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Presented herein is a condition-controlled selective synthesis of pyrazolonyl spirodihydroquinolines or pyrazolonyl spiroindolines through formal [5 + 1] or [4 + 1] spiroannulation of 2-alkenylanilines with diazopyrazolones. Mechanistically, the formation of the title products involves initial generation of a pyrazolonyl spiro-fused seven-membered ruthenacycle species serving as a key intermediate through Ru(II)-catalyzed C-H/N-H bonds metalation, carbene formation, and its migratory insertion. When the reaction is carried out under air, the key intermediate undergoes reductive elimination to afford spirodihydroquinoline. When the reaction is run under argon, the key intermediate undergoes protonation and intramolecular nucleophilic addition to furnish spiroindoline. This work provides an atom-economical protocol for the effective functionalization of alkenyl C(sp

Presented herein is an efficient and unprecedented synthesis of indolyl-tethered spiro[cyclobutane-1,1'-indenes] through the cascade reaction of 1-(pyridin-2-yl)-1H-indoles with alkynyl cyclobutanols. Mechanistic experiments implicate a sequential process in which 1-(pyridin-2-yl)-1H-indole first undergoes an alkenylation with alkynyl cyclobutanol followed by an intramolecular Friedel-Crafts reaction to give the title products. The utility of this novel protocol was reflected by the ample substrate scope, high chemo- and regioselectivity, removable directing group, and scalable preparation. In addition, the product thus obtained can be further derivatized quite efficiently.

OBJECTIVE To assess the efficacy of low-level laser therapy (LLLT) with different wavelengths and transcutaneous electric nerve stimulation (TENS) and explore the optimal wavelength range of laser application in the treatment of pain caused by temporomandibular disorders (TMD). METHODS An electronic search on PubMed, Cochrane Library, Embase, Scopus and Web of Science was undertaken to identify the randomised clinical trials (RCTs) published from database inception to 16 April 2021, aiming to compare the effects of LLLT with different wavelengths (632.8-672 nm, 780-904 nm, and 910-1100 nm) or TENS or placebo group on TMD patients pain reduction. In addition, manual search of the studies was performed. The reviewers assessed the risk of bias of individual studies with the Cochrane risk of bias tool and excluded the RCTs with a high risk of bias in any field. Meanwhile, the reviewers, after performing the network meta-analysis, assessed the quality of evidence, which contributed to network estimate via the GRADE framework. RESULTS Twenty-seven RCTs with 969 patients with TMD were included. In the meta-analysis, all treatment groups showed an overall improvement in pain scores, when compared with the placebo group. LLLT with wavelength ranging from 910 nm to 1100 nm produced more pain relief in the visual analogue scale (VAS) immediately after treatment [mean difference (MD) = 4.68, 95% confidence interval (CI):(3.08,6.28)]. After one-month follow-up, LLLT with wavelength ranging from 910 nm to 1100 nm also showed superior pain-relieving effects [MD = 3.61, 95% CI: (-1.77, 8.99)]. However, no significant difference was observed. Based on the SUCRA ranking, L3 ranked first immediately after treatment and 1 month later. CONCLUSION The results of the meta-analysis showed the LLLT had better short-term efficacy than TENS in the treatment of pain caused by TMD. Better results can be achieved with higher wavelengths. Therefore, we recommended to treat TMD using LLLT with wavelength ranging from 910 nm to 1100 nm.

BACKGROUND Yeast hydrolysate (YH) has multiple salutary biological activities. Nevertheless, the application of YH in broiler production is limited. This study was conducted to evaluate the protective effects of YH derived from Saccharomyces cerevisiae by exploring growth performance, serum parameters, organs relative weight, carcass traits, meat quality and antioxidant status of broilers. RESULTS Supplementing YH linearly and quadratically improved (P

This experiment was to study the effects of zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnO-NPs) on growth, intestinal barrier, oxidative status, and mineral deposition. In total, 256 one-day-old chicks were randomly allotted to 4 dietary groups and fed with basal diet plus 80 mg/kg ZnSO4 (ZnSO4 group) or plus 40, 80, and 160 mg/kg ZnO-NPs, respectively, for 21 days. Compared with the ZnSO4 group, dietary 40, 80, and 160 mg/kg ZnO-NPs did not alter growth (average daily gain, body weight, and gain to feed ratio), and serum activities of glutamic-pyruvic transaminase, alkaline phosphatase and glutamic oxalacetic transaminase (P > 0.05). However, dietary 80 and 160 mg/kg ZnO-NPs linearly decreased serum D-lactate content and diamine oxidase activity (P 0.05). No significant difference was found in selected mineral concentrations (Mn, Cu, Fe and Zn) in the liver among ZnSO4 and 3 ZnO-NP groups (P > 0.05). However, 160 mg/kg ZnO-NPs increased fecal contents of Zn, Fe and Cu (P 0.05). Therefore, results suggested that ZnO-NPs could be an additive to enhance the intestinal barrier and antioxidant capacity of broiler chicks, whereas the inclusion of 80 mg/kg would be more efficient.

In this paper, an unprecedented selective synthesis of dihydrophenanthridine and phenanthridine derivatives through the cascade reactions of 2-arylanilines with alkynoates is presented. Mechanistic studies showed that the formation of the dihydrophenanthridine scaffold involves an initial C(sp2)-H alkenylation of 2-arylaniline with alkynoate followed by an intramolecular aza-Michael addition. When this reaction is carried out at elevated temperature, the in situ formed substituted dihydrophenanthridine readily undergoes a retro-Mannich-type reaction to give the corresponding phenanthridine through C-C bond cleavage. Compared with literature methods, this novel protocol has advantages such as easily obtainable substrates with a free amino group, pharmaceutically privileged products, cheap catalysts, and conveniently controllable selectivity.

I. Background: The roles of antioxidants on the energy metabolism of disc cells are not clear. In this study, we clarified the roles of antioxidant N-acetylcysteine (NAC) on the energy metabolism of goat temporomandibular joint (TMJ) disc cells exposed to hypoxia. II. Methods and Results: The Isolated and cultured goat TMJ disc cells were divided into control, NAC group, cobalt chloride (CoCl2) group, and CoCl2 with NAC group, exposed to 21% O2 and 2% O2. The glucose consumption, lactate content, intracellular ATP, ROS, HIF-1α, GLUT1, LDHA, PKM2 and PGK1 expressions were detected respectively. Under the hypoxia model, NAC inhibited the mRNA expression of HIF-1α, GLUT1, LDHA, PKM2, and PGK1. And it significantly decreased the lactate content in the culture supernatant and the intracellular ROS. However, NAC increased glucose consumption and simultaneously promoted the production of ATP in goat TMJ disc cells under hypoxia. We speculated that NAC would transfer energy metabolism toward oxidative phosphorylation under hypoxia. And NAC would become a potential therapeutic target for TMJ disc engineering and disease study. III. Conclusions: The antioxidant NAC promoted the proliferation of hypoxia-inducible goat TMJ disc cells, and the CoCl2 group (21% O2) was promoted effectively (P < 0.05). NAC promoted glucose consumption in culture supernatants under hypoxia and significantly reduced lactate production (P < 0.01). NAC effectively eliminated intracellular ROS expression in hypoxia-inducible cells (P < 0.001) and promoted intracellular ATP production (P < 0.05). However, NAC inhibited the relative mRNA level of HIF-1α, GLUT1, LDHA, PKM2, and PGK1 (P < 0.05).

To compare the effects of different energy density LLLT on TMD patients’ pain reduction. Reviewers searched RCTs published in Embase, PubMed and The Cochrane Library before 1 April 2020. Reviewers included parallelRCTs that compared the effects of LLLT with placebo or different energy density LLLT for TMD patients’ pain reduction. Reviewers did network meta-analysis and evaluated the quality of evidence using the GRADE process. From 352 studies, reviewers included 16 RCTs. Immediately after treatment, the d1 laser therapy (energy density ranging from 0 to 10 J/cm2) ranked first. The d1 laser therapy showed more pain reduction than placebo ( MD = 2.49, 95% CI ranging from 1.28 to 3.71). The quality of “d1 vs p” comparison was assessed as “moderate” quality. A month after treatment, the d1 laser therapy also performed better than placebo (MD = 1.69, 95%CI = [-0.78, 4.16]). The quality of secondary outcome was assessed as “low” quality. For clinical application, d1 laser therapy (energy density ranging from 0 to 10 J/cm2) is recommended for short-term pain management of TMD patients (moderate quality evidence). A month after treatment, the d1 laser therapy also performed better than placebo and other laser groups but the result didn’t reach the point of statistical significance (low quality evidence). Trial registration: PROSPERO-CRD42018118313.

Star anise essential oil (SAO) is volatile oil extracted from star anise fruits (Illicium verum Hook. f) with a highly anise flavour and is widely used in food and pharmaceutical industries because...

PURPOSE: To explore the whole-chromosome status, origins, and mechanisms of chromosomal abnormalities in good-quality cleavage embryos using multiple annealing and looping-based amplification cycle (MALBAC) sequencing. METHODS: The embryos studied came from7 patients (maternal aged 26–35) who had healthy birth from the same IVF cycles. These 21 frozen day 3 good-quality embryos were thawed and disaggregated into individual blastomere. Each blastomere was collected and analyzed by MALBAC sequencing. RESULTS: Conclusive results were obtained from a high percentage of blastomeres (95.3%). A total of 46.6% of blastomeres were diploid, 53.4% were abnormal, and 28.0% had complex aneuploidy. Out of 21 embryos, 3 (14.3%) were normal and 18 (85.7%) were mosaics, showing the occurrence of mitotic errors; aneuploidy was confirmed in all cells of 4 of the 18 embryos, which showed the coexistence of meiotic errors. Conclusive results were obtained from all blastomeres of 15 embryos (71.4%, 15/21), which enabled us to reconstruct the cell lineage on the basis of the chromosomal content of the blastomeres in each division. There were 9 mitotic errors (8.7%, 9/103): nondisjunction accounted for 88.9% (8/9), and endoreplication accounted for 11.1% (1/9). CONCLUSIONS: In good-quality embryos, there was a high rate and diverse array of chromosomal abnormalities. Morphological evaluation does not appear to assist in the reduction in meiotic errors from parental origins. Mitotic errors were common, and nondisjunction was found to be the main mechanism causing malsegregation during the cleavage divisions. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (10.1007/s10815-020-01803-9) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

We report and demonstrate a dynamic Fizeau interferometer (DFI) capable of high-precision measurements under severe vibration. The method involves two interferometric passes: a null-interference pass (NP) and a circular carrier-frequency pass (CP). The NP adopts an on-axis Fizeau design, preserving the common path of the reference and test beams. The CP uses an assistant defocused source to generate circular fringe patterns, assisting the NP in phase extraction and sign correction. The feasibility and performance of the proposed method are demonstrated experimentally. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first proposal of a general asynchronous phase-shifting DFI that can not only demodulate null-fringe patterns and correct phase-sign ambiguity but can also maintain the common-path advantages of the Fizeau interferometer.

This experiment was undertaken to investigate the effects of dietary trans-anethole (TA) at 5 levels (0, 200, 400, 600, and 800 mg/kg of diet) on the growth performance, apparent nutrient digestibility and intestinal barrier function in broilers. Three hundred twenty 1-day-old Arbor Acres broilers were randomly divided into the 5 dietary treatments with 8 replicates each for 42 d. Dietary TA supplementation increased (P < 0.05) average daily feed intake (ADFI), but had no effects (P > 0.05) on average daily gain (ADG), feed/gain (F/G), and body weight (BW) of broilers throughout the entire experimental period. The apparent metabolizable energy (AME) and nitrogen-corrected apparent metabolizable energy (AMEn), the apparent total tract digestibility of dry matter (DM), crude protein (CP), organic matter (OM), and gross energy (GE) showed a quadratic increase (P < 0.05) with the increasing TA concentration in the diet. The apparent ileal digestibility of Lys, Met, Leu, Thr, Ala, Tyr, and Pro were higher (P < 0.05) in birds fed TA diets compared with control group. Dietary supplementation of 400 mg/kg of TA increased (P < 0.05) mRNA levels of jejunal and ileal Na+/glucose co-transporter (SGLT1) on d 21 and d 42, oligopeptide transporter 1 (PepT1) on d 42, and ileal mRNA expressions of occludin (OCLN), claudin-1 (CLDN-1), and mucin 2 (MUC2), villus height (VH), crypt depth (CD), and VH:CD on d 21, as well as jejunal zonula-occludens-1 (ZO-1) and ileal mucin 2 on d 42. Linear or quadratic responses of the jejunal CD and villus VH:CD ratio occurred (P < 0.01) with increasing dietary TA concentration on d 42. The inclusion of 400 mg/kg TA decreased (P < 0.05) cecal Escherichia coli population on d 21 and d 42, but increased (P < 0.05) Bifidobacterium population on d 21 and ileal Bifidobacterium on d 42. In conclusion, 400 mg/kg of TA is the optimum concentration for increasing nutrient utilization and intestinal barrier function of broilers.

Presented herein is an efficient and unprecedented synthesis of indolyl-tethered spiro[cyclobutane-1,1'-indenes] through the cascade reaction of 1-(pyridin-2-yl)-1

This paper proposes a robust phase unwrapping algorithm (RPUA) for phase unwrapping in the presence of noise and segmented phase. The RPUA method presents a new model of phase derivatives combined with error-correction iterations to achieve an anti-noise effect. Moreover, it bridges the phase islands in the spatial domain using numerical carrier frequency and fringe extrapolation thus eliminating height faults to enable solving segmented phase unwrapping. Numerical simulation and comparison with three conventional methods were performed, proving the high robustness and efficiency of the RPUA. Further, three experiments demonstrated that the RPUA can obtain the unwrapped phase under different noise accurately and possesses the capability to process segmented phases, indicating reliable practicality.

For a conventional Fizeau interferometer, accommodating both anti-vibration and conventional measurement modes is a challenge. Here, a dual-mode Fizeau interferometer (DFI) for dynamic optical measurement is proposed, which retains the conventional measurement mode. A vibration information measurement system is added to the conventional Fizeau interferometer for vibration-phase extraction. To better extract the vibration phase, a four-step phase-tilting iteration algorithm is proposed. The two combined systems separate the vibration information while retaining the Fizeau interferometry accuracy. Simulations and experiments prove that the two DFI modes both can accurately recover the phase. Thus, the DFI has considerable application potential for optical topography measurement.

In this paper, a Fizeau interferometer with double interference cavity is proposed to solve the influence of the environmental factors in high precision phase measurement. The proposed method adds a reference mirror, combined with a low-coherence source, to construct two interference cavities, which have the synchronous phase change. One of them has an adjustable spatial carrier frequency, which is used to calculate the relative deformation phase during the test, while the other has the same null fringe with the standard Fizeau interferometer. The measured phase can be retrieved by using the least square method with the calculated deformation phase and null fringe patterns. In addition, the visibility of the fringe of the two interference cavities are analyzed. Simulation and experiment demonstrate that the proposed method can realize the dynamic measurement of the mirror under the influence of the time-varying environment, and has reliable measurement accuracy.

A two-step iterative algorithm (TSIA) immune to tilt shifts is proposed for phase extraction in phase-shifting interferometry (PSI). The TSIA constructs a model of the least-squares iteration of the phase distribution and the tilt shifts based on parametric decoupling. Finally, the phase distribution is extracted via the least-squares method. The experimental results show that the PTI has high accuracy and fast iterative convergence speed for the conditions of the large amplitude of tilt shifts, closed fringes, nonuniform background and modulation.

This study was undertaken to investigate the protective role of trans-anethole (TA) in lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced rat intestinal epithelial cells (IEC-6) injury and the potential mechanisms. The cells were pretreated with TA (0 and 1 mM) for 24 h, prior to stimulation by LPS (1 mg/mL) for 24 h. Compared with the control group (CON), LPS stimulus resulted in decreased cell viability, intestinal barrier injury, increased cell apoptosis and cell cycle arrest at the G2/M phase. These effects triggered by LPS were reversed by TA. In order to reveal the main genes and pathways involved among the groups, transcriptome analysis was performed to identify the differential expression genes (DEGs) among the treatment groups. There were a total of 493 DEGs (275 upregulated and 218 downregulated) that were identified between the LPS and CON group. Meanwhile, a total of 361 DEGs (103 regulated and 258 downregulated) were identified in the LPS+TA group compared with the LPS group. The results showed that the DEGs were mostly enriched in immune related pathways, such as tumor necrosis factor (TNF) signaling pathway, cytokine-cytokine receptor interaction, complement and coagulation cascades, interleukin-17 (IL-17) signaling pathway, NF-kappa B (NF-κB) signaling pathway, antigen processing and presentation, and NOD-like receptor signaling pathway. Based on the results of RNA-sequencing, further investigation of the signaling pathway involved revealed that TA could inhibit the activation of toll like receptor 4 (TLR4)/NF-κB signaling pathway and NLR family pyrin domain containing 3 (NLRP3) inflammasome in LPS-induced IEC-6 cells. In conclusion, this finding demonstrated a functional role of TA in intestinal epithelial cells injury and indicated that TA may be a potential strategy for treatment of inflammatory intestinal diseases.

TLR4/NF-κB is a key inflammatory signaling transduction pathway, closely involved in cell differentiation, proliferation, apoptosis, and pro-inflammatory response. Toll like receptor 4 (TLR4), the first mammalian TLR to be characterized, is the innate immune receptor that plays a key role in inflammatory signal transductions. Nuclear factor kappa B (NF-κB), the TLR4 downstream, is the key to accounting for the expression of multiple genes involved in inflammatory responses, such as pro-inflammatory cytokines. Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) in humans is a chronic inflammatory disease with high incidence and prevalence worldwide. Targeting the TLR4/NF-κB signaling pathway might be an effective strategy to alleviate intestinal inflammation. Polyphenol phytochemicals have shown noticeable alleviative effects by acting on the TLR4/NF-κB signaling pathway in intestinal inflammation. This review summarizes the pharmacological effects of more than 20 kinds of polyphenols on intestinal inflammation via targeting the TLR4/NF-κB signaling pathway. We expected that polyphenol phytochemicals targeting the TLR4/NF-κB signaling pathway might be an effective approach to treat IBD in future clinical research applications.

Phytase is an enzyme that has the ability to release phosphorous (P) from phytate by hydrolyzing inositol-phosphate linkages. Recently, thermostable phytases have gained great consideration because the reduction in phytase activity was found when exposed to heat during feed pelleting. In this study, the effects of the granular thermostable phytase (Aspergillus niger) on growth performance and nutrient utilization of broilers were investigated. A total of 96 21-day-old Arbor Acres broilers were randomly distributed into six treatments including basal diet (control) and basal diet supplemented with 500, 1,000, 2,000, 4,000, 8,000 U of phytase/kg. In general, the metabolizable energy (ME) and the apparent and true availability of dry matter (DM), organic matter (OM), ether extract (EE), crude protein (CP), and amino acids (AA) showed both linearly (p

Background: Natural regeneration is critically important for the sustainable management of artificial forests. Studies have been investigated for the effects of seedlings height distribution and ontogenetic adaptability in a 60-year-old Quercus acutissima artificial pure forest in Mount Tai. Results: The results showed that the height distribution of seedlings under the forest was pyramidal-shape from the year 2010 to 2017. In 2017, the density of seedlings under the forest was only 61.63% of that in 2010, and the number of individuals at each height class was lower than that in 2010, especially the individuals at 20-40cm height class only 32% of that in 2010. With the increase of seedling height under the forest, seedling biomass (SB), ground diameter (GD), root mass ratio (RMR), total root length (TRL), root volume (RV), root average diameter (RAD) and nonstructural carbohydrates (NSC) increased significantly, but leaf mass ratio (LMR), leaf area ratio (LAR), photosynthetic/non-photosynthetic tissue ratio (P/NP), specific root length (SRL) and specific root surface area (SRA) decreased significantly. Correlation analysis showed that SB was negatively correlated with LMR, LAR, P/NP, SRL and SRA, and positively correlated with RMR, TRL, RV, RAD and NSC. NSC was negatively correlated with LMR, LAR, P/NP, SRL and SRA. Conclusions: Therefore, with the increase of seedlings height, the increased carbon storage was helpful for the seedlings of Q. acutissima to survive under the forest for a long time, but the reduced ability of light interception, photosynthetic tissue ratio, water and nutrient absorption capacity contributed to their low survival ratio under the forest.

This study was conducted to investigate the effect of taurine as a prophylactic treatment on antioxidant function and inflammatory responses of broilers challenged with lipopolysaccharide (LPS). A total of 256 one-day-old male Arbor Acres broiler chicks were randomly assigned to four treatments with eight replicates of eight birds (eight birds per cage). Four treatment groups were designated as follows: 1) in the CON group, broilers fed a basal diet; 2) in the LPS group, LPS-challenged broilers fed a basal diet; 3) in the LPS + T1 group, LPS-challenged broilers fed a basal diet supplemented with 5.0 g/kg taurine; and 4) in the LPS + T2 group, LPS-challenged broilers fed a basal diet supplemented with 7.5 g/kg taurine. The LPS-challenged broilers were intraperitoneally injected with 1 mg/kg body weight (BW) of LPS at 16, 18, and 20 d of age, whereas the CON group received an injection of sterile saline. The results showed that broilers injected with LPS exhibited decreased (P < 0.05) the average daily gain (ADG) and the 21-d BW (P < 0.05), while taurine supplementation alleviated the negative effects of LPS. Additionally, the LPS-induced increases (P < 0.05) in serum alanine transaminase and aspartate transaminase activities were reversed by taurine supplementation. The taurines could alleviate the hepatic oxidative stress, with the presence of lower content of malondialdehyde (P < 0.05), higher content of glutathione (P < 0.05), and an increased glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px) activity (P < 0.05). The concentrations of interleukin-1β (IL-1β), interleukin-6 (IL-6), and tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) in the liver were measured by ELISA kits, and the result showed that dietary taurine supplementation prevented these cytokines increases in the liver of LPS-induced broilers. Taurine reduced the genes expression of IL-1β, TNF-α, IL-6, cyclooxygenase-2, and inducible nitric oxide synthase, whereas it boosted the expression levels of antioxidant-related genes (nuclear factor erythroid 2-related factor 2, heme oxygenase-1, glutamate-cysteine ligase catalytic subunit, and GSH-Px) in the liver of LPS-induced broilers. In conclusion, dietary taurine supplementation in broilers mitigated LPS-induced defects in ADG, oxidative stress, and inflammatory responses.

This experiment was conducted to investigate the effect of star anise essential oil (SAO) supplementation in diets with different energy levels on growth performance, nutrient metabolic efficiency of broilers. One hundred and ninety-two Arbor Acres male broiler chicks at 28 days of age were divided into a 3 × 4 factorial arrangement design with three dietary energy levels (13.41, 12.82, 12.23 MJ/kg) and 4 levels of SAO supplementation (0, 200, 400, and 600 mg/kg of diet). Dietary supplementation with SAO increased (p < .05) apparent metabolic efficiency of CP, EE, GE, and all of the amino acids except Trp. Significant interactions were noted between energy level and SAO administration for metabolic efficiency of CP, all of the amino acids except Cys. Inclusion of SAO enhanced apparent nutrient metabolic efficiency of broilers in a dose-dependent manner, birds supplemented with 400 mg/kg of SAO in high-energy diets appeared to contain highest nutrient metabolic efficiency, moreover, the metabolic efficiency of nutrients in low-energy diets along with 200 or 400 mg/kg of SAO was similar with that in high-energy diets without SAO, which indicated that the SAO might ameliorate the negative effects of reduced dietary metabolic energy on nutrient utilization in broilers.

Background: The comparative effectiveness of low-level laser therapy (LLLT) and transcutaneous electric nerve stimulation (TENS) in the treatment of pain caused by temporomandibular joint disorders (TMD) has not been evaluated.Methods: PubMed, Cochrane Library and Embase were searched from their inception until 27 October 2019. Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) that compared the effects of LLLT or TENS or placebo group for TMD patients’ pain reduction were included. The reviewers assessed the risk of bias of individual studies with the Cochrane risk of bias tool, excluding RCTs with a high risk of bias in any domain. Then the reviewers did network meta-analysis and assessed the quality of evidence contributing to network estimate using the GRADE framework.Results: 20 RCTs with 758 patients with TMD were included. In the pair-wise meta-analysis, LLLT and TENs showed a significant pain reduction in the visual analogue scale (VAS) compared with placebo immediately after treatment [mean difference (MD)=1.99, 95% confidence interval (CI):(1.07,2.92); MD=2.16, 95%CI:(0.27,4.04), respectively]. As for pain reduction one month after treatment, LLLT performed better and there was no statistically significant difference for TENS as compared with placebo. Conclusion: The results of this meta-analysis showed the short-term efficacy of LLLT is more positive than TENS in the treatment of pain caused by temporomandibular joint disorders.

To investigate the effects of dietary supplementation of star anise oil (SAO) on performance and antioxidant status of laying hens, a total of 864 Hy-Line brown laying hens at 26 wk of age were randomly allocated to 4 treatments with 6 replicates of 36 birds. Dietary treatments were non-star anise oil supplementation and supplemented with SAO at the level of 200, 400, and 600 mg/kg diet. The birds were fed the diets for 56 d. Average egg weight, average daily feed intake (ADFI), egg mass, laying rate, and feed conversion of each replicate were measured. Blood and liver samples from 12 birds were obtained, 72 eggs were picked out, per treatment at day 28 and day 56 of the experiment, and eggs stored for 56 d, to determine antioxidant status in serum, liver, and yolk. All laying hens had similar average egg weight, egg mass, laying rate, and feed conversion in day 29 to day 56 or the entire period of the experiment but significant difference on ADFI in day 1 to day 56. However, increasing diet concentration of SAO tended to improve (P0.10) egg mass, average egg weight, and ADFI in day 1 to day 28. Supplementation of SAO linearly increased (P0.05) activities of total superoxide dismutase (T-SOD) (day 28 and day 56) and glutathione peroxidase (GSH-PX) (day 56) in serum, GSH-PX (day 28 and day 56) in liver and total antioxidant capacity (T-AOC) (day 56) in serum and liver, but linearly reduced (P0.05) concentrations of malondialdehyde (MDA) (day 28 and day 56) in liver. Supplementation of SAO linearly increased (P0.05) T-SOD activity at day 14 and day 28, reduced (P0.05) MDA concentration at day 42 and day 56 of the experiment in yolk. Increasing content of SAO linearly (P0.05) increased T-SOD activity in yolk of eggs stored at day 0, 14, 28, 42, and 56, decreased MDA content of eggs stored at day 42 and 56, whether laying hens fed diets for 28 or 56 d. Dietary supplementation of SAO enhanced laying performance and overall antioxidant status of laying hens in a dose-dependent manner.

As a vital piece of equipment, electronic voltage transformer is widely used in the power system measurements. The current calibration techniques of this asset class exhibit several issues including complex real time implementation. In contrary with existing calibration techniques, this paper proposes a new correction system for electronic voltage transformers, which can be conducted online without causing any interruption to the electricity grid. The new proposed correction system utilizes an SF6 cylinder capacitor and employs an advanced signal processing technique based on the improved Rife frequency shift algorithm. The improved Rife frequency shift algorithm is a combination of the Hanning self-convolution window and the conventional Rife algorithm, which features simple calculation and high accuracy. Results show that the accuracy of the proposed algorithm is higher than the conventional commonly used interpolation algorithms. Compared with the existing traditional calibration techniques, the proposed system features easy online implementation, simple calculation and high accuracy. The robustness of the proposed system is validated through simulation analysis and practical field measurements.

This study investigated whether resveratrol could improve meat quality, muscular antioxidant capacity, lipid metabolism and fiber type composition of intrauterine growth retarded pigs. Thirty-six pairs of male normal birth weight and intrauterine growth retardation (IUGR) piglets were orally fed with 80 mg resveratrol/kg body weight/d or vehicle during the sucking period (7–21 d). Then the offspring were fed with a basal diet containing 300 mg resveratrol/kg or a basal diet from weaning to slaughter (150 d). The IUGR-impaired meat quality (luminance and yellowness) was associated with muscular oxidative stress via increased Keap1 protein level, fat accumulation, and higher MyHC IIb gene expression. Expectedly, resveratrol increased glutathione peroxidase activity and MyHC I gene expression, reduced protein carbonyl and malondialdehyde contents, enhanced fatty acid oxidation via upregulated PPARα and targeted genes expression, and thereby improving drip loss and yellowness. Results indicate that resveratrol improved meat quality of IUGR pigs through enhancing antioxidant capacity, increasing oxidative fiber composition, and suppressing lipid accumulation.

An experiment using 96 Hy-Line brown laying hens at 29 weeks of age that were randomly allocated to four treatments with eight replicates was conducted to assess the effects of star anise (Illicium verum Hook.f.) oil (SAO) on nutrient and energy utilization. Dietary treatments were corn-soybean meal-based diets supplemented with 0, 200, 400, and 600 mg/kg SAO. The birds were fed the diets for 14 days. The conventional nutrients and amino acids of feed and excreta samples were measured for calculating apparent metabolic efficiency, and gross energy (GE) was analyzed for computation of apparent metabolic energy (AME) and true metabolic energy (TME). Endogenous losses were obtained from another 16 birds for calculating true metabolic efficiency. Birds supplemented with SAO had higher (p < 0.05) metabolic efficiency of crude protein (CP), organic matter (OM), Lys, Met, Arg, and Thr than those of control group. Quadratic effects on utilization of Lys, Met, and Thr were observed (p < 0.05). Inclusion of SAO to diet improved nutrient utilization, and the efficacy is best at 400 mg/kg.

Highlights: • Ag{sub 2}WO{sub 4}/AgX hybrid nanorods were prepared by a facile in-situ anion exchange reaction. • Ag{sub 2}WO{sub 4} nanorods and different X{sup −} ions were reacted in water at room temperature. • The hybrids possess significantly enhanced photoelectrochemical properties. • Ag{sub 2}WO{sub 4}/AgBr hybrids exhibit the highest photocatalytic activity among three samples. • The active species tests were also investigated to confirm photocatalytic mechanism. - Abstract: In this work, we demonstrated a general strategy for the preparation of a series of uniform Ag{sub 2}WO{sub 4}/AgX (X = Cl, Br, I) hybrid nanorods by a facile in-situ anion exchange reaction occurring at room temperature between pregrown Ag{sub 2}WO{sub 4} nanorods and different X{sup −} ions in water. Compared with Ag{sub 2}WO{sub 4} nanorods, further investigation has revealed that the as-prepared hybrid nanorods possess significantly enhanced photocurrent response and photocatalytic activity in degrading methyl orange (MO) under visible-light irradiation. In particular, the Ag{sub 2}WO{sub 4}/AgBr hybrid nanorods exhibit the highest photocatalytic activity among the three kinds of samples. The active species tests indicate that superoxide anion radicals and photogenerated holes are responsible for the enhanced photocatalytic performance.

We have developed an environment-friendly low-temperature chemical precipitation approach for the accurate coating of ZnO nanocrystals onto nitrogen-doped carbon nanotubes(N-CNTs) to form ZnO/N-CNTs nanohybrids, which only use zinc acetate dehydrate, N-CNTs and NaOH as initiating materials without employing any additional surfactant and react in ethanol at 60 °C for 2 h. Through this facile process, the as-obtained nanohybrids preserve the good dispersity and uniformity of initial N-CNTs and the loading amount of the ZnO nanocrystals can be conveniently varied or controlled by the concentration of the zinc precursor. Furthermore, the products exhibit the enhanced visible-light photocatalytic activity for the degradation of rhodamine B (RhB) and benzoic acid. It is believed that this simple strategy can be extended to synthesize other metal-oxide/N-CNTs nanohybrids for different applications.

α-Fe2O3 hollow spheres with novel multiple porous shells were successfully prepared by a facile solvothermal treatment of carbon spheres and FeCl3⋅6H2O in ethylene glycol at 200 °C for 10 h, followed by calcination in air at 500 °C for 3 h. X-ray powder diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) were used to characterize the crystalline structure and morphology of the multi-shelled hollow spheres, and a possible growth mechanism of multiple shells was discussed. Furthermore, the as-obtained products exhibit enhanced visible-light photocatalytic activity for the degradation of rhodamine B (RhB) in the presence of H2O2.