The Impact of Dietary Zinc Oxide on the Bacterial Diversity of the Small Intestinal Microbiota of Weaned Piglets

Dietary zinc oxide is often used in pharmacological concentrations to promote health as well as performance of weaned piglets due to its bacteriostatic effects. This study was conducted to provide an in depth analysis of the bacterial composition in weaned piglets fed different amounts of dietary zinc oxide. Piglets were fed diets containing 57 (low), 164 (medium) or 2425 (high) mg/kg dietary zinc. Zinc above the basal dietary level was supplied from analytical grade zinc oxide (ZnO). DNA was extracted from stomach and ileum digesta samples of 32 and 53d old animals (n=4 per group) and used to generate bar-coded 16S ribosomal DNA amplicons for deep sequencing analysis. A total of 9 phyla, 40 orders, 75 families and 328 genera were detected in 8.76 x 105 sequencing reads. Firmicutes, Bacteroidetes and Proteobacteria were the dominant phyla, but no significant differences between treatment groups were observed. Lactobacillales (16.3-59.9%), Bacteroidales (2.2-59.1%), Clostridiales (0.05-70.2%) and Selenomonadales (2.6-17.5%) were found as the dominating order. Noteworthy changes on the order level were found for numerically or significantly increased ratios of Clostridiales, but significantly decreased Lactobacillales in the high dietary zinc group. The bacterial diversity for the high dietary zinc diet was significantly higher for the total microbiota than the medium or low zinc diet. However, Lactobacillales diversity decreased, while Clostridiales and Enterobacteriales diversity increased significantly. Principal component analysis confirmed changes in the microbiota, most notably for the high dietary zinc treatment. This study has shown that pharmacological doses of high dietary zinc can drastically alter the bacterial composition and development of the microbiota in weaned piglets. The quantitative shift of bacterial groups due to high dietary zinc was most pronounced one week after weaning, while the more developed microbiota in older animals seemed to be able to adapt to high concentrations of dietary zinc

Observations on the Diversity of Bird Species, and Their Role in the Bukit Soeharto Protection Forest, East Kalimantan

Bird observations in the tropical rain forest of the Bukit Soeharto Protection Forest conducted in 1986 and 1987, had identified 157 bud species. The observation was focussed the diversity of birds, behaviour, group size, habitat types, feeding and resting sites. The diversity of species was especially correlated with the forest condition such as habitat differences, forest composition andstructure.Some of the birds played important roles in the regeneration of the forest, such as in seed dispersal and pollination. Among them were hornbill (Bucerotidae), sunbirds and spiderhunter (Nectarinidae), barbets (Capitonidae), bulbuls (Pycnonotidae) and broadbill (Eurylairnidae)

Amino Acid Diversity on the Basis of Cytochrome B Gene in Kacang and Ettawa Grade Goats

The objectives of study were to identify and assess the amino acid diversity of Cytochrome b (Cyt b) gene, genetic marker and characteristic of specific amino acid in Kacang and Ettawa Grade goat. Nineteen heads of Kacang goat (KG) and twelve heads of Ettawa Grade goat (EG) were purposively sampled. The genomic DNA was isolated by Genomic DNA Mini Kit (Geneaid) and amplified Cyt b using PCR method with CytbCapF and CytbCapR primers and was sequenced. The results showed that there were two specific amino acids that distinguish KG and EG goat with C. hircus and C. aegagrus and four specific amino acids that distinguish KG and EG goat with C. falconeri, but there were no specific amino acids can be used as a genetic marker to distinguish between Kacang and EG goat. In conclusion, specific amino acids in Cyt b gene can be used as a genetic marker among KG and EG goat with 3 goat others comparator

On the diversity of short GRBs

Hydrodynamical simulations of the last inspiral stages and the final coalescence of a double neutron star system are used to investigate the power of the neutrino-driven wind, the energy and momentum of the fireball produced via $\nu \bar{\nu}$-annihilation, and the intensity and character of their interaction. It is argued that the outflow that derives from the debris will have enough pressure to collimate the relativistic fireball that it surrounds. The low luminosity relativistic jet will then appear brighter to an observer within the beam although most of the energy of the event is in the unseen, less collimated and slower wind. This model leads to a simple physical interpretation of the isotropic luminosities implied for short GRBs at cosmological distances. A wide variety of burst phenomenology could be attributable to the dependence of the neutrino luminosity on the initial mass of the double NS binary.Comment: accepted for publication in MNRAS Letters, 6 pages, 3 figure

Diversity in the Heartland of America: The Impact on Human Development in Indiana

This article is the third in a series of studies measuring the impact of cultural diversity on human development. We disaggregate cultural diversity into three components: ethnicity, language, and religion. The first study examined the impact of diversity internationally. We found that countries are worse off with greater diversity, especially religious diversity; however, we found that more-prosperous countries with strong institutions benefited from increased diversity. We concluded that strong institutions are essential to maximize the benefits of diversity while mitigating the associated costs. The second study examined the impact of diversity within the United States, where institutional strength was assumed to be relatively great and similar between states. We found an overall negative impact from diversity. Ethnic diversity was negatively associated with human development, while religious and language diversity had a positive impact. We concluded that in the United States, there is more tolerance for religious and language differences compared to ethnic differences. In this third study, we examine the impact of diversity within the state of Indiana. As with our national results, we find a generally negative relationship between human development and diversity. Ethnic diversity has a negative impact, while religious and language diversity are generally positive influences. Strong political and legal institutions may not be sufficient to extract net benefits from diversity if social attitudes that guide behavior are not supportive. The results suggest that net benefits from diversity in Indiana may depend on improvement of social attitudes and in commitment to social services that support historically disadvantaged minority groups

The performance effects of board heterogeneity: What works for EU banks?

We examine the impact of board heterogeneity on the performance of EU listed banks in the wake of the global financial crisis. In a comprehensive set-up, we consider standard board features (type, tenure, size, and age of board members) as well as board diversity features (gender diversity, employee representation, internationalisation, and age diversity). We propose a diversity index, which summarises the different dimensions of diversity and control for unobserved heterogeneity and reverse causality. Our analysis uncovers a complex relationship between board heterogeneity and bank performance, which is influenced by market conditions and by national culture. Overall board diversity does not seem to affect bank performance, but it does decrease performance variability during the Eurozone crisis and in countries culturally more open to diversity. Different board and diversity features have a positive impact on bank performance (size, tenure, and employee representation); the relationship is non-linear, with the effect of diversity being more relevant when there is a significant proportion of minority representatives. While substantial board internationalisation has a negative impact on bank performance, the presence of foreign directors appears to be less detrimental during the Eurozone crisis and in countries that are more welcoming towards diversity

Diversity as a key concept for organic agriculture

Diversity is a key concept of organic agriculture and is intuitively perceived as having positive, but not always explicit, consequences for the internal functioning of the farm as well as for the impact on environment and farmland nature. In two groups of specialised organic farms (arable and dairy) and a group of mixed farms, links between production diversity and diversity at the scales above and below, as well as relations to potential farmland biodiversity, are examined. Results show that diversity in different scales are not consistently correlated, i.e. neither high diversity in farm household on-farm activities, nor diversity in agricultural production are linked to high crop and land use diversity. Furthermore, there are no simple relations between diversity measures and potential benefits for farmland biodiversity