170 research outputs found
Assessment of bacterial phytase and citric acid concentrations on economic traits, nutrients’ digestibility and protein metabolites of broiler chickens fed diets containing marginal level of nutrients
No full textThe aim of the experiment was to study the influence of different concentrations of bacterial phytase and citric acid on growth performance, digestibility, carcase traits, meat quality and blood plasma metabolites of broiler chickens fed diets containing suboptimal level of nutrients (−100 kcal ME/kg diet, −1% CP, −0.1% Ca and −0.1% Avi. phosphorus) during 1–36 days of age in comparison of the Hubbard broiler management guide (2016). A total of 288, one-day-old Hubbard broiler chicks were wing banded and randomly distributed keeping equal initial BW in a straight run experimental design among 8 treatment groups, each containing six replicates of 6 chicks. The treatments were 8: standard diet (positive control, PC), low nutrient density diet (negative control, NC), NC + Escherichia coli phytase-6 (Phyzyme®) supplemented at 500 or 1000 U/Kg diet, NC + citric acid at 2 or 4%, NC + 500 U of phytase + 2 or 4% citric acid. In conclusion, production traits such as growth and feed conversion ratio and production index were significantly improved due to supplementation of 500 U phytase and 2% citric acid and to low nutrient density diet to the level or even better than the standard-density diet (positive control). This suggested that 500 U bacterial phytase plus 2% citric acid could allow a decrease of 0.1% in Ca and avi. P, 100 kcal/kg ME and 1% CP, respectively
Feed form and probiotic supplementation improve egg production and reduce environmental impact in laying hens
No full textContext. Laying hens are influenced by various factors, including diet, which can have a significant impact on egg production and quality, as well as overall animal health. Aims. This study aimed to evaluate egg production and quality, environmental impact, reproductive organs and plasma mineral profiles of laying hens fed diverse forms of feed supplemented or not with a probiotic mixture. Methods. Ninety-six-week old laying hens were randomly distributed among four groups. The hens were housed in 32 cages (three hens/cage, eight replicates per treatment) during 112–127 weeks of age. The first group was fed a mash diet; and the second group was fed a pelleted diet with a diameter of 3 mm. The third and fourth groups were fed the same diets as for Groups 1 and 2 respectively, but supplemented with a mixture of probiotics (PM) Saccharomyces cerevisiae and Bacillus subtilis. Key results. The pelleted diet significantly increased egg weight and mass, and feed intake compared with the mash diet. PM supplementation significantly decreased the number of broken eggs and yolk index compared with the unsupplemented control. Fresh eggs showed a significantly higher egg grade, Haugh unit score, yolk color, and percentage albumen weight than did the stored eggs, but the yolk index and percentage were lower. Pelleting the feed significantly decreased excreta dry matter, organic matter, crude protein, and nitrogen (N) outputs. Excreta crude fiber was significantly decreased by PM supplementation compared with the unsupplemented control. The PM supplementation increased the true protein in the mash feed while decreasing it in the pelleted feed. Percentage heart and gizzard were significantly decreased because of feeding pelleted feeds compared with mash one to which PM was integrated. Pelleting significantly increased serum calcium (Ca), iron (Fe), and alkaline phosphatase concentrations compared with the mash feed, but decreased serum phosphorus (P) and zinc (Zn). Conclusions. Pelleting laying hen diets improved economic traits and yielded stronger effects than did PM supplementation, decreased excreta dry matter, organic matter, and N pollution, and increased serum Ca and Fe concentrations. Implications. These results suggest that pelleted diets could be a more effective strategy to improve production efficiency and reduce the environmental impact of poultry
Re: preoperative assessment of submucous fibroids by three-dimensional saline contrast sonohysterography
No full textLe drame des 'harragas' vu de près et de loin: Youssef Amine Elalamy rencontre Hafid Bouazza
No full textHarragas (those who burn) is the name given to the thousands of illegal immigrants from Africa who, since the 1990's, have attempted to cross the Mediterranean in search of a better life in Europe. Recently these shipwreck stories have led to the creation of a new literary genre, the harraga novel, which distinguishes itself by its innovative style and magic-realistic elements. I make a comparison between two texts in which the theme of the harragas is central. De Oversteek (The Crossing, 2005) is a short story written by Hafid Bouazza, a Dutch author of Moroccan descent. Les Clandestins (The illegal immigrants, 2000) was written by Youssef Amine Elalamy, a French-speaking Moroccan writer who lives and is published in Rabat. This essay examines the way in which both of these authors make use of magical and poetic symbolism to confer a political and/or historical, autobiographical character to their texts
Use of black pepper oil in growing-quail diets and its impact on growth, carcass measurements, intestinal microbiota, and blood chemistry
No full text<jats:p>Abstract. Supplements derived from plants are utilized to maintain and promote the growth efficiency of animals. The use of black pepper oil (BPO) has recently generated significant scientific interest, primarily because of its potential beneficial effects on both humans and animals. The goal of the current study was to determine how dietary BPO supplementation affected growth performance, characteristics of growing quails' immunity, antioxidant status, and carcass yield. A total of 240 growing quails (1 week old) were divided into five equal groups, each with 36 birds (four replicates of 12 each). A basal diet containing no BPO (0 g kg−1) was given to the first group, and the second, third, and fourth groups were given a diet that was supplemented with BPO (0.4, 0.8, 1.2, and 1.6 g kg−1, respectively). In comparison to a control group, quails' diets that were supplemented with 0.8 g BPO kg−1 showed improvements in final live body weight, body weight gain, and feed conversion ratio of 10.68 %, 12.6 %, and 18.2 %, respectively. During the whole study period (1 to 5 weeks), quails fed diets with 0.8 g BPO consumed less feed than the other groups and control. Due to BPO treatment, there were no statistically significant changes in any of the carcass parameters. BPO-supplemented groups had significantly elevated plasma levels of albumin and globulin than control groups (P &lt; 0.05), but the albumin/globulin ratio was reported to be significantly decreased (P &lt; 0.05) in birds supplemented with diets containing BPO compared to the control group. When compared to the control, the liver enzyme activity (aspartate transaminase (AST) and alanine transaminase (ALT)) in blood plasma was reported to be significantly increased in the quails given 0.4 and 0.8 g BPO kg−1. Glutathione and catalase activities were significantly higher in the group given diets supplemented with BPO (1.2 g kg−1) than they were in the control group. In comparison to the control, the supplementation of BPO in the diets of quail significantly enhanced (P &lt; 0.05) the lipid profile in the plasma, moreover decreasing the caecal content pH (P &lt; 0.05). In comparison to the control, the populations of lactobacilli, coliform, Salmonella spp., and Escherichia coli in the caecum significantly decreased in the BPO-supplemented groups (P &lt; 0.05). In conclusion, dietary BPO supplementation in Japanese quails' diet can boost growth performance and antioxidant indices, enhance lipid profile and carcass traits, and reduce intestinal infections.
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On the ionospheric effects of 26 June, 1999 solar flare
No full textAbstractIn this paper we traced the possible influence of the solar flare of June 26, 1999 on the ionosphere throughout the F2-layer parameters. This study concentrated on two parameters, foF2, the critical frequency of the ordinary component of the F2-layer; and hc, the height of the maximum obtained by fitting a theoretical h′F curve for the parabola of best fit to the observed ordinary mode trace near foF2 and correcting for under-lying ionization. The results showed that the relation between the amplitude of averaged sudden enhancements of the perturbations for the critical frequency of the ionospheric F2 region, ΔfoF2 (for data obtained from 8 ionosonde stations), and the duration of the flare is more applicable to the empirical formula given by Youssef (2008). Since we found this relation is linear and has a very strong correlation. In addition, we found that the relation between the average amplitude, of ΔfoF2, for the 8 selected ionosonde stations, and the flare flux is not a linear. For the second parameter, hc, it was found that, the hc amplitude depends on the location of the station on the Earth, and it reaches its maximum value during the decay phase of the studied flare
Green's First Identity Method for Boundary-Only Solution of Self-Weight in BEM Formulation for Thick Slabs
No full textThe present paper develops a new technique for treatment of self-weight for building slabs in the boundary element method (BEM). Due to the use of BEM in the analysis, all defined variables are presented on the slab boundary (mesh is defined only along the slab boundary). Self-weight, however, is usually defined over slab domain, hence domain discretisation is required, which spoils the main advantage of the BEM. In this paper a new method is presented to transform self-weight domain integrals to the boundary for such slabs. The proposed method is based on using the so-called Green's first identity. All new kernels for generalized displacements, stress-resultants, and tractions are derived and listed explicitly. The present formulation is implemented into computer code and several examples are tested. Results are compared against results obtained from other numerical method to prove the accuracy and validity of the present formulation
A Boundary Integral Transformation for Bending Analysis of Thick Plates Resting on Bi-Parameter Foundation
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