Heat and Moisture Production and Minimum Ventilation Requirements of Tom Turkeys During Brooding-growing Period

Heat and moisture production rates of Nicholas tom turkeys raised under lab-scale commercial production settings were continually measured during a five-week brooding-growing period. Functions were established that relate age and body mass (BM) of the birds to their specific total heat production rate (THP), sensible heat production rate (SHP), moisture production rate (MP), and CO2 production rate. MP of the current study included both latent heat loss of the birds and evaporation of moisture from the litter and drinkers. Comparison of the HP and MP data from the current study with those in the ASAE Standard (EP 270.5) for BM = 0.1 to 1.1 kg revealed a 4% (for BM = 0.1 kg) to 282% (for BM = 1.0 kg) higher MP and a 2% to 107% lower SHP for the current study. THP from the current study was generally greater (up to 49%) than that in the Standard except for younger birds (\u3c 0.1 kg) whose THP was 36% less than that in the Standard. THP of the experimental tom turkeys peaked near two weeks of age. Compared with the literature data, HP and MP characteristics of the litter-grown young turkeys more closely resemble those of equal BM broilers raised on litter (Reece and Lott, 1982). Minimum ventilation rates (MVR) based on the new MP data for the five-week brooding-growing period were determined and tabulated for selected cold outside conditions and thermoneutral inside conditions. There were substantial discrepancies in MVR between the literature (MWPS, 1990) recommendations and the values derived from this study, with the literature MVR being 20 to 557% of the derived MVR. The age- or BM-dependent MVR obtained from the current study provide a new, convenient reference for ventilation design and operation of turkey brooder houses. Moreover, the equations of CO2 production rate from this study provide a practical tool for estimating ventilation rates in naturally ventilated brooder facilities. The results further revealed the urgent need to systematically update the literature HP and MP data for ventilation design of animal structures so that modern genetics, nutrition, housing systems, and management schemes can be more realistically reflected

Feature extraction for license plate location based on L0-norm smoothing

We propose a simple feature extraction algorithm for license plate location, which can reduce the occurrence of pseudo-licenses significantly. Our scheme arises from a novel L-0 -norm image smoothing, in which the multiple local textures in the complex backgrounds can be suppressed remarkably without changing the structures and edges of the license objects. Due to this "edgeaware" property, we then combine a feature filtering with an efficient binarized image, a simple multi-scale image analysis algorithm, to remove the potential false license plates. Finally, we extract license plates with a projection method. Experimental results show the proposed method provides a flexible and powerful way to the license plate location in complex backgrounds

Metanephric adenoma of the kidney: an unusual diagnostic challenge

Although metanephric adenoma (MA) is a rare, benign neoplasm of epithelial cells, it is often difficult to distinguish this entity from other malignant neoplasms preoperatively. We report a case of a large renal mass for which preoperative diagnosis was indeterminate, with the differential diagnosis including Wilm’s tumor, MA, and papillary renal cell carcinoma (PRCC). Accurate postoperative differentiation of MA from PRCC is critical because adjuvant therapy is considered after surgical resection of PRCC tumors

The diploid genome sequence of an Asian individual

Here we present the first diploid genome sequence of an Asian individual. The genome was sequenced to 36-fold average coverage using massively parallel sequencing technology. We aligned the short reads onto the NCBI human reference genome to 99.97% coverage, and guided by the reference genome, we used uniquely mapped reads to assemble a high-quality consensus sequence for 92% of the Asian individual's genome. We identified approximately 3 million single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) inside this region, of which 13.6% were not in the dbSNP database. Genotyping analysis showed that SNP identification had high accuracy and consistency, indicating the high sequence quality of this assembly. We also carried out heterozygote phasing and haplotype prediction against HapMap CHB and JPT haplotypes (Chinese and Japanese, respectively), sequence comparison with the two available individual genomes (J. D. Watson and J. C. Venter), and structural variation identification. These variations were considered for their potential biological impact. Our sequence data and analyses demonstrate the potential usefulness of next-generation sequencing technologies for personal genomics

Heat and Moisture Production and Minimum Ventilation Requirements of Tom Turkeys During Brooding-growing Period

Heat and moisture production rates of Nicholas tom turkeys raised under lab-scale commercial production settings were continually measured during a five-week brooding-growing period. Functions were established that relate age and body mass (BM) of the birds to their specific total heat production rate (THP), sensible heat production rate (SHP), moisture production rate (MP), and CO2 production rate. MP of the current study included both latent heat loss of the birds and evaporation of moisture from the litter and drinkers. Comparison of the HP and MP data from the current study with those in the ASAE Standard (EP 270.5) for BM = 0.1 to 1.1 kg revealed a 4% (for BM = 0.1 kg) to 282% (for BM = 1.0 kg) higher MP and a 2% to 107% lower SHP for the current study. THP from the current study was generally greater (up to 49%) than that in the Standard except for younger birds (This is Journal Paper No. J-17765 of the Iowa Agriculture and Home Economics Experiment Station, Iowa State University, Project No. 3311. Financial support for this study was provided in part by the Iowa Turkey Federation/Iowa Turkey Marketing Council and Regional Research Project NE127 “Biophysical Models for Poultry Production Systems”. Mention of vendor or product names is for presentation clarity and does not imply endorsement by the authors or Iowa State University nor exclusion of other suitable products. This article is from Transactions of the ASAE 41, no. 5 (1998): 1489–1498.</p

Research on safety evaluation of bolt support based on analytic hierarchy process-entropy weight method

To evaluate the safety performance of bolt support scientifically, the factors affecting bolt support are systematically analyzed, the comprehensive evaluation index system is established from four aspects: support parameters, quality of bolt and fittings, construction management and monitoring level, and the safety evaluation model of bolt support is constructed; the AHP and entropy weight method are combined to determine the weight of each index, and the safety evaluation system of bolt support based on AHPentropy weight method is established and its application program is developed. The safety evaluation method and application program proposed in this paper are applied to the safety evaluation of bolt support in a coal mine in Shanxi Province, and the results are in agreement with the actual situation. This article studies the correlation

Genetic Structure and Historical Dynamics of <i>Pinus densiflora</i> Siebold & Zucc. Populations

The study of population genetic structure and historical dynamics of species with disjunct distribution can reveal the mechanisms through with they were formed. Pinus densiflora is an essential tree species with ecological and economic value, and its natural distribution shows a disjunct pattern. Using transcriptome-level SNP data from 220 samples representing 32 naturally-distributed populations in East Asia, we investigated Pinus densiflora genetic diversity and structure, divergence time, and ancestral distribution. We identified five subpopulations which diverged approximately 2.02–1.49 million years ago, and found relatively low genetic differentiation among the three large subpopulations (SL, JH, and JK). Northeast China is the most likely origin, and its current distribution is the result of dispersal and vicariance events. It migrated southwest through the Liaodong Peninsula to the Shandong Peninsula and southeast through the Korean Peninsula to Japan. These results provide a basis for the conservation and management of P. densiflora in the future and the evolutionary study of species with similar life histories

Cell-Surface Displayed Expression of Trehalose Synthase from Pseudomonas putida ATCC 47054 in Pichia Pastoris Using Pir1p as an Anchor Protein

Yeast cell-surface display technologies have been widely applied in the fields of food, medicine, and feed enzyme production, including lipase, α-amylase, and endoglucanase. In this study, a treS gene was fused with the yeast cell-surface anchor protein gene Pir1p by overlap PCR, the Pir1p-treS fusion gene was ligated into pPICZαA and pGAPZαA and transformed into P. pastoris GS115 to obtain recombinant yeast strains that displays trehalose synthase(TreS) on its cell surface as an efficient and recyclable whole-cell biocatalyst. Firstly, the enhanced green fluorescence protein gene (egfp) was used as the reporter protein to fusion the Pir1p gene and treS gene to construct the recombinant plasmids containing treS-egfg-Pir1p fusion gene, and electrotransformed into P. pastoris GS115 to analyze the surface display characteristics of fusion gene by Western blot, fluorescence microscopy and flow cytometry. The analysis shown that the treS-egfg-Pir1p fusion protein can be successfully displayed on the surface of yeast cell, and the expression level increased with the extension of fermentation time. These results implied that the Pir1p-treS fusion gene can be well displayed on the cell surface. Secondly, in order to obtain surface active cells with high enzyme activity, the enzymatic properties of TreS displayed on the cell surface was analyzed, and the fermentation process of recombinant P. patoris GS115 containing pPICZαA-Pir1p-treS and pGAPZαA-Pir1p-treS was studied respectively. The cell surface display TreS was stable over a broad range of temperatures (10–45°C) and pH (6.0–8.5). The activity of TreS displayed on cell surface respectively reached 1,108 Ug−1 under PAOX1 control for 150 h, and 1,109 Ug−1 under PGAP control for 75h in a 5 L fermenter, respectively. Lastly, the cell-surface displayed TreS was used to product trehalose using high maltose syrup as substrate at pH 8.0 and 15°C. The surface display TreS cells can be recycled for three times and the weight conversion rate of trehalose was more than 60%. This paper revealed that the TreS can display on the P. pastoris cell surface and still had a higher catalytic activity after recycled three times, which was suitable for industrial application, especially the preparation of pharmaceutical grade trehalose products