Fate of fatty acids during ensiling: relationship with milk fat composition of dairy cows

Transition of dairy cows from grazing to silage based rations significantly increases the saturated: unsaturated fatty acids (FA) ratio and decreases the content of beneficial C18:1 cis-9, C18:1 trans-11, C18:2 cis-9,trans-11 and C18:3n-3 in milk fat. This is partly related to a lower polyunsaturated FA (PUFA) supply from ensiled forages. The aim of this thesis was to investigate the scope of increasing the content PUFA in grass and maize silages, and to establish relationships between silage quality on the one hand and the FA content and composition, post-ensiling stability of PUFA, and milk FA composition of dairy cows on the other hand. The first focus of this thesis was to quantify the variation in FA content and composition in grass (n = 101) and maize (n = 96) silages, randomly sampled from commercial dairy farms in the Netherlands, and use multivariate analysis to identify the causes of this variation. The FA content and composition of grass and maize silages were highly variable, and this variation was primarily caused by differences in plant maturity at harvest. Silages made from younger grass and maize have higher contents of C18:3n-3.Most of the variation in FA content in the ensiled forages was caused by differences in plant maturity at harvest. Changes in FA content and composition were investigated in stover (leaves and stem) and ears (cob, shank and husks) in a set of maize genotypes, grown on sandy and clay soils and harvested at 14, 42, 56, 70, and 84 days after flowering (DAF). The contents of C18:3n-3 and total FAs in the stover dry matter (DM) declined at a slow rate up to 56 DAF and then decreased rapidly during 56–84 DAF. On the other hand the content of C18:2n-6 and total FAs in the ears DM increased up to 56 DAF and thereafter remained more or less constant. The maximum amount of PUFA in silage maize can be harvested around 56 DAF. Identifying pre and post-ensiling processes that optimize the stability of PUFA was the next goal. The stability of FA were investigated in untreated and mechanically bruised perennial ryegrass (Lolium perenne L.), wilted under field conditions for 0, 12, 24, 36, and 48 h, or wilted under controlled climate conditions at three temperatures (15, 25 or 35 °C) and two light (dark or light) regimes to DM contents of 425, 525 or 625 g/kg. The oxidation of FAs during wilting of grass was mainly caused by the duration of the wilting, wilting temperature only provoked small differences, whereas mechanical bruising of grass and light intensity did not affect the changes in FA contents. The highly esterified lipids of forages are extensively hydrolysed in the silo. Therefore, the post-ensiling stability of FAs was investigated in grass and maize silages, with a wide range in qualities, exposed to air for 0, 12, and 24 h. Exposure of grass and maize silages to air results in a quantitatively small, but consistent decline in the contents of major unsaturated FAs with a concomitant increase in the proportion of C16:0. The final study evaluated the effects of feeding maize silages, ensiled at different maturities, in combination with a high or low degradable carbohydrate concentrate on nutrient intake, milk production, and composition of milk and milk fatinearly lactating dairy cows. Maize maturity at harvest at a DM content of 300-420 g/kg fresh weight, did not affect the production performance of dairy cows, but resulted in decreased contents of C18:3n-3 and total n-3 and a decreased n-6:n-3 ratio in the milk fat of dairy cows. </p

Nutritional value of Pleurotus (Flabellatus) Djamor (R-22) cultivated on sawdusts of different woods

The sawdust of different woods were investigat ed for the cultivation of exotic strain of Pleurotus (flabellatus) djamor (R-22) to find out the efficiency of different nutrients including protein, fat, crude fiber, ash, dry matter and moisture. Among all type of nutrients, protein, fat, cr ude fiber, ash, dry matter and moisture of Pleurotus ostreatus on sawdust of different woods were observed. Protein was observed on cont rol treatment (cotton waste, kikar, mango, mixed sawdust, simbal and kail (21.89), (21.64), (21.34), (21.16), (21.03) and (20.75) % respectively. Fat was observed on control treatment (cotton waste, kikar, mango, mi xed sawdust, simbal and kail (0.80), (0.53), (0 .41), (0.33), (0.24) and (0.11)% respectively. Crude fiber was observed on control treatment (cotton waste, kikar, mango, mixed sawdust, simbal and kail (8.92), (8.45), (8.17), (7.96), (7.70) and (7.32) % respectively. Ash was observ ed on control treatment (cotton waste, kikar, mango, mixed sawdust, simbal and kail (7.65), (6.75), (6 .47), (6.39), (6.33) and (6.23%) respectively. Dry matter was observed on control treatment (cotton waste, kikar, mango, mixed sawdust, simbal and kail (6.47), (6.27), (6.13), (6.01), (5.87) and (5.67) % respectively. Moisture was observed on control treatment (c otton waste, kikar, mango, mixed sawdust, simbal and kail (84.55), (81.20), (79.85), (76.26), (74.35) and (71.14) % respectively. Oyster mushroom showed relatively more contents on control treatment cotton waste as compared to other substrates. The maximum protein, fat, crude fiber, ash, dry matter and moisture contents in Pleurotus (flabellatus) djamor (R-22) was obtained on Kikar sawdust .The lowest contents was obtained on kail sawdust

On the fishing power of monofilament and multifilament gill nets

The authors have discussed the results of comparative fishing, conducted in the Govindsagar reservoir, with simple monofilament and multifilament gill nets. The experiments were conducted both in clear and turbid water. In both these water masses, the monofilament gill net has been found to be more efficient. It is also found that the four major species of fishes of the reservoir have not shown any preference towards a specific gear

Column set gill net fishing in Gobindsagar reservoir

Previous authors observed the influence of temperature variations in movement of fishes and noticed better catches in bottom set nets during summer in Tungabhadra reservoir. The present account reports on similar observations in Gobindsagar reservoir

A performance analysis of dense stereo correspondence algorithms and error reduction techniques

Abstract: Dense stereo correspondence has been intensely studied and there exists a wide variety of proposed solutions in the literature. Different datasets have been constructed to test stereo algorithms, however, their ground truth formation and scene types vary. In this paper, state-of-the-art algorithms are compared using a number of datasets captured under varied conditions, with accuracy and density metrics forming the basis of a performance evaluation. Pre- and post-processing disparity map error reduction techniques are quantified

Impact of sedimentalogical processes on mangrove ecosystem of the Indus Delta

A detailed sedimentalogical study concerning the depletion of mangrove in the Indus Delta due to the marked decrease in the supply of silt was undertaken. Thirty one stations were established for sampling in a selected area of 12000 hectares between Korangi creek and Wad do Khuddi creek. Seventy one samples of soil were collected from 6cm and 1m depth, out of which fifty one samples were selected for sedimentalogical studies. It was inferred from this study that the marine depositional processes are distinctly dominating over the fluvial processes, which is major cause in decreasing the growth of mangrove. It was also inferred that among the sampled stations the sites having clayey silt (with silt 60%-70% and clay 25%-30%) are most favourable for mangrove plantation

Productivity and seasonal abundance of commercially important fishes of Gobindsagar Reservoir

Fishing experiments with gill nets were carried out at different centres of Gobindsagar reservoir through the years 1964-70. The seasonal abundance of main species of fishes and their zone of distribution were studied. Labeo diplostoma, Labeo bata, Barbus tor and Mystus seenghala are the main fish species of the reservoir. The abundance of the above species were observed to be the highest towards the Lunkhar arm of the reservoir

Local Damage of Plain and Reinforced Concrete Targets under Impact Load

In the present study, simplified models for calculating the penetration depth, scabbing, and perforation thicknesses for concrete targets have been proposed. These models consider the dynamic strain rate effect in the estimation of penetration parameters. The results of proposed model have been compared with the experimental data

Water-pipe smoking and albuminuria: new dog with old tricks

Water-pipe (WP) smoking is on rise worldwide for the past few years, particularly among younger individuals. Growing evidence indicates that WP smoking is as harmful as cigarette smoking. To date, most of the research has focused on acute health effects of WP smoking, and evidence remains limited when it comes to chronic health effects in relation to long-term WP smoking. Therefore, the aim of this study was to examine the association between WP smoking and albuminuria in apparently healthy individuals. This analysis was conducted on data of a population-based cross-sectional study—the Urban Rural Chronic Diseases Study (URCDS). The study sample was recruited from three sites in Pakistan. Trained nurses carried out individual interviews and obtained the information on demographics, lifestyle factors, and past and current medical history. Measurements of complete blood count, lipid profile, fasting glucose level, and 24-hour albuminuria were also made by using blood and urine samples. Albumin excretion was classified into three categories using standard cut-offs: normal excretion, high-normal excretion and microalbuminuria. Multiple logistic regression models were used to examine the relationship between WP smoking and albuminuria. The final analysis included data from 1,626 health individuals, of which 829 (51.0%) were males and 797 (49.0%) females. Of 1,626 individuals, 267 (16.4%) were current WP smokers and 1,359 (83.6%) were non-WP smokers. WP smoking was significantly associated with high-normal albuminuria (OR = 2.33, 95% CI 1.68-3.22, p-value &#60;0.001) and microalbuminuria (OR = 1.75, 95% CI 1.18-2.58, p-value 0.005) after adjustment for age, sex, BMI, social class, hypertension, and diabetes mellitus. WP smoking was significantly associated with high-normal albuminuria and microalbuminuria when analysis was stratified on hypertension and diabetes mellitus categories. WP smoking has a strong association with albuminuria in apparently healthy individuals. More research is warranted to evaluate the temporality of this association between WP smoking and albuminuria

On the optimum mesh size for the capture of Barbus tor (Hamilton)

Results of mesh selectivity experiments on B. tor are presented in this paper. Selectivity curve on the basis of maximum girth of fish in relation to perimeter of mesh was worked out. The optimum girth/mesh perimeter ratio was found to be 1.31. A linear regression of G+0.445L=12.8 was fitted for conversion of length to girth