Effects of Dietary Fatty Acid Saturation on Broiler Chickens Subjected to High Ambient Temperatures

The effects of dietary fat with various fatty acid saturations on physiological response, performance, carcass fatty acid deposition, and immune response and disease resistance in heat stressed broiler chicks were studied. Day old male broilers chicks (Cobb) were brooded and consequently maintained at 24 * 1°C in an environmentally controlled house. All the chicks were fed a starter ration without added fat. On day 2 1 onwards, equal numbers of chicks were provided isocaloric and isonitrogenous finisher diets containing different oil sources namely 8% menhaden fish oil (FO), 8% soybean oil (SO), 8% coconut oil (CO), 8% palm oil (PO) or no added fat (control). From day 28 to 41, all birds were exposed to 36 k 1°C for 2 hlday. Following 14 days of the heat challenge, the PO birds had greater body weights than the other three groups. The control and PO birds were less hyperthermic and had smaller increases in heterophiVlymphocyte ratio than those provided FO, SO and CO diets. Although the mortality rate of PO birds was higher than the control, it was lower than their FO, SO and CO counterparts. Diets rich in saturated fatty acids (CO) increased abdominal fat and crude fat per cent of thigh meat as compared to diets rich in polyunsaturated fatty acids (SO and FO). Tissue fatty acid deposition was significantly different according to dietary oil sources, specific to tissue type, fatty acid structure, and the amount of deposition was not proportional to its intake. Broilers fed 8% fish oil showed higher concentration of long-chain n-3 PUFA (EPA and DHA) in the meat tissue than other counterparts. High inclusion levels of dietary PUFA could provide the recommended polyunsaturated to saturated fatty acid ratio in meat tissue of broilers under high ambient temperatures. Broiler chicks (Cobb) were used to study dietary self-selection of fat under high ambient temperatures. Commencing from day 21, chicks were assigned to one of four dietary treatments: (1) diet with 8% palm oil (PO); (2) diet with 8% soybean oil (SO); (3) diet without added fat (control); and (4) a choice of PO, SO and control (CH). From day 28 to 41, all birds were exposed to 34 * 1°C continuously. High addition of palm oil but not soybean oil improved survivability and reduced senun creatine kinase levels of broiler chickens during heat exposure. On day 41, the body weights of PO, SO and CH birds were greater than controls. Although the intake of control, PO and SO diets was similar during heat exposure, the CH birds had a lower creatine kinase activity and mortality rate than those provided SO diet but not significantly different fkom those fed control and PO diets. It was concluded that a high addition of palm oil but not soybean oil is beneficial to heat-stressed broiler chickens. Selfselection of high fat diet can allow birds to match their physiological requirement under heat stress conditions. The effects of dietary a-linolenic and linoleic fatty acid on disease resistance and immune response of heat-stressed broiler chicks (Cobb) were investigated. From day 21 onwards, broiler chicks were fed isocaloric and isonitrogenous finisher diets containing either 8% palm oil (neither rich in linolenic or linoleic acid), 8% soybean oil (rich in linoleic acid) and 8% flaxseed oil (rich in linolenic acid). All birds were vaccinated against Newcastle disease on day 7 and 21. From day . . - . . - - 36 to 50, equal numbers of birds fkom each dietary group were exposed to 38 * t°C and 80% relative humidity for 2 hiday. The remaining birds were maintained under 24 * 1 "C. Feed and water were not provided throughout the heat challenge period. On day 37, all chicks were intranasally challenged with an infectious bursal disease vaccine, V877 strain (Malaysia Vaccine and Pharmaceuticals Sdn Bhd, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia). Bursal samples were taken for histopathological examination, determination of viral RNA and fatty acid analysis. Significantly less viral replications were detected in both heated and non-heated broiler chicks fed did containing 8% flaxseed oil on day 7 post infection. Broiler chicks fed 8% palm oil showed significantly higher viral replications on day 7 post infection under both lower and higher ambient temperatures. Mortality, hetemphil/lymphocyte ratio, antibody production and bursal lesion scores were not significantly affected which suggests that palm oil may enhance tolerance to infectious bursal disease under both ambient temperatures

Incremental redocumentation using literate programming

The primary aim of this research is to investigate means of improving program comprehension through redocumentation. In particular it will concentrate on using Literate Programming as a method for program redocumentation. Documentation is crucially important as an aid to understanding software systems. The Incremental Redocumentation Using Literate Programming System analyses the existing source code and merges in a range of other information, in order to create a complete documentation package. This may include not only traditional paper documents, but also hypertext facilities, animated specifications and output from other analysis tools. The status of the documentation is implicitly elevated to that of an integral part of the system, rather than an optional extra. Where a configuration management system is used to manage different versions of a system, the documentation can also be brought under its control. The literate programming paradigm provides the encouragement and capability to produce high quality code and documentation simultaneously. Conceptually, literate programming systems are document preparation systems. The primary goal of a literate program is to be understandable to the programmers who are going to have to read it at some later date - often while involved in maintenance, or perhaps when trying to determine the possibility of reusing parts of the code for later projects. This thesis presents a structures of C programs and literate C programs, and describes the features of captured literate C programs. A method of the capture process and also the functions of the redocumentation process are described. In addition, this thesis outlines how the individual stages in the capture process and the edit process are used to redocument a C program. The results of application of the process are highlighted by way of example programs. The evaluation process is performed by comparing the results of an existing literate program with those resulting from the application of the method described within this thesis. The results have shown that the captured redocumented literate C program is more readable and understandable than source code only, and that it provides a basis for subsequent maintenance and further redocumentation

The Modified Direct Analysis Method: an Extension of the Direct Analysis Method

The purpose of this research project is to study an innovative method for the stability assessment of structural steel systems, namely the Modified Direct Analysis Method (MDM). This method is intended to simplify an existing design method, the Direct Analysis Method (DM), by assuming a sophisticated second-order elastic structural analysis will be employed that can account for member and system instability, and thereby allow the design process to be reduced to confirming the capacity of member cross-sections. This last check can be easily completed by substituting an effective length of KL = 0 into existing member design equations. This simplification will be particularly useful for structural systems in which it is not clear how to define the member slenderness L/r when the laterally unbraced length L is not apparent, such as arches and the compression chord of an unbraced truss. To study the feasibility and accuracy of this new method, a set of 12 benchmark steel structural systems previously designed and analyzed by former Bucknell graduate student Jose Martinez-Garcia and a single column were modeled and analyzed using the nonlinear structural analysis software MASTAN2. A series of Matlab-based programs were prepared by the author to provide the code checking requirements for investigating the MDM. By comparing MDM and DM results against the more advanced distributed plasticity analysis results, it is concluded that the stability of structural systems can be adequately assessed in most cases using MDM, and that MDM often appears to be a more accurate but less conservative method in assessing stability

Quality of Service (QoS)-Based Network Resource Allocation in Software Defined Networking (SDN)

With the rapid growth of network technologies, the development of the domain is shifting from providing connectivity to providing a number of services and applications with desirable quality. These applications and services have different service features and their own quality demand. Therefore, implementing a network which can provide accessible performance for all traffic types becomes a very hard challenge. In this paper, we present a resource allocation scheme for bandwidth allocation that satisfies Quality of Service (QoS) requirements for all priority flows by using Open vSwitch, based on Software Defined Networking (SDN). The main goal of this system is to provide high QoS performance for high priority flows. The effectiveness of the proposed scheme is described on the emulated SDN network. The proposed scheme is compared with the conventional shortest path scheme, multipath routing scheme in simple network topology. The results of the experiments showed that the proposed approach achieves better performance in terms of throughput, end-to-end delay and packet loss rate than that of traditional shortest-path and multipath routing

Research and Development of Feature Extraction from Myanmar Palm Leaf Manuscripts for the Myanmar Character Recognition System

This paper proposed Myanmar palm leaf manuscript handwriting OCR system. Each text area in the Myanmar palm-leaf manuscript is segmented. This segmented character text image is needed to be recognized to transform to Myanmar handwritten characters which express Myanmar’s precious historical and invaluable information. This paper involves two essential steps: preprocessing and feature extraction. The preprocessing is carried out to extract the attractive palm-leaf manuscript region from the Images automatically are taken by the camera and to support the enhanced images for subsequence processes of Myanmar character recognition from Myanmar palm leaves. The one-dimensional segmentation approach is used to crop leaf area in the image which is taken with high resolution. Line count analysis is also done to extract the region for using enough line count. After that, line segmentation is carried out using Object Frequency Histogram along the horizontal lines which can find the best optimal points between the lines. Similarly, the same technique but vertically is used to get each character or smallest group of characters. Totally 18 features are extracted to recognize the Myanmar palm-leaf manuscript characters. Although the experimental results are good enough but some difficulties are still needed to take account related to the connected components.

The Opsin 3/Teleost multiple tissue opsin system: mRNA localization in the retina and brain of medaka (Oryzias latipes)

The photoreceptor protein, opsin, is one of the major components for vision and photoreceptive function in animals. Although many opsins have been discovered from animal genomes, only a few nonimage‐forming functions mediated by opsins have been identified. Understanding the mRNA distribution of photoreceptor proteins is one crucial step in uncovering their photoreceptive function in animals. Here, we focus on the medaka fish (Oryzias latipes) Opsin 3 (Opn3)/Teleost multiple opsin (Tmt) system, which constitutes a separate phylogenetic group, having putative blue light photoreceptors for nonimage‐forming functions. In medaka, there is one opn3 and five tmt‐opsin orthologs. The expression pattern of the opn3/tmt‐opsins in the retina and brain was investigated by in situ hybridization. mRNAs for opn3/tmt‐opsins were distributed in the retinal ganglion cells as well as interneurons and specific brain nuclei. Specifically, hybridization signals were observed in the glutamate decarboxylase 1 (gad1)‐expressing amacrine cells for opn3, tmt1a, tmt1b, and tmt2, in the caudal lobe of the cerebellum for tmt1b and tmt2, in the cranial nerve nuclei for opn3, tmt1a, tmt1b, tmt2, and in the rostral pars distalis (adenohypophysis) for opn3. These expression patterns suggest that blue light sensing in the fish retina and brain may be involved in the integration of visual inputs, vestibular function, somatosensation, motor outputs, and pituitary endocrine regulation

Implementing Distributed Data Management System In Dynamic Objects By Using Improved Sort Based Algorithm

In the High Level Architecture (HLA) paradigm, the Runtime Infrastructure (RTI) provides a set of services, such as data distribution and management (DDM) among federates. Each federate may inform the RTI about its intention to publish some data or it may subscri be to receive a subset of the published data. DDM services are used to reduce the transmission and receiving of irrelevant data and aimed at reducing the communication over the network. These services rely on the computation of the intersection between “up date” and “subscription” regions. Currently, there are several main DDM filtering algorithms. Our proposed system describes data management and filtering mechanism on tank simulation in battlefield area. This system intends to detect the movement of the ta nk ob ject s, search overlap between the tank object and every regional regiment (extent). When overlapping information is getting from one of the simulation object (OverlapDetector), another simulation object (Coordinator) connects the relevant extent that conta ining the tank object. That extent continued to send the tank information to other regional regiments according to the predefined list. In this paper, we present the design and implementation of a simulation platform used to implement one of the fil tering algorithms, the improved sort based algorithm, and report the overhead of reducing network traffic and ensuring that the forwarding data receive federates only who need the data

Synthesis, Characterization And Co2 Adsorption Of Caco3, Ca(Oh)2 And Inert Materials Incorporated Ca(Oh)2

Calcium oxide (CaO) based materials have been proposed as potential candidates for CO2 adsorption to reduce the emission of carbon dioxide (CO2) into the atmosphere especially from the combustion of fossil fuel power plants. In this research, aragonite (CaCO3), calcite (CaCO3), calcium hydroxide (Ca(OH)2) and inert materials incorporated calcium hydroxide (Ca(OH)2) were synthesized by hydrothermal, sol-gel assisted hydrothermal and precipitation methods, respectively. Various parameters such as hydrothermal temperature (8 h - 72 h), addition of polyacrylamide (PAM), sodium hydroxide (NaOH) concentration (2 M - 10 M), cetyltrimethyl ammonium bromide (CTAB) concentration (0.2 M - 0.9 M) and different inert incorporated materials (Mg, Zr, Ce and (Zr-Ce)) on as-synthesized samples were characterized. And then, the CO2 adsorption performances of calcium oxide (CaO) based adsorbents derived from as-synthesized samples were investigated. In the case of hydrothermal method, 1D aragonite (CaCO3) nanorods are observed at 72 h hydrothermal reaction time when PAM is used as an additive, whereas 1D aragonite nanorods are obtained without using PAM at 12 h reaction time. In sol-gel assistance hydrothermal method, 3D calcite (CaCO3) hollow microspheres are attained with 2 M of NaOH concentration, while nanostructured calcium hydroxide (Ca(OH)2) is obtained by precipitation method at high CTAB concentration of 0.9 M. On the other hand, Mg, Zr, Ce and (Zr-Ce) incorporated Ca(OH)2 samples exhibit different surface morphologies. The CO2 adsorption capacities of calcium oxide (CaO) derived from 1D aragonite CaCO3 nanorods, 3D calcite CaCO3 hollow microspheres and nanostructured calcium hydroxide Ca(OH)2 after first cycles are 0.80 g-CO2/g-adsorbent, 0.62 g-CO2/g-adsorbent and 0.71 g-CO2/g-adsorbent, respectively. However, these capacities drop to 0.38 g-CO2/g-adsorbent, 0.39 g-CO2/g-adsorbent and 0.48 g-CO2/g-adsorbent after 10 cycles, respectively. It can be seen that CaO derived from Ca(OH)2 with surface area 64.57 m2/g exhibits the best CO2 adsorption capacity after 10 cycles (0.48 g-CO2/g-adsorbent), but the decay in adsorption capacity with number of cycles is observed. The development of cyclic stability can be observed in CaO-based adsorbents derived from Mg, Zr, Ce and (Zr-Ce) incorporated Ca(OH)2 samples. The CaO-based adsorbent derived from Mg-Ca(OH)2 shows slightly decrease in capacity from 0.67 g-CO2/g-adsorbent after first cycle to 0.57 g-CO2/g-adsorbent after 10 cycles, while CaO-based adsorbents produced from Zr and Ce-incorporated Ca(OH)2 samples exhibit the obvious cyclic stability during 10 cycles, 0.38 g-CO2/g-adsorbent and 0.24 g-CO2/g-adsorbent, respectively. The CaO-based adsorbent derived from (Zr-Ce) acetates incorporated Ca(OH)2 sample increases the capacity from 0.59 g-CO2/g-adsorbent after first cycle to 0.63 g-CO2/g-adsorbent after 10 cycles. The higher adsorption capacity and better cyclic stability during 10 cycles are attributed to the high BET surface area (155.80 m2/g), a wide range of micro/mesopore size distribution (1.7 nm - 30 nm) and the presence of high temperature sintering resistance Ce2Zr3O10 compound

Decoding Gut Microbial Metabolites through G-Protein Coupled Receptor (GPCR) Activation

The microbiome encodes for a complex web of metabolites of which scientists are just starting to deconvolute. While a lot of focus has been on investigating the implications of the microbial metabolome on health and disease physiologies, we have merely uncovered the tip of the interactome of microbes and host G-Protein Coupled Receptors (GPCRs). Early literature has reported a plethora of short chain fatty acids fermented by dietary fibers acting as GPCR agonists. A few other studies have showcased that gut microbes produced N-acyl amides and secondary bile acids mimicking host ligands and therefore interacting with these GPCRs. Chapter 2 and 3 showcases the different strategies to mine GPCR agonists from the commensal microbiota

The self reconfigured

In my work, I explore different ways of narrating my experience of alienation, confusion, pain, and psychological confinement as a cultural outsider. I seek to create narrative spaces that explore the spatial relationships between the fragmented and dislocated self with the surrounding environment along with a yearning for connection. I convey these experiences through the use of symbols (house, shrine, vessel, and snake) as metaphors for the self. As a third generation Chinese immigrant in Myanmar, I look back to Buddhist and Animistic practices in my native country, in addition to Chinese cultural practices, for inspiration in my work. The concept of “Spirit Houses,” in particular, influences my work. Spirit Houses are animistic shrines that people in Southeast Asia build to placate the spirits disrupted by the human habitat by offering them shelter, food, and entertainment. Building upon the imagery of these ruined sacred spaces, I instill my metaphorical sculptural self with a sense of organicity and intricacy by gesturing the body, the viscera, the skeletal, and the botanical to express the vitality, the delicacy, and the injury of the spirit inhibiting and animating the forms