Effect of lactobacillus supplementation on growth and nutrient utilization in mongrel pups.

Effect of lactobacillus supplementation was studied in eight Mongrel pups of about 10 weeks of age with a mean body weight of 5.2 kg divided into two equal groups, control (group C) and a probiotic supplemented group (group L). Both groups received the same feed (biscuit) which was for group L supplemented with 2 x 10(7) cfu of a Lactobacillus acidophilus strain. The feeding trial lasted 13 weeks and included a digestibility trial of six day during which feed and faeces were collected to assess intake and digestibility of nutrients. Growth was recorded as weekly live weight change and the physical, chemical and microbiological characteristics of stool were examined periodically to assess the effect of lactobacillus on intestinal health. The biscuits contained 89% DM, 32.6% CP, 5.8% ash and 12.7% EE with TDN, GE and ME content of 890 g, 19.6 MJ and 14.6 MJ per kg DM, respectively. The DM, OM, CP and GE digestibilities were between 76% to 79% and the EE digestibility was 93%. The CF digestibility was negligible (22%). There were no significant differences between the two groups. There was an appetite stimulation and a relatively higher DM intake (10 to 15%) which induced higher daily gain, 102 g in group L vs. 92 g in group C up to 19 weeks of age, the difference declined thereafter. The average daily gain during the whole period was 74.5 +/- 8.0 g and 81.6 +/- 6.0 g in group C and L, respectively, and the difference was statistically non-significant (P > 0.05). The stools showed similar physical properties and composition with acidic pH in both groups. Lactobacillus supplementation caused a competitive establishment in the gastrointestinal tract of pups. It can be concluded that lactobacillus supplementation shows a positive effect during active growth phase (up to 4.5 months of age), which became insignificant in the later period of life.     

Fertigation techniques for use with multiple hydrozones in simultaneous operation

Site-specific delivery of fertilizer is a useful tool to address differences in crop need. Modern systems with wirelessly networked sensors and valves allow multiple hydrozones to be created more easily than traditional wired systems. This allows irrigation and fertigation rates to be varied across small portions of a field. However, fertigation to multiple hydrozones with different fertilizer requirements may be complex if each zone cannot be fertigated in an independent set. Instead, it might be necessary to operate several fertigation zones simultaneously. This raises a concern over the ability to deliver fertilizer uniformly within each zone. Four fertigation strategies were tested. The conventional method was to fertigate multiple hydrozones at different times. Three site-specific strategies were considered, involving overlapping fertigation phases in multiple hydrozones. Fertilizer distribution uniformity tests were conducted with a 64-emitter drip line to determine which strategy gave the most uniform distribution of fertilizer within a hydrozone. All fertigation techniques performed well, with fertilizer distribution uniformities between 0.88 and 0.96. Selection of the optimum site-specific fertigation strategy will depend on crop needs, scheduling limitations, and system design parameters such as emitter type, fluid travel time, and slope. Similar to conventional fertigation, the main factor in fertilizer distribution uniformity for this study was drip emitter variability. In the presence of sloped terrain, the site-specific control strategy that involved a delay between fertilizer injection and flushing had the least uniform fertilizer application.     

Effect of climate region and stocking density on ostrich (Struthio camelus) productive performances

The effects of three climates (hot and dry, mild and humid and Alpine) and three flock densities (<100, 100–300 and >300 m²) on ostrich reproductive and productive traits were studied. Data were compared with the benchmark target sets by the World Ostrich Association (Ostrich benchmark Performance Targets. Version 2, May, 2008) for reproductive qualifications of ostrich. No significant difference was observed on egg production, weight, fertility, hatchability and day‐old chicks weight among the three climate conditions; however, the Alpine climate had a lower performance trend. Mild and humid climates had a significant effect of age at sexual maturity for both males and females as well as on the duration of egg production season. Stocking density did not show significant difference on egg production, hatchability, age of male and female at sexual maturity and on duration of egg production season, while an area >300 m² showed a reduction in egg weight and day‐old chick weight. Further, an area <100 m² led to a weaker ostrich fertility rate. Results showed that the ostrich would have a better performance under hot and dry and mild and humid climates as compared to Alpine climate with a stocking density of 100–300 m² area per breeder bird. Thus, climatic intervention strategies at Alpine regions may be carried out for maintaining optimal reproductive qualification of ostrich so as to improve the productivity in this sector.     

Immunomodulation by dietary vitamin C in healthy and aflatoxin B1-induced immunocompromised rohu (Labeo rohita)

The aim of this study was to examine the immunomodulatory effect of high levels of dietary vitamin C in healthy and immunocompromised rohu (Labeo rohita) treated with aflatoxin B1 (AFB1). Four groups of rohu were fed experimental diets containing either no vitamin C or supplemented with vitamin C at 500 ppm for 60 days. On the first day of feeding, one group fed the high vitamin C diet and one fed the vitamin C deficient diet, were injected intraperitoneally with a single doses of AFB1 at 1.25 mg kg(-1) body weight. The effect of AFB1 and high dietary vitamin C on specific and non-specific immunity, and disease resistance against Aeromonas hydrophila were examined in the rohu. The ability of vitamin C to counteract immunosuppression induced by AFB1 was also examined. Specific immunity indicated by haemagglutination and haemolysin titres against sheep red blood cells (SRBC), and bacterial agglutination appeared to be unaffected by either the AFB1 treatment or the vitamin C enriched diet. A significant reduction was observed in the non-specific immunity of AFB1-treated fish, however, indicated by lowered bactericidal and lysozyme activities. High dietary vitamin C, on the other hand, enhanced the non-specific immunity of fish, including an enhanced phagocytic ratio and increased serum lysozyme activity. Feeding a high level of dietary vitamin C to AFB1-treated fish increased these parameters to levels similar to those found in control fish. High dietary vitamin C significantly (p < 0.05) enhanced protection against Aeromonas hydrophila infection in both healthy and immunocompromised fish. Results from this study help to establish the beneficial effect of dietary vitamin C on AFB1-induced immunosuppression, as well as confirming the immunostimulatory effect of vitamin C in rohu.     

Evaluation of Oxygen-dependent Immunodefences of the Polymorphonuclear Cells of Some Tropical Ruminants

Activation of polymorphonuclear cells (PMNs) leads to the formation of superoxide, which is in turn dismutated to H₂O₂ by superoxide dismutase (SOD) and is partly responsible for oxygen-dependent microbicidal activity. However, no comparative information is available on the effect of SOD inhibition before PMN activation to allow simulation of the SOD defects that are known to occur in some ruminants. This paper attempts to examine the degranulative and phagocytic responses in buffalo, cattle and goat PMNs exposed to diethyldithiocarbamate, a known SOD inhibitor. The activity of glutathione peroxidase and reductase was increased in the presence of SOD inhibitor. On activation, H₂O₂ production increased significantly (p<0.01), while SOD inhibition before the activation of PMNs caused a significant decline in the production of H₂O₂ (p<0.05) in all the species studied. There was a significant increase (p<0.05) in the phagocytosis of Candida albicans spores by buffalo PMNs activated with opsonized zymosan. Activation of bovine PMNs after exposure to the SOD inhibitor resulted in a significant decline (p<0.05) in phagocytic activity; in the other species, the two values only approached significance. Among the activators, opsonized zymosan caused a significant increase in phagocytic activity as compared to lipopolysaccharide, particularly in the PMNs of buffaloes (p<0.05). Increased fungicidal activity (p<0.05) occurred with opsonized zymosan-activated PMNs of all the species studied. The fungicidal activity was found to decline in PMNs exposed to SOD inhibitor before activation (p<0.05). Interestingly, the phagocytic activity of caprine PMNs was found to be lower than that of PMNs from cattle (p<0.05).     

Immunomodulating dose of levamisole stimulates innate immune response and prevents intestinal damage in porcine rotavirus diarrhea: a restricted-randomized,single-blinded,and placebo-controlled clinical trial

Tropical Animal Health and Production - A restricted-randomized, single-blinded, placebo-controlled clinical trial was conducted to examine whether immunomodulating dose of levamisole (LMS) can...     

Monitoring nitrogen,phosphorus and sulphur in hybrid rice (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Oryza sativa</Emphasis> L.) using hyperspectral remote sensing

Till date, the remote sensing research on crop nutrient monitoring has focused mainly on biomass and nitrogen (N) estimation and only a few attempts had been made to characterize and monitor macronutrients other than N. Field experiments were undertaken to study the remote detection of macronutrient status of rice using hyperspectral remote sensing. The variability in soil available N, phosphorus (P) and sulphur (S) and their content in plants were created using artificial fertility gradient design. The leaf and canopy hyperspectral reflectance was captured from variable macronutrient status vegetation. Linear correlation analysis between the spectral reflectance and plant nutrient status revealed significantly (p < 0.05) higher correlation coefficient at 670, 700, 730, 1090, 1260, 1460 nm for the nutrient under study. Published and proposed vegetation indices (VIs) were tested for canopy N, P and S prediction. The results of the investigation revealed that, published VIs (NDVI hyper and NDVI broadbands) could retrieve canopy N with higher accuracy, but not P and S. The predictability of the visible and short wave infrared based VI NRI₁₅₁₀ ((R₁₅₁₀ ? R₆₆₀)/(R₁₅₁₀ + R₆₆₀)) was the highest (r = 0.81, p < 0.01) for predicting N. Based on the outcomes of linear correlation analysis new VIs were proposed for remote detection of P and S. Proposed VI P_670_1260 ((R₁₂₆₀ ? R₆₇₀)/(R₁₂₆₀ + R₆₇₀)) retrieved canopy P status with higher prediction accuracy (r = 0.67, p < 0.01), whereas significantly higher canopy S prediction (r = 0.58, p < 0.01) was obtained using VI S_670_1090 ((R₁₀₉₀ ? R₆₇₀)/(R₁₀₉₀ + R₆₇₀)). The proposed spectral algorithms could be used for real time and site-specific N, P and S management in rice. Nutrient specific wavelengths, identified in the present investigation, could be used for developing relatively low-cost sensors of hand-held instruments to monitor N, P and S status of rice plant.     

Immunoadjuvant effect of garlic (Allium sativum)–mineral oil suspension on immunity and resistance to Aeromonas hydrophila infection in rohu,Labeo rohita

The immunomodulatory effect of garlic–mineral oil as a modified adjuvant was investigated in rohu, Labeo rohita along with formalin-killed Aeromonas hydrophila. The garlic extract was not having any proteolytic effect on the tested antigen as marked in SDS-PAGE. The efficacy of graded levels of modified adjuvant formulation was assessed by measuring serum hemolysin and agglutination titers as well as level of protection against A. hydrophila challenge in the immunized fish at days 10 and 30 post-vaccination (dpv). The higher hemolysin and bacterial agglutinin titers along with significantly lower mortality against A. hydrophila challenge in modified adjuvant-based vaccinated fish, particularly at low level of garlic incorporation, indicated the pronounced immunoadjuvant role of this modified adjuvant formulation in rohu.     

Nano zinc vis‐à‐vis inorganic Zinc as feed additives: Effects on growth,activity of hepatic enzymes and non‐specific immunity in rohu,Labeo rohita (Hamilton) fingerlings

The effects of dietary administration of inorganic zinc (zinc sulphate, ZnSO₄) and nano zinc (zinc oxide nanoparticles, ZnO‐NP) were evaluated in rohu, Labeo rohita fingerlings. Fish were fed with a basal diet (Control) supplemented with ZnSO₄ (T1, T2 and T3) and ZnO‐NP (T4, T5 and T6) at 10, 20 and 30 mg/kg, respectively, for a duration of 45 days. The results revealed that fish fed diet containing 20 mg ZnO‐NP per kg (T5) had the highest weight gain and specific growth rate (SGR, % per day), which was significantly different (p < .05) from the other experimental diets. Significantly (p < .05), higher activities of the digestive and metabolic enzymes were recorded in the fish fed ZnO‐NP containing diets as compared to the diets containing inorganic Zn or control diet. The maximum serum glucose and protein levels were noted in fish reared on diet T5. Both SGOT and SGPT activities were significantly increased in fish fed Zn‐supplemented diets (T1 to T6), as compared to the control group. Similarly, innate immune parameters were improved with feeding Zn incorporated diets. The highest phagocytic (40.74 ± 0.65%) and respiratory burst (0.33 ± 0.001, OD 630nm) activities were recorded in the fish fed diet containing ZnO‐NPs at 20 mg/kg (T5). The maximum superoxide production and serum peroxidase activity were detected in the fish fed T5 and T6 diets. Overall, results indicated that short‐duration feeding (≤45 days) of dietary ZnO‐NP (20 mg/kg) improved growth, enzyme activity, serum biochemical parameters and immune function in rohu fingerlings.