Assessment of daily activity patterns and biomarkers of pain,inflammation, and stress in lactating dairy cows diagnosed with clinical metritis

The objectives of the present case-control study were to assess (1) daily activity patterns (lying time, number of steps, number of lying bouts, and lying bout duration), and (2) circulating concentrations of biomarkers of pain (substance P), inflammation (haptoglobin), and stress (cortisol) in lactating dairy cows diagnosed with clinical metritis. Lactating dairy cows (n = 200) from 2 commercial dairy herds were enrolled in the present study. Cows diagnosed with clinical metritis (n = 100) at 7 ± 3 d in milk were matched according to lactation and days in milk to cows without clinical metritis (NO-CM; n = 100). On study d 1, clinical metritis was diagnosed (using a Metricheck device, Simcro Tech Ltd., Hamilton, New Zealand) by the presence of watery, reddish, or brownish foul-smelling vaginal discharge, and blood samples were collected for assessment of circulating concentration of substance P, haptoglobin, cortisol, total calcium, β-hydroxybutyrate, and blood cells. In addition, on study d 1 body condition of cows was visually assessed, and activity monitors were placed on the hind leg of a subset of cows (CM, n = 56; CON, n = 56) and were kept until study d 7. Cows showing any other signs of other diseases were not included in the study. Cows with clinical metritis tended to spend more time lying (CM = 628.92 min/d; NO-CM = 591.23 min/d) compared with NO-CM cows. Activity analysis by parity revealed that primiparous cows with clinical metritis spent more time lying compared with primiparous cows without clinical metritis. However, no differences in daily lying time were observed between multiparous cows with and without clinical metritis. Furthermore, cows in the CM group had a higher circulating concentration of substance P (CM = 47.15 pg/mL; NO-CM = 37.73 pg/mL) and haptoglobin (CM = 233.00 µg/mL; NO-CM = 99.98 µg/mL) when compared with NO-CM cows. Cows with clinical metritis had lower body condition score, and a greater proportion of cows in this group had hypocalcemia when compared with cows without clinical metritis. The circulating concentration of leukocytes and erythrocytes were decreased in cows with clinical metritis compared with cows without clinical metritis. Results from this study showed that concentrations of markers of inflammation, stress, pain, and activity were affected in cows diagnosed with clinical metritis; thus, strategies aimed to minimize the negative effects associated with clinical metritis may be required to improve the welfare of dairy cows.     

Azobenzene-containing linear–dendritic block copolymers prepared by sequential ATRP and click chemistry

A series of light responsive linear–dendritic BCs consisting of a liquid crystalline aliphatic polyester dendron functionalized with sixteen 4-cyanoazobenzene moieties linked to a linear block of poly(methyl methacrylate), poly(ethyl methacrylate) or poly(styrene) have been investigated. The linear block was synthesis by atom transfer radical polymerization using an alkyne terminated initiator and was coupled to dendron with an azido group at the focal point by a Huisgen's 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition. The effectiveness of the coupling reaction and purity of the block copolymers was asserted by chromatographic and spectroscopic techniques as well as their thermal behaviour was studied by thermogravimetric analysis, differential scanning calorimetry and optical microscopy. Morphology, optical properties and photoinduced response of these block copolymers have also been evaluated.     

Natural Radioactivity and Metals in Pit Lakes in Sweden Analyzed by Principal Component and Cluster Analysis

The aim of this work was to determine which parameters are sufficient to measure in order to describe the water quality of a pit lake and to identify patterns in the data among different kind of pit lakes. The data consisted of ambient dose equivalent rate, elemental and radionuclide concentration, pH, and specific conductance in surface water and sediment samples collected from different types of mines. Data were tested for normality and log-normality and used in principal component analysis (PCA) and hierarchical cluster analysis (HCA). The normality tests indicated that only ⁴⁰K was normally distributed, while only the ^234,238U isotopes were log-normally distributed. HCA performed on parameters measured in surface water provided clusters that in most cases separated the elements according to their chemical groups. However, when HCA was performed on pit lakes, the clustering seemed to indicate that surface water might not be the preferred sample to differentiate between different types of pit lakes. PCA of surface water data resulted in three components that explained 72% of the variance when pH, SC, concentration of the elements Mg, K, Ca, Cu, Zn, Sr, Pb, activity concentration of ^234,238U and ²¹⁰Po, and ambient dose equivalent rate were included. For surface sediment data, the PCA resulted in three components explaining 83% of the variance when the concentration of Na, Mg, Al, P, K, Ca, Rb, Sr, Y, Tl, activity concentration of ²³⁴Th, ²²⁶Ra, ²¹⁰Pb, ²³²Th (series average), and ⁴⁰K, and ambient dose equivalent rate were included.

     

Supporting digitally enhanced learning through measurement in higher education: Development and validation of a university students' digital competence scale

Digital competence is critical for university students to adapt to and benefit from digitally enhanced learning. Prior studies on its measurement mostly focus on educators and relied on factor analyses. However, there is a lack of valid and convenient tools to measure university students' digital competence. This study aimed to develop a digital competence scale for university students (DC-US) in digitally enhanced learning with robust psychometric properties. An initial DC-US with 23 items was proposed to measure the single latent trait of digital competence. It was validated and refined continuously through a pilot study, a main study and a predictive validity study in three datasets involving 825 participants altogether, using factor analyses, Rasch analyses and the partial least squares modelling. The final DC-US turned out to comprise two subscales: technical literacy and digital skills, with 10 items retained, and manifested high internal consistency, unidimensionality and measurement invariance. The scale also demonstrated strong predictive validity, with technical literacy greatly predicting digital skills, which negatively predicted technostress. The DC-US enables instructors and school administrators to conveniently obtain preliminary information of university students' digital competence, informing their digital class preparation and development of timely interventions for addressing digital deficiencies.     

Indicators of change in the organic matter in arid soils

Soil organic matter is a key component in ecosystems, as it is the essential part of a set of relevant processes and constitutes an important carbon pool contributing to Global Change. The design of environmental monitoring programmes should include indicators of the current status of ecosystems, alerting to incipient changes in them. In this context, a sampling scheme has been designed taking into account the main processes and soil uses affecting the dynamics of soil organic matter. Well-tested parameters were determined in order to assess which of them are most useful as indicators of soil organic matter evolution in arid soil, such as that in the "Cabo de Gata-Níjar" Natural Park (SE Spain). The parameters characterising the lability of the different fractions indicate changes in soil organic matter triggered by changes in soil use and soil dynamics. Changes in soil use, when drastic, are best reflected by those fractions comprising a high percentage of the total soil carbon, while the processes having slower dynamics are best demonstrated by the labile fractions. As a result of the sensitivity analysis of parameters versus changes, and taking into account the operational difficulties for determining them, the following indicators are proposed for a monitoring programme: total organic carbon, active fraction of the organic carbon and ratios of this fraction versus total organic carbon (%) (as given by the lability index proposed).     

四丁基碘化胺相转移催化法合成苯甲酸苄酯

主要研究了由苯甲酸钠和氯化苄为原料,采用相转移催化法合成苯甲酸苄酯的酯化反应。通过几种催化剂的考察,筛选出合成苯甲酸苄酯反应性能较好的一种季铵盐类相转移催化剂为四丁基碘化铵((C4H9)4NI),同时考察了它的最佳反应条件。研究结果表明:在反应温度为110℃,苯甲酸钠与氯化苄摩尔比为1:1.3,反应时间2.5h～3.0h,催化剂用量为苯甲酸钠摩尔量的6%左右,pH为5～6的弱酸性时为最佳反应条件。四丁基碘化铵是季铵盐类相转移催化合成苯甲酸苄酯的较为理想的一种催化剂。     

加热炉支路平衡及无烟控制的解决方案

加热炉控制中,炉管流量支路平衡控制和炉膛无烟燃烧控制是多年来探索的目标,先进控制能够给出很好的解决方案,但是不易于大规模的推广。介绍在DCS中自行开发支路平衡以及无烟控制的可行性,详细论述了工艺的机理、过程中的干扰,并分析了各个调节器的参数组态要点以及实现调节的各种细节和注意事项。     

Observer-based cascade control of a 6-DOF parallel hydraulic manipulator in joint space coordinate

This paper addresses the joint space control problem of a 6-DOF (degree of freedom) parallel hydraulic manipulator. High precision motion control of a six-degree parallel manipulator is hardly achieved due to the existence of uncertain payload and other disturbance such as coupling force. A disturbance observer for this parallel manipulator is first constructed to estimate and compensate the unknown disturbance. A cascade control algorithm is then applied to separate the hydraulic dynamics from the mechanical part, which can mask the hydraulic dynamics with an inner loop. With such a control structure, known control design methods within the area of manipulator control can be directly used in the outer loop. In this approach, the complex dynamics and direct kinematics of the parallel manipulator are not required and acceleration feedback is also avoided. Experimental results are presented to show the effectiveness of the proposed scheme.     

The riddle of genuine skin microrelief and wrinkles

Wrinkles result from distinct structural changes occurring in specific parts of the dermis and subcutaneous tissue. There is a need for evidenced-based cosmetology identifying and quantifying the different aspects of wrinkling. Histology allows to detect specific changes associated with particular types of wrinkles. Four main types of wrinkles can thus be recognized, including the atrophic crinkling rhytids, the permanent elastotic creases, the dynamic expression lines, and the gravitational folds. Each type usually develops on specific skin regions exhibiting distinct microanatomical characteristics. Whereas skin microrelief, expression lines and skin folds appear clearly marked at the histological level, only little dermal changes are identified under other reducible or permanent wrinkles compared with the skin immediately adjacent to them. Distinguishing different types of wrinkles brings more precision to the clinical practice. This is of importance because the different types of wrinkles respond differently to cosmetic, dermatological and surgical treatments.