Effect of Feed Supplementation with Clostridium butyricum, Alone or in Combination with Carob Meal or Citrus Pulp, on Digestive and Metabolic Status of Piglets

Simple Summary

During the intensive production of weaned piglets, frequent digestive disorders need to be avoided, as it is a critical phase; however, there are limitations to using antibiotics and ZnO at high levels. In this study, we investigate the inclusion of a probiotic (Clostridium butyricum) in combination with sources of fiber that might have a potential prebiotic effect, generating an optimal digestive status for weaned piglets. A trial is carried out using 30 post-weaning piglets for 27 days using five dietary treatments: a negative control, a positive control with high levels of ZnO, and three dietary treatments supplemented with Clostridium butyricum (alone or in combination with carob meal or citrus pulp). Supplementation with this probiotic could improve the piglets’ intestinal wellness status by increasing butyric acid, without being altered by the inclusion of carob meal or citrus pulp at 5%, obtaining digestibility values comparable with those realized by the incorporation of high levels of ZnO in the diet. In addition, carob meal could decrease the concentration of serum interleukin-8 (a type of pro-inflammatory cytokine). However, a growth performance trial of piglets in commercial conditions needs to be developed to confirm these effects.

Abstract

This work studied the effects of the inclusion of Clostridium butyricum on feed, alone or with carob meal or citrus pulp, on the digestive and metabolic status of weaned piglets. A total of 30 male piglets (weaned at 21 days) is used. There are five dietary treatments: negative without ZnO at high doses (C−), a positive control supplemented with ZnO at 2500 ppm of Zn (C+), supplemented with Clostridium butyricum as a probiotic (PRO), and supplemented with probiotic and 5% carob meal (PROC) or 5% citrus pulp (PROP). During the experiment (27 days), the piglets were periodically weighed and sampled for a serum biochemical, fecal microbiological, intestine histological, and digestive status analysis. The body weight, apparent ileal digestibility of dry matter (DM), and fecal microbiology were not affected by the treatments (p ≥ 0.05). However, the apparent fecal digestibility of DM was lower for the C− treatment than for C+ (p < 0.05), and the total concentration of volatile fatty acids (VFAs) in feces with C+ was lower than that for the PROC treatment (p < 0.05). The treatments with the probiotic had a higher molar proportion of butyric acid in feces than C+, and it was found that C− reached an intermediate value (p < 0.01). No general effects of diet were found on the histological measures performed on the jejunum and ileum, and in the serum biochemical analysis (p ≥ 0.05), only the concentration of interleukin-8 was lower for the PROC treatment compared to the C−, C+, and PRO treatments (p < 0.05). In conclusion, the intestinal wellness of piglets could be improved with the supplementation of Clostridium butyricum by increasing butyric acid, and this effect was not altered with the inclusion of carob meal or citrus pulp. More studies under commercial conditions are needed, as the effects might be different in more challenging environmental circumstances.

Statistical voice activity detection based on integrated bispectrum likelihood ratio tests for robust speech recognition

Currently, there are technology barriers inhibiting speech processing systems that work in extremely noisy conditions from meeting the demands of modern applications. These systems often require a noise reduction system working in combination with a precise voice activity detector (VAD). This paper shows statistical likelihood ratio tests formulated in terms of the integrated bispectrum of the noisy signal. The integrated bispectrum is defined as a cross spectrum between the signal and its square, and therefore a function of a single frequency variable. It inherits the ability of higher order statistics to detect signals in noise with many other additional advantages: (i) Its computation as a cross spectrum leads to significant computational savings, and (ii) the variance of the estimator is of the same order as that of the power spectrum estimator. The proposed approach incorporates contextual information to the decision rule, a strategy that has reported significant benefits for robust speech recognition applications. The proposed VAD is compared to the G.729, adaptive multirate, and advanced front-end standards as well as recently reported algorithms showing a sustained advantage in speech/nonspeech detection accuracy and speech recognition performance.

Productivity of different cow genetic groups in dual-purpose cattle production systems in south-eastern Mexico

The objective was to evaluate the effect of cow genetic group, nutritional level and their interaction on some economically important traits of dual-purpose herds managed under field conditions. Nine herds were monitored during a production cycle in Yucatan, Mexico. Herds were grouped into four nutritional levels (NL) based on the metabolizable energy (ME) apparently available on pasture, nutritional management, and milk production. Cows were classified into three genetic groups (GG): low (< or = 25%), middle (25-75%) and high (> or = 75%) graded for Bos taurus inheritance. Total milk sold (TMS), days in milk (DIM), TMS adjusted to DIM within each NL (TMSA), body condition score (BCS) at calving, changes of BCS during lactation (CBCS), calf weaning weight (WW), age at weaning (AW), kg of calf weaned per cow (KWC) and calf mortality were studied. The statistical model included the fixed effects of NL, GG, month of calving (MC), parity number (PN) and BCS at calving and GG x NL interaction. The effects of NL, GG, MC, PN and GG x NL were significant (p < 0.05) for TMS, KWC. As expected, TMS increased with NL from 562.4 +/- 106 kg for NL1 to 2366.3 +/- 100.1 kg for NL4. KWC was greatest for NL2 (138.6 kg) followed by NL1 (135 kg); the lowest KWC corresponded to NL4 (96.0 kg) (p < 0.05). TMS values for the middle (1727 +/- 94.7 kg) and the high graded GG (1603.5 +/- 83.5 kg) were twice those for the low graded GG cows (828.5 +/- 95 kg) (p < 0.05). KWC was also higher for the middle graded group (152.8 kg) than for the low or (104 kg) or the high graded GG (118 kg) (p < 0.05). With better nutrition cows of all GG improved their milk performance but not the calf traits. CBCS was negative for all GG. The highest BCS lost was for cows in NL1 and NL2 and for cows in the high graded GG (p < 0.05).

An effective cluster-based model for robust speech detection and speech recognition in noisy environments

This paper shows an accurate speech detection algorithm for improving the performance of speech recognition systems working in noisy environments. The proposed method is based on a hard decision clustering approach where a set of prototypes is used to characterize the noisy channel. Detecting the presence of speech is enabled by a decision rule formulated in terms of an averaged distance between the observation vector and a cluster-based noise model. The algorithm benefits from using contextual information, a strategy that considers not only a single speech frame but also a neighborhood of data in order to smooth the decision function and improve speech detection robustness. The proposed scheme exhibits reduced computational cost making it adequate for real time applications, i.e., automated speech recognition systems. An exhaustive analysis is conducted on the AURORA 2 and AURORA 3 databases in order to assess the performance of the algorithm and to compare it to existing standard voice activity detection (VAD) methods. The results show significant improvements in detection accuracy and speech recognition rate over standard VADs such as ITU-T G.729, ETSI GSM AMR, and ETSI AFE for distributed speech recognition and a representative set of recently reported VAD algorithms.

Use of Real-Time Quantitative Polymerase Chain Reaction to Monitor the Evolution of Brucella melitensis DNA Load During Therapy and Post-Therapy Follow-Up in Patients with Brucellosis

BACKGROUND

We performed quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (Q-PCR) to monitor the evolution of Brucella melitensis DNA load from initial diagnosis through post-therapy follow-up in patients with brucellosis.

METHODS

On the basis of real-time fluorometric quantification of PCR products, we used the ultra-rapid LightCycler system (Roche Diagnostics). We collected 180 peripheral blood samples from 18 patients with brucellosis. Analysis of bacterial DNA loads was performed for 2 groups: 11 patients who did not experience relapse and 7 patients who experienced relapse in the follow-up phase.

RESULTS

Q-PCR was 100% specific for B. melitensis and showed an analytical sensitivity of 15 fg. Sensitivity of Q-PCR for both initial infections and relapses was 100%. There were no statistically significant differences between groups with respect to bacterial DNA load from initial diagnosis to the end of post-treatment follow-up (P > .05). Evolution of the bacterial DNA load throughout the treatment phase was similar among patients who relapsed and did not relapse. Despite positive response to treatment and a sharp decrease in bacterial DNA load after initiating therapy, the results of Q-PCR on finalizing treatment for 50% of the patients (7 from the relapse group and 2 from the nonrelapse group) were low-level positive. At the conclusion of follow-up, almost 40% of the patients (4 from the relapse group and 3 from the nonrelapse group), most of them asymptomatic, still maintained low bacterial DNA loads.

CONCLUSIONS

Using Q-PCR techniques, we consistently detected B. melitensis DNA in the blood samples of patients with brucellosis throughout treatment and follow-up, despite apparent recovery from infection. These findings may have diagnostic, pathogenic, and therapeutic implications.

Investigating the eggshell conductance and embryonic metabolism of modern and unselected domestic avian genetic strains at two flock ages

The objective of this study was to determine if broiler strain and breeder flock age affect eggshell conductance, fertility, and hatchability parameters; heart and hepatic glycogen concentrations at hatch; and embryonic metabolism throughout incubation. The 3 broiler strains investigated were HBY, a modern commercial broiler strain selected for high breast yield; WBM, a modern commercial broiler strain selected for the whole bird market; and UN78, a female broiler parent strain unselected since 1978. Fertility and hatchability parameters for each of the 3 strains were determined when the flocks were 32, 34, 37, and 38 wk of age. Eggshell conductance was measured on separate eggs produced from flocks at 37, 45, and 53 wk of age. Concurrently, fertile hatching eggs from the 3 broiler strains at 2 flock ages (33 and 38 wk) were incubated in individual metabolic chambers. Total daily CO2 production of each embryo was measured. Strain and flock age did not influence any of the fertility or hatchability parameters. Strain had no effect on conductance, but eggs from the 37-wk-old flocks had higher conductance than eggs from the 45- or 53-wk-old flocks, which did not differ from one another. Strain had no significant effect on average total CO2 production over the entire 21.5 d of incubation. However, embryos from the 38-wk-old flock produced more total CO2 than did embryos from the 33-wk-old flocks. Also, there was an interaction between strain and flock age for total CO2 production; UN78 embryos from the 33-wk flocks had higher CO2 production than WBM embryos, and the CO2 production of HBY did not differ from either strain. When embryos from the 38-wk flocks were compared, WBM embryos had higher CO2 production than did UN78 embryos, and HBY embryos did not differ from either strain. The data showed that in the 3 strains examined in this study, genetic differences in embryonic metabolic rate were dependent upon breeder flock age.

Estimates of breed average direct, maternal and heterosis effects for some pre-weaning traits of Zebu breeds and their crosses in southeastern Mexico

Information on 936 birth weights (BW), adjusted weaning weights (AWW) and average daily gains (ADG) from Brahman (B), Indubrazil (I), Gyr (G) and commercial Zebu (C) cattle and their crosses were obtained from the records of a farm in the State of Yucatan, Mexico. Two statistical models were used to analyse the data: the first included the effects of year and season of birth, sex of the calf, cow's parity number and breed group. The other model included the same environmental effects as the previous model and the genetic components of breed group (breed additive, breed maternal and heterosis effects). Additive and maternal effects were expressed as deviations from those for the B breed. The means of BW. AWW and ADG for the B breed were 33.3 +/- 0.64 kg, 204.0 +/- 4.9 kg and 760.06 +/- 19.24 g/day, respectively. Both models gave similar results in terms of the variance explained. Additive effects were significant (p < 0.05) for AWW and ADG but not for BW. The minor additive effect was for the C breed (-10.75 kg and 40.77 g for WW and ADG, respectively). Maternal and heterosis effects were not significant (p > 0.05) for any of the traits. The correlation between the breed group means and the means estimated by the prediction equation was r = 0.88. Finally, there was no significant genetic effect on pre-weaning calf performance among the genotypes evaluated. The genetic model can be used to predict the genotype means with a high degree of accuracy.

Azithromycin and gentamicin therapy for the treatment of humans with brucellosis

Ten patients with brucellosis were treated with azithromycin and gentamicin to assess the treatment's safety and efficacy. Seven patients had an excellent therapeutic response at the end of therapy; however, relapse was noted in 3. When relapse was considered in combination with an initial lack of efficacy, 5 patients (50%; 95% confidence interval, 18.7%-81.3%) did not respond to therapy; these results do not favor the use of azithromycin to treat brucellosis in humans.

Detection of Oestrus ovis and associated risk factors in sheep from the central region of Yucatan, Mexico

A cross-sectional epidemiologic study was conducted in order to detect the presence of and to estimate the seroprevalence of Oestrus ovis L. infection in flocks of sheep from the central region of the state of Yucatan, Mexico. The risk factors associated with disease were also identified. A sample size of 10 animals per farm was used to detect seropositive animals, considering a 30% prevalence and 95% confidence level. Blood samples of 689 sheep from 88 flocks were collected and a questionnaire with questions about the flock and the host was applied. The thin layer immune assay test was used. The risk factors were screened using logistic regression procedures. 77% of the flocks had at least one-positive animal with antibodies against O. ovis. The overall seroprevalence and standard error was 30.6 +/- 3.5%. Only flock size and sheep nose color showed association (P < 0.05) with the disease. The odds ratios for flocks with less than 11 and with 11 to 25 sheep, as related to herds with 25 or more sheep, were 0.74 and 1.73, respectively. Sheep with dark noses had a higher risk (OR = 1.46) compared with sheep having light noses (P < 0.05).

Heritability and factors affecting growth traits and age at first calving of zebu beef heifers in south-eastern Mexico

Information for this study was obtained from a commercial beef enterprise located in the subhumid tropics of Yucatan, Mexico. Data from 664 females of different zebu breeds born from 1972 to 1983 were considered for analyses. Weaning and 18-month weights were adjusted to 240 (W240) and to 550 (W550) days of age, respectively. The statistical model included the fixed effects of years of birth, season of birth, age of dam at calving, breed of heifer and the random effect of sire within breed. Arithmetic mean +/- standard deviations were 32.1 +/- 3.6 kg, 208.3 +/- 29.1 kg, 678.1 +/- 94.6 g, 308.7 +/- 29.7 kg, 342.3 +/- 89.8 g and 1,060.2 +/- 118.7 days for birth weight (BW), W240, average preweaning daily gain (ADG), W550 postweaning daily gain (PDG) and age at first calving (AFC), respectively. Year and season of birth had significant (P < 0.05) effects on W240, ADG, W550, PDG and AFC. Parity number was significant (P < 0.05) for BW, W240, ADG and AFC. Breed differences were significant (P < 0.01) for all traits, except BW. Guzerat heifers were heavier at weaning and W550 than heifers from the other breeds. Guzerat heifers first calved at an average age of 995 days; Brahman and commercial zebu heifers calved about 50 to 60 days later and the Indubrazil and Gyr heifers about 2 months later still. The heritability estimates were 0.24 +/- 0.13 for BW, 0.26 +/- 0.14 for W240, 0.29 +/- 0.14 for ADG, 0.43 +/- 0.17 for W550, 0.56 +/- 0.20 for PDG and 0.46 +/- 0.15 for AFC.

Factors affecting mortality of crossbred and exotic chickens kept under backyard systems in Yucatan, Mexico

Chicken mortality was studied in 24 randomly selected smallholder flocks in one village in Yucatan, Mexico between July and December 1993. Each family received a package of 10 to 12 chicks of 3 weeks of age. Approximately half of the chicks were purebred and the remainder were crosses produced by mating exotic with local breeds. All smallholders were visited twice a week. Feeding and management (except vaccination and medication) were left to smallholders. Data were processed by Chi-square, Mantel-Haenzel test and survival analysis. Before reaching 140 days of age 43.2% of the birds died. The highest mortality was observed during the 113 to 140 days of age period and the lowest was in the period between 22 and 56 days of age. Of all birds, 10.5% died from coccidiosis and 7.6% from Marek's disease. Of the risk factors investigated only medication and genotype showed significant effects on mortality. The effect of genotype was significant up to 112 days of age (P < 0.05). Crossbred birds lived longer than purebred; independently, medicated birds lived longer than non-medicated birds.

Adhesion of restorations to impression materials

Three impression materials, Impregum, Permadyne, and Reprosil, were tested with three restorative materials, Lodestar, Dispersalloy, and Concise. Polished cylindrical samples of each restorative material with and without a collar design were used for impression retention testing. A pullout test using an Instron machine was used to test the samples that were individually submerged in the impression materials until set. Results show similar behavior for Lodestar and Dispersalloy with and without a collar. Permadyne and Impregum were significantly more retentive with resin composite than was Reprosil. Resin composite was significantly more retentive than the metals. Impression materials may bond with restorative materials, significantly increasing resistance to impression removal.

Environmental and genetic effects on preweaning growth performance of hair sheep in Mexico

Data on 4,754 lambs born from Pelibuey (PB) and Barbados Blackbelly (BB) ewes collected over 9 years at the Mococha Experimental Centre in Yucatan, Mexico, were used to determine environmental, dam-breed and sire-breed effects on birth weight (BW), weaning weight (WW) and average daily gain (ADG). Effects of year and season of birth, sex of the lamb, type of birth, breed of dam, breed of sire, their interaction and ewe body weight were included. Heritabilities were estimated for each breed. Season of lambing was a significant source of variation on WW and ADG. Male lambs weighed more than female lambs at birth and weaning. Single born lambs were heavier than twins and triplets. Lambs born from PB dams were heavier and grew faster than those born from BB dams. Heritabilities of BW, WW and ADG for the PB breed were 0.16 +/- 0.04, 0.12 +/- 0.03 and 0.11 +/- 0.03, respectively and 0.04 +/- 0.07, 0.17 +/- 0.09 and 0.15 +/- 0.08 for the BB breed. Heterosis values were close to zero.

Semen traits and fertility of White Leghorn males shown to be positive or negative for lymphoid leukosis virus in semen and feather pulp

1. Males from strains selected for high egg production (and other economic traits) and from unselected control strains were used to determine the frequency of shedding of lymphoid leukosis virus (LLV) into semen. The effect of the male's LLV status on semen production, fertility and hatchability was also examined in males of the unselected control strains. 2. The frequency of detection of exogenous LLV in semen by the phenotypic mixing test, and high concentrations of the viral group specific antigen in feather pulp by the complement fixation test, were both higher in control strains than in strains selected for high egg production. 3. Semen production was not reduced in LLV-shedding males. 4. Significant associations of LLV shedding with higher incidence of abnormal spermatozoa and reduced fertility were found in some populations but not in others. No significant effect of LLV shedding on hatchability was detected. 5. Tests for group specific antigen in feather pulp proved useful in identifying males that shed LLV in semen.

Semen production, sperm quality, and their heritabilities as influenced by selection for fertility of frozen-thawed semen in the chicken

Ejaculate volume, sperm concentration, and sperm number per ejaculate were measured six times from 8 to 15 months of age, and testes and body weight at 15 months of age, on Generation 9 males of a line of broiler breeders selected for fertility of frozen-thawed semen and those of a randombred control line. Sperm quality (percent normal, percent abnormal, and percent dead sperm) was determined on Generation 10 males at 11 months of age. Selection decreased (P less than .01) ejaculate volume and sperm number per ejaculate. The control line had 4.9% more abnormal (P less than .05) sperm than the selected line. The differences between the lines for sperm concentration, testes and body weights, and percent dead sperm were not significant (P greater than .05). The correlation coefficients of fertility of frozen-thawed semen with percent abnormal and percent dead sperm were negative but were positive with percent normal sperm. The heritability and repeatability estimates of ejaculate volume, sperm concentration, and sperm number per ejaculate ranged from .34 to .73 and .33 to .51, respectively.

[Paracoccidioidomycosis (South American blastomycosis)]

Paracoccidioidomycosis (South American blastomycosis) is a severe deep mycosis that begins in the lungs, mouth and pharynx and can affect the whole organism through lymphatic and hematologic dissemination. It is caused by the fungus Paracoccidioides brasiliensis and occurs in warm and humid regions near large forest. The sulfonamides are very active and represent the therapy of choice. Special cases are treated with Amphotericin B.