Effects of magnesium on the performance of sows and their piglets

The objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of supplemental magnesium （Mg） on the performance of gilts and parity 3 sows and their piglets. Fifty-six grits （Trial 1） and 56 sows （Trial 2） were assigned to one of 4 treatments according to their mating weight, respectively. The treatments comprised corn-soybean meal based gestation and lactation diets （0.21% magnesium） supplemented with 0, 0.015, 0.03, or 0.045% Mg from mating until weaning. The results showed that magnesium supplementation significantly （P 〈 0.05） reduced the weaning to estrus interval in both gilts and sows. There were significant effects （P 〈 0.05） of supplemental magnesium on the total number of piglets born, born alive and weaned in sows. In late gestation and lactation, the digestibility of crude fiber （quadratic effects, P 〈 0.05）, and crude protein （P 〈 0.05）, were significantly influenced by magnesium in gilts and sows, respectively. There were differences among the 4 groups in terms of the apparent digestibility of dry matter and crude fiber in sows （P 〈 0.0S） during both early and late gestation. The apparent digestibility of gross energy was increased for sows in late gestation （P 〈 0.05）, and lactation （quadratic effects, P 〈 0.0S）. At farrowing and weaning, serum prolactin levels and alkaline phosphate activities linearly increased in sows as the Mg supplementation increased （P 〈 0.0.5）. Serum Mg of sows at farrowing and serum urea nitrogen of sows at weaning was significantly influenced by Mg supplementation （P 〈 0.05）. The Mg concentration in sow colostrum and the serum of their piglets were increased by supplemental magnesium （P 〈 0.05）. In addition, growth hormone levels were linearly elevated （P 〈 0.05） in the serum of piglets suckling sows. Our data demonstrated that supplemental magnesium has the potential to improve the reproduction performance of sows, and the suitable supplemental dose ranged from 0.015% to 0.03%.

Effect of OH^- on fluorescence properties in 1.5-1.6 μm for Er:Yb:YCOB crystal

FTIR absorption spectra indicate that H^+can easily enter the crystal structure and form OH^-centers in Er:Yb:YCOB and O-H bonds prefer to lie in the a-c plane.Within our current studied concentration level,crystal samples with higher OH-abso rption coefficie nts demonstrate stro nger fluo rescence intensity and longer fluorescence lifetime at 1535 nm.As the stretching vibration energy of OH-group approximately corresponds to the energy gap between the 4 I11/2 and 4 I13/2 levels of Er^3+,and thus,OH^-ions can shorten the fluorescence lifetime of Er^3+-4I11/2 level by the phonon-assisted cross-relaxation process between the Er^3+and OH-ions.Our curre nt results confirm that a certain conte nt of OH ions can enhance the ene rgy transfer process from Yb^3+to Er^3+and subsequently promote fluorescence output in 1.5-1.6μm.

Rebels Lead to the Doctrine of the Mean: A Heterogeneous DeGroot Model

The DeGroot model is one of the most classical models in the field of opinion dynamics. The standard DeGroot model assumes that agents are homogeneous and update their opinions in the direction of a weighted average of their neighbors'opinions.One natural question is whether a second type of agents could significantly change the main properties of the model.The authors address this question by introducing rebels,who update their opinions toward the opposite of their neighbors' weighted average.The authors find that the existence of rebels remarkably affects the opinion dynamics. Under certain mild conditions,the existence of a few rebels will lead the group opinion to the golden mean,regardless of the initial opinions of the agents and the structure of the learning network.This result is completely different from that of the standard DeGroot model,where the final consensus opinion is determined by both the initial opinions and the learning topology.The study then provides new insights into understanding how heterogeneous individuals in a group reach consensus and why the golden mean is so common in human society.