Comparison of yield characteristics of Damascus and Kilis goats in dry climatic conditions

The aim of this study was to compare the reproductive traits, lactation milk yield, and body measurements of the Damascus (Shami) and Kilis goats raised as dairy goats in the dry climatic conditions of the Southeastern Anatolia region of Turkey. The study was perfomed using 596 Damascus goats and 82 Kilis goats between 3-5 years old. It was observed that the lactation milk yield, lactation period, withers height, and leg circumference of the Damascus goats (175.86 kg, 227.48 days, 72.67 cm, and 74.10 cm, respectively) were significantly higher (P<0.05) than those of the Kilis goats (107.48 kg, 170.39 days, 69.70 cm and 71.83 cm, respectively). This analysis indicated that the Damascus goat may be a good breed for dry climatic conditions. It is suggested that focusing on growing Damascus goats could increase productivity in the Southeastern Anatolian region of Turke

A Computational approach to predict contact potential and disulfide bond of proteins /

Contact map and disulfide bond information of a protein give crucial clues about 3-dimensional structure and function of a protein. In this study, we represent a computational approach to predict both contact maps and disulfide bonds of the residues inside of a protein and these studies are two of the essential steps of protein folding problem. In the first study, we predicted contacting residues of proteins using physical (ordering, length and volume), chemical (hydrophobicity), evolutionary (neighboring) and structural (secondary structure) information by implementing classification techniques, Neural Networks (NNs) and Support Vector Machines (SVMs). As a result, our method predicts 14% of the contacting residues with 0.6% false positive ratio and it performs 9 times better than a random predictor. In the second study, using the same parameters we predicted cysteine residues forming. In this study, we used SVMs, we obtained 63.76% accuracy in disulfide bond prediction

The densities of fiber follicles in the Karakas, Norduz, and Zom sheep and a comparative analysis

This study aimed to determine the densities of fiber follicles in the skin of the Karakas, Norduz, and Zom sheep breeds and to carry out a comparative analysis between them. The study included a total of 36 animals aged 1-2 years and 3-4 years. Skin samples were obtained through biopsies taken from the right sides of the animals to determine the densities and ratios of the fleece follicles. Examination of these samples revealed that the primary follicle densities of the three sheep breeds (Karakas, Norduz and Zom) were 3.11 ± 0.42, 3.14 ± 0.49 and 3.34 ± 0.59, while the secondary follicle densities were 8.42 ± 1.48, 8.51 ± 1.54 and 6.36 ± 1.44. The secondary to primary (S/P) follicle ratios of the sheep were 2.71 ± 0.70, 2.79 ± 0.69 and 1.85 ± 0.36, respectively. The primary follicle densities of the Karakas, Norduz and Zom sheep were statistically similar for both age groups. The density of secondary follicles and S/P ratio decreased with age in both age groups. The similarity of the S/P ratios to those from other local sheep breeds suggest that Karakas, Norduz, Zom sheep can be included in the sheep group that has coarse fleece

Mycotoxins in Poultry

Mycotoxins, the toxic secondary metabolites of fungi, particularly produced by many species of Aspergillus, Fusarium and Penicillium, have affected animal and human health for over thousand years, whereas little has been discovered so far about these complex substances in poultry, which are generally very sensitive. Even though it varies by species and sex, some common effects are reduced feed intake, weight gain, feed efficiency, growth performance, immunity and hatchability along with increased mortality, organ damages (mainly kidney and liver), carcinogenicity, teratogenicity and decreased egg production. Besides their adverse health effects and the decrease in production rate, concerns over their importance in public health is still under debate. Decontamination approaches to reduce mycotoxins in feed are technologically diverse and based on chemical, biological and physical strategies. Chemical remediation strategies involve the conversion of mycotoxins via chemical reactions. Biological strategies involve various substances such as plant ingredients, enzymes and microorganisms. Physical processes include sorting, milling, dehulling, cleaning, heating, irradiation or combinational approaches. New strategies for the prevention and treatment of mycotoxicosis, including beneficial microorganisms/products, along with alternative treatments, including plant extracts/essential oils, are current hot topics in the poultry industry

Longitudinal Study of the Market Penetration of Cockpit Weather Information Systems

The purpose of the longitudinal research of the market penetration of cockpit weather information systems (CWIS) is to contribute to the body of knowledge on modeling advanced technology feasibility in aviation by tracking and analyzing the market adoption of CWIS over a three year period. This research takes advantage of a previous study, conducted by Dr. Paul Kauffmann in 2000, which demonstrated an integrated and cost effective approach to evaluate advanced technology feasibility, examining the feasibility of CWIS in five market segments: transport, commuter, general aviation, business, and rotorcraft. The longitudinal research consists of two consecutive studies and produced two reports. The first report was submitted in August 2003 and included general market analysis about the CWIS products in the market at the time, identified their characteristics and examined developing market dynamics

Meta-analysis of the incidence of foodborne pathogens in vegetables and fruits from retail establishments in Europe

In this study, a systematic review and meta-analysis were conducted to summarise available information on the occurrence of Salmonella spp. Listeria monocytogenes and shigatoxin-producing Escherichia coli (STEC) in fruits and vegetables sold at retail establishments in several European countries. Overall, L. monocytogenes was the main pathogen detected in all kinds of vegetables, packaged or not (3.4%; 95% CI: 2.15.4%) with Salmonella spp. being the pathogen of lowest incidence (0.9%; 95% CI: 0.51.2%). The pooled occurrence rate of pathogens in either packed or unpacked vegetables was estimated at 1.9% (95% CI: 1.23.1%), with 2.1% of prevalence (95% CI: 1.33.4%) for unpacked vegetables and 1.7% (95% CI: 0.92.9%) for packed ones. For the three pathogens, the category of spices and herbs was the most frequently contaminated with pathogens, whereas salads presented the lowest occurrence. The vegetable category with highest incidence of Salmonella spp. (1.7%; 95% CI: 0.74.1%) and L. monocytogenes (2.2%; 95% CI: 1.04.7%) is leafy greens whilst STEC is more frequently recovered from sprouts (1.9%; 95% CI: 0.55.9%). In the case of fruits, the pooled prevalence estimates for Salmonella spp., L. monocytogenes and STEC were 1.60% (0.54%; 95% CI: 0.554.60%), 1.91% (0.50%; 95% CI: 0.933.88%) and 4.71% (1.52%; 95% CI: 1.7312.2%), correspondingly.Dr. Gonzales-Barron wishes to acknowledge the financial support provided by the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) through the award of a five-year Investigator Fellowship (IF) in the mode of Development Grants (IF/00570).info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio