No abstract

Tallow, Ca salts of palm fatty acids, or prilled fatty acids were added at 2.5% to a control diet (3.7% fatty acids) containing 7.2% ammoniated whole cottonseed. Diets were fed to midlactation cows (6 cows per treatment) for 72 d to determine effects of fat supplementation and fat source on lactation performance and nutrient digestibilities. Dry matter intake did not differ among treatments. Milk yield was 31.6 kg/d for the control and increased an average of 2.1 kg/d with fat supplementation. Source of supplemental fat did not significantly affect lactation performance. Added fat decreased milk protein content but did not affect protein yield. Milk fat, lactose, and SNF contents did not differ among treatments. Overall fat supplementation did not affect digestibilities of DM, ADF, or NDF but decreased digestibility of fatty acids. Contribution of de novo fatty acids to milk fat was decreased with fat supplementation. Addition of 2.5% fat to a diet containing a medium amount of fat from whole cottonseed increased milk yield. Tallow, Ca salt of palm fatty acids, and prilled fatty acids did not differ in milk yield response.

In Lebanon, data stemming from national cross-sectional surveys indicated significant increasing trends in the prevalence of cardiovascular diseases and associated behavioral and age-related risk factors. To our knowledge, no data are available on relative telomere length (RTL) as a potential biomarker for age-related diseases in a Lebanese population. The aim of this study was to evaluate whether there is an association between RTL and demographic characteristics, lifestyle habits and diseases in the Lebanese. This was a cross-sectional study of 497 Lebanese subjects. Peripheral blood RTL was measured by amplifying telomere and single copy gene using real-time PCR. Mean ± SD RTL was 1.42 ± 0.83, and it was categorized into 3 tertiles. Older age (P=0.002) and wider waist circumference (WC) (P=0.001) were statistically significantly associated with shorter RTL. Multinomial logistic regression showed that subjects who had some level of sleeping difficulty had a statistically significantly shorter RTL when compared to those with no sleeping difficulties at all [OR (95% CI): 2.01 (1.11-3.62) in the first RTL tertile]. Importantly, statistically significantly shorter RTL was found with every additional 10 cm of WC [OR (95% CI): 1.30 (1.11-1.52) for first RTL tertile]. In addition, and after performing the multivariate logistic regression and adjusting for “predictors” of RTL, the odds of having hypertension or being treated for hypertension were higher in patients who had shorter RTL: OR (95% CI): 2.45 (1.36-4.44) and 2.28 (1.22-4.26) in the first RTL tertiles respectively with a similar trend, though not statistically significant, in the second RTL tertiles. This is the first study in Lebanon to show an association between age, central obesity, poor sleep and hypertension and RTL. It is hoped that telomere length measurement be potentially used as a biomarker for biological age and age-related diseases and progression in the Lebanese.

Two trials were conducted to determine the influence of yucca extract on ruminal digestion, fermentation, and ammonia patterns using ruminally and duodenally cannulated dairy cows. In Trial 1, urea at 0 or 1% of the diet and yucca extract at 0 or 4 g/d formed four dietary treatments in a 2 x 2 factorial arrangement. The experimental design was a 4 x 4 Latin square with 15-d periods. Duodenal digesta were sampled every 6 h during the last 4 d of each period to determine OM and ADF digestibilities and bacterial protein synthesis in the rumen using Cr2O3 and 15N markers. Ruminal digestibilities were (percentage): OM 46.3 vs 43.0%, and ADF 35.9 vs 41.4%, with or without Deodorase. Microbial protein entering the duodenum averaged 2.7 vs 3.1 kg/d for the respective treatments. Ruminal measurements were not affected by treatment (P > .10). In Trial 2, five cows were used in a 5 x 5 Latin square with 7-d periods. Treatments were 0, 2, 4, 6, and 8 g/d of yucca extract administered via ruminal cannulas. Ruminal fluid was sampled 0, 1, 2, 4, 7, 11, 16, and 22 h after feeding during the last 2 d of each period. Average ruminal NH3 N ranged from 31.4 to 35.4 mg/dL, pH 5.99 to 6.18, and total VFA from 120 to 129 mM, and all did not differ among treatments (P > .10). Yucca extract administered at 4 g/d did not significantly affect ruminal digestibilities of OM and ADF, and up to 8 g/d did not affect ruminal NH3, pH, or VFA.

Two experiments were conducted to study the effect of feeding 60% untreated (U) or coarsely ground treated vetch (V) seeds on performance of broilers and laying hens. In Experiment 1, the V seeds were soaked in 1% NaHCO3 (1:10) or in 1% acetic acid (1:5) at room temperature for 24 h (RTAA). Birds on the NaHCO3-treated V diet had 100% mortality rate but had significantly longer survival time than those on UV (14.9 vs 5.1 d). Birds on RTAA-V survived and had similar BW and feed conversion but greater kidney size than those of the controls at 7 wk of age (P < 0.05). In Experiment 2, control, UV, V soaked in water at 40 C (40WV), RTAA-V, and V soaked in acetic acid at 40 C (40AAV) diets were fed to laying hens for 84 d. The ground seeds in RTAA-V and 40AAV were soaked in acetic acid (1:10) at room temperature or at 40 C, respectively, for 24 h. For 40WV, the seeds were soaked in water (1:10) at 40 C for 72 h with a water change every 12 h. The UV-fed hens ceased egg production within 14 d and had the highest BW loss and the lowest feed intake among all treatments (P < 0.05). The 40WV and 40AAV significantly improved these criteria. Moreover, the RTAA-V resulted in performance comparable to that of the controls. Eggs produced by hens on treated V diets had similar weight but higher Haugh unit score (11 points), thinner shell, and lower yolk color score than those of the controls (P < 0.05). Results indicated that RTAA-V at 60% dietary level was not detrimental to broilers and laying hens.