Effect of Dietary Sodium Nitrate Consumption on Egg Production, Egg Quality Characteristics and Some Blood Indices in Native Hens of West Azarbaijan Province

The aim of the study was to evaluate the effect of sodium nitrate consumption on egg quality and quantity, and some blood parameters of native breeder hens of West Azerbaijan province. One hundred native hens were used from wk 25 to 32 of age. These birds were divided into two groups. One group was fed the control diet (CD) but the other fed the same diet supplemented with 4.2 g/kg sodium nitrate (ND). After 2 wks of adaptation, eggs were collected daily and egg mass and egg production were measured weekly for five weeks. To assess the egg quality parameters, two eggs from each replicate pen were collected for three consecutive days each week. At the end of experimental period (wk 32 of age), blood samples of 5 birds per replicate were collected from the wing vein into anticoagulant tubes. Dietary sodium nitrate didn’t affect the egg production, shell stiffness, shell thickness and Haugh unit (p>0.05) but it decreased the both egg production and egg mass during the last three weeks (wks 30, 31 and 32) (p0.05). No effect of time or treatment×time were observed for shell stiffness (p>0.05). Over time, shell thickness was decreased while Haugh unit increased (p0.05). Sodium nitrite decreased both the TAC and TC at wk 32 of age (p<0.001). It was concluded that the lower body antioxidant capacity of nitrate fed birds resulted in the lower performance (egg weight, egg production and egg mass)

Correlations for Wiebe function parameters for combustion simulation in two-stroke small engines

Combustion simulation in two-stroke engines becomes necessary not only for engine performance prediction but also for scavenge evaluation, since in-cylinder pressure and temperature are highly influenced by combustion process evolution. Combustion simulation by using a Wiebe function is appropriate to be included in a 1D engine code for providing design criteria with fast and accurate calculations; the main drawback is the determination of the four Wiebe parameters needed to build up the in-cylinder heat release. This paper deals with a detailed methodology for heat release determination in two-stroke engines under a wide range of running conditions; obtained empirical data will serve for building ad-hoc Wiebe functions, whose four parameters will be finally correlated with engine related parameters derived from 1D simulations. Two different engines, with three exhaust systems each, varying engine speed and spark-ignition timing were used to obtain correlations far from particular situations. A multiple regression analysis stated that charge density, residual gas fraction, spark timing and mean piston speed were the significant engine parameters that influence on Wiebe parameters. Finally, two scenarios were considered regarding Wiebe parameters: (a) specific correlations different for each engine gave coefficient of multiple determination values higher than 98% when predicting indicated mean effective pressure, (b) a global correlation used for both engines provided R2 values of 93% in the 50 cc and 91% in the 125 cc engine. © 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.Galindo Lucas, J.; Climent Puchades, H.; Pla Moreno, B.; Jimenez Macedo, VD. (2011). Correlations for Wiebe function parameters for combustion simulation in two-stroke small engines. Applied Thermal Engineering. 31:1190-1199. doi:10.1016/j.applthermaleng.2010.12.020S119011993

Structural analysis modeling of participatory stakeholder management for green space improvement: evidence from Tehran Metropolis

Abstract Encouraging stakeholder participation is now considered an appropriate approach to green space improvement. The main question is how to have people participate in the improvement process. This study aims to propose a participatory stakeholder management model of green space improvement in Tehran Metropolis. Therefore, 190 of Tehran Municipality’s green space experts were selected as the statistical population for in-person and field interviews. The dependent research variable was defined as the green space improvement measured in four dimensions (i.e., green space planning, green space designing, green space implementation, and green space maintenance). However, the independent variable included the aspects of participatory management (i.e., participation in goal-setting, participation in decision-making, participation in organizational change, participation in problem-solving, and organizational culture). The results indicated that only organizational culture and participation in organizational change explained nearly 96% of participatory management variations and improved 67% of the green space

Incidence of asymptomatic bacteriuria during pregnancy

Incidence of asymptomatic bacteriuria during pregnancy among Iranian women was examined. Midstream urine was collected from 380 pregnant women and streaked on blood agar and incubated for 24 to 48 h. Growth was considered significant if 105 mL-1 bacteria were present. Among the pregnant women, 10.1 had asymptomatic bacteriuria. Age, past history of abortion, proteinuria, level of education, number of fertility had no significant association with asymptomatic bacteriuria occurrence. But lower socioeconomic status, leucocytosis and a history of UTI were associated with an increased incidence of asymptomatic bacteriuria (p&lt;0.05). The most frequently isolated pathogen was Escherichia coli (68.4), followed by Staphylococcus epidermidis (10.5)) and Klebsiella pneumonia (8.3). According to the results, co-trimoxazole was the best antibiotic; followed by nitrofurantoin which 60.5 and 44.7 of strains were sensitive to these two antibiotics, respectively. © 2006 Asian Network for Scientific Information

Evaluation of Steviol Injection on Chicken Embryos: Effects on Post-hatch Development, Proportional Organ Weights, Plasma Thyroid Hormones and Metabolites

At day 7 of incubation, eggs were injected with high levels of steviol (1.5 and 3mg per egg). At hatch, no effect of steviol injection was observed on plasma thyroid hormone levels, hatchability, body weight and chick quality. Proportional liver weight of chicks receiving the highest steviol dose was significantly higher, while the proportional bursa weight of the steviol injected groups was significantly lower compared to that of the control. Moreover, plasma lactate dehydrogenase activity of chicks from the highest steviol injected group was significantly higher compared to control values. At 7 days of age, proportional liver weight of chicks of the 3mg steviol injected group was significantly lower compared to that of the control treatment. It is concluded that injection of a high dose of steviol has no effect on plasma thyroid hormones and has only slight and temporary metabolic effects on the chicken embryo. © 2010 Japan Poultry Science Association.status: publishe