Applying precision feeding techniques in growing-finishing pig operations

The high cost of feed ingredients, the use of non-renewable sources of phosphate and the dramatic increase in the environmental load resulting from the excessive land application of manure are major challenges for the livestock industry. Precision feeding is proposed as an essential approach to improve the utilization of dietary nitrogen, phosphorus and other nutrients and thus reduce feeding costs and nutrient excretion. Precision feeding requires accurate knowledge of the nutritional value of feedstuffs and animal nutrient requirements, the formulation of diets in accordance with environmental constraints, and the gradual adjustment of the dietary nutrient supply to match the requirements of the animals. After the nutritional potential of feed ingredients has been precisely determined and has been improved by the addition of enzymes (e.g. phytases) or feed treatments, the addition of environmental objectives to the traditional feed formulation algorithms can promote the sustainability of the swine industry by reducing nutrient excretion in swine operations with small increases in feeding costs. Increasing the number of feeding phases can also contribute to significant reductions in nutrient excretion and feeding costs. However, the use of precision feeding techniques in which pigs are fed individually with daily tailored diets can further improve the efficiency with which pigs utilize dietary nutrients. Precision feeding involves the use of feeding techniques that allow the provision of the right amount of feed with the right composition at the right time to each pig in the herd. Using this approach, it has been estimated that feeding costs can be reduced by more than 4.6%, and nitrogen and phosphorus excretion can both be reduced by more than 38%. Moreover, the integration of precision feeding techniques into large-group production systems can provide real-time off-farm monitoring of feed and animals for optimal slaughter and production strategies, thus improving the environmental sustainability of pork production, animal well-being and meat-product quality

Growth kinetics engineered magnetoresistance response in La2/3Sr1/3MnO3 thin films

Under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license to their work.A route to engineer the intrinsic colossal magnetoresistance (CMR) response in manganite thin films through an accurate control of the growth kinetics is presented. It is shown that under specific growth conditions, a particular strained state, substantially different from that of bulk-like materials and standard films, can be quenched up to film thicknesses around 60 nm. This strained state exhibits the same structural fingerprints of the interfacial dead layer in standard films and promotes surface morphology instabilities, which end up with the formation of self-organized nanopits array. At the same time, it has profound effects on the intrinsic magnetoelectronic properties of the films that exhibit an enhanced intrinsic CMR response.We acknowledge financial support from the Spanish MEC (MAT2011-29081 and MAT2012-33207), CONSOLIDER (CSD2007-00041), and FEDER program. Z.K. thanks the Spanish MINECO for the financial support through the RyC program. We thank Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin for the allocation of neutron/synchrotron radiation beamtime. The research leading to these results has received funding from the European Community's Seventh Framework Programme (FP7/2007-2013) under Grant Agreement No. 312284.Peer Reviewe

Competing misfit relaxation mechanisms in epitaxial correlated oxides

Strain engineering of functional properties in epitaxial thin films of strongly correlated oxides exhibiting octahedral-framework structures is hindered by the lack of adequate misfit relaxation models. Here we present unreported experimental evidence of a four-stage hierarchical development of octahedral-framework perturbations resulting from a progressive imbalance between electronic, elastic, and octahedral tilting energies in La 0.7Sr0.3MnO3 epitaxial thin films grown on SrTiO3 substrates. Electronic softening of the Mn-O bonds near the substrate leads to the formation of an interfacial layer clamped to the substrate with strongly degraded magnetotransport properties, i.e., the so-called dead layer, while rigid octahedral tilts become relevant at advanced growth stages without significant effects on charge transport and magnetic orderin

Continuous Training and Certification in Neonatal Resuscitation in Remote Areas Using a Multi-Platform Information and Communication Technology Intervention, Compared to Standard Training: A Randomized Cluster Trial Study Protocol

Background: About 10% of all newborns may have difficulty breathing and require support by trained personnel. In Peru, 90% of deliveries occur in health facilities. However, there is not a national neonatal resuscitation and certification program for the public health sector. In addition, the Andes and the Amazon regions concentrate large rural remote areas, which further limit the implementation of training programs and the accomplishment of continuous certification. Neonatal resuscitation training through the use of Information, Communication and Technology (ICT) tools, running on computers, tablets or mobile phones, may overcome such limitations. This strategy allows online and offline access to educational resources, paving the way to more frequent and efficient training, and certification processes. Objective: To evaluate the effects of a neonatal resuscitation training and certification program that uses a Multi-Platform ICT (MP-ICT) strategy on neonatal health care in remote areas. Methods: We propose to conduct the study through a cluster-randomized trial, where the study and analysis unit is the health care facility. Eligible facilities will include primary and secondary health care level facilities that are located in provinces with neonatal mortality rates higher than 15 per 1,000 live births. We will compare the proportion of newborns with a heart rate ≥100 beats per minute at two minutes after birth in health care facilities that receive MP-ICT training and certification implementation, with those that receive standard training and certification. Discussion: We expect that the intervention will be shown as more effective than the current standard of care. We are prepared to include it within a national neonatal resuscitation training and certification program to be implemented at national scale together with policymakers and other key stakeholders. Trial registration: ClinicalTrials.gov Nº NCT03210194 Status of the study: This study is enrolling participants by invitation only. Study protocol version 1.1 – March 31st, 201

Self-arranged misfit dislocation network formation upon strain release in La0.7Sr0.3MnO3/LaAlO3(100) epitaxial films under compressive strain

Santiso, José et al.Lattice-mismatched epitaxial films of LaSrMnO (LSMO) on LaAlO (001) substrates develop a crossed pattern of misfit dislocations above a critical thickness of 2.5 nm. Upon film thickness increases, the dislocation density progressively increases, and the dislocation spacing distribution becomes narrower. At a film thickness of 7.0 nm, the misfit dislocation density is close to the saturation for full relaxation. The misfit dislocation arrangement produces a 2D lateral periodic structure modulation (Λ≈ 16 nm) alternating two differentiated phases: one phase fully coherent with the substrate and a fully relaxed phase. This modulation is confined to the interface region between film and substrate. This phase separation is clearly identified by X-ray diffraction and further proven in the macroscopic resistivity measurements as a combination of two transition temperatures (with low and high T). Films thicker than 7.0 nm show progressive relaxation, and their macroscopic resistivity becomes similar than that of the bulk material. Therefore, this study identifies the growth conditions and thickness ranges that facilitate the formation of laterally modulated nanocomposites with functional properties notably different from those of fully coherent or fully relaxed material.This research was funded by the Spanish MINECO (projects: MAT2011-29081-C02, MAT2012-33207 and MAT2013-47869-C4-1-P, Consolider-Ingenio CSD2008-00023) and the European Union Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under the Marie Sklodowska-Curie grant agreement No. 645658. We also acknowledge financial aid from the Generalitat de Catalunya (2014 SGR 501 and 2014 SGR 1216). J. S. thanks the support of Ministry of Education and Science through program “Salvador de Madariaga” for a grant (ref: PRX14/00297) to perform a stay at MIT. Z.K. is grateful for the support from the Ministry of Education, Science, and Technological Development of the Republic of Serbia through Project III45018. Q.L. and B.Y. thank the National Science Foundation for support through the MIT Center of Materials Science and Engineering MRSEC under grant no. DMR-1419807. This work made use of the Shared Experimental Facilities supported in part by the MRSEC Program of the National Science Foundation under award number DMR – 1419807. We thank Dr. Belén Ballesteros (ICN2, Barcelona) and Prof. Marie-Jo Casanova (CEMES, Toulouse) for their assistance with transmission electron microscopy experiments. We are grateful to J. Rubio-Zuazo and the ESRF for providing assistance in using beamline BM25. We also thank HZB for the allocation of synchrotron radiation beamtime at Bessy.Peer Reviewe