EFFECTS OF A PROPRIETARY PREMIX ON PRODUCTIVE PERFORMANCE AND EGG QUALITY OF WHITE AND BROWN EGG LAYING HENS FED DIETS HIGH IN DISTILLERS DRIED GRAINS WITH SOLUBLES (DDGS)

The objective of this thesis was to evaluate inclusion of up to 35% by-product DDGS (with reduced Ca and P) with and without addition of a proprietary premix (enzyme and antioxidant; Alltech Inc.) on productive performance and egg quality of white and brown egg laying hens. A total of 288 white or brown hens were randomly allocated to one of the following treatments: 1) corn-soybean meal (control), 2) 25% DDGS, 3) 25% DDGS plus premix, 4) 35% DDGS, and 5) 35% DDGS plus premix. Hen body weight values were impaired with addition of 25 and 35% DDGS when compared to the control. Premix helped maintain body weight comparable to control in the brown hens; however was not noted in white hens. In the second dietary phase, addition of DDGS increased feed intake in white egg laying hens and was maintained with the premix. Brown hens on premix came into lay faster than the control and DDGS diets, but DDGS reduced overall egg production. Haugh units, yolk color, and purchase intent scores were increased in brown eggs with DDGS diets. White eggs had increased yolk color with DDGS. In conclusion, up to 35% DDGS is acceptable in white laying hen diets

Sampling the reciprocal Coulomb potential in finite and anisotropic cells

We present a robust strategy to numerically sample the Coulomb potential in reciprocal space for periodic Born-von Karman cells of general shape. Our approach tackles two common issues of plane-wave based implementations of Coulomb integrals under periodic boundary conditions, the treatment of the singularity at the Brillouin-zone center, as well as quadrature errors, which can cause severe convergence problems in anisotropic cells, necessary for the calculation of low-dimensional systems. We apply our strategy to the Hartree-Fock (HF) and coupled cluster (CC) theory and discuss the consequences of different sampling strategies on the different theories. We show that sampling the Coulomb potential via the widely used probe-charge Ewald method is unsuitable for CC calculations in anisotropic cells. To demonstrate the applicability of our developed approach, we study two representative, low-dimensional use cases: the infinite carbon chain, for which we report the first periodic CCSD(T) potential energy surface, as well as a surface slab of lithium hydride, for which we demonstrate the impact of different sampling strategies for calculating surface energies. We find that our Coulomb sampling strategy serves as a vital solution, addressing the critical need for improved accuracy in plane-wave based CC calculations for low-dimensional systems.Comment: 7 pages, 3 figure

Mathematical Morsels: Solutions to Tasks From the Fall Issue

In this column, we share solutions submitted by our readers for tasks provided in the Mathematical Morsels column of our Fall issue. The editors wish to thank those who took the time to submit tasks and YouTube solutions

Lilliput

Catalog for the exhibition Lilliput held at the Seton Hall University Walsh Gallery, June 8 - July 24, 2009. Curated by Jeanne Brasile and Asha Ganpat. Includes an essay by Jeanne Brasile and Asha Ganpat. Includes color illustrations

Advanced electrochemical oxidation for the simultaneous removal of manganese and generation of permanganate oxidant

Emerging electrochemical systems, such as advanced electro-oxidation, provide a potentially powerful alternative to conventional oxidation processes which can often be unsuitable for small, remote and decentralised system applications. The one electro-oxidation process, which may be well suited for these applications, is the use of high oxygen overpotential boron-doped diamond (BDD) electrodes, as a pre-oxidation step for the removal of various raw water contaminants. While BDD electro-oxidation has been studied extensively for the abatement of organic micropollutants, its application as a pre-oxidation technology for the removal of soluble manganese (Mn2+) in source waters for drinking water supply, has not been reported to-date. In this study, we summarise the results of tests using a bench-scale electro-oxidation system and synthetic Mn2+ solutions in order to consider the simultaneous removal of manganese and the generation of permanganate. The results showed that total manganese was reduced by 9.1, 38.7 and 57.4% at current densities of 10, 40 and 80 mA cm−2, respectively, with an initial Mn2+ concentration of 39 μM. Increased Mn removal at higher current density was attributed to increased generation of, and reaction with, hydroxyl radicals, indicated by a direct proportional relationship between pseudo-first order reaction rate constants for methanol (˙OH radical scavenger) and current density. A mathematical model was developed to describe Mn removal under mass transport limitations, and was found to correlate well with experimental data. Finally, a completely novel synthesis pathway for the generation of permanganate species (Mn7+) is presented, whereby concentrations up to 0.9 μM were synthesised from Mn2+ in circumneutral conditions

Toxicity of neem's oil, a potential biocide against the invasive mussel Limnoperna fortunei (Dunker 1857)

The golden mussel Limnoperna fortunei (Dunker 1857) is one of the most distributed Nuisance Invasive Species (NIS) in South America, and a threat of great concern for the industry of the area. In this study, we carried out toxicity tests made with a Neem's oil solution with L. fortunei larvae and benthonic adults (7, 13 and 19 ± 1 mm). Tests with non-target species (Daphnia magna, Lactuca sativa and Cnesterodon decemmculatus) were also made with the aim to evaluate the potential toxicity of the Neem's solution in the environment. The LC100 of Neem's solution obtained for larvae was 500 μl/L, a value much higher than the one obtained for D. magna and C. decemmaculatus. Thus, we recommend that it should not be used in open waters. However, since the adults were killed in 72 h and the larvae in 24 h, this product can be used in closed systems, in man-made facilities.Facultad de Ciencias Naturales y Muse