Heat stress (HS), one of the major problems of tropical and subtropical countries, adversely affects the production performance of poultry. Keeping this in view, the present study was designed to ...investigate some of the biological markers of HS in broilers as modulated by dietary supplementation of mannan-oligosaccharide (MOS) and a Lactobacillus-based probiotic (LBP), either alone or in combination. Two hundred fifty 1-d-old-chicks were randomly divided into 5 groups. From d 22, the birds were either kept at the thermoneutral zone (TN) or exposed to HS to the conclusion of study, d 42. Birds were fed either a corn-based basal diet (TN and HS groups) or the same diet supplemented with 0.5% MOS (HS-MOS group), 0.1% LBP (HS-LBP group), or their combination. Birds were immunized against Newcastle disease virus on d 4 (intraocular; live attenuated) and d 20 (drinking water; live attenuated) and infectious bursal disease virus on d 8 (intraocular; live intermediate strain) and d 24 (drinking water; live attenuated). Birds were killed on d 42 to collect serum for determination of cortisol, thyroid hormones, cholesterol, C-reactive protein, and postvaccinal antibody titers. Results revealed that dietary supplementations decreased (P < 0.05) the serum cortisol and cholesterol concentrations and increased (P < 0.05) thyroxine concentration compared with the HS group without affecting triiodothyronine concentration. The percentage of the C-reactive protein-positive birds was higher (P < 0.05) in the HS group compared with the TN group. Dietary supplementations improved humoral immunity against Newcastle disease virus and infectious bursal disease virus during HS. In conclusion, dietary supplementation of either MOS or LBP alone or in combination can reduce some of the detrimental effects of HS in broilers.
Summary
This study was designed to evaluate the effect of dietary supplementation of prebiotics, mannanoligosaccharides (MOS) and/or probiotics (LBP) on intraepithelial lymphocytes (IEL) count, ...goblet cells (GC) count and differentiation and intestinal micro‐architecture in broilers reared under cyclic heat stress. Day‐old broilers (n = 250) were randomly divided into five groups. Fifty birds were reared within the thermoneutral zone (TNZ). Remaining birds were subjected to cyclic heat stress from day 21 to 42 (35° C, 75% RH, 8 h/d). The birds were fed corn‐soy‐based basal diet or the same diet supplemented with 0.5% MOS (HS‐MOS), or 0.1% LBP (HS‐LBP), or their combination (HS‐SYN). The birds were slaughtered on day 42. Tissue samples were collected from mid‐duodenum, jejunum and ileum, and stained with haematoxylin and eosin or combined Alcian blue and PAS technique. All differences were considered significant at p < 0.05. The IEL count increased in all intestinal segments of the HS group compared with the TNZ group and decreased in all supplemented groups compared with the HS group. Compared with the TNZ, heat stress reduced villus height, crypt depth and surface area in duodenum and ileum, and increased crypt depth in ileum. Villus width decreased in duodenum and jejunum compared with the TNZ group. Supplementation of LBP, MOS and SYN reversed all these changes in duodenum, while only increased villus height and surface area in ileum. In jejunum, the villus height and surface area increased with HS‐LBP, and crypt depth increased with HS‐MOS. The number of GC containing acid mucins (duodenum and ileum) and mixed mucins (ileum) were increased in the HS compared with the TNZ. Supplementation of MOS, LBP and SYN maintained the enhanced activity of goblet cells. In conclusion, dietary supplementation of MOS and/or LBP may be helpful in alleviating some of the detrimental effects of heat stress on microstructure of the broiler gut.
This study was intended to explore the oxidative status of broilers under cyclic heat stress (HS) as modulated by supplementation of mannan-oligosaccharides (MOS) and a probiotic mixture (PM). Two ...hundred fifty 1-d-old chicks were randomly divided into 5 groups. From d 22, birds were either kept in a thermoneutral zone (TN; 26.7°C for 24 h/d) or subjected to HS (35 ± 1.1°C and 75 ± 5% RH for 8 h/d from 1000 to 1800 h) to the conclusion of the study on d 42. Birds were fed either a corn-based diet (TN and HS groups) or the same diet supplemented with 0.5% MOS (HS-MOS group), 0.1% PM (HS-PM group), or their combination as a synbiotic (SYN; HS-SYN group). On d 42, birds were killed by cervical dislocation to collect serum for the determination of total oxidants, total antioxidants, paraoxonase, arylesterase, ceruloplasmin, aspartate aminotransferase, alanine aminotransferase, and trace minerals. Heat stress increased (P < 0.05) total oxidants and total antioxidants and decreased (P < 0.05) paraoxonase and arylesterase, with no change in ceruloplasmin, aspartate aminotransferase, and alanine aminotransferase activities. Dietary supplementation decreased (P < 0.05) total oxidants and total antioxidants, with no effect on the activities of other enzymes. Heat stress did not influence serum copper, zinc, and manganese concentrations of birds when compared with those in the TN group. However, MOS increased (P < 0.05) concentrations of all the trace minerals, whereas SYN increased (P < 0.05) concentrations of only zinc and copper. It was concluded that MOS or PM supplementation, alone or as a SYN, may reduce some of the detrimental effects of HS, whereas MOS alone or as a SYN may improve the absorption of trace minerals.
In current study, different feeding levels of Moringa oleifera formulated diet was compared to analyze the growth performance, feed conversion ratio, feed conversion efficiency and gut microbiology ...of Oreochromis niloticus. The study was comprised of four treatment groups including 4%, 8% and 12% Moringa oleifera and one control group which was devoid of Moringa leaves. The experimental trial was conducted at the Zoology laboratory of Pakistan Institute of Applied and Social Sciences, (PIASS) Kasur. The physicochemical parameters of water such as temperature, dissolve oxygen, pH, total dissolved solids and salinity in all aquaria were found non-significantly different from each other. In control condition T1, the average weight gain was 14.89±16.90a grams, while average length gain was 11.52±7.444a cm. However, the total viable count on Eosin methylene blue was 7.4×107, 5.8×107 on Tryptic soy agar and 5.8×107on Nutrient agar. In T2, the average weight gain was 16.22±16.09b grams and average length gain was 12.97±7.79b cm. The total viable count on Eosin methylene blue was 7×107, 5.5×107 on Tryptic soy agar and 5.8×107on Nutrient agar. In T3, the average weight gain was 37.88±27.43c grams, while the average length gain was recorded as 16.48±12.56c cm. However, the total viable count for treatment 3 was 6.4×10 on Eosin methylene blue, 4.8×107 on Tryptic soy agar and 5.2×107on Nutrient agar. In T4, the average weight gain was 44.22±31.67d grams, while the average length gain was 15.25±10.49d cm. The total viable count was 4.3×107on Eosin methylene blue, 3.1×107 on Tryptic soy agar and 3.8×107 on Nutrient agar. The effect of Moringa oleifera on the growth of Oreochromis niloticus was found to be significant and 12% Moringa extract showed maximum length and weight gain and minimum feed conversion ratio with the least microbial count in fish intestine.
Plasma sprayed WC–12% Co coatings have been used in various engineering applications such as wear-resistant nozzles, cutting tools, and drill bits due to their excellent mechanical properties. ...However, the corrosion properties of these coatings leave much to be desired because of the higher percentage of porosity, which allows the corrosive media to travel through the coating surface and reach the metallic substrate. This work is aimed at sealing the pores in plasma-sprayed WC–12% Co coatings by the sol-gel method to increase their corrosion resistance. The percentage of porosity in the as-sprayed and sealed coatings was estimated by the ASTM standard method. Moreover, the presence of sealant in the pores was confirmed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and the energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS) analysis. The electrochemical tests were employed to study the corrosion resistance of as-sprayed and sealed coatings in 3.5 wt % NaCl solution. The porosity estimation results revealed a significant decrease (>75%) in the porosity of the coating after the sealing treatment. The electrochemical tests demonstrated that the sealed coating had a noble corrosion potential (–452 mV vs. Ag/AgCl), lower corrosion current density (3.07 µA/cm
2
), and higher polarization resistance (162.649 kΩ cm
2
) relative to the as-sprayed coating, hence, was more corrosion resistant.
Summary
Background
Junior doctors are required to make career decisions at an early stage in their postgraduate training. Trainees also feel inadequately prepared for the transition to consultant ...roles.
Aim
To explore the key factors influencing the choice of dermatology as a postgraduate medical career and to identify the training needs required for transition from trainee to consultant.
Methods
An online questionnaire was designed to identify (i) why trainees chose a postgraduate medical career in dermatology, and (ii) the training required for transition from trainee to consultant.
Results
In total, 46 responses were received from trainees in their first to final years (ST3–6), of whom 89% had undertaken an undergraduate dermatology placement, with a median duration of 2 weeks. Dermatology was considered as a career during medical school by 61% of trainees, and 41% confirmed their decision to pursue a career in dermatology during foundation training. The most influential factors involved in speciality selection were first, enjoyment of the work, second, postgraduate experience and equal third, the variety of the speciality and the regularity of working hours (P < 0.05). Mentoring was pivotal to career decision‐making. Significant numbers of trainees expressed a need for training in medical leadership, such as running an outpatient clinic and supervising clinical multidisciplinary teams. Although larger numbers of trainees had training in management of dermatology services, such as service improvement (52%) and local governance/National Health Service structures (43%), significant numbers of trainees had no training in writing job plans (89%) or business plans (85%). Training was significantly deficient for personal management and self‐awareness.
Conclusion
Our study highlights important considerations in career decision‐making for trainees. Training in medical leadership, management and self‐awareness could be enhanced to ensure that trainees feel adequately equipped for consultant roles.
We demonstrate the performance of a very efficient top tagger applies on hadronically decaying boosted top quark pairs as signal based on deep neural network algorithms working with Lorentz Layer and ...the Minkowski metric. Due to limited computing resources, we could show only the receiver ordering characteristic curve, accuracy and loss which illustrates the trade-off between signal acceptance against huge QCD multi-jet background acceptance. Alternatively, we also report the modern machine learning approaches and apply multivariate technique on single top quark production through weak interaction at
s
=
14 TeV proton-proton Collider to demonstrate its observability against the most relevant Standard Model backgrounds through the techniques of boosted decision tree (BDT), likelihood and multilayer perceptron (MLP). The analysis is trained to observe the performance of classifiers in comparison with the conventional cut based and counting approach.
Using (hybrid) first principles calculations, the electronic band structure, type of Schottky contact and Schottky barrier height established at the interface of the most stable stacking patterns of ...the CS–MX2 (M = Mo, W; X = S, Se, Te) and CS–MXY ((X ≠ Y) = S, Se, Te) MS vdWH are investigated. The electronic band structures of CS–MX2 and CS–MXY MS vdWH seem to be simple sum of CS, MX2 and MXY monolayers. The projected electronic properties of the CS, MX2 and MXY layers are well preserved in CS–MX2 and CS–MXY MS vdWH. Their smaller effective mass (higher carrier mobility) render promising prospects of CS–WS2 and CS–MoSeTe as compared to other MS vdWH in nanoelectronic and optoelectronic devices, such as a high efficiency solar cell. In addition, we found that the effective mass of holes is higher than that of electrons, suggesting that these heterostructures can be utilized for hole/electron separation. Interestingly, the MS contact led to the formation of a Schottky contact or ohmic contact, therefore we have used the Schottky Mott rule to calculate the Schottky barrier height (SBH) of CS–MX2 (M = Mo, W; X = S, Se, Te) and CS–MXY ((X ≠ Y) = S, Se, Te) MS vdWH. It was found that CS–MX2 (M = Mo, W; X = S, Se, Te) and CS–MXY ((X ≠ Y) = S, Se, Te) (in both model-I and -II) MS vdWH form p-type Schottky contacts. These p-type Schottky contacts can be considered a promising building block for high-performance photoresponsive optoelectronic devices, p-type electronics, CS-based contacts, and for high-performance electronic devices.
Using (hybrid) first principles calculations, the electronic band structure, type of Schottky contact and Schottky barrier height established at the interface of the most stable stacking patterns of ...the CS-MX
(M = Mo, W; X = S, Se, Te) and CS-MXY ((X ≠ Y) = S, Se, Te) MS vdWH are investigated. The electronic band structures of CS-MX
and CS-MXY MS vdWH seem to be simple sum of CS, MX
and MXY monolayers. The projected electronic properties of the CS, MX
and MXY layers are well preserved in CS-MX
and CS-MXY MS vdWH. Their smaller effective mass (higher carrier mobility) render promising prospects of CS-WS
and CS-MoSeTe as compared to other MS vdWH in nanoelectronic and optoelectronic devices, such as a high efficiency solar cell. In addition, we found that the effective mass of holes is higher than that of electrons, suggesting that these heterostructures can be utilized for hole/electron separation. Interestingly, the MS contact led to the formation of a Schottky contact or ohmic contact, therefore we have used the Schottky Mott rule to calculate the Schottky barrier height (SBH) of CS-MX
(M = Mo, W; X = S, Se, Te) and CS-MXY ((X ≠ Y) = S, Se, Te) MS vdWH. It was found that CS-MX
(M = Mo, W; X = S, Se, Te) and CS-MXY ((X ≠ Y) = S, Se, Te) (in both model-I and -II) MS vdWH form p-type Schottky contacts. These p-type Schottky contacts can be considered a promising building block for high-performance photoresponsive optoelectronic devices, p-type electronics, CS-based contacts, and for high-performance electronic devices.
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