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Abstract Rice grain is widely consumed as a staple food, providing essential nutrition for households, particularly marginalized families. It plays a crucial role in ensuring food security, promoting human nutrition, supporting good health, and contributing to global food and nutritional security. Addressing the diverse quality demands of emerging diverse and climate-risked population dietary needs requires the development of a single variety of rice grain that can meet the various dietary and nutritional requirements. However, there is a lack of concrete definition for rice grain quality, making it challenging to cater to the different demands. The lack of sufficient genetic study and development in improving rice grain quality has resulted in widespread malnutrition, hidden hunger, and micronutrient deficiencies affecting a significant portion of the global population. Therefore, it is crucial to identify genetically evolved varieties with marked qualities that can help address these issues. Various factors account for the declining quality of rice grain and requires further study to improve their quality for healthier diets. We characterized rice grain quality using Lancastrians descriptor and a multitude of intrinsic and extrinsic quality traits. Next, we examined various components of rice grain quality favored in the Asia–Pacific region. This includes preferences by different communities, rice industry stakeholders, and value chain actors. We also explored the biological aspects of rice grain quality in the region, as well as specific genetic improvements that have been made in these traits. Additionally, we evaluated the factors that can influence rice grain quality and discussed the future directions for ensuring food and nutritional security and meeting consumer demands for grain quality. We explored the diverse consumer bases and their varied preferences in Asian-Pacific countries including India, China, Nepal, Bhutan, Vietnam, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Thailand, Cambodia, Philippines, Bangladesh, Indonesia, Korea, Myanmar and Japan. The quality preferences encompassed a range of factors, including rice head recovery, grain shape, uniform size before cooking, gelatinization, chalkiness, texture, amylose content, aroma, red-coloration of grain, soft and shine when cooked, unbroken when cooked, gelatinization, less water required for cooking, gelatinization temperature (less cooking time), aged rice, firm and dry when cooked (gel consistency), extreme white, soft when chewed, easy-to-cook rice (parboiled rice), vitamins, and minerals. These preferences were evaluated across high, low, and medium categories. A comprehensive analysis is provided on the enhancement of grain quality traits, including brown rice recovery, recovery rate of milled rice, head rice recovery, as well as morphological traits such as grain length, grain width, grain length–width ratio, and grain chalkiness. We also explored the characteristics of amylose, gel consistency, gelatinization temperature, viscosity, as well as the nutritional qualities of rice grains such as starch, protein, lipids, vitamins, minerals, phytochemicals, and bio-fortification potential. The various factors that impact the quality of rice grains, including pre-harvest, post-harvest, and genotype considerations were explored. Additionally, we discussed the future direction and genetic strategies to effectively tackle these challenges. These qualitative characteristics represent the fundamental focus of regional and national breeding strategies employed by different countries to meet consumer preference. Given the significance of rice as a staple food in Asia–Pacific countries, it is primarily consumed domestically, with only a small portion being exported internationally. All the important attributes must be clearly defined within specific parameters. It is crucial for geneticists and breeders to develop a rice variety that can meet the diverse demands of consumers worldwide by incorporating multiple desirable traits. Thus, the goal of addressing global food and nutritional security, and human healthy can be achieved. Graphical Abstract

This study investigated the effects of dietary chlorogenic acid (CGA) on the productive and reproductive performance, egg quality, antioxidant function, and intestinal microenvironment of laying hens. Thus, 162 healthy Hy-Line Brown breeding hens (63 weeks old) were randomly allocated to 3 groups, each receiving a basal diet plus supplementation: 0, 250, and 500 mg/kg CGA, respectively. Per the in vitro test, CGA had obvious inhibitory effects on Salmonella enteritis and avian pathogenic Escherichia coli and strong free radical scavenging ability. Per the breeder laying hen experiment, the CGA diets had no significant influence on egg production or reproductive performance (P < 0.05). Nevertheless, compared with the control diet, 250 mg/kg CGA significantly increased eggshell thickness, egg weight, yolk color, and Haugh unit (P < 0.05). Compared with the control diet and 500 mg/kg CGA, 250 mg/kg CGA significantly (P < 0.05) elevated antioxidant capacity by reducing serum malondialdehyde content, upregulating heme oxygenase-1, and downregulating heat shock proteins mRNA levels in the ileum. Compared with the control diet and 500 mg/kg CGA, 250 mg/kg CGA (P < 0.05) enhanced intestinal barrier function, shown by the upregulation of ileal Occludin and Mucin-2 mRNA levels; furthermore, 250 mg/kg CGA (P < 0.05) increased anti-apoptotic capacity by increasing B-cell leukemia/lymphoma 2 gene expression and downregulated Bcl2 Associated X mRNA levels in the liver and ileum of late breeder laying hens (P < 0.05). Lastly, 250 mg/kg CGA (P < 0.05) increased cecal g_CHKCI001 and short-chain fatty acid-producing bacteria g_Prevotellaceae UCG-001, positively related to gut health, and in the cecum, 500 mg/kg CGA significantly (P < 0.05) increased g_Shuttleworthia abundance, negatively related to gut health. Our findings suggest that dietary inclusion of 250 mg/kg CGA promotes egg quality, intestinal microbial composition, gut barrier integrity, and the antioxidant capacity of aged breeder laying hens.

This work’s main objective is to investigate the thermal behavior of a tetra-ferrite-based nanofluid model under four physical controls. The tetra-nanofluid contains Fe3O4, CoFe2O4, NiZnFe2O4, and MnZnFe2O4 tetra-nanoparticles over a porous surface using ethylene and water (50%–50%) as the base fluid. The fundamental constitutive models are reduced nonlinear ordinary differential equations using appropriate transformative functions. The resulting set of governing equations are found using the Runge–Kutta algorithm. The impacts of critical quantities on the heat transfer, shear factor, and Nusselt number are illustrated through graphs and numerical data. It is noticed that when the concentration of nanoparticles is from 0.1% to 0.6%, the thermal conductivity varies from 102.661% to 116.706% for nanofluid (NF), 108.893% to 140.384% for hybrid nanofluid, and 117.994% to 195.794% for tetra-nanofluid (Tet.NF), which played a crucial role in the temperature performance of the fluidic system. Furthermore, the velocity depreciated against ϕ1 = 1%, 2%, 3%, 4%, 5%, 6%, and 7%. The Forchheimer effects Fr = 1.0, 2.0, 3.0, 4.0, Q = 0.1, 0.4, 0.7, 1.0, and Rd = 0.1, 0.2, 0.3, 0.4 enhanced the temperature of all types of NFs, while the stretching parameter S = 0.01, 0.08, 0.15, 0.22 reduced it. The results would benefit the researchers about the prediction of the parametric ranges and nanoparticle concentration to acquire the heat transfer results for practical applications, particularly in applied thermal engineering.

The assessment of performance in agricultural education practice is an important issue because it concerns the quality and effectiveness of agricultural education. This evaluation requires effective assessment methods. Interval-valued intuitionistic fuzzy set (IVIFS) is a powerful extension of fuzzy sets and intuitionistic fuzzy sets, conceived to handle uncertainty and vagueness more effectively in agricultural education practice assessment performance. A comprehensive exploration of interval-valued intuitionistic fuzzy (IVIF) information offers some flexible methods for assessment of the performance of agricultural education practice. This article identifies the relationship among input arguments with the help of Hamy mean aggregation models. In order to avail smooth approximated results during the aggregation process, some prominent operations of Aczel Alsina aggregation operators have also been adopted in light of an IVIF theory. The robustness of this article is to develop a family of new mathematical strategies based on IVIF information, namely IVIF Hamy mean (IVIFHM), IVIF weighted Hamy mean (IVIFWHM), IVIF Dual Hamy mean (IVIFDHM) and IVIF weighted Dual Hamy mean (IVIFWDHM) operators. Some dominant properties of diagnosed aggregation operators are also discussed to show their validity and effectiveness. Moreover, the decision algorithm of the multi-attribute decision-making (MAMD) problem is also adopted to reveal the versatility and adaptability of IVIF contexts. A case study of agricultural education practice assessment performance is also illustrated to showcase the practicability of derived approaches. The advantages and supremacy of invented research work are verified with a comparative study of prevailing research work that exists in the literature.

ABSTRACT: To develop effective antibiotics alternatives is getting more and more important to poultry healthy production. The study investigated the effects of a microencapsulated essential oils and organic acids preparation (EOA) on growth performance, slaughter performance, nutrient digestibility and intestinal microenvironment of broilers. A total of 624 1-day-old male Arbor Acres broilers were randomly divided into 6 groups including the control group (T1) fed with basal diet, the antibiotic group (T2) supplemented with basal diet with 45 mg/kg bacitracin methylene disalicylate (BMD), and 4 inclusion levels of EOA-treated groups (T3, T4, T5, T6 groups) chickens given basal diet with 200, 400, 600, and 800 mg EOA/kg of diet, respectively. Results showed that compared with the control, the 200 mg/kg EOA group increased average daily gain (ADG) and average body weight (ABW) during the early stage (P < 0.05). EOA addition decreased crypt depth of the ileum (P < 0.05), but villus height to crypt depth ratio was increased by EOA addition at 200 and 400 mg/kg at d 21 (P < 0.05). Compared with the control, dietary addition EOA at 200, 400 and 600 mg/kg increased the lipase activity in the duodenum at d 21 (P < 0.05). Increased lactic acid bacteria population was found in cecal digesta of the 400 mg/kg EOA group at d 21 (P < 0.05), and higher concentration of butyric acid level was observed in cecal digesta at d 21 and d 42 in the 200 mg/kg EOA group compared with the control (P < 0.05). RT-PCR analysis found that dietary EOA addition decreased the gene expression of IL-1β, COX-2 and TGF-β4 in the ileum at d 21 (P < 0.05), while only the 200 mg/kg EOA increased the gene expression of IL-10, TGF-β4, Claudin-1, ZO-1, CATH-1, CATH-3, AvBD-1, AvBD-9 and AvBD-12 in the ileum at d 42 (P < 0.05) compared with the control. In summary, adding 200 mg/kg and 400 mg/kg of the EOA to the diet could improve the growth performance and intestinal microenvironment through improving intestinal morphology, increasing digestive enzymes activity and cecal lactic acid bacteria abundance and butyric acid content, improving intestinal barrier function as well as maintaining intestinal immune homeostasis. The improving effect induced by EOA addition in the early growth stage was better than that in the later growth stage. Overall, the EOA product might be an effective antibiotic alternative for broiler industry.

Raw potato fries are a type of potato by-product (PBP), and they have great potential as a partial replacement of grain in animal feeds to improve the environmental sustainability of food production. This study aimed to investigate the effects of replacing corn with different levels of PBP (0%, 12.84%, 25.65%, and 38.44%) in the total mixed ration (TMR) of Angus bull. Sixty 16-month-old Angus bulls (548.5 ± 15.0 kg, mean ± SD) were randomly assigned to four treatments. The results indicated that with the increase in the substitution amount of PBP, the body weight decreased significantly. The dry matter apparent digestibility and starch apparent digestibility linearly decreased as PBP replacement increased. The feed ingredient composition in the TMR varied, leading to a corresponding change in the rumen microbiota, especially in cellulolytic bacteria and amylolytic bacteria. The abundance of Succiniclasticum in the 12.84% PBP and 38.44% PBP diets was significantly higher than that in the 0% PBP and 25.65% PBP diets. The abundance of Ruminococcus linearly increased. In conclusion, using PBP to replace corn for beef cattle had no negative impact on rumen fermentation, and the decrease in apparent digestibility explained the change in growth performance. Its application in practical production is highly cost-effective and a strategy to reduce food waste.

Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection is a significant global health concern, prompting the need for effective treatment strategies. This in-depth review critically assesses the landscape of HCV treatment, drawing parallels between traditional interferon/ribavirin therapy historically pivotal in HCV management and herbal approaches rooted in traditional and complementary medicine. Advancements in therapeutic development and enhanced clinical outcomes axis on a comprehensive understanding of the diverse HCV genome, its natural variations, pathogenesis, and the impact of dietary, social, environmental, and economic factors. A thorough analysis was conducted through reputable sources such as Science Direct, PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, books, and dissertations. This review primarily focuses on the intricate nature of HCV genomes and explores the potential of botanical drugs in both preventing and treating HCV infections.

Heat transfer study influenced by various physical effects like thermal radiations, convective heat condition and thermal slip is one of the influential research domain specifically in applied thermal and chemical engineering. Therefore, the key purpose of this is to develop and discuss the heat performance of ternary nanofluid model including the effects of above mentioned parameters. The model is developed for laminar flow of ternary nanofluid about stagnation point over a cylinder's surface. Use of similarity transforms, properties of ternary nanofluids and ternary particles are exercised to obtain final model. Then, the RK-scheme is implemented for demonstration of the physical results and provided a detailed discussion. It is noticed that for λ=0.1,0.2,0.3,0.4, the ternary nanoliquid movement boosted and for λ=−0.1,−0.2,−0.3,−0.4 control the motion and MBLT (Momentum Boundary Layer Thickness) diminishes for saddle point case. Increasing the transient effects A1=0.05,0.10,0.15,0.20 causes quite rapid movement of the fluid molecules. Further, it is observed that thermal slip (α1=0.1,0.2,0.3,0.4), surface convection Bi=0.1,0.2,0.3,0.4 and thermal radiations are good physical aspects to enhance the heat transfer. Also, decrease in thermal boundary layer is observed. For composite φ=2.0%, density increases as 105 %(nano), 129 %(hybrid), 145 %(ternary), dynamic viscosity 105.18 %(nano), 113.503 %(hybrid), 122.483 %(ternary), thermal conductivity 106 %(nano), 115.5 %(hybrid), 131.71 %(ternary) and heat capacity diminishes.

Shaukat Siddiqui is well known progressive short story writer and novelist in Urdu Literature. His novel "Jangloos" completely portrays the Pakistani society. The following research is an attempt to analyze novel "Jangloos" through a feminist lens, but this critical approach has been localized at length. Therefore, the analysis of "Jangloos" will be carried out by using local feminist approaches. The research will be focusing on the issues like exploitation, marginalization, and oppression that women face in "Jangloos". The research therefore is not only a textual analysis of but also a contextual and cultural study of the novel. In the context of this novel, an attempt has been made to explore the role of women in agricultural production and the venerability of women according to rural customs.

Significance: The study of non-transient heat transport mechanism in mono nano as well as ternary nanofluids attracts the researchers because of their promising heat transport characteristics. Applications of these fluids spread in industrial and various engineering disciplines more specifically in chemical and applied thermal engineering. Due of huge significance of nanofluids, the study is organized for latest class termed as ternary nanofluids along with induced magnetic field. Methodology: The model development done via similarity equations and the properties of ternary nanoparticles, resulting in a nonlinear mathematical model. To analyze the physical results with parametric values performed via RKF-45 scheme. Study findings: The physical results of the model reveal that the velocity $ F{'}\left(\eta \right) $ increased with increasing $ m = 0.1, 0.2, 0.3 $ and $ {\lambda }_{1} = 1.0, 1.2, 1.3 $. However, velocity decreased with increasing $ {\delta }_{1} $. Tangential velocity $ G{'}\left(\eta \right) $ reduces rapidly near the wedge surface and increased with increasing $ {M}_{1} = 1.0, 1.2, 1.3 $. Further, the heat transport in ternary nanofluid was greater than in the hybrid and mono nanofluids. Shear drag and the local thermal gradient increased with increasing $ {\lambda }_{1} $ and these quantities were greatest in the ternary nanofluid.

This study investigated the effects of an antibiotic cocktail on intestinal microbial composition, mechanical barrier structure, and immune functions in early broilers. One-day-old healthy male broiler chicks were treated with a broad-spectrum antibiotic cocktail (ABX; neomycin, ampicillin, metronidazole, vancomycin, and kanamycin, 0.5 g/L each) or not in drinking water for 7 and 14 days, respectively. Sequencing of 16S rRNA revealed that ABX treatment significantly reduced relative Firmicutes, unclassified Lachnospiraceae, unclassified Oscillospiraceae, Ruminococcus torques, and unclassified Ruminococcaceae abundance in the cecum and relative Firmicutes, Lactobacillus and Baccillus abundance in the ileum, but significantly increased richness (Chao and ACE indices) and relative Enterococcus abundance in the ileum and cecum along with relatively enriched Bacteroidetes, Proteobacteria, Cyanobacteria, and Enterococcus levels in the ileum following ABX treatment for 14 days. ABX treatment for 14 days also significantly decreased intestinal weight and length, along with villus height (VH) and crypt depth (CD) of the small intestine, and remarkably increased serum LPS, TNF-α, IFN-γ, and IgG levels, as well as intestinal mucosa DAO and MPO activity. Moreover, prolonged use of ABX significantly downregulated occludin, ZO-1, and mucin 2 gene expression, along with goblet cell numbers in the ileum. Additionally, chickens given ABX for 14 days had lower acetic acid, butyric acid, and isobutyric acid content in the cecum than the chickens treated with ABX for 7 days and untreated chickens. Spearman correlation analysis found that those decreased potential beneficial bacteria were positively correlated with gut health-related indices, while those increased potential pathogenic strains were positively correlated with gut inflammation and gut injury-related parameters. Taken together, prolonged ABX application increased antibiotic-resistant species abundance, induced gut microbiota dysbiosis, delayed intestinal morphological development, disrupted intestinal barrier function, and perturbed immune response in early chickens. This study provides a reliable lower-bacteria chicken model for further investigation of the function of certain beneficial bacteria in the gut by fecal microbiota transplantation into germ-free or antibiotic-treated chickens.

In the ever-expanding online fashion market, businesses in the clothing sales sector are presented with substantial growth opportunities. To utilize this potential, it is crucial to implement effective methods for accurately identifying clothing items. This entails a deep understanding of customer preferences, niche markets, tailored sales strategies, and an improved user experience. Artificial intelligence (AI) systems that can recognize and categorize clothing items play a crucial role in achieving these objectives, empowering businesses to boost sales and gain valuable customer insights. However, the challenge lies in accurately classifying diverse attire items in a rapidly evolving fashion landscape. Variations in styles, colors, and patterns make it difficult to consistently categorize clothing. Additionally, the quality of images provided by users varies widely, and background clutter can further complicate the task of accurate classification. Existing systems may struggle to provide the level of accuracy needed to meet customer expectations. To address these challenges, a meticulous dataset preparation process is essential. This includes careful data organization, the application of background removal techniques such as the GrabCut Algorithm, and resizing images for uniformity. The proposed solution involves a hybrid approach, combining the strengths of the ResNet152 and EfficientNetB7 architectures. This fusion of techniques aims to create a classification system capable of reliably distinguishing between various clothing items. The key innovation in this study is the development of a Two-Objective Learning model that leverages the capabilities of both ResNet152 and EfficientNetB7 architectures. This fusion approach enhances the accuracy of clothing item classification. The meticulously prepared dataset serves as the foundation for this model, ensuring that it can handle diverse clothing items effectively. The proposed methodology promises a novel approach to image identification and feature extraction, leading to impressive classification accuracy of 94%, coupled with stability and robustness.

Colibacillosis caused by avian pathogenic Escherichia coli (APEC) is a very prevalent disease in poultry farms in China. The exploration of effective non-antibiotic substances is of great significance for the control of APEC infections. This experiment evaluated the efficacy of coated essential oil and organic acid (EOA) supplementation to prevent E. coli O78 infection in broiler chickens. A total of 288 one-day-old male broiler chicks were randomly distributed into 4 groups with 6 replicates per group. Chickens were fed a diet either supplemented with EOA (500 mg/kg feed) or not, and either uninfected or infected with E. coli O78 intratracheally. Results showed that E. coli O78 infection reduced body weight gain, increased mortality and the ratio of feed to gain along with cecal and liver E. coli load, damaged gut mucosa, induced local and systemic inflammation, and altered cecal microbial composition, diversity and function (P

The zoonotic pathogens Salmonella spp. infection disrupted intestinal epithelial barrier function and induced local gastroenteritis and systemic inflammation in humans and animals. Sophy β-glucan, a water-soluble β-1,3/1,6-glucan synthesized from the black yeast Aureobasidium pullulans, was reported with immune-regulatory, anti-inflammatory, and anti-infective properties. Here, we investigated the protective role of sophy β-glucan on Salmonella enterica serotype Enteritidis (SE)-challenged Caco-2 cells monolayer and explored underlying action mechanisms. The results showed that pretreatment with sophy β-glucan blocked the adhesion and invasion of SE onto Caco-2 cells along with alleviating SE-induced epithelial barrier injury, as evidenced by increased trans-epithelial electrical resistance, decreased fluorescently-labeled dextran 4 flux permeability, and an enhanced Claudin-4 protein level in the SE-stimulated Caco-2 cell monolayer. Moreover, treatment with β-glucan down-regulated pro-inflammatory factors (IL-1β, IL-8, and TNF-α) while up-regulating anti-inflammatory factors IL-10 at mRNA and protein levels in SE-infected Caco-2 cells. Furthermore, sophy β-glucan strengthened the anti-oxidative capacity of Caco-2 monolayers cells by elevating T-AOC and SOD activity and inhibiting MDA production defending SE. Together, our data showed that sophy β-glucan could prevent intestinal epithelial injury induced by SE, possibly by exerting anti-oxidant and anti-inflammatory properties, and it might be helpful for controlling SE infection.

Nanofluids are a new generation of fluids which help in improving the efficiency of thermal systems by improving heat transport rate and extensive applications of this class extensively fall in biomedical engineering, the electronics industry, applied thermal and mechanical engineering, etc. The core concern of this study is to examine the interaction of Al2O3-Fe3O4 hybrid nanoparticles of lamina shaped with blood over a 3D surface by impinging novel impacts of non-linear thermal radiations, stretching, velocity slippage, and magnetic field. This leads to a mathematical flow model in terms of highly non-linear differential equations via nanofluid-effective characteristics and similarity rules. To know the actual behavior of (Al2O3-Fe3O4)/blood inside the concerned region, mathematical investigation is performed via numerical technique and the results are obtained for different parameter ranges. The imposed magnetic field of high strength is a better tool to control the motion of (Al2O3-Fe3O4)/blood inside the boundary layer, whereas, stretching of the surface is in direct proportion of the fluid movement. Furthermore, thermal radiations (Rd) and γ1 are observed to be beneficial for thermal enhancement for both (Al2O3-Fe3O4)/blood and (Al2O3)/blood.

Predicting the long-term lifetime of power MOSFET devices plays a central role in the prevention of unprecedented failures for power MOSFETs used in safety-critical applications. The various traditional model-based approaches and statistical and filtering algorithms for prognostics have limitations in terms of handling the dynamic nature of failure precursor degradation data for these devices. In this paper, a prognostic model based on LSTM and GRU is developed that aims at estimating the long-term lifetime of discrete power MOSFETs using dominant failure precursor degradation data. An accelerated power cycling test has been designed and executed to collect failure precursor data. For this purpose, commercially available power MOSFETs passed through power cycling tests at different temperature swing conditions and potential failure precursor data were collected using an automated curve tracer after certain intervals. The on-state resistance degradation data identified as one of the dominant failure precursors and potential aging precursors has been analyzed using RNN, LSTM, and GRU-based algorithms. The LSTM and GRU models have been found to be superior compared to RNN, with MAPE of 0.9%, 0.78%, and 1.72% for MOSFET 1; 0.90%, 0.66%, and 0.6% for MOSFET 5; and 1.05%, 0.9%, and 0.78%, for MOSFET 9, respectively, predicted at 40,000 cycles. In addition, the robustness of these methods is examined using training data at 24,000 and 54,000 cycles of starting points and is able to predict the long-term lifetime accurately, as evaluated by MAPE, MSE, and RMSE metrics. In general, the prediction results showed that the prognostics algorithms developed were trained to provide effective, accurate, and useful lifetime predictions and were found to address the reliability concerns of power MOSFET devices for practical applications.

Cotton is a major fiber crop grown worldwide. Nitrogen (N) is an essential nutrient for cotton production and supports efficient crop production. It is a crucial nutrient that is required more than any other. Nitrogen management is a daunting task for plants; thus, various strategies, individually and collectively, have been adopted to improve its efficacy. The negative environmental impacts of excessive N application on cotton production have become harmful to consumers and growers. The 4R’s of nutrient stewardship (right product, right rate, right time, and right place) is a newly developed agronomic practice that provides a solid foundation for achieving nitrogen use efficiency (NUE) in cotton production. Cropping systems are equally crucial for increasing production, profitability, environmental growth protection, and sustainability. This concept incorporates the right fertilizer source at the right rate, time, and place. In addition to agronomic practices, molecular approaches are equally important for improving cotton NUE. This could be achieved by increasing the efficacy of metabolic pathways at the cellular, organ, and structural levels and NUE-regulating enzymes and genes. This is a potential method to improve the role of N transporters in plants, resulting in better utilization and remobilization of N in cotton plants. Therefore, we suggest effective methods for accelerating NUE in cotton. This review aims to provide a detailed overview of agronomic and molecular approaches for improving NUE in cotton production, which benefits both the environment and growers.

Preoperative chemotherapy and preoperative chemoradiation, both improve survival for locally advanced esophageal cancer proven in randomized trials and metanalysis. Limited data are available comparing these preoperative therapies especially in non-gastroesophageal junction squamous cell cancer of esophagus. In this retrospective analysis, 69 eligible patients of locally advanced esophageal cancer, who underwent preoperative chemoradiation followed by surgery or chemotherapy followed by surgery at our center were analyzed. The end points of study were overall survival, disease free survival, and histopathological response. Three weekly paclitaxel and carboplatin was used as neoadjuvant chemotherapy and weekly paclitaxel and carboplatin were used with radiation as per standard protocol. Median follow-up time was 35 months for surviving patients. Median overall survival was 44 months (95% CI 27.2–62.7) in chemoradiation group and it was not reached in the chemotherapy arm (p-value −0.832). The median disease-free survival for patients who underwent preoperative chemoradiation was 41 months and 34 months in preoperative chemotherapy group (p-value −0.812). Seven of 41 patients (17.1%) in chemoradiation group were circumferential resection margin (CRM) positive as compared with six of 28 (21.4%) in chemotherapy group (p = 0.650). A pathological complete response was seen in 13 (31.7%) patients in chemoradiation group and seven (21.4) patients in chemotherapy group. There was no survival advantage for preoperative chemoradiotherapy compared with preoperative chemotherapy in patients with predominant esophageal squamous cell carcinoma of locally advanced esophageal cancer. Despite the non-significant improvement from preoperative chemoradiation with respect to CRM positivity and pathological complete response rates, there was no difference in overall survival or disease-free survival.

Background Bevacizumab, a humanized monoclonal antibody, known to block the binding of all known vascular endothelial growth factor-A isomers to their receptors, is used in solid cancers, especially in advanced settings where its role is proven to be stronger than localized stages. Furthermore, various studies have suggested that adding bevacizumab to first-line standard therapy in advanced solid cancers, such as colorectal cancer, lung cancer, ovarian cancer, renal cancer, and breast cancer, significantly prolongs progression-free survival, overall survival, and response rates. However, this ability is limited and variable in cancer subtype. The toxicity profile of bevacizumab is outspread, ranging from mild gastrointestinal side effects, proteinuria to life-threatening hemorrhagic tendency, ischemic thromboembolism, and intestinal perforation. However, it has never been studied in Indian subset of patients till date. Materials and Methods We performed an institutional retrospective study of 41 patients with a pathologically proven ovarian, colorectal, lung, mesothelioma, melanoma, round cell tumors, and GBMs who received bevacizumab (2.5 mg/kg/week [5 mg/kg every 2 weeks or 7.5 mg/kg every 3 weeks]) with or without chemotherapy, between January 2016 and January 2019 at our center in North India. Results Forty-one patients, including 12 (29) advanced ovarian cancer, 12 (29) colon cancer, 10 (24) rectal cancer, 1 (2) appendicular cancer, 1 (2) mesothelioma, 1 (2) melanoma, 1 (2) desmoplastic round cell tumor, and 3 (7) GBM, were treated with bevacizumab. The incidence of arterial thrombus and hemorrhage was 2 and 10%, respectively, whereas venous thrombus and fistula were not seen and not related to age. No fatal adverse event was recorded. The global incidence of severe (grade 3/4) arterial hypertension (HTN) was 49%. It was safely managed in all cases, and no grade 4 (life-threatening complication) occurred. The incidence of severe HTN was significantly higher in elderly patients than in younger ones (72 vs. 40%), proteinuria was found to be more frequent in the younger age group as compared with older age group (7 vs. 3%). Also to note, the incidence of congestive heart failure and subacute intestinal obstruction was found in 5% of patients, wherein all four patients belonged to the older subgroup. Furthermore, Grade 3 hypersensitivity reaction was found in one patient in the younger subgroup which warranted immediate termination of bevacizumab.

Background Recurrent metastatic head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) patients carry a poor prognosis and have limited therapeutic options. In the randomized phase-3 trial CheckMate 141, nivolumab showed benefit in overall survival (OS) with manageable toxicity. Nivolumab is available for clinical practice since 2017 in India. The aim of this study is to evaluate the efficacy and safety of nivolumab in real-world settings in India. Materials and Methods This is a retrospective, single-center study on the use of nivolumab with advanced or metastatic HNSCC in India. Eligible patients had histologically confirmed, recurrent squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck (including metastatic disease) of the oral cavity, pharynx, or larynx that was not amenable to curative treatment, tumor progression, or recurrence after the administration of platinum-containing chemotherapy administered as adjuvant therapy or in the context of primary or recurrent disease. We assessed demographics, safety (the Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events Version 4.0), response evaluation (the Response Evaluation Criteria in Solid Tumors Version 1.1), progression-free survival (PFS), and OS. Results Among patients with platinum-refractory, recurrent HNSCC, and treatment with nivolumab resulted in median PFS of 2 months and median OS of 5 months, which is inferior to what was seen in CheckMate 141. Fifteen of 20 patients (75%) had progressive disease, 3 (15%) showed a partial response, and 2 (10%) had stable disease. Conclusion Nivolumab was well tolerated in our study with fewer toxic effects, and an inferior median survival was reached as compared with CheckMate 141 in platinum refractory, recurrent HNSCC patients treated with nivolumab because 90% of patients in our study received nivolumab as second-line therapy after progression. Our study encourages the use of nivolumab in this population.

Fear is one of the psychological emotions that humans adapt to a potentially threatening situation, but when this fear is not calibrated well to the situation, it can become maladaptive. For instance, in the present wave of pandemic, the panic over the year is excessive, there may have deteriorating effects both on the individuals and the society. At individual level for example mental health problems and social anxiety may be seen, and at the level of society panic shopping, xenophobia, decline in the economy may well be noted. Pandemics have been seen in the history in many eras. They have brought about enormous changes in the existing world through ages. This rapid narrative review summarizes various aspects of the many pandemics in the history.

Background: Targeted therapies have prolonged the survival of patients with metastatic renal cell carcinomas (RCC). However, the majority of patients with metastatic RCC develop treatment resistance and disease progression. The programmed cell death protein 1 inhibitors offer a new ray of hope for such patients. Objectives: The primary objective of this study was to evaluate the overall survival (OS) of patients with relapsed metastatic RCC treated with immunotherapy in the second-line setting. The secondary objectives were to assess the safety profile and objective response rate (ORR) for nivolumab. Materials and Methods: This retrospective study was conducted in the Department of Medical Oncology at the Max Institute of Cancer Care, a tertiary care center in Delhi, India. Patients with histologically proven stage IV RCC who had progressed on first-line tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) and treated with at least four cycles of nivolumab at our center between December 2015 and January 2019 were enrolled in the study. The OS, progression-free survival (PFS), immune-mediated adverse events (irAEs), and ORR were determined. Results: Out of 50 patients with metastatic RCC who progressed on first-line TKIs, 19 received immunotherapy with nivolumab. The median age of the patients was 62 years (range, 31–71 years); the male-to-female ratio was 2:1. The median follow-up time and duration of treatment were 11 months (range, 2–23) and 4.5 months (95% confidence interval [CI], 3.52–5.96), respectively, and 8 (42.1%) patients were alive at the time of analysis. The median OS was 13 months (95% CI, 10.4–15.5) from the start of nivolumab therapy, and the median PFS was 8 months (95% CI, not evaluable). The best response was progressive disease in 47.3%; the ORR was 26.3%. Grade 1/2 and grade 3/4 adverse events were observed in 68.4% and 10.5% of the patients, respectively. Adverse events of any grade were reported in 13 (68.6%) patients. Fatigue and hypothyroidism were the most frequently observed irAEs associated with nivolumab and occurred in 4 (21%) and 11 (57.8%) patients, respectively. Four (15.7%) patients developed grade 1 pruritus. No fatal toxicities were recorded. Conclusion: Nivolumab is efficacious and safe as a second-line treatment option for metastatic RCC in Indian patients.

Salmonella enterica serovar Enteritidis (SE) is one of the most common pathogens associated with poultry health and foodborne Salmonellosis worldwide. The gut plays a pivotal role in inhibiting SE transintestinal transmission and contaminating poultry products. The nutritional status of vitamin D (VD) is involved in gut health apart from bone health. However, the impact of VD3 nutritional status on the gut health of Salmonella-challenged hens is rarely investigated. This study investigated the impact and possible mechanisms of VD3 nutritional status on the gut health of hens challenged with SE. Hens were fed basal diets with either 0 (deficient) or 3000 IU (sufficient) VD3/kg of diet, respectively. After 10 weeks of feeding, half of the hens were orally inoculated with either SE (1 × 109 CFU /bird). Results indicated that VD3 sufficiency reversed the disruptive effects on the laying performance of hens caused by Salmonella challenge or VD3 insufficiency by promoting VD3 metabolism. In addition, VD3 sufficiency ameliorated gut injury induced by either Salmonella or VD3 deficiency, shown by reducing Salmonella load and histopathological scores, suppressing TLR4-mediated inflammatory responses, and increasing expression of TJs along with decreasing pro-apoptotic protein expression and the number of TUNEL-positive cells in the jejunum. Besides, VD3 enriched the abundance of probiotics, such as Lactobacillus and Bacilli, and restored the balance of gut microflora. Collectively, dietary VD3 sufficient supplementation could alleviate Salmonella or VD3 deficiency-induced intestinal damage of hens via modulating intestinal immune, barrier function, apoptosis along with gut microbiota composition, revealing that VD3 could act as a novel nutritional strategy defending Salmonella invasion in hens.

A bat-borne disease is any infectious disease whose primary reservoir is any species of bat. It is not a coincidence that some of the deadly viral disease outbreaks in recent years like severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), Middle East respiratory disorder (MERS), Ebola, Marburg and the new 2019-nCoV virus are speculated to be originated in bats. Rarely some bacterial and fungal diseases are also related to certain species of bats. Such illnesses are part of Zoonosis, which refers to the human diseases of animal origin. In this review we highlight some of the bat-borne diseases with emphasis on the viral outbreaks as bats world-wide harbor a greater proportion of viruses than several other groups of mammals.

Abstract Background The poultry industry is in need of effective antibiotic alternatives to control outbreaks of necrotic enteritis (NE) due to Clostridium perfringens. In the present study, we investigated the effects of dietary supplementation with a blend of encapsulated essential oils and organic acids (BLJ) on growth performance and gut health using a coinfection model of NE in broiler chickens. Methods Two hundred and eighty-eight one-day-old male Arbor Acres broiler chicks were randomly assigned using a 2 × 2 factorial design into two groups fed either 0 or 500 mg/kg dietary BLJ and co-challenged (or not challenged for the control) with Eimeria spp./C. perfringens. Results Infected birds fed the BLJ-supplemented diet exhibited an improved feed conversion ratio throughout the trial (P

The broad accessibility of affordable and reliable recording equipment and its relative ease of use has enabled neuroscientists to record large amounts of neurophysiological and behavioral data. Given that most of this raw data is unlabeled, great effort is required to adapt it for behavioral phenotyping or signal extraction, for behavioral and neurophysiological data, respectively. Traditional methods for labeling datasets rely on human annotators which is a resource and time intensive process, which often produce data that that is prone to reproducibility errors. Here, we propose a deep learning-based image segmentation framework to automatically extract and label limb movements from movies capturing frontal and lateral views of head-fixed mice. The method decomposes the image into elemental regions (superpixels) with similar appearance and concordant dynamics and stacks them following their partial temporal trajectory. These 3D descriptors (referred as motion cues) are used to train a deep convolutional neural network (CNN). We use the features extracted at the last fully connected layer of the network for training a Long Short Term Memory (LSTM) network that introduces spatio-temporal coherence to the limb segmentation. We tested the pipeline in two video acquisition settings. In the first, the camera is installed on the right side of the mouse (lateral setting). In the second, the camera is installed facing the mouse directly (frontal setting). We also investigated the effect of the noise present in the videos and the amount of training data needed, and we found that reducing the number of training samples does not result in a drop of more than 5% in detection accuracy even when as little as 10% of the available data is used for training.

ABSTRACT: The effects of a blend of encapsulated organic acids with essential oils (EOA) as an alternative to antimicrobial growth promoter (AGP) on growth performance and gut health of Eimeria spp./Clostridium perfringens (C. perfringens) in chickens infected with necrotic enteritis (NE) broilers was investigated. A total of 432 male Arbor Acres broilers (1-day-old) were randomly distributed into 6 treatment groups, namely noninfected negative control (A); NE-infected positive control (D); NE-infected broiler chickens fed a basal diet supplemented with 250 mg/kg bacitracin methylene disalicylate (BMD) plus 90 mg/kg monensin; and NE-infected broiler chicken fed 200; 500; and 800 mg/kg EOA (E, F, G, and H group). Feeding EOA at 200 and 500 mg/kg considerably improved the feed conversion ratio, reduced gut lesions, serum fluorescein isothiocyanate dextran level, and C. perfringens load in the caecum and liver of the NE-infected broiler chickens. This feed was similar to AGP. Furthermore, the increased villous height-to-crypt depth ratio and goblet cells counts, upregulated claudin-1, glucagon-like peptide-2 (GLP-2), insulin-like growth factor-2 (IGF-2) mRNA gene expression, downregulated occludin, zonula occludens-1 (ZO-1), toll-like receptor (TLR-4), interleukin (IL-1β), interferon γ (IFN-γ), TNF receptor-associated factor 6 (TRAF-6), tumor necrosis factor superfamily member 15 (TNFSF15), and Toll-interacting protein (Tollip) genes expression in the jejunum were observed in the NE-infected broiler chickens that received EOA at 200 and 500 mg/kg compared with those of the single NE-challenged groups without EOA supplementations (P < 0.05). The 16S analysis revealed that EOA supplemented with 200 or 500 mg/kg enriched relative abundance of Lactobacillus, unclassified_Lachnospiraceae, and Enterococcus, and carbohydrate metabolic pathways but suppressed unclassified_Erysipelotrichacease and organismal systems involved in the immune system (P < 0.05). Feeding EOA could alleviate NE-induced gut impairment and growth depression and modulate cecal microbiota composition, which has potential as antimicrobial alternatives.

The prebiotics- and probiotics-mediated positive modulation of the gut microbiota composition is considered a useful approach to improve gut health and food safety in chickens. This study explored the effects of yeast β-glucan (YG) supplementation on intestinal microbiome and metabolites profiles as well as mucosal immunity in older hens. A total of 256 43-week-old hens were randomly assigned to two treatments, with 0 and 200 mg/kg of YG. Results revealed YG-induced downregulation of toll-like receptors (TLRs) and cytokine gene expression in the ileum without any effect on the intestinal barrier. 16S rRNA analysis claimed that YG altered α- and β-diversity and enriched the relative abundance of class Bacilli, orders Lactobacillales and Enterobacteriales, families Lactobacillaceae and Enterobacteriaceae, genera Lactobacillus and Escherichia–Shigella, and species uncultured bacterium-Lactobacillus. Significant downregulation of cutin and suberin, wax biosynthesis, atrazine degradation, vitamin B6 metabolism, phosphotransferase system (PTS), steroid degradation, biosynthesis of unsaturated fatty acids, aminobenzoate degradation and quorum sensing and upregulation of ascorbate and aldarate metabolism, C5-branched dibasic acid metabolism, glyoxylate and dicarboxylate metabolism, pentose and glucuronate interconversions, steroid biosynthesis, carotenoid biosynthesis, porphyrin and chlorophyll metabolism, sesquiterpenoid and triterpenoid biosynthesis, lysine degradation, and ubiquinone and other terpenoid-quinone biosyntheses were observed in YG-treated hens, as substantiated by the findings of untargeted metabolomics analysis. Overall, YG manifests prebiotic properties by altering gut microbiome and metabolite profiles and can downregulate the intestinal mucosal immune response of breeder hens.

Background: PDL-1 inhibitors have emerged as the new standard of care for second line treatment of NSCLC. Methods: Eligible patients included, histologically proven NSCLC, ECOG (Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group) performance status of 0, 1 or 2, age 18 years and above, availability of pre-treatment tumor specimen, adequate end organ function, at least one prior platinum-based therapy. Patients who received a minimum of 6 doses of nivolumab were eligible. Results: Eleven previously treated patients with chemotherapy, started on nivolumab from April of 2016 to December of 2018, were retrospectively studied and analysed. The median age of patients was 58 years. Eight (72.73%) of the eleven patients were male. Seven (63.64%) of the patients were current or former smokers. Majority of patients had non-squamous histology; seven (63.64%) adenocarcinoma and four (36.36%) squamous cell carcinoma. 5 (45.46%) of the patients received one prior therapy, three (27.27%) received two prior therapies, and three (27.27%) received three prior therapies. Four (36.36%) of the patients had brain metastasis. Two (18.18%) of the patients were more than 70 years of age. Median number of cycles of nivolumab administered were 10 (range, 6 to 21). At the time of analysis, the median PFS was 8 months (95% CI, 1.52-14.47) and median OS was 15 months (95% CI, 6.9-23.09). Treatment was well tolerated and generally side effects were grade 1 and grade 2, except two patients who develop grade 3/4 pneumonitis. Conclusions: This is a real-world study of eleven previously treated patients with chemotherapy, started on Nivolumab from April of 2016 to December of 2018. Although, our sample size was small, our data supports the use of nivolumab as a new treatment option for patients of stage 4 NSCLC.

Context: The immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) nivolumab and pembrolizumab have shown dramatic efficacy with low toxicity in international studies of advanced solid cancers. No published Indian experience with ICIs exist other than isolated case reports. Aims: The aim of this study is to evaluate real-world data about the efficacy and toxicity of ICIs in advanced solid cancers among Indian patients who have progressed on one or more prior lines of chemotherapy. Materials and Methods: All patients with advanced solid cancers who received ICIs after the failure of chemotherapy at our center were retrospectively assessed. Information about efficacy and toxicity was collected and analyzed. Results: The present study included 24 patients who had received ICIs for indications including non-small cell lung, bladder, head and neck, gastrointestinal, and unknown primary cancer. Patients had received a median of two prior lines of chemotherapy (range 1–5). Grade III or higher toxicity was seen in 8% of patients. Clinical benefit at 3 months was realized in 33% of evaluable patients. Twenty-six percentages of evaluable patients achieved a response, including one patient who achieved a complete response that is ongoing at 18 months. Median progression-free survival was 3 months, and median overall survival was 8 months at a median follow-up of 10 months. Among patients who achieved clinical benefit, the majority (84%) have an ongoing response at the time of data cutoff. Conclusions: Efficacy and toxicity of ICIs in the Indian population are similar to the experience seen in large international cohorts, and Indian oncologists may feel reassured using these agents in similar settings.

Cyber-physical systems (CPSs) were envisaged as a way to manipulate the objects in the physical world through computer intelligence. This is usually done by providing a communication bridge between actuation and computing elements. This sought after control is hampered not only by the unavoidable certainty found in the physical world but also by the limitations of contemporary communication networks. These limitations hamper fine-grained control of elements that may be separated by large-scale distances. In this regard, soft computing is an emerging paradigm that can help to manage the unreliability of CPS by using techniques, including fuzzy systems, neural networks, evolutionary computation, probabilistic reasoning, and rough sets. We present a comprehensive contemporary review of soft computing techniques for CPS dependability modeling, analysis, and improvement. This paper provides an overview of CPS applications, explores the foundations of dependability engineering, and highlights the potential role of soft computing techniques for CPS dependability with various case studies while also identifying common pitfalls and future directions. In addition, this paper provides a comprehensive survey of the use of various soft computing techniques for making CPS dependable. This paper is timely due to the increasingly central role that CPSs are beginning to play in modern societies and the need to leverage all the relevant methodologies and tools (such as those provided by soft computing) for the development of highly dependable CPS.

Calcium imaging has rapidly become a methodology of choice for real-time in vivo neuron analysis. Its application to large sets of data requires automated tools to annotate and segment cells, allowing scalable image segmentation under reproducible criteria. In this paper, we review and summarize the most recent methods for computational segmentation of calcium imaging. The contributions of the paper are three-fold: we provide an overview of the main algorithms taxonomized in three categories (signal processing, matrix factorization and machine learning-based approaches), we highlight the main advantages and disadvantages of each category and we provide a summary of the performance of the methods that have been tested on public benchmarks (with links to the public code when available).

Food production and waste recycling are the two major issues faced globally with rapidly increasing population. Recycling organic wastes to crop amendments could be a possible solution to these issues. Earthworms transfer organic waste to compost, which is used to grow crops and increase crop productivity. This study assessed the impact of vermicompost produced from the residues of six desert plant species, i.e., (Ziziphus mauritiana, Aerva javanica, Calligonum comosum, Sacchrum benghalens, Calligonum polygonoides and Prosopis cineraria) combined with farmyard manure (5 t ha-1) on growth, yield and photosynthetic activity of maize crop. Earthworm species Eisenia fetida (Savigny, 1826) was used to prepare vermicomposting of all tested plant species. The desert species were collected from natural habitats, chopped, dried, mixed with FYM and then earthworms were released to prepare the vermicompost. The earthworms were excluded twenty days after release and resultant was considered as compost and used in the experiment. Results revealed that application of P. cineraria vermicompost resulted in the highest plant height (75.33 cm), stem diameter (22.66 mm), cob length (17.66 cm), number of grains/cob (374.67), 1000-grain weight (260.41 g) and grains yield (3.20 t/ha). Application of P. cineraria vermicompost resulted in the highest uptake of macronutrients, i.e., N (91.01%), P (22.07%), K (80.41%), micronutrients, i.e., Fe (19.07 ppm), Zn (40.05 ppm), and phenolic contents (150). Application of P. cineraria vermicompost also resulted in the highest quantum photosynthetic yield (0.42 mole C/mole of photon), chlorophyll florescence (355.18 moles of photon m-2s-1) and electron transport rate (310.18 micro mole m-2s-1). It is concluded that vermicomposting has the potential to improve growth and yield of maize crop. Particularly, application of vermicompost obtained from P. cineraria can be used to improve the growth and yield of maize crop. Nonetheless, field trials are necessary for a wide scale recommendation.

Helicoverpa armigera (Hub.) is a destructive pest of the tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum Mill) crop in Pakistan. Although insecticides are the primary management strategy used to control H. armigera, most of them are not effective due to considerable toxic residual effects on the fruits. Nonetheless, H. armigera is rapidly evolving resistance against the available pesticides for its management. This situation calls upon the need of alternative management options against the pest. Different plant extracts have been suggested as a viable, environment-friendly option for plant protection with minimal side effects. Furthermore, the plant extracts could also manage the insect species evolving resistance against pesticides. This study evaluated the efficacy of different plant extracts (i.e., Neem seed, turmeric, garlic and marsh pepper) against H. armigera. Furthermore, the impact of the plant extracts on growth and yield of tomato crop was also tested under field conditions. The results revealed that all plant extracts resulted in higher mortality of H. armigera compared to control. Similarly, the highest plant height was observed for the plants treated with the plant extracts compared to untreated plants. Moreover, the highest tomato yield was observed in plants treated with plant extracts, especially with neem seed (21.013 kg/plot) followed by pepper extract (19.25 kg/plot), and garlic extract 18.4 kg/plot) compared to the untreated plants (8.9 kg/plot). It is concluded that plant extracts can be used as eco-friendly approaches for improving tomato yield and resistance management of H. armigera.

This study examines the impact of behavioral factors over investment decision making and their performance. The primary data set collected through survey questionnaires from active investors of Pakistan stock exchange was used for the analysis. Furthermore the study analyzed the role of financial literacy as a moderator variable between behavioral factors and investment decision making as the financial literacy help investors to avoid behavioral biases and make the rational decision that increase their wealth. Collected data are analyzed by using AMOS software to test the hypotheses. The analysis shows that behavioral factors including Heuristic, Prospect, Market and Herding have found highest strong impact on investment decision making of investors. The findings of the study reveal that Prospect and herding have positive impact on investment performance whereas heuristic and market variable has negative impact on investment performance. The results indicate that financial literacy enhanced the relationship between behavioral factors (heuristic, prospect, market) and investment decision making of investors and lessened the relationship with herding variable and investment decision making. The analysis of this study is expected to contribute significantly in the development of the field of behavioral finance. Keywords: Behavioral factors, Investment decisions, Investment performance, Pakistan Stock Exchange. JEL Classifications: G, G01 DOI: https://doi.org/10.32479/ijefi.10112

The objective of this study was to evaluate the growth performance of early or late weaned Nili-Ravi buffalo calves offered feeding regimes of low or high milk volumes. For this purpose, 48-day-old buffalo calves were randomly allocated to four treatments of twelve calves each. Calves were weaned either at day 56 (early weaned) or 84 (late weaned). Within each weaning age calves were offered milk at either 10% (low milk) or 15% (high milk) of their body weight. Early weaned calves were offered milk adjusted weekly until day 35; the calculated milk intake at day 35 was reduced by one-third in each of the last two weeks leading to the weaning of the calves at day 56. Late weaned calves were offered milk, adjusted weekly, until day 63 and weaned at day 84 by decreasing milk by one-third each week for the last two weeks. At week sixteen, late weaned calves had higher body weight and average daily gain than early weaned calves (p

Respiratory water loss during metabolic gas exchange is an unavoidable cost of living for terrestrial insects. It has been suggested to depend on several factors, such as the mode of gas exchange (convective vs. diffusive), species habitat (aridity), body size and measurement conditions (temperature). We measured this cost in terms of respiratory water loss relative to metabolic rate (respiratory water cost of gas exchange; RWL/V˙CO2) for adults of two insect species, the speckled cockroach (Nauphoeta cinerea) and the darkling beetle (Zophobas morio), which are similar in their mode of gas exchange (dominantly convective), habitat (mesic), body size and measurement conditions, by measuring gas exchange patterns using flow-through respirometry. The speckled cockroaches showed both continuous and discontinuous gas exchange patterns, which had significantly a different metabolic rate and respiratory water loss but the same respiratory water cost of gas exchange. The darkling beetles showed continuous gas exchange pattern only, and their metabolic rate, respiratory water loss and respiratory cost of gas exchange were equivalent to those cockroaches using continuous gas exchange. This outcome from our study highlights that the respiratory water cost of gas exchange is similar between species, regardless of gas exchange pattern used, when the confounding factors affecting this cost are controlled. However, the total evaporative water cost of gas exchange is much higher than the respiratory cost because cuticular water loss contributes considerably more to the overall evaporative water loss than respiratory water. We suggest that the total water cost of gas exchange is likely to be a more useful index of environmental adaptation (e.g., aridity) than just the respiratory water cost.

Porcine circovirus associated disease (PCVAD) is a term used to describe the multi-factorial disease syndromes caused by porcine circovirus type 2 (PCV-2), which can be reproduced in an experimental setting through the co-infection of pigs with PCV-2 and porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus (PRRSV). The resulting PCVAD-affected pigs represent a subpopulation within the co-infected group. In co-infection studies, the presence of increased microbiome diversity is linked to a reduction in clinical signs. In this study, fecal microbiota transplantation (FMT) was investigated as a means to prevent PCVAD in pigs co-infected with PRRSV and PCV-2d. The sources of the FMT material were high-parity sows with a documented history of high health status and robust litter characteristics. The analysis of the donated FMT material showed the absence of common pathogens along with the presence of diverse microbial phyla and families. One group of pigs (n = 10) was administered the FMT while a control group (n = 10) was administered a sterile mock-transplant. Over the 42-day post-infection period, the FMT group showed fewer PCVAD-affected pigs, as evidenced by a significant reduction in morbidity and mortality in transplanted pigs, along with increased antibody levels. Overall, this study provides evidence that FMT decreases the severity of clinical signs following co-infection with PRRSV and PCV-2 by reducing the prevalence of PCVAD.

Neuroscience has traditionally relied on manually observing laboratory animals in controlled environments. Researchers usually record animals behaving freely or in a restrained manner and then annotate the data manually. The manual annotation is not desirable for three reasons; (i) it is time-consuming, (ii) it is prone to human errors, and (iii) no two human annotators will 100% agree on annotation, therefore, it is not reproducible. Consequently, automated annotation for such data has gained traction because it is efficient and replicable. Usually, the automatic annotation of neuroscience data relies on computer vision and machine learning techniques. In this article, we have covered most of the approaches taken by researchers for locomotion and gesture tracking of specific laboratory animals, i.e. rodents. We have divided these papers into categories based upon the hardware they use and the software approach they take. We have also summarized their strengths and weaknesses.