Influence of Improved Microclimate Conditions on Growth and Physiological Performance of Two Japanese Quail Lines.

Microclimate parameters (ammonia, ambient temperature, heat index, and relative humidity) surrounding birds affect the production and health status of poultry. Therefore, this study aimed to evaluate the impact of adding natural zeolite to the litter of Japanese quail on improving microclimate parameters and its reflection in growth performance, blood gases, and blood biochemical parameters. A total of 1152 chicks were obtained from the same hatch at the 20th selection generation. Chicks were allocated into two groups based on the litter composition: Group 1: wheat straw as litter (untreated group); Group 2: 80% wheat straw + 20% zeolite (treated group). Each group consisted of 576 chicks: 410 selected line chicks and 166 control line chicks. Significant and favorable effects of the treatment on microclimate parameters during tested periods were found to favor the treated group. Either the treated group or the selected line had significantly better growth performance than the untreated group and control line. Zeolite-treated quails had significantly desirable blood gases and lower blood acidity and serum total iron binding capacity compared to the untreated group. Thus, adding natural zeolite to the litter enhanced the microclimate parameters that improved growth performance, blood gases, and blood biochemical parameters and reduced ammonia emission.

Genetic evaluation for survival traits in Japanese quail line selected for fast growth rate.

The main objectives of this study were to estimate genetic parameters for the survival, longevity and evaluate risk factors for the occurrence of mortality in a Japanese quail line selected for high growth rate during the period from hatch to 21 days of age (GR1-21) for eight generations and its control. Total number of 1095, 2289 and 16,506 for sires, dams and progeny, respectively, was used to estimate genetic parameters, a separate hatch of 687 chicks was used to examine the risk factors of quails in the selected (SL, 438) and control (CL, 249) lines. The proportion of censored quails until 42 days of age was 82.20 and 87.14 for SL and CL, respectively. The CL showed higher longevity than SL (38.42 vs. 36.86 days). In the two tested lines, mortality% significantly declined when body weight at death increased, however, the CL had a higher reduction of mortality% than the SL (50 vs. 42%). Survival and longevity had low heritability values, low genetic and phenotypic correlations between survival and longevity with GR1-21 and ranging from 0.025 to 0.208. The survival tended to be less correlated with GR1-21 and body weight at marketing age than the longevity.

Bioactive Steroids from the Red Sea Soft Coral Sinularia polydactyla.

Six new (1, 2, 6, 8, 13, and 20) and twenty previously isolated (3-5, 7, 9-12, 14-19, and 21-26) steroids featuring thirteen different carbocycle motifs were isolated from the organic extract of the soft coral Sinularia polydactyla collected from the Hurghada reef in the Red Sea. The structures and the relative configurations of the isolated natural products have been determined based on extensive analysis of their NMR and MS data. The cytotoxic, anti-inflammatory, anti-angiogenic, and neuroprotective activity of compounds 3-7, 9-12, 14-20, and 22-26, as well as their effect on androgen receptor-regulated transcription was evaluated in vitro in human tumor and non-cancerous cells. Steroids 22 and 23 showed significant cytotoxicity in the low micromolar range against the HeLa and MCF7 cancer cell lines, while migration of endothelial cells was inhibited by compounds 11, 12, 22, and 23 at 20 µM. The results of the androgen receptor (AR) reporter assay showed that compound 11 exhibited the strongest inhibition of AR at 10 µM, while it is noteworthy that steroids 10, 16, and 20 displayed increased inhibition of AR with decreasing concentrations. Additionally, compounds 11 and 23 showed neuroprotective activity on neuron-like SH-SY5Y cells.

Congenital laryngomalacia: Is it an inflammatory disease? The role of vitamin D.

OBJECTIVES/HYPOTHESIS: Laryngomalacia is the most common cause of stridor in infants. The exact pathophysiology is still not well understood. Our objective was to investigate whether laryngomalacia is an inflammatory disease, focusing on the possible role of vitamin D. STUDY DESIGN: Case-control study. METHODS: Sixty Egyptian infants and 60 mothers were included in this study. They were divided into four equal groups (n = 30 for each): infants with laryngomalacia (LM-infants), control infants (C-infants), mothers of the infants with laryngomalacia (LM-mothers), and mothers of the control infants (C-mothers). Laryngoscopy was performed and serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25[OH]-vitamin-D) and interleukin 6 (IL-6) were estimated. RESULTS: Significant increase of serum IL-6 associated with a significant decrease in serum 25(OH)-vitamin D was observed in the LM-infants compared to the C-infants (P < .001 for both). LM-mothers had significantly lower 25(OH)-vitamin D status compared to C-mothers (P < .001). CONCLUSIONS: Deficiency of 25(OH)-vitamin D in LM-infants may result in dysregulation of the immune responses with elevation of a proinflammatory cytokine (IL-6). Laryngomalacia could be an inflammatory disease due to 25(OH)-vitamin D deficiency as evidenced by the high level of IL-6. This finding may open the door to the appropriate prevention, diagnosis, and treatment, especially for moderate to severe laryngomalacia. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: 3b Laryngoscope, 130:448-453, 2020.

Quality parameters and RAPD-PCR differentiation of commercial baker's yeast and hybrid strains.

Baker's yeast, Saccharomyces cerevisiae, is a key component in bread baking. Total of 12 commercial baker's yeast and 2 hybrid strains were compared using traditional quality parameters. Total of 5 strains with high leavening power and the 2 hybrid strains were selected and evaluated for their alpha-amylase, maltase, glucoamylase enzymes, and compared using random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD). The results revealed that all selected yeast strains have a low level of alpha-amylase and a high level of maltase and glucoamylase enzymes. Meanwhile, the Egyptian yeast strain (EY) had the highest content of alpha-amylase and maltase enzymes followed by the hybrid YH strain. The EY and YH strains have the highest content of glucoamylase enzyme almost with the same level. The RAPD banding patterns showed a wide variation among commercial yeast and hybrid strains. The closely related Egyptian yeast strains (EY and AL) demonstrated close similarity of their genotypes. The 2 hybrid strains were clustered to Turkish and European strains in 1 group. The authors conclude that the identification of strains and hybrids using RAPD technique was useful in determining their genetic relationship. These results can be useful not only for the basic research, but also for the quality control in baking factories.