Effects of feed refreshing frequency on growth and carcass characteristics of Awassi lambs

Sixty, two-month old male Awassi lambs were used in this study to investigate the effects of feed refreshing (FR) frequencies on their growth and carcass characteristics over a period of 65 days. Treatments were: Feed refreshing at 2 h (FR2), 4 h (FR4), 8 h (FR8), 12 h (FR12) and 24 h (FR24) intervals. The lambs were fed individually. At the onset of each refreshing period the lambs were offered fresh feed ad libitum. Daily feed intakes, weekly live weights and carcass characteristics were recorded. Daily feed intakes per lamb per treatment were: 1.13 kg, 1.05 kg, 1.00 kg, 0.98 kg and 0.95 kg; daily gains were 193.6 g, 180.6 g, 148.6 g, 169.3 g and 146.4 g; feed conversion ratios (kg feed/kg gain) were 6.1, 6.7, 7.2, 7.2 and 7.5; hot carcass weights were 13.0 kg, 13.1 kg, 12.1 kg, 13.3 kg and 13.1 kg; dressing percentages were 42.3%, 42.4%, 39.9%, 40.2% and 41.2%; the proportion of muscle in the carcass was 52.0%, 55.2%, 55.6%, 55.8% and 54.8%; bone ratio was 20.4%, 20.3%, 21.9%, 21.1% and 20.9%; subcutaneous fat ratio was 16.9%, 14.2%, 12.9%, 12.7% and 14.0% and intramuscular fat ratio was 8.8%, 7.1%, 6.8%, 8.7% and 7.7% in FR2, FR4, FR8, FR12 and FR24 treatments, respectively. Results showed that frequent feed refreshing stimulated feed intake and daily gain without affecting carcass characteristics. Keywords: Lamb, feeding system, daily gain, body componentsSouth African Journal of Animal Science Vol. 37 (4) 2007: pp. 248-25

COAUTHOR - a MoU to create a COnsortium of Academics from Universities promoting the use of THORium

This paper describes the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed by the authors to create a future consortium of academics from universities to promote the utilization of thorium (COAUTHOR). Besides the description of the MoU, also results of the research conducted in each participating partner or collaborative work performed among them will be described. Finally, the future work planned in the framework of the MoU, will be discussed

A MoU to create a COnsortium of Academics from Universities promoting the use of THORrium (COAUTHOR)

Nuclear Energy, primarily to produce electricity and other use, and the enveloping Nuclear Technology, as inherited from the XX Century, constitutes a controversial issue for political and economic reasons. On the one hand, the energy source is promoted in several Countries and an unavoidable mean to ensure growth for the human civilization ad suitable living standard with reduced or no impact upon the environment, on the other hand it is abandoned or going to be abandoned in other Countries which did benefit of stable economic growth. Thorium is an emblem for such a situation: huge reserves are available all over the world (primarily India, Turkey, and Brazil, but not only) and its technological worth for exploitation in current generation of thermal fission reactors is demonstrated, on the other hand no industrial use is ongoing or planned for the near future (with an exception constituted by situation in India). Moreover, research on thorium utilization in nuclear reactors and associated fuel cycles has been of academic interest for many researchers around the world. These researches are being conducted to increase the natural resource utilization, reduces the radiotoxicity, and other criteria of sustainability, by using thorium in the present time advanced reactors (Generation III), as well for the future Generation IV, mainly in Molten Salt Reactors (MSR) and in hybrid fusion/ accelerators driven system. Here we are going to describe a MoU signed by the authors to promote the utilization of thorium as nuclear fuel, and shortly describe the research activities conducted by the MoU partners

On-chip Single Nanoparticle Detection and Sizing by Mode Splitting in an Ultra-high-Q Microresonator

The ability to detect and size individual nanoparticles with high resolution is crucial to understanding behaviours of single particles and effectively using their strong size-dependent properties to develop innovative products. We report real-time, in-situ detection and sizing of single nanoparticles, down to 30 nm in radius, using mode-splitting in a monolithic ultra-high-Q whispering-gallery-mode (WGM) microtoroid resonator. Particle binding splits a WGM into two spectrally shifted resonance modes, forming a self-referenced detection scheme. This technique provides superior noise suppression and enables extracting accurate size information in a single-shot measurement. Our method requires neither labelling of the particles nor apriori information on their presence in the medium, providing an effective platform to study nanoparticles at single particle resolution.Comment: 23 pages, 8 figure