Impact of dietary inclusion of Chenopodium quinoa on growth performance and survival of Hubbard chicken.

The poultry sector is the most vibrant segment of the agriculture system plays a vital role in the supply of healthy meat products. Broiler production effectiveness is greatly associated with feed formulation. Although, broiler exhibits a relatively fast growth rate, the nutritional profile of its meat has been criticized under conventional human dietary regimes. In the current study, the dietary inclusion of quinoa was assessed to improve broiler growth performance, carcass quality, and health by analyzing different growth, hematological and biochemical, immunological parameters. In the present study, the chicken was fed with 50 g/kg, 100 g/kg, and 200 g/kg quinoa enriched diets in two different experimental groups during the growth phase or finisher phase while chicken fed with diet without quinoa were as control. The 50 g/kg quinoa supplemented chicken group revealed a substantial difference in growth performance in comparison with the control group. In addition, the examination of quinoa dietary supplementation on carcass quality exhibited variable behavior. Further, all the study groups fed with quinoa during the growth phase revealed no remarkable difference in the hematological profile in contrast to the control group except for the chicken group fed (50 g/Kg) during the finisher phase for hemoglobin levels. Likewise, all the quinoa enriched diet given chicken groups showed no significant difference in serum biochemical profile in contrast to the control group except for the 50 g/Kg quinoa fed chicken group during the finisher phase for total globulin levels. In addition, the examination of quinoa dietary supplementation on the broiler serum lipid profile was also assessed and birds exhibited variable behavior as the result of quinoa dietary supplementation. Evaluation of short-term immune response after quinoa supplementation assessed and birds exhibited no marked significance on expression outcomes of interleukin/cytokines (IL 1 beta, IL-6, IL-10) assessed by qRT-PCR analysis. In conclusion, the dietary supplementation of broiler fed with quinoa seeds can enhance the growth performance and the carcass quality of broiler.

Computational study of therapeutic potential of phosphorene as a nano-carrier for drug delivery of nebivolol for the prohibition of cardiovascular diseases: a DFT study.

Density functional theory (DFT) calculations were utilized to assess the drug delivery efficiency of phosphorene carrier for nebivolol drug to treat cardiovascular diseases. The optimized structures, excited state, and electronic properties of nebivolol, phosphorene, and nebivolol-phosphorene (nebivolol-PH) complex were considered to determine the drug delivery ability of phosphorene at the target site. The increased dipole moment (6.08 D) results in the higher solubility of the complex in polar solvents (water). Weak interactive forces between nebivolol and phosphorene were demonstrated by the non-covalent interaction (NCI) plot that facilitated the offloading of nebivolol at the targeted area. The analysis of frontier molecular orbitals (FMOs) revealed that during excitation, the charge was transferred from nebivolol as a higher occupied molecular orbital (HOMO) to phosphorene as a lower unoccupied molecular orbital (LUMO). Thus, the charge-transfer process was further studied by charge decomposition analysis (CDA). The calculated results at the excited state for the nebivolol-PH complex exhibited that the maximum wavelength (λmax) was red-shifted by 6 nm in the gas phase. The electron-hole theory and photoinduced electron transfer (PET) processes were carried out for the exploration of different excited states of the complex. Additionally, phosphorene with + 1 and - 1 charge states indicated the minor structural changes and provide the stable nebivolol-PH complex. This theoretical study also investigated that phosphorene can be exploited as an effective carrier for the delivery of a therapeutic agent as nebivolol to treat cardiovascular diseases. This work will also encourage the researchers to investigate the other 2D nanoparticles as a nano-drug delivery system (NDDS).

Lotus seeds (Nelumbinis semen) as an emerging therapeutic seed: A comprehensive review.

Nelumbinis semen is commonly known as lotus seeds that have been used as a vegetable, functional food, and medicine for 7,000 years. These are low caloric, a rich source of multiple nutrients and bioactive constituents, which make it a unique therapeutic food. N. semen plays an important part in the physiological functions of the body. Nowadays, people are more conscious about their health and desire to treat disease naturally with minimal side effects. So, functional foods are getting popularity due to a wide range of essential constituents, which are associated to decrease the risk of chronic diseases. These bioactive compounds from seeds are involved in anti-adipogenic, antioxidant, antitumor, cardiovascular, hepato-protective, anti-inflammatory, anti-fertility, anti-microbial, anti-viral, hypoglycemic, etc. Moreover, the relationship between functional compounds along with their mechanism of action in the body, their extraction from the seeds for further research would be of great interest.

Heavy metals identification and exposure at workplace environment its extent of accumulation in blood of iron and steel recycling foundry workers of Lahore, Pakistan.

The determination of heavy metals in blood is an important occupational environmental toxicology screening procedure. The aim of study was to determine the concentrations of Pb, Cd, Cr and Ni in blood samples of iron and steel foundry workplace exposed workers under routine clinical laboratory conditions. The method was employed for the quantitative determination of lead, cadmium, chromium and nickel in workplace environment particulate matter blood samples from iron and steel foundry workers and in unexposed controls. The results indicate that lead, chromium and nickel levels of the exposed workers are significantly higher those of the controls. Nickel Concentration (µg/L) in high P value=0.0306 and Chromium Concentration (µg/L) in P value=0.0295in worker population as compared to controls. Lead showed highest Absorption concentration in serum from particulate matter to Serum 47.3(µg/L). Absorption concentration of nickel in serum 16.5(µg/L) was lower than lead observed in worker's population. Absorption concentration of cadmium and chromium in serum from particulate matter -152(µg/L) observed very low. The results also show the need for immediate improvements in workplace ventilation and industrial hygiene practices.

Evaluation of Antimicrobial Activity of Glucose Oxidase from Aspergillus niger EBL-A and Penicillium notatum

This work aimed to study the production and purification of glucose oxidase by Aspergillus niger and Penicillium notatum using corn steep liquor as the substrate and evaluate its antimicrobial activity for use in pharmaceutical and food industries. The enzyme was purified by ammonium sulfate precipitation (60-85%), DEAE-cellulose ion exchange and Sephadex G-200 size exclusion chromatography. The crude enzyme extracts of A. niger and P. notatum showed 2.32 and 5.53 U mg-1 specific activities, respectively, which after desalting was 15.52 and 12.05 U mg-1, and after ion exchange and gel filtration chromatography was 29.09 - 62 and 25.72 - 59.37 U mg-1 for A. niger and P. notatum, respectively. The antimicrobial activity was determined by disc diffusion method against selected microbial strains where glucose oxidase from A. niger showed anti-bacterial activity, while no fungicidal effects were shown by both A. niger and P. notatum glucose oxidases.

Knowledge, attitude and practice for breast cancer risk factors and screening modalities in staff nurses of Ayub Teaching Hospital Abbottabad.

BACKGROUND: Breast cancer is the commonest cancer modality in female worldwide. Avoiding the risk factors can reduce its incidence and adhering to screening and early detection can reduce its mortality. A sufficient knowledge regarding the risk factors and screening modalities is therefore essential. We assessed the knowledge level about these parameters in our staff nurses. METHODS: A self-administered questionnaire survey was performed. Knowledge regarding the risk factors and screening modalities were categorised into good, fair, poor and very poor categories. RESULTS: Knowledge regarding most of the factors was found to be fair. A few things were termed as good knowledge like role of breast-feeding in protecting against breast cancer. Practice regarding the screening modalities was not satisfactory. Only a few nurses had good knowledge of the risk factors and screening modalities. Practice of the Screening modalities was also poor. CONCLUSION: There is a need to improve the nursing curriculum, training at the workplace and motivate them for screening practices. They should be encouraged to talk to their patients and their female attendants about prevention and early detection of breast cancer.

Comparative studies on storage stability of ferrous iron in whole wheat flour and flat bread (naan).

Whole wheat flour was fortified with premix containing ferrous sulfate, ethylenediamine tetraacetic acid and folic acid (20.0:20.0:1.5 ppm) and was stored at ambient temperature for 60 days. Naans (flat bread) were prepared from 0 ppm, 25 ppm, 50 ppm and 75 ppm ferrous iron-fortified flour samples at 10-day intervals and were analyzed for physicochemical constants and sensory evaluation. It was observed that flour containing 75 ppm ferrous sulfate contained the highest iron residues. The total iron in flour samples showed no significant difference, while ferrous iron significantly decreased in fortified flour (0.53-3.08%) and in the naans (0.42-3.48%) because of its oxidation to ferric iron during storage. The phytic acid content decreased (0.886-0.810%) significantly during the same storage period. Iron levels affected some sensory characteristics significantly (P < or =0.05), including color, texture, flexibility, chewability and overall acceptability of the naans, but not taste and flavor. The sensory attributes of naans illustrated that naans containing 50 ppm ferrous iron are more acceptable than those prepared with 75 ppm ferrous iron.