Feeding Regime Research Articles

Colostrum quality and composition

Colostrum, the first milk produced by the cow before calving, is functionally and compositionally distinct from whole milk. Differences in fat, carbohydrate, protein, vitamin and mineral concentrations provide nutrition for the neonate. A high lipid content is an indispensable source of energy, while protein aids development and vitamins and minerals that are poorly transferred across the placenta can be provided orally. Immunoglobulins within colostrum are essential for the transfer of passive immunity, since the calf is born agammaglobulinaemic. Biologically active factors, including antimicrobial compounds, hormones, growth factors and immune-enhancing compounds, may contribute to immune development, intestinal growth and energy metabolism after birth. Bioactive substances may also direct the maturation of specific tissues via epigenetic effects that occur after parturition has occurred. An appreciation of the differences between colostrum and milk composition may be useful for all stakeholders interested in optimising early life feeding regimens for neonatal calves.

Effects of dietary restriction on genome stability are sex and feeding regimen dependent.

Preserving genome stability is essential to prevent aging and cancer. Dietary restriction (DR) is the most reproducible non-pharmacological way to improve health and extend lifespan in various species. Whether DR helps to preserve genome stability and whether this effect is altered by experimental variables remain unclear. Moreover, DR research relies heavily on experimental animals, making the development of reliable in vitro mimetics of great interest. Therefore, we tested the effects of sex and feeding regimen (time-restricted eating, alternate day fasting and calorie restriction) on genome stability in CF-1 mice and whether these effects can be recapitulated by cell culture paradigms. Here, we show that calorie restriction significantly decreases the spontaneous micronuclei (MN), a biomarker of genome instability, in bone marrow cells of females instead of males. Alternate day fasting significantly decreases cisplatin-induced MN in females instead of males. Unexpectedly, daily time-restricted eating significantly exacerbates cisplatin-induced MN in males but not in females. Additionally, we design several culture paradigms that are able to faithfully recapitulate the key effects of these DR regimens on genome stability. In particular, 30% reduction of serum, a mimetic of calorie restriction, exhibits a strong ability to decrease spontaneous and cisplatin-induced MN in immortalized human umbilical vein endothelial cells. We conclude that the effects of different DR regimens on genome stability are not universal and females from each diet regimen sustain a more stable genome than males. Our results provide novel insight into the understanding of how DR influences genome stability in a sex and regimen dependent way, and suggest that our in vitro DR mimetics could be adopted to study the underlying molecular mechanisms.

ВЫРАЩИВАНИЕ ТЕЛОК МОЛОЧНОГО НАПРАВЛЕНИЯ

This article shows the results of scientific research on raising the Holstein-Friesian heifers from birth to 12 months of age, with the introduction to their feeding regimen of "Neomilk" whole milk replacer, as well as the "Gavryusha" commercial prestarter and starter during the preweaning period and the extruded feed called "NFT KATU," produced by S. Seifullin Kazakh Agrotechnical Research University during the preweaning and postweaning periods. Three groups of calves were formed using a pair-matching method for the main research. Studies on body weight dynamics were conducted at the Aina Dairy Farm LLP with the calculation of daily average, relative, and absolute weight gains. At three months of age, the body weight of heifers in the second test group exceeded that of the control and the first test group by 7.8 kg (8.8%) and 6.8 kg (7.7%), respectively. At six months of age, the difference increased to 34.4 kg (30.7%) and 23.4 kg (19.2%). By 12 months of age, the gap widened to 106 kg (47.3%) and 77 kg (33.4%). Outline characteristics were also analyzed by taking measurements and calculating body condition indexes of the heifers. An analysis of the feeds used in animal feeding was conducted. The chemical composition analysis of the feeds revealed that the extruded feed had the highest protein content reaching 12.9%, which was 2.8% and 1.5% more than bran and "Gavryusha" prestarter, respectively.

Outcomes of Early Oral Feeding Compared to Delayed Feeding in Children after Elective Distal Bowel Anastomosis.

Conventionally, oral feeds after distal bowel anastomosis surgery (ileostomy/colostomy closure) are delayed until after bowel peristalsis is established. The safety of an early feeding regimen is not established in children. This study compared early feeding regimens with delayed feeding in children undergoing elective intestinal anastomosis surgeries. In this retrospective multicentric cohort study, children undergoing elective distal bowel anastomosis surgery were divided into Group A (oral feeds allowed within 6 h) and Group B (delayed feeds). The two groups were compared for the incidence of abdomen distension, vomiting, surgical site infection, duration of analgesia, length of hospital stay, and readmission rate. During the study, 58 patients were included: Group A (n = 26) and Group B (n = 32). The duration of analgesia (1.9 vs. 4.01 days) and length of hospital stay (3.38 vs. 5.0 days) were significantly less in Group A. Abdominal distension (7.7% vs. 15.6%), vomiting (11.5% vs. 15.6%), surgical site infection rate (3.8% vs. 12.5%), and readmissions (0% vs. 3.1%) were less in Group A, but statistically not significant. Early feeding after the elective restoration of distal bowel continuity can be safely practiced in the pediatric population. It is associated with a reduced need for analgesia and shorter hospital stay.

Inhibition of Abelson Tyrosine-Protein Kinase 2 Suppresses the Development of Alcohol-Associated Liver Disease by Decreasing PPARgamma Expression

Alcohol-associated liver disease (ALD) represents a spectrum of alcohol use-related liver diseases. Outside of alcohol abstinence, there are currently no Food and Drug Administration-approved treatments for advanced ALD, necessitating a greater understanding of ALD pathogenesis and potential molecular targets for therapeutic intervention. The ABL-family proteins, including ABL1 and ABL2, are non-receptor tyrosine kinases that participate in a diverse set of cellular functions. We investigated the role of the ABL kinases in alcohol-associated liver disease. We used samples from patients with ALD compared with healthy controls to elucidate a clinical phenotype. We established strains of liver-specific Abl1 and Abl2 knockout mice and subjected them to the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism acute-on-chronic alcohol feeding regimen. Murine samples were subjected to RNA sequencing, AST, Oil Red O staining, H&E staining, Western blotting, and quantitative polymerase chain reaction to assess phenotypic changes after alcohol feeding. Invitro modeling in HepG2 cells as well as primary hepatocytes from C57BL6/J mice was used to establish this mechanistic link of ALD pathogenesis. We demonstrate that the ABL kinases are highly activated in ALD patient liver samples as well as in liver tissues from mice subjected to an alcohol feeding regimen. We found that the liver-specific knockout of Abl2, but not Abl1, attenuated alcohol-induced steatosis, liver injury, and inflammation. Subsequent RNA sequencing and gene set enrichment analyses of mouse liver tissues revealed that relative to wild-type alcohol-fed mice, Abl2 knockout alcohol-fed mice exhibited numerous pathway changes, including significantly decreased peroxisome proliferator activated receptor (PPAR) signaling. Further examination revealed that PPARγ, a previously identified regulator of ALD pathogenesis, was induced upon alcohol feeding in wild-type mice, but not in Abl2 knockout mice. Invitro analyses revealed that shRNA-mediated knockdown of ABL2 abolished the alcohol-induced accumulation of PPARγ as well as subsequent lipid accumulation. Conversely, forced overexpression of ABL2 resulted in increased PPARγ protein expression. Furthermore, we demonstrated that the regulation of hypoxia inducible factor 1 subunit alpha (HIF1α) by ABL2 is required for alcohol-induced PPARγ expression. Furthermore, treatment with ABL kinase inhibitors attenuated alcohol-induced PPARγ expression, lipid droplet formation, and liver injury. On the basis of our current evidence, we propose that alcohol-induced ABL2 activation promotes ALD through increasing HIF1α and the subsequent PPARγ expression, and ABL2 inhibition may serve as a promising target forthe treatment of ALD.

PROTECTION OF POULTRY FROM HEAT STRESS IN SUMMER

In recent decades, climate change can be considered a global problem for society, both in the world and in Ukraine. Changes in the Earth's surface temperature and other climatic factors have occurred throughout the existence of the planet, but have been most rapid over the past 30 years. It is well established that air temperature is rising in all parts of the world. Anthropogenic warming has reached about 1 °C compared to pre-industrial levels, increasing by 0.2 °C per decade. Extreme temperature changes have caused devastating natural disasters. Climate change has led to losses and damage to people, ecosystems, food systems, infrastructure, energy and water availability, and has harmed public health and the economy. In Ukraine, the problem of rising seasonal temperatures has also become increasingly urgent in recent years. Heatwaves, when the outside temperature exceeds 30 °C in summer and reaches 40 °C in some regions, are becoming longer, which has a negative impact on the operations of poultry farms that keep poultry of different age groups, which are subject to heat stress. The purpose of the review was to analyse the mechanisms of heat stress on the poultry body and provide recommendations for reducing its negative impact. The main methods of combating stress in poultry include: cooling the poultry house through sprinklers, cooling water to 12-13 °C through a constant flow from wells, changing the feeding regime (early in the morning and in the late afternoon), moistening feed, prompt biocorrection of osmotic pressure in the protoplasm cells of the poultry body through feed and water, etc. However, the most powerful and cost-effective method of compensating for the negative effects of heat stress is the use of the effect of biocorrection of the body's metabolism with the help of special feed additives.

Optimized Expression and Isolation of Recombinant Active Secreted Proteases Using Pichia pastoris.

Recombinant proteins of high quality are crucial starting materials for all downstream applications, but the inherent complexities of proteins and their expression and purification create significant challenges. The Pichia pastoris yeast is a highly useful eukaryotic protein expression system. Pichia's low cost, genetic tractability, rapid gene expression, and scalability make it an ideal expression system for foreign proteins. Here, we developed a protocol that has optimized the expression and isolation of a non-mammalian secreted metalloprotease, where we can routinely generate recombinant proteins that are pure and proteolytically active. We maximized growth and protein production by altering the feeding regime, through implementation of a non-fermentable and non-repressing carbon source during the methanol-induction phase. This approach increased biomass production and yielded milligrams of recombinant protein. Downstream applications involving active, recombinant fungal proteases, such as conjugation to nanoparticles and structure-related studies, are greatly facilitated with this improved, standardized approach. Graphical abstract.

Cyclic feeding regime may delay aging in animals by enhancing the hepatocytes nuclei structure

Cyclic feeding regime may delay aging in animals by enhancing the hepatocytes nuclei structure

Cyclic feeding regime stimulates chromatin condensation in the hepatocytes’ nuclei of old rats

Cyclic feeding regime stimulates chromatin condensation in the hepatocytes’ nuclei of old rats

The effect of Artemia nauplii (Artemia franciscana) enriched with different commercial products on the growth performance of the larvae of freshwater angelfish, Pterophyllum scalare (Lichtenstein, 1823)

The present study was planned to determine an optimum live-feeding protocol for angelfish larvae (Pterophyllum scalare). Larvae with an initial weight of 0.10 mg, a length of 4.5 mm, and a depth of 1 mm were reared on three different feeding regimens for 30 days. All experimental larval groups were fed Artemia nauplii from the end of the yolk-sac resorption. The control treatment (Group I) was maintained on Artemia nauplii on days 14-28, and on Artemia nauplii + dry feed on days 29 and 30. Group II was reared with Artemia nauplii enriched with Algamac 3050 on days 14-28 and with dry feed + Artemia nauplii enriched with Algamac 3050 on days 29 and 30, whereas Group III was fed with Artemia nauplii enriched with Red Pepper on days 14-28, and with dry food + Artemia nauplii enriched with Red Pepper on days 29 and 30. The highest weight (37.8±0.51 mg) and length (15.8±0.35 mm) were determined in Group II with significant differences from the control group (p<0.05). However, enrichment treatments were comparable in terms of growth performance (p>0.05). The survival rate of the larvae in the treatments varied between 70-75% without significant differences (p>0.05). Overall, the study results suggest that a feeding protocol for angelfish larvae with the administration of Artemia nauplii during the first two weeks after hatching and then enriched Artemia with Algamac 3050 over the following 14-28 days followed by a gradual weaning onto dry feed.

Distinct Gut Microbiome Induced by Different Feeding Regimes in Weaned Piglets.

It is well accepted that the gut microbiota of breast-fed (BF) and formula-fed (FF) infants are significantly different. However, there is still a limited number of studies comparing the gut microbiota of BF and FF piglets, despite increasing numbers of FF piglets in the modern pig industry. The present study identified the differences in gut microbiota composition between BF- and FF-weaned Rongchang piglets at 30 days old, using pair-end sequencing on the Illumina HiSeq 2500 platform. The BF piglets had lower microbiota diversities than FF piglets (p < 0.05), and the community structures were well clustered as a result of each feeding pattern. Firmicutes and Bacteroidetes represented the most dominant phyla, and Ruminococcus, Prevotella, and Gemmiger were prominent genera in all piglets. Ruminococcus, Prevotella, Oscillospira, Eubacterium, Gemmiger, Dorea, and Lactobacillus populations were significantly higher, while Treponema and Coprococcus were significantly lower in BF piglets compared to FF piglets (p < 0.05). The metabolism pathways in the BF piglets were significantly different from FF piglets, which included carbohydrate and amino acid metabolism (p < 0.05). In addition, the top 10 abundance of microbiota were more or less significantly associated with the two phenotypes (p < 0.05). Collectively, these findings provide probable explanations for the importance of BF in neonates and support a theoretical basis for feeding regimes in indigenous Chinese piglets.

Nutritional Management of Intestinal Failure due to Short Bowel Syndrome in Children.

The most common cause of intestinal failure (IF) in childhood remains short bowel syndrome (SBS), where bowel mass is significantly reduced due to a congenital atresia or resection and parenteral nutrition (PN) needed. Home PN has improved outcome and quality of life, but the long-term therapeutic goal is to achieve enteral autonomy whilst avoiding long term complications. This paper is aimed at discussing nutritional strategies available to clinicians caring for these patients. A literature search was performed from 1992 to 2022 using Pubmed, MEDLINE and Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, and recent guidelines were reviewed. In the absence of evidence, recommendations reflect the authors' expert opinion. Consensus on the best possible way of feeding children with IF-SBS is lacking and practice varies widely between centres. Feeding should commence as soon as possible following surgery. Oral feeding is the preferred route and breast milk (BM) the first milk of choice in infants. Donor BM, standard preterm or term formula are alternatives in the absence of maternal BM. Extensively hydrolysed or amino acid-based feeds are used when these are not tolerated. Solids should be introduced as soon as clinically appropriate. Children are encouraged to eat by mouth and experience different tastes and textures to avoid oral aversion. Aggressive weaning of PN and tube (over-) feeding are now discouraged. To date, uniform agreement on the optimal type of feed, timing of food introduction and feeding regime used is lacking and great difference in practice remains. There is need for more research to establish common treatment protocols.

Effects of genotype, sex and feed restriction on the biochemical composition of chicken preen gland secretions and their implications for commercial poultry production.

Preen gland secretions spread on the feathers contain various chemical compounds dominated by fatty acids (FAs) and volatile organic compounds (VOCs). These chemicals may significantly affect plumage condition, microbial and ectoparasitic load on feathers and chemical communication of birds. However, how chemical composition of preen secretions vary in commercially produced chickens with respect to their genotype, sex and feeding regime remain largely unknown, as well as the welfare implications for farmed poultry. We found that while polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) in chicken preen secretions differed significantly with genotype (P<<0.001), saturated fatty acids (SFAs) and monounsaturated fatty acids (MUFAs) varied with genotype-dependent preen gland volume (P≤0.01). Chickens of meat-type fast-growing Ross 308 genotype had reduced preen gland volume and lower proportions of all FA categories in their preen secretions compared with dual-purpose slow-growing ISA Dual chickens. A total of 34 FAs and 77 VOCs with tens of unique FAs were detected in preen secretions of both genotypes. While differences in the relative proportion of 6 of the 10 most dominant VOCs in chicken preen gland secretions were related to genotype (P<0.001), only one of the 10 most dominant VOCs showed a sex effect (P<0.01), and only 2 of the 10 most dominant VOCs showed a genotype-dependent effect of feed restriction (P=0.037). Feed restriction had no effect on the relative proportion of any of the FAs in chicken preen gland secretions. Moreover, we found that meat-type Ross 308 preen secretions were dominated by VOCs, which are proven attractants for poultry red mite (PRM) and may also increase infestation with other ectoparasites and negatively influence overall odour-mediated intraspecific communication and welfare. This study shows that no feeding management, but long-term genetic selection in commercial breeding may be the main cause of the differences in the biochemistry and function of chicken preen secretions. This might have negative consequences for chemosignalling, antiparasitic and antimicrobial potential of preen secretions and can lead to increased susceptibility to ectoparasites, plumage care disorders, and can affect the overall condition, welfare, and productivity of commercially bred chickens. Selection-induced preen gland impairments must therefore be considered and compensated by proper management of the chicken farm and increased care about animal well-being.

Effect of substituting steam-flaked corn for course ground corn on in vitro digestibility, average daily gain, serum metabolites and ruminal volatile fatty acids, and bacteria diversity in growing yaks

Yaks are well adapted to the Qinqhai-Tibetan Plateau and, traditionally, only grazed natural pasture all year without supplements. Today, however, yaks are also raised in feedlots; consequently, more information is needed in choosing optimal feeding regimes. This study examined the effects of substituting steam-flaked corn (SFC) for coarse ground corn (CGC) on average daily gain (ADG), in vitro true digestibility (IVTD), concentrations of ruminal volatile fatty acids (VFAs) and serum metabolites, and rumen bacterial diversity of growing yaks. Twenty-one, 2-year-old male yaks (138 ± 37.3 kg) were divided randomly into 3 groups (n = 7 per group) and received a total mixed ration (TMR) for 143 days. The TMR contained 446 g corn per kg dry matter (DM), but the ratio of CGC: SFC differed among the three groups as: 1) 100:0 (SFC0), 2) 50:50 (SFC50), and 3) 0:100 (SFC100). To maintain conditions similar to the feedlots, the yaks were fed as a group and feed intake was recorded daily. The yaks were weighed on 6 occasions during the study and ADG was calculated for each yak from the regression equation of body weight (BW) on days of treatment. On the morning of d 144 before feed was offered, jugular vein blood was collected to measure the concentrations of serum metabolites, and rumen contents were collected to determine ruminal VFAs, fermentation parameters and bacterial diversity. The daily dry matter intake (DMI) averaged between 6.08 and 6.15 kg per yak for the three dietary treatments and the IVTD increased with an increase in SFC (P < 0.05). The ADG was higher (P < 0.05) by 13.2% (812 vs 717 g/d) in the SFC100 group than in the SFC0 group while the ratio of the average daily DMI per yak to the average ADG per yak was lowest numerically for the SFC100 group (7.51), followed by the SFC50 group (8.46) and then the SFC0 group (8.66). The serum concentrations of alkaline phosphatase (ALP), serum urea-N, and triglycerides (TG) decreased (P < 0.05) but of aspartate aminotransferase (AST), lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) and total cholesterol (TC) increased (P < 0.05) with an increasing proportion of dietary SFC. The greater serum concentration of LDH and lesser concentration of serum urea-N suggests that the SFC50 and SFC100 groups were proliferating cells at a faster rate and depositing more protein in muscle tissue than the SFC0 group, as the ADG increased with an increase in the level of dietary SFC. The ruminal concentrations of VFAs increased and of NH3-N decreased with an increase in the proportion of SFC. The rumen bacterial diversity did not differ among dietary groups; Bacteroidetes and Firmicutes were the dominant phyla and Prevotella and Succiniclasticum were the dominant genera in all dietary treatments. These results demonstrated that increasing the proportion of SFC could improve IVTD, ruminal concentration of VFAs, ADG and the group DMI to ADG ratio.

Low- and high-protein diets supplemented up to the fourth limiting amino acid for genetic lines of grower-finisher pigs

The protein contents in diets for grower-finisher pigs reflect directly on the pig industry, also allowing to verify the responses of modern genotypes according to the protein feeding regimen. Therefore, this study was conducted to assess low- and high-protein diets and 2 genetic lines on growth performance, plasma urea concentration (PUC), apparent digestible energy and nutrient digestibility, N balance, carcass traits and meat quality in grower-finisher pigs. In Exp. I, a total of 120 pigs (31.5 ± 5.2 kg BW) were assigned to a 2 × 2 factorial arrangement of treatments, 2 genetic lines (LI7600 and AGPIC 337) and 2 protein diets (low-protein, LP, and high-protein, HP), with 10 replicate pens per treatment and 3 pigs per pen in a randomized block design. In Exp. II, 24 entire male pigs (27.4 ± 2.9 kg BW) housed individually in metabolic cages were used in the same design as Exp. I with 6 replicates though. In Exp. I, pigs fed HP diet showed (P ≤ 0.05) greater ADG and ADFI than those fed LP diet. However, gain to feed ratio was lower (P < 0.05) in pigs fed LP diet during grower I, finisher II, and total period. Plasma urea concentration was lower (P < 0.05) in pigs fed LP diet during grower I and II and finisher I. Pigs fed HP diet had greater (P < 0.01) N intake, N absorbed, N retained, total N excreted and urine N than those fed LP diet. Fecal N was greater in AGPIC 337 pigs than in LI7600 pigs (P = 0.009). Pigs fed HP diet had greater (P ≤ 0.05) cold carcass weight, lean meat, and initial pH in L. dorsi when compared to pigs fed LP diet. However, meat color, marbling degree, drip loss, and cooking loss were lower (P ≤ 0.05) in pigs fed HP diet. LI7600 pigs showed greater (P ≤ 0.05) backfat thickness than AGPIC 337 pigs. However, lower lean meat and a* were observed (P ≤ 0.05) in LI7600 pigs. In Exp. II, LI7600 pigs showed greater (P = 0.048) ADC of gross energy and digestible energy than AGPIC 337 pigs. In conclusion, pigs fed HP diet showed optimal growth performance, meat attributes, and apparent digestibility of CP. However, HP diet did not reduce the N excretion with changes in PUC, and low CP diet without Val-and Ile-supplementation can compromise pig production performance. Furthermore, AGPIC 337 pigs showed optimal results on meat attributes compared with LI7600 pigs, but lower apparent energy digestibility.

Manipulation of Rhythmic Food Intake in Mice Using a Custom-Made Feeding System.

Rhythmic gene expression is a hallmark of the circadian rhythm and is essential for driving the rhythmicity of biological functions at the appropriate time of day. Studies over the last few decades have shown that rhythmic food intake (i.e., the time at which organisms eat food during the 24 h day), significantly contributes to the rhythmic regulation of gene expression in various organs and tissues throughout the body. The effects of rhythmic food intake on health and physiology have been widely studied ever since and have revealed that restricting food intake for 8 h during the active phase attenuates metabolic diseases arising from a variety of obesogenic diets. These studies often require the use of controlled methods for timing the delivery of food to animals. This manuscript describes the design and use of a low-cost and efficient system, built in-house for measuring daily food consumption as well as manipulating rhythmic food intake in mice. This system entails the use of affordable raw materials to build cages suited for food delivery, following a user-friendly handling procedure. This system can be used efficiently to feed mice on different feeding regimens such as ad libitum, time-restricted, or arrhythmic schedules, and can incorporate a high-fat diet to study its effect on behavior, physiology, and obesity. A description of how wild-type (WT) mice adapt to the different feeding regimens is provided.

Time-restricted feeding improves metabolic and endocrine profiles in mice with polycystic ovary syndrome.

Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is one of the most common endocrinopathy disorders in premenopausal women, which is characterized by hyperandrogenemia, anovulation, and polycystic ovarian morphology (PCOM). Time-restricted feeding (TRF) is a new intermittent restriction dietary pattern, which has been shown to have positive benefits on obesity and glycolipid metabolism disorders. We aimed to explore the effect of the feeding regimen (ad libitum vs. TRF) on the glycolipid metabolism and reproductive endocrine disorders in a PCOS mouse model. PCOS mouse model was induced by continuous subcutaneous administration of dihydrotestosterone for 21 days. Mice were fed a high-fat diet (HFD) for 8 weeks on an ad libitum or time- restricted diet (from 10:30 p.m. to 6:30 a.m.). Compared to control mice, PCOS mice that received TRF treatment had significantly lower body weight, reduced adiposity, lower area under the curve (AUC) of glucose response in the oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT), and lower AUC in the insulin tolerance test (ITT). TRF also ameliorated lipid metabolism, as shown by a reduction in plasma lipid profiles (triglycerides and cholesterol) and the triglyceride content in the liver of PCOS mice. In terms of reproduction, the plasma androgen level, plasma estrogen (E2) level, and luteinizing hormone (LH)/follicle stimulating hormone (FSH) ratio in PCOS mice were significantly reduced after 8 weeks of TRF treatment. In addition, ovarian histology showed that TRF inhibits cyst formation and promotes corpus luteum formation. In conclusion, TRF improved metabolic and endocrine profiles in mice with PCOS.

Guidelines to build PLS-DA chemometric classification models using a GC-IMS method: Dry-cured ham as a case of study

The number of representative samples to build a calibration model plays a major role in the success of chemometric models for class discrimination; therefore, knowing which samples should be used for the calibration of prediction models is essential. The aim of this work is to design a basic guideline for the training of partial least squares discriminant analysis (PLS-DA) models to classify complex samples analysed by Gas Chromatography (GC) coupled to Ion Mobility Spectrometry (IMS) using dry-cured Iberian ham as an example. The effect of the number, proportion and class of samples for training and validation and the use of two data types (spectral fingerprint or pre-selected markers) has been assessed by analysing with GC-IMS nearly 1000 dry-cured Iberian ham samples obtained from 7 different curing plants. Subsequently, these were classified with PLS-DA according to the pig's feeding regime (acorn-fed vs. feed-fed) and it has been demonstrated that 450 out of 997 samples are enough for model training to achieve a maximum average prediction accuracy rate. Furthermore, the use of pre-selected GC-IMS markers provides slightly better prediction results than the use of the complete spectral fingerprint. In summary, these results represent a tentative guide for the classification of samples in an industrial setting using GC-IMS and PLS-DA. This methodology would allow authorities and producers to ensure the quality of the agri-food products put on the market as is proven in this study.

Effects of Lablab purpurues and concentrate mixed supplements on reproductive performance and pre-weaning growth of Horro sheep grazing natural pasture in Ethiopia

The goal of this study was to compare the productivity and reproduction of Horro ewes treated with concentrate supplements (T1), and Gebis-17 (T2) and Beresa-55 (T3) Lablab purpurues varieties. Horro ewes (n = 21, 7 ewes per treatment) with a mean premating weight of 26.3 + 2.1 kg (Mean + SD) were employed in the study. Ewes with uniform parity were selected from the Bako Agricultural Research Center sheep breeding flock. They were then blocked based on the premating weight into seven groups of three ewes each, and within each group randomly allocated to one of the three dietary treatments assigning seven ewes per treatment. Over an 8-month period, the ewes were supplemented with respective feed regimens, which encompassed 5 months of gestation and 3 months of lamb growth up to weaning. The results showed that supplementation enhanced lamb birth weight (3.01 vs. 3.42 vs. 3.42 kg) and ewe weight gain during pregnancy (76.94 vs. 42.11 vs. 58.05 g/day) for T1, T2, and T3, respectively as well as all reproductive features studied, except for abortion instances that occurred in ewes fed a diet in T2 and T3. The causes of abortion in T2 and T3 cannot be ascertained because the experimental ewes were grazing during the day. Even though the T1 diet improved ewe performance in a similar way to T3 and T2, the use of such supplements is usually limited due to their high cost and inaccessibility to smallholder farmers. This emphasizes the importance of seizing the chance to replace conventional protein supplements with low-cost, on-farm cultivated forage legumes like the one studied in this study. As a result, enhancing Horro ewes' performance with either T2 (Gebisa-17) or T3 (Beresa-55) diets throughout their mating season is a promising strategy for maximizing their genetic potential. Future research should focus on the effect of supplements on lambs' post-weaning growth rate and survival.

CO2 Addition and Semicontinuous Feed Regime in Shaded HRAP—Pathogen Removal Performance

The influence of CO2 addition and feeding regime (continuous versus semicontinuous) on the removal of Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Clostridium perfringens, Staphylococcus, Enterococcus faecalis, and Escherichia coli (E. coli) from three shaded high-rate algal ponds (HRAPs) treating raw sewage (RS) was studied. The three HRAPs were operated at an analogous hydraulic retention time (HRT) for 5 days and with shading of 50%. The CO2 addition and feeding regime had no statistically significant influence on the removal of Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Clostridium perfringens, Staphylococcus sp., and Enterococcus faecalis, with 2.39–3.01, 2.07–2.31, 3.02–3.38, and 3.14–3.45 log units, respectively. However, the removal of E. coli decreased significantly with the feeding regime of 0.1 h d−1 and 2.23–3.29 log units. The productivity and the total suspended solids (TSS) removal efficiency were significantly improved with the semicontinuous feeding regime and CO2 addition. The highest productivity was obtained in the semicontinuous feeding regime, 5.93 g m2 d−1, while the TSS removal efficiency was similar between the semicontinuous feeding regime and CO2 addition (31–36%). The control of light intensity led to greater variability in the algal community, and was present in the three reactors, in different proportions, in the form of the microalgae Scenedesmus acutus, Scenedesmus obliquus, and Chlorella sp.