Nutrient content,in vitro ruminal fermentation characteristics and methane reduction potential of tropical tannin‐containing leaves

BACKGROUND: Plant tannins as rumen modifiers are better than chemicals or antibiotic‐based modifiers since these compounds are natural products which are environmentally friendly and therefore have a better acceptance with regard to feed safety issues. Tropical plants containing phenols such as tannins were found to suppress or eliminate protozoa from the rumen and reduce methane and ammonia production. The screening of these plants is an important step in the identification of new compounds and feed additives which might contribute to mitigate rumen methanogenesis. The present study was carried out to determine the efficacy of tannins from tropical tree leaves for their methane reduction properties. RESULTS: Activity of tannins, as represented by the increase in gas volume with the addition of polyethylene glycol (PEG)‐6000 as a tannin binder (tannin bioassay) was highest in Ficus bengalensis (555%), followed by Azardirachta indica (78.5%). PEG addition did not alter (P > 0.05) methane percentage in Ficus racemosa, Glyricidia maculata, Leucena leucocephala, Morus alba and Semaroba glauca, confirming that tannins in these samples did not affect methanogenesis. The increase (P < 0.05) in protozoa population with PEG was maximal in Ficus religiosa (50), followed by Moringa oleifera (31.2), Azardirachta indica (29.9) and Semaroba glauca (27.5). There was no change (P > 0.05) in the protozoa population in Autocarpus integrifolia, Ficus bengalensis, Jatropha curcus, Morus alba and Sesbania grandiflora, demonstrating that methane reduction observed in these samples per se was not due to defaunation effect of the tannin. The increase in total volatile fatty acid concentration in samples with PEG ranged from 0.6% to > 70%. The highest increase (%) in NH₃‐N was recorded in Azardirachta indica (67.4), followed by Ficus mysoriensis (35.7) and Semaroba glauca (32.6) leaves, reflecting strong protein binding properties of tannin. CONCLUSION: The results of our study established that in vitro methanogenesis was not essentially related to the density of protozoa population. Tropical tree leaves containing tannins such as Autocarpus integrifolia, Jatropha curcus and Sesbania grandiflora have the potential to suppress methanogenesis. Therefore tannins contained in these plants could be of interest in the development of new additives in ruminant nutrition. Copyright © 2012 Society of Chemical Industry     

Assessing the forms and functions of aggression using self-report: Factor structure and invariance of the Peer Conflict Scale in youths.

This study examined the structure of a self-report measure of the forms and functions of aggression in 855 adolescents (582 boys, 266 girls) aged 12 to 19 years recruited from high school, detained, and residential settings. The Peer Conflict Scale (PCS) is a 40-item measure that was developed to improve upon existing measures and provide an efficient, reliable, and valid assessment of four dimensions of aggression (i.e., reactive overt, reactive relational, proactive overt, and proactive relational) in youths. Confirmatory factor analyses showed that a 4-factor model represented a satisfactory solution for the data. The factor structure fit well for both boys and girls and across high school, detained, and residential samples. Internal consistency estimates were good for the 4 factors, and they showed expected associations with externalizing variables (i.e., arrest history, callous-unemotional traits, and delinquency). Reactive and proactive subtypes showed unique associations consistent with previous literature. Implications for the use of the PCS to assess aggression and inform intervention decisions in diverse samples of youths are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Nutrient database improvement project: The influence of U.S.D.A. Quality and Yield Grade on the separable components and proximate composition of raw and cooked retail cuts from the beef rib and plate

Beef nutrition is important to the worldwide beef industry. The objective of this study was to analyze proximate composition of eight beef rib and plate cuts to update the USDA National Nutrient Database for Standard Reference (SR). Furthermore, this study aimed to determine the influence of USDA Quality Grade on the separable components and proximate composition of the examined retail cuts. Carcasses (n = 72) representing a composite of Yield Grade, Quality Grade, gender and genetic type were identified from six regions across the U.S. Beef plates and ribs (IMPS #109 and 121C and D) were collected from the selected carcasses and shipped to three university meat laboratories for storage, retail fabrication, cooking, and dissection and analysis of proximate composition. These data provide updated information regarding the nutrient content of beef and emphasize the influence of common classification systems (Yield Grade and Quality Grade) on the separable components, cooking yield, and proximate composition of retail beef cuts.     

Multicommodity Network Expansion under Elastic Demands

We analyze some issues of network design and bandwidth allocation in telecommunication systems with congestible resources. The work is closely related to network monitoring and traffic measurement functions that must be carried out on line, in order to overcome congestion caused by an unfavorable traffic pattern or by a failure. In addition to the traditional use of routing controls, our approach achieves network efficiency with capacity assignment and also imposing variable prices for the consumers. A generalized Benders decomposition method is applied to a mixed integer nonlinear programming formulation of the integrated problem of network design and operation. The method exploits the nature of the continuous subproblem, that is a large-scale convex network flow problem with demands sensitive to commodity prices. Some numerical experience suggests that the method is usefull to address both questions of global optimality and competitive pricing in such systems.     

Synthesis of water-soluble polymers containing sulfonic acid and amine moieties for the recovery of metal ions using ultrafiltration

Copolymers from 2-acrylamido-2-methyl-propane sulfonic acid (APSA) and N-acryloyl-N-methyl piperazine (AP) were synthesized by radical polymerization with ammonium peroxydisulfate as the initiator. The copolymerization yield ranged between 93 and 95%. The copolymers were completely water soluble, and were characterized by FTIR and NMR spectroscopy. The copolymer composition was determined from elemental analysis through the S/C ratio. The binding capacity for metal ion was studied by the LPR technique at different pH and filtration factors. The retention depended strongly on the pH and on the copolymer composition. With increasing pH and increasing content of APSA units in the copolymer, the metal ion retention increased. © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 82: 22–30, 2001     

嫦娥二号工程X频段测控通信系统设计与试验

针对月球以远深空探测任务中,远距离、长时延、弱信号的测控通信难点,有效手段之一就是提高射频频率.为此,在嫦娥二号工程中首次开展了X频段测控通信技术试验.本文重点研究了X频段测控通信系统天地一体化的设计与实现,阐述了技术试验系统的组成、关键技术攻关情况、系统试验与测试方法.试验结果表明,与S频段测控通信系统相比,X频段在链路性能、测定轨精度方面有显著提高,将正式作为后续月球及深空探测的主要频段.     

水厂活性炭滤池换炭方式对生产运行的影响

W市Z、X、D水厂的臭氧-生物活性炭滤池已运行超过8年,面临大规模炭滤池换炭问题,为探寻最佳换炭方式,3家水厂分别采用了活性炭滤料的全换和半换2种方式进行对比.主要研究相同水源条件下2种换炭方式对生产运行的影响.研究结果表明,2种换炭方式在并网运行5个月后,活性炭滤料表面生物量稳定,均成功挂膜.相比于半换炭,全换炭方式对CODMn、UV254、TOC和消毒副产物等去除效果更佳,并且可以深入检查配水系统等隐蔽工程.但是,全换炭用炭量大,需要全部更换承托层,总体投入成本较大,短期投资效益较低.因此,选择全换炭还是半换炭方式,各厂应结合自身实际情况确定.     

改进边界指示函数的CV模型构建及应用

无边缘活动轮廓CV模型对于边界模糊以及背景灰度分布不均匀的图像缺乏良好的分割效果。基于此，对该模型进行了如下改进。对边界指示函数进行修改，将改进后的边界指示函数融入CV模型的长度项中。引用双阱势的距离正则项来避免水平集重新初始化，从而得到了一个梯度与区域信息相结合的水平集演化方程，并应用变分法中的有限差分法对方程进行求解。对木材虫眼、活节和死节图像进行了数值仿真模拟，仿真结果表明该模型对背景分布不均匀的图像具有良好的分割效果。