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The effects of zinc-methionine (Zn-Met) supplementation on growth, blood metabolites and gastrointestinal development were investigated in two experiments with sheep. The objective of Experiment 1 was to determine the effects of Zn-Met supplementation on hormones and metabolites involved in growth and energy balance regulation, while Experiment 2 aimed to determine the effects of Zn-Met on feed intake, body weight, gastrointestinal development and liver glycogen concentration in lamb. The animals were assigned to groups with different concentrations of dietary Zn-Met (0, 0.4, 0.8 and 1.2 g/day) in both experiments. In Experiment 1, feeding different doses of Zn-Met increased plasma insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-1) concentration, but it linearly decreased plasma growth hormone (GH). No differences were observed in blood cortisol, insulin and glucose concentrations among the treatments. In Experiment 2, addition of Zn-Met to the diets did not lead to changes in the body weights of the lambs. Both average daily gain and dry matter intake (DMI) increased linearly with increasing concentrations of dietary Zn-Met. Lambs receiving Zn-Met showed higher liver glycogen concentrations than the control. While significant increases were observed in the villus height and crypt depth in the duodenum and jejunum as a result of Zn-Met supplementation, no change was detected in blood glucose concentrations (p > 0.05). Our findings suggest that dietary Zn-Met may improve growth, energy balance and gastrointestinal development in sheep.

A highly efficient and simple procedure for the synthesis of 4H-benzo[b]pyrane derivatives is described. The reaction of 5,5-dimethylcyclohexane-1,3-dione or cyclohexane-1,3-dione with aromatic aldehydes and malononitrile using catalytic amount of alumina supported KF in reflux ethanol affords the title compounds in high to excellent yields and in short reaction times.

This study was conducted in order to investigate the effects of a multivitamin complex and probiotic blend in drinking water before and after vaccination on growth performance, carcass traits, blood biochemical parameters and humoral immune response of broiler chickens. A total of 150 one day-old male broiler chicks (Ross 308) were randomly allocated to five treatment groups, with three replicates (10 birds per replicate) in a completely randomized design. Experimental treatments consisted of: 1) a basal diet and drinking water without any additives as control (C); 2) C + drinking water + multivitamin complex from 2 days before vaccination until 3 days after vaccination; 3) C + drinking water + multivitamin complex for 3 days after vaccination; 4) C + drinking water + probiotic blend from 2 days before vaccination until 3 days after vaccination; and 5) C + drinking water + probiotic blend for 3 days after vaccination. In the whole experimental period, feed intake, body and thigh weight and abdominal fat were significantly affected (P<0.05) by dietary treatments. On the contrary, no significant effect was observed on carcass characteristics, feed conversion ratio, blood parameters, antibody production against SRBC and IgG. The titer of IgM was higher in treatment (2) than other treatments at 28 d of age (P<0.05). In conclusion, a multivitamin complex supplied in drinking water for 2 days before vaccination till 3 days after vaccination is enable to improve broiler performance and immunity.

The catalyst is successfully applied to the three‐component condensation reaction.