Potential impact of prickly pear cactus flour and Salix babylonica extract on cecal fermentation and methane production in horses

The cecal gas (GP) and methane (CH4) production and cecal fermentation kinetics when corn grain (CG) was replaced with prickly cactus (PC) in a horse’s diet at different levels of Salix babylonica (SB) extract was investigated. Three total mixed rations where CG was replaced with PC at three levels (/kg): 0 g (Control), 75 g (PC75) or 150 g (PC150) were prepared and SB extract added at four levels: 0, 0.6, 1.2 and 1.8 mL/g dry matter (DM) of substrates. No ration type 9 SB extract dose interaction was observed (P [0.05) for GP kinetics and CH4 production. Increasing the level of PC in the ration quadratically increased (P \0.01) the asymptotic GP and decreased (P\0.01) the rate and lag time of GP. Increasing the level of PC in the ration, increased GP values (P\0.05). Increasing the level of SB extract linearly decreased (P = 0.001) the lag time of GP of all diets without affecting the asymptotic GP or the rate of GP. Ration type and SB level had no effect (P [0.05) on CH4 production; however, at 36 h of incubation, SB extract decreased CH4 production. The rations PC75 and PC150 increased cecal pH compared with the control ration. The PC150 ration had the highest (P\0.05) DM degradability, short chain fatty acids production, and gas yield after 24 h of incubation, with no effect (P[0.05) of SB inclusion on all investigated fermentation kinetic parameters. It is concluded that increasing the level of PC in the diet of horse and replacing CG up to 60%, increased GP and improved cecal fermentation kinetics without affecting CH4 production. Inclusion of S. babylonica extract in the tested rations had weak effects on fermentation kinetics although it decreased the lag time of GP

Evaluation of serum levels of Interleukin-4 in Egyptian patients with refractory gastroesophageal reflux disease

Introduction: Gastroesophageal reflux disease is defined as bothersome symptoms and/or complications caused by the reflux of stomach contents. About 40–50% of patients develop refractory gastroesophageal reflux disease (R-GERD), with poor improvement of symptoms with treatment. Many pathogenic mechanisms share in development of R-GERD, among which is the important role of T-helper 1 and T-helper 2 response mediated by cytokines. The interleukin-4 is a cytokine known of its anti-inflammatory effect. In this study, we aimed to evaluate the level of interleukin-4 in Egyptian patients with R-GERD versus those with GERD. PATIENTS AND Methods: Our study included 25 patients with reflux symptoms who received PPIs for less than 8 weeks with improvement of symptoms, versus 25 patients with refractory reflux symptoms who received PPIs for more than 8 weeks without improvement of symptoms. Interleukin-4 levels were assessed in both groups by ELISA. Results: There was a statistically significant difference between the two groups as regard interleukin-4 levels (p < 0.012) which was higher in the patients with (R-GERD), the mean level of IL-4 was 37.31 ± 56.07 in GERD group while in R-GERD group, it was 102.78 ± 112.29. The diagnostic accuracy of interleukin-4 revealed a sensitivity of 56% and specificity of 76% at cutoff value >58.25 pg/ml, with an acceptable accuracy of 0.6. Conclusions: The present study concluded that IL-4 is significantly higher in patients with R GERD with cut off value > 58.25 pg/ml. Therapeutic strategies that modulate the production of IL-4 may provide a good solution for treatment of R GERD

Waste Recycling for the Eco-friendly Input Use Efficiency in Agriculture and Livestock Feeding

he increasing competition for available resources and inefficient use of those limited resources necessitates the need to improve the use of available resources. If these inefficacies are not corrected, the resource-poor farmers, mainly living in developing countries will be most affected. Yet these resource farmers contribute immensely for food production in developing countries. Smallholder farmers must be proactive and learn to adopt new strategies that can assist them in continuing farming with maximum use of limited agricultural resources and even wastes in agriculture. Several methods are available to improve the use of agricultural wastes, including non-agronomic benefits. Furthermore, we suggest the integration of waste resources, such as from both the trilogy of human– animal–crop wastes. Similarly, inexpensive techniques are encouraged among the farmers, including composting and vermicomposting of human–crop–animal wastes and/or slaughterhouse/abattoir wastes, biocharing of crop and animal wastes as various means of recycling/recovering nutrients in the soil system. Furthermore, the deployment of fungi could also improve the resource use efficiency through mushroom growth and sales, crop residue fermentation to enhance its feed value. Livestock farmers facing nutritional problems can apply microbes through fermentation to reduce antinutritional factors (lignin, tannins) in plants, and improve the safety of kitchen and dairy waste before feeding. Alternatively, farmers are encouraged to raise micro livestock (rabbits, snails, and grasscutters) on their farm to improve the use of resources. On a large scale, nitrogen and phosphorus recovery from cow urine, slurry, human feces, and fermentation of phytate rich plants with phytate on industrial scales is recommended. This chapter aims to provide insight into the methods by which farmers and industries, especially those in developing countries, can improve their available resources for agricuture and as livestock feeds

Magnetic properties of triangular lattice antiferromagnets Ba3RB9O18 (R = Yb, Er)

Frustration, spin correlations and interplay between competing degrees of freedom are some of the key ingredients that underlie exotic states with fractional excitations in quantum materials. Rare-earth based two dimensional magnetic lattice wherein crystal electric field, spin-orbit coupling, anisotropy and electron correlation between rare-earth moments offer a new paradigm in this context. Herein, we present crystal structure, magnetic susceptibility and specific heat accompanied by crystal electric field calculations on the polycrystalline sample of Ba3RB9O18 (R = Yb, Er) in which R3+ ions form a perfect triangular lattice without anti-site disorder. The localized R3+ spins show neither long-range order nor spin-glass state down to 1.9 K in Ba3RB9O18. Magnetization data reveal a pseudospin Jeff = 1/2 ( Yb3+) in the Kramers doublet state and a weak antiferromagnetic interaction between Jeff = 1/2 moments in the Yb variant. On the other hand, the effective moment {\mu}eff = 8.8 {\mu}B was obtained from the Curie-Weiss fit of the low-temperature susceptibility data of Er variant suggests the admixture of higher crystal electric field states with the ground state. The Curie-Weiss fit of low-temperature susceptibility data for Er system unveils the presence of a relatively strong antiferromagnetic interaction between Er3+ moments compared to its Yb3+ analog. Ba3ErB9O18 does not show long-range magnetic ordering down to 500 mK. Furthermore, our crystal electric field calculations based on magnetization data of Ba3ErB9O18 suggest the presence of a small gap between the ground and first excited Kramers doublets. The broad maximum around 4 K in magnetic specific heat in zero-field is attributed to the thermal population of the first CEF excited state in Ba3ErB9O18, which is consistent with our CEF calculations

Influence of exogenous enzymes in presence of Salix babylonica extract on digestibility, microbial protein synthesis and performance of lambs fed maize silage

In Mexico, there are native trees that can be used as an alternative feed when forages are scarce and of poor quality in the dry season (Palma et al. 1995). However, the use of plants or their extracts as feed additives is restricted by their secondary compound content (Salem et al. 2014c): although the ideal concentrations can modify and support the utilization of nutrients in the rumen (Salem et al. 2014a, b, c), an inverse relationship between secondary compound concentration and animal performance has been observed (Vasta & Luciano 2011; Salem et al. 2011a, 2013).Sixteen Suffolk lambs with 29 ± 2·0 kg body weight were housed in individual cages for 60 days and allotted to four treatments in a completely randomized design to determine the effect of administration of Salix babylonica (SB) extract and/or exogenous enzymes (ZADO®) on lamb performance. Lambs were fed with 300 g/kg concentrate (160 g crude protein (CP)/kg, 13·4 MJ metabolizable energy (ME)/kg dry matter (DM)) and 700 g/kg maize silage (80 g/kg CP, 11·7 MJ ME/kg DM) as a basal diet (control). Another three treatments were tested; the SB extract was administered at 30 ml/day (SB) and exogenous enzymes ZADO® (i.e. an exogenous enzyme cocktail in a powder form) directly fed at 10 g/day (EZ), while the last treatment contained ZADO® at 10 g/day + SB extract at 30 ml/day (EZSB). Lambs of the treatment EZSB had the greatest average daily weight gain (ADG) and feed conversion throughout the period of the experiment. However, during the first 30 days SB was more effective for ADG than EZ and vice versa during the last 30 days of the experiment.Water consumption was greater for SB, followed by EZ and EZSB compared to the control. Intakes ofDMand organicmatter (OM) were the highest in EZSB followed by EZ, which had the greatest neutral detergent fibre, acid detergent fibre (ADF) and nitrogen (N) intakes. The EZSB treatment had the greatest DM and OM digestibilities compared to the other treatments; however, SB had the greatest ADF digestibility. Combination of EZ and SB had the best N balance. Allantoin, total purine derivatives (PD), allantoin : -creatinine ratio, and PD: creatinine ratio were increased in EZSB compared to the other treatments. However, EZ supplementation increased uric acid concentration, whereas the microbial N (g N/day) and metabolizable protein (g N/day) were increased in EZSB versus the other treatments. It can be concluded that addition of 10 g ZADO® in combination with S. babylonica extract at 30 ml/day in the diet of lambs increased feed intake, nutrient digestibility and daily gain, with a positive impact on the use of N and microbial protein synthesis

Utility of arylhydrazidoyl aryl ethers in heterocycles: A novel synthesis of aryloxypyridazines, phthalazines and thieno-[3,4-d]pyridazine derivatives

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Valorization of Caesalpinia coriaria Fruit Waste to Enhance the Ruminal Mitigation of Greenhouse Gases Production

La editorial tiene los derechos de autor y le solicito a hacer visibles la fecha técnica del artículo.The use of fruits waste from tanniniferous trees represents a new technology that aims to solve or mitigate greenhouse gases emission, and to increase the production of food of animal origin in an ecofriendly manner. This study aims to evaluate the production of methane and carbon dioxide, degradability by in vitro ruminal fermentation in goats diet supplemented with nuts (Caesalpinia coriaria Jacq. Willd.) for adoption by livestock farmers. Condensed tannins (CT) of C. coriaria inclusion rates were 0 (CT0 or control, no CT), 1.5 (CT1.5), 3.0 (CT3), 4.5 (CT4.5) and 6.0% (CT6) of the total mixed ration. All CT treatments reduced (linear, quadratic and cubic; P = 0.001) CH4, CO2 and H2 gases, and had some increasing effect on total biogas production. However, CT3 reduced greenhouse gases and had the highest biogas production. Addition of tannins from cascalote fruit waste (C. coriaria Jacq. Willd.) to goats diet at CT3 level reduced methane production, improved fermentation and ruminal degradability in vitro and has potential to be used as ecofriendly feed or feed additive

Performance of crossbred dairy Friesian calves fed two levels of Saccharomyces cerevisiae: Intake, digestion, ruminal fermentation, blood parameters and faecal pathogenic bacteria

11 páginas, 6 tablas.The effect of feeding two levels of Saccharomyces cerevisiae on the performance of crossbred Friesian calves was investigated. Twenty-four neonatal male Friesian × Baladi calves (35·5 ± 0·25 kg of initial body weight) were randomly assigned in a completely randomized design into three experimental groups for 90 days (eight calves per group). Calves fed their diets without yeast (S. cerevisiae) were considered as Control, while the diets of other calves were supplemented daily either with 2·5 g (YL diet) or with 5 g (YH diet) of yeast per calf. Calves fed the YH diet showed increased feed intake, while dry matter and fibre digestibilities were increased in calves fed YH and YL diets. Calves fed YL and YH diets showed lower ruminal ammonia-N and higher total volatile fatty acids, acetate and propionate concentrations than Control calves. Both YH and YL calves showed increased plasma concentrations of total protein, globulin and glucose and decreased cholesterol and triglycerides concentrations. Calves' final weight and daily gain were increased with S. cerevisiae yeast supplemented diets. After 42 days of experiment, Clostridium spp., Escherichia coli and Enterobacteria spp. counts were down to undetectable levels in the faeces of calves fed S. cerevisiae additive. It could be concluded that adding S. cerevisiae to milk-fed calves increased feed utilization and improved pre-weaned calf performance and health status, reducing faecal pathogenic bacteria. Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2016.Peer reviewe

Fertility, mortality, milk output, and body thermoregulation of growing Hy-Plus rabbits fed on diets supplemented with multi-enzymes preparation

Feed cost represents about 60–70 % of rabbit keeping costs; therefore, maximizing utilization of nutrients is essential for the profitability and sustainability of rabbit production. Consequently, it has become very necessary to look for locally available, cheap, and nutritionally safe feed additives that would help to cut down production costs and improve production efficiency. Since the European Union banned most of the antibiotic growth promoters in animal nutrition due to cross and multiple resistances, much research has been conducted to explore the use of multi-enzymes as effective substitutes.The aim of this study was to evaluate the fertility status, milk output, mortality, and body thermoregulation of rabbit does as affected by different levels of multi-enzyme extracts (EZ) in their diets. A total of 120 Hy-Plus rabbit does were divided into four comparable experimental groups (n = 30 does per group). Animals of each group were divided in six pens (five animals per pen), and each pen was used as an experimental unit. The first group was kept untreated and fed a commercial diet alone without enzyme extracts (EZ0), while the other groups were fed the same diet but supplemented with 1 (EZ1), 3 (EZ3), and 5 (EZ5) kg/ton of enzyme extracts, respectively. Feeding EZ additive increased (P < 0.05) conception and kindling rates, litter size and weight at birth, and litter size and bunny weight at weaning, with decreasing (P < 0.05) abortion rate. Moreover, total milk yield increased (P < 0.05) with increasing level of enzyme supplementation. Pre-weaning mortality decreased (P < 0.05) with EZ inclusion. Signs of vitality (rectal temperature, skin temperature, earlobe temperature, respiration rate, and pulse rate) were improved with EZ inclusion. For all results, 5 kg EZ/ton of feed was more effective than 1 and 3 kg EZ/ton feed. It can be concluded that supplementation of EZ in rabbit diet decreased mortality rate and enhanced fertility status and milk output

Transparency of law making and fiscal democracy in the Middle East

Fiscal democracy is the capacity of the legislature to make budgetary choices in response to the emerging needs of citizens. This study indicates that, in Middle Eastern countries, there are specific limitations to fiscal democracy in the process of law-making: most notably the lack of attention to financial impact assessments (FIAs). Without systematic FIAs, mandatory out-of-budget allocations are inadvertently included in public spending, as they do not require parliamentary approval within the regular budgeting process. The low level of effective citizens’ engagement in the process of law-making worsens the situation. Budgetary decisions are not well informed by national priorities and preferences. This study utilizes the dataset of the Open Budget Index (OBI) to measure the quality of the law-making process of the budget law in a sample of Middle Eastern countries. The study concludes with recommendations on mapping the law-making process to increase budget transparency