ABSTRACT The objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of dietary supplementation with different levels of nano-selenium (NS) on growth performance, antioxidant activity, biochemical parameters, and selenium content in Landes geese. A total of 120 80-week-old healthy Landes geese (4.44±0.03 kg) were randomly assigned to three groups, each with four replicates of 10 birds. The control birds were fed a basal diet without further dietary supplementation (0.0 mg/kg of NS) and the two experimental groups were fed the basal diet supplemented with dietary NS at 0.2 or 0.4 mg/kg of feed. The results demonstrated that NS dietary supplementation had no significant effect on growth performance. Increased total superoxide dismutase activity in serum, breast muscle and liver, glutathione peroxidase level in serum and liver, and catalase in breast muscle and liver were observed for both NS supplemented groups. Additionally, reduced malondialdehyde in serum, breast muscle, and liver was detected in both NS-supplemented groups. Compared with the control, the birds fed diets supplemented with NS had lower concentrations of alanine aminotransferase, triglyceride, aspartate aminotransferase, and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol in serum, while high-density lipoprotein cholesterol was increased. Furthermore, increased selenium, especially in the liver, was found in groups with dietary supplementation of NS. These findings suggest the supplementation of NS in diets can improve antioxidant status, biochemical parameters, and tissue selenium content, although it has no significant effect on growth performance of Landes geese.

Abstract In this research, a total of 47 samples from five types of fermented soybeans were selected. The physicochemical parameters, biogenic amines (BAs) and bioactive compounds such as isoflavones, total phenolic (TPC) and γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA) were investigated. The results showed that the contents of isoflavones ranged from 598.06 mg/kg to 2725.03 mg/kg in all samples and it varied from 598.96 mg/kg to 2241.67 mg/kg in Semen Sojae Preparatum (SSP) which was higher than other types of fermented soybeans. The maximum variation of GABA content was found in Aspergillus-type douchi (AD) samples. The maximum value of TPC in SSP was 4.53 g/kg. For BAs, the indicator of spoilage, 4.26% of fermented soybeans samples may lead to histamine poisoning and 42.55% of samples with total BAs contents exceeding 100 mg/kg may be harmful to human body. It indicated that different types of fermented soybeans had various bioactive compounds and BAs, so different fermented soybeans could be selected according to bioactive substances. This finding could provide comprehensive information of health beneficial compounds and BAs risks of fermented soybeans. It could guide consumers to select healthy, nutritious and safety fermented soybeans.

Abstract TBX5 has been linked to Holt-Oram syndrome, with congenital heart defect (CHD) and atrial fibrillation (AF) being two major cardiac phenotypes. However, the prevalence of a TBX5 variation in patients with CHD and AF remains obscure. In this research, by sequencing analysis of TBX5 in 178 index patients with both CHD and AF, a novel heterozygous variation, NM_000192.3: c.577G>T; p.(Gly193*), was identified in one index patient with CHD and AF as well as bicuspid aortic valve (BAV), with an allele frequency of approximately 0.28%. Genetic analysis of the proband’s pedigree showed that the variation co-segregated with the diseases. The pathogenic variation was not detected in 292 unrelated healthy subjects. Functional analysis by using a dual-luciferase reporter assay system showed that the Gly193*-mutant TBX5 protein failed to transcriptionally activate its target genes MYH6 and NPPA. Moreover, the mutation nullified the synergistic transactivation between TBX5 and GATA4 as well as NKX2-5. Additionally, whole-exome sequencing analysis showed no other genes contributing to the diseases. This investigation firstly links a pathogenic variant in the TBX5 gene to familial CHD and AF as well as BAV, suggesting that CHD and AF as well as BAV share a common developmental basis in a subset of patients.

RESUMO: Para resolver o problema que os nós do caule são difíceis de identificar no processo de corte automático de sementes de cana-de-açúcar, é proposto, neste artigo, um método para identificar os nós do colmo da cana-de-açúcar com base nos pontos extremos da função de projeção vertical. Em primeiro lugar, a fim de reduzir a influência da luz no processamento da imagem, a imagem de cor RGB foi convertida em imagem de cor HSI, e a imagem de componente S do espaço de cores HSI é extraída como um objeto de pesquisa. Em seguida, o método Otsu foi usado para binarizar o mapa do componente S, e a operação morfológica fechada foi usada para preencher os espaços da imagem binária, e a projeção horizontal da imagem binária foi usada para separar a cana de açúcar do fundo. Finalmente, a posição do caule de cana-de-açúcar foi preliminarmente determinada através da tomada contínua do derivado da função de projeção vertical da imagem binária, e a soma do valor pixel local da coluna de pixel suspeito foi comparada para determinar ainda mais o nódulo da cana-de-açúcar. Os resultados experimentais mostram que a taxa de reconhecimento do nó de haste única foi de 100%, o desvio padrão foi inferior a 1.1 mm. A precisão da identificação simultânea de nós de haste dupla foi de 98%, o desvio padrão foi menor que 1.7 mm. A precisão da identificação simultânea dos três nós de haste é de 95%, o desvio padrão foi inferior a 2.2 mm. Comparado com os outros métodos introduzidos neste artigo, o método proposto possui maior reconhecimento e precisão.

ABSTRACT: In order to solve the problem that the stem nodes are difficult to identify in the process of sugarcane seed automatic cutting, a method of identifying the stem nodes of sugarcane based on the extreme points of vertical projection function is proposed in this paper. Firstly, in order to reduce the influence of light on image processing, the RGB color image is converted to HSI color image, and the S component image of the HSI color space is extracted as a research object. Then, the S component image is binarized by the Otsu method, the hole of the binary image is filled by morphology closing algorithm, and the sugarcane and the background are initially separated by the horizontal projection map of the binary image. Finally, the position of sugarcane stem is preliminarily determined by continuously taking the derivative of the vertical projection function of the binary image, and the sum of the local pixel value of the suspicious pixel column is compared to further determine the sugarcane stem node. The experimental results showed that the recognition rate of single stem node is 100%, and the standard deviation is less than 1.1 mm. The accuracy of simultaneous identification of double stem nodes is 98%, and the standard deviation is less than 1.7 mm. The accuracy of simultaneous identification of the three stem nodes is 95%, and the standard deviation is less than 2.2 mm. Compared with the other methods introduced in this paper, the proposed method has higher recognition and accuracy.

RESUMO: Depois de usar o método conhecido como escala de cinza para plantas de milho, a diferença de escala de cinza entre diferentes partes da planta é grande ou a diferenciação do solo não é alta, a precisão do trajeto de navegação é baixa e a velocidade é lenta. Neste trabalho foi proposto um novo método de extração da linha de referência de navegação para campos de milho, que é usado para controlar a caminhada de robôs agrícolas. Os métodos de projeto incluem: segmentação de imagem, extração de ponto de navegação e encaixe de linha de navegação. A segmentação por imagem é baseada na separação de culturas e solos com base no novo fator de escala de cinza combinado com a filtragem mediana, método de Otsu e operação morfológica. A extração de pontos de navegação é baseada em um mapa de projeção vertical de imagem de dois valores para obter a área de interesse, e as coordenadas do ponto de navegação são determinadas por cálculo do ponto central relativo no pixel branco da linha amostral na área de interesse. O fator de escala de cinza melhorado nesta pesquisa irá extrair o centro da entre linha de plantio alvo com uma taxa de precisão de 92%. A precisão de extração da linha de navegação é mais de 90%. O erro máximo foi de 5cm quando o experimento de rastreamento de navegação em tempo foi é realizado em campos de milho.

ABSTRACT: Focusing on the problem that corn plant in different growth periods is grayed out by known methods, the gray scale difference of different part is large or the soil discrimination degree is not high, the navigation path is low in accuracy and speed. This paper proposed a new method for extracting cornfield navigation baselines, which is used to control walking of agricultural robots. Design method included image segmentation, navigation point extraction, and navigation path fitting. Image segmentation is based on a new grayscale factor combined with median filtering, OSTU method and morphological operations to achieve the separation of crops and soil. The extraction of the navigation point is based on the binary image vertical projection map to obtain the region of interest, and the navigation point coordinates are determined by calculating the relative center point of the white pixel points of the sampling line in the region of interest. The Hough transform is used to fit the navigation point obtained by the vertical projection map to determine the navigation path, and then the control parameters are obtained. The gray scale factor that is improved in this paper combined with the vertical projection map can extract the target ridge with an accuracy rate of 92%, and the accuracy of extracting the navigation line is more than 90%. When conducting navigation tracking experiments in corn field, the maximum error is 5cm.

Abstract The spin Hamiltonian parameters (SHPs) (g factors and zero-field splittings (ZFSs) D and E) and the local structure for Cr3+ in K2PdCl4 single crystal are theoretically investigated from the perturbation calculations of the SHPs for an orthorhombically distorted octahedral 3d3 cluster. The impurity Cr3+ is found not to occupy the conventional square planar Pd2+ site but to locate at the octahedral K+ site, associated with the relative axial compression ratio ρ( ≈ 11.1%) and the perpendicular bond length variation ratio τ( ≈ 11.7%). The impurity centre exhibits much smaller axial compression distortion and much larger perpendicular orthorhombic distortion than the host K+ site in K2PdCl4 ρ H ≈ 18.6% and τ H ≈ 0) and hence a more regular ligand octahedron, corresponding to the very small ZFSs. The contributions to g-shifts Δ g C T from the CT mechanism are opposite in sign and twenty-one times larger in magnitude compared with Δ g C F from the CF mechanism. For the ZFSs, the CT contributions DCT and ECT are opposite in sign and almost the same in magnitude with respect to the corresponding DCF and ECF.

OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to identify novel PITX2c mutations responsible for idiopathic atrial fibrillation. METHODS: A cohort of 210 unrelated patients with idiopathic atrial fibrillation and 200 unrelated, ethnically matched healthy individuals used as controls were recruited. The whole coding exons and splice junctions of the PITX2c gene, which encodes a paired-like homeobox transcription factor required for normal cardiovascular morphogenesis, were sequenced in 210 patients and 200 control subjects. The causative potentials of the identified mutations were automatically predicted by MutationTaster and PolyPhen-2. The functional characteristics of the PITX2c mutations were explored using a dual-luciferase reporter assay system. RESULTS: Two novel heterozygous PITX2c mutations (p.Q105L and p.R122C) were identified in 2 of the 210 unrelated patients with idiopathic atrial fibrillation. These missense mutations were absent in the 400 control chromosomes and were both predicted to be pathogenic. Multiple alignments of PITX2c protein sequences across various species showed that the altered amino acids were highly evolutionarily conserved. A functional analysis demonstrated that the mutant PITX2c proteins were both associated with significantly reduced transcriptional activity compared with their wild-type counterparts. CONCLUSION: The findings of this study associate PITX2c loss-of-function mutations with atrial fibrillation, supporting the hypothesis that dysfunctional PITX2c confers enhanced susceptibility to atrial fibrillation and suggesting potential implications for early prophylaxis and allele-specific therapy for this common arrhythmia.

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to evaluate the prevalence and spectrum of Nkx2.5 mutations associated with idiopathic atrial fibrillation (AF). METHODS: A cohort of 136 unrelated patients with idiopathic atrial fibrillation and 200 unrelated, ethnically matched healthy controls were enrolled. The coding exons and splice junctions of the Nkx2.5 gene were sequenced in 136 atrial fibrillation patients, and the available relatives of mutation carriers and 200 controls were subsequently genotyped for the identified mutations. The functional characteristics of the mutated Nkx2.5 gene were analyzed using a dual-luciferase reporter assay system. RESULTS: Two novel heterozygous Nkx2.5 mutations (p.N19D and p.F186S) were identified in 2 of the 136 unrelated atrial fibrillation cases, with a mutational prevalence of approximately 1.47%. These missense mutations co-segregated with atrial fibrillation in the families and were absent in the 400 control chromosomes. Notably, 2 mutation carriers also had congenital atrial septal defects and atrioventricular block. Multiple alignments of the Nkx2.5 protein sequences across various species revealed that the altered amino acids were completely conserved evolutionarily. Functional analysis demonstrated that the mutant Nkx2.5 proteins were associated with significantly reduced transcriptional activity compared to their wild-type counterpart. CONCLUSION: These findings associate the Nkx2.5 loss-of-function mutation with atrial fibrillation and atrioventricular block and provide novel insights into the molecular mechanism involved in the pathogenesis of atrial fibrillation. These results also have potential implications for early prophylaxis and allele-specific therapy of this common arrhythmia.