Natural feed additives as alternative to in-feed medication

The use of antibiotics in livestock production is very common and widespread. The reason for their use can be very diverse. Examples are the treatment of clinically sick animals, the improvement of growth performance, as well as the prevention of common bacterial infections. However, the extensive use of such antimicrobials raised concerns of increasing the incidence of resistant pathogenic bacteria, which has a negative impact not only on livestock production, but also on human health. In the last years, many different substances have been investigated as suitable alternatives to the use of antibiotics as growth promoting agents and as prophylactic substances

Herschel-ATLAS: Multi-wavelength SEDs and physical properties of 250 micron-selected galaxies at z < 0.5

We present a pan-chromatic analysis of an unprecedented sample of 1402 250 micron-selected galaxies at z < 0.5 (mean z = 0.24) from the Herschel-ATLAS survey. We complement our Herschel 100-500 micron data with UV-K-band photometry from the Galaxy And Mass Assembly (GAMA) survey and apply the MAGPHYS energy-balance technique to produce pan-chromatic SEDs for a representative sample of 250 micron selected galaxies spanning the most recent 5 Gyr of cosmic history. We derive estimates of physical parameters, including star formation rates, stellar masses, dust masses and infrared luminosities. The typical H-ATLAS galaxy at z < 0.5 has a far-infrared luminosity in the range 10^10 - 10^12 Lsolar (SFR: 1-50 Msolar/yr) thus is broadly representative of normal star forming galaxies over this redshift range. We show that 250 micron-selected galaxies contain a larger mass of dust at a given infra-red luminosity or star formation rate than previous samples selected at 60 micron from IRAS. We derive typical SEDs for H-ATLAS galaxies, and show that the emergent SED shape is most sensitive to specific star formation rate. The optical-UV SEDs also become more reddened due to dust at higher redshifts. Our template SEDs are significantly cooler than existing infra-red templates. They may therefore be most appropriate for inferring total IR luminosities from moderate redshift submillimetre selected samples and for inclusion in models of the lower redshift submillimetre galaxy populations.Comment: 26 pages, 24 figures, Accepted by MNRA

Natural feed additives as alternative to in-feed medication

The use of antibiotics in livestock production is very common and widespread. The reason for their use can be very diverse. Examples are the treatment of clinically sick animals, the improvement of growth performance, as well as the prevention of common bacterial infections. However, the extensive use of such antimicrobials raised concerns of increasing the incidence of resistant pathogenic bacteria, which has a negative impact not only on livestock production, but also on human health. In the last years, many different substances have been investigated as suitable alternatives to the use of antibiotics as growth promoting agents and as prophylactic substances.</p

Sinterização ultra-rápida de materiais cerâmicos usando radiação laser Ultra-fast laser sintering of ceramic materials

Nessa comunicação apresentamos nossos primeiros resultados de sinterização ultra-rápida em materiais cerâmicos óxidos usando a radiação de um laser de CO2 como fonte de aquecimento. Os compostos Bi4Ti3O12 (BIT) e Bi4Ge3O12 (BGO) foram sintetizados via reação do estado sólido, conformados em corpos cerâmicos cilíndricos de 12 mm de diâmetro e 2 mm de espessura e, posteriormente, levados ao laser para o processo de sinterização. A análise dos pós reagidos, efetuada por difratometria de raios X, confirmou a presença de fase cristalina única em cada um dos sistemas investigados. A potência máxima do laser necessária para a sinterização apresentou forte dependência com a estratégia usada na irradiação. A análise da microestrutura, realizada por microscopia eletrônica de varredura (MEV), revelou um alto grau de eficiência do processo desenvolvido. Em alguns casos, pudemos verificar que a sinterização ocorreu a uma profundidade de até 1 mm, apontando para a viabilidade de obtenção de corpos cerâmicos sinterizados como um todo.<br>In this communication we present our first results on ultra-fast laser sintering of oxide ceramics employing a CO2 laser as the heating source. The Bi4Ti3O12 (BIT) and Bi4Ge3O12 (BGO) compounds were synthesized following a solid state route in air atmosphere. Cylindrical ceramic bodies with 12 mm in diameter and 2 mm in thickness were shaped and sintered under laser irradiation. The X-ray diffraction of the calcined powders confirmed the presence of single phase in each of the investigated systems. The maximum laser power required to the sintering process showed to have a strong dependency on the strategy used for irradiation. The microstructure analysis of the samples, performed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), revealed the high efficiency of the process. In some cases we could verify that the sintering occurred until a depth of 1mm, indicating the feasibility of obtaining the ceramic bodies sintered as a whole

Lowering the doses of mifepristone and gemeprost for early abortion: A randomised controlled trial

Objective: To test the efficacy of lower doses of mifepristone and gemeprost for medical induction of early abortion. Design: Randomised controlled trial. Participants were blinded as to the therapy and physicians to the dose of mifepristone. Setting: Thirteen hospital gynaecological units in different continents. Participants: 1224 healthy pregnant women requesting medical abortion at <57 days from last menses. Intervention: Random allocation to one of four regimens: mifepristone 50 mg by mouth followed by either 0.5 mg or 1.0 mg gemeprost vaginally on day 3; mifepristone 200 mg by mouth followed by either 0.5 mg or 1.0 mg gemeprost vaginally. We concealed the allocation sequence from clinicians enrolling participants, and maintained double blinding throughout. Main outcome measures: Incidence of complete abortion; subordinate outcome measures included side effects such as vomiting and fall in haemoglobin, as well as the need for emergency curettage and blood transfusion. Results: The success rate was significantly related to the dose of mifepristone. The relative risk of failure to have a complete abortion with the lower dose of mifepristone was 1.6 (95% CI: 1.1-2.3) times that with the higher dose. The relative risk of failure with the lower dose of gemeprost (1.3; 95% CI: 0.9-1.8) did not reach statistical significance. Conclusions: A single dose of mifepristone 50 mg followed by gemeprost is inadequate for early medical abortion. There was no significant difference in side effects between the four treatment groups.link_to_subscribed_fulltex