Economic potential for improving the nutritional characteristics of feed grains

A comprehensive set of potential new feed grains for Australia was evaluated to help establish the options with the highest priorities for research. The cost-reducing impacts of the different options were analysed using a linear-programming model that determined the least-cost feed rations for the different livestock industries. Economic welfare analysis was then used to estimate the size and distribution of the benefits of research from the feed grains quality-improving research. The analysis revealed that there are only limited opportunities to improve the productivity and competitiveness of Australia’s livestock industries by improving the nutritional characteristics of feed grains.Crop Production/Industries,

Chemical Stabilisation of Sand : Part* II Construction and Studies of 50m X 4m Road

An experimental track (50m X 4m) was constructed on a loose sand bed by using two chemical-sand composition containing either 9 per cent urea formaldehyde (UF) resin or 11 per cent sodium silicate binder (on solid content basis). The trafficability studies on 5-6 cm thick stabilised track was found to vary from 1625 to 1700 psi in UF stabilised track and from 1340 to 1460 psi in silicate stabilised track. The effect of resin, desert environmental conditions and trafficability studies showed cumulative loss of load bearing capacity from 1625-1700 to 645-1125 psi

\u3cem\u3e Albizia procera\u3c/em\u3e Based Silvipastoral System: An Ideal Alternate Land Use System for Sustainable Forage Production in Semi-Arid Region

India’s economy is agro-based and about 69% of the total population depends on it for their livelihood (GoI, 2013). Livestock is the integral component of Indian agriculture since time immemorial. Its contribution to national economy through milk, meat, wool as well as farmyard manure is enormous. India has the largest number of livestock, representing over 17% of the world. Among four important species of livestock, cattle represent over 43% of the population followed by buffaloes (19%), goats (26%) and sheep (10%). The share of livestock reared is highest in marginal followed by small and semi-medium land holders implying that marginal holders and small land holders are playing seminal role in development of livestock sector in country. The productivity of livestock and growth of animal husbandry are closely linked with the biomass and quality of forages. Currently there has been radical change in realising the importance of forages in integrated farming system, crop diversification, watershed management, restoration of degraded lands and climate resilient agriculture. Grasslands represent some 70% of global agricultural land area; unfortunately as much as 35% of the grasslands are degraded. The insufficient fodder availability has adversely affected all the three systems of livestock production. Silvipasture systems is an integrated approach of growing ideal combinations of grasses, legumes and trees for higher land productivity, conserving biodiversity and nutrients and producing forage, timber and firewood from a single unit area on a sustainable basis. The trees and shrubs used in silvipasture are used primarily to produce fodder for livestock. Looking at the enormous production potential of the slivipastoral systems, it is pertinent to introduce these in the arid and semi-arid regions so that large area of wasteland which is not suitable for crop production can be used for of fodder and biomass production. Dev et al. (2014) observed significant impact of participatory silvipastoral intervention and soil conservation measures for forage resource enhancement in western Himalaya. The study aims to present the suitability of silvipastoral systems in detail and advocate the extensive use of silvipasture in semi-arid regions for higher production

Impact of participatory silvipastoral intervention and soil conservation measures for forage resource enhancement in western Himalaya

Livestock rearing is an important component of rural economy in mid-hills of Himalaya. Inspite of abundant available feed resources, total available biomass is insufficient to sustain the livestock population. Fodder trees particularly in hill ecosystem play an important role in supplementing the fodder requirement especially during the lean period. Information gathered and analysis concludes that Grewia optiva is the most important fodder tree in terms of dominance, palatability and increase in milk yield followed by Artocarpus chaplasha, Morus alba, Bauhinia variegata, Albizia lebbeck and Terminalia alata in Kangra and Mandi districts of Himachal Pradesh. The crude protein content was found highest in Grewia optiva (19.38%) followed by Albizia lebbeck (18.85%), Dendrocalamus hamiltonii (18.01%) and minimum in case of Quercus incana (9.27%). During scarcity of fodder Ficus religiosa is the only fodder tree fed throughout the year. The established silvipasture produced leaf biomass of 2.77 to 6.77 DM kg/tree (Ghanetta), 2.12 to 5.96 DM kg/tree (Jogindernagar) and 2.25 to 6.93 DM kg/tree (Dagoh). Fodder trees planted under silvipastoral system produced average biomass of 1.83 DM tonnes/ha (Ghanetta), 1.49 DM tonnes/ha (Jogindernagar) and 1.66 DM tonnes/ha (Dagoh). Rainfall events of more than 50 mm, though quite less in number (25/165, 24/192 and 17/149), contributed 47.7, 82.3 and 81.7% to the total runoff at Ghanetta, Jogindernagar and Dagoh, respectively. Among the resource conservation measures trenching in combination with vegetative barrier allowed only 8.2% of rain as runoff compared to 41.5% under control (no measure). The silvipasture systems coupled with contour staggered trenches and / or vegetative barrier can effectively arrest the environmental degradation

Natural resource enhancement through silvipastoral establishment in western Himalayan region

Livestock rearing is an integral part of rural livelihood in the Himalayan region. In spite of abundance of pasture resources, total biomass is insufficient to meet the forage demand. Indiscriminate grazing has caused an alarming decline in the carrying capacity of grazing lands and has caused severe land degradation. This study was carried out with the objective of increasing biomass potential, improving livestock productivity and to arrest environmental degradation. The study was conducted at Ghanetta and Dagoh (Kangra) and Jogindernagar (Mandi) districts in Himachal Pradesh through silvipastoral intervention in conjunction with soil and water conservation measures. Grasslands of the study area were of alluvial–loamy soil with shallow depths. Soil organic matter was 0.72 (Ghanetta), 0.76 (Dagoh) and 0.80% (Jogindernagar). Organic carbon content in the subsurface (15–45 cm) layer was only 30 to 39% of the surface layer (0–15 cm). Chrysopogon (20%) was found the most dominant species, followed by Heteropogon (13%). Average herbage production was 5.613 DM tonne/ha (Ghanetta), 5.458 DM tonne/ha (Dagoh) and 5.233 DM tonne/ha (Jogindernagar). Leaf biomass of different fodder trees ranged from 0.23–0.60 DM tonne/ha (Ghanetta), 0.16–0.51 DM tonne/ha (Dagoh) and 0.21–0.59 DM tonne/ha (Jogindernagar). Maximum biomass of 9.17 DM tonne/ha was obtained at Ghanetta followed by 8.26 DM tonne/ha and 8.23 DM tonne/ha at Dagoh and Jogindernagar, respectively, showing substantial improvement in total biomass potential with silvipastoral intervention in conjunction with soil and water conservation measures

Effects of combined renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system inhibitor and beta-blocker treatment on outcomes in heart failure with reduced ejection fraction:insights from BIOSTAT-CHF and ASIAN-HF registries

Background: Angiotensin‐converting enzyme inhibitors (ACEi)/angiotensin receptor blockers (ARB) and β‐blockers are guideline‐recommended first‐line therapies in heart failure (HF) with reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF). Previous studies showed that individual drug classes were under‐dosed in many parts of Europe and Asia. In this study, we investigated the association of combined up‐titration of ACEi/ARBs and β‐blockers with all‐cause mortality and its combination with hospitalization for HF. Methods and results: A total of 6787 HFrEF patients (mean age 62.6 ± 13.2 years, 77.7% men, mean left ventricular ejection fraction 27.7 ± 7.2%) were enrolled in the prospective multinational European (BIOSTAT‐CHF; n = 2100) and Asian (ASIAN‐HF; n = 4687) studies. Outcomes were analysed according to achieved percentage of guideline‐recommended target doses (GRTD) of combination ACEi/ARB and β‐blocker therapy, adjusted for indication bias. Only 14% (n = 981) patients achieved ≥50% GRTD for both ACEi/ARB and β‐blocker. The best outcomes were observed in patients who achieved 100% GRTD of both ACEi/ARB and β‐blocker [hazard ratio (HR) 0.32, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.26–0.39 vs. none]. Lower dose of combined therapy was associated with better outcomes than 100% GRTD of either monotherapy. Up‐titrating β‐blockers was associated with a consistent and greater reduction in hazards of all‐cause mortality (HR for 100% GRTD: 0.40, 95% CI 0.25–0.63) than corresponding ACEi/ARB up‐titration (HR 0.75, 95% CI 0.53–1.07). Conclusion: This study shows that best outcomes were observed in patients attaining GRTD for both ACEi/ARB and β‐blockers, unfortunately this was rarely achieved. Achieving >50% GRTD of both drug classes was associated with better outcome than target dose of monotherapy. Up‐titrating β‐blockers to target dose was associated with greater mortality reduction than up‐titrating ACEi/ARB

Oxidative Stress-Induced JNK/AP-1 Signaling is a Major Pathway Involved in Selective Apoptosis of Myelodysplastic Syndrome Cells by Withaferin-A

Myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) are a diverse group of malignant clonal hematopoietic stem cell disorders characterized by ineffective hematopoiesis, dysplastic cell morphology in one or more hematopoietic lineages, and a risk of progression to acute myeloid leukemia (AML). Approximately 50% of MDS patients respond to current FDA-approved drug therapies but a majority of responders relapse within 2-3 years. There is therefore a compelling need to identify potential new therapies for MDS treatment. We utilized the MDS-L cell line to investigate the anticancer potential and mechanisms of action of a plant-derived compound, Withaferin A (WFA), in MDS. WFA was potently cytotoxic to MDS-L cells but had no significant effect on the viability of normal human primary bone marrow cells. WFA also significantly reduced engraftment of MDS-L cells in a xenotransplantation model. Through transcriptome analysis, we identified reactive oxygen species (ROS)-activated JNK/AP-1 signaling as a major pathway mediating apoptosis of MDS-L cells by WFA. We conclude that the molecular mechanism mediating selective cytotoxicity of WFA on MDS-L cells is strongly associated with induction of ROS. Therefore, pharmacologic manipulation of redox biology could be exploited as a selective therapeutic target in MDS

Nutrition, atherosclerosis, arterial imaging, cardiovascular risk stratification, and manifestations in COVID-19 framework: a narrative review.

Background: Atherosclerosis is the primary cause of the cardiovascular disease (CVD). Several risk factors lead to atherosclerosis, and altered nutrition is one among those. Nutrition has been ignored quite often in the process of CVD risk assessment. Altered nutrition along with carotid ultrasound imaging-driven atherosclerotic plaque features can help in understanding and banishing the problems associated with the late diagnosis of CVD. Artificial intelligence (AI) is another promisingly adopted technology for CVD risk assessment and management. Therefore, we hypothesize that the risk of atherosclerotic CVD can be accurately monitored using carotid ultrasound imaging, predicted using AI-based algorithms, and reduced with the help of proper nutrition. Layout: The review presents a pathophysiological link between nutrition and atherosclerosis by gaining a deep insight into the processes involved at each stage of plaque development. After targeting the causes and finding out results by low-cost, user-friendly, ultrasound-based arterial imaging, it is important to (i) stratify the risks and (ii) monitor them by measuring plaque burden and computing risk score as part of the preventive framework. Artificial intelligence (AI)-based strategies are used to provide efficient CVD risk assessments. Finally, the review presents the role of AI for CVD risk assessment during COVID-19. Conclusions: By studying the mechanism of low-density lipoprotein formation, saturated and trans fat, and other dietary components that lead to plaque formation, we demonstrate the use of CVD risk assessment due to nutrition and atherosclerosis disease formation during normal and COVID times. Further, nutrition if included, as a part of the associated risk factors can benefit from atherosclerotic disease progression and its management using AI-based CVD risk assessment

Integration of cardiovascular risk assessment with COVID-19 using artificial intelligence

Artificial Intelligence (AI), in general, refers to the machines (or computers) that mimic "cognitive" functions that we associate with our mind, such as "learning" and "solving problem". New biomarkers derived from medical imaging are being discovered and are then fused with non-imaging biomarkers (such as office, laboratory, physiological, genetic, epidemiological, and clinical-based biomarkers) in a big data framework, to develop AI systems. These systems can support risk prediction and monitoring. This perspective narrative shows the powerful methods of AI for tracking cardiovascular risks. We conclude that AI could potentially become an integral part of the COVID-19 disease management system. Countries, large and small, should join hands with the WHO in building biobanks for scientists around the world to build AI-based platforms for tracking the cardiovascular risk assessment during COVID-19 times and long-term follow-up of the survivors