3 research outputs found
Hauliers’ perceptions and attitudes towards farm animal welfare could influence the operational and logistics practices in sheep transport
survey of Mexico-based sheep hauliers was conducted in order to investigate perceptions and attitudes
toward farm animal welfare (FAW) and their influence on operational and logistic practices (OLPs) in
sheep transportation. The statistical analysis consisted in the application of 2-factor analyses (OLP and
animal welfare attitudes), additionally a cluster analysis; the latter allowed a segmentation of hauliers
according to their attitudes and OLP. The factor analysis gave 3 OLP factors: logistic issues, economic
losses, and welfare losses. In the case of factor analyses about animal welfare attitudes, we obtained 4
factors: training and regulations, animal needs, welfare improvement, and sensibility. The cluster analysis
of this study showed the existence of 3 haulier profiles; these were “efficient and concerned,”
“efficient and not concerned,” and “not efficient and concerned.” Our results showed that hauliers’
perceptions had a clear influence on the performance of their operative and logistic activities during the
sheep transportation. This study highlights the individual hauliers’ risk factors which can be considered
to improve not only animal welfare but also indicates the need to consider the transportation as a whole
because of potential factor combinations and confusions. The attitudes of sheep hauliers toward FAWare
a strategic component that requires being considered when hauliers are trained. If it can be shown that
modifying hauliers’ attitudes leads to improved OLP, then there is an opportunity to develop specific
training programs to modify certain haulier’s animal welfare attitudes, with a subsequent improvement
of sheep welfar
Effects of cellulase and xylanase enzymes mixed with increasing doses of Salix babylonica extract on in vitro rumen gas production kinetics of a mixture of corn silage with concentrate
Therefore, the objective of this study was to assess the
effects of different doses of plant extracts when combined
with exogenous fibrolytic enzymes on in vitro ruminal fermentation
of a mixture of corn silage with concentrate.An in vitro gas production (GP) technique was used to investigate the effects of combining different doses of Salix
babylonica extract (SB) with exogenous fibrolytic enzymes (EZ) based on xylanase (X) and cellulase (C), or their mixture
(XC; 1:1 v/v) on in vitro fermentation characteristics of a total mixed ration of corn silage and concentrate mixture (50:50,
w/w) as substrate. Four levels of SB (0, 0.6, 1.2 and 1.8 mL g–1 dry matter (DM)) and four supplemental styles of EZ (1 μL
g–1 DM; control (no enzymes), X, C and XC (1:1, v/v) were used in a 4×4 factorial arrangement. In vitro GP (mL g–1 DM)
were recorded at 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 24, 36, 48 and 72 h of incubation. After 72 h, the incubation process was stopped and
supernatant pH was determined, and then filtered to determine dry matter degradability (DMD). Fermentation parameters,
such as the 24 h gas yield (GY24), in vitro organic matter digestibility (OMD), metabolizable energy (ME), short chain fatty
acid concentrations (SCFA), and microbial crude protein production (MCP) were also estimated. Results indicated that
there was a SB´EZ interaction (P<0.0001) for the asymptotic gas production (b), the rate of gas production (c), GP from
6 to 72 h, GP2 (P=0.0095), and GP4 (P=0.02). The SB and different combination of enzymes supplementation influenced
(P<0.001) in vitro GP parameters after 12 h of incubation; the highest doses of SB (i.e., 1.8 mL g–1 DM), in the absence of
any EZ, quadratically increased (P<0.05) the initial delay before GP begins (L) and GP at different incubation times, with
lowering b (quadratic effect, P<0.0001) and c (quadratic effect, P<0.0001; linear effect, P=0.0018). The GP was the lowest
(P<0.05) when the highest SB level was combined with cellulose. There were SB´EZ interactions (P<0.001) for OMD, ME,
the partitioning factor at 72 h of incubation (PF72), GY24, SCFA, MCP (P=0.0143), and pH (P=0.0008). The OMD, ME, GY24
and SCFA with supplementation of SB extract at 1.8 mL g–1 DM were higher (P<0.001) than the other treatments, however
Antimicrobial resistance of three common molecularly identified pathogenic bacteria to Allium aqueous extracts
The aim of this work was to evaluate the in vitro bacterial inhibition of different types of garlic on Escherichia coli
ATCC 25922, Listeria monocytogenes and Staphylococcus aureus. The bacterial strains were molecularly identified
using gen 16S rDNA molecular identification. Four different types of garlics were used: 1) white, 2) Japanese, 3)
elephant and 3) black, and these were evaluated at two different concentrations (0.25 and 0.125 g/mL) per garlic
type. Bioactive compounds present in the garlics were identified using high-performance liquid chromatography
coupled to ultraviolet detector (HPLC-UV), and total polyphenols were quantified by the Folin-Ciocalteu technique.
The Kirby-Bauber method was used for the bacterial evaluation. Aqueous extract of black garlic had the
highest amount of polyphenols 6.26 ± 0.21 mg GAE/mL. The area of inhibition was measured and classified as
sensitive, intermediate or resistant. Using the disc diffusion assay, higher concentration (0.25 g/mL) of aqueous
extract of white garlic had the highest antibacterial activity area, with 21.46 ± 3.94 mm for L. monocytogenes,
20.61 ± 2.47 mm for S. aureus and 17.83 ± 2.21 mm for E. coli. White garlic had comparable antimicrobial activity
as the control (tetracycline at 30 ÎĽg) as indicated by the size of the inhibition halos. Based on your results,
white garlic can be used as an alternative to synthetic antimicrobials.
1. Introduction
Previously, natural products were used to combat diseases, however,
with the discovery of synthetic antibiotics, they were gradually replaced
[1,52,53]. Natural products used to be the major ingredient of many
drugs but pharmaceutical companies have decreased or even eliminated
research on natural products [2,42–46,52]. The focus has been on synthetic
antibiotics and their indiscriminate use have reduced their effectiveness
against infectious diseases in addition to incidences of antibiotics
resistance [3,47–50]. Foodborne diseases are still a public health
problem worldwide and the causal agents are mainly Escherichia coli
O157: H7, Salmonella spp., Listeria monocytogenes, and Clostridium botulinum
[4,5]. Bacteria have the ability to adapt to an environment and
develop resistance mechanisms, which can be of natural or acquired origin
[6,7,51].
Due to the current problems of antibiotics resistance facing the
livestock industry, natural products can be viable and economical al
ternatives [55,63]. One of such natural