Comparative evaluation of maize, sorghum, millet and biscuit waste meal as dietary energy sources for laying Japanese quails in a derived savannah zone of Nigeria

An eight-week feeding trial was conducted to compare the potential of maize, sorghum, millet and biscuit waste meal (BWM) as energy sources in diets of laying Japanese quails. One hundred and forty four layingquails (15 weeks old) were divided into 4 dietary treatment groups and each group replicated thrice with 12 quails each. Quails on dietary treatment group I were fed maize based diet while groups 2, 3 and 4 were fed sorghum, millet and BWM based diets respectively. Results showed significant differences in daily feed intake, hen-day production and feed conversion ratio. Quails fed millet and BWM based diets had the highest feed consumption while those on millet had the highest kg feed per dozen egg laid. Quails on BWM and sorghum based diets recorded the highest (p<0.05) hen day production. Daily weight gain, egg weight and feed cost per dozen egg revealed no significant (p>0.05) variations among dietary treatments. Data on egg quality traits indicated non-significance (p>0.05) among most parameters measured except for yolk color and shell  thickness where quails fed millet and biscuit meal recorded highest egg yolk color. Quails fed biscuit and maize diets had thicker shells thanthose fed with sorghum or millet based diets. The findings indicated that BWM, millet and sorghum proved to be tolerable in the diets of laying Japanese quail in a derived savannah zone of Nigeria

Consumer Perception and Preference for Meat Types in Ogbomoso area of Oyo State, Nigeria.

Two hundred and six (206) respondents in Ogbomoso (a university community) in Oyo state Nigeria were randomly selected through structured questionnaires to examine their perception and preference of meat and meat products. Data collected were analyzed through the use of descriptive statistical tools. The results showed that marketing activities should be centered on female who are mostly married (83.0%) within the age group 31-40 since women are the one to purchase the meat at home, although men (56.8%) responded to the questionnaire than their female (43.2%) counterpart. It was clearly shown that respondents eat beef meat the most but enjoyed chicken the most, while availability and taste were major factors that influenced decision on the meat types of preference. Consumers preferred a designated meat shop as against the conventional abattoir and general market to purchase meat. Greater number of respondents however showed their preference in eating meat at home than outside. Beef, was the most affordable (54.9%), preferred at ceremony (69.4%) and the most convenient (55.3%). Chicken (32.3%) and Turkey (36.3%) are most preferred for picnic. Chevon (35.4%) was the most nutritious while chicken (27.7%) and beef (23.3%) were the most preferred as fast to cook meat. The study clearly revealed the importance of meat to the respondents in Ogbomoso.Keywords: meat, preference, consumer, protein, qualit

Assessment of yeast supplementation on the onset of laying and subsequent performance of Shika brown layers fed high levels of rice bran during growing period

The study assessed the effect of feeding grower pullets with high levels of rice bran supplemented with or without yeast (Saccharomyces cerevisiae) on sexual maturity and subsequent laying performance. The treatment groups were: treatment 1, 0% rice bran without yeast, treatment 2, 45% rice bran without yeast, treatment 3, 50% rice bran without yeast treatment 4, 45% rice bran supplemented with yeast and treatment 5, 50% rice bran supplemented with yeast. These diets were fed from the 9th to 20th week of age. Thereafter, a common layer diet was fed to all treatment groups from 20th - 40th week. Results of the study indicated that feeding rice bran at the growing phase did not affect age at point of lay. Indeed the birds fed rice bran diets without yeast reached point of lay earlier than the control group. Similarly, birds on high rice bran + yeast reached peak production earlier than the control group. However, hen-day egg production was higher for the birds fed control diet. It could be concluded therefore that feeding diets containing up to 50% rice bran with or without yeast supplementation during the growing phase did not adversely affect the onset of laying and subsequent performance of Shika brown pullets.Keywords: Yeast, rice bran, pullets, eg

Studies on Haematological and Serum Biochemical Characteristics of Weaner Rabbits Fed Different Levels of Wild Sunflower (Tithonia diversifolia Hemsl A. Gray) Leaf- Blood Meal Mixture

A 59 day -feeding trial involving thirty-two, 5-& weeks old, weaner rabbits of mixed breeds and sex with initial weight of between 594 and 608g was conducted to examine the effect of feeding different levels of wild sunflower leaf- blood meal mixture (WSFLBM) as a iron- conventional feedstuff on the haematological and serum biochemical indices of weaner rabbits. The rabbits were allocated into 4 treatment groups of 8 rabbits per group. Each rabbit served as a replicate in a completely randomized design experiment. The four treatment groups had diets containing WSFLBld at 0,5. 10 and 20% dietary inclusion levels. All the haematological parameters evaluated: White blood cell count(WBC), Red blood cell count(RBC'), Mean corpuscular haemoglobin concentration (MCHC), Mean corpuscular haemoglobin (MCH), Mean corpuscular volume(MCV)were notsignificantly (P > 0.05) affected by the inclusion of WSFLBM. Significant influences were not observed for total protein, albumin, globulin and alkaline phosphatase. However, the serum biochemical indices evaluated, showed that cholesterol, SGPT and SCOT were significantly (P < 0.05) affected as the level of WSFLBM increased. It was concluded based on data from WBC, RBC, MCV, MCH MCHC and those from serum biochemical indices evaluated that wild sunflower leaf- blood meal mixture could be incorporated up to 20% level in weaner rabbit ration

Determination of the level of resource-use efficiency in Quality Protein Maize (QPM) production in Kaduna State, Nigeria

The study aimed at determining the level of resource use efficiency in Quality Protein Maize (QPM) production in Kaduna State. Multi stage sampling technique was used to sample 170 respondents from four L.G.As. where QPM is mostly produced. Data were collected through questionnaire administration during the 2009 cropping season. Data analysis was done using multiple regression and estimation of resource-use efficiency ratio. The results showed that fertilizers, family and hired labour were over utilized while land and seeds were under utilized in the production process. This implied that, in order to scale-up output, levels of fertilizers, family and hired labour ought to be reduced while land and seeds ought to be increased

Antibody Responses to NY-ESO-1 in Primary Breast Cancer Identify a Subtype Target for Immunotherapy

The highly immunogenic human tumor antigen NY-ESO-1 (ESO) is a target of choice for anti-cancer immune therapy. In this study, we assessed spontaneous antibody (Ab) responses to ESO in a large cohort of patients with primary breast cancer (BC) and addressed the correlation between the presence of anti-ESO Ab, the expression of ESO in the tumors and their characteristics. We found detectable Ab responses to ESO in 1% of the patients. Tumors from patients with circulating Ab to ESO exhibited common characteristics, being mainly hormone receptor (HR)− invasive ductal carcinomas of high grade, including both HER2− and HER2+ tumors. In line with these results, we detected ESO expression in 20% of primary HR− BC, including both ESO Ab+ and Ab− patients, but not in HR+ BC. Interestingly, whereas expression levels in ESO+ BC were not significantly different between ESO Ab+ and Ab− patients, the former had, in average, significantly higher numbers of tumor-infiltrated lymph nodes, indicating that lymph node invasion may be required for the development of spontaneous anti-tumor immune responses. Thus, the presence of ESO Ab identifies a tumor subtype of HR− (HER2− or HER2+) primary BC with frequent ESO expression and, together with the assessment of antigen expression in the tumor, may be instrumental for the selection of patients for whom ESO-based immunotherapy may complement standard therapy

Ovarian cancer immunotherapy: opportunities, progresses and challenges

Due to the low survival rates from invasive ovarian cancer, new effective treatment modalities are urgently needed. Compelling evidence indicates that the immune response against ovarian cancer may play an important role in controlling this disease. We herein summarize multiple immune-based strategies that have been proposed and tested for potential therapeutic benefit against advanced stage ovarian cancer. We will examine the evidence for the premise that an effective therapeutic vaccine against ovarian cancer is useful not only for inducing remission of the disease but also for preventing disease relapse. We will also highlight the questions and challenges in the development of ovarian cancer vaccines, and critically discuss the limitations of some of the existing immunotherapeutic strategies. Finally, we will summarize our own experience on the use of patient-specific tumor-derived heat shock protein-peptide complex for the treatment of advanced ovarian cancer

PALB2, CHEK2 and ATM rare variants and cancer risk: data from COGS

Background: The rarity of mutations in PALB2, CHEK2 and ATM make it difficult to estimate precisely associated cancer risks. Population-based family studies have provided evidence that at least some of these mutations are associated with breast cancer risk as high as those associated with rare BRCA2 mutations. We aimed to estimate the relative risks associated with specific rare variants in PALB2, CHEK2 and ATM via a multicentre case-control study.Methods: We genotyped 10 rare mutations using the custom iCOGS array: PALB2 c.1592delT, c.2816T&gt;G and c.3113G&gt;A, CHEK2c.349A&gt;G, c.538C&gt;T, c.715G&gt;A, c.1036C&gt;T, c.1312G&gt;T, and c.1343T&gt;G and ATM c.7271T&gt;G. We assessed associations with breast cancer risk (42 671 cases and 42 164 controls), as well as prostate (22 301 cases and 22 320 controls) and ovarian (14 542 cases and 23 491 controls) cancer risk, for each variant.Results: For European women, strong evidence of association with breast cancer risk was observed for PALB2 c.1592delT OR 3.44 (95% CI 1.39 to 8.52, p=7.1×10−5), PALB2 c.3113G&gt;A OR 4.21 (95% CI 1.84 to 9.60, p=6.9×10−8) and ATM c.7271T&gt;G OR 11.0 (95% CI 1.42 to 85.7, p=0.0012). We also found evidence of association with breast cancer risk for three variants in CHEK2, c.349A&gt;G OR 2.26 (95% CI 1.29 to 3.95), c.1036C&gt;T OR 5.06 (95% CI 1.09 to 23.5) and c.538C&gt;T OR 1.33 (95% CI 1.05 to 1.67) (p≤0.017). Evidence for prostate cancer risk was observed for CHEK2 c.1343T&gt;G OR 3.03 (95% CI 1.53 to 6.03, p=0.0006) for African men and CHEK2 c.1312G&gt;T OR 2.21 (95% CI 1.06 to 4.63, p=0.030) for European men. No evidence of association with ovarian cancer was found for any of these variants.Conclusions: This report adds to accumulating evidence that at least some variants in these genes are associated with an increased risk of breast cancer that is clinically important.</p