Efficacy of powdered alfalfa leaves to ameliorate the toxic effects of aflatoxin B1 in turkey poults.

This experiment was conducted to determine the effect of an adsorbent material based on powdered alfalfa leaves added in the aflatoxin B1 (AFB1)-contaminated diet of turkey poults on production parameters, blood cell count, serum biochemistry, liver enzymes, and liver histology. For this purpose, three hundred and fifty female Nicholas-700 poults were randomly assigned into five treatments: (1) Control, AFB1-free diet; (2) AF, diet contaminated with 250 ng AFB1/g; (3) Alfalfa, AFB1-free diet + 0.5% (w/w) adsorbent; (4) AF+alfalfa, diet contaminated with 250 ng AFB1/g + 0.5% (w/w) adsorbent, and (5) AF+ yeast cell wall (YCW), diet contaminated with 250 ng AFB1/g + 0.5% (w/w) of yeast cell wall (a commercial mycotoxin binder used as reference material). The in vivo efficacy of powdered alfalfa leaves was assessed during a 28-day period. In general, the addition of powdered alfalfa leaves in the AFB1-free diet gave the best performance results (body weight, body weight gain, and feed intake) and improved the values of total protein, glucose, calcium, creatinine, and blood urea nitrogen. Moreover, the addition of powdered alfalfa leaves in the AFB1-contaminated diet enhanced body weight and body weight gain and significantly reduced the feed intake, compared to the AF and AF+YCW groups. Additionally, significant alterations in serum parameters were observed in poults intoxicated with the AFB1, compared to the Control group. Furthermore, typical histopathological lesions were observed in the liver of the AF group, which were significantly ameliorated with the addition of powdered alfalfa leaves. Conclusively, these results pointed out that low inclusion of powdered alfalfa leaves in the contaminated feed counteracted the adverse effects of AFB1 in turkey poults.

On the Construction of Pareto-Compliant Combined Indicators.

The most relevant property that a quality indicator (QI) is expected to have is Pareto compliance, which means that every time an approximation set strictly dominates another in a Pareto sense, the indicator must reflect this. The hypervolume indicator and its variants are the only unary QIs known to be Pareto-compliant but there are many commonly used weakly Pareto-compliant indicators such as R2, IGD+, and ε+. Currently, an open research area is related to finding new Pareto-compliant indicators whose preferences are different from those of the hypervolume indicator. In this article, we propose a theoretical basis to combine existing weakly Pareto-compliant indicators with at least one being Pareto-compliant, such that the resulting combined indicator is Pareto-compliant as well. Most importantly, we show that the combination of Pareto-compliant QIs with weakly Pareto-compliant indicators leads to indicators that inherit properties of the weakly compliant indicators in terms of optimal point distributions. The consequences of these new combined indicators are threefold: (1) to increase the variety of available Pareto-compliant QIs by correcting weakly Pareto-compliant indicators, (2) to introduce a general framework for the combination of QIs, and (3) to generate new selection mechanisms for multiobjective evolutionary algorithms where it is possible to achieve/adjust desired distributions on the Pareto front.

Effects of functional oils on performance and carcass characteristics of broilers under two different temperature environments.

As antioxidants such as some functional oils are good candidates to mitigate heat stress, a commercial blend of functional oils (Essential, Oligo Basics USA LLC, Cary, NC; active ingredients: cashew nut shell oil and castor oil) was used to study the effects of two ambient temperatures (moderate and high) on broiler chicken performance and carcass parameters. A total of 2,240 straight-run one-day-old chickens were sorted by weight, randomized among 28 floor pens with 80 chickens per pen and 7 replicates for each treatment. Birds were assigned to one of 4 dietary treatments in a 2 × 2 factorial arrangement with two temperature environments (moderate and high) and without or with Essential supplementation (1.5 kg/ton). Variances for the average temperature, relative humidity, and dew point for the two environments were different (P < 0.001), showing that the high-temperature environment reached higher temperatures and dew points. Essential supplementation increased body weight gain at 42 D of age (2.548 vs. 2.508 kg; P < 0.01) and tended to improve feed conversion (1.621 vs. 1.644; P = 0.09) independent of temperature environment. The high-temperature environment increased mortality (7.5 vs. 12.4%; P = 0.03) and carcass yields (77.5 vs. 76.2%; P < 0.01). Breast yields were affected by an environment by Essential interaction (P < 0.01). Whereas the high-temperature environment decreased breast yield in control birds, it did not decrease breast yield in birds supplemented with Essential. Finally, breast yields were increased by Essential supplementation (23.6 vs. 22.9%; P < 0.01) regardless of the ambient temperature. In conclusion, Essential supplementation improved weight gains and carcass characteristics, and high-temperature environments decreased breast yields when Essential was not supplemented.

Glucagon increases energy expenditure independently of brown adipose tissue activation in humans.

AIMS: To investigate, for a given energy expenditure (EE) rise, the differential effects of glucagon infusion and cold exposure on brown adipose tissue (BAT) activation in humans. METHODS: Indirect calorimetry and supraclavicular thermography was performed in 11 healthy male volunteers before and after: cold exposure; glucagon infusion (at 23 °C); and vehicle infusion (at 23 °C). All volunteers underwent (18)F-fluorodeoxyglucose ((18)F-FDG) positron emission tomography (PET)/CT scanning with cold exposure. Subjects with cold-induced BAT activation on (18)F-FDG PET/CT (n = 8) underwent a randomly allocated second (18)F-FDG PET/CT scan (at 23 °C), either with glucagon infusion (n = 4) or vehicle infusion (n = 4). RESULTS: We observed that EE increased by 14% after cold exposure and by 15% after glucagon infusion (50 ng/kg/min; p < 0.05 vs control for both). Cold exposure produced an increase in neck temperature (+0.44 °C; p < 0.001 vs control), but glucagon infusion did not alter neck temperature. In subjects with a cold-induced increase in the metabolic activity of supraclavicular BAT on (18)F-FDG PET/CT, a significant rise in the metabolic activity of BAT after glucagon infusion was not detected. Cold exposure increased sympathetic activation, as measured by circulating norepinephrine levels, but glucagon infusion did not. CONCLUSIONS: Glucagon increases EE by a similar magnitude compared with cold activation, but independently of BAT thermogenesis. This finding is of importance for the development of safe treatments for obesity through upregulation of EE.

Heavy metal concentration in mangrove surface sediments from the north-west coast of South America.

Mangrove ecosystems are coastal estuarine systems confined to the tropical and subtropical regions. The Estero Salado mangrove located in Guayaquil, Ecuador, has suffered constant disturbances during the past 20 years, due to industrial wastewater release. However, there are no published data for heavy metals present in its sediments and the relationship with anthropogenic disturbance. In the present study, metal concentrations were evaluated in surface sediment samples of the mangrove, showing that B, Cd, Cu, Pb, Se, V, and Zn levels exceeded those declared in international environmental quality standards. Moreover, several metals (Pb, Sn, Cd, Ag, Mo, Zn and Ni) could be linked to the industrial wastewater present in the studied area. In addition, heavy metal levels detected in this mangrove are higher than previous reports on mangrove sediments worldwide, indicating that this mangrove ecosystem is one of the most disrupted on earth.

Effects of exercise and cardiac rehabilitation on cardiovascular outcomes.

Comprehensive cardiac rehabilitation for coronary patients includes a systematic approach to the measurement and treatment of coronary risk factors, along with the better-known exercise training component. Studies of exercise and nutritional interventions in patients with coronary heart disease have documented improved primary outcomes of decreased morbidity and mortality, decreased symptoms, and fewer cardiac rehospitalizations. Quality of life, depression scores, and physical functioning are improved after rehabilitation.