Nutrient Digestibility and Productivity of Bali Cattle Fed Fermented Hymenachne Amplexia­calis Based Rations Supplemented with Leucaena Leucocephala

An experiment was conducted to study the effects of lamtoro (Leucaena leucocephala) leaf supplementation in fermented kumpai grass (Hymenachne amplexia­calis) based rations on the productivity of Bali cattle. Variables measured were dry matter and organic matter intakes, nutrient digestibility (dry matter, organic matter, crude protein, and crude fiber), body weight gain, and feed efficiency. The types of rations were: Ration A= 45% fermented kumpai grass + 40% benggala grass + 15% concentrate + 0% lamtoro leaf, Ration B= 45% fermented kumpai grass + 30% benggala grass + 15% concentrate + 10% lamtoro leaf, Ration C= 45% fermented kumpai grass + 20% benggala grass + 15% concentrate + 20% lamtoro leaf, and Ration D= 45% fermented kumpai grass + 10% benggala grass + 15% concentrate + 30% lamtoro leaf. The supplementation of lamtoro leaf up to 30% into the ration could increase (P<0.05) dry matter and organic matter intakes, and crude protein digestibility. The highest body weight gain and feed efficiency were found in Bali cattle fed ration with 20% lamtoro leaf supplementation. The level of lamtoro leaf supplementation in the ration did not affect the digestibility of dry matter, organic matter, and crude fiber. It was concluded that the supplementation of lamtoro leaf in the ration could increase dry matter, organic matter, and crude protein intakes. Addition of 20% lamtoro leaf gave the best effect on the increased body weight gain and feed efficiency in Bali cattle

Quasi-Dynamic Frame Coordination For Ultra- Reliability and Low-Latency in 5G TDD Systems

The fifth generation (5G) mobile technology features the ultra-reliable and low-latency communications (URLLC) as a major service class. URLLC applications demand a tight radio latency with extreme link reliability. In 5G dynamic time division duplexing (TDD) systems, URLLC requirements become further challenging to achieve due to the severe and fast-varying cross link interference (CLI) and the switching time of the radio frame configurations (RFCs). In this work, we propose a quasi-dynamic inter-cell frame coordination algorithm using hybrid frame design and a cyclic-offset-based RFC code-book. The proposed solution adaptively updates the RFCs in time such that both the average CLI and the user-centric radio latency are minimized. Compared to state-of-the-art dynamic TDD studies, the proposed scheme shows a significant improvement in the URLLC outage latency, i.e., 92% reduction gain, while boosting the cell-edge capacity by 189% and with a greatly reduced coordination overhead space, limited to B-bit

Factors Affecting Efficiency Of Railways In Terms Of Safety At Railway Level Crossings

Road traffic accidents are in the top ten of all deaths, with around 1.4 million fatalities and 50 million injuries per year worldwide. Regarding railways, in the EU there were 1666 serious accidents registered in 2018 and 442 of them involved Level Crossings (LCs). The number of accidents on level crossings in the EU in 2018 was approximately 27% of the total number of accidents on railways, but these accidents can be predictable and preventable. The current study investigated the efficiency of railways in terms of accident risk at LCs in 24 countries of the EU. The Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) method has been applied to evaluate the efficiency of selected railways in terms of safety at LCs. After extensive study of the subject, the comprehensive list of influencing factors has been identified and seven of them have been selected for further analysis. To investigate the relationship between selected factors and efficiency score of railways in terms of accident risk at LCs, the IBM SPSS software package has been deployed. The results show that GDP per capita and density of population in the selected countries have a strong influence on the efficiency of railways in terms of safety at LCs. The expected outcome of this research may contribute to a better understanding of the factors that influence the efficiency score of railways in term of accident risk at LCs and may help to develop preventative measures

Investigation of Factors Influencing the Efficiency of railways in Terms of safety at Level Crossings

ABSTRACT Road traffic accidents are in the top ten of all deaths worldwide. Regarding railways, in the EU there is one person killed or seriously injured every day in serious accidents involving level crossings (LCs). The number of accidents is almost unchanged in the last ten years despite the huge efforts that railways have made. There is a need to look at the factors that contributed to the occurrence of accidents at LCs beyond the drivers and pedestrian behavior or technical issues. The reported research investigates the efficiency of railways in terms of accident risk at LCs in 24 countries of the EU. It evaluates the efficiency of railways by applying the Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) method and identifying the factors that influence the efficiency score of railways in terms of accident risk using the IBM SPSS. The results show that GDP per capita and density of population in the selected countries have a strong influence on the efficiency of railways. The expected outcome of this research may contribute to better understanding of the factors that influence the efficiency score of railways in term of accident risk at LCs and develop preventative measures. Keywords: level crossings, accidents, efficiency score and influencing factor

CENP-C unwraps the human CENP-A nucleosome through the H2A C-terminal tail

Centromeres are defined epigenetically by nucleosomes containing the histone H3 variant CENP-A, upon which the constitutive centromere-associated network of proteins (CCAN) is built. CENP-C is considered to be a central organizer of the CCAN. We provide new molecular insights into the structure of human CENP-A nucleosomes, in isolation and in complex with the CENP-C central region (CENP-C-CR), the main CENP-A binding module of human CENP-C. We establish that the short alpha N helix of CENP-A promotes DNA flexibility at the nucleosome ends, independently of the sequence it wraps. Furthermore, we show that, in vitro, two regions of human CENP-C (CENP-C-CR and CENP-C-motif) both bind exclusively to the CENP-A nucleosome. We find CENP-C-CR to bind with high affinity due to an extended hydrophobic area made up of CENP-A(V)(532) and CENP-A(V)(533). Importantly, we identify two key conformational changes within the CENP-A nucleosome upon CENP-C binding. First, the loose DNA wrapping of CENP-A nucleosomes is further exacerbated, through destabilization of the H2A C-terminal tail. Second, CENP-C-CR rigidifies the N-terminal tail of H4 in the conformation favoring H4(K20) monomethylation, essential for a functional centromere