Effect of coated cysteamine hydrochloride and probiotics supplemented alone or in combination on feed intake, nutrients digestibility, ruminal fermentation, and blood metabolites of Kamphaeng Saen beef heifers.

This study aimed to determine the effects of coated cysteamine hydrochloride (CSH) and probiotics (PB) supplemented alone or in combination on feed intake, digestibility, ruminal fermentation, and blood metabolites of heifer beef cattle. Sixteen heifers (body weight = 210 ± 41 kg; age = 9 ± 2 months) were assigned according to a randomized complete block design in a 2 × 2 factorial arrangement. All animals were fed the basal diet, which contained an 82:17 concentrate-to-forage ratio, and the forage source was rice straw. The treatments were as follows: (1) 0% PB + 0 g/d CSH, (2) 0.1% PB + 0 g/d CSH, (3) 0% PB + 20 g/d CSH, and (4) 0.1% PB + 20 g/d CSH. The main effect of CSH supplementation has been found to improve feed intake (P < 0.05). There were no treatment interactions with nutrient digestibility or rumen fermentation parameters. Supplementation of CSH did not affect any of the variables evaluated, while probiotics supplementation increased DM digestibility due to the increases in CP and fiber fraction digestibility. Compared to controls and CSH, at 16 h post-feeding, heifers receiving probiotics tended (P = 0.07) to show 17% greater ruminal NH3-N concentration, but this effect was not evident at 2 h post-feeding. However, the main effects of probiotic supplementation showed a tendency to increase the number of total bacteria and fungal zoospores in the rumen at 2 h post-feeding. The blood triglyceride (BTG) concentration of heifers fed a diet supplemented with 20 g/d CSH and 0.1% probiotics was found to be greater than those fed CSH alone (P < 0.1) at 16 h post-feeding, and then, there were greater BTG concentrations than other treatments (P < 0.05) at 2 h post-feeding. In conclusion, the combination of CSH and PB did not potentiate the effects of probiotics on digestibility and rumen fermentation and had minimal effects on blood parameters.

Effects of alternate nostril breathing exercise on cardiac functions in healthy young adults leading a stressful lifestyle.

Alternate nostril breathing (ANB) is one of the best and easiest breathing exercises. ANB exercise has beneficial effects on cardiac function in healthy and diseased people. The objectives of this study were to assess the effects of ANB exercise on cardiac physiology among healthy medical students. This was a prospective interventional study that was conducted in the Department of Physiology, Chittagong Medical College (CMC), Chattogram, Bangladesh, from July 2017 to June 2018. A total of 100 research participants (RPs) aged 18-20 years, Year-I medical students of CMC, were selected. A simple random sampling method was adopted. The selection was done after the inclusion and exclusion criteria were applied. The age and body mass index (BMI) of the RPs were analogous in both the control and experimental groups. Cardiac parameters, like pulse and blood pressure (BP), were measured. The initial baseline data were recorded for both groups and after 4 weeks. The research respondents of the experimental group performed ANB exercise for 4 weeks. The mean value pulse and BP were significantly (p < 0.001) changed after breathing exercise, compared to the values before the breathing exercise. The results of this study suggest that cardiac function significantly improves after the breathing exercise. Therefore, ANB can be recommended for increasing cardiac efficiency.