Displaying publications 41 - 60 of 16708 in total

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  1. Zun Liang Chuan, Nor Azura Md Ghani, Choong-Yeun Liong, Abdul Aziz Jemain
    Sains Malaysiana, 2013;42:1339-1344.
    Oleh sebab kejadian jenayah bersenjata api semakin berleluasa, pengecaman senjata api yang digunakan oleh penjenayah amat diperlukan sebagai bahan bukti dalam mahkamah. Beberapa sistem pengecaman senjata api telah diutarakan sebagai pengganti kepada cara penyiasatan tradisional yang amat bergantung kepada kepakaran ahli balistik. Pemetakan rantau tumpuan (ROI) berdasarkan kedudukan titik sauh (PAP) sempadan bulatan kesan pin peletup pada tapak kelongsong peluru merupakan langkah yang amat penting dalam sistem pengecaman senjata api automatik. Walau bagaimanapun, kaedah yang digunakan dalam kajian lepas bagi mengesan PAP sempadan bulatan tersebut adalah sangat kompleks dan memerlukan masa pemprosesan yang panjang. Kajian ini menerokai algoritma yang efisien dan berkemampuan untuk mengesan PAP sempadan bulatan secara automatik. Algoritma yang diutarakan merupakan gabungan daripada penapis penajaman reruang, penormalan histogram, pengambangan dan penganggar kuasa dua terkecil tak berpemberat. Dua kaedah pengambangan yang terkenal telah diuji dan dibandingkan, iaitu kaedah pengambangan berasaskan pengelompokan dan kaedah berasaskan entropi. Di samping itu, penerokaan kesan saiz dan bentuk ROI terhadap kadar pengelasan senjata api turut dipersembahkan. Sebanyak 747 imej kesan pin peletup jenis sempadan bulatan peletup yang dihasilkan oleh lima pucuk pistol yang berlainan daripada jenis yang sama digunakan untuk menguji algoritma yang diutarakan. Kadar pengelasan imej kesan pin peletup yang memberangsangkan (> 95%) telah dicapai dengan algoritma yang dicadangkan. Kajian juga mendapati bahawa saiz dan bentuk pemetakan ROI mempunyai kesan langsung terhadap kadar pengelasan senjata api.
    Matched MeSH terms: Animals
  2. Zulperi D, Sijam K
    Plant Dis, 2014 Feb;98(2):275.
    PMID: 30708756 DOI: 10.1094/PDIS-03-13-0321-PDN
    During March 2011 to June 2012, 50 banana plants of cultivar Musa × paradisiaca 'Horn' with Moko disease symptoms were randomly sampled in 12 different locations of 5 outbreak states in Peninsular Malaysia comprising Kedah, Selangor, Pahang, Negeri Sembilan, and Johor, with disease incidence exceeding 90% in some severely affected plantations. The disease symptoms observed in the infected plants included yellowing and wilting of the oldest leaves, which became necrotic, and eventually led to their dieback or collapse. The pulp of banana fruits also became discolored and exuded bacterial ooze. Vascular tissues in pseudostems were discolored. Fragments from symptomatic plant samples were excised and cultured on Kelman's-tetrazolium salt (TZC) medium. Twenty positive samples produced fluidal colonies that were either entirely white or white with pink centers after incubation for 24 to 48 h at 28°C on Kelman's-TZC medium and appeared as gram-negative rods after Gram staining. They were also positive for potassium hydroxide (KOH), Kovacs oxidase, and catalase tests, but negative for utilization of disaccharides and hexose alcohols, which are characteristics of biovar 1 Ralstonia solanacearum. For the pathogenicity test, 30 μl of 108 CFU/ml bacterial suspension of three selected virulent strains were injected into banana (Musa × paradisiaca 'Horn') leaves explants grown in plastic pots of 1,440 cm3 volume in a greenhouse, with temperature range from 26 to 35°C. Leaves that were infiltrated with sterile distilled water served as a negative control. Inoculations with all isolates were performed in three replications, as well as the uninoculated control leaves explants. The inoculated plants produced the same symptoms as observed on naturally diseased samples, whereas control plants remained asymptomatic. Strain cultures were re-isolated and possessed the morphological and biochemical characteristics as previously described. PCR amplification using race 2 R. solanacearum primers ISRso19-F (5'-TGGGAGAGGATGGCGGCTTT-3') and ISRso19-R (5'-TGACCCGCCTTTCGGTGTTT-3') (3) produced a 1,900-bp product from DNA of all bacterial strains. BLAST searches resulted that the sequences were 95 to 98% identical to published R. solanacearum strain race 2 insertion sequence ISRso19 (GenBank Accession No. AF450275). These genes were later deposited in GenBank (KC812051, KC812052, and KC812053). Phylotype-specific multiplex PCR (Pmx-PCR) and Musa-specific multiplex PCR (Mmx-PCR) were performed to identify the phylotype and sequevar of all isolates (4). Pmx-PCR showed that all isolates belonged to phylotype II, whereas Mmx-PCR showed that they belonged to phylotype II sequevar 4 displaying 351-bp amplicon. Although there were previously extensive studies on R. solanacearum associated with bacterial wilt disease of banana crops in Malaysia, none related to Moko disease has been reported (1,2). The result has a great importance to better understand and document R. solanacearum race 2 biovar 1, since banana has been identified as the second most important commercial fruit crop with a high economic value in Malaysia. References: (1) R. Khakvar et al. Plant Pathol. J. 7:162, 2008. (2) R. Khakvar et al. Am. J. Agri. Biol. Sci. 3:490, 2008. (3) Y. A. Lee and C. N. Khor. Plant Pathol. Bull. 12:57, 2003. (4) P. Prior et al. Pages 405-414 in: Bacterial Wilt Disease and the Ralstonia solanacearum Species Complex. The American Phytopathological Society, St. Paul, MN, 2005.
    Matched MeSH terms: Animals
  3. Zulkifli, Y., Alitheen, N.B., Son, R., Yeap, S.K., Lesley, M.B., Raha, A.R.
    MyJurnal
    Vibrio parahaemolyticus is a gram negative bacterium and causes gastrointestinal illness in humans. In this study, twenty five out of fifty cockle samples from Padang, Indonesia produced purple colonies when they were grown on selective medium, CHROMagarTM Vibrio. Specific–PCR for toxR gene detection gave positive results in which a band with 368 base pairs size appeared on the gel for all the isolates that confirmed the presence of V. parahaemolyticus. In the virulence properties test, all the isolates showed negative results for tdh and trh genes detection. The results indicate that the isolates under this study do not contain virulence properties that correlate to the ability of infection and diseases, which means that they are nonpathogenic.
    Matched MeSH terms: Animals
  4. Zulkifli, Y., Alitheen, N.B., Son, R., Raha, A.R., Samuel, L., Yeap, S.K., et al.
    MyJurnal
    In this study, RAPD-PCR and ERIC-PCR were used to study the epidemiology of V. parahaemolyticus isolated from cockles in Padang, Indonesia. The Gold Oligo OPAR3 primer produced bands ranged from 1-8 with sizes from 0.2 – 5.0 kb and the Gold Oligo OPAR8 primer produced 1-7 bands with sizes 0.7 – 1.5 kb. Both primers produced twenty five RAPD patterns with a few isolates failed to produce any products. Based on phylogenetic dendrogram, all the isolates can be divided into 6 major clusters with similarity between 0 to 52%. For the ERIC primer, it produced bands ranged from 3-15 with sizes from 0.1 – 5.0 kb and twenty seven different ERIC patterns. Construction of the phylogenetic dendogram showed the isolates can be divided into 4 major clusters with similarity between 56 to 86%. The high diversity of both processes may be due to the multiple contamination sources of V. parahaemolyticus.
    Matched MeSH terms: Animals
  5. Zulkifli, Y., Alitheen, N.B., Raha, A.R., Yeap, S.K., Marlina, Son, R., et al.
    MyJurnal
    Vibrio parahaemolyticus is one of the most widely recognized pathogenic Vibrio species due to numerous outbreaks and its’ wide occurrence in marine environment. In this study, 32 isolates of V. parahaemolyticus isolated from cockles were tested for sensitivity to 16 antibiotics and the presence of plasmids. All the isolates were multi-resistance, defined as resistant to atleast three different antibiotics with multiple antibiotic resistance indexes ranging from 0.31 to 0.69, indicating the isolates originate from high risk sources of contamination where antibiotics are often used. In the plasmid profiling test, only 15 isolates (47%) harbored plasmid DNA, which ranged in size from 2.7 to 56.2 kb, separating the isolates into 14 plasmid profiles. Hence, food contaminated with antibiotic resistant V. parahaemolyticus could be a major threat to public health due to the distinct possibility that they can be a significant reservoir of genes encoding antibiotic resistance determinants that can be transferred intra or interspecies. As in many developing countries, raw food hygiene and antimicrobial resistance epidemiology is still in the infancy stage in the locality of the study and thus our data provide a current baseline profile of antimicrobial resistance and plasmid of V. parahaemolyticusfrom cockles in Padang, Indonesia.
    Matched MeSH terms: Animals
  6. Zulkifli, A.F., Tham, L.G., Perumal, N., Azzeme, A., Shukor, M.Y., Shaharuddin, N.A., et al.
    MyJurnal
    Acetylcholinesterase (AChE) is usually used as an inhibitive assay for insecticides. A lesser
    known property of AChE is its inhibition by heavy metals. In this work we evaluate an AChE
    from brains of striped snakehead (Channa striatus) wastes from aquaculture industry as an
    inhibitive assay for heavy metals. We discovered that the AChE was inhibited almost completely
    by Hg2+, Ag2+ and Cu2+ during an initial screening. When tested at various concentrations, the
    heavy metals exhibited exponential decay type inhibition curves. The calculated IC50 for the
    heavy metals Hg2+, Ag2+, Pb2+, Cu2+ and Cr6+ were 0.08432, 0.1008, 0.1255, 0.0871, and 0.1771,
    respectively. The IC50 for these heavy metals are comparable and some are lower than the IC50
    values from the cholinesterases from previously studied fish. The assay can be carried out in less
    than 30 minutes at ambient temperature.
    Matched MeSH terms: Animals
  7. Zulkifli Yusop, Lloyd Ling
    MyJurnal
    The selection of curve number to represent watersheds with similar land use and land cover is often subjective and ambiguous. Watershed with several soil groups further complicates curve number selection process while wrong curve number selection often produces unrealistic runoff estimates. The 1954 simplified Soil Conservation Services (SCS) runoff model over-predicted runoff with significant amount and further magnified runoff prediction error toward higher rainfall depths in this study. The model was statistically insignificant with the rejection of two null hypotheses and paved the way for regional model calibration study. This paper proposes a new direct curve number derivation technique from the given rainfall-runoff conditions under the guide of inferential statistics. The technique offers a swift and economical solution to improve the runoff prediction ability of the SCS runoff model with statistically significant results. A new rainfall-runoff model was developed with calibration according to the regional hydrological conditions. It out-performed the runoff prediction of the simplified SCS runoff model and the asymptotic runoff model. The derived curve number = 89 at alpha = 0.01 level. The technique can be adopted to predict flash flood and forecast urban runoff.
    Matched MeSH terms: Animals
  8. Zulkifli S, Rahman AA, Kadir SHSA, Nor NSM
    Eur J Pediatr, 2021 Oct;180(10):3111-3127.
    PMID: 33893858 DOI: 10.1007/s00431-021-04085-0
    For the past two decades, growing research has been pointing to multiple repercussions of bisphenol A (BPA) exposure to human health. BPA is a synthetic oestrogen which primarily targets the endocrine system; however, the compound also disturbs other systemic organ functions, in which the magnitude of impacts in those other systems is as comparable to those in the endocrine system. To date, the discoveries on the association between BPA and health outcomes mainly came from animal and in vitro studies, with limited human studies which emphasised on children's health. In this comprehensive review, we summarised studies on human, in vivo and in vitro models to understand the consequences of pre-, post- and perinatal BPA exposure on the perinatal, children and adult health, encompassing cardiovascular, neurodevelopmental, endocrine and reproductive effects.Conclusion: Evidence from in vitro and animal studies may provide further support and better understanding on the correlation between environmental BPA exposure and its detrimental effects in humans and child development, despite the difficulties to draw direct causal relations of BPA effects on the pathophysiology of the diseases/syndromes in children, due to differences in body system complexity between children and adults, as well as between animal and in vitro models and humans. What is known: • Very limited reviews are available on how BPA adversely affects children's health. • Previous papers mainly covered two systems in children. What is new: • Comprehensive review on the detrimental effects of BPA on children health outcomes, including expectations on adult health outcomes following perinatal BPA exposure, as well as covering a small part of BPA alternatives. • Essentially, BPA exposure during pregnancy has huge impacts on the foetus in which it may cause changes in foetal epigenetic programming, resulting in disease onsets during childhood as well as adulthood.
    Matched MeSH terms: Animals
  9. Zulkifli MM, Ibrahim R, Ali AM, Aini I, Jaafar H, Hilda SS, et al.
    Neurol Res, 2009 Feb;31(1):3-10.
    PMID: 18937888 DOI: 10.1179/174313208X325218
    Newcastle disease virus (NDV) is a virus of paramyxovirus family and lately has been studied for the treatment of cancer in human. In this study, we successfully determined the oncolysis potential of NDV vaccine, V4UPM tested on the human glioblastoma multiform cell line (DBTRG.05MG) and human glioblastoma astrocytoma cell line (U-87MG) in vitro and in vivo. The V4UPM strain is a modified V4 strain developed as thermostable feed pellet vaccine for poultry.
    Matched MeSH terms: Animals
  10. Zulkifli MH, Viswenaden P, Jasamai M, Azmi N, Yaakob NS
    Biomed Pharmacother, 2019 Feb 20;112:108630.
    PMID: 30797147 DOI: 10.1016/j.biopha.2019.108630
    5-HT3R antagonists such as ondansetron, granisetron and tropisetron have been clinically used to treat nausea and vomiting in chemotherapy patients. However, current study and research revealed novel potentials of these ligands in other diseases like inflammation, Alzheimer's, and drug abuse. Towards utilising these drugs as anti-smoking agents to treat nicotine dependence problem, there are conflicting reports regarding the potential of these ligands in modulating the effects of nicotine in both human and animal behavioural studies. This is complicated by the heterogeneity of 5-HT3R itself, cross regulation between nicotinic acetylcholinergic receptor (nAChR) and distinct pharmacological profiles of 5-HT3R antagonists. This review gathered existing studies conducted investigating the potential of "-setron" class of 5-HT3R antagonists in modulating nicotine effects. We proposed that the mechanism where 5-HT3R antagonists mediate the effects of nicotine could be attributed by both direct at 5-HT3R and indirect mechanism in nicotine addiction downstream regulation. The indirect mechanism mediated by the 5-HT3R antagonist could be through α7 nAChR, 5-HT1B receptor (5-HT1BR), 5-HT1C receptor (5-HT1CR), calcineurin activity, p38 MAPK level, PPAR-γ and NF-κβ. Our review suggested that future studies should focus on newer 5-HT3R antagonist with superior pharmacological profile or the one with multitarget action rather than high selectivity at single receptor.
    Matched MeSH terms: Animals
  11. Zulkifli I, Najafi P, Nurfarahin AJ, Soleimani AF, Kumari S, Aryani AA, et al.
    Poult Sci, 2014 Dec;93(12):3112-8.
    PMID: 25306460 DOI: 10.3382/ps.2014-04099
    An experiment was conducted to determine the effect of corticosterone (CORT) administration on serum ovotransferrin (OVT), α1-acid glycoprotein (AGP), ceruloplasmin (CPN), and IL-6 concentrations, and brain heat shock protein (HSP) 70 expression in broiler chickens. From 14 to 20 d of age, equal numbers of birds were subjected to either (i) daily intramuscular injection with CORT in ethanol:saline (1:1, vol/vol) at 6 mg/kg of BW, or (ii) daily intramuscular injection with 0.5 mL ethanol:saline (1:1, vol/vol; control). Blood samples were collected before CORT treatment (14 d old), 3 and 7 d after CORT injections, and 4 d after cessation of CORT administration for determination of serum levels of CORT, OVT, AGP, CPN, and IL-6. Brain samples (whole cerebrum) were collected to measure HSP 70 density. Although CORT administration significantly increased feed intake, weight gain was significantly depressed. Administration of CORT also increased CORT, OVT, CPN, AGP, IL-6, and HSP 70 expression. Four days following cessation of CORT administration, OVT declined to the basal level but not CPN and AGP. In conclusion, an elevation in CORT can induce an acute-phase response and HSP 70 expression. Thus, APP and HSP 70 may be of value as indicators of stress in poultry.
    Matched MeSH terms: Animals
  12. Zulkifli I, Al-Aqil A, Omar AR, Sazili AQ, Rajion MA
    Poult Sci, 2009 Mar;88(3):471-6.
    PMID: 19211514 DOI: 10.3382/ps.2008-00287
    Two hundred thirty-five 1-d-old broiler chickens showing short or long tonic immobility responses were classified as low fear (LF) or high fear (HF) responders, respectively. On d 41, they were subjected to either crating or heat challenge (34 +/- 1 degrees C) for 3 h and its effect on plasma corticosterone concentration, heterophil/lymphocyte ratios, and heat shock protein (HSP) 70 expression in brain tissue were determined. Crating and heat exposure elevated heterophil/lymphocyte ratios in both LF and HF birds. Circulating corticosterone, however, was greater in HF than LF birds after crating and heat challenge. Although differences between fear responder group for HSP 70 were negligible before heat challenge, after 3 h of heat exposure, the response was greater for the HF than the LF group. Both LF and HF showed similar increases in HSP 70 after crating.
    Matched MeSH terms: Animals
  13. Zulkifli I, Che Norma MT, Israf DA, Omar AR
    Poult Sci, 2000 Oct;79(10):1401-7.
    PMID: 11055844
    This study was conducted to determine whether early age feed restriction improves heat tolerance in female broiler chickens. Chicks were brooded for 3 wk and then maintained at 24+/-1 C. On Day 0, chicks were assigned to one of four feeding regimens; each regimen was applied to four cages of chicks. The feeding regimens were 1) ad libitum feeding (ALF); 2) 40% feed restriction at 4, 5, and 6 d of age (F40); 3) 60% feed restriction at 4, 5, and 6 d of age (F60); and (4) 80% feed restriction at 4, 5, and 6 d of age (F80). From 35 to 41 d of age, all birds were exposed to 38+/-1 C for 2 h/d. Serum concentrations of glucose were elevated by the heat challenge, but were not affected by the feeding regimen. The heat treatment resulted in hypocholesteremia among ALF and F80 chicks, whereas the concentrations increased and remained constant in the F60 and F40 birds, respectively. Subjecting chicks to F60 improved growth and survivability and reduced heterophil to lymphocyte ratios (H/L) in response to the heat treatment as compared with the ALF and F80 regimens. The survivability rate and H/L of F40 chicks were similar to those attained by chicks on other regimens. Newcastle disease antibody titer of ALF birds declined with duration of heat treatment. It is concluded that the F60 regimen is beneficial for alleviating, at least in part, the detrimental effects of heat stress in female broiler chickens.
    Matched MeSH terms: Animals
  14. Zulkifli I, Che Norma MT, Chong CH, Loh TC
    Poult Sci, 2000 Mar;79(3):402-6.
    PMID: 10735209
    Stress and fear responses were evaluated in broiler chicks that were pretreated for 24 h with 0 ppm (control) or 1,200 ppm of L-ascorbic acid (AA) in their drinking water. The birds were subsequently subjected to either upright handling (UH) or inverted (IH) handling for about 45 s. Heterophil (H) counts, lymphocyte (L) counts, and H/L ratios (H/L) ratios were determined immediately (T0) and at 20 h (T20) following the handling treatment. The H/L ratios were similar for both groups at T0, whereas 20 h after the handling treatment, AA-supplemented birds had lower ratios than controls, resulting in a significant water treatment x time of blood sampling interaction. Inverted handling had negligible effect on H/L ratios but augmented tonic immobility (TI) durations as compared with UH. Irrespective of handling procedure, supplemental AA reduced underlying fearfulness, as measured by TI reaction. Neither water treatment nor handling method had significant effect on number of attempts to induce TI.
    Matched MeSH terms: Animals
  15. Zulkifli I, Che Norma MT, Israf DA, Omar AR
    Br Poult Sci, 2002 Mar;43(1):141-5.
    PMID: 12003331
    1. This study was conducted to determine the effect of early-age food restriction on heat shock protein (hsp) 70 synthesis in the brains of female broiler chickens exposed to high ambient temperatures. 2. Chicks were brooded for 3 weeks and then maintained at 24+/-1 degrees C. 3. On d 0, chicks were assigned to one of 4 feeding regimens; each regimen was applied to 4 cages of chicks. The regimens were: (1) ad libitum feeding (AL); (2) 80% food restriction at 4, 5 and 6 d of age (F80); (3) 60% food restriction at 4, 5, and 6 d of age (F60); and (4) 40% food restriction at 4, 5 and 6 d of age (F40). From d 35 to d 41, all chicks were subjected to 38+/-1 degrees C for 2 h/d. 4. One day following food restriction (d 7), hsp 70 expression in the brain samples of F60 and F40 chicks was augmented but not those fed AL and F80. 5. Prior to the heat challenge (d 35), all chicks had similar hsp 70 response. Irrespective of feeding regimen, there was a marked increase in hsp 70 expression after 4 d of heat treatment (d 38). Following 7 d of heat exposure (d 41), except for the F60 chicks, the augmented hsp 70 expression in the brains of AL, F80 and F40 birds was not maintained. 6. Enhancement of hsp 70 expression was noted in birds subjected to F60, but not AL, F80 or F40, throughout the period of heat exposure.
    Matched MeSH terms: Animals
  16. Zulkifli I, Abdulllah N, Azrin NM, Ho YW
    Br Poult Sci, 2000 Dec;41(5):593-7.
    PMID: 11201439
    1. Hubbard x Hubbard (HH) and Shaver x Shaver (SS) chicks given a dietary supplement of either 50 mg/kg oxytetracycline (OTC) or 1 g/kg Lactobacillus culture (LC) were exposed to 36 +/- 1 degrees C for 3 h daily from day (d) 21 to 42. 2. Prior to heat treatment, body weight (d 21) and weight gain (d 1 to d 21) of OTC and LC birds were greater than those fed the control diet. Chicks given LC had the best food efficiency followed by OTC and control birds during d 1 to d 21. Body weight (d 1 and d 21) and weight gain (d 1 to d 21) were greater for HH tlhan SS chicks. 3. After 3 weeks of heat exposure, birds receiving the LC diet had greater body weight and weight gain, higher food intake and lower food efficiency than OTC and control chicks. 4. Antibody production against Newcastle discase vaccine on d 21 was not affected by strain or diet. On d 42, while diet had negligible effect on this variable among the SS broilers, HH birds fed LC had higher antibody production than those on the control diet. 5. Neither strain nor diet had a significant effect on mortality.
    Matched MeSH terms: Animals
  17. Zulkifli I, Shakeri M, Soleimani AF
    Poult Sci, 2016 Sep 1.
    PMID: 27587729
    This study was conducted to investigate the effect of dietary glutamine (Gln) + glutamic acid (Glu) supplementation on growth performance and physiological stress response in broiler chickens subjected to 24 h delay in placement. Equal number of day-old broiler chicks were assigned to either immediate placement or with 24 h delay in placement with no access to feed and water. Chicks from each placement group were fed either standard starter diet (control) or standard starter diet +1% AminoGut (AG; mixture of 10% Gln and 10% Glu) from 1 to 21 d. Blood and duodenal samples were collected at 21 d for analysis of serum levels of ceruloplasmin (CER), ovotransferin (OVT) and α-1 acid glycoprotein (AGP), duodenal heat shock protein (HSP) 70 expression, and villi length and crypt depth. Results showed that delayed placement for 24 h was detrimental to weight gain during the starter phase (1 to 21 d) but not thereafter. AG supplementation was not able to eliminate that reduction in weight gain and feed intake during the starter stage. However, the observed enhancement in villi length and crypt depth at d 21 resulted in improvement of FCR and weight gain during the finisher stage (22 to 42 d) and consequently the overall period (1 to 42 d). Broiler chickens supplemented with AG also showed lower mortality rate, and higher AGP, OVT, CER, and HSP 70 expression compared to their control counterparts. Based on AGP, OVT, CER, and HSP 70 expression, there is no indication that delayed placement was physiologically stressful to the broiler chickens at 21 d of age.
    Matched MeSH terms: Animals
  18. Zulkifli I, Fauziah O, Omar AR, Shaipullizan S, Siti Selina AH
    Vet Res Commun, 1999 Mar;23(2):91-9.
    PMID: 10359153
    Two experiments were conducted to evaluate the effect of formaldehyde vaporization of a hatcher on the tracheal epithelium of chick embryos, and on the production performance and behaviour of commercial broiler chicks. In experiment 1, chick embryos were exposed to 23.5 ppm of formaldehyde vapour during the last 3 days of incubation. Tracheal samples were taken at 0, 6, 30 and 54 h after exposure to formaldehyde and examined by scanning electron microscopy for pathological changes. Observable lesions included excessive accumulation of mucus, matted cilia, loss of cilia and sloughing of the epithelium. The lesions were more severe in chicks exposed for 54 h as compared to those exposed for 6 or 30 h. In experiment 2, 60 chicks that had been exposed to formaldehyde vapour as above and 60 control chicks were used to investigate the effect of formaldehyde fumigation on production performance and behaviour. Formaldehyde vaporization resulted in higher weekly (days 0-6 and 21-27) and total (days 0-41) feed intake and poorer weekly (days 0-6, 7-13, 21-27 and 28-34) and overall (days 0-41) feed conversion ratios. Body weight, mortality and behaviour (eating, drinking, sitting and standing activities) were not affected by formaldehyde fumigation.
    Matched MeSH terms: Animals
  19. Zulkifli I, Akmal AF, Soleimani AF, Hossain MA, Awad EA
    Poult Sci, 2018 Apr 01;97(4):1306-1314.
    PMID: 29381776 DOI: 10.3382/ps/pex436
    A study with a 4 × 2 factorial arrangement was conducted to investigate the effects of 4 dietary protein levels and 2 environmental conditions on acute phase proteins (APP), brain heat shock protein (HSP) 70 density, and growth performance of broiler chickens. Day-old broiler chicks (Cobb 500) were fed isocaloric diets but with various levels of crude protein (CP), namely, (1) 21.0 and 19.0% CP in starter and finisher diets, respectively (control), (2) 19.5 and 17.5% CP in starter and finisher diets, respectively (Diet A), (3) 18.0 and 16.0% CP in starter and finisher diets, respectively (Diet B), and (4) 16.5 and 14.5% CP in starter and finisher diets, respectively (Diet C). Equal numbers of birds from each diet were subjected to either 23±1°C throughout or 33±1°C for 6 h per d from 22 to 35 d of age. From d 1 to 21, feed intake (FI) and weight gain (WG) decreased linearly (P = 0.021 and P = 0.009, respectively), as CP level was reduced. During the heat treatment period (d 22 to 35), there were significant (P = 0.04) diet × heat treatment interactions for FCR. Diet had no effect on FCR among the unheated birds, but the ratio increased linearly (P = 0.007) as dietary CP level decreased. Irrespective of ambient temperature, there was a significant linear decrease in FI (P = 0.032) and WG (P < 0.001) as dietary CP level decreased. Low-CP diets improved the survivability of heat-stressed broilers when compared to those fed control diets. Low-CP diets linearly decreased (P < 0.01) APP (ovotransferrin and alpha-acid glycoprotein) responses. Both APP and HSP 70 reactions were elevated following heat treatment. In conclusion, feeding broilers with low-CP diets adversely affect the growth performance of broilers under heat stress condition. However, low-CP diets were beneficial in improving the survivability. Because APP are involved in the restoration of homeostasis, the adverse effect of low-CP diet on the synthesis of these proteins could be of concern.
    Matched MeSH terms: Animals
  20. Zulkifli AN, Zakeri HA, Azmi WA
    J Insect Sci, 2018 Sep 01;18(5).
    PMID: 30285257 DOI: 10.1093/jisesa/iey093
    The red palm weevil (RPW), Rhynchophorus ferrugineus Olivier (Coleoptera: Dryophthoridae) is one of the most dangerous pests of major cultivated palms including coconut, oil palm, and sago. The larval stage of the weevil causes the most destruction of the palms as it completely destroys the palm cabbage. In this study, the larvae were given three different diets-coconut cabbage, oil palm cabbage, and sago stem, under laboratory conditions for food consumption and developmental time experiment. The protein profiles of the digestive systems of the larvae fed on these three diets were also determined. Although the coconut diet was the most consumed by RPW larvae compared to oil palm and sago diets, the growth rate of RPW larvae on oil palm diet was however significantly shorter than those on the coconut and sago diets: the RPW only need 1 mo and 9 d to complete the larval duration. Proteins profiling of eight 2-DE gel protein spots that range 50-20 kDa were identified by mass spectrometry sequence analysis. Based on the Matrix Science Software, the most dominant protein was cationic trypsin. However, based on the NCBI BLAST tool, aminopeptidase N was the most dominant enzyme. This finding can lead to the development of pest control strategies based on the antinutritional protease inhibitors as potential biocontrol agents. Urgent action to find effective control methods should be taken seriously as this weevil is presumed to be one of the serious pests of oil palm industry in Malaysia.
    Matched MeSH terms: Animals
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