Effect of dietary soy oil, glucose, and glutamine on growth performance, amino acid profile, blood profile, immunity, and antioxidant capacity in weaned piglets

Weaning stress results in gastrointestinal dysfunction and depressed performance in pigs. This study aimed to investigate the effect of soy oil, glucose, and glutamine on the growth and health of weaned piglets. Compared with those in the glutamine group, piglets in the glucose and soy oil groups had greater average daily gain, average daily feed intake, and gain: feed ratio from day 0 to 14, and gain: feed ratio for the overall period. There were no differences with regard to serum amino acids among the three groups on day 14, except glycine and threonine. The serum concentration of histidine, serine, threonine, proline, and cysteine was the highest in the glutamine group, while the content of glycine and lysine in the soy oil group on day 28 was the highest among all groups. Piglets fed with glutamine had greater serum glucose and creatinine on day 14, high-density lipoprotein on day 28, and serum IgG and IgM on day 28. Piglets in the glutamine group demonstrated lower serum total superoxide dismutase on day 14 and 28; however, they demonstrated higher total superoxide dismutase and total antioxidant capacity in the duodenum and ileum on day 14. Weaned pigs supplemented with glucose or soy oil demonstrate better growth performance possibly due to their enhanced feed intake, whereas those supplemented with glutamine may have improved immunity and intestinal oxidative capacity.

Tuning thermal release kinetics of soy oil from organic nanoparticles using variable synthesis conditions

The thermal release properties of soy oil from poly（styrene-co-maleimide） nanoparticles containing 50 wt% encapsulated oil have been quantified as a function of temperature and time. The effects of dif- ferent synthesis conditions on the thermal stability of the nanoparticles and their oil release have been evaluated, i.e., by gradually increasing the amount of ammonium hydroxide used for the imidization of poly（styrene-co-maleic anhydride）. First, the intrinsic thermal properties of the oil-filled nanoparti- cles were analysed by differential scanning calorimetry, which revealed an exothermal reaction related to the oil release and a suppression of the glass transition that may be masked owing to the complex structure of the hybrid nanoparticles. The isothermal scans showed different rates of oil release after a post-imidization reaction. The oil release was better followed by dynamic mechanical analysis, which illustrated changes in visco-elastic properties expressed by the maximum in the loss factor that related to the amount of released oil. Depending on the amount of ammonium hydroxide, the oil started to release below the glass transition temperature at various rates. Thermal release profiles of the oil we re quantified by infrared and Raman spectrocopy after heating for 2 min to 6 h at 125 to 250 ℃, based on variations in oil-related and imide-related absorption bands. The oil release increased below and above the glass transition temperature, following a parabolic trend, and progressively decreased at higher ammonium hydroxide concentrations, in parallel with higher imide content and changes in imide conformation. The kinetics and mechanism of the oil release can be described by the Korsmeyer-Peppas model, suggesting a dominating diffusion mechanism that is influenced by further imidization of the polymer matrix during heating.

Nanocomposite Electrospun Scaffold Based on Polyurethane/Polycaprolactone Incorporating Gold Nanoparticles and Soybean Oil for Tissue Engineering Applications

Electrospun nanofibers combined with a wide range of functional additives can be used for a various tissue engineering applications due to their desired biomimetic and physicochemical properties.Therefore,the present study was conducted to obtain a highly efficient nanocomposite electrospun scaffold with appropriate physicochemical performance and biological properties based on Polycaprolactone/Polyurethane(PCL/PU)mixed with gold nanoparticles(GNPs)and soybean oil(SO).In the present study,the desired nanofibers were fabricated by electrospinning PCL/PU mixed solution with GNPs and SO.The nanocomposite electrospun PU/PCL/SO/GNP nanofibers were characterized in terms of chemical composition by attenuated total reflectance-Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy(ATR-FTIR),morphological structure by field-emission scanning electron microscopy(FE-SEM),and mechanical and biological properties.The surface topography and wettability were determined by atomic force microscopy(AFM)and water contact angle measurements,respectively.It was found that the presence of GNPs along with SO in the structure of PCL/PU nanofiber created a smoother surface in terms of surface roughness and also a more homogeneous fibrous structure.In addition,it was observed that both SO and GNPs caused an increase in the electrical conductivity of the fibrous mats.In the biocompatibility evaluations by measuring cell viability and cell adherence to the scaffold's surfaces,it was found that adding of SO and GNPs supports fibroblasts.Taken together,the fabricated nanocomposite fibrous scaffolds can be a potential candidate for various tissue engineering purposes.

Renewable Fuels in a Four-Stroke Diesel Engine

A lack of petroleum could easily destabilize world-wide relations and lead to a major war. Also large oil reliant suppliers of such goods as plastics, heating oil and construction material would be at a loss for the necessary raw materials. Petroleum reliant power plants would be out of production and the transportation industry would have no gasoline for its vehicle. Apart from this, there is a big need for the protection of the environment. Therefore, it is important to replace the petroleum with non fossil fuels or ones that can be made to last a lot longer, such as the renewable fuels that can be used in the engines and are friendly to the environment too. This paper examines the use of diesel-soy oil mixtures and diesel-olive seed oil mixtures in a four-stroke diesel engine. For those mixtures the gas emissions of carbon monoxide （CO）, hydrocarbons （HC） and nitrogen monoxide （NO） are being measured and the fuel consumption is also examined.