In ovo injection of prebiotics and synbiotics affects the digestive potency of the pancreas in growing chickens

Abstract The purpose of the study was to examine the effect of 2 prebiotics and 2 synbiotics on the digestive potency of pancreas in 1-, 3-, 7-, 14-, 21-, and 34-day-old cockerels. Prebiotics (inulin and Bi2 tos) and synbiotics (inulin + Lactococcus lactis subsp. lactis and Bi2 tos + Lactococcus lactis subsp. cremoris) were injected in ovo into the air cell on the 12th d embryonic development. Their application increased the activity of amylase, lipase, and trypsin in the pancreas. The most pronounced changes were observed at the end of the investigated rearing period (d 34). The strongest stimulative effects on amylase were shown by both synbiotics, on lipase synbiotic Bi2 tos + Lactococcus lactis subsp. cremoris, and on trypsin all the used prebiotics and synbiotics. Simultaneously, neither the absolute nor the relative mass of the pancreas in comparison to control group were changed. Also, the injected in ovo compounds did not cause a deterioration in the posthatching condition of the chicken liver, as determined by measurement of the activity of marker enzymes in the blood (alanine aminotransferase and aspartate aminotransferase). Treatment with the prebiotics and synbiotics did not change the feed conversion ratio but Bi2 tos (galacto-oligosaccharide) and inulin (fructan) + Lactococcus lactis subsp. lactis significantly increased final BW

Pharmaceutical Metabolism in Fish: Using a 3-D Hepatic In Vitro Model to Assess Clearance

At high internal doses, pharmaceuticals have the potential for inducing biological/pharmacological effects in fish. One particular concern for the environment is their potential to bioaccumulate and reach pharmacological levels; the study of these implications for environmental risk assessment has therefore gained increasing attention. To avoid unnecessary testing on animals, in vitro methods for assessment of xenobiotic metabolism could aid in the ecotoxicological evaluation. Here we report the use of a 3-D in vitro liver organoid culture system (spheroids) derived from rainbow trout to measure the metabolism of seven pharmaceuticals using a substrate depletion assay. Of the pharmaceuticals tested, propranolol, diclofenac and phenylbutazone were metabolised by trout liver spheroids; atenolol, metoprolol, diazepam and carbamazepine were not. Substrate depletion kinetics data was used to estimate intrinsic hepatic clearance by this spheroid model, which was similar for diclofenac and approximately 5 fold higher for propranolol when compared to trout liver microsomal fraction (S9) data. These results suggest that liver spheroids could be used as a relevant and metabolically competent in vitro model with which to measure the biotransformation of pharmaceuticals in fish; and propranolol acts as a reproducible positive control

Modelling survival : exposure pattern, species sensitivity and uncertainty

The General Unified Threshold model for Survival (GUTS) integrates previously published toxicokinetic-toxicodynamic models and estimates survival with explicitly defined assumptions. Importantly, GUTS accounts for time-variable exposure to the stressor. We performed three studies to test the ability of GUTS to predict survival of aquatic organisms across different pesticide exposure patterns, time scales and species. Firstly, using synthetic data, we identified experimental data requirements which allow for the estimation of all parameters of the GUTS proper model. Secondly, we assessed how well GUTS, calibrated with short-term survival data of Gammarus pulex exposed to four pesticides, can forecast effects of longer-term pulsed exposures. Thirdly, we tested the ability of GUTS to estimate 14-day median effect concentrations of malathion for a range of species and use these estimates to build species sensitivity distributions for different exposure patterns. We find that GUTS adequately predicts survival across exposure patterns that vary over time. When toxicity is assessed for time-variable concentrations species may differ in their responses depending on the exposure profile. This can result in different species sensitivity rankings and safe levels. The interplay of exposure pattern and species sensitivity deserves systematic investigation in order to better understand how organisms respond to stress, including humans

Employees motivation and openness for continuous improvement: comparative study in Polish and Japanese companies

Currently, companies must change and evolve to keep pace with the changing environment, customers’ requirements and to be better than their competitors. The changes result from the need to adapt the products to new customers’ requirements as well as to maintain competitive prices of their products. Therefore, companies should be flexible to guarantee short lead time and minimalize their costs to offer a good price for the customers. At the same time, companies should create good work environment for their employees in order to get them involved in improvement processes. In order to survive and develop companies should motivate and involve their employees into a continuous improvement process in different areas of the company. Unfortunately, as based on the companies’ practice and previous research, in many cases employees are not willing to engage in the company development. Continuous improvement is the basis of the philosophy of Quality Management and Lean Manufacturing, which come from Toyota Production System (TPS). The TPS eventually spread throughout the world, and it is held up as an example of the proper management of a production system. The assumptions of TPS system were used to build systems in other companies, but not always with the same success as it was in Toyota. For this reason, the authors of this paper seek to answer the question of whether there are differences in engagement in a continuous improvement process between employees in a Japanese company and a Polish company operating in the same industry and realizing the similar manufacturing. In order to verify this, the research was conducted in two manufacturing companies which operate in the automotive industry. The results of the study and their analysis are presented in the work

The Overall Labour Effectiveness to Improve Competitiveness and Productivity in Human-Centered Manufacturing

The assessment of labour efficiency is important for manufacturing companies. Even though employees are a very important resource of the organization, at the same time they constitute a cost for the company. So, it is vital to make the most of their operational readiness. In this study, the possibilities of using the overall labour effectiveness indicator at the level of the entire enterprise are analysed. The revised OLE (ROLE) indicator is also discussed along with its use in the evaluation of overall production effectiveness (OTE) to address the monitoring and diagnosis of factory-level performance also considering workforce issues. It was also proposed to introduce a new LEAN-ROLE indicator, which not only assesses the effectiveness of human resources, but also identifies the percentage of work done by employees that creates value for the customer. By introducing digitization in enterprises and registering the work performed by employees in databases as well as the duration of these works, it is possible to measure the effectiveness of employees’ work on an ongoing basis. This will allow to identify weaknesses in a system. Then, after identifying the causes of decreased efficiency, appropriate actions can be introduced to improve employee involvement in value creation