• Journal of Veterinary Science
• /
• v.22 no.4
• /
• pp.42.1-42.16
• /
• 2021

Background: Inclusion body hepatitis (IBH) is an economically important viral disease primarily affecting broiler and breeder chickens. All 12 serotypes of fowl adenovirus (FAdV) can cause IBH. Objectives: To characterize FAdV isolates based on phylogenetic analysis, and to study the pathogenicity of FAdV-8b in specific-pathogen-free (SPF) chickens following virus inoculation via oral and intramuscular (IM) routes. Methods: Suspected organ samples were subjected to virus isolation and polymerase chain reaction (PCR) for FAdV detection. Hexon gene sequencing and phylogenetic analysis were performed on FAdV-positive samples for serotype identification. One FAdV-8b isolate, UPM/FAdV/420/2017, was selected for fiber gene characterization and pathogenicity study and was inoculated in SPF chickens via oral and IM routes. Results: The hexon gene phylogenetic analysis revealed that all isolates belonged to FAdV-8b. The fiber gene-based phylogenetic analysis of isolate UPM/FAdV/420/2017 supported the grouping of that isolate into FAdV species E. Pathogenicity study revealed that, chickens infected with UPM/FAdV/420/2017 via the IM route had higher clinical score values, higher percent mortality, higher degree of the liver lesions, higher antibody response (p < 0.05), and higher virus shedding amounts (p < 0.05) than those infected via the oral route. The highest virus copy numbers were detected in liver and gizzard. Conclusions: FAdV-8b is the dominant FAdV serotype in Malaysia, and pathogenicity study of the FAdV-8b isolate UPM/FAdV/420/2017 indicated its ability to induce IBH in young SPF chickens when infected via oral or IM routes.

• Korean Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
• /
• v.54 no.4
• /
• pp.418-425
• /
• 2021

The effects of an aquaponic system based on biofloc technology (BFT-AP) were analyzed for eel Anguilla japonica as aquaculture species and caipira Lactuca sativa as the cultivated crops. The rate of weight gain rate by the eels was 178% (BFT-AP 200 head) > 136% (BFT-AP 100 head) > 100% (BFT). The eel body weight in the BFT-AP (200 head) significantly increased when compared to the BFT only eel group (P<0.05). The weight of the upper layer of caipira was 91±8.5 g (200 head) > 90±8.9 g (100 head) > 48±8.3 g (Hydroponic crop, HP). The crop growth in all BFT-AP groups was higher than the control, the hydroponic group. The total ammonia nitrogen (TAN) and NO₂^--N concentrations decreased in the BFT-AP group when compared to the BFT group. It was possible to remove nitric acid from the aquaponics system and reuse it as eel rearing water. Although some nutrient concentrations were low in BFT when compared to HP, the nutrient concentration was sufficient for plant growth. The results show that BFT has the potentially to provide a sustainable aquaponic system.

• Journal of Internet Computing and Services
• /
• v.22 no.4
• /
• pp.65-82
• /
• 2021

A well-designed website is mandatory for good marketing and proper tourism business. This research considers Nepal as a domain of study and specifically explores welcomenepal.com, the official tourism portal as a reference for the study. The work is based on the study of the existing literature, user-survey, and technical testing of the website using open-source testing tools to identify user perspective, design issues, website architecture and design quality of the tourism website. A population size of 400 respondents, which consist of both domestic and international tourist, are considered for the survey. Data is received from 360 respondents, which is analyzed using statistical tests like Cronbach's alpha, Pearson's correlation, cross-tabulations, bars charts and graphs to draw inferences and consclusion. The software-based test results serve as another important parameter for the evaluation of the current official website. This study brings out core needs of the tourist in terms of expectations from a tourism website and access technical quality of the current portal to provide necessary feedback and suggestions. The government officials, business houses, and web designers can utilize this work as a knowledge base to build tourism websites, which are user-centric. Further, the work is specifically important for Nepal government and tourism officials to identify shortcomings in their current website and make improvements for better design and user adaptability in future.

• The Journal of Advanced Prosthodontics
• /
• v.13 no.5
• /
• pp.333-342
• /
• 2021

PURPOSE. To evaluate the impact of five different tooth preparation designs on the marginal and internal fit discrepancies of cobalt-chromium (CoCr) crowns produced by computer-aided designing (CAD) and selective laser melting (SLM) processes. MATERIALS AND METHODS. Five preparation data were constructed, after which design crowns were obtained. Actual crowns were fabricated using an SLM process. After the data of actual crowns were obtained with structural light scanning, intaglio surfaces of the design crown and actual crown were virtually superimposed on the preparation. The fit-discrepancies were displayed with colors, while the root means square was calculated and analyzed with one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA), Tukey's test or Kruskal-Wallis test (α = .05). RESULTS. The marginal or internal color-coded images in the five design groups were not identical. The shoulder-lip and sharp line angle groups in the CAD or SLM process had larger marginal or internal fit discrepancies compared to other groups (P < .05). In the CAD process, the mean marginal and internal fit discrepancies were 10.0 to 24.2 ㎛ and 29.6 to 31.4 ㎛, respectively. After the CAD and SLM processes, the mean marginal and internal fit discrepancies were 18.4 to 40.9 ㎛ and 39.1 to 47.1 ㎛, respectively. The SLM process itself resulted in a positive increase of the marginal (6.0 - 16.7 ㎛) and internal (9.0 - 15.7 ㎛) fit discrepancies. CONCLUSION. The CAD and SLM processes affected the fit of CoCr crowns and varied based on the preparation designs. Typically, the shoulder-lip and sharp line angle designs had a more significant effect on crown fit. However, the differences between the design groups were relatively small, especially when compared to fit discrepancies observed clinically.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
• /
• v.53 no.7
• /
• pp.2364-2370
• /
• 2021

The ⁿMCP (Neutron sensitive microchannel plate) combined with advanced readout electronics is widely used in energy selective neutron imaging because of its good spatial and timing resolution. Neutron detection efficiency is a crucial parameter for the ⁿMCP. In this paper, a mathematical model based on the oblique cylindrical channel and elliptical pore was established to calculate the neutron absorption probability, the escape probability of charged particles and overall detection efficiency of ⁿMCP and analyze the effects of neutron incident position, pore diameter, wall thickness and bias angle. It was shown that when the doping concentration of the ⁿMCP was 10 mol%, the thickness of ⁿMCP was 0.6 mm, the detection efficiency could reach maximum value, about 24% for thermal neutrons if the pore diameter was 6 ㎛, the wall thickness was 2 ㎛ and the bias angle was 3 or 6°. The calculated results are of great significance for evaluating the detection efficiency of the ⁿMCP. In a subsequent companion paper, the mathematical model would be extended to the case of the spatial resolution and detection efficiency optimization of the coating ⁿMCP.

• Analytical Science and Technology
• /
• v.34 no.4
• /
• pp.143-152
• /
• 2021

Capillary electrophoresis (CE) is an effective technique to study chiral recognition because it offers flexibility in adjusting vital factors. Currently, various available cyclodextrins (CDs) can be employed for the chiral separation of numerous analytes. Herein, we investigate the enantioseparation behavior of lipoic acid enantiomers in various types of single and dual CD systems through CE. Additionally, several impacted CE parameters were optimized through the systematic investigation based on the design of experiment (DoE) concept for a single system comprising a heptakis (2,3,6-tri-O-methyl)-β-CD and a dual system containing the combination of the single CD with a sulfated-β-CD. Consequently, absolute enantioresolution was obtained within 15 min on a common standard bare fused-silica capillary (64.5/56 cm in total/effective length, 50/365 ㎛ inner/outer diameter), maintained at 15 ℃ and at an applied voltage of 24 kV. The optimal background electrolyte consisted of 6 mM heptakis (2,3,6-tri-O-methyl)-β-CD dissolved in the solution of 58 mM borate buffer at pH 10. Furthermore, the results of apparent binding constant experiments indicated that the S-enantiomer-heptakis (2,3,6-tri-O-methyl)-β-CD complex exhibited a stronger affinity than its R-enantiomer counterpart. The obtained electrophoretic mobility values could be utilized to interpret the resolution achieved at various CD concentrations and the mobility behavior of the complexes elucidated the migration order of the enantiomers in an electropherogram.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
• /
• v.31 no.4
• /
• pp.570-583
• /
• 2021

Pyrococcus furiosus α-amylase can hydrolyze α-1,4 linkages in starch and related carbohydrates under hyperthermophilic condition (~ 100℃), showing great potential in a wide range of industrial applications, while its relatively low productivity from heterologous hosts has limited the industrial applications. Bacillus subtilis, a gram-positive bacterium, has been widely used in industrial production for its non-pathogenic and powerful secretory characteristics. This study was conducted to increase production of P. furiosus α-amylase in B. subtilis through three strategies. Initial experiments showed that co-expression of P. furiosus molecular chaperone peptidyl-prolyl cis-trans isomerase through genomic integration mode, using a CRISPR/Cas9 system, increased soluble amylase production. Therefore, considering that native P. furiosus α-amylase is produced within a hyperthermophilic environment and is highly thermostable, heat treatment of intact culture at 90℃ for 15 min was performed, thereby greatly increasing soluble amylase production. After optimization of the culture conditions (nitrogen source, carbon source, metal ion, temperature and pH), experiments in a 3-L fermenter yielded a soluble activity of 3,806.7 U/ml, which was 3.3- and 28.2-fold those of a control without heat treatment (1,155.1 U/ml) and an empty expression vector control (135.1 U/ml), respectively. This represents the highest P. furiosus α-amylase production reported to date and should promote innovation in the starch liquefaction process and related industrial productions. Meanwhile, heat treatment, which may promote folding of aggregated P. furiosus α-amylase into a soluble, active form through the transfer of kinetic energy, may be of general benefit when producing proteins from thermophilic archaea.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
• /
• v.31 no.6
• /
• pp.823-832
• /
• 2021

Mushroom cultivation along with the palm oil industry in Malaysia have contributed to large volumes of accumulated lignocellulosic residues that cause serious environmental pollution when these agroresidues are burned. In this study, we illustrated the utilization of lignocellulolytic enzymes from the spent mushroom substrate of Pleurotus pulmonarius for the hydrolysis of palm oil mill effluent (POME). The hydrolysate was used for the production of biohydrogen gas and enzyme assays were carried out to determine the productivities/activities of lignin peroxidase, laccase, xylanase, endoglucanase and β-glucosidase in spent mushroom substrate. Further, the enzyme cocktails were concentrated for the hydrolysis of POME. Central composite design of response surface methodology was performed to examine the effects of enzyme loading, incubation time and pH on the reducing sugar yield. Productivities of the enzymes for xylanase, laccase, endoglucanase, lignin peroxidase and β-glucosidase were 2.3, 4.1, 14.6, 214.1, and 915.4 U g^-1, respectively. A maximum of 3.75 g/lof reducing sugar was obtained under optimized conditions of 15 h incubation time with 10% enzyme loading (v/v) at a pH of 4.8, which was consistent with the predicted reducing sugar concentration (3.76 g/l). The biohydrogen cumulative volume (302.78 ml H₂.L^-1 POME) and 83.52% biohydrogen gas were recorded using batch fermentation which indicated that the enzymes of spent mushroom substrate can be utilized for hydrolysis of POME.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
• /
• v.18 no.4
• /
• pp.439-448
• /
• 2019

The bearing capacity of roadside support is the key problem in gob-side entry retaining technology. To study the cooperative bearing characteristics of the roof-roadside support-floor along the gob-side entry retaining, a mechanical model of the composite structure of the roof-roadside support-floor was first established. A method for determining the structural parameters of gob-side entry retaining was then proposed. Based on this model, adaptability analysis of roadside support was carried out. The results showed that the reasonable width of the gob-side entry roadway was inversely proportional to the mining height, and directly proportional to the bearing strength of the roof and floor. And the reasonable width of the "flexible-hard" roadside support was directly proportional to its own strength, and inversely proportional to the width of the gob-side entry retaining. When determining the position and size of the roadside support along the gob-side entry retaining, the surrounding rock environment should be fully considered. Measured results from case study also show the rationality of the model and calculation method.

• Steel and Composite Structures
• /
• v.31 no.6
• /
• pp.629-640
• /
• 2019

The investigation of retaining wall structures behavior under dynamic loads is considered as one of important parts for designing such structures. Generally, the performance of these structures is under the influence of the environment conditions and their geometry. The aim of this research is to design retaining wall structures based on smart and optimal systems. The use of accuracy and speed to assess the structures under different conditions is one of the important parts sought by designers. Therefore, optimal and smart systems are able to have better addressing these problems. Using numerical and coding methods, this research investigates the retaining wall structure design under different dynamic conditions. More than 9500 models were constructed and considered for modelling design. These designs include height and thickness of the wall, soil density, rock density, soil friction angle, and peak ground acceleration (PGA) variables. Accordingly, a neural network system was developed to establish an appropriate relationship between data to obtain safety factor (SF) of retaining walls under different seismic conditions. Different parameters were analyzed and the effect of each parameter was assessed separately. According to these analyses, the structure optimization was performed to increase the SF values. The optimal and smart design showed that under different PGA conditions, the structure performance can be appropriately improved while utilization of the initial (or basic) parameters leads to the structure failure. Therefore, by increasing accuracy and speed, smart methods could improve the retaining structure performance in controlling the wall failure. The intelligent design process of this study can be applied to some other civil engineering applications such as slope stability.