Effect of Varying Levels of Dietary Minerals on Growth and Nutrient Utilization in Lambs

Sharma, L.C.,Yadav, P.S.,Mandal, A.B.,Sunaria, K.R. Asian Australasian Association of Animal Productio 2004 Animal Bioscience Vol.17 No.1

Hisardale male lambs (n=24, 4-5 month of age) were maintained on a conventional ration for a month, to equilibrate the body mineral status. Six lambs were sacrificed after one month of feeding; the samples of organs were analyzed to ascertain mineral status. The remaining 18 lambs were divided into 3 groups of 6 each on body weight basis. Three dietary treatments containing 100 ($T_1$), 110 ($T_2$) and 120% ($T_3$) of minerals (Ca, P, S, Zn and Mn) as specified by NRC (1985) were formulated and each treatment was alloted ad libitum to a group for 120 days. Blood and wool samples were collected at monthly intervals. At the end of the experiment a balance trial of 5 days duration was conducted to study the balance of mineral elements. The effective intake of minerals was Ca, 111 and 120, P, 110 and 122; S, 112 and 129; Zn, 112 and 126 and Mn, 109 and 123 percent in $T_2$ and $T_3$, respectively, in comparison to $T_1$ (100). The additional mineral supplementation had no significant effect on dry matter intake. The average daily weight gain was higher (p<0.01) in $T_2$ and $T_3$ than the control ($T_1$). The lambs under treatments $T_2$ (8.72) and $T_3$ (8.47 kg) consumed apparently lesser amount of dry matter per unit gain as compared to $T_1$ (10.81 kg). Significantly higher (p<0.05) dry matter and crude protein digestibility (%) were observed in $T_2$ and $T_3$ than in $T_1$. The mean balances for different elements were Ca, 1.14, 1.68 and 1.67 g; P, 1.70, 1.95 and 2.18 g; S, 0.54, 0.92 and 1.11 g; Zn, 22.56, 25.30 and 28.71 mg; Cu, 7.94, 5.71 and 5.53 mg; Fe, 33.19, 32.94 and 31.03 mg and Mn, 8.24, 14.40 and 16.07 mg/lamb/day. The retention of supplemental minerals increased (p<0.01) while that of Cu decreased (p<0.01) due to supplementation of minerals (Ca, P, S, Zn and Mn). Retention as per cent of intake increased statistically for S and Mn while that of Cu decreased. It can be concluded that supplementation of minerals (Ca, P, S, Zn and Mn) higher than the recommended level improved body weight gain and feed to gain ratio. The retention of minerals increased due to supplementation. Therefore, an additional supplementation of deficient minerals (Ca, P, S, Zn and Mn) by 10% was beneficial for Hisardale male lambs under tropical condition in India.

Investigation of local geometrical structure, electronic state and magnetic properties of PLD grown Ni doped SnO₂ thin films

Sharma, Mayuri,Naji Aljawfi, Rezq,Kumari, Kavita,Chae, K.H.,Dalela, S.,Gautam, S.,Alvi, P.A.,Kumar, Shalendra Elsevier 2019 Journal of electron spectroscopy and related pheno Vol.232 No.-

<P><B>Abstract</B></P> <P>We have investigated the ferromagnetic behavior, electronic states and local geometrical structure of Ni (2 and 10 at %) doped SnO<SUB>2</SUB> thin films. The films were successfully fabricated with the help of pulsed laser deposition (PLD) technique on Si (100) substrate under ultrahigh vacuum (UHV) condition. X-ray diffraction (XRD) results revealed the single phase character of SnO<SUB>2</SUB> rutile lattice structure with P4<SUB>2</SUB>/mnm space group. The inclusion of Ni ions into SnO<SUB>2</SUB> matrix induced oxygen vacancy (Vo), enhanced the distortion in octahedral local symmetry and reduced the oxidation state of the host Sn<SUP>4+</SUP> (SnO<SUB>2</SUB>) to Sn<SUP>3+</SUP> (Sn<SUB>2</SUB>O<SUB>3</SUB>), these details have been estimated by Raman scattering, Near edge X-ray absorption fine structure (NEXAFS) spectra at Ni L<SUB>3,2</SUB> and O K edges. Further quantitative details on the local geometrical structure around Ni ions were obtained via fitting the experimental Fourier transforms EXAFS spectra |X(R)| with FEFF6 code. The magnetization measurements performed at room temperature (RT) infers that Ni doped SnO<SUB>2</SUB> films displayed ferromagnetic (FM) signal, and there was no significant difference in the saturation moments even with increase in the Ni content. Hence, the similarity in the observed magnetic behavior of the films seems relevant to the same crystal growth condition (UHV) and might not be limited directly to the Ni dopant concentrations. The FM signal and the role of surface defects have been discussed in the light of spin-split impurity band percolation mechanism.</P> <P><B>Highlights</B></P> <P> <UL> <LI> Ni doped SnO<SUB>2</SUB> thin films were deposited on Si substrate (001) by PLD technique. </LI> <LI> NEXAFS at Ni L<SUB>3,2</SUB> edges confirmed that the Ni ions exist in high spin divalent ground state. </LI> <LI> The UHV assisted growth condition created a favorable condition for oxygen non-stoichiometry. </LI> <LI> A significant modification have be observed in the surface morphology. </LI> <LI> Magnetic behavior seems to be more relevant to the formation of VO<SUP>2+</SUP> at the surfaces. </LI> </UL> </P>

Effect of Supplementing Microbial Phytase on Performance of Broiler Breeders Fed Low Non-phytate Phosphorus Diet

Bhanja, S.K.,Reddy, V.R.,Panda, A.K.,Rao, S.V. Rama,Sharma, R.P. Asian Australasian Association of Animal Productio 2005 Animal Bioscience Vol.18 No.9

An experiment was conducted to study the production performance of broiler breeder females (25 to 40 weeks of age) fed either reference diet or low non-phytate phosphorus (NPP) diet with or without microbial phytase (500 FYT/kg) supplementation. A weighed (160 g/b/d) quantity of feed from each diet was offered daily to 40 replicates of one bird each housed in California type cage having individual feeders. Each cage was considered as a replicate. A continuous 16-h light per day was provided using incandescent bulbs. Body weight, egg production, egg weight, feed per egg mass, egg specific gravity, egg breaking strength, shell thickness, tibia ash and serum Ca and protein concentrations were not affected by reducing the NPP level from 0.30 to 0.18% in the broiler breeder diet. Supplementation of phytase (500 FYT/kg) enzyme to the diet containing 0.18% NPP had no added advantage on any of the above production parameters. The serum inorganic P was increased significantly (p<0.05) by either enhancing the NPP content from 0.18 to 0.30% or supplementing phytase @500 FYT/kg to the diet containing low P which were found comparable. Retention of Ca and P was positive on all the diets. P retention decreased significantly (p<0.05) with either increase in NPP content or phytase supplementation in the diet. Neither NPP nor phytase supplementation influenced bone mineralization in terms of tibia ash and strength. The hatchability was not influenced by either increasing the NPP content or supplementing the enzyme phytase. Similarly, the P concentration in the egg yolk and day old chick, day old and 14th day body weight and leg score was not altered by increasing the level of NPP or supplementing phytase enzyme. The mortality was within the normal limits in all the three dietary groups. Thus, it can be concluded that 0.18% NPP (288 mg NPP intake/b/d) in the broiler breeder' diet is adequate in sustaining the optimum performance from 25 to 40 wks of age. Enhancing the NPP content or supplementation of phytase (500 FYT/kg diet) to diet containing 0.18% NPP had no added advantage on performance.

Requirement of Non-phytate Phosphorus in Synthetic Broiler Breeder Diet

Bhanja, S.K.,Reddy, V.R.,Panda, A.K.,Rama Rao, S.V.,Sharma, R.P. Asian Australasian Association of Animal Productio 2007 Animal Bioscience Vol.20 No.6

An experiment was conducted to study the laying performance, shell quality, bone mineralization, hatchability of eggs and performance of progeny (weight at day one and 14 d of age, P content in day old chick, leg score and survivability of chicks) of synthetic broiler breeders fed different levels of non-phytate phosphorus (NPP). Six levels of NPP (1.2, 1.8, 2.4, 3.0, 3.6 and 4.2 g/kg diet) at a constant calcium (Ca) level (30 g/kg) in a maize-soya-deoiled rice bran based diet were tested. Levels of dicalcium phosphate, shell grit and deoiled rice bran were adjusted to achieve the desired levels of NPP and Ca. Each level of NPP was fed with a weighed quantity of feed (160 g/b/d) to 40 female broiler breeders from 25 to 40 weeks of age housed in individual cages. Each bird was considered as a replicate. Egg production, feed/egg mass, body weight, egg weight, shell weight, shell thickness, egg specific gravity, serum Ca content and tibia breaking strength were not influenced (p>0.05) by the variation in dietary NPP levels tested. Increasing the dietary levels of NPP did not influence the hatchability of eggs, phosphorus (P) contents both in egg yolk and day old chick, chick body weight at day one and 14 d of age, leg score and survivability of chicks up to 14 d of age. Maximum response ($p{\leq}0.01$) in shell breaking strength, tibia ash and serum inorganic P contents were observed at NPP levels of 2.09, 2.25 and 3.50 g per kg diet, respectively. The retention of Ca increased, while the P retention decreased ($p{\leq}0.01$) with increasing dietary levels of NPP. Though maximum responses in shell breaking strength, bone ash and serum inorganic P were observed at NPP higher than 1.2 g/kg diet, the broiler breeder performance in terms of egg production, shell quality, hatchability of eggs and progeny performance and their survivability was not influenced by dietary NPP concentrations. It is concluded that synthetic broiler breeders maintained in cages do not require more than 1.2 g NPP/kg diet with a daily intake of 192 mg NPP/b/d during 24 to 40 weeks of age.

Dietary Calcium and Non-phytin Phosphorus Interaction on Growth, Bone Mineralization and Mineral Retention in Broiler Starter Chicks

Rao, S.V. Rama,Raju, M.V.L.N.,Reddy, M.R.,Pavani, P.,Sunder, G. Shyam,Sharma, R.P. Asian Australasian Association of Animal Productio 2003 Animal Bioscience Vol.16 No.5

An experiment was conducted to study the requirement of calcium (Ca) and non-phytin phosphorus (NPP) in commercial broilers during starter phase. Seven hundred and twenty day-old Vencob male broiler chicks were randomly distributed into 144 stainless steel battery brooders, 5 birds in each. Four levels each of Ca (6, 7, 8, and 9 g/kg) and NPP (3, 3.5, 4, and 4.5 g/kg diet) were fed in a factorial design in a corn-soya basal diet. Levels of dicalcium phosphate and oyster shell grit were adjusted to obtain the desired levels of Ca and NPP. Each diet was fed ad libidum to chicks in 9 battery brooders from one d to 21 d of age. Body weight gain and feed intake were depressed (p<0.01) by increasing the dietary Ca level (8 and 9 g/kg) at lower levels of NPP (3 and 3.5 g/kg diet). The growth depression observed at lower NPP level was alleviated by reducing the Ca content to 6 g/kg diet. The tibia ash content and tibia breaking strength increased with increase in both Ca (>6 g/kg) and NPP (>3 g/kg) levels. The leg abnormality score decreased (p<0.01) with increase in NPP content in the diet at all levels of Ca tested. The serum Ca and inorganic P levels were increased with increase in the level of the respective mineral in the diet, but the serum concentration of Ca and P were inversely related to the level of NPP and Ca, respectively /kg diet. In general, the excretion of macro minerals (Ca, and P), and micro minerals {zinc (Zn), manganese (Mn), iron (Fe), and copper (Cu)} was significantly lower at lower levels of Ca and NPP tested (6 and 3 g/kg diet, respectively). The mineral excretion increased with increase in dietary Ca and NPP levels, more conspicuously at the disproportionate ratio of these minerals (>2:1, Ca and NPP). Similarly, the retention of Zn, Mn, and Fe in liver was significantly higher (p<0.01) at lower levels of Ca and NPP tested. Results from this study indicate that the commercial broilers do not require more than 3 g NPP and 6g Ca/kg diet during starter phase (up to 21 d of age) for optimum weight gain, feed efficiency and utilization of Ca, P, Zn, Mn, Fe and Cu. However, the requirements of these minerals for optimum bone mineralization were higher than the levels suggested above.

Effect of Short-term and Long-term Preservation on Motion Characteristics of Garole Ram Spermatozoa: A Prolific Microsheep Breed of India

Joshi, Anil,Bag, Sadhan,Naqvi, S.M.K.,Sharma, R.C.,Rawat, P.S.,Mittal, J.P. Asian Australasian Association of Animal Productio 2001 Animal Bioscience Vol.14 No.11

Garole is a prolific, rare, less known and small size Indian sheep breed found in low and humid Sunderban region of West Bengal. Although information on stored Garole ram liquid semen upto 24 h is available, but there is a need to further investigate the short-term and long-term preservability of Garole ram semen for extensive utilization of this valuable germplasm by artificial insemination. The aim of the present study was to apply computer-assisted sperm analysis technique for assessing the motion characteristics of Garole ram semen stored (i) in liquid state at refrigeration temperature for short-term preservation upto 48 h and (ii) in frozen state at $-196^{\circ}C$ for long-term preservation after packaging in mini straws. Short-term preservation had a significant effect on motility (p<0.01) as the motility progressively decreased from 90.1% at 0 h to 85.5% and 73.2% after 24 and 48 h of storage, respectively. Although the decline in rapid moving sperms was also significant (p<0.01) on storage but the decrease was more pronounced at 48 h as compared to 24 h of storage period. Storage of chilled semen had also a significant effect on % linearity (p<0.05), % straightness (p<0.01), sperm velocities (p<0.01), amplitude of lateral head displacement (p<0.01) and beat frequency (pO.Ol) of spermatozoa. The replication had a significant effect for all the variables except average path and straight line velocity. However, the interactions of short-term storage and replication were non-significant for most of the variables except % of medium moving sperms, sperm velocities and beat frequency. On long-term preservation of Garole ram spermatozoa under controlled conditions the mean post-thaw recovery of 70.4 and 71.4% motile spermatozoa was achieved having 48.8 and 48.9% of rapidly motile spermatozoa, respectively in both the replicates. The effect of replication on cryopreservation was significant (p<0.05) on amplitude of lateral head displacement and beat frequency, but there was no significant effect on motility, rapidly motile spermatozoa, linearity, straightness and sperm velocities of frozen-thawed spermatozoa. It can be concluded from these results that an average 70% motility can be achieved on storage of Garole ram semen in chilled liquid state upto 48 h or in liquid nitrogen after freezing under controlled conditions in straws. However, further studies are required to evaluate the fertility of short-term and long-term preserved Garole ram semen for extensive use of this prolific sheep breed.

Influence of Dietary Supplementation of Condensed Tannins through Leaf Meal Mixture on Intake, Nutrient Utilization and Performance of Haemonchus contortus Infected Sheep

Pathak, A.K.,Dutta, Narayan,Banerjee, P.S.,Pattanaik, A.K.,Sharma, K. Asian Australasian Association of Animal Productio 2013 Animal Bioscience Vol.26 No.10

The study assessed the effect of dietary supplementation of leaf meal mixture (LMM) containing condensed tannins (CT) on feed intake, nutrient utilization and performance of sheep infected with Haemonchus contortus. Eighteen adult sheep of similar age and body weight ($25.03{\pm}1.52$) were included in this study and out of these, 12 sheep were infected with single dose of infective third stage larvae of H. contortus at 2,000 larvae per sheep. The experimental sheep were allocated in three different groups' i.e. negative control (NC; no infection), control (C; H. contortus infected) and treatment (T; H. contortus infected+CT at 1.5% of the DM through LMM) and the experiment was conducted for a period of 90 d. The intake of dry matter (DM), organic matter (OM) and digestibility of DM, OM, neutral detergent fibre (NDF) and acid detergent fibre (ADF) were comparable among three animal groups. However, digestibility of crude protein (CP) and ether extract (EE) were significantly (p<0.05) higher in NC group as compared to both C and T groups. Nitrogen (N) retention (g/d or % of N intake) was significantly (p = 0.038) lower in C group as compared to T and NC groups. Daily intake (g/kg $W^{0.75}$) of digestible crude protein (DCP), digestible organic matter (DOM) and total digestible nutrient (TDN) did not differ significantly (p<0.05) in the three groups. Haemoglobin (Hb) and packed cell volume (PCV) were significantly (p<0.001) higher in treatment group as compared to control. The level of Hb and PCV reduced (p<0.001) after 30 days of experimental feeding. CT significantly (p<0.001) reduced serum urea in T group as compared to NC and C groups. Serum proteins differed significantly (p<0.01) among the three groups. The activity of serum enzymes AST, ALT, ALP and LDH were also statistically non significant (p<0.05) among treatments. The weight of abomasal lymph nodes (ALN) in T group was higher (p<0.05) than in C group. Treatment group had lower (p<0.05) total worms and fecal egg count compared to control group. It may be concluded that dietary supplementation of CT through LMM significantly improved the N retention, and inhibited the different developmental stages of Haemonchus contortus in experimental sheep.

Changes in Serum Protein Profile, Cholesterol and Blood Glucose during Endotoxic Shock in Buffalo Calves Supplemented with Vitamin E and Selenium

Sharma, Neeraj,Singha, S.P.S.,Ahuja, C.S. Asian Australasian Association of Animal Productio 2005 Animal Bioscience Vol.18 No.2

A study was conducted to monitor the changes in serum protein profile, cholesterol and blood glucose during endotoxic shock in buffalo calves and also to assess the role of prophylactic supplementation of vitamin E and selenium in alleviating the endotoxic effects. Fifteen male buffalo calves (6-8 months of age) were divided into three groups: Group I (control)-infused with 0.9% saline solution; Group II-infused with E. coli endotoxin at 5${\mu}g/kg$ body weight in normal saline solution; Group III- supplemented prophylactically with 250 mg vitamin E and 7.5 mg selenium by i/m injections at weekly intervals for one month prior to the induction of endotoxic shock. The blood samples were collected at 0, 1, 3, 6, 9, 12, 24, 48 and 72 h after the induction of shock. Endotoxin caused a significant (p<0.05) hypoproteinemia from 3-12 h post infusion in group II but this hypoproteinemia was less pronounced and only from 3-9 h post infusion in vitamin E and selenium supplemented calves. Hypoglycemia was observed in group II from 3-24 h and blood glucose level returned to normal at 72 h. However hypoglycemia was mild in group III and blood glucose returned to normal at 48h. Hypocholesterolaemia and hypoalbuminemia were found in both groups II and III but these changes were less pronounced in group III i.e. vitamin E and Se supplemented calves. Serum electrophoretic protein patterns of group III were quite similar to those of control group but animals of group II had different electrophoretic pattern. It was concluded that the antioxidant effects of vitamin E and Se prevent the liver against oxidative stress during endotoxic shock.

Effect of illumination on hydrogenated amorphous silicon thin films doped with chalcogens

Sharma, S.K.,Kumar, K.N.P.,Kang, K.J.,Mehra, R.M. North-Holland 2009 Journal of non-crystalline solids Vol.355 No.31

Hydrogenated amorphous silicon thin films doped with chalcogens (Se or S) were prepared by the decomposition of silane (SiH<SUB>4</SUB>) and H<SUB>2</SUB>Se/H<SUB>2</SUB>S gas mixtures in an RF plasma glow discharge on 7059 corning glass at a substrate temperature 230<SUP>o</SUP>C. The illumination measurements were performed on these samples as a function of doping concentration, temperature and optical density. The activation energy varied with doping concentration and is higher in Se-doped than S-doped a-Si:H thin films due to a low defect density. From intensity versus photoconductivity data, it is observed that the addition of Se and S changes the recombination mechanism from monomolecular at low doping concentration films to bimolecular at higher doping levels. The photosensitivity (σ<SUB>ph</SUB>/σ<SUB>d</SUB>) of a-Si,Se:H thin films decreases as the gas ratio H<SUB>2</SUB>Se/SiH<SUB>4</SUB> increased from 10<SUP>-4</SUP> to 10<SUP>-1</SUP>, while the photosensitivity of a-Si,S:H thin films increases as the gas ratio H<SUB>2</SUB>S/SiH<SUB>4</SUB> increased from 6.8x10<SUP>-7</SUP> to 1.0x10<SUP>-4</SUP>.

Production of Crossbred Lambs through Artificial Insemination of Non-prolific Medium Size Malpura and Avikalin Ewes Using Fresh Diluted Semen of Prolific Micro Size Garole Rams

Naqvi, S.M.K.,Maurya, V.P.,Joshi, Anil,Sharma, R.C.,Mittal, J.P. Asian Australasian Association of Animal Productio 2002 Animal Bioscience Vol.15 No.5

Six adult Garole rams maintained under a semi-intensive system were used as semen donors for this study. Semen was collectied daily during the monsoon season with the help of an artificial vagina and examined for its quality characteristics. Ejaculates of thick consistency, rapid wave motion, ${\geq}80%$ motility and intense movement of motile spermatozoa were diluted at the rate of 1:1 with egg yolk McIllvaine glucose diluent at $30^{\circ}C$ in water bath. Estrus in ewes was detected by parading aproned rams of proven vigour at 12 h intervals. The ewes (54 Malpura and 23 Avikalin) in estrus were artificially inseminated with fresh diluted ram semen. The overall conception rate was 94.8%, (range 91.7 to 100%). The overall lambing percent was 80.5 with a range of 75.0 to 84.6%. There was no significant (p>0.05) difference in lambing and conception rate because of individual rams. Fertility was significantly lower (p<0.05) in ewes of less than two years and more than six years of age. Breed (Malpura and Avikalin) effect was not observed in conception and lambing rate (p>0.05). No significant difference (p>0.05) in birth weight and 12 month weight was observed between Garole${\times}$Avikalin and Garole${\times}$Malpura crossbred lambs but there was significant (p<0.05) difference at three month and six months body weight of both the crossbred lambs.