M. Sarwar

Influence of ad libitum feeding of urea-treated wheat straw with or without corn steep liquor on intake, in situ digestion kinetics, nitrogen metabolism, and nutrient digestion in Nili-Ravi buffalo bulls

Influence of different levels of corn steep liquor (CSL) on chemical composition of urea-treated wheat straw (UTWS), feed intake, ruminal characteristics, digestion kinetics, nitrogen (N) metabolism, and nutrient digestibility by ruminally cannulated buffalo bulls was studied using 4 × 4 Latin square design. Wheat straw was treated with 5% urea and ensiled with 0, 3, 6, and 9% CSL on a dry matter (DM) basis and was ensiled in laboratory silos for 5, 10, and 15 days. Neutral detergent fibre (NDF) contents of UTWS ensiled with 0, 3, 6, and 9% CSL were 74.01, 76.16, 77.34, and 78.93%, respectively. Acid detergent fibre (ADF), cellulose, and lignin were similar across treatments. The increase in NDF content was due to increased neutral detergent insoluble nitrogen (NDIN), as when NDF was calculated on crude protein (CP)-free basis (NDF - NDIN × 6.25), its concentration was same for UTWS ensiled with or without CSL. Four diets were formulated to contain 20% concentrate and 80% UTWS ensiled with or without CSL. Dry matter, digestible DM, organic matter (OM), CP, ADF, and NDF intakes were higher in bulls fed UTWS ensiled with CSL. Significant increases in both DM disappearance and rate of disappearance and a reduction in lag time of UTWS ensiled with CSL was noticed. There were significant differences in ruminal ammonia concentrations between diets containing UTWS ensiled with or without CSL at 3, 6, and 12 h postprandial. Higher digestibilities for DM, OM, CP, ADF, and NDF were noted with UTWS ensiled with CSL. Nitrogen balance was positive for all animals; however, the animals fed UTWS ensiled with CSL retained higher amount of N. These results indicated that CSL was very effective in enhancing the utilisation of ammoniated straw for buffaloes by minimising the nutrient loss at ruminal and cellular levels. AR M. N et al Nut ti a

Effect of organic acids or fermentable carbohydrates on digestibility and nitrogen utilisation of urea-treated wheat straw in buffalo bulls

Influence of urea treated wheat straw (UTWS) ensiled with organic acids and fermentable carbohydrates on ruminal parameters, digestion kinetics, digestibility, and nitrogen (N) balance was studied in Nili-Ravi buffalo bulls fed restricted diets. Four diets having 50% UTWS ensiled with acetic acid (AD), formic acid (FD), acidified molasses (MD), and corn steep liquor (CD) were fed to ruminally cannulated bulls in a 4 × 4 Latin square design. Higher ruminal ammonia N at 3 h post feeding was observed with AD and FD diets; however, at 9 and 12 h post feeding it was higher with MD and CD diets. Ruminal total volatile fatty acids and acetate concentrations were significantly higher with MD and CD diets than AD and FD diets. The ruminal degradability, rate of disappearance, and lag time of dry matter (DM) and neutral detergent fibre (NDF) were statistically higher with MD and CD diets than AD and FD diets. Total bacterial, viable, and cellulolytic ruminal counts were significantly higher in bulls fed CD and MD diets than AD and CD diets. The digestibility of DM, organic matter, NDF, and acid detergent fibre was significantly higher in bulls fed CD and MD diets than AD and FD diets. The N retained out of N intake was higher in bulls fed CD and MD diets than those fed AD and FD diets. This study indicated that the UTWS ensiled with fermentable carbohydrates is of better feeding value for ruminants than UTWS ensiled with organic acids.

Effect of Pretreatment with UV Radiation on Physical and Mechanical Properties of Photocured Jute Yarn with 1,6-Hexanediol Diacrylate (HDDA)

Jute yarns were grafted with a single impregnating monomer 1,6-hexanediol diacrylate (HDDA) in order to improve the physicomechanical properties. Jute yarns soaked for different soaking times (3, 5, 10, and 30 minutes) in HDDA+MeOH solutions at different proportions (1–10% HDDA in MeOH [v/v] along with photoinitiator Darocur-1664 [3%]) were cured under UV lamp at different UV radiation intensities (two, four, six, and eight passes). Concentration of monomer, soaking time, and intensity of UV radiation were optimized with extent of mechanical properties such as tensile strength, elongation at break, and modulus. Enhanced tensile strength (67%), modulus (108%), and polymer loading (11%) were achieved with 5% HDDA concentration, 5-minute soaking time, fourth pass of UV radiation. To further improve the mechanical properties, the jute yarns were pretreated with UV radiation (5, 10, 15, 30, and 50 passes) and treated with optimized monomer concentration (5%). UV-pretreated samples showed the enhanced properties. The tensile strength and modulus increase up to 84% and 132%, respectively, than that of virgin jute yarn. An experiment involving water absorption capacity shows that water uptake by treated samples was much lower than that of the untreated samples. During the weathering test, treated yarns exhibited less loss of mechanical properties than untreated yarns.

Evaluation of GeneXpert MTB/RIF for detection of Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex and rpo B gene in respiratory and non-respiratory clinical specimens at a tertiary care teaching hospital in Saudi Arabia

Objectives To assess the performance of Xpert MTB/RIF, an automated molecular test for Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB) and resistance to rifampin (RIF), against smear microscopy and culture method for diagnosis of MTB infection. Methods This is a retrospective analysis of 103 respiratory and 137 non-respiratory patient specimens suspected of tuberculosis at King Khalid University Hospital, Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia performed between April 2014 and March 2015. Each sample underwent smear microscopy, mycobacterial culture, and GeneXpert MTB/RIF test. Results Fifteen out of 103 respiratory samples were smear and culture positive, whereas 9 out of 137 non-respiratory samples were smear positive. Out of 9 smear positive specimens, 8 were also culture positive. All 15 culture positive respiratory samples were detected by Xpert MTB/RIF (sensitivity and positive predictive value [PPV]=100%). Similarly, all 8 culture positive non-respiratory specimens were identified by Xpert MTB/RIF (sensitivity 100%; PPV 88.8%). The Xpert MTB/RIF detected only one false positive result in 88 smear negative respiratory specimens (specificity 98.9%; negative predictive value [NPV]= 100%). All 125 smear negative non-respiratory specimens tested negative by culture and Xpert MTB/RIF (sensitivity, specificity, PPV, NPV= 100%). Conclusion The performance of Xpert MTB/RIF was comparable to the gold standard culture method for identification of MTB in both respiratory and non-respiratory clinical specimens.