Effect of zinc from zinc sulfate on trace mineral concentrations of milk in Varamini ewes

This study was conducted to evaluate the effect of feeding supplemental zinc (zinc sulfate) in different levels (15, 30, or 45 mg/kg) on trace mineral concentrations in milk of ewes. Thirty lactating Varaminniewes were assigned to three experimental groups according to their live body weights, milk production and lambs sex in a completely randomized design. Ewes were fed a basal diet containing alfalfa, wheat straw, cottonseed meal, barley grain, wheat bran, cracked corn and vitamin-mineral supplements at 3.2% of body weight (BW) to meet NRC requirements for protein, energy and macro minerals. The basaldiet contained 15 mg/kg Zn and zinc sulfate was added to the basal diet to supply 30 or 45 mg/kg of dietary zinc. Daily milk yielded was recorded at 7 days intervals and samples of the milk were taken once per week for determination of milk composition and trace mineral concentration. Concentrations of Zn, Cu, Mn and Fe in milk were determined. Dry matter intake (DMI), milk yield and milk compositions were not affected by supplemental zinc (P > 0.05). But zinc concentrations in milk were affected by supplemental zinc (P 0.05). It suggests that supplementation of ewes diet with zinc sulfate could be an effective way to increase zinc concentration in milk when zinc concentration of basal diets is limited for ewes in lactation period

Supplementation of Holstein dairy calves fed two levels of crude protein with methionine and lysine

This study aimed to investigate various levels of crude protein (CP) in starter diets and their supplementation with amino acids (AAs) on efficiency, health, and serum metabolites of dairy calves. Ninety-six newborn Holstein calves were allocated to eight treatments, namely T1) 18% CP unsupplemented starter, T2) T1 supplemented with additional 20% methionine, T3) T1 with additional 20% lysine and 20% methionine, T4) T1 with additional 20% lysine, T5) 22% CP unsupplemented starter, T6) T5 supplemented with additional 20% methionine, T7) T5 supplemented with additional 20% lysine and 20% methionine, and T8) T5 supplemented with additional 20% lysine. Consumption of the starter was not influenced by the level of CP. Calves that received the unsupplemented 22% CP starter had higher average daily gain (ADG) and final weight. But no significant differences among diets were found in feed efficiency. Skeletal growth did not exhibit a clear trend. Calves that received T3 had fewer bouts of diarrhea and reduced body temperature. However, there were no significant dietary effects on immunoglobin G (IgG) or total protein concentration in blood. T1–T3 decreased serum urea concentration. Thus, use of T3 resulted in an improved amino acid balance, and was less expensive than the 22% CP starter.Keywords: amino acid, feed intake, immunity, pre-ruminant cal

Effect of dietary cation-anion balance on milk production and blood mineral of Holstein cows during the last two months of pregnancy

This study was conducted to evaluate the effects of three diets with different cation-anion differences ((DCAD: mEq[(Na + K) − (Cl + S)]/100 g of dry matter)) in far-off and close-up period, on milk production and blood mineral of Holstein cows. Eighteen pregnant cows (220 - 225 d) were fed a base diet with three DCAD (+13 (control), 0, −13/100 g dry matter) for 60 ± 5 days. Control diet consisted of 170 g/kg corn silage, 396 g/kg alfalfa hay and 424 g/kg concentrate mix (dry matter basis). For decrease DCAD, two anionic salts such as ammonium chloride and ammonium sulphate were used. Production of milk and 3.5% fat corrected milk (FCM) were increased with decreasing DCAD. However, milk composition and yield of milk fat, protein and lactose were not affected by diets containing +13, 0 and −13 DCAD. In addition, prepartum dry matter intake, BCS change and body weight gains were similar for cows fed the three diets with different cation-anion differences. At calving, plasma calcium concentration was 6.55, 6.46 and 6.78 mg/dl for cows fed diets containing +13, 0 and −13 DCAD, respectively. Blood pH and concentration of K, Mg and Na were not affected by dietary cation-anion balance. Urinary pH of cows was affected by diets and was decreased linearly with decreasing DCAD. The mean urinary pH was 7.99, 6.81 and 6.11 for cows fed diets containing +13, 0 and −13 DCAD, respectively.Keywords: Metabolic disorders, pregnant cow, anionic saltsAfrican Journal of Biotechnology Vol. 9(36), pp. 5983-5988, 6 September, 201

Fluorescent-Probe Characterization for Pore-Space Mapping with Single-Particle Tracking

Porous solids often contain complex pore networks with pores of various sizes. Tracking individual fluorescent probes as they diffuse through porous materials can be used to characterize pore networks at tens of nanometers resolution. However, understanding the motion behavior of fluorescent probes in confinement is crucial to reliably derive pore network properties. Here, we introduce well-defined lithography-made model pores developed to study probe behavior in confinement. We investigated the influence of probe-host interactions on diffusion and trapping of confined single-emitter quantum-dot probes. Using the pH-responsiveness of the probes, we were able to largely suppress trapping at the pore walls. This enabled us to define experimental conditions for mapping of the accessible pore space of a one-dimensional pore array as well as a real-life polymerization-catalyst-support particle

Dual Fluorescence in Glutathione-Derived Carbon Dots Revisited

Dual-fluorescence carbon dots have great potential as nanosensors in life and materials sciences. Such carbon dots can be obtained via a solvothermal synthesis route with glutathione and formamide. In this work, we show that the dual-fluorescence emission of the synthesis products does not originate from a single carbon dot emitter, but rather from a mixture of physically separate compounds. We characterized the synthesis products with UV-vis, Raman, infrared, and fluorescence spectroscopy, and identified blue-emissive carbon dots and red-emissive porphyrin. We demonstrate an easy way to separate the two compounds without the need for time-consuming dialysis. Understanding the nature of the system, we can now steer the synthesis toward the desired product, which paves the way for a cheap and environmentally friendly synthesis route toward carbon dots, water-soluble porphyrin, and mixed systems

The Effects of ZnO Additive on Sintering Behavior, Microstructural Evolution and Microwave Dielectric Properties of Li2TiO3 Ceramics

The densification behavior, structural and microstructural evolution and microwave dielectric properties of Li2TiO3 + xZnO (x = 0, 0.5, 1, 1.5, 2, 3, and 5 mol%) ceramics have been investigated using X-ray diffraction, Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscopy, Raman spectroscopy and microwave resonant measurement. The Maximum density of 3.33 g/cm3 was obtained in Li2TiO3 + 2ZnO ceramic at low sintering temperature of 1100˚C. SEM investigations revealed good close packing of grains when x = 2 and preferential grain growth when x ≥ 3. The maximum values of Q × f = 31800 GHz and εr = 22.5 were obtained in Li2TiO3 + 3ZnO and Li2TiO3 + 2ZnO compositions, respectively. The observed properties are attributed to the microstructural evolution and grain growth (first case) or high density of the obtained ceramic (second case)

Luminescent film: Biofouling investigation of tetraphenylethylene blended polyethersulfone ultrafiltration membrane.

Despite the huge contribution of membrane-based brine and wastewater purification systems in today's life, biofouling still affects sustainability of membrane engineering. Aimed at reducing membrane modules wastage, the need to study biofouling monitoring as one of contributory factors stemmed from the short time between initial attachment and irreversible biofoulant adhesion. Hence, a membrane for monitoring is introduced to determine the right cleaning time by using fluorescent sensing as a non-destructive and scalable approach. The classical solid-state emissive fluorophore, tetraphenylethylene (TPE), was introduced as a sustainable, safe and sensitive fluorescent indicator in order to show the potential of the method, and polyethersulfone (PES) and nonsolvent-induced phase separation method, the most popular material and method, are used to fabricate membrane in industry and academia. Since the employed filler has an aggregation-induced emission (AIE) characteristic, it can track the biofouling throughout the operation. The fabricated membranes have certain characterizations (i.e. morphology assessment, flux, antibiogram, flow cytometry, surface free energy, and protein adsorption) which indicate that hybrid membrane with 5 wt % of TPE has identical biofouling activity compared to neat PES membrane and its optimal luminescence properties make it an appropriate candidate for non-destructive and online biofouling monitoring