Leucocytozoonosis was found in three layer farms in chickens with suspected fatty liver or fatty liver hemorrhagic syndrome in Korea between 2009 and 2011.These layer chicken flocks showed both mortality and decreased...Leucocytozoonosis was found in three layer farms in chickens with suspected fatty liver or fatty liver hemorrhagic syndrome in Korea between 2009 and 2011.These layer chicken flocks showed both mortality and decreased egg production for one or two weeks when they were between 59 and 82 weeks old.At the necropsy,the most prominent gross lesions were found in the liver,which was enlarged,had a fragile texture,exhibited yellowish discolorations,and had various hemorrhagic lesions.Tissue reactions associated with megaloschizonts specific for Leucocytozoon caulleryi were prominent upon microscopic examination of the liver without significant lipidosis.In addition,the ovaries and uterus were the most affected organs for Leucocytozoon caulleryi multiplication,which led to decreased egg productions.Molecular studies with formalin-fixed,paraffin-embedded tissues were performed in search of a partial region of the cytochrome b gene for hemosporidian parasites.Based on these results,the causal agent was determined to be closely related to Leucocytozoon caulleryi reported in Japan and Malaysia.In this study,we describe recently re-occurring leucocytozoonosis in layer chickens,which required histopathology for disease diagnosis.To prevent outbreaks and maintain chicken health and egg production,layer chickens need to be monitored for symptoms of leucocytozoonosis.展开更多
Background:Mixed-species flocks(MSFs)have been well sampled in the South Asia,but there has been as yet surprisingly little work on MSFs of Nepal,despite a diverse and well-studied avifauna.We surveyed MSFs in two for...Background:Mixed-species flocks(MSFs)have been well sampled in the South Asia,but there has been as yet surprisingly little work on MSFs of Nepal,despite a diverse and well-studied avifauna.We surveyed MSFs in two forest types in and around the Important Bird Area of Chitwan National Park in Nepal,between 150 and 800 m a.s.l.,to provide a first description of the composition of MSFs in this area.We also aimed to understand which species should be considered‘nuclear species',important to forming MSFs or leading them forward.Results:In total,we collected records on 222 MSFs that included 100 species,and 6097 individuals.The MSFs were similar to worldwide patterns in being dominated by leaf-gleaning,non-terrestrial insectivores.However,the MSFs were more dominated by canopy species than usual,and did not have a clear gregarious,understory leading species.Rather drongos(Family Dicruridae)and minivets(Family Campephagidae,Genus Pericrocotus)acted as leaders,and a cluster analysis of composition showed one group of large body size MSFs particularly characterized by the presence of the Greater Racket-tailed Drongo(Dicrurus paradiseus).Conclusions:Drongos are known to provide both costs and benefits to other flock participants:they are aggressive birds that can steal food,and manipulate other species with their vocalizations,but at the same time they are‘sentinel species'that produce information about predation risk other species can use.This study demonstrates that drongos can be considered nuclear species for some types of MSFs,despite the potential costs of their presence.MSFs led by sentinel species thus may form in Asia,as well as in the Neotropics.展开更多
The CFO （Chicken Farmers of Ontario） has taken important steps to increase biosecurity practices within backyard poultry flocks in order to thwart infectious diseases. The present study originally intended to descri...The CFO （Chicken Farmers of Ontario） has taken important steps to increase biosecurity practices within backyard poultry flocks in order to thwart infectious diseases. The present study originally intended to describe biosecurity practices within this milieu, so as to determine their nearest neighbor and density, as well as the average distance between backyard and commercial broiler flocks. To that effect, paper questionnaire and survey interviews were used （May-July, 2011）, while backyard and commercial broiler chicken flocks were geocoded. The response rates collected from the study produced these findings regarding： growers＇ health practices toward flocks, hygienic precautions relative to the production area, regularity of bird inspection and cleaning after each folk, protocol used to dispose of dead birds, mixing （or lack thereof） of flocks with other livestock, as well as the average distance between small flocks and commercial farms. The study concludes that education material should focus on improving the growers＇ understanding of issues examined in the study, focusing on areas of weakness in respect to biosecurity practices.展开更多
Active rods propelled along their long axis align their velocities and orientations simultaneously in collision.However,as the propulsion is perpendicular to the long axis,velocity alignment becomes dynamically diffic...Active rods propelled along their long axis align their velocities and orientations simultaneously in collision.However,as the propulsion is perpendicular to the long axis,velocity alignment becomes dynamically difficult.Here,we show that ellipsoidal Quincke roller propelled along their short-axis(perpendicular to the long axis)can align their velocities by flipping and form flocking with nematic order.The flipping arises from the reversible transition between the static parallel spinless state and the spinning transversal state of ellipsoidal Quincke rollers.This is possible only near(above)the critical field where both the parallel spinless state and the spinning transversal spinning are metastable.The flipping-facilitated alignment offers an extra aligning mechanism for elongate active agents,and the resulting active liquid crystals serve a model system to explore the defect dynamics as the propulsion deviates from the local nematic orientation which has not been addressed yet.展开更多
Background Hatch weight(HW)affects broiler growth and low HW(LHW)often leads to suboptimal performance.Sodium butyrate(SB)has been shown to promote growth through enhanced intestinal health.This study investi-gated ho...Background Hatch weight(HW)affects broiler growth and low HW(LHW)often leads to suboptimal performance.Sodium butyrate(SB)has been shown to promote growth through enhanced intestinal health.This study investi-gated how broilers with different HW responded to in ovo SB injection and whether SB could enhance gut health and performance in LHW chicks.Ross 308 broiler eggs were injected on incubation d 12 with physiological saline(control)or SB at 0.1%(SB1),0.3%(SB3),or 0.5%(SB5).Post-hatch,male chicks from each treatment were categorized as high HW(HHW)or LHW and assigned to 8 groups in a 4×2 factorial design.Production parameters were recorded periodically.Intestinal weight,length,and gene expression related to gut barrier function and immune response were examined on d 14 and 42.Cecal microbiota dynamics and predicted functionality were analyzed using 16S rRNA gene sequencing.Results SB treatments did not affect hatchability.HHW-control group exhibited consistently better weight gain and FCR than LHW-control group.SB dose-dependently influenced performance and gut health in both HW catego-ries,with greater effects in LHW broilers at 0.3%.LHW-SB3 group attained highest body weight on d 42,exceeding controls but not significantly differing from HHW-SB3 group.LHW-SB3 group showed upregulation of gut-barrier genes CLDN1 in ileum,TJP1 in jejunum and anti-inflammatory cytokine IL-10 in both jejunum and ileum on d 14.Addi-tionally,LHW-SB3 group upregulated mucin-producing MUC6 gene in ileum,while HHW-SB5 group increased pro-inflammatory IL-12p40 cytokine in caecum on d 42.LHW-SB3 group demonstrated shorter relative intestinal lengths,while HHW-SB5 had longer lengths.HHW-control group had higher bacterial diversity and growth-promoting bacte-ria while LHW-control group harbored the potential pathogen Helicobacter.SB reshaped gut microbiota biodiversity,composition,and predicted metabolic pathways in both HW categories.The LHW-SB3 group exhibited highest alpha diversity on d 14 and most beneficial bacteria at all timepoints.HHW-SB5 group presented increased pathogenic Escherichia-Shigella and Campylobacter on d 42.Conclusions HW significantly affects subsequent performance and SB has differential effects based on HW.LHW chicks benefited more from 0.3%SB,showing improvements in growth,intestinal development,health,and gut microbiota characteristics.展开更多
This paper studies the emergent dynamics of a flock with nonlinear inherent dynamics under closest neighbors model.We establish sufficient frameworks for convergence to flocking in terms of initial state and system pa...This paper studies the emergent dynamics of a flock with nonlinear inherent dynamics under closest neighbors model.We establish sufficient frameworks for convergence to flocking in terms of initial state and system parameters.When the number of closest neighbors is at least half of the population,it is shown that convergence to flocking occurs regardless of the initial state provided that the Lipschitz constant of nonlinear dynamics is smaller than the coupling strength.In contrast,when this number of closest neighbors is less than half of the population,we need to impose some restrictive conditions on the initial state to ensure the emergence of flocking based on the disturbed graphs approach.Our results are applicable to both continuous and discrete time cases.Finally,the validity of our theoretical analysis is tested by numerical simulations.展开更多
The increasing global demand for energy,coupled with concerns about environmental sustainability,has underscored the need for a transition toward renewable energy sources.A well-structured teaching program under the f...The increasing global demand for energy,coupled with concerns about environmental sustainability,has underscored the need for a transition toward renewable energy sources.A well-structured teaching program under the framework of sustainable development in renewable energy seeks to give students the information,abilities,and critical thinking needed to solve energy-related problems sustainably.This research proposes AI-powered personalized learning,innovative real-time integration of diverse data,and adaptive teaching strategies to enhance student understanding regarding renewable energy concepts.The sheep flock-optimized innovative recurrent neural network(SFO-IRNN)will recommend relevant topics and resources based on students’performance.Renewable energy teaching data from assessmethments are combined with real-time IoT-based renewable energy data.This dataset contains renewable energy education using AI-driven teaching methods and internet-based learning.The data was preprocessed by handling missing values and min-max scaling.The data features were extracted using Fourier Transform(FT).Further application of 10-fold cross-validation will increase the reliability of the model as it can evaluate its performance metrics like accuracy,F1-score,recall,and precision on different subsets of student data,which improves its robustness and prevents overfitting.The findings showed that the proposed method is significantly better,which ensures that the students have a deeper theoretical and practical understanding of renewable energy technologies.In addition,integrating real-time IoT data from renewable energy sources gives students a chance to do live simulations and problems that would enhance analytical thinking and hands-on learning.The research shows that AI provides context-aware guidance on sustainable energy infrastructure,enhancing interactive and personalized learning.展开更多
In this paper, we study the flocking behavior of a thermodynamic Cucker–Smale model with local velocity interactions. Using the spectral gap of a connected stochastic matrix, together with an elaborate estimate on pe...In this paper, we study the flocking behavior of a thermodynamic Cucker–Smale model with local velocity interactions. Using the spectral gap of a connected stochastic matrix, together with an elaborate estimate on perturbations of a linearized system, we provide a sufficient framework in terms of initial data and model parameters to guarantee flocking. Moreover, it is shown that the system achieves a consensus at an exponential rate.展开更多
This study proposes a method for uniformly revolving swarm robots to entrap multiple targets,which is based on a gene regulatory network,an adaptive decision mechanism,and an improved Vicsek-model.Using the gene regul...This study proposes a method for uniformly revolving swarm robots to entrap multiple targets,which is based on a gene regulatory network,an adaptive decision mechanism,and an improved Vicsek-model.Using the gene regulatory network method,the robots can generate entrapping patterns according to the environmental input,including the positions of the targets and obstacles.Next,an adaptive decision mechanism is proposed,allowing each robot to choose the most well-adapted capture point on the pattern,based on its environment.The robots employ an improved Vicsek-model to maneuver to the planned capture point smoothly,without colliding with other robots or obstacles.The proposed decision mechanism,combined with the improved Vicsek-model,can form a uniform entrapment shape and create a revolving effect around targets while entrapping them.This study also enables swarm robots,with an adaptive pattern formation,to entrap multiple targets in complex environments.Swarm robots can be deployed in the military field of unmanned aerial vehicles’(UAVs)entrapping multiple targets.Simulation experiments demonstrate the feasibility and superiority of the proposed gene regulatory network method.展开更多
Transportation of spent laying hens causes them severe suffering. HAI-MESHEK （The Israeli Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Farm Animals） looked for ways to decrease the suffering and finally developed the so...Transportation of spent laying hens causes them severe suffering. HAI-MESHEK （The Israeli Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Farm Animals） looked for ways to decrease the suffering and finally developed the solution. Spent laying hens are brutally taken out of the cages, and with broken legs and chests pressed into small boxes for transportation to the slaughter-house. Removing all hens from the cages, transportation, waiting in the slaughter-house and slaughtering all hens is a long and hard-suffering time, which may take 8-10 hours. Hai-Meshek conducted a research, aimed at finding more humane methods of transportation. The findings from other countries were very disappointing. Even in countries having high level of animal welfare, about 30% of the hens arrived at the slaughter-house with broken limbs! The conclusion was that even better method, imposed by legislation, would not solve the problem： it is difficult to detect truck drivers violating the rules and the fine is negligible, compared to the savings by the abovementioned cruel method. The only humane solution is by preventing the transportation and slaughtering on farm. Spent laying hens are not edible, so they need not be slaughtered in the slaughter-house. Hai-Meshek initiated and participated in the development and the building of a facility for the humane killing of spent laying hens on farms. The hens aye electrified and die in 1-1.5 seconds. This method costs far less than transportation and slaughtering. The Poultry Council, which takes care to remove spent laying hens from farms, requires contractors to use the facility and they bring it to every farm in Israel. The facility is also used for killing sick flocks. No more transportation of spent laying hens is allowed!展开更多
Mycoplasma synoviae （MS） is an economically important pathogenic agent of chickens, causing air sacculitis and synovitis. The diagnosis and monitoring of M. synoviae infection is usually made using serological assay...Mycoplasma synoviae （MS） is an economically important pathogenic agent of chickens, causing air sacculitis and synovitis. The diagnosis and monitoring of M. synoviae infection is usually made using serological assays, while confirmative diagnosis is made by isolation and identifcation of the organism, because of the cross reaction between M. gallisepticum and M. synoviae. This study was conducted from 2011 to 2013 during which l l broiler breeder flocks were sampled. These farms were located in all regions of morocco, The sampling was conducted as follows： Farms were visited on day one old chicks ＂day of importation from Europe＂. 20 to 60 ＂chicks＂ were randomly sampled. At the age of 8, 16, 32 and 56 weeks, 60 blood samples and 60 tracheal swabs were collected at each sampling. The serological screening was performed using Rapid Slide Agglutination （RSA） according the OIE protocol and Indirect EL1SA （IDEXX） according the manufacturer＇s instructions. The molecular diagnosis was performed using a commercial kit of a duplex real time PCR （Life Biotechnology）. The results revealed that one day old chicks were negative to MS by RSA and PCR, however they have a variable stock of maternal antibodies （Ig-Y） detected by iELISA. The seroprevalence found by RSA is variable and increase with the age （Sth week： 55%, 16th week： 91%, 32tb and 56th week： 100%）, the same profile was traced by PCR （Sth week： 36%, 16th week： 64%, 32th week： 82%, 56th week： 100%）, however, all farms were positive by iELISA, from the first day to 56th weeks. These results show that MS infections are very frequent and very widespread among poultry breeder flocks, and showed a perfect agreement between serological tests and Real time PCR starting from 32th week of age.展开更多
Rangelands of Central Asia (referring to Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan in this study), the largest contiguous area of grazed land in the world, serve as an important source of livelih...Rangelands of Central Asia (referring to Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan in this study), the largest contiguous area of grazed land in the world, serve as an important source of livelihood for pastoral and agro-pastoral communities in this region. They also play an important role in absorbing CO<sub>2</sub> as a global carbon sink. However, unsustainable management of rangelands has led to their degradation hugely by downgrading their potential agro-ecological, environmental and socio-economical roles. This paper reviewed the rangeland degradation in Central Asia, a topic which so far has received only scant coverage in the international scientific literature. It also provided examples of successful experiences and outlined possible options that land managers can adopt to enhance the sustainable management of these vast degraded rangelands. The experiences and lessons described in this paper may also be relevant for other degraded rangeland areas, especially in the developing countries. The causes of rangeland degradation within the Central Asian region are numerous, complex and inter-related. Therefore, while addressing the factors associated with improper rangeland management may shed some light on the causes of rangeland degradation, the scope of this paper would not be all-encompassing for the major causes of degradation. There is a need to develop and widely apply the viable and locally accepted and adapted packages of technical, institutional and policy options for sustainable rangeland management. Incentivizing the collective action of small-scale pastoralists who group together to facilitate access to remote pastures can reduce the degree of overgrazing within community pastures, such as those near the settlements. We also found that migratory grazing through pooling of resources among small-scale pastoralists can increase household income. After their independence, most Central Asian countries adopted various rangeland tenure arrangements. However, the building of enhanced capacities of pasture management and effective local rangeland governance structures can increase the likelihood, which will be sustainable and equitable. Finally, this paper presented several promising technical options, aiming at reversing the trend of rangeland degradation in Central Asia.展开更多
Multiple mobile agents with double integrator dynamics, following a leader to achieve a flocking motion formation, are studied in this paper. A class of local control laws for a group of mobile agents is proposed. Fro...Multiple mobile agents with double integrator dynamics, following a leader to achieve a flocking motion formation, are studied in this paper. A class of local control laws for a group of mobile agents is proposed. From a theoretical proof, the following conclusions are reached： （i） agents globally align their velocity vectors with a leader, （ii） they converge their velocities to the leaders velocity, （iii） collisions among interconnected agents are avoided, and （iv） agent＇s artificial potential functions are minimized. We model the interaction and/or communication relationship between agents by algebraic graph theory. Stability analysis is achieved by using classical Lyapunov theory in a fixed network topology, and differential inclusions and nonsmooth analysis in a switching network topology respectively. Simulation examples are provided.展开更多
基金provided by the project of National Institute of Environment Research(No.2015080777)
文摘Leucocytozoonosis was found in three layer farms in chickens with suspected fatty liver or fatty liver hemorrhagic syndrome in Korea between 2009 and 2011.These layer chicken flocks showed both mortality and decreased egg production for one or two weeks when they were between 59 and 82 weeks old.At the necropsy,the most prominent gross lesions were found in the liver,which was enlarged,had a fragile texture,exhibited yellowish discolorations,and had various hemorrhagic lesions.Tissue reactions associated with megaloschizonts specific for Leucocytozoon caulleryi were prominent upon microscopic examination of the liver without significant lipidosis.In addition,the ovaries and uterus were the most affected organs for Leucocytozoon caulleryi multiplication,which led to decreased egg productions.Molecular studies with formalin-fixed,paraffin-embedded tissues were performed in search of a partial region of the cytochrome b gene for hemosporidian parasites.Based on these results,the causal agent was determined to be closely related to Leucocytozoon caulleryi reported in Japan and Malaysia.In this study,we describe recently re-occurring leucocytozoonosis in layer chickens,which required histopathology for disease diagnosis.To prevent outbreaks and maintain chicken health and egg production,layer chickens need to be monitored for symptoms of leucocytozoonosis.
基金supported by a Special Talent Recruitment grant from Guangxi University to EGa Chinese Government Scholarship to KRG。
文摘Background:Mixed-species flocks(MSFs)have been well sampled in the South Asia,but there has been as yet surprisingly little work on MSFs of Nepal,despite a diverse and well-studied avifauna.We surveyed MSFs in two forest types in and around the Important Bird Area of Chitwan National Park in Nepal,between 150 and 800 m a.s.l.,to provide a first description of the composition of MSFs in this area.We also aimed to understand which species should be considered‘nuclear species',important to forming MSFs or leading them forward.Results:In total,we collected records on 222 MSFs that included 100 species,and 6097 individuals.The MSFs were similar to worldwide patterns in being dominated by leaf-gleaning,non-terrestrial insectivores.However,the MSFs were more dominated by canopy species than usual,and did not have a clear gregarious,understory leading species.Rather drongos(Family Dicruridae)and minivets(Family Campephagidae,Genus Pericrocotus)acted as leaders,and a cluster analysis of composition showed one group of large body size MSFs particularly characterized by the presence of the Greater Racket-tailed Drongo(Dicrurus paradiseus).Conclusions:Drongos are known to provide both costs and benefits to other flock participants:they are aggressive birds that can steal food,and manipulate other species with their vocalizations,but at the same time they are‘sentinel species'that produce information about predation risk other species can use.This study demonstrates that drongos can be considered nuclear species for some types of MSFs,despite the potential costs of their presence.MSFs led by sentinel species thus may form in Asia,as well as in the Neotropics.
文摘The CFO （Chicken Farmers of Ontario） has taken important steps to increase biosecurity practices within backyard poultry flocks in order to thwart infectious diseases. The present study originally intended to describe biosecurity practices within this milieu, so as to determine their nearest neighbor and density, as well as the average distance between backyard and commercial broiler flocks. To that effect, paper questionnaire and survey interviews were used （May-July, 2011）, while backyard and commercial broiler chicken flocks were geocoded. The response rates collected from the study produced these findings regarding： growers＇ health practices toward flocks, hygienic precautions relative to the production area, regularity of bird inspection and cleaning after each folk, protocol used to dispose of dead birds, mixing （or lack thereof） of flocks with other livestock, as well as the average distance between small flocks and commercial farms. The study concludes that education material should focus on improving the growers＇ understanding of issues examined in the study, focusing on areas of weakness in respect to biosecurity practices.
基金financial support of the National Natural Science Foundation of China(Grant No.11974255)。
文摘Active rods propelled along their long axis align their velocities and orientations simultaneously in collision.However,as the propulsion is perpendicular to the long axis,velocity alignment becomes dynamically difficult.Here,we show that ellipsoidal Quincke roller propelled along their short-axis(perpendicular to the long axis)can align their velocities by flipping and form flocking with nematic order.The flipping arises from the reversible transition between the static parallel spinless state and the spinning transversal state of ellipsoidal Quincke rollers.This is possible only near(above)the critical field where both the parallel spinless state and the spinning transversal spinning are metastable.The flipping-facilitated alignment offers an extra aligning mechanism for elongate active agents,and the resulting active liquid crystals serve a model system to explore the defect dynamics as the propulsion deviates from the local nematic orientation which has not been addressed yet.
基金financially supported article publication charges under the program"Regional Initiative of Excellence"(RID/SP/0017/2024/01)funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under the Marie Sklodowska-Curie Grant Agreement No. 955374。
文摘Background Hatch weight(HW)affects broiler growth and low HW(LHW)often leads to suboptimal performance.Sodium butyrate(SB)has been shown to promote growth through enhanced intestinal health.This study investi-gated how broilers with different HW responded to in ovo SB injection and whether SB could enhance gut health and performance in LHW chicks.Ross 308 broiler eggs were injected on incubation d 12 with physiological saline(control)or SB at 0.1%(SB1),0.3%(SB3),or 0.5%(SB5).Post-hatch,male chicks from each treatment were categorized as high HW(HHW)or LHW and assigned to 8 groups in a 4×2 factorial design.Production parameters were recorded periodically.Intestinal weight,length,and gene expression related to gut barrier function and immune response were examined on d 14 and 42.Cecal microbiota dynamics and predicted functionality were analyzed using 16S rRNA gene sequencing.Results SB treatments did not affect hatchability.HHW-control group exhibited consistently better weight gain and FCR than LHW-control group.SB dose-dependently influenced performance and gut health in both HW catego-ries,with greater effects in LHW broilers at 0.3%.LHW-SB3 group attained highest body weight on d 42,exceeding controls but not significantly differing from HHW-SB3 group.LHW-SB3 group showed upregulation of gut-barrier genes CLDN1 in ileum,TJP1 in jejunum and anti-inflammatory cytokine IL-10 in both jejunum and ileum on d 14.Addi-tionally,LHW-SB3 group upregulated mucin-producing MUC6 gene in ileum,while HHW-SB5 group increased pro-inflammatory IL-12p40 cytokine in caecum on d 42.LHW-SB3 group demonstrated shorter relative intestinal lengths,while HHW-SB5 had longer lengths.HHW-control group had higher bacterial diversity and growth-promoting bacte-ria while LHW-control group harbored the potential pathogen Helicobacter.SB reshaped gut microbiota biodiversity,composition,and predicted metabolic pathways in both HW categories.The LHW-SB3 group exhibited highest alpha diversity on d 14 and most beneficial bacteria at all timepoints.HHW-SB5 group presented increased pathogenic Escherichia-Shigella and Campylobacter on d 42.Conclusions HW significantly affects subsequent performance and SB has differential effects based on HW.LHW chicks benefited more from 0.3%SB,showing improvements in growth,intestinal development,health,and gut microbiota characteristics.
基金supported by the National Key R&D Program of China(2023YFA1009200)the National Natural Science Foundation of China(12171069)the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities.
文摘This paper studies the emergent dynamics of a flock with nonlinear inherent dynamics under closest neighbors model.We establish sufficient frameworks for convergence to flocking in terms of initial state and system parameters.When the number of closest neighbors is at least half of the population,it is shown that convergence to flocking occurs regardless of the initial state provided that the Lipschitz constant of nonlinear dynamics is smaller than the coupling strength.In contrast,when this number of closest neighbors is less than half of the population,we need to impose some restrictive conditions on the initial state to ensure the emergence of flocking based on the disturbed graphs approach.Our results are applicable to both continuous and discrete time cases.Finally,the validity of our theoretical analysis is tested by numerical simulations.
文摘The increasing global demand for energy,coupled with concerns about environmental sustainability,has underscored the need for a transition toward renewable energy sources.A well-structured teaching program under the framework of sustainable development in renewable energy seeks to give students the information,abilities,and critical thinking needed to solve energy-related problems sustainably.This research proposes AI-powered personalized learning,innovative real-time integration of diverse data,and adaptive teaching strategies to enhance student understanding regarding renewable energy concepts.The sheep flock-optimized innovative recurrent neural network(SFO-IRNN)will recommend relevant topics and resources based on students’performance.Renewable energy teaching data from assessmethments are combined with real-time IoT-based renewable energy data.This dataset contains renewable energy education using AI-driven teaching methods and internet-based learning.The data was preprocessed by handling missing values and min-max scaling.The data features were extracted using Fourier Transform(FT).Further application of 10-fold cross-validation will increase the reliability of the model as it can evaluate its performance metrics like accuracy,F1-score,recall,and precision on different subsets of student data,which improves its robustness and prevents overfitting.The findings showed that the proposed method is significantly better,which ensures that the students have a deeper theoretical and practical understanding of renewable energy technologies.In addition,integrating real-time IoT data from renewable energy sources gives students a chance to do live simulations and problems that would enhance analytical thinking and hands-on learning.The research shows that AI provides context-aware guidance on sustainable energy infrastructure,enhancing interactive and personalized learning.
文摘In this paper, we study the flocking behavior of a thermodynamic Cucker–Smale model with local velocity interactions. Using the spectral gap of a connected stochastic matrix, together with an elaborate estimate on perturbations of a linearized system, we provide a sufficient framework in terms of initial data and model parameters to guarantee flocking. Moreover, it is shown that the system achieves a consensus at an exponential rate.
基金funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China(62176147)the Science and Technology Planning Project of Guangdong Province of China,the State Key Lab of Digital Manufacturing Equipment and Technology(DMETKF2019020)the National Defense Technology Innovation Special Zone Project(193-A14-226-01-01)。
文摘This study proposes a method for uniformly revolving swarm robots to entrap multiple targets,which is based on a gene regulatory network,an adaptive decision mechanism,and an improved Vicsek-model.Using the gene regulatory network method,the robots can generate entrapping patterns according to the environmental input,including the positions of the targets and obstacles.Next,an adaptive decision mechanism is proposed,allowing each robot to choose the most well-adapted capture point on the pattern,based on its environment.The robots employ an improved Vicsek-model to maneuver to the planned capture point smoothly,without colliding with other robots or obstacles.The proposed decision mechanism,combined with the improved Vicsek-model,can form a uniform entrapment shape and create a revolving effect around targets while entrapping them.This study also enables swarm robots,with an adaptive pattern formation,to entrap multiple targets in complex environments.Swarm robots can be deployed in the military field of unmanned aerial vehicles’(UAVs)entrapping multiple targets.Simulation experiments demonstrate the feasibility and superiority of the proposed gene regulatory network method.
文摘Transportation of spent laying hens causes them severe suffering. HAI-MESHEK （The Israeli Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Farm Animals） looked for ways to decrease the suffering and finally developed the solution. Spent laying hens are brutally taken out of the cages, and with broken legs and chests pressed into small boxes for transportation to the slaughter-house. Removing all hens from the cages, transportation, waiting in the slaughter-house and slaughtering all hens is a long and hard-suffering time, which may take 8-10 hours. Hai-Meshek conducted a research, aimed at finding more humane methods of transportation. The findings from other countries were very disappointing. Even in countries having high level of animal welfare, about 30% of the hens arrived at the slaughter-house with broken limbs! The conclusion was that even better method, imposed by legislation, would not solve the problem： it is difficult to detect truck drivers violating the rules and the fine is negligible, compared to the savings by the abovementioned cruel method. The only humane solution is by preventing the transportation and slaughtering on farm. Spent laying hens are not edible, so they need not be slaughtered in the slaughter-house. Hai-Meshek initiated and participated in the development and the building of a facility for the humane killing of spent laying hens on farms. The hens aye electrified and die in 1-1.5 seconds. This method costs far less than transportation and slaughtering. The Poultry Council, which takes care to remove spent laying hens from farms, requires contractors to use the facility and they bring it to every farm in Israel. The facility is also used for killing sick flocks. No more transportation of spent laying hens is allowed!
文摘Mycoplasma synoviae （MS） is an economically important pathogenic agent of chickens, causing air sacculitis and synovitis. The diagnosis and monitoring of M. synoviae infection is usually made using serological assays, while confirmative diagnosis is made by isolation and identifcation of the organism, because of the cross reaction between M. gallisepticum and M. synoviae. This study was conducted from 2011 to 2013 during which l l broiler breeder flocks were sampled. These farms were located in all regions of morocco, The sampling was conducted as follows： Farms were visited on day one old chicks ＂day of importation from Europe＂. 20 to 60 ＂chicks＂ were randomly sampled. At the age of 8, 16, 32 and 56 weeks, 60 blood samples and 60 tracheal swabs were collected at each sampling. The serological screening was performed using Rapid Slide Agglutination （RSA） according the OIE protocol and Indirect EL1SA （IDEXX） according the manufacturer＇s instructions. The molecular diagnosis was performed using a commercial kit of a duplex real time PCR （Life Biotechnology）. The results revealed that one day old chicks were negative to MS by RSA and PCR, however they have a variable stock of maternal antibodies （Ig-Y） detected by iELISA. The seroprevalence found by RSA is variable and increase with the age （Sth week： 55%, 16th week： 91%, 32tb and 56th week： 100%）, the same profile was traced by PCR （Sth week： 36%, 16th week： 64%, 32th week： 82%, 56th week： 100%）, however, all farms were positive by iELISA, from the first day to 56th weeks. These results show that MS infections are very frequent and very widespread among poultry breeder flocks, and showed a perfect agreement between serological tests and Real time PCR starting from 32th week of age.
基金the Asian Development Bank,the International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas,Russian Scientific Fund(14-38-00023)the CGIAR Research Program on Dryland Systems for their support and funding
文摘Rangelands of Central Asia (referring to Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan in this study), the largest contiguous area of grazed land in the world, serve as an important source of livelihood for pastoral and agro-pastoral communities in this region. They also play an important role in absorbing CO<sub>2</sub> as a global carbon sink. However, unsustainable management of rangelands has led to their degradation hugely by downgrading their potential agro-ecological, environmental and socio-economical roles. This paper reviewed the rangeland degradation in Central Asia, a topic which so far has received only scant coverage in the international scientific literature. It also provided examples of successful experiences and outlined possible options that land managers can adopt to enhance the sustainable management of these vast degraded rangelands. The experiences and lessons described in this paper may also be relevant for other degraded rangeland areas, especially in the developing countries. The causes of rangeland degradation within the Central Asian region are numerous, complex and inter-related. Therefore, while addressing the factors associated with improper rangeland management may shed some light on the causes of rangeland degradation, the scope of this paper would not be all-encompassing for the major causes of degradation. There is a need to develop and widely apply the viable and locally accepted and adapted packages of technical, institutional and policy options for sustainable rangeland management. Incentivizing the collective action of small-scale pastoralists who group together to facilitate access to remote pastures can reduce the degree of overgrazing within community pastures, such as those near the settlements. We also found that migratory grazing through pooling of resources among small-scale pastoralists can increase household income. After their independence, most Central Asian countries adopted various rangeland tenure arrangements. However, the building of enhanced capacities of pasture management and effective local rangeland governance structures can increase the likelihood, which will be sustainable and equitable. Finally, this paper presented several promising technical options, aiming at reversing the trend of rangeland degradation in Central Asia.
基金This work was supported in part by the NSFC (No.60274020) and the NSFC International Collaborative Project (No.60340420431).
文摘Multiple mobile agents with double integrator dynamics, following a leader to achieve a flocking motion formation, are studied in this paper. A class of local control laws for a group of mobile agents is proposed. From a theoretical proof, the following conclusions are reached： （i） agents globally align their velocity vectors with a leader, （ii） they converge their velocities to the leaders velocity, （iii） collisions among interconnected agents are avoided, and （iv） agent＇s artificial potential functions are minimized. We model the interaction and/or communication relationship between agents by algebraic graph theory. Stability analysis is achieved by using classical Lyapunov theory in a fixed network topology, and differential inclusions and nonsmooth analysis in a switching network topology respectively. Simulation examples are provided.
