The Effect of Raw Soybeans in Mixtures for Laying Hens on Egg Quality and Egg Shell Quality

The study was conducted on hens at the age of 49 - 57 weeks to identify opportunities for replacing, with raw grain, thermally processed soybean Lana variety with a reduced level and Lydia variety with a standard level of trypsin inhibitor. The effect of using different levels of participation of both varieties of raw soybean in mixtures for layers on egg quality and eggshell quality was examined. The research was conducted according to the principle of two-factorial experiment (2 varieties x 4 levels of participation of raw soybeans). The average values of properties of the external and internal egg quality were under statistically significant influence of the level of participation of raw soybean in the mixture. Share of 8 % of raw soybeans of both varieties in diets for layers influenced significantly lower eggshape index, albumen height and Haugh's unit in relation to the mixture with a lower level of participation of raw soybeans. Yolk color and eggshell firmness were not significantly influenced by the studied factors

Correlations Between Incidence of Foot Pad Lesions and Body Weight of Broilers in Different Rearing Systems

The incidence of foot pad lesions of broilers of moderate growth was investigated in order to establish correlations with body weight. Broilers were reared until the age of 42 days in the floor system in the poultry house and then were divided into two groups. The first group continued growing in the poultry house until the age of 84 days and the second group was growing in the free range system until the same age. Individual measurements of body weight and evaluation of the incidence of foot pad lesions of broilers were carried out at the end of the experiment. In a correlation analysis of previously transformed data on the percentage of broilers with lesions and body weight within each weight group, data were obtained that showed an association between these traits depending on the rearing system. System of rearing had significant impact on the strength and direction of correlation between body weight and the incidence of foot pad lesions, in light of the determined correlation coefficient r = -0.95 at the significance level p=0.01 in the free range system, and r=0.56 (p>0.05) in chickens reared in the poultry house

Sinteza i karakterizacija kompleksa cink(II), kadmijum(II), platina(II),i paladijum(II) sa kalijum-3-ditiokarboksi-3-aza-5-aminopentanoatom

Complexes of zinc(lI), cadmium(II). platinum(lI) and palladium(II) with a new poly-dentate dithiocarbamate ligand, 3-dithiocarboxy-3-aza-5-aminopentanoate (daap(-)), of the type M(daap)(2).nH(2)O (M = Zn(II), Cd(II), n = 2, or M = Pt(II) Pd(II) n = 0). have been prepared and characterized by elemental analysis. IR and UV/VIS spectroscopy, as well as magnetic measurements. The spectra of the complexes suggest a bidentate coordination of the daap- ligand to the metal ions via the sulfur atoms of the deprotonated dithiocarbamato group. The fact that under the same experimental conditions its S-methyl ester does not form complexes could be taken as proof of the suggested coordination mode.Reakcijom između cink(II), kadmijum(II), platina(II) i paladijum(II)-soli i kalijum- 3-ditiokarboksi-3-aza-5-aminopentanoata dobijeni su dogovarajući kompleksi tipa M(daap)2.nH2O. Izolovani kompleksi su okarakterisani elementarnom analizom, IR i UV/VIS spektroskopijom kao i merenjem magnetnih susceptibiliteta. Spektri kompleksa sugerišu bidentatnu koordinaciju daap liganda sa navedenim metalnim jonima preko atoma sumpora deprotonovane ditiokarbamato grupe. Kao dokaz navedenog načina koordinacije može poslužiti činjenica da pri istim eksperimentalnim uslovima S-metil estar liganda ne daje komplekse

Pointwise consistency of the kriging predictor with known mean and covariance functions

This paper deals with several issues related to the pointwise consistency of the kriging predictor when the mean and the covariance functions are known. These questions are of general importance in the context of computer experiments. The analysis is based on the properties of approximations in reproducing kernel Hilbert spaces. We fix an erroneous claim of Yakowitz and Szidarovszky (J. Multivariate Analysis, 1985) that the kriging predictor is pointwise consistent for all continuous sample paths under some assumptions.Comment: Submitted to mODa9 (the Model-Oriented Data Analysis and Optimum Design Conference), 14th-19th June 2010, Bertinoro, Ital

Production of O(1D) following electron impact on CO2

We have studied the excitation of metastable O(1D) following dissociative excitation of CO2 in the electron impact energy range from threshold to 400 eV. A solid Ne matrix at ∼20 K forms the heart of the detector. This is sensitive to the metastable species through the formation of excited excimers (NeO*), The resultant excimer radiation is readily detected, providing a means of measuring the production of the metastables. Using a pulsed electron beam and time-of-flight techniques, we have measured the O(1D) kinetic energy spectrum and its relative production cross sections as a function of electron impact energy. Threshold energy data are used to gain information about the excitation channels involved. In addition, an emission excitation function for the red photons, emitted in coincidence with the exciting electron pulse, has been measured in the 0–400 eV energy range

Acute Blood Pressure Responses in Healthy Adults During Controlled Air Pollution Exposures

Exposure to air pollution has been shown to cause arterial vasoconstriction and alter autonomic balance. Because these biologic responses may influence systemic hemodynamics, we investigated the effect of air pollution on blood pressure (BP). Responses during 2-hr exposures to concentrated ambient fine particles (particulate matter < 2.5 μm in aerodynamic diameter; PM(2.5)) plus ozone (CAP+O(3)) were compared with those of particle-free air (PFA) in 23 normotensive, non-smoking healthy adults. Mean concentrations of PM(2.5) were 147 ± 27 versus 2 ± 2 μg/m(3), respectively, and those of O(3) were 121 ± 3 versus 8 ± 5 ppb, respectively (p < 0.0001 for both). A significant increase in diastolic BP (DBP) was observed at 2 hr of CAP+O(3) [median change, 6 mm Hg (9.3%); binomial 95% confidence interval (CI), 0 to 11; p = 0.013, Wilcoxon signed rank test] above the 0-hr value. This increase was significantly different (p = 0.017, unadjusted for basal BP) from the small 2-hr change during PFA (median change, 1 mm Hg; 95% CI, −2 to 4; p = 0.24). This prompted further investigation of the CAP+O(3) response, which showed a strong association between the 2-hr change in DBP (and mean arterial pressure) and the concentration of the organic carbon fraction of PM(2.5) (r = 0.53, p < 0.01; r = 0.56, p < 0.01, respectively) but not with total PM(2.5) mass (r ≤ 0.25, p ≥ 0.27). These findings suggest that exposure to environmentally relevant concentrations of PM(2.5) and O(3) rapidly increases DBP. The magnitude of BP change is associated with the PM(2.5) carbon content. Exposure to vehicular traffic may provide a common link between our observations and previous studies in which traffic exposure was identified as a potential risk factor for cardiovascular disease

Numerical solution to the hermitian Yang-Mills equation on the Fermat quintic

We develop an iterative method for finding solutions to the hermitian Yang-Mills equation on stable holomorphic vector bundles, following ideas recently developed by Donaldson. As illustrations, we construct numerically the hermitian Einstein metrics on the tangent bundle and a rank three vector bundle on P^2. In addition, we find a hermitian Yang-Mills connection on a stable rank three vector bundle on the Fermat quintic.Comment: 25 pages, 2 figure

CMB photons shedding light on dark matter

The annihilation or decay of Dark Matter (DM) particles could affect the thermal history of the universe and leave an observable signature in Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) anisotropies. We update constraints on the annihilation rate of DM particles in the smooth cosmological background, using WMAP7 and recent small-scale CMB data. With a systematic analysis based on the Press-Schechter formalism, we also show that DM annihilation in halos at small redshift may explain entirely the reionization patterns observed in the CMB, under reasonable assumptions concerning the concentration and formation redshift of halos. We find that a mixed reionization model based on DM annihilation in halos as well as star formation at a redshift z~6.5 could simultaneously account for CMB observations and satisfy constraints inferred from the Gunn-Peterson effect. However, these models tend to reheat the inter-galactic medium (IGM) well above observational bounds: by including a realistic prior on the IGM temperature at low redshift, we find stronger cosmological bounds on the annihilation cross-section than with the CMB alone.Comment: 35 pages, 14 figures; version accepted in JCAP after minor revision

Dielectronic Recombination In Active Galactic Nuclei

XMM-Newton and Chandra observations of active galactic nuclei (AGN) show rich spectra of X-ray absorption lines. These observations have detected a broad unresolved transition array (UTA) between ˜ 15-17 Å. This is attributed to inner-shell photoexcitation of M-shell iron ions. Modeling these UTA features is currently limited by uncertainties in the low-temperature dielectronic recombination (DR) data for M-shell iron. In order to resolve this issue, and to provide reliable iron M-shell DR data for plasma modeling, we are carrying out a series of laboratory measurements using the heavy-ion Test Storage Ring (TSR) at the Max-Plank-Institute for Nuclear Physics in Heidelberg, Germany. Currently, laboratory measurements of low temperature DR can only be performed at storage rings. We use the DR data obtained at TSR, to calculate rate coefficients for plasma modeling and to benchmark theoretical DR calculations. Here we report our recent experimental results for DR of Fe XIV forming Fe XIII