The effects of dietary nucleotide content on the growth performance, digestibility and immune responses of juvenile narrow clawed crayfish, Astacus leptodactylus leptodactylus Eschscholtz, 1823

A 126-day experiment was carried out under controlled conditions to compare the effects of five levels (0.5, 1.0, 1.5, 2.0 and 2.5 g kg � 1 ) of dietar

Effects of dietary onion (Allium cepa) powder on growth performance, hemolymph indices and fillet organoleptic properties of juvenile narrow-clawed crayfish, Astacus leptodactylus leptodactylus Eschscholtz, 1823

A 18-week feeding trial was carried out under controlled conditions to compare the effects of onion powder (OP) at six levels (5, 10, 20, 30, 40 and 50 g/kg) on the growth performance, nutritional efficiency indices, hemolymph indices and fillet organoleptic properties of juvenile (5.62 ± 0.39 g) crayfish. The significantly (p < .05) highest values of final weight (71.30 g) and SGR (2.02% per day) and the lowest FCR (1.03) were observed in the juvenile crayfish fed the diet containing 40 g OP/kg. The juvenile crayfish fed the diet containing 40 g OP/kg had the significantly (p < .05) highest THC (105.27 × 105 cell/ml), HC (98.33 × 105 cell/ml), SGC (38.54 × 105 cell/ml) and LGC (49.51 × 105 cell/ml). The crayfish fed the levels of dietary OP higher than 30 g/kg showed the significantly (p < .05) higher values of SOD (4.07–4.30 U/min) and LYZ (6.73–7.20 U/min) compared with those fed 5, 10, 20 and 30 g of dietary OP/kg and control. Polynomial regression of SGR, FCR, PPV and PER suggested that the optimum dietary OP level could be higher than 30 and <50 mg/kg in crayfish reared in culture conditions

From features to speaker vectors by means of restricted Boltzmann machine adaptation

Restricted Boltzmann Machines (RBMs) have shown success in different stages of speaker recognition systems. In this paper, we propose a novel framework to produce a vector-based representation for each speaker, which will be referred to as RBM-vector. This new approach maps the speaker spectral features to a single fixed-dimensional vector carrying speaker-specific information. In this work, a global model, referred to as Universal RBM (URBM), is trained taking advantage of RBM unsupervised learning capabilities. Then, this URBM is adapted to the data of each speaker in the development, enrolment and evaluation datasets. The network connection weights of the adapted RBMs are further concatenated and subject to a whitening with dimension reduction stage to build the speaker vectors. The evaluation is performed on the core test condition of the NIST SRE 2006 database, and it is shown that RBM-vectors achieve 15% relative improvement in terms of EER compared to i-vectors using cosine scoring. The score fusion with i-vector attains more than 24% relative improvement. The interest of this result for score fusion yields on the fact that both vectors are produced in an unsupervised fashion and can be used instead of i-vector/PLDA approach, when no data label is available. Results obtained for RBM-vector/PLDA framework is comparable with the ones from i-vector/PLDA. Their score fusion achieves 14% relative improvement compared to i-vector/PLDA.Peer ReviewedPostprint (published version

Speaker recognition by means of restricted Boltzmann machine adaptation

Restricted Boltzmann Machines (RBMs) have shown success in speaker recognition. In this paper, RBMs are investigated in a framework comprising a universal model training and model adaptation. Taking advantage of RBM unsupervised learning algorithm, a global model is trained based on all available background data. This general speaker-independent model, referred to as URBM, is further adapted to the data of a specific speaker to build speaker-dependent model. In order to show its effectiveness, we have applied this framework to two different tasks. It has been used to discriminatively model target and impostor spectral features for classification. It has been also utilized to produce a vector-based representation for speakers. This vector-based representation, similar to i-vector, can be further used for speaker recognition using either cosine scoring or Probabilistic Linear Discriminant Analysis (PLDA). The evaluation is performed on the core test condition of the NIST SRE 2006 database.Peer ReviewedPostprint (author's final draft

Effect of dietary encapsulated organic salts (Na‐acetate, Na‐butyrate, Na‐lactate and Na‐propionate) on growth performance, haemolymph, antioxidant and digestive enzyme activities and gut microbiota of juvenile narrow clawed crayfish, Astacus leptodactylus leptodactylus Eschscholtz, 1823

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Morphological plasticity of Nemoura Cinerea (Arthropoda, Nemouridae) as a biological indicator for aquatic systems

Macrobenthos are indicators of the physical and chemical changes in aquatic ecosystems. In this research, the diversity of macrobenthos communities in the Ortkand River, Iran, was investigated during four consecutive seasons using the Shannon-Weiner, EPT richness indices, and the Hilsenhoff index for water quality at four sampling stations. In addition, sampling of Nemoura cinerea (Arthropoda, Nemouridae) was done to compare morphological differences between specimens from two upstream and downstream sites using a geometric morphometric approach. The physicochemical parameters of water were also recorded. The entry of fish farm wastewater significantly affects biotic and abiotic environmental factors according to the Shannon-Weiner and Hilsenhoff indices. The results showed a significant positive correlation between DO and Shannon-Wiener index, TDS and the Hilsenhoff index, and DO and EPT richness index. A significant negative correlation was observed between BOD and the Shannon-Wiener index, DO and Hilsenhoff index, and between BOD and EPT richness index. Geometric morphometrics analyses revealed that the two groups differed mainly in pronotum and metanotum morphology. According to the results, monitoring of macrobenthos can help assess rivers’ water quality, and N. cinerea can be a proper bioindicator

Supplementation of dietary apple cider vinegar as an organic acidifier on the growth performance, digestive enzymes and mucosal immunity of green terror (Andinoacara rivulatus)

The present study was designed to investigate the effects of dietary apple cider vinegar (ACV) on digestive enzyme activity and growth performance as well as immune responses and antibacterial activity of skin mucus in green terror (Andinoacara rivulatus). Fish were fed diets supplemented with 0%, 1%, 2% and 4% of ACV (40.830 ppm acetic acid concentration) for 63 days. The final weight and weight gain values were observed to be significantly higher in fish fed with 2% of ACV compared to the control group (p .05). ACV treatment resulted in a significant increase in the intestinal protease, α‐amylase, lipase and alkaline phosphatase activities compared to control (p < .05). The activities of digestive enzymes in fish fed with 2% and 4% of ACV diets were significantly higher than the other groups (p < .05). The total protein content, alternative haemolytic complement, alkaline phosphatase, total immunoglobulins and lysozyme activities of skin mucus increased significantly in fish fed with ACV diets (p < .05). In conclusion, administration of ACV enhanced digestive enzyme activity, growth performance, immune responses and the immune properties of skin mucus, and it can be used as a natural growth promoter and immunostimulant in green terror culture

Varijacije ukupne razine sijalične kiseline u bubrezima, jetri i slezeni imunizirane kalifornijske pastrve (Oncorhynchus mykiss)

The aim of this study is to evaluate the effects of irradiated trophonts of Ichthyophthirius multifiliis and alginate/calcium phosphate nanoparticles on total sialic acid levels in immunized rainbow trout kidney, liver and spleen tissues. The 15 fish tissues of the treated and control groups were sampled at 30 days following the first immunization. Tissue samples were homogenized and centrifuged. The total sialic acid levels of the tissue samples were determined using a commercially available Quantitation Kit. Significant increases in kidney, spleen and liver TSA levels were determined in the treated groups in comparison to the controls. The immunosupportive effects of sialic acid were illustrated by the elevation in the amount of TSA in the kidneys, liver and spleen of the immunized fish. Also, the significant increase in the TSA levels in the rainbow trout treated with calcium phosphate nanoparticles could be attributed to the Ca-binding capacity of the glycerol side chain of the sialic acid. Finally, the results of this study showed that sialic acid may be a mediator in the development of long-circulating nanocarriers to advance the field of vaccine delivery in fish.Cilj ovoga istraživanja bio je procijeniti učinak ozračenog trofonta Ichthyophthirius multifiliis i nanočestica alginata / kalcijeva fosfata na ukupnu razinu sijalične kiseline u bubrezima, jetri i slezeni imunizirane kalifonijske pastrve. Uzeti su uzorci 15 riba iz pokusne i kontrolne skupine 30 dana nakon imunizacije. Uzorci tkiva su homogenizirani i centrifugirani. Ukupna razina sijalične kiseline u uzorcima tkiva utvrđena je komercijalnim kitom za kvantifikaciju. U pokusnim skupinama u usporedbi s kontrolnom utvrđen je statistički znakovit porast ukupne razine sijalične kiseline u bubregu, jetri i slezeni. Imunopotporni učinci sijalične kiseline prikazani su porastom ukupne razine sijalične kiseline u bubrezima, jetri i slezeni imunizirane ribe. Također, statistički znakovit porast ukupne razine sijalične kiseline u kalifonijske pastrve kojoj su davane nanočestice kalcijeva fosfata, mogao bi se povezati sa sposobnošću postranog lanca glicerola sijalične kiseline za vezanje kalcija. Rezultati ovoga istraživanja pokazali su da sijalična kiselina može posredovati u razvoju dugocirkulirajućih nanonositelja kako bi se pospješila imunizaciju riba

Effects of soy protein base diet supplemented with lysine and methionine on digestive enzymes activity and hematological parameters in silvery-black porgy (Sparidentex hasta) juveniles

The effect of dietary partial replacement of fish meal (FM) by soybean protein (SP) alone or in combination with lysine (Lys) and methionine (Met) supplementation were tested in a 60-days feeding trial for silvery-black porgy (Sparidentex hasta) juveniles. Seven isoproteic (ca. 50% crude protein) and isoenergetic (ca. 22.4 MJ/kg) diets were formulated in which 45% (SP45), 60% (SP60) and 75% (SP75) of FM protein were replaced by SP and the control diet (FM) was prepared with FM as the major source of protein. In SP45+, SP60+ and SP75+ diets, 45 to 75% of FM was replaced by SP with supplementing blends of Lys and Met (98% of purity). The activities of the trypsin, lipase and α-amylase were higher in fish fed SP diets with crystalline amino acids supplementation than in the other groups (P < 0.05). Fish fed SP75 and SP75+ diets had the lowest red blood cell count and hematocrit level (P < 0.05). The results of the current study indicated that anti-nutritional factors in a soy-protein based diet rather than lysine and methionine deficiencies may have adverse effects on digestive enzymes activities and health condition in silvery-black porgy juveniles.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio