Re-calculating the cost of coccidiosis in chickens

Coccidiosis, caused by Eimeria species parasites, has long been recognised as an economically significant disease of chickens. As the global chicken population continues to grow, and its contribution to food security intensifies, it is increasingly important to assess the impact of diseases that compromise chicken productivity and welfare. In 1999, Williams published one of the most comprehensive estimates for the cost of coccidiosis in chickens, featuring a compartmentalised model for the costs of prophylaxis, treatment and losses, indicating a total cost in excess of £38 million in the United Kingdom (UK) in 1995. In the 25 years since this analysis the global chicken population has doubled and systems of chicken meat and egg production have advanced through improved nutrition, husbandry and selective breeding of chickens, and wider use of anticoccidial vaccines. Using data from industry representatives including veterinarians, farmers, production and health experts, we have updated the Williams model and estimate that coccidiosis in chickens cost the UK £99.2 million in 2016 (range £73.0–£125.5 million). Applying the model to data from Brazil, Egypt, Guatemala, India, New Zealand, Nigeria and the United States resulted in estimates that, when extrapolated by geographical region, indicate a global cost of ~ £10.4 billion at 2016 prices (£7.7–£13.0 billion), equivalent to £0.16/chicken produced. Understanding the economic costs of livestock diseases can be advantageous, providing baselines to evaluate the impact of different husbandry systems and interventions. The updated cost of coccidiosis in chickens will inform debates on the value of chemoprophylaxis and development of novel anticoccidial vaccines

Two-dimensional modelling of transient capillary driven damped micro-oscillations and self-alignment of objects in microassembly

In the fields of microgripping and microassembly, the self-alignment motion of a solid micro-object linked by a liquid meniscus to a substrate or a tool is an inexpensive way to overcome the current limitations of the assembly processes at microscale by getting rid of the positioning actuators. Original models providing a dynamical description of the capillary self-alignment of an chip are reported, as well as experimental results as evidence of their validity. The first two models describe the liquid and the solid physics in two dimensions. Both include nonlinearities and describe the coupling between a laminar flow and a solid structure. The fluid-solid coupling is ensured by the boundary conditions at their surface of contact and by the forces the liquid and the solid apply on each other. Both models yield the shift, lift and tilt modes of deformation of the liquid meniscus. Equations are first numerically solved by using a finite element method (model 1). By approximating the menisci with spherical caps, a geometrical model is then presented (model 2). Next, for small oscillations and thin liquid layers, the equations are linearised. The solution to the semianalytical three degrees of freedom (3-DOF) modal analysis is thus obtained (model 3). Finally, a semianalytical 1-DOF model is presented and numerically solved by considering a one-dimensional motion for the solid object (model 4). Solutions for models 1, 3 and 4 are computed and show good agreement with the experimental measurements. Yet, the remaining deviations are investigated to identify their origin

CO2 absorption in aqueous solutions of N-(2-hydroxyethyl)piperazine: experimental characterization using interferometry and modeling

This work deals with the experimental characterization of carbon dioxide (CO2) absorption in an aqueous solution of N-(2-hydroxyethyl)piperazine, by using of digital holographic interferometry. This method enables visualizing the phenomena taking place in the vicinity of the gas-liquid interface. Thanks to a calibration, the obtained results yield the time evolution of the CO2 loading field in the aqueous solution and the gas-liquid absorption rate for various operating conditions. The processing method and the obtained results are detailed. A phenomenological model, highlighting the limiting steps of the gas-liquid CO2 absorption, is proposed. A set of experiments is realized and the parameters of this model are estimated for various initial amine concentrations and initial loadings. The results are discussed and correlations are proposed for the model parameters.SCOPUS: ar.jinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishe

Experimental study of gas-liquid mass transfer coupled with chemical reactions by digital holographic interferometry

info:eu-repo/semantics/publishe

Evaporation Rates and Bénard-Marangoni Supercriticality Levels for Liquid Layers Under an Inert Gas Flow

In this work, we propose an approximate model of evaporation-induced Bénard-Marangoni instabilities in a volatile liquid layer with a free surface along which an inert gas flow is externally imposed. This setting corresponds to the configuration foreseen for the ESA-"EVAPORATION PATTERNS" space experiment, which involves HFE-7100 and nitrogen as working fluids. The approximate model consists in replacing the actual flowing gas layer by an "equivalent" gas at rest, with a thickness that is determined in order to yield comparable global evaporation rates. This allows studying the actual system in terms of an equivalent Pearson's problem (with a suitably defined wavenumber-dependent Biot number at the free surface), allowing to estimate how far above critical the system is for given control parameters. Among these, a parametric analysis is carried out as a function of the liquid-layer thickness, the flow rate of the gas, its relative humidity at the inlet, and the ambient pressure and temperature. © 2013 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht.SCOPUS: ar.jinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishe

Micro/Nano-Manipulation

International audience<font color="#000000"&gtTechnology enabling to grasp, move, characterize and/or position an object whose characteristic size is lower than one millimeter&nbsp;</font&g