Comparative study on local and imported strains of chicks II. equations and predicted extrapolations for economical evaluation of meat production

A comparative study was carried out to determine the economical merit of producing broilers from local (Fayoumi), cross bred (Dokki 4) and foreign strains (Nichols) of chicks, given similar diets. An average farm size of about 5000 chick/turn, and chicks to be marketed at a constant live weight of About 1 kg, were considered. The cost of labor and management was considered similar for the three strains of chicks, over a period of one year. As the local and the cross strains did not reach the marketing weight up to 8 weeks of age, too functions were fitted to predict the time needed to reach 1 kg live weight and feed intakes during this period for the 3 strains. The result showed when given similar rations, imported fast-growing strains of chickens are likely to be an essential item for economical poultry meat production in Egypt

Risk profiles and one-year outcomes of patients with newly diagnosed atrial fibrillation in India: Insights from the GARFIELD-AF Registry.

BACKGROUND: The Global Anticoagulant Registry in the FIELD-Atrial Fibrillation (GARFIELD-AF) is an ongoing prospective noninterventional registry, which is providing important information on the baseline characteristics, treatment patterns, and 1-year outcomes in patients with newly diagnosed non-valvular atrial fibrillation (NVAF). This report describes data from Indian patients recruited in this registry. METHODS AND RESULTS: A total of 52,014 patients with newly diagnosed AF were enrolled globally; of these, 1388 patients were recruited from 26 sites within India (2012-2016). In India, the mean age was 65.8 years at diagnosis of NVAF. Hypertension was the most prevalent risk factor for AF, present in 68.5% of patients from India and in 76.3% of patients globally (P < 0.001). Diabetes and coronary artery disease (CAD) were prevalent in 36.2% and 28.1% of patients as compared with global prevalence of 22.2% and 21.6%, respectively (P < 0.001 for both). Antiplatelet therapy was the most common antithrombotic treatment in India. With increasing stroke risk, however, patients were more likely to receive oral anticoagulant therapy [mainly vitamin K antagonist (VKA)], but average international normalized ratio (INR) was lower among Indian patients [median INR value 1.6 (interquartile range {IQR}: 1.3-2.3) versus 2.3 (IQR 1.8-2.8) (P < 0.001)]. Compared with other countries, patients from India had markedly higher rates of all-cause mortality [7.68 per 100 person-years (95% confidence interval 6.32-9.35) vs 4.34 (4.16-4.53), P < 0.0001], while rates of stroke/systemic embolism and major bleeding were lower after 1 year of follow-up. CONCLUSION: Compared to previously published registries from India, the GARFIELD-AF registry describes clinical profiles and outcomes in Indian patients with AF of a different etiology. The registry data show that compared to the rest of the world, Indian AF patients are younger in age and have more diabetes and CAD. Patients with a higher stroke risk are more likely to receive anticoagulation therapy with VKA but are underdosed compared with the global average in the GARFIELD-AF. CLINICAL TRIAL REGISTRATION-URL: http://www.clinicaltrials.gov. Unique identifier: NCT01090362

Hepatoprotective activities of Astragalus persicus and Astragalus tournefortii ethanolic extracts against paracetamol induced liver damage in rats and their in vitro antioxidant effects

The aim of this study was to investigate the potential hepatoprotective effect of the ethanol extracts of Astragalus persicus (DC.) Fisch. & C.A.Mey (A. persicus) and Astragalus tournefortii Boiss (A. tournefortii) in a rat model of paracetamol (PCM) induced liver damage. PCM administration caused severe hepatic damage in rats as evidenced by elevated serum activities of aspartate aminotransferase (AST), alanine aminotransferase (ALT), alkaline phosphatase (ALP), ?-glutamyl transferase (?-GT) and serum level of total bilirubin (BRN), while decreased serum level of total protein (TP) and albumin (ALB). In liver homogenates, PCM elevated malondialdehyde (MDA) but decreased glutathione (GSH) level as well as glutathione peroxidase (GPx), superoxide dismutase (SOD) and catalase (CAT) activities. Administration of A. persicus and A. tournefortii extracts (200 and 400 mg/kg) for 7 days before PCM inhibited the acute elevation of the serum activities of AST, ALT, ALP and ?-GT enzymes and serum level of BRN. PCMinduced lipid peroxidation was likewise attenuated by both extracts. Similarly, both extracts increased the activities of the antioxidant enzymes (GPx, SOD, CAT) and reduced GSH concentration in the liver homogenates. The results of the in vitro antioxidant effect revealed considerable antioxidant activity for both extracts. The median effective concentration (EC50) values of A. persicus and A. tournefortii extracts and ascorbic acid for DPPH radical scavenging activities were 6455, 6199 and 75.62 ìg/ml, respectively. It was concluded that A. persicus and A. tournefortii possess hepatoprotective activities that could be partly attributed to their antioxidant effects

Inverted polymer solar cell based on MEH-PPV/PC61BM coupled with ZnO nanoparticles as electron transport layer

[Display omitted] •A sol-gel derived ZnO nanoparticles as ETL in inverted BHJ/PSCs is demonstrated.•CuI film as HTL is compared to the conventional HTL of PEDOT:PSS.•ITO/ZnO nanoparticles/MEH-PPV:PC61BM/CuI/Ag device gives the best photovoltaic performance. In this work, we demonstrate the use of annealed sol-gel derived ZnO nanoparticles acting as electron transport layer (ETL) in inverted bulk heterojunction (BHJ) polymer solar cells (PSCs). We have examined the photovoltaic performance of devices based on poly(2-methoxy-5-(2-ethylhexyloxy)-p-phenylenevinylene) (MEH-PPV):(6,6)-phenyl-C61-butyric acid methyl ester (PC61BM) blend system employing the ZnO nanoparticles as an ETL with CuI as hole transport layer (HTL) in comparison to the case of using the conventional HTL of poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene)/poly(styrene sulfonate) sulfonic acid (PEDOT:PSS). The effect of the presence of another layer of ZnO macrospheres attached to the ZnO nanoparticles is also investigated. The highest power conversion efficiency (PCE) value of 1.35% was achieved for device: ITO/ZnO nanoparticles/MEH-PPV:PC61BM/CuI/Ag, which is 275% more the value obtained when CuI was replaced by PEDOT:PSS. The comprehensive analyses on structural and optical characteristics including SEM, XRD, FTIR, PL and UV–vis spectroscopy indicated that the use of the ZnO nanoparticles alone as ETL, together with the CuI as HTL could effectively reduce trap-assisted recombination and charge accumulation at the interface, which is beneficial for the enhanced device performance

Design analysis of solar parabolic trough thermal collectors

This paper presents a review of the design parameters, mathematical techniques and simulations used in the design of parabolic trough solar systems, along with a review on their applications. Recent studies that analyze the deployment of solar parabolic trough collectors (SPTC) in different countries and the operational SPTC plants are also presented and discussed. The paper also discusses the different kinds of software and test methods of solar collectors developed since 1981 which can be distinguished by their particular mathematical models or tracking techniques. In particular, since the mathematical models are especially required for the design, analysis, testing and validation of the systems results as they provide an approximation of the dynamic behavior of the physical properties of the system, they are discussed in depth. The mathematical models allow the calculation of different parameters of the solar parabolic trough system, the angle of inclination of the collecting surface and the forces acting on the system. The validity and experimental validation of the major mathematical models on practical solar parabolic trough concentrators, receivers and other components of different dimension are also reviewed. The paper showed the optical efficiency values are close to 63% and the theoretical peak optical efficiency reached 75%