Studies on rye (Secale cereale L.) lines exhibiting a range of extract viscosities. 1. Composition, molecular weight distribution of water extracts, and biochemical characteristics of purified water-extractable arabinoxylan

Five rye lines exhibiting a wide range of extract viscosities, along with commercial cultivars of rye and wheat, were compared with respect to their physical and chemical properties. Rye wholemeals contained significantly higher concentrations of total and soluble dietary fiber (TDF and SDF, respectively), total and water-extractable arabinoxylan (TAX and WEAX, respectively), and beta-glucan than did wheat. Significant positive correlations were obtained between rye wholemeal extract viscosity and SDF content (r = 0.90, p < 0.05) and WEAX content (r = 0.89, p < 0.05). Gel permeation chromatography (GPC) of water extracts of rye wholemeals revealed the presence of a high molecular weight fraction (HMWF), which was found in higher concentration in the ryes than in wheat. A significant positive correlation (r = 0.84, p < 0.05) was observed between HMWF content (expressed as a proportion of the total carbohydrate in water extracts) and extract viscosity of rye wholemeals. Treatment of a rye wholemeal extract with xylanase, followed by GPC, indicated that the HMWF consisted primarily of WEAX. Successive treatment of a rye wholemeal extract with alpha-amylase, lichenase, protease, and xylanase confirmed that the viscosity of the extract was primarily related to its content of WEAX. WEAX was isolated from high, intermediate, and low extract viscosity ryes. Structural differences were observed among the three arabinoxylans using H NMR and high-pressure size exclusion chromatography with triple detection. The WEAX from high extract viscosity rye was a higher molecular weight macromolecule exhibiting a higher intrinsic viscosity, a larger radius of gyration, a larger hydrodynamic radius, and a lower degree of branching compared to WEAX from low and intermediate extract viscosity ryes.     

World Small Animal Veterinary Association Global Dental Guidelines

Dental, oral, and maxillofacial diseases are some of the most common problems in small animal veterinary practice. These conditions create significant pain as well as localized and potentially systemic infection. As such, the World Small Animal Veterinary Association (WSAVA) believes that un- and under treated oral and dental diseases pose a significant animal welfare concern. Dentistry is an area of veterinary medicine which is still widely ignored and is subject to many myths and misconceptions. Effective teaching of veterinary dentistry in the veterinary school is the key to progression in this field of veterinary medicine, and to the improvement of welfare for all our patients globally. These guidelines were developed to provide veterinarians with the information required to understand best practices for dental therapy and create realistic minimum standards of care. Using the three-tiered continuing education system of WSAVA, the guidelines make global equipment and therapeutic recommendations and highlight the anaesthetic and welfare requirements for small animal patients. This document contains information on common oral and dental pathologies, diagnostic procedures (an easily implementable and repeatable scoring system for dental health, dental radiography and radiology) and treatments (periodontal therapy, extractions). Further, there are sections on anaesthesia and pain management for dental procedures, home dental care, nutritional information, and recommendations on the role of the universities in improving veterinary dentistry. A discussion of the deleterious effects of anaesthesia free dentistry (AFD) is included, as this procedure is ineffective at best and damaging at worst. Throughout the document the negative effects of undiagnosed and/or treated dental disease on the health and well-being of our patients, and how this equates to an animal welfare issue, is discussed.     

Using Geographical Information Systems to Evaluate Decentralized Management of Municipal Food Waste

The implementation of decentralized waste management plans is stymied by an inability to communicate the costs and benefits of these plans in the decision making arena. The use of Geographical Information Systems (GIS) is vital toward carrying out feasibility tests, life-cycle assessments, and in presenting the results thereof. A preliminary GIS-based analysis was done for a decentralized in-vessel composting scheme for Bangkapi Ward in Bangkok, Thailand. The use of GIS in the introduction of decentralized waste management is discussed in general.     

Expression of mRNA for proglucagon and glucagon-like peptide-2 (GLP-2) receptor in the ruminant gastrointestinal tract and the influence of energy intake

Glucagon-like peptide-2 (GLP-2) is a potent trophic gut hormone, yet its function in ruminants is relatively unknown. Experiment 1 was conducted as a pilot study to establish the presence of GLP-2 in ruminants and to ascertain whether it was responsive to increased nutrition, as in non-ruminants. Concentrations of intact GLP-2 in the blood and gut epithelial mRNA expression of proglucagon (GCG) and the GLP-2 receptor (GLP2R) were measured in 4 ruminally, duodenally, and ileally cannulated steers. Steers were fed to meet 0.75 × NE_M for 21 d, and then increased to 1.75 × NE_M requirement for another 29 d. Blood samples and ruminal, duodenal, and ileal epithelium biopsies were collected at low intake (Days −6 and −3), acute high intake (Days 1 and 3), and chronic high intake (Days 7 and 29) periods. Experiment 2 investigated the mRNA expression pattern of GCG and GLP2R in epithelial tissue obtained from the forestomachs (rumen, omasum, and abomasum) and intestines (duodenum, jejunum, ileum, and colon) of 18 forage-fed Angus steers (260 kg BW). In Experiments 1 and 2, real-time polymerase chain reaction showed that expression of GCG and GLP2R mRNA was detectable in forestomach tissues, but expression was greater (P < 0.001) in small intestinal and colon tissue. High energy intake tended (P = 0.07) to increase plasma GLP-2 during the acute period and was paralleled by a 78% increase (P = 0.07) in ileal GCG mRNA expression. After this initial adaptation, duodenal GCG mRNA expression increased (P = 0.08) during the chronic high intake period. Duodenal GLP2R mRNA expression was not affected by energy intake, but ileal GLP2R expression was increased after 29 d of high energy intake compared to both the low and acute high intake periods (P = 0.001 and P = 0.01, respectively). These data demonstrate that cattle express GCG and GLP2R mRNA primarily in small intestinal and colon tissues. Increased nutrient intake increases ileal GCG mRNA and plasma GLP-2, suggesting that GLP-2 may play a role in the trophic response of the ruminant gastrointestinal tract to increased feed intake.     

Sportfisheries,conservation and sustainable livelihoods: a multidisciplinary guide to developing best practice

Ecotourism ventures in developing countries are often among the few alternatives for enhancing sustainable livelihoods without altering traditional ways of life. The best way forward is to continually develop and implement best practice guidelines and, in particular, to flexibly develop them to suit individual cases. We conduct a multidisciplinary assessment of best practice guidelines required to develop and sustain sportfishing tourism in developing countries, while enhancing local livelihoods and promoting environmental stewardship. In general, best practice guidelines should be developed around a sustainable livelihood framework that includes short‐term coping mechanisms and longer‐term capacity building. Sportfishing development that conforms to ecological and socially orientated criteria, founded on site‐specific research that captures local environmental and social complexities, has the potential to provide mutual benefits to tourists and local people, fuelling community development and enhancing the cultural experience of tourists. Best practice guidelines for sportfishing that do not address these dimensions are unlikely to result in a viable industry. Given the current interest and growth of sportfishing in developing countries, the proposed guidelines can help a range of end users manage, conserve and maximize livelihood benefits from their fishery.