Meat quality responses to feeding distiller's grains to finishing Holstein steers

Strip loins from two experiments were used to evaluate effects of feeding dry (DDG) or wet (WDG) distiller's grains on beef color, tenderness, and sensory traits of Holstein steers. In Exp. 1, conducted at the University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana, dietary treatments consisted of a control whole corn-corn silage diet with soybean meal (SBM) or diets formulated with 12.5% DDG plus urea, 25% DDG, 25% WDG, 50% DDG, or 50% WDG (DM basis). In Exp. 2, conducted at Iowa State University, dietary treatments consisted of cracked corn-corn silage-hay diets with either SBM or urea (Urea) as the control diets, or diets formulated with 10, 20, or 40% DDG or WDG (DM basis). Within each study, strip loins from each of four steers (representing 45.7 and 66.6% of steers in Exp. 1 and 2, respectively) in four replicate pens per treatment were aged for 13 d at 4 degrees C for subsequent color, tenderness, and palatability evaluation. Color of steaks was measured objectively using a HunterLab Miniscan XE spectrophotometer and was subjectively evaluated by a trained panel. Tenderness was measured using the Warner-Bratzler shear force (WBSF) instrument on steaks cooked to 70 degrees C. For sensory evaluation, 95 consumers were recruited to evaluate tenderness, juiciness, and flavor of cooked steaks. In Exp. 1, steaks from steers fed 25% WDG had higher (P < 0.05) a* values after 138 h of simulated retail display than all other treatments, except for those from steers fed 12.5% DDG. In Exp. 2, a greater (P < 0.05) percentage of steaks from steers fed 40% DDG or 40% WDG were considered moderately undesirable during retail display (steaks that received a consumer acceptability score of 3 or less). There were no (P = 0.20 in Exp. 1, and P = 0.33 in Exp. 2) differences among treatments in Exp. 1 and Exp. 2 for WBSF (1.47 +/- 0.66 kg and 1.58 +/- 0.72 kg, respectively) or taste panel tenderness (5.7 +/- 0.30 and 6.2 +/- 0.22, respectively), beef flavor (6.0 +/- 0.23 and 6.2 +/- 0.22, respectively), and juiciness (5.6 +/- 0.31 and 5.8 +/- 0.23). Feeding distiller's grains at up to 50% of the dietary DM did not affect tenderness or sensory traits, and seems to be a viable feed alternative without negatively impacting sensory attributes.     

Repeated measurement: sensitive tests for experiments with few animals

Animal scientists who conduct experiments involving repeated measurements of animals often are frustrated by low statistical power of tests for comparisons of treatment means. In many cases, low power of the traditional tests simply is the consequence of low replication (few animals per treatment) that was forced by cost or complexity of experimental technique. A method is given for comparing treatments in a way that permits sensitive tests (via partition of the treatment X period interaction), often when the number of animals per treatment is not more than five or six. Modifications for the procedure are given for the case of heterogeneous variances and covariances. An example from mammary physiology is used to illustrate the procedure and to compare it with standard methods of analysis.     

Effect of Low Temperature of Irrigation Water on Rice Growth and Nutrient Uptake

The study was designed to investigate the effect of cold irrigation water on rice growth and on uptake of N, P, K and Zn applied ca. 50, 20, 35 and 5 mg kg⁻¹ soil, respectively. Cold temperature of irrigation water reduced rice shoot and root dry weight and plant height, significantly compared to hot temperature treatment. Under low temperature stress N was a major rice growth determinant. Increased shoot concentrations of both P and Zn allevated the low temperature stress. The uptake of N, P, K and Zn reduced significantly at low temperature (16.5–20 °C soil and 20–24 °C flood water) compared to high temperature (24.5–27 °C soil and 26.5–29.0 °C), with the strongest effect being noticed for N, followed by P, K and Zn. Application of N, P, K and Zn increased their uptake in rice shoots. Nitrogen and K had synergistic effect on their uptake. Responses to N and K application and their uptake behavior were well marked at higher than at low temperature whereas reverse was true for P and Zn.     

Fishing, trophic cascades, and the process of grazing on coral reefs

Since the mass mortality of the urchin Diadema antillarum in 1983, parrotfishes have become the dominant grazer on Caribbean reefs. The grazing capacity of these fishes could be impaired if marine reserves achieve their long-term goal of restoring large consumers, several of which prey on parrotfishes. Here we compare the negative impacts of enhanced predation with the positive impacts of reduced fishing mortality on parrotfishes inside reserves. Because large-bodied parrotfishes escape the risk of predation from a large piscivore (the Nassau grouper), the predation effect reduced grazing by only 4 to 8%. This impact was overwhelmed by the increase in density of large parrotfishes, resulting in a net doubling of grazing. Increased grazing caused a fourfold reduction in the cover of macroalgae, which, because they are the principal competitors of corals, highlights the potential importance of reserves for coral reef resilience.     

Evaluation of the association between microalbuminuria and the urine albumin-creatinine ratio and systemic disease in dogs

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate semiquantitative and quantitative assays for microalbuminuria and determination of the urine albumin-creatinine (UAC) ratio in detection of systemic disease in dogs without overt proteinuria. DESIGN: Prospective study. ANIMALS: 408 dogs. PROCEDURES: Urine samples that had been obtained from dogs for which a complete medical record was available and in which results of a dipstick test for urine protein were negative were evaluated. Urine protein-creatinine ratios (cutoff values, 0.5 and 0.1), semiquantitative and quantitative microalbuminuria values (cutoff value, 1 mg/dL), and UAC ratios (cutoff values, 100 and 200 mg/g) were determined. Clinical diagnoses rendered within 3 months of enrollment in the study were recorded. Sensitivity and specificity were determined with disease status serving as the standard. Associations with clinical diagnosis, sex, age, BUN and serum creatinine concentrations, blood pressure, results of bacterial culture of urine, temperature, pyuria, hematuria, and bacteriuria were evaluated by use of logistic regression analysis. RESULTS: 48 dogs were healthy, and 360 had at least 1 disease. Significant associations were detected between age, presence of disease, presence of neoplastic disease, BUN and serum creatinine concentrations, and hematuria and results of 1 or both of the microalbuminuria assays. CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL RELEVANCE: Microalbuminuria was associated with underlying disease. The sensitivity and specificity of the semiquantitative microalbuminuria test for detection of systemic disease were superior to those of other tests. Microalbuminuria testing in conjunction with other screening procedures may increase diagnosis of subclinical disease, but a prospective study in which the predictive values of screening tests are evaluated, with and without microalbuminuria determination, is needed.     

Possible parachordoma in a dog

Abstract

CASE HISTORY: A 15-mm diameter mass developed in the S/C tissue overlying the right lateral gluteal muscle of a 6½-year-old female Flat-coated Retriever.

PATHOLOGICAL FINDINGS: Cytological preparations following aspiration of the mass were highly cellular and consisted of a population of large polygonal cells containing single to multiple nuclei, large prominent nucleoli, and intracytoplasmic vacuoles. Histologically, the neoplasm consisted of similar large cells surrounded by thick fibrous connective tissue trabeculae. The large polygonal cells reacted positively with antibodies against vimentin, low- and high-molecular-weight variants of cytokeratin (AE1/AE3), but not with antibodies to desmin or glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP).

DIAGNOSIS: The clinical, gross, histological and immunohistochemical findings are similar to those reported for parachordomas in humans. Neither recurrence nor metastases were noted 18 months after surgical excision of the mass.

CLINICAL RELEVANCE: This is the first reported case of a possible parachordoma in a dog, a benign tumour with cytological features of malignancy.