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BACKGROUND Exposure to swine barn air is an occupational hazard. Barn workers following an eight-hour work shift develop many signs of lung dysfunction including lung inflammation. However, the in situ cellular and molecular mechanisms responsible for lung dysfunction induced following exposure to the barn air remain largely unknown. Specifically, the recruitment and role of pulmonary intravasc...

The effect of diet on barn owl (Tyto alba) breeding biology has been well studied in the temperate regions but not in the more arid Middle East. In temperate regions, barn owls are darker colored and mainly prey upon Cricetidae rodents, whereas in arid regions, they are lighter colored and prey to a larger degree upon Muridae rodents. In this study we analyzed the diet and breeding success of 2...

BACKGROUND Swine barn air contains endotoxin and many other noxious agents. Single or multiple exposures to pig barn air induces lung inflammation and loss of lung function. However, we do not know the effect of exposure to pig barn air on inflammatory response in the lungs following a secondary infection. Therefore, we tested a hypothesis that single or multiple exposures to barn air will resu...

Management factors to optimize the productivity of the weaned pig include communicating the proper message to barn staff, sanitation and barn preparation practices, healthy pigs of maximum weight and age entering the barn, and feeding management practices. Clearly, these factors are interrelated and important to optimize nursery productivity.

A classic example of a sexually selected trait, the deep fork tail of the barn swallow Hirundo rustica is now claimed to have evolved and be maintained mainly via aerodynamic advantage rather than sexually selected advantage. However, this aerodynamic advantage hypothesis does not clarify which flight habits select for/against deep fork tails, causing diversity of tail fork depth in hirundines....

Phenotypic differences among individuals are often linked to differential survival and mating success. Quantifying the relative influence of genetic and environmental variation on phenotype allows evolutionary biologists to make predictions about the potential for a given trait to respond to selection and various aspects of environmental variation. In particular, the environment individuals exp...

Barn owls are effective nocturnal predators. We tested their visual performance at low light levels and determined visual acuity and contrast sensitivity of three barn owls by their behavior at stimulus luminances ranging from photopic to fully scotopic levels (23.5 to 1.5 × 10⁻⁶). Contrast sensitivity and visual acuity decreased only slightly from photopic to scotopic conditions. Peak grating ...

Curing tobacco causes deforestation in developing countries around the world. In Bangaldesh, curing tobacco is responsible for 30% of deforestation. Many approaches have been taken to curb tobacco related deforestation, including afforestation, solar power, and energy efficiency. The Rocket Barn, an energy efficient curing barn, has shown promise. However, the Rocket Barn still uses firewood. T...