This study was aimed at investigating the effects of dietary supplementation with different levels of olive cake meal (0%, 2.5%, 5% and 7.5%) on the fattening performance and slaughter and carcass traits of quails. For this purpose, 400 one-day-old Japanese quail chicks were randomly assigned to 4 groups, each with 5 replicates. The quails were fed on either a basal diet alone (Control Group) or a basal diet supplemented with olive cake meal at rates of 2.5% (Group I), 5% (Group II) and 7.5% (Group III) for a period of 42 days. At the end of the fattening period, dietary olive cake meal was observed not to have caused any adverse effect on body weight, feed intake and feed conversion rate. Eviscerated hot carcass weight, eviscerated cold carcass weight, wing weight, breast weight, thigh weight and edible visceral organ weights were determined to have improved in the treatment groups that received dietary olive cake meal, when compared to the control group. In conclusion, dietary supplementation with olive cake meal, a waste product of the olive oil industry, at a level of 5%, was observed to produce the closest and most similar results to those of feeding on the basal diet. Thus, it is suggested that olive cake meal could be used as an alternative feedstuff for poultry. Furthermore, the use of olive cake meal as an alternative feedstuff would contribute to reducing both feed costs and environmental pollution.

The aim of this investigation was to determine appropriate perennial grasses and their most suitable mixture ratios, which can be grown with alfalfa in binary mixtures. The research was conducted during 2009-2011 in Isparta (37.50 °N, 30.32 °E), located in the Western Mediterranean climate conditions. In the study, alfalfa was planted as a binary mixture with perennial ryegrass (Lolium perenne L.), orchardgrass (Dactylis glomerata L.), meadow fescue (Festuca pratensis Huds.), and smooth bromegrass (Bromus inermis Leyss.) in a randomized block design with three replications. Sowing ratios of alfalfa in the mixtures varied 20, 30, and 40%, and grass species ratios were 80, 70, and 60%. In the study, significant differences were found among the applications regarding hay yield, crude protein content, crude protein yield, NDF, ADF, land equivalent ratio (LER), and grass ratio in the hay (GR). The highest hay yield was obtained from alfalfa + orchardgrass and alfalfa + smooth bromegrass binary mixtures (25.98 and 25.78 t ha-1, respectively). Alfalfa + perennial ryegrass and alfalfa + meadow fescue mixtures gave the highest crude protein contents as 14.93 and 14.80%, respectively. The highest LER values were observed on perennial ryegrass and smooth bromegrass binary mixtures, and the highest grass ratios were determined in orchardgrass and smooth bromegrass mixtures made with alfalfa. Increasing the alfalfa sowing ratio in the mixtures positively affected all quality characteristics such as crude protein, NDF, and ADF. It was concluded that orchardgrass and smooth bromegrass binary mixtures with alfalfa produced high yield and quality hay and that the mixture should contain 40% alfalfa and 60% grass.

Günümüzde insan ve çevre sağlığını tehdit eden en önemli problemlerin başında hava kirliliği gelmektedir. Hava kirliliğinin pek çok bileşeni bulunmakla birlikte, bunlar arasında ağır metaller ayrı bir öneme sahiptir. Bunun sebebi ağır metallerin bazılarının düşük konsantrasyonlarda bile toksik olmaları, canlılar için besin elementi olan birçok ağır metalin bile yüksek konsantrasyonlarda zararlı olmaları, canlı bünyesinde biyobirikme eğiliminde olmaları, doğada kolay kolay bozulmamaları ve bunlara ek olarak sanayi ve trafik kaynaklı olarak havadaki konsantrasyonlarının sürekli artmasıdır. Bundan dolayı özellikle trafiğin yoğun olduğu, sanayi faaliyetlerinin yürütüldüğü ve nüfusun yoğun olduğu alanlar gibi riskli alanlarda havadaki ağır metal konsantrasyonlarının izlenmesi büyük önem taşımaktadır. Bu çalışmada da, Samsun kent merkezinde yetiştirilen ve peyzaj çalışmalarında sıklıkla kullanılan; Tilia tomentosa, Aesculus hippocastanum, Ligustrum vulgare ve Catalpa bignoides türlerinin, trafiğin yoğun olduğu, az yoğun olduğu ve hemen hemen hiç olmadığı alanlarda yetişen bireylerinde Cr konsatrasyonlarının değişimleri belirlenmeye çalışılmıştır. Çalışma kapsamında bitkilerden yaprak, kabuk ve odun örnekleri toplanmış, kabuk ve yapraklarda ayrıca yıkama işlemi uygulaması da yapılmıştır. Çalışma sonucunda, çalışmaya konu türlerde Cr konsantrasyonlarının tür, organ ve trafik yoğunluğu bazında önemli ölçüde değiştiği belirlenmiştir.

The study investigated the potentials of date fruit as sweetening agent in bread and determined micronutrient composition, antioxidant properties and inhibition of diabetic related enzymes such as the alpha amylase and glucosidase. The fibre and ash contents of the samples increased with the addition of date fruit. The phosphorous, calcium, potassium, iron and magnesium contents of the bread sweetened with date fruit pulp were higher when compared to the bread samples that contained granulated sugar. Bread samples that contained date fruit exhibited greater DPPH radical scavenging activities, metal chelating activities, FRAP and possessed higher inhibition against α-amylase and glucosidase when compared with bead that contained granulated sugar. The results also showed greater antioxidant and enzyme inhibitory activities in the bread sweetened with dry date fruits that the wet date fruits. The sensory results showed that bread sweetened with granulated sugar and the date fruits were not significantly different from one another. The overall results showed date fruit has dual potentials in bread, as sweetener and as ingredient in enhancing nutritional qualities of bread.

The microscopic features of the testis were studied in gonadally inactive Khaki Campbell duck (Anas platyrhynchos domesticus) in Bangladesh. The study was conducted in the Department of Anatomy & Histology, Bangladesh Agricultural University, Mymensingh. Five adult healthy birds of one-year-old were used for this study. The testes were collected immediately after ethical killing of the birds for histological observations. The collected tissue samples were then processed and stained with Hematoxylene & Eosin (H & E) stain for histological observations. The seminiferous tubules showed considerable involution with cessation of spermatogenesis. The basal lamina of the seminiferous tubules was irregular in outline and was invaginated into the germinal epithelium in the form of finger-like plicae or folds. Most of the lumen of the seminiferous tubules was empty and all generation of germ cells were not present in most of the seminifeous tubules. The interstitium showed a relative increase in volume and interstitial tissue consisted of loose connective tissue, interstitial cells (Leydig cells), few connective cells and blood vessels. This study first time described the microscopic features of testis of Khaki Campbell ducks in Bangladesh during inactive phases of the reproductive cycle.

Probiotic microorganisms can release bioactive substances that can inhibit the growth and biofilm formation of pathogenic microorganisms such as Streptococcus mutans. Dental caries is a multi-factorial chronic infection disease, which starts with bacterial biofilm formation caused mainly by S. mutans. This study investigated the characteristics of Lactobacillus spp. strains as an oral probiotic. Twelve Lactobacillus spp. species obtained from fermented milk and dairy products were identified. Antimicrobial activity was determined with the Minimum Inhibition Concentration against S. mutans as an oral pathogen. Biofilm formation capabilities of the identified Lactobacillus strains in supernatant and culture media were determined. In addition, their ability to α-amylase tolerance and pH values (24h-48h) were determined. L.plantarum showed the highest antimicrobial activity compare other Lactobacillus strains. Also, L. plantarum inhibited biofilm formation.

Ticari yumurta çiftliği endüstrilerinde, kusurlu yumurtaların otomatik olarak ayrılması ekonomik ve sağlık açısından önemlidir. Günümüzde, kusurlu yumurtaların tespiti manuel olarak yapılmaktadır. Bu durum, zaman alıcı, yorucu ve karmaşık süreçler içermektedir. Tüm bu nedenlerden dolayı, yumurta yüzeyinde oluşabilecek kusurların otomatik olarak sınıflandırılması oldukça önemli bir konu haline gelmiştir. Bu amaç doğrultusunda, bu çalışmada, nesne tanıma ve sınıflandırma alanlarında yüksek performans sağlayan Evrişimsel Sinir Ağlarına (ESA) dayalı geliştirilen AlexNet, VGG16, VGG19, SqueezeNet, GoogleNet, Inceptionv3, ResNet18 ve Xception mimarileri kullanılarak yumurta kusurlarının sınıflandırılması gerçekleştirilmiştir. Bu mimarilerin performansını test etmek için kirli, kanlı, kırık ve sağlam yumurtaları içeren özgün bir veri seti inşa edilmiştir. Deneysel çalışmalar sonucunda, en yüksek doğruluk skoru VGG19 mimarisi ile %96,25 olarak elde edilmiştir. Bu sonuçlarda, ESA yöntemlerinin kusurlu yumurtaların sınıflandırılmasında yüksek başarı sağladığı gözlenmiştir.

From all the pigments found in Spirulina platensis, phycocyanin has been found to have a diverse application in various fields, and has a high market demand, calling for a need to increase production and easy isolation methods. In general, phycocyanin production in cells depends on the light conditions, among other factors during the cultivation period. The focus of this study was to look at the effect of different light intensities on phycocyanin production in Spirulina platensis. Other cellular biochemical parameters, including chlorophyll content and protein, were explored under the different treatments. An experimental design containing 4 different light intensities of 20, 150, 300 and 600 μmol photons m2/s was administered with 3 replicates. The results obtained from the study showed that high phycocyanin content was obtained from a low light intensity treatment. Chlorophyll results were a bit in contrary to the results obtained for phycocyanin, with high chlorophyll content obtained in high light intensity treatments. Protein and biomass accumulation also followed the same trend, where they were observed to be higher in high light intensities, with the maximum biomass achieved at 600 μmol photons m2/s and maximum protein content achieved at 300 μmol photons m2/s. Due to the commercial potential of phycocyanin to humans, its low cost downstream cultivation and processing of Spirulina platensis will be of economic advantage to the relevant stakeholders to fulfil the rampant demands and affordability of the blue phycocyanin pigment to both first and third World countries, hence the need of producing phycocyanin using the modified Zarouk’s media which has cheaper if not affordable ingredients.