The goal of this research was to gain understanding of in vitro methane (CH4) production from the cecal contents of White Roman geese under various incubation conditions. Five experiments were conducted to ascertain the effects of i) incubation time, ii) pH, iii) the addition of formic acid to the culture media, iv) temperature, and v) the addition of salt to the nutritive liquid. Methane production increased significantly with the supplementation of formic acid in the culture fluid (Experiment III). Additionally, CH4 production Experiment V was higher than that without saline. In contrast, low CH4 production occurred under acidic conditions (pH< 5.4) and at temperatures higher or lower than typical bird body temperature (43 °C) without formic acid and saline solution in the culture media. Since bird body temperature cannot be controlled easily, approaches such as maintaining cecum fluid at low pH and preventing the formation of formic acid by adjusting the recipes of feeds could be considered for controlling in vivo CH4 production from the intestinal tract digesta of geese.

Osteosarcoma (OS) is the most common primary bone malignancy, but current therapies are far from effective for all patients. A better understanding of the pathological mechanism of OS may help to achieve new treatments for this tumor. Hence, the objective of this study was to investigate ego modules and pathways in OS utilizing EgoNet algorithm and pathway-related analysis, and reveal pathological mechanisms underlying OS. The EgoNet algorithm comprises four steps: constructing background protein-protein interaction (PPI) network (PPIN) based on gene expression data and PPI data; extracting differential expression network (DEN) from the background PPIN; identifying ego genes according to topological features of genes in reweighted DEN; and collecting ego modules using module search by ego gene expansion. Consequently, we obtained 5 ego modules (Modules 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6) in total. After applying the permutation test, all presented statistical significance between OS and normal controls. Finally, pathway enrichment analysis combined with Reactome pathway database was performed to investigate pathways, and Fisher's exact test was conducted to capture ego pathways for OS. The ego pathway for Module 2 was CLEC7A/inflammasome pathway, while for Module 3 a tetrasaccharide linker sequence was required for glycosaminoglycan (GAG) synthesis, and for Module 6 was the Rho GTPase cycle. Interestingly, genes in Modules 4 and 5 were enriched in the same pathway, the 2-LTR circle formation. In conclusion, the ego modules and pathways might be potential biomarkers for OS therapeutic index, and give great insight of the molecular mechanism underlying this tumor.

Tribo-electrostatic beneficiation is effective for separating unburned carbon from fly ash. During the process, the fly ash particles become charged owing to friction and collision inside a tribo device. The intensity of friction and collision between particles can be deduced from the tribo device temperature field, obtained by infrared thermography. The purpose of this research was to establish whether an appropriate configuration of tribo device models can be obtained from particle collision experiments using infrared thermography. An experimental set-up was configured to study tribo devices with different arrangements and spacing of the friction rods, and the effect that this has on interparticle collision and the tribo-electrostatic beneficiation process. The experimental material was fly ash particles with a size range from 38 µm to 74 µm and loss on ignition (LOI) 12.65%. The operating conditions were electric field voltage 40 kV and the air flux ranged from 12 to 24 m³/h. The results show that the temperature inside the tribo devices is directly proportional to air flux and particle collision rate. The arrangement and spacing of the friction rods has an important effect on the temperature field distribution. An equilateral triangular arrangement with 20 mm spacing significantly increases the temperature value and collision probability. The optimum operating parameters were established through tribo-electrostatic beneficiation experiments on the fly ash, and the results (LOI of the product at the two electrodes and rate of removal of unburned carbon at the negative plate) were consistent with those of the infrared thermography experiments. A tribo device with friction rods configured in an equilateral triangle arrangement and with 20 mm spacing again yielded the best results. This approach constitutes a new technique for the optimization of tribo device design.