Evaluating Thermal Comfort of Broiler Chickens during Transportation using Heat Index and Simulated Electronic Chickens

Broilers experience high physiological stress during pre-slaughter transport, especially under extremes of thermal environment. Characterization of thermal environment on the trailer is crucial to identify stress-prone regions during transportation. At the same time, Broilers experience high physiological stress during pre-slaughter transport, especially under extremes of thermal environment. Characterization of thermal environment on the trailer is crucial to identify stress-prone regions during transportation. At the same time, quantification of heat loss of the broilers loaded on trailers is important in understanding the well-being of the broilers. We have developed four electronic chickens (E-chickens) to simulate the sensible heat loss of live broiler during transit and holding period in commercial live-haul trips. It is an average broiler-sized enclosure with a thermostatically controlled circuit to keep the internal temperature at 41°C. Power consumption as a result of four different combinations of covering the enclosure as well as their sensitivity with exposed wind were compared. Double layer of fleece fabric was selected as the insulation cover for the E-chickens to match the sensible heat production reported in literature. Heat loss exhibited a positive correlation with the wind and a negative correlation with the temperature gradient between internal and external environment. However, the wet cover of E-chickens did not increase heat loss compared to dry cover, indicating its inability to release moisture unlike evaporation from natural feathers and respiratory water loss. Thirty-two commercial live-haul trips were monitored to determine humidity ratio increase-above-ambient air humidity, E-chickens were installed in eight of the trips. Moderate levels of measured power consumption of the E-chickens suggested that ambient temperatures in the range of 11°C-25.1°C (during transit) and 5.3°C-21.7°C (during holding) were in the zone of thermal comfort (allowing the live chickens to regulate heat by their metabolism to stay comfortable). For the holding period, the winter trips were mostly in the zone of thermal comfort, but during summers, hyperthermic conditions were widespread during transit. Fan-assisted evaporative cooling during on-farm loading may have introduced additional cooling due to wetting of live chicken surface, not quantified by the limitation of E-chickens. The mild weather observed during spring and fall season was the most comfortable for broilers

Developing a Lab-Scale Fluidized Bed Dryer System to Enhance Rough Rice Drying Process

For more than half of the world\u27s population, rice (Oryza sativa L.) is a staple meal. However, rice growers encounter difficulties supplying this demand, particularly in developing nations, where rice is susceptible to spoilage if the moisture content is not lowered to a safe level soon after harvest. As a result, traditional drying methods, such as sun drying and natural air drying, are commonly used by rice growers, particularly in underdeveloped nations. However, these procedures are time-consuming and can lead to rice spoilage. On the other hand, fluidized bed drying is a well-established technology that might give rice growers a rapid, practical, economical, and portable drying procedure. According to past research, the primary benefit of fluidized bed drying is the increased drying rate. On the other hand, other research has expressed concerns about inferior rice quality, which is considered a significant weakness in fluidized bed drying. In the United States of America, the farmers and processors lack consensus and thus there is a mistrust to utilize fluidized bed drying for rice. As a result of the lack of agreement, an extensive study to understand the fluidized bed drying of rice is needed. In the Mid-South region of the United States, high humidity ambient air is typical, resulting in stoppage of the in-bin rice drying process to avoid rewetting of rice. Ambient air dehumidification may be able to solve this problem and allow for a continual drying process. However, no study utilized desiccant for ambient air dehumidification for drying rice; through this study, an attempt was made to bridge the research gap and determine the benefits and practicalities of ambient air dehumidification to achieve continuous rice drying. A lab-scale mobile batch fluidized bed dryer was constructed and used in this study. Several tests were done to improve the system that included designs, additions, and replacements of parts. In a fluidized bed and fixed bed drying system, the effects of ambient air dehumidification, air temperature, and drying duration on rough rice quality were investigated. Energy and exergy analyses were done to determine the thermal efficiency of the drying system. Mathematical modeling was done to optimize the drying of rough rice. Overall, it was found that fluidized bed drying technology can be utilized for drying rough rice without compromising the quality compared to the fixed bed drying. The air temperature used was between 40 to 50°C, and rice was dried for no more than 60 min. In addition, the ambient air dehumidification reduced the relative humidity of drying air and did not affect rice quality but increased the rice moisture removal, ultimately increasing the drying rate. The study recommends using air temperatures below 50°C and a drying duration of less than 60 min to achieve effective rough rice drying with fluidized bed drying technique. In addition, ambient air dehumidification can be employed for reducing ambient air relative humidity by few points. However, more research must be done at the farm and industrial scale to check the accuracy of these findings at a large scale

Should Panelists Refrain from Wearing a Personal Fragrance Prior to Sensory Evaluation? The Effect of Using Perfume on Olfactory Performance

It is typically recommended that panelists should refrain from wearing personal fragrances, such as perfume or cologne, prior to sensory evaluation. Interestingly, no study has been reported as to whether panelists’ perceptions of test samples could be affected by personal fragrances worn by themselves. The objective of this study was, therefore, to determine the effect of such a personal fragrance on olfactory performance. Nineteen untrained participants were screened, recruited for, and underwent the Sniffin’ Sticks test designed for measuring olfactory performances that included the odor threshold, discrimination, and identification (TDI). The olfactory performance tasks were conducted under three fragrance level conditions: (1) control (no fragrance), (2) just-about-right (JAR), and (3) excessive, with a preliminary study used to identify both the JAR and excessive fragrance levels. The results showed that the odor discrimination, odor threshold, and combined TDI performances were significantly lowered in the two conditions with the perfume fragrance, while the odor identification performance exhibited no significant differences across all three conditions. These findings provide empirical evidence that even low to moderate levels of personal fragrance can significantly reduce individuals’ olfactory capabilities, possibly subsequently altering the perception of test samples during sensory evaluation

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Thermal Micro-Environment during Poultry Transportation in South Central United States

This observational study was conducted to characterize the thermal micro- climate that broilers experienced in commercial poultry transporters under various weather conditions and typical management practices in the South Central USA. We continuously monitored temperature and relative humidity in 45 interior locations of 28 fully-loaded commercial trailers over 2 year spans from 2015⁻2016 in South Central USA. In the cold season, double boarding of the exterior area of the transport modules maintained temperatures at least 8 °C warmer than ambient temperatures as low as −16 °C. Overall, temperature at all locations decreased as transporters traveled from farms to processing plants during winter trips with double boards. In the hot season, assistance by evaporative cooling during on-farm loading resulted in interior temperatures within ± 2 °C of ambient conditions (up to 36 °C) during road transport. In the summer months, trailers uniformly gained 2 °C as vehicles travelled for 45 min from farms to plants. Apparent equivalent temperatures of the monitored summer trips averaged 80.5 °C, indicating possible heat stress conditions based on the thermal comfort zones defined by literature index values. For longer trips, cooling assistance on the farms may be insufficient to prevent temperatures from rising further into extremely hot conditions in the transporters, leading to a dangerous thermal environment