Enhancement of the feeding value of wheat offal for broiler feeding after its solid state fermentation with Aspergillus niger

The objective of this study was to investigate the changes in in vitro dry matter digestibility (IVDMD) of wheat offal (WTO) after its biodegradation with Aspergillus niger and also to determine the effect of degraded WTO on the performance parameters of broiler birds at starter and finisher phases. A. niger was used for the  biodegradation of WTO. There were five dietary treatments of 33 birds each. Having degraded the WTO, it was observed that there was improvement in crude protein value from 2.43 g/100 gDM to 4.00 g/100 gDM (39.25% improvement). The crude fibre had 28.02% reduction after the degradation. At the starter phase, body weight gain was significantly (P<0.05) higher in the birds fed degraded wheat offal (DWTO). At the finisher phase, feed conversion ratio was significantly (P>0.05) lower in birds placed on DWTO. The relative cost benefit (RCB) showed that economically, the birds placed on DWTO gave better profit margin than the ones placed on the undegraded wheat offal (UWTO). The results revealed that A. niger was able to enhance better availability of energy, crude protein and other nutrients which were hitherto encapsulated in the undegraded WTO.Key words: Wheat offal, Aspergillus niger, biodegradation, broiler birds

Use of Aspergillus niger for improving the feeding value of rice offal

Undegraded and degraded rice offals (RO) were used to compound rations for broiler birds for eight weeks. The undegraded was used at 7% inclusion level and the degraded was used at 3, 5 and 7% inclusion levels. A hundred and sixty five (165) day old chicks were randomly selected and allotted to five (5) treatments. Each treatment had three replicates and each replicate had eleven birds. Aspergillus niger was inoculated into RO through solid state fermentation for a period of seven (7) days and this was used as the degraded sample. There was improvement in the crude protein and ether extract of the degraded sample, while the crude fibre content reduced. The crude protein increased from 8.79 to 12.24% while the crude fibre reduced from 15.89 to 10.82% after biodegradation. The results from the feeding trials showed significant (P< 0.05) differences in the average feed intake and average body weight gain at the starter phase. The highest feed consumption was found in treatment 5 which contained 7% degraded RO (DRO) and it was 65.11 g/b/d. At the finisher phase, there were significant (P<0.05) differences in both the average feed intake and the average body weight gain of the birds. The highest feed intake was found in treatment 5 and it was 201.84 g/b/d. The highest body weight gain was also found in treatment 5 and it was 75.52 g/b/d. The relative cost benefit (RCB) showed that economically, the birds placed on degraded rice offal (DRO) gave better profit margin than the ones placed on the undegraded rice offal (URO). The results reveal that A. niger was able to improve the energy, crude protein and other nutrients in rice offal which will bring economic benefits to farmers.Keywords: Aspergillus niger, rice offal, degraded, undegraded, nutrient contents, feed improvementAfrican Journal of Biotechnology Vol. 12(20), pp. 3083-308

Predictors of Bovine TB Risk Behaviour amongst Meat Handlers in Nigeria: A Cross-Sectional Study Guided by the Health Belief Model

Bovine Tuberculosis (bTB) is still a serious public health threat in developing countries. The aim of this study is to determine the social and cognitive factors predicting one of the risk behaviours amongst meat handlers in Nigeria, namely, eating Fuku Elegusi. This is the practice of eating the visibly infected parts of the lung in-order to convince customers to buy meat. The study is guided by the health belief model (HBM).This is a cross-sectional study of 349 randomly selected meat handlers in Oko-Oba Abattoir, in Lagos State. Descriptive statistics and multiple logistic regression analysis were employed to determine perceptions and prevalence of risk behaviours and to identify predictors of eating Fuku Elegusi.Just over a quarter (28.1%) of the study participants knew that eating Fuku Elegusi could be a source of bTB in humans. The prevalence of eating Fuku Elegusi was found to be 22%. Across all knowledge indicators related to bTB, those who don't eat Fuku Elegusi exhibited better knowledge. Strong predictors of eating Fuku Elegusi were: being male (OR: 2.39, 95% CI: 1.10 to 5.19; p = 0.03), not knowing that eating Fuku Elegusi exposes to bTB (OR: 3.72, 95% CI: 1.69 to 8.22; p = 0.001), and the perception that one cannot sell meat without tasting it (perceived barrier) (OR: 1.35, 95% CI: 1.13 to 1.60; p = 0.001). Lower risk of eating Fuku Elegusi was predicted by perceived susceptibility to bTB due to another risk behaviour, namely, not washing hands after handling meat (OR: 0.78, 95% CI: 0.64 to 0.96; p-value = 0.021). Television and radio were the most acceptable media for TB prevention messages (78.5% and 75.6% respectively).Meat handlers in developing countries bear high risk to bTB owing to prevailing social and cognition determinants. Findings were largely consistent with the propositions of HBM

Global patient outcomes after elective surgery: prospective cohort study in 27 low-, middle- and high-income countries.

BACKGROUND: As global initiatives increase patient access to surgical treatments, there remains a need to understand the adverse effects of surgery and define appropriate levels of perioperative care. METHODS: We designed a prospective international 7-day cohort study of outcomes following elective adult inpatient surgery in 27 countries. The primary outcome was in-hospital complications. Secondary outcomes were death following a complication (failure to rescue) and death in hospital. Process measures were admission to critical care immediately after surgery or to treat a complication and duration of hospital stay. A single definition of critical care was used for all countries. RESULTS: A total of 474 hospitals in 19 high-, 7 middle- and 1 low-income country were included in the primary analysis. Data included 44 814 patients with a median hospital stay of 4 (range 2-7) days. A total of 7508 patients (16.8%) developed one or more postoperative complication and 207 died (0.5%). The overall mortality among patients who developed complications was 2.8%. Mortality following complications ranged from 2.4% for pulmonary embolism to 43.9% for cardiac arrest. A total of 4360 (9.7%) patients were admitted to a critical care unit as routine immediately after surgery, of whom 2198 (50.4%) developed a complication, with 105 (2.4%) deaths. A total of 1233 patients (16.4%) were admitted to a critical care unit to treat complications, with 119 (9.7%) deaths. Despite lower baseline risk, outcomes were similar in low- and middle-income compared with high-income countries. CONCLUSIONS: Poor patient outcomes are common after inpatient surgery. Global initiatives to increase access to surgical treatments should also address the need for safe perioperative care. STUDY REGISTRATION: ISRCTN5181700

Growth, haematological and biochemical studies on garlic- and ginger-fed broiler chickens

The effects of dietary garlic and ginger on the growth performance and blood composition of broiler chickens were investigated. One hundred and ninety six 7-day-old broiler chicks were randomly allocated to seven dietary treatments. Each treatment contained two replicates. Control diet contained 0% garlic and 0% ginger. Treatments T1, T2 and T3 contained garlic at 5g/kg, 10g/kg and 15g/kg respectively. Ginger supplements were concentrated in the diets at 5g/kg, 10g/kg, 15g/kg for treatments T4, T5 and T6 respectively. There were no significant differences in the average final live weights of birds on the different treatments. However, birds on garlic and ginger treatments had slightly better (P>0.05) average feed intake, weight gain and final live weight than those on the control diet. The supplements caused significant differences in the average weights (g) of the shank (