Evaluation of carcass and meat traits of Muscovy duck fed with black soldier fly partially defatted meal

The aim of this study was to evaluate the carcass characteristics and breast meat quality in Muscovy duck (Cairina moschata domestica) fed different inclusion levels of a partially defatted black soldier fly larva (BSF) meal. A total of 256 Muscovy ducklings (average live weight, LW: 71.32\ub12.70 g) were reared from day 3 to day 48 and randomly allotted in 32 pens (8 replicates/treatment). Four different diets were formulated with increasing substitution level of corn gluten meal with BSF larva meal (0, 3, 6 and 9%; BSF0, BSF3, BSF6 and BSF9, respectively) and divided in 3 feeding phases: starter (1-14 days), grower (14-35 days) and finisher (35-48 days). At day 48, 2 animals/replicate were slaughtered and dissected to determine their carcass yields. The weights of spleen, bursa of Fabricius, liver, heart and abdominal fat were recorded. Breast and thigh muscles were then excised from 16 ducks/treatment and weighted. Ultimate pH (pHu) and L*, a*, b* colour values were then measured on breast muscle. The collected data were tested by means of oneway ANOVA evaluating the effect of dietary BSF inclusion level by polynomial contrasts. Significance was declared at P<0.05. The inclusion of BSF did not affect final LW (2,515.68\ub192.42 g on average). Hot and cold carcass weights showed a quadratic response (P<0.05) to increasing BSF larva meal, with a minimum corresponding to BSF6; however, refrigeration losses were not affected by treatments. Weight of spleen, bursa of Fabricius, liver and heart did not differ among treatments. The weight of abdominal fat showed a quadratic response to increasing BSF meal with a minimum corresponding to BSF6 group (P<0.05). Breast and thigh yields, pHu and L*, a*, b* colour values did not differ among groups. With the exception of BSF6, the inclusion of BSF meal did not affect meat traits and carcass characteristics, confirming the potential use of BSF meal in Muscovy duck diets

Potential role of Anitschkow cells in cardiovascular disease in human and veterinary medicine: A review of the literature.

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Effect of Black soldier fly defatted meal on the growth performance and carcass yield of Muscovy duck: preliminary results

The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of different inclusion levels of a partially defatted black soldier fly (Hermetia illucens L.; HI) larva meal on growth performance and carcass yield of Muscovy ducks (Cairina moschata domestica). Three-day-old females broiler Muscovy ducklings (R71 L, Grimaud Freres-France; average live weight:71.32\ub12.70g) were randomly allotted in 32 pens (8 replicates/treatment, 8 birds/replicate), and reared until 48 days of age. The HI larva meal was included substituting corn gluten at increasing level (0, 3, 6 and 9%; HI0, HI3, HI6 and HI9, respectively) in isonitrogenous and isoenergetic diets formulated for 3 feeding phases: starter (1-14 d), grower (14-35 d) and finisher (35-48 d). Live weight (LW), average daily gain (ADG), average daily feed intake (ADFI) and feed conversion ratio (FCR) were assessed for each different period and for the whole trial. At day 48, carcass yield was determined in 16 animals per treatment for hot carcass weight (HCW) and cold carcass weight (CCW). Data were analysed by means of one-way ANOVA evaluating the effect of dietary HI inclusion level by polynomial contrasts. Significance was declared at P<0.05. LW did not differ among groups (average final LW: 2515.68\ub192.42g). From 14 to 35 days of age, the ADG showed a quadratic response (P<0.05), but no differences were observed among groups during the starter and finisher periods. The ADFI was never affected, whereas FCR showed a linear response to increasing HI meal levels during starter period (P<0.05), with a minimum for the HI9 group. However, no differences were observed for grower and finisher periods and for the whole trial. HCW and CCW showed a quadratic response to increasing HI larva meal (P<0.05), but no differences were observed for carcass yield. This preliminary investigation indicates that HI larva meal could be a valuable protein source for Muscovy duck, with no negative effect on growth performance and carcass yields

Dietary black soldier fly as suitable ingredient for Muscovy duck: preliminary results on carcass and breast meat traits

Many studies have been conducted in poultry to substitute the conventional protein sources (fishmeal and soybean meal) with insect meals, due to their high protein content and the good and balance amino acid profile. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of dietary administration of a partially defatted black soldier fly larva (BSF) meal on carcass characteristics and breast meat quality in Muscovy duck (Cairina moschata domestica). A total of 256 females broiler Muscovy ducklings (average live weight, LW: 71.32\ub12.70g) were randomly allotted in 32 pens (8 replicates/treatment) and reared from day 3 to day 48. Four isonitrogenous and isoenergetic diets were formulated with increasing inclusion level of BSF (0, 3, 6 and 9%; BSF0, BSF3, BSF6 and BSF9, respectively) in substitution of corn gluten meal and divided in 3 feeding phases: starter (1-14d), grower (14-35d) and finisher (35-48). At day 48, 2 animals/ replicate were slaughtered and dissected to determine their carcass yields. The weights of spleen, bursa of Fabricius, liver, heart and abdominal fat were recorded. Breast and thigh muscles were then excised from 16 ducks/treatment and weighted. Ultimate pH (pHu) and L*, a*, b* colour values were then measured on breast muscle. Data were analysed by one-way ANOVA evaluating the effect of dietary BSF inclusion level by polynomial contrasts. Significance level was set at P<0.05. No significant difference was observed for final LW (2515.68\ub192.42g on average) among groups. Hot and cold carcass weights showed a quadratic response (P<0.05) to increasing BSF larva meal, with a minimum corresponding to BSF6; however, refrigeration losses were not affected by treatments (2.01\ub10.08% on average). No significant effects, related to BSF meal utilization, were observed for the weights of spleen, bursa of Fabricius, liver and heart. The weight of abdominal fat showed a quadratic response to increasing BSF larva meal with a minimum corresponding to BSF6 (P<0.05). Breast and thigh yields did not differ among groups (20.37\ub10.21% and 29.53\ub10.53% on carcass weight, respectively). As well, pHu and L*, a*, b* colour values were not different among groups. The obtained results showed that the inclusion of BSF meal, with the exception of BSF6, did not affect carcass characteristics and meat traits, confirming the potentiality of BSF meal in Muscovy duck

Performance of an AI algorithm during the different phases of the COVID pandemics: what can we learn from the AI and vice versa

Background: Artificial intelligence (AI) has proved to be of great value in diagnosing and managing Sars-Cov-2 infection. ALFABETO (ALL-FAster-BEtter-TOgether) is a tool created to support healthcare professionals in the triage, mainly in optimizing hospital admissions. Methods: The AI was trained during the pandemic's “first wave” (February-April 2020). Our aim was to assess the performance during the “third wave” of the pandemics (February-April 2021) and evaluate its evolution. The neural network proposed behavior (hospitalization vs home care) was compared with what was actually done. If there were discrepancies between ALFABETO's predictions and clinicians' decisions, the disease's progression was monitored. Clinical course was defined as “favorable/mild” if patients could be managed at home or in spoke centers and “unfavorable/severe” if patients need to be managed in a hub center. Results: ALFABETO showed accuracy of 76%, AUROC of 83%; specificity was 78% and recall 74%. ALFABETO also showed high precision (88%). 81 hospitalized patients were incorrectly predicted to be in “home care” class. Among those “home-cared” by the AI and “hospitalized” by the clinicians, 3 out of 4 misclassified patients (76.5%) showed a favorable/mild clinical course. ALFABETO's performance matched the reports in literature. Conclusions: The discrepancies mostly occurred when the AI predicted patients could stay at home but clinicians hospitalized them; these cases could be handled in spoke centers rather than hubs, and the discrepancies may aid clinicians in patient selection. The interaction between AI and human experience has the potential to improve both AI performance and our comprehension of pandemic management