Performance and economic consideration of broiler chickens fed enzyme supplemented cassava fibre meal

The search for alternative energy source to substitute for the expensive conventional energy feed resources in broiler chicken diet is the driving force of this study. Thus, the study assessed the performance and economics of the production of broiler chickens fed enzyme supplemented cassava fibre meal (CFM) in a 56-day feeding trial. A batch of three hundred and sixty (360) day-old Arbor acre broiler-chicks was allotted to twelve (12) diets replicated five (5) times of six (6) birds in a complete randomization. Cassava fibre was sun dried for 5 days with constant turning to prevent fermentation, reduce the moisture content and possibly reduce the cyanide content. Proximate composition, phytochemical components and cyanide contents were determined using appropriate standard methods. Cassava fibre meal was substituted for maize at 0, 20, 40, and 60% levels and Roxazyme® G2 supplementation was at 0, 100 and 200 mg/kg. Data collected on feed intake and weight gain were analysed using the General Linear Model (GLM), and differences in means where observed were separated using Duncan option of the SPSS 2006 version 15.0. The Economics of broiler chicken production was determined using economic tools such as gross margin and economic efficiency analyses. Results showed that CFM contained appreciable levels of nutrients that could promote broiler growth when substituted at optimum level as an energy source in broiler chicken diet. Substitution of CFM at 40 and 60% levels for maize led to a decrease (p<0.05) in weight gain and feed conversion of broiler chickens. Feed intake and weight gain were not influenced by dietary substitution of CFM for maize in the broiler starter and broiler finisher stages of growth. The effect of enzyme supplementation was not significant in the birds’ physiological growth at both starter and finisher stages. The effect of interaction was not significant (p>0.05) indicating that birds’ performance were not dependent on the two factors under investigation. Economics of broiler chicken production revealed that total cost was lower in birds fed CFM with or without enzyme supplementation compared with those fed the maizebased diets. Net revenue, economic efficiency and profitability ratio analysis showed better economic viability and profitability in birds fed CFM with or without enzyme supplementation compared with those fed maize-based diets

Using Ontology-based Information Extraction for Subject-based Auto-grading

The procedure for the grading of students’ essays in subject-based examinations is quite challenging particularly when dealing with large number of students. Hence, several automatic essay-grading systems have been designed to alleviate the demands of manual subject grading. However, relatively few of the existing systems are able to give informative feedbacks that are based on elaborate domain knowledge to students, particularly in subject-based automatic grading where domain knowledge is a major factor. In this work, we discuss the vision of subject-based automatic essay scoring system that leverages on semiautomatic creation of subject ontology, uses ontology-based information extraction approach to enable automatic essay scoring, and gives informative feedback to students

Is staying overnight in a farming hut a risk factor for malaria infection in a setting with insecticide-treated bed nets in rural Laos?

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Overnight stays in farming huts are known to pose a risk of malaria infection. However, studies reporting the risk were conducted in the settings of poor net coverage. This study sought to assess whether an overnight stay in a farming hut is associated with an increased risk of malaria infection if insecticide-treated bed nets (ITNs) are properly used.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>A pair of cross-sectional surveys was carried out in the Lamarm district of Sekong province, Laos, in March (dry season) and August (rainy season) in 2008. Questionnaire-based interviews and blood examinations were conducted with farmers and their household members from three randomly selected villages in March (127 households, 891 people) and August (128 households, 919 people). Logistic regression analysis, adjusted for potential confounding factors, was used to assess the association between malaria infection status and frequency of overnight stays for the two weeks prior to the study in both the seasons.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>In March, 13.7% of participants reported staying overnight in a farming hut at least once in the previous two weeks. The percentage increased to 74.6% in August. Not only adults but also young children stayed overnight as often as adults. The use of an ITN the preceding night was common both in farming huts (66.3% in March, 95.2% in August), and in main residences (85.8% in March, 92.5% in August). Logistic regression analysis showed no statistical association between malaria infection status and frequency of overnight stays in farming huts in either study period. However, people sharing one family type net with five people or more were significantly more likely to have malaria than those sharing a net with up to two people in the dry season.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>This study showed that staying overnight in farming huts was not associated with an increased risk of malaria infection in the setting where ITNs were widely used in farming huts. It suggests that malaria infection during overnight stays in farming huts might be preventable if ITNs are properly used in rural Laos.</p

Growth indices and economic implications of weaned rabbits fed Leucaena leucocephala leaf protein concentrate

This study assessed the performance and economic implications of rabbits fed Leucaena leucocephala leaf protein concentrate (LLPC) as protein source to replace soybean meal in rabbit diet. Five experimental diets were formulated in which LLPC replaced soybean meal at 0, 5, 10, 15 and 20% (representing 0, 1.20, 2.40, 3.60 and 4.80 g/100g, respectively in the gross feed composition). Three hundred and fifty (350) weaned rabbits with weight range 380-415g were randomly distributed to the five experimental diets at 70 rabbits per treatment of 14 rabbits per replicate. Results showed that total feed intake (TFI) (3401.30-3377.60g), average daily feed intake (ADFI) (60.74-60.31g), final live weight (FLW) (1160.32-1208.24g), total weight gain (TWG) (754.32-828.24g) and average daily weight gain (ADWG) (13.47-14.79g) were similar (P&gt;0.05) up to 10% substitution of soybean with LLPC. Average daily weight gain was highest (14.79g) at 10% LLPC-based diet, which though was not significant (P&gt;0.05) from the 13.47g weight gain on rabbits fed the control diet but statistically (P&lt;0.05) lower (11.30g) than rabbits fed 20% LLPC-based diet. Feed conversion ratio was significantly (P&lt;0.05) better (4.08) in rabbits fed 10% LLPC-based diet but significantly poor (4.91) at 20% LLPC-based diet. Results showed that while rabbits on 10% LLPC-based diet utilized their feed efficiently well as evidenced in their weight gain, those fed 20% LLPC-based diet poorly utilized their feed as revealed in their decrease body weight gain. Economics of LLPC inclusion in rabbit concentrate diet was most encouraging at 10% LLPC inclusion level where rabbit production generated the highest net profit of ₦418.62 vs ₦106.28 - N317.67, and the profit/rabbit over the control group was N177.40 vs N134.94 - 76.45 with the least cost of feed N/kg weight gain of N269.50 vs N291.63- N332.21 for other test diets. The better relative cost benefit (18.88%), economic efficiency and relative economic efficiency of 0.35 and 194.44%, respectively indicated the optimal level and economic benefit of LLPC inclusion at 10% (representing 2.40g/100g in the gross feed composition) replacement level for soybean meal in rabbit diets.Keywords: Economic implications, Leucaena leucocephala, Mimosine, Protein concentrate, Rabbi