Estimation of sustained peak yield interval of dairy cattle lactation curves using a broken-line regression approach

A broken-line regression model with three straight lines and two breakpoints was used to estimate the sustained peak yield of the lactation curve. A sample of 1548 lactation records of 425 Holstein-Friesian cows was provided by the Research and Application Farm of the Agriculture Faculty of Çukurova University in Adana, Turkey. A total of 13463 test-day milk yields (kg/day), recorded once a month with electronic identification and automatic milking recording systems, between November 1994 and January 2006, were used. The data was classified as first, second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth and seventh parity, and included 4105, 3238, 2495, 1800, 1113, 641 and 71 test-day records, respectively. Times (days) at the beginning and end of sustained peak yield per parity were 73.9 - 160.2, 70.6 - 131.9, 70.8 - 130.7, 71.0 - 130.3, 71.3 - 130.4, 71.2 - 128.2 and 71.1 – 129.8, respectively. The peak yields of lactation curves were 19.1 kg/d, 21.8 kg/d, 23.8 kg/d, 24.2 kg/d, 24.2 kg/d 24.4 kg/d and 21.3 kg/d, and days in milk (DIM) at peak yields of lactation curves per parity were 126, 103, 102, 104, 106, 103 and 104, respectively. Persistency values (days) and total lactation milk yields (kg/lactation) per parity were 86.4, 61.3, 59.9, 59.3, 59.1, 57.0, 58.7 and 4852.2, 5105.7, 5503.5, 5503.7, 5449.3, 5416.3, 4802.4, respectively. Results showed that the first parity had a lactation curve with the lowest milk yield at peak that reached the peak point at the latest time (DIM) after parturition, but the largest interval between the beginning and end of the sustained peak yield among all parities. This means that the cows in the first lactation were more persistent than those in the later lactations

Effects of feed refreshing frequency on growth and carcass characteristics of Awassi lambs

Sixty, two-month old male Awassi lambs were used in this study to investigate the effects of feed refreshing (FR) frequencies on their growth and carcass characteristics over a period of 65 days. Treatments were: Feed refreshing at 2 h (FR2), 4 h (FR4), 8 h (FR8), 12 h (FR12) and 24 h (FR24) intervals. The lambs were fed individually. At the onset of each refreshing period the lambs were offered fresh feed ad libitum. Daily feed intakes, weekly live weights and carcass characteristics were recorded. Daily feed intakes per lamb per treatment were: 1.13 kg, 1.05 kg, 1.00 kg, 0.98 kg and 0.95 kg; daily gains were 193.6 g, 180.6 g, 148.6 g, 169.3 g and 146.4 g; feed conversion ratios (kg feed/kg gain) were 6.1, 6.7, 7.2, 7.2 and 7.5; hot carcass weights were 13.0 kg, 13.1 kg, 12.1 kg, 13.3 kg and 13.1 kg; dressing percentages were 42.3%, 42.4%, 39.9%, 40.2% and 41.2%; the proportion of muscle in the carcass was 52.0%, 55.2%, 55.6%, 55.8% and 54.8%; bone ratio was 20.4%, 20.3%, 21.9%, 21.1% and 20.9%; subcutaneous fat ratio was 16.9%, 14.2%, 12.9%, 12.7% and 14.0% and intramuscular fat ratio was 8.8%, 7.1%, 6.8%, 8.7% and 7.7% in FR2, FR4, FR8, FR12 and FR24 treatments, respectively. Results showed that frequent feed refreshing stimulated feed intake and daily gain without affecting carcass characteristics. Keywords: Lamb, feeding system, daily gain, body componentsSouth African Journal of Animal Science Vol. 37 (4) 2007: pp. 248-25

Effects of propolis and pollen supplementations on growth performance and body components of Japanese quails (Coturnix coturnix japonica).

Abstract The present study was carried out to investigate the effects of honey bee propolis and pollen supplementation on growth performance and body components in quail (Coturnix coturnix japonica). Two experiments were conducted. In the first experiment, propolis ethanolic extract (30%, PEE) was supplemented in diets at levels of 0, 5 and 10 ml PEE kg-1 while in the second experiment, pollen was supplemented in diets at four levels (0, 5, 10 and 20 g pollen kg-1). In both experiments, chicks were fed with diet containing 240 g crude protein and 3100 kcal ME per kg diet. During the experimental period, body weight, feed consumption and feed efficiency were determined weekly. At the end of the experiments, 3 female and 3 male quail from each subgroup were killed humanely to determine body components. Experimental results showed that supplementation of PEE and pollen did not significantly affect body weight gain, feed efficiency or body components (P > 0.05). It was concluded that propolis and pollen had no effect at the levels investigated on performance and body components of quail

Environmental awareness and attitudes in university students. An example from Hatay (Turkey)

In this study, we aimed to determine the awareness and attitudes of the Hatay Mustafa Kemal University students towards environmental problems on a local or national scale and the effect of educational status and gender. To this end, a standard questionnaire was prepared as a 5-point Likert scale and distributed to 1310 individuals selected through the stratified sampling method in the 2011–2012 academic year. The obtained data were analysed statistically. From this analysis, it was determined that the environment was not the most important problem for university students on a local or national scale. As a result, the level of awareness was found to be higher than the level of attitude in the university students. However, gender was not found as an effective parameter on environmental attitude. © 2016, Scibulcom Ltd. All rights reserved.Firat University Scientific Research Projects Management UnitThis study was supported by the Scientific Research Projects Department of th

A randomised study of ornidazole as a radiosensitiser in carcinoma of the cervix: Long-term results

This paper presents long-term results of a randomised study of ornidazole as a radiosensitiser in locally advanced carcinoma of the cervix. A total of 76 patients were randomised and followed-up with a median of 85 months. All patients were treated with external and intracavitary irradiation. The 10 year actuarial local control rate was 61% in patients receiving ornidazole, compared with 50% for placebo group. This difference was not statistically significant. Ten year actuarial overall and disease-free survival rates were also similar in the two treatment groups. Although, when analysed by stage, there was a significant advantage in the local control (54% vs 15%; P=0.044) and disease-free survival rates (37% vs 8%; P=0.047) in ornidazole group for stage IIIB cases, its implication is obscure because of the small number of patients. In this study moderate and severe complication rates were found to be 30%. These results suggest that ornidazole seems to have relatively weak sensitisation and it may show a possibility of a marginal benefit with unconventional irradiation using relatively large radiation doses. However, the results are insufficient for a real gain in the probability of local tumour control and survival

Effects of divergent selection methods based on body weights of quail on improvement of broiler quail parents

The purpose of this study, was to investigate the effects on body weight, weight gain, feed intake and feed efficiency of different selection methods for Body Weight (BW) in Japanese quail. For this purpose, line M55 was subjected to individual selection for 5 week BW while, a reciprocal recurrent selection method was applied to lines R33 and S55. Selection lasted 2 generations. Five weeks body weights in the parents of M55, R33 and S55 lines were obtained and were 273.5, 258.9 and 259.0 g in the beginning generation; 282.9, 284.8 and 279.5 g in the first generation and 284.6, 285.5 and 284.3 g in the 2nd generation. Average 5 weeks old body weights in the offspring of mass selection lines (M55) and offspring of cross-bred lines (R3S5 and S5R3) obtained from reciprocal mating were 279.5, 267.3 and 264.0 g in the 1 st generation and the values obtained were 300.7, 300.5 and 300.2 g in the 2nd generation. In the 2nd generation, body weight increases were higher than the 1st generation, especially in the reciprocal selection lines. Feed consumption of the 1st generation in M55, R3S5 and S5R3 lines were 768.62, 682.61 and 674.18 g and in the 2nd generation were 776.77, 790.64 and 791.71 g, respectively. Feed conversion efficiency was also calculated and was 2.83, 2.63 and 2.63 in the 1st generation and 2.66, 2.71 and 2.73 in the 2nd generation. Applying different selection methods in the present study seeking to increase body weight in quails either in parents or in offspring showed that reciprocal selection lines resulted in higher body weight than initial body weight. Feed consumption and feed conversion efficiency are similar to in the reciprocal selection lines both in the 1st and 2nd generations. © Medwell Journals, 2009

Nasopharyngeal carcinoma in childhood: long-term results of 32 patients

Purpose: To evaluate treatment results and prognostic factors, pediatric patients with nasopharyngeal carcinoma were reviewed

Reactions of Substituted Indoles with 2,3-Dichloro-1,4-naphthoquinone and Electrochemical Properties of Some 2,3-Substituted 1,4-Naphthoquinones

The reactions of 2,3-dichloro-1,4-naphthoquinone with some indoles and thiols were investigated. The resulting nucleophilic substitution products were characterized by spectroscopic methods (FT-IR, H-1 and C-13 NMR, MS) and microanalysis. The effects of polar and nonpolar solvents on the electronic absorption spectra and electrochemical properties of some newly synthesized compounds were also studied

Endometrial carcinoma and an unusual presentation of bone metastasis: A case report

Background. Although metastasis to bone is common in solid tumors, it seldom occurs in endometrial carcinoma. It is usually seen together with abdominopelvic recurrences and/or other organ metastases, Furthermore, bone metastases involving only the lower limbs are seen extremely rare