Assessment and comparison of proximate,fatty acid and mineral composition of six edible portions of South African cultured yellowtail (Seriola lalandi)

A whole fillet (A) and five distinct anatomical portions within a fillet (B–F) of South African farmed yellowtail were assessed for proximate, fatty acid and mineral composition. Within the whole fillet, moisture, protein, fat and ash accounted for 71%, 21%, 5% and 1% of the proximate composition respectively. Considerable inter‐muscular variation in nutritional composition was observed, however, the dorsal section (portions B and D) was most representative of the proximate, fatty acid and mineral composition of the whole yellowtail fillet and may be used in future studies. High variability in mineral and essential fatty acid content was observed and no one portion could be considered to contain a superior nutrient complex. South African farmed yellowtail can be considered a semi‐oily fish (5.3% fat) with relatively high levels of PUFA detected (PUFA > SFA > MUFA) primarily located in the dorsal and caudal sections. This study provided important information regarding the nutritional composition of South African reared yellowtail as well as recommendations regarding the sub‐sampling of specific portions for future nutrient composition studies.     

Biofunctionalised polycaprolactone fibrous mat as a transfer tool for cell sheet engineering

Cell sheet technology is a unique technique in tissue engineering where cell sheets are generated from thermoresponsive substrates, by simple variation of temperature. Though the cell sheets have intact cell-cell and cell-extra cellular matrix junctions, the transfer of large sheets needs a carrier or transfer tool to prevent it from rolling and folding. In this study polycaprolactone electrospun mats with porous fibers (PPCL) functionalized with thrombin is proposed as a cell sheet transfer tool. The biofunctionalised mats were evaluated for cytocompatibility and analyzed for its efficiency to form a clot when exposed to blood plasma. This property was utilized to use the mats for cell sheet engineering. The efficacy of the biofunctionalised mat as a carrier was successfully demonstrated in the transfers of human lung epithelial and mouse fibroblast cell sheets generated from a thermoresponsive N-Isopropylacrylamide-co-Glycidylmethacrylate substrates. The clot acts like a sacrificial adhesive between the cells and the mat making the later to be used as a carrier tool in cell sheet engineering.     

Calf health from birth to weaning. I. General aspects of disease prevention

Calfhood diseases have a major impact on the economic viability of cattle operations. This is the first in a three part review series on calf health from birth to weaning, focusing on preventive measures. The review considers both pre- and periparturient management factors influencing calf health, colostrum management in beef and dairy calves and further nutrition and weaning in dairy calves.     

Higher whole-blood selenium is associated with improved immune responses in footrot-affected sheep

ABSTRACT: We reported previously that sheep affected with footrot (FR) have lower whole-blood selenium (WB-Se) concentrations and that parenteral Se-supplementation in conjunction with routine control practices accelerates recovery from FR. The purpose of this follow-up study was to investigate the mechanisms by which Se facilitates recovery from FR. Sheep affected with FR (n = 38) were injected monthly for 15 months with either 5 mg Se (FR-Se) or saline (FR-Sal), whereas 19 healthy sheep received no treatment. Adaptive immune function was evaluated after 3 months of Se supplementation by immunizing all sheep with a novel protein, keyhole limpet hemocyanin (KLH). The antibody titer and delayed-type hypersensitivity (DTH) skin test to KLH were used to assess humoral immunity and cell-mediated immunity, respectively. Innate immunity was evaluated after 3 months of Se supplementation by measuring intradermal responses to histamine 30 min after injection compared to KLH and saline, and after 15 months of Se supplementation by isolating neutrophils and measuring their bacterial killing ability and relative abundance of mRNA for genes associated with neutrophil migration. Compared to healthy sheep, immune responses to a novel protein were suppressed in FR-affected sheep with smaller decreases in FR-affected sheep that received Se or had WB-Se concentrations above 250 ng/mL at the time of the immune assays. Neutrophil function was suppressed in FR-affected sheep, but was not changed by Se supplementation or WB-Se status. Sheep FR is associated with depressed immune responses to a novel protein, which may be partly restored by improving WB-Se status (> 250 ng/mL).     

COMPUTED TOMOGRAPHIC FINDINGS IN CANINE ELBOWS ARTHROSCOPICALLY DIAGNOSED WITH EROSION OF THE MEDIAL COMPARTMENT: AN ANALYTICAL METHOD COMPARISON STUDY

Medial compartment erosion is an advanced stage of medial coronoid disease, an important cause of elbow lameness in dogs, with treatment and the expected prognosis depending on the extent of the cartilage lesions. The identification of specific computed tomographic (CT) findings might facilitate the nonsurgical diagnosis and add to treatment decision making. Aims of this retrospective, analytical, method comparison study were to describe CT findings in elbows of dogs arthroscopically diagnosed with medial compartment erosion and to compare CT vs. arthroscopic findings. A total of 56 elbows met inclusion criteria. Elbows with focal (n = 13), diffuse (n = 11), and complete (n = 32) erosion were compared. Prevalence findings for CT lesions were as follows: periarticular osteophytosis (100%), abnormal shape of the medial coronoid process of the ulna (96.4%), and subchondral bone defect of the medial part of the humeral condyle (MHC; 96.4%). The three groups significantly differed for presence of medial coronoid process fragmentation, radial head subchondral bone sclerosis, and widening of the humeroulnar joint space. No significant agreement was found between CT and arthroscopy for presence of a subchondral bone defect of the MHC. A significant agreement was found between CT and arthroscopy for presence of fragmentation of the medial coronoid process. However, some of the calcified body/fragment(s) visualized on CT in the region of the medial coronoid process could not be identified via arthroscopy. Findings indicated that an accurate estimation of the extent of the elbow cartilage lesions still requires arthroscopic joint inspection.     

Perceptions of weight and associated factors of adolescents in Jiangsu Province, China

OBJECTIVE: To describe perceptions of weight of adolescents and associated factors. DESIGN: Cross-sectional survey in 2002. SETTING: Eight public middle schools in two distinct socio-economic areas of Jiangsu Province, China. SUBJECTS: Eight hundred and twenty-four adolescents (aged 12-14 years) and 628 of their parents. METHODS: Self-administered questionnaires for students and their parents were used to collect the data. Height and weight of the students were measured. RESULTS: One-third of the girls perceived themselves as overweight, while only 8.9% were actually overweight or obese according to the World Health Organization definition. On the other hand, 15.0% of the girls considered themselves underweight, while 5.6% were underweight according to the definition. Among the boys, one-fifth of those defined as overweight perceived their weight as normal. Furthermore, 23.9% perceived themselves as underweight when in fact only 4.9% were classified as underweight according to the definition. About one-quarter of the students dieted in the past year. Adolescents who perceived themselves to be overweight dieted and skipped breakfast more often. They also had lower intake frequencies of animal foods, Western foods and milk/yoghurt. No disparity was observed in the intake frequency of fruits and vegetables between the groups of different weight perception. Parents' weight norms seemed to favour overweight in both genders, but especially among boys. CONCLUSIONS: Both overweight and underweight concerns were common among girls, while a higher body weight was favoured by normal-weight boys and their parents. Distorted weight perceptions in adolescents, as well as dieting, are problems that need appropriate intervention.     

Quantitative trait loci for leaf length in perennial ryegrass (Lolium perenne L.)

Leaf length is an important trait for forage grasses. Molecular marker development offers the opportunity to identify Quantitative Trait Loci (QTLs) and to begin to dissect the genetic regulation of complex traits. The objective of this study was to look for QTLs for leaf length and related traits (plant height, lamina and sheath lengths, leaf elongation rate and leaf elongation duration) in the progeny of a cross between two genotypes of Lolium perenne L. with contrasting leaf length. Measurements were performed in a plant nursery in autumn and spring, and in a heated greenhouse in winter. A high level of variability and heritability was observed for all traits. Lamina lengths at different dates were moderately but significantly correlated. For all traits, QTLs were found and explained between 0·08 and 0·44 of phenotypic variance. Although different leaf length QTLs were found at different dates, linkage groups two, four and seven were particularly important.     

Profiling excretory/secretory proteins of Trichinella spiralis muscle larvae by two-dimensional gel electrophoresis and mass spectrometry

Infection of mammalian skeletal muscle with the intracellular parasite Trichinella spiralis results in profound alterations in the host cell and a realignment of host cell gene expression. The role of parasite excretory/secretory (E/S) products in mediating these effects is unknown, largely due to the difficulty in identifying and assigning function to individual proteins. In this study, we have used two-dimensional electrophoresis to analyse the profile of muscle larva excreted/secreted proteins and have coupled this to protein identification using MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry. Interpretation of the peptide mass fingerprint data has relied primarily on the interrogation of a custom-made Trichinella EST database and the NemaGene cluster database for T. spiralis. Our results suggest that this proteomic approach is a useful tool to study protein expression in Trichinella spp. and will contribute to the identification of excreted/secreted proteins.