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In birds, the sperm storage tubules (SST) are dispersed in uterovaginal junction (UVJ) and highly correlated with differential capacity of sperm storage (SS) in and among species with unspecified mechanisms. Here, the SS duration of 252 egg layer breeders was evaluated in 5 rounds with 3 phenotypic traits to screen high- and low-SS individuals, respectively, followed with transcriptome of UVJ tissues and metabolome of serum (high-SS vs. low-SS) to decipher the candidate genes and biochemical markers correlated with differential SS capacity. Histological characterization suggested slightly higher density of SST in UVJ (high-SS vs. low-SS). Transcriptome analyses identified 596 differentially expressed genes (336 upregulated vs. 260 downregulated), which were mainly enriched in gene ontology terms of homeostasis, steroid and lipid metabolism and hormone activity, and 12 significant pathways (P

Avian sperm storage tubules (SSTs), which are located in the uterovaginal junction (UVJ) of the oviduct, are primary sperm storage sites after mating or artificial insemination. The mechanism underlying reduced sperm storage efficiency of SSTs which is highly correlated with decreased fertility rates in aged laying breeders remains largely unclear. Here, comparative transcriptomic analysis between the aged and young White Leghorn hens (120 vs. 30 wk) was applied to identify gene expression changes of UVJs containing SSTs. Bioinformatics analysis revealed 567 upregulated and 1998 downregulated differentially expressed genes. Gene ontology analysis was highly enriched in terms of immune system, cell adhesion, and cytoskeleton proteins. Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes analysis revealed 5 significant (P < 0.05) pathways including inositol phosphate and glycerophospholipid metabolism. β-Galactosidase staining of chicken UVJ sections suggested increased cell senescence via aging. Oil Red O staining and immunohistochemistry detection of ADFP both confirmed distribution of lipid droplets in SST cells with increased intensity in aged breeders. The lipid synthesis and metabolism-related genes represented by TFAP2 and PLD1 were differentially expressed in aged laying breeders. The upregulation of IL15 and downregulation of a large number of immune-related genes in aged breeders indicate altered immune homeostasis in UVJs and SSTs. The increased accumulation of lipids, and altered immunity homeostasis, combined with other factors (TJP1, MYL9, AFDN, and RPL13, etc.) are potentially dominant effectors to decrease the sperm storage efficiency and egg fertility in aged laying breeders.

A scheme of combining single-chip computer with photoelectric sensors, intelligent cameras, speed sensors and radio frequency identification technology is put forward, aiming at detecting damaged belt edge in long-distance belt conveyors. Once photoelectric sensors perceive and detect damaged belt edge, intelligent cameras take the pictures of damaged belt edge with single-chip computer and relay. Image processing and recognition is taken with Canny algorithm. With it, damaged belt information is cut apart and extracted. Speed sensor and radio frequency identification technology RFID is taken for the position of damaged belt edge. A single chip computer and upper computer is used to process and display all information , and even give warning. The detection system flow chart has been developed to realize the on-line monitoring and positioning of the belt edge damage. Comparison to single-handled camera detection, photoelectric sensor and intelligent camera detection greatly deduce big data caused by continuous video surveillance, and increase detection real-time.

The Smyth line (SL) of chicken is an excellent animal model for human autoimmune vitiligo. In SL vitiligo (SLV) post-natal loss of melanocytes in feathers appears to be due to cell-mediated immunity. In this study, leukocyte-infiltration and associated expression (RNA) of immune function-related cytokines in growing feathers were investigated throughout SLV-development and -progression. Both leukocyte infiltration and cytokine expression levels started to increase near visible SLV onset (early SLV), reached peak levels during active SLV, and decreased to near pre-vitiligo levels after complete loss of melanocytes. Specifically, significant increases were noticed in relative proportions of T cells, B cells, and MHC II-expressing cells during active SLV. Levels of T cell infiltration were higher than those of B cells, with more CD8+ than CD4+ cells throughout SLV. Elevated leukocyte infiltration in early and active SLV was accompanied by increased levels of cytokine expression, especially in interferon-gamma, interleukin (IL)-10 and IL-21. Low expression of IL-4 and IL-17 did not suggest important roles of Th2 and Th17 cells in SLV pathogenesis. Taken together, SLV appears to be a Th1 polarized autoimmune disease, whereby interferon-gamma expression is strongly associated with parallel increases in IL-10 and IL-21, particularly during early and active stages of SLV.

The addition of poly(ethylene glycol) (Mn = 200 g/mol) (PEG-200) to the fermentation media of Alcaligenes eutrophus and Alcaligenes latus at various stages of growth resulted in the synthesis of poly(3-hydroxybutyrate) (PHB) with bimodal molecular weight distributions. The presence of 2% w/v-PEG-200 did not have deleterious effects on PHB volumetric yields and cell productivity. In general, the Mn values of the high (H) and low (L) fractions showed little variability as a function of the time at which PEG-200 was added to the cultures. By this approach, the H:L ratios (w/w) of the PHB synthesized by A. eutrophus and A. latus were varied from 9:91 to 76:24 and from 16:84 to 88:12, respectively. It is believed that the H fractions were formed prior to the addition of PEG-200 to the cultures. Also, once PEG-200 was made available to the cells, PEG-200 acted as a switch so that the reduced molecular weight fraction was formed. In addition, a necessary requirement for the above is that the frequency of transesterification reactions during polymer synthesis was small. The efficiency that PEG-200 reduced the molecular weight of the PHBs formed by both bacteria appears similar. Indirect evidence suggests that the PHB L fractions formed by A. latus subsequent to PEG-200 addition consist primarily of chains that have PEG terminal groups. This terminal chain structure was not observed for PHB formed by A. eutrophus.

Poly(ethylene glycol), PEG, which is known to associate with lipid membranes and proteins, was used to control the molecular weight and end-group structure of poly(3-hydroxybutyrate), P3HB, produced by Alcaligenes latus DSM 1122. A series of PEGs with varying molecular weights (PEG-106 to PEG-10,000) was added to the A. latus incubation medium. In general, PEGs of relatively lower molecular weight and high concentrations of PEG in the medium had deleterious effects on cell growth, polymer yield and P3HB productivity. PEGs with molecular weights at or below 1000 g/mol resulted in the formation of P3HB with reduced molecular weights. The extent of molecular weight reduction was dependent on the concentration and molecular weight of the PEG added to the incubation medium. Larger molecular weight reductions at identical medium concentrations were achieved by using PEG of relatively lower molecular weight. PEG-106 was most effective in regulating P3HB molecular weight in that only a 1% (w/v) medium concentration was required to reduce the number average molecular weight (Mn) by 89% (from 267,000 to 30,000 g/mol). Study of the purified polymers showed that for PEG molecular weights up to 1,000 g/mol, P3HB chains were esterified at their carboxyl terminus with PEG chain segments. Thus, products having “tailored” molecular weights and end-group structure were formed. This was explained by that for P3HB formation by A. latus, PEG of sufficiently low molecular weight served as a chain terminating agent. In other words, the in-vivo esterification of P3HB chain ends with PEG increases the rate of chain termination relative to propagation and, thereby, results in reduced P3HB molecular weight.

The ability of poly(ethylene glycol)s, PEGs, to control poly(3-hydroxybutyrate), P3HB, molecular weight in a microbial fermentation polymerization process was studied using Alcaligenes eutrophus with fructose as the sole carbon source. PEGs varying in molecular weight and end group functionality were added to the cultivation medium subsequent to cell growth, and their effects on polymer formation were evaluated. In general, A. eutrophus showed substantial tolerance for PEGs. This was illustrated by similar viable cell concentrations for the medium without PEG, 10% (w/v) PEG-10 000 and 2% PEG-200. Furthermore, detrimental effects on polymer yields were not observed for concentrations of 5% PEG-106 and 10% PEG-10 000. The greatest reductions in molecular weight were obtained when relatively low molecular weight PEG was added to the medium. PEG-106 was most effective in that only 0.25% was required to reduce the number average molecular weight (Mn) by 74%. The largest decrease in P3HB Mn (from 455 000 to 19 ...

Poly(ethylene glycol) of Mn 200 g/mol (PEG-200) was added to cultivation media of Alcaligines eutrophus during polymer formation, and the carbon source used was 4-hydroxybutyrate. The addition of PEG-200 from 0 to 2 wt % resulted in increased 4-hydroxybutyrate (4HB) incorporation from 66 to 86 mol % into the poly(3-hydroxyalkanoate) (PHA), formed. When 4% PEG was used, the mole percent of 4HB in PHA decreased to 64 mol %. Thus, PEG in cultivation media resulted in polyester compositional changes. An unexpectedly large amount of the dry cell weight (∼10%) was found to be PEG-200 for cultivation media amended with 4% PEG-200. Analysis of this product by gel permeation chromatography (GPC) showed it to be complex, having multiple peaks. The repeat unit sequence distribution determined by 75 MHz 13C NMR spectroscopy indicated that the addition of PEG-200 to media resulted in the formation of a product with predominantly 3-hydroxybutyrate (3HB)−3HB and 4HB−4HB diads instead of random copolyesters which are for...

Poly(ethylene glycol), PEG, which is known to associate with lipid membranes and proteins, was used to control the molecular weight and end-group structure of poly(3-hydroxybutyrate), P3HB, produced by Alcaligenes latus DSM 1122. A series of PEGs with varying molecular weights (PEG-106 to PEG-10,000) was added to the A. latus incubation medium. In general, PEGs of relatively lower molecular weight and high concentrations of PEG in the medium had deleterious effects on cell growth, polymer yield and P3HB productivity. PEGs with molecular weights at or below 1000 g/mol resulted in the formation of P3HB with reduced molecular weights. The extent of molecular weight reduction was dependent on the concentration and molecular weight of the PEG added to the incubation medium. Larger molecular weight reductions at identical medium concentrations were achieved by using PEG of relatively lower molecular weight. PEG-106 was most effective in regulating P3HB molecular weight in that only a 1% (w/v) medium concentration was required to reduce the number average molecular weight (Mn) by 89% (from 267,000 to 30,000 g/mol). Study of the purified polymers showed that for PEG molecular weights up to 1,000 g/mol, P3HB chains were esterified at their carboxyl terminus with PEG chain segments. Thus, products having “tailored” molecular weights and end-group structure were formed. This was explained by that for P3HB formation by A. latus, PEG of sufficiently low molecular weight served as a chain terminating agent. In other words, the in-vivo esterification of P3HB chain ends with PEG increases the rate of chain termination relative to propagation and, thereby, results in reduced P3HB molecular weight.

In recent years, computational intelligence methods are widely used to solve problems in engineering structural field by more and more researchers. In this paper, a method based on genetic algorithm (GA) for identifying the damage in a roof truss under static loads has been developed. At first, the forward analysis based on the finite element model method clearly demonstrates that the damage of elements on a roof truss can result in a change of static axial strain. Then GA has been used to identify the location and the degree of structural damage. In this paper, damage in the structure is modeled as a reduction in the cross-sectional of the damaged element. The identification problem is formulated as a constrained optimization problem, which is solved using GA. Unlike the traditional mathematical methods, which guide the direction of hill climbing by the derivatives of objective functions, GA searches the problem domain by the objective functions itself at multiple points. The objective function is defined as the difference between the measured static strains and the analytically predicted strains obtained from a finite element model. By minimizing the objective function, the damage location and damage severity can be successfully identified. The static-based method uses only strain measurements at a few degrees of freedom as input to the identification procedure and no additional excitation is required. These features make the method ideally suited for long-term monitoring of large civil structures. The method proposed in this paper is demonstrated using a plane roof truss model, and the results fit well with the actual value.

careful fractionation of the polyester produced by Alcaligenes eutrophus from 4-hydroxybutyric acid gave at least three compositionally different products, each with one T g . Specifically, the product formed consisted of the following components: (1) poly(3-hydroxybutyrate), (2) poly(3-hydroxybutyrate-co-4-hydroxybutyrate) (18/82 mol.%) and (3) poly(3-hydroxybutyrate-co-4-hydroxybutyrate) (72/28 mol.%).

The Smyth line (SL) chicken is an animal model for autoimmune vitiligo (SLV). SL chickens develop spontaneous, post-hatch, autoimmune melanocyte loss in growing feathers (GF). With repeatable access to GF and the high incidence (85-95%) of SLV, SLV development can be examined in the same bird. A microarray study was conducted to investigate the global transcriptomic profile in GF from SL and Brown line (BL, parental control) chickens. RNA pools were made from GF of BL chickens, SL chickens that never developed SLV (S0), and SL chickens before (S1), during (S2) and at complete (S3) SLV. Complementary RNA probes were generated from BL and SL (S0~S3) RNA, labeled with Cy3 and Cy5, respectively and hybridized on a chicken 4x44 K Agilent microarray. The slide was scanned and normalized signal intensities were analyzed to identify differentially expressed (DE, >2x) genes between BL and SL samples. There were 504, 518, 1124, and 1151 DE genes containing 262, 226, 658, and 680 unique DE genes in S0, S1, S2 and S3, respectively. S0 and S1 had similar proportions of up-and down-regulated DE genes while up-regulated DE genes predominated in S2 and S3. The highest expressed DE genes were related to immune activity and cell death. Ingenuity Pathway Analysis software was used to determine biological functions and pathways of DE genes. The study provides comprehensive information from global gene expression to functionalities and biological networks of DE genes in the process of SLV.

Background The Smyth line (SL) of chicken is an excellent avian model for human autoimmune vitiligo. The etiology of vitiligo is complicated and far from clear. In order to better understand critical components leading to vitiligo development, cDNA microarray technology was used to compare gene expression profiles in the target tissue (the growing feather) of SL chickens at different vitiligo (SLV) states. Results Compared to the reference sample, which was from Brown line chickens (the parental control), 395, 522, 524 and 526 out of the 44 k genes were differentially expressed (DE) (P ≤ 0.05) in feather samples collected from SL chickens that never developed SLV (NV), from SLV chickens prior to SLV onset (EV), during active loss of pigmentation (AV), and after complete loss of melanocytes (CV). Comparisons of gene expression levels within SL samples (NV, EV, AV and CV) revealed 206 DE genes, which could be categorized into immune system-, melanocyte-, stress-, and apoptosis-related genes based on the biological functions of their corresponding proteins. The autoimmune nature of SLV was supported by predominant presence of immune system related DE genes and their remarkably elevated expression in AV samples compared to NV, EV and/or CV samples. Melanocyte loss was confirmed by decreased expression of genes for melanocyte related proteins in AV and CV samples compared to NV and EV samples. In addition, SLV development was also accompanied by altered expression of genes associated with disturbed redox status and apoptosis. Ingenuity Pathway Analysis of DE genes provided functional interpretations involving but not limited to innate and adaptive immune response, oxidative stress and cell death. Conclusions The microarray results provided comprehensive information at the transcriptome level supporting the multifactorial etiology of vitiligo, where together with apparent inflammatory/innate immune activity and oxidative stress, the adaptive immune response plays a predominant role in melanocyte loss.