, a unicellular green microalga, has obtained significant attention due to its high protein content, abundance of bioactive compounds, and broad biotechnological potential. Used in nutraceuticals, pharmaceuticals, and functional foods, it is now gaining traction in cosmetics, biopharmaceuticals, and environmental applications. Recent advancements in fermentation technology, such as the development of high-density fermentation strategies, adaptive evolution of strains, and real-time monitoring systems, have greatly improved the efficiency, scalability, and sustainability of production, enhancing bioavailability and product quality.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFSpirulina () is a microalga recognised for its rich nutritional composition and diverse bioactive compounds, making it a valuable functional food, feed, and therapeutic agent. This review examines spirulina's chemical composition, including its high levels of protein, essential fatty acids, vitamins, minerals, and bioactive compounds, such as the phycocyanin pigment, polysaccharides, and carotenoids, in food, feed, and medicine. These compounds exhibit various biological activities, including antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, immunomodulatory, antiviral, anticancer, antidiabetic and lipid-lowering effects.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe impacts of cumulative intake (proportion of microalga in the diet multiplied by the total feed consumed by each bird) on broiler carcass traits, meat quality and oxidative stability were reviewed to identify the optimal intake levels for maximising benefits. Our findings indicate that a cumulative intake of 8.73 g/bird significantly enhances thigh yield, while levels ranging from 8.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF(CV) is a microalga with considerable nutritional value, containing high levels of protein, carotenoids, and polyunsaturated fatty acids, which have the potential to positively influence the productive performance and egg quality of laying hens. CV emerges as a more sustainable ingredient than soybean meal (SBM) as it can be produced locally and with fewer inputs. In this regard, a study was conducted with 48 H&N Brown Nick strain laying hens, at 19 weeks of age, over a period of 16 weeks.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThis systematic review examines the effects of cumulative intake levels on broiler chickens, focusing on growth performance and systemic health markers. The review establishes a clear relationship between cumulative intake and significant outcomes in poultry nutrition and health through a detailed analysis of various studies. The correlation analysis revealed that cumulative intake levels ranging from 0.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: This investigation assessed the effects of high dietary inclusion of Spirulina (Arthrospira platensis) on broiler chicken growth performance, meat quality and nutritional attributes. For this, 120 male broiler chicks were housed in 40 battery brooders (three birds per brooder). Initially, for 14 days, a standard corn and soybean meal diet was administered.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFZinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnO NPs) have been investigated due to their distinct properties, variety of structures and sizes, and mainly for their antimicrobial activity. They have received a positive safety evaluation from the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) for packaging applications as transparent ultraviolet (UV) light absorbers based on the absence of significant migration of zinc oxide in particulate form. ZnO NPs with different morphologies (spherical, flower, and sheet) have been synthesized via different sol-gel methods and extensively characterized by several solid-state techniques, namely vibrational spectroscopy, powder X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy/energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (SEM/EDS), Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR), ultraviolet-visible spectroscopy (UV-VIS), electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR), and nitrogen adsorption-desorption isotherms.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe impact of 15% dietary inclusion of Spirulina () in broiler chickens was explored, focusing on blood cellular components, systemic metabolites and hepatic lipid and mineral composition. From days 14 to 35 of age, 120 broiler chickens were divided and allocated into four dietary treatments: a standard corn and soybean meal-based diet (control), a 15% Spirulina diet, a 15% extruded Spirulina diet, and a 15% Spirulina diet super-dosed with an enzyme blend (0.20% porcine pancreatin plus 0.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFNeurons coordinate their activity to produce an astonishing variety of motor behaviors. Our present understanding of motor control has grown rapidly thanks to new methods for recording and analyzing populations of many individual neurons over time. In contrast, current methods for recording the nervous system's actual motor output - the activation of muscle fibers by motor neurons - typically cannot detect the individual electrical events produced by muscle fibers during natural behaviors and scale poorly across species and muscle groups.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFWe know little about mammalian anemotaxis or wind sensing. Recently, however, Hartmann and colleagues showed whisker-based anemotaxis in rats. To investigate how whiskers sense airflow, we first tracked whisker tips in anesthetized rats under low (0.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFNeurons coordinate their activity to produce an astonishing variety of motor behaviors. Our present understanding of motor control has grown rapidly thanks to new methods for recording and analyzing populations of many individual neurons over time. In contrast, current methods for recording the nervous system's actual motor output - the activation of muscle fibers by motor neurons - typically cannot detect the individual electrical events produced by muscle fibers during natural behaviors and scale poorly across species and muscle groups.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFChester step test (CST) estimates the exercise capacity through a submaximal response, which can limit its application in the prescription of exercise. This study aimed to assess whether an adaptation of the CST (with a progressive profile) can have maximal response characteristics in young women and compare it to the incremental shuttle walk test (ISWT). Another aim was to determine its within-day test-retest reliability.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Enterococci are rarely considered pulmonary pathogens; they are usually regarded as colonizers of the airway. The authors present the case of a previously healthy male adolescent, with complaints of fatigue and chest pain, who was diagnosed with Enterococcus faecalis-associated acute primary lung abscess.
Case Presentation: A previously healthy 17-year old boy was admitted to the pediatric ward due to a one-week history of fatigue, inspiratory left side chest pain, dry cough and nasal obstruction.
Prolactin (PRL) is a pleiotropic hormone that was identified in the context of maternal care and its release from the anterior pituitary is primarily controlled by neuroendocrine dopaminergic (NEDA) neurones of the arcuate nucleus of the hypothalamus. The sexually dimorphic nature of PRL physiology and associated behaviours is evident in mammals, even though the number and density of NEDA neurones is reported as not being sexually dimorphic in rats. However, the underlying circuits controlling NEDA neuronal activity and subsequent PRL release are largely uncharacterised.
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