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The profile and time evolution of a solid/liquid interface in a phase change process is estimated by solving an inverse heat transfer problem, using data measurements in the solid phase only. One then faces the inverse resolution of a heat equation in a variable and a priori unknown 2D domain. This ill-posed problem is solved by a regularization approach: the unknown function (position of the melting front) is obtained by minimization of a two component criterion, consisting of a distance between the output of a simulation model and the measured data, to which a penalizing function is added in order to restore the continuity of the inverse operator. A numerical study is developed to analyze the validity domain of the identification method. From simulation tests, it is shown that the minimum signal/noise ratio that can be handled depends strongly on the position of the measurement sensors.

This study investigated the effects of indoor stocking density on performance, egg quality, and welfare status of a native chicken, Beijing You Chicken (BYC), during 22 to 38 wk. A total of 1,040 19-wk-old BYC pullets were randomly allocated to 4 groups (2 replicates each) and reared in 8 individual floor pens with separate covered shed and uncovered outdoor areas. The indoor stocking densities were 5, 6, 7, and 8 hens/m2, and the birds were fed corn-soybean based diets. The performance was calculated for 22 to 30, 30 to 38, and 22 to 38 wk, and egg quality indices were measured at the end of weeks 26, 29, and 36. The feather cover and gait score of the birds were assessed at the end of weeks 29 and 36. The results showed that average feed intake (AFI) and mortality rate of BYC in the 8 hens/m2 group were higher than other groups during 22 to 30 wk (P = 0.001 and P = 0.005); the egg mass and egg-laying rate were higher in groups with lower stocking density, in contrast to the feed egg ratio during 30 to 38 wk. The AFI, mortality rate, and 38-wk body weight were affected by stocking density during 22 to 38 wk (P < 0.05). Most of egg quality indices were not changed by stocking density (P > 0.05), except for individual indicators, such as Haugh unit at week 26 (P = 0.012) and egg grade at week 29 (P = 0.026). The feather cover and gait scores of birds were affected by indoor stocking density at 36 wk of age, with the 8 hens/m2 group having lower scores than the 5, 6, and 7 hens/m2 groups (P = 0.042 and P = 0.039), whereas the 7 hens/m2 groups having no difference with the 5 and 6 hens/m2 groups (P > 0.05). Overall, the results suggested that the performance and egg quality of BYC were not significantly affected by equal to or less than 7 hens/m2 under this system (P > 0.05), but 8 hens/m2 had an adverse effect on the performance and welfare status of the native chicken during 22 to 38 wk. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Music or other background sounds are often played in barns as environmental enrichment for animals on farms or to mask sudden disruptive noises. Previous studies looking at the effects of this practice on non-human animal well-being and productivity have found contradictory results. However, there is still a lack of discussion on whether piglets have the ability to distinguish different types of music. In this study, we exposed piglets to different music conditions to investigate whether the piglets preferred certain music types, in which case those types would have the potential to be used as environmental enrichment. In total, 30 piglets were tested for music type preference to determine whether growing pigs respond differently to different types of music. We used music from two families of instruments (S: string, W: wind) and with two tempos (S: slow, 65 beats/min (bpm); F: fast, 200 bpm), providing four music-type combinations (SS: string-slow; SF: string-fast; WS: wind-slow; WF: wind-fast). The piglets were given a choice between two chambers, one with no music and the other with one of the four types of music, and their behaviour was observed. The results showed that SS and WF music significantly increased residence time (P <0.01) compared with the other music conditions. Compared with the control group (with no music), the different music conditions led to different behavioural responses, where SS music significantly increased lying (P <0.01) and exploration behaviour (P <0.01); SF music significantly increased tail-wagging behaviour (P <0.01); WS music significantly increased exploration (P <0.01); and WF music significantly increased walking, lying, standing and exploration (all P <0.01). The results also showed that musical instruments and tempo had little effect on most of the behaviours. Fast-tempo music significantly increased walking (P =0.02), standing (P <0.01) and tail wagging (P =0.04) compared with slow-tempo music. In conclusion, the results of this experiment show that piglets are more sensitive to tempo than to musical instruments in their response to musical stimulation and seem to prefer SS and WF music to the other two types. The results also suggest a need for further research on the effect of music types on animals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

OBJECTIVE: Ovarian cancer ranks 5th leading cause of cancer-related death in females worldwide. Physcion 8-O-β-glucopyranoside (PG) is an anthraquinone compound isolated from Rumex japonicus Houtt. This study aimed at investigating the effect of PG on ovarian cancer cells. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Cell viability was detected by CCK-8 assay. Colony formation assay evaluated whether PG could affect anchorage- independent growth. Whether PG affected cell cycle progression was examined by flow cytometry. The morphological changes caused by PG were visualized by microscopy. Apoptosis was quantitatively analyzed by flow cytometry. The effect of PG on cell migration and invasion was assessed by wound healing and transwell, respectively. The effect of PG on the expression of molecular markers was determined by Western blot. Microarray assay was performed to identify the potential target of PG. RESULTS: Results from the present study showed that PG decreased ovarian cancer cells viability. Colony formation assay also showed that PG suppressed the anchorage-independent growth of SKOV3 and OVCAR-3 cells. PG triggered cell cycle arrest at G1/G0 phase. The pro-apoptotic activity of PG was confirmed by flow cytometry, activation of caspase-3 and PARP, upregulation of Bax and downregulation of Bcl-2. The ability of PG to inhibit migration and invasion was evidenced by a decrease in wound healing and invasive cell number, as well as downregulation of MMP-2 and upregulation of TIMP-3. Microarray and qRT-PCR showed that miR-25 expression was downregulated by PG treatment. Moreover, our results indicated that the anti-cancer activities of PG were augmented by miR-25 knockdown and attenuated by ectopic miR-25 expression. CONCLUSIONS: PG exhibited anti-cancer activity in ovarian cancer by downregulating miR-25. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

OBJECTIVE: Hemorrhagic shock is a common vital condition in obstetrics, and major treatment consists of bleeding control and liquid resuscitation. MicroRNA (miR) has been found to regulate multiple diseases. However, its expression profile in hemorrhagic shock or effects on the ischemia-reperfusion injury in pregnant mice has not been reported yet. PATIENTS AND METHODS: This study generated rat hemorrhagic shock pregnant model, on which real-time quantitative PCR was used to measure miR-34a expressions. MiR-34a inhibitor was applied to specifically suppress miR- 34a expression. Serum malondialdehyde (MDA) and superoxide dismutase (SOD) levels were measured by using the commercial kit. Ischemia- reperfusion injury on rat kidney, lung, liver and intestine tissues was evaluated by using hematoxylin-eosin (HE) staining. RESULTS: In a hemorrhagic shock pregnant rat model, miR-34a expression level was significantly elevated compared to the Normal group (p < 0.05). Application of miR-34a inhibitor effectively suppressed the miR-34a expression in rat kidney, lung, liver and intestine tissues (p < 0.05 compared to normal group). Model rats also had significantly elevated serum MDA and significantly lower SOD levels compared to Normal group (p < 0.05). miR-34a inhibitor reversed this abnorma lity to certain extents (p < 0.05 compared to model group). HE results showed ischemia- reperfusion damage in rat kidney, lung, liver and intestine tissues. miR-34a inhibitor improved such injury. CONCLUSIONS: Suppression of miR-34a could alleviate multi-organ damage after re-perfusion of hemorrhagic shock pregnant rats, probably due to the suppression of oxidative stress. Suppression of miR-34a might work as the treatment target treating multi-organ damage caused by hemorrhagic shock. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The spin-Hamiltonian parameters (g factors g//, g⊥ and zero-field splitting D) of the trigonal Cr3+ centers in Cr3+-doped ABO3 (A = Sc, In, Lu) borate crystals are computed from both the complete diagonalization (of energy matrix) method and also the perturbation method based on the two-spin–orbit-parameter model, where the contributions to spin-Hamiltonian parameters due to both the spin–orbit parameter of central dn ion and that of ligands via covalence effect are considered. The calculated results are compatible with those available in experiments. The defect structures of the trigonal (CrO6)9− octahedral centers are also evaluated from the calculations. It is found that the trigonal (MO6)9− octahedra change from the elongation in the host crystals to the compression in the impurity centers because of the large size and nature mismatch substitution in these Cr3+-doped ABO3 crystals. The results are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]