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The objective of this study was to investigate the effects of sumac and turmeric on performance, egg quality traits, and blood parameters of laying hens. Forty Lohman Brown hens at 30 weeks of age were distributed into four groups, consisting of five replicates with two hens in each. The experiment lasted for 42 days. Laying hens were fed different basal diets in treatment groups and control groups. The groups consisted of hens fed a basal diet with 0.5% sumac, a basal diet with 0.5% turmeric, and a basal diet with 0.25% sumac + 0.25% turmeric. Hens were given ad libitum access to feed and water during the experiment. The results revealed that there were no statistically significant differences in terms of final body weight, egg production, egg weight, and feed intake after the groups were fed according to the diets as 0.5% sumac, 0.5% turmeric, and 0.25% sumac + 0.25% turmeric. Addition of turmeric increased egg production and egg weight, but reduced the feed conversion ratio compared with the control group. On the other hand, dietary supplementation with sumac decreased egg weight. Shape index, yolk index, albumen index, Haugh unit, and yolk color parameters were also not affected by dietary supplementation of turmeric and sumac. When layers were fed the 0.25% sumac + 0.25% turmeric-supplemented diet, yolk index was higher in number, but Haugh unit and albumen index were lower. Dietary addition of sumac and turmeric does not have any negative influence on performance and egg quality traits of laying hens. Dietary treatments do not significantly affect blood serum cholesterol, alanine aminotransferase (ALT), and aspartate aminotransferase (AST) levels. With the supplementation of turmeric, AST and ALT levels are higher in number among all the groups. Dietary sumac and turmeric can be added at 0.5% level to laying hen rations without changing animal performance.

The aim of this study was to evaluate the incidence of total aflatoxin (AF), ochratoxin A, T-2 toxin, deoxynivalenol (DON), zearalenone (ZEA), and fumonisin (FB) in dairy cattle, beef cattle, and lamb-calf feeds. A total of 180 dairy cattle, beef cattle, and lamb-calf feeds (60 samples each) were randomly collected from farms, feed mills, and villages in Burdur province, between September 2006 and August 2007. All samples were analyzed by the competitive Enzyme Linked Immuno Sorbent Assay (ELISA). The most frequent mycotoxin detected was total AF, which was found in 108 samples (60 %) in concentrations ranging from 3.82 to 116.83 μg kg(-1), followed by DON that was detected in 87 samples (48.3 %), in concentrations ranging from 18.50 to 500 μg kg(-1). Ochratoxin A (OTA), T-2 toxin, ZEA, and FB were found in 84 (46.7 %), 85 (47.2 %), 57 (31.7 %), and 19 (10.6 %) samples, respectively, in concentrations of 1.01 to 15.85 μg kg(-1) for OTA, 3.85 to 52.36 μg kg(-1) for T-2 toxin, 2.10 to 29.30 μg kg(-1) for ZEA, and 2.69 to 4.96 mg kg(-1) for FB. It was concluded that feed samples in Burdur province were contaminated by mycotoxins, and the levels of total aflatoxin in the samples were considered a risk to animal health.

The objective of this research was to evaluate the effects of fennel seed (Foeniculum vulgare Mill.) supplementation of ration on performance, egg quality, and serum cholesterol of laying quails during an eight-week period. For this purpose, 96 quail (Coturnix coturnix japonica) of 16 weeks of age were evenly separated into one control group and three treatment groups. Each group was divided into four replicates, each containing six quail. The fennel seeds (Foeniculum vulgare) were added to the diets of the first, second, and third treatment groups at levels of 0.3, 0.6, and 0.9%, respectively. No significant effect of dietary fennel seed supplementation was recorded on body weight, feed intake, egg production, and egg weight. Feed efficiency (kg feed per kg egg) of the 0.6% treatment group was negatively affected by fennel seed supplementation; however, kilogram of feed:dozen egg ratio was not affected when compared with the control group. The effects of dietary treatments on shape index, albumen height, albumen index, Haugh unit, yolk index, yolk colour, blood cholesterol level, and total phenol content of egg yolk had no significance. Dietary fennel seed do not affect the egg quality and blood cholesterol level of laying quail. The amount of 0.3, 0.6, and 0.9% dietary fennel seed supplementation do not have any adverse effect on performance and egg quality of laying quail.

This study was conducted to investigate the effects of dietary dried baker's yeast on laying performance, egg traits and some blood parameters of quails. In the experiment a total of 342 Japanese quails (Coturnix coturnix japonica) aged ten weeks were equally divided into six groups of 57 (three replicates of 19 quails each). Six levels (0, 4, 8, 12, 16 and 20%) of dried baker's yeast were included in isonitrogenous and isocaloric diets. The experimental period lasted 14 weeks. At the end of the experiment, there were no significant differences among the groups in body weight, feed intake, protein intake, egg production, feed efficiency, egg yolk index and egg haugh unit. Blood serum levels of total protein, triglyceride and cholesterol were not affected by dietary dried baker's yeast. Diets containing 4 and 8% of dried baker's yeast increased the egg weight significantly (p < 0.01). The inclusion of dried baker's yeast at the level of 20% to the diets reduced egg shell thickness and egg albumen height. It is concluded that dried baker's yeast can be used up to 16% in the diets of laying quails without adverse effects on the measured parameters.

The purpose of present study was to determine the quality and in vitro digestion parameters in silages of 100% pomegranate pomace (PPS), 100% apple pomace (APS) and 50% pomegranate pomace + 50% apple pomace (PAPS). The digestion parameters of 10% or 20% using of these silages in total mix ration (TMR) of dairy cattle were researched. The dry matter (DM), crude protein, flavonoids, tannins and anthocyanins of pomegranate pomace were higher than those of apple pomace. Fibrous and nonfibrous carbohydrates of pomegranate pomace were similar to those of apple pomace. The silage DM losses in APS decreased with pomegranate pomace (p = .004). The silage density, gas-methane production, and estimated digestion values of PPS and PAPS were higher than those of APS (p < .05). Lactic acid and pH value of APS and the PAPS were higher than the PPS (p < .01). The using of PPS up to 20% in TMR decreased in vitro estimated digestion of TMR (p < .05). The using of APS or PAPS up to 20% in TMR was appropriate for in vitro results. As a result, ensilaging of apple pomace with pomegranate pomace can increase silage density, silage DM; and can decrease silage DM losses; and do not affect silage quality-digestion parameters.

Aim:The aim of this study was to investigate the clinical findings and serologic test results of the patients diagnosed with Epstein-Barr virus (EBV)-induced infectious mononucleosis. Clinical findings of the subjects and any other diseases related to EBV in differential diagnosis were evaluated. Results: The mean age of 369 subjects diagnosed with EBV infection was 94.5±58.4 months (range: 6 months -14 years). One hundred and seventy-one patients (46.4%) out of 369 were female. Symptoms and findings at the time of the first evaluation were as follows: fever longer than seven days and malaise (43.1%); fever, sore throat and cervical lymphadenopathy (33.1%); fever with maculopapulary rash (10.3%); anemia and thrombocytopenia (7.1%); elevated liver function enzymes (4.1%) and arthralgia (1.6%). The classical clinical findings of infectious mononucleosis such as fever, cervical lymphadenoathy, pharyngitis and splenomegaly were observed in 357, 155, 152 and 177 subjects, respectively (96.7%, 42%, 41.2%, 47.9% and 21.4%, respectively), while hepatomegaly and edema of the eyelids were observed in 79 and 65 subjects, respectively (21.4% and 17.6%, respectively). The mean hemoglobin level was 8.2±2.3 g/dL. The mean leukocyte count was 10.8±4.6 103/µL. The mean thrombocyte count was 168±87 103/µL. The mean C-reactive protein level was 56.6±42.5 mg/L. EBV VCA IgM and IgG antibodies were simultaneously positive in 248 subjects (67.2%) at the time of the first evaluation, while in 121 subjects (32.8%) EVB VCA Ig G antibody was detected 18.3±4.6 days after the initial diagnosis. During the follow-up, 12 (3.2%) subjects were diagnosed with EBV-related hematologic malignancies including leukemia (one acute myeloid and 3 lymphoblastic leukemia cases, 1.1%), lymphoma (five cases, 1.3%) and hemophagocytic syndrome (three cases, 0.8%). Conclusions: In children, infectious mononucleosis can present with a wide range of clinical symptoms besides its classical presentation. In addition to clinical findings, serologic tests are required for definitive diagnosis. In addition, EBV VCA IgG seroconversion is necessary to rule out false positivity. In 3.2% of the cases with unexpected clinical course, EBV-related hematologic malignancies may develop. (Turk Arch Ped 2012; 47: 187-190)

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