The Effects of Organic or Inorganic Zinc and Microbial Phytase, Alone or in Combination, on the Performance, Biochemical Parameters and Nutrient Utilization of Broilers Fed a Diet Low in Available Phosphorus

This study examined the effects of zinc (Zn) from different sources and microbial phytase on the broiler performance, biochemical parameters and digestibility of nutrients when they were added to broiler diets containing low available phosphorus. A total of 875, 1-day-old male broilers of the Ross 308 strain were randomly separated into two control groups (positive and negative) and five treatment groups each containing 125 birds; each group was divided into 5 replicates of 25 birds. The positive control (PC) group was fed a diet containing adequate concentration (0.45%) of available phosphorus due to mineral premix (except zinc) and feeds. The negative control (NC) group was fed a basal diet including low concentration (0.30%) of available phosphorus due to mineral premix (except zinc) and feeds. The basal diet was supplemented with 0.30% phosphorus and 500 FTU phytase (PH); 0.30% phosphorus and organic zinc (OZ; 75mg/kg of Zn from Zn-proteinate); 0.30% phosphorus and inorganic zinc (IZ; 75 mg/kg of Zn from ZnSO4); 0.30% phosphorus, organic zinc and 500 FTU phytase (OZ + PH); and 0.30% phosphorus, inorganic zinc and 500 FTU phytase (IZ + PH) in the treatment groups 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5, respectively. The lowest value for mean body weight was in the negative control group on a diet containing low available phosphorus. The use of supplementation with organic and inorganic zinc alone or in combination with microbial phytase significantly (P

Analysis of the Theoretical Values of Several Characteristic Parameters of Surface Topography in Rotational Turning

In addition to the increase of the material removal rate or surface rate, or the improvement of the surface quality, which are the main aims of the development of manufacturing technology, a growing number of other manufacturing requirements have appeared in the machining of workpiece surfaces. Among these it is becoming increasingly dominant to generate a surface topography in finishing operations which meets more closely the needs of operational requirements. These include the examination of the surface periodicity and/or ensuring that the twist-structure values are within the limits (or even preventing its occurrence) in specified cases such as on the sealing surfaces of rotating shafts or on the inside working surfaces of needle roller bearings. In the view of the measurement the twist has different parameters from surface roughness, which must be determined for the machining procedures. Therefore in this paper the alteration of the theoretical values of the parameters determining twist structure are studied as a function of the kinematic properties.

Fatty Acid Profile of Meat from Lambs Fed on Diets Containing Mulberry Hay

The aim of this trial was to evaluate fatty acid profile of meat from lambs fed on diets containing 0, 12.5 and 25.0% mulberry hay as a substitute for the concentrate. Twenty-four feedlot Ile de France lambs (average weight of 15kg and average age of 60 days) were randomized to receive the different diets and slaughtered at 32kg body weight. Increases were observed in the concentrations of the saturated pentadecanoic, heptadecanoic and arachidic fatty acids; of the monounsaturated nervonic fatty acid and of the polyunsaturated α-linolenic, ɣ-linolenic and eicosapentaenoic fatty acids. Increased conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) was also found in the meat of lambs fed on 12.5% mulberry hay. In addition, the omega-3 composition was augmented, while the omega-3/omega-6 ratio was decreased in mulberry hay-fed animals. In conclusion, a more desirable fatty acid profile was observed in lamb meat following the substitution of mulberry hay in the concentrate of fed, resulting in improved nutritional characteristics of the meat.

A Systematic Approach for Identifying Turning Center Capabilities with Vertical Machining Center in Milling Operation

Conventional machining is a form of subtractive manufacturing, in which a collection of material-working processes utilizing power-driven machine tools are used to remove undesired material to achieve a desired geometry. This paper presents an approach for comparison between turning center and vertical machining center by optimization of cutting parameters at cylindrical workpieces leading to minimum surface roughness by using taguchi methodology. Aluminum alloy was taken to conduct experiments due to its unique high strength-weight ratio that is maintained at elevated temperatures and their exceptional corrosion resistance. During testing, the effects of the cutting parameters on the surface roughness were investigated. Additionally, by using taguchi methodology for each of the cutting parameters (spindle speed, depth of cut, insert diameter, and feed rate) minimum surface roughness for the process of turn-milling was determined according to the cutting parameters. A confirmation experiment demonstrates the effectiveness of taguchi method.

Damage Localization of Deterministic-Stochastic Systems

A scheme integrated with deterministic–stochastic subspace system identification and the method of damage localization vector is proposed in this study for damage detection of structures based on seismic response data. A series of shaking table tests using a five-storey steel frame has been conducted in National Center for Research on Earthquake Engineering (NCREE), Taiwan. Damage condition is simulated by reducing the cross-sectional area of some of the columns at the bottom. Both single and combinations of multiple damage conditions at various locations have been considered. In the system identification analysis, either full or partial observation conditions have been taken into account. It has been shown that the damaged stories can be identified from global responses of the structure to earthquakes if sufficiently observed. In addition to detecting damage(s) with respect to the intact structure, identification of new or extended damages of the as-damaged (ill-conditioned) counterpart has also been studied. The proposed scheme proves to be effective.

Maternal Smoking and Risk of Childhood Overweight and Obesity: A Meta-Analysis

The purpose of this study was to determine the significance of maternal smoking for the development of childhood overweight and/or obesity. Accordingly, a systematic literature review of English-language studies published from 1980 to 2012 using the following data bases: MEDLINE, PsychINFO, Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, and Dissertation Abstracts International was conducted. The following terms were used in the search: pregnancy, overweight, obesity, smoking, parents, childhood, risk factors. Eighteen studies of maternal smoking during pregnancy and obesity conducted in Europe, Asia, North America, and South America met the inclusion criteria. A meta-analysis of these studies indicated that maternal smoking during pregnancy is a significant risk factor for overweight and obesity; mothers who smoke during pregnancy are at a greater risk for developing obesity or overweight; the quantity of cigarettes consumed by the mother during pregnancy influenced the odds of offspring overweight and/or obesity. In addition, the results from moderator analyses suggest that part of the heterogeneity discovered between the studies can be explained by the region of world that the study occurred in and the age of the child at the time of weight assessment.

The Moderation Effect of Smart Phone Addiction in Relationship between Self-Leadership and Innovative Behavior

This study aims to explore the positive effects of self-leadership and innovative behavior that'd been proven in the existing researches proactively and understand the regulation effects of smartphone addiction which has recently become an issue in Korea. This study conducted a convenient sampling of college students attending the four colleges located at Daegu. A total of 210 questionnaires in 5-point Likert scale were distributed to college students. Among which, a total of 200 questionnaires were collected for our final analysis data. Both correlation analysis and regression analysis were carried out to verify those questionnaires through SPSS 20.0. As a result, college students' self-leadership had a significantly positive impact on innovative behavior (B= .210, P= .003). In addition, it is found that the relationship between self-leadership and innovative behavior can be adjusted depending on the degree of smartphone addiction in college students (B= .264, P= .000). This study could first understand the negative effects of smartphone addiction and find that if students' self-leadership is improved in terms of self-management and unnecessary use of smartphone is controlled properly, innovative behavior can be improved. In addition, this study is significant in that it attempts to identify a new impact of smartphone addiction with the recent environmental changes, unlike the existing researches that'd been carried out from the perspective of organizational behavior theory.

The Impact of E-Learning on Medication Administration of Nursing Students: What Recent Studies Say?

Nurses are responsible for the care and treatment of individuals, as well as health maintenance and education. Medication administration is an important part of health promotion. The administration of a medicine is a common but important clinical procedure for nurses because of its complex structure. Therefore, medication errors are inevitable for nurses or nursing students. Medication errors can cause ineffective treatment, patient’s prolonged hospital stay, disablement or death. Additionally, medication errors affect the global economy adversely by increasing health costs. Hence, preventing or decreasing of medication errors is a critical and essential issue in nursing. Nurse educators are in pursuit of new teaching methods to teach students significance of medication application. In the light of technological developments of this age, e-learning has started to be accepted as an important teaching method. E-learning is the use of electronic media and information and communication technologies in education. It has advantages such as flexibility of time and place, lower costs, faster delivery and lower environmental impact. Students can make their own schedule and decide the learning method. This study is conducted to determine the impact of e-learning on medication administration of nursing students.

User-Driven Product Line Engineering for Assembling Large Families of Software

Traditional software engineering allows engineers to propose to their clients multiple specialized software distributions assembled from a shared set of software assets. The management of these assets however requires a trade-off between client satisfaction and software engineering process. Clients have more and more difficult to find a distribution or components based on their needs from all of distributed repositories. This paper proposes a software engineering for a user-driven software product line in which engineers define a Feature Model but users drive the actual software distribution on demand. This approach makes the user become final actor as a release manager in software engineering process, increasing user product satisfaction and simplifying user operations to find required components. In addition, it provides a way for engineers to manage and assembly large software families. As a proof of concept, a user-driven software product line is implemented for Eclipse, an integrated development environment. An Eclipse feature model is defined, which is exposed to users on a cloud-based built platform from which clients can download individualized Eclipse distributions.

Some Considerations on UML Class Diagram Formalisation Approaches

Unified Modelling Language (UML) is a software modelling language that is widely used and accepted. One significant drawback, of which, is that the language lacks formality. This makes carrying out any type of rigorous analysis difficult process. Many researchers attempt to introduce their approaches to formalise UML diagrams. However, it is always hard to decide what language and/or approach to use. Therefore, in this paper, we highlight some of the advantages and disadvantages of number of those approaches. We also try to compare different counterpart approaches. In addition, we draw some guidelines to help in choosing the suitable approach. Special concern is given to the formalisation of the static aspects of UML shown is class diagrams.

Bioactivity Evaluation of Cucurbitin Derived Enzymatic Hydrolysates

After cold pressing of pumpkin oil, the defatted oil cake (PUOC) was utilised as raw material for processing of bio-functional hydrolysates. In this study, the in vitro bioactivity of an alcalase (AH) and a pepsin hydrolysate (PH) prepared from the major pumpkin 12S globulin (cucurbitin) are compared. The hydrolysates were produced at optimum reaction conditions (temperature, pH) for the enzymes, during 60min. The bioactivity testing included antioxidant and angiotensin I converting enzyme inhibitory activity assays. The hydrolysates showed high potential as natural antioxidants and possibly antihypertensive agents in functional food or nutraceuticals. Additionally, preliminary studies have shown that both hydrolysates could exhibit modest α-amylase inhibitory activity, which indicates on their hypoglycemic potential.

Optimal Diesel Engine Technology Analysis Matching the Platform of the Helicopter

In the paper environmental impact analysis the optimal Diesel engine for a light helicopter was performed. The paper consist an answer to the question of what the optimal Diesel engine for a light helicopter is, taking into consideration its expected performance and design capacity. The use of turbocharged engine with self-ignition and an electronic control system can substantially reduce the negative impact on the environment by decreasing toxic substance emission, fuel consumption and therefore carbon dioxide emission. In order to establish the environmental benefits of the diesel engine technologies, mathematical models were created, providing additional insight on the environmental impact and performance of a classic turboshaft and an advanced diesel engine light helicopter, incorporating technology developments.

Sensitivity Analysis of Principal Stresses in Concrete Slab of Rigid Pavement Made From Recycled Materials

Complex sensitivity analysis of stresses in a concrete slab of the real type of rigid pavement made from recycled materials is performed. The computational model of the pavement is designed as a spatial (3D) model, is based on a nonlinear variant of the finite element method that respects the structural nonlinearity, enables to model different arrangements of joints, and the entire model can be loaded by the thermal load. Interaction of adjacent slabs in joints and contact of the slab and the subsequent layer are modeled with the help of special contact elements. Four concrete slabs separated by transverse and longitudinal joints and the additional structural layers and soil to the depth of about 3m are modeled. The thickness of individual layers, physical and mechanical properties of materials, characteristics of joints, and the temperature of the upper and lower surface of slabs are supposed to be random variables. The modern simulation technique Updated Latin Hypercube Sampling with 20 simulations is used. For sensitivity analysis the sensitivity coefficient based on the Spearman rank correlation coefficient is utilized. As a result, the estimates of influence of random variability of individual input variables on the random variability of principal stresses s1 and s3 in 53 points on the upper and lower surface of the concrete slabs are obtained.

Effect of Al Addition on Microstructure and Physical Properties of Fe-36Ni Invar Alloy

High strength Fe-36Ni-base Invar alloys containing Al contents up to 0.3 weight percent were cast into ingots and thermodynamic equilibrium during solidification has been investigated in this study. From the thermodynamic simulation using Thermo-Calc®, it has been revealed that equilibrium phases which can be formed are two kinds of MC-type precipitates, MoC, and M2C carbides. The mu phase was also expected to form by addition of aluminum. Microstructure observation revealed the coarse precipitates in the as-cast ingots, which was non-equilibrium phase and could be resolved by the successive heat treatment. With increasing Al contents up to 0.3 wt.%, tensile strength of Invar alloy increased as 1400MPa after cold rolling and thermal expansion coefficient increased significantly. Cold rolling appeared to dramatically decrease thermal expansion coefficient.

Navigation and Guidance System Architectures for Small Unmanned Aircraft Applications

Two multisensor system architectures for navigation and guidance of small Unmanned Aircraft (UA) are presented and compared. The main objective of our research is to design a compact, light and relatively inexpensive system capable of providing the required navigation performance in all phases of flight of small UA, with a special focus on precision approach and landing, where Vision Based Navigation (VBN) techniques can be fully exploited in a multisensor integrated architecture. Various existing techniques for VBN are compared and the Appearance-Based Navigation (ABN) approach is selected for implementation. Feature extraction and optical flow techniques are employed to estimate flight parameters such as roll angle, pitch angle, deviation from the runway centreline and body rates. Additionally, we address the possible synergies of VBN, Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) and MEMS-IMU (Micro-Electromechanical System Inertial Measurement Unit) sensors, and the use of Aircraft Dynamics Model (ADM) to provide additional information suitable to compensate for the shortcomings of VBN and MEMS-IMU sensors in high-dynamics attitude determination tasks. An Extended Kalman Filter (EKF) is developed to fuse the information provided by the different sensors and to provide estimates of position, velocity and attitude of the UA platform in real-time. The key mathematical models describing the two architectures i.e., VBN-IMU-GNSS (VIG) system and VIGADM (VIGA) system are introduced. The first architecture uses VBN and GNSS to augment the MEMS-IMU. The second mode also includes the ADM to provide augmentation of the attitude channel. Simulation of these two modes is carried out and the performances of the two schemes are compared in a small UA integration scheme (i.e., AEROSONDE UA platform) exploring a representative cross-section of this UA operational flight envelope, including high dynamics manoeuvres and CAT-I to CAT-III precision approach tasks. Simulation of the first system architecture (i.e., VIG system) shows that the integrated system can reach position, velocity and attitude accuracies compatible with the Required Navigation Performance (RNP) requirements. Simulation of the VIGA system also shows promising results since the achieved attitude accuracy is higher using the VBN-IMU-ADM than using VBN-IMU only. A comparison of VIG and VIGA system is also performed and it shows that the position and attitude accuracy of the proposed VIG and VIGA systems are both compatible with the RNP specified in the various UA flight phases, including precision approach down to CAT-II.

The Design of the Multi-Agent Classification System (MACS)

The paper discusses the design of a .NET Windows Service based agent system called MACS (Multi-Agent Classification System). MACS is a system aims to accurately classify spreadsheet developers competency over a network. It is designed to automatically and autonomously monitor spreadsheet users and gather their development activities based on the utilization of the software multi-agent technology (MAS). This is accomplished in such a way that makes management capable to efficiently allow for precise tailor training activities for future spreadsheet development. The monitoring agents of MACS are intended to be distributed over the WWW in order to satisfy the monitoring and classification of the multiple developer aspect. The Prometheus methodology is used for the design of the agents of MACS. Prometheus has been used to undertake this phase of the system design because it is developed specifically for specifying and designing agent-oriented systems. Additionally, Prometheus specifies also the communication needed between the agents in order to coordinate to achieve their delegated tasks.

Influence of Fermentation Conditions on Humic Acids Production by Trichoderma viride Using an Oil Palm Empty Fruit Bunch as the Substrate

Humic acids (HA) were produced by a Trichoderma viride strain under submerged fermentation in a medium based on the oil palm empty fruit bunch (EFB) and the main variables of the process were optimized by using response surface methodology. A temperature of 40°C and concentrations of 50g/L EFB, 5.7g/L potato peptone and 0.11g/L (NH4)2SO4 were the optimum levels of the variables that maximize the HA production, within the physicochemical and biological limits of the process. The optimized conditions led to an experimental HA concentration of 428.4±17.5 mg/L, which validated the prediction from the statistical model of 412.0mg/L. This optimization increased about 7–fold the HA production previously reported in the literature. Additionally, the time profiles of HA production and fungal growth confirmed our previous findings that HA production preferably occurs during fungal sporulation. The present study demonstrated that T. viride successfully produced HA via the submerged fermentation of EFB and the process parameters were successfully optimized using a statistics-based response surface model. To the best of our knowledge, the present work is the first report on the optimization of HA production from EFB by a biotechnological process, whose feasibility was only pointed out in previous works.

Proximate Composition and Textural Properties of Cooked Sausages Formulated from Mechanically Deboned Chicken Meat with Addition of Chicken Offal

Proximate composition (moisture, protein, total fat, and total ash) and textural characteristics (hardness, adhesiveness, springiness, cohesiveness, chewiness and firmness and work of shear) of cooked sausages formulated from mechanically deboned chicken meat (MDCM) with addition of chicken offal (heart, gizzard or liver) were investigated. Chicken offal replaced equal weight (15 kg) of MDCM in standard sausage formulation. Regarding proximate composition sausage with heart addition was significantly (P

The Contribution of Sulfate and Oxidized Organics in Climatically Important Ultrafine Particles at a Coral Reef Environment

In order to investigate the properties of coral reef origin secondary aerosol and especially the contribution of secondary organic aerosol, ethanol affinity to atmospheric nucleation mode particles (diameter

Stability Analysis of Fractional Order Systems with Time Delay

In this paper, we mainly study the stability of linear and interval linear fractional systems with time delay. By applying the characteristic equations, a necessary and sufficient stability condition is obtained firstly, and then some sufficient conditions are deserved. In addition, according to the equivalent relationship of fractional order systems with order 0 < α ≤ 1 and with order 1 ≤ β < 2, one may get more relevant theorems. Finally, two examples are provided to demonstrate the effectiveness of our results.