Lactic acid bacteria (LAB)-based probiotics are widely recognized as effective and sustainable alternatives to antibiotic growth promoters due to their ability to improve intestinal integrity, modulate host immunity, and enhance productive performance in poultry. This study evaluated the effects of Pediococcus acidilactici (1 × 10 8 CFU/g) administered via drinking water on the productive performance, egg quality characteristics, hatching traits, serum biochemical indices, and immune responses of broiler breeder hens. A total of 240 hens (29 weeks old) were randomly assigned to four treatment groups receiving 0.0, 0.1, 0.2, or 0.3 g of Pediococcus acidilactici per liter of drinking water, with six replicates of ten birds each. All birds were maintained under standardized management and environmental conditions for an eight-week experimental period. Supplementation at 0.2 and 0.3 g/L significantly increased egg production, egg weight, and egg mass, while also improving feed efficiency ( P < 0.05) without affecting feed intake, final body weight, or livability ( P > 0.05). These inclusion levels also enhanced reproductive performance—including settable eggs, fertility, hatchability, and hatch of fertile eggs—while reducing embryonic mortality ( P < 0.05). In terms of egg quality, hens receiving 0.2 and 0.3 g/L exhibited significant improvements in egg length, egg width, and Haugh unit scores ( P < 0.05), whereas other internal and external egg quality parameters remained statistically unchanged ( P > 0.05). Furthermore, probiotic supplementation at these levels significantly reduced serum triglyceride concentrations and elevated antibody titers against Newcastle disease and infectious bronchitis viruses ( P < 0.05). Taken together, these findings demonstrate that supplementing drinking water with PA, particularly at a concentration of 0.2 g/L, can effectively enhance the productivity, reproductive performance, and immune status of breeder hens. Future research should explore the long-term effects of PA across different genetic strains and production stages, while also integrating gut microbiota profiling and metabolic studies to better elucidate the underlying biological mechanisms.

Tetragonal tungsten bronzes are normally uniaxial ferroelectrics making crystallographic texture pivotal for optimization of electrical properties. Sr x Ba 1-x Nb 2 O 6 (SBN), x=0.4, 0.5 and 0.6, thin films with out-of-plane (001) or in-plane (310) oriented polarization were deposited by aqueous chemical solution deposition on SrTiO 3 (STO)(100) substrates. A texture degree of >90% was achieved for (001) oriented SBN films on SrO terminated STO, while the (310) oriented films on TiO 2 terminated STO possessed a degree of texture >50%. The films were in compression compared to bulk due to epitaxial strain, thermal strain, and a reduced lattice parameter of the film due to Ti-doping, all related to the substrate used. The Curie temperature of selected (001) oriented films showed the expected decrease with increasing Sr content, and additional decrease attributed to Ti-doping. A piezo response was measured in (001) oriented films by in situ application of an electrical field during X-ray diffraction measurements.

• Algorithms affect stable allocations of collaborative benefits or costs • Improving an algorithm can result in a worse allocation of costs or benefits • Consultants can extract benefit from a collaboration by having a good algorithm The characteristic function of a cooperative game typically results from a decision making process involving optimization. In practice, players have individual algorithms to solve the underlying optimization problem, which differ in quality. Therefore, the quality of the algorithm affects the characteristic function. We define the value of an algorithm as the benefit to the player, e.g. a cost reduction. We provide conditions under which an improvement in the algorithm quality yields a benefit, but also show that surprisingly an improved algorithm might be disadvantageous. Our model naturally admits a representation of a consultant, specialized in algorithms while not directly facing the underlying optimization problem. We present conditions under which a profit for the consultant is guaranteed, but also show that only a limited number of consultants can simultaneously make a profit. We illustrate our findings by means of numerical experiments on 580800 instances with an underlying pickup and delivery problem.