that in pigs intestinal histological alterations correspond well with intestinal absorptive function.     

水下分离器入口预分离构件的数值模拟

为了考察水下分离器入口预分离构件在高气液比工况下的分离效果,利用流体动力学软件FLUENT对其进行数值模拟.针对水下分离器3种长径比和3种入口倾角,建立了9个入口预分离构件的物理模型,通过模拟计算得到了各模型内部速度分布云图、速度曲线图及液滴分离效率图,并进行对比分析.结果表明:不同长径比和入口倾角对入口预分离构件内部流场的影响程度不同,长径比为4∶1、入口倾角为0°的入口构件内部流场最稳定,气液分离效果最好.(图6,参6)     

基于单片机的桌球管理系统的开发与实现

桌球是人们喜爱的一项运动,为了适应现代桌球运动的发展,使桌球管理系统实现自动化控制,本文针对桌球城整个供电系统进行电力程控配载控制的设计。本系统采用光电隔离技术,克服了目前产品中的串扰问题。实验结果表明,该系统高效节能、性能稳定、具备良好的人机交换界面、具备广泛的适应性。     

Impacts of Kafirin Allelic Diversity,Starch Content,and Protein Digestibility on Ethanol Conversion Efficiency in Grain Sorghum

Seed protein and starch composition determine the efficiency of the fermentation process in the production of grain‐based ethanol. Sorghum, a highly water‐ and nutrient‐efficient plant, provides an alternative to fuel crops with greater irrigation and fertilizer requirements, such as maize. However, sorghum grain is generally less digestible because of extensive disulfide cross‐linking among sulfur‐rich storage proteins in the protein– starch matrix. Thus, the fine structure and composition of the seed endosperm directly impact grain end use, including fermentation performance. To test the hypothesis that kafirin (prolamin) seed storage proteins specifically influence the efficiency of ethanol production from sorghum, 10 diverse genetic lines with allelic variation in the β‐, γ‐, and (δ‐kafirins, including three β‐kafirin null mutants, were tested for ethanol yield and fermentation efficiency. Our selected lines showed wide variation in grain biochemical features, including total protein (9.96–16.47%), starch (65.52–74.29%), and free amino nitrogen (FAN) (32.84–73.51 mg/L). Total ethanol yield (ranging from 384 to 426 L/metric ton), was positively correlated to starch content (R² = 0.74), and there was a slight positive correlation between protein digestibility and ethanol yield (R² = 0.52). Increases in FAN content enhanced fermentation efficiency (R² = 0.65). The highest ethanol producer was elite staygreen breeding line B923296, and the line with the highest fermentation efficiency at the 72 h time point was inbred BT×623. A large‐seeded genotype, KS115, carrying a novel γ‐kafirin allele, was rich in FAN and exhibited excellent short‐term fermentation efficiency at 85.68% at the 20 h time point. However, the overall ethanol yield from this line was comparatively low at 384 L/metric ton, because of insufficient starch, low digestibility, and high crude protein. Multivariate analysis indicated an association between the β‐kafirin allele and variation in grain digestibility (P = 0.042) and FAN (P = 0.036), with subsequent effects on ethanol yield. Reversed‐phase HPLC profiling of the alcohol‐soluble kafirin protein fraction revealed diversity in protein content and composition across the lines, with similarities in peak distribution profiles among β‐kafirin null mutants compared with normal lines.     

Distribution, density and histochemical profiles of the lung mast cells during the post-hatching period of Japanese quails (Coturnix coturnix japonica)

The distribution, density and histochemical characteristics of mast cells in the lungs of the Japanese quail were investigated during the post-hatching period. In the period starting from the first to the 60th day post-hatching, based on proteoglycan content, three types of mast cells, which were alcian blue-positive, safranin O-positive and alcian blue/safranin O-positive, were found to exist in the lungs. The application of staining with berberine sulphate demonstrated that, similar to the distribution of safranin O-positive cells, the heparin-containing cells were located in the periphery of large blood vessels. The percentages of mast cells in different localization sites of the lungs were found to vary with age in the post-hatching period with toluidine blue staining. The lack of any statistically significant increase/decrease in the number of mast cells per unit area of the right and left lung lobes is partially in favour of the proposal that the mast cell number increases with the growth of the lung volume in the post-hatching period.     

BMAA Inhibits Nitrogen Fixation in the Cyanobacterium Nostoc sp. PCC 7120

Cyanobacteria produce a range of secondary metabolites, one being the neurotoxic non-protein amino acid β-N-methylamino-L-alanine (BMAA), proposed to be a causative agent of human neurodegeneration. As for most cyanotoxins, the function of BMAA in cyanobacteria is unknown. Here, we examined the effects of BMAA on the physiology of the filamentous nitrogen-fixing cyanobacterium Nostoc sp. PCC 7120. Our data show that exogenously applied BMAA rapidly inhibits nitrogenase activity (acetylene reduction assay), even at micromolar concentrations, and that the inhibition was considerably more severe than that induced by combined nitrogen sources and most other amino acids. BMAA also caused growth arrest and massive cellular glycogen accumulation, as observed by electron microscopy. With nitrogen fixation being a process highly sensitive to oxygen species we propose that the BMAA effects found here may be related to the production of reactive oxygen species, as reported for other organisms.     

城市污泥对沙地杨树苗木成活生长及生理特征的影响1）

以城市污泥为试验材料,以沙地主要造林树种彰武小钻杨（Populus×xiaozhuanica W．Y．Hsu et Liang‘Zangwu’）为研究对象,利用田间试验,分别设置不同剂量的城市污泥（以造林植苗穴的体积为基准,V（污泥）∶V （沙土）＝1∶1、V（污泥）∶V（沙土）＝3∶4、V（污泥）∶V（沙土）＝1∶2、V（污泥）∶V（沙土）＝1∶3、V（污泥）∶V （沙土）＝1∶4、V（污泥）∶V（沙土）＝1∶5、V（污泥）∶V（沙土）＝0∶1,分别记为C6、C5、C4、C3、C2、C1、C0,其中C0为不施污泥,为对照）进行处理。结果表明：增加污泥施用剂量提高了沙地彰武小钻杨杨树苗木的成活率,经C6、C5、C4、C3、C2、C1污泥处理的分别比对照处理的苗木成活率提高了31．74％、28．99％、9．78％、7．03％、4．29％和1．55％;经C6、C5、C4、C3、C2、C1污泥处理与对照组相比,显著地促进了杨树幼苗的树高、胸径和叶面积的生长,有利地促进幼苗对养分的吸收;经C6、C5、C4、C3、C2、C1污泥处理的杨树叶子含氮和叶绿素质量分数显著地高于对照组幼苗,进而提高了杨树幼苗的光合作用能力;经C6、C5、C4、C3、C2、C1污泥处理的杨树幼苗与对照组相比,显著增强了光合速率。综上所述,经C5污泥处理的苗木表现最佳。     

Membrane changes in a single photoreceptor cause associative learning in Hermissenda

Single type B photoreceptors in intact, restrained Hermissenda were impaled with a microelectrode and exposed to either paired or unpaired presentations of light and depolarizing current to simulate natural stimulus effects during conditioning with light and rotation. Paired, but not unpaired, stimulus presentations produced cumulative depolarization and increased input resistance in type B cells. These membrane changes are similar to those observed after pairings of light and rotation are administered to either intact animals or isolated nervous systems or when light is paired with electrical stimulation of the vestibular system in isolated nervous systems. One and two days after treatment, pairing- and light-specific suppression of phototactic behavior was observed in recovered animals. These findings indicate that the membrane changes of type B cells produced by pairing light with current injections cause acquisition of the learned behavior.     

Immunolocalisation of serotonin, gastrin, somatostatin and glucagon in entero-endocrine cells of the goose (Anser anser)

The processes of digestion in the avian gastrointestinal tract depend on sophisticated control systems that co-ordinate secretion of digestive juices and movement of the luminal contents. In the current study, the distribution of serotonin-, gastrin-, glucagon- and somatostatin-immunoreactive endocrine cells was investigated by immunocytochemical methods in the intestinal tract of the goose. The number of cells immunoreactive for each antiserum was evaluated in different regions of the intestinal tract. Serotonin-, glucagon- and somatostatin-immunoreactive endocrine cells were seen throughout the intestinal tract, but somatostatin-immunoreactive cells were not detected in the colon of the goose. Gastrin-immunoreactive cells were detected only in the duodenum, jejunum and colon mucosa. It is concluded that the distribution pattern of the entero-endocrine cells in the goose is similar to that of most of the mammalian and other poultry species.