Production Performance of Layer Strain Hy-Line Brown in Different Cage Locations in Closed House

The aim of this study was to determine the production performance of layer hen strain Hy-Line Brown in different cage locations in closed house. The research material was 5,051 laying hens of the Hy-Line strain aged 28 weeks. House system was closed house, cage arranged to form frame A. Hy-Line Brown layer were housed at cage densities of 500 cm2 per hen. Research feed is complete feed code 324 KJ produced by PT. Charoen Pokphand Indonesia. The research method is comparative, comparing the production performance on the location of the cage in zone 1 (inlet), zone 2 (middle), and zone 3 (outlet) of a closed cage. The research sample is 10% of the total population. Observations were carried out on 6 cages which were randomly selected in each cage zone. The average density of cages is 20 birds/m2. Tabulated research data are Hen Day Production (%), egg weight (g), egg mass (kg), and feed conversion. Data analysis is analysis of variance analysis (One-Way ANOVA). Based on the results of the study, there were significant differences in the the production performance of layer hen strain Hy-Line Brown in different cage locations in closed house. The highest production performance is the cage located close to the inlet (Zone 1).

Upgrading of waste stabilization ponds using a low-cost small-scale fine bubble diffused aeration system

Waste Stabilization Ponds (WSPs) are known for the economical treatment of wastewater, especially if low-cost land is available. In this research to overcome some common operational problems such as undesirable color changes in ponds, severe odor problems, and most importantly, deviations from the effluent standards, the performance of a novel installation of a small-scale fine bubble diffused aeration system in the inlet zone of the facultative pond has been investigated. The long-term operational data of the system in two wastewater treatment plants in the east of Iran demonstrated that this system can significantly improve the efficiency of the treatment plant in addition to eliminating the mentioned operational problems. Pre-aeration of the inlet zone of the facultative ponds (Birjand WSPs) by the aeration system consists of 250 fine bubble disk diffusers (12 inches in diameter) and one 22 kW roots blower showed that purple color and odor problem can eliminate after almost two weeks and organic matter removal efficiency increased from 58 ± 15% to about 85 ± 10% based on BOD5. Almost similar results were obtained from the WSPs of Neyshabur. Long-term experimental results showed this system can be used successfully to control the process and upgrade these natural and efficient treatment processes, especially in developing countries.

Clinical Relevance and Management of Recurrent Laryngeal Nerve Inlet Zone Lymph Nodes Metastasis in Papillary Thyroid Cancer

BackgroundRecurrent nodal disease often occurs in recurrent laryngeal nerve inlet zone (RLNIZ), leading to difficult surgical management.MethodsMedical records of 947 patients with PTC and 33 patients with recurrent PTC were retrospectively reviewed. Totally 169 sides of RLNIZ dissection in 152 patients (17 cases were bilateral and 135 cases were unilateral) with primary surgery and 4 patients with structural recurrent disease were included for the analysis.ResultsThe rate of lymph node metastasis in RLNIZ was 31.3% (47/150). The incidence of transient hypoparathyroidism was 5.9% and no RLN injury and permanent hypoparathyroidism occurred. RLNIZ lymph nodes metastasis (LNM) was significantly associated with age <45 years, larger tumor size, number of CNLNM, and lateral node metastasis. CNLNM and lateral node metastasis were independent risk factors for RLNIZ LNM. Recurrent nodal disease in RLNIZ was identified in four of 33 patients and permanent recurrent laryngeal nerve (RLN) injury was observed in one of four patients.ConclusionLymph nodes in RLNIZ are usually involved in patients with heavy tumor burden and can be removed safely at initial surgery. Once central or lateral LNM was confirmed preoperatively or intraoperatively, RLNIZ lymph node dissection should be carefully performed to reduce the rate of structural recurrence in the central compartment.

Use of three-dimensional computational fluid dynamics model for a new configuration of circular primary settling tank

Appropriately used, CFD models are powerful tools to design and optimize primary settling tanks (PSTs). This paper uses a Fluent-based 3D model to identify the possible causes for underperformance of the circular PSTs at the Cali WWTP, Colombia, and to propose design modifications to improve performance. A new configuration for the center well (CW) is proposed and evaluated. The influence of a rotational sludge scraper and of continuously sludge removal were considered in the numerical simulation. The new configuration included the modification of the current CW diameter and the location of a second baffle with the CW. The results suggest that the installation of the second baffle allows a more uniform flow distribution within the PST and consequently, the hydrodynamic problems associated with short-circuiting of the influent to the bottom of the tank are reduced. The second baffle suppresses the downward current, effectively dissipates the kinetic energy in the influent and forces the particles to move toward the bottom of the PST. In addition, the second CW baffle allows the formation in the inlet zone of a consistently more concentrated sludge blanket layer and thicker sludge, reducing the risk of solids leaving in the effluent of the PST.

Lignin phenols in sediment cores and its indications of degradation and organic carbon sources of the Yantan Reservoir, China

Three sediment cores collected from the Yantan Reservoir, located in the Pearl River, southwest China, were analyzed for lignin phenols, elemental and stable carbon isotopic composition to investigate the variation patterns, vegetation sources, degradation stage, and relative proportions of terrestrial sedimentary organic carbon (OC). Significant temporal and spatial heterogeneity in terrestrial OC burial was indicated by the changes of lignin contents at different depths in different sampling sites: the inlet zone, the central reservoir zone in front of dam and the reservoir bay. The interception impact of upstream dam, the influence of artificial regulation, as well as the role of interzonal recharge made the terrestrial OC burial remains complex in the reservoir. The oxidized lignin signatures showed spatial heterogeneity suggesting active oxidative degradation and demethylation/demethoxy degradation of sedimentary lignin during deposition, especially in the inlet zone. An angiosperm herbaceous tissue and gymnosperm woody tissue contributed the sedimentary lignin. A soil-plankton-plant three-end-member mixing model revealed that soil-derived OC dominated before impoundment and at the early stage of reservoir operation, while the contribution of autochthonous OC began to dominate after gradually aging and eutrophicating of the reservoir. Our study of lignin evolution in reservoir highlights important temporal and spatial reservoir carbon components and their contribution to sedimentary carbon pools, providing new insights into the estimation of organic carbon burial in reservoirs.

The effect of differences between house length and placement zones inside the closed house on the utilization of broiler chicken feed protein in the dry season

The research aims to examine the effect of differences in house length and placement zones inside a closed house on the utilization of broiler chicken feed protein in the dry season. The research material is 600 broiler chickens (strain cobb) divided into 20 experimental units and 2 closed houses with a length of 60 m with a capacity of 11,000 and a length of 120 m with a capacity of 22,000. This research used a randomized block design with a split-plot pattern and two factors. The main plot is closed house with length 60 and 120 meters, the subplot is the zone placement of chicken which are divided into 4 zones: zone 1 is parallel to the inlet, zone 2 is measured at 1/4 of the house length, zone 3 is measured at 1/2 the house length, zone 4 is measured at 3/4 the house length from the inlet. The parameters observed were protein digestibility, the protein efficiency ratio (PER), and nitrogen retention (NR). Macroclimate, microclimate, and microclimatic ammonia observed as supporting data and an overview of the research conditions. Longer house and placement zone of chicken further from the inlet increase temperature, humidity, and microclimatic ammonia inside the closed house. The results showed an interaction between the house length and placement zone of chicken against NR. The housing length of 120 m and zone 4 was significantly (P≤0,05) having lower protein digestibility, PER, and NR values. Protein digestibility began to decrease significantly (P≤0,05) in zone 3, while PER and NR significantly decrease from zone 2. It concludes that longer closed house and placement zones further from the inlet decrease the ability of broilers to utilizing feed protein in the dry season.

Effect of contact geometry on the friction of acrylamide hydrogels with different surface structures

Polyacrylamide (PAAm) hydrogels with brush-covered or crosslinked surfaces were produced and their tribological behavior was studied over a wide range of sliding speeds for two different contact geometries: sphere-on-flat and flat-pin-on-flat. Irrespective of the contact geometry, the brushy hydrogel surfaces displayed up to an order of magnitude lower coefficients of friction μ (COF) compared to the crosslinked surfaces, even achieving superlubricity (μ < 0.01). In general, a hydrogel sphere showed a lower coefficient of friction than a flat hydrogel pin at a similar contact pressure over the entire range of sliding speeds. However, after normalizing the friction force by the contact area, the shear stress of hydrogels with either crosslinked or brushy surfaces was found to be similar for both contact geometries at low speeds, indicating that hydrogel friction is unaffected by the contact geometry at these speeds. At high sliding speeds, the shear stress was found to be lower for a sphere-on-flat configuration compared to a flat-pin-on-flat configuration. This can be attributed to the larger equivalent hydrodynamic thickness due to the convergent inlet zone ahead of the sphere-on-flat contact, which presumably enhances the water supply in the contact, promotes rehydration, and thus reduces the friction at high sliding speeds compared to that measured for the flat-pin-on-flat contact.

Modelling of Energy Accumulation in Belt Conveyor Systems Under Faulty Conditions

The consideration of potential energy stored in a system is paramount to carry on safe maintenance operations of mechanical system. In particular, this paper concentrates on the elastic energy accumulation occurring in a belt conveyor system ensuing a seizure of one of the pulleys owing to, for example, dirt and spilled bulk material accumulation in the belt inlet zone. The hazard of considering the system completely discharged just because the electrical supply cut off and the effect of such an energy storage are investigated by means of a lumped mass dynamic mathematical model. It allows time variable operating conditions to be considered, as well as starting and stopping phases transients. Standard maintenance operations are simulated, and the effect of stored energy sudden release investigated.

Modeling and Optimization of Rolling Process: A Multi-Objective Approach

In a high-speed cold strip rolling process, it is necessary to optimize the process parameters for improved quality in the product. In this study, two separate multi-objective optimization problems for a cold rolling process are formulated. The objectives in one of the cases are minimum isothermal film thickness and film temperature rise in the inlet zone and in another case it is minimum thermal film thickness and film temperature rise in the inlet zone. Particle swarm optimization algorithm has been used for solving the optimization problem. The key input parameters for the cold rolling process are identified and prioritized through the convergence study and the coefficient of variation analysis. A response analysis is performed on the critical input variables. This study assists the process engineer to understand the lubrication in cold strip rolling at high speed and select an appropriate lubricant for a given combination of strip and rolls.

Chemical Clogging and Evolution of Head Losses in Steel Slag Filters Used for Phosphorus Removal

The objective of this study was to propose a conceptual model of clogging in alkaline granular filters. Two slag columns were operated for 600 days and monitored using piezometers and tracer tested at regular intervals. The type of influent (organic or inorganic) affected the loss of effective porosity in the filters. Well organized and loose crystal structures were observed by scanning electron microscopy in columns with inorganic and organic influents, respectively. It was postulated that the formation of crystals in unorganized structures results in confined voids that are not accessible for water flow, thus accelerating porosity loss. The effect of the combination of chemical clogging and biofilm on the porosity loss is higher than the effect of these two factors separately. The Kozeny-Carman equation for hydraulic conductivity could not efficiently predict the evolution of head losses in the column fed with an inorganic influent. The crystal structure and connectivity in the presence of homogeneous or heterogeneous precipitation are concepts that could improve predictions of hydraulic conductivity. The results of this study highlighted the importance of the inlet zone on the development of pressure head in alkaline granular filters. Future research on clogging should focus on precipitation mechanisms in the inlet zone and on the design of the feeding system.