Breed, sex and age distribution in dogs with chronic liver disease: a demographic study

Breed, sex and age distribution were studied in dogs with histopathologically diagnosed chronic (active or progressive) hepatitis and liver cirrhosis in Sweden. The study was based on clinical and histopathological records obtained during three years from a histopathological laboratory and during six years from an animal hospital. Some breeds were significantly (P<0–001) over-represented: American and English cocker spaniels, labrador retrievers and West Highland white terriers. In both spaniel breeds the males were most frequent whereas in the labrador retriever, the females were over represented. In the West Highland white terrier there was no sex difference. The average age at presentation was approximately five years in spaniels and West Highland white terriers and seven years in labrador retrievers. The high incidence of chronic liver disease and liver cirrhosis in certain breeds indicate that hereditary factors may be of importance in the development of chronic hepatitis and liver cirrhosis.     

Carcass quality and technological and sensory meat quality of once-bred gilts in a seasonal outdoor rearing system

Seasonal application of once-bred gilts for piglet and meat production outdoors could be a worthwhile alternative rearing form to normal commercial production. Compared with growing/finishing pigs, payment for sow carcasses is considerably reduced because of an assumed decrease in meat quality and processing properties. The purpose of this study was to compare maiden and once-bred gilts for carcass quality, and technological and sensory meat quality. The control group of 14 gilts (LW*L and LW*D) was reared indoors and slaughtered unmated at an average live weight of 145 kg. In contrast, 38 once-bred gilts of the same breeds were initially reared like the maiden control, inseminated and then housed outdoors from one month before farrowing until slaughter. Carcass traits, technological meat quality (pH, internal and surface reflectance, water holding capacity, commercial processing yield (total yield) and laboratory processing yield (Napole yield), WB shear force and chemical composition of M. longissimus dorsi were measured. Sensory meat quality (taste panel) of oven-baked M. longissimus dorsi and cured and smoked M. semimembranosus et adductor was investigated. Carcass quality traits such as higher lean meat content and lower backfat thickness were preferable with the once-bred gilts. For technological meat quality characteristics, once-bred gilts had lower thawing loss, Napole yield, dry matter and higher total work of WB shear force and intramuscular fat, compared to maiden gilts. In general, sensory meat quality was comparable between the two groups. In processed meat only, once-bred gilts had higher juiciness and salinity and unfavourable increased stringiness, compared to maiden gilts. Thus, once-bred gilts produce valuable carcasses and are suitable for an outdoor seasonal rearing system.     

Night-time Melatonin Secretion and Seasonally Delayed Puberty in Gilts

This study was conducted to determine whether the seasonal delay in puberty in autumn is driven by individual differences in night-time melatonin secretion in domestic gilts at the attainment of puberty. A group of spring-born gilts (n = 30) were expected to reach puberty in autumn by the age of 7 months. Eighteen of these gilts were selected in pairs on the basis of matched days of birth. By the expected time, half of the animals showed oestrous symptoms (group CYCLING, n = 9) with the rest remaining silent (group SILENT, n = 9). Afterwards, all gilts were fitted with indwelling jugular catheters for frequent blood sampling. Blood samples were collected from all animals three times during the day followed by three times in the night at 2-h intervals for 48 h. The samples were analysed by a commercial radioimmunoassay (RIA). The results show a consistent 25-fold rise (on average) in night-time melatonin concentration in every animal sampled with group averages ranging from 0.28 +/- 0.04 to 0.37 +/- 0.06 pg/ml at day and from 10.20 +/- 2.16 to 10.67 +/- 0.05 pg/ml at night. Night-time group mean values between CYCLING and SILENT gilts did not differ significantly (10.26 +/- 0.67 and 10.38 +/- 0.94 for the CYCLING; 10.67 +/- 0.05 and 10.20 +/- 2.16 for the SILENT). When 10 pg/ml was used as a threshold value, six individuals did not reach it during the night (low responders). Two of these gilts were CYCLING and four were SILENT. In conclusion, the results presented imply no involvement of the level of night-time melatonin concentration in the seasonal delay of puberty in gilts.     

Influence of wetland liming on water chemistry of acidified mountain streams in Lofsdalen,Central Sweden

Acidic precipitation has caused damage to the populations of fish and invertebrates in numerous streams in the southern part of the Swedish mountain range. In the middle of the 70's, the pH of precipitation decreased and has since then frequently been lower than 4.5. Many of the streamwaters were well buffered during most time of the year, but during periods with high discharge, the buffering capacity was completely exhausted, pH frequently decreased to around 4.5 and very high levels of Fe, Mn and Al occurred. In general, base cations (BC) and organic anions decreased during periods of high flow, while SO₄ increased or was relatively independent of flow. On an average, the ratio SO₄/BC was negatively correlated to pH, while organic anions/BC showed a weaker correlation to pH. In order to investigate if wetland liming could be used as a remedial measure in such areas, lime treatments were started in 1983 in the Lofsdalen area, province of Härjedalen. The liming stabilized the alkalinity and pH of the streams at circum-neutral levels, and reduced the leaching of Fe, Mn, and Al. The average levels of these elements decreased and the seasonal fluctuation decreased considerably.     

Effects of environment and variety on content and molecular weight of β-glucan in oats

Oat β-glucan has been shown to have cholesterol, insulin and glucose lowering effects, which are related to increased viscosity of the intestinal contents. Some important factors influencing the viscosity are molecular weight, structure and concentration. To study the effect of variety and environment on β-glucan content and molecular weight of β-glucan, four oat varieties were grown in 11 different environments (location × year combinations) in a field experiment. The β-glucan content varied between 2.3 and 3.2% and the average molecular weight of β-glucan between 1.73 and 2.02 × 10⁶ g mol⁻¹. There was a significant difference between varieties and environments for both β-glucan content and molecular weight of β-glucan. The effect of environment was much greater on molecular weight (71%) than on β-glucan content (42%), while the effect of variety was greater on β-glucan content (23%) than on molecular weight (4%). There was also a positive significant correlation between β-glucan content and molecular weight of β-glucan (p < 0.001, r = 0.46). These results show that β-glucan content is a better target for plant breeding than molecular weight. However, both factors are important for the physiological effects of β-glucan, and selection for high β-glucan content will probably also give higher molecular weight.     

Occurrence of aphid vector and genetic tolerance to infection by potyvirus in hot pepper

The productivity and marketable quality of hot pepper (Capsicum annuum var. annuum L.) are low in tropical regions mainly due to virus infections and lack of effective virus management strategies. The absence of effective virus management strategies could be attributed to lack of information on virus vectors and host resistance. Parental (P₁ and P₂) and progeny (F₁, B₁, B₂ and F₂) generations of five hot pepper crosses were grown in Ethiopia at three sites (Bako, Hawasa and Melkasa) to monitor number and species of potential aphid vectors, disease incidence levels with regards to natural infections by Potato virus Y (PVY) and Ethiopian pepper mottle virus (EPMV) complex, and to determine genetic tolerance of the crop to the viruses. Disease incidence was assessed before the flowering stage of the crop plants using visible disease symptoms due to infections by PVY and EPMV. The serological tests revealed presence of symptomless genotypes of the crop to the virus infections. Aphid species potentially transmitting the viruses, such as Acyrthosiphon pisum (Harris), Aphis fabae (Scopoli), and Myzus persicae (Sulzer), were identified from specimens caught by yellow water traps. The highest number of aphids from yellow water traps was recorded at a dense foliage growth stage of the crop at Melkasa. Highly significant variation was observed among generations of the five crosses in response to infections by PVY and EPMV complex. The most susceptible parents had the levels of disease incidences ranging from 80 to 90%, whereas their progenies had only below 30% incidence levels. The most tolerant parent remained symptomless to the natural infections of PVY- and EPMV-complex. Incidence levels in progenies of a cross from the most susceptible and tolerant parents remained below 20%. Based on serological test, the proportion of PVY-positive plants ranged from 0 to 75% and of EPMV-positive plants from 0 to 25%, with 0 to 17% co-infection by the two viruses. Availability of virus sources in the vicinity, efficiency of aphids in vectoring, weather conditions during the growth period, genetic tolerance and the growth stage of the crop affected natural infection by PVY- and EPMV-complex. Exploitation of the genetic potential of introduced elite genotypes and their progenies along with breeding elite local cultivars for resistance and excluding aphid vectors at young (seedling) stage of the crop plants could be helpful for minimizing losses in yield and quality of hot pepper due to infections by PVY- and EPMV-complex.     

Milling Performance of North European Hull‐less Barleys and Characterization of Resultant Millstreams

Four hull‐less barley samples were milled on a Bühler MLU 202 laboratory mill and individual and combined milling fractions were characterized. The best milling performance was obtained when the samples were conditioned to 14.3% moisture. Yields were 37–48% for straight‐run flour, 47–56% for shorts, and 5–8% for bran. The β‐glucan contents of the straight‐run white flours were 1.6–2.1%, of which ≈49% was water‐extractable. The arabinoxylan contents were 1.2–1.5%, of which ≈17% was water‐extractable. Shorts and bran fractions contained more β‐glucan (4.2–5.8% and 3.0–4.7%, respectively) and arabinoxylan (6.1–7.7% and 8.1–11.8%, respectively) than the white flours. For those fractions, β‐glucan extractability was high (58.5 and 52.3%, respectively), whereas arabinoxylan extractability was very low (≈6.5 and 2.0%, respectively). The straight‐run white flours had low α‐amylase, β‐glucanase, and endoxylanase activities. The highest α‐amylase activity was found in the shorts fractions and the highest β‐glucanase and endoxylanase activities were generally found in the bran fractions. Endoxylanase inhibitor activities were low in the white flours and highest in the shorts fractions. High flavanoid, tocopherol, and tocotrienol contents were found in bran and shorts fractions.     

Physiological and metabolic properties of a digestion-resistant maltodextrin, classified as type 3 retrograded resistant starch

There is a growing interest in highly fermentable dietary fibers having the potential to reduce risks of disease through the production of short-chain fatty acids (SCFA). Recently a digestion-resistant retrograded maltodextrin (RRM), classified as type 3 resistant starch was developed. Systematic work to determine its molecular and physiological properties was carried out to determine (1) the fraction resistant to digestion in vitro and in vivo, (2) its postconsumption effect on blood glucose in healthy volunteers, and (3) its in vitro fermentation pattern, at different ages, by use of pooled fresh human fecal inoculum. RESULTS: The digestion resistant fraction obtained in vivo from ileostomy patients (59.4%) is similar to that obtained by the AOAC method for measuring retrograded resistant starch (59.7%). The relative glycemic response after consumption of 50 g of RRM was 58.5% compared to glucose set as 100%. When exposed to colonic microbiota, in vitro obtained indigestible fractions behave similarly to those obtained in vivo in ileostomy patients. Fermentation of RRM and production of butyric acid is negligible during the first months of life but develops subsequently during weaning. In adults, RRM fermentation results in a high yield of SCFA, with butyrate representing 21-31 mol % of total SCFA. The high yield of SCFA during colonic fermentation, observed from weaning age on, as well as the potential to help reduce glycemic load may be of benefit to a number of health-related functions in the host. Further study on clear clinical end points is warranted.     

Reacidification Effects on Water Chemistry and Plankton in a Limed Lake in Sweden

Water chemistry and plankton has been monitored in three Lakes in Tyresta National park SE of Stockholm since 1977. Liming operations started in Lake Långsjön and Lake Trehörningen in 1978 and were repeated every 3–5 years, while Lake Årsjön is an unlimed reference Lake. During 1991–1999, the annual pH median in Lake Långsjön and Lake Årsjön ranged between 6.6–7.1 and 5.2–5.8, respectively, and the composition of phyto- and zooplankton in these lakes did not change markedly. After a final treatment in 1991, the liming of Lake Trehörningen was terminated intentionally. As a result, pH decreased from an annual median 7.1 in 1991, to 6.1 in 1999 (5.8 in 1998). Total organic carbon (TOC) did not change markedly during this period, while the levels of calcium decreased. Metals, known to be influenced by acidification, especially cadmium, manganese and aluminium (Al), increased. The labile-inorganic forms of Al also reached higher levels, especially in 1998. Following the decreasing pH, the total number of phytoplankton taxa decreased by ca 40%. Among zooplankton, the cladocerans Holopedium gibberum, Diaphanosoma brachyurum and Daphnia longispina, common during the limed period, became rare.