Broiler chicks, lupin kernel, faba bean, growth performance, hepatic fatty acid profiles.

The study evaluated different molt-inducing methods to achieve the main goal of molting in commercial layers during molting and post-molting periods. A total of 400 60-week-old Lohmann Brown layers were randomly divided into five groups (eight replicates of 10 birds for each group). Laying hens in the fasting control group received no diet from day 1 to day 10. The second group received a molt-inducing diet recommended by the breeding company. The third group received a wheat bran-based diet. The fourth group received a commercial layer diet with 8,000 ppm zinc (as zinc oxide, ZnO). The fifth group received an induced molting diet given to the second group with 8,000 ppm zinc, respectively. Egg production in the fasting control group and groups fed a diet with ZnO were significantly lower (p < 0.001) than those in groups fed the molt-inducing and wheat bran-based diets without ZnO during molting. Egg laying in the fasting control group was rapidly reduced and stopped on the 5.9th day of molting. In both groups having molt treatment with ZnO, egg production was similarly reduced and ceased on the 6.9th day and 7.0th day of molting, respectively, none of them differed significantly from the control. Layers fed molt-inducing diet or wheat bran-based diet did not reach the cessation of laying even on the 28th d of molting period. Relative weights of the ovary and growing oocytes of layers subjected to fasting or fed diets with ZnO were significantly lower than those of other groups. During the first two weeks of post molting, layers fed molt-inducing diet with ZnO showed higher egg production than the other two groups (p < 0.01). The eggshell strength in the group fed the commercial diet with ZnO was significantly higher than those fed the molt-inducing diet or wheat bran-based diets at 6 weeks of post molting (p < 0.05). These results suggest that the non-feed withdrawal molting using ZnO is more effective in inducing molting and increasing post-molt egg production and egg quality than other methods using a molt-inducing diet alone or wheat bran-based diet without ZnO.

BackgroundHuntington disease (HD) is a fatal inherited disorder with typical onset in adulthood. In research studies of HD, it is necessary to characterise the progression of participants in order to validly interpret results.AimsA distinction is often made between gene-positive individuals who are displaying hallmark motor signs (manifest HD) and gene-positive individuals who are not (pre-manifest HD). The conventional threshold for this distinction is the highest rating on the Diagnostic Criterion Level (DCL) scale of the Unified Huntington Disease Rating Scale (UHDRS), which constitutes the motor examiner's confidence level of ≥99% for an unequivocal movement disorder (DCL=4).MethodsA study was undertaken to investigate the empirical support for the use of the DCL for manifest HD classification, and alternatives including cutoffs based on the Total Motor Score (TMS) of the UHDRS. Because a gold standard classification does not exist, extreme case/control differences and extreme of the control distribution were used as a guide to selecting cutoffs.ResultsThe results show that the conventional DCL criteria is too stringent in the sense that (1) cutoffs based on the TMS and the lower DCL confidence level of 90%–99% (DCL=3) both provide a very strong distinction between cases and controls, and (2) the conventional criterion tends to be assigned well after the accelerated deterioration trajectory characteristic of late-stage HD has already commenced.ConclusionThe results suggest that alternate criteria, especially the intersection of DCL ≥3 and TMS cutoffs, might be considered in HD research.