The effect of dietary inclusion of Mansonia altissima on feed intake, feed efficiency, and feed conversion of laying birds and cocks

An experiment was conducted to determine the effect of dietary inclusion of Mansonia altissima on feed intake, feed efficiency, and feed conversion of laying birds and cocks. A total of 60 birds consisting of 48 layers and 12 cocks were used in a completely randomized design of four treatment groups, A, B, C,D of 15 birds each. Results showed that significant differences (P 0.05) in feed intake (consumption), but there were significant differences (P < 0.05) in feed conversion, betweentreatment groups. It was therefore concluded that M. altissima can be used as a growth promoter in chicken at the inclusion level of 30 g/kg feed without causing increased feed consumption by the bird

The effect of dietary inclusion of Mansonia altissima on egg production and fertility of laying hens

An experiment was conducted in Port Harcourt to determine the effect of dietary inclusion of Mansonia altissima on egg production and fertility of laying hens, using a total of 45 birds consisting of 36 layers and 9 cocks in a randomized block of groups A, B, C of 15 birds each. Each treatment group wasreplicated thrice each containing 5 birds of both sexes (4 females and 1 male). Birds in group A were used as control while those in treatments B, C were fed M. altissima powder at the rate of 30 and 50 g per kg feed daily, respectively, for eight weeks. Results showed a significant difference (P&lt;0.05) in eggproduction with group C showing the highest egg production but decreased fertility. It was therefore concluded that M. altissima can be used to increase egg production in layers at the level of 50 g/kg feed but the reduced fertility, which it causes should be borne in mind while doing so

Preliminary investigation of the effect of Rhizophora racemosa (mangrove) feed additive on broiler performance

An experiment was conducted to determine the effect of consumption of Rhizophora racemosa (Mangrove) incorporated feed on feed intake, body weight gain, and some visceral organs of broiler chicks. Sixty day-old Hubbard broiler chicks were randomly allocated into four treatment groups, A, B, C and D of 15 birds per group and 5 birds per replicate. The dosages of the groups were 0 (control), 10, 20 and 30 g per kilogram of feed, respectively. Results obtained showed that there were no significant differences (P > 0.05) among the treatment means with respect to feed consumption/efficiency, and body weight gain. However, a lineal body weight gain was observed. There was obvious hypertrophy of the bursa of Fabricus of groups B, C, and D, indicative of defensive reaction to R. racemosa (foreign body) and increase of antibody production. The observed atrophy of the ovaries and the converse hypertrophy of the testes are analogous to decreased ovarian and increased testicular functions,respectively

Size composition, growth, mortality and yield of Alectis alexandrinus (Geoffory Saint-Hilaire) in Bonny River, Niger Delta, Nigeria

A twelve month study on the size composition, growth, mortality and yield of Alectis alexandrinus revealed a length range of 11.5 - 33.8 cm (standard length). Employing the length frequency method in the FISAT II package gave the following results for the Von Bertanlanffy growth parameters: L = 35.23, K = 0.680, to = 0.3214 and = 2.926. The total mortality (Z) was 2.47, natural mortality (M) 1.39 and fishing mortality (F) 1.08.The relative biomass per recruit (knife edge selection) was Lc/ L = 0.05, E10 =0.355 and E50 = 0.278. Although the exploitation rate (E) was 0.44 the Emax was 0.421 indicating moderate exploitation of the fish in Bonny River. There is room for increased effort in the fisheries

The Role of Medical Education in Reducing Health Care Disparities: The First Ten Years of the UCLA/Drew Medical Education Program

BACKGROUND: The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA)/Charles R. Drew University Medical Education Program was developed to train physicians for practice in underserved areas. The UCLA/Drew Medical Education Program students receive basic science instruction at UCLA and complete their required clinical rotations in South Los Angeles, an impoverished urban community. We have previously shown that, in comparison to their UCLA counterparts, students in the Drew program had greater odds of maintaining their commitment to medically disadvantaged populations over the course of medical education. OBJECTIVE: To examine the independent association of graduation from the UCLA/Drew program with subsequent choice of physician practice location. We hypothesized that participation in the UCLA/Drew program predicts future practice in medically disadvantaged areas, controlling for student demographics such as race/ethnicity and gender, indicators of socioeconomic status, and specialty choice. DESIGN: Retrospective cohort study. PARTICIPANTS: Graduates (1,071) of the UCLA School of Medicine and the UCLA/Drew Medical Education Program from 1985–1995, practicing in California in 2003 based on the address listed in the American Medical Association (AMA) Physician Masterfile. MEASUREMENTS: Physician address was geocoded to a California Medical Service Study Area (MSSA). A medically disadvantaged community was defined as meeting any one of the following criteria: (a) federally designated HPSA or MUA; (b) rural area; (c) high minority area; or (d) high poverty area. RESULTS: Fifty-three percent of UCLA/Drew graduates are located in medically disadvantaged areas, in contrast to 26.1% of UCLA graduates. In multivariate analyses, underrepresented minority race/ethnicity (OR: 1.57; 95% CI: 1.10–2.25) and participation in the Drew program (OR: 2.47; 95% CI: 1.59–3.83) were independent predictors of future practice in disadvantaged areas. CONCLUSIONS: Physicians who graduated from the UCLA/Drew Medical Education Program have higher odds of practicing in underserved areas than those who completed the traditional UCLA curriculum, even after controlling for other factors such as race/ethnicity. The association between participation in the UCLA/Drew Medical Education Program and physician practice location suggests that medical education programs may reinforce student goals to practice in disadvantaged communities

Quality Performance of Drugs Analyzed in the Drug Analysis and Research Unit (DARU) during the Period 2006-2010

During the period 2006-2010, the Drug Analysis and Research Unit analyzed 583 samples. The samples comprised 50.6% local and 49.4% imported products. Samples were subjected to compendial or in-house specifications. The failure rate was 12.2% for local products and 14.2% for imports.  Antibacterial products recorded the highest failure rate (21.6%) while  anticancers and drugs acting on the gastrointestinal, respiratory and  reproductive systems all passed in the tests performed. The failure rate for antiprotozoals, antimalarials, antifungals, anthelminthics and analgesics was 14.3%, 12.5%, 11.8%, 8.9% and 11.5%, respectively.Key words: DARU, drug product, assay, dissolution, antimicrobial, antimalaria

Electrically conductive nanomaterials for cardiac tissue engineering

© 2019 Elsevier B.V. Patient deaths resulting from cardiovascular diseases are increasing across the globe, posing the greatest risk to patients in developed countries. Myocardial infarction, as a result of inadequate blood flow to the myocardium, results in irreversible loss of cardiomyocytes which can lead to heart failure. A sequela of myocardial infarction is scar formation that can alter the normal myocardial architecture and result in arrhythmias. Over the past decade, a myriad of tissue engineering approaches has been developed to fabricate engineered scaffolds for repairing cardiac tissue. This paper highlights the recent application of electrically conductive nanomaterials (carbon and gold-based nanomaterials, and electroactive polymers) to the development of scaffolds for cardiac tissue engineering. Moreover, this work summarizes the effects of these nanomaterials on cardiac cell behavior such as proliferation and migration, as well as cardiomyogenic differentiation in stem cells

Inactivation of Poxviruses by Upper-Room UVC Light in a Simulated Hospital Room Environment

In the event of a smallpox outbreak due to bioterrorism, delays in vaccination programs may lead to significant secondary transmission. In the early phases of such an outbreak, transmission of smallpox will take place especially in locations where infected persons may congregate, such as hospital emergency rooms. Air disinfection using upper-room 254 nm (UVC) light can lower the airborne concentrations of infective viruses in the lower part of the room, and thereby control the spread of airborne infections among room occupants without exposing occupants to a significant amount of UVC. Using vaccinia virus aerosols as a surrogate for smallpox we report on the effectiveness of air disinfection, via upper-room UVC light, under simulated real world conditions including the effects of convection, mechanical mixing, temperature and relative humidity. In decay experiments, upper-room UVC fixtures used with mixing by a conventional ceiling fan produced decreases in airborne virus concentrations that would require additional ventilation of more than 87 air changes per hour. Under steady state conditions the effective air changes per hour associated with upper-room UVC ranged from 18 to 1000. The surprisingly high end of the observed range resulted from the extreme susceptibility of vaccinia virus to UVC at low relative humidity and use of 4 UVC fixtures in a small room with efficient air mixing. Increasing the number of UVC fixtures or mechanical ventilation rates resulted in greater fractional reduction in virus aerosol and UVC effectiveness was higher in winter compared to summer for each scenario tested. These data demonstrate that upper-room UVC has the potential to greatly reduce exposure to susceptible viral aerosols. The greater survival at baseline and greater UVC susceptibility of vaccinia under winter conditions suggest that while risk from an aerosol attack with smallpox would be greatest in winter, protective measures using UVC may also be most efficient at this time. These data may also be relevant to influenza, which also has improved aerosol survival at low RH and somewhat similar sensitivity to UVC

REFERQUAL: A pilot study of a new service quality assessment instrument in the GP Exercise Referral scheme setting

Background The development of an instrument accurately assessing service quality in the GP Exercise Referral Scheme (ERS) industry could potentially inform scheme organisers of the factors that affect adherence rates leading to the implementation of strategic interventions aimed at reducing client drop-out. Methods A modified version of the SERVQUAL instrument was designed for use in the ERS setting and subsequently piloted amongst 27 ERS clients. Results Test re-test correlations were calculated via Pearson's 'r' or Spearman's 'rho', depending on whether the variables were Normally Distributed, to show a significant (mean r = 0.957, SD = 0.02, p < 0.05; mean rho = 0.934, SD = 0.03, p < 0.05) relationship between all items within the questionnaire. In addition, satisfactory internal consistency was demonstrated via Cronbach's 'α'. Furthermore, clients responded favourably towards the usability, wording and applicability of the instrument's items. Conclusion REFERQUAL is considered to represent promise as a suitable tool for future evaluation of service quality within the ERS community. Future research should further assess the validity and reliability of this instrument through the use of a confirmatory factor analysis to scrutinise the proposed dimensional structure

Human Mas-related G protein-coupled receptors-X1 induce chemokine receptor 2 expression in rat dorsal root ganglia neurons and release of chemokine ligand 2 from the human LAD-2 mast cell line

Primate-specific Mas-related G protein-coupled receptors-X1 (MRGPR-X1) are highly enriched in dorsal root ganglia (DRG) neurons and induce acute pain. Herein, we analyzed effects of MRGPR-X1 on serum response factors (SRF) or nuclear factors of activated T cells (NFAT), which control expression of various markers of chronic pain. Using HEK293, DRG neuron-derived F11 cells and cultured rat DRG neurons recombinantly expressing human MRGPR-X1, we found activation of a SRF reporter gene construct and induction of the early growth response protein-1 via extracellular signal-regulated kinases-1/2 known to play a significant role in the development of inflammatory pain. Furthermore, we observed MRGPR-X1-induced up-regulation of the chemokine receptor 2 (CCR2) via NFAT, which is considered as a key event in the onset of neuropathic pain and, so far, has not yet been described for any endogenous neuropeptide. Up-regulation of CCR2 is often associated with increased release of its endogenous agonist chemokine ligand 2 (CCL2). We also found MRGPR-X1-promoted release of CCL2 in a human connective tissue mast cell line endogenously expressing MRGPR-X1. Thus, we provide first evidence to suggest that MRGPR-X1 induce expression of chronic pain markers in DRG neurons and propose a so far unidentified signaling circuit that enhances chemokine signaling by acting on two distinct yet functionally co-operating cell types. Given the important role of chemokine signaling in pain chronification, we propose that interruption of this signaling circuit might be a promising new strategy to alleviate chemokine-promoted pain