Comparison of feed value of Amaranthus powellii Willd. forage to some roughage feeds

The aim of this study was to compare the chemical composition, in vitro digestibility, protein and energy value, roughage value of Amaranthus powellii Willd. forage to the most commonly used alfalfa hay and wheat straw in ruminant nutrition. Amaranthus powellii Willd. forage has the potential to be a third quality roughage according to its relative feed value assessment of 104.55 +/- 0.67. In addition, the relative forage quality assessment developed for feeding dairy cattle was 97.73 +/- 0.05 for Amaranthus powellii Willd. forage, which had a higher the relative forage quality value than alfalfa hay and wheat straw, and it can be used for feeding dairy or fattening cattle. However, it has been generally recommended that Amaranth be given either by grazing at its early flowering time or via silage due to the oxalic acid and nitrate salts. Amaranthus powellii Willd. forage should also be determined nitrate, amino acids, and other antinutritional factors before studied in vivo as hay or silage

The effects of dietary hot pepper capsicum annuum waste powder supplementation on egg production traits of Japanese quail layers

This study was conducted to evaluate the effects of different levels of dietary hot pepper (Capsicum annuum L.) waste supplementation on egg production performance and quality in Japanese quail hens (Coturnix coturnix japonica). A total of 192, seven-weekold Japanese quail layers were divided into 4 treatment groups of similar mean weight (304±0.5 g), each comprising 12 subgroups (including 1 male and 3 females). Treatment birds were fed on experimental basal layer diet supplemented with 1, 2 or 4 g hot pepper waste powder (HPWP) per kg diet. The laying performance was determined by recording feed intake, egg weight, daily egg production, and biweekly egg quality. Results showed that HPWP supplementation to layer diet did not have any significant (P>0.05) effects on body weight and feed conversion ratio, while it had significant effects on feed intake (P<0.01), and laying egg weight, average egg weight, total egg yield (P<0.05). A 2 g HPWP supplementation resulted in the highest total egg yield (P<0.05) with quadratic effects on egg shape index (P<0.05) and albumen pH (P<0.01). According to the values in the study, the egg shape index of 2 g HPWP group was circular and; therefore, attractive to consumers. We highly recommend the non-economic value of 2 g/kg supplementation of hot pepper waste powder, especially for egg production. To conclude, HPWP can be used for quail layer diets due to its beneficial effects on egg quality since it is an economic and easy agricultural by-product obtained from red pepper paste industry waste. © 2020, Universidade Federal de Santa Maria. All rights reserved

Sarcasm in written communication: emoticons are efficient markers of intention

Here we present two studies that investigate the use of emoticons in clarifying message intent. We look at sarcasm in particular, which can be especially hard to interpret correctly in written communication. In both studies, participants were required to make the intentions of their messages clear. In the first, they clarified the meaning of existing sentences without altering the wording; in the second, they produced their own sentences. Results provided clear evidence that tongue and wink emoticons are the principal indicators of sarcastic intent, and that ellipsis is associated more with criticism, rather than with sarcasm. These findings highlight the significant role emoticons play in clarifying message intention, compensating for the absence of non-verbal cues in written communicatio

An eye-tracking investigation of written sarcasm comprehension: the roles of familiarity and context

This paper addresses a current theoretical debate between the standard pragmatic model, the graded salience hypothesis, and the implicit display theory, by investigating the roles of the context and of the properties of the sarcastic utterance itself in the comprehension of a sarcastic remark. Two eye-tracking experiments were conducted where we manipulated the speaker’s expectation in the context and the familiarity of the sarcastic remark. The results of the first eye-tracking study showed that literal comments were read faster than unfamiliar sarcastic comments, regardless of whether an explicit expectation was present in the context. The results of the second eye-tracking study indicated an early processing difficulty for unfamiliar sarcastic comments, but not for familiar sarcastic comments. Later reading time measures indicated a general difficulty for sarcastic comments. Overall, results seem to suggest that the familiarity of the utterance does indeed affect the time-course of sarcasm processing (supporting the graded salience hypothesis), while there is no evidence that making the speaker’s expectation explicit in the context affects it as well (thus failing to support the implicit display theory)

Spraying opened sugar beet pulp silage with oregano essential oil helps to sustain quality and stability

This study was conducted to determine the effects of spraying oregano essential oil (OEO) onto sugar beet pulp silage (SBPS) on silage quality and aerobic stability after opening. A factorial experiment with three replicates of three treatments and four time periods was conducted using laboratory-type plastic silos. The treatments were an untreated control, silage sprayed with 10 ml/75 cm2 OEO, and silage sprayed with 20 ml/75 cm2 OEO. The silages were sampled at 0, 72, 120, and 168 hours after spraying. Temperature, L*, a*, and b* colour values, pH, water-soluble carbohydrates, crude nutrient contents, Fleig score, metabolizable energy (ME) value, lactic acid bacteria (LAB), total live bacteria (TLB), yeast, and mould formation were assessed. Spraying OEO onto SBPS did not affect L*, a*, and b* values, pH, water-soluble carbohydrates, and Fleig score values, but decreased temperature. Spraying OEO onto the silage increased organic matter, ether extract, acid detergent fibre, neutral detergent fibre and acid detergent lignin contents without affecting crude protein, crude fibre, nitrogen free extract, and ME contents. Irrespective of treatment, crude protein, ether extract, acid detergent fibre, acid detergent lignin, nitrogen free extract, Fleig score, and ME contents of silages increased with time after spraying. The OEO spraying reduced LAB, TLB, and yeast contents in silages. In conclusion, OEO spraying onto opened SBPS reduced LAB, TLB, and yeast formation and stopped mould growth up to 72 hours without affecting their nutritional properties, suggesting that OEO could be used to ensure the stability of SBPS. Keywords: aerobic stability, mould growth, silage microbiology, nutrients, feeding managemen

The Role of Emoticons in Sarcasm Comprehension in Younger and Older Adults: Evidence from an Eye-Tracking Experiment

We present an eye-tracking experiment examining moment-to-moment processes underlying the comprehension of emoticons. Younger (18-30) and older (65+) participants had their eye movements recorded whilst reading scenarios containing comments that were ambiguous between literal or sarcastic interpretations (e.g., But you’re so quick though). Comments were accompanied by wink emoticons or full stops. Results showed that participants read earlier parts of the wink scenarios faster than those with full stops, but then spent more time reading the text surrounding the emoticon. Thus, readers moved more quickly to the end of the text when there was a device that may aid interpretation, but then spent more time processing the conflict between the superficially positive nature of the comment and the tone implied by the emoticon. Interestingly, the wink increased the likelihood of a sarcastic interpretation in younger adults only, suggesting that perceiver-related factors play an important role in emoticon interpretation

Development and validation of new figural scales for female body dissatisfaction assessment on two dimensions: thin-ideal and muscularity-ideal

Background: Body dissatisfaction influences women’s mental and physical health. To date, most research has focused on body dissatisfaction in relation to the ‘thin-ideal’. Thus, the association between body dissatisfaction, eating disorder symptomatology and muscularity-ideal in women is less clear. Lack of understanding is underpinned by the lack of reliable and valid muscularity-related assessments for women. To address this need, we developed, tested and re-tested two new body dissatisfaction scales: The Female Body Scale (FBS; adiposity dimension) and Female Fit Body Scale (FFITBS; muscularity dimension).Methods: One hundred and fifty-two women in the United Kingdom rated which body figure best represented their current and ideal body, completed the Eating Disorder Examination Questionnaire (EDE-Q 6.0), and their body composition was measured. During re-test, the EDE-Q 6.0 and Drive for Muscularity Scale (DMS) were completed.Results: Both the FBS and the FFITBS were found to be valid and reliable, and distinct types of body dissatisfaction were identified. Higher EDE-Q scores corresponded with greater body dissatisfaction scores on both the FBS and FFITBS. Thin-ideal (FBS) and larger/muscularity-ideal (FFITBS) body dissatisfaction predicted higher scores on the DMS. The muscularity scale (FFITBS) uniquely revealed that 28% of participants indicated body dissatisfaction toward the larger-muscularity-ideal.Conclusions: Results reveal distinct dimensions of body dissatisfaction. These new, validated scales may be utilized to quickly identify eating disorder risk in women as a preventative assessment for clinicians and inform female-focused body-image and eating disorder research

Risk Assessment in Financial Feasibility of Tanker Project Using Monte Carlo Simulation

Every ship project would not be apart from risk and uncertainty issues. The inappropriate risk assessment process would have long-term impact, such as financial loss. Thus, risk and uncertainties analysis would be a very important process in financial feasibility determination of the project. This study analyzes the financial feasibility of 17,500 LTDW tanker project. Risk and uncertainty are two differentiated terminologies in this study, where risk focuses on operational risk due to shipbuilding process nonconformity to shipowner finance, while uncertainty focuses on variable costs that affect project cash flows. There are three funding scenarios in this study, where the percentage of funding with own capital and bank loan in scenario 1 is 100% : 0%, scenario 2 is 75% : 25%, and scenario 3 is 50% : 50%. Monte Carlo simulation method was applied to simulate the acceptance criteria, such as net present value (NPV), internal rate of return (IRR), payback period (PP), and profitability index (PI). The results of simulation show that 17,500 LTDW tanker project funding by scenario 1, 2 and 3 are feasible to run, where probability of each acceptance criteria was greater than 50%. Charter rate being the most sensitive uncertainty over project's financial feasibility parameters

The impact of hyperbole on perception of victim testimony

This paper investigates how individuals perceive hyperbole in victim statements. Despite being one of the most commonly used literary tropes, the comprehension and cognition of hyperbole has been largely ignored in the psycholinguistics literature, and despite detailed literature outlining the emotional behaviour of victims, the use of figurative language has been largely ignored in the forensics literature. In the present study, two experiments were undertaken. In Experiment 1, 32 participants were recruited from groups with forensic experience or training. Participants were presented with 16 victim statements. Eight contained a number of hyperbolic phrases and eight contained non-hyperbolic counterparts. After reading each statement, participants were asked to answer questions that would quantify perceived credibility on accounts of belief, sympathy, victim-impact, and likeability. The results from Experiment 1 showed that hyperbolic speech made a significant negative impact on all four credibility measures. In Experiment 2, 32 jury-eligible individuals performed the same task. Results from this experiment demonstrated that the use of hyperbole made testimonies more believable and made the victim seem more impacted. Results are discussed in terms of the real-world implications of using hyperbolic language, and individual differences in the comprehension of and reaction to, figurative statements