Potential utilization of scallop viscera for solid waste management and as feedstuff for swine

Waste management has been identified as a major problem which will threaten the economic security of Florida's seafood industry within the next ten years (1). One of the primary concerns is treatment and disposal of solid wastes resulting from seafood processing. Utilization of scallop viscera as silage, much like that developed for waste fish and fish offal (3,4), could represent a practical solid waste treatment option which offers the additional benefit of a protein feed supplement for production of swine. (27pp.

Utilization of processed alfalfa meals by monogastric animals

In part one, levels of dehydrated alfalfa meal greater than 60% of the diet significantly (P < 0.01) reduced the growth of rats fed isocaloric diets. Purified cellulose fed to provide the same amount of acid detergent fiber as contributed by the alfalfa did not affect growth. Feed intake was reduced at high alfalfa levels, indicating that palatability, rather than fiber level, was the factor responsible for reduced performance. In experiment two, the avoidance of heat during drying of alfalfa meal, through the use of freeze drying, resulted in improved growth and feed conversion. The results are consistent with the hypothesis that during conventional drying methods, bitter compounds are formed. No difference in crude protein, dry matter, or acid detergent fiber digestibility was found with oven dried (95°) compared to freeze dried alfalfa meal. In part two, five experiments with rats and one with Japanese Quail were conducted to evaluate a commercially prepared alfalfa protein concentrate (APC) as a protein supplement. It was found to contain 36% crude protein with 5. 5 g lysine and 2. 5 g methionine plus cystine per 100 g amino acids. Levels of up to 20% APC did not decrease performance of rats; APC as the sole protein source gave poor results. The Protein Efficiency Ratio (PER) of APC was significantly lower (P < 0.01) than those for herring meal, casein, or soybean meal (1. 23, 2. 82, 2. 67, and 2.54 respectively). Upon supplementation with lysine and methionine the PER was significantly increased (P < 0. 01) to 2. 54. Lys ine was the first-limiting amino acid; methionine was also deficient. With rats the crude protein digestibility was 65% for APC, which was significantly lower (P < 0.01) than for soybean meal (88%). The low digestibility of APC protein contrasts with other reported values of about 80%. The availability of lysine in APC was determined by using a bioassay with both rats and Japanese Quail. Low protein basal diets were used. To the basal diets the lysine references (casein for rats, lysine HCl for the quail) and APC were added as the lysine sources. The results were extrapolated from a graph of reference values using g gain vs. g lysine consumed. The availability of lysine was found to be about 80% for rats when compared to casein and about 86% for quail when compared to lysine HC1. In part three, three swine studies were conducted. APC gave excellent results when used in grower-finisher rations. Carcass evaluation showed no significant differences; however, there was a trend towards lower market grades with higher dietary APC levels. With young growing swine (18 kg to 47 kg), gains with 20% APC were significantly lower (P < 0. 05) than for the controls. In creep-starter rations, APC fed at levels of 6. 5 and 13% gave good results. Levels of 14, 28, and 34% which provided 29, 58, and 70% of the total dietary crude protein, significantly reduced growth (P < 0.05) in one trial but not another. In all tests with starter rations the feed conversion increased for the APC rations. The experiments with swine indicate that the APC may be better utilized by growing-finishing swine than by younger animals. The growth performance indicates the APC can be a useful protein supplement for all classes of growing swine

A SUSTAINABLE APPROACH TO THE CONTROL OF PATHOGENS: THE FATE OF STREPTOCOCCI IN EQUINE COMPOST.

Streptococcus equi subspecies equi (S. equi), causes the potentially fatal respiratory disease called “strangles” in horses, while the closely related Streptococcus equi subspecies zooepidemicus (S. zooepidemicus) causes potentially fatal infections in humans. A study was undertaken to determine the survival of these two organisms in equine compost. Compost piles of equine bedding and feed waste were inoculated with 10 x 1010 c.f.u. of S. zooepidemicus and samples taken at 48, 96, 168 and 336 hours relative to samples placed in the pile at 0 hours. No Streptococci were isolated at 48 hours or subsequent time-points. Next, S. equi was similarly inoculated into equine compost, with samples taken at 2, 4, 8, 12, 24, 48, 168 and 336 hours later. No Streptococci were isolated at any time-point. To rule out killing of S. equi by microflora in equine waste, samples of soiled bedding, both autoclaved and un-autoclaved (with water added to match autoclaved moisture) were inoculated with 10 x 1010 c.f.u. of S. zooepidemicus and sampled at 0, 6, 12, 24, 48, 72, 120, 168 and 264 hours. In autoclaved bedding, S. zooepidemicus was isolated from 0 – 120 hours, but replaced by other flora at 264 hours. In un-autoclaved samples, Streptococci were not present after 48 hours. A repeated trial with S. equi yielded similar results. This data suggest that microbial activity of equine waste bedding may eliminate streptococci within 24 - 48 hours, indicating that normal microflora may provide sustainable methods for the control of human and animal pathogens

A SUSTAINABLE APPROACH TO THE CONTROL OF PATHOGENS: THE FATE OF STREPTOCOCCI IN EQUINE COMPOST.

Streptococcus equi subspecies equi (S. equi), causes the potentially fatal respiratory disease called “strangles” in horses, while the closely related Streptococcus equi subspecies zooepidemicus (S. zooepidemicus) causes potentially fatal infections in humans. A study was undertaken to determine the survival of these two organisms in equine compost. Compost piles of equine bedding and feed waste were inoculated with 10 x 1010 c.f.u. of S. zooepidemicus and samples taken at 48, 96, 168 and 336 hours relative to samples placed in the pile at 0 hours. No Streptococci were isolated at 48 hours or subsequent time-points. Next, S. equi was similarly inoculated into equine compost, with samples taken at 2, 4, 8, 12, 24, 48, 168 and 336 hours later. No Streptococci were isolated at any time-point. To rule out killing of S. equi by microflora in equine waste, samples of soiled bedding, both autoclaved and un-autoclaved (with water added to match autoclaved moisture) were inoculated with 10 x 1010 c.f.u. of S. zooepidemicus and sampled at 0, 6, 12, 24, 48, 72, 120, 168 and 264 hours. In autoclaved bedding, S. zooepidemicus was isolated from 0 – 120 hours, but replaced by other flora at 264 hours. In un-autoclaved samples, Streptococci were not present after 48 hours. A repeated trial with S. equi yielded similar results. This data suggest that microbial activity of equine waste bedding may eliminate streptococci within 24 - 48 hours, indicating that normal microflora may provide sustainable methods for the control of human and animal pathogens

Neuropsychological outcomes in adults commencing highly active anti-retroviral treatment in South Africa: a prospective study.

BACKGROUND: Infection with HIV may result in significant neuropsychological impairment, especially in late stage disease. To date, there have been no cohort studies of the impact of highly active anti-retroviral treatment (HAART) in South Africa where clade C HIV is predominant. METHODS: Participants in the current study were recruited from a larger study of HIV-associated neurocognitive disorders (HAND) and included a group of individuals commencing HAART (n = 82). Baseline and one-year neuropsychological function was assessed using a detailed battery, and summary global deficit scores (GDS) obtained. Associations with change in GDS were calculated. RESULTS: Participants had a median CD4 cell count of 166 at baseline and 350 at follow-up. There were significant difference across groups of GDS severity at baseline with respect to level of education and GDS change at one year (p = 0.00 and 0.00 respectively). Participants with severe impairment at baseline improved significantly more than those with lesser degrees of impairment. Significant improvements were observed in the domains of attention, verbal fluency, motor function, and executive functions. There were unadjusted associations between GDS change and male gender, lower levels of education, baseline CD4 count and baseline GDS severity. In an adjusted model, only baseline GDS severity (p = 0.00) remained significant, with a lower level of education nearing significance (p = 0.05). The overall model was highly significant (p = 00; r-squared = 0.58). DISCUSSION: In individuals in late stage HIV commencing HAART in South Africa, those with severe baseline neuropsychological impairment improved significantly more than those less impaired. While improvement across a number of neuropsychological domains was observed, high rates of impairment persisted. CONCLUSIONS: The effects of HAART and participant variables, such as test experience, require clarification. Studies with larger comparison groups, and where HIV disease characteristics are needed to establish whether the trends we identified are clinically meaningful

Normative scores for a brief neuropsychological battery for the detection of HIV-associated neurocognitive disorder (HAND) among South Africans

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>There is an urgent need to more accurately diagnose HIV-associated neurocognitive disorder (HAND) in Africa. Rapid screening tests for HIV-associated dementia are of limited utility due to variable sensitivity and specificity. The use of selected neuropsychological tests is more appropriate, but norms for HIV seronegative people are not readily available for sub-Saharan African populations. We sought to derive normative scores for two commonly used neuropsychological tests that generate four test scores -- namely the Trail-Making Test (Parts A and B) and the Digit Span Test [Forward (DSF) and Backward (DSB)]. To assess memory and recall, we used the memory item of the International HIV Dementia Scale (IHDS).</p> <p>Findings</p> <p>One hundred and ten HIV seronegative participants were assessed at McCord Hospital, Durban, South Africa between March 3^rdand October 31^st, 2008. We excluded people with major depressive disorder, substance use abuse and dependence and head injuries (with or without loss of consciousness). All the participants in this study were African and predominantly female with an average age of 28.5 years and 10 years of education. Age and gender influenced neuropsychological functioning, with older people performing worse. The effect of gender was not uniform across all the tests.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>These two neuropsychological tests can be administered with the IHDS in busy antiretroviral clinics. Their performance can be measured against these norms to more accurately diagnose the spectrum and progression of HAND.</p

The Effects of Severity of Losses of Well Clear on Minimum Operations Performance Standards End-To-End Verification and Validation Simulation Study for Integrating Unmanned Aircraft Systems into the National Airspace System Using Detect and Avoid Systems

As Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) make their way to mainstream aviation operations within the National Airspace System (NAS), research efforts are underway to develop a safe and effective environment for their integration into the NAS. Detect and Avoid (DAA) systems are required to account for the lack of eyes in the sky due to having no human on-board the aircraft. The technique, results, and lessons learned from a detailed End-to-End Verification and Validation (E2-V2) simulation study of a DAA system representative of RTCA Special Committee(SC)-228s proposed Phase I DAA Minimum Operational Performance Standards (MOPS), based on specific test vectors and encounter cases, will be presented in this paper

Self-reported side effects and adherence to antiretroviral therapy in HIV-infected pregnant women under option B+: a prospective study

BACKGROUND: Antiretroviral therapy (ART) regimens containing efavirenz (EFV) are recommended as part of universal ART for pregnant and breastfeeding women. EFV may have appreciable side effects (SE), and ART adherence in pregnancy is a major concern, but little is known about ART SE and associations with adherence in pregnancy. METHODS: We investigated the distribution of patient-reported SE (based on Division of AIDS categories) and the association of SE with missed ART doses in a cohort of 517 women starting EFV+3TC/FTC+TDF during pregnancy. In analysis, SE were considered in terms of their overall frequency, by systems category, and by latent classes. RESULTS: Overall 97% of women reported experiencing at least one SE after ART initiation, with 48% experiencing more than five SE. Gastrointestinal, central nervous system, systemic and skin SE were reported by 81%, 85%, 79% and 31% of women, respectively, with considerable overlap across groups. At least one missed dose was reported by 32% of women. In multivariable models, ART non-adherence was associated with systemic SE compared to other systems categories, and measures of the overall burden of SE experienced were most strongly associated with missed ART doses. CONCLUSION: These data demonstrate very high levels of SE in pregnant women initiating EFV-based ART and a strong association between SE burden and ART adherence. ART regimens with reduced SE profiles may enhance adherence, and as countries expand universal ART for all adult patients, counseling must include preparation for ART SE