755 research outputs found
Oregano essential oil in the diet of broilers: performance, carcass characteristics, and blood parameters
Efficacy of the phytogenic feed additive oregano essential oil (OEO) (Origanum vulgare L.) was assessed as an alternative to an antibiotic as a growth promoter (AGP) in broiler diets. Three hundred male broiler chicks were assigned to five treatments, which consisted of diets with different levels of OEO (300, 600, and 900 mg/kg of diet), a negative control, and a positive control. Broiler performance was evaluated from 1 to 21 and 1 to 39 days old. From 1 to 39 days old, the broilers of the negative control group presented lower feed intake than those fed OEO300. No significant effect was observed on weight gain. The greatest feed conversion ratio occurred in the positive control group. Broilers treated with OEO300 had greater carcass yield than those in the positive control group. The haemogram, leukogram, and heterophil/lymphocyte ratio were positively influenced by OEO300. Red blood cell and leukocyte counts increased in a dose-dependent manner in broilers fed OEO-supplemented diets, while broilers in the positive control group had the lowest levels of haematocrit, mean corpuscular haemoglobin concentration, and plasma protein. Differential leukometry revealed lymphocyte numbers were increased with OEO treatment and reduced in the positive control group. For hepatic and renal metabolism, the broilers in the positive control group exhibited the greatest serum activities of aspartate aminotransferase, alanine aminotransferase, gamma-glutamyl transferase, and alkaline phosphatase. Although more studies on its efficacy are needed, OEO at 300 mg/kg may be used as a phytogenic additive in broiler diets, especially those without AGP.Keywords: antibiotic as growth promoter, immune system, phytogenic feed additiv
Statistical analysis of the performance of PMD compensators using multiple importance sampling
Sustainability-focused international PBL project:Rethinking digital education for individuals of low socioeconomic status
Providing access to education for individuals of lower socio-economic status is a significant way to reduce poverty, as it
empowers them to grow as professionals and as individuals. Although there is an increasing sense of urgency to promote
these changes, notably motivated by the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) set by the UN 2030 Agenda, there are still
few successful ways to solve this problem on a large-scale. As digital technology develops and affordability increases, new
ways to share quality educational content are created. In an exploratory case study, with a qualitative approach, this paper
presents the development of a digital application focused on providing quality educational content directed to vulnerable
groups that lack access to formal learning experiences, specifically focused on waste pickers in Brasilia, Brazil. The main
data collection methods used to make the decisions through the development process were observation, surveys, and
interviews. Within the framework of Problem Based Learning (PBL) an international cross-disciplinary collaboration among
different universities, the project, denominated “Mobile Education”, involved: (i) the design and implementation of a system
consisting of both a web and mobile application; (ii) the research of a viable business model to provide long-term
sustainability for the project; (iii) and the creation of a pilot course of financial education for the preliminary target group,
i.e., waste pickers from Brasilia, Brazil. Conclusively, the project aims to positively impact social transformation for individuals
who work at the Waste Sorting facilities and lack financial knowledge. The Mobile Education project resulted in a functional
version of the app (Web and Mobile) as well as the delimitation of a viable business model to keep it providing digital
equality in Brazilian education
Comparing the cardiac MRI and thallium-201 SPECT findings in assessing myocardial viability in patients with ST elevation myocardial infarction
Background and purpose: Viable tissue detection after STEMI can lead to successful revascularization for reversing myocardial dysfunction. The purpose of this study was to compare the Thallium-201 SPECT and MRI findings in viability assessment. Materials and methods: A cross-sectional study was performed on 17 patients with STEMI. In addition to Thallium SPECT, contrast enhanced MRI imaging was done. Viability was determined as more than 50 percent thallium uptake after 4 hours in SPECT and lower than 50 percent gadolinium enhancement after 10 minutes in each segments in CMRI. Results: Two hundred eighty nine segments were studied using both methods. TL SPECT showed 15.6 of the segments as non-viable tissue while MRI showed 35 non-viable tissue. There was a substantial agreement between these methods in apical septal and apical segments (k: 0.653, k: 0.757, respectively). Conclusion: The percentage of non-viable myocardium in MRI was found to be higher than that of Thallium SPECT and also considerable agreement was seen between MRI and Thallium SPECT in determination of myocard viability in apical septal and apex segments. © 2016, Mazandaran University of Medical Sciences. All rights reserved
Breathing Current Domains in Globally Coupled Electrochemical Systems: A Comparison with a Semiconductor Model
Spatio-temporal bifurcations and complex dynamics in globally coupled
intrinsically bistable electrochemical systems with an S-shaped current-voltage
characteristic under galvanostatic control are studied theoretically on a
one-dimensional domain. The results are compared with the dynamics and the
bifurcation scenarios occurring in a closely related model which describes
pattern formation in semiconductors. Under galvanostatic control both systems
are unstable with respect to the formation of stationary large amplitude
current domains. The current domains as well as the homogeneous steady state
exhibit oscillatory instabilities for slow dynamics of the potential drop
across the double layer, or across the semiconductor device, respectively. The
interplay of the different instabilities leads to complex spatio-temporal
behavior. We find breathing current domains and chaotic spatio-temporal
dynamics in the electrochemical system. Comparing these findings with the
results obtained earlier for the semiconductor system, we outline bifurcation
scenarios leading to complex dynamics in globally coupled bistable systems with
subcritical spatial bifurcations.Comment: 13 pages, 11 figures, 70 references, RevTex4 accepted by PRE
http://pre.aps.or
New constraints on H_0 and Omega_M from SZE/X-RAY data and Baryon Acoustic Oscillations
The Hubble constant, , sets the scale of the size and age of the
Universe and its determination from independent methods is still worthwhile to
be investigated. In this article, by using the Sunyaev-Zel`dovich effect and
X-ray surface brightness data from 38 galaxy clusters observed by Bonamente
{\it{et al.}} (2006), we obtain a new estimate of in the context of a
flat CDM model. There is a degeneracy on the mass density parameter
() which is broken by applying a joint analysis involving the
baryon acoustic oscillations (BAO) as given by Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS).
This happens because the BAO signature does not depend on . Our basic
finding is that a joint analysis involving these tests yield km s Mpc and
. Since the hypothesis of spherical geometry
assumed by Bonamente {\it {et al.}} is questionable, we have also compared the
above results to a recent work where a sample of triaxial galaxy clusters has
been considered.Comment: 8 pages, 4 figures, 1 table, accepted version in the general
relativity and gravitatio
The spiny rat Proechimys guyannensis (Rodentia: Echimydae) fails to respond to intradermal inoculation with Leishmania (Viannia) braziliensis
eta-prime photoproduction on the proton for photon energies from 1.527 to 2.227 GeV
Differential cross sections for the reaction gamma p -> eta-prime p have been
measured with the CLAS spectrometer and a tagged photon beam with energies from
1.527 to 2.227 GeV. The results reported here possess much greater accuracy
than previous measurements. Analyses of these data indicate for the first time
the coupling of the etaprime N channel to both the S_11(1535) and P_11(1710)
resonances, known to couple strongly to the eta N channel in photoproduction on
the proton, and the importance of j=3/2 resonances in the process.Comment: 6 pages, 3 figure
- …