Effects of Graded Levels of Xylanase-Treated Rice Husk on Nutrient Digestibility and Growth Performance of Broiler Chickens

This study investigated the feeding value of Aspergillus tubingensis xylanase-treated rice husk in broiler chickens. The objectives of the study are (I) to investigate the effect of xylanase treatment on the utilization of rice husk in broiler chickens and (II) to determine the optimum level of xylanase-treated rice husk that can be tolerated by broiler chickens. Xylanases are hydrolytic enzymes that degrade xylan and hemicelluloses located in plant cell walls, into xylose which is a reducing sugar and enhancing nutrient digestibility in animal feeds. The production of extracellular xylanase by a locally isolated Aspergillus tubingensis was conducted using solid-state fermentation. The selected isolate was identified by cultural techniques and verified by molecular identification. Conventional feed ingredients such as maize is the primary cereal as source of energy in broiler diet. High cost, availability and competition existing among man, industry and livestock has necessitated the need to find cheap and available alternative feedstuffs for maize in poultry diet. Rice husk is one of the alternative feedstuffs but characterized by high fibre content and Non-Starch Polysaccharide (NSP) (Dalibord, 2006). Thus, addition of the xylanase enzyme breaks the NSPs resulting in plant cell wall destruction after releasing the trapped nutrients such as starches and proteins within fibre-rich cell walls (Gade et al., 2017). Crude xylanase produced was used for enzymatic degradation of rice husk to improve its nutritional value. The rice husk was initially subjected to physical pre-treatment by soaking in water for 24 hours or ground to increase the surface area. Pre-treated rice husk was treated by spraying xylanase onto the rice husk at 100g/ 0.2mL representing the concentration level that recorded the best degradation of fibre content in the treated rice husk. Xylanase-treated rice husk (XTRH) was used with other ingredients in formulating a broiler chicken diet at different inclusion levels. The experiment was a complete randomized design with five experimental diets containing xylanase-treated rice husk at different inclusion levels 0, 5, 10, 15 and 20 kg/100kg. The control diet contained no xylanase-treated rice husk (XTRH). There were five (5) treatments each with three (3) replicate cages of eight (8) broiler chicks totalling 120 birds for the feeding trial. One hundred and twenty (120) day-old chicks with an average weight of 54.85g were randomly allotted to five dietary treatments formulated with 0 (control), 5%, 10%, 15% and 20% (XTRH), and fed for eight weeks. There were three replicates of eight (8) birds per treatment. Results showed that the performance of Broiler chickens such as feed intake, and weight gain feed fed diet containing a 20% inclusion level of xylanase-treated rice husk was significantly higher (p<0.05) compared to other treatment diets. This showed an improvement in the utilization of a high-fibre diet, nutrient digestibility, growth performance, and carcass characteristics which can be beneficial to farmers in reducing the cost of feed, and increasing savings and profit margin. Conclusively, the application of xylanase produced by Aspergillus tubingensis on rice husk may have enhanced efficient enzymatic hydrolysis of its fibre fractions and improved its nutritional values. Supplementation of rice husk treated with xylanase at 100g/0.2mL concentration level and included at 20% in broiler chicken may enhance nutrient digestion and utilization and improve the growth performance of broiler chickens

Nutritive values of wheat bran-based broiler diet supplemented with different classes of enzymes

Previous studies have shown that inclusion of exogenous enzymes in broiler diets can improve metabolizable energy intakes, digestibility and performance parameters. However, there is limited information on the comparative effect of different enzymes in wheat bran-based broiler diet. This study investigated the effect of different enzyme classes on metabolizable energy (ME) values of wheat bran as well as the performance parameters and nutrient retention of broilers. A total of 216 mixed-sex one-day-old chicks were fed either the basal diet or test diet (20% basal diet replaced with wheat bran) without or with supplementation of carbohydrase-cocktail (CC), multi-enzyme (MEnz) and single-carbohydrase (SC). The enzymes increased (P<0.001) the ME values of wheat bran but SC had the highest increase for apparent ME, nitrogen-corrected apparent ME and true ME values of wheat bran. Neither performance parameters of feed intake (FI), body weight gain (BWG), feed conversion ratio (FCR) nor economic benefit (EB) was affected by the interaction between diets and enzymes. A significant dietary effect (P<0.05) was observed as higher FI, lower FCR, and better EB on the test diet compared to basal diet. The enzyme inclusions, however, had similar improvements on (P<0.05) on BWG, FCR and EB of broilers. The dietary enzymes increased fat and phosphorus (P) retentions on both test and basal diets (P<0.001), with birds fed CC added to test diet showing the highest phosphorus retention. In conclusion, enzyme inclusions in wheat-bran based diet improved the ME values of wheat bran and the nutrient retention of broilers, although broiler performance was unaffected. The inclusion of CC in 20% wheat bran-based diet can be economically useful in improving P retention of broilers, with potential benefit for reducing P losses to the environment.</p

Outcomes of tunneled internal jugular venous catheters for chronic haemodialysis at the University College Hospital, Ibadan, Nigeria

Introduction:&nbsp;vascular access is an important aspect of haemodialysis treatments and determinant of patient outcomes. Arteriovenous (AV) fistula has been described as the preferred haemodialysis vascular access for patients on chronic dialysis. There continues to be a challenge with the creation of AV fistula, due to shortage of vascular surgeons skilled in the AV fistula creation particularly in source limited setting. We described the outcomes of the tunneled internal jugular venous catheters amongst our patients at the University College Hospital (UCH) Ibadan. Methods:&nbsp;a retrospective study of patients on maintenance haemodialysis at the UCH, Ibadan, we reviewed the records of all patients on chronic dialysis over a period of 5 years. Information obtained include demographics, types and aetiology of renal failure, types of vascular access, observed complications and outcomes. Results:&nbsp;a total number of 147 catheters were inserted during the period under review, 94 were in males while 53 were females. The age range was 18-85 years while the mean age was 46.3 ± 17.2 years. The range and mean duration for Tunneled Dialysis Catheter (TDC) carriage were (30 - 1,440) and 220±185 days respectively. The observed immediate complications of TDCs were failed first attempt 7(4.7%), reactionary haemorrhage 5(3.4%), arrhythmia 3(2.0%), haemothorax 2(1.4%) while death during catheter placement was recorded in 2(1.4%) cases. Catheter related infection was the commonest long-term complications and occurred in 15 cases (10.1%), while being diabetic increased the risk of developing catheter related complications. One tenth of our patients with End Stage Renal Disease on TDC had kidney transplantation while catheter related mortality was 16.3%. Conclusion:&nbsp;internal jugular tunneled dialysis catheters despite its shortcomings, has been a safe procedure with good outcomes among our patients on maintenance haemodialysis

Adaptation of the Wound Healing Questionnaire universal-reporter outcome measure for use in global surgery trials (TALON-1 study): mixed-methods study and Rasch analysis

BackgroundThe Bluebelle Wound Healing Questionnaire (WHQ) is a universal-reporter outcome measure developed in the UK for remote detection of surgical-site infection after abdominal surgery. This study aimed to explore cross-cultural equivalence, acceptability, and content validity of the WHQ for use across low- and middle-income countries, and to make recommendations for its adaptation.MethodsThis was a mixed-methods study within a trial (SWAT) embedded in an international randomized trial, conducted according to best practice guidelines, and co-produced with community and patient partners (TALON-1). Structured interviews and focus groups were used to gather data regarding cross-cultural, cross-contextual equivalence of the individual items and scale, and conduct a translatability assessment. Translation was completed into five languages in accordance with Mapi recommendations. Next, data from a prospective cohort (SWAT) were interpreted using Rasch analysis to explore scaling and measurement properties of the WHQ. Finally, qualitative and quantitative data were triangulated using a modified, exploratory, instrumental design model.ResultsIn the qualitative phase, 10 structured interviews and six focus groups took place with a total of 47 investigators across six countries. Themes related to comprehension, response mapping, retrieval, and judgement were identified with rich cross-cultural insights. In the quantitative phase, an exploratory Rasch model was fitted to data from 537 patients (369 excluding extremes). Owing to the number of extreme (floor) values, the overall level of power was low. The single WHQ scale satisfied tests of unidimensionality, indicating validity of the ordinal total WHQ score. There was significant overall model misfit of five items (5, 9, 14, 15, 16) and local dependency in 11 item pairs. The person separation index was estimated as 0.48 suggesting weak discrimination between classes, whereas Cronbach's α was high at 0.86. Triangulation of qualitative data with the Rasch analysis supported recommendations for cross-cultural adaptation of the WHQ items 1 (redness), 3 (clear fluid), 7 (deep wound opening), 10 (pain), 11 (fever), 15 (antibiotics), 16 (debridement), 18 (drainage), and 19 (reoperation). Changes to three item response categories (1, not at all; 2, a little; 3, a lot) were adopted for symptom items 1 to 10, and two categories (0, no; 1, yes) for item 11 (fever).ConclusionThis study made recommendations for cross-cultural adaptation of the WHQ for use in global surgical research and practice, using co-produced mixed-methods data from three continents. Translations are now available for implementation into remote wound assessment pathways