Growth, Nutrient Utilisation and Gut Health of Broiler Chickens Fed Sorghum Distillers' Dried Grains with Solubles

The purpose of this thesis was to investigate the nutritional value of sorghum distillers' dried grains with solubles (sDDGS) and ways by which this can be improved. To elucidate the role of application of enzymes in diets containing sDDGS on performance, nutrient utilisation, intestinal function, gut microflora and some health related parameters, four feeding trials were conducted after a comprehensive analysis of sDDGS samples from different production batches. Each experiment has been presented as a stand-alone paper or distinct chapter

An Undiagnosed Case of Hypothalamic Hamartoma with a Rare Presentation.

Background. Hypothalamic hamartomas (HHs) are rare tumor-like malformations that may present with complex partial seizures refractory to anticonvulsants in adulthood. The condition may be misdiagnosed because of rarity. Case Presentation. We report a 25-year-old man with complaint of seizures presented by falling, tonic spasm of limbs, oral automatism, vocalization, and hypermotor activities. His seizures started at the age of one month and presented as eye deviation and upper limbs myoclonic jerk, followed by frequent seizures with variable frequency. The patient had delayed developmental milestones and was mentally retarded. He was hospitalized and underwent video-EEG monitoring and neuroimaging, and the diagnosis of HH was made. The patient became candidate for surgery after that. Conclusion. In this case, the underlying etiology of seizures was diagnosed after 25 years. HH is a rare condition and neurologists may encounter very small number of these cases during their practice. Therefore, they should consider it in patients who present with suspected signs and symptoms

Cognitive impairments in patients with intractable temporal lobe epilepsy

Citation for the original published paper (version of record): Tavakoli, M., Barekatain, M., Doust, H., Molavi, H., Kormi Nouri, R. et al. (2011) Cognitive impairments in patients with intractable temporal lobe epilepsy. Sciences, 16(11): 1466Sciences, 16(11): -1472 Access to the published version may require subscription. N.B. When citing this work, cite the original published paper. Cognitive impairment associated with temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE) has been recognized in multiple studies. We designed this study to find a specific cognitive profile in patients with TLE who were candidates for epilepsy surgery. We also sought to find if neuropsychological assessment could differentiate left TLE, right TLE and normal subjects. Journal of Research in Medica

Implications for the Feed Industry

The animal feed industry relies on cereal grains and pulses to supply energy and protein, respectively. Increasing amounts of both groups of ingredients, but in particular, cereal grains, are being used for the production of ethanol for biofuel. Currently, about a third of the maize crop produced in the United States is used for ethanol production and will rise to about 43 % by 2015 (van der Aar and Doppenberg, 2009). Although limited in impact, a considerable amount of oils produced from oilseeds such as canola, soybean, peanut and sunflower is being processed into biodiesel. This is causing a major strain in the supply of edible oil for feed manufacturing. An indirect effect of the increased use of maize for ethanol production is the change in land use, whereby, farmers in North America are converting land previously used for soybean production into maize production (Anon., 2011a). Although maize is the main cereal grain used by the ethanol industry, it is by no means the only grain used but plants in Canada and Europe tend to use more wheat while the two main plants currently in production in Australia and a few in the USA rely on sorghum

Is there a synergy between xylanase and protease on sorghum distillers' dried grains with solubles for broiler chickens?

A total of 480 day-old male broiler chickens were used in a 3 x 2 x 2(0, 150 or 300 g sDDGS/kg diet; with or without xylanase and with or without protease) factorial experiment to evaluate the effectiveness of xylanase and protease on birds fed sorghum distillers dried grains with solubles (sDDGS) between days 1 to 21. Feed consumption of the birds was increased (

Xylanase supplementation improves the nutritive value of diets containing high levels of sorghum distillers' dried grains with solubles for broiler chickens

Background: An experiment was conducted to investigate the effect of sorghum distillers' dried grains with solubles (sDDGS) and xylanase supplementation in broiler chicken diets. A total of 432 Cobb-500 day-old male broiler chicks were used in a 4x2 factorial design (0, 100, 200 or 300 g kg⁻¹ sDDGS with or without xylanase supplementation). Each treatment was replicated six times with nine birds per replicate in a 35 day study. Results: Feed intake was increased (

Outcome of single manic episode in bipolar I disorder: A six-month follow-up after hospitalization

Background: Bipolar I Disorder (BID) considered as the sixth leading cause of disability worldwide. After remission of a manic episode, most of patients spend about 50% of the following time with mood or cognitive symptoms. The aim of this study was to investigate the 6-month outcome of BID patients following their single manic episode. Methods: Adult bipolar patients (n = 13) with single manic episode admitted to Noor Hospital, Isfahan, Iran, from December 6 2008 to June 5 2009 were evaluated using diagnostic, symptomatic, and functional assessments. Patients were also evaluated monthly for six months to assess syndromic, symptomatic, and functional outcomes, self reported treatment adherence, and serum levels of major mood stabilizers. The Kaplan-Meier method and log-rank test at a significance level of < 0.05 were used. Results: Kaplan-Meier estimates of the cumulative probabilities of syndromal, symptomatic, and functional recovery during the first 6 months after admission for single manic episode were 0.89, 0.75, and 0.64, respectively. At the 3rd month 54% of BID patients reported full medication adherence while it decreased to 38% at the 6th month. Patients with full adherence revealed shortened time to functional recovery based on LIFE-RIFT compared with non-adherent patients (log rank: χ2 = 4.5, df = 1, p = 0.03). Substance abuse also associated with longer time to functional recovery based on LIFE-RIFT (log rank: χ2 = 4.36, p = 0.037). Conclusions: Despite high rates of experienced syndromic and symptomatic recoveries for BID patients in single manic episode, functional recovery was much lower following hospitalization

Scope for the high inclusion of sorghum distillers' dried grains with solubles in broiler chicken diets

Distillers' dried grains with solubles (DDGS) are increasingly becoming important in poultry feeding. Research into the use of this material has focused largely on maize DDGS from North America and less work has been done on the predominantly sorghum DDGS that are produced in Australia. In preliminary tests, we investigated the variation in nutrient composition of sorghum DDGS and then conducted a feeding trial on broiler chickens. The trial involved 432 day-old male broiler chicks in a 4 x 2 factorial layout (4 levels of DDGS inclusion - 0, 100, 200 or 300 g/kg with or without a xylanase enzyme, Ronozyme WX), over 21 days on starter diets and subsequently on finisher diets to 35d of age. Compared to the control diet, feed intake was significantly increased (

Use of protease and xylanase in broiler diets containing distillers' dried grains with solubles

Individual or combined effects of xylanase and protease on nutritive value of diets containing sorghum distillers dried grains with solubles (sDDGS) and fed to broiler chickens were investigated. A total of 480 day-old male broiler chickens were assessed in a 3 x 2 x 2 (0, 150 or 300 g sDDGS/kg diet, with or without xylanase, and with or without protease) factorial design. Each of the 12 treatments was replicated 5 times accommodating 8 birds per replicate. Feed intake (FI) and body weight gain (BWG) of the birds were increased by inclusion of sDDGS to the diets independent of enzyme supplementation. Feed conversion ratio (FCR) deteriorated as sDDGS was incorporated into the diets at both levels. Regardless of sDDGS and protease, xylanase significantly improved FCR. Digestibility of protein and most amino acids were adversely affected by inclusion of 150 and 300 g/kg sDDGS. While protease, individually, improved amino acid digestibility in birds offered diets containing the highest amount of sDDGS (300 g/kg), an admixture of xylanase and protease did not result in further improvement in amino acid digestibility. Addition of xylanase reduced the concentration of insoluble non-starch polysaccharides (NSP) in the ileum. Noticeably, the response of birds to xylanase supplementation on the concentrations of arabinose, xylose and total insoluble NSP was compromised when xylanase and protease were added to the diet simultaneously. To conclude, xylanase and protease in combination were effective for the growth performance of the birds on sDDGS, in particular improving FCR