Effect of dietary supplementation of turmeric (Curcuma Longa), ginger (Zingiber Officinale) and their combination as feed additives on feed intake, growth performance and economics of broiler

Objective: The present study was carried out to assess the consequence of supplementation of turmeric, ginger and their combination in the diets of broiler chickens and assessment in terms of feed intake, growth performance and economics of feeding. Materials and Methods: A total of 360 day old Cobb-500 chicks were randomly allocated to six dietary treatments each with three replicates of 20 chicks/replicate (n = 60). Six experimental diets were formulated in such a way that control diet (T0) contained neither turmeric nor ginger. Birds in group T1and T2were fed diets containing 0.50 and 0.75% turmeric, whereas birds in group T3and T4fed diet contained 0.50 and 0.75% ginger, respectively. Birds in group T5fed diets containing a combination of 0.50% ginger and 0.50% turmeric with commercial feed. The feeding experiment was carried out for 32 days and different parameters measured included: feed intake, weight gain, feed conversion ratio, dressing percentage and blood parameters. Results: Feed intake of experimental birds in T4group was higher compared to other groups, i.e., (T0, T1, T2, T3and T5) without a significant level. A body weight gain (g/bird) was found to be significantly (p<0.05) higher in ginger (T3group) and turmeric (T2group) supplemented group as compare to T4, T1, T5and T0group. Feed Conversion Ratio (FCR) was significantly (p<0.05) lower in the T3group as compare to other groups. The dressing percentage, thigh weight, back, neck, wing percentages and blood parameters (Hb, PCV and ESR) were not statistically different among control and other treatment groups. However, the relative weight of breast, wing, gizzard and proventriculus were significantly increased (p<0.05). The cost of production and return of birds was highly economical in treatment T2as compared to other treatment groups. Conclusion: On the basis of the results of the study, it is concluded that supplementation of turmeric (Curcuma longa) improves the growth performance of broilers when added at the rate of 0.75% level as feed additives in broiler ration

Isolation and biochemical characterizations of the bacteria (Acidovorax avenae subsp. avenae) associated with red stripe disease of sugarcane

Studies on Acidovorax avenae subsp. avenae, associated with red stripe disease of sugarcane was conducted in the Department of Plant Pathology, Pir Mehr Ali Shah Arid Agriculture University Rawalpindi during 2009 to 2010, in collaboration with Shakarganj Sugar Research Institute (SSRI), Jhang, Pakistan. Red stripe of sugarcane were recently observed on promising clones of sugarcane planted in autumn 2009 at Ashaba Research Farm of SSRI. Bacteria were isolated from diseased plants. These isolates yielded off white convex colonies on potato dextrose agar (PDA) media at 29°C with 1.7 to 1.9 mm diameter and were yellow on yeast extract dextrose chalk agar (YDC) media at 27°C with 1.8 to 2.0 mm diameter. The bacteria were rod shape measuring 0.5 to 0.6 × 1.4 to 1.6 μm on PDA and 0.6 to 0.7 × 1.5 to 1.7 μm on YDC. Bacterial culture was stored at different temperature levels for 150 days. Reisolation of bacterial culture which was stored at 4°C showed best result on YDC at 27°C after 150 days, whereas it showed positive result after 120 days on PDA at 29°C. Bacteria were gram negative, citrate utilization was positive, oxidase was negative, catalase was positive and urease was negative. Morphological appearance and biochemical characterizations identified the bacteria as A. avenae subsp. Avenae. In vitro screening for the efficacy of various antibiotics to inhibit the growth of A. avenae subsp. avenae on YDC media showed that ampicillin and vancomycin were most effective. Artificial inoculation on sugarcane against red stripe disease was observed. Observations were made upto six weeks for disease development. Out of 27 varieties, 16 were found resistant, four moderately resistant, five moderately susceptible and two susceptible.Key words: Sugarcane, yeast extract dextrose chalk agar (YDC), potato dextrose agar (PDA), Acidovorax avenae subsp. avenae, biochemical characterization, antibiotics

The sensitivity of real-time PCR amplification targeting invasive Salmonella serovars in biological specimens

Background: PCR amplification for the detection of pathogens in biological material is generally considered a rapid and informative diagnostic technique. Invasive Salmonella serovars, which cause enteric fever, can be commonly cultured from the blood of infected patients. Yet, the isolation of invasive Salmonella serovars from blood is protracted and potentially insensitive. Methods: We developed and optimised a novel multiplex three colour real-time PCR assay to detect specific target sequences in the genomes of Salmonella serovars Typhi and Paratyphi A. We performed the assay on DNA extracted from blood and bone marrow samples from culture positive and negative enteric fever patients. Results: The assay was validated and demonstrated a high level of specificity and reproducibility under experimental conditions. All bone marrow samples tested positive for Salmonella, however, the sensitivity on blood samples was limited. The assay demonstrated an overall specificity of 100% (75/75) and sensitivity of 53.9% (69/128) on all biological samples. We then tested the PCR detection limit by performing bacterial counts after inoculation into blood culture bottles. Conclusions: Our findings corroborate previous clinical findings, whereby the bacterial load of S. Typhi in peripheral blood is low, often below detection by culture and, consequently, below detection by PCR. Whilst the assay may be utilised for environmental sampling or on differing biological samples, our data suggest that PCR performed directly on blood samples may be an unsuitable methodology and a potentially unachievable target for the routine diagnosis of enteric fever. </p

Factors associated with teenage marital pregnancy among Bangladeshi women

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Teenage pregnancy is a public health concern both in developed and developing world. In Bangladesh, most of the first pregnancies occur immediately after marriage, especially among teenagers. Although women aged 15-29 years are the most fertility contributing women in Bangladesh, studies are not yet conducted on teenage pregnancy within this group of women. In the current study, an attempt had been made to identify the factors affecting teenage marital pregnancy in women aged 15-29 years.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>A cross sectional survey was carried out in 389 women, selected with a convenience sampling technique. Participants were selected on the basis of two criteria, such as married women and age within 15-29 years. We excluded women aged more than 29 years as we attempted to conduct study within high fertility contributing women and with the assumption that they may provide data subjected to relatively high level of recall bias as marital pregnancy may be a longer past event to them. In the analysis, we applied bi-variate and multi-variate logistic regression technique to find out odds ratio of teenage marital pregnancy.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Result revealed that 72.5% of the participants experienced first marital pregnancy during their teenage, with a mean age of 17.88 years (SD = 2.813). Multivariate logistic regression analysis revealed that participants aged 20-24 years had higher likelihood (OR 1.971, 95% CI 1.132 to 3.434), whereas participants aged 25-29 years had lower likelihood (OR 0.054, 95% CI 0.016 to 0.190) of experiencing teenage marital pregnancy compared to participants aged 15-19 years. In addition, participants desired for >2 children had significant higher odds (OR 3.573, 95% CI 1.910 to 6.684) and participants born in urban area had significant lower odds (OR 0.458, 95% CI 0.228 to 0.919) for teenage marital pregnancy.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Based on the findings, we conclude that in order to reduce teenage marital pregnancy, consideration should be given on women's desired number of children and birth place so that women's desired number of children is limited to within two children, and that rural women get increased working and other related opportunities that may contribute in delaying teenage pregnancy.</p

Utilisation of an operative difficulty grading scale for laparoscopic cholecystectomy

Background A reliable system for grading operative difficulty of laparoscopic cholecystectomy would standardise description of findings and reporting of outcomes. The aim of this study was to validate a difficulty grading system (Nassar scale), testing its applicability and consistency in two large prospective datasets. Methods Patient and disease-related variables and 30-day outcomes were identified in two prospective cholecystectomy databases: the multi-centre prospective cohort of 8820 patients from the recent CholeS Study and the single-surgeon series containing 4089 patients. Operative data and patient outcomes were correlated with Nassar operative difficultly scale, using Kendall’s tau for dichotomous variables, or Jonckheere–Terpstra tests for continuous variables. A ROC curve analysis was performed, to quantify the predictive accuracy of the scale for each outcome, with continuous outcomes dichotomised, prior to analysis. Results A higher operative difficulty grade was consistently associated with worse outcomes for the patients in both the reference and CholeS cohorts. The median length of stay increased from 0 to 4 days, and the 30-day complication rate from 7.6 to 24.4% as the difficulty grade increased from 1 to 4/5 (both p < 0.001). In the CholeS cohort, a higher difficulty grade was found to be most strongly associated with conversion to open and 30-day mortality (AUROC = 0.903, 0.822, respectively). On multivariable analysis, the Nassar operative difficultly scale was found to be a significant independent predictor of operative duration, conversion to open surgery, 30-day complications and 30-day reintervention (all p < 0.001). Conclusion We have shown that an operative difficulty scale can standardise the description of operative findings by multiple grades of surgeons to facilitate audit, training assessment and research. It provides a tool for reporting operative findings, disease severity and technical difficulty and can be utilised in future research to reliably compare outcomes according to case mix and intra-operative difficulty

Ultra-Fast and Sensitive Detection of Non-Typhoidal Salmonella Using Microwave-Accelerated Metal-Enhanced Fluorescence (“MAMEF”)

Certain serovars of Salmonella enterica subsp. enterica cause invasive disease (e.g., enteric fever, bacteremia, septicemia, meningitis, etc.) in humans and constitute a global public health problem. A rapid, sensitive diagnostic test is needed to allow prompt initiation of therapy in individual patients and for measuring disease burden at the population level. An innovative and promising new rapid diagnostic technique is microwave-accelerated metal-enhanced fluorescence (MAMEF). We have adapted this assay platform to detect the chromosomal oriC locus common to all Salmonella enterica subsp. enterica serovars. We have shown efficient lysis of biologically relevant concentrations of Salmonella spp. suspended in bacteriological media using microwave-induced lysis. Following lysis and DNA release, as little as 1 CFU of Salmonella in 1 ml of medium can be detected in <30 seconds. Furthermore the assay is sensitive and specific: it can detect oriC from Salmonella serovars Typhi, Paratyphi A, Paratyphi B, Paratyphi C, Typhimurium, Enteritidis and Choleraesuis but does not detect Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Streptococcus pneumoniae, Haemophilus influenzae or Acinetobacter baumanii. We have also performed preliminary experiments using a synthetic Salmonella oriC oligonucleotide suspended in whole human blood and observed rapid detection when the sample was diluted 1∶1 with PBS. These pre-clinical data encourage progress to the next step to detect Salmonella in blood (and other ordinarily sterile, clinically relevant body fluids)

Splenic CD11c(+) cells derived from semi-immune mice protect naive mice against experimental cerebral malaria

Background: Immunity to malaria requires innate, adaptive immune responses and Plasmodium-specific memory cells. Previously, mice semi-immune to malaria was developed. Three cycles of infection and cure (\u27three-cure\u27) were required to protect mice against Plasmodium berghei (ANKA strain) infection. Methods: C57BL/6 J mice underwent three cycles of P. berghei infection and drug-cure to become semi-immune. The spleens of infected semi-immune mice were collected for flow cytometry analysis. CD11c(+) cells of semiimmune mice were isolated and transferred into naive mice which were subsequently challenged and followed up by survival and parasitaemia. Results: The percentages of splenic CD4(+) and CD11c(+) cells were increased in semi-immune mice on day 7 post-infection. The proportion and number of B220(+)CD11c(+)low cells (plasmacytoid dendritic cells, DCs) was higher in semi-immune, three-cure mice than in their naive littermates on day 7 post-infection (2.6 vs 1.1% and 491,031 vs 149,699, respectively). In adoptive transfer experiment, three months after the third cured P. berghei infection, splenic CD11c(+) DCs of non-infected, semi-immune, three-cure mice slowed Plasmodium proliferation and decreased the death rate due to neurological pathology in recipient mice. In addition, anti-P. berghei IgG1 level was higher in mice transferred with CD11c(+) cells of semi-immune, three-cure mice than mice transferred with CD11c(+) cells of naive counterparts. Conclusion: CD11c(+) cells of semi-immune mice protect against experimental cerebral malaria three months after the third cured malaria, potentially through protective plasmacytoid DCs and enhanced production of malaria-specific antibody

Transgenic nematodes as biosensors for metal stress in soil pore water samples

Caenorhabditis elegans strains carrying stress-reporter green fluorescent protein transgenes were used to explore patterns of response to metals. Multiple stress pathways were induced at high doses by most metals tested, including members of the heat shock, oxidative stress, metallothionein (mtl) and xenobiotic response gene families. A mathematical model (to be published separately) of the gene regulatory circuit controlling mtl production predicted that chemically similar divalent metals (classic inducers) should show additive effects on mtl gene induction, whereas chemically dissimilar metals should show interference. These predictions were verified experimentally; thus cadmium and mercury showed additive effects, whereas ferric iron (a weak inducer) significantly reduced the effect of mercury. We applied a similar battery of tests to diluted samples of soil pore water extracted centrifugally after mixing 20% w/w ultrapure water with air-dried soil from an abandoned lead/zinc mine in the Murcia region of Spain. In addition, metal contents of both soil and soil pore water were determined by ICP-MS, and simplified mixtures of soluble metal salts were tested at equivalent final concentrations. The effects of extracted soil pore water (after tenfold dilution) were closely mimicked by mixtures of its principal component ions, and even by the single most prevalent contaminant (zinc) alone, though other metals modulated its effects both positively and negatively. In general, mixtures containing similar (divalent) metal ions exhibited mainly additive effects, whereas admixture of dissimilar (e.g. trivalent) ions often resulted in interference, reducing overall levels of stress-gene induction. These findings were also consistent with model predictions