Antioxidant and antimelanogenic activities of polyamine conjugates from corn bran and related hydroxycinnamic acids

The antioxidant activity of three major polyamine conjugates, N,N'-dicoumaroyl-putrescine (DCP), N-p-coumaroyl-N'-feruloylputrescine (CFP), and N,N'-diferuloyl-putrescine (DFP) isolated from corn bran, and their related hydroxycinnamic acids, p-coumaric acid and ferulic acid, were evaluated by three antioxidant in vitro assay systems, including 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radical and superoxide and hydroxyl radicals generated by enzymatic and nonenzymatic reactions. Additionally, five phenolic compounds were evaluated for melanogenesis inhibitory activity using mushroom tyrosinase and B16 melanoma cells. Most of the phenolic compounds significantly scavenged DPPH, superoxide, and hydroxyl radicals in a dose-dependent manner. Particularly, DFP showed potent DPPH (IC50 = 38.46 microM) and superoxide (IC50 = 291.62 microM) radical scavenging activities, while DCP exhibited the strongest hydroxyl radical scavenging activity (IC50 = 120.55 microM). CFP also exerted moderate DPPH, superoxide, and hydroxyl radical scavenging activities. Meanwhile, DCP (IC50 = 181.73 microM) showed potent tyrosinase inhibitory activity toward l-tyrosine as the substrate, whereas DFP (IC50 = 733.64 microM) significantly inhibited melanin synthesis in B16 melanoma cells. These current results indicate that these three polyamine conjugates from corn bran may be useful potential sources of natural antioxidants and skin-whitening agents.     

Metabolic characterization of Brassica rapa leaves by NMR spectroscopy

The Brassica has been intensively studied due to the nutritional and beneficial effects. However, many species, varieties, and cultivars of this genus and the resulting large metabolic variation have been obstacles for systematic research of the plant. In order to overcome the problems posed by the biological variation, the metabolomic analysis of various cultivars of Brassica rapa was performed by NMR spectroscopy combined with multivariate data analysis. Discriminating metabolites in different cultivars and development stages were elucidated by diverse 2D-NMR techniques after sorting out different significant signals using (1)H NMR measurements and principal component analysis. Among the elucidated metabolites, several organic and amino acids, carbohydrates, adenine, indole acetic acid (IAA), phenylpropanoids, flavonoids, and glucosinolates were found to be the metabolites contributing to the differentiation between cultivars and age of Brassica rapa. On the basis of these results, the distribution of plant metabolites among different cultivars and development stages of B. rapa is discussed.     

Molecular epidemiology of Newcastle disease viruses in Vietnam

Newcastle disease virus (NDV) causes significant economic losses to the poultry industry in Southeast Asia. In the present study, 12 field isolates of NDV were recovered from dead village chickens in Vietnam between 2007 and 2012, and were characterized. All the field isolates were classified as velogenic. Based on the sequence analysis of the F variable region, two distinct genetic groups (Vietnam genetic groups G1 and G2) were recognized. Phylogenetic analysis revealed that all the 12 field isolates fell into the class II genotype VII cluster. Ten of the field isolates, classified as Vietnam genetic group G1, were closely related to VIIh viruses that had been isolated from Indonesia, Malaysia, and Cambodia since the mid-2000s, while the other two field isolates, of Vietnam genetic group G2, clustered with VIId viruses, which were predominantly circulating in China and Far East Asia. Our results indicate that genotype VII viruses, especially VIIh viruses, are predominantly responsible for the recent epizootic of the disease in Vietnam.     

COMPARISON BETWEEN ULTRASONOGRAPHIC AND CLINICAL FINDINGS IN 43 DOGS WITH GALLBLADDER MUCOCELES

Cholecystectomy is the current standard recommended treatment for dogs with gallbladder mucoceles. However, medical management with monitoring has also been recommended for asymptomatic dogs. The purpose of this retrospective study was to compare ultrasonographic patterns of gallbladder mucoceles with clinical disease status in a group of dogs. For each included dog, the ultrasonographic pattern of the mucocele was classified into one of six types: type 1, immobile echogenic bile; type 2, incomplete stellate pattern; type 3, typical stellate pattern; type 4, kiwi like pattern and stellate combination; type 5, kiwi like pattern with residual central echogenic bile; and type 6, kiwi like pattern. A total of 43 dogs were included. Twenty‐four dogs, including 11 dogs with gallbladder rupture, were symptomatic. Nineteen dogs were asymptomatic. Cholecystectomy (n = 19), medical therapy (n = 17), or monitoring (n = 6) treatments were applied according to clinical signs and owners’ requests. One dog suspected of having gallbladder rupture was euthanized. Frequencies of gallbladder mucocele patterns were as follows: type 1 = 10 (23%), type 2 = 13 (30%), type 3 = 5 (12%), type 4 = 11 (26%), type 5 = 4 (9%), and type 6 = 0. In dogs with gallbladder rupture, type 2 (8/13) was the most common. No significant correlations were found between ultrasonographic patterns of gallbladder mucoceles and clinical disease status or gallbladder rupture. Findings indicated that ultrasonographic patterns of gallbladder mucoceles may not be valid bases for treatment recommendations in dogs.     

Long-term evaluation of extruded diets compared with raw fish moist diet for growing Korean rockfish, Sebastes schlegeli (Hilgendorf)

A long‐term experiment was conducted in sea cages to compare three experimental extruded pellet (EP) diets with a raw fish moist pellet (MP) diet for Korean rockfish, Sebastes schlegeli (Hilgendorf). White fishmeal (WFM), soybean meal (SM) and fishmeal analogue (BAIFA‐M?)‐based experimental EP diets were formulated to be isonitrogenous and isocaloric with 50% crude protein (CP) with available energy of 16.7 kJ g^?1 diet. An MP diet made of 80% frozen horse mackerel + 20% commercial binder meal was also included in the experiment. The proportions of the major protein ingredients in three experimental EP diets were as follows: WFM diet, 100% WFM; SM diet, 70% WFM + 30% SM; BAIFA‐M? diet, 70% WFM + 30% BAIFA‐M?. The experiment was divided into three periods according to fish size: period I, initial weight of 20.2 ± 3.6 g (mean ± SD); period II, initial weight of 57.6 ± 4.7 g (mean ± SD); period III, initial weight of 96.3 ± 6.9 g (mean ± SD). There were no significant differences in weight gain, feed efficiency ratio, thermal‐unit growth coefficient, specific growth rate, haemoglobin, or haematocrit among fish that were fed the four diets during all three periods. However, fish that were fed the MP diet had a lower survival rate than the fish that were fed the other three EP diets for all periods. These results strongly suggest that EP diets could be developed to replace MP diet for the grow‐out stage of production of Korean rockfish without adverse effects on growth performance.     

Ultrasonographic evaluation of renal dimension and resistive index in clinically healthy Korean domestic short-hair cats

Renal length, height, width, resistive index (RI), size of cortex, and medulla were determined by renal ultrasonography in 50 healthy Korean domestic short-hair cats. In the sagittal plane, the renal length was 3.83 ± 0.51 cm (mean ± SD) in the left kidney and 3.96 ± 0.48 cm in the right kidney, whereas the renal height was 2.42 ± 0.27 cm in the left kidney and 2.36 ± 0.28 cm in the right kidney. In the transverse plane, the renal height was 2.42 ± 0.28 cm in the left kidney and 2.38 ± 0.27 cm in the right kidney, whereas the renal width was: 2.65 ± 0.35 cm in the left kidney and 2.63 ± 0.31 cm in the right kidney. In the dorsal plane, the renal length was 3.84 ± 0.53 cm in the left kidney and 3.97 ± 0.54 cm in the right kidney, whereas the renal width was 2.65 ± 0.34 cm in the left kidney and 2.66 ± 0.33 cm in the right kidney. There were no significant differences (p > 0.05) among the same structure sizes measured in different planes. In the sagittal plane, the size of the renal cortex was 0.47 ± 0.08 cm in the left kidney and 0.47 ± 0.08 cm in the right kidney, whereas of the size of the renal medulla was 0.55 ± 0.30 cm in the left kidney and 0.50 ± 0.07 cm in the right kidney. RI evaluated by pulsed wave Doppler sonography was 0.52 ± 0.05 in the left kidney and 0.55 ± 0.05 in the right kidney. The actual renal dimensions determined by gross examination were not statistically different from those determined by ultrasonography. Furthermore the renal dimensions and RI were statistically correlated to the body weight of cats.     

Influences of dietary distillers dried grain level on growth performance,body composition and biochemical parameters of juvenile olive flounder (Paralichthys olivaceus)

This study was conducted to investigate the influence of dietary distillers dried grain (DDG) level on growth and body composition of juvenile olive flounder (Paralichthys olivaceus). Five diets (designated as DDG0, DDG7, DDG14, DDG21 and DDG28) were prepared to contain 0, 70, 140, 210 and 280 g kg^?1 DDG. Three replicate groups of fish averaging 11.6 ± 0.1 g were fed one of the diets for 8 weeks. Weight gain of fish fed diets containing 70–280 g kg^?1 DDG was not different to that of fish fed DDG0 diet (P > 0.05). Feed efficiency of fish fed DDG21 and DDG28 diets was lower than that of fish fed DDG0 diet (P < 0.05). The antioxidant enzyme and digestive enzyme activities were not affected by dietary DDG levels. The results of this experiment suggested that DDG is a valuable ingredient as a candidate to replace wheat flour in the diet and could be used up to 280 g kg^?1 for the growth of olive flounder. On the other hand, if lower feed efficiency of fish fed 210–280 g kg^?1 DDG is considered, up to 140 g kg^?1 DDG in diet is recommended for optimum feed utilization of fish.     

Natural 15N abundance of paddy rice (Oryza sativa L.) grown with synthetic fertilizer, livestock manure compost, and hairy vetch

Nitrogen isotope abundance (?? ¹⁵N) of paddy rice (Oryza sativa L.) grown for 110?days after transplanting (DAT) under field conditions with ammonium sulfate (AS with ?0.4?? as a synthetic fertilizer), pig manure compost (PMC with 15.3?? as a livestock manure compost), and hairy vetch (HV with ?0.5?? as a green manure) was investigated to test the possible use of ?? ¹⁵N technique in discriminating organically grown from conventionally grown rice. At 15 DAT, the ?? ¹⁵N of whole rice decreased (P?<?0.05) in the order of 10.5?? for PMC > 5.5?? for control (without N input) > 4.0?? for HV > 1.8?? for AS. This difference seemed to reflect primarily the ?? ¹⁵N signal of N sources. Although differences in ?? ¹⁵N of rice grown with isotopically distinct N inputs (i.e. PMC vs. AS and PMC vs. HV) became smaller over time, the difference (2.8 and 3.0?? difference at harvest on 110 DAT, respectively) was still significant (P?<?0.05). However, there was no distinguishable difference between AS and HV treatment after 42 DAT. Such effect of N inputs on ?? ¹⁵N of whole rice was also observed for root, shoot, and grain at harvest. Therefore, our study suggests that it is possible to distinguish rice grown with manure composts from that grown with synthetic fertilizers. However, if green manure of preceding N₂-fixing plants is used as the N source, ?? ¹⁵N of rice may not be a good surrogate of N sources.     

Evaluation of canine gastric motility with ultrasonography

For the evaluation of canine gastric motility with ultrasonography, contraction number of pyloric antrum and gastric emptying time (GET) by area and volume method developed by Bolondi et al.'s method were studied in 14 dogs. All experimental dogs were administered with saline and soup solution (10 ml/kg, B.W.). The mean values of contraction number of pyloric antrum in saline and soup group were 4.19 +/- 1.30/min and 4.82 +/- 0.65/min before feeding, and overall mean values were 4.66 +/- 1.37/min and 5.13 +/- 1.71/min, respectively. The mean values of the GET by area and volume method were 36.73 +/- 11.27, 40.00 +/- 8.87 min in saline group and 61.35 +/- 17.58, 59.11 +/- 14.46 min in soup group. In the GET in saline and soup groups, there was no significant difference between the area and volume method (p>0.05). Therefore, Bolondi et al.'s method by ultrasound can be used to evaluate the antropyloric motility and gastric emptying time with area and volume methods. The area method is easier to determine the GET than the volume method, but the latter is more accurate.     

Quantitative trait loci for phytate in rice grain and their relationship with grain micronutrient content

Phytate (inositol-hexa-phosphate) has an important role in plants but it also may have anti-nutritional properties in animals and humans. While there is debate within the plant breeding and nutrition communities regarding an optimum level in grain, there appears to be little information at the molecular level for the genetics of this trait, and its association with important trace elements, in particular, Fe and Zn. In this preliminary study, quantitative trait loci (QTL) for grain phytates, Zn and Fe in glasshouse-grown rice lines from an IR64 × Azucena doubled haploid population were identified. Correlations between phytate and essential nutrients were also studied. Transgressive segregation was found for most traits. Phytate and total P concentrations had one QTL in common located on chromosome five with the (high concentration) allele contributed from Azucena. There were significant positive correlations between phytate and inorganic phosphorus (P), total P, Fe, Zn, Cu and Mn concentrations for both grain concentration and content. However, the QTLs of phytate were not located on the same chromosomal regions as those found for Fe, Zn and Mn, suggesting that they were genetically different and thus using molecular markers in breeding and selection would modify the phytate level without affecting grain micronutrient density.