This study was conducted to evaluate the effects of dietary arachidonic acid (AA, 20:4n-6) levels on growth performance and body composition in juvenile eel, Anguilla japonica. Six semi-purified experimental diets were formulated to be isonitrogenous and iso-caloric containing 55.0% crude protein and 15% crude lipid (18.3 kJ of available energy g -1 ). Six different levels of AA were added to the basal diet, with 0, 0.2, 0.4, 0.6, 0.8 or 1.2% on a dry matter (DM) basis, respectively (AA 0.07 , AA 0.22 , AA 0.43 , AA 0.57 , AA 0.78 or AA 1.23 ). After a conditioning period, fish initially averaging 27±0.5 g (mean±SD) were randomly distributed into each aquarium as triplicate groups of 20 fish each. One of six experimental diets was fed on a DM basis to fish in three randomly selected aquaria at a rate of 2-3% of total body weight twice a day. At the end of the 12-week feeding trial, weight gain (WG) and feed efficiency (FE) of fish fed AA 0.78 and AA 1.23 diets were significantly higher than of fish fed AA 0.07 , AA 0.22 and AA 0.43 diets (p<0.05). Specific growth rate (SGR) of fish fed the AA 0.78 diet was significantly higher than of fish fed AA 0.07 , AA 0.22 and AA 0.43 diets (p<0.05). However, there were no significant differences in WG, SGR and FE among fish fed AA 0.57 , AA 0.78 and AA 1.23 diets (p>0.05). Whole body AA deposition of fish fed the AA 1.23 diet was significantly higher than for the other diets (p<0.05). Broken-line model analysis on the basis of WG and SGR indicated that the dietary AA requirement could be greater than 0.69% but less than 0.71% of the diet in juvenile eel. The growth-promoting activity of AA observed in the present study provides strong support for the contention that dietary AA is essential for juvenile eel.

In this experiment, we examined the survival, fertilization, hatching times, and hatching rates of Far Eastern catfish Silurus asotus at pH ranging from 2 to 13 under laboratory conditions. Eggs could be fertilized at pH 3-12. In a hatching experiment, mortality was first observed at pH 13, when all fertilized eggs died within 8 min, followed by pH 2 (30 min), pH 12 (60 min), pH 3 (4 h), and pH 11 (5 h). Hatching only occurred at pH 4-10, with the highest hatching rate at pH 7 (52%) and the lowest at pH 10 (24%). Hatching rates in acid solutions were higher than in alkaline solutions, although the difference was not significant. Hatching was first observed at pH 10, beginning 27 h after fertilization and ending at the 31 h. A clear difference was observed between hatching times, ranging from 31 to 64 h and increasing in order with descending pH.

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). This study aimed to investigate the status of renal function in patients with COVID-19. The study surveyed a total of 649 patients hospitalized with COVID-19 at a hospital located in southern Gyeonggi Province, South Korea over a one month period in January 2021. The parameters analyzed were blood urea nitrogen (BUN), creatinine, sodium, potassium, chloride, and estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR). The BUN and creatinine of the COVID-19 patients were found to be higher than the normal reference range, specially in males, and in the elderly (60s and 80s or older). The serum electrolyte levels of the patients were observed to be within the reference intervals. Of the subjects, males over 80 years of age had a Chronic Kidney Disease Epidemiology Collaboration (CKD-EPI) of 60 mL/min/1.73 m 2 or less. Recent research suggests that some severe cases of COVID-19 are showing signs of kidney damage, even in those with no prior underlying kidney disease. Thus, assessment of kidney function using multiple indicators could help diagnose abnormal renal function in patients with COVID-19.

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This study aims to minimize casualties in the event of an apartment fire by developing a virtual reality (VR) fire-training program (using the latest IT techniques) and verifying its validity as a learning tool. For this purpose, environmental parameters, such as the unit floor's size and the composition of the family, were established. Then, possible fire scenarios that could occur in the apartment building were developed and implemented in a VR setting. Finally, a survey was conducted to review the responses to the program. The results of the survey demonstrated that the responses were positive, confirming the effectiveness of the program.