Physico-chemical litter amendments and their impact on broiler chicks’ performance

The objective of the study was to compare the effects of alternative litter treatments on litter quality, growth, carcass traits and welfare of broiler chicks. Day old, commercial broiler chicks (180) having similar body weight range were randomly allocated to two different types of litter treatments, viz. treated litter at the rate of 120°C (T1) and litter treated with sodium bisulfate 25 g/sq. ft. (T2) along with the control group without any litter treatment (T0). Birds of all the treated groups performed better in terms of growth, feed intake and FCR, etc. Cake formation was frequent, highest in T0 followed by T1 and T2 groups which in turn affected the frequency of undesirably poor sanitary outlook of the birds. Significantly lower EPG (E. coli count per gram) count while a numerically lower microbial load of the faecal samples was noted in the T2 than T1 and control. This implied the change in the pH and acidification of litter materials prevented the growth of coccidia and microbial load in the litter, thus making the litter more suitable for bird welfare. It was concluded that chemical litter amendments had a beneficial effect on overall growth performance, carcass characteristics, health and welfare of broiler chicks

Epidemiology of brucellosis in cattle and dairy farmers of rural Ludhiana, Punjab.

Brucellosis is a zoonotic disease imposing significant impacts on livestock production and public health worldwide. India is the world's leading milk producer and Punjab is the state which produces the most cattle and buffalo milk per capita. The aim of this study was to investigate the epidemiology of bovine brucellosis to provide evidence for control of the disease in Punjab State, India. A cross-sectional study of dairy farms was conducted in humans and livestock in rural Ludhiana district using a multi-stage sampling strategy. The study suggests that brucellosis is endemic at high levels in cattle and buffalo in the study area with 15.1% of large ruminants testing seropositive and approximately a third of dairy farms having at least one animal test seropositive. In total, 9.7% of those in direct contact with livestock tested seropositive for Brucella spp. Persons that assisted with calving and/or abortion within the last year on a farm with seronegative livestock and people which did not assist with calving/abortion had 0.35 (95% CI: 0.17 to 7.1) and 0.21 (0.09 to 0.46) times the odds of testing seropositive compared to persons assisting with calving/abortion in a seropositive farm, respectively. The study demonstrated that persons in direct contact with cattle and buffalo in the study area have high risk of exposure to Brucella spp. Control of the disease in livestock is likely to result in benefits to both animal and public health sectors

Microbiological risk ranking of foodborne pathogens and food products in scarce-data settings

In the absence of epidemiological, microbiological or outbreak data, systematic identification of the hazards and food products posing the higher risk to the consumers is challenging. It is usually in Low- and Middle-Income Countries (LMICs), where the burden of foodborne disease is highest that data tend to be particularly scarce. In this study, we propose qualitative risk-ranking methods for pathogens and food products that can be used in settings where scarcity of data on the frequency/concentration of pathogens in foodstuff is a barrier towards the use of classical risk assessment frameworks. The approach integrates the existing knowledge on foodborne pathogens, manufacturing processes and intrinsic/extrinsic properties of food products with key context-specific information regarding the supply chain(s), characteristics of the Food Business Operators (FBOs) and cultural habits to identify: (i) the pathogens that should be considered as a “High” food safety priority and (ii) the food products posing the higher risk of consumer exposure to microbiological hazards via the oral (ingestion) route. When applied to the dairy sector of Andhra Pradesh (India) as a case study, Shiga toxin-producing E. coli, Salmonella spp., S. aureus and L. monocytogenes were identified as a “High” food safety priority across all FBOs. C. sakazakii was identified as a “High” priority for the FBOs producing infant formula/milk powder whilst Shigella spp., and Cryptosporidium spp. a “High” priority when considering the FBOs operating in the unregulated sector. Given the diversity of dairy products considered in the assessment, cluster analysis was used to identify products that shared similar intrinsic/extrinsic features known to drive the microbiological risk. The risk ranking was then done integrating the results of the cluster analysis with context-specific information. Products manufactured/retailed by FBOs in the informal market were considered as posing a “High” risk for the consumers due to a widespread lack of compliance to sanitary regulations. For dairy products produced by FBOs operating in the middle and formal end of the formal-informal spectrum, the risk of consumers exposure to microbiological hazards ranged from “Moderate” to “Extremely low” depending on the FBO and the intrinsic/extrinsic properties of the products. While providing risk estimates of lower precision if compared to data-driven risk assessments, the proposed method maximises the value of the information that can be easily gathered in LMICs and provide informative outputs to support food safety decision-making in contexts where resources to be allocated for prevention of foodborne diseases are limited and the food system is complex

Simple solutions to false results with plate/slide agglutination tests in diagnosis of infectious diseases of man and animals

We have developed a new Superagglutination test for serodiagnosis of infectious diseases. It differs from conventional plate/slide agglutination tests (PAT/SAT) by three additional steps: prior staining of serum antibody by adding a dye and addition of diluted biotinylated antiglobulin and avidin in sequence after mixing the antigen with the test serum. The new steps circumvent the problems of false positive and false negative results of PAT/SAT. In serodiagnosis of brucellosis, Superagglutination test had higher positive predictive value and specificity than Rose Bengal Plate Test (RBPT) and Standard Tube Agglutination Test (STAT) and higher negative predictive value and sensitivity than RBPT, STAT, ELISA and Complement Fixation Test (CFT).• Superagglutination is a simple, accurate and economic screening test for infections. • More specificity, sensitivity, positive & negative predictive value than RBPT, STAT. • More sensitivity, negative predictive value than ELISA and Complement Fixation Test

Simple solutions to false results with plate/slide agglutination tests in diagnosis of infectious diseases of man and animals

We have developed a new Superagglutination test for serodiagnosis of infectious diseases. It differs from conventional plate/slide agglutination tests (PAT/SAT) by three additional steps: prior staining of serum antibody by adding a dye and addition of diluted biotinylated antiglobulin and avidin in sequence after mixing the antigen with the test serum. The new steps circumvent the problems of false positive and false negative results of PAT/SAT. In serodiagnosis of brucellosis, Superagglutination test had higher positive predictive value and specificity than Rose Bengal Plate Test (RBPT) and Standard Tube Agglutination Test (STAT) and higher negative predictive value and sensitivity than RBPT, STAT, ELISA and Complement Fixation Test (CFT).• Superagglutination is a simple, accurate and economic screening test for infections. • More specificity, sensitivity, positive & negative predictive value than RBPT, STAT. • More sensitivity, negative predictive value than ELISA and Complement Fixation Test

Development of colloidal semiconductor nanocrystals : synthesis, properties and their outlook for light emitting diodes (LEDs)

In recent years, the optimum properties of colloidal nanocrystals have widespread its usage in electronics and optoelectronics applications. The advancement in synthesis enables control over the size, shape, crystal structure and composition of nanocrystals. It facilitates control over optical and physical properties of colloidal nanocrystals. They have tremendous potential to be used in different applications. This review focuses on recent progress in the study of colloidal semiconductor nanocrystals. Here, we review the advances in the synthesis techniques, optical properties, surface modification with ligand treatment and doping in colloidal semiconductor nanocrystals. This enables their use in various applications such as light emitting diodes, lasers, solar cells, biomedical labelling and gas sensors. Literature studies reveal that the incorporation of any impurity element or defect into semiconductor affects its optical properties as well other physical properties. Binary semiconductor nanocrystals from different groups have high degree of ionicity making them suitable for various applications. With the advancement in technology, ternary semiconductor nanocrystals have replaced the binary nanocrystals as they possess tunable emission in the visible region of spectrum. In this review, we have summarized different ternary semiconductor nanocrystals which have been applied in light emitting diodes, biosensor, imaging, solar cell and drug delivery.Published versio