Effect of feeding frequency on reproductive performances and stress responses in gestating sows.

The objective of this study was to investigate the influence of feeding frequency on a sow's reproductive performance and stress response during gestation. A total of twenty multiparous sows (Yorkshire × Landrace) were used in a completely randomized design based on their parity, body weight (BW), and backfat thickness (BFT), and the sows were allotted to two different feeding systems: 1) once daily feeding (OF) and 2) twice daily feeding (TF) in corn-soybean meal based diets. The gestation diet was formulated to contain 3,265 kcal of metabolizable energy (ME) / kg, 12.90% of crude protein (CP), and 0.75 % of total lysine. The lactation diet was formulated to contain 3,265 kcal of ME / kg, 16.80% of CP, and 1.08% of total lysine and provided ad libitum during lactation. In gestation, sow BFT and BF changes were not affected by feeding frequency, but higher BW and BW gain from day 35 to 90 and day 35 to 110 were observed in OF sow (p < 0.10). In lactation, feeding frequency did not influence on BW, BW gain, BFT, BF changes, average daily feed intake, and wean-to-estrus interval. Also, there were no differences in litter size, litter weight and piglet weight in lactating sows. OF sows had higher (p < 0.05; p < 0.10) protein, solid-not-fat, and total solid concentrations in colostrum compared to TF sows, while OF sows had a lower (p < 0.05) lactose concentration in colostrum compared to TF sows. Sows in OF showed significantly lower average daily water consumption (ADWC) from day 35 to 110 of gestation (p < 0.05). While there were no significant differences in stereotypic behaviors and salivary cortisol levels during gestation between treatments, the OF sows showed less time spending on the activity at day 105 (p < 0.05). In conclusion, reduced feeding frequency increased BW gain during gestation, decreased activation time, and changed the colostrum composition. This information may contribute to the understanding of the physiological and behavioral change of gestating sows by manipulating feeding frequency.

Determination of pepsin in human saliva using pepsin-susceptible peptide reporter and colorimetric dipstick assay: a prospective, cross-sectional study.

A simple and effective pepsin detection assay is reported based on a pepsin-susceptible peptide (PSP) reporter degradation strategy. PSP, which can be specifically cleaved by pepsin, was modified with fluorescein isothiocyanate (FITC) and biotin at the N- and C-terminals to be used as a reporter for colorimetric detection of dipsticks. A universal lateral flow dipstick consisting of a streptavidin test line for biotin binding and a sample pad immobilized with a gold-labeled polyclonal (rabbit) anti-FITC antibody was used to verify PSP-based pepsin detection. When the PSP reporter reacts with pepsin in a tube, it cleaves into two fragments, and the cleaved fragments do not display any color on the test line. Therefore, the higher the concentration of pepsin is, the greater is the decrease in test line intensity (IT-line) and the higher is the control line intensity (IC-line). First, the PSP cleavage and dipstick assay conditions for pepsin detection was optimized. The ratio of color intensity (IT-line/IC-line) of PSP-based dipstick assay showed a linear relationship with log concentration of pepsin ranging between 4 and 500 ng/mL (R2 = 0.98, n = 6), with a limit of detection of 1.4 ng/mL. It also exhibited high specificity and good reproducibility. Finally, pepsin levels were quantified in saliva samples from healthy controls (n = 34) and patients with laryngopharyngeal reflux (LPR, n = 61). Salivary pepsin levels were higher in patients with LPR than in healthy controls. The salivary pepsin levels correlated with those measured using a conventional enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay kit. Therefore, this PSP-based dipstick assay is a convenient tool for assessing salivary pepsin levels.

Rapid Impregnating Resins for Fiber-Reinforced Composites Used in the Automobile Industry.

As environmental regulations become stricter, weight- and cost-effective fiber-reinforced polymer composites are being considered as alternative materials in the automobile industry. Rapidly impregnating resin into the reinforcing fibers is critical during liquid composite molding, and the optimization of resin impregnation is related to the cycle time and quality of the products. In this review, various resins capable of rapid impregnation, including thermoset and thermoplastic resins, are discussed for manufacturing fiber-reinforced composites used in the automobile industry, along with their advantages and disadvantages. Finally, vital factors and perspectives for developing rapidly impregnated resin-based fiber-reinforced composites for automobile applications are discussed.

Nanozyme based colorimetric detection of biogenic gaseous H2S using Ag@Au core/shell nanoplates with peroxidase-like activity.

A highly sensitive and facile colorimetric assay is introduced for detecting biogenic gaseous H2S using peroxidase (POD)-like catalytic activity of silver core/gold shell nanoplates (Ag@Au NPls). H2S can react with Ag@Au NPls to form Ag2S or Au2S on their surface, which can reduce POD-like activity of Ag@Au NPls and consequently decrease the absorbance at 650 nm due to oxidation of 3,3',5,5'-tetramethylbenzidine (TMB) in the presence of hydrogen peroxide (H2O2). For in situ and multiple detection of H2S, we utilized a microplate cover with 24 polydimethylsiloxane inner wells where Ag@Au NPls reacted with H2S gas followed by treatment with TMB/H2O2. As a result, the change in absorbance at 650 nm showed a linear relationship with the H2S concentration in the range 0.33 to 2.96 µM (0.36 absorbance/µM H2S in PBS, R2 = 0.994) with a limit of detection of 263 nM and a relative standard deviation of 4.4%. Finally, this assay could detect H2S released from Eikenella corrodens, used as a model bacterium, in a short time (20 min) or at a low number of bacteria (1 × 104 colony forming units/mL). Therefore, this assay is expected to be applied for the study of H2S signaling in bacterial physiology, as well as measure H2S production released from other oral bacteria that cause halitosis and oral diseases, leading to the subsequent diagnosis.

A reinforcement learning approach to airfoil shape optimization.

Shape optimization is an indispensable step in any aerodynamic design. However, the inherent complexity and non-linearity associated with fluid mechanics as well as the high-dimensional design space intrinsic to such problems make airfoil shape optimization a challenging task. Current approaches relying on gradient-based or gradient-free optimizers are data-inefficient in that they do not leverage accumulated knowledge, and are computationally expensive when integrating Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) simulation tools. Supervised learning approaches have addressed these limitations but are constrained by user-provided data. Reinforcement learning (RL) provides a data-driven approach bearing generative capabilities. We formulate the airfoil design as a Markov decision process (MDP) and investigate a Deep Reinforcement Learning (DRL) approach to airfoil shape optimization. A custom RL environment is developed allowing the agent to successively modify the shape of an initially provided 2D airfoil and to observe the associated changes in aerodynamic metrics such as lift-to-drag (L/D), lift coefficient (Cl) and drag coefficient (Cd). The learning abilities of the DRL agent are demonstrated through various experiments in which the agent's objective-maximizing L/D, maximizing Cl or minimizing Cd-as well as the initial airfoil shape are varied. Results show that the DRL agent is able to generate high performing airfoils within a limited number of learning iterations. The strong resemblance between the artificially produced shapes and those found in the literature highlights the rationality of the decision-making policy learned by the agent. Overall, the presented approach demonstrates the relevance of DRL to airfoil shape optimization and brings forward a successful application of DRL to a physics-based aerodynamics problem.

Rapid Identification of Jasmine Virus H Infecting Ixora coccinea by Nanopore Metatranscriptomics.

The global climate change and international trade have facilitated the movement of plants across borders, increasing the risk of introducing novel plant viruses in new territories. Ixora coccinea exhibited virus-like foliar symptoms, including mosaic and mild mottle. An Oxford Nanopore Technologies-based compact and portable MinION platform was used to identify the causal viral pathogen. The complete genome sequence of jasmine virus H (JaVH; 3867 nt, JaVH-CNU) was determined and found to share 88.4-90.3% nucleotide identity with that of Jasminum sambac JaVH isolate in China. Phylogenetic analysis based on the complete amino acid sequences of RNA-dependent RNA polymerase and coat protein revealed that JaVH-CNU was grouped separately with other JaVH isolates. This is the first report of a natural JaVH infection of >i<I. coccinea. The application of rapid nanopore sequencing for plant virus identification was demonstrated and is expected to provide accurate and rapid diagnosis for virus surveillance.

The monotone traveling wave solution of a bistable three-species competition system via unconstrained neural networks.

In this paper, we approximate traveling wave solutions via artificial neural networks. Finding traveling wave solutions can be interpreted as a forward-inverse problem that solves a differential equation without knowing the exact speed. In general, we require additional restrictions to ensure the uniqueness of traveling wave solutions that satisfy boundary and initial conditions. This paper is based on the theoretical results that the bistable three-species competition system has a unique traveling wave solution on the premise of the monotonicity of the solution. Since the original monotonic neural networks are not smooth functions, they are not suitable for representing solutions of differential equations. We propose a method of approximating a monotone solution via a neural network representing a primitive function of another positive function. In the numerical integration, the operator learning-based neural network resolved the issue of differentiability by replacing the quadrature rule. We also provide theoretical results that a small training loss implies a convergence to a real solution. The set of functions neural networks can represent is dense in the solution space, so the results suggest the convergence of neural networks with appropriate training. We validate that the proposed method works successfully for the cases where the wave speed is identical to zero. Our monotonic neural network achieves a small error, suggesting that an accurate speed and solution can be estimated when the sign of wave speed is known.

Extremely Suppressed Energetic Disorder in a Chemically Doped Conjugated Polymer.

Chemical doping can be used to tune the optoelectronic properties of conjugated polymers (CPs), extending their applications as conducting materials. Unfortunately, chemically doped CP films containing excess dopants exhibit an increase in energetic disorder upon structural alteration, and Coulomb interactions between charge carriers and dopants also affect such disorder. The increase in energetic disorder leads to a broadening of the density of states, which consequently impedes efficient charge transport in chemically doped CPs. However, the molecular origins that are inherently resistant to such incidental increase of energetic disorder in chemically doped CPs have not been sufficiently explored. Here, it is discovered that energetic disorder in chemically doped CPs can be suppressed to a level close to the theoretical limit. Indacenodithiophene-co-benzothiadiazole (IDTBT) doped with triethyloxonium hexachloroantimonate (OA) exhibits disorder-free charge-transport characteristics and band-like transport behavior with astonishing carrier mobility as a result of reinforced 1D intramolecular transport. Molecular structure of IDTBT provides a capability to lower the energetic disorder that generally arises from the inclusion of heterogeneous dopants. The results suggest the possibilities of implementing disorder-free CPs that exhibit excellent charge transport characteristics in the chemically doped state and satisfy a prerequisite for their availability in the industry.

Histone deacetylase 6 plays an important role in TGF-ß-induced murine Treg cell differentiation by regulating cell proliferation.

Regulatory T (Treg) cells maintain immune homeostasis by preventing abnormal or excessive immune responses. Histone deacetylase 6 (HDAC6) regulates expression of Foxp3, and thus, Treg cell differentiation; however, its role in Treg cell differentiation is unclear and somewhat controversial. Here, we investigated the role of HDAC6 in TGF-ß-induced murine Treg cells. HDAC6 expression was higher in Treg cells than in other T helper cell subsets. Pharmacological inhibitors of HDAC6 selectively inhibited Treg cell differentiation and suppressive function. A specific HDAC6 inhibitor induced changes in global gene expression by Treg cells. Of these changes, genes related to cell division were prominently affected. In summary, HDAC6 plays an important role in TGF-ß-induced murine Treg cell differentiation by regulating cell proliferation.

Symmetry-Induced Ordered Assembly of a Naphthobisthiadiazole-Based Nonfused-Ring Electron Acceptor Enables Efficient Organic Solar Cells.

Nonfused-ring electron acceptors (NFREAs) have received increasing attention for use in organic solar cells (OSCs) because of their synthetic simplicity and tunable optical spectra. However, their fundamental molecular interactions and the mechanism by which they govern the property-function relations of OSCs remain elusive. Here, to investigate the effects of the structural symmetry of NFREAs, two acceptor-donor-acceptor'-donor-acceptor (A-D-A'-D-A)-type NFREAs, 2,2'-(((naphtho[1,2-c:5,6-c']bis[1,2,5]thiadiazole-5,10-diylbis(4,4-bis(2-butyloctyl)-4H-cyclopenta[2,1-b:3,4-b']dithiophene-6,2-diyl))bis(methaneylylidene))bis(5,6-difluoro-3-oxo-2,3-dihydro-1H-indene-2,1-diylidene))dimalononitrile (NTz-4F) and 2,2'-(((benzo[c][1,2,5]thiadiazole-4,7-diylbis(4,4-bis(2-ethylhexyl)-4H-cyclopenta[2,1-b:3,4-b']dithiophene-6,2-diyl))bis(methaneylylidene))bis(5,6-difluoro-3-oxo-2,3-dihydro-1H-indene-2,1-diylidene))dimalononitrile (BT-4F), are designed and synthesized. They have different A' cores: NTz-4F has a modified centrosymmetric NTz core, whereas BT-4F has a modified axisymmetric BT core. In pristine films, the NTz-4F, which has a centrosymmetric core, shows substantially enhanced intermolecular interaction and microstructural crystalline ordering compared with BT-4F, which has an axisymmetric core. Even in blends with poly[(2,6-(4,8-bis(5-(2-ethylhexyl)thiophen-2-yl)-benzo[1,2-b:4,5-b']dithiophene))-alt-(5,5-(1',3'-di-2-thienyl-5',7'-bis(2-ethylhexyl)benzo[1',2'-c:4',5'-c']dithiophene-4,8,-dione))] (PBDB-T), NTz-4F retains its highly crystalline structure, whereas BT-4F loses crystalline packing. These changes in NTz-4F result in increased electron transport and suppressed nonradiative voltage loss, resulting in a power conversion efficiency of 9.14% for PBDB-T:NTz-4F vs 7.18% for PBDB-T:BT-4F. This work demonstrates that centrosymmetric-structured cores are promising building blocks for high-performance NFREA-based OSCs.

Detection and Quantification of Apple Stem Grooving Virus in Micropropagated Apple Plantlets Using Reverse-Transcription Droplet Digital PCR.

Apple stem grooving virus (ASGV) is a destructive viral pathogen of pome fruit trees that causes significant losses to fruit production worldwide. Obtaining ASGV-free propagation materials is essential to reduce economic losses, and accurate and sensitive detection methods to screen ASGV-free plantlets during in vitro propagation are urgently necessary. In this study, ASGV was sensitively and accurately quantified from in vitro propagated apple plantlets using a reverse transcription droplet digital polymerase chain reaction (RT-ddPCR) assay. The optimized RT-ddPCR assay was specific to other apple viruses, and was at least 10-times more sensitive than RT-real-time quantitative PCR assay. Furthermore, the optimized RT-ddPCR assay was validated for the detection and quantification of ASGV using micropropagated apple plantlet samples. This RT-ddPCR assay can be utilized for the accurate quantitative detection of ASGV infection in ASGV-free certification programs, and can thus contribute to the production of ASGV-free apple trees.

Preparation of Y2O3/TiO2-Loaded Polyester Fabric and Its Photocatalytic Properties under Visible Light Irradiation.

In this study, Y2O3/TiO2-loaded polyester fabric was prepared to improve the catalytic activity of the TiO2 and to increase its reuse efficiency. The samples were systematically characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray diffractometry (XRD), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), and infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR). Furthermore, the degradation performance of methyl orange in the presence of simulated visible light irradiation was also investigated. The results showed that the TiO2 in the Y2O3/TiO2 composite photocatalyst was suitably anatase. In addition, Y2O3/TiO2-loaded polyester fabric had higher photocatalytic performance than that of pure polyester fabric under visible light and the degradation rate reached 83% after 120 min of light exposure but remained above 50% after repeated exposure (three times). Compared to the pure polyester fabric, Y2O3/TiO2-loaded polyester fabric had self-cleaning effects in methyl blue and soy sauce solutions under visible light.

Crystallization Behavior and Electrical Properties of Nanoparticle-Reinforced Poly(lactic Acid)-Based Films.

Graphene oxide (GO) and multiwalled carbon nanotubes with silver particles (MWNT-Ag) of different concentrations were used as nanofillers to prepare poly(lactic acid) (PLA) nanoparticle films through the solvent casting method. In this study, the effects of nanoparticles on the crystallization behavior, relationships between the dispersion and electrical properties, and hydrolytic degradation behaviors were investigated for the PLA/MWNT-Ag and PLA/rGO films. Differential scanning calorimetry was used to evaluate the crystallization behaviors of the PLA/MWNT-Ag and PLA/reduced GO (rGO) films. Electron probe microanalysis was performed to characterize the dispersion of MWNT-Ag, and X-ray diffraction and Raman spectroscopy were used to determine the degree of dispersion of rGO in the PLA matrix. The results showed that nanoparticles enhanced the crystallization kinetics of PLA as well as the hydrolytic degradation rate. From the measurement of electrical properties, the electrical conductivity of PLA/MWNT-Ag 1.0 wt% was much higher than that of the pure PLA and PLA/rGO films, showing that MANT and Ag nanoparticles contribute greatly to enhancing the electrical conductivity of the PLA/MWNT-Ag films.

Endogenous Endophthalmitis Associated with Liver Abscess Successfully Treated with Vitrectomy and Intravitreal Empirical Antibiotics Injections.

PURPOSE: Klebsiella pneumoniae is the most common pathogen of endogenous endophthalmitis accompanying liver abscess in East Asia. The treatment may be different for the patients with endogenous endophthalmitis from the postoperative endophthalmitis. Prompt administration of both intraocular (vancomycin and ceftazidime) and systemic (ceftriaxone, aminoglycoside, and/or metronidazole) antibiotics have been a mainstay of treatment. However, ceftriaxone has been proven to more effectively kill K. pneumoniae than ceftazidime in in vitro studies, and the safety of intravitreal ceftriaxone has been confirmed in animal studies. METHODS: Two diabetic female patients with liver abscess presented with decreased visual acuity of the unilateral eyes. Fundus photography, ocular ultrasonography, and abdominal computed tomography were performed. RESULTS: A 50-year-old diabetic female patient with liver abscess presented decreased visual acuity of the left eye. In fundus examinations, a yellowish necrotic lesion was noted throughout the eye. The results of culture of the blood culture was positive for K. pneumoniae. She was successfully treated with intravitreal ceftazidime injections, and the remaining vitreous opacity was treated with vitrectomy. A 62-year-old female with liver abscess presented a visual symptom of floaters in the right eye. The fundus had a hazy appearance through the vitreous opacity. A yellowish-white subretinal abscess was noted at the temporal macula. Cultures of blood were negative. She underwent intravitreal injections of empirical antibiotics. However, she did not respond to intravitreal vancomycin and ceftazidime. Thus, we changed the intravitreal antibiotics from ceftazidime to ceftriaxone and performed vitrectomy. Her ocular status significantly improved after this change. CONCLUSION: Our results indicate that for cases with EE, prompt initial treatment with broad spectrum antibiotics, followed by rapid use of antibiotics selected according to culture results, and empirical use of antibiotics in cases of a negative culture may be an effective treatment. Vitrectomy also can be an effective treatment option for vitreous opacity refractory to the treatment.

Effect of Temperature on the Mechanical Properties and Polymerization Kinetics of Polyamide-6 Composites.

This work reports the preparation of carbon fiber reinforced thermoplastic composites via the in situ anionic ring opening polymerization of ε-caprolactam. Vacuum assisted resin transfer molding was used to fabricate polyamide-6/carbon fiber composites at different molding temperatures. As a result, the higher polymerization of ε-caprolactam was observed with the condition at 140 °C for satisfactory impregnation. Regarding molding temperature, the physical properties of polyamide-6/carbon fiber were observed that the bending and impact strengths at 140 °C were higher than those to at other molding temperatures. The polymerization kinetics of polyamide-6 was analyzed using differential scanning calorimetry by experimentally acquiring kinetic parameters according to model fitting approaches. Polymerization and crystallization, which occur simultaneously throughout the whole process, were separated using Gaussian and Maxwell-Boltzmann distributions to study polymerization kinetics. The result of the developed model was in good agreement with the experimental data for the presented first order autocatalytic reaction model.

Analysis of Correlation Between Contrast and Component of Polylatic Acid Composite for Fused Deposition Modeling 3D Printing.

Additive manufacturing or three-dimensional (3D) printing is considered a disruptive technology for producing components with topologically optimized complex geometries as well as functionalities that are not achievable by traditional methods. 3D printing is expected to revolutionize the manufacturing of components. While several 3D printing systems are available, printing based on fused-deposition modeling (FDM) using thermoplastics is particularly widespread because of the simplicity and potential applicability of the method. In this study, we report the analysis of correlation between contrast and component of polylactic acid (PLA) based composite for FDM 3D printing. The pre-fabricated white composite and black composite were mixed in the fraction of 100:0, 90:10, 75:25, 50:50, 25:75, and 0:100% (v/v) and the obtained mixture was extruded using HX-35 3D filament extrusion line. The samples in different contrast were printed in disk like shape, and the gray scale filaments and 3D printed samples were measured the morphology and components using a field emission scanning electron microscope and energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy. The CIE-lab values of the samples were measured using a colorimeter and the correlation between CIE-lab values and the components were analyzed. Although the component of Ti was linearly increased, the CIE-lab values show a clear exponential increase by increasing the white composite.

Homeobox protein Hhex negatively regulates Treg cells by inhibiting Foxp3 expression and function.

Regulatory T (Treg) cells play an essential role in maintaining immune homeostasis, but the suppressive function of Treg cells can be an obstacle in the treatment of cancer and chronic infectious diseases. Here, we identified the homeobox protein Hhex as a negative regulator of Treg cells. The expression of Hhex was lower in Treg cells than in conventional T (Tconv) cells. Hhex expression was repressed in Treg cells by TGF-ß/Smad3 signaling. Retroviral overexpression of Hhex inhibited the differentiation of induced Treg (iTreg) cells and the stability of thymic Treg (tTreg) cells by significantly reducing Foxp3 expression. Moreover, Hhex-overexpressing Treg cells lost their immunosuppressive activity and failed to prevent colitis in a mouse model of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). Hhex expression was increased; however, Foxp3 expression was decreased in Treg cells in a delayed-type hypersensitivity (DTH) reaction, a type I immune reaction. Hhex directly bound to the promoters of Foxp3 and other Treg signature genes, including Il2ra and Ctla4, and repressed their transactivation. The homeodomain and N-terminal repression domain of Hhex were critical for inhibiting Foxp3 and other Treg signature genes. Thus, Hhex plays an essential role in inhibiting Treg cell differentiation and function via inhibition of Foxp3.

BATF3 is sufficient for the induction of Il9 expression and can compensate for BATF during Th9 cell differentiation.

Th9 cells preferentially produce IL-9 and participate in allergic responses and asthma. Differentiation of Th9 cells is induced by IL-4 and TGF-ß, and then the cells are amplified by OX40 signals. The transcription factors PU.1, IRF4, and BATF are required for Th9 differentiation. BATF3 is an AP-1 family transcription factor that is highly homologous to BATF; however, its role in Th9 cells is poorly defined. Here, we show that OX40 signaling induced the expression of Batf3 and that its overexpression in the presence or absence of OX40 signaling increased the expression of IL-9 in Th9 cells. BATF3 physically interacted with IRF4 and was bound to the Il9 locus. A transient reporter assay revealed that the BATF3-IRF4 complex induced Il9 promoter activity. BATF3 rescued Il9 expression and restored the capacity to induce the airway inflammation in Batf KO Th9 cells. Thus, BATF3 itself is sufficient for the induction of Th9 cell differentiation and can substitute for BATF during Th9 cell differentiation.

Analysis of Cryogenic Impact Properties for a Glass-Fiber-Reinforced Dicyclopentadiene with a Different Amount of Decelerator Solution.

Composites using dicyclopentadiene (DCPD) as a matrix have gained significant popularity owing to their excellent impact and chemical corrosion resistance. In the present study, experiments addressing the impact behavior of glass-fiber-reinforced DCPD were conducted to quantitatively evaluate its impact properties. The glass-fiber-reinforced polydicyclopentadiene composite utilized in impact tests was manufactured using structural reaction injection molding (S-RIM) because of its fast curing characteristics and low viscosity. The impact properties of the glass-fiber-reinforced DCPD (GF/DCPD) were quantitatively evaluated by varying its fiber content and decelerator solution. The impact properties of neat DCPD and GF/DCPD composites were examined with different amounts of decelerator solution under various temperatures from room temperature to cryogenic temperature to observe the ductile-to-brittle transition temperature (DBTT). With an increase in the fiber weight fraction of the GF/DCPD composite, the effect of the DBTT significantly decreased. However, the decreasing rate retarded as the weight fraction of the GF increased. The decreased DBTT with the addition of GF in the GF/DCPD can be attributed to the differences in the thermal expansion ratio and the interfacial force between neat DCPD and the fiber. A fractograph analysis demonstrates that the effect of the brittle (smooth) surface resulted in a lower impact absorbed energy when the temperature decreased, along with the increased amount of the decelerator.