The effect of feeding high fat diet to beef cattle on manure composition and gaseous emission from a feedlot pen surface

Assessing the proximate compositions of indigenous forage species in Yemen's pastoral rangelands

Plant diversity in southern Yemen is crucial for maintaining rangeland ecosystem functions. This diversity contributes to the resilience of local pastoral communities, by providing essential forage and resources. However, high stocking density has led to the overuse of palatable species, resulting in increased competition for forage. This study evaluates the nutritional value of 25 indigenous forage species from the natural rangelands of Lahij Governorate. Significant variations were observed among the Forage species, with moisture content ranging from 4 to 39.6%, crude protein from 5.5 to 21.4%, non-fiber carbohydrates from 31.8 to 66.4%, crude fiber from 8.3 to 42.65%, and ash content from 9.2 to 34.6%. Clitoria ternatea, Lycium barbarum, Senegalia mellifera, Vigna sinensis, Albizia lebbeck, and Acacia trees with crude protein content higher than 16% showed substantial potential as livestock feed due to their favorable proximate compositions. Incorporating these high-potential species into regular livestock diets could significantly enhance the sustainability and productivity of pastoral systems in southern Yemen, addressing the current fodder shortage.

Influence of Manure as a Complex Mixture on Soil Sorption of Pharmaceuticals-Studies with Selected Chemical Components of Manure

Pharmaceutically active compounds (PhACs) enter soil with organic waste materials such as manure. Such complex substrates differently affect PhACs' soil sorption. For the first time, batch experiments were conducted using five selected chemicals as model constituents to elucidate the effects. Urea, phosphate (KH₂PO₄), acetic acid, phenol and nonadecanoic acid (C:19) altered the sorption strength and/or nonlinearity of sulfadiazine, caffeine, and atenolol in an arable Cambisol topsoil. The nonlinear Freundlich model best described sorption. Overall, the PhACs' Freundlich coefficients (sorption strength) increased in the sequence urea < phosphate < phenol < C:19 < acetic acid, while the Freundlich exponents largely decreased, indicating increasing sorption specificity. The effects on sulfadiazine and caffeine were rather similar, but in many cases different from atenolol. Phosphate mobilized sulfadiazine and caffeine and urea mobilized sulfadiazine, which was explained by sorption competition resulting from specific preference of similar sorption sites. Soil sorbed phenol strongly increased the sorption of all three PhACs; phenolic functional groups are preferred sorption sites of PhACs in soil. The large increase in sorption of all PhACs by acetic acid was attributed to a loosening of the soil organic matter and thus the creation of additional sorption sites. The effect of C:19 fatty acid, however, was inconsistent. These results help to better understand the sorption of PhACs in soil-manure mixtures.

Dietary Bile Acid Supplementation Could Regulate the Glucose, Lipid Metabolism, and Microbiota of Common Carp (Cyprinus carpio L.) Fed with a High-Lipid Diet

This study sought to examine the role of bile acids in the regulation of glucose and lipid metabolism, intestinal flora, and growth in high-fat diet-fed common carp (Cyprinus carpio L.). Fish (6.34 ± 0.07 g) were fed for 56 days with three different diets, the control diet (CO, 5.4% lipid), high-fat diet (HF, 11% lipid), and high-fat diet with 60 mg/kg bile acids (BAs, 11% lipid). The results showed that high-fat diets resulted in poor growth performance and increased triglyceride (TG) in serum and the liver. The addition of bile acids significantly alleviated the adverse effects of a high-fat diet. The mRNA expression results indicated that bile acids may improve lipid metabolism through the enhancement of the peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor (PPARa). The expression of gluconeogenesis-related phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase (PEPCK) mRNA was inhibited, while fibroblast growth factor 19 (FGF19) was significantly higher. Bile acids reshaped the intestinal microflora community, with the level of Bacteroidetes increasing. The correlation analysis indicated that Patescibacteria, Dependentiae, Myxococcota, and Planctomycetota in the gut are associated with genes involved in glucose and lipid metabolism. These results indicated that bile acids could ameliorate the negative effects of high-fat diets on common carp.

Nanoparticles in mitigating gaseous emissions from liquid dairy manure stored under anaerobic condition

A number of mitigation techniques exist to reduce the emissions of pollutant gases and greenhouse gases (GHGs) from anaerobic storage of livestock manure. Nanoparticle (NP) application is a promising mitigating treatment option for pollutant gases, but limited research is available on the mode of NP application and their effectiveness in gaseous emission reduction. In this study, zinc silica nanogel (ZnSNL), copper silica nanogel (CuSNL), and N-acetyl cysteine (NACL) coated zinc oxide quantum dot (Qdot) NPs were compared to a control lacking NPs. All three NPs tested significantly reduced gas production and concentrations compared to non-treated manure. Overall, cumulative gas volumes were reduced by 92.73%-95.83%, and concentrations reduced by 48.98%-99.75% for H₂S, and 20.24%-99.82% for GHGs. Thus, application of NPs is a potential treatment option for mitigating pollutant and GHG emissions from anaerobically stored manure.

A synthetic analysis of greenhouse gas emissions from manure amended agricultural soils in China

Application of manure has been recommended as an effective strategy to to mitigate climate change. However, the magnitude of greenhouse gases emission derived by application of manure to agricultural soils across environmental conditions still remains unclear. Here, we synthesized data from 379 observations in China and quantified the responses of soil nitrous oxide (N₂O), carbon dioxide (CO₂) and methane (CH₄) emissions to manure (Org-M) in comparison to chemical fertilizers (Min-F) or non-fertilizers (Non-F). The results showed that N₂O, CO₂ and CH₄ emissions were significantly affected by Org-M compared to Min-F (percentage change: -3, +15 and +60%, P < 0.05) and Non-F (percentage change: +289, +84 and +83%, P < 0.05), respectively. However, at the same amount of total N input, Org-M decreased soil N₂O emission by 13% and CH₄ emission by 12%, and increased soil CO₂ emission by 26% relative to Min-F in upland soils. For paddy soils, N₂O, CO₂ and CH₄ emissions differed by -3%, -36% and +84% between Org-M and Min-F (i.e., Org-M minus Min-F). Thus, practices such as application of manure instead of chemical fertilizer and decreasing nitrogen input rate need to be highly considered and optimized under different soils and climate conditions to mitigate GHGs emission in China.