Analyzing the Longevity of Sperm Within the Female Japanese Quail by Assessing Sperm Penetration of the Perivitelline Layer Under Optimal and Suboptimal Conditions.

After mating, birds have the ability to store semen within the female reproductive tract. The sperm storage tubules will store and subsequently release semen to travel up the oviduct. Sperm cells that make the trek up the oviduct have a chance to fertilize the ovum. These sperm cells will bind to the perivitelline layer of the ovum and hydrolyze a hole in the perivitelline layer, where it has the possibility to fertilize the female sex cell. Analyzing the number of penetration points on the perivitelline layer is an effective way to analyze reproductive efficiency. Many environmental factor has its effect on reproductive efficiency, however, only a few research trials have been done that analyze how environmental variables affect sperm penetration in itself. A population of 120 twelve week old random bred Japanese coturnix quail was separated into breeding ratios of three hens per cock making 30 pens with four birds in each. Treatments of optimal nutrition, suboptimal nutrition, and mild heat stress 75-80°F were utilized. These treatments were compared to a control group, where the males were not removed from the pen after 14 days. Males were left in the breeding pens for 14 days and then taken out, except for the control group where the males resided for the entire duration of the study. Sperm penetration assays were taken and analyzed every other day until no fertile eggs were laid. On every other consecutive day, eggs were collected and set to incubate until hatch. After hatch, percent hatchability was calculated. It was observed according to Davis’ Correlation coefficients that day of the trial has a substantial negative correlation on sperm penetration and percent hatch by (-0.65871) and (-0.5058) respectfully. Sperm penetration and percent hatch show a very strong positive correlation of (0.76404). This population of quail was observed to store semen in sufficient quantities to maintain at »30 sperm penetration points (SPP) for 3 days before dropping significantly in SPP (p \u3c 0.0001). Where this same population could lay hatchable eggs for 8 days before dropping in hatching percentage, (P \u3c 0.0024). Additionally, it was observed that proper nutrition had a more significantly greater effect by increasing SPP and slightly increasing percent hatch than the effects of heat stress. Overall, it appears that similar trials that observe the longevity of fertility could be used to model the environmental effects on SPP, transversely affecting hatchability

Light emitting diode (LED) color and broiler growth: effect of supplementing blue/green LED to white LED light on broiler growth, stress, and welfare

Light emitting diode (LED) lighting provides an affordable lighting option for use in commercial poultry production. However, more information is needed to understand the effects of LED color on broiler welfare and growth. Five consecutive flocks (1 in summer, 1 in fall, 2 in winter, and 1 in spring) of straight run Ross 708 × Ross 708 broilers were reared in commercial type barns for 45 D. For white only (WO) treatment, birds were reared under white LED only (Agrishift MLB). For white supplemented (WS) treatment, birds were reared under white LED (Agrishift MLB) in the center aisle, with supplemental blue/green LED lighting (Agrishift MLBg) above the feed and water lines on either side of the barn. Each barn housed 26,200 chicks, and there were 2 barns in each treatment (n = 52,400/treatment). Treatments were rotated among barns between each flock. On day 45, blood samples were collected from 20 birds/barn (n = 40/treatment) to assess the plasma corticosterone (CORT) level and heterophil/lymphocyte ratio. On day 45, 100 birds/barn (n = 200/treatment) were weighed individually and assigned scores for hock burn and foot pad dermatitis. All measures were affected by trial (P \u3c 0.001). Plasma CORT and body weight were affected by the treatment × trial interaction (P ≤ 0.001). Overall, birds in the WS treatment had higher day 45 live body weight (P \u3c 0.001) and lower hock burn scores (P = 0.032) than birds in the WO treatment. Birds in the WS treatment had higher day 45 body weight overall (P \u3c 0.001) and in trials 1, 3, and 5, although the overall body weight was lower in trials 1, 3, and 5 than in trials 2 and 4. Supplemental blue/green LED improved hock burn scores and increased overall day 45 body weight. However, trial differences suggest that more data are needed to determine whether supplementing blue/green LED to white LED improves body weight gain in mixed sex broiler chickens

Comparison of an intermittent, short-dawn/dusk photoperiod with an increasing, long-dawn/dusk photoperiod on broiler growth, stress, and welfare

Photoperiod has been shown to significantly affect broiler performance. However, the effects of the traditional 1-min dimming period on broiler growth and welfare are unclear. In this study, 4 consecutive trials were conducted to compare the effects of an intermittent, short-dawn/dusk photoperiod (ISD) to an increasing, long-dawn/dusk photoperiod (ILD) on broiler growth, stress, and welfare. Straight run day-of-hatch Ross 708 × Ross 708 broilers were placed in 1 of 4 commercial broiler barns (2 b of 26,200 birds each per treatment) and grown to 45 D of age. The photoperiod in the ISD treatment consisted of 24L:0D day 0 to 6, 16L:8D day 7 to 13, 12L:4D:2L:6D day 14 to 20, 12L:4D:3L:5D day 21 to 27, 12L:4D:4L:4D day 28 to 41, and 13L:3D:5L:3D day 42 to 45, with a 1-min transition between light and dark periods. The photoperiod in the ILD treatment consisted of 23L:1D day 0 to 7, 16L:8D day 8 to 21, 18L:6D day 22 to 32, and 20L:4D day 33 to 45, with a 1-min light/dark transition period day 0 to 7 and a 30-min transition period day 8 to 45. Treatments were rotated among the barns between trials. On day 45, blood samples were collected from 20 birds/barn (n = 40/treatment) to assess plasma corticosterone (CORT) and heterophil/lymphocyte (H/L) ratio. One hundred birds per barn (n = 200/treatment) were weighed individually and assigned scores for hock burn, foot pad dermatitis, and feather condition on day 45. Trial differences were observed for all measures (P ≤ 0.001). Birds in the ISD treatment were heavier on day 45 (P \u3c 0.001) and had lower hock burn (P = 0.044) and foot pad dermatitis (P \u3c 0.001) scores. Birds in the ILD treatment had lower plasma CORT (P \u3c 0.001) and H/L ratio (P \u3c 0.001). No treatment differences were observed for feather condition (P \u3e 0.05). Overall, birds reared under the intermittent, short-dawn/dusk photoperiod had higher day 45 live body weights and lower hock burn and foot pad dermatitis scores, whereas those reared under the increasing, long-dawn/dusk photoperiod had reduced measures of short-term and long-term stress

Improved two-port ring resonator method for millimeter-wave loss and dielectric constant characterization of LTCC microstrip lines

An improved lumped element model for the synthesis of two-port microstrip ring resonators is presented and is used to characterize a microstrip line printed on Ferro A6-S LTCC

A comparison of three methods for the loss characterisation of microstrip lines printed on heraeus ct2000 ltcc from 20 to 40 GHz

Estimating the attenuation constant of a low loss transmission medium is by no means a simple task at microwave and millimetre wave frequencies. In this paper, the attenuation constant of microstrip line printed on Heraeus CT2000 LTCC [1] is determined over the 20 to 40 GHz range using three different analysis techniques. All three methods yield different loss estimates, which begs the question as to which method should be considered the most accurate. Although the ultimate aim of this work is the loss characterisation of the microstrip, it also provides an opportunity to explore the issues related to accurate loss evaluation

Characterization of an experimental ferrite LTCC tape system for microwave and millimeter-wave applications

An experimental-low temperature cofired ceramic (LTCC) ferrite tape system is characterized using circuits that are fabricated from the very material under test. Such in situ circuits provide data that are thought to be more representative of the performance obtainable by more complicated circuitry that will eventually be made from the same material using the same fabrication method. Emphasis is placed on simple measurements that can be performed using a minimum amount of equipment. For the first time, a compact in situ LTCC solenoid transformer is used to measure the magnetostatic properties of the ferrite, yielding a measured saturation flux density of 230 mT, a remanence of 136 mT, and a coercivity of 688 A/m. The peak linear relative permeability of the ferrite is 97 and its Curie temperature is low, only 117 °C. A novel two-port line-connected ring resonator is used to characterize the material in the 6-40 GHz range. At frequencies above 20 GHz, the relative permittivity of the ferrite is 11.0, whereas its loss tangent ranges from 0.002 to 0.004, demonstrating the ferrite's suitability for use in microwave and millimeter-wave circuitry