Environment type and storage period on eggshell quality of laying hens at different ages

ABSTRACT: Eggshell quality is directly linked to the good acceptability of the product by consumers, whereas the industry is concerned with economic losses. Prolonged periods of laying, diseases, nutrition, bird age and genetics can influence egg quality. This study aimed to examine the influence of the environment, bird age and storage period on the physical characteristics of the shell of eggs from commercial laying hens. The experiment involved 288 eggs from Hy-line hens, which were distributed in a completely randomized design with a triple 3×2×4 factorial arrangement represented by three ages (31, 62 or 88 weeks), two storage temperatures (ambient or refrigerated), and four storage periods (one, 10, 20 or 30 days), totaling 24 treatments. Four replications were used with three eggs each. Eggshell strength, percentage and thickness were measured. Differences were observed, with the eggs stored at room temperature exhibiting lower shell strength. Laying eggs at an advanced age (88 weeks) resulted in decreased eggshell strength as compared with the other ages, whereas the eggs from young layers (31 weeks) had a thicker shell. The advancing age of the laying hens reduced eggshell quality, regardless of the storage environment. Nonetheless, the eggs stored in the refrigerator showed better eggshell quality and integrity than those stored at ambient temperature.

Ethnic background and risk of SARS-CoV-2 infection among the healthcare workforces: Results of a large occupational cohort study in rural United Kingdom.

Black and South Asian healthcare workers have been found at higher risk of SARS-CoV-2 infection in the United Kingdom. However, many studies do not consider all potential confounders (e.g., professional exposure, living environment) and those conducted during the second wave of the COVID-19 outbreak remain scarce. Using 1-year-folow-up data from a cohort of 13,366 healthcare workers employed in 119 facilities in Lincolnshire, we aimed to quantify the risk of SARS-CoV-2 infection among ethnic minority healthcare staff and to elucidate pathways of infection. Overall, 1258 individuals (9.4%) recorded a positive SARS-CoV-2 test during the observation period, incidence per person-year was 5.2% [Cluster adjusted 95% CI: 3.6–7.6%] during the first COVID-19 wave (Jan-Aug 2020) and 17.2% [13.5–22.0%] during the second wave (Sep 2020-Feb 2021). Compared to Whites, Black and South Asian employees were at higher risk of SARS-CoV-2 infection during both the first wave (Clustered adjusted Hazard Ratio, 1.58 [0.91-2.75] and 1.69 [1.07-2.66] respectively) and the second wave (HR 2.09 [1.57-2.76] and 1.46 [1.24-1.71]). Higher risk of SARS-CoV-2 infection significantly persisted even after controlling on age, gender, pay grade, residence environment, type of work and time exposure at work. Higher adjusted risk of SARS-CoV-2 infection were also found among lower-paid health professionals. Black and South Asian health workers continue to be more exposed to SARS-CoV-2 infection compared to their white counterparts. Urgent interventions are required to reduce SARS-CoV-2 exposure with these ethnic groups.

Didactic Approaches for a Quality Digital Learning

Objective -This paper identifies and explains the types of interactions facilitated by teachers during online classes. Methodology/Technique - An important part of the paper is intended to classify the most successful techniques that stimulate synchronous and asynchronous interactions in teacher-student relationship in primary school. Finding - The research whose result is illustrated in this paper investigates the ways in which teachers overcome the temptation to limit the lesson only to content delivery and assessment. Novelty - The professional experience of the teachers included in this research is explored and capitalized on, in order to decide on the right ways for connection, as well as productive interaction in the online environment. Type of Paper - Empirical Keywords: learning community, constructivist didactic planning, growth mindset, interactions facilitated, online classes, connection, and productive interaction in the online environment JEL Classification: A20, D83.

Surprise: challenging design perceptions in immersive virtual reality environments? The case of designing a hospital project using a CAVE (Cave Automatic Virtual Environment)

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to examine how the use of immersive virtual reality (IVR) impacts on the surprise aspects of designing.Design/methodology/approachThe empirical case is a new hospital in the UK wherein a CAVE (Cave Automatic Virtual Environment) type of an IVR environment was used performing six design review sessions during the bid preparation stage. Drawing from a former video-based study, the authors conducted follow-up discussions with the participants to access their perspectives on design surprises emerging from their engagement with the IVR. The study developed a reflective methodology, interviewing participants about their experiences of doing design in the immersive environment. Retrospective discussions were conducted in a data review format, through playing back video clips of the IVR design sessions and asking the participants to reflect on their IVR design experience and on design surprises emerging from their engagement with the IVR.FindingsThe findings indicate that IVRs, such as the CAVE, are not only enhancing existing understandings of design but also challenging the participants' understanding of the design as they experience the immersive version of it, provoking ruptures in current procedures and driving unanticipated changes to the design.Originality/valueThis qualitative study of surprise in design work using IVRs (for a real-life design project) brings new insights into emerging practices of designing using immersive technology, such as the CAVE.

Nature benefits revisited: Differences in gait kinematics between nature and urban images disappear when image types are controlled for likeability

Exposure to urban environments requires more cognitive processing than exposure to nature; an effect that can even be measured analysing gait kinematics whilst people walk towards photographic images. Here, we investigated whether differences in cognitive load between nature and urban scenes are still present when scenes are matched for their liking scores. Participants were exposed to images of nature and urban scenes that had been matched a priori for their liking scores by an independent participant sample (n = 300). Participants (N = 44) were either asked to memorise each image during walking or to rate each image for its visual discomfort after each walk. Irrespective of experimental task, liking score but not environment type predicted gait velocity. Moreover, subjective visual discomfort was predictive of gait velocity. The positive impact of nature described in the literature thus might, at least in part, be due to people’s aesthetic preferences for nature images.

Detecting Change between Urban Road Environments along a Route Based on Static Road Object Occurrences

For over a decade, urban road environment detection has been a target of intensive research. The topic is relevant for the design and implementation of advanced driver assistance systems. Typically, embedded systems are deployed in these for the operation. The environments can be categorized into road environment-types. Abrupt transitions between these pose a traffic safety risk. Road environment-type transitions along a route manifest themselves also in changes in the distribution of traffic signs and other road objects. Can the placement and the detection of traffic signs be modelled jointly with an easy-to-handle stochastic point process, e.g., an inhomogeneous marked Poisson process? Does this model lend itself for real-time application, e.g., via analysis of a log generated by a traffic sign detection and recognition system? How can the chosen change detector help in mitigating the traffic safety risk? A change detection method frequently used for Poisson processes is the cumulative sum (CUSUM) method. Herein, this method is tailored to the specific stochastic model and tested on realistic logs. The use of several change detectors is also considered. Results indicate that a traffic sign-based road environment-type change detection is feasible, though it is not suitable for an immediate intervention.

A Jamming-Resilient and Scalable Broadcasting Algorithm for Multiple Access Channel Networks

Multiple access channel (MAC) networks use a broadcasting algorithm called the Binary Exponential Backoff (BEB) to mediate access to the shared communication channel by competing nodes and resolve their collisions. While the BEB achieves fair throughput and average packet latency in jamming-free environments and relatively small networks, its performance noticeably degrades when the network is exposed to jamming or its size increases. This paper presents an alternative broadcasting algorithm called the K-tuple Full Withholding (KTFW), which significantly increases MAC networks’ resilience to jamming attacks and network growth. Through simulation, we compare the KTFW with both the BEB and the Queue Backoff (QB), an efficient and high-throughput broadcasting algorithm. We compare the three approaches against two different traffic injection models, each approximating a different environment type. Our results show that the KTFW achieves higher throughput and lower average packet latency against jamming attacks than both the BEB and the QB algorithms. The results also show that the KTFW outperforms the BEB for larger networks with or without jamming.

SHAPING THE FUTURE OF RESEARCH IN ART, ARCHITECTURE, AND SPATIAL DESIGN FIELDS

The purpose of this invited editorial article is to contribute an inclusive insight into some of key aspects of arts-based research and methodological approaches in architectural and spatial design research. Following ontological and epistemological interpretations, the article is conceptual and involves critical analysis which is based on reviewing and categorizing classical literature while highlighting substantial number of contributions in relevant research developed over the past five decades. Premised on three philosophical positions—positivism, anti-positivism, and emancipationist— a discussion on arts-based research as a form of qualitative inquiry and the associated trilogy of art, craft, and knowledge making was instigated. Six frames of reference were identified: systematic, computational, managerial, psychological, person-environment type-a and person-environment type-b. Technically oriented research (TOR) and conceptually driven research (CDR) were categorized as perspectives of inquiry and were scrutinized together with their developmental aspects. Whilst the article is a brief reflection on some of the key contributions in this edition of JAARS, it captures an understanding of arts-based research, architectural and spatial design research, and their essential qualities. and can be viewed as an enabling mechanism by which researchers can identify the unique particularities of their research and the way in which it is pursued.