Sucking behaviour of hand-reared newborn dairy calves

AIM: To determine the feeding ability of calves during the first 4 days after birth.

METHODS: The sucking behaviour of 171 dairy calves, fed from individual bottles during the first 4 days after birth, was evaluated by quantifying the volume of colostrum consumed, the duration of feeding, and speed of drinking. Calves had been separated from their mothers and brought into a rearing shed in the morning, when <24 h of age, and were offered 2 L colostrum from a bottle in the afternoon of the same day, and twice daily thereafter.

RESULTS: Newborn calves became efficient suckers from bottles within 24 h of removal from their dams (collection). On the day after birth, 95% of calves drank the 2 L of colostrum offered during the afternoon feed, and by Day 4 virtually all calves (99%) drank this amount. Calves that had inadequate colostrum from their dam were more likely to drink all 2 L offered after collection, but a small number of calves that had not had colostrum from their dams and drank <500 ml at the afternoon feed following collection were likely not to drink 2 L on the following days. However, calves that did not drink all 2 L on Day 1 were not disadvantaged in comparison to those that did, in that they were equally likely to drink 2 L on Day 4.

CONCLUSIONS: The majority of calves became efficient drinkers within 48 hours of birth, but a small number of slow feeders may need individual feeding at least up to 4 days after birth.     

The experience of dog bites: A survey of veterinary science and veterinary nursing students

AIM: To investigate the circumstances of dogs biting people in New Zealand.

METHODS: Veterinary science and veterinary nursing students enrolled at Massey University in 2003 completed a questionnaire detailing their lifetime experience of dog bites and their opinions of dog control legislation.

RESULTS: The response rate was 100%. There were 228 completed responses to the survey, and 87 (38%) respondents had been bitten by a dog. Most bites caused minor injury, but 17 (20%) required medical attention. Male respondents were more likely to have been bitten. The highest proportion of respondents (27; 31%) had been bitten while between 6 and 10 years of age, and the hand was the part of the body most often injured. Eighteen (21%) bites involved a stranger's dog, but most bites were by a dog known to the victim. Respondents from rural areas were three times more likely to have been bitten than city dwellers. The victim's home was the place where most (31; 36%) bites occurred. Male dogs were responsible for a larger proportion of bites (38; 44%) than females (24; 28%); respondents were unsure about the sex of the remainder of the dogs (25; 29%) that bit them. Protecting the home, play, accidents, rough handling and pain were identified as the common reasons for dogs to bite. Most (46; 52%) respondents did not believe legislation could have prevented their bite. Only four (5%) bites were reported to authorities.

CONCLUSION: Rural dwellers, people with more experience of dogs, children <11 years of age, and male respondents were bitten by dogs most often. Only legislation relating to the fencing of dog owners′ properties may have prevented a reasonable proportion (25; 29%) of the bites reported here.     

Characterization of high purity lycopene from tomato wastes using a new pressurized extraction approach

In this paper, a method for the extraction of high purity lycopene from tomato wastes is presented. The method is based on a pressurized extraction that uses the Extractor Naviglio, and it is performed in the 0.7-0.9 MPa range. Tomato skin, the byproduct deriving from manufacturing of tomato, in a water dispersion, are used as starting material. Lycopene is transferred, for the effect of the high pressure used, in the form of molecular aggregates into the water as a dispersion, while apolar compounds remain in the matrix. The aggregates are easily purified in a single subsequent step by using methanol, thus, obtaining lycopene at 98% chromatographic purity or higher. A new stationary phase, phenyl-hexyl silicone, and a simple water/acetonitrile gradient were used for HPLC analysis of lycopene. The extract was characterized by UV-Vis spectrophotometry, (1)H NMR, (13)C NMR, and electrospray ionization mass spectrometry. An average recovery of 2.8 mg lycopene/kg tomato waste can be obtained after 4 hours of extraction and using tap water as the extracting liquid. The recovery percentage was of about 10%. The exhausted tomato byproduct can be easily dried and used in agriculture or as feeding for animals.     

Inhibition of human cAMP-phosphodiesterase as a mechanism of the spasmolytic effect of Matricaria recutita L

Mechanisms underlying the spasmolytic activity of chamomile still remain unclear. Inhibition of cAMP- and cGMP-phosphodiesterases (PDE) is one of the mechanisms operated by spasmolytic drugs. In this study, the effect of chamomile on PDE was investigated. Human platelet cAMP-PDE and recombinant PDE5A1 were assayed in the presence of infusions prepared from sifted flowers and capitula. LC-ESI-MS/MS analysis showed different compositions in infusions made with sifted flowers and capitula. Chamomile inhibited cAMP-PDE activity (IC50 = 17.9-40.5 microg/mL), while cGMP-PDE5 was less affected (-15% at 50 microg/mL). Among the individual compounds tested, only flavonoids showed an inhibitory effect (IC50 = 1.3-14.9 microM), contributing to around 39% of the infusion inhibition; other compounds responsible for cAMP-PDE inhibition still remain unknown. Although experimental evidence supporting the use of chamomile for gastrointestinal minor spasms dates back to the fifties, cAMP-PDE inhibition as a likely mechanism underlying the spasmolytic activity is reported for the first time.     

High n‐3 HUFA levels in the diet of Atlantic salmon affect muscle and mitochondrial membrane lipids and their susceptibility to oxidative stress

Atlantic salmon were fed one of four diets with increasing levels (11–58%of total fatty acids (FAs)) of n‐3 highly unsaturated FAs (HUFAs) in order to investigate the effect on muscle and mitochondrial membrane lipids and their susceptibility to oxidative stress. The high n‐3 eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) groups contained lower percentages of sphingomyelin and cardiolipin in total muscle than the intermediate n‐3 HUFA group. Cardiolipin and sphingomyelin are particularly susceptible to peroxidation, and a reduced percentage of these lipids showed that mitochondrial membranes had been damaged by oxidation. The intermediate n‐3 HUFA group had the highest level of mitochondrial integrity and tendencies of lower thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS) level than the other dietary groups. The high caspase‐3 activity, in addition to casp3a and bax gene expression levels, in the n‐3 DHA group also suggests that some degree of oxidative stress had occurred. Electron microscopy images showed a higher degree of myofibre–myofibre detachment in fish fed the high HUFA diets than in fish fed the intermediate n‐3 HUFA diet. Our findings show that intermediate levels of n‐3 HUFAs in salmon diets gave the best protection against oxidative damage of mitochondrial membranes and muscle structure.     

Interactions between temperature and size on the growth,size heterogeneity,mortality and cannibalism in cultured larvae and juveniles of the Asian catfish,Pangasianodon hypophthalmus (Sauvage)

Temperature effects vary throughout the ontogeny, but are proportionally more variable during the early life stages than in older fish. The larvae of a few species have been studied but contrasting trajectories were observed, thereby making it difficult to predict how temperature impacts on the growth, survival and size heterogeneity in a particular species. This study examined these interactions in young [0.9 mg–1 g wet mass (WM)] Pangasianodon hypophthalmus, one of the most extensively cultured tropical fish. Fish were raised at five temperatures from 23 to 33 °C in a recirculated water system, fed in excess with a high‐energy feed (Artemia then a formulated feed, >50% protein), and examined at 1‐day (first feeding days) or 4‐day intervals (older fish). The temperature that produced the fastest growth (T°_opt) was 31 °C at the start of exogenous feeding (0.9 mg); it increased to 32.7 °C at 8 mg then decreased by 0.7 °C for each 10‐fold increase of WM. Size heterogeneity was lower and survival was higher (70–85% from 0.9 mg to 1 g) when the temperature was close to T°_opt. Comparisons with other species suggest that the slope of the relationship between T°_opt and fish size has a strong latitudinal component, and may also reflect the fish sensitivity to oxygen.