Effects of different amino acid levels and a carvacrol-thymol blend on growth performance and intestinal health of weaned pigs

Background:Over the past years,antibiotic growth promoter had been restricted in animal husbandry production in many countries because of antimicrobial resistance and foodborne antibiotic residues.However,the problems of poor intestinal health and low growth efficiency of piglets have not been solved completely in an antibiotic-free diet,and it is urgent to explore alternatives to antimicrobial growth promoters.Methods:Here,a total of 532 weaned pigs were assigned to one of 4 treatments,the low amino acid(AA)level diet(d 1 to d 14 is 1.35%,d 15 to d 42 is 1.25%)(Low AA),the low AA level diet supplementation with a carvacrol-thymol blend(50 mg carvacrol and 50 mg thymol/kg of diet)(CB)(Low AA+CB),the high AA level diet(d 1 to d 14 is 1.50%,d 15 to d 42 is 1.40%)(High AA),and the high AA level diet supplementation with a CB(High AA+CB),respectively.Then we measured growth performance and intestinal health indicators of weaned pigs.Results:Results showed that high AA level significantly reduced plasma urea nitrogen,plasma Interleukin-6(IL-6)and fecal lipocalin-2 contents(P<0.05),significantly increased the relative abundance of fecal Lactobacillus and Enterococcus,and had a trend to increase the fecal secretory immunoglobulin A(sIgA)and mucin 2(MUC 2)contents(P<0.05)in piglets,thereby alleviating the diarrhea of piglets and reducing the feed conversion ratio(FCR)of piglets during d 1~14 after weaning.Dietary supplementation with CB significantly increased the activity of plasma antioxidant enzymes T-SOD and GSH-px(P<0.05),while significantly reduced plasma malondialdehyde(MDA),plasma interleukin-1β(IL-1β),plasma endotoxin and D-lactic acid contents(P<0.05).Meanwhile,CB significantly decreased fecal lipocalin-2 contents and the abundance of fecal Escherichia coli(P<0.05).Thus,we hypothesis that dietary supplementation with CB significantly increased the average daily gain(ADG)of piglets(P<0.05)during d 1~14 after weaning through promoting intestinal health.Conclusion:These results suggest that high AA level and dietary supplementation with CB improved the growth performance of weaned pigs in an antibiotic-free diet by improving AA metabolism and intestinal antioxidant capacity.

Automatic Identification of Clear-Air Echoes Based on Millimeter-wave Cloud Radar Measurements

Millimeter-wave cloud radar(MMCR)provides the capability of detecting the features of micro particles inside clouds and describing the internal microphysical structure of the clouds.Therefore,MMCR has been widely applied in cloud observations.However,due to the influence of non-meteorological factors such as insects,the cloud observations are often contaminated by non-meteorological echoes in the clear air,known as clear-air echoes.It is of great significance to automatically identify the clear-air echoes in order to extract effective meteorological information from the complex weather background.The characteristics of clear-air echoes are studied here by combining data from four devices:an MMCR,a laser-ceilometer,an L-band radiosonde,and an all-sky camera.In addition,a new algorithm,which includes feature extraction,feature selection,and classification,is proposed to achieve the automatic identification of clear-air echoes.The results show that the recognition algorithm is fairly satisfied in both simple and complex weather conditions.The recognition accuracy can reach up to 95.86%for the simple cases when cloud echoes and clear-air echoes are separate,and 88.38%for the complicated cases when low cloud echoes and clear-air echoes are mixed.

Non-Local DWI Image Super-Resolution with Joint Information Based on GPU Implementation

Since the spatial resolution of diffusion weighted magnetic resonance imaging(DWI)is subject to scanning time and other constraints,its spatial resolution is relatively limited.In view of this,a new non-local DWI image super-resolution with joint information method was proposed to improve the spatial resolution.Based on the non-local strategy,we use the joint information of adjacent scan directions to implement a new weighting scheme.The quantitative and qualitative comparison of the datasets of synthesized DWI and real DWI show that this method can significantly improve the resolution of DWI.However,the algorithm ran slowly because of the joint information.In order to apply the algorithm to the actual scene,we compare the proposed algorithm on CPU and GPU respectively.It is found that the processing time on GPU is much less than on CPU,and that the highest speedup ratio to the traditional algorithm is more than 26 times.It raises the possibility of applying reconstruction algorithms in actual workplaces.

不同矫正状态对儿童青少年近视进展的影响

目的:基于倾向性评分匹配(PSM)比较近视儿童青少年在不同矫正状态下的近视进展情况,为近视防控提供科学依据。方法:调查研究。于2021年9—10月采用多阶段分层整群随机抽样方法在山东省桓台县抽取4所小学和2所中学的在校学生共4657例。对其中配戴框架眼镜者根据近视矫正状态分为近视足矫组和近视欠矫组,以睫状肌麻痹后等效球镜度(SE)变化量和眼轴长度(AL)增长量评估2组儿童青少年随访1年近视进展情况,SE变化量=基线SE-随访SE,AL增长量=随访AL-基线AL。通过PSM对2组儿童青少年的基线特征进行1∶1匹配,得到组间基线均衡的样本。经PSM后,采用Mann-Whitney U检验比较组间SE变化量和AL增长量的差异,并采用多因素广义线性模型分析不同矫正状态对近视进展的影响。结果:共纳入近视儿童青少年458例,年龄6~14(10.7±2.0)岁,男生48.9%(224/458)。PSM后,近视足矫组156例,近视欠矫组156例,2组的性别、年龄、基线SE和基线AL等数据差异均无统计学意义(均P>0.05)。与近视足矫组相比,近视欠矫组的SE变化量和AL增长量均较大(Z=-4.91,P<0.001;Z=-6.14,P<0.001)。多因素广义线性模型分析显示,在调整性别、年龄、基线SE、基线AL、父母近视、室内近距离用眼时间和户外活动时间后,近视欠矫与SE变化量(β=0.29,95%CI:0.18~0.39,P<0.001)、AL增长量(β=0.17,95%CI:0.13~0.21,P<0.001)均呈正相关。结论:近视欠矫可能会导致儿童青少年近视进展加快,应定期进行随访检查,及时对近视儿童青少年进行足矫。

基于深度特征融合的鸟鸣识别方法及其可解释性分析

鸟鸣识别是生态监测的重要手段,为进一步提升鸟鸣识别的准确性和鲁棒性,本文提出了1种新的基于深度特征融合的鸟鸣识别方法。该方法首先利用深度特征提取网络对鸟鸣的对数梅尔谱图和补充特征集的深度特征进行提取,再将两种深度特征进行融合,最后使用轻量级梯度提升机(light gradient boosting machine,light GBM)分类器进行分类。本文充分利用深度神经网络的特征提取能力以及light GBM的分类性能,将特征提取和特征分类过程进行分离,从而实现了高准确率的鸟鸣识别。实验结果显示,本文提出的方法在北京百鸟数据集中取得了目前已知的最佳结果,模型的平均准确率达到了98.70%,平均F1分数达到了98.84%。相比传统方法,深度融合特征在鸟鸣识别任务上准确率提升了5.62%以上。同时,引入的light GBM分类器使分类准确率提升了3.02%。此外,在CLO-43SD和Bird CLEF2022比赛的数据集中,本文方法也展现出卓越的性能,分别取得了98.32%和91.12%的平均准确率。本文还引入了类激活图对不同类型鸟鸣的识别结果进行可解释性分析,揭示了神经网络对不同类型鸟鸣的注意力区域差异,为后续的特征选择和模型优化提供了理论依据。研究结果表明,本文方法有效提高了鸟鸣识别的准确率,在3个数据集的测试中均展现出较好的性能,能够为基于鸟鸣识别的生态监测提供有力的技术支撑。

Howell隐斜卡检测近距水平隐斜视的准确性和可重复性

目的:比较Howell隐斜卡与马氏杆法检测近距水平隐斜视的一致性,并评价Howell隐斜卡检测近距水平隐斜视的可重复性。方法:横断面研究。2023年3—9月在山东省桓台县采用单纯随机抽样法选取1450例中小学生。使用Howell隐斜卡与马氏杆法分别检测近距水平隐斜视,次日使用Howell隐斜卡再次检测。采用Bland-Altman分析法比较2种检测方法的一致性和可重复性。结果:最终共1436例受检者纳入分析,年龄6~17(10.6±2.3)岁。Howell隐斜卡和马氏杆法检测隐斜视类型诊断结果的一致性较强(Kappa=0.76,P<0.001),隐斜度测量值分别为(-3.82±4.93)^(△)和(-3.97±4.73)^(△),差异无统计学意义(P>0.05)。Bland-Altman图显示,2种方法隐斜度测量值差值的均值为-0.15^(△),95%一致性界限为-8.02^(△)~7.72^(△),96.45%(1385/1436)的点位于临床可接受一致性界限内。Howell隐斜卡2次隐斜度测量值差值的均值为0.07^(△),95%一致性界限为-6.01^(△)~6.14^(△),96.87%(1391/1436)的点位于临床可接受一致性界限内。结论:在近距水平隐斜视检测中,Howell隐斜卡与马氏杆法的检测结果一致性良好,同时Howell隐斜卡的检测结果也具备良好的可重复性。

Effect of soil crust on evaporation and dew deposition in Mu Us sandy land,China

The development of soil crust on sandy land may affect the surface hydrological process.This paper investigates the process of evaporation and dew deposition influenced by different soil surface types which were dominated by sand,primitive biotic crust,and advanced biotic crust,respectively,in the south fringe of Mu Us sandy land in Northwest China from July to September of 2006.The experimental results indicate that the advanced biotic crust could increase evaporation and dew deposition compared to the primitive biotic crust and bare sand although the differences between them were not significant.The average evaporation from advanced biotic crust,primitive biotic crust and sand was 6.8,6.6,and 6.5 mm/d,respectively,and water content is around 16.2%in the condition of initially identical soil.The average dew amount on advanced biotic crust was 0.116 mm/d with extreme 0.05 and 0.24 mm/d.The average values on primitive biotic crust and sand were 0.105 and 0.101 mm/d,respectively,with extreme 0.04 and 0.21 mm/d for both treatments.Also,the dew deposition on advanced biotic crust seemed stable and might rest for a longer time than that on primitive biotic crust and sand.The results suggest that the advanced biotic crust possibly facilitates evaporation and dew deposition.Therefore,the development of biotic crust may potentially enhance the hydrological circulation in the upper sand layer in sandy land.

Degradation of metronidazole by dielectric barrier discharge in an aqueous solution

Degradation of metronidazole (MNZ) which is a representative and stable antibiotic by dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) in an aqueous solution has been studied. Effects of initial MNZ concentration, solution pH and coexisting organics on the degradation were investigated. The results illustrated that increasing the input power and the discharge frequency can improve the removal of MNZ. At low initial concentration, the removal of MNZ can reach up to 99.1%. Acidic and neutral conditions are more favorable for MNZ removal than alkaline condition in the early stage of degradation. However, the difference in MNZ removal between those in acidic or neutral media and that in alkaline one could be neglected with prolonging of the treatment time. Therefore, this method can be applied to MNZ degradation with a wide pH range. Coexisting organic matter in water can attenuate the removal to some extent. This study could provide valuable references for the degradation of nitroimidazole antibiotics by DBD.

The pyramid representation of the functional network using resting-state fMRI

Background Resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging(RS-fMRI)has been proved to be a useful tool to study the brain mechanism in the quest to probe the distinct pattern of inter-region interactions in the brain.As an important application of RSfMRI,the graph-based approach characterizes the brain as a complex network.However,the network is susceptible to its scale that determines the trade-off between sensitivity and anatomical variability.Objective To balance sensitivity and anatomical variability,a pyramid representation of the functional network is proposed,which is composed of five individual networks reconstructed at multiple scales.Methods The pyramid representation of the functional network was applied to two groups of participants,including patients with Alzheimer’s disease(AD)and normal elderly(NC)individuals,as a demonstration.Features were extracted from the multi-scale networks andwere evaluated with their inter-group differences between AD andNC,aswell as the discriminative power in recognizing AD.Moreover,the proposed method was also validated by another dataset from people with autism.Results The different features reflect the highest sensitivity to distinguish AD at different scales.In addition,the combined features have higher accuracy than any single scale-based feature.These findings highlight the potential use ofmulti-scale features asmarkers of the disrupted topological organization in AD networks.Conclusion We believe that multi-scale metrics could provide a more comprehensive characterization of the functional network and thus provide a promising solution for representing the underlying functional mechanism in the human brain on a multi-scale basis.

Effect of jet lag on brain white matter functional connectivity

Background:A long-haul flight across more than five time zones may produce a circadian rhythm sleep disorder known as jet lag.Little is known about the effect of jet lag on white matter(WM)functional connectivity(FC).Objective:The present study is to investigate changes in WM FC in subjects due to recovery from jet lag after flying across six time zones.Methods:Here,resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging was performed in 23 participants within 24 hours of flying and again 50 days later.Gray matter(GM)and WM networks were identified by k-means clustering.WM FC and functional covariance connectivity(FCC)were analyzed.Next,a sliding window method was used to establish dynamic WM FC.WM static and dynamic FC and FCC were compared between when participants had initially completed their journey and 50 days later.Emotion was assessed using the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule and the State Anxiety Inventory.Results:All participants were confirmed to have jet lag symptoms by the Columbian Jet Lag Scale.The static FC strengthes of cingulate network(WM7)-sensorimotor network and ventral frontal network-visual network were lower after the long-haul flight compared with recovery.Corresponding results were obtained for the dynamic FC analysis.The analysis of FCC revealed weakened connections between the WM7 and several other brain networks,especially the precentral/postcentral network.Moreover,a negative correlation was found between emotion scores and the FC between the WM7 and sensorimotor related regions.Conclusions:The results of this study provide further evidence for the existence of WM networks and show that jet lag is associated with alterations in static and dynamic WM FC and FCC,especially in sensorimotor networks.Jet lag is a complex problem that not only is related to sleep rhythm but also influences emotion.

A Multitime-scale Deep Learning Model for Lithium-ion Battery Health Assessment Using Soft Parameter-sharing Mechanism

Efficient assessment of battery degradation is important to effectively utilize and maintain battery management systems.This study introduces an innovative residual convolutional network(RCN)-gated recurrent unit(GRU)model to accurately assess health of lithium-ion batteries on multiple time scales.The model employs a soft parameter-sharing mechanism to identify both short-d dT and long-term degradation patterns.The continuously looped(V),T(V),dQ/dV and dT/dV are extracted to form a four-channel image,dV dV from which the RCN can automatically extract the features and the GRU can capture the temporal features.By designing a soft parameter-sharing mechanism,the model can seamlessly predict the capacity and remaining useful life(RUL)on a dual time scale.The proposed method is validated on a large MIT-Stanford dataset comprising 124 cells,showing a high accuracy in terms of mean absolute errors of 0.00477 for capacity and 83 for RUL.Furthermore,studying the partial voltage fragment reveals the promising performance of the proposed method across various voltage ranges.Specifically,in the partial voltage segment of 2.8-3.2 V,root mean square errors of 0.0107 for capacity and 140 for RUL are achieved.