Inclusion of barley fibre and barley protein in a total mixed ration for growing dairy bulls

Abstract

A 2×2 factorial design with 32 dairy bulls was used to study the effects of partial replacement of a starchy concentrate with a fibrous concentrate and replacement of rapeseed meal with barley protein as protein supplement on performance of bulls with ad libitum access to a total mixed ration feeding. The two energy supplements were flattened barley (B) and a mixture (1:1 on dry matter (DM) basis) of flattened barley and barley fibre (BF). These were fed with either rapeseed meal or barley protein so that the crude protein content of rations was 162 g kg^?1 DM. Replacing half of the barley grain with barley fibre increased (P<0.01) the average DM intake (9.3 kg d^?1 versus 9.9 kg d^?1), but had no effect on the average live weight gain (1.27 kg d^?1). There seemed to be only a minor difference between rapeseed meal and barley protein as protein supplements on animal performance.     

The first serologic study of Q fever in sheep in Iran

Coxiella burnetii is an obligate intracellular microorganism that causes Q fever in humans and animals. In ewes, C. burnetii infections are generally asymptomatic, but they can lead to abortions, stillbirths, and delivery of weak and unviable lambs. Serological assays are suitable for screening herds. Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISA) technique has a high sensitivity and a good specificity. The aim of this study was to investigate the presence of anti-C. burnetii antibodies among sheep in southeast Iran. A total of 85 serum samples were collected from ten sheep flocks from April to September 2009. Serum samples were tested for Q fever antibodies using a commercial indirect ELISA kit. Antibodies were detected in 25 sera (29.42%) of 85 samples. Sixteen female (18.82%) and nine male (10.58%) cases had antibodies specific to C. burnetii. There is significant difference in seropositivity between male and female groups (P < 0.05). This first study of C. burnetii seroprevalence in sheep in southeast Iran has indicated that seropositive animals can be found throughout the country. Further work is now required to characterize the epidemiology of the infection more thoroughly.     

Selenium in lemon balm plants: Productivity,phytotoxicity and drought alleviation

Since studies on the effects of selenium (Se) supplementation in water-stressed plants have mainly focused on cereal crops, the specific reports regarding Se-mediated adaptation to drought stress in medicinal vegetables are scant. Thus, we investigated the responses of Melissa officinalis to Se supplementation. Selenium contents were increased in leaves and grains by supplemental Se. Selenium foliar application at 1 mg l^?1 could be useful to increase the vegetative and reproductive growth of Se-enriched plants under well-watered conditions but at 20 mg l^?1 led to toxicity and caused damage to shoots. Drought stress significantly inhibited plant growth by chlorophyll degradation and reduced net carbon dioxide (CO₂) assimilation rate. Although Se at 1 mg l^?1 could increase biomass production under well-watered conditions in addition to the stimulation of antioxidant system under water stress, it could not ameliorate the negative effect of drought on productivity.     

Comparative study on immunomodulatory and growth enhancing effects of three prebiotics (galactooligosaccharide,fructooligosaccharide and inulin) in common carp (Cyprinus carpio)

This study investigated the effects of different prebiotics, including galactooligosaccharide (GOS), fructooligosaccharide (FOS) and inulin (INL), on skin mucosal immune parameters, humoral immune responses as well as performance of common carp (Cyprinus carpio). Two hundred and forty specimens (13.85 ± 0.85 g) were stocked in 12 fibreglass tanks assigned into three treatments and a control group. The experimental diets were formulated to have equal level (2%) of the prebiotics. At the end of the feeding trial, the highest skin mucus lysozyme activities and total immunoglobulin (total Ig) were observed in GOS‐fed group (P < 0.05). However, skin mucus protease activity showed no significant difference among different dietary groups (P < 0.05). Blood respiratory burst activity was significantly increased in all prebiotic‐fed fish compared to the control group (P < 0.05); the highest activity was observed in GOS treatment. Furthermore, evaluation of humoral immune response revealed that feeding with GOS‐supplemented diet significantly increased lysozyme and alternative complement (ACH50) activity as well as total Ig compared to the control and other prebiotic groups. While no significant difference was observed between FOS and INL groups, common carps fed GOS‐supplemented displayed improved (P < 0.05) growth performance, including final weight, weight gain, specific growth rate (SGR) and feed conversion ratio (FCR), compared to the control treatment. These results revealed that different prebiotics modulate carp growth and immune response in different manner, and GOS seems to be the most suitable prebiotic.     

The study of antioxidant enzymes and immune‐related genes expression in common carp (Cyprinus carpio) fingerlings fed different prebiotics

The aim of the present study was to study the effects of different prebiotics (galacto‐, fructooligosaccharide and inulin) on immune response and oxidative stress of common carp (Cyprinus carpio) fingerlings at the molecular level. A total number of 240 fish (13.85 ± 0.85 g) were supplied and randomly stocked in twelve fiberglass tanks (20 specimens per tank). Fish were fed a basal formulated diet (Control) or basal diet supplemented with equal level (2%) of different prebiotics (four treatments repeated in triplicated) for 8 weeks. At the end of feeding trial, the expression of immune‐related genes (interleukin 1 beta [IL‐1β], IL‐8, IL‐10, lysozyme [LYZ], tumour necrosis factor alpha [TNF‐α] and transforming growth factor beta [TGF‐β]) were determined in head kidney and intestine tissues and the expression of antioxidant‐related genes (glutathione S‐transferase [GST‐α], glutathione reductase [GR] and glutathione peroxidase genes [GPX]) were studied in intestine. The results revealed that dietary administration of prebiotics modulated the expression of immune‐related genes and the degree of expression was affected by the type of prebiotics and the organ that was used for analyses. Also, evaluation of antioxidant genes expression showed that GSTα and GR expression levels increased as a result of feeding common carp with the prebiotics. According to these findings, it can be concluded that feeding on different prebiotics had altered effects on the expression of immune and antioxidant‐related genes.     

Determination of the optimum transfer time of kutum (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Rutilus frisii kutum</Emphasis>) larvae from live food to artificial dry feed

Kutum Rutilus frisii kutum is known as a valuable commercial species in the southern part of Caspian Sea. Artificial rearing of fry has been introduced as an alternative to supply kutum fry in order to restock the kutum population in the Caspian Sea. The aim of this study was to find the suitable time to transfer kutum larvae from live food to artificial feed. The experiment began on day 3 post- hatching and lasted for 21 days. Mean initial weight of larvae was 4.5 mg. Five experimental groups including Group A (zooplankton alone for 21 days), Group B (12 days zooplankton + 9 days artificial feed), Group C (8 days zooplankton + 13 days artificial feed), Group D (4 days zooplankton + 17 days artificial feed) and Group E (artificial feed alone for 21 days) were considered for this experiment. According to the obtained results, the specific growth rate of kutum larvae varied from 8.01 to 13.58% day⁻¹, and the highest and lowest specific growth rate were found in A and E treatments, respectively. The lowest mean body weight (24.6 mg) was found in larvae fed on artificial feed for 21 days. However, survival rates of kutum larvae fed mixed zooplankton for 8 and 12 days (85.83 and 89.33%, respectively) were comparable with those of larvae fed live food during the entire experiment (91.6%). The lowest survival rate (69.16%) was found in larvae fed artificial feed during the entire experiment.     

Molecular and Clinical Investigation of Iranian Patients with Friedreich Ataxia

Background: Friedreich ataxia (FRDA) is an autosomal recessive disorder caused by guanine-adenine-adenine (GAA) triplet expansions in the FXN gene. Its product, frataxin, which severely reduces in FRDA patients, leads to oxidative damage in mitochondria. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the triple nucleotide repeated expansions in Iranian FRDA patients and to elucidate distinguishable FRDA clinical differences in these patients. Methods: A number of 22 Iranian patients (8 females and 14 males) from 16 unrelated families were studied. DNA was extracted from the peripheral blood of patients. The frequency and length of (GAA)_n repeats in intron 1 of the FXN gene were analyzed using long-range PCR. In this study, the clinical criteria of FRDA in our patients and the variability in their clinical signs were also demonstrated. Results: An inverse relationship was observed between GAA repeat size and the age of onset. Although some distinguishable clinical features (such as limb ataxia and lower limb areflexia) were found in our patients, 90-95% of them had extensor plantar response and dysarthria. The results showed only one positive diabetes patient and also different effects on eye movement abnormality among our patients. Conclusion: The onset age of symptoms showed a significant inverse correlation with allele size in our patients (P>0.05). Based on comparisons of the clinical data of all patients, clinical presentation of FRDA in Iranian patients did not differ significantly from other FRDA patients previously reported. Key Words: Friedreich ataxia (FRDA), Frataxin, Mitochondria     

A new stochastic optimization model for deficit irrigation

Deficit irrigation has been suggested as a way to increase system benefits, at the cost of individual benefits, by decreasing the crop water allocation and increasing the total irrigated land. Deterministic methods are common for determining optimal irrigation schedules with deficit irrigation because considering the inherent uncertainty in crop water demands while including the lower and upper bounds on soil moisture availability is a hard problem. To deal with this, a constraint state formulation for stochastic control of the weekly deficit irrigation strategy is proposed. This stochastic formulation is based on the first and second moment analysis of the stochastic soil moisture state variable, considering soil moisture as bounded between a maximum value and a minimum value. As a result, an optimal deficit irrigation scheduling is determined using this explicit stochastic model that does not require discretization of system variables. According to the results, if irrigation strategy is based on deterministic predictions, achievement of high, long-term expected relative net benefits by decreased crop water allocation and increased irrigated land may have a higher failure probability.