Numerical parametric study on behavior of bearing reinforcement earth walls with different backfill material properties

This paper presents a numerical parametric study on behavior of bearing reinforcement earth (BRE) walls with different backfill properties using the finite-element method software PLAXIS 2D. The primary objective of this study was to improve the understanding of bearing stress, settlement, lateral earth pressure, and horizontal wall movement of BRE walls with different backfill materials. The second objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of various soil–structure interactions, foundations, and stiffness of reinforcements on horizontal wall deformations. The backfill materials consisted of four types of soil, which were mixtures of silty clay and sand at different fine contents of 2, 20, 40, and 80% by dry weight. The model parameters for the numerical simulation were obtained from the conventional laboratory tests and back-calculated from the laboratory pullout tests of the bearing reinforcement. The geotextile elements were used to model the bearing reinforcements by converting the contribution of friction and bearing resistances to the equivalent friction resistance, which was represented by the soil–bearing reinforcement interaction ratio, Rinter. The values of Rinter decreased following a polynomial function as an increase of fine content in the ranges of 0.65–0.38 and 0.75–0.40 for the numbers of transverse members, n = 2 and 3, respectively. The simulated bearing stress in the reinforced zone decreased from the front to the back of the wall because the BRE wall behaved as a rigid body built on the relatively firm foundation retaining the unreinforced backfill. The foundation settlement decreased from the facing of the wall to the unreinforced zone for all backfill properties due to the slight rotation of the wall. The relationship between the maximum horizontal wall movement and the fine content can be expressed by a polynomial function. The maximum horizontal wall movement significantly increased as the fine content increased. The excessive movement was realized when the fine content was greater than 45%. The increase of the fine content moved the location of the maximum wall movement higher up from the mid to the top of the wall. A numerical parametric study was conducted to investigate the soil–structure interaction, foundation, and stiffness of reinforcement. These parameters affected the horizontal wall deformation, which is especially important for serviceability of BRE walls. The knowledge gained from this study provides a preliminary guideline in predicting the behavior of BRE walls and may be used to investigate other BRE walls with different wall heights and features of bearing reinforcements

Gastrointestinal parasite infections and associated factors in fighting bulls over 7 years of monitoring in Southern Thailand

Background and Aim: Indigenous beef cattle engaged in bullfighting in Southern Thailand represent a distinctive and valuable breed. Gastrointestinal (GI) parasites, which are recognized as important pathogens, have a negative impact on the overall health and physical performance of these fighting bulls. This study aimed to estimate the prevalence of GI parasitic infections and identify factors associated with these infections in a fighting bull population in Southern Thailand. Materials and Methods: Fecal samples (n = 4,244) from fighting bulls were submitted to the Laboratory and Diagnostic Centre of the Teaching Animal Hospital, Faculty of Veterinary Science, Rajamangala University of Technology Srivijaya. We examined the samples using simple flotation and centrifugal sedimentation methods. Individual animal profiles and demographic data were collected. Results: The overall prevalence of GI parasitic infections was 93.2%. Nine GI parasites were identified as Paramphistome spp. [PP]. being the most prevalent (93.2%), and the highest annual prevalence occurred in 2019 (97.9%). The infection rates of various parasite species were significantly related to the years of study, geographic area, season, and age group (p < 0.05). The prevalence of parasitic infection was higher on the west coast (98.6%) than on the east coast (98.0%). PP, Eurytrema spp., Strongyles spp., and Buxtonella spp. infections differed significantly among the seven provinces of Southern Thailand (p < 0.05). The prevalence of GI parasitic infections was higher during the rainy season (98.5%) than during the summer (97.7%). Bulls aged 7.0–7.9 years and 8.0–8.9 years had the highest parasite infection rate (99.2%) compared with those aged 8.0–8.9. Conclusion: GI parasitic infections continue to be a significant health concern among fighting bulls in Southern Thailand. Regular epidemiological investigations are crucial for developing effective preventive programs and control strategies and providing basic knowledge for bull farmers. Keywords: bullfighting, gastrointestinal parasites, geographical areas, prevalence, Thailand

Urinary metabolic profile and its predictive indexes after MSG consumption in rat

Monosodium glutamate (MSG) is a widely used food additive with conflicting evidence regarding its potential effects on human health, with proposed relevance for obesity and metabolic syndrome (MetS) or chronic kidney disease. As being able to accurately quantify the MSG dietary intake would help clarify the open issues, we constructed a predictive formula to estimate the daily intake of MSG in a rat model based on the urinary metabolic profile. Adult male Wistar rats were divided into groups receiving different daily amounts of MSG in drinking water (0.5, 1.5, and 3.0 g%), no MSG, and MSG withdrawal after 3.0% MSG treatment for 4 weeks. We then analyzed 24-hour urine samples for chemistries and metabolites using 1H NMR spectrometry and observed a strong correlation between urine pH, sodium, bicarbonate, alpha-ketoglutarate, citrate, fumarate, glutamate, methylamine, N-methyl-4-pyridone-3-carboxamide, succinate, and taurine and the daily MSG intake. Following the multiple linear regression analysis a simple formula model based on urinary Na+, citrate, and glutamate was most accurate and could be validated for estimating daily MSG intake. In conclusion, we propose that the daily MSG intake correlates with urinary metabolites in a rat model and that this new tool for monitoring the impact of MSG on health measures

The role of motivation and self‐efficacy on the practice of health promotion behaviours in the overweight and obese middle‐aged American women

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/107386/1/ijn12155.pd

Male social bonds and rank predict supporter selection in cooperative aggression in wild Barbary macaques

Cooperation in coalitions against coresident males has been shown to increase male reproductive success directly via increased mating success (levelling coalitions) or indirectly via increased dominance success (rank-changing coalitions). Two mechanisms guiding coalitionary supporter selection have been proposed. First, supporter selection may depend on the supporters available, whereby an animal chooses the highest ranking supporter present to maximize their chance of winning. Second, males may also select supporters based on the strength of the social bond they share with them. Different studies on male Barbary macaques, Macaca sylvanus, have produced support for both mechanisms but crucial assumptions and predictions remained untested. The aim of this study was to test predictions derived for both mechanisms after establishing whether Barbary macaque males formed social bonds. We observed two wild groups of macaques in Morocco (>2000. h focal animal data) and recorded the identity of males recruited to join a coalition, of all bystanders, and of the coalitionary target. We demonstrate for the first time that male Barbary macaques formed strong, equitable social bonds that were stable for 2 years. Corroborating earlier studies we found that males selected supporters by more than one criterion, namely by the strength of their social bonds to the potential ally and by their dominance rank position among potential supporters. The animals who received recruitment signals were more likely to reject the recruitment invitation the weaker their social bond to the recruiter was and if the target was higher ranking than the recruiter. In a subset in which we examined only levelling coalitions that would flatten the mating skew, males only used the mechanism that would maximize the feasibility of the coalition by more frequently selecting the highest ranked bystander. These results suggest that males flexibly apply different criteria for supporter selection depending on the context of the conflict. © 2014 The Association for the Study of Animal Behaviour

Highly polymorphic microsatellite markers for the assessment of male reproductive skew and genetic variation in Critically Endangered crested macaques (Macaca nigra)

Genetic analyses based on non-invasively collected samples have become an important tool for evolutionary biology and conservation. Crested macaques (Macaca nigra), endemic to Sulawesi, Indonesia, are important for our understanding of primate evolution as Sulawesi macaques represent an exceptional example of primate adaptive radiation. Crested macaques are also Critically Endangered. However, to date we know very little about their genetics. The aim of our study was to find and validate microsatellite markers useful for evolutionary, conservation and other genetic studies on wild crested macaques. Using faecal samples of 176 wild macaques living in the Tangkoko Reserve, Sulawesi, we identified 12 polymorphic microsatellite loci through cross-species PCR amplification with later modification of some of these primers. We tested their suitability by investigating and exploring patterns of paternity, observed heterozygosity and evidence for inbreeding. We assigned paternity to 63 of 65 infants with high confidence. Among cases with solved paternity, we found no evidence of extra-group paternity and natal breeding. We found a relatively steep male reproductive skew B index of 0.330±0.267; mean±SD) and mean alpha paternity of 65% per year with large variation across groups and years (29-100%). Finally, we detected an excess in observed heterozygosity and no evidence of inbreeding across our three study groups, with an observed heterozygosity of 0.766±0.059 and expected heterozygosity of 0.708±0.059, and an inbreeding coefficient of -0.082±0.035. Our results indicate that the selected markers are useful for genetic studies on wild crested macaques, and possible also other Sulawesi and closely related macaques. They further suggest that the Tangkoko population of crested macaques is still genetically variable despite its small size, isolation and the species’ reproductive patterns. This gives us hope that other endangered primate species living in small, isolated populations may also retain a healthy gene pool, at least in the short term