Effects of different forage sources as a free‐choice provision on the performance,nutrient digestibility,selected blood metabolites and structural growth of Holstein dairy calves

The objective of this study was to determine the effects of different forage sources on the growth performance, nutrient digestibility and blood metabolites of dairy calves. Individually housed calves (n = 40; body weight = 41.2 ± 3.5 kg) were randomly allocated (n = 10 calves per treatment: five males and five females) to one of the following four treatments: (i) starter without forage provision (CON), (ii) starter plus chopped alfalfa hay (AH), (iii) starter plus chopped wheat straw (WS) and 4) starter plus dried sugar beet pulp (BP) flakes. Calves fed AH diets had lowest (p < 0.05) starter intake than those fed other diets, and WS promoted a significant increase (p < 0.01) in starter intake during 43–80 days. Forage intake was greatest (p < 0.01) for calves fed AH than those fed WS and BP. Calves in the AH treatment consumed less (p < 0.01) total dry matter intake than those offered other forage treatments. Final body weight was greatest (p < 0.05), and age of weaning was lowest for calves fed BP than other treatments. Calves in the BP treatment had greater (p < 0.05) average daily gain (ADG) than CON and WS treatments, but similar to AH calves. Digestibility of NDF and ADF was greater (p < 0.05) in BP treatment than other treatments. Calves fed BP had greater (p < 0.05) digestibility of DM and OM than those fed CON diets and similar to those fed AH and WS diets. Calves in the AH treatment had greater (p < 0.05) CP digestibility than CON, but similar to WS and BP calves. Blood beta‐hydroxybutyrate concentration was lower in forage‐offered calves than CON one. Body measurements (with the exception of body barrel) did not differ across treatments. It was concluded that BP improves final body weight, ADG and nutrient digestibility of calves than starter without forage provision during weaning transition.     

Common carotid intima-media thickness in patients with late rheumatoid arthritis; what is the role of gender?

This study aimed to evaluate color Doppler sonographic findings in carotid arteries in RA patients under pharmacological treatments and to compare them with normal population. Forty nine patients with late RA and 48 healthy age and sex-matched controls were recruited. The two groups were matched for other known risk factors of atherosclerosis including serum lipid abnormalities, smoking status, diabetes mellitus and hypertension. High resolution B-mode color Doppler ultrasound with a 7 MHZ transducer was used for measuring the Common Carotid Intima-Medial Thickness (CCIMT) in both sides in all subjects. Presence of atherosclerotic plaque was also investigated. The mean left and maximum CCIMT was significantly higher in the case group (0.72 vs. 0.62 mm for the left artery; p < 0.01; 0.72 vs. 0.64 mm for the maximum reading; p = 0.01). No atherosclerotic plaque was found in common carotid arteries. There were 3 (6.1), 7 (14.3) and 9 (18.4%) plaques in left internal carotid artery, right carotid bulb and left carotid bulb in the case group, respectively with no atherosclerotic plaques in the controls (p = 0.24, 0.01 and < 0.001, respectively). Comparing the findings by gender in the case group with the controls, the mentioned significant differences were only between the male patients and the controls. The process of atherosclerosis in RA patients is similar to that in normal population. However, it is apparently accelerated and more advanced in these patients.     

Potassium Pools Distribution in Some Calcareous Soils as Affected by Climatic Conditions,Physiographic Units,and Some Physicochemical Properties in Fars Province,Southern Iran

Eurasian Soil Science - Experiments were conducted for thirty representative surface and subsurface soils collected from different physiographic units and moisture regimes in southern Iran to...     

Effects of walnut shell and chicken manure biochar on in vitro fermentation and in vivo nutrient digestibility and performance of dairy ewes

Two experiments were conducted to investigate the effects of addition of walnut shell biochar (WSB) and chicken manure biochar (CMB) to dairy ewes’ diet. In in vitro experiment, the effects of different levels of WSB and CMB (0.5, 1, and 1.5% diet dry matter (DM)) on rumen fermentation characteristics were assessed in a completely randomized design with seven treatments and three replicates. Treatments were as follows: basal diet without biochar (control), basal diet with 0.5, 1, and 1.5% WSB, and basal diet with 0.5, 1, and 1.5% CMB. Addition of 1% WSB and 1.5% CMB to the diet linearly decreased methane production and ammonia-N concentrations and increased pH compared to control (P?<?0.001). Inclusion of WSB and CMB to the diet did not change volume of gas production and total volatile fatty acids (VFA) and proportion of acetate, propionate, and butyrate. In the second experiment, six milking Kermanian ewes were used in a replicated Latin square design with three treatments and three 21-day periods to evaluate the effects of 1% WSB and 1.5% CMB (based on results obtained from in vitro trial) on intake, digestibility, and milk yield and composition. Dietary inclusion of 1% WSB and 1.5% CMB resulted in more milk yield (P?<?0.01), milk protein (P?<?0.05), and solids not fat (SNF) (P?<?0.001). Blood glucose and total protein increased (P?<?0.01) in ewes fed 1% WSB and 1.5% CMB in comparison to ewes fed control diet. Apparent digestibility coefficients of DM (P?<?0.01) and OM (P?<?0.10) were increased with inclusion of 1% WSB and 1.5% CMB in diet. Neutral detergent fiber (NDF) digestibility was also increased in WSB-fed ewes (P?<?0.01). The lack of negative effects of 1% WSB and 1.5% CMB coupled with the observed reduction in methane emission and ammonia concentration and also improvement in milk production suggested that biochars can be beneficially incorporated in dairy ewes’ ration as a low-cost feed additive.

     

Common carotid artery intima-media thickness and atherosclerotic plaques in carotid bulb in patients with chronic kidney disease on hemodialysis: a case-control study

The Common Carotid artery Intima-Media Thickness (CCIMT) can reflect systemic atherosclerosis in renal patients on hemodialysis. This study aimed to compare CCIMT measured by color Doppler ultrasonography between two groups including dialytic patients and normal subjects. In this case-control setting, 48 patients with Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD) on hemodialysis (case group) and 46 age and sex-matched healthy subjects (control group) were enrolled in this study. Color Doppler ultrasound was used to measure CCIMT and determine presence of atherosclerotic plaques in carotid bulb in both groups. Various laboratory parameters were also determined. Serum levels of triglyceride, total cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein, fasting sugar, ionized calcium, inorganic phosphorus and magnesium were comparable between the two groups. Hypertension and elevated levels of serum C-reactive protein, as well as the mean levels of serum non-fasting homocysteine and phosphate were significantly higher in the case group. Mean levels of serum high-density lipoprotein and albumin were significantly higher in the controls. Mean maximum CCIMT was significantly higher in the case group than in controls (0.73 +/- 0.15 vs. 0.68 +/- 0.08 mm, p = 0.01) even after adjusting for other confounding variables. Frequency of patients with atherosclerotic plaques in carotid bulbs was not significantly different between case and controls. In conclusion, this study showed that CCIMT is significantly higher in CKD patients on hemodialysis comparing with matched normal counterparts. Furthermore, this difference was independent of other conventional risk factors for atherosclerosis.     

The influence of corona discharge treatment on the properties of cotton and polyester-cotton knitted fabrics

In this study, the effect of corona discharge treatment on the physical and mechanical properties of bleached cotton and polyester-cotton fabrics were investigated. For this purpose, the samples were treated by corona discharge at two levels of voltage 5 and 10 kV, and at various duration times of plasma, ca. 1.4, 2.1 and 3.5 min. The corona discharge treatment was applied on the fabric samples before and after bleaching treatment. The results show that the corona influences on the surface morphology, breaking strength, air permeability, abrasion resistance, and pilling of cotton and polyester-cotton fabrics. Moreover, the levels of voltage and duration of plasma have a different effect on the properties of fabrics.     

Potassium fixation capacity of some highly calcareous soils as a function of clay minerals and alternately wetting-drying

ABSTRACT

The current research was done to investigate the effect of wetting-drying cycles, time, and clay mineralogy on K fixation capacity of highly calcareous soils. In order to conduct the study, eight soil samples were collected. The samples were treated with different concentrations of K including 200 (K1), 400 (K2) and 800 mg kg^?1 (K3) and 8 different incubation time including 6 h (t1), 24 h (t2), 72 h (t3), one week (t4), two weeks (t5), one month (t6), two months (t7) and three months (t8). Also, a wetting-drying treatment was done (td) in order to simulate the effect of irrigation and soil drying on K fixation. The results showed that for all K levels addition, the percentage of fixed K was increased with time. The K fixation content was increased with the increase in the added K from K1 to K3, while K fixation percentage was decreased. The results also showed that there was a significant difference between soils with wetting-drying treatment (td) and soils with three-month incubation (t8) in K fixation capacity, so that the fixation of K by the soils was increased with wetting-drying cycles.     

Improvement of yield,yield components and oil quality in sesame (Sesamum indicum L.) by N-fixing bacteria fertilizers and urea

Experiments were conducted in 2009–2010 at the Agricultural and Natural Resources Research Center of Yazd, Iran, to study the effect of nitrogen levels and plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR) containing Azotobacter sp. and Azospirillum sp. on seed yield, its components and quality traits of sesame cultivars. Treatments were arranged in a factorial experiment based on randomized complete block design with nitrogen rates (0 (control), 25 and 50 kg N ha^?1), cultivars (Darab-14, GL-13 and local) and N-fixing bacteria levels (non-inoculation and inoculation) were applied with three replications. Nitrogen fertilizer significantly increased yield and yield components, but reduced oil content in 2010. Inoculating seeds with PGPR increased yield and yield components of sesame cultivars compared to the control treatment. Seed yield in PGPR inoculation with half a rate of N fertilizer treatment was more than seed yield in the full rate of N fertilizer without a PGPR inoculation treatment. N fertilizer and PGPR application significantly decreased saturated fatty acids (palmitic and stearic acid) while it significantly increased unsaturated fatty acids (oleic and linoleic acid). Oleic acid had a significant negative correlation with linoleic acid (r = ?0.79). The result showed that an application of PGPR could be usefully applied to reduce use of chemical fertilizer.     

Biochemical traits associated with growing sorghum genotypes with saline water in the field

Abstract

This study was aimed to determine biochemical traits related to higher phytomass production in sorghum genotypes irrigated with saline water. It was also attempted to consider whether or not forage yield production under non-saline conditions could be used as an index for for the selection of high yielding genotypes of sorghum under saline conditions. Forty-five sorghum genotypes were grown under field conditions using saline water or normal irrigation water in two growing seasons in Yazd, Iran. It appeared that salinity tolerance in sorghum genotypes, in addition to local adaption, was highly related to forage yield as well as some biochemical traits as carotenoid concentration, catalase activity, and K⁺/Na⁺ ratio. The screening method based on biochemical traits appeared to be applicable for identification of the salt-tolerant genotypes.     

Effects of feeding pistachio by‐products silage on growth performance,serum metabolites and urine characteristics in Holstein male calves

This study investigated physiological effects of pistachio by‐products silage (PBPS) substituted in Holstein male calves diets and its effects on the growth performance. Twenty‐four Holstein male calves (4–5 months of age and 155.6 ± 13.5 kg BW) were randomly assigned to one of four experimental diets (n = 6); contained 0%, 6%, 12% and 18% of PBPS (DM basis) respectively. During a 6‐month experiment, dry matter intake (DMI) and weight gain were recorded and blood and urine samples were collected at different times. Results showed that mean DMI was not affected by different levels of PBPS in diets. But the calves fed 6% PBPS had the highest average daily gain (p < 0.05) and the lowest feed conversion ratio (p < 0.05). The calves fed 12% and 18% PBPS had lower albumin, white blood cell, haemoglobin and packed cell volume (p < 0.05) than those fed other diets. However, other serum metabolites, complete blood count (CBC), insulin and liver enzymes were not affected by the experimental diets. The long‐term feeding of PBPS at different levels had no significant effect (p > 0.05) on pH, specific gravity, the number of white and red blood cells and epithelial cells count in urine. The animals did not show any symptom of illness or toxicity during the experimental period and all of the blood and urine parameters were in a normal range. It was concluded that substitution of PBPS up to 18% of the total diet that provide up to 18.2 g/kg DM total tannin had no adverse effects for Holstein male calves.