Commercial Grade Research Articles

Comparison of Near Nano Size and Commercial Grade Botanicals with Shaking and without Shaking on Seed Quality Attributes of Soybean (Glycine max L.) cv. CO 3 Seeds

Background: Soybean is important oil seed crop. Poor seed germination is a major constraint for increasing the productivity of soybean. Seed quality enhancement will enhance the germination. Treating the seeds with chemicals may cause harmful effects to ecosystems and also to human beings. Using botanicals for seed treatment is safe. The present study was taken with a view to assess the seed quality of soybean by using different botanicals treatments (ball milled and commercial grade) along with shaking and without shaking. Methods: Experiment was conducted to evaluate the effect of seed treatment with different ball milled botanicals and commercial grade along with shaking (60 min) and without shaking of soybean seeds on quality attributes. Botanical powders of fenugreek (Trigonella foenum-graecum L.) seed, leafs of ashwagandha (Withania somnifera), tea (Camellia sinensis) and noni (Morinda citrifolia) were ball milled for 1 h to bring into near nano size and treated with seeds @ 2 g kg-1 for 60 min. Without ball milling was served as commercial grade. Among these two methods (commercial grade and near nano size) highest values were observed in seeds treated with near nano size powder. Generally shaking of seeds with botanicals was performed better than without shaking. Result: In this experiment, botanical fenugreek seed powder perfrmed well. In interaction, soybean seeds treated with near nano size fenugreek seed powder @ 2 g kg-1 with shaking of 60 min showed highest seed quality parameters. The per cent increase over control for germination, shoot length, root length, dry matter production and vigour index were 17.8, 27.7, 43.9, 47.6 and 45.3%, respectively.

Low-cost 3D Modeling Software for Generating Patient-specific Drill Guide Templates for Cervical Pedicle Screw Insertion: An In Vitro Study

Background. Instrumented posterior cervical spine surgery (IPCSS) can be conducted using screws inserted through the pedicles of the vertebra. A safe IPCSS method uses 3D-printing to produce templates that will serve as drill guides for screw placement.Objectives. This study describes the generation of 3D-printed drill guides using low-cost general purpose 3D modeling software and the comparison of screw insertion accuracy scores against the traditional landmark method and guides created using commercial grade software.Methods. Twenty-five (25) subaxial pedicles of five cadaveric spines were selected and scanned using computedtomography (CT). A digital reconstruction of the five cadaveric spines were created based on the CT DICOM data. A low-cost 3D modeling software, Rhinoceros 3D, was utilized for trajectory planning and generation of a patientspecific drill template using the digital reconstruction. The templates were then fabricated in ABS plastic using a fused deposition modeling (FDM) 3D printer. Insertion of cervical pedicle screws on the cadaveric spines was done by an orthopedic resident using the 3D printed guides. Postoperative CT scans were obtained, and placement accuracy of the screws were scored by two assessors utilizing a four-point rating system. Screws in correct placement were scored Grade 0 while misplaced screws with neurovascular damage were given a score of Grade 3.Results. Accuracy scores for the 3D-printed drill guides were 52% for assessor 1 and 44% for assessor 2. Forassessor 1, screw placement in C3, C6, and C7 received the highest scores. For assessor 2, the highest scores were achieved in C3 and C7. The hybrid method of Bundoc et al. achieved scores of 94% while 3D printed guides utilizing commercial software like Materialise Mimics, Geomagic Freeform, or UG Imageware achieved scores of 80-100%. The traditional landmark method had scores ranging from 12% to 94% depending on the skill of the surgeon.Conclusion. Commercial medical 3D image-based engineering software has high acquisition costs that might be beyond the reach of most institutions. A sub-$1000 general purpose 3D modeling software can be used to create drill templates. Several factors were identified in the design and fabrication of the template that can be addressed to increase accuracy. Trajectory planning can also be improved by automating the process. The researchers recommend further studies in these areas specially in the context of developing 3D printing as a support service for surgical operations in the Philippines.

A Peripherally Located Air Recirculation Device Containing an Activated Carbon Filter Reduces VOC Levels in a Simulated Operating Room.

Electrosurgery procedures produce airborne contaminants including volatile organic compounds (VOCs). The effectiveness of commercial grade activated carbon at removing toluene, a typical VOC, from the air in an enclosed simulated operating room (OR) when interfaced with an air recirculation device was tested. The concentration of toluene in the air was measured using gas sensitive semiconductor VOC sensors. When the air recirculation device containing activated carbon was turned on, the concentration of toluene in the air decayed exponentially. When the device was off, the toluene concentration reduced much more slowly. After 130 min, a VOC sensor placed near the air recirculation device showed VOC reductions of approximately 30% when the device is on and less than 1% when the device is off. Changing the activated carbon filter after 22 h of constant use showed an abrupt increase in the rate of toluene removal.

Low-Cost Real-Time PPP GNSS Aided INS for CAV Applications

Many connected and autonomous vehicle (CAV) applications benefit from navigation technologies that reliably achieve lane-level accuracy. Global organizations have recently begun to provide real-time common-mode error corrections for Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS) that enable this level of positioning accuracy using Precise Point Positioning (PPP). Incorporating an Inertial Measurement Unit (IMU) with a GNSS receiver can achieve this positioning performance reliably on moving platforms while providing a full state estimate, with high bandwidth at a high sampling rate. For commercial automotive applications cost is critical; therefore, this article focuses on commercial grade IMU’s and single-frequency GNSS code and Doppler measurements. This article presents and demonstrates a tightly-coupled PPP GNSS aided Inertial Navigation System (INS) using only publicly available real-time data sources. The article discusses the role of the INS in automotive applications and how the quality of the IMU affects the ability to achieve that role. The experimental results demonstrate positioning accuracy that surpasses the Society of Automotive Engineering (SAE) J2945 specification (horizontal error ≤1.5 m and vertical error ≤ 3 m 68%).

Fabrication of salt-tolerant chitosan-based polyelectrolyte flocculant through enhancing H-bond hydration effect for treating and recycling of highly saline dyeing wastewater

The textile industry is required to execute water conservation and contamination management techniques owing to increasingly serious water scarcity and pollution. Herein, a novel salt-tolerant chitosan-based flocculant (CT-CTA-BGE3) with high charge density was synthesized through chitosan (CT) etherification with 2,3-epoxypropyl trimethylammonium chloride (CTA) and butyl glycidyl ether (BGE). The H-bond hydration effect between BGE segments and water molecules weakens the salt-induced polyelectrolyte effect, allowing CT-CTA-BGE3 to chains keep an extended conformation in high-salty aqueous solution and thus endowing excellent salt-tolerant properties. Meanwhile, the incorporation of CTA segments offers a high positive charge on the flocculant surface. Thus, the beneficial effect of satisfying color removal was obtained by CT-CTA-BGE3 in a highly saline system because it would render the more exposed active sites with strong positive charges along stretched polymer chains. The outstanding flocculability of CT-CTA-BGE3 (3054 mg/g) for the reactive brilliant red 2 (a widely commercial grade dye) could be obtained within 5 min (pH = 6). As expected, because the CT-CTA-BGE3 impurities can be reduced in reclaimed water via the pH-mediated hydrophilicity-hydrophobicity switch of polymer, the obtained clarified saline wastewater after flocculation can be recycled in a new dyeing bath without sacrificing fabric quality (ΔE*less than1), and over 88 % of NaCl can be regenerated for each cycle. This work develops an alternative strategy for the fabrication of salt-tolerant flocculants through enhancing H-bond hydration, revealing the promising application prospects in treating and recycling highly saline textile wastewater.

Hierarchical meso-micro porous Fe[sbnd]N[sbnd]C derived from tripolycyanamide-based microporous polymer as efficient electrocatalyst for oxygen reduction reaction

Designing porous FeNC nanomaterials with highly efficient active sites is an effective strategy for constructing high-performance oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) electrocatalysts. N-containing porous organic polymers (POPs) have emerged as promising candidates for the preparation of porous FeNC catalysts. Here, N-rich tripolycyanamide-based microporous polymer (TCAMP)-coated SiO2 nanospheres (SiO2@TACMP) were prepared as the precursors of an Fe-N doped hierarchical meso-micro porous carbon (Fe-N-HMC) electrocatalyst for the ORR. X-ray diffraction (XRD), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) characterizations demonstrated that the Fe-N-HMC catalyst possessed a higher content percentage of Fe-Nx active sites and a better distribution of Fe nanoparticles than its Fe-N doped microporous carbon (Fe-N-MC) counterpart. N2 adsorption–desorption isotherm analysis showed that Fe-N-HMC catalyst exhibited a hierarchical meso-micro porous system, with a Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) surface area (SBET) of 733 m2 g−1 (∼2 times of Fe-N-MC’s SBET). As a result, Fe-N-HMC catalyst presented a highly efficient ORR performance with a half-wave potential of 0.856 mV, which is similar to the commercial grade 20 wt% Pt/C catalyst and superior to the Fe-N-MC catalyst. Moreover, the as-synthesized Fe-N-HMC catalyst displayed a better durability and methanol tolerance than the commercial Pt/C catalyst. Therefore, Fe-N-HMC shows great promise as an ORR catalyst for fuel batteries and metal-air cells due to its low-cost, high activity, and good stability.

CsPbI3/N-GQDs dual layer phosphor-converted white-LEDs with ultrahigh luminous efficiency and color rendering index

Phosphor-converted LEDs or pc-LEDs, as a solid-state lighting source, are attractive for next-generation display technologies because of their energy savings, and green environmentally friendly nature. Recently, white LEDs are being produced commercially by coating blue LED (440–470 nm) chips with various yellow-emitting phosphors. However, the LEDs produced by this technique often exhibit high correlated color temperature (CCT) and low color rendering index (CRI) values, due to sufficient red spectral components not being present, and thus aren’t suitable for commercial grade white illumination. To circumvent this drawback, our work reports for the first time the use of blue and green-emitting nitrogen-functionalized graphene quantum dots (GQDs) coupled with red-emitting CsPbI3 NCs for phosphor-based LED applications. We deployed near-UV to visible excitable red-emitting perovskite CsPbI3 nanocrystals which contribute toward the red spectral component, thus greatly improving the CRI of the LEDs. CsPbI3 nanocrystals are optically excited by nitrogen-functionalized GQD with blue and green emissions in a remote double-layer phosphor stack technique. This double phosphor layer stacking greatly improves both the CRI and luminous efficiency of radiation (LER), which usually has a trade-off in previously reported phosphor stacks. A CCT of ∼5182 K providing daylight white tonality, with superior CRI (∼90%) and ultrahigh LER (∼250 lumens/watt) are reported, which are significantly higher than the established benchmarks.

Wearable Devices for Remote Monitoring of Heart Rate and Heart Rate Variability-What We Know and What Is Coming.

Heart rate at rest and exercise may predict cardiovascular risk. Heart rate variability is a measure of variation in time between each heartbeat, representing the balance between the parasympathetic and sympathetic nervous system and may predict adverse cardiovascular events. With advances in technology and increasing commercial interest, the scope of remote monitoring health systems has expanded. In this review, we discuss the concepts behind cardiac signal generation and recording, wearable devices, pros and cons focusing on accuracy, ease of application of commercial and medical grade diagnostic devices, which showed promising results in terms of reliability and value. Incorporation of artificial intelligence and cloud based remote monitoring have been evolving to facilitate timely data processing, improve patient convenience and ensure data security.

Boosting charge separation of CeO2–MnO2 nanoflake with heterojunctions for enhanced photocatalytic hydrogen generation

Herein, we report about the synthesis and tuning of a highly conductive CeO2–MnO2 composite with cubic fluorite CeO2 and tetragonal MnO2 for industrial photocatalytic hydrogen generation. Specific nanoflake morphology and enhanced electron transfer during photo-excitation of the composite are tailored by fine tuning of the composition and synthesis parameters. The tuned composite (1:1 CeO2–MnO2) with heterojunctions results in the enhanced photoresponse characteristics due to low band gap energy (2.4 eV), low electron-hole recombination rate, increased electron lifetime (7.92 ns) and efficient electron transfer ability. The composite exhibits enhanced rate of photocatalytic hydrogen generation (540 μmol h−1) under visible light irradiation during long term analysis with excellent stability and reusability, competent to commercial grade photocatalysts.

A biorefinery approach for sequential extraction of commercial grade xylan and alkali lignin from alkali pretreated sugarcane tops hydrolysate

Sequential extraction of xylan and lignin from alkali pretreated sugarcane tops (apSCT) hydrolysate was carried out. The xylan extracted from apSCT hydrolysate (apSCTx) was 26.5 g and the alkali lignin (apSCTal) was 8.5 g from 100 g of raw SCT. The composition analysis of apSCTx by high performance liquid chromatography showed 74% D-xylose, 15% D-glucuronic acid and 11% L-arabinose residues. The analysis of apSCTx by high performance size exclusion chromatography showed molecular size, ∼58 kDa. The first derivative of thermogravimetric analysis of apSCTx showed a Td (thermal degradation temperature) at 275ºC. The elemental (CHNS) analysis of apSCTx displayed the presence of only carbon and hydrogen. The absence of nitrogen and sulfur in the extracted apSCTx displayed that the xylan is pure and without the protein and lignin. The specific activity of recombinant clostridial endoxylanase (CtXyn11A) was 1823 ± 51 U/mg. Liquid Chromatography-Mass Spectroscopy and Thin-layer chromatography analyses of CtXyn11A hydrolyzed apSCTx displayed a series of linear xylooligosaccharides ranging between 2 and 5 degrees of polymerization. apSCTx can serve as a potential commercial substrate and also for xylooligosaccharides production. The characterization of apSCTal by Field-Emission Scanning Electron Microscopy showed the exposed spherical structures of alkali lignin. Fourier Transform Infrared spectroscopic analysis of apSCTal displayed the peaks corresponding to those obtained from commercial alkali lignin. CHNS analysis of apSCTal confirmed the absence of protein impurities. The first derivative of the thermogravimetric analysis of apSCTal showed Td at 362ºC, similar to the previously reported softwood lignin. The extracted apSCTal can be used as feedstock for the production of aromatic chemicals. The biorefinery approach of sequential extraction of apSCTx and apSCTal from alkali pretreated SCT hydrolysate waste can enhance the economics of the extraction process.

Trifoliate Orange-Related Rootstocks Enhance the Horticultural Performance of ‘Shamouti’ Sweet Orange under Humid Subtropical Condition

The narrow genetic pool for both scions and rootstocks used in the Brazilian orchards makes the citrus industry vulnerable to biotic and abiotic threats. Orchard diversification by using different scion–rootstock combinations is an efficient measure to promote citrus protection, through increasing the level of genetic diversity. In this paper, we report the horticultural performance of the mid-season ‘Shamouti’ sweet orange grafted on five different rootstocks (‘Rangpur’ lime, ‘Swingle’ citrumelo, ‘C-13′ citrange, and ‘Cleopatra’ and ‘Sunki’ mandarins) in a long-term experiment (2007–2017) under the Brazilian humid subtropical condition. ‘Shamouti’ trees were assessed for vegetative growth, yield, and fruit quality. Additionally, a study was performed to estimate tree density and yield for new plantings. Trees grafted on ‘Swingle’ and ‘C-13′ rootstocks were less vigorous and more productive, with cumulative yields of >480 kg per tree, allowing high-density plantings (363–337 trees·ha−1). Trees on ‘Cleopatra’, ‘Sunki’, and ‘Rangpur’ were the most vigorous among the tested rootstocks, with tree heights > 4.20 m. However, they took longer to establish in the field, evidenced by their growth progress. These combinations also displayed the lowest tree density estimation (≤311 trees·ha−1). Trees on ‘Cleopatra’ exhibited the lowest cumulative yield (255 kg per tree). Although some significant differences were found for fruit quality, all rootstock combinations produced fruit of suitable quality, attending the commercial grading. Our findings evidence the potential of the trifoliate orange-related rootstocks ‘C-13′ and ‘Swingle’ to be used as promising rootstocks for ‘Shamouti’ cultivation in the humid subtropics, promoting genetic diversification and enhancing yield and tree density in new orchards.

Removal of 2,4-dichlorophenol using ionic liquid [BMIM]+[PF6]- encapsulated PVDF membrane

2,4-Dichlorophenol (2,4-DCP) is one of the toxic chlorophenol compounds found in aquatic environments. Chlorophenols are priority pollutants, due to their high toxicity, mutagenicity and carcinogenicity. In this study, experiments were carried out for the removal of 2,4-Dichlorophenol (Cl2C6H3OH) from aqueous solution using commercial grade PVDF membrane immobilised with 1-Butyl-3-methyl imidazolium hexafluorophosphate [BMIM]+[PF6]- ionic liquid. Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) and Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FT-IR) used to identify and to confirm the surface morphology, functional groups and operational stability of Ionic Liquid [BMIM]+[PF6]- encapsulated PVDF membrane. The effect of various factors such as feed phase pH, initial 2,4-DCP concentration, operation time and stirring speed along with different stripping agents such as NaOH, KOH and NH4OH on the removal of chlorophenols has been investigated. The maximum permeation rate of 85.52% was achieved over an experimental run of 24 at pH 4 with a strip flux of 8.18323 × 10−09 mol m−2s−1 in 0.1 M NaOH strip phase.

Development of elements of technology for growing branched sweet cherry seedlings

The results of two-year studies on the influence of rootstocks, physiologically active substances and mechanical techniques on biometric indicators of annual seedlings of two varieties of cherries (Tyutchevka and Chermashnaya) are presented. The research was carried out in 2020-2021 in the experimental nursery of the Federal State Budgetary Research Center of Horticulture in the conditions of the Moscow region. The scheme of the experiment included 5 options: I – removal of apical leaves; II – treatment with Apllin (0.6 g/l); III – removal of apical leaves with treatment with Apllin (0.6 g/l); IV – pinching of the tip at a height of 60 cm; st – control, without processing and pinching. The eyepieces were sprayed twice, with an interval of 10 days. It was found that treatment with the preparation Apllin, removal of the apical leaves and their combined use contributed to a significant improvement in the biometric indicators of annual cherry seedlings of weakly branching varieties, increased the number of branches by 2.7-4.6 times and provided in most combinations an increase in the yield of first-class seedlings up to 90-100%. The greatest effect from mechanical and chemical influences was achieved when using the Izmailovsky rootstock. Pinching the top at a height of 60 cm caused a decrease in the linear and radial growth of annuals, an increase in the number of lateral shoots by 1.43 times, but only 50 % of seedlings obtained in this variant corresponded to 1 commercial grade.

Determination of Saffron Quality through a Multi-Analytical Approach

Currently, the specifications for the assessment of saffron quality are contained in the ISO 3632 technical standard. This norm evaluates saffron quality through a UV-Vis spectrophotometric method and grades the spice into three commercial categories. However, numerous studies have highlighted several weaknesses and limitations of the ISO method. For this reason, a new multi-analytical approach for the determination of saffron quality is proposed in this work. Different techniques were employed to assess saffron quality: UV-visible spectroscopy (UV-Vis), attenuated total reflectance Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (ATR-FTIR), scanning electron microscopy coupled with energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (SEM-EDX) and inductively coupled plasma—optical emission spectroscopy (ICP-OES). The results show that the commercial grading based on the ISO 3632 methodology is not always in line with the observations made with the other techniques. Moreover, the use of two new techniques in the field of saffron quality determination, i.e., SEM-EDX and ICP-OES, proved to be effective for the determination of elemental composition and metal content, which are two important parameters to take into consideration when assessing the quality of the spice.

Influences of different microcrystalline cellulose (MCC) grades on tablet quality and compression behavior of MCC-lactose binary mixtures

Microcrystalline cellulose (MCC) is one of the most commonly used excipients in tablet formulations. At present, numerous grades of MCC are available for pharmaceutical manufacturing and significantly differ in particulate and powder properties. The choice of MCC is important to the development of a tablet formulation with satisfactory quality. In this paper, five commercial grades of MCC from the same manufacturer were systematically evaluated by combination with lactose to investigate their influences on tablet quality. Furthermore, the key compression parameters obtained from empirical compression equations were used to analyze the compression behavior of the tablet formulations. When the proportion of MCC was up to ∼50%, PH 102, PH 102SCG, and PH 112 showed good and similar abilities in improving tablet tensile strength followed by PH 200, and PH 302 did the weakest. All the MCC successfully decreased the tablet friability and disintegration time values. The improvement effect of MCC on tablet disintegration followed the descending order: PH 200 > PH 102SCG > PH 302 > PH 102 > PH 112. Besides, the different effects of MCC grades on tablet quality could be weakened by lubricants when the mixtures mainly underwent plastic deformation during compression process. In conclusion, a clear understanding of the influences of commonly used grades of MCC on tablet quality is critical for future tablet formulation efforts.

Nutritional components of fresh and frozen fruits of highbush blueberries (Vaccinium corymbosum L.)

The relevance of the study is due to the considerable popularity of tall blueberries among consumers, which they have gained due to their balanced taste and content of nutrients and biologically active substances useful for the human body. Therefore, the aim of the study was to determine the suitability of the fruits of the varieties 'Duke', 'Patriot', 'Chanticleer' for freezing and storage in a frozen state. To achieve this goal, biometric, laboratory, analytical and statistical research methods were used. As a result of the studies, it was found that the frozen fruits of tall blueberries of the studied varieties 'Duke', 'Patriot', 'Chantilly' meet the requirements of the highest commercial grade according to DSTU 4837:2007. The thawed berries of the Duke variety had a better appearance than those of the other two studied varieties, thawed with a waxy coating inherent in this type of fruit, their weight loss during freezing was 0.20%, and the loss of juice after thawing was 0.71%. In the berries of tall blueberries of varieties Duke, Patriot, Chanticleer in the conditions of the Forest-Steppe of Ukraine, from 17.6 to 19.0 mg/100 g of vitamin C, 378-545 mg/100 g of polyphenolic substances, 127.2-176.8 mg/100 g of flavonoids, 59.4-162.9 mg/100 g of anthocyanins, 15.6-32.5 mg/100 g of chalcones were accumulated. The largest amount of nutrients was contained in the thawed berries of the Duke variety, while the losses during freezing and thawing were: vitamin C - 2.7 mg/100 g, total polyphenols - 102 mg/100 g, anthocyanins - 41.8 mg/100 g. The data obtained are of practical value for gardeners when choosing a variety for creating plantations of tall blueberries, the fruits of which can be used both for fresh consumption and for freezing

Real-Time Grading of Defect Apples Using Semantic Segmentation Combination with a Pruned YOLO V4 Network.

At present, the apple grading system usually conveys apples by a belt or rollers. This usually leads to low hardness or expensive fruits being bruised, resulting in economic losses. In order to realize real-time detection and classification of high-quality apples, separate fruit trays were designed to convey apples and used to prevent apples from being bruised during image acquisition. A semantic segmentation method based on the BiSeNet V2 deep learning network was proposed to segment the defective parts of defective apples. BiSeNet V2 for apple defect detection obtained a slightly better result in MPA with a value of 99.66%, which was 0.14 and 0.19 percentage points higher than DAnet and Unet, respectively. A model pruning method was used to optimize the structure of the YOLO V4 network. The detection accuracy of defect regions in apple images was further improved by the pruned YOLO V4 network. Then, a surface mapping method between the defect area in apple images and the actual defect area was proposed to accurately calculate the defect area. Finally, apples on separate fruit trays were sorted according to the number and area of defects in the apple images. The experimental results showed that the average accuracy of apple classification was 92.42%, and the F1 score was 94.31. In commercial separate fruit tray grading and sorting machines, it has great application potential.

Genetic parameters of color phenotypes of black tiger shrimp (Penaeus monodon).

Black tiger shrimp (Penaeus monodon) is the second most important aquaculture species of shrimp in the world. In addition to growth traits, uncooked and cooked body color of shrimp are traits of significance for profitability and consumer acceptance. This study investigated for the first time, the phenotypic and genetic variances and relationships for body weight and body color traits, obtained from image analyses of 838 shrimp, representing the progeny from 55 sires and 52 dams. The color of uncooked shrimp was subjectively scored on a scale from 1 to 4, with “1” being the lightest/pale color and “4” being the darkest color. For cooked shrimp color, shrimp were graded firstly by subjective scoring using a commercial grading score card, where the score ranged from 1 to 12 representing light to deep coloration which was subsequently found to not be sufficiently reliable with poor repeatability of measurement (r = 0.68–0.78) Therefore, all images of cooked color were regraded on a three-point scale from brightest and lightest colored cooked shrimp, to darkest and most color-intense, with a high repeatability (r = 0.80–0.92). Objective color of both cooked and uncooked color was obtained by measurement of RGB intensities (values range from 0 to 255) for each pixel from each shrimp. Using the “convertColor” function in “R”, the RGB values were converted to L*a*b* (CIE Lab) systems of color properties. This system of color space was established in 1976, by the International Commission of Illumination (CIE) where “L*” represents the measure of degree of lightness, values range from 0 to 100, where 0 = pure black and 100 = pure white. The value “a*” represents red to green coloration, where a positive value represents the color progression towards red and a negative value towards green. The value “b*” represents blue to yellow coloration, where a positive value refers to more yellowish and negative towards the blue coloration. In total, eight color-related traits were investigated. An ordinal mixed (threshold) model was adopted for manually (subjectively) scored color phenotypes, whereas all other traits were analyzed by linear mixed models using ASReml software to derive variance components and estimated breeding values (EBVs). Moderate to low heritability estimates (0.05–0.35) were obtained for body color traits. For subjectively scored cooked and uncooked color, EBV-based selection would result in substantial genetic improvement in these traits. The genetic correlations among cooked, uncooked and body weight traits were high and ranged from −0.88 to 0.81. These suggest for the first time that 1) cooked color can be improved indirectly by genetic selection based on color of uncooked/live shrimp, and 2) intensity of coloration is positively correlated with body weight traits and hence selection for body weight will also improve color traits in this population.

Other rhythm abnormalities found in 10,593 patients with paroxysmal atrial fibrillation over a 14-day ambulatory ECG monitoring period

Abstract Background The incidence of other arrhythmias in patients with Paroxysmal Atrial Fibrillation (PAF) can affect choice of subsequent diagnostic procedures as well as drug, implanted device and ablation management. In the endless stream of new ECG monitoring technologies, whose primary focus sits on AF identification, other arrhythmias can be minimized in their importance. And yet, in patients with PAF, management is often altered by the presence of both significant and even subtle additional concomitant rhythm abnormalities. Clinically meaningful non-PAF rhythms may not be reliably captured by most cardiac ambulatory ECG monitors, especially those focusing purely on AF. Purpose The objective of this study was to identify the extent and types of other unique rhythm abnormalities that might influence management in patients found to have PAF on a routine outpatient ambulatory ECG. Methods A total of 10,593 pts wearing an ambulatory ECG monitor had PAF. Monitors were ordered for standard clinical indications predominantly by their managing cardiologists. Patient ECG data was interpreted by 3 serial readers clinically informed on electrophysiological principles of arrhythmia diagnostics. Concomitant rhythm disorders, as manifested on the surface ECG monitor, were then quantified as a percentage of the PAF study population. Patients with chronic AF were excluded from this analysis. Results The primary results are summarized in Figure 1. Of 10,593 pts with PAF, only 391 (4%) were found to have only PAF and no other rhythm abnormalities. At least 1 additional rhythm abnormality was found in 96% and 2-to-8 additional rhythm disorders were present in 68% of patients. Conclusion Nearly all patients with PAF have additional rhythm abnormalities that can only be identified using a cardiac monitor with high P-wave fidelity. Even modest, and certainly serious, additional ECG rhythm abnormalities can alter physician management of PAF as pertains to selection of additional diagnostic testing, drug choice, device selection, and/or ablation specifics. Simplistic and/or commercial grade ECG monitors cannot provide such detail and carry the risk of misdirecting patient management. Funding Acknowledgement Type of funding sources: None.

EFFECTIVE UNIVERSAL WARMING-DILUTION OF BLASTOCYSTS VITRIFIED ON AN OPEN DEVICE SYSTEM

Universal warming protocols for vitrified embryos have been previously validated in our lab for a closed system. The goal of this study is to verify the effectiveness of different non-permeating sugar solutions for post-warming dilution of blastocysts vitrified on an open system when alternatives to their typical commercial products are needed. A prospective, randomized study of patient consented research discard blastocysts (>2BB quality) was conducted in an apriori arrangement of 4 sugar solution treatments post-warming: A) fresh Irvine Sci./FF Vit Warm kit solutions (TS/DS); B) frozen-thawed Irvine Sci./FF TS/DS solutions (i.e., flash frozen in LN2); C) 1M sucrose; and D) 10% honey (commercial grade, multi-floral).