The potential use of copper slag (CS) as an adsorbent for removing arsenic contaminant from water was examined. The influence of solution pH, initial arsenate (As(V)) and arsenite (As(III)) concentrations, and adsorbent dosage was investigated by batch experiments to elucidate the adsorption mechanism of arsenate onto CS. The adsorption kinetics indicated that the second-order kinetic model best described the adsorption process. The adsorption data was analysed by the isotherm models, and was well fitted by the Langmuir model. The maximum removal of As(V) and As(III) achieved was 98.76% and 88.09%, respectively at an adsorbent dose of 10 g/L with an initial As(V) and As(III) concentration of 300μug/L This study showed that copper slag is a suitable adsorbent for removal of arsenic from water, with a capacity to reduce arsenic levels to < 10 μg/L, below the limit set for water by World Health Organization.

This research was conducted to determine the effects of supplementation of chitosan oligosaccharide (COS) on the growth performance, blood parameters, carcass traits, fatty acid composition of breast meat, and apparent nutrient digestibility in broiler chickens. A total of 375 one-day-old Ross 308 male chicks were allocated to a control diet (T1) or diets supplemented with 50 ppm (T2) and 100 ppm (T3) of COS. There were five replicates of 25 chicks for each treatment. All the experimental birds were fed a starter (days 1 - 4), grower (days 15 - 28), and finisher diet (days 29 - 42). No differences were detected among treatments for live weight, gain, feed intake or feed conversion, except that feed intake was depressed in T3 during the grower period. Serum total protein and albumin levels did not differ among the treatments. Serum total cholesterol, low density lipoproteins (LDL), very low density lipoproteins (VLDL) and triglyceride concentrations were reduced significantly by supplementation with COS, whereas the high density lipoprotein (HDL) concentration was significantly lower only for T2 relative to T1. The dressing percentage was significantly higher for T2 and T3 than for T1. Fatty acid composition of the breast meat was unaffected by the treatments. The digestibility of the diet and some of its constituents was affected in a graduated manner by the addition of COS. Thus, supplementation of broiler diets with COS improved carcass yield and had a hypolipidemic effect in improving the serum lipid profile.

O estudo objetivou determinar os efeitos da suplementação com chito-oligossacarídeos (COS) e L-carnitina, individualmente ou em conjunto, sobre o desempenho, características de carcaça e alguns parâmetros sanguíneos em codornas. Um total de 192 codornas japonesas, com quatro dias de vida foi separado em quatro grupos, cada grupo com quatro repetições (12 aves por repetição). Os grupos receberam a mesma dieta basal suplementada com 0 (Controle), 150mg/kg chito-oligossacarídeos (COS), 150mg/kg L-carnitina (Carnitina), e 150mg/kg chito-oligossacarídeos +150 mg/kg L-carnitina (COS+Car.) durante o período inicial (1 a 21 dias) e de crescimento (22 a 42 dias). A fase de alimentação mostrou que COS, L-carnitina e COS+L-carnitina não tiveram efeito significativo no peso vivo, ganho de peso vivo, consumo de alimento e conversão de alimento. A suplementação com COS+L-carnitina induziu proporção de perna maior que o Controle. Não houve diferenças na concentração de albumina sérica, proteína total, glicose e colesterol total. Conclui-se que devido à proporção maior de perna obtida para o grupo COS+Car., após análise de perda e ganho, se for economicamente viável chito-oligossacarídeos+L-carnitina pode ser adicionado à dieta de codornas.

The aim of this study was to determine effects of dietary supplementation with chitosanoligosaccharides (COS) and L-carnitine, individually or dually, on growth performance, carcass traits and some blood serum parameters in quails. A total of 192, four days old, Japanese quail chicks were allotted four groups, each of which included four replicates (12 birds per replicate). The groups received the same basal diet supplemented with 0 (Control), 150mg/kg chitosanoligosaccharides (COS), 150mg/kg L-carnitine (Carnitine), and 150 mg/kg chitosanoligosaccharides+150 mg/kg L-carnitine (COS+Car.) during the starter (1 to 21 days) and a grower (22 to 42 days) period. The feeding trial shoved that COS, L-carnitine and COS+L-carnitine had no significant effect on live weight, live weight gain, feed consumption and feed conversion. Supplementation with COS+L-carnitine induced higher leg ratio from than that of the Control. There were no differences on serum albumin, total protein, glucose and total cholesterol concentrations. It is concluded that due to the obtained higher leg ratio from COS+Car. group, after analysis of the profit and loss, if is economically profitable, chitosanoligosaccharides+L-carnitine could be added quail diets.