Development of an in vitro model to assess protein bioavailability in diets for common octopus (Octopus vulgaris)

An in vitro model designed to assess protein bioavailability in diets for growing Octopus was developed. The model required a previous assessment of some functional features of protein digestion in this species like the main producing organs, optimum pH for activity and total production per g tissue. The main producing organs identified were the salivary glands and the hepatopancreas (HP), being optimum pH for protease activity quite different in both organs (mostly alkaline in the posterior salivary glands and acid in the HP). In spite of the high‐specific protease activity measured in the salivary glands, a major role of the HP in protein hydrolysis is suggested due to the much bigger size of this viscera. All this information was used as a basis to develop an in vitro two‐step hydrolysis process, which simulated protein hydrolysis performed by these two organs using the Octopus enzymes. The assay was used to evaluate differences in amino acid bioavailability from several protein sources (casein, gelatin, fish meal, squid meal and krill meal) that could be used as feed ingredients for this species. As significant differences were detected both in total amount and in rate of release of the amino acids from such proteins, the model is proposed as a complementary tool in the selection and nutritional evaluation of protein ingredients to be used in diets for Octopus.     

Carotenoid profile modification during refrigerated storage in untreated and pasteurized orange juice and orange juice treated with high-intensity pulsed electric fields

A comparative study was made of the evolution and modification of various carotenoids and vitamin A in untreated orange juice, pasteurized orange juice (90 degrees C, 20 s), and orange juice processed with high-intensity pulsed electric fields (HIPEF) (30 kV/cm, 100 micros), during 7 weeks of storage at 2 and 10 degrees C. The concentration of total carotenoids in the untreated juice decreased by 12.6% when the juice was pasteurized, whereas the decrease was only 6.7% when the juice was treated with HIPEF. Vitamin A was greatest in the untreated orange juice, followed by orange juice treated with HIPEF (decrease of 7.52%) and, last, pasteurized orange juice (decrease of 15.62%). The decrease in the concentrations of total carotenoids and vitamin A during storage in refrigeration was greater in the untreated orange juice and the pasteurized juice than in the juice treated with HIPEF. During storage at 10 degrees C, auroxanthin formed in the untreated juice and in the juice treated with HIPEF. This carotenoid is a degradation product of violaxanthin. The concentration of antheraxanthin decreased during storage, and it was converted into mutatoxanthin, except in the untreated and pasteurized orange juices stored at 2 degrees C.     

中国农田土壤有机碳变化:II土壤固碳潜力估算

中国作为世界上一个重要的农业大国,提高中国农田土壤碳收集能力对减缓全球温室效应具有重要影响.在前人研究的基础上,利用中国第一次和第二次土壤普查数据,结合大量前人调研资料和田间试验数据整理分析,根据近20年来中国各省(市、区)农田土壤有机碳量变化趋势,估算了农田土壤碳源、汇潜力.由估算得出,假设在20世纪80年代土地利用方式、耕作措施、施肥水平和气候条件不变的情况下,中国农田土壤固碳潜力约为668 Tg C,即表明假设条件下,中国农田土壤要吸收668 Tg C才能达到一种相对稳定的平衡状态,也说明80年代后期中国农田土壤为碳汇效应.本研究对认识和评价中国农田土壤碳汇能力及其农田土壤固碳潜力提供了方法和依据.     

Prediction of annual tree growth and survival for thinned and unthinned even-aged maritime pine stands in Portugal from data with different time measurement intervals

An annual individual tree survival and growth model was developed for pure even-aged stands of maritime pine in Portugal, using a large data set containing irregularly time-spaced measurements and considering thinning effects. The model is distance-independent and is based on a function for diameter growth, a function for height growth and a survival function. Two approaches are compared for modeling annual tree growth. The first approach directly estimates a future diameter or height using well-known growth functions formulated in difference form. The second approach estimates diameter or height using a function in differential form estimating the increment over a year period. In both approaches, the function parameters were related to tree and stand variables reflecting the competition status of the tree as well as of a thinning response factor. Variable growth and survival rates were assumed in the modeling approaches. An iterative method was used to continuously update tree and stand attributes using a cut-off to convert the survival probability for a living or a dead tree. The individual tree diameter growth model and the survival probability model were fitted simultaneously using seemingly unrelated regression (SUR). Parameters of the height function were obtained separately as the number of observations for height was much lower than the number of observations for diameter, which may affect the statistical inference and the estimation of contemporaneous cross-equation error correlation inherent to the system of equations. PRESS residuals were used to evaluate the predictive performance of the diameter and the height growth functions. Additional statistics based in the log likelihood function and also in the survival probability were computed to evaluate the survival function. The second modeling approach, which integrates components of growth expansion and decline, performed slightly better than the first approach. A variable accounting for the thinning response that was tested proved to be significant for predicting diameter growth, even if the model already included competition-related explanatory variables, namely the basal area of trees larger than the subject tree. However, this thinning response factor was not significant for predicting height growth.     

Migration studies to assess the safety in use of a new antioxidant active packaging

Both specific and overall migration tests have been applied to new experimental food packaging-active plastic films with antioxidant properties, including in its composition a natural rosemary extract. Determination of volatile and semivolatile compounds migrating from plastic to the four established simulants showed that both specific and overall migration was very low. The results obtained gave values 20 times lower than the established limits in the worst case. So, from the point of view of health risk, the new active packaging can be considered as safe. Analytical procedure used provided the necessary information about the migration behavior, with good analytical characteristics and detection limits in the sub mug kg(-1) range. Besides, no significant difference was found between laboratory and factory-made samples, which is an important issue for industrial production, the next step in the development of the new antioxidant active film.     

Landscape change under indirect effects of human use: the Savanna of Central Chile

The Chilean Intermediate Depression to the north of Santiago has experienced a physiognomical transformation from a Prosopis chilensis woodland to an Acacia caven savanna. Today P. chilensis trees are scarce and belong mostly to the larger size classes. By contrast A. caven seems to reproduce frequently and its populations consist of individuals of all size classes. In this paper we document these changes and report the results of tests aimed at determining the causes of these physiognomical changes. We found that livestock, leporids, introduced Mediterranean forbs and agriculture account for differences in seed dispersal and survival of A. caven and P. chilensis, which can explain the documented changes in the Chilean landscape.     

Induction of an antioxidant enzyme system and other oxidative stress markers associated with compatible and incompatible interactions between chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) and Fusarium oxysporum f. sp.ciceris

To ascertain if active oxygen species play a role in fusarium wilt of chickpea caused by Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. ciceris, the degree of lipid peroxidation (malondialdehyde formation) and the activity levels of diamine oxidase (DAO), an apoplastic H₂O₂-forming oxidase, and several antioxidant enzymes, namely ascorbate peroxidase (APX), catalase (CAT), glutathione reductase (GR), guaiacol-dependent peroxidase (GPX) and superoxide dismutase (SOD), were determined spectrophotometrically in roots and stems of ‘WR315’ (resistant) and ‘JG62’ (susceptible) chickpea cultivars inoculated with the highly virulent race 5 of the pathogen. Moreover, APX, CAT, GPX and SOD were also analysed in roots and stems by gel electrophoresis and activity staining; and the protein levels of APX and SOD in roots were determined by Western blotting. In roots, infection by the pathogen increased lipid peroxidation and CAT and SOD activities, although such responses occurred earlier in the incompatible compared with the compatible interactions. APX, GPX and GR activities were also increased in infected roots, but only in the compatible interaction. In stems, infection by the pathogen increased lipid peroxidation and APX, CAT, SOD and GPX activities only in the compatible interaction, and DAO activity only in the incompatible one. In general, electrophoregrams agreed with the activity levels determined spectrophotometrically and did not reveal any differences in isoenzyme patterns between cultivars or between infected and non-infected plants. Further, Western blots revealed an increase in the root protein levels of APX in the compatible interaction and in those of SOD in both compatible and incompatible interactions. In conclusion, whereas enhanced DAO activity in stems, and earlier increases in lipid peroxidation and CAT and SOD activities in roots, can be associated with resistance to fusarium wilt in chickpea, the induction of the latter three parameters in roots and stems along with that of APX, GR (only in roots) and GPX (only in stems) activities are rather more associated with the establishment of the compatible interaction.     

Forest management conditioning ground ant community structure and composition in temperate conifer forests in the Pyrenees Mountains

The search for indicators to monitor management impact on biodiversity is a crucial question because management practices promote changes in community structure and composition of different animal groups. This study explores the effect of widely conducted management practices (forest logging and livestock) in Pinus uncinata forests in the Pyrenees range (NE Spain) on the structure and composition of ground ant communities compared to those of old-growth stands. Forest structure clearly differed in stands with different forest managements. These stands managed for different uses also showed marked differences in structure and composition of ground ant communities. There was a great dominance of a single species, Formica lugubris, which accounted for 99% of ants collected in pitfall traps. Rarefaction curves indicated that species richness was highest in old-growth stands and lowest in even-aged ones, with woodland pasture stands showing an intermediate value. Classification methods allowed us to identify two groups of species: six species related to old-growth plots and three species (including F. lugubris) associated to managed stands. Habitat structure played an important role in determining the structure of ant communities: forests with high tree density but low basal area were the most favourable forest type for F. lugubris, while the abundance of the remaining ant species was negatively affected by the abundance of F. lugubris and by tree cover.