Nutrient digestion, ruminal fermentation and performance of dairy cows fed pomegranate peel extract

An experiment was carried out to determine the effect of pomegranate peel extract (PPE) on nutrient digestion, ruminal fermentation characteristics, protozoal population and performance of dairy cows. Four Holstein cows were used in a 4×4 Latin square design with 28-d periods and 4 treatments: PPE0 (no extract), PPE400 (400 ml PPE/cow/d), PPE800 (800 ml PPE/cow/d) and PPE1200 (1200 ml PPE/cow/d). Intake of dry matter, milk yield, and digestibility of dry matter, organic matter, crude protein, neutral detergent fiber and acid detergent fiber were measured. Ruminal fermentation characteristics such as ruminal pH, concentration of NH3–N, concentration of VFA, molar proportions of individual VFA, protozoa population and microbial N were also measured. Milk production, 4% FCM yield, milk fat and protein yield (kg/d), and milk efficiency were increased by inclusion of PPE800 in the diet. Percent of milk fat, true protein, and lactose were not affected by PPE supplementation. However, inclusion of PPE decreased NH3–N, total protozoal population, genus Isotricha and Entodinium, but increased microbial N production (g/d). Concentrations of total VFA and molar proportions of individual VFA were not affected by inclusion of PPE in the diet. The results suggested that PPE supplementation has reduced protozoa population, NH3-Nconcentration, and increased microbial protein and milk yield and quality

Nitrogen balance,blood metabolites and milk fatty acid composition of dairy cows fed pomegranate-peel extract

An experiment was carried out to determine the effect of pomegranate peel extract (PPE) on nitrogen balance, blood parameters and the milk fatty acid profile of dairy cows. Four Holstein cows were used in a 4×4 Latin square design with 28-d periods and 4 treatments: PPE0 (no extract), PPE400 (400 ml PPE/cow/d), PPE800 (800 ml PPE/cow/d) and PPE1200 (1200 ml PE/cow/d). Nitrogen balance, blood parameters and the milk fatty acid profile were measured. Determination of secondary metabolites showed its high content of aqueous fraction, total phenolics and total tannin with reasonable content of saponins. Outputs of N in milk were quadratically increased (P=0.044) by inclusion of PPE at 400 and 800 ml PPE/cow/d in the diet. Blood cholesterol (quadratic effect, P=0.043), blood urea nitrogen (linear effect, P=0.047) and milk urea nitrogen (quadratic effect, P=0.0008) concentrations decreased with adding PPE. Supplementation with PPE quadratically lowered total saturated fatty acid (P=0.005), proportions of C12:0 (linear effect=0.040), C16:1c9 (quadratic effect, P=0.011), C18:0 (linear effect, P=0.083, quadratic effect, P=0.011) and ω6/ω3 (quadratic effect, P=0.007). Amount of C18:3c (n-3) (linear effect, P=0.046), DHA (C22:6) (quadratic effect, P=0.009) and EPA (C20:5) (quadratic effect, P=0.012) were increased by inclusion of PPE. Adding PPE lowered blood cholesterol, blood urea nitrogen and milk urea nitrogen. Milk from cows fed PE had significantly lower total saturated fatty acid, desirable ω6/ω3 ratio and higher content of EPA and DHA

Thwarting ICMP low-rate attacks against firewalls while minimizing legitimate traffic loss

© 2013 IEEE. Low-rate distributed denial of service (LDDoS) attacks pose more challenging threats that disrupt network security devices and services. Such type of attacks is difficult to detect and mitigate. In LDDoS attacks, attacker uses low-volume of malicious traffic that looks alike legitimate traffic. Thus, it can enter the network in silence without any notice. However, it may have severe effect on disrupting network services, depleting system resources, and degrading network speed to a point considering them as one of the most damaging attack types. There are many types of LDDoS such as application server and ICMP error messages based LDDoS. This paper is solely concerned with the ICMP error messages based LDDoS. The paper proposes a mechanism to mitigate low-rate ICMP error message attacks targeting security devices, such as firewalls. The mechanism is based on triggering a rejection rule to defend against corresponding detected attack as early as possible, in order to preserve firewall resources. The rejection rule has certain adaptive activity time, during which the rule continues to reject related low-rate attack packets. This activity time is dynamically predicted for the next rule activation period according to current and previous attack severity and statistical parameters. However, the rule activity time needs to be stabilized in a manner in order to prevent any additional overhead to the system as well as to prevent incremental loss of corresponding legitimate packets. Experimental results demonstrate that the proposed mechanism can efficiently defend against incremental evasion cycle of low-rate attacks, and monitor rejection rule activity duration to minimize legitimate traffic loss

Use of poultry pre-cooked slaughterhouse waste as ruminant feed to prevent environmental pollution

The generation of poultry slaughterhouse waste from poultry production is not only unavoidable but the amount and kinds of waste can cause environmental problems. In the present study, the potential rumen digestion of poultry slaughterhouse waste which consists of protein-rich organic residues was evaluated. The chemical composition, amino acid profile and Cornell Net Carbohydrate and Protein System fractions of these wastes was determined. Rumen digestion of poultry slaughterhouse waste was compared with two common protein sources (fish meal and roasted soybean). Three poultry slaughterhouse waste samples were collected from industrial poultry slaughter-houses and the in situ degradation was done using rumen cannulated sheep. The protein (50e63%), ether extracts (18e27%) and ash (9e15.5%) contents of different poultry slaughterhouse waste samples were different (P < 0.05). Methionine and lysine contents were similar among different poultry slaughterhouse waste sources. Difference were observed for cystine (1.2e1.7%), threonine (1.9e2.2%), arginine (3e3.5%), leucine (3.5e4.1%) and valine (2.8e3.3%) (P < 0.05). Ruminal degradation rate for dry matter, organic matter and protein were different among poultry slaughterhouse waste, fish meal and roasted soybean. The degradation parameter for protein degradation was 76% for poultry slaughterhouse waste, 79% for fish meal and 98% for roasted soybean (P < 0.05). Results revealed that there was great variation in chemical composition, protein fractioning, and amino acid profiles of different poultry slaughterhouse waste sources. Poultry slaughterhouse waste is slowly-degraded protein in the rumen and thus can be an economical and rich source of rumen undegradable protein in ruminant nutrition. This implies that the use of poultry slaughterhouse waste in ruminant nutrition has a huge potential as a cleaner product of animal feeding and prevention environmental pollution. However, further studies are warranted to evaluate the digestibility of poultry slaughterhouse waste amino acids escaping the rumen into the intestine in ruminants and to compare the biological values for the amino acids in these waste material with common ruminant feedstuffs

Use of poultry pre-cooked slaughterhouse waste as ruminant feed to prevent environmental pollution

The nine samples from each slaughterhouse were pooled and sub-sampled to make three samples per slaughterhouse. Dried PSW samples were ground through a 1 mm screen (Wiley mill, Arthur H. Thomas, Philadelphia, PA), and samples analyzed for amino acids, total nitrogen, fat, ash and organic matter (AOAC, 1990). The CNCPS protein fractions of the PSW was determined according to standardized procedure of Licitra et al. (1996) at the University of Bahonar, Kerman. The B2 fraction was calculated by difference and results are reported as CP percentage. Phosphate buffer soluble nitrogen (PBSN) was determined using the phosphate buffer. Neutral detergent insoluble nitrogen (NDIN) and acid detergent insoluble nitrogen (ADIN) were determined as the nitrogen content of the residual after neutral and acid detergent procedures. The analysis of 11 amino acids i.e. arginine, cysteine, histidine, isoleucine, leucine, lysine, methionine, phenylalanine, threonine, tryptophan and valine in three different PSW samples was performed using NIRS, FOSS 5000 Denmark at the Paya Amin Mehr Company (Tehran, Iran).The generation of poultry slaughterhouse waste from poultry production is not only unavoidable but the amount and kinds of waste can cause environmental problems. In the present study, the potential rumen digestion of poultry slaughterhouse waste which consists of protein-rich organic residues was evaluated. The chemical composition, amino acid profile and Cornell Net Carbohydrate and Protein System fractions of these wastes was determined. Rumen digestion of poultry slaughterhouse waste was compared with two common protein sources (fish meal and roasted soybean). Three poultry slaughterhouse waste samples were collected from industrial poultry slaughter-houses and the in situ degradation was done using rumen cannulated sheep. The protein (50e63%), ether extracts (18e27%) and ash (9e15.5%) contents of different poultry slaughterhouse waste samples were different (P < 0.05). Methionine and lysine contents were similar among different poultry slaughterhouse waste sources. Difference were observed for cystine (1.2e1.7%), threonine (1.9e2.2%), arginine (3e3.5%), leucine (3.5e4.1%) and valine (2.8e3.3%) (P < 0.05). Ruminal degradation rate for dry matter, organic matter and protein were different among poultry slaughterhouse waste, fish meal and roasted soybean. The degradation parameter for protein degradation was 76% for poultry slaughterhouse waste, 79% for fish meal and 98% for roasted soybean (P < 0.05). Results revealed that there was great variation in chemical composition, protein fractioning, and amino acid profiles of different poultry slaughterhouse waste sources. Poultry slaughterhouse waste is slowly-degraded protein in the rumen and thus can be an economical and rich source of rumen undegradable protein in ruminant nutrition. This implies that the use of poultry slaughterhouse waste in ruminant nutrition has a huge potential as a cleaner product of animal feeding and prevention environmental pollution. However, further studies are warranted to evaluate the digestibility of poultry slaughterhouse waste amino acids escaping the rumen into the intestine in ruminants and to compare the biological values for the amino acids in these waste material with common ruminant feedstuffs

The effects of dietary supplementation with different levels of Microzist as newly developed probiotics on growth performance, carcass characteristics, and immunological organs of broiler chicks

The current research was conducted to evaluate the influence of newly developed probiotic (Microzist) and commercial probiotic (Primalac) on growth performance, carcass characteristics, and immunity of broiler chickens. A total of 225 one-day-old broiler chicks Ross-308 was randomly assigned into 5 groups – control group, group with 0.2, 0.25, and 0.3 g/kg of Microzist, and group constituting Primalac (starter: 0.9 g/kg, grower: 0.454 g/kg, and finisher: 0.225 g/kg). At 42nd day of age, there were no statistically significant differences among treatments on daily weight gain and feed conversion ratio (P > .05), but treatment’s effect on the feed intake was found to be significant (P < .05). Diet supplementation with various concentrations of Microzist showed growth performance of broiler chickens more or less similar to the Primalac additives. There were statistically significant differences (P < .05) among treatments on the carcass characteristics. Microzist (0.2 g/kg) reduced the abdominal fat content in broiler chickens in a comparison with control as well as Primalac (P < .05). Furthermore, Microzist showed no influence on the immunological organ weights. The present investigation indicates that Microzist may be a potential alternative to antibiotic growth promoters as well as widely used Primalac in broiler industries

Improving student engagement using a video-enabled activity-based learning: an exploratory study to STEM preparatory education in UAE

Student engagement is often labelled the “holy grail of learning” (Sinatra, Heddy and Lombardi, 2015: 1). Higher education educators have been implementing different pedagogical approaches to promote active learning with the aim of improving student engagement. This paper proposes an activity -based learning approach with the use of educational video to promote student engagement. We evaluate if such an approach could improve student learning and engagement with STEM subject from three perspectives: students’ motivation, engagement, and academic performance. The main findings are in supportive of the video-enabled activity-based learning approach to promote students’ engagement within class and for future study. ANOVA tests demonstrate the significant differences in the students’ performance with the use of scientific educational videos. In addition, this UAE based exploratory case study has been conducted in the context of middle eastern students’ learning behavior which adds an interesting cultural dimension. This study contributes to knowledge and STEM educator by providing them with insightful and practical guidance on how to effectively use scientific educational video to enhance STEM education in UAE.

Immunotherapeutic Concepts to Target Acute Myeloid Leukemia: Focusing on the Role of Monoclonal Antibodies, Hypomethylating Agents and the Leukemic Microenvironment

Intensive chemotherapeutic protocols and allogeneic stem cell transplantation continue to represent the mainstay of acute myeloid leukemia (AML) treatment. Although this approach leads to remissions in the majority of patients, long-term disease control remains unsatisfactory as mirrored by overall survival rates of approximately 30%. The reason for this poor outcome is, in part, due to various toxicities associated with traditional AML therapy and the limited ability of most patients to tolerate such treatment. More effective and less toxic therapies therefore represent an unmet need in the management of AML, a disease for which therapeutic progress has been traditionally slow when compared to other cancers. Several studies have shown that leukemic blasts elicit immune responses that could be exploited for the development of novel treatment concepts. To this end, early phase studies of immune-based therapies in AML have delivered encouraging results and demonstrated safety and feasibility. In this review, we discuss opportunities for immunotherapeutic interventions to enhance the potential to achieve a cure in AML, thereby focusing on the role of monoclonal antibodies, hypomethylating agents and the leukemic microenvironment

The chemical composition and in vitro digestibility evaluation of almond tree (Prunus dulcis D. A. Webb syn. Prunus amygdalus; var. Shokoufeh) leaves versus hulls and green versus dry leaves as feed for ruminants

Almond, (Prunus dulcis D. A. Webb syn. Prunus amygdalus) is a species belonging to the Rosaceae family (Sfahlan et al. 2009). The state of California in the USA is the major producer of almond; however, its production is widely distributed (Wijerante et al. 2006) and there is increasing interest to produce almond and its by-products worldwide. Approximately 2,112,815 metric ton of almonds with shell is produced globally with Iran contributing about 110,000 metric ton (FAO 2007). Almond is a midsize tree with fruit that can grow up to ten meters tall (Chen et al. 2010). The fruit is made of hulls, shell and kernel. Drying almond hulls results in approximately (kg-1 DM) 250 g nut, 500 g hulls and 250 g shell (Aguilar et al. 1984; Fadel 1999).The current study aimed to evaluate the chemical composition and in vitro digestibility of almond tree (Prunus dulcis D. A. Webb syn. Prunus amygdalus; var. Shokoufeh) leaves versus hulls, and green versus dry leaves as feed for ruminants. The fresh green almond hulls (GAH) and leaves (GAL) were harvested and spread under a shade to dry. Dry almond leaves (DAL) were collected from under the trees where as dry almond hulls (DAH) were collected 4 weeks after harvesting the fresh samples. The chemical composition of substrates was determined using standard approaches and the metabolisable energy (ME), in vitro dry matter (DMD) and in vitro organic matter (OMD) digestibility were measured using the in vitro gas production (GP) technique. The GAL contained 81 g crude protein (CP) kg-1 DM while DAH contained 103 g CP kg-1 DM. The CP was higher (P = 0.0003) in dry (leaves and hulls) than in green (leaves and hulls) samples. The ash content ranged from 99.2 to 181.5 g kg-1 DM in DAH and DAL, respectively, (P = 0.0041). The ether extract content ranged from 27 for DAH to 65 g kg-1 for DAL (P = 0.0018). The acid detergent fibre and neutral detergent fibre content ranged from 185 to 304 and 444 to 620 g kg-1 DM (P = 0.04), for GAL and DAH, respectively. The DAH had the highest (P = 0.0001) GP24 and GP96. The DAH had the highest (P = 0.0001) potential GP (i.e., b), while the GP rate was highest for GAL and GAH (P = 0.034), ME was highest for DAH (P = 0.0001), and in vitro OMD was highest for DAH (P = 0.0001). The highest DMD (P = 0.0001) values were obtained with DAH followed by GAL, DAL and GAH, respectively. It can be concluded that almond hulls and leaves have a good nutritional potential to cover the maintenance nutrient requirements of small ruminants. Almond hulls and leaves can also be used as supplement to low quality mature pasture and/or crop residues. However, more studies are warranted to better characterize these feeds in in vivo animal feeding trials