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Background: Interaction between nutrition and reproduction has been established to play an important role in reproductive performance of animals. Zinc is considered to be an essential element required for reproduction. The present study was conducted to evaluate the efficiency of nano zinc (NZn) as feed supplementation on reproductive performance of Assam Hill goats. Methods: A total of twenty-four numbers of 7 days post kidding doe maintained at Goat Research Station, Assam Agricultural University, Burnihat were randomly selected and divided into 4 groups comprising 6 animals in each group. The control group animals were fed with basal diet without zinc supplementation however, all the animals of the treatment groups received 25 mg NZn, 35 mg NZn and 50 mg NZn/kg concentrate mixture with basal diet for a period of three months. Does were bred naturally at 24 hours from the onset of oestrus and confirmed for pregnancy after two months. Parturition behaviour was observed closely from two days before the expected date of kidding upto the period of placental expulsion. Result: Supplementation of 50 mg NZn to the basal diet of postpartum Assam Hill Goat significantly improved the reproductive performance by decreasing postpartum oestrus interval and increasing conception rate (83.33%). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This research was conducted to detrmine the effect of seeed rates in mixtures of Pea + Oat on the green forage and silage proein fractions by Cornell Net Carbohydrate and Protein System (CNCPS). Experiment was established in autumn in 2012, on October the 20th and plant samples were taken in spring 2013 at forming the first pods on 2/3 plants of Pea at Institute for forage crops, Kruševac, R Serbia, using five different mixture rates of Pea and Oat crops (100% Pea + 0% Oat; 0% Pea + 100% Oat; 25% Pea + 75% Oat; 50% Pea + 50% Oat and 75% Pea + 25% Oat). Pea:Oat mixtures were treated with bacterial inoculant and ensiled in anaerobic jars for 45 days. Green forages and silage samples were analysed for DM (Dry Matter), CP (Crude Protein), primary protein fractions – TP (True Protein), NPN (Non Protein Nitrogen), IP (Insoluble Protein), SolP (Soluble Protein), NDICP (Neutral Detergent Insoluble Crude Protein) and ADICP (Acid Detergent Insoluble Crude Protein) and protein fractions by CNCPS. An analysis of variance found statistically significant differences among mixture rates for all variables, except IP and SolP. Silage from monoculture Pea had the highest NPN (696.2 g kg-1 CP) and SolP (713.8 g kg-1 CP), followed by the mixture of Pea with Oat 75:25 (662.5 and 653.4 g kg-1 CP, respectively). On analyzing the CNCPS protein fractions of Pea:Oat silages, it was found that silage from Pea monoculture contained the highest PA fraction and that PA fraction increased with increasing Pea ratios in silages, which was direct reflection of their high NPN and SolP in green forages and in silages. Becouse of those facts 25:50 and 50:50 Pea:Oat mixtures silages could be recomended for ruminant nutrition. Bacterial inoculant evaluated can increase the TP content, as well as PB1 and PB3 fractions.

Background: Dietary fiber can be effectively incorporated into processed meat products along with binders, extenders and fillers. Using millet in meat products can balance the enormous demand and supply for affordable, wholesome, dietary fiber enriched and healthful meat products. Methods: The duck meat sausages were developed by incorporating three different levels of roasted foxtail millet flour (FTMF) i.e. 5%, 10% and 15% and coded as T1 (5%), T2 (10%) and T3 (15%). The proximate composition, texture profile, colour profile and microbiological qualities of the control and treated sausages were estimated. Result: The moisture, crude protein, ether extract and calorie value of the sausages declined significantly (p<0.05) with increasing levels of FTMF in the treated sausages. In the case of texture profile, a significant (p<0.05) difference was observed in the springiness, hardness, chewiness and resilience (p<0.05) of the sausages between the control and treated groups. However, no significant difference in cohesiveness was observed between the control and the treated products. The colour profile revealed no significant (p>0.01) difference in lightness (L*), redness (a*) and yellowness (b*). TVC and TVPBC showed a significantly (p<0.01) decreasing trend from control to treated products. However, the bacterial load increased during the storage for up to 15 days. No colititre, yeast, or mould were detected during the entire storage period. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Destructive human activities have been ravaging nature and have also in certain situations paved the way towards emergence of diseases hitherto unknown. While a substantial number of the emerging diseases are known to originate from animals, there are many instances where humans have been responsible for causing infection in animals. Such "spill over" encountered in SARS CoV-2 raises alarm as it complicates the process of understanding the disease dynamics. Many other pathogens have been known to cause reverse zoonoses including Influenza viruses. The knowledge that have been gathered throughout the years from previous such occurrences can help the scientific community in designing the control and preventive protocols for arresting the spread of SARS CoV-2 among the human and animal population. In humans extensive vaccination is being practiced as an effective intervention strategy and the reverse zoonotic nature of the virus has given an impetus for assessing the feasibility of using similar vaccines in animals. However, to break the reverse zoonotic cycle capable of causing pandemics, a holistic approach is required to understand the pathogen movement at the man-animal interface which not only includes the viral properties like mutation rate, virulence characteristics etc but various other factors such as environmental changes, human interference etc. Effective biosecurity measures, artificial intelligence based monitoring systems and robust molecular epidemiological surveillance can help in preventing as well as predicting "spillover" of pathogens which will be critical for preventing pandemics in future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present study was conducted to ascertain the seroprevalence of Leptospira infection in cattle among certain districts of the lower Brahmaputra valley in the state of Assam from March 2017 to February 2018. Two serological tests viz. IgG ELISA and Microscopic Agglutination Test (MAT) were used to detect the leptospiral antibodies. The anti-leptospiral antibodies were detected by IgG ELISA and compared with MAT using antigens from 12 pathogenic serovars. Out of 380 sera samples, 68 (17.89 %, 95% CI: 6.89-27) and 44 (11.58%) were positive by IgG ELISA and MAT respectively. The circulating Leptospira serovars identified were Autumnalis (6.05%), Ballum (2.63%), Batavia (1.31%), Ichterohaemorrhagie (0.7%), Javanica (0.5%) and Sejroe (0.2%). The sensitivity and specificity of IgG ELISA in comparison to MAT were calculated and found to be 100% and 92.85% respectively with a concordance of 93.68%. An epidemiological investigation was carried out to find the association of various risk factors with Leptospira infection under this study in cattle using a pre-tested questionnaire. The present study will serve as baseline data for the prevention and control of Leptospira infection in cattle. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Our previous studies showed that the eyes of Japanese quail contain a biological clock that drives a daily rhythm of melatonin synthesis. Furthermore, we hypothesized that these ocular clocks are pacemakers because eye removal abolishes freerunning rhythms in constant darkness (DD). If the eyes are indeed acting as pacemakers, we predicted that the two ocular pacemakers in an individual bird must remain in phase in DD and, furthermore, the two ocular pacemakers would rapidly regain coupling after being forced out of phase. These predictions were confirmed by demonstrating that 1) the ocular melatonin rhythms of the two eyes maintained phase for at least 57 days in DD and 2) after ocular pacemakers were forced out of phase by alternately patching the eyes in constant light, two components of body temperature were observed that fused into a consolidated rhythm after 5-6 days in DD, showing pacemaker recoupling. The ability to maintain phase in DD and rapidly recouple after out-of-phase entrainment demonstrates that the eyes are strongly coupled pacemakers that work in synchrony to drive circadian rhythmicity in Japanese quail. melatonin; body temperature; eye; circadian; Coturnix