Effects of Lactobacillus Strains as a Probiotic and a Hypolipidaemic Agent for Chickens

In recent years, there has been considerable interest in the beneficial effects of probiotics (direct-fed microbials, which include Lactobacillus) to modulate the lipid metabolism. However, the mechanism(s) involved remains unclear. A series of experiments was carried out to investigate the ability of 1 2 Lactobacillus strains to deconj ugate bile salts and to remove cholesterol in vitro, and to assess their potential as a pro biotic and as a hypolipidaemic agent for broilers and laying hens. Bile salt hydrolase (BSH) activity (resulting in bile salt deconjugation) of intestinal bacteria is closely linked to the lowering of cholesterol. The results of the in vitro studies showed that all the 1 2 Lactobacillus strains could deconjugate sodium glychocholate (GCA) and sodium taurocholate (TCA) bile salts, and all the strains, except L. fermentum I 24, had a higher affinity for GCA. However, only eight strains could deconjugate sodium taurodeoxycholate (TDCA). This indicates that the BSH of the Lactobacillus strains is substrate specific. The 1 2 Lactobacillus strains showed significant differences in their ability to reduce cholesterol from the growth medium (27 to 85 %) with or without bile salt, indicating that bile salt is not a prerequisite for the removal of cholesterol. Lactobacillus acidophilus I 1 6, L. crispatus I 1 2, L. brevis C 1 7 and I 2 1 1 , and L. Jermentum I 24 and I 25 removed cholesterol from the growth medium mainly through assimilation of cholesterol into the cells. On the other hand, L. brevis C 1 , C 1 0, I 23 and I 2 1 8, and L. Jermentum C 1 6 removed cholesterol through both assimilation and co-precipitation of deconjugated bile salt with cholesterol at low pH. The Lactobacillus strains assimilated more esterified than non-esterified cholesterol and the assimilated cholesterol was tightly bound to the cells. Cells grown in the presence of cholesterol were more resistant to lysis by sonication than when grown in its absence, suggesting a possible alteration of the cell wall or membrane by the assimilated cholesterol. Cholesterol removal by the Lactobacillus strains was also affected by Tween 80. The feeding trials showed that the supplementation of a mixture of the 1 2 Lactobacillus cultures (LC), as a probiotic for broilers, significantly improved growth equivalent to that provided by the antibiotic, oxytetracycline, but the feed conversion ratio was better in LC-fed broilers. The supplementation of LC also significantly lowered the total cholesterol, low density lipoprotein cholesterol and triglycerides of the serum; the cholesterol of the carcass and liver; abdominal fat deposition; and fat contents of the liver, muscle and carcass of broilers; but there was little effect on the fatty acid compositions of the liver, muscle and carcass. In laying hens, the supplementation of LC improved the feed efficiency and hen-day egg production during the early stage of the laying cycle, and increased egg weight and influenced a shift from small and medium to large and extra large eggs throughout the laying cycle. However, LC had very little effect on improving the fatty acid composition, and the cholesterol and total fat contents of eggs

Work Family Conflict and its impact on Career and Relation to Gender

Work family conflict and career are very essential to the continuing growth of educational system around the world and they rank alongside professional knowledge and skills, center competencies, educational resources as well as strategies, in genuinely determine educational success and performance. This study assessed the differences and relationship between male and female on work family conflict and its impact on career among the employees in university of Jaffna. The relationship between personal variable and work and family related attitude have indentified. The findings of this study, there is a difference between male and female employees on work family conflict. In this study, most of the male employees have low level of work family conflict and high level of career satisfaction than leads to high level of career satisfaction among the employees in University of Jaffna. Based on the findings valuable suggestions have been provided increase the career satisfaction and decrease the work family conflict to the management of the university employees to achieve sustainable competitive advantage through people. Key words: - Work – family conflict, Gender, Caree

Pemansuhan Akta Kawalan Sewa Dan Implikasinya Terhadap Pengguna Premis Terkawal Di Dalam Kawasan Pusat Bandar

Kajian ini mengenai kawalan sewa beli Malaysia dan implikasi permansuhan Akta Kawalan Sewa 1966 terhadap pengguna premis terkawal di kawasan pusat bandar The title of my thesis is the repeal Of The Rent Control A.ct 1966 and its implications

Characterization of Cellulase Enzyme Inhibitors Formed During the Chemical Pretreatments of Rice Straw

Production of fuels and chemicals from a renewable and inexpensive resource such as lignocellulosic biomass is a lucrative and sustainable option for the advanced biofuel and bio-based chemical platform. Agricultural residues constitute the bulk of potential feedstock available for cellulosic fuel production. On a global scale, rice straw is the largest source of agricultural residues and is therefore an ideal crop model for biomass deconstruction studies. Lignocellulosic biofuel production involves the processes of biomass conditioning, enzymatic saccharification, microbial fermentation and ethanol distillation, and one of the major factors affecting its techno-economic feasibility is the biomass recalcitrance to enzymatic saccharification. Preconditioning of lignocellulosic biomass, using chemical, physico-chemical, mechanical and biological pretreatments, is often practiced such that biomass becomes available to downstream processing. Pretreatments, such as dilute acid and hot water, are effective means of biomass conversion. However, despite their processing importance, preconditioning biomass also results in the production of carbohydrate and lignin degradation products that are inhibitory to downstream saccharification enzymes. The saccharification enzyme cocktail is made up of endo-cellulase, exo-cellulase and beta-glucosidase enzymes, whose role is to cleave cellulose polymers into glucose monomers. Specifically, endo-cellulase and exo-cellulase enzymes cleave cellulose chains in the middle and at the end, resulting in cellobiose molecules, which are hydrolyzed into glucose by beta-glucosidase. Unfortunately, degradation compounds generated during pretreatment inhibit the saccharification enzyme cocktail. Various research groups have identified specific classes of inhibitors formed during biomass pretreatment and have studied their inhibitory effect on the saccharification cocktail. These various research groups prepared surrogate solutions in an attempt to mimic pretreatment hydrolyzates. No group has yet attempted to elucidate the inhibitory action of compounds isolated from pretreatment hydrolyzates. Elucidating the inhibition of cellulases using actual biomass hydrolyzates would offer insights as to which inhibitors, formed during a pretreatment, are key in causing inhibition. Knowing the key inhibitor(s) would allow for the development of processing conditions that minimize their production or of their removal through hydrolyzate detoxification methods. This research has characterized various chemical compounds released during dilute acid and hot water pretreatment of rice straw and has evaluated their inhibitory effects on endo-cellulase, exo-cellulase and & beta-glucosidase enzymes. The hot water pretreatment hydrolyzate, generated at 220 °C and 52 min, was found to be particularly inhibitory to exo- and endo-cellulases, and was chosen for further evaluation. This hot water hydrolyzate was fractionated using centrifugal partition chromatography (CPC) and grouped into furans, organic acids, phenolics, monomeric and oligomeric sugars. When these fractions were incubated with exo-cellulase, it was determined that fractions containing acetic acid and phenolics were highly inhibitory, resulting in 92 % and 87 % inhibition of initial hydrolysis rates, respectively. This study proposes a new approach for identifying key inhibitory compounds in biomass prehydrolyzates, eventually paving the way for developing strategies to the improve the enzymatic saccharification efficiency of lignocellulosic biomass

Evaluation of group discussion on developing oyster culture in Kerala

Edible oyster presents good farming potential in Kerala in view of the conducive ecology and manpower availability. As the technology transfer function is vested with the extension personnel of the Socioeconomic Evaluation and Technology Transfer Division of CMFRI, a systematic evaluation of the programme was conducted by the Division to quantify opinions and suggestions and to list out the constraints anticipated in taking up the technology which would be helpful in developing suitable TOT strategies

Study of Clinical Significance of Unrecognized Renal Dysfunction in Patients with Acute Stroke

INTRODUCTION: Unrecognized renal insufficiency, defined as an estimated glomerular filtration rate <60 mL/min/1.73 m2 in the presence of normal serum creatinine levels, is a common comorbid condition among patients with various cardiovascular conditions. The current study was aimed to evaluate the prevalence and clinical significance of unrecognized renal dysfunction in patients admitted with acute stroke. METHODS: This cross sectional study consisted of patients with acute stroke admitted in medical ward at Stanley medical college. Estimated glomerular filtration is estimated using MDRD and CKD – EPI formula. Study group is divided into three groups (normal renal function, unrecognized and recognized renal dysfunction) as per eGFR. The two primary outcomes such as severe disability at hospital discharge and in-hospital mortality are compared in each group. RESULTS: Of the 100 patients with stroke included in the study, 62% had normal renal function, 31% had recognized renal insufficiency, and 7% had unrecognized renal insufficiency. Mortality rates are higher in patients with recognized and unrecognized renal insufficiency compared with patients with normal renal function (29%, %, and 28.5% and 9.6%) respectively, P < 0.04053). Similarly, severe disability rates at discharge are also higher in patients with recognized and unrecognized renal insufficiency compared with patients with normal renal function (72.27%, 80 %, and 32.14%) respectively. CONCLUSION: Unrecognized renal insufficiency is common among patients with acute stroke and is associated with adverse short-term outcomes

Biodecolorization and biodegradation of Reactive Blue by Aspergillus sp.

Aspergillus sp. effectively decolorized Reactive Blue and other structurally different synthetic dyes. Agitation was found to be an important parameter, while glucose (99%), sucrose (97%) and mannitol (98%) were the best carbon sources for the decolorization. Decolorization was effective in an acidic environment (pH 3). Few chemically different dyes such as Reactive Black (75%), Reactive Yellow (70%), Reactive Red (33%) and Coloron Violet (66%) were decolorized moderately.The dye Coloron Black (9%)was highly resistant for decolorization by Aspergillus sp. Both spectral analysis and HPLC analysis were confirmatory to degradation

Prevalence of obesity among adults in Ras Al Khaimah, United Arab Emirates

Background: There is an increasing prevalence of obesity globally which is associated with Non Communicable Diseases. As this trend continues even in UAE we decided to focus on determining the prevalence of obesity among adults in Ras Al Khaimah (RAK), UAE.Methods: This was a retrospective observational study done in adults between the age group of 18 to 77 years using convenience sampling technique in 544 subjects. Anthropometric, bio chemical, clinical and demographic data was collected by direct interview for four consecutive years, i.e. from 2013 to 2016. Body Mass Index (BMI) was analyzed to classify individuals as overweight (BMI 25.0-29.9kg/m²), Obese grade I (BMI 30.0-34.9kg/m²), Obese grade II (BMI 35.0-39.9kg/m²) and obese grade III (BMI > 40.0kg/m²).Results: Data was obtained from 544 subjects and considered for analysis. Our results showed that the mean age of the study population was 39.29±13.43 years, the mean weight was 75.35±15.65 kilograms and the mean BMI was 27.62±5.43kg/m2. A total of 67.6% of the study population was either overweight or obese. The prevalence of overweight is 36.2% followed by obesity prevalence of 31.4% of which 22.8% were categorized as Grade I obese, 5.5% Grade II obese and 3.1% Grade III obese. We found that higher proportions of males were in overweight and obese category compared to females.Conclusions: The results derived from our study shows that obesity and overweight are widespread among Ras al khaimah population with the obesity prevalence of 31.4%. Hence, policy makers should focus on preparing national nutritional strategies and implement protocols to overcome this burden by giving practical solutions

Homometallic Dinuclear Cu(II) and Zn(II) Complexes Derived from Salophen-type Ligand: Synthesis, Characterization and Anticancer Screening

Introduction: A series of salophen-type Cu(II) and Zn(II) dinuclear metal complexes of a Schiff base derived from o-phenylenediamine were successfully synthesized, characterized and screened for their anticancer activity. Methods and Results: All compounds were characterized physicochemical and spectral techniques namely elemental analysis (C, H, N), magnetic susceptibility (MSB), molar conductivity, thermal gravimetric analysis (TGA), infrared (IR) and nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy. The shifting of C=N, C-O phenolic and C-O methoxy peaks and the appearance of new peaks assignable to M-N and M-O in IR spectra of the complexes indicated the coordination of azomethine N, phenolic O and methoxy O donor atoms with metal centers. The disappearance of the hydroxyl peak in 1H NMR spectra of the Zn(II) complex supported the involvement of phenolic O upon formation of the metal complex. The Cu(II) complex was paramagnetic with magnetic moment values of 1.97, close to the theoretical spin only magnetic moment, μso, for Cu(II). The compounds were screened for anticancer activity against human colon cancer cells (HCT116). The Cu(II) complex revealed the highest activity with IC50 value of 21.17 ± 0.76 μM. Conclusion: The ligand coordinated as a hexadentate ligand through O and N donor atoms of phenolic, methoxy and azomethine groups. From anticancer screening, it was observed that Cu2(OVanOPD) complex exhibited the highest activity followed by OVanOPD ligand and Zn2(OVanOPD) complex