1,196 research outputs found
Enzymes as Feed Additive to Aid in Responses Against Eimeria Species in Coccidia-Vaccinated Broilers Fed Corn-Soybean Meal Diets with Different Protein Levels
This research aimed to evaluate the effects of adding a combination of exogenous enzymes to starter diets varying in protein content and fed to broilers vaccinated at day of hatch with live oocysts and then challenged with mixed Eimeria spp. Five hundred four 1-d-old male Cobb-500 chickens were distributed in 72 cages. The design consisted of 12 treatments. Three anticoccidial control programs [ionophore (IO), coccidian vaccine (COV), and coccidia-vaccine + enzymes (COV + EC)] were evaluated under 3 CP levels (19, 21, and 23%), and 3 unmedicated-uninfected (UU) negative controls were included for each one of the protein levels. All chickens except those in unmedicated-uninfected negative controls were infected at 17 d of age with a mixed oral inoculum of Eimeria acervulina, Eimeria maxima, and Eimeria tenella. Live performance, lesion scores, oocyst counts, and samples for gut microflora profiles were evaluated 7 d postinfection. Ileal digestibility of amino acids (IDAA) was determined 8 d postinfection. Microbial communities (MC) were analyzed by G + C%, microbial numbers were counted by flow cytometry, and IgA concentrations were measured by ELISA. The lowest CP diets had poorer (P †0.001) BW gain and feed conversion ratio in the preinfection period. Coccidia-vaccinated broilers had lower performance than the ones fed ionophore diets during pre- and postchallenge periods. Intestinal lesion scores were affected (P †0.05) by anticoccidial control programs, but responses changed according to gut section. Feed additives or vaccination had no effect (P ℠0.05) on IDAA, and diets with 23% CP had the lowest (P †0.001) IDAA. Coccidial infection had no effect on MC numbers in the ileum but reduced MC numbers in ceca and suppressed ileal IgA production. The COV + EC treatment modulated MC during mixed coccidiosis infection but did not significantly improve chicken performance. Results indicated that feed enzymes may be used to modulate the gut microflora of cocci-vaccinated broiler chickens
AuNx stabilization with interstitial nitrogen atoms: A Density Functional Theory Study
Researchers have been studying 4d and 5d Series Transition Metal Nitrides lately as a result of the experimental production of AuN, PtN, CuN. In this paper, we used the Density Functional Theory (DFT) implementing a pseudopotential plane-wave method to study the incorporation of nitrogen atoms in the face-centered cube (fcc) lattice of gold (Au). First, we took the fcc structure of gold, and gradually located the nitrogen atoms in tetrahedral (TH) and octahedral (OH) interstitial sites. AuN stabilized in: 2OH (30%), 4OH and 4TH (50%), 4OH - 2TH (close to the wurtzite structure) and 6TH (60%). This leads us to think that AuN behaves like a Transition Metal Nitride since the nitrogen atoms look for tetrahedral sites. © Published under licence by IOP Publishing Ltd
Nanoscale Mechanical Drumming Visualized by 4D Electron Microscopy
With four-dimensional (4D) electron microscopy, we report in situ imaging of the mechanical drumming of a nanoscale material. The single crystal graphite film is found to exhibit global resonance motion that is fully reversible and follows the same evolution after each initiating stress pulse. At early times, the motion appears âchaoticâ showing the different mechanical modes present over the micron scale. At longer time, the motion of the thin film collapses into a well-defined fundamental frequency of 1.08 MHz, a behavior reminiscent of mode locking; the mechanical motion damps out after âŒ200 ÎŒs and the oscillation has a âcavityâ quality factor of 150. The resonance time is determined by the stiffness of the material, and for the 75 nm thick and 40 ÎŒm square specimen used here we determined Youngâs modulus to be 1.0 TPa for the in-plane stressâstrain profile. Because of its real-time dimension, this 4D microscopy should have applications in the study of these and other types of materials structures
Large-scale Graphitic Thin Films Synthesized on Ni and Transferred to Insulators: Structural and Electronic Properties
We present a comprehensive study of the structural and electronic properties
of ultrathin films containing graphene layers synthesized by chemical vapor
deposition (CVD) based surface segregation on polycrystalline Ni foils then
transferred onto insulating SiO2/Si substrates. Films of size up to several
mm's have been synthesized. Structural characterizations by atomic force
microscopy (AFM), scanning tunneling microscopy (STM), cross-sectional
transmission electron microscopy (XTEM) and Raman spectroscopy confirm that
such large scale graphitic thin films (GTF) contain both thick graphite regions
and thin regions of few layer graphene. The films also contain many wrinkles,
with sharply-bent tips and dislocations revealed by XTEM, yielding insights on
the growth and buckling processes of the GTF. Measurements on mm-scale
back-gated transistor devices fabricated from the transferred GTF show
ambipolar field effect with resistance modulation ~50% and carrier mobilities
reaching ~2000 cm^2/Vs. We also demonstrate quantum transport of carriers with
phase coherence length over 0.2 m from the observation of 2D weak
localization in low temperature magneto-transport measurements. Our results
show that despite the non-uniformity and surface roughness, such large-scale,
flexible thin films can have electronic properties promising for device
applications.Comment: This version (as published) contains additional data, such as cross
sectional TEM image
3D Lowest Landau Level Theory Applied to YBCO Magnetization and Specific Heat Data: Implications for the Critical Behavior in the H-T Plane
We study the applicability of magnetization and specific heat equations
derived from a lowest-Landau-level (LLL) calculation, to the high-temperature
superconducting (HTSC) materials of the YBaCuO (YBCO)
family. We find that significant information about these materials can be
obtained from this analysis, even though the three-dimensional LLL functions
are not quite as successful in describing them as the corresponding
two-dimensional functions are in describing data for the more anisotropic HTSC
Bi- and Tl-based materials. The results discussed include scaling fits, an
alternative explanation for data claimed as evidence for a second order flux
lattice melting transition, and reasons why 3DXY scaling may have less
significance than previously believed. We also demonstrate how 3DXY scaling
does not describe the specific heat data of YBCO samples in the critical
region. Throughout the paper, the importance of checking the actual scaling
functions, not merely scaling behavior, is stressed.Comment: RevTeX; 10 double-columned pages with 7 figures embedded. (A total of
10 postscript files for the figures.) Submitted to Physical Review
Trends in the elastic response of binary early transition metal nitrides
Motivated by an increasing demand for coherent data that can be used for
selecting materials with properties tailored for specific application
requirements, we studied elastic response of nine binary early transition metal
nitrides (ScN, TiN, VN, YN, ZrN, NbN, LaN, HfN, and TaN) and AlN. In
particular, single crystal elastic constants, Young's modulus in different
crystallographic directions, polycrystalline values of shear and Young's
moduli, and the elastic anisotropy factor were calculated. Additionally, we
provide estimates of the third order elastic constants for the ten binary
nitrides.Comment: 10 pages, 7 figure
Thermal Conductivity and Thermal Rectification in Graphene Nanoribbons: a Molecular Dynamics Study
We have used molecular dynamics to calculate the thermal conductivity of
symmetric and asymmetric graphene nanoribbons (GNRs) of several nanometers in
size (up to ~4 nm wide and ~10 nm long). For symmetric nanoribbons, the
calculated thermal conductivity (e.g. ~2000 W/m-K @400K for a 1.5 nm {\times}
5.7 nm zigzag GNR) is on the similar order of magnitude of the experimentally
measured value for graphene. We have investigated the effects of edge chirality
and found that nanoribbons with zigzag edges have appreciably larger thermal
conductivity than nanoribbons with armchair edges. For asymmetric nanoribbons,
we have found significant thermal rectification. Among various
triangularly-shaped GNRs we investigated, the GNR with armchair bottom edge and
a vertex angle of 30{\deg} gives the maximal thermal rectification. We also
studied the effect of defects and found that vacancies and edge roughness in
the nanoribbons can significantly decrease the thermal conductivity. However,
substantial thermal rectification is observed even in the presence of edge
roughness.Comment: 13 pages, 5 figures, slightly expanded from the published version on
Nano Lett. with some additional note
Re-imagining the Borders of US Security after 9/11: Securitisation, Risk, and the Creation of the Department of Homeland Security
The articulation of international and transnational terrorism as a key issue in US security policy, as a result of the 9/11 attacks, has not only led to a policy rethink, it has also included a bureaucratic shift within the US, showing a re-thinking of the role of borders within US security policy. Drawing substantively on the 'securitisation' approach to security studies, the article analyses the discourse of US security in order to examine the founding of the Department of Homeland Security, noting that its mission provides a new way of conceptualising 'borders' for US national security. The securitisation of terrorism is, therefore, not only represented by marking terrorism as a security issue, it is also solidified in the organisation of security policy-making within the US state. As such, the impact of a 'war on terror' provides an important moment for analysing the re-articulation of what security is in the US, and, in theoretical terms, for reaffirming the importance of a relationship between the production of threat and the institutionalisation of threat response. © 2007 Taylor & Francis
Climate change adaptation, flood risks and policy coherence in integrated water resources management in England
Integrated water resources management (IWRM) assumes coherence between cognate aspects of water governance at the river basin scale, for example water quality, energy production and agriculture objectives. But critics argue that IWRM is often less âintegratedâ in practice, raising concerns over inter-sectoral coherence between implementing institutions. One increasingly significant aspect of IWRM is adaptation to climate change-related risks, including threats from flooding, which are particularly salient in England. Although multiple institutional mechanisms exist for flood risk management (FRM), their coherence remains a critical question for national adaptation. This paper therefore (1) maps the multi-level institutional frameworks determining both IWRM and FRM in England; (2) examines their interaction via various inter-institutional coordinating mechanisms; and (3) assesses the degree of coherence. The analysis suggests that cognate EU strategic objectives for flood risk assessment demonstrate relatively high vertical and horizontal coherence with river basin planning. However, there is less coherence with flood risk requirements for land-use planning and national flood protection objectives. Overall, this complex governance arrangement actually demonstrates de-coherence over time due to ongoing institutional fragmentation. Recommendations for increasing IWRM coherence in England or re-coherence based on greater spatial planning and coordination of water-use and land-use strategies are proposed
- âŠ