The effects of slaughter weight on chemical composition,physical properties,and fatty acid profile of musculus longissimus dorsi in Holstein bulls

Tropical Animal Health and Production - This study was conducted to investigate the effects of slaughter weight on chemical composition, physical properties, and fatty acid profile of musculus...     

The Effect of Depuration on Metals,Bacteria, and Nutrition in Venus verrucosa from the Aegean Sea: Benefit and Risk for Consumer Health of Warty Venus

ABSTRACT

In this study, the effect of the depuration period on proximate composition, metals, fatty acids, and bacteria in the edible tissue of warty venus (Venus verrucosa) collected from ?zmir Bay in the Aegean Sea was investigated. In addition, benefit and risk for human health associated with the consumption of warty venus were determined by atherogenic index (AI), thrombogenic index (TI), polyene index (PI), fish lipid quality (FLQ), target hazard quotient (THQ), and hazard index (HI). The depuration process did not show a significant (P > .05) effect on proximate composition, except for ash. The depuration process was successful in reducing bacteria growth and the concentrations of all metals, except for copper. Total aerobic mesophilic bacteria count of 1.94 log CFU/g in the fresh samples was uncountable at 24 h of depuration. The concentrations of cadmium, lead, copper, iron, and zinc were below the limit values allowed for safe consumption. The analyzed metals were safe for human consumption based on provisional tolerable weekly intake (PTWI), THQ, and HI. Significant variations were also observed in the fatty acid values depending on the depuration periods (P < .05). The n3/n6 and polyunsaturated/saturated fatty acid ratios were greater than those recommended by the FAO/WHO. Moreover, the AI and TI of samples were under established limits.     

The effects of pine mistletoe (Viscum album subsp. austriacum) on the growth of Scots pine and Crimean pine in Turkey

In this study, the effect of pine mistletoe (Viscum album subsp. austriacum) on basal area increment of Crimean pine and Scots pine was investigated. Dendrochronological data were collected from 223 (71 uninfected and 152 infected) Crimean pines and 195 (77 uninfected and 118 infected) Scots pines located in Kastamonu province of Turkey in 2014. Infected sample trees were classified as light, moderate or severe infection levels. Growth trends and basal area increment loses were compared between uninfected and infected trees for the periods of the last 10, 20 and 30 years. In addition, infection status of forest stands was investigated using temporary sample plots; 27 plots in Crimean pine stands and 26 plots in Scots pine. Results demonstrated that basal area increments were negatively affected by pine mistletoe for both species. Mean basal area increment losses of infected trees for the last decade were determined as 24% for Scots pine and 26% for Crimean pine. Basal area increment losses varied by infection levels (light, moderate and severe) as follows: 25%, 20% and 28% for Scots pines and 20%, 32% and 9% for Crimean pines. Scots pine stands were more severely infected by pine mistletoe than Crimean pine stands. There were negative correlations between number of infected trees and stand density for both species, while positive correlation was detected between the number of infected trees and mean diameter for Scots pine. The results of this study indicate that the pine mistletoe infection has negative effect on radial growth of Scots pine and Crimean pine trees. The results can be an important contribution to the forest management and protection activities in mistletoe-infected stands.     

Antibodies to Schmallenberg virus in domestic livestock in Turkey

This, partly retrospective study, was designed to determine the seroprevalence of Schmallenberg virus (SBV), a new Orthobunyavirus first reported in Germany in late 2011, in domestic ruminants from the Middle Black Sea, West, and Southeast regions of Turkey. An indirect enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay was used to screen serum samples collected from slaughterhouse animals between 2006 and 2013. The overall seroprevalence was 335/1,362 (24.5 %) with 325/816 (39.8 %), 5/307 (1.6 %), 3/109 (2.8 %), and 2/130 (1.5 %) recorded in cattle, sheep, goats, and Anatolian water buffalo, respectively. This is the first study to demonstrate the presence of antibodies to SBV in Turkish ruminants; it indicates that cattle are more susceptible to infection than sheep, goats, or buffalo and that exposure of domestic ruminants to SBV in Turkey may have occurred up to 5 years prior to the first recorded outbreak of the disease in 2011.     

Blood Levels of Selected Metabolic Factors,Cytokines, and Lymphocyte Subpopulations in Arabian and Thoroughbred Horses During the Longest and Shortest Days of the Year

Day length-related alterations of several metabolic factors (glucose, leptin, insulin, and insulin-like growth factor-1 [IGF-1]), cytokines (interleukin-2 [IL-2], IL-4, IL-6, tumor necrosis factor-alpha [TNF-α], interferon-gamma [IFN-γ], and lymphocyte subpopulations [CD2, CD3, CD4, CD8, CD19, natural killer (NK) cells) were evaluated in Arabian and Thoroughbred horses. Plasma glucose, leptin, IGF-1, insulin, and cytokines levels were measured on the longest day of the breeding season and on the shortest day of the nonbreeding season. Determination of lymphocyte subpopulations was performed by flow cytometry. Glucose and IL-2 levels, CD4:CD8 ratio, and NK cells showed variations that depended on the day length. Mean concentrations of plasma leptin were higher in Arabian horses than in Thoroughbred horses, whereas mean concentrations of IGF-1 and IL-2 were lower in Arabian horses. Day length-by-breed-by-gender interaction was found for insulin, IFN-γ, and IL-4 levels. An interaction was also found between day length and gender for the expressions of CD2, CD3, CD8, and CD19. Correlations were detected between expression of CD8⁺ cells and levels of TNF-α and IFN-γ and between percentages of NK cells and levels of IGF-1, insulin, and glucose. Results suggested that day length and, therefore, season are important determinants or factors in modulating the immune system and could affect lymphocyte subpopulations depending on the sex of the horse. Additionally, it seems that a complex relationship in horses, as in humans and mice, exists between the immune and metabolic system, which changes according to day length, breed, and gender.     

Effects of dietary lipid levels on growth, nutrient utilization, and nitrogen and carbon balances in shi drum (Umbrina cirrosa L.)

Shi drum (Umbrina cirrosa L.) is regarded as a promising new candidate for Mediterranean mariculture but specifically formulated feeds are not yet available due to knowledge gaps in its basic nutritional requirements. Therefore, this study was carried out to determine the effects of dietary lipid levels on growth and feed utilization in shi drum (72.6 g average weight). Four isonitrogenic diets differing in dietary lipid levels between 10 and 19% (named 10L, 13L, 16L, and 19L, respectively) were fed to triplicate groups of fish for 8 weeks. Growth was not affected by treatment whereas feed efficiency was significantly deteriorated in fish fed diets containing lipid higher than 13%. Whole body dry matter and lipid contents were significantly higher in fish fed 19L compared with fish fed the 10L, while whole body protein, ash, and total carbon (C) were statistically unaffected by the dietary treatment. A significant increase in feed, lipid, energy, nitrogen (N), and carbon (C) intake was recorded in fish fed 16L and 19L when compared with 10L. Carbon/nitrogen (C/N) ratio was significantly higher in fish fed 19L than 10L. Moreover, the N and C losses significantly increased in fish fed 19L compared with 10L and 13L. It was concluded that high dietary lipid did neither had any protein-sparing effect nor other positive result, and diets for shi drum are not recommended to contain more than 13% lipid.     

Serosurveillance for equine infectious anaemia in the Ardahan province of Turkey

Equine infectious anaemia is a retroviral infection of horses. All infected horses, including those that are asymptomatic, become carriers and are infectious for life. In this study, blood samples of all equines in the province of Ardahan were collected. The material consisted of 8,947 equines, including 8,769 horses and 178 donkeys, from Ardahan province in northeastern Turkey. Blood was collected from all horses and donkeys and the sera were analysed for the presence of antibodies to equine infectious anaemia virus (EIAV) using an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. The results revealed that none of the horses and donkeys were positive for antibodies to EIAV.     

Solution electrospinning of polypropylene-based fibers and their application in catalysis

Since the dissolution of polyolefins is a chronic problem, melt processing has been tacitly accepted as an obligation. In this work, polypropylene (PP) was modified on molecular level incorporating poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) as graft segment (PP-g-PEG) in a range of 6 to 9 mol%. Gold nanoparticles were nucleated in the presence of the copolymer chains via redox reaction. The dissolution of the amphiphilic comb-type graft copolymers containing gold nanoparticles (80 nm in diameter) was achieved in toluene and successfully electrospun from its solution. The diameter of composite fibers was in the range from 0.3 to 2.5 μm. The design of the structurally organized copolymer fiber mats provided a support medium for the nanoparticles enhancing the active surface area for the catalytic applications. The resulting composite fibers exhibited rapid catalytic reduction of methylene blue (MB) dye in the presence of sodium borohydride (NaBH₄) compared to corresponding composite cast film.     

Hairpin-based virus resistance depends on the sequence similarity between challenge virus and discrete,highly accumulating siRNA species

Virus resistance can be effectively generated in transgenic plants by using the plant’s silencing machinery. To study the specificity of gene-silencing-based resistance, homozygous tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum L.) plants containing a 597-nt hairpin RNA construct of the Potato Virus Y (PVY) replicase sequence were challenged with a variety of PVY strains. The transgene-carrying tobacco line was immune to five potato PVY strains with high sequence similarity (88.3–99.5%) to the transgene. Infection with more distant tomato and pepper PVY field strains (86–86.8% sequence similarity) caused delayed symptom appearance in the transgenic tobacco. Transgene production of small interfering (si) RNA was detected by northern blot and measured using a custom-designed microarray for the detection of small RNAs. siRNA accumulation peaks were observed throughout the inverted-repeat transgene. In the resistance-breaking tomato and pepper strains there were nucleotide differences in the sequences correlated to siRNA transgene accumulation, indicating the role of siRNA specificity in resistance breaking. The log of transgene siRNA signal intensity increased with probe GC content, indicating that the accumulating siRNA molecules were GC-rich. Sequence similarity of highly accumulating siRNAs with the target virus strain appears to be important for both resistance and resistance-breaking characteristics.