Effect of a dietary essential oil mixture on performance of laying hens in the summer season

The experiment was conducted to evaluate the effects of dietary supplements of either an essential oil mixture (EOM) or a mannan oligosaccharide (MOS) as alternatives to an antibiotic feed additive (avilamycin) for layers kept under hot summer conditions. Four hundred and eighty 54-week old Nick-Brown hens were assigned to four dietary treatments. Each treatment consisted of four replications of 10 cages (three hens per cage). The treatment groups were: 1) Control: Basal diet without additive; 2) Basal diet plus antibiotic (10 mg avilamycin/kg feed); 3) Basal diet plus 1 g MOS/kg feed; 4) Basal diet plus 24 mg EOM/kg feed. Performance of laying hens was affected by dietary treatments. Dietary supplementation of EOM and MOS significantly increased egg production compared with control and antibiotic groups. There were no significant differences in feed consumption between treatments. The EOM significantly improved feed conversion ratio above that of the control group. Egg weights were significantly different between treatments. Laying hens consuming MOS produced significantly lower egg weights than the other groups, while egg weights in the EOM, antibiotic and control groups did not differ significantly. Cracked-broken egg rate was decreased by dietary addition of EOM, MOS and antibiotic compared with the control. Number of deaths among hens was significantly affected by dietary treatments with the number of deaths in the MOS treatment being significantly lower than in the other treatments. The performance of laying hens during the summer season could be maintained with inclusions of EOM and MOS in the diet. Keywords: Essential oils, mannan oligosaccharide, antibiotic, egg production, laying hen, summer seasonSouth African Journal of Animal Science Vol. 36 (4) 2006: pp. 215-22

Rapid chemical analysis and antiprotozoal effect of the solvent extracts and the essential oil of Artemisia indica

Artemisia indica is used as antipyretic in malarial fevers during malaria outbreaks in India [1]. We selected this plant because reports concerning the presence of artemisinin is contradictory, the content of methoxyflavonoids that potentiate the antimalarial efficacy of artemisinin has remained unstudied and the essential oil of the plant from different regions shows great chemical variations. Solvent extracts [petroleum ether, n-hexane, dichloromethane, acetone, MeOH or EtOH (96, 80 or 60% v/v), and hot water] of A. indica leaves originated from the West Bengal region (India) were assessed by HPLC-DAD and HPLC-MS for the content of artemisinin and the characteristic Artemisia methoxyflavonoids, eupatin, casticin, chrysoplenetin, cirsilineol, chrysosphenol-D and artemetin. None of the extracts contained artemisinin or the methoxyflavonoids chrysosphenol-D and artemetin, while all extracts contained chrysoplenetin. Eupatin, casticin and cirsilineol were found in all extracts except for the p. ether, n-hexane and hot water infusion. The acetone and EtOH extracts contained the highest levels of polymethoxyflavonoids (1.15 – 1.17%), whereas the infusion was devoid of them. The essential oil of the plant was obtained by hydrodistillation and analyzed by GC and GC-MS simultaneously. Of the 92 compounds detected in the oil, camphor (13.0%) and caryophyllene oxide (10.87%) were the major components. All solvent extracts and the volatile oil showed in vitro antimalarial activity (1.8 – 20 µg/mL). Except for the infusion, all extracts were also active against other parasitic protozoa (Trypanosoma b. rhodesiense, T. cruzi, Leishmania donovani). This is the first study investigating both artemisinin and polymethoxyflavonoid content and detailed in vitro antiprotozoal potential of A. indica extracts and the essential oil

Prospective assessment of white matter integrity in adult stem cell transplant recipients

Hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) is often used in the treatment of hematologic disorders. Although it can be curative, the pre-transplant conditioning regimen can be associated with neurotoxicity. In this prospective study, we examined white matter (WM) integrity with diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) and neuropsychological functioning before and one year after HSCT in twenty-two patients with hematologic disorders and ten healthy controls evaluated at similar intervals. Eighteen patients received conditioning treatment with high-dose (HD) chemotherapy, and four had full dose total body irradiation (fTBI) and HD chemotherapy prior to undergoing an allogeneic or autologous HSCT. The results showed a significant decrease in mean diffusivity (MD) and axial diffusivity (AD) in diffuse WM regions one year after HSCT (p-corrected <0.05) in the patient group compared to healthy controls. At baseline, patients treated with allogeneic HSCT had higher MD and AD in the left hemisphere WM than autologous HSCT patients (p-corrected <0.05). One year post-transplant, patients treated with allogeneic HSCT had lower fractional anisotropy (FA) and higher radial diffusivity (RD) in the right hemisphere and left frontal WM compared to patients treated with autologous HSCT (p-corrected <0.05). There were modest but significant correlations between MD values and cognitive test scores, and these were greatest for timed tests and in projection tracts. Patients showed a trend toward a decline in working memory, and had lower cognitive test scores than healthy controls at the one-year assessment. The findings suggest a relatively diffuse pattern of alterations in WM integrity in adult survivors of HSCT

Management of expatriate medical assistance in Mozambique

This paper discusses how Mozambique coped with the health system needs in terms of specialized doctors since independence, in a troubled context of war, lack of financial resources and modifying settings of foreign aid. The Ministry of Health (MOH) managed to make up for its severe scarcity of specialist MDs especially through contracting expatriate technical assistance. Different scenarios, partnerships and contract schemes that have evolved since independence are briefly described, as well as self-reliance option possibility and implications. Lessons learned about donor initiatives aimed at contracting specialists from other developing countries are singled out. The issue of obtaining expertise and knowledge in the global market as cheap as possible is stressed, and realistic figures of cost planning are highlighted, as determined by the overall health system necessities and budget limitations

Environmental geotechnics: Challenges and opportunities in the post-Covid-19 world

The outbreak of the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) pandemic not only has created a health crisis across the world but is also expected to impact negatively the global economy and societies at a scale that is maybe larger than that of the 2008 financial crisis. Simultaneously, it has inevitably exerted many negative consequences on the geoenvironment on which human beings depend. The current paper articulates the role of environmental geotechnics in elucidating and mitigating the effects of the current pandemic. It is the belief of all authors that the Covid-19 pandemic presents not only significant challenges but also opportunities for the development of the environmental geotechnics field. This discipline should make full use of geoenvironmental researchers' and engineers' professional skills and expertise to look for development opportunities from this crisis, to highlight the irreplaceable position of the discipline in the global fight against pandemics and to contribute to the health and prosperity of communities, to serve humankind better. In order to reach this goal while taking into account the specificity of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) and the uncertainty of its environmental effects, it is believed that more emphasis should be placed on the following research directions: pathogen-soil interactions; isolation and remediation technologies for pathogen-contaminated sites; new materials for pathogen-contaminated soil; recycling and safe disposal of medical wastes; quantification of uncertainty in geoenvironmental and epidemiological problems; emerging technologies and adaptation strategies in civil, geotechnical and geoenvironmental infrastructures; pandemic-induced environmental risk management; and modelling of pathogen transport and fate in geoenvironment, among others. Moreover, Covid-19 has made it clear to the environmental geotechnics community the importance of urgent international co-operation and of multidisciplinary research actions that must extend to a broad range of scientific fields, including medical and public health disciplines, in order to meet the complexities posed by the Covid-19 pandemic

Factors that Impact Susceptibility to Fiber-Induced Health Effects

Asbestos and related fibers are associated with a number of adverse health effects, including malignant mesothelioma (MM), an aggressive cancer that generally develops in the surface serosal cells of the pleural, pericardial, and peritoneal cavities. Although approximately 80% of individuals with MM are exposed to asbestos, fewer than 5% of asbestos workers develop MM. In addition to asbestos, other mineralogical, environmental, genetic, and possibly viral factors might contribute to MM susceptibility. Given this complex etiology of MM, understanding susceptibility to MM needs to be a priority for investigators in order to reduce exposure of those most at risk to known environmental carcinogens. In this review, the current body of literature related to fiber-associated disease susceptibility including age, sex, nutrition, genetics, asbestos, and other mineral exposure is addressed with a focus on MM, and critical areas for further study are recommended