Pen parameters for improving the performance of sheep imported from Australia to Persian Gulf feedlots

Summer in the Persian Gulf region presents physiological challenges for Australian sheep that are part of the live export supply chain coming from the Australian winter. Many feedlots throughout the Gulf have very high numbers of animals during June to August in order to cater for the increased demand for religious festivals. From an animal welfare perspective it is important to understand the necessary requirements of feed and water trough allowances, and the amount of pen space required, to cope with exposure to these types of climatic conditions. This study addresses parameters that are pertinent to the wellbeing of animals arriving in the Persian Gulf all year round. Three experiments were conducted in a feedlot in the Persian Gulf between March 2010 and February 2012, totalling 44 replicate pens each with 60 or 100 sheep. The applied treatments covered animal densities, feed-bunk lengths and water trough lengths. Weights, carcass attributes and health status were the key recorded variables. Weight change results showed superior performance for animal densities of ≥1.2 m2/head during hot conditions (24-h average temperatures greater than 33 °C, or a diurnal range of around 29–37 °C). However the space allowance for animals can be decreased, with no demonstrated detrimental effect, to 0.6 m2/head under milder conditions. A feed-bunk length of ≥5 cm/head is needed, as 2 cm/head showed significantly poorer animal performance. When feeding at 90 ad libitum 10 cm/head was optimal, however under a maintenance feeding regime (1 kg/head/day) 5 cm/head was adequate. A minimum water trough allowance of 1 cm/head is required. However, this experiment was conducted during milder conditions, and it may well be expected that larger water trough lengths would be needed in hotter conditions. Carcass weights were determined mainly by weights at feedlot entry and subsequent weight gains, while dressing percentage was not significantly affected by any of the applied treatments. There was no demonstrated effect of any of the treatments on the number of animals that died, or were classified as unwell. However, across all the treatments, these animals lost significantly more weight than the healthy animals, so the above recommendations, which are aimed at maintaining weight, should also be applicable for good animal health and welfare. Therefore, best practice guidelines for managing Australian sheep in Persian Gulf feedlots in the hottest months (June–August) which present the greatest environmental and physical challenge is to allow feed-bunk length 5 cm/head on a maintenance-feeding program and 10 cm/head for 90 ad libitum feeding, and the space allowance per animal should be ≥1.2 m2/head. Water trough allocation should be at least 1 cm/head with provision for more in the summer when water intake potentially doubles.

Thermal activation parameters for low temperature deformation of alpha-hafnium

Abstract is not available.

Pen parameters for improving the performance of sheep imported from Australia to Persian Gulf feedlots

Summer in the Persian Gulf region presents physiological challenges for Australian sheep that are part of the live export supply chain coming from the Australian winter. Many feedlots throughout the Gulf have very high numbers of animals during June to August in order to cater for the increased demand for religious festivals. From an animal welfare perspective it is important to understand the necessary requirements of feed and water trough allowances, and the amount of pen space required, to cope with exposure to these types of climatic conditions. This study addresses parameters that are pertinent to the wellbeing of animals arriving in the Persian Gulf all year round. Three experiments were conducted in a feedlot in the Persian Gulf between March 2010 and February 2012, totalling 44 replicate pens each with 60 or 100 sheep. The applied treatments covered animal densities, feed-bunk lengths and water trough lengths. Weights, carcass attributes and health status were the key recorded variables. Weight change results showed superior performance for animal densities of ≥1.2 m2/head during hot conditions (24-h average temperatures greater than 33 °C, or a diurnal range of around 29–37 °C). However the space allowance for animals can be decreased, with no demonstrated detrimental effect, to 0.6 m2/head under milder conditions. A feed-bunk length of ≥5 cm/head is needed, as 2 cm/head showed significantly poorer animal performance. When feeding at 90% ad libitum 10 cm/head was optimal, however under a maintenance feeding regime (1 kg/head/day) 5 cm/head was adequate. A minimum water trough allowance of 1 cm/head is required. However, this experiment was conducted during milder conditions, and it may well be expected that larger water trough lengths would be needed in hotter conditions. Carcass weights were determined mainly by weights at feedlot entry and subsequent weight gains, while dressing percentage was not significantly affected by any of the applied treatments. There was no demonstrated effect of any of the treatments on the number of animals that died, or were classified as unwell. However, across all the treatments, these animals lost significantly more weight than the healthy animals, so the above recommendations, which are aimed at maintaining weight, should also be applicable for good animal health and welfare. Therefore, best practice guidelines for managing Australian sheep in Persian Gulf feedlots in the hottest months (June–August) which present the greatest environmental and physical challenge is to allow feed-bunk length 5 cm/head on a maintenance-feeding program and 10 cm/head for 90% ad libitum feeding, and the space allowance per animal should be ≥1.2 m2/head. Water trough allocation should be at least 1 cm/head with provision for more in the summer when water intake potentially doubles.

A note on the evaluation of dielectric dispersion parameters of non-debije type liquids

A simple method for evaluating dielectric relaxation parameters ie given whioh can be used for analyeing the arelaxation times of a liquid into two absorptions.

A Comparative Study of Electrochemical Kinetic Parameters by the Potential Step Method. Electrode Reactions of CyDTA and EDTA Complexes of Cu(II) at DME

By using the same current-time (I-t) curves, electrochemical kinetic parameters are determined by two methods, (a) using the ratio of current at a given potential to the diffusion-controlled limiting current and (b) curve fitting method, for the reduction of Cu(II)–CyDTA complex. The analysis by the method (a) shows that the rate determining step involves only one electron although the overall reduction of the complex involves two electrons suggesting thereby the stepwise reduction of the complex. The nature of I-t curves suggests the adsorption of intermediate species at the electrode surface. Under these circumstances more reliable kinetic parameters can be obtained by the method (a) compared to that of (b). Similar observations are found in the case of reduction of Cu(II)–EDTA complex.

CXCL10, CXCL11, HLA-A and IL-1β are induced in peripheral blood mononuclear cells from women withChlamydia trachomatisrelated infertility

Chlamydia trachomatis infections can result in the development of serious sequelae such as pelvic inflammatory disease and tubal infertility. In this study, peripheral blood mononuclear cells from women who were undergoing or had recently undergone IVF treatment were cultured ex vivo with C. trachomatis to identify the immune responses associated with women who had serological evidence of a history of Chlamydia infection. Cytokines secreted into the supernatant from the cultures were measured using ELISA, and the level of IL-1β was found to be significantly higher in Chlamydia positive women than Chlamydia negative women. qRT-PCR analysis of the expression of 88 immune-related genes showed trends towards an upregulation of CXCL10, CXCL11 and HLA-A in Chlamydia positive women compared with Chlamydia negative women. These findings support that some women launch a more marked proinflammatory response upon infection with C. trachomatis and this may be associated with why C. trachomatis induces infertility in some infected women.

Study of third-order non-linear systems- Variation of parameters approach

In this paper, the transient response of a third-order non-linear system is obtained by first reducing the given third-order equation to three first-order equations by applying the method of variation of parameters. On the assumption that the variations of amplitude and phase are small, the functions are expanded in ultraspherical polynomials. The expansion is restricted to the constant term. The resulting equations are solved to obtain the response of the given third-order system. A numerical example is considered to illustrate the method. The results show that the agreement between the approximate and digital solution is good thus vindicating the approximation.

An approximate mathematical procedure for the determination of characteristic parameters for a general case in three dimensional photoelasticity

In cases whazo zotatLon of the seoondazy pztncipal 8tzo,ae axes along tha light path ,exists, it is always poaeible to detezmlna two dizactions along which plane-polazlaad light ,antazlng the model ,amerCe8 as plene-pela~l,aed light fzom the model. Puzth,az the nat zstazdatton Pot any light path is dlff,azant Prom the lntsgtatad zetazd,ation Pat the l£ght path nogZsctlng the ePfsct or z,atation.

On the relationship of thermodynamic parameters with the buried surface area in protein-ligand complex formation

Prediction of thermodynamic parameters of protein-protein and antigen-antibody complex formation from high resolution structural parameters has recently received much attention, since an understanding of the contributions of different fundamental processes like hydrophobic interactions, hydrogen bonding, salt bridge formation, solvent reorganization etc. to the overall thermodynamic parameters and their relations with the structural parameters would lead to rational drug design. Using the results of the dissolution of hydrocarbons and other model compounds the changes in heat capacity (DeltaCp), enthalpy (DeltaH) and entropy (DeltaS) have been empirically correlated with the polar and apolar surface areas buried during the process of protein folding/unfolding and protein-ligand complex formation. In this regard, the polar and apolar surfaces removed from the solvent in a protein-ligand complex have been calculated from the experimentally observed values of changes in heat capacity (DeltaCp) and enthalpy (DeltaH) for protein-ligand complexes for which accurate thermodynamic and high resolution structural data are available, and the results have been compared with the x-ray crystallographic observations. Analyses of the available results show poor correlation between the thermodynamic and structural parameters. Probable reasons for this discrepancy are mostly related with the reorganization of water accompanying the reaction which is indeed proven by the analyses of the energetics of the binding of the wheat germ agglutinin to oligosaccharides.

Diabetic ketoacidosis and electroencephalographic changes in newly diagnosed pediatric patients

Objective: To document electroencephalogram (EEG) changes and their correlation with clinical parameters in a newly diagnosed pediatric cohort of type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM) patients with and without diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA) and to define their medium term utility and significance. Research design and methods: Prospective longitudinal study of children presenting with T1DM. EEGs were performed within 24 h of diagnosis, day 5, and at 6 months post-diagnosis and reviewed by a neurologist blinded to clinical status. Severity of encephalopathy was graded from 1 to 5 using the Aoki and Lombroso encephalopathy scale. Cognitive abilities were assessed using standardized tests of attention, memory, and intelligence. Results: Eighty eight children were recruited; 34 presented with DKA. Abnormal background slowing was more often observed in the first 24 h in children with DKA (p = 0.01). Encephalopathy scores on day 1 correlated with initial pH, CO2, HCO3, base excess, respiratory rate, heart rate, diastolic blood pressure, and IV fluid intake (all parameters p < 0.05). EEG scores at day 1 did not correlate with contemporaneous mental state or cognition in the medium term. Conclusions: DKA was associated with significant clinical and neurophysiologic signs of brain dysfunction at presentation. While EEG is sensitive to the detection of encephalopathy in newly diagnosed T1DM, it has limited use in identifying children at risk of later cognitive deficits.

Elevated circulating sclerostin concentrations in individuals with high bone mass, with and without LRP5 mutations

CONTEXT: The role and importance of circulating sclerostin is poorly understood. High bone mass (HBM) caused by activating LRP5 mutations has been reported to be associated with increased plasma sclerostin concentrations; whether the same applies to HBM due to other causes is unknown. OBJECTIVE: Our objective was to determine circulating sclerostin concentrations in HBM. DESIGN AND PARTICIPANTS: In this case-control study, 406 HBM index cases were identified by screening dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry (DXA) databases from 4 United Kingdom centers (n = 219 088), excluding significant osteoarthritis/artifact. Controls comprised unaffected relatives and spouses. MAIN MEASURES: Plasma sclerostin; lumbar spine L1, total hip, and total body DXA; and radial and tibial peripheral quantitative computed tomography (subgroup only) were evaluated. RESULTS: Sclerostin concentrations were significantly higher in both LRP5 HBM and non-LRP5 HBM cases compared with controls: mean (SD) 130.1 (61.7) and 88.0 (39.3) vs 66.4 (32.3) pmol/L (both P < .001, which persisted after adjustment for a priori confounders). In combined adjusted analyses of cases and controls, sclerostin concentrations were positively related to all bone parameters found to be increased in HBM cases (ie, L1, total hip, and total body DXA bone mineral density and radial/tibial cortical area, cortical bone mineral density, and trabecular density). Although these relationships were broadly equivalent in HBM cases and controls, there was some evidence that associations between sclerostin and trabecular phenotypes were stronger in HBM cases, particularly for radial trabecular density (interaction P < .01). CONCLUSIONS: Circulating plasma sclerostin concentrations are increased in both LRP5 and non-LRP5 HBM compared with controls. In addition to the general positive relationship between sclerostin and DXA/peripheral quantitative computed tomography parameters, genetic factors predisposing to HBM may contribute to increased sclerostin levels.