Seasonal variations in composting process of dead poultry birds

Composting of dead birds with caged layer manure (CLM) and farm yard manure (FYM) was carried out to study the feasibility of composting as an alternative for disposal in Tamil Nadu State, India. The dead birds were sequentially layered with manure substrate and carbon source as per recipes formulated in mini-compost bins (4 x 4 x 4 feet). The temperature profile of both CLM and FYM group reached the peak by second week of composting and started declining steadily. The temperature profile was better during summer and monsoon and bins were able to maintain temperature above 60 degrees C (thermophilic) for 3-4 weeks. Season had no influence on attainment of peak temperature and it ranged between 51.8 and 70.4 degrees C. The persistency of thermophilic temperature (above 55 degrees C) was prolonged during summer (17.5-65 days) followed by monsoon (24-39 days) and winter (15.5-21.5 days). No putrefied or obnoxious odour or fly menace was observed during all the seasons of composting. The composting process took 107-127.5 days to finish during summer, 84.5-91 days in monsoon and 61.5-73.5 days in winter. The FYM was able to retain moisture higher (41-54% at the end of primary stage and 27.5-48.2% at the end of secondary stage) than CLM group (17.5-39.3% at primary stage and 20.4-33.5% in secondary stage). Weight reduction was more in FYM group (31.8-58.7%) than CLM group (19.3-48.6%). The volume reduction was uniform in all the seasons, it ranged between 39% and 59.3%.     

A model for unequal ventilation of the lungs assuming a common dead space and two separate dead spaces

This is a model for the time-variation of helium concentrations in lung wash-out curves. The helium (or other inert gas) is in a spirometer, which is connected by a common dead space to two separate dead spaces, each of which leads into a chamber. The chambers expand and contract, thus taking in some helium at each “breath.” Equations for the changes in helium concentration in each part of the system are set up; in this way difference equations are derived for the amount of helium in the spirometer after each breath, in and out, and complete solutions when the initial concentration is zero in all parts of the system except the spirometer. A simple solution when the chambers do not essentially differ (“equal ventilation”) is compared with the general case. The concept of “unequal lung ventilation” is discussed critically in relation to the model; some physiological interpretations are also mentioned. Numerical examples are given to show the effect of changes in various constants, in particular tidal volumes, end volumes, and the common dead space.     

Effects of airway anesthesia on ventilatory responses to graded dead spaces and CO2

Ventilatory response to graded external dead space (0.5, 1.0, 2.0, and 2.5 liters) with hyperoxia and CO2 steady-state inhalation (3, 5, 7, and 8% CO2 in O2) was studied before and after 4% lidocaine aerosol inhalation in nine healthy males. The mean ventilatory response (delta VE/delta PETCO2, where VE is minute ventilation and PETCO2 is end-tidal PCO2) to graded dead space before airway anesthesia was 10.2 +/- 4.6 (SD) l.min-1.Torr-1, which was significantly greater than the steady-state CO2 response (1.4 +/- 0.6 l.min-1.Torr-1, P less than 0.001). Dead-space loading produced greater oscillation in airway PCO2 than did CO2 gas loading. After airway anesthesia, ventilatory response to graded dead space decreased significantly, to 2.1 +/- 0.6 l.min-1.Torr-1 (P less than 0.01) but was still greater than that to CO2. The response to CO2 did not significantly differ (1.3 +/- 0.5 l.min-1.Torr-1). Tidal volume, mean inspiratory flow, respiratory frequency, inspiratory time, and expiratory time during dead-space breathing were also depressed after airway anesthesia, particularly during large dead-space loading. On the other hand, during CO2 inhalation, these respiratory variables did not significantly differ before and after airway anesthesia. These results suggest that in conscious humans vagal airway receptors play a role in the ventilatory response to graded dead space and control of the breathing pattern during dead-space loading by detecting the oscillation in airway PCO2. These receptors do not appear to contribute to the ventilatory response to inhaled CO2.     

连续逆流提取机及其在绞股蓝皂苷提取工艺中的应用

简述了中草药连续逆流提取机的基本结构和工作原理.以水为溶媒、绞股蓝为原料,进行绞股蓝有效成分的提取试验.以绞股蓝水溶出物和总皂苷为目标物,考察提取温度、液料比和提取时间等因素对提取得率的影响,并通过L9(33)正交实验设计,对提取工艺进行优选.采用中草药连续逆流提取机提取绞股蓝有效成分的最佳工艺条件:提取溶剂温度80 ℃,料液比1:35(g/mL),提取时间50 min;所得提取物得率为33.95%,总皂苷得率为8.9%.     

Ventilation of an additional dead space

The authors studied the question of the completeness of ventilation of an additional dead space in the form of a tube 3 cm in diameter and with a volume of 600 ml. Seven young volunteers were examined while breathing with and without the tube, seated at rest and during a two-grade exercise load on a bicycle ergometer. The criterion of ventilation of the tube was enlargement of the dead space by 600 ml during breathing through the tube. The functional dead space was always calculated from the tidal volume and the CO2 concentration in mixed expired air and in an end-tidal sample, using the Bohr equation. In every case, the tube was found to be completely ventilated by breathing, both under resting conditions and during exercise. In breathing during the bicycle exercise, the ratio of the functional dead space to tidal volume fell from 0.3 to 0.19 and a similar decrease was recorded in breathing through the tube.     

The familiar-strange manifestation of the dead

This article draws on Islamic perspectives that conceive of visions (ru'yā) and nightmares (kābūs) as instances whereby Jamilā, a 13-year-old Syrian refugee girl in Brooklyn, New York, imagines and makes sense of the dead. She uses the Arabic words ma‘rwf (familiar) and gharīb (strange) to describe her dead elderly neighbour, Safiyya, in her visions and nightmares. Jamilā’s familiar-strange experiences imagine the dead both as good (the divine nature of death fundamental to Islamic values) and as evil (the pain and suffering of the departed). These familiar-strange feelings constitute an irresolvable uncertainty about death, shaping an imaginative space for Jamilā to be with Safiyya, who was like a mother to her. The manifestation of the dead consists of dynamic interpretations for the living. This results in a familiar-strange experience granted through the in-between space of what the philosopher Ibn ‘Arabī calls barzakh (‘obstacle’ or ‘separation’), which allows for an understanding of the departed as both blissful and suffering. The vernacular Arabic used by Jamilā in describing her familiar-strange experiences and the Islamic values upheld by her family underscore the importance of knowledge accumulated in the Islamic tradition for understanding the perception of loss and death for an adolescent Syrian refugee.