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In order to reduce the damage of apples during transportation, the influence of packing structure of fruit box on the damage characteristics of apples was studied. Fushi apples with a diameter of about 70 mm and a weight of about 200 g were used as test subjects, and number of partition zones, buffer material and number of stacking layers of the apples were taken as the influence factors. The damage volume was taken as the evaluation index. The influence rule of each factor on the evaluation index was determined through single factor test. On the basis of single factor test, response surface test was used to optimize the test. The results show that the apple damage volume decreases with the increase of the number of partition zones, but increases with the increase of the number of stacking layers. When the buffer material is pearl wool, the apple damage volume is relatively small. The optimal packing structure combination obtained by response surface optimization test is as follows: the number of partition zones is four, the buffer material is pearl wool, and the number of apple stacking layers is one, and the average value of apple damage volume at 5, 10 and 20Hz is 49.27, 63.38, 81.46 mm3, respectively. The experimental results show that the errors are less than 5%. The results can provide reference for the study of apple damage during transportation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Simple Summary: Vision is highly developed in fowl. Light not only provides ambient illumination, but also influences their physiological responses. Therefore, proper lighting management practices are crucial for improving the efficiency and welfare of commercial poultry operations. Light spectrum is the combination of different wavelengths of electromagnetic radiation produced by a lighting source. With a ban of traditional incandescent bulbs globally, the poultry industry is currently undergoing a shift to alternative lighting sources, such as light emitting diode (LED) bulbs, which permit the design of different and complex light spectrums output as required. The present study investigated the effects of three LED lights and one compact fluorescent lamp (CFL) with different spectrum characteristics on the performance during the pullet rearing and subsequent laying phase of Beijing-You chickens, a typical indigenous chicken breed in China. Results showed that the four lights did not show differences in feed efficiency before 17 week of age; the LED light with more balanced light spectrums (27% green light, 30% blue light, 22% yellow light, and 21% red light) promotes the prepubertal growth; and the LED light of more blue and green light (35% green light, 35% blue light, 18% yellow light, and 12% red light) provides proper sexual maturation age and better egg-laying persistence. These results inspire better design of LED lights for the indigenous chicken industry. Light presents an important exogenous factor for poultry. This study examined effects of LED lights with different defined spectrums on growth and reproduction of indigenous Beijing-You chickens. A total of 576 one-day old female chicks were divided into 16 rooms, and each were exposed to four different lights: LED A (21% green light, 30% blue light, 24% yellow light, and 25% red light), B (35%, 35%, 18%, and 12%), C (27%, 30%, 22%, and 21%), or compact fluorescent lamps (CFL, 15%, 28%, 41%, and 16%). Results showed that feed intake and feed conversion ratio were comparable among treatments throughout the 17 week rearing period (p > 0.05). LED C showed similar body weight gain with CFL, but higher than LED A and B. The CFL birds start to lay on 132.25 d, while LED B did not lay until 148.25 d. The age at 50% egg production did not vary among groups (p = 0.12). Total egg number until 43 week of LED B was higher than others (p < 0.05). Therefore, LED lights with defined spectral proportion have different effects on chickens' growth and reproduction. The LED C promotes the prepubertal growth, and the LED B provides proper sexual maturation age and better egg-laying persistence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A rapid, sensitive and species preservative analytical method for the simultaneous determination of six selenium (Se) species has been developed. Enzymatic probe sonication (EPS) was investigated as a novel and alternative technology for the extraction of Se species from feed matrices and the results were compared with the conventional hot water extraction, enzymatic hydrolysis and sequential extraction. The critical parameters of EPS such as enzyme types, extraction time, temperature, ultrasonic power and sample/enzyme ratio were varied with control. The Se species were separated and quantitatively determined by ion chromatography-inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (IC-ICP-MS). Under current optimised conditions, six inorganic and organic Se species were completely separated within 15 min in a single chromatographic run. The spectral interferences from the argon plasma 40Ar2, 40Ar37Cl or 1H79Br were effectively removed by employing the kinetic energy discrimination (KED) mode. Quantitative extraction for total Se (>94.8%) and more than 89.0% for the sum of different Se chemical forms without species transformation were obtained in only 60 s by applying the EPS treatment using aqueous protease XIV. The limits of detection (LODs) and quantification (LOQs) for Se species were in the ranges of 0.21–0.56 µg kg–1 and 0.69–1.87 µg kg–1, respectively. The proposed method was successfully applied to the speciation of Se in several reference materials and feed samples collected from the markets and local farms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ghrelin, an endogenous ligand for growth hormone secretagogue receptor, plays an important role in stimulating hormone secretion, development of gastrointestinal tract, food intake and regulating energy balance of animals. In this study we isolated the cDNA sequence of ovine Ghrelin from the abomasums of 7-day-aged lambs. Real-time PCR was used to determine the abundance of Ghrelin mRNA in lamb gastrointestinal tract, and analyze the development changes of abomasums Ghrelin mRNA expression in 0-56 days lambs, as well as find the effects of 42-day weaning on Ghrelin mRNA expression in lamb abomasums. The results showed that: (1) Ghrelin mRNA was expressed widely in gastrointestinal tract and was significantly higher in the abomasums than in other tissues (rumen, reticulum, omasum, duodenum, jejunum, ileum) ( P < 0.01); (2) The expression of abomasums Ghrelin mRNA in lamb increased with the growth of age, it reached a plateau at the age of 49 days, however, got a slightly decrease at the age of 56 days; (3) The expression of abomasums Ghrelin mRNA of the 42 days-weaned groups were significantly lower than the no-weaned groups ( P < 0.05), and the Ghrelin mRNA expression of the two treatments reached a maximum at the age of 49 days; (4) Correlation analysis indicated that the linear correlativity between abomasums Ghrelin mRNA expression and abomasums weight was very prominent (R = 0.647, P = 0.009). Our results suggested that ovine Ghrelin gene may play an important role in the development of lamb abomasums and 42-day weaning could down regulate the expression of abomasum Ghrelin mRNA, but the mechanism of these needs further research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Journal of Intelligent Agriculture Mechanization is the property of Nanjing Institute of Agricultural Mechanization and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Transactions of the Chinese Society of Agricultural Engineering is the property of Chinese Society of Agricultural Engineering and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The document is the contents list for the Journal of Materials Chemistry B, published on September 28, 2024. It includes reviews, communications, and papers on various topics related to materials for biology and medicine. Some of the topics covered include dual-/multi-organelle-targeted AIE probes, prediction of aptamer affinity, decellularized extracellular matrix-based bioengineered 3D breast cancer scaffolds, and exogenous MSC-based tissue regeneration. The journal aims to connect the world with the chemical sciences and is published by The Royal Society of Chemistry. [Extracted from the article]

Copyright of Chinese Journal of Inorganic Analytical Chemistry / Zhongguo Wuji Fenxi Huaxue is the property of Beijing Research Institute of Mining & Metallurgy Technology Group and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Transactions of the Chinese Society of Agricultural Engineering is the property of Chinese Society of Agricultural Engineering and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)