Oregano essential oil in the diet of broilers: performance, carcass characteristics, and blood parameters

Efficacy of the phytogenic feed additive oregano essential oil (OEO) (Origanum vulgare L.) was assessed as an alternative to an antibiotic as a growth promoter (AGP) in broiler diets. Three hundred male broiler chicks were assigned to five treatments, which consisted of diets with different levels of OEO (300, 600, and 900 mg/kg of diet), a negative control, and a positive control. Broiler performance was evaluated from 1 to 21 and 1 to 39 days old. From 1 to 39 days old, the broilers of the negative control group presented lower feed intake than those fed OEO300. No significant effect was observed on weight gain. The greatest feed conversion ratio occurred in the positive control group. Broilers treated with OEO300 had greater carcass yield than those in the positive control group. The haemogram, leukogram, and heterophil/lymphocyte ratio were positively influenced by OEO300. Red blood cell and leukocyte counts increased in a dose-dependent manner in broilers fed OEO-supplemented diets, while broilers in the positive control group had the lowest levels of haematocrit, mean corpuscular haemoglobin concentration, and plasma protein. Differential leukometry revealed lymphocyte numbers were increased with OEO treatment and reduced in the positive control group. For hepatic and renal metabolism, the broilers in the positive control group exhibited the greatest serum activities of aspartate aminotransferase, alanine aminotransferase, gamma-glutamyl transferase, and alkaline phosphatase. Although more studies on its efficacy are needed, OEO at 300 mg/kg may be used as a phytogenic additive in broiler diets, especially those without AGP.Keywords: antibiotic as growth promoter, immune system, phytogenic feed additiv

A Charge Pump Without Overstress For Standard Cmos Process With Improved Current Driver Capability

Many charge pump structures that overcome gate-oxide overstress have been proposed in the last few years. Though they differ in the number of phases and in efficiency, they have almost the same current driver capability. A new charge pump without gate-oxide overstress, with a better current driver capability is proposed here. The new circuit is derived from a two-phase charge pump in order to inherit its efficiency. A four-stage structure of the proposed circuit has shown a driver current capability 40% better than the previous solutions. The proposed circuit is also faster than the previous charge pumps that overcome gate-oxide overstress. © 2008 IEEE.618622Cruz, C.A.M., Filho, C.A.R., Mognon, V.R., A Charge Pump Circuit Without Gate-Oxide Overstress for Standard CMOS Technology and Suitable for Low-Power Applications these ProceedingsRecape, E., Dage, J.M., A PMOS-switch based charge pump, allowing lost cost implementation on a CMOS standard process (2005) Proc. ESSCIRC, pp. 77-80. , SeptPan, J., Yoshihara, T., A Charge Pump Circuit Without Overstress in Low-Voltage CMOS Standard Process (2007) IEEE Electron Devices and Solid-State, pp. 501-504. , DecCabrine, A., Gobbi, L., Torelli, G., Enhanced charge pump for ultra-low-voltage applications (2006) Electron. Lett, 42 (0), pp. 512-514. , AprilKer, M.D., Chen, S.L., Tsai, C.S., Design of charge pump circuit with consideration of gate-oxide reliability in low-voltage CMOS process (2006) IEEE J. Solid-State Circuits, 41, pp. 1100-1107. , MayDickson, J.F., On-chip high voltage generation in MNOS integrated circuits using an improved voltage multiplier technique (1976) IEEE J. Solid State Circuits, pp. 374-378. , Ju