Exposure to mercury in Canada: A multimedia analysis

A thorough assessment of Canadian exposure to mercury (Hg) has not been undertaken since 1970. A multimedia approach was used to update estimates of Hg exposure to members of the general population in Canada, based on currently available information. Adult Canadians have an estimated intake of all Hg species via all routes of 7.7μg/day (0.11μg/kg body weight/day), which equated to an absorbed dose of 5.3μg/day (0.076μg/kg bw/day). Fish consumption accounts for much of this exposure (27% of intake, 40% of absorbed dose), in the form of methylmercury. However, dental amalgam appears to account for a greater proportion of total Hg exposure than fish consumption. Exposure from amalgam was estimated for intake and absorbed doses (of Hg⁰) at 2.81 and 2.25μg/day, respectively. This represents 36% of total Hg intake and 42% of absorbed dose. Hg²⁺ arises principally from foods other than fish. Intake of Hg²⁺ by adults was determined to be 1.82μg/day and absorbed dose only 0.18μg/day. Exposures for four other age groups of the population were also evaluated.     

Analysis of fatty acids in Longissimus muscle of steers of different genetic breeds finished in pasture systems

The chemical composition, the fatty acids profile, and conjugated linoleic acids content in Longissimus muscle (LM) of steers have been determined. For such, 18 steers (6, Nellore, NEL) and their Simmental (6, NSI), and Santa Gertrudes (6, NSG) crossbreds finished in pasture system with Brachiaria brizantha cv. marandu for about 3 months with approximate weight at slaughter of 480 kg at average age approximate of 25 months. The lipid content increased in the following order influenced by genetic groups: Nellore, F1 Nellore × Simmental and F1 Nellore × Santa Gertrudes crossbreds. The lipid content increased while moisture, ash and protein contents decreased. The content of saturated fatty acids (SFA) was affected by genetic groups. The conjugated linoleic acids contents (CLA) in fat were similar in the genetic groups, but the quantity of CLA concentrations in muscle lipids of steers with larger total lipid was higher. The predominant CLA was CLA cis-9, trans-11.     

Genetic parameters and correlation in early measurement cycles in rubber trees

Knowledge of the traits present in plant populations of a species is essential to carry out selection and breeding. The objective of the present study was to estimate the genetic parameters and correlate genetically and phenotypically the variables rubber yield, annual trunk girth increase, number of latex vessel rings and bark thickness in early measurement cycles. A total of 22 rubber tree progenies (Hevea brasiliensis) were assessed in three locations during three early measurement cycles. The bark thickness variable correlated significantly for the three increase measurements made in the locations of Jaú, Pindorama and Votuporanga. The progeny mean based joint hereditability showed mean values greater than individual plants and within progeny plants of 0.848, 0.286 and 0.242, respectively. The variables annual trunk girth increase and bark thickness are genetically correlated variables. Rubber yield is correlated genetically with bark thickness that permits simultaneous selection for the two characteristics. The early measurement cycles were efficacious for finding genetic variability among the genotypes.     

Steers performance in dwarf elephant grass pastures alone or mixed with Arachis pintoi

The inclusion of legumes in pasture reduces the need for mineral nitrogen applications and the pollution of groundwater; however, the agronomic and animal husbandry advantages with tropical legumes are still little known. The objective of this study was to quantify the effect of the use of forage peanut (Arachis pintoi cv. Amarillo) in dwarf elephant grass pastures (Pennisetum purpureum cv. BRS Kurumi) on forage intake and animal performance. The experimental treatments were dwarf elephant grass fertilized with 200 kg?N/ha, and dwarf elephant grass mixed with forage peanut without mineral fertilizers. The animals used for the experiment were 12 Charolais steers (body weight (BW)?=?288?±?5.2 kg) divided into four lots (two per treatment). Pastures were managed under intermittent stocking with an herbage allowance of 5.4 kg dry matter of green leaves/100 kg BW. Dry matter intake (mean?=?2.44 % BW), the average daily gain (mean?=?0.76 kg), and the stocking rate (mean?=?3.8 AU/ha) were similar between the studied pastures, but decreased drastically in last grazing cycle with the same herbage allowance. The presence of peanut in dwarf elephant grass pastures was enough to sustain the stocking rate, but did not allow increasing forage intake and animal performance.     

Effect of Removing Seminal Plasma Using a Sperm Filter on the Viability of Refrigerated Stallion Semen

Cooling of equine semen obtained from some stallions results in lower seminal quality and viability when the seminal plasma (SP) is present. The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of the removal of SP using a Sperm Filter on the viability of cooled stallion semen. For this purpose, 31 stallions were used. Their ejaculates were divided into three groups: CN, semen was diluted with an extender; FLT, SP was removed by filtration; and CT, SP was removed by centrifugation and cooled to 15°C for 24 hours. Sperm kinetics and plasma membrane integrity were evaluated immediately after collection (T0) and after 24 hours of refrigeration (T1). No difference (P > .05) was noted at T1 for total sperm motility (TM), progressive sperm motility, or plasma membrane integrity when semen samples from all the stallions were analyzed. However, when samples from stallions termed “bad coolers” were analyzed (TM = <30% at T1), a difference was observed in TM and progressive sperm motility for CN compared with FLT and CT at T1. Sperm recovery was greater when SP was removed using the filter (FLT) to that when the SP was removed by centrifugation (CN) (89% vs. 81%). Thus, we concluded that filtering with a Sperm Filter is an efficient and practical method for removal of SP from stallion ejaculates, with lower sperm loss than centrifugation. We also found that the presence of SP reduces the quality and viability of cooled semen from stallions whose semen is sensitive to the process of refrigeration.     

MUC1 expression in canine malignant mammary tumours and relationship to clinicopathological features

Mucin-1 (MUC1) is over-expressed in human breast carcinomas and is linked to a poorer prognosis. In this study, MUC1 expression in 32 spontaneous canine malignant mammary tumours was characterised in relation to histological type, mode of growth, grade, lymph node metastases and distant metastases. All tumours exhibited immunostaining for MUC1. In the normal canine mammary gland, MUC1 was expressed mainly in the apical cellular membrane, while in carcinomas MUC1 was detected in the cytoplasm only (56.3%) or in the cytoplasm with membrane accentuation (43.7%). There was a significant association between development of distant metastases and MUC1 over-expression (P=0.03), but no association with histological type, histological grade, mode of growth or lymph node metastasis.     

Rapid determination of hydrogen peroxide using peroxidase immobilized on Amberlite IRA-743 and minerals in honey

Hydrogen peroxide and trace metals (K+, Ca2+, Na+, Mg2+, Mn2+, and Li+) were determined in 14 samples of Brazilian commercial honeys. The method for the determination of H2O2 is based on selective oxidation of H2O2 using an on-line tubular reactor containing peroxidase immobilized on Amberlite IRA-743 resin. Reactors presented high stability for at least 2 weeks under intense use. The results show a simple, accurate, selective, and readily applied method to the determination of H2O2 in honey. The trace metals were determined by capillary zone electrophoresis. Mean contents of 656, 69.1, 71.8, 36.0, 21.4, and 1.70 mg/kg were found, respectively, for K+, Ca2+, Na+, Mg2+, Mn2+, and Li+ in the analyzed honeys. The cations were identified by comparison of the relative migration times of their peaks with the Ba2+ migration time used as reference. The electrophoretic analysis was simple and rapid and did not require any other preparation of sample than dilution and filtration.     

Purification and characterization of a trypsin inhibitor from Plathymenia foliolosa seeds

A novel trypsin inhibitor (PFTI) was isolated from Plathymenia foliolosa (Benth.) seeds by gel filtration chromatography on a Sephadex G-100, DEAE-Sepharose, and trypsin-Sepharose columns. By SDSPAGE, PFTI yielded a single band with a M(r) of 19 kDa. PFTI inhibited bovine trypsin and bovine chymotrypsin with equilibrium dissociation constants (K(i)) of 4 x 10(-8) and 1.4 x 10(-6) M, respectively. PFTI retained more than 50% of activity at up to 50 degrees C for 30 min, but there were 80 and 100% losses of activity at 60 and 70 degrees C, respectively. DTT affected the activity or stability of PFTI. The N-terminal amino acid sequence of PFTI showed a high degree of homology with various members of the Kunitz family of inhibitors. Anagasta kuehniella is found worldwide; this insect attacks stored grains and products of rice, oat, rye, corn, and wheat. The velvet bean caterpillar (Anticarsia gemmatalis) is considered the main defoliator pest of soybean in Brazil. Diatraea saccharalis, the sugar cane borer, is the major pest of sugar cane crops, and its caterpillar-feeding behavior, inside the stems, hampers control. PFTI showed significant inhibitory activity against trypsin-like proteases present in the larval midguts on A. kuehniella and D. saccharalis and could suppress the growth of larvae.     

Mapping community change in modified landscapes

Habitat loss is not randomly distributed across modified landscapes, yet spatial patterns of habitat cover are not routinely combined with biodiversity data when assessing or predicting the biodiversity impacts of land use change. Here, we convert point observations of more than 28,000 beetles from 851 species into a continuous biodiversity surface representing the similarity of ecological communities relative to that of pristine forest, effectively integrating on-the-ground biodiversity data with remotely sensed land cover data to predict the magnitude of community change in a modified landscape. We generated biodiversity surfaces for both present-day and pre-human landscapes to map spatial patterns of change in a diverse ecological community to calculate the combined biodiversity impacts of habitat loss and fragmentation that accounts for the exact spatial pattern of deforestation. Our spatially-explicit, landscape-scale index of community change shows how the fine-scale configuration of habitat loss sums across a landscape to determine changes in biodiversity at a larger spatial scale. After accounting for naturally occurring within-forest heterogeneity, we estimate that the conversion of 43% of forest to grassland in a 1300 km² landscape in New Zealand resulted in a 47% change to the beetle community.