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This review assessed the effect of dietary clay supplementation as a drug and toxin adsorbent on broiler growth performance as a meta-analysis.A total of 33 eligible studies were included in the present study after identification and evaluation from online databases. Standardised mean differences (SMD) with corresponding 95% confidence intervals were computed with a fixed-effects model.The results indicated that clay supplementation significantly improved broiler daily gain (P0.001) and feed conversion ratio (P0.001), but did not affect feed intake (P=0.954). Results of subgroup analysis showed that zeolite clay had the most stable medium improvement effect on FCR, while kaolin had a large effect. In addition, male broilers and Cobb or Ross broilers were more sensitive to the addition of clay, and the best supplemental levels, in general, were 10 g/kg to 30 g/kg.Meta-regression analysis showed that clay supplemental level and sex of broilers may be important factors in the effect of clay on ADG and FCR of broilers, respectively. The sensitivity analysis showed high stability of the results and no significant publication bias was found with funnel plot analysis and Egger's or Begg's test (P0.05).In conclusion, an appropriate addition level is a prerequisite for effective clay application. Kaolin and zeolite clays seem to be more suitable for enhancing broiler growth performance, and the value of clay is amplified in specific broiler breeds.

In order to reveal the effect of altitude on the flame spread and dripping behaviors of PS foams a series of upward flame spread experiments was carried out on the plateau area of Lhasa and the pla...

To prevent motorcyclists' cervical spine injuries, many passive safety devices, commonly named neck braces, are available. This work aimed to promote a methodology to investigate how injury mechanisms or injury severity involved with cervical spine safety devices could be modified or avoided. Multidirectional head impact conditions were simulated on the head–neck–thorax isolated segment by testing three different neck brace technologies and a reference simulation without any protection. The tested devices did not show signfincant changes regarding the whole neck kinematics. The interactions with thorax or helmet component were an important issue for safety system capability to control joint kinematics. Rigid or semi hard neck braces' efficiency was observed with the shift of upper cervical spine injuries to the mean cervical spine injuries location. On the other hand, the lower cervical spine injury risk was not significantly modified. The soft device tested did not show any efficiency by comparison to th...

Methane/coal dust hybrid flame propagating in a vertical rectangle chamber was examined experimentally. In these experiments, the coal dusts were dispersed into the chamber by premixed methane/air mixture flow to form a methane/coal dust/air hybrid and the hybrid was ignited by an electrode spark. A high-speed video camera was used to record the images of the propagating flame, and a photodiode was used to study the emitting light characteristics of the flame. Micro-thermocouples and ion current probes were used to obtain temperature profiles and reaction behaviors of the combustion zone, respectively. Based on experimental results, combustion behaviors and flame structure of methane/coal dust hybrid propagating flame were analyzed. After the methane/coal dust hybrid is ignited by the electrode spark, the flame begins to propagate in the chamber. The flame front propagates downwards in the initial 20 ms, and then propagates upwards. The flame emits strong yellow light and the luminous zone length increase...

Studying the characteristics of attempted suicide is helpful in knowing the background of some completed suicides and improving prevention or intervention strategies. This current study analyzed data of 74 suicide attempters and 92 accident injured patients admitted to 6 hospital emergency rooms in an area of North-eastern China and found both similarities and differences between Chinese and Western suicide attempters. The data show that more women than men attempted suicide. Perhaps because of the unavailability of firearms to Chinese civilians, pesticide was the most lethal means of suicidal behavior. The stressful life events that account for the majority of suicidal incidents were mostly familial or marital problems. Compared with accident victims, these Chinese suicide attempters were younger, poorer, more likely to believe in a religion/superstition, more likely to perceive gender inequality, and less likely to experience support from either family or community. The traditional culture downplaying the status of women coupled with a belief in the transmigration of life may play an important role in the suicide of Chinese young women.

The combustion zone propagating through an iron particle cloud and the combustion behavior of individual iron panicles have been examined by using high-speed photomicrographs. Propagation of the combustion zone of 4˜5 mm in width was observed as the movement of a luminous zone which consists of burning iron particles. In the region just behind the leading edge, burning particles of various diameters are examined. As the distance from the leading edge becomes larger, smaller particles are fading away, and then only large particles are observed to remain luminous in the region where the distance is larger than 2 mm. Each iron particle bums at the combustion zone without gas phase flame. The burn-out time (the duration of light emission) is proportional to the diameter of iron particle when the particle diameter is not so large. It agrees well with the result of a simple analysis. As the particle diameter becomes larger, the burn-out time becomes much larger than that predicted by the simple analysis.