Scientific characterization methods for better utilization of cattle dung and urine: a concise review.

Cattle are usually raised for food, manure, leather, therapeutic, and draught purposes. Biowastes from cattle, such as dung and urine, harbor a diverse group of crucial compounds, metabolites/chemicals, and microorganisms that may benefit humans for agriculture, nutrition, therapeutics, industrial, and other utility products. Several bioactive compounds have been identified in cattle dung and urine, which possess unique properties and may vary based on agro-climatic zones and feeding practices. Therefore, cattle dung and urine have great significance, and a balanced nutritional diet may be a key to improved quality of these products/by-products. This review primarily focuses on the scientific aspects of biochemical and microbial characterization of cattle biowastes. Various methods including genomics for analyzing cattle dung and gas chromatography-mass spectroscopy for cattle urine have been reviewed. The presented information might open doors for the further characterization of cattle resources for heterogeneous applications in the production of utility items and addressing research gaps. Methods for cattle's dung and urine characterization.

Effect of dietary utilisation of sugarcane press mud on production performance of Muzaffarnagari lambs.

Sugarcane press mud (SPM) is one of the potential agro-industrial by-products available in India and research exploring its utilisation in small ruminant nutrition is scanty. In this direction, the present study evaluated the feasibility of dietary incorporation of SPM at different levels in a feeding trial lasting 180 days. A total of 21 Muzaffarnagari ram lambs were randomly distributed into three groups of seven each based on comparable body weight (11.70 ± 0.29 kg) and age (3-5 months) following a completely randomised design. The three dietary treatments were (1) SP0 (control), concentrate mixture without SPM; (2) SP10, concentrate mixture comprising 10% SPM and (3) SP20, concentrate mixture comprising 20% SPM on air-dry basis. The experimental lambs were offered weighed quantity of designated isonitrogenous (crude protein = 20.6%) and isoenergetic (metabolisable energy = 12.1 MJ/kg) concentrate mixture (coarse mash) and along with ad libitum wheat straw (threshed to 1-2-cm length) and a 9-day metabolism trial was conducted. Results revealed no significant (P > 0.05) differences in intake and digestibility of nutrients, nitrogen balance, nutritive value of diets, average daily gain, as well as feed conversion ratio among three groups. The serum concentration of triiodothyronine and tetraiodothyronine did not differ due to treatments. Likewise, wool yield and its quality, measured in terms of fibre diameter, medullation percentage and staple length were also comparable irrespective of dietary variation. Furthermore, the cost of concentrate mixture (Rs/day) was lower (P ≤ 0.05) in SP20 followed by SP10 as compared to group SP0. These findings suggested that SPM could be safely fed up to 20% level in the concentrate mixture for lambs substituting expensive traditional feed ingredients without negatively inflicting the performance of growing lambs.

Genetic changes in oral premalignant lesion, condition, and oral squamous cell carcinoma - A study based on inhibition of G2M phase by colchicines.

AIMS: To assess the percentage of cell arrested in G2M phase by colchicine in the early detection and prognosis of oral cancer, by comparison of oral squamous cell with leukoplakia and oral submucous fibrosis (OSMF) using flow cytometry analysis. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Biopsy samples 5 each of clinically diagnosed and histopathologically confirmed case of leukoplakia, OSMF, and squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) are included in the study. RESULTS: Colchicines significantly inhibited the growth of oral SCC-9 cell line by arresting G2M phase of the cell cycle (94.90%). This cell cycle result indicated that doubling of DNA is a characteristic feature of cancer. Colchicines significantly inhibited the G2M phase of the cell cycle in leukoplakia (33.51%) as compared to control (23.60%). Colchicines marginally inhibited the G2M phase of the cell cycle in OSMF (31.83%) as compared to control (28.36%). Colchicines significantly inhibited the G2M phase of the cell cycle in SCC (63.05%) as compared to control (26.40%). CONCLUSION: DNA analysis by inhibition of G2M phase of cell cycle using colchicine facilitates early detection and also helps determine the prognosis of leukoplakia, OSMF, and oral cancer.

Replacing groundnut cake with gluten meals of rice and maize in diets for growing Sahiwal cattle.

OBJECTIVE: This experiment investigated the effect of isonitrogenous replacement of groundnut cake (GNC) by rice gluten meal (RGM) and maize gluten meal (MGM) at 75% level on nutrient intake, apparent digestibility, growth performance and related blood constituents in growing Sahiwal cattle. METHODS: Eighteen Sahiwal calves were divided into three groups, based on average body weight (87.24 kg) and age (6 to 12 mo), and treatments were assigned to the different groups randomly. The first group (GP-I) was kept as control and received GNC-based concentrate mixture. In second (GP-II) and third (GP-III) groups, 750 g/kg nitrogen (N) of GNC was substituted by RGM and MGM respectively, with similar forage:concentrate ratio (56:44). RESULTS: The 90 days of experimental feeding revealed that intake of dry matter, crude protein and digestibility coefficients for all nutrients did not differ among groups. Furthermore, although N balance was greater (p≤0.05) for GP-III than GP-I and GP-II, average daily gain was similar between GP-I and GP-II but greater (p≤0.05) for GP-III. In addition, feed efficiency and related haematological variables did not differ due to treatments. CONCLUSION: Nutritional worth of GNC and RGM was highly comparable in terms of intake, digestibility and growth in growing calves. However, MGM was found to be more efficacious in improving growth rate than RGM at 75% replacement level of GNC protein.

Nitrogen fractionation of certain conventional- and lesser-known by-products for ruminants.

Dietary proteins for ruminants are fractionated according to solubility, degradability and digestibility. In the present experiment, 11 vegetable protein meals and cakes used in ruminant nutrition were included with a main focus on determining various nitrogen (N) fractions in vitro. Total N (N × 6.25) content varied from 22.98% (mahua cake) to 65.16% (maize gluten meal), respectively. Guar meal korma contained the lowest and rice gluten meal had the highest acid detergent insoluble nitrogen (ADIN; N × 6.25). Borate-phosphate insoluble N (BIN, N × 6.25) and Streptomyces griseus protease insoluble N (PIN; N × 6.25) were higher (P < 0.01) in maize gluten meal than in other feeds, whereas groundnut cake and sunflower cake had lower (P < 0.01) BIN, and PIN, respectively. Available N, calculated with the assumption that ADIN is indigestible, was maximum in guar meal korma and minimum in rice gluten meal. Furthermore, rapid and slowly degradable N (N × 6.25) was found to be higher (P < 0.01) in groundnut cake and coconut cake, respectively. Intestinal digestion of rumen undegradable protein, expressed as percent of PIN, was maximum in guar meal korma and minimum in rice gluten meal. It was concluded that vegetable protein meals differed considerably in N fractions, and therefore, a selective inclusion of particular ingredient is needed to achieve desired level of N fractions to aid precision N rationing for an improved production performance of ruminants.

Rice gluten meal as an alternative by-product feed for growing dairy calves.

This experiment aimed at studying the nutritional characteristics and feeding value of rice gluten meal (RGM, a wet-milling by-product of rice) in growing dairy calves. RGM contained 464 g/kg of crude protein with 821 and 196 g/kg nitrogen (N) of borate-phosphate insoluble N and acid detergent insoluble N, respectively, which were higher (P < 0.05) than groundnut cake (GNC). In vitro gas production, organic matter digestibility and energy values were comparable between RGM and GNC. For in vivo trial, 18 Karan-Fries calves (6-12 months) were randomly assigned into three groups based on comparable body weight and age. The first group (GP-I) was fed concentrate mixture containing mainly GNC as protein source, whilst it was replaced by RGM up to 50 and 75 % on N basis, in second (GP-II) and third (GP-III) groups, respectively. Thus, RGM constituted 140 and 210 g/kg of concentrate mixture of GP-II and GP-III, respectively. In addition, all animals were offered chopped green maize and wheat straw for the whole experimental period of 90 days. Results revealed that there was no difference in intake and digestibility of nutrients, N balance, average daily gain (ADG) and feed efficiency among three groups. Nevertheless, RGM-based diets produced cost-effective ADG than GP-I. Furthermore, experimental calves did not differ in haematological variables like glucose, blood urea N, plasma proteins and non-esterified fatty acids. This study demonstrated that RGM could be incorporated successfully in the concentrate mixture, replacing 75 % of GNC without any discernable compromise in the performance of growing calves.

A comparative evaluation of film and digital panoramic radiographs in the assessment of position and morphology of impacted mandibular third molars.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: Digital photo stimulable phosphor (PSP)-based radiography has many known theoretical advantages over conventional film radiography but its diagnostic efficacy has to be assessed clinically. This study compared the efficiency of conventional film-based panoramic radiographs with that of digital PSP-based panoramic radiographs in the assessment of position and morphology of impacted mandibular third molars. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We selected a total of 80 impacted mandibular third molars that fulfilled the inclusion and exclusion criteria of this study. Both conventional film-based panoramic radiographs and digital PSP-based panoramic radiographs were taken of all the study samples and the teeth were later surgically removed. Conventional film-based and digital PSP-based panoramic radiographs were compared for their relative efficiencies in the assessment of impaction status, position of tooth, number of roots, root morphology, and proximity to mandibular canal of impacted mandibular third molars. An oral surgeon graded these same factors during/after surgical exploration and this assessment was considered the gold standard. The data obtained were statistically analyzed using descriptive statistics, chi-square test, and McNemar's test. RESULTS: There was no statistically significant difference between conventional film-based radiographic assessment and digital PSP-based panoramic radiographic assessment of impaction status, position of tooth, number of roots, and proximity to mandibular canal of impacted mandibular third molars (P>0.05). However, there was significant difference between the two methods with regard to assessment of root morphology of impacted mandibular third molars (P=0.00). INTERPRETATION AND CONCLUSION: Conventional film-based panoramic radiographs and digital PSP-based panoramic radiographs were comparable in their accuracy in the preoperative study of impacted mandibular third molar with regard to impaction status, tooth position, number of roots, and proximity to the mandibular canal. Digital PSP-based panoramic radiographs were more accurate than conventional film-based panoramic radiographs in the assessment of root morphology of impacted mandibular third molars. Hence, we conclude that digital PSP-based panoramic radiographs can be used as an effective alternative to conventional film-based panoramic radiographs for assessment of position and morphology of impacted mandibular third molars.