The Effects of a Natural Polyphenol Extract from Sugarcane (Saccharum officinarum) on the Growth, Survival, and Feed Conversion Efficiency of Juvenile Black Tiger Shrimp (Penaeus monodon)

Farmed shrimp feeds are under continuous development to maximise shrimp growth, health, and feed efficiency. There is evidence in aquaculture species that botanical ingredients may be capable of improvements in each of these traits. However, the full potential of these ingredients remains largely unexplored. We investigated the effect of dietary additions of a polyphenol-rich sugarcane extract (PRSE) at the rate of 0, 2, 4, or 6 g kg−1 of diet, on the growth, survival, feed conversion ratio, and pathogen loading of black tiger shrimp (Penaeus monodon) over a 10-week feeding period in a small-scale intensive RAS system. Shrimp fed the highest level of PRSE compared to the control were 54% heavier (15.4 vs. 10.0 g; p 0.05). These findings demonstrate that polyphenol-rich sugarcane extracts have the potential to improve shrimp growth and FCR when added into feed formulations. Further research should be conducted in commercial rearing conditions for validation

From feed to fork: immunity, performance and quality of products from farm animals fed sugarcane products

Sugarcane extracts have generated a growing interest due to their potential applications that extend beyond conventional sugar and ethanol production. These by-products, along with sugarcane extracts offer valuable nutrients and compounds that can be utilized in animal feed supplementation, aiming to improve immunity and growth performance, and the quality of animal-derived products consumed by humans. The immune-boosting properties of sugarcane supplementation have been documented through several studies highlighting enhanced cytotoxicity, increased phagocytic capacity, and modulation of immune cells and cytokine production. Abundant in polyphenols and bioactive compounds, sugarcane products are believed to contribute to these immunological effects. However, further research is required to unravel the specific mechanisms underlying these actions. Supplementing sugarcane by-products in animal feed has shown promising results of improved growth rates and weight gains in various animal species. Sugarcane supplementation positively influences animal performance by optimizing nutrient intake and utilization, enhancing feed conversion efficiency, and promoting healthy growth. Moreover, sugarcane supplementation has been associated with improved meat tenderness and overall quality in animal-derived products. To optimize the utilization of sugarcane products, future research will need to focus on determining optimal inclusion quantities and product or extract combinations, identifying specific compound classes, and balancing nutritional profiles in animal feed formulations. Additionally, studies should focus on evaluating long-term effects on animal health and subsequent product quality, and explore the environmental sustainability of sugarcane product supplementation in feed. This mini-review explores the impact of sugarcane product supplementation on swine, poultry, aquaculture species and ruminants, focusing on its effects on immunity, growth performance, and product quality

High resolution chemical mapping of biomimetic membranes by force volume imaging

Melbourne, VIC

Visualising and Quantifying Cereal Root Responses to Phosphorus

Phosphorus (P) and nitrogen macronutrient deficiencies remain a primary constraint to global agricultural production. Expectations for decreasing fertiliser availability and increased food demand provide impetus for improving plant nutrient efficiencies. While significant genetic advances have been made based on plant shoot characteristics, the root system traits have remained largely untargeted in breeding programs. This is largely due to the difficulties in rapidly assessing root system attributes. Since the spatial distribution of the root system (root architecture) determines the edaphic resources available to plants, it is logical to target root architecture in an effort to improve plant nutrient acquisition efficiency. Characteristics such as localised root proliferation in response to high nutrient patches could be improved to increase nutrient capture from point source fertiliser applications

Global burden of 288 causes of death and life expectancy decomposition in 204 countries and territories and 811 subnational locations, 1990–2021: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2021

BACKGROUND Regular, detailed reporting on population health by underlying cause of death is fundamental for public health decision making. Cause-specific estimates of mortality and the subsequent effects on life expectancy worldwide are valuable metrics to gauge progress in reducing mortality rates. These estimates are particularly important following large-scale mortality spikes, such as the COVID-19 pandemic. When systematically analysed, mortality rates and life expectancy allow comparisons of the consequences of causes of death globally and over time, providing a nuanced understanding of the effect of these causes on global populations. METHODS The Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study (GBD) 2021 cause-of-death analysis estimated mortality and years of life lost (YLLs) from 288 causes of death by age-sex-location-year in 204 countries and territories and 811 subnational locations for each year from 1990 until 2021. The analysis used 56 604 data sources, including data from vital registration and verbal autopsy as well as surveys, censuses, surveillance systems, and cancer registries, among others. As with previous GBD rounds, cause-specific death rates for most causes were estimated using the Cause of Death Ensemble model-a modelling tool developed for GBD to assess the out-of-sample predictive validity of different statistical models and covariate permutations and combine those results to produce cause-specific mortality estimates-with alternative strategies adapted to model causes with insufficient data, substantial changes in reporting over the study period, or unusual epidemiology. YLLs were computed as the product of the number of deaths for each cause-age-sex-location-year and the standard life expectancy at each age. As part of the modelling process, uncertainty intervals (UIs) were generated using the 2·5th and 97·5th percentiles from a 1000-draw distribution for each metric. We decomposed life expectancy by cause of death, location, and year to show cause-specific effects on life expectancy from 1990 to 2021. We also used the coefficient of variation and the fraction of population affected by 90% of deaths to highlight concentrations of mortality. Findings are reported in counts and age-standardised rates. Methodological improvements for cause-of-death estimates in GBD 2021 include the expansion of under-5-years age group to include four new age groups, enhanced methods to account for stochastic variation of sparse data, and the inclusion of COVID-19 and other pandemic-related mortality-which includes excess mortality associated with the pandemic, excluding COVID-19, lower respiratory infections, measles, malaria, and pertussis. For this analysis, 199 new country-years of vital registration cause-of-death data, 5 country-years of surveillance data, 21 country-years of verbal autopsy data, and 94 country-years of other data types were added to those used in previous GBD rounds. FINDINGS The leading causes of age-standardised deaths globally were the same in 2019 as they were in 1990; in descending order, these were, ischaemic heart disease, stroke, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and lower respiratory infections. In 2021, however, COVID-19 replaced stroke as the second-leading age-standardised cause of death, with 94·0 deaths (95% UI 89·2-100·0) per 100 000 population. The COVID-19 pandemic shifted the rankings of the leading five causes, lowering stroke to the third-leading and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease to the fourth-leading position. In 2021, the highest age-standardised death rates from COVID-19 occurred in sub-Saharan Africa (271·0 deaths [250·1-290·7] per 100 000 population) and Latin America and the Caribbean (195·4 deaths [182·1-211·4] per 100 000 population). The lowest age-standardised death rates from COVID-19 were in the high-income super-region (48·1 deaths [47·4-48·8] per 100 000 population) and southeast Asia, east Asia, and Oceania (23·2 deaths [16·3-37·2] per 100 000 population). Globally, life expectancy steadily improved between 1990 and 2019 for 18 of the 22 investigated causes. Decomposition of global and regional life expectancy showed the positive effect that reductions in deaths from enteric infections, lower respiratory infections, stroke, and neonatal deaths, among others have contributed to improved survival over the study period. However, a net reduction of 1·6 years occurred in global life expectancy between 2019 and 2021, primarily due to increased death rates from COVID-19 and other pandemic-related mortality. Life expectancy was highly variable between super-regions over the study period, with southeast Asia, east Asia, and Oceania gaining 8·3 years (6·7-9·9) overall, while having the smallest reduction in life expectancy due to COVID-19 (0·4 years). The largest reduction in life expectancy due to COVID-19 occurred in Latin America and the Caribbean (3·6 years). Additionally, 53 of the 288 causes of death were highly concentrated in locations with less than 50% of the global population as of 2021, and these causes of death became progressively more concentrated since 1990, when only 44 causes showed this pattern. The concentration phenomenon is discussed heuristically with respect to enteric and lower respiratory infections, malaria, HIV/AIDS, neonatal disorders, tuberculosis, and measles. INTERPRETATION Long-standing gains in life expectancy and reductions in many of the leading causes of death have been disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic, the adverse effects of which were spread unevenly among populations. Despite the pandemic, there has been continued progress in combatting several notable causes of death, leading to improved global life expectancy over the study period. Each of the seven GBD super-regions showed an overall improvement from 1990 and 2021, obscuring the negative effect in the years of the pandemic. Additionally, our findings regarding regional variation in causes of death driving increases in life expectancy hold clear policy utility. Analyses of shifting mortality trends reveal that several causes, once widespread globally, are now increasingly concentrated geographically. These changes in mortality concentration, alongside further investigation of changing risks, interventions, and relevant policy, present an important opportunity to deepen our understanding of mortality-reduction strategies. Examining patterns in mortality concentration might reveal areas where successful public health interventions have been implemented. Translating these successes to locations where certain causes of death remain entrenched can inform policies that work to improve life expectancy for people everywhere. FUNDING Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

Application of X-ray computed tomography to quantify fresh root decomposition in situ

Background and aims: Much of our understanding of plant root decomposition and related carbon cycling come from mass loss rates calculated from roots buried in litter bags. However, this may not reflect what actually happens in the soil, where the interactions between root and soil structure presents a more complex physico-chemical environment compared to organic matter isolated in a porous bag buried in disturbed soil. This work investigates the potential of using X-ray micro-computed tomography (CT) to measure root decomposition in situ. Methods: Roots of 'Vicia faba' L. were excised from freshly germinated seeds, buried in re-packed soil cores and cores incubated for 60 days. Changes in root volume and surface area were measured using repeated scans. Additional samples were destructively harvested and roots weighed to correlate root mass with root volume. The method was further applied to an experiment to investigate the effects of soil bulk density and soil moisture on root decomposition. Results: Root volume (X-ray CT) and root mass (destructive harvest) decreased by 90 % over the 60 day incubation period, by which stage, root volume and mass had stabilised. There was a strong correlation (R² = 0.97) between root volume and root mass. Conclusions: X-ray CT visualization and analysis provides a unique toolbox to understand root decomposition in situ

Quantifying the response of wheat ('Triticum aestivum' L) root system architecture to phosphorus in an Oxisol

Background and aims: Despite the recognised importance of root architecture to plant productivity, our ability to easily observe and quantify root responses to stresses in soil at appropriate mechanistic resolution, remains poor. In this study we examine the impact of P bands on root architecture in heterogeneous soil, trialling a rapid non-destructive analysis technique. Methods: We examined fast

Ecological succession, hydrology and carbon acquisition of biological soil crusts measured at the micro-scale.

The hydrological characteristics of biological soil crusts (BSCs) are not well understood. In particular the relationship between runoff and BSC surfaces at relatively large (>1 m(2)) scales is ambiguous. Further, there is a dearth of information on small scale (mm to cm) hydrological characterization of crust types which severely limits any interpretation of trends at larger scales. Site differences and broad classifications of BSCs as one soil surface type rather than into functional form exacerbate the problem. This study examines, for the first time, some hydrological characteristics and related surface variables of a range of crust types at one site and at a small scale (sub mm to mm). X-ray tomography and fine scale hydrological measurements were made on intact BSCs, followed by C and C isotopic analyses. A 'hump' shaped relationship was found between the successional stage/sensitivity to physical disturbance classification of BSCs and their hydrophobicity, and a similar but 'inverse hump' relationship exists with hydraulic conductivity. Several bivariate relationships were found between hydrological variables. Hydraulic conductivity and hydrophobicity of BSCs were closely related but this association was confounded by crust type. The surface coverage of crust and the microporosity 0.5 mm below the crust surface were closely associated irrespective of crust type. The δ (13)C signatures of the BSCs were also related to hydraulic conductivity, suggesting that the hydrological characteristics of BSCs alter the chemical processes of their immediate surroundings via the physiological response (C acquisition) of the crust itself. These small scale results illustrate the wide range of hydrological properties associated with BSCs, and suggest associations between the ecological successional stage/functional form of BSCs and their ecohydrological role that needs further examination

Stable and flexible iBGP

Also cited as: Computer Communication Review; 39(4):183-194Routing oscillation is highly detrimental. It can decrease performance and lead to a high level of update churn placing unnecessary workload on router the problem is distributed between many providers. However, iBGP — the routing protocol used to distribute routes inside a single Autonomous System —has also been shown to oscillate. Despite the fact that iBGP is configured by a single provider according to apparently straight forward rules, more than eight years of research has not solved the problem of iBGP oscillation. Various solutions have been proposed but they all lack critical features: either they are complicated to implement, restrict routing flexibility, or lack guarantees of stability. In this paper we propose a very simple adaptation to the BGP decision process. Despite its simplicity and negligible cost we prove algebraically that it prevents iBGP oscillation. We extend the idea to provide routing flexibility, such as respecting the MED attribute, without sacrificing network stability.Ashley Flavel and Matthew Rougha

Root Plasticity Not Evident in N-Enriched Soil Volumes for Wheat ('Triticum aestivum' L.) and Barley ('Hordeum vulgare' L.) Varieties

Root plasticity is a unique characteristic of root systems that may enhance the nutrient foraging capacity of plants. Here we investigated the effect of localized high nitrogen (N) concentration on plasticity of wheat and barley roots in soil. We conducted a series of experiments to maintain localized high concentration of N in soil and to evaluate any root morphological variation in the enriched N zone. Wheat and barley seedlings were grown in N responsive Red Ferrosol with an enriched subsurface N band for 12 days. Wheat and barley roots did not proliferate in N-enriched soil volumes. Rather, higher root length density (~1.6 times) was observed in low N surface soil. Shoot dry matter and shoot N uptake of banded N treatment was statistically similar between uniform and low N treatments. Results indicated the absence of plastic root response of the wheat and barley seedlings in subsurface N band