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Pharmacological, nutritional and antimicrobial uses of Moringa oleifera Lam. leaves in poultry nutrition: An updated knowledge
Get PDFRecently, developing countries have focused on using innovative feed in poultry nutrition. The plant Moringa oleifera is native to India but grows worldwide in tropical and subtropical climates. Moringa is planted on a large scale as it can tolerate severe dry and cold conditions. All parts of this plant can be used for commercial or nutritional purposes, and it has a favorable nutritional profile. Beneficial phytochemicals, minerals, and vitamins are abundant in the leaves. The leaf extracts can be used to treat malnutrition; they also possess anticancer, antioxidant, antidiabetic, antibacterial, and anti-inflammatory properties. Further, moringa contains antinutritional substances, such as trypsin inhibitors, phytates, tannins, oxalates, cyanide, and saponins, which have a harmful effect on mineral and protein metabolism. Previous research suggested that including moringa in chicken diets boosts their growth and productivity. Therefore, this review focuses on the characterization and application of M. oleifera in poultry nutrition and its potential toxicity. Furthermore, we discuss the nutritional content, phytochemicals, and antioxidants of M. oleifera leaf meal and its applicability in poultry rations
Germination, physio-anatomical behavior, and productivity of wheat plants irrigated with magnetically treated seawater
Get PDFSalinity is an abiotic stress that reduces the seed germination and productivity of wheat. The objective of this study was to assess the impact of irrigation with magnetically treated seawater on the germination, growth, certain physiological and anatomical parameters, and production attributes of wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) cv. Sakha 93 plants. Experiments were conducted in the Experimental Farm of the Faculty of Agriculture, Menoufia University, Egypt, during two consecutive winter seasons. Pot experiments involved ten treatments with non-magnetized and magnetized water with various degrees of salinity. Plant samples were taken 95 days after sowing. Irrigation with magnetically treated seawater was found to have beneficial effects on plant growth, water relations, biochemical characteristics, and yield components compared with untreated plants. The germination of wheat seeds increased 13% when treated with magnetic seawater. On the yield scale, the spike length was increased by 40% in season one, and 82% in season two when compared to the control, while the weight of 100 grains increased by 148% and 171%, in each season, respectively, when treated with magnetic water. The anatomical leaf and stem parameters of the plants were markedly improved by watering with magnetically treated seawater at 10 dS m−1 compared to the control. However, the leaf water deficit, transpiration rate, and abscisic acid content in the plant shoots decreased significantly (p < 0.05). The use of magnetically treated seawater of up to 7.5 dS m−1, instead of tap water, is recommended due to benefits to germination and seedling parameters, growth, yield, and physiological, chemical, and anatomical characteristics. In conclusion, magnetic treatment of seawater improved germination performance, growth, and yield of wheat under saline conditions
Creative Reuse: REmida Teacher Professional Learning for a Sustainable Future
No full textIn Western Australia (“WA”), teachers are required to undertake 100 hours of professional learning (PL) to maintain their registration. REmida WA Creative Reuse Centre offers Reggio-inspired “100 Languages” workshops as part of its PL programme, thus enabling interested teachers to attain the necessary hours. The purpose of this research is to help REmida WA identify the needs and interests of their clientele so they may design relevant educational experiences that accommodate clients’ professional learning goals. This mixed-methods study examines teachers’ motivation to attend REmida WA’s “100 Languages” workshop. One hundred teacher participants from across all education sectors were asked to identify their interest in REmida PL and how REmida supports their learning programmes. Findings show that teachers view REmida WA as an organisation that helps them to learn about and better understand Education for Sustainability (“EfS”) and creative pedagogies. REmida is also valued as a source of open-ended materials for resources that can support children’s learning about sustainability
SC-CAN: Spectral Convolution and Channel Attention Network for wheat stress classification
Get PDFBiotic and abiotic plant stress (e.g., frost, fungi, diseases) can significantly impact crop production. It is thus essential to detect such stress at an early stage before visual symptoms and damage become apparent. To this end, this paper proposes a novel deep learning method, called Spectral Convolution and Channel Attention Network (SC-CAN), which exploits the difference in spectral responses of healthy and stressed crops. The proposed SC-CAN method comprises two main modules: (i) a spectral convolution module, which consists of dilated causal convolutional layers stacked in a residual manner to capture the spectral features; (ii) a channel attention module, which consists of a global pooling layer and fully connected layers that compute inter-relationship between feature map channels before scaling them based on their importance level (attention score). Unlike standard convolution, which focuses on learning local features, the dilated convolution layers can learn both local and global features. These layers also have long receptive fields, making them suitable for capturing long dependency patterns in hyperspectral data. However, because not all feature maps produced by the dilated convolutional layers are important, we propose a channel attention module that weights the feature maps according to their importance level. We used SC-CAN to classify salt stress (i.e., abiotic stress) on four datasets (Chinese Spring (CS), Aegilops columnaris (co(CS)), Ae. speltoides auchery (sp(CS)), and Kharchia datasets) and Fusarium head blight disease (i.e., biotic stress) on Fusarium dataset. Reported experimental results show that the proposed method outperforms existing state-of-the-art techniques with an overall accuracy of 83.08%, 88.90%, 82.44%, 82.10%, and 82.78% on CS, co(CS), sp(CS), Kharchia, and Fusarium datasets, respectively
Health and disease status of sea turtles in Western Australia
Get PDFThe current state of sea turtle health in the Indian Ocean is largely unknown, especially for the endemic flatback turtle (Natator depressus) which is listed as ‘vulnerable’ in Western Australia (WA) and ‘data deficient’ globally. Anecdotally, the causes of illness, injury, and death in Western Australian turtles are comparable to those in other parts of Australia and the world (e.g., spirorchiidiasis, fibropapillomatosis, and marine debris interaction) but scientific studies to validate these reports are particularly limited in this region. To address these knowledge gaps, causes of both live and dead turtle strandings in WA were investigated through an array of veterinary diagnostic techniques including necropsy, clinical pathology, diagnostic imaging, histopathology, parasitology, microbiology, toxicology, and molecular analyses. Health assessments were conducted on live animals to determine baseline levels of health and disease for specific populations, predominately nesting and foraging flatback turtles.
Through these health and disease investigations, baselines were developed, along with the discovery of new diseases in flatback turtles including a novel haemoparasite, Haemocystidium spp., occurring specifically in the foraging life stage; a potentially emerging zoonotic bacterium, Streptococcus iniae associated with a multi-species mass mortality event involving post-hatchlings; as well as spirorchiidiasis, previously unreported in this species. Other unusual and emerging diseases were also reported in sea turtles in this study, including microsporidial myopathy, salt gland adenitis, gout, and pseudogout.
In this study, natural disease-related causes of mortality occurred more frequently than direct anthropogenic causes, with parasitoses the most frequently occurring natural disease. Spirorchiidiaisis was the most common cause of mortality (32.0%) with a prevalence of 93.2% in turtles susceptible to the disease (i.e., excluding the post-hatchling life stage). The next most common cause of mortality was unknown (17.3%), followed by trauma (13.3%), endoparasitosis (10.7%), infectious disease (6.7%), and pneumonia (6.7%), with the remaining mortality categories each accounting for less than 5% of cases (including systemic inflammation, osmoregulatory disorder, gastrointestinal impaction, gastrointestinal foreign body, fibropapillomatosis, and metabolic disorder).
We developed the first flatback turtle reference intervals (RIs) in Reference Value Advisor (RefVal v2.1) following the American Society of Veterinary Clinical Pathology (ASVCP) guidelines. We found flatback turtle RIs were generally similar to other published sea turtle RIs and reference values (RVs) but detected significant differences in our study for the various boundary conditions including life stage (nesting or foraging), as well for measurement methodology (field or laboratory tests), justifying the establishment of separate RIs/RVs for nesting and foraging flatbacks, and for field and laboratory techniques.
This study was the first sea turtle health and disease investigation in WA and the eastern Indian Ocean to offer broader insights into sea turtle health and disease status on a regional scale. These essential baselines provided a number of crucial functions which include serving as a reference point for future studies to monitor changes in population health and disease levels. Specifically, these baseline data will be useful for future comparative studies of the same population where changes are an indication of a changing environment. The blood RIs can be used for disease diagnosis, monitoring progress and assessing prognosis of clinical flatback turtle cases in rehabilitation. Considering that diseases in the marine environment are predicted to rise with increasing anthropogenic pressures, detection of new and emerging diseases is of significance to the global knowledge of sea turtle diseases; and for understanding and mitigating disease threats to sea turtle populations. Finally, this study provided a framework to integrate health into future conservation management decisions to ensure the long-term survival of sea turtles
Development and validation of an instrument to measure Chinese tertiary students’ intercultural business competence: A multi-stage triangulation study
Get PDFThis research presents the development and validation of the Intercultural Business Competence Scale (IBCS), an instrument for measuring tertiary students’ intercultural business competence (IBC) in a Chinese context. The study also examines key Chinese stakeholders’ (business managers and tertiary educators) understandings of the target construct, IBC.
A multi-stage triangulation research design was used. Development of an initial pool of 28 items for the IBCS was based on Johnson et al.’s (2006) theoretical model. Responses from a pilot test of the IBCS (n=291) were analyzed to provide evidence for face validity, and feedback from four experts provided evidence for content validity. This resulted in a revised 30-item instrument. Participants in the full validation test of the IBCS were students (n=2,599) enrolled at 11 universities and colleges across 8 cities in China. Test data provided evidence for the reliability and validity of the IBCS. Specifically, evidence for convergent and discriminant validity of the IBCS was found via correlation analysis between the IBCS and two previously validated instruments: Assessment of Intercultural Competence of Chinese College Students (AIC-CCS) (Wu et al., 2013) and Personal Report of Intercultural Communication Apprehension (PRICA) (Neuliep & McCroskey, 1997). Evidence for known-group validity was found using ANOVA, showing the IBCS is sufficiently sensitive to distinguish IBC between theoretically different groups. After sequential exploratory-confirmatory factor analysis, the final 15-item version of IBCS was established and confirmed, comprising three factors: business adaptation, cultural distance, and antecedents.
Additionally, focus group interviews with tertiary educators (n=10) and business managers (n=7) explored understandings of these three IBCS factors, gained deeper understanding of IBC in a Chinese context, and distilled implications of the interview findings for curriculum reform in international trade-related courses at universities and colleges in China. The focus groups also revealed that participants viewed business adaptation, cultural distance, and antecedents as important components of IBC. Interview results also provided new knowledge about IBC in a Chinese context, including managers’ emphasis on respect. Additionally, advice on the promotion of tertiary students’ IBC and curriculum reform aimed at cultivating IBC were offered and discussed
Genome-Wide characterization of ascorbate peroxidase gene family in peanut (Arachis hypogea L.) revealed their crucial role in growth and multiple stress tolerance
Get PDFAscorbate peroxidase (APX), an important antioxidant enzyme, plays a significant role in ROS scavenging by catalyzing the decrease of hydrogen peroxide under various environmental stresses. Nevertheless, information about the APX gene family and their evolutionary and functional attributes in peanut (Arachis hypogea L.) was not reported. Therefore, a comprehensive genome-wide study was performed to discover the APX genes in cultivated peanut genome. This study identified 166 AhAPX genes in the peanut genome, classified into 11 main groups. The gene duplication analysis showed that AhAPX genes had experienced segmental duplications and purifying selection pressure. Gene structure and motif investigation indicated that most of the AhAPX genes exhibited a comparatively well-preserved exon-intron pattern and motif configuration contained by the identical group. We discovered five phytohormones-, six abiotic stress-, and five growth and development-related cis-elements in the promoter regions of AhAPX. Fourteen putative ah-miRNAs from 12 families were identified, targeting 33 AhAPX genes. Furthermore, we identified 3,257 transcription factors from 38 families (including AP2, ARF, B3, bHLH, bZIP, ERF, MYB, NAC, WRKY, etc.) in 162 AhAPX genes. Gene ontology and KEGG enrichment analysis confirm the role of AhAPX genes in oxidoreductase activity, catalytic activity, cell junction, cellular response to stimulus and detoxification, biosynthesis of metabolites, and phenylpropanoid metabolism. Based on transcriptome datasets, some genes such as AhAPX4/7/17/77/82/86/130/133 and AhAPX160 showed significantly higher expression in diverse tissues/organs, i.e., flower, leaf, stem, roots, peg, testa, and cotyledon. Likewise, only a few genes, including AhAPX4/17/19/55/59/82/101/102/137 and AhAPX140, were significantly upregulated under abiotic (drought and cold), and phytohormones (ethylene, abscisic acid, paclobutrazol, brassinolide, and salicylic acid) treatments. qRT-PCR-based expression profiling presented the parallel expression trends as generated from transcriptome datasets. Our discoveries gave new visions into the evolution of APX genes and provided a base for further functional examinations of the AhAPX genes in peanut breeding programs
Suitability of aircraft wastewater for pathogen detection and public health surveillance
Get PDFInternational air travel is now widely recognised as one of the primary mechanisms responsible for the transnational movement and global spread of SARS-CoV-2. Monitoring the viral load and novel lineages within human-derived wastewater collected from aircraft and at air transport hubs has been proposed as an effective way to monitor the importation frequency of viral pathogens. The success of this approach, however, is highly dependent on the bathroom and defecation habits of air passengers during their journey. In this study of UK adults (n = 2103), we quantified the likelihood of defecation prior to departure, on the aircraft and upon arrival on both short- and long-haul flights. The results were then used to assess the likelihood of capturing the signal from infected individuals at UK travel hubs. To obtain a representative cross-section of the population, the survey was stratified by geographical region, gender, age, parenting status, and social class. We found that an individual's likelihood to defecate on short-haul flights ( 6 h in duration). This behaviour pattern was higher among males and younger age groups. The maximum likelihood of defecation was prior to departure (< 39 %). Based on known SARS-CoV-2 faecal shedding rates (30–60 %) and an equal probability of infected individuals being on short- (71 % of inbound flights) and long-haul flights (29 %), we estimate that aircraft wastewater is likely to capture ca. 8–14 % of SARS-CoV-2 cases entering the UK. Monte Carlo simulations predicted that SARS-CoV-2 would be present in wastewater on 14 % of short-haul flights and 62 % of long-haul flights under current pandemic conditions. We conclude that aircraft wastewater alone is insufficient to effectively monitor all the transboundary entries of faecal-borne pathogens but can form part of a wider strategy for public heath surveillance at national borders
Streptococcosis a re-emerging disease in aquaculture: Significance and phytotherapy
Get PDFStreptococcosis, particularly that caused by S. iniae and S. agalactiae, is a major re-emerging bacterial disease seriously affecting the global sustainability of aquaculture development. Despite a wide spread of the disease in aquaculture, few studies have been directed at assessing the in vitro antagonistic activity and in vivo efficacy of medicinal herbs and other plants against streptococcal agents. Most in vitro studies of plant extractives against S. iniae and S. agalactiae have found antibacterial activity, but essential oils, especially those containing eugenol, carvacrol or thymol, are more effective. Although essential oils have shown better anti-streptococcal activity in in vitro assays, in vivo bioassays require more attention. The extracts examined under in vivo conditions show moderate efficacy, increasing the survival rate of infected fish, probably through the enhancement of immunity before challenge bioassays. The available data, however, lack dosage optimization, toxicity and bioavailability assays of a specific plant or its bioactive compound in fish organs; hence, it is difficult to judge the validation of clinical efficacy for the prevention or treatment of fish streptococcosis. Despite the known bioactive compounds of many tested plants, few data are available on their mode of action towards streptococcal agents. This review addresses the efficacy of medicinal plants to fish streptococcosis and discusses the current gaps
Associations of the lipidome with ageing, cognitive decline and exercise behaviours
Get PDFOne of the most recognisable features of ageing is a decline in brain health and cognitive dysfunction, which is associated with perturbations to regular lipid homeostasis. Although ageing is the largest risk factor for several neurodegenerative diseases such as dementia, a loss in cognitive function is commonly observed in adults over the age of 65. Despite the prevalence of normal age-related cognitive decline, there is a lack of effective methods to improve the health of the ageing brain. In light of this, exercise has shown promise for positively influencing neurocognitive health and associated lipid profiles. This review summarises age-related changes in several lipid classes that are found in the brain, including fatty acyls, glycerolipids, phospholipids, sphingolipids and sterols, and explores the consequences of age-associated pathological cognitive decline on these lipid classes. Evidence of the positive effects of exercise on the affected lipid profiles are also discussed to highlight the potential for exercise to be used therapeutically to mitigate age-related changes to lipid metabolism and prevent cognitive decline in later life