Milk supplemented with dried seaweed affects the systemic innate immune response in preweaning dairy calves

Intact seaweed or seaweed extracts are used as feed supplements to improve the gut microbiome in young animals. Seaweeds provide functional polysaccharides, and they are a good source of vitamins, minerals, and phenolic compounds, all of which are relevant for immune system development. However, literature on the effects of dried seaweed supplementation on immune system development is limited, especially in calves. This experiment aimed to study the effect of feeding milk supplemented with Ulva lactuca, Ascophyllum nodosum, or Saccharina latissima on the systemic immune status of preweaning dairy calves. Forty male Holstein calves with birth body weight 41 ± 4 kg and plasma Brix percentage ≥8.7% at d 2 after birth were used in this study. Calves were fed 4 L of cow milk twice a day (total 8 L/d). From d 2 to d 28, calves in the control group (n = 10) received milk without seaweed supplementation. Over the same period, experimental calves received milk supplemented with Ulva lactuca (SW1; n = 10), Ascophyllum nodosum (SW2; n = 10), or Saccharina latissima (SW3, n = 10). Dried and ground seaweeds were offered at a daily allowance of 50 g/8 L of milk (i.e., approximately 5% inclusion rate on a dry matter basis). Blood samples were collected from a jugular vein on d 2, 4, 7, 14, 21, and 28 after birth. Plasma concentrations of total protein, albumin, immunoglobulins, and acute-phase proteins (i.e., serum amyloid A, fibrinogen, and haptoglobin) were measured. We detected no differences in average daily gain, plasma immunoglobulins, albumin, or total protein. However, the contrast analysis revealed that plasma concentrations of fibrinogen (SW1 and SW2) and serum amyloid A (SW2 and SW3) were significantly higher in the seaweed groups compared with the control group. We also found a tendency for high plasma haptoglobin in the seaweed groups (SW1 and SW2) compared with the control group. Differences in acute-phase protein concentrations could be partially explained by the large differences in micromineral intake between control and seaweed-supplemented calves. Feeding milk supplemented with dried seaweed increased plasma concentrations of variables related to the innate immune response in preweaning dairy calves.     

Polarization Behaviours at 2, 5 and 60 GHz for Indoor Mobile Communications

The behaviours of linear polarizations at 2.15, 5.3 and 61.7 GHz in corridors are studied in this paper. It shows that there is no significant difference between the received powers for vertical and horizontal polarizations. Depolarization is obvious at 2.15 GHz due to different antenna type is applied at the receiver, and it is more serious in non-line-of-sight (NLOS) cases.     

Stochastic modelling for the analysis of blowout risk in exploration drilling

This article discusses the theoretical basis and the general framework related to stochastic blowout modelling in an offshore risk management context. The general scope is put forward by the Norwegian Petroleum Directorate (NPD) and the operating companies' need for an adequate decision making tool that permits studies of the effects of implemented risk reducing measures based on local conditions. Previous work and today's practices regarding stochastic modelling for the analysis of blowout risk are reviewed and discussed. Moreover, a different and perhaps more thorough approach to blowout risk modelling in exploration drilling is suggested that is based upon physical causal mechanisms and expert judgements combined with hard data rather than world wide blowout statistics.     

Scale space multiresolution analysis of random signals

A method to capture the scale-dependent features in a random signal is proposed with the main focus on images and spatial fields defined on a regular grid. A technique based on scale space smoothing is used. However, while the usual scale space analysis approach is to suppress detail by increasing smoothing progressively, the proposed method instead considers differences of smooths at neighboring scales. A random signal can then be represented as a sum of such differences, a kind of a multiresolution analysis, each difference representing details relevant at a particular scale or resolution. Bayesian analysis is used to infer which details are credible and which are just artifacts of random variation. The applicability of the method is demonstrated using noisy digital images as well as global temperature change fields produced by numerical climate prediction models.     

Techno-economic analysis of a local district heating plant under fuel flexibility and performance

Brovst is a small district in Denmark. This paper analyses the use of local renewable resources in the district heating systems of Brovst. The present use of fossil fuels in the Brovst district heating plant (DHP) represents an increasing environmental and climate-related load. Therefore, an investigation has been made to reduce the use of fossil fuels for district heating system and make use of the local renewable resources (biogas, solar, and heat pump) for district heating purposes. In this article, the techno-economic assessment is achieved through the development of a suite of models that are combined to give cost and performance data for this district heating system. Local fuels have been analyzed for different perspectives to find the way to optimize the whole integrated system in accordance with fuel availability and cost. This paper represents the energy system analysis mode, energyPRO, which has been used to analyze the integration of a large-scale energy system into the domestic district heating system. A model of the current work on the basis of information from the Brovst plant (using fossil fuel) is established and named as a reference option. Then, four other options are calculated using the same procedure according to the use of various local renewable fuels known as “biogas option,” “solar option,” “heat pump option,” and “imported heat option.” A comparison has been made between the reference option and other options. The greatest reduction in heat cost is obtained from the biogas option by replacing a new engine, where 66 % of the current fuel is substituted with biogas.     

The relationship between chord length and rime icing on wind turbines

Numerical simulations of ice accumulation on four different wind turbine blade profiles, from 450 kW, 600 kW, 1 MW and 2 MW, fixed speed, stall controlled, wind turbines, were performed to determine how wind turbine size affects atmospheric icing. The simulations indicate that dry rime icing is less severe for larger wind turbines both in terms of local ice mass and in terms of relative ice thickness. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Bayesian Scale Space Analysis of Differences in Images

This article considers the detection of image features in different spatial scales. The main focus is on capturing the scale-dependent differences in a pair of noisy images, but the technique developed can also be applied to the analysis of single images. The approach proposed uses Bayesian statistical modeling and simulation-based inference, and it can be viewed as a further development of SiZer technology, originally designed for nonparametric curve fitting. Numerical examples include artificial test images and a preliminary analysis of a pair of Landsat images used in satellite-based forest inventory. This article has supplementary material online.