Procjena različitih razina Bacillus sp. (HCYL03) fitaze u brojlera hranjenih obrocima na bazi kukuruza i soje s niskim udjelom nefitatnog fosfora

The objective of the present study was to evaluate the impact of various levels of phytase derived from Bacillus sp. (HCYL03) in corn-soy diets fed to broilers. Experimental treatments included a positive control (PC) with a calculated non-phytate phosphorus (nPP) level of 4.0g/kg for the 35 days of trial. The negative control (NC) diet included a reduction in nPP to 3.0g/kg during the experiment, and commercially available phytase (@500FTU/kg), as well as new bacterial phytase added to the NC diet in increasing amounts of 500, 800, and 1100FTU/kg. Treatment effects on growth performance, the apparent digestibility of P, tibia mineralization, and Ca and P status in blood plasma were evaluated on day 35. The NC diet decreased feed intake (P<0.05), body weight gain (BWG) (P<0.05), and improved feed conversion ratio (FCR) (P<0.05) compared to the PC. Phytase addition improved all growth parameters. Birds fed the NC diet displayed lower (P<0.05) digestibility of P, reduced (P<0.05) tibial mineralization, and decreased (P<0.05) P and Ca concentrations in blood plasma compared to birds fed the PC diet. Improvements in digestibility of P, tibia mineralization, and mineral contents in blood plasma were observed with phytase addition. High level inclusion of phytase (1100FTU/kg) yielded the greatest improvement in bird performance, nutrient digestibility, and bone mineralization in the NC group and low levels of phytase treatments. It may be concluded that inorganic P incorporated in the normal-nPP diet of chickens could be effectively replaced by a Bacillus sp. (HCYL03) phytase diet without any adverse effect on the performance and nutrient use of broilers.Cilj istraživanja bio je procijeniti utjecaj različitih razina fitaze izdvojene iz Bacillus sp. (HCYL03) i dodane u obroke od kukuruza i soje kojima se hrane brojleri. Istraživanje je uključilo pozitivnu kontrolu (PC) s izračunatom razinom nefitatnog fosfora (nPP) od 4,0 g/kg tijekom 35 dana trajanja istraživanja. Prehrana brojlera u negativnoj kontroli (NC) uključila je smanjenje nPP-a na 3,0 g/kg tijekom trajanja pokusa, komercijalno dostupnu fitazu (@500FTU/kg), kao i novu bakterijsku fitazu dodanu NC prehrani, u količini koja se povećavala na 500, 800 i 1100 FTU/kg. Učinci na rast, probavljivost fosfora, mineralizaciju tibije i razinu kalcija i fosfora u krvnoj plazmi procijenjeni su 35. dan pokusa. U skupini NC smanjeni su unos hrane (P<0,05) i prirast tjelesne mase (BWG) (P<0,05), dok je stopa konverzije hrane povećana (FCR) (P<0,05) u usporedbi sa skupinom PC. Dodatak fitaze pozitivno je utjecao na sve pokazatelje rasta. Brojleri u skupini NC pokazali su manju probavljivost fosfora (P<0,05), smanjenu mineralizaciju tibije (P<0,05) te smanjenu količinu fosfora i kalcija (P<0,05) u krvnoj plazmi u usporedbi s brojlerima iz skupine PC. Utvrđeno je da dodatak fitaze poboljšava probavljivost fosfora, mineralizaciju tibije i sadržaj minerala u krvnoj plazmi. Dodatak veće količine fitaze (1100 FTU/kg) rezultirao je najvećim poboljšanjem u istraženim svojstvima brojlera, probavljivosti hrane i mineralizaciji kosti u skupini NC. Zaključeno je da bi se anorganski fosfor uključen u uobičajenu nPP prehranu pilića mogao učinkovito zamijeniti Bacillus sp. (HCYL03) fitazom, bez štetnih učinaka na prehranu i svojstva brojlera

The Research on Organizational Justice in Scopus Indexed Journals: A Bibliometric Analysis of Seven Decades

The organizational justice terminology has had a long journey to become one of the significant contributors to organizational success. Recently, an intense global upsurge in the use of organizational justice terms in publications has forced us for this bibliometric analysis in order to look at the overall publications on organizational justice. The objective of the current research is to advance knowledge about organizational justice research trends using Scopus database and bibliometric analysis research. The analysis was performed to see the publication trends between the years 1941 and 2018; it used authors, journals, countries, academic discipline, research institutes/universities, and various keywords related to organizational justice as search words. After careful consideration and using multiple checkpoints for eliminating irrelevant studies, 5,650 research articles were analyzed. In the realm of organizational justice, procedural justice was the most frequently occurred among other dimensions. Moreover, variables such as organizational trust, job satisfaction, organizational commitment, citizenship behavior, ethics, and turnover are major concepts that occurred within organizational justice research. Some variables with infrequent occurrences, along with future recommendations and study limitations, are also discussed

A bibliometric analysis of psychological contract literature: current status, advancements and future research trends

In the current competitive and dynamic environment, employees' psychological contract is an important psychological factor through which organizations can achieve competitive advantage. Numerous studies have shown that psychological contract is a significant predictor of various organizational outcomes. Despite the growing interest in exploring the psychological contract aspects among scholars, review articles and thorough analysis have been limited. The present study fills in this gap by identifying and evaluating the research development of psychological contract topic. Using 1333 journal articles from the Elsevier Scopus database published between 1973-2019, a bibliometric analysis was employed to assess the patterns of global psychological contract research based on the number of publications, co-authorship analysis amongst affiliated countries and authors, and co-occurrence of author keywords. The results revealed that the number of publications increased every year; subsequently, cumulative total publications also steadily increases till the present time. The current research findings show that researchers from the United States, United Kingdom, Australia, and China contributed about 61% of worldwide publications, leading the other 64 countries/territories. Moreover, four of the world's top 100 universities were among the most productive universities in each of the ten leading countries selected for the analysis. By providing a detailed overview of the research studies in the area of psychological contract, this study highlights the insights and directions for the future researchers, practitioners, academicians, and scholars in related business, management, social sciences, and psychology fields

Antioxidant and Cytotoxic Activities and Phytochemical Analysis of Euphorbia wallichii Root Extract and its Fractions

Abstract Euphorbia wallichii a perennial herb growing mainly in Himalayas has been widely used in folk medicines for its medicinal properties. In the present study, the crude methanolic root extract (CME) and its fractions; n-Hexane Fraction (NHF), n-Butanol Fraction (NBF), Chloroform Fraction (CHF), Ethyl acetate Fraction (EAF) and Aqueous Fraction (AQF) of this plant specie were investigated for antioxidant and cytotoxic activities and phytochemical analysis. Antioxidant activity was determined by using 2,2-diphenyl-1-picryl-hydrazyl free radical (DPPH) and DNA protection assay performed on pBR322 plasmid DNA. In both these assays, promising results were obtained for CME as well as other fractions. The IC 50 values for DPPH assay were in a range of 7.89 to 63.35 µg/ml in which EAF showed the best antioxidant potential and almost all the tested samples showed certain level of DNA protection. The cytotoxic activity was assessed by using Sulforhodamine B (SRB) assay on human cell lines; H157 (Lung Carcinoma) and HT144 (Malignant Melanoma). The IC 50 values of the tested samples ranged from 0.18 to 1.4 mg/mL against H157 cell line whereas against HT144 cell line the IC 50 values ranged from 0.46 to 17.88 mg/mL with NBF fraction showing maximum potential for both. Furthermore, the phytochemical analysis of CME and its fractions showed the presences of flavonoids, saponins, tannins, terpenoides and cardiac glycosides with varying concentrations

Comparative Efficacy of Acacia Honey and Aloe Vera Gel on Healing of Induced Lacerated Wound in Rabbits

Wound is an injury as a result of trauma and break in the integrity of skin. For restoration of the continuity of skin, the disrupted skin and anatomical continuity should be managed appropriately for normal and efficient wound healing. Therefore, the study was designed to analyze the comparative efficacy of Acacia honey and Aloe vera gel on lacerated wound induced in rabbits. For this purpose, a total of 18 healthy male rabbits were selected and divided randomly into three groups i.e. Group A, B and C. Lacerated wounds were induced in these rabbits aseptically by sharp blunt scissor, post anesthetization with ketamine hydrochloride @40mg/kg body weight. Rabbits of group A were treated with commercially available Acacia honey applied topically twice daily, group B rabbits were treated with Aloe vera gel topically twice daily while group C served as control and treated with standard treatment pyodine. The efficacy of the treatments was evaluated in terms of wound contraction, wound healing, and tensile strength. Wound contraction was found higher in group A and B compared to group C and increased at day 10. Significant tensile strength was recorded in honey treated group. Healing time of group A and B was lower and statistically significant than the control.

ROLE OF EXTENSION SERVICES ON THE FARM PRODUCTIVITY OF DISTRICT SWAT (A CASE STUDY OF TWO VILLAGES)

ABSTRACT Present study was conducted in district Swat to study the role of extension services on the farm productivity. Hundred respondents, fifty from each of the two villages were selected. The respondents were interviewed about their education, tenurial status, farm size, area and production of crops impact of extension services, adoption of improved farm technology and their general problems. It was found that 57 % respondents were literate. 71% were owner operators, 10 % were owner cum tenant and 19 % respondents were tenants. 42 % respondents were having small farms (below 10 acres), 26 were medium (10.1-15 acres) and 32 had large land holdings (15 and acres above). 87 % of the sample farmers were getting agricultural information from extension department, radio/TV (53%), NGO&apos;s (60%), other farmers (74%) and landlords (8%). 51 % of the respondents reported that extension staff visited them once in a month, 34 % said that extension worker comes after two months. 15 % farmers stated that they didn&apos;t see any extension agent at all. The extension effect on rice output was found to be 61 %, onion 47 % and tomato 37 %. The extension effect on the productivity of peach and plum was not visible. The major problems faced by the sample farmers were lack of credit facilities, improper marketing, pests and diseases, lack of fertilizer and irrigation. This need due consideration by the Govt. Merely transfer of recent advances in crop production technology will not result in increased crop yield unless farmers have an easy access to inputs and credit

Synthesis, Chemical Characterization and Biological Screening for Cytotoxicity and Antitumor Activity of Organotin (IV) Derivatives of 3,4-Methylenedioxy 6-nitrophenylpropenoic Acid

A series of mono-, di- and triorganotin compounds with general formulae [RSnL2Cl], R = Bu (compound 3), [R2SnL2], where R = Me, Et, Bu, Oct (compounds 1, 2, 4 and 6) and [R3SnL], where R = Bu, Cy and Ph (compounds 5, 7 and 8) and where L = 3,4-methylenedioxy-6-nitrophenylpropenoic acid have been prepared and characterized by elemental analysis, multinuclear (1H-, 13C- and 119Sn-) NMR and mass spectrometry. The ligand and its respective organotin complexes were screened for cytotoxicity using the brine shrimp lethality assay and for antitumor activity using the crown gall tumor inhibition (potato disc) assay. The bioassay results support the conclusion that the biological activities of these synthetic compounds are in the following order: [RSnL2Cl] < [R2SnL2] < [R3SnL]

TRAIL mediated apoptosis ruling and anticancer trigger by fine-tuned nano spheres of Fagonia cretica methanolic extracts as novel cancer regime

Abstract Fagonia cretica L. is a tropical plant of family Zygophyllaceae with wide range of medicinally important secondary metabolites. The low cellular uptake of the polar compounds in the extract of the plant limits its biological application. In present study efficacy of F. cretica modified bioactive nano-formulations for in vitro modulation of TRAIL mediated extrinsic apoptotic pathway as cancer therapy was investigated. F. cretica methanolic extracts were formulated at nano-scale for green synthesis of silver nanoparticles, albumin conjugation and liposomes encapsulation to enhance targeted bioactivity against cancer. Physical characterization of the synthesized nanoparticles was done by SEM, EDX and Zeta potential analyzer. In vitro cell viability assay MTT was done for MCF-7, Hep-2, HUH-7 and HCEC cell lines. Relative expression variation of the apoptotic pathway-associated genes was done by qRT-PCR. SEM revealed spherical shape of 56.62 ± 8.04, 143 ± 11.54 and 83.36 ± 38.73 nm size and zeta potential − 18.6, − 15.5 and − 18.3 mV for liposomes, silver and albumin nanoparticles. Silver nanoparticles showed highest anticancer activity in vitro than albumin and liposomes nanoparticles with IC50 0.101 ± 0.004, 0.177 ± 0.03 and 0.434 ± 0.022 mg/mL in MCF-7, Hep-2 and HUH-7 respectively. F. cretica albumin and silver nanoparticles upregulated the in vitro TRAIL, DR4, DR5 and FADD gene expression at statistically significant levels in Hep-2 cell lines. Nano-formulations of F. cretica proved therapeutically important biomolecules in vitro. The hypothesized modulation of extrinsic apoptosis pathway genes through the plant nanoparticles proved novel medicinal options for effective treatment of cancer and enhancing the bioavailability of the active plant metabolites

Isolation of Oxyberberine and β-Sitosterol from Berberis lycium Royle Root Bark Extract and In Vitro Cytotoxicity against Liver and Lung Cancer Cell Lines

Berberis lycium Royle has been traditionally used to cure rheumatism, eye and ear diseases, malarial fever, diabetes, stomach disorders, and skin diseases. There is a least amount of data available on cytotoxic capacity of Berberis lycium from Pakistani origin, so on this basis, the present study was aimed to screen Berberis lycium root bark extracts for cytotoxicity against cancer cell lines and isolation of chemical constituents from the most cytotoxic extract. Initial screening of extracts was performed on HepG2 cells at 100 μg/mL for 72 hours of treatment by using an MTT assay. Active fractions were subjected to a series of column chromatographies for the isolation of cytotoxic compounds. Molecular structures were elucidated by using combined data from 1H-NMR, 13C-NMR, and ESI-MS graphs. Assessment of reduction in cell proliferation by isolated compounds was performed on three human cancer cell lines (SK-Hep-1, HepG2, and NCI-H1299). Both n-hexane and chloroform fractions were found active with percent cell viabilities of 8.41 ± 2.23 and 22.31 ± 9.11 in HepG2 cells compared with lupeol 35.43 ± 3.35 percent viability. A protoberberine alkaloid identified as oxyberberine was isolated from chloroform fraction while β-sitosterol was isolated from n-hexane fraction. Oxyberberine inhibited SK-Hep-1 cell proliferation under a dose-dependent manner with an IC50 value of 34.26 ± 3.34 μM while HepG2 cells showed 50% inhibition at 62.96 ± 4.12 μM. β-Sitosterol showed reduction in cell viability in SK-Hep-1 cells and HepG2 cells with IC50 values of 123.12 ± 3.51 μM and 140 ± 4.21 μM. This is the first report on the isolation of oxyberberine and β-sitosterol from Berberis lycium root bark and their cytotoxic evaluation against SK-Hep-1 and NCI-H1299 cells. The cytotoxic potential of Berberis lycium Royle extracts and isolated compounds is suggesting that it is a promising candidate for anticancer drug discovery

What makes articles cited highly? An analysis of top 100 highly cited articles on organizational citizenship behavior

Organizational citizenship behavior (OCB) is amongst the main contributors to organizational performance and a significant outcome of various work-related behaviors. This study aims to evaluate the top 100 highly cited articles published on OCB in the Scopus database to assess the reasons why these articles are highly cited. A total of 3,096 articles on OCB, published from 1983-2018, were retrieved from the database, in which 100 highly cited articles were selected for further analysis. The findings revealed that a 40% contribution in the field of OCB research is due to these articles, and this contribution is expected to increase rapidly. Additionally, meta-analytical articles are frequently cited, followed by the review articles and then empirical research articles. Among various reasons, the highly cited articles are either pioneering studies in the field, proposing a new concept, or scale development studies. This study proposes important implications for practitioners and researchers