A review of factors influencing litter size in Irish sows

Many factors influence litter size. These include genetics, gilt management, lactation length, parity distribution, disease, stress and boar fertility. In the past 20 years, litter size in Irish sows has increased by only one pig. Born alive figures now average at 11.2 pigs per litter. In this regard, Ireland is falling behind our European competitors who have made significant advances over this time. Denmark, for example, has an average figure of 12.7 pigs born alive per litter and France an average of 12.5. The single area that could be improved immediately is sow feeding. It is important that sows are fed correctly throughout pregnancy. If over-fed during pregnancy, sows will have depressed appetite during lactation. If underfed in pregnancy, sows will be too thin at farrowing. The correct way to feed a pregnant sow is to match her feed allocation to her requirement for maintenance, body growth and growth of her developing foetuses. During lactation, sows should be given as much feed as they can eat to prevent excessive loss of body condition. Liquid-feed curves should be such that lactating sows are provided with a minimum mean daily feed supply of 6.2 kg. A small proportion of sows will eat more and this could be given as supplementary dry feed. Where dry feeding is practised in the farrowing house, it is difficult to hand-feed sows to match their appetite. Ideally ad libitum wet/dry feeders should be used. From weaning to service, sows should once again be fed ad libitum. If liquid feeding, this means giving at least 60 MJ DE (digestible energy) per day during this period. If dry feeding, at least 4 kg of lactation diet should be fed daily. The effort spent perfecting sow feeding management on units should yield high dividends in the form of increased pigs born alive per litter.     

Effects of Alternative Molting Programs and Population on Layer Performance: Results of the Thirty-Fifth North Carolina Layer Performance and Management Test

A study involving 7 white-egg and 3 brown-egg commercial layer strains was conducted at the North Carolina Piedmont Research Station to assess the effects cage population 3-bird vs. 4-bird cages and alternative molt programs on performance through 113 wk of age (791 d). The flock was divided into 3 groups; not molted (NM), maintained in continuous production; molted using feed restriction (FR), an industry-type 14-d feed withdrawal molting program initiated at 463 d of age; and molted using a nonfasted/anorexic program (NF), in which an ad libitum supply of a low protein, low energy molt feed was provided. Productivity, egg size, and egg quality were monitored at 28-d periods throughout the test providing the performance data for the white-egg and brown-egg strains with regard to these management factors. Detailed results by strain are available on the following Web site: http://www.ces.ncsu.edu/depts/poulsci/tech_info.html#layer. The performance for the 3-bird or 4-bird cage groups for either type of layer was similar, except that birds in 4-bird cages had higher feed consumption in the first production phase than did the birds in 3-bird cages. In the same time period the white-egg birds in the 3-bird cages had a greater percentage of cracked eggs and a smaller percentage of Grade A large eggs than those in 4-bird cages. No differences were observed in egg income for the 2 population sizes for either type of layer. However, due to their higher feed consumption, the white egg birds in the 4-bird cages had higher feed cost per hen for the first cycle, which was offset by the egg income component due to their increased production rate. The molted layers outperformed the nonmolted layers for both types of layers in terms of overall income over feed costs. The FR molted hens, under a program that has traditionally been used by commercial producers, outperformed NF-molted hens, indicating that further refinements are needed to make the NF program economically competitive with the FR molting program.     

不同粒度猫尾草对羔羊体外发酵特性和微生物数量的影响

通过Rusitec-s体外发酵系统研究不同粒度猫尾草对羔羊体外发酵参数与微生物数量的影响,选取6种不同粒度(1.00、2.36、3.35、4.75、8.00和12.50 mm)的猫尾草作为试验饲粮的纤维来源,按照猫尾草的粒度将试验分为6个处理组,每个处理4个重复,利用Rusitec-s型人工瘤胃模拟装置进行48 h体外发酵,测定养分降解率、发酵参数及发酵液中6种微生物菌群的拷贝数。结果表明：与其他处理组相比,2.36 mm组显著提高了体外中性洗涤纤维降解率(IVNDFD)、丁酸、异丁酸、戊酸、异戊酸摩尔比和溶纤维丁酸弧菌(B. f)数量(P<0.05),且显著降低总产甲烷菌(TMe)数量(P<0.05)。总菌(TB)与氨态氮(NH3-N)浓度、乙酸摩尔比呈正相关(R²=0.84,P=0.038;R²=0.88,P=0.021);B. f数量与丙酸摩尔比呈正相关(R²=0.82,P=0.045),且与pH呈负相关(R²=-0.98,P=0.001);TMe数量与体外粗蛋白质降解率(IVCP...     

Dropwise Condensation Heat Transfer Coefficient on the Horizontal Circular Surface with Radial Gradient Surface Energy

A theoretical model is developed for the dropwise condensation heat transfer on the horizontal circular surface with radial gradient surface energy based on the heat transfer model of individual condensate drop and the size distribution model of condensate drop on homogeneous condensation surface.The effect of variation of contact angle on the gradient surface on condensation heat transfer and condensate drop size distribution is taken account of in this model.The theoretical calculation method was obtained to predict the dropwise condensation heat transfer coefficient on the horizontal circular surface with radial gradient surface energy under various wall subcooled temperature,contact angle profile on wall surface,and working fluid.The effects of surface energy gradient,wall subcooled temperature,and thermophysical properties of condensate on the condensation heat transfer are discussed respectively.The calculation results show that the condensation heat transfer coefficient increases slightly with the increase of wall subcooled temperature.As latent heat and surface tension increasing,the condensation heat transfer coefficient increases.A larger surface energy gradient induces a larger condensation heat transfer coefficient.     

Design for Precision Measurement System Based on Machine Vision

It is difficult to measure the geometric quantity of small parts in finishing, assembling and measuring, because it's easy to break the workpieces' surface and alter their position by means of traditional contact measuring methods.There are some non contact measurers, such as,light feeler pin and interference microscope etc., because of it's high price and strict working conditions,so it's difficult to promote them in widely use. Precision measurement system based on machine vision has the advantages of non contact measuring as well as high performance and low price. Some problems, such as light source, algorithm of edge fitting, auto focusing,are discussed.     

THE SIZE EFFECT OF THE FRACTURE ENERGY OF CONCRETE TESTED BY THREE POINT BENDING

This paper ainalyses the size effect of the fracture energy of concrete tested bythree point bending. It is shown that positive errors of test results of fracture energy increase,ornegative errors decrease with increasing of the specimen ize. The phenomenon is one of main causesresulting in the size effect of fracture energy.     

种子大小对冬小麦苗势及其幼穗发育的影响

以中大粒品种郑引1号为试验材料,研究了不同粒重种子对幼苗长势及幼穗发育的影响.结果表明,大粒种子出苗迟,生长发育快,叶片分化持续时间短,幼苗长势壮;大粒种子的幼穗发育开始早,分化强度大,形成小穗数多.茎生叶分化总数不因粒重不同而发生变化.     

高度对色斑法测量雨滴粒径影响的试验研究

以前的色斑法雨滴率定只考虑色斑直径与雨滴真实粒径的关系，忽略了高度对率定的影响。在大量试验的基础上，通过回归分析，得到了以色斑直径和高度为变量的率定公式。研究表明，水滴下落高度小于5m时需考虑高度的影响；高度大于5m时，高度的影响可以忽略。通过相关性分析，公式的拟合性较好，对以后的色宽法测量雨滴粒径有指导意义。