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This article demonstrates design guidelines and development of a novel 3-D heterogeneous integration (3-DHI) thin glass substrate-based half-bridge switching power module for future onboard CPU, transceivers, and so on, power delivery applications. Due to extreme space constraints in onboard power supply applications, this design will support switching frequencies of >50 MHz with power levels of >30 W. To illustrate the capabilities of this module, the detailed ANSYS finite element analysis (FEA) analysis was carried out through thermomechanical and electromagnetic simulations. Extracting thermals is a major limitation factor in a compact layout. Hence, a thermal via density and substrate thickness parametric study was conducted, and effects on the integrity of the mechanical structure were verified through the simulation-based stress analysis. Finally, to switch at very high frequencies, the power and signal loop interconnects were routed through a thin glass substrate to achieve ultralow-power and gate loop parasitics. Two significant contributions demonstrate stacking various component layers in a half-bridge power stage and system-level packaging in a vertical profile.

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is a neurodegenerative disorder characterized by the loss of nerve cells in the hippocampus region of the brain, leading to amnesia. This study investigates the potential antioxidant effects of cerium dioxide nanoparticles (CNPs) on hippocampal CA1 pyramidal neurons and spatial learning in rats with Alzheimer’s disease induced by beta-amyloid. Thirty male rats were randomly divided into five groups (n= 5): AD (undergoing surgery using a stereotaxic device), AD + nano-drug groups (three experimental groups receiving daily doses of nano-drug via gavage at 0.6, 0.4, and 0.1 mg/kg for 28 days after surgery), and control groups (received normal saline intraperitoneally). On day 24 postsurgery, the animals were trained in the Morris water maze with a hidden escape platform to assess spatial learning. The results of the Morris water maze study demonstrated that Alzheimer’s surgery caused spatial learning impairments in rats, while treatment with cerium oxide nanoparticles improved spatial learning performance. Furthermore, the treatment significantly reduced neuronal destruction in the CA1 region compared to the group receiving normal saline (P< 0.01). These findings suggest that cerium oxide nanoparticles alleviate memory impairment in rats. Acting as potent antioxidants, ceria nanoparticles mitigate the detrimental effects of beta-amyloid on memory and hippocampal CA1 neurons, thereby enhancing memory improvement and movement patterns in Alzheimer’s rats.

As only 10% of the broiler breeder flock is roosters, their fertility is very important. The rooster sperm plasma membrane has high concentrations of polyunsaturated fatty acids that are sensitive to oxidative stress. Lipid peroxidation can change membrane structure, permeability, and fluidity, adversely affecting the acrosome reaction and fertility. Aging roosters have decreases in sexual behavior, serum androgen concentrations, sperm quantity and quality, and fertility. Low fertility in aging roosters is attributed to an imbalanced testicular oxidant-antioxidant system, with increased reactive oxygen species (ROS) damaging spermatogenic epithelium. However, antioxidant components can enhance antioxidant defenses in aging broiler breeder roosters. Protection against oxidative damage, particularly in the testes, improves reproductive hormone concentrations, testicular histology, sperm membrane function, and mitochondrial activity and thereby improves semen volume, sperm concentration, viability, motility, and sperm polyunsaturated fatty acid content, sperm-egg penetration, fertility, and reproductive performance. This review summarizes antioxidants that could improve fertility and reproductive performance and delay or prevent age-related declines in broiler breeder roosters, with benefits for poultry production.

Introduction:Lecithin nanoliposome (nano-LPO), with its cryoprotective properties, is considered to enhance the performance of a traditional semen cryoprotectant.Objective:To determine the optimal dose of lecithin nano-LPO added to the rooster semen extender.Materials and Methods:Semen samples collected weekly from eight broiler breeder roosters were mixed and aliquoted into five equal subsamples, during the five successive weeks. The subsamples were then diluted with a semen extender containing 0%, 0.5%, 1%, 1.5%, or 2% of lecithin nano-LPO. Post-thawed semen quality attributes, including sperm motility and velocity parameters, plasma membrane functionality, mitochondrial membrane potential (MMP), apoptosis-like changes, and fertility potential, were evaluated.Results:Total motility and velocity parameters, including curvilinear velocity (VCL), straight-line velocity (VSL), average path velocity μm/s (VAP), straightness (STR), linearity (LIN), lateral head displacement (ALH), and wobble (WOB) were quadratically (p< 0.01) influenced by graded levels of lecithin nano-LPO, such that the highest values were obtained when 1% of lecithin nano-LPO was used. Treatments had no significant effect on plasma membrane functionality; however, MMP (p< 0.08) and percentages of live and dead spermatozoa (p< 0.05) quadratically responded to increasing levels of lecithin nano-LPO, where the best outcome was found when about 1% of lecithin nano-LPO was used in the semen extender. The percentage of apoptotic spermatozoa cubically responded to increasing levels of lecithin nano-LPO (p≤ 0.07). No significant trend of fertility rate was found in response to addition of lecithin nano-LPO levels.Conclusions:Supplementing an extender with 1.10% of lecithin nano-LPO is shown to be the optimal dose associated with the most improvement in post-thawed rooster sperm velocity measurements.

The Energy Harvesting Committee of the Power Supply Manufacturers Association (PSMA) recently published a white paper on Energy Harvesting (EH) for a green internet of things (IoT) [1]. In that paper, the potential for converting ambient energy into electrical energy to enable green power supplies of IoT key components, such as autonomous sensor nodes is evaluated. The white paper provides an overview of energy harvesting, ranging from state-of-art technology research, through barriers in developing commercial off-the-shelf products, to a critical assessment of several EH powered wireless sensor case studies. Issues in cost-benefit and life-cycle impacts are identified. For these issues, a concerted strategy in research and technology is recommended, incorporating disruptive industrial product developments, and innovations to ensure that the advantages of EH are utilized in widespread future IoT deployment. Building on the findings of that work, this article provides a brief overview of key innovation and emerging research needs in order to increase the suitability and readiness of energy harvesting technology for industrial applications.

Greening aviation is key to our global future. However, reducing aircraft operations would severely impact worldwide economics. Therefore, it is imperative that radical and green propulsion alternatives be developed quickly. The most likely approaches to succeed in this grand challenge are hydrogen (H2) and electrification, which hold the promise of complete decarbonization. H2 is a promising solution for a fully sustainable aviation future, via hybrid/fuel cell technologies for short-to-medium-range and direct H2 combustion in turbine engines for longer missions. However, the huge financial investments required to make this a reality will not be considered until several technical challenges can be overcome. Given the pressure to start decarbonizing soon, we propose a philosophy of innovation waves on the basis that to accelerate the implementation of the necessary technologies, it would be beneficial to rapidly develop suboptimal solutions and improve them through time and experience.

Cities are monitored by sparsely positioned high-cost reference stations that fail to capture local variations. Although these stations must be ubiquitous to achieve high spatio-temporal resolutions, the required capital expenditure makes that infeasible. Here, low-cost IoT devices come into prominence; however, non-disposable and often non-rechargeable batteries they have pose a huge risk for the environment. The projected numbers of required IoT devices will also yield to heavy network traffic, thereby crippling the RF spectrum. To tackle these problems and ensure a more sustainable IoT, cities must be monitored with fewer devices extracting highly granular data in a self-sufficient manner. Hence, this paper introduces a network architecture with energy harvesting low-cost mobile sensors mounted on bikes and unmanned aerial vehicles, underpinned by key enabling technologies. Based on the experience gained through real-world trials, a detailed overview of the technical challenges encountered when using low-cost sensors and the requirements for achieving high spatio-temporal resolutions in the 3D space are highlighted. Finally, to show the capability of the envisioned architecture in distributed sensing, a case study on air quality monitoring investigating the variations in particulate and gaseous pollutant dispersion during the first lockdown of the COVID.19 pandemic is presented. The results showed that using mobile sensors is as accurate as using stationary ones with the potential of reducing device numbers, leading to a more sustainable IoT.

AbstractThe effects of in ovoinjection of Arthrospira (Spirulina) Platensison hatchability, antioxidant and immunity-related genes expression, and hatchling performance of broilers and Japanese quails was assessed in 2 separate experiments. In experiment 1, a total of 240 fertilised quail eggs were divided into six groups: control (without injection), sham control (0.02 CC distilled water/egg), 0.75 mg Spirulina Platensis(SP)/egg, 1.5 mg SP/egg, 2.5 mg SP/egg, 3.5 mg SP/egg. In experiment 2, a total of 192 fertilised broiler breeder were divided into four groups: control, sham control (0.2 CC distilled water/egg), 25 mg SP/egg, 35 mg SP/egg. In experiment 1, in ovoinjection of SP(1.5–3.5 mg/egg) increased hatchability of chicks (p < .01). In the groups received 2.5 and 3.5 mg SP/egg the expression of HSP70 and GPx genes was lower and higher than control groups, respectively (p < .001). The expression of interferon-gamma (IFN-γ) in the chicks consumed 1.5–3.5 mg SP/egg was higher than control groups (p < .001). The groups received 1.5–3.5 mg SPhad lower feed conversion ratio (FCR, p < .05). Catalase activity in hatchlings consumed 2.5 or 3.5 mg SPwas the highest (p < .05). In experiment 2, in ovoinjection of 25 or 35 mg SPcaused the lowest HSP70 in chicks (p < .0001). During the whole period of rearing, feed intake (FI) and FCR of the broilers in ovofed with 35 mg SPwas higher than control groups (p < .01). SPcan be considered as an organic supplement in hatcheries for improving hatchability and anti-oxidant status of quail and broiler hatchlings.HighlightsSpirulina platensishave the potential to be considered as a functional organic supplement in commercial hatcheries.In ovoinjection of Spirulina platensiscan improve hatchability, antioxidant, and immunity-related gene expression in quail chicks.In ovoinjection of Spirulina platensishas positive effect on heat tolerance of broiler embryo during last days of incubation.

ABSTRACTThis study was done to evaluate the effects of two dietary probiotic preparations (Bacillus subtilisand Bacillus licheniformis) on growth performance, intestinal microbiota, nutrient digestibility and cytokine gene expression in broiler chickens. A total of 180 male broiler chicks (one-day-old Ross 308 strain, average initial body weight = 40.05 ± 0.12) were used in a completely randomized design (CRD) composed of 3 treatments and 6 replicates. Experimental diets included: (1) basal diet (without additive), (2) basal diet plus 0.5 g/kg diet B. subtilispreparation (1 × 109CFU/g), (3) basal diet plus 0.5 g/kg diet B. licheniformispreparation (1 × 109CFU/g). The results showed that supplementation of B. licheniformisimproved (P< 0.05) broilers’ body weight gain (BWG), feed conversion ratio (FCR), and production efficiency factor (PEF). Adding B. licheniformiscaused the lowest (P< 0.01) feed cost per kilogram weight gain and the highest (P< 0.05) return of investment (ROI). Probiotic treatments significantly decreased (P< 0.01) ileal pH of the broilers. Probiotic treatments improved (P< 0.01) apparent metabolizable energy (AME) and total tract digestibility of protein. It was concluded that although both probiotic bacteria improved AME and total tract protein digestibility, B. licheniformiswas superior to B. subtilisin improving broiler chickens’ BWG (2580.70 vs. 2427.45 g) and their PEF (418.95 vs. 374.49).

At 50 wk of age, broiler breeder roosters exhibit a significant decline of fertility. Therefore, the aim of this study was to assess the impact of incorporating barley sprout (BS) powder, D-aspartic acid (DA), or their combination into the diet on fertility, hatchability, semen quality, and the relative expression of StARand P450SCCgenes in aging broiler roosters. Aging (50 wk) male broiler breeders (n=32) were randomly assigned to one of four dietary treatments (2 × 2 factorial) with two levels of BS (0 or 2% basal diet) and DA (0 or 200 mg/kg/BW) for 12 wk. Roosters were individually housed under a 14-hour light and 10-hour dark cycle, with 150 g/d feed allocation and free access to fresh water, then euthanized. Throughout the study, the body weight of the broiler breeders was measured, along with various parameters related to semen quality, on a weekly basis. Additionally, artificial insemination was performed during the last two weeks to evaluate reproductive endpoints. The results revealed that both BS and DA decreased (P<0.01) body weight. Interestingly, the inclusion of BS, either alone or in combination with DA, resulted in a significant increase in total and forward sperm motility. Furthermore, it was demonstrated that the seminal concentration of malondialdehyde, a marker of oxidative stress, was significantly decreased by more than 20% in all groups compared to the control. The combination of both BS and DA led to the highest levels of circulating testosterone, as well as the functionality and membrane integrity of sperms. Additionally, it resulted in increased sperm concentrations, production, and penetration, ultimately leading to improved fertility rate and hatchability percentage. Moreover, a positive association between total motility and fertility was observed (P<0.01). Furthermore, the combined supplementation of BS and DA up-regulated the relative mRNA expression of P450sccand StAR(P<0.01). To summarize, dietary inclusion of BS, DA, or their combination have a potential to improve various aspects of reproductive performance in aging roosters.

ABSTRACTEffects of multi-strain (Lactofeed) and mono-strain (Pediguard) probiotics on broiler breeder performance and expression of toll-like receptors (TLR) were evaluated. Three hundred broiler breeder hens (Ross 308) at the age of 51 weeks were randomly allocated into 1 of 5 dietary treatments with 6 replicates in each in a completely randomized design. The dietary treatments included (1) the basal diet (control), (2) control + 0.1 g/kg Lactofeed, (3) control + 0.1 g/kg Pediguard, (4) control + 0.1 g/kg Lactofeed + 0.1 g/kg Pediguardand (5) control + 0.5 g/kg oxytetracycline antibiotic. Compared to the control group, treatments had no effect on hen-day egg production and body weight of broiler breeders (P > .05). The egg yolk cholesterol concentration of broiler breeders fed probiotic-supplemented diet was decreased (P < .05). There were no differences in the immune response to PHA-P injection, serum glutathione peroxidase activity, malondialdehyde and cholesterol concentration and blood haematology of broiler breeder among different dietary treatments (P > .05) while TLR2 and TLR4 mRNA expression up-regulated (P < .05). It can be concluded Lactofeedand Pediguarddid not improve broiler breeder performance and T-cell-mediated immune response and are not advisable for breeder nutrition.

Aim and Objective: A wide variety of synthesized amidine derivatives are bioactive compounds. They show a vast range of medical properties. Therefore, a simple route for synthesis of novel class of amidine derivatives called amidino carboxylic acids and their use as catalysts in Strecker reaction has been reported in the current work. The stability, local charge density and hydrogen bond parameters were calculated for eight derivatives with different substituents. Materials and Methods: In order to synthesize these amidino carboxylic acids, we initially prepared Knovenogel condensation products via the reaction of isatin derivatives with malonitrile. When the reaction was performed in water, the resulting nitrile groups of malonitrile derivatives was hydrolyzed with HOAC/ H2SO4 to generate the desired amide groups. The amide groups in resulting compound converted to amine groups with two Hoffman rearrangements in the presence of NaOH/Br2. Further neutralization led to the final zwitterionic α-amidino carboxylic acids. In the next step, the catalytic activity of these compounds as H-bond donor catalyst was investigated in Strecker reaction. Results: The overall yields of the derivatives with substituent on the aromatic ring of starting isatins are higher than that for the overall yields of nitrogen-substituted isatins. The reaction of 5-nitro isatin with the next reagent gives lower yield in aryl-substituted products. An increase of catalytic activity is observed by rising the electron-withdrawing power of the aromatic ring substituents., The presence of nitro group in the structure of catalyst caused a large increase of catalytic activity in Strecker reaction. DFT calculations at B3LYP/6-31++g(d,p) and Lanl2dz level of theory showed that these compounds act as single H-bond catalysts and higher yields were obtained for complexes with stronger hydrogen bond. Conclusion: A simple and efficient method for synthesis of #145;-amidino carboxylic acids was developed in this research. These compounds have been used as a single H-bond donor catalyst in the Strecker reaction. DFT calculations were carried out to confirm the experimental results. The obtained data from computations are in good agreement with experimental results.

The aim of the present study was to evaluate the effects of the different color temperatures (Kelvin; K) of the light emitting diodes (LEDs) on broiler chicken health and growth performance compared to incandescent (ICD) light bulbs. Three hundred and sixty one-day-old Ross 308 male chicks were tested for 42 days. The chicks were randomly distributed into three treatment groups [neutral-white (4,286 K), warm-white (2,990 K), and ICD (2,790 K) light bulbs] of 120 chicks/treatment with six replicates each by adopting complete randomized design. The diets were similar for all treatment groups. The live body weight and feed intake were recorded weekly and feed conversion ratio (FCR) was calculated (weekly and whole period). Indices of humoral immunity [antisheep red blood cell (SRBC) titer, IgG, and IgM at 26 and 34 days of age], Newcastle disease (ND) virus and avian influenza (AI) virus antibody at 40 days of age, cell-mediated immunity [cutaneous basophilic hyper-sensitivity (CBH) response at 41 days of age)] as well as total and differential leukocyte numbers at 42 days of age) were measured. Effects of different color temperatures of the LEDs and ICD light bulbs on body weight, feed consumption, and FCR were not statistically significant (P>0.05). Also, the effect of color temperatures of light on secondary titers of SRBC, AI antibody response, CBH response, the total number of leukocytes and percentage of lymphocytes were not significant. However, the different color temperatures of LEDs have a significant effect on primary SRBC and ND antibody titers (P≤0.05). The highest primary SRBC (P≤0.05) and ND (P≤0.05) antibody titers were observed in warm-white light. It was concluded that based on the 3 color temperatures examined, it seems that the most suitable to provide the optimum level of immunity and energy-saving in commercial broiler houses is warm-white light.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of phytase on iron requirement of broiler breeder hens at the late stage of production cycle. Ninety-six Cobb (500) broiler breeder hens were weighed and individually placed in galvanized wire cages at 59 weeks of age. In order to depletion of hens iron reserved, after placement, hens were offered a semi-purified iron-deficient (37 mg iron/kg) diet for three weeks. At 62 weeks of age, hens were randomly allocated to eight dietary treatments in a factorial arrangement with four replicates of three hens in each. Factors included two levels of phytase (0 and 600 U/kg) and four levels of iron (37, 52, 67 and 82 mg/kg). Hens were fed the experimental diets from 62 to 68 weeks of age. Iron in the diet had significant effects on egg weight (P< 0.05). Increasing dietary iron content significantly increased the concentration of iron in the bone marrow, liver, spleen (P< 0.05), egg yolk and blood serum (P< 0.01). Added phytase enhanced the iron concentration of the egg yolk and serum (P< 0.01). It seems that phytase can release iron from inositol in old broiler breeder hens and increased chicken iron reserve. Two slope, broken-line analysis of hen house egg production regressed on the dietary added iron indicated that 65 mg/kg supplemental iron without phytase and 58 mg/kg supplemental iron with phytase were required for the optimal egg production of broiler hens.

Abstract: Platinum oxide nanoparticles were prepared by a simple hydrothermal route and chemical reduction using carbohydrates (fructose and sucrose) as the reducing and stabilizing agents. In comparison with other metals, platinum oxide has less environmental pollution. Therefore, Pt is considered an appropriate candidate to deal with environmental pathogens. The crystallite size of these nanoparticles was evaluated from X-ray diffraction, atomic force microscopy, and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and was found to be 10 nm, which is the demonstration of EM bright field and transmission electron microscopy. The effect of carbohydrates on the morphology of the nanoparticles was studied using TEM. The nanoparticles were administered to the Pseudomonas stutzeri and Lactobacillus cultures, and the incubation was done at 37°C for 24 h. The nanocomposites exhibited interesting inhibitory as well as bactericidal activity against P. stutzeri and Lactobacillus species. Incorporation of nanoparticles also increased the thermal stability of the carbohydrates. The results of this paper showed that carbohydrates can serve as a carrier for platinum oxide nanoparticles, and nanocomposites can have potential biological applications.

Current research in hybrid-electric aircraft propulsion has outlined the increased complexity in design when compared with traditional propulsion. However, current design methodologies rely on aircraft-level analysis and do not include the consideration of the impact of new technologies and their uncertainty. This can be a key factor for the development of future hybrid-electric propulsion systems. In this paper, we present a methodology for exploring the design space using the principles of Set-Based Design, which incorporates probabilistic assessment of requirements and multidisciplinary optimisation with uncertainty. The framework can explore every design parameter combination using a provided performance model of the system under design and evaluate the probability of satisfying a minimum required figure of merit. This process allows to quickly discard configurations incapable of meeting the goals of the optimiser. A multidisciplinary optimiser then is used to obtain the best points in each surviving configuration, together with their uncertainty. This information is used to discard undesirable configurations and build a set of Pareto optimal solutions. We demonstrate an early implementation of the framework for the design of a parallel hybrid-electric propulsion system for a regional aircraft of 50 seats. We achieve a considerable reduction to the required function evaluations and optimisation run time by avoiding the ineffective areas of the design space but at the same time maintaining the optimality potential of the selected sets of design solutions.

Assessment of safety culture—safety-related norms and behaviours—in health care settings is receiving increasing attention. Assessment of pharmacy safety culture in the occupied Palestinian territory is scarce. We aimed to investigate patient safety culture in Palestinian hospital pharmacies and its association with hospital characteristics (ie, ownership and number of beds) and pharmacy staff characteristics (including sex, age, education, job title, working hours, and years in profession and working in a hospital).

The effect of dietary vitamin E as an antioxidant and cholesterol-reducing agent was evaluated in an in vivo experiment. One hundred and eight commercial broiler breeder hens and 36 male breeders at the end of their production cycle (62–72 wk) were used as a bird sensitive to reproductive disorders related to obesity. The experimental design was a completely randomized design in a 3 × 3 factorial arrangement with 4 replicates and 3 hens in each. Factors included 3 levels of vitamin E (0, 200, and 400 mg/kg of a-tocopherol acetate added to the basal diet) and 3 groups of hens with differing BW (standard, heavy, and becoming heavy). Heavy and standard hens received a restricted amount of feed according to the strain requirement recommendations. Becoming heavy hens were fed 30% more than standard requirement. The egg production between standard, becoming heavy, and heavy groups were significantly different. The becoming heavy hen egg production was 3.1% lower than standard, and heavy hens produced 16.9% less than standard hens. Becoming heavy and heavy hens stored higher fat and cholesterol in their livers and had more yolk cholesterol and abdominal fat than standard BW hens (P < 0.05). An added 400 mg/kg of vitamin E resulted in significantly lower liver fat compared with 0 and 200 mg/kg of added vitamin E. The addition of 200 and 400 mg/kg of vitamin E to the broiler breeder hen diet reduced the fractional egg yolk weight and increased the number of white ovarian follicles significantly. Added vitamin E increased high-density lipoprotein cholesterol linearly. Feeding vitamin E at levels 4 times above that recommended by the strain management guide decreased fractional yolk weight, blood triacylglycerol concentration, and changed the metabolic direction of cholesterol in heavy broiler breeder hens.

To alleviate the feeling of hunger in broiler breeder hens, different types of fiber sources were used to increase feed quantity in Cobb 500 broiler breeder hens from 24 to 38 wk of age. Dietary treatments were a control diet and low-density diets through inclusion of wheat bran (WB), cellulose (CEL), pectin, and cottonseed meal. All diets were supplied an equal amount of AME, CP, Ca, P, and amino acids. Providing a diet with insoluble and soluble fiber sources increased the duration of feeding 2.4 and 3.8 times more than control group, respectively. For the entire experimental period, proportion of insoluble fiber sources (CEL and WB) resulted in more egg production than the control group. Cottonseed meal-fed birds displayed higher plasma triacylglycerol, cholesterol, and greater abdominal fat weight. Inclusion of insoluble fiber sources (CEL and WB) significantly decreased plasma corticosterone concentration, which is an indicator of hunger and frustration in birds. In spite of total nutrient intakes being equal once laying commenced, providing high-fiber diets with insoluble fiber sources can improve the reproductive performance of broiler breeder hens in early cycle of production period.

In this study, we attempted to provide practical, reliable information on the influence of different managerial and nutritional approaches to commercial broiler breeder flock performance (Lohmann I.R. strain). Altitude, maximum and minimum outside temperature, house direction and dimension, flock density, ventilation capacity, and drinking water quality were examined as the main environmental variables. Moreover, the relationship between energy and protein intake and the investigated factors was evaluated. This field study was conducted in 12 broiler breeder flocks at 8 different locations in Iran. A significant positive linear relationship was observed between the ME intake of females during the starter period and hen-housed chick production. Increments of total and digestible lysine and methionine plus cysteine intake of females during the rearing period increased hen-housed chick production. Drinking water quality, including total hardness, total dissolved solids, and total alkalinity, and the altitude of the hatchery significantly affected chick production rate (P < 0.05). It was concluded that the ME intake of females in the rearing and laying periods, amino acid intake, drinking water quality, and the altitude of the hatchery are important concerns that influence the performance of commercial broiler breeder hens.

Two experiments were carried out to estimate nutrient equivalency of a commercial multi-enzyme (Natuzyme) and its effects on broiler chick performance. Experiment 1 was carried out using a completely randomized design to evaluate the response of chicks to Natuzyme (with different equivalency values assigned by the producer) in corn-soybean meal-based diets. Dietary treatments 1 and 6 were negative and positive controls, respectively. Diets 2 through 5 were graded levels of nutrient equivalency values of Natuzyme. Each diet was offered to 5 replicates of 16 chicks (n = 480). In experiment 2, a total of 480 male Ross 308 broiler chicks were used in a completely randomized design. Treatment 1 to 4 varied in ME, CP, and nonphytate P content, but in all cases, the ratio between these nutrients remained constant, and treatments 5 to 8 included graded levels of Natuzyme from 0.1 to 0.4 g/kg. Results of experiment 1 show that multi-enzyme supplementation could not restore chick performance to the levels equal to positive control. Equivalency values of Natuzyme for ME, nonphytate P, and CP obtained were 195,180 kcal/kg and 188.45 and 1,170%, respectively. As obtained in the first experiment, performance of chicks in the second experiment showed that Natuzyme did not liberate nutrient equivalency values recommended by the producer for broiler chicks when fed corn-soybean meal-based diets.