bOne of the most common diseases in high-performance German Holstein dairy cows is left-sided displacement of the abomasum (LDA). Hypomotility of the abomasum is detrimental during the pathogenesis of LDA. It is known that improper interactions between the gut microbiota and the enteric nervous system contribute to dysfunctions of gastrointestinal motility. Therefore, we hypothesized that the gut microbial composition will be different between German Holstein dairy cows with and without LDA. We used 16S rRNA gene analysis to evaluate whether there are any differences in bacterial composition between German Holstein dairy cows with and without LDA. Even though our data are limited to being used to correlate compositional changes with corresponding functional aspects in the pathogenesis of LDA, results from this study show that the fecal microbial compositions of German Holstein dairy cows with LDA shifted and were less diverse than those in normal cows. In particular, Spirochaetes were absent in cows with LDA. One of the most common diseases in high-performance dairy cows is left-sided (LDA) or right-sided (RDA) displacement of the abomasum, collectively known as displacement of the abomasum (DA), in which the abomasum bloats and moves from its normal position on the right ventral part of the abdomen to the left or right abdominal wall (1, 2). DA requires veterinary intervention, and the typical clinical findings of this condition include anorexia and decreased milk production, as DA often occurs near parturition or during the early lactation period (2, 3). Therefore, DA imposes a huge economic burden on dairy producers.Gas accumulation in the abomasum plays a critical role in the pathogenesis of DA by increasing the buoyancy of the abomasum, resulting in DA. Hypomotility of the abomasum and increased abomasal gas production have been identified as the main mechanisms of action for gas accumulation in the abomasum (1, 3, 4). In a normal situation, the gas in the abomasum is expelled in the oral direction. However, abomasal gas accumulation can occur with hypomotility of the abomasum. Decreased motility of the abomasum is attributed to a large quantity of volatile fatty acids (VFA) in the abomasum, metabolic alkalosis, and low blood calcium levels (1, 4-6). However, abomasal motility is mainly controlled by the vagus nerve, and dysfunction in the vagus nerve can decrease the motility of the abomasum (3, 7-9). It has been shown that the interactions between the enteric nervous system and the gut microbiota in mice contribute to proper gastrointestinal motility (10). The mouse gut microbiota can stimulate vagal sensory neurons, which is a major neural pathway that conveys information from the gastrointestinal luminal contents to the brain, thus modulating gastrointestinal motility (11,12). In addition, it has been shown that systemic endotoxemia related to the gut microbiota can induce changes in neuronal function, including vagal afferent neurons (13). Therefore, we hypothesized that the gut microbial composition w...

New isolation scheme for CMOS image sensor pixel is proposed and its improved dark current performance is reported. It is well known that shallow trench isolation (STI) is one of major sources of dark current in imager pixel due to the existence of interfacial defects at STI/Si interface. On the account STI-free structure over the whole pixel area was previously reported for reducing dark current. As the size of pixel pitch is shrunk, however, it becomes increasingly difficult to isolate in-pixel transistors electrically without STI. In this work, we implemented hybrid type isolation scheme of removing STI around photodiode to suppress the dark current and remaining STI near transistors to guarantee the electrical isolation of transistors in pixel. It was successfully achieved that the dark current was significantly reduced by removing the STI around the photodiode together with normal operation of in-pixel transistors.

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