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This study was conducted to investigate the effects of Clostridium butyricum addition to diets in late gestation and lactation on the reproductive performance and gut microbiota for sows. A total of 180 healthy Landrace × Yorkshire sows at 90 d of gestation were randomly assigned to one of four groups, with 45 replicates per group, receiving a basal commercial diet (Control, 0% C. butyricum) or diet added with 0.1% C. butyricum (1 × 108 CFU/kg of feed), 0.2% C. butyricum (2 × 108 CFU/kg of feed), 0.4% C. butyricum (4 × 108 CFU/kg of feed), respectively. The experiment was conducted from 90 d of gestation to weaning at 21 d of lactation. The results showed that the interval between piglet born was linearly (P < 0.05) decreased, and the duration of farrowing was significantly (quadratic, P < 0.05) shortened as C. butyricum addition increased. There was a linear (P < 0.05) increase in litter weight at weaning and litter weight gain. The concentrations of IgG and IgM in colostrum, and IgM in milk were linearly increased (P < 0.05) as C. butyricum addition. Serum MDA concentrations of sows at parturition and 14 d in lactation, and piglets at 14 and 21 d of age were linearly (P < 0.05) decreased, respectively. The serum total antioxidant capacity concentrations of sows at parturition and 14 and 21 d in lactation, and piglets at 14 and 21 d of age were linearly (P < 0.05) increased as C. butyricum addition, respectively. There was a linear decrease in the serum endotoxin concentration of sows on 21 d in lactation (P < 0.05). The serum cortisol concentrations of piglets at 14 and 21 d of age were both significantly (quadratic, P < 0.05) decreased. The 0.2% C. butyricum increased the relative abundance of Bacteroidetes (P = 0.016) at phylum level, Prevotellaceae_NK3B31_group , Prevotella_1 , Prevotellaceae_UCG-003 , Prevotella_9 , Alloprevotella (P < 0.05) at genus level, and decreased the relative abundance of Proteobacteria , Gemmatimonadetes , Actinobacteria (P < 0.001) at phylum level, and Clostridium_sensu_stricto_1 , Streptococcus , Escheruchia-Shigella , Sphingomonas , Succinivibrio (P < 0.05) at genus level and Firmicutes/Bacteroidetes ratio (P = 0.020). In conclusion, the present research indicated that dietary addition with C. butyricum could shorten the duration of farrowing and enhance the growth performance of suckling piglets. Moreover, 0.2% C. butyricum administration to sows changed the composition of intestinal microbiota, especially increased the relative abundance of Prevotella. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The g-C3N4-Pt photocatalyst was successfully prepared by the combination of a biosynthesis method and sol deposition, which were used for hydrogen evolution from water splitting. The layers of g-C3N4 are thinned and the Pt nanoparticles simultaneously become tightly bound to g-C3N4 by secondary calcination in the process of synthesizing the g-C3N4-Pt photocatalyst. Analysis of the morphological structure and instrumental characterization of the optical performance revealed that the Pt nanoparticles were successfully loaded and well dispersed on the surface of g-C3N4. Furthermore, the absorption wavelength range of the g-C3N4-Pt photocatalyst in visible light was widened and the absorption increased. The activity and photostability of the g-C3N4-Pt photocatalyst for hydrogen evolution under visible light irradiation (λ≥420 nm) were excellent. The rate of H2 evolution reached 582.4 μmol h−1 g−1, and the quantum efficiency (QE) reached 2.70% at 420 nm. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Numerous accidents of emulsion explosive (EE) are attributed to uncontrolled thermal decomposition of ammonium nitrate emulsion (ANE, the intermediate of EE) and EE in large scale. In order to study the thermal decomposition characteristics of ANE and EE in different scales, a large-scale test of modified vented pipe test (MVPT), and two laboratory-scale tests of differential scanning calorimeter (DSC) and accelerating rate calorimeter (ARC) were applied in the present study. The scale effect and water effect both play an important role in the thermal stability of ANE and EE. The measured decomposition temperatures of ANE and EE in MVPT are 146°C and 144°C, respectively, much lower than those in DSC and ARC. As the size of the same sample in DSC, ARC, and MVPT successively increases, the onset temperatures decrease. In the same test, the measured onset temperature value of ANE is higher than that of EE. The water composition of the sample stabilizes the sample. The large-scale test of MVPT can provide information for the real-life operations. The large-scale operations have more risks, and continuous overheating should be avoided. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study was conducted to investigate the effects of Clostridium butyricum addition to diets in late gestation and lactation on the reproductive performance and gut microbiota for sows. A total of 180 healthy Landrace × Yorkshire sows at 90 d of gestation were randomly assigned to one of four groups, with 45 replicates per group, receiving a basal commercial diet (Control, 0% C. butyricum) or diet added with 0.1% C. butyricum (1 × 108 CFU/kg of feed), 0.2% C. butyricum (2 × 108 CFU/kg of feed), 0.4% C. butyricum (4 × 108 CFU/kg of feed), respectively. The experiment was conducted from 90 d of gestation to weaning at 21 d of lactation. The results showed that the interval between piglet born was linearly (P < 0.05) decreased, and the duration of farrowing was significantly (quadratic, P < 0.05) shortened as C. butyricum addition increased. There was a linear (P < 0.05) increase in litter weight at weaning and litter weight gain. The concentrations of IgG and IgM in colostrum, and IgM in milk were linearly increased (P < 0.05) as C. butyricum addition. Serum MDA concentrations of sows at parturition and 14 d in lactation, and piglets at 14 and 21 d of age were linearly (P < 0.05) decreased, respectively. The serum total antioxidant capacity concentrations of sows at parturition and 14 and 21 d in lactation, and piglets at 14 and 21 d of age were linearly (P < 0.05) increased as C. butyricum addition, respectively. There was a linear decrease in the serum endotoxin concentration of sows on 21 d in lactation (P < 0.05). The serum cortisol concentrations of piglets at 14 and 21 d of age were both significantly (quadratic, P < 0.05) decreased. The 0.2% C. butyricum increased the relative abundance of Bacteroidetes (P = 0.016) at phylum level, Prevotellaceae_NK3B31_group , Prevotella_1 , Prevotellaceae_UCG-003 , Prevotella_9 , Alloprevotella (P < 0.05) at genus level, and decreased the relative abundance of Proteobacteria , Gemmatimonadetes , Actinobacteria (P < 0.001) at phylum level, and Clostridium_sensu_stricto_1 , Streptococcus , Escheruchia-Shigella , Sphingomonas , Succinivibrio (P < 0.05) at genus level and Firmicutes/Bacteroidetes ratio (P = 0.020). In conclusion, the present research indicated that dietary addition with C. butyricum could shorten the duration of farrowing and enhance the growth performance of suckling piglets. Moreover, 0.2% C. butyricum administration to sows changed the composition of intestinal microbiota, especially increased the relative abundance of Prevotella. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The firing patterns of each bursting neuron are different because of the heterogeneity, which may be derived from the different parameters or external drives of the same kind of neurons, or even neurons with different functions. In this paper, the different electromagnetic effects produced by two fractional-order memristive (FOM) Hindmarsh-Rose (HR) neuron models are selected for characterizing different firing patterns of heterogeneous neurons. Meanwhile, a fractional-order memristor-coupled heterogeneous memristive HR neural network is constructed via coupling these two heterogeneous FOM HR neuron models, which has not been reported in the adjacent neuron models with memristor coupling. With the study of initial-depending bifurcation behaviors of the system, it is found that the system exhibits abundant hidden firing patterns, such as periods with different topologies, quasiperiodic firings, chaos with different topologies, and even hyperchaotic firings. Particularly, the hidden hyperchaotic firings are perfectly detected by two-dimensional Lyapunov stability graphs in the two-parameter space. Meanwhile, the hidden coexisting firing patterns of the system are excited from two scattered attraction domains, which can be confirmed from the local attraction basins. Furthermore, the color image encryption based on the system and the DNA approach owns great keyspace and a good encryption effect. Finally, the digital implementations based on Advanced RISC Machine are in good coincidence with numerical simulations.

In this paper, two different pulse control methods are proposed to generate multi-butterfly attractors based on the Sprott C system. By introducing a bipolar multilevel pulse signal to the boostable variable z of the Sprott C system, translational multi-butterfly attractors with constant Lyapunov exponents can be obtained. Another method for generating nested multi-butterfly attractors is to replace the DC voltage of the Sprott C system with the unipolar multilevel pulse signal, and the dynamical behavior involves the superposition of multiple attractors corresponding to different pulse amplitudes. By defining time as an additional state variable, the proposed non-autonomous systems can be transformed into autonomous systems for analysis. It can be seen that systems have no equilibria, so they belong to hidden attractors. A normalized circuit implementation is given, translational and nested hidden multi-butterfly attractors can be obtained by setting proper pulse signals. Moreover, the number of butterflies can be adjusted by changing the number of pulse voltage sources without reconstructing nonlinear functions. Theoretical analysis and simulation results prove the effectiveness of these methods.

This study was aimed to analyze the association of chemerin/chemR23 with endothelial-mesenchymal transition (EndMT) in the kidney of rats during the progression of diabetic nephropathy (DN). Eighty male Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly distributed to age-matched control and diabetic nephropathy model groups. Diabetes was induced by intraperitoneal injection of streptozotocin (STZ). Morphological changes in the renal tissues were observed after periodic acid-Schiff staining. Chemerin and chemR23 expression was determined by immunohistochemistry. Co-expression of α-smooth muscle actin (α-SMA) and CD31 was determined by immunofluorescence double-labeling. Expression of all these markers was analyzed by Western blotting. Expression of chemerin, chemR23, and transforming growth factor-β1 (TGF-β1) genes at mRNA level was determined by qRT-PCR. Mild glomerular hypertrophy was observed at 4 weeks and mild glomerular basement membrane thickening and mesangial matrix proliferation at 12 weeks. Immunohistochemistry showed much higher levels of chemerin and chemR23 in diabetic rats compared with the control group. Expression of chemerin, chemR23, and α-SMA proteins increased with disease progression, while CD31 protein expression decreased. Expression of chemerin, chemR23, and TGF-β1 mRNAs also increased. α-SMA and CD31 co-expression increased with disease progression from 4 weeks. Spearman correlation analysis showed that chemerin mRNA levels correlated positively with Chem R23, TGF-β1, α-SMA expression, and CD31 and α-SMA double-positive cell numbers, but negatively with CD31 protein expression. In conclusion, chemerin expression correlates with EndMT in DN model rats., Competing Interests: None., (IJCEP Copyright © 2017.)