PREDICTIVE TIME MODEL OF AN ANGLIA AUTOFLOW MECHANICAL CHICKEN CATCHING SYSTEM

In this project, a predictive time model was developed for an Anglia Autoflow mechanical chicken catching system. At the completion of poultry growout, hand labor is currently used to collect the birds from the house, although some integrators are beginning to incorporate mechanical catching equipment. Several regression models were investigated with the objective of predicting the time taken to catch the chicken. A regression model relating distance to total time (sum of packing time, catching time, movement to catching and movement to packing) provided the best performance. The model was based on data collected from poultry farms on the Delmarva Peninsula during a six-month period. Statistical Analysis System (SAS) and NeuroShell Easy Predictor were used to build the regression and neural network models respectively. Model adequacy was established by both visual inspection and statistical techniques. The models were validated with experimental results not incorporated into the initial model.Livestock Production/Industries,

Herbal Remedies for Combating Irradiation: a Green Antiirradiation Approach

Plants play important roles in human life not only as suppliers of oxygen but also as a fundamental resource to sustain the human race on this earthly plane. Plants also play a major role in our nutrition by converting energy from the sun during photosynthesis. In addition, plants have been used extensively in traditional medicine since time immemorial. Information in the biomedical literature has indicated that many natural herbs have been investigated for their efficacy against lethal irradiation. Pharmacological studies by various groups of investigators have shown that natural herbs possess significant radioprotective activity. In view of the immense medicinal importance of natural product based radioprotective agents, this review aims at compiling all currently available information on radioprotective agents from medicinal plants and herbs, especially the evaluation methods and mechanisms of action. In this review we particularly emphasize on ethnomedicinal uses, botany, phytochemistry, mechanisms of action and toxicology. We also describe modern techniques for evaluating herbal samples as radioprotective agents. The usage of herbal remedies for combating lethal irradiation is a green antiirradiation approach for the betterment of human beings without high cost, side effects and toxicity

Computerized Tomography Detects Pulmonary Lesions in Children with Normal Radiographs Diagnosed to have Tuberculosis

This report is based on observations during the conduct of a larger study to develop diagnostic criteria for childhood tuberculosis (TB). Of 20l children confirmed to have pulmonary or lymph node TB, 84 had normal chest radiographs. Computerized tomography (CT) of the chest was performed in nine of them, seven of whom had normal chest radiographs while two had visible calcification. Eight of the nine children had definitive lesions detected by computerized tomography of the chest. While five children had primarily hilar lymph node enlargement, three had pulmonary parenchymal lesions. The use of more sensitive diagnostic tests like computed tomography helps to detect tuberculosis lesions not otherwise visualized on chest radiographs. This report highlights the difficulty in excluding active tuberculosis in children. More studies are required on the role of CT scans in the diagnosis of tuberculosis in children

Steady-State Properties of Single-File Systems with Conversion

We have used Monte-Carlo methods and analytical techniques to investigate the influence of the characteristic parameters, such as pipe length, diffusion, adsorption, desorption and reaction rate constants on the steady-state properties of Single-File Systems with a reaction. We looked at cases when all the sites are reactive and when only some of them are reactive. Comparisons between Mean-Field predictions and Monte-Carlo simulations for the occupancy profiles and reactivity are made. Substantial differences between Mean-Field and the simulations are found when rates of diffusion are high. Mean-Field results only include Single-File behavior by changing the diffusion rate constant, but it effectively allows passing of particles. Reactivity converges to a limit value if more reactive sites are added: sites in the middle of the system have little or no effect on the kinetics. Occupancy profiles show approximately exponential behavior from the ends to the middle of the system.Comment: 15 pages, 20 figure

Participatory management for conservation of seahorses in the Gulf of Mannar, South-east coast of India

The Inception Workshop of the research project “Participatory management for conservation of seahorses in the Gulf of Mannar, south-east coast of India” was organized on 27 December 2014 at the Mandapam Regional Centre of the Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute (ICAR), Mandapam Camp, Tamil Nadu. The workshop was aimed to mark the beginning of the project activities in the Gulf of Mannar and also to bring to one place all the concerned stakeholders who are directly or indirectly associated with sustainable management of seahorse fishery and conservation, and to inform them about the project, its objectives and the expectations. The workshop was also aimed to discuss and get feedback on the methodology and approach for implementation of the project activities such as field surveys and interviews with the stakeholders. The workshop also focused to gather valuable inputs from various stakeholders, which are vital for the on-going project

The THOR effect : thyroid hormone offsets retinopathy

Objective Thyroid status has been implicated in macrovascular disease both in patients with and without diabetes, however its effect on microvascular complications has not been explored. We assessed the prevalence and time to development of diabetic retinopathy in patients with type 2 diabetes with and without thyroxine treatment. Research design and methods The prevalence of retinopathy was determined, in a retrospective cohort study from a secondary care referral diabetes clinic patients with type 2 diabetes and coexisting treated hypothyroidism (THD; n=147) and duration matched controls without hypothyroidism (DM2; n=383). Using Kaplan-Meier survival analysis and Cox Proportional Hazards regression model we estimated the time to development of retinopathy in the two groups. Results Prevalence of retinopathy was 27.9% in THD group, as compared to 55.1% in the DM2 group (p<0.001). THD were less than one- third as likely to have concurrent retinopathy than, DM2 patients (OR=0.32; 95% CI=0.21 to 0.48; p<0.001). There was a significant difference in the median time to retinopathy between THD and DM2 patients (21.0yrs vs. 13.0yrs: Log-Rank p<0.001). Risk of developing retinopathy in THD patients was two-fifths of that of DM2 patients (hazard ratio=0.418; p<0.001) in a time-dependent variable analysis. The risk of developing retinopathy was concomitantly lower for patients with longer duration of hypothyroidism and thyroxine treatment prior to diagnosis of diabetes (Hazard ratio=0.957:p= 0.004). Conclusion A significant sparing effect on development of retinopathy was noted in type 2 diabetic patients with concomitant hypothyroidism (on thyroxine). The exact mechanism(s) for these observations remain to be elucidated

Modeling Progressive Fibrosis with Pluripotent Stem Cells Identifies an Anti-fibrotic Small Molecule.

Progressive organ fibrosis accounts for one-third of all deaths worldwide, yet preclinical models that mimic the complex, progressive nature of the disease are lacking, and hence, there are no curative therapies. Progressive fibrosis across organs shares common cellular and molecular pathways involving chronic injury, inflammation, and aberrant repair resulting in deposition of extracellular matrix, organ remodeling, and ultimately organ failure. We describe the generation and characterization of an in&nbsp;vitro progressive fibrosis model that uses cell types derived from induced pluripotent stem cells. Our model produces endogenous activated transforming growth factor β (TGF-β) and contains activated fibroblastic aggregates that progressively increase in size and stiffness with activation of known fibrotic molecular and cellular changes. We used this model as a phenotypic drug discovery platform for modulators of fibrosis. We validated this platform by identifying a compound that promotes resolution of fibrosis in in&nbsp;vivo and ex&nbsp;vivo models of ocular and lung fibrosis

Mitigating Instability in Electric Drive Vehicles Due to Time Varying Delays with Optimised Controller

The instability in the Electric vehicle would reduce the performance and even severely damage the system. This instability is mainly due to the random time-varying delays occurring in CAN network and the improper efficiency of controllers. This uncertainty and error occurrence makes it difficult to design the electric vehicles considering the advantages of Electric Vehicles being, the future to reduce harmful emissions due to fossil fuels, the instability can be mitigated by using optimized H∞ controller. The results of Simulations through MATLAB demonstrate the Effectiveness of the improved controller by comparing with the normal PI controller. The results of comparison illustrate the strength of explicitly