The welfare assessment model in poultry under different rearing systems has gained increasing importance. An economically profitable approach for improvement of laying hens welfare during the hot summer period is diet's supplementation with specific additives (microelements, vitamins, and minerals) to satisfy the body's needs under heat stress. The purpose of the present study was to evaluate the welfare of DeKalb Brown laying hens (n=295) whose feed was supplemented with either 10 mg/kg Larginine or with the combination 10 mg/kg L-arginine and 250 mg/kg vitamin C during the hot summer days, using a mathematical assessment model. The laying hens' welfare was scored on the basis of birds' behaviour, plasma corticosterone levels, blood biochemical parameters (glucose, cholesterol, creatinine, total protein and triglycerides) and rearing microclimatic parameters. The behaviour was observed by a video camera accounting the number of birds engaged in specific forms of activity: ingestive (ingestion of water or food), gregarious (moving, resting, egg-laying, dust bathing and feather cleaning), sexual and agonistic behaviour. The plasma corticosterone levels were assayed by means of commercial ELISA kit. Blood biochemical indices -cholesterol, glucose, creatinine, total protein and triglycerides were determined on an automated biochemical analyzer. The welfare score of DeKalb Brown laying hens during the hot period from the control group was 33.33% that of the group supplemented with L-arginine -66.67 %, and in birds supplemented with arginine and vitamin C -73.33 % due to the synergic heat stress-reducing effect of both compounds.

The aim of this work was to investigate the effect of Ochratoxin A (OTA) and Silymarin on serum lysozyme concentrations, complement and betalysin activity in broiler chickens. In this experiment 144 one-day-old Ross 308 male broiler chicks were used. All chicks were divided in four groups of 36 birds each: Group 1: Basal diet (BD) with no supplementation of Ochratoxin A (OTA) and Silymarin; Group 2: BD with 1.0% Silymarin; Group 3: BD with 3.0 mg/kg OTA; Group 4: BD with 3.0 mg/kg OTA plus 1.0% Silymarin. It was found that lysozyme concentration in the 2nd group there is a significant difference to groups 3 and 4. The immunosuppressive effect of Ochratoxin A is underlined but no protective effect of Silymarin in the group 4 was found. The alternative pathway of complement activation (APCA) is affected in the group 4. Betalysine there is a significant decreasing in the group 3 but slightly increasing of Betalysine in 4th group. Based on these results it can be concluded that OTA there is an immunosuppressive effect on the studied traits and there is a positive effect of Silymarin only on serum betalysine.

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Solidified floating organic drop microextraction (SFODME) in combination with gas chromatography with an electron capture detector was used for separation/enrichment and determination of 2,5-dichloronitrobenzene, 2,3-dichloro-nitrobenzene, and 2,6-dichloro-4-nitroaniline in water samples. The main parameters affecting the performance of SFOME, such as solvent volume, extraction time, stirring rate, extraction temperature, sample volume, nature of the solvent and ionic strength were optimized. Under the optimum experimental conditions, good relative standard deviations of 7.5%, 6.9%, and 9.3% for 7 extractions and determination of 50 ng L −1 of 2,5-dichloro-nitrobenzene, 2,3-dichloro-nitrobenzene and 2,6-dichloro-4-nitroaniline were obtained, respectively. Enrichment factors of 1390, 1398, and 1362 and detection limits of 1.4, 1.2, and 10 ng L −1 for 2,5-dichloro-nitrobenzene, 2,3-dichloro-nitrobenzene, and 2,6-dichloro-4-nitroaniline were found, respectively.

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