Effect of Spirulina platensis supplementation on performance, haematological and serum biochemical profiles of broiler chickens reared under tropical environment

The ban on feed grade antibiotic growth promoters and increasing demand for human protein food sources have resulted in a need for new feed materials which provide a safe source of nutrients for poultry. A study was conducted to evaluate the effect of dietary supplementation of spirulina on performance, haematological and serum profiles on broiler chickens. A total of 120 day old mixed sex broiler chicks were randomly assigned into 4 treatments with 3 replicate pens per treatment (10 birds/replicate pen) for 0-3 weeks and 4-7 weeks respectively. A reputable commercial diet was used as a basal diet (Treatment 1 without spirulina), while treatments 2, 3 and 4 had 6.00, 12.00, and 18.00 g/kg of spirulina supplemented in the commercial diet. The final weight, body weight gain, feed intake and feed conversion ratio were significantly (P < 0.05) higher in spirulina-supplemented groups compared with the control group for both the starter and finisher phases. For the starter phase it was observed that chicks fed 12.00g/kg spirulina diet performed better in terms of body weight gain while chickens fed 6.00g/kg spirulina diet had the best performance in terms of body weight gain at the finisher phase. Dietary treatment had significant (P < 0.05) effects on packed cell volume (PCV), haemoglobin count, red blood cells (RBC) and white blood cells (WBC). The values for total protein (TP), globulin, Aspartate Amino-Transferase (AST), Alanine Amino-Transferase (ALT) and Alkaline Phosphatase (ALP) were significantly (P < 0.05) higher for chickens fed diets containing spirulina compared to the chickens fed diet without spirulina. It is concluded that dietary supplementation of spirulina improves body weight gain, haematological parameters and blood serum biochemistry of broiler chickens. Keywords: poultry; algae; bloo

On a subordination result for analytic functions defined by convolution

In this paper we discuss some subordination results for a subclass of functions analytic in the unit disk U

Comparative effects of farmyard manure, sawdust and NPK 15-15-15 fertilizer on growth and yield of garden egg (solanum gilo).

A study was carried to determine the effect of inorganic and organic fertilizer for garden egg production. This is to assess and establish the type that will produce optimum yield. The fertilizer types evaluated were poultry manure, sawdust, NPK 15-15-15.The study was conducted on Alfsoil soil at kabba. The experimental design used was Randomized Completely Block Design (RCBD) with five treatments. The treatment were poultry manure (25 tons/hac) T1, sawdust 25 tons/hac (T2), NPK 15-15-15 (400kg/hac)  T3, poultry manure  (25 tons/hac) + NPK 15-15-15  (400kg/hac) T4 and control (No fertilizer application) T5. All the treatments were replicated four times to give a total of twenty (20) Experimental plots. The gross experimental site was 25m x 11m (275m”). Each bed was 1m x 5m (5m”).Planting was carried out using 2 seeds per hole at a spacing of 60cm x 60cm. The plant population per bed was 32 plants and for the whole plots were 640 plants. The result of this study showed that the combination of poultry manure and NPK 15-15-15 had significant effect (P<0.05) on Number of leaves, Number of fruits and weight of fruits (fruit yield).  The yield performance sequence was in the order FYM + NPK 15-15-15 > FYM > sawdust > NPK control. Keywords:-  poultry manure, sawdust, NPK 15-15-15, garden egg, afsoil

Comparative assessment of brain and circulating oxidative stress biomarkers in weaned New Zealand White rabbits supplemented with microalga Chlorella vulgaris biomass

The brain is central to human and animal well-being but it requires a high amount of oxygen for its normal functioning and this makes it an organ highly vulnerable to oxidative stress damage. Therefore, for the promotion of normal physiological and cellular functions of the brain, antioxidant intake is very critical. This study investigated the antioxidant enzymatic activities in the brain by measuring activities of superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT), and reduced glutathione (GSH) in connection with the circulating oxidative stress biomarkers of the serum and liver of New Zealand White rabbits supplemented with microalga Chlorella vulgaris biomass in addition to regular basal diets. The study involved a random distribution of 40 rabbits of eight weeks old into five experimental group using completely randomized design. The rabbits were observed for a period of 120 when they are being supplemented after which their blood, brain, and liver were collected for analyses. The results show that the total antioxidant capacity was higher in the brain of the supplemented rabbits (P<0.05). Although, there was no significant difference in the brain malondialdehyde concentrations, there were higher activities of antioxidant enzymes in the brain of the supplemented rabbits (P< 0.05). There was a lower concentration of the circulating malondialdehyde (MDA) in the serum and liver of the supplemented rabbits. The study concluded that Chlorella vulgaris intake led to reduced circulating malondialdehyde and increased activities of the brain antioxidant enzymes in the rabbits. The study indicated that the microalga Chlorella vulgaris contains antioxidant compounds that can cross the blood-brain barrier, which could be a very important therapeutic agent against oxidative stress-induced brain complications in animals and humans

Tuberculosis and diabetes in Nigerian patients with and without HIV

Type 2 Diabetes mellitus (DM) and the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) increase the risk of Tuberculosis (TB). The frequency of DM among patients with TB with and without HIV is poorly documented in many LMIC. This was a cross-sectional hospital-based study in Abuja, Nigeria. Adults with presumptive TB were screened consecutively using sputum culture for TB and blood for HIV screening, Fasting Plasma Glucose (FPG) and glycolisated haemoglobin (HbA1c) for diagnosis. HbA1c was measured using the D-10 Haemoglobin Testing System and a point-of-care test (A1C Now+ system) for comparison. Patients were classified as having DM or pre-diabetes using the D-10 reference test. 410 individuals had TB culture, FPG and HbA1c results. Participants had a mean (SD) age of 37.8 (12.6) years and 217 (54.8%) were male. 113 (27.6%) patients were culture-positive, 62 (15.1%) had DM and 46 (11.2%) pre-diabetes. 184 (53.3%) participants were HIV-positive and 95 (51.6%) were on ART. Patients with pre-diabetes and DM were more likely to have TB (OR=1.94, 95%CI=0.01-3.74 and OR=2.39, 95%CI=1.35-4.24, respectively). After adjustment for HIV, age and sex, only DM was statistically associated with TB (AOR=3.10, 95%CI=1.62-5.94). HIV-negative patients with DM had higher risk of TB (AOR=4.32, 95%CI 1.57-11.92) than HIV-positive patients with DM (AOR=3.31, 95%CI 1.29-8.54), but the difference was not statistically significant. A1C Now+ HbA1c measurements correlated poorly with the D-10 HbA1c reference test. A high proportion of patients in Abuja have markers of DM and pre-diabetes at the time of TB diagnosis

Evaluation of Tamarindus indica as novel feed resource in tropical animal production and management

Unconventional feed resource for livestock production in the tropics has been identified as a way of reducing the challenges of shortage and high – cost of conventional feed resources because of the competition between man and animal. Therefore, nutritional value of Tamarindus indica whole fruit, hulls and seeds was investigated in this study. Determination of proximate components using standard methods was carried out on the samples separately and thereafter subjected to in-vitro digestibility evaluation. Proximate analysis results showed that the concentrations of chemical components in whole fruit, hulls and seeds respectively as determined on dry matter basis in percentage (%) were: moisture (13.39; 12.25; 4.60), ash (7.18; 5.50; 7.15), crude protein (13.75; 9.12; 22.60), crude fibre (15.50; 15.00; 10.00), ether extract (9.25; 7.72; 9.50) and metabolizable energy (4324; 4084; 4633 Kcal/Kg). This indicated that crude protein content were significantly higher (P<0.05) in the seed as compared to the whole fruit and hulls while the Tamarindus fruit hull contained significantly lower (P < 0.05) values components measured. The results of the in-vitro nutrients digestibility showed that crude protein, crude fibre and ash digestibilities respectively were significantly higher (P<0.05) for tamarind seeds (94.96 %, 53.41 %, and 64.69 %) as compared to the whole fruit and hulls which were similar (P>0.05). From the results, it was concluded that the seed of Tamarindus indica is a potential unconventional protein source for livestock production in the tropics and its in-vivo evaluation is hereby recommended prior to its use as a novel feed resource for commercial animal production.Keywords: Tamarindus indica, nutritional evaluation, feed resource, animal production

Effects of farmyard manure, sawdust and npk 15-15-15 fertilizer on growth and yield of (cucumis satius l)

A study was carried to determine the effect of inorganic and organic fertilizer for cucumber production. This is to access and establish the type that will produce optimum yield. The fertilizer types evaluated were poultry manure, sawdust NPK 15-15-15.The study was conducted on Alfisol soil at kabba. The experimental design used was Randomized Completely Block Design (RCBD) with five treatments. The treatment were poultry manure (25 tons/h), sawdust 25 tons/h, NPK 15.15-15 (400kg/ha), poultry manure (25 tons/ha) + NPK 15-15-15 (400kg/ha) and control (No fertilizer application).All the treatments were replicated four times to give a total of twenty (20) experimental plots. The result of this study showed that the combination of poultry manure and NPK 15-15-15 significantly increased (P<0.05) the Number of leaves, Number of fruits and weight of fruits (fruit yield). The yield performance sequence was in the order poultry manure+ NPK 15-15-15> poultry manure> sawdust> NPK> control

Effect of Varying Levels of Methionine on, Growth Response, Tissue Fat and Protein of Broiler Chickens Raised in the Cool Seaceson Under Tropical Environment

A 28-day trial was carried out to determine the effect of varying levels of methionine on growth performance, carcass quality, tissue fat and tissue protein of broiler chickens raised in the cool season under the tropical environment. Two hundred and eighty five 5- week old birds were used for the experiment and were grouped into five equal number on the basis of equal weight and randomly assigned to five isocaloric and isonitrogenous diet treatments replicated three times with graded levels of supplemental methionine (0.14, 0.19, 0.24 0.29 and 0.34%) amounting to total dietary methionine levels of 0.40, 0.45, 0.50, 0.55 and 0.60%, respectively. Birds fed 0.55% total methionine diet had the highest breast and wing weights, while birds fed 0.50% total methionine diet had the highest thigh weights. Birds fed 0.60% methionine diet had significantly (P<0.05) lower  abdominal and tissue fats. These results showed that increasing levels of methionine up to (0.60 %) improved carcass quality by the reduction of tissue fat and abdominal fat of chickens, and birds fed 0.55% methionine in the diet had the highest dressing percentage and prime cuts.Keywords: Methionine, broiler, growth, tissue, carcass and tropical