For ruminants, the microbial population existing in the rumen breaks down feed ingredients offered to the animal. This population must be healthy and viable to permit maximum utilization of feed ingredients. Because ruminants evolved mainly as forage feeders, factors that disrupt population of cellulolytic microorganisms will result in reduced utilization of nutrients -primarily, energy and pro...

Chelating is the chemical process by which a mineral (iron, cobalt, copper, zinc, and manganese) is combined with a mixture of amino acids and peptides. The resulting substances are known as chelates. Another descriptive term, proteinates, refers to the amino acid bond. These chelated minerals are thought to be more digestible than nonchelated forms. In other words, chelation makes the minerals...

The Kaidun meteorite, which fell on 3.12.1980 at lat. 15° N, long. 48.3° E, holds a special place in the world meteorite collection. Kaidun is characterized by an unprecedentedly wide variety of meteorite material in its makeup. The high degree of variability in this meteorite’s material is evidenced by the richness of its mineral composition – nearly 60 minerals and mineral phases have been id...

(a) in the short term, Africa should use its increased income from ‘booms’ in ‘traditional’ exports (eg, commodities and minerals) to invest in basic needs and infrastructure, and enhance its industrial and technological capacity. This can safeguard Africa from fluctuations in prices and demand in the world market for ‘traditional’ exports, while helping to build its economic capacity and take ...

Chemical reactions of organic compounds including pesticides at the interlayer and exterior surfaces of clay minerals and with soil organic matter are reviewed. Representative reactions under moderate conditions possibly occurring in natural soils are described. Attempts have been made to clarify the importance of the chemical nature of molecules, their structures and their functional groups, a...

Mining has become a controversial business everywhere. Issues of mining are in the wake because of the increasing demands for mineral products and diminishing nature of such minerals in the West. This seemingly opportunity for developing countries like Ghana which have mineral deposits comes with its accompanying repercussions. This paper looks at the general mining environment as a whole, narr...

We investigated the effect of pre-race intake of vitamins and minerals, in the form of supplementation, before a multi-stage ultra-endurance run and their effect on race performance. At the Deutschlandlauf 2006 in Germany, where athletes had to run across Germany from the north (Kap Arkona-Rügen) to the south (Lörrach) over 1,200 km within 17 consecutive stages, twenty male ultra runners (46.2+...

Research on which NRC trace mineral requirements are based was done with inorganic transitional minerals and purified and semi-purified diets. Research with organic trace minerals and standard rations have demonstrated that requirements are much lower than the levels set by NRC, due to the greater availability of these organic minerals. Further, not all organic minerals are the same. Pullets fr...