Effect of Feeding Benzoic acid on Performance of Broiler Chickens

The research was conducted to determine the influence of benzoic acid on growth performance, carcass traits, blood parameters and meat chemical composition of broiler birds. The research was carried out using 90 three weeks old broilers (Ross 308) divided into three groups, 30 per each. The levels of inclusion of the benzoic acid was based on treatment 1 (control) 0%, treatment 2 = 0.4% and treatment 3 = 0.8%. Results showed that, feeding benzoic acid to broilers had no significant on body weight, weight gain, feed intake and feed conversion at the two tested levels. Carcass traits did not show significant differences for the treatments, with the exception of bursa weight significantly increased. The serum total protein and globulin were significantly (P<0.05) increased in benzoic acid supplemented broilers. However, no significant differences were observed in serum albumin, triglyceride, cholesterol and uric acid between different experimental groups. No significant differences were observed for hematological parameters among all treated groups. There were no significant differences in chemical composition of broilers meat, including dry matter, protein and ash content. It could be concluded that, dietary inclusion of benzoic acid at both levels improved the immune response by increasing the weight of bursa of Fabricius and elevating blood globulin level but did not affect broiler chickens growth performance

Field-Driven Transitions in the Dipolar Pyrochlore Antiferromagnet Gd2_2Ti2_2O7_7

We present a mean-field theory for magnetic field driven transitions in dipolar coupled gadolinium titanate Gd$_2$Ti$_2$O$_7$ pyrochlore system. Low temperature neutron scattering yields a phase that can be regarded as a 8 sublattice antiferromagnet, in which long-ranged ordered moments and fluctuating moments coexist. Our theory gives parameter regions where such a phase is realized, and predicts several other phases, with transitions amongst them driven by magnetic field as well as temperature. We find several instances of {\em local} disorder parameters describing the transitions.Comment: 4 pages, 5 figures. v2: longer version with 2 add.fig., to appear in PR

Assessment of adoption and utilisation of superior rice germplasm by smallholder farmers in four rice producing zones of Nigeria

Conservation and sustainable use of plant genetic resources is essential to the sustainable development of agricultural production and rural in production zones in Nigeria. This study, therefore investigated the utilisation of recently released superior rice germplasm among smallholder farmers in Nigeria. A post- crop varietal release impact assessment was conducted in Oyo, Ekiti, Kwara and Ebonyi states of Nigeria in 2019. Structured questionnaires were administered to 120 farmers using a simple random sampling technique. Result from the study revealed that ricefarmers are mainly males, middle aged, married, with some form of education. They have medium (3-6 household member) household size with longer years of farming experiences. Inadequate capital and limited credit facilities, plant disease, birds and insect infestation are the major constraints encountered by the farmers. Result of the correlation analysis shows that there was no significant relationship between sources of planting materials and frequently planted varieties (r = 0.100 and p = 0.786). However, there was significant relationship between production  constraints and frequently planted varieties (r = 0.010 and p = 0.648). It is recommended that more channels of credit facilities should be provided to rice farmers by governments at various levels to improve their level productivity. Keywords: Rice, adoption, genetic resources, utilisation, smallholder farmer

The (p,q) String Tension in a Warped Deformed Conifold

We find the tension spectrum of the bound states of p fundamental strings and q D-strings at the bottom of a warped deformed conifold. We show that it can be obtained from a D3-brane wrapping a 2-cycle that is stabilized by both electric and magnetic fluxes. Because the F-strings are Z_M-charged with non-zero binding energy, binding can take place even if (p,q) are not coprime. Implications for cosmic strings are briefly discussed.Comment: 17 pages, 1 figur

Online Theme Landscaping Decision Support System

The landscape theme has become an important feature for home exterior design. However, selecting a landscape theme based on client preference is difficult due to multiple criteria and budget constraint during the selection process. This paper proposed online decision support systems for selecting landscape theme design that can be use by exterior designer consultant in assisting home owner to make decision within their own budget range. This prototype is constructed using a decision tree as an analysis tool. This online application was developed using PHP as programming language and mySQL as the database platform. This system may not provide the best theme but it will assist the home owner in deciding which one of the design concepts is most suitable according to their needs and preferences

DBI Lifshitz Inflation

A new model of DBI inflation is introduced where the mobile brane, the inflaton field, is moving relativistically inside a Lifshitz throat with an arbitrary anisotropic scaling exponent $z$. After dimensional reduction to four dimension the general covariance is broken explicitly both in the matter and the gravitational sectors. The general action for the metric and matter field perturbations are obtained and it is shown to be similar to the classifications made in the effective field theory of inflation literature.Comment: Version 3: minor typos corrected, the JCAP published versio

Fields Annihilation and Particles Creation in DBI inflation

We consider a model of DBI inflation where two stacks of mobile branes are moving ultra relativistically in a warped throat. The stack closer to the tip of the throat is annihilated with the background anti-branes while inflation proceeds by the second stack. The effects of branes annihilation and particles creation during DBI inflation on the curvature perturbations power spectrum and the scalar spectral index are studied. We show that for super-horizon scales, modes which are outside the sound horizon at the time of branes collision, the spectral index has a shift to blue spectrum compared to the standard DBI inflation. For small scales the power spectrum approaches to its background DBI inflation value with the decaying superimposed oscillatory modulations.Comment: First revision: minor changes, the background spectral index is corrected, new references are added. Second revision: minor changes, new references are added, accepted for publication in JCA

Improving estimates of tropical peatland area, carbon storage, and greenhouse gas fluxes

The workshops that led to this article were supported financially by the Universities of Leicester and Nottingham, and the Natural Environment Research Council-funded ‘Earth Observation Technology Cluster’ knowledge exchange initiativeOur limited knowledge of the size of the carbon pool and exchange fluxes in forested lowland tropical peatlands represents a major gap in our understanding of the global carbon cycle. Peat deposits in several regions (e.g. the Congo Basin, much of Amazonia) are only just beginning to be mapped and characterised. Here we consider the extent to which methodological improvements and improved coordination between researchers could help to fill this gap. We review the literature on measurement of the key parameters required to calculate carbon pools and fluxes, including peatland area, peat bulk density, carbon concentration, above-ground carbon stocks, litter inputs to the peat, gaseous carbon exchange, and waterborne carbon fluxes. We identify areas where further research and better coordination are particularly needed in order to reduce the uncertainties in estimates of tropical peatland carbon pools and fluxes, thereby facilitating better-informed management of these exceptionally carbon-rich ecosystems.PostprintPeer reviewe

Visual and cognitive deficits predict stopping or restricting driving: The salisbury eye evaluation driving study (SEEDS)

PURPOSE. To determine the visual and other factors that predict stopping or restricting driving in older drivers. METHODS. A group of 1425 licensed drivers aged 67 to 87 years, who were residents of greater Salisbury, participated. At 1 year after enrollment, this group was categorized into those who had stopped driving, drove only within their neighborhood, or continued to drive beyond their neighborhood. At baseline, a battery of structured questionnaires, vision, and cognitive tests were administered. Multivariate analysis determined the factors predictive of stopping or restricting driving 12 months later. RESULTS. Of the 1425 enrolled, 1237 (87%) were followed up at 1 year. Excluding those who were already limiting their driving at baseline (n = 35), 1.5% (18/1202) had stopped and 3.4% (41/1202) had restricted their driving. The women (odds ratio [OR], 4.01; 95% confidence interval [CI], 2.05- 8.20) and those who prefer to be driven (OR, 3.91; 95% CI, 1.91- 8.00) were more likely to stop or restrict driving. Depressive symptoms increased likelihood of restricting or stopping driving (OR, 1.08; 95% CI, 1.009 -1.16 per point Geriatric Depression Scale). Slow visual scanning and psychomotor speed (Trail Making Test, Part A: OR, 1.02; 95% CI, 1.01-1.03), poor visuoconstructional skills (Beery-Buktenica Test of Visual Motor Integration: OR, 1.14; 95% CI, 1.05-1.25), and reduced contrast sensitivity (OR, 1.15; 95% CI, 1.03-1.28) predicted stopping or reducing driving. Visual field loss and visual attention were not associated. The effect of vision on changing driving behavior was partially mediated by cognition, depression, and baseline driving preferences. CONCLUSIONS. In this cohort, contrast sensitivity and cognitive function were independently associated with incident cessation or restriction of driving space. These data suggest drivers with functional deficits make difficult decisions to restrict or stop driving

Uplifting and Inflation with D3 Branes

Back-reaction effects can modify the dynamics of mobile D3 branes moving within type IIB vacua, in a way which has recently become calculable. We identify some of the ways these effects can alter inflationary scenarios, with the following three results: (1) By examining how the forces on the brane due to moduli-stabilizing interactions modify the angular motion of D3 branes moving in Klebanov-Strassler type throats, we show how previous slow-roll analyses can remain unchanged for some brane trajectories, while being modified for other trajectories. These forces cause the D3 brane to sink to the bottom of the throat except in a narrow region close to the D7 brane, and do not ameliorate the \eta-problem of slow roll inflation in these throats; (2) We argue that a recently-proposed back-reaction on the dilaton field can be used to provide an alternative way of uplifting these compactifications to Minkowski or De Sitter vacua, without the need for a supersymmetry-breaking anti-D3 brane; and (3) by including also the D-term forces which arise when supersymmetry-breaking fluxes are included on D7 branes we identify the 4D supergravity interactions which capture the dynamics of D3 motion in D3/D7 inflationary scenarios. The form of these potentials sheds some light on recent discussions of how symmetries constrain D term interactions in the low-energy theory.Comment: JHEP.cls, 35 pages, 3 .eps figure