Higher Performance Index Research Articles

An improved QRS complex detection method having low computational load

Abstract In this study, an improved QRS complex detection method having low complexity is proposed. This method includes two stages as preprocessing and decision making. The preprocessing stage consists of a band-pass digital FIR filter, squaring operation, moving average, normalization steps whereas the decision stage includes only one phase realizing the QRS complex detection. In the preprocessing stage, the unwanted frequency components of the Electrocardiogram (ECG) signal were reduced by using the digital FIR filter. The filtered signal was enhanced with the squaring operation and finally integrated and smoothed by moving average step. In the decision making stage, R peaks were detected employing a dynamic threshold process incorporating with the preprocessing stage for determining the QRS complex components. The R peaks were detected by comparing the time intervals between two successive R peaks with the calculated time range. For assessing the performance of the proposed method, it was tested using the ECG recordings (about 1.3 million beats) taken from the five standard databases as MIT-BIH Arrhythmia, Fantasia, MIT-BIH Noise Stress Test, QT and European ST-T. In this study, 1296137 beats of 272 cases were tested for QRS detection and the average sensitivity, Se was obtained as 99,60%, while the average positive predictivity, +P was provided as 99,77%. The contribution of the proposed method is that the training, selection, setting and prediction processes are not required while determining the necessary parameters. Therefore, this contribution reduces the complexity of the method resulting in decreasing the computational load as well without compromising on high performance indices (Se and +P). Since the proposed method provides low complexity and computational load together with high accuracy, it can be implemented as a QRS detector for applications of telemedicine and embedded systems easily in contrast to the algorithms having higher complexity.

Effect of a Phytogenic Feed Additive Supplemented Diet on Growth Performance, Hemato-biochemical Profile and Carcass Characteristics of Broiler Chickens

The aim of this work was to assess the efficacy of a phytogenic feed additive (PFA) as an alternative to antibiotic growth promoters (AGP) on the performance of broilers. Day-old Vencobb-400Y broiler chicks (n=250) were randomly divided into five groups, each with five replicates of 10 chicks and fed a basal diet with either no added growth promoter (negative control; NCON), or with an antibiotic (positive control; PCON) or with the PFA at 0.25% (PFA-L), 1.25% (PFA-M) and 2.5% (PFA-H). The effect of dietary treatments was assessed in a 6-week study. Supplementation of 2.5% PFA gave better response than others, even than PCON birds. The BW gain, feed intake and growth rate of PFA-H birds were similar (P>0.05) to PCON birds. However, PFA-H group showed lower FCR and higher performance index than PCON group. The mean WBC count was significantly (P<0.05) higher in the birds of PFA supplemented groups than NCON and PCON group birds. The H: L ratio was lower in PFA-M and PFA-H groups in comparison to NCON group birds. The serum cholesterol concentration in PFA-supplemented birds was significantly (P<0.05) lower in comparison to PCON group birds. Serum ALT and AST levels in PFA-H birds were the lowest (P<0.05) while the highest ALT level was observed in PCON birds. The drawn yield percentage in PFA-M and PFA-H group was significantly (P<0.05) higher than PCON group. The economic gain by PFA supplementation at 2.5% level was higher than NCON, but lower than PCON. It is concluded that the selected PFA may be used at level of 2.5% in broilers feed as an effective alternative to antibiotic growth promoters.

Design of a Robust Digital Control System for the Rectification Column Used in the Production of Divinyl

A complex optimization criterion that takes into account the integral quadratic error and the stability margin of a robust digital control system for the rectification column used for the butylene-divinyl fraction is proposed. The influence of the weight coefficient, taking into account the ratio of the performance and stability indicators, on the dynamic characteristics of the system is investigated. High system performance and system stability indices over a sufficiently broad range of variation of the parameters of the rectification column are achieved through the use of the proposed optimization criterion and a stability estimation algorithm in the synthesis of a robust digital control system.

Comparative assessment of newly designed burial type lowland power cultivator for weed control

Weeds are the major reason for the significant yield reduction in rice cultivation worldwide. Power weeders have been introduced to rice cultivation as an alternative solution for the controversial herbicide applications. The aim of this study was to appraise the newly designed burial type lowland power cultivator through a comparative performance assessment including cost economics. Five weeding methods using Cono-weeder (T1), Modified “Asakura” wooden clog (T2), Rotary power weeder (T3), Newly designed lowland power cultivator (T4) and manual weeding (T5 as the control) were evaluated. The T4 showed a significantly high field capacity of 0.04 ha/h, which is 8 times higher than T5, high field efficiency of 88.30% and weeding efficiency of 62.29% which was similar to the performance of T5. Significantly high performance indexes were observed in T2 and T4 (461.65) followed by T1 and T3. Plant damage percentage, maximum tiller number and the yield did not show any significant variation (p>0.05) among weed control methods assessed. Further, the T4 showed a significantly low cost of weeding of 6583 Rs/ha which was 76% of cost reduction of the T5, and moderately high break-even point of 0.88 ha/yr suggesting that it is appropriate for the medium and large scale farmers. Moreover, T4 showed low fuel consumption (0.556 L/h) and power requirement (0.57 kW) representing 48% and 42% respective reductions over the T3. Further, T4 showed the significant lowest weed re-growth rate which is essential for sustainable weed control. Based on the above results, newly designed burial type power cultivator could be recommended for medium and large scale paddy farming, since it showed high performance compared to other methods assessed. Machine performance could be further improved by high speed, light weight design with efficient turning mechanism. Besides, it is suggested to conduct detailed ergonomic evaluation in future investigations.

Chlorophyll-a fluorescence evaluation of PEG-induced osmotic stress on PSII activity in Arabidopsis plants expressing SIP1

In this study, we evaluated the effect of osmotic stress on photosynthetic machinery of Arabidopsis plants expressing a gene encoding small basic intrinsic protein (SIP1) isolated from Solanum tuberosum. Intact leaves of SIP Arabidopsis plants were exposed to 15% polyethylene glycol (PEG) solution and fast Chlorophyll-a (Chl-a) fluorescence induction kinetics was measured. Photosynthetic parameters like ratio of variable and maximum fluorescence (FV/FM), absorbance of photons per active reaction center (ABS/RC), trapping of photons per active reaction center (TRo/RC), electron transport per active reaction center (ETo/RC), and performance index (PI) were measured. Furthermore, the energy pipeline model was deduced in response to PEG stress. The membrane model includes a visualization of the average “antenna size”, which follows the value of the ABS/RC. Analysis of SIP Arabidopsis plants under PEG stress through fast Chl-a fluorescence transient showed that the damage caused due to PEG is more prominent at the donor side rather than the acceptor side of PSII. Higher PI in SIP plants under PEG stress indicated a better vitality than control plants. Overall, these results indicate that constitutive expression of SIP1 in Arabidopsis plants induces significant changes in the photosynthetic machinery under PEG-induced osmotic stress.

EFFECT OF GUANIDINO ACETIC ACID WITH OR WITHOUT AMINO ACIDS AND FEED ENZYME ON PERFORMANCE, CARCASS CHARACTERISTICS AND ECONOMIC EFFICIENCY IN BROILERS FED A CORN/SOY- BASED DIETS

The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of adding Guanidino acetic acidmixture (GAA), Amino Acids (A.A.; Meth. + Lys. + Thr. + Arg.) or both (GAA + A.A.) and b-mannanase (Hemicell HT) to a typical corn soybean meal diets on growth performance, carcass characteristics and economical efficiency of broiler chicks. A total number of 225 day old Hubbard broiler chicks were classified into 5 equal groups, each was subdivided into 3 replicates with 15 chicks. The control group was fed basal (starter, grower and finisher) diets without supplementation, while the other groups (T1), (T2), (T3) and (T4) were fed the basal diets supplemented with 600mg G.A.A/kg.; 1450 mg A.A. kg. diet or both (600mg GAA + 1450 mg A.A.) and300mg b-mannanase/kg diet, respectively. Diets and water were provided I. throughout the experimental period (1-35) days of age. The results indicated that: Live body weight, daily weight gain and daily feed intake for the broiler chicks fed basal diets supplemented with GAA + A.A., (T3) or b-mannanase, (T4)reflected the highest significant results than those fed control basal diets at 1-35 days of age. Chicks fed T1, T2 and T3 diets had significant better FCR compared with those fed control or T4 diets. The best protein (PCR), energy (ECR) conversion ratio and the highest performance index (PI) and production efficiency factor (PEF) were recorded for the group supplied with GAA + A.A., (T3) compared with other dietary treatments. The group of chicks fed AA mixture recorded significantly higher percentages of dressing and ready to look comparing to control group. While, the same group (T2) showed lower value of giblets % as comparing to unsupplemented treatment. Economical evaluation, the chicks fed basal diets supplemented with different feed additives (T1-4) supported the calculated economic efficiency percentages compared to control group and the corresponding increasing values were 15.73, 1.35, 35.89 and 14.14% respectively.

Chlorophyll a fluorescence reveals adaptation strategies in drought stress in Ricinus communis

Ricinus communis L. cultivation is an economic alternative in arid regions, particularly in India, China and northeastern Brazil. Research on photosynthetic behavior under conditions of water deficit is valuable for genetic improvement programs and the management of this crop. We aimed to obtain information on the photosynthetic mechanisms and acclimation to stress in young plants of the castor cultivars BRS Gabriela and IAC Guarani grown in the greenhouse, for which irrigation had been suspended for 35 days. Chlorophyll a fluorescence transient and gas exchange were measured every 7 days, and growth was measured at the end of the experiment. Growth and gas exchange were negatively affected by stress, with reductions being detected early during the period of water deficit. There was an increase in water-use efficiency in both cultivars, as well as a reduction in intrinsic carboxylation efficiency. Although gas exchange was reduced initially, the parameters of the JIP test, calculated from the fluorescence transient, indicated an increased activity of the photochemical apparatus, with higher performance indices. A decrease in the activity of the electron transport chain was observed at the end of the stress period, with a concomitant increase in the dissipation and inactivation of photosystem II reaction centers and a consequent reduction in performance indices, with IAC Guarani plants showing greater susceptibility to stress compared to BRS Gabriela plants. Considering the photosynthetic activity in stressed plants, castor bean plants show acclimation of electron transport during the short-term water deficit, however, with decrease in the photosynthesis in long term.

DIGITAL ADAPTIVE FEEDFORWARD/FEEDBAСK CONTROLLER FOR AUTOTRACKING RADAR

The problem of designing a perfect adaptive control law for controlling the nonminimum phase discrete-time tracking system, which represents an aircraft autotracking radar, obtained by sampling a continuous-time system is proposed. The main goal is to achieve high performance indices of this class of systems. A new adaptive digital controller consisting of the adaptive feedback in conjunction with adaptiveindirect feedforward circuits is proposed. Obtained results can be useful for autotracking radar design.

Photosynthetic Response of Soybean Leaf to Wide Light-Fluctuation in Maize-Soybean Intercropping System.

In maize-soybean intercropping system, soybean plants will be affected by the wide light-fluctuation, which resulted from the shading by maize plants, as the shading of maize the light is not enough for soybean in the early morning and late afternoon, but at noon, the light is strong as the maize shading disappeared. The objective of this study is to evaluate the photosynthetic response of soybean leaf to the wide light-fluctuation. The data of diurnal variation of photosynthetic characters showed that the photosynthetic rate of intercropped soybean was weaker than that of monocropped soybean. The chlorophyll content, ratio of chlorophyll a/b, and AQE (apparent quantum efficiency) were increased and Rd (dark respiration rate) was decreased for the more efficient interception and absorption of light and carbon gain in intercropping. δRo (The efficiency/probability with which an electron from the intersystem electron carriers was transferred to reduce end electron acceptors at the PSI acceptor side) and φRo (the quantum yield for the reduction of the end electron acceptors at the PSI acceptor side) in intercropped soybean leaf were lower compared to those in monocropped one, which showed that the acceptor side of PSI might be inhibited, and also it was the main reason that soybean plants showed a low photosynthetic capacity in intercropping. ψEo (the efficiency/probability with an electron moves further than QA-) in monocropping and intercropping decreased 5.8, and 35.7%, respectively, while φEo (quantum yield for electron transport) decreased 27.7 and 45.3% under the high radiation at noon, which suggested that the acceptor side of PSII was inhibited, while the NPQ became higher. These were beneficial to dissipate excess excitation energy in time, and protect the photosynthetic apparatus against photo-damage. The higher performance index on the absorption basis (PIABS) and lower δRo, φRo, ψEo, and φEo of intercropped soybeans compared to monocropping under high radiation indicated that the electron transfer of intercropped soybean was inhibited more seriously and intercropped soybean adjusted the electron transport between PSII to PSI to adapt the light-fluctuation. Higher NPQ capacity of intercropped soybeans played a key role in keeping the leaf with a better physiological flexibility under the high radiation.

Proposed panel of diagnostic tools for accurate temporal classification of symptomatic T. gondii infection

Serological tests available for the diagnosis of acute Toxoplasma gondii infection have limitations in establishing the temporal diagnosis of acute toxoplasmosis. The present analytical-descriptive investigation comprises of a prospective longitudinal cohort study to search for accurate biomarkers to distinguish acute, early and late convalescent T. gondii infection. Classic methods (immunofluorescence-IFA along with Enzyme-linked immunosorbent-ELISA and fluorescent-ELFA assays) for IgM, IgA, IgG and IgG avidity were employed in parallel with flow cytometry-based anti-fixed T. gondii tachyzoites serology (FC-AFTA-IgM, IgG, IgG avidity and IgG subclasses). The results reemphasized the limitations of IgM & IgG IFA, IgG ELFA, IgG & IgG subclasses FC as well as IgA ELISA biomarkers for the temporal diagnosis of acute toxoplasmosis. Receiver Operating-characteristics features (ROC-curves) were employed to adjust conventional cut-offs aiming at establishing a novel protocol to discriminate more accurately the different phases of toxoplasmosis. Conversely, IgM presented high diagnostic co-positivity for acute toxoplasmosis (97% for ELISA, 96% for ELFA and 95% for FC-AFTA) along with moderate co-negativity for detection of late convalescent toxoplasmosis (82%, 76% and 79%, respectively). IgG avidity (ELFA and FC-AFTA) outstand with the highest performance indices with 91% and 96% co-negativity for assessing acute toxoplasmosis and 91% and 98% co-positivity for late convalescent toxoplasmosis, respectively. Multivariate analysis generated a three-step algorithm comprising IgM ELFA screening followed by ELFA and FC-AFTA IgG avidity with high accuracy in discriminating acute from late convalescent infection. Together, these findings demonstrate the applicability of the proposed panel of diagnostic tools for accurate temporal classification of T. gondii infection.

Enhancement of laminar forced convection cooling in wavy heat sink with rectangular ribs and Al2O3/water nanofluids

In this study, a wavy heat sink is roughened with rectangular ribs. It is expected that the proposed idea has a great impact on the hydrothermal performance of wavy heat sink. As the second heat transfer enhancement method, Al2O3/water nanofluids are used in the wavy heat sink. The tested parameters are waviness aspect ratio, rib arrangement, rib width, nanoparticles weight fraction, and Reynolds number. The numerical results are well validated with data obtained from the experimental part. The maximum deviation is not more than 10%. The results display higher values of heat transfer coefficient and pressure drop for the ribbed wavy heat sinks compared to the smooth ones. In the studied ranges, the heat transfer coefficient and pressure drop for the ribbed wavy heat sinks are 4–128% and 8–185% higher than those for the smooth wavy sinks, leading to a hydrothermal performance index between 0.93 and 1.75. The highest performance index is obtained for a ribbed wavy heat sink with corner arrangement, waviness aspect ratio of 0.1, rib width of 0.3mm, and Reynolds number of 900. It is also found that the nanofluids propose higher heat transfer coefficient and pressure drop in comparison with water, and their values increase as the weight fraction goes up.

Thermal performance analysis of tunable magnetite nanofluids for an energy system

This study is based on the effect of external magnetic field on heat transfer performance and pumping power of Fe3O4/DI-water nanofluid is experimentally investigated under both laminar and turbulent flow regimes. The magnetite ferrofluids with 0.25% and 0.50% of weight fractions are prepared by a chemical precipitating method using ammonium hydroxide reagent for maximising the stabilisation. The experiments were conducted at various mass flow rates with two different external magnets arrangements and input powers. The result shows that the enhancement in local heat coefficient was more pronounced by introducing more magnets on the tube of the test section, especially in the turbulent flow regime. The heat transfer coefficient improves with an increase in Reynolds number as well. In addition, the effect of the magnetic field was not significant on the increment of pressure loss. Therefore, the highest performance index and lowest exergy loss were found for external magnets configurations at 0.25wt% of nanofluids. The rise in heat transfer is assumed to be an accumulation of nanoparticles near the ring magnets, which may lead to a local thermal conductivity improvement. This aggregation formation enhancing the momentum and energy transfer in the fluid flow.

Evolutional RBFNs image model describing-based segmentation system designs

Knowledge discovered-based radial basis function neural networks (RBFNs) model can describe an appropriate behaviors of identified image patterns through the multiple and hybrid learning schemes. The image data extraction learning algorithm (IDELA) with dynamic recognitions to automatically match the appropriate feature with a suitable number of radial basis function (RBFs). This first step approaches their associated centers positions to extract initial prototypes. The approximated image model as a describer is automatically generated by the RBFPSO learning scheme, which is contained hybrid bacterial foraging particle swarm optimization (BFPSO) algorithm and recursive least-squares (RLS) iterations to deeply approach the image feature. Due to the limitations and possible local learning trap, K-means, differential evolution (DE) and particle swarm optimization (PSO) learning algorithms cannot obtain the most smaller Root-Mean-Square Error (RMSE) to achieve an appropriate image segmentation in all experiment cases. The constructed RBFNs image model is generated by the support of multiple image self-extraction feature machine (MISEFM), which combined IDELA and RBFPSO algorithms to develop the universal RBFNs image describers. Simulations compared with other K-means, PSO and DE learning methods, show the average great performance in several real image segmentation applications. The peak signal-to-noise ratio (PSNR) index is selected to evaluate the quality of the reconstructed images. Simulations show that the evolutional hybrid and multi-level RBFNs image model-based system is determined to simultaneously achieve both high performance indexes on accuracy (RMSE) and a high image quality description (PSNR) for matching the desired characters and behaviors of image patterns within a fewer RBFs functions.

MRI based objective ischemic core-penumbra quantification in adult clinical stroke.

Objective and non-invasive quantification of ischemic stroke and differentiation of salvageable from non-salvageable tissue is critical to treatment planning. However current Magnetic Resonance Imaging(MRI) techniques are time consuming and rely on manual detection methods. Computer aided preliminary screening of the injured tissue could assist neuroradiologists in performing more detailed analysis of the lesion components. An established Hierarchical Region Splitting (HRS) method was extended to segment lesions from adult patients who suffered a clinical stroke using diffusion- and perfusion weighted image (DWI-PWI) maps and associated computed maps. Apart from lesion quantification PWI-DWI based HRS was also able to automatically quantify core (irrecoverable) the penumbra (potentially recoverable) which helped to estimate salvageable tissue. The PWI-DWI/HRS results were validated by comparing with manually demarcated ground truth in terms of performance indices like lesion volume (82.1% accuracy), sensitivity (78.8%), specificity (99.3%) and similarity (78.54%) for a dataset of 10 acute adult stroke patients. Data sets were classified into severe, moderate and mild injuries based on total lesion volume. Proposed PWI-DWI/HRS method demonstrated accuracy close to manual lesion demarcation with high performance indices for core and penumbra in severe and moderate classes.

Enhancement of cooling characteristics and optimization of a triple concentric-tube heat exchanger with inserted ribs

Experimental and numerical investigation of the triple concentric-tube heat exchanger with inserted ribs has been carried out. The purpose is to evaluate the performance characteristics of the triple tube heat exchanger with rib inserts. The investigation key design parameters involve water mass flow rate, flow pattern, temperature variation, rib height and rib pitch. Numerical CFD modeling is developed using FLUENT commercial code and validation criteria is done to extend the study parameters with extra ranges. The results revealed that, the insertion of ribs to the inner annulus fluid flow of the triple tube heat exchanger participate a significant enhancement of the convective heat transfer. Higher performance index is obtained at higher rib pitch and lower rib height. A set of empirical expressions with the dimensionless design parameters have been predicted based on the obtained data.

Desempenho e comportamento tático de jogadores de futebol das categorias de base

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5007/1980-0037.2017v19n2p242 The aim of this research was to evaluate the performance and tactical behavior of youth soccer players of teams from base categories. The sample consisted of 152 male soccer players aged 11-17 years who participated in the in the U-13 (n = 50), U-15 (n = 62) and U-17 (n = 40) Sergipe State Championship in the year 2015. The System of Tactical Assessment in Soccer (FUT-SAT) was used to identify the players’ tactical behavior based on the fundamental tactical principles. The main results of the study show that players presented higher tactical offensive performance (50.8 ± 9.8 points) compared to defensive performance (34.3 ± 5.7 points) (p &lt; 0.001; d = 2,1), and the Depth Mobility principle presented the highest performance indices in the offensive phase (64.1 ± 8.7; F = 54.4; p &lt; 0.001; partial ƞ² = 0.26). Defensive Coverage showed the highest performance indexes in the defensive phase (46.1 ± 24.3; F = 54.4; p &lt; 0.001; partial ƞ² = 0.26).

Assessment of variability and performance of new landraces of small cardamom (Elettaria cardamomum Maton)

&lt;p&gt;Even though fourteen improved varieties of small cardamom have been released in India so far, many of the farmers in the&lt;br /&gt;traditional cardamom tracts still use farmer selected landraces as planting material and hence the importance of landraces is not&lt;br /&gt;questionable. Four new landraces of small cardamom identified from Idukki district of Kerala State of India namely Pulari,&lt;br /&gt;Pappalu, Kalarikkal Bold and Arjun were evaluated along with Njallani Green Gold (popular landrace) and ICRI-2 (improved&lt;br /&gt;variety released by Indian Cardamom Research Institute) for growth, yield and quality characters. Eight growth characters, eight&lt;br /&gt;yield characters and eleven quality characters were analyzed for the purpose and all of them except two yield characters showed&lt;br /&gt;statistically significant variation indicating the occurrence of significant genotypic difference between these landraces. A comparative&lt;br /&gt;analysis of overall performance of the four landraces was also carried out and the results showed that Pappalu, Kalarikkal Bold&lt;br /&gt;and Pulari performed significantly superior to Njallani Green Gold and ICRI-2, the controls. Pappalu showed 132.22 per cent&lt;br /&gt;increase in yield over Njallani Green Gold and 158.02 per cent over ICRI-2. The cumulative performance indices of all the new&lt;br /&gt;landraces were worked out and the landrace Pappalu had the highest performance index of 30.06 followed by Kalarikkal Bold&lt;br /&gt;(27.45), Arjun (25.57) and Pulari (24.14). All the four new landraces have been found to be superior to ICRI-2 while Pappalu,&lt;br /&gt;Kalarikkal Bold and Pulari showed superiority over Njallani Green Gold, under preliminary evaluation.&lt;/p&gt;

Nanofluids effects on the evaporation rate in a solar still equipped with a heat exchanger

In this paper, the performance of a solar still equipped with a heat exchanger using nanofluids has been studied both experimentally and theoretically through three key parameters, i.e., freshwater yield, energy efficiency and exergy efficiency. First, experiments are performed on a set-up, which is mainly composed of two flat plate solar collectors connected in series, and a solar still equipped with a heat exchanger. After heated in the collectors, the nanofluid enters the heat exchanger installed in the solar still basin to exchange heat with brackish water. The research question is to know how much the effect of nanofluids on the evaporation rate inside the solar desalination system is. The experiments are conducted for different nanoparticle volume fractions, two sizes of nanoparticles (7 and 40nm), two depths of water in the solar still basin (4 and 8cm), and three mass flow rates of nanofluids during various weather conditions. It is found that the weather conditions (mainly the sun radiation intensity) have a dominant influence on the solar still performance. To discover the effects of nanofluids, a mathematical model is developed and validated by experimental data at given weather conditions. The results reveal that using the heat exchanger at temperatures lower than 60°C is not advantageous and the corresponding yield is smaller than that of solar still without the heat exchanger; although in such a case, using nanofluids as the working fluid in the heat exchanger can enhance the performance indices about 10%. At higher temperatures (e.g. 70°C), the use of heat exchanger is beneficial; however, using nanofluids instead of water can augment the performance indices marginally i.e. just around 1%. In addition, it is found that in high temperatures using SiO2/water nanofluids, which have a lower effective thermal conductivity than that of Cu/water nanofluids, provides higher performance indices.

Growth performance of grasscutters fed diets containing &lt;i&gt;Moringa oleifera&lt;/i&gt; leaf meal and/or soybean meal

A total of ninety six-week old grasscutters were used in a study conducted to investigate the growth performance of grasscutters fed diets containing Moringa oleifera leaf meal (MOLM) and/or soybean meal (SBM). The ninety (90) grasscutters were randomly assigned to three experimental groups consisting of thirty (30) grasscutters each. The grasscutters were randomly assigned each to three experimental diets designated as follows: 15% MOLM, 15% SBM, and 10% MOLM + 10% SBM. Feed and water were provided ad libitum. Data were collected on growth performance during the period of the study which lasted for ten weeks including two weeks of acclimatization period. Results showed that grasscutters fed diet containing 10% MOLM+10% SBM had significantly (p < 0.05) higher performance indices than grasscutters on other treatment diets, except for feed conversion ratio, where grasscutters fed diet 1 (15% MOLM,) had the least FCR than grasscutters in other groups. Based on the results, the inclusion of MOLM and SBM at 10% levels each resulted in improved performance, and thus considered adequate for growth of grasscutters. Key words : micro-livestock, captive, productivity, grasscutters, feeding

Effect of Dietary Esterified Glucomannan on the Performance of Broiler Chickens During Experimental Aflatoxicosis

The amelioration effect of dietary esterified glucomannan (EGM) was studied in experimental aflatoxicosis using broiler chickens. Day-old chicks (n=270) were divided into 6 treatment groups, containing 45 numbers in each and the study was made in triplicates for 6 weeks. A control ration was prepared with conventional feedstuffs and an experimental diet was made from this ration after incorporating aflatoxin (AF) B1 at 300 ppb. From experimental diet, three rations were prepared by mixing EGM at graded levels i.e., 0.025, 0.05 or 0.10%; whereas, the positive control diet had 0.05% EGM. Significantly (P<0.05) higher BW gain was recorded in the control as well as positive control birds as compared to all treated groups. Toxin-alone fed group showed significantly lowest BW. Feeding of EGM could partially improve the BW of toxin fed broilers. The feed consumption in toxin-fed groups were significantly depressed; however, there was partial improvement due to the supplementation of EGM in their diets. The feed efficiency was also inferior in the toxin-alone fed group; however, when EGM was supplemented there was significant (P<0.05), though partial improvement. The cost of feeding per kg live weight was found to be lowest in control group whereas highest in toxin-alone fed group; nevertheless, dietary EGM reduced cost of feeding. The highest performance index was noted in control group whereas the lowest in toxin-alone fed group. Among the various treatments, 0.10 per cent of EGM gave the best results.