Prebiotic, probiotic, and antibiotic growth promoters use in commercial broilers: A comparative study: Gut histology of broilers & growth promoters

The objective of this study was to observe the effect of Mannan oligosaccharides (MOS), a prebiotic, in the replacement of the antibiotics in the broilers. For this purpose, two hundred broiler chicks were bought from a hatchery and allocated into five treatments having four replicates (10 birds in each). Birds were distributed into five groups; control, antibiotics (Zinc Bacitracin 10%), probiotics (Bacillus subtilis) and prebiotics (MOS), and a combination of probiotics and prebiotics groups. Five iso-nitrogenous and iso-caloric diets were prepared and offered to birds. Feed intake and body weight were recorded. At the end of the trial, birds were slaughtered to obtain carcass and gut health data. Data collected were examined by ANOVA under CRD and mean values were compared using Tukey’s HSD (Honestly significant difference) test. Weight gain was higher (P<0.05) in birds fed diet having probiotics and prebiotics in a combination form. Improved (P<0.05) FCR was recorded in birds fed diet having prebiotics alone and in combination with probiotics. The dressing percentage was higher (P<0.05) in birds fed diet having Probiotics + Prebiotics and control birds. Chest yield was higher (P<0.05) in birds fed having Probiotics + Prebiotics. In gut morphometric parameters, there was observed an increase in villus height, and a significant change of increase in villus surface area was seen. In conclusion, the addition of prebiotics in combination with probiotics, in feed, remarkably improved growth performance and carcass yield in commercial broilers

Omental whirl associated with bilateral inguinal hernia: a case report

INTRODUCTION: Torsion of the omentum is a rare cause of abdominal pain. It is clinically similar to common causes of acute surgical abdomen and is often diagnosed during surgery. Inguinal hernia is a common condition but not frequently related with torsion of the omentum. CASE PRESENTATION: A 40-year-old Caucasian man came to our emergency department with abdominal pain of the left quadrant and abdominal distension for 2 days. His medical history included an untreated left inguinal hernia in the last year. Computed tomography revealed densification of mesocolon with left omentum "whirl" component and other signs of omental torsion. During an exploratory laparoscopy, a wide twist of his omentum with necrotic alterations that extended to the bilateral inguinal hernial content was observed. Omentectomy and surgical repair of bilateral inguinal hernia were performed. CONCLUSIONS: Torsion of the omentum is a rare entity and usually presents a diagnostic challenge. The use of abdominal computed tomography can help diagnosing torsion of the omentum preoperatively and, thus, prevents a surgical approach. Nonetheless, some cases of torsion of the omentum require surgical repair. Accordingly, a laparoscopic approach is minimally invasive and efficient in performing omentectomy.(undefined

Health Monitoring of Structures Using Statistical Pattern Recognition Techniques

The primary objective of Structural Health Monitoring (SHM) is to determine whether a structure is performing as expected or there is any anomaly in its behavior as compared to the normal condition. It is also useful in detecting the existence, location and severity of damage. Vibration based damage detection methods are very frequently used in SHM. But due to complicated features of real life structures, there are uncertainties involved in the key input parameters (e.g. measured frequencies and mode shape data) which affect the performance of these methods. If vibration based methods are incorporated with semi-analytical method such as statistical pattern recognition techniques, better accuracy can result in structural health assessment. This paper explores the statistical pattern recognition techniques for damage detection and/or degradation in structures. A case study, the Portage Creek Bridge in Victoria, British Columbia has been used. The following two approaches of the statistical pattern recognition techniques have been used: statistical pattern comparison, and statistical model development. After filtering and normalizing the data; obtained from the SHM system installed in the bridge damage sensitive features have been extracted by Auto Regressive (AR) modeling of time series data. Both idle and excited states of the bridge are considered in this case. From the statistical analysis of the strain and acceleration data, it has been found that while the bridge is in a good condition, there is a small, but steady deterioration in its performance. The study also demonstrates the feasibility of the statistical pattern recognition techniques in assessing the structural condition of a practical structure

Pretreatment with ethinylestradiol-drospirenone and metformin enhances ovulation and pregnancy in women with polycystic ovary syndrome

Background: Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is a major cause of anovulatory infertility and affects 5-10% women of reproductive age. High serum anti-mullerian hormone (AMH) is associated with lack of ovulation in PCOS women. Combined oral contraceptives containing ethinylestradiol and drospirenone suppress androgen production and reduce AMH concentration which may optimize the women with PCOS for better response to ovulation induction. This study aimed to assess the effects of ethinylestradiol-drospirenone (EE-DRSP) and metformin combination as pretreatment for ovulation induction in polycystic ovary syndrome in comparison to metformin only pretreatment. Methods: This was a randomized controlled trial conducted on a total 62 subfertile PCOS women having high serum AMH (≥5 ng/dl). They were randomly assigned into 2 groups. In group A 31 participants received EE-DRSP and metformin combination and in group B 31 participants received only metformin for 3 months. After 3 months the participants had ovulation induction with letrozole for 3 cycles. The outcome variables were the rates of ovulation and pregnancy. Results: Ovulation rate per cycle was higher in group A than group B. Cumulative ovulation rate per participant was also 1.36 times higher in group A than B (100.0% versus 73.3%). Cumulative pregnancy rate was 1.91 times higher in combination group than metformin alone group (67.7% versus 35.5%). Conclusions: Pretreatment with ethinylestradiol-drospirenone and metformin for three months before ovulation induction is more effective than metformin only in terms of higher ovulation and pregnancy rate in subfertile PCOS women

Evaluation of a range of mammalian and mosquito cell lines for use in Chikungunya virus research

Chikungunya virus (CHIKV) is becoming an increasing global health issue which has spread across the globe and as far north as southern Europe. There is currently no vaccine or anti-viral treatment available. Although there has been a recent increase in CHIKV research, many of these in vitro studies have used a wide range of cell lines which are not physiologically relevant to CHIKV infection in vivo. In this study, we aimed to evaluate a panel of cell lines to identify a subset that would be both representative of the infectious cycle of CHIKV in vivo, and amenable to in vitro applications such as transfection, luciferase assays, immunofluorescence, western blotting and virus infection. Based on these parameters we selected four mammalian and two mosquito cell lines, and further characterised these as potential tools in CHIKV research

Workshop report - Interdisciplinary metabolomic epidemiology: The pathway to clinical translation

Metabolomic epidemiology studies are complex and require a broad array of domain expertise. Although many metabolite-phenotype associations have been identified; to date, few findings have been translated to the clinic. Bridging this gap requires understanding of both the underlying biology of these associations and their potential clinical implications, necessitating an interdisciplinary team approach. To address this need in metabolomic epidemiology, a workshop was held at Metabolomics 2023 in Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada that highlighted the domain expertise needed to effectively conduct these studies -- biochemistry, clinical science, epidemiology, and assay development for biomarker validation -- and emphasized the role of interdisciplinary teams to move findings towards clinical translation

Laparoscopic approach to incarcerated and strangulated inguinal hernias

Introduction: Acute inguinal hernias are a common presentation as surgical emergencies, which have been routinely managed with open surgery. In recent years, the laparoscopic approach has been described by several authors but has been controversial amongst surgeons. We describe the laparoscopic approach to incarcerated/strangulated inguinal hernias based on a review of the literature with regards to its feasibility in laparoscopically managing the acute hernia presentation. Methods: A systematic literature search was carried out including Medline with PubMed as the search engine, and Ovid, Embase, Cochrane Collaboration, and Google Scholar databases to identify articles reporting on laparoscopic treatment, reduction, and repair of incarcerated or strangulated inguinal hernias from 1989 to 2008. Results: Forty-three articles were found, and 7 were included according to the inclusion criteria set. Articles reporting on the use of laparoscopy for the evaluation of the hernia but not reducing and repairing it, the use of the open technique, elective hernia repairs, pediatric series, review articles, and other kinds of hernias were excluded after title and abstract review. This resulted in 16 articles that were reviewed in full. Of these 16 articles, 7 reported on the use of the laparoscopic approach exclusively. From these 7 studies, there were 328 cases reported, 6 conversions, average operating time of 61.3 minutes (SD 12.3), average hospital stay of 3.8 days (SD 1.2), 34 complications (25 of which were reported as minor), and 17 bowel resections performed either laparoscopically or through a minilaparotomy incision guided laparoscopically. Conclusion: The laparoscopic repair is a feasible procedure with acceptable results; however, its efficacy need

Metabolomic-derived endotypes of age-related macular degeneration (AMD): A step towards identification of disease subgroups

Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is a leading cause of blindness worldwide, with a complex pathophysiology and phenotypic diversity. Here, we apply Similarity Network Fusion (SNF) to cluster AMD patients into putative metabolomics-derived endotypes. Using a discovery cohort of 163 AMD patients from Boston, US, and a validation cohort of 214 patients from Coimbra, Portugal, we identified four distinct metabolomics-derived endotypes with varying retinal structural and functional characteristics, confirmed across both cohorts. Patients clustered into Endotype 1 exhibited a milder form of AMD and were characterized by low levels of amino acids in specific metabolic pathways. Meanwhile, patients clustered into both Endotype 3 and 4 were associated with more severe AMD and exhibited low levels of fatty acid metabolites and elevated levels of sphingomyelins and fatty acid metabolites, respectively. These preliminary findings indicate that metabolomics-derived endotyping may offer a refined strategy for categorizing AMD patients based on their specific pathophysiological underpinnings, rather than relying solely on traditional observational clinical indicators

Utilization of fungal biocontrol agents against rice sheath blight disease provides insight into their role in plant defense responses

Biotic and abiotic factors have an effect on rice production all around the world. Diseases are regarded as major restrictions among the biotic stressors, and rice sheath blight (Rhizoctonia solani Kühn) is one of the most calamitous diseases that significantly damage the crop. Lately, biocontrol of fungal plant pathogens has appeared as an appealing approach. The present investigation was undertaken to evaluate different biocontrol agents like Talaromyces flavus, Chaetomium globosum, Pseudomonas fluorescens and Aspergillus niger against sheath blight disease. Prior to sowing, seeds were bioprimed with each isolate and sown in the nursery. After 21 days, seedlings were transplanted in-vivo and were inoculated with a virulent isolate of Rhizoctonia solani at maximum tillering stage. Observations on biochemical parameters and gene expression studies were carried out at 24, 48, 72, and 96 hpi. Enzymatic activity viz., chitinase, β-1,3-glucanase, catalase, and PAL was observed  maximum in Chaetomium globosum. PR-genes viz., IPT, BrD, HmPr, AMP, AldD, NIC and LisH showed up-regulation at 96 hpi. Chaetomium globosum had the highest yield, maximum number of tillers with least RLH% as compared to other treatments. However, results indicated biocontrol agents are helpful and they induce multitude of defence responses against R. solani in rice

Intraoperative blood pressure changes as a risk factor for anastomotic leakage in colorectal surgery

Anastomotic leakage is a serious complication after colorectal surgery. Pre- and intraoperative factors may contribute to failure of colorectal anastomosis. In this study we have tried to determine risk factors for anastomotic leakage, with special emphasis on intraoperative blood pressure changes. During a 24-month period, patients receiving a colorectal anastomosis were prospectively evaluated. For each patient preoperative characteristics, intraoperative adverse events and surgical outcome data were collected. Blood pressure changes were calculated as a relative decrease (> 25% and > 40%) from preoperative baseline values. During the study period, 285 patients underwent colorectal surgery with an anastomosis. Fifteen patients developed an anastomotic leakage (5.3%). All patients who developed a leakage had a left-sided procedure (P 40% decrease in diastolic blood pressure (P = 0.049)] were identified as univariate risk factors for anastomotic leakage. The development of an anastomotic leakage after colorectal surgery is related to surgical, patient and anaesthetic risk factors. A high preoperative diastolic blood pressure and profound intraoperative hypotension combined with complex surgery, marked by a blood loss of a parts per thousand yen250 mL and the occurrence of intraoperative adverse events, is associated with an increased risk of developing anastomotic leakag