Haematological and serum biochemical indices of cocks drenched varying levels of clove powder (Syzygium aromaticum)

There is stimulated increased interest in the usage of consumer accepted natural alternatives such as phytogenic feed additive (PFAs) to improve livestock performance. Clove is a wonderful phytogenic feed additives with little information in its benefit in poultry production. This study was conducted to assess the effect of clove powder (Syzygium aromaticum) on haematological and serum - biochemical indices of cocks. Clove was obtained from a local market in Saki, Oyo State. Dried clove buds were cleaned and air dried for 24 hours prior to milling and stored in air-tight bags until the period of usage. Cocks (48 birds assigned into four treatments) were drenched at 0.0g (T1), 0.05g (T2), 1.00g (T3) and 1.5g (T4) after 2 weeks of acclimatization. Haematological parameters measured were: packed cell volume (PCV), red blood cell (RBC), white blood cell (WBC), haemoglobin (Hb), mean corpuscular volume (MCV), Mean corpuscular haemoglobin (MCH) and mean corpuscular haemoglobin concentration (MCHC). While biochemical evaluated were total protein, albumin, globulin, uric acid, creatinine, cholesterol and glucose. Data obtained were subjected to one-way analysis of variance in a completely randomised design. RBC (3.64 – 3.76 X106/mL), Hb (3.64 – 12.86 g/dL), MCH (32.79 – 36.86 μμg) and MCHC (31.62 – 32.85%) showed significant difference (P<0.05), while PCV (39.00 – 41.00%), WBC (18.66 – 19.10 X109/mL), MCV (103.74 – 112.23 μ3) shows no significant difference (p>0.05). Total protein showed significant difference (P<0.05) with values ranging between 4.46 and 5.40 g/dL There exists significant difference (P<0.05) in the mean value of albumin, with highest value in 1.50g CP (5.40). Other biochemical parameters studied also showed significant differences (P<0.05) with the highest value in 1.50g CP. Drenching cocks with clove powder up to 1.5g was discovered posing no harmful effect on cocks

Growth response and nutrient digestibility of pre-pubertal rabbit bucks fed cottonseed cake-based diets supplemented with vitamin E

A study was conducted to investigate the growth response and nutrient digestibility in rabbit bucks fed cottonseed cake (CSC)-based diets supplemented with vitamin E. 64 weanling rabbit bucks, aged five to six weeks and weighing averagely 511.28 g were involved in the study. The bucks were randomly allocated to eight treatment combinations comprising four levels (0, 5, 10 and 15%) of CSC and two levels (0 and 30 mg/kg diet) of vitamin E in a 2 × 4 factorial experiment. Eight (8) bucks were assigned to each dietary treatment and fed the experimental diets for eight weeks. The CSC level had no significant (p > 0.05) effect on feed intake, final body weight, weekly weight gain and feed efficiency. Also, vitamin E supplementation did not affect (p > 0.05) the growth parameters. All the growth parameters measured were not affected (p > 0.05) by the interaction between CSC and vitamin E supplementation. Digestibility of nutrients-dry matter, crude protein, crude fibre, ether extract and ash was not significantly (p > 0.05) affected by CSC level, vitamin E supplementation and their interaction. Mortality was high for the bucks that were fed CSC irrespective of vitamin E supplementation. It was concluded that, although rabbit bucks may be fed CSC up to 15% inclusion level in diet for meat production, it is deleterious for young bucks whose digestive tract is not mature enough to handle gossypol in the CSC.Key words: Growth, digestibility, pre-pubertal bucks, cottonseed cake, vitamin E

Diversity study of Drumstick (Moringaoleifera Lam.) using Microsatellite markers

The study of the magnitude of genetic diversity existing within thirty one accessions of Moringaoleifera collections made within and outside Nigeria was conducted using ten Randomised Amplified Polymorphic DNA and tenMicrosattellite markers.None of the RAPD showed amplification bands. Five out of the Microsattellites markersamplified, four primers MO1, MO10, MO15 and MO41 were polymorphic in nature while the marker MO6 produced only a monomorphic band.PIC value was highest for the primer MO41 with 0.75 followed by primer MO1 with 0.68 while, the lowest PIC value was recorded by the primer MO15 with 0.11.A total of 19 alleles were produced by the four primers and the number of alleles ranged from two to nine with an average of 4.75 alleles per primer. The maximum number allele frequency was generated by primer MO15 followed by MO10.The gene diversity varied from 0.12 to 0.78 with an average of 0.52, PIC content of the SSR primers ranged from 0.11 to 0.75 with an average of 0.48 with primers MO 41 followed closely by primer MO1 having maximum numbers of allele number, PIC and gene diversity. Hence, the primer pairs MO41and MO1 can be considered in future molecular studies of Moringaoleifera.The Cluster analysis was able to group the thirty one accessions into two main clusters with four sub clusters. Six of the accessions were found to be duplicated or closely related with one or two other accessions having 0.00 genetic distances between them. The clusters were having some accessions grouped based on same area of collection, however there still existed groupings that were not having link with area of collection

Treatment mode preferences in rheumatoid arthritis: moving toward shared decision-making

Purpose: Current knowledge of the reasons for patients’ preference for rheumatoid arthritis (RA) treatment modes is limited. This study was designed to identify preferences for four treatment modes, and to obtain in-depth information on the reasons for these preferences. Patients and Methods: In this multi-national, cross-sectional, qualitative study, in-depth interviews were conducted with adult patients with RA in the United States, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, and Brazil. Patients’ strength of preference was evaluated using a 100-point allocation task (0– 100; 100=strongest) across four treatment modes: oral, self-injection, clinic-injection, and infusion. Qualitative descriptive analysis methods were used to identify, characterize, and summarize patterns found in the interview data relating to reasons for these preferences. Results: 100 patients were interviewed (female, 75.0%; mean age, 53.9 years; mean 11.6 years since diagnosis). Among the four treatment modes, oral administration was allocated the highest mean (standard deviation) preference points (47.3 [33.1]) and was ranked first choice by the greatest percentage of patients (57.0%), followed by self-injection (29.7 [27.7]; 29.0%), infusion (15.4 [24.6]; 16.0%), and clinic-injection (7.5 [14.1]; 2.0%). Overall, 56.0% of patients had a “strong” first-choice preference (ie, point allocation ≥ 70); most of these patients chose oral (62.5%) vs self-injection (23.2%), infusion (10.7%), or clinic-injection (3.6%). Speed and/or ease of administration were the most commonly reported reasons for patients choosing oral (52.6%) or self-injection (55.2%). The most common reasons for patients not choosing oral or self-injection were not wanting to take another pill (37.2%) and avoiding pain due to needles (46.5%), respectively. Conclusion: These data report factors important to patients regarding preferences for RA treatment modes. Patients may benefit from discussions with their healthcare professionals and/or patient support groups, regarding RA treatment modes, to facilitate shared decision-making.</p