The Effect of Different Feed Formulation Based on Local Feed Resource on Performance and Stress Parameter in Breeder Goat

Balanced nutrition is essential for health and performance of livestock. It is best when feed is formulated according to production stages of goat. However, as the goat grows, it may undergo transition of different feed formulation to meet its daily requirement. The transition may affect the performance of animals as well as it is a stressful condition. In this study, body weight gain and feed intake were used as indicators on performance, whereas hematological stress leucograms were used as indicator of stress parameter during implementation of different feed formulation among does. Eighteen adult does with similar body condition score and body weight approximately 20 kg were selected and divided into three groups equally (n = 6) and fed with different feed formulations, which were formulated using local feed source in the farm for a period of four weeks. Body weight was measured before implementation, on week 2 and week 4, blood sampling was conducted before implementation and during week 4 for comparison and feed intake was measured every day. All data were statistically analyzed using SPSS. Does fed with Diet 3 showed highest body weight gain and feed intake, followed by Diet 2 and Diet 1. There was significant difference (P0.05) on body weight gain for all groups. Stress parameter on leucocyte counts for Diet 1 showed the highest number as compared to the other groups but no significant difference (P0.05) as compared to normal value. Neutrophils:lymphocytes ratio for all groups were within normal range and no significant difference (P0.05). The implementation of feed formulation according to production stages is recommended as it increases performance and prevents from nutritional stress

The effect of different feed formulation based on local feed resource on performance and stress parameter in breeder goat

Balanced nutrition is essential for health and performance of livestock. It is best when feed is formulated according to production stages of goat. However, as the goat grows, it may undergo transition of different feed formulation to meet its daily requirement. The transition may affect the performance of animals as well as it is a stressful condition. In this study, body weight gain and feed intake were used as indicators on performance, whereas hematological stress leucograms were used as indicator of stress parameter during implementation of different feed formulation among does. Eighteen adult does with similar body condition score and body weight approximately 20 kg were selected and divided into three groups equally (n = 6) and fed with different feed formulations, which were formulated using local feed source in the farm for a period of four weeks. Body weight was measured before implementation, on week 2 and week 4, blood sampling was conducted before implementation and during week 4 for comparison and feed intake was measured every day. All data were statistically analyzed using SPSS. Does fed with Diet 3 showed highest body weight gain and feed intake, followed by Diet 2 and Diet 1. There was significant difference (P0.05) as compared to normal value. Neutrophils:lymphocytes ratio for all groups were within normal range and no significant difference (P>0.05). The implementation of feed formulation according to production stages is recommended as it increases performance and prevents from nutritional stress

The effects of binder on the physical and mechanical properties of chemically treated sawdust-reinforced polypropylene composites

This study investigates the effects of Polyvinyl Alcohol (PVA) as a binder on the mechanical and physical properties of wood polymer composites (WPCs). The WPCs were manufactured from tropical sawdust and polypropylene using a hot press molding method at five levels of sawdust loading (10-30 wt). For the manufacturing of the composites, the sawdust was chemically treated with 2-ethylhexyl methacrylate before 10 wt % PVA was added. The flexural strength, flexural modulus, Young's Modulus, and Rockwell hardness were found to improve with the treatments. However, the binder treated wood polymer composite (BTWPC) samples exhibited better mechanical properties than the raw wood polymer composite and the treated wood polymer composite (TWPC) samples. Moreover, water absorption decreased significantly for the TWPC and the BTWPC samples, indicating that their water resistance is higher than that of the raw samples. The SEM micrographs revealed that the interfacial bonding of the BTWPC had significantly improved, suggesting that the chemical treatment led to better dispersion of the filler into the matrix, and this improved further after the addition of the binder. Copyright © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.M. A. M. Mohd Idrus, Sinin Hamdan, Md. Saiful Islam, Ahmad Azmeer Roslee, Habibur Rahman Sobu

Self-optimization of Handover Control Parameters for Mobility Management in 4G/5G Heterogeneous Networks

A large number of small cells in the next-generation mobile networks is expected to be deployed to satisfy 5G requirements. Mobility management is one of the important issues that require considerable attention in heterogeneous networks, where 5G ultra-dense small cells coexist with the current 4G networks. An efficient handover (HO) mechanism is introduced to address this issue and improve mobility management by adjusting HO control parameters (HCPs), namely, time-to-trigger and HO margin. Dynamic HCPs (D-HCPs), which explores user experiences to adjust HCPs and make an HO decision in a self-optimizing manner, is proposed in this paper. D-HCPs classify HO failure (HOF) into three categories, namely, too late, too early and wrong cell HO, and simultaneously adjust HCPs according to the dominant HOF. The algorithm is evaluated using different performance metrics, such as HO ping-pong, radio link failure and interruption time, with different mobile speed scenarios. Simulation results show that the proposed D-HCPs algorithm adaptively optimizes the HCPs and outperforms other algorithms from the literature

Design of a Highly Efficient Wideband Multi-Frequency Ambient RF Energy Harvester

For low input radio frequency (RF) power from −35 to 5 dBm, a novel quad-band RF energy harvester (RFEH) with an improved impedance matching network (IMN) is proposed to overcome the poor conversion efficiency and limited RF power range of the ambient environment. In this research, an RF spectral survey was performed in the semi-urban region of Malaysia, and using these results, a multi-frequency highly sensitive RF energy harvester was designed to harvest energy from available frequency bands within the 0.8 GHz to 2.6 GHz frequency range. Firstly, a new IMN is implemented to improve the rectifying circuit’s efficiency in ambient conditions. Secondly, a self-complementary log-periodic higher bandwidth antenna is proposed. Finally, the design and manufacture of the proposed RF harvester’s prototype are carried out and tested to realize its output in the desired frequency bands. For an accumulative −15 dBm input RF power that is uniformly universal across the four radio frequency bands, the harvester’s calculated dc rectification efficiency is about 35 percent and reaches 52 percent at −20 dBm. Measurement in an ambient RF setting shows that the proposed harvester is able to harvest dc energy at −20 dBm up to 0.678 V

Effects of heavy metals on diesel metabolism of psychrotolerant strains of Arthrobacter sp. from Antarctica

This present study aimed at examining the ability of cold-adapted Antarctic bacteria to tolerate and degrade diesel in the presence of different types of heavy metal co-pollutants

Development of an experiment setup of air and solid blockage inside pipeline

This study investigates the developments of a new experimental setup for the detection of air and solid blockage inside pipes. Earlier research utilized a hollow capillary composed of thin plastic material to detect the existence of air inside the pipeline. The experimental setup is even easier for detecting solids. Prior to the experiment, a simulation using the finite element method (FEM) was conducted to investigate the behavior of acoustic pressure in two phases, namely, liquid solid and liquid gas. An ultrasonic sensor circuit consisting of a transmitter, a receiver, and signal conditioning circuits was constructed. For this experiment, an acrylic pipe with a diameter of 110 mm and a thickness of 5 mm was used, while polyvinyl chloride (PVC) pipes were used as the blockage subject. Two scenarios were considered, which are: a PVC with water inside, and a PVC with air inside. Based on the experimental results, the acoustic wave energy was more attenuate as the size of the blockage inside the pipeline increased, and air is a great discontinuity to ultrasonic transmission

Nanophase hydroxyapatite as a biomaterial in advanced hard tissue engineering: a review

Item does not contain fulltextHydroxyapatite is a biocompatible material that is extensively used in the replacement and regeneration of bone material. In nature, nanostructured hydroxyapatite is the main component present in hard body tissues. Hence, the state of the art in nanotechnology can be exploited to synthesize nanophase hydroxyapatite that has similar properties with natural hydroxyapatite. Sustainable methods to mass-produce synthetic hydroxyapatite nanoparticles are being developed to meet the increasing demand for these materials and to further develop the progress made in hard tissue regeneration, especially for orthopedic and dental applications. This article reviews the current developments in nanophase hydroxyapatite through various manufacturing techniques and modifications