Immune modulation, growth performance, and nutrient retention in broiler chickens fed a blend of phytogenic feed additives

his study aimed to assess the effect of a commercial blend of phytogenic feed additives (PA), comprising 5% carvacrol, 3% cinnamaldehyde, and 2% capsicum oleoresin on the modulation of immune biomarkers of broiler chickens, their growth performance, dietary energy, and nutrient retention. Four-hundred day-old birds were assigned to one of four dietary treatments. Two control diets based on either wheat (WC) or maize (MC) were each given with and without PA at 100 g/t. Growth performance variables including feed intake (FI), weight gain (WG), and feed conversion ratio (FCR) were recorded. Dietary N-corrected apparent metabolizable energy (MEn), dry matter (DMR), nitrogen (NR), and fat retention (FR) coefficients were also determined. Gene expression of immune biomarkers (cytokines) were determined in caecal tonsil tissue from 21 d old birds. Expression of IL2, IL18, IL10, and IL17C in the caecal tonsils were upregulated (P 0.05) change in expression levels in birds fed MC diets. Feeding MC diets gave greater FI (P 0.05) by cereal type. Supplementary PA improved FI (P < 0.05), WG (P < 0.001), FCR (P < 0.05), MEn (P < 0.05), MEn: GE ratio (P < 0.05), and FR (P < 0.05). In conclusion, dietary inclusion of PA improved overall growth performance variables, energy, and nutrient retention and intestinal cytokine expression

Dietary essential oils improve feed efficiency and hepatic antioxidant content of broiler chickens

The aim of this study was to test the hypothesis of an improved growth, dietary nutrient availability and overall health of broiler chickens reared on recycled litter when fed a standardised combination of essential oils (EO; carvacrol, cinnamaldehyde and capsicum oleoresin). To assess the effect of dietary treatments, feed intake, weight gain, feed efficiency, availability of dietary nutrients and energy, villus morphometry, excreta sialic acid concentration, hepatic antioxidants and serum amyloid A (SAA) when fed to broiler chickens were evaluated. Counts of Eimeria spp. oocysts were also determined in excreta samples. Four experimental diets were offered, including two basal control diets based on either wheat or maize that contained 215 g CP/kg and 12.13 MJ/kg metabolisable energy and another two diets using the basal control diets supplemented with the EO combination at 100 mg/kg diet. Each diet was fed to eight floor pens, containing two birds each, following randomisation. Birds fed the EO-supplemented diets had an improved (P0.05) were observed in villus morphometry, sialic acid secretion, number of oocysts and SAA. Feeding the EO improved (P<0.05) the retention of dietary Ca and Na. Compared with maize, feeding wheat-based diets improved the retention coefficients for Ca, P and Na (P<0.05). Feeding dietary EO improved (P<0.05) the concentrations of the hepatic antioxidants, including carotene, coenzyme Q10 and total vitamin E. The hepatic concentration of carotene of the maize-fed birds was 55.6% greater (P<0.05) compared with the wheat-fed birds. These results demonstrated that the addition of a standardised combination of EO in wheat- and maize-based diets provided benefits in terms of feed efficiency, mineral retention and antioxidant status of the birds when reared on recycled litter

Effect of feeding different sources of selenium on growth performance and antioxidant status of broilers

This study was conducted to determine the effect of different sources of selenium (Se) on breast and liver tissue deposition, apparent metabolisable energy (AME), growth performance and antioxidant status of broilers, measured as Se content in liver and breast tissues and glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px) in blood, when used in 0–35 d broiler chicken diets. 2. A total of 200 male Ross 308 broilers were used in the feeding trial, which comprised two dietary phases, a starter from 0 to 21 d and finisher from 21 to 35 d of age. Four treatments with 10 replications each were used. A control diet (C) was formulated that was sufficient in protein and energy (230 and 215 g/kg of crude protein and 12.67 and 13.11 MJ/kg of metabolisable energy, respectively), for both phases, but contained background Se only from the feed ingredients. The first treatment diet (IS) was made from the C diet supplemented with 10.35 g/t inorganic source of elemental Se in both feed phases. The third treatment (SY) was the control diet supplemented with 136.36 g/t selenised yeast (Sacchromyces cerevisiae) in both feed phases. A fourth treatment (SS) was the C diet supplemented with 0.666 g/t sodium selenite an inorganic source of Se in both starter and finisher diets. 3. Birds fed the SY diet consumed less and weighed less than those fed IS or C (P < 0.05; 0–35 d of age), but there was no difference compared to birds fed SS diets. There were no differences in FCR or dietary AME between broilers fed different Se sources. All diets containing supplementary Se increased concentrations in the liver and breast muscle, and for GSH-Px levels in blood compared to birds fed the C diet (P < 0.001). Birds fed SY diets had greater Se levels in liver and breast tissues compared to birds fed any of the other diets (P < 0.001). 4. Diets supplemented with Se had variable effects on broiler growth performances and antioxidant status. Feeding Se from a yeast source has higher transfer into breast tissues. Feeding different sources and levels of Se to birds in a more challenging situation to induce oxidative stress may bring more conclusive results

Search for displaced vertices arising from decays of new heavy particles in 7 TeV pp collisions at ATLAS

We present the results of a search for new, heavy particles that decay at a significant distance from their production point into a final state containing charged hadrons in association with a high-momentum muon. The search is conducted in a pp-collision data sample with a center-of-mass energy of 7 TeV and an integrated luminosity of 33 pb^-1 collected in 2010 by the ATLAS detector operating at the Large Hadron Collider. Production of such particles is expected in various scenarios of physics beyond the standard model. We observe no signal and place limits on the production cross-section of supersymmetric particles in an R-parity-violating scenario as a function of the neutralino lifetime. Limits are presented for different squark and neutralino masses, enabling extension of the limits to a variety of other models.Comment: 8 pages plus author list (20 pages total), 8 figures, 1 table, final version to appear in Physics Letters

Measurement of the polarisation of W bosons produced with large transverse momentum in pp collisions at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV with the ATLAS experiment

This paper describes an analysis of the angular distribution of W->enu and W->munu decays, using data from pp collisions at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV recorded with the ATLAS detector at the LHC in 2010, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of about 35 pb^-1. Using the decay lepton transverse momentum and the missing transverse energy, the W decay angular distribution projected onto the transverse plane is obtained and analysed in terms of helicity fractions f0, fL and fR over two ranges of W transverse momentum (ptw): 35 < ptw < 50 GeV and ptw > 50 GeV. Good agreement is found with theoretical predictions. For ptw > 50 GeV, the values of f0 and fL-fR, averaged over charge and lepton flavour, are measured to be : f0 = 0.127 +/- 0.030 +/- 0.108 and fL-fR = 0.252 +/- 0.017 +/- 0.030, where the first uncertainties are statistical, and the second include all systematic effects.Comment: 19 pages plus author list (34 pages total), 9 figures, 11 tables, revised author list, matches European Journal of Physics C versio

Observation of a new chi_b state in radiative transitions to Upsilon(1S) and Upsilon(2S) at ATLAS

The chi_b(nP) quarkonium states are produced in proton-proton collisions at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV and recorded by the ATLAS detector. Using a data sample corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 4.4 fb^-1, these states are reconstructed through their radiative decays to Upsilon(1S,2S) with Upsilon->mu+mu-. In addition to the mass peaks corresponding to the decay modes chi_b(1P,2P)->Upsilon(1S)gamma, a new structure centered at a mass of 10.530+/-0.005 (stat.)+/-0.009 (syst.) GeV is also observed, in both the Upsilon(1S)gamma and Upsilon(2S)gamma decay modes. This is interpreted as the chi_b(3P) system.Comment: 5 pages plus author list (18 pages total), 2 figures, 1 table, corrected author list, matches final version in Physical Review Letter

Measurement of the inclusive isolated prompt photon cross-section in pp collisions at sqrt(s)= 7 TeV using 35 pb-1 of ATLAS data

A measurement of the differential cross-section for the inclusive production of isolated prompt photons in pp collisions at a center-of-mass energy sqrt(s) = 7 TeV is presented. The measurement covers the pseudorapidity ranges |eta|<1.37 and 1.52<=|eta|<2.37 in the transverse energy range 45<=E_T<400GeV. The results are based on an integrated luminosity of 35 pb-1, collected with the ATLAS detector at the LHC. The yields of the signal photons are measured using a data-driven technique, based on the observed distribution of the hadronic energy in a narrow cone around the photon candidate and the photon selection criteria. The results are compared with next-to-leading order perturbative QCD calculations and found to be in good agreement over four orders of magnitude in cross-section.Comment: 7 pages plus author list (18 pages total), 2 figures, 4 tables, final version published in Physics Letters

Reducing heterotic M-theory to five dimensional supergravity on a manifold with boundary

This paper constructs the reduction of heterotic $M$-theory in eleven dimensions to a supergravity model on a manifold with boundary in five dimensions using a Calabi-Yau three-fold. New results are presented for the boundary terms in the action and for the boundary conditions on the bulk fields. Some general features of dualisation on a manifold with boundary are used to explain the origin of some topological terms in the action. The effect of gaugino condensation on the fermion boundary conditions leads to a `twist' in the chirality of the gravitino which can provide an uplifting mechanism in the vacuum energy to cancel the cosmological constant after moduli stabilisation.Comment: 16 pages, RevTe