Improving nutrient values of palm kernel cake (PKC) by reducing shell contamination and enzymes supplementation

Inclusion of palm kernel cake (PKC) in poultry feed is limited due to shell contamination and its low nutritive values, despite the increase of PKC production. Therefore, a series of experiment was conducted in order to improve nutritive values of palm kernel cake (PKC) by sieving and enzyme supplementation. First experiment was designed to reduce shell content using shiever with different diameters (1, 2 and 4 mm). Shell content was measured manually to determine the effect of the sieving. The second experiment was carried out by blowing the after sieving at 2 mm shieve PKC, to produced heavy, medium and light fractions. The shell content and nutrient contents of the medium and light fractions were compared to those of unsieved PKC. In the third experiment, the sieved PKC was supplemented with 2 enzymes with different concentrations, i.e., BS4 at 10, 15 and 20 ml/kg PKC and a commercial multi enzymes at 0.5, 1.0 and 2.0 g/kg PKC. Digestibility of nutrients (dry matter, crude protein and TME) were measured by force feeding method with six replications for each sample. Results of the study showed that sieving with 2 mm diameter siever without blowing was effective in reducing about 50% of PKC shell and improved crude protein, ether extract and amino acids, contents and reduced the crude fiber content of the PKC. Supplementation of enzymes improved the digestibility of dry matter, crude protein and the true metabolisable energy (TME) of the PKC. Optimum improvement was obtained when PKC was supplemented with 20 ml BS4 enzymes/kg PKC. Similar improvement was obtained by supplementation of commercial multi enzymes at 2 g/kg PKC. Therefore, in order to improve the nutritive values of PKC, it is suggested to sieve the PKC followed by supplementation of enzyme prior to feeding

Separação das isoformas da lectina extraída a partir dos rizomas de Arundo donax l

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Correction: Quantification of glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase activity by spectrophotometry: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1371/journal.pmed.1003084.]

Provider and household costs of Plasmodium vivax malaria episodes: A multicountry comparative analysis of primary trial data

Objective: To determine household and health-care provider costs associated with Plasmodium vivax infection across a range of endemic settings. Methods: We collected cost data alongside three multicentre clinical trials of P. vivax treatment in Afghanistan, Brazil, Colombia, Ethiopia, Indonesia, Philippines, Peru, Thailand and Viet Nam conducted between April 2014 to December 2017. We derived household costs from trial participant surveys administered at enrolment and again 2 weeks later to determine the costs of treatment and transportation, and the number of days that patients and their household caregivers were unable to undertake their usual activities. We determined costs of routine care by health-care providers by micro-costing the resources used to diagnose and treat P. vivax at the study sites. Findings: The mean total household costs ranged from 8.7 United States dollars (US$; standard deviation, SD: 4.3) in Afghanistan to US$ 254.7 (SD: 148.4) in Colombia. Across all countries, productivity losses were the largest household cost component, resulting in mean indirect costs ranging from US$5.3 (SD: 3.0) to US$ 220.8 (SD: 158.40). The range of health-care provider costs for routine care was US$3.6-6.6. The cost of administering a glucose-6-phosphate-dehydrogenase rapid diagnostic test, ranged from US$ 0.9 to 13.5, consistently lower than the costs of the widely-used fluorescent spot test (US$ 6.3 to 17.4). Conclusion: An episode of P. vivax malaria results in high costs to households. The costs of diagnosing and treating P. vivax are important inputs for future cost-effectiveness analyses to ensure optimal allocation of resources for malaria elimination

Short-course primaquine for the radical cure of Plasmodium vivax malaria: a multicentre, randomised, placebo-controlled non-inferiority trial

Background Primaquine is the only widely used drug that prevents Plasmodium vivax malaria relapses, but adherence to the standard 14-day regimen is poor. We aimed to assess the efficacy of a shorter course (7 days) of primaquine for radical cure of vivax malaria. Methods We did a randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled, non-inferiority trial in eight health-care clinics (two each in Afghanistan, Ethiopia, Indonesia, and Vietnam). Patients (aged ≥6 months) with normal glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PD) and presenting with uncomplicated vivax malaria were enrolled. Patients were given standard blood schizontocidal treatment and randomly assigned (2:2:1) to receive 7 days of supervised primaquine (1·0 mg/kg per day), 14 days of supervised primaquine (0·5 mg/kg per day), or placebo. The primary endpoint was the incidence rate of symptomatic P vivax parasitaemia during the 12-month follow-up period, assessed in the intention-to-treat population. A margin of 0·07 recurrences per person-year was used to establish non-inferiority of the 7-day regimen compared with the 14-day regimen. This trial is registered at ClinicalTrials.gov (NCT01814683). Findings Between July 20, 2014, and Nov 25, 2017, 2336 patients were enrolled. The incidence rate of symptomatic recurrent P vivax malaria was 0·18 (95% CI 0·15 to 0·21) recurrences per person-year for 935 patients in the 7-day primaquine group and 0·16 (0·13 to 0·18) for 937 patients in the 14-day primaquine group, a difference of 0·02 (−0·02 to 0·05, p=0·3405). The incidence rate for 464 patients in the placebo group was 0·96 (95% CI 0·83 to 1·08) recurrences per person-year. Potentially drug-related serious adverse events within 42 days of starting treatment were reported in nine (1·0%) of 935 patients in the 7-day group, one (0·1%) of 937 in the 14-day group and none of 464 in the control arm. Four of the serious adverse events were significant haemolysis (three in the 7-day group and one in the 14-day group). Interpretation In patients with normal G6PD, 7-day primaquine was well tolerated and non-inferior to 14-day primaquine. The short-course regimen might improve adherence and therefore the effectiveness of primaquine for radical cure of P vivax malaria.</p