Alternatives to the use of antibiotics for laying hens in growing phase

This study evaluated the performance, immune response to vaccination, digestive organs, intestinal histomorphometry, and microbiological development in the diet and litter of Isa Brown strains at growing receiving phase alternative additives in the place of antibiotics. Four treatments were arrayed in a completely randomized design: T1) Basal diet without antibiotics, T2) Basal diet with antibiotics, T3) Basal diet with probiotics, and T4) Basal diet without antibiotics and water modified by a photoelectron generator. There were six replications of eight birds each and thus a total of 192 birds. Performance was evaluated for eight weeks and during this period blood samples were collected at 9, 12 and 15 weeks of age for serological evaluation. At the end of the experimental period, 24 birds were euthanized, collecting the intestinal tract and later performing histomorphometry. Microbiological analyses were performed in the experimental diets and in the material of the litter of the boxes. The results obtained were analyzed by analysis of variance and the contrast between treatment means when significant by Tukey’s test. The results indicate that the replacement of antibiotics with T3 or T4 did not interfere negatively (P >0.05) in the performance of the birds, immunological response, viscera analyses and intestinal histomorphometry. In addition, use of T3 and T4 might lead to more rapid decomposition of excreta and reduce antibiotic residue in the soil when the litter is used in crop production.Keywords: dileka, Gallus domesticus, histomorphometry, laying hens, probiotics, serum biochemistry, wate

Treatment of a submerged anaerobic membrane bioreactor (SAnMBR) effluent by an activated sludge system: the role of sulphide and thiosulphate in the process

This work studies the use of a well-known and spread activated sludge system (UCT configuration) to treat the effluent of a submerged anaerobic membrane bioreactor (SAnMBR) treating domestic waste-water. Ammonia, phosphate, dissolved methane and sulphide concentrations in the SAnMBR effluent were around 55 mg NH4-N L-1, 7 mg PO4-P L-1, 30 mg non-methane biodegradable COD L-1, and 105 mg S2- L-1 respectively. The results showed a nitrification inhibition caused by the presence of sulphur compounds at any of the solids retention time (SRT) studied (15,20 and 25 days). This inhibition could be overcome increasing the hydraulic retention time (HRT) from 13 to 26 h. Among the sulphur compounds, sulphide was identified as the substance which caused the nitrification inhibition. When the nitrification was well established, removal rates of nitrogen and phosphorus of 56% and 45% were reached respectively. The sulphide present in the influent was completely oxidised to sulphate, contributing this oxidation to the denitrification process. Moreover, the presence of methanotrophic bacteria, detected by FISH technique, could also contribute to the denitrification. (C) 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.This research project has been supported by Ministry of Science and Innovation (project CTM2011-28595-C02-01/02) and University of Valencia (precompetitive project UV-INV-AE11-40539) which is gratefully acknowledged.Sánchez Ramírez, JE.; Seco Torrecillas, A.; Ferrer, J.; Bouzas Blanco, A.; García Usach, MF. (2015). Treatment of a submerged anaerobic membrane bioreactor (SAnMBR) effluent by an activated sludge system: the role of sulphide and thiosulphate in the process. Journal of Environmental Management. 147:213-218. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvman.2014.04.043S21321814

The Saffman-Taylor problem on a sphere

The Saffman-Taylor problem addresses the morphological instability of an interface separating two immiscible, viscous fluids when they move in a narrow gap between two flat parallel plates (Hele-Shaw cell). In this work, we extend the classic Saffman-Taylor situation, by considering the flow between two curved, closely spaced, concentric spheres (spherical Hele-Shaw cell). We derive the mode-coupling differential equation for the interface perturbation amplitudes and study both linear and nonlinear flow regimes. The effect of the spherical cell (positive) spatial curvature on the shape of the interfacial patterns is investigated. We show that stability properties of the fluid-fluid interface are sensitive to the curvature of the surface. In particular, it is found that positive spatial curvature inhibits finger tip-splitting. Hele-Shaw flow on weakly negative, curved surfaces is briefly discussed.Comment: 26 pages, 4 figures, RevTex, accepted for publication in Phys. Rev.

Process optimization of the flaring gas for field applications

During petroleum industry operations, burning flammable gas components in the flaring stacks is common, normally a symbol for stable production, but flaring these components creates harmful emissions for the environment. This flaring gas has components with a high quantity of heating power, an important measurement that quantifies the energy that can potentially be obtained from this wasted resource. This paper aims to evaluate the energy usage of the flaring gas, estimating the possible energy produced with this usable resource by modeling a treatment and energy generation process employing the Aspen HYSYS® simulator. The flaring gas is characterized using different models and compositional ranges of natural gas to know what kind of gas it is and identify what type of equipment could be used for treatment and energy generation from this resource. After the gas characterization, the selection of the equipment of treatment and energy generation is necessary; this is done using a multicriteria analysis by taking into consideration the variables of gas composition, electrical efficiency, economic performance, and GHG emissions, ensuring to generate the greatest amount of energy possible to be produced with this flaring gas. By increasing the LHV, 0.95 MMSCF of flared gas of an oilfield in the VMM basin produced 5133 kW, enough energy to supply gas treatment and power generation facilities and four times the total gross consumption energy of a model oilfield in the basin, while the CO2 emissions were reduced 11.4%, and cost savings using this resource instead of diesel were obtained. In conclusion, to minimize flaring and to recover and reuse these waste components, looking for alternatives for the use of this gas-like power generation is an important option that reduces pollutants emission, gives a new source of fuel, and gives an energy usefulness to this wasted resource.This research was funded by PROPESQ/UFPB research edit N◦001/2022 of the Federal University of Paraiba (UFPB). The O.H.A.J. was funded by the Brazilian National Council for Scientific and Technological Development (CNPq), grant numbers 407531/2018-1 and 303293/2020-9. The F.S. was funded by the Brazilian National Council for Scientific and Technological Development (CNPq), grant number 307588/2020-3. The research was also partially supported by the Portuguese FCT with project reference UIDB/00690/2020 and SusTEC (LA/P/0007/2020). João Paulo Carmo was supported by a PQ scholarship with the reference CNPq 304312/2020-7info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Histological and ultrastructural feature and nitrite production of caprine preantral follicles in vitro cultured in the presence or absence of serum

Avaliou-se o efeito da adição de diferentes tipos e concentrações de soro sobre o desenvolvimento e a sobrevivência de folículos ovarianos pré-antrais (FOPA) caprinos in vitro. Além disso, verificou-se a relação entre as concentrações de nitrito presentes no meio de cultivo e a viabilidade folicular. Cada par ovariano foi dividido em 29 fragmentos, sendo um destinado ao controle. Os fragmentos foram cultivados por um ou sete dias em meio essencial mínimo suplementado (MEM+) ou MEM+ com diferentes concentrações (10 ou 20%) de soro fetal bovino (SFB), soro de cabra em estro (SCE) ou soro de cabra em diestro (SCD). Na análise morfológica após sete dias, apenas o tratamento com 10% de SFB apresentou percentual de FOPA normais similar ao MEM+ (P>0,05). A análise ultra-estrutural dos folículos cultivados por sete dias com MEM+ ou MEM+ com 10% de SFB mostrou danos oocitários, porém células da granulosa normais. A análise do meio de cultivo revelou correlação positiva entre a viabilidade folicular e a produção de nitrito. A suplementação com soro não melhorou a viabilidade de FOPA e a concentração de nitrito no meio de cultivo funcionou como um indicador da viabilidade das células da granulosa de FOPA caprinos cultivados in vitro. ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ABSTRACTThe effect of the addition of different types and concentrations of sera on the viability and development of caprine preantal follicles (PAF) in vitro cultured was analyzed. In addition, it was evaluated the correlation between nitrite concentrations in culture medium and folicular viability. Each ovarian pair was divided in 29 fragments and one was used as control. The fragments were cultured for one or seven days in minimal essential medium (MEM+) or MEM+ with different concentrations of (10 or 20%) bovine fetal serum (BFS), estrous goat serum (EGS), or diestrous goat serum (DGS). After seven days, the morphological analysis showed that only the treatment with 10% BFS maintained the percentage of normal PAF similar to MEM+ (P>0.05). The ultrastructural analysis of follicles cultured for seven days in MEM+ or MEM+ with 10% BFS showed some oocyte damage, although the granulosa cells were normal. Analysis of culture medium revealed a positive correlation between follicular viability and nitrite production. Supplementation with serum did not improve the viability of PAF and nitrite levels in culture medium served as an indicator of viability of granulose cells from caprine PAF in vitro cultured

PYTHIA 6.4 Physics and Manual

The PYTHIA program can be used to generate high-energy-physics `events', i.e. sets of outgoing particles produced in the interactions between two incoming particles. The objective is to provide as accurate as possible a representation of event properties in a wide range of reactions, within and beyond the Standard Model, with emphasis on those where strong interactions play a role, directly or indirectly, and therefore multihadronic final states are produced. The physics is then not understood well enough to give an exact description; instead the program has to be based on a combination of analytical results and various QCD-based models. This physics input is summarized here, for areas such as hard subprocesses, initial- and final-state parton showers, underlying events and beam remnants, fragmentation and decays, and much more. Furthermore, extensive information is provided on all program elements: subroutines and functions, switches and parameters, and particle and process data. This should allow the user to tailor the generation task to the topics of interest.Comment: 576 pages, no figures, uses JHEP3.cls. The code and further information may be found on the PYTHIA web page: http://www.thep.lu.se/~torbjorn/Pythia.html Changes in version 2: Mistakenly deleted section heading for "Physics Processes" reinserted, affecting section numbering. Minor updates to take into account referee comments and new colour reconnection option

Study of Tau-pair Production in Photon-Photon Collisions at LEP and Limits on the Anomalous Electromagnetic Moments of the Tau Lepton

Tau-pair production in the process e+e- -> e+e-tau+tau- was studied using data collected by the DELPHI experiment at LEP2 during the years 1997 - 2000. The corresponding integrated luminosity is 650 pb^{-1}. The values of the cross-section obtained are found to be in agreement with QED predictions. Limits on the anomalous magnetic and electric dipole moments of the tau lepton are deduced.Comment: 20 pages, 9 figures, Accepted by Eur. Phys. J.

Evidence for an Excess of Soft Photons in Hadronic Decays of Z^0

Soft photons inside hadronic jets converted in front of the DELPHI main tracker (TPC) in events of qqbar disintegrations of the Z^0 were studied in the kinematic range 0.2 < E_gamma < 1 GeV and transverse momentum with respect to the closest jet direction p_T < 80 MeV/c. A clear excess of photons in the experimental data as compared to the Monte Carlo predictions is observed. This excess (uncorrected for the photon detection efficiency) is (1.17 +/- 0.06 +/- 0.27) x 10^{-3} gamma/jet in the specified kinematic region, while the expected level of the inner hadronic bremsstrahlung (which is not included in the Monte Carlo) is (0.340 +/- 0.001 +/- 0.038) x 10^{-3} gamma/jet. The ratio of the excess to the predicted bremsstrahlung rate is then (3.4 +/- 0.2 +/- 0.8), which is similar in strength to the anomalous soft photon signal observed in fixed target experiments with hadronic beams.Comment: 37 pages, 9 figures, Accepted by Eur. Phys. J.