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The objectives of this study were to investigate the effect of different dietary ratios of forage and concentrate (F:C) on ruminal odd- and branched-chain fatty acids (OBCFAs) contents and to evaluate the relationships between OBCFA and ruminal fermentation parameters as well as bacterial populations tested by real-time PCR technique. The experimental design was a 3 × 3 Latin square. Three rumen-fistulated dry Holstein cows were fed three rations with different dietary F:C ratios (F:C; 30:70, 50:50 and 70:30). The rumen samples were collected every two hours (0600, 0800, 1000, 1200, 1400, 1600, 1800, 2000, 2200, 2400, 0200 and 0400 h) over three consecutive days in each sampling period. The results showed that rumen OBCFA profiles are significantly (p < 0.05) affected by the dietary F:C ratios. The concentrations of C11:0, C13:0, iso-C15:0, iso-C16:0, iso-C17:0 and C17:0 were higher in the cows fed dietary F:C ratio of 70:30 than those fed with other two rations. However, the concentrations of anteiso-C15:0, C15:0 and total OBCFA were on the lowest level in the high forage diet. Correlation and regression analysis showed that ruminal OBCFAs had strong relationships with ruminal fermentation parameters and bacterial populations. In particular, the iso-fatty acids had potential power to predict butyrate and isoacids metabolized in the rumen, whereas the fatty acids with 17 carbon atoms correlated with ruminal NH -N content. The OBCFA contents have different relationships with fibrolytic and starch bacteria in the rumen. C17:0 and its isomers might be used to predict populations of fibrolytic bacteria.

The effect of replacing fish meal (FM) with meat and bone meal (MBM) in diets for juvenile Pseudobagrus ussuriensis was evaluated in a 90-day feeding trial. Six isonitrogenous (crude protein, 430 g/kg) and isolipidic (crude lipid, 74 g/kg) diets were formulated to contain MBM to replace FM at 0 (S0), 200 (S20), 400 (S40), 600 (S60), 800 (S80) and 1000 g/kg (S100), respectively. The results showed that there was no significant difference in weight gain (WG) among fish fed S0, S20 and S40 diets. However, a significant reduction in WG occurred when 600, 800 and 1000 g/kg FM protein was replaced by MBM (p < .05). Similar trends were observed in specific growth rate and protein efficiency ratio. Apparent digestibility coefficients (ADC) of protein and dry matter of the diets S80 and S100 were significantly lower than those of the other diets. The ADC of phosphorus significantly reduced with the increase in dietary MBM level. Nitrogen and phosphorus excretion increased with the increasing dietary MBM level. Protease, lipase and amylase activities of the diets S80 and S100 were significantly lower than those of the other diets (p < .05). The results of this study showed that the optimum dietary MBM replacement level was 34.3% according to broken-line model based on WG against dietary MBM replacement level. K E Y W O R D S apparent digestibility coefficients, fish meal, growth, meat and bone meal, nitrogen and phosphorus excretion, Pseudobagrus ussuriensis How to cite this article: Tang B, Bu X, Lian X, et al. Effect of replacing fish meal with meat and bone meal on growth, feed utilization and nitrogen and phosphorus excretion for juvenile Pseudobagrus ussuriensis. Aquacult Nutr. 2018;24:894-902.

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Our study describes the protective effects of pomegranate peels against castor oil-induced diarrhea. The findings showed that the ethyl acetate fraction was the active fraction of pomegranate peels, of which punicalagin, corilagin, and ellagic acid were responsible for the antidiarrheal effect of aqueous extracts.

1. The objective of the present study was to investigate the effect of vitamin E (VE, α-tocopherol acetate) on growth performance and meat quality of broilers fed on diets containing maize distillers' dried grains with solubles (DDGS). 2. A total of 360 one-d-old broilers were randomly assigned to 6 groups. Each group comprised 6 replicates of 10 broilers. Broilers were allocated to 1 of 6 diets and fed for 49 d in a 3 × 2 factorial design. The dietary treatments included three concentrations of DDGS (0, 10 or 20%) and two concentrations of VE (0 or 200 mg/kg). 3. Diets containing 20% DDGS decreased the growth phase and average daily feed intake, demonstrating that small amounts of DDGS affected feed intake in broilers and that an excess of DDGS was not conducive to feed intake. 4. Different dietary concentrations of DDGS did not significantly improve colour, drip loss, cooking loss, or shear force. Supplementation with 200 mg/kg VE significantly reduced cooking loss and shear force and improved colour. 5. In conclusion, supplementation with DDGS at 10% and/or α-tocopherol acetate at 200 mg/kg had positive effects on growth performance and meat quality in broilers.

Summary One of the most common persistent organic pollutants is di‐(2‐ethylhexyl) phthalate (DEHP), which has caused considerable pollution in the Mollisols of agricultural areas in northeast China. This research investigates the effects of different concentrations of DEHP from 0 to 35 days on microbial biomass carbon (MBC) and structural diversity in the microbial community of Mollisols. The results indicated that contamination by DEHP of more than 20 mg kg−1 could clearly affect MBC and structural diversity of the microbial community of a Mollisol in a short time depending on the dose of DEHP. At concentrations of DEHP >20 mg kg−1, we observed that the larger was the concentration of DEHP, the greater was the effect on the MBC and diversity of the soil microbial community. The DEHP concentration or incubation time had negative correlations with MBC, and the evenness (EH), Shannon (H) and richness (S) indices of the microbial community, and the DEHP concentration had a dominant effect on microbial properties. The dominant bacterium in the DEHP‐contaminated soil was Bacillus. Furthermore, bacterial community structure changed under different amounts of DEHP stress and with the increase in incubation time; Pseudomonas and Sphingopyxis clearly increased in number with large concentrations of DEHP. The change in the microbial population indicated that these two bacteria might have a strong resistance to change under the microbial DEHP stress. Highlights DEHP significantly changed MBC and microbial diversity of a Mollisol. The change in MBC was related to the composition of the soil microbial community structure. DEHP had a persistent effect on the microbial community in a Mollisol. Bacillus were the dominant bacteria in the DEHP‐contaminated soil.

Effective and comprehensive evaluation of cold stress is critical for healthy dairy cow breeding in the winter. Previous studies on dairy cow cold stress have considered thermal environmental factors but not physiological factors or air quality. Therefore, this study aimed to propose a multilevel fuzzy comprehensive evaluation (FCE) method for cold stress in dairy cows based on the analytic hierarchy process (AHP) and a genetic algorithm (GA). First, the AHP was used to construct an evaluation index system for cold stress in dairy cows from 3 dimensions: thermal environment (temperature, relative humidity, wind speed, and illumination), physiological factors (respiratory rate, body surface temperature), and air quality [NH 3 , CO 2 , inhalable particulate matter (PM 10 )]. Second, the consistency test of the judgment matrix was transformed into a nonlinear constrained optimization problem and solved using the GA. Next, based on fuzzy set theory, the comment set and membership function were established to classify the degree of cold stress into 5 levels: none, mild, moderate, high, and extreme. Then, the degree of cold stress in cows was obtained using multilevel fuzzy comprehensive judgment. To investigate the effect of illumination indicators on cold stress in dairy cows, 24 prelactation cows from the south and north sides were selected for a 117-d comprehensive cold stress evaluation. The results showed that the mean mild cold stress durations were 605.3 h (25.22 d) and 725.5 h (30.23 d) and the moderate cold stress durations were 67.2 h (2.8 d) and 96 h (4.0 d) on the south and north sides, respectively. Simultaneously, generalized linear mixed model showed that there were significant correlations between the daily cold stress duration and milk yield, feeding time, lying time, and active steps in the cows on both sides. This method can reasonably indicate cow cold stress conditions and better guide cold protection practices in actual production.