EFFECT OF PROTEASE SUPPLEMENTATION IN BROILER FEED ON GROWTH PERFORMANCE, CARCASS YIELD AND TOTAL NITROGEN RETENTION IN FECAL MATTER AND LITTER

ABSTRACT The objectives of this study were to determine the effects of protease supplementation on commercial broiler performance, carcass yield, and nitrogen retention in fecal matter and litter. Total of 4,800 female (Ross 708) birds split into 96 floor pens, and randomly assigned to one of four treatment groups. Birds were placed within 96, 5’x10’ floor pens in a randomized-block design at the SFASU Poultry Research Center. Birds were randomly divided among the pens at a stocking density of 1.00 ft2/bird (50 birds/pen*24 pens/treatment=1200 birds/treatment), and reared for 49 days on used pine shavings. The target average weight for the birds was 6.25lbs. Dietary treatments consisted of: treatment #1 positive control (PC) Pilgrim’s Standard Diet (Basal diet), treatment # 2 negative control (NC) Pilgrim’s Diet with Protease Matrix removed (only the amino acids’ credit – no energy credit), treatment # 3 (PC+ Protease) Pilgrim’s Diet (Basal diet) + Protease on top , and treatment # 4 (NC+ Protease) Pilgrim’s Diet with Protease Matrix removed + Protease on place . groups were analyzed for bird performance, carcass yield, and Nitrogen retention in fecal matter and litter. A yield study was completed at the end of the study to determine meat yield for all retail cuts. Results indicated that the protease addition on top of protein matrix in treatment 3 had significant effect on live body weight at day 49, and had no significant effect on feed conversion ratio (FCR) & adjusted feed conversion ratio (AFCR). Also, the protease had no significant effect on carcass yield. However, the inclusion of protease on low protein diet (NC+ Protease, Tx4) lowered the nitrogen retention in fecal matter

Dynamic Analyses of Two-Dimensional Functionally Graded Timoshenko Beam using Finite element Method

In this work, dynamic analyses of a functionally graded beam are presented. The governing equations of the beam is found based on the displacement field defined by Timoshenko beam theory, then solved by using finite element method based on Hamilton’s principle. The beam is assumed to be free-clambed boundary condition (F-C). The PL index is used for describing the distribution of the beam properties in both transverse and longitudinal directions. A parametric study is accomplished to investigate effect of several parameters on the natural frequency, mode shapes and transient response of the beam., such as the PL indexes (nx and nz) for x and z axis, respectively, and the elasticity modulus ratio (Eratio). To valid the present results and current mathematical formulation, some of the findings are compared with another research. A good agreement is noticed. It is noted that the response of the beam is more sensitive to the variations of the PI in the longitudinal axes than that corresponding in the transverse one. For specific design requirements, the dynamic response of the beam can be adjusted by chose a proposal indexes and modulus ratios

Convalescent plasma in patients admitted to hospital with COVID-19 (RECOVERY): a randomised controlled, open-label, platform trial

SummaryBackground Azithromycin has been proposed as a treatment for COVID-19 on the basis of its immunomodulatoryactions. We aimed to evaluate the safety and efficacy of azithromycin in patients admitted to hospital with COVID-19.Methods In this randomised, controlled, open-label, adaptive platform trial (Randomised Evaluation of COVID-19Therapy [RECOVERY]), several possible treatments were compared with usual care in patients admitted to hospitalwith COVID-19 in the UK. The trial is underway at 176 hospitals in the UK. Eligible and consenting patients wererandomly allocated to either usual standard of care alone or usual standard of care plus azithromycin 500 mg once perday by mouth or intravenously for 10 days or until discharge (or allocation to one of the other RECOVERY treatmentgroups). Patients were assigned via web-based simple (unstratified) randomisation with allocation concealment andwere twice as likely to be randomly assigned to usual care than to any of the active treatment groups. Participants andlocal study staff were not masked to the allocated treatment, but all others involved in the trial were masked to theoutcome data during the trial. The primary outcome was 28-day all-cause mortality, assessed in the intention-to-treatpopulation. The trial is registered with ISRCTN, 50189673, and ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT04381936.Findings Between April 7 and Nov 27, 2020, of 16 442 patients enrolled in the RECOVERY trial, 9433 (57%) wereeligible and 7763 were included in the assessment of azithromycin. The mean age of these study participants was65·3 years (SD 15·7) and approximately a third were women (2944 [38%] of 7763). 2582 patients were randomlyallocated to receive azithromycin and 5181 patients were randomly allocated to usual care alone. Overall,561 (22%) patients allocated to azithromycin and 1162 (22%) patients allocated to usual care died within 28 days(rate ratio 0·97, 95% CI 0·87–1·07; p=0·50). No significant difference was seen in duration of hospital stay (median10 days [IQR 5 to >28] vs 11 days [5 to >28]) or the proportion of patients discharged from hospital alive within 28 days(rate ratio 1·04, 95% CI 0·98–1·10; p=0·19). Among those not on invasive mechanical ventilation at baseline, nosignificant difference was seen in the proportion meeting the composite endpoint of invasive mechanical ventilationor death (risk ratio 0·95, 95% CI 0·87–1·03; p=0·24).Interpretation In patients admitted to hospital with COVID-19, azithromycin did not improve survival or otherprespecified clinical outcomes. Azithromycin use in patients admitted to hospital with COVID-19 should be restrictedto patients in whom there is a clear antimicrobial indication

SELECTION AND EVALUATION OF FOUR NOVEL NITROGEN REDUCTION PROBIOTICS ON GUT MICROFLORA, NITROGEN UTILIZATION, AND BROILER PERFORMANCE

The ruminal microorganisms are an excellent example of how the body adapts to different feeding sources on its own initiative. The ruminants, in contrast to monogastric creatures such as chickens, create an ideal environment for a group of microorganisms in the rumen compartment, which then uses their powers of cellulose digestion and nitrogen conversion to allow them to use the forge more efficiently than their monogastric counterparts, such as cattle (Davis, 1973; Wu, 1993). While the rumen microorganisms' nitrogen utilization is estimated to be greater than 67% of non-protein nitrogen (Firkins et al., 2007), the poultry nitrogen emission is estimated to be greater than 27 % of total emission (Battye et al., 1994). Based on that, the idea of presenting some nitrogen assimilation bacteria to broiler chickens was shaped to reduce the nitrogen emissions associated with poultry production. This study aims to investigate the effect of the bacteria strains Selenomonas ruminantium, Butyrivibrio fibrisolvens A38, Ruminococcus albus strain 7, and Bacteroides ruminocola subsp. brevis B14 (new name Prevotella bryantii B14), on the broiler performance, dietary amino acids from bacterial protein availability, and the broiler gut microflora in three separate experiments. The first experiment was in vitro, the second experiment was in vivo, and the third was a bioinformatics experiment. To evaluate the effect of those novel probiotics on the broiler performance, nitrogen utilization, and the broiler cecal microflora's microbial diversity, richness, evenness, and composition. The results showed that the R. albus 7 had the highest nitrogen utilization (P > 0.05) in the first experiment, the highest BWG (P > 0.05), slightly the lowest FCR, slightly the lower nitrogen emission, slightly the higher body N/ feed N ratio, and slightly lower FC N/ feed N ratio in the second experiment. R. albus 7 treatment showed no significant effect on the broiler cecal microflora's microbial diversity, richness, evenness, and composition in the bioinformatic study in the third experiment. Based on these results, it was concluded that R. albus 7 is a potential novel nitrogen reduction probiotic