Computed tomography is a feasible method for quantifying bone density in Macaca mulatta

Osteopathologies are a result of advanced age and decreased bone density and represent a global health problem. It is therefore important to generate models for longitudinal studies of the pathophysiology in order to improve early diagnosis and develop preventive therapies. For this kind of research, the use of computed tomography (CT) to evaluate bone health offers advantages over other techniques since it provides more complete information. The aim of this prospective, pilot study was to obtain measurements of the left femur from a population in captivity of 32 rhesus monkeys (Macaca mulatta) in order to standardize the model for future research. Healthy subjects from 5 to 28 years old were chosen. Three groups with different ages were formed as follows: (1) 5–9 years, (2) 10–19 years, and (3) 20–28 years. Semi‐automatic segmentation by threshold defined the regions of interest, which were subdivided in the range of 300–700 Hounsfield units (HU) for trabecular bone and >700 HU for cortical bone. Then, the proportional ratios of the volumes of trabecular bone and cortical bone were obtained. Significant differences (analysis of variance test) in the averages of Hounsfield units, cortical, and trabecular bone proportions from each age group proved that a decrease in bone density begins at approximately 20 years of age. The values presented here, as well as the method to obtain them from CT scans, can be used as a baseline in a primate model for long‐term research in bone pathology diagnosis and treatment.     

Timber investment returns for selected plantations and native forests in South America and the Southern United States

Timber investment returns were estimated for the principal exotic and selected native species in the Southern Cone of Latin America and in the Southern United States. Exotic eucalyptus plantations in South America were most profitable, with internal rates of returns (IRRs) ranging from 13% to 23%, followed by exotic loblolly pine, with IRRs from 9% to 17%. Average loblolly pine plantation returns in the US South were less profitable, with an IRR of about 9.5%, and natural forest management in the South had IRRs of 4% to 8%. Subtropical native species plantations of the best araucaria and nothofagus species had reasonable financial returns, with IRRs ranging from 5% to 13%. Subtropical or tropical native forests had fewer commercial timber species, and had much lower growth rates and returns. Their IRRs were less than 4%, or even negative for unmanaged stands. State subsidy payments for forest plantations or for timber stand improvements increased IRRs somewhat and reserving areas for environmental protection reduced their IRRs slightly. Including land costs in the cash flows decreased these internal rates of return substantially. Natural stand returns in Latin America were much less than those of plantations, but management of those stands offered better rates of return than only holding the land.     

An assessment of Hawaiian dry forest condition with fine resolution remote sensing

Remote sensing offers the potential to spatially map forest cover quickly and reliably for inventory purposes. We developed a new image analysis approach using an integrated methodology of “object-based” image classification techniques and field-based measurements to quantify forest cover in a degraded dry forest ecosystem on the leeward side of the Island of Hawaii. This new approach explicitly recognized the transitional areas between tree crowns and tree shades (tree shadows) as a unique class and fully utilized them for the quantification of canopy cover. Object-oriented classification of Ikonos-2 satellite images allowed delineation of tree shades and crowns and the transitional areas between them from objects with similar reflectance and size that were surrounding the trees. These included patches of fountain (Pennisetum setaceum) and kikuyu (Pennisetum clandestinum) grass, lava outcrops and lava–grass mixtures. Crown-shade transitions were clearly differentiated in spite of their wide range of spectral values and reflectance similarities with areas of lava–grass mixture. Segments representing tree shades and dark lava outcrops were also classified into their respective classes even if they were contiguous. The image estimates of canopy cover using the tree shade plus transition classes were linearly related with field estimates of canopy cover (R² = 0.86 and slope = 0.976). Based on this relationship, dry forest cover throughout the 2627-ha area was estimated at 7.7 ± 1.9%. An immediate application of this new approach is to select and delineate areas with higher canopy cover in order to concentrate ecological restoration and conservation efforts.     

Functional Characteristics of Extruded Blends of Whey Protein Concentrate and Corn Starch

The aim of this work was to study the effects of extrusion barrel temperature (70–180°C), feed moisture (18–30%), pH (3–8), different proportions of corn starch (75–95%), and whey protein concentrate (WPC, 80% protein concentration) (25–5%) on the preparation of functional blends. Expansion index (EI), bulk density (BD), compression force (CF), color, water absorption index (WAI), water solubility index (WSI), gel strength (GS), syneresis of the gel, and in vitro digestibility were evaluated. Barrel temperature and the proportion of WPC had significant effects on BD; at higher temperatures, BD was lower. Feed moisture and pH had significant effects on EI; with lower moisture and higher pH, the EI increased. An interaction of barrel temperature and feed moisture had an effect on WAI; at lower moisture content, the temperature effect was nonexistent, whereas at higher temperatures and feed moisture content, the WAI increased. The pH level had a significant effect on WSI, showing high WSI when lower pH levels were used. Color analysis showed that higher protein content and pH generated higher δE values; low feed moisture and low pH resulted in gel syneresis. Higher in vitro digestibility was obtained when a higher WPC proportion and pH were used. Extruded WPC-CS blends under alkaline and acidic conditions were affected by the preparation of diverse formulations that potentially can be used in foods to improve some functional and protein content.     

Pathogenesis of Salmonella enteritidis infection in laying chickens. I. Studies on egg transmission, clinical signs, fecal shedding, and serologic responses

Laying hens were inoculated orally, intracloacally (IC), or intravenously (IV) with Salmonella enteritidis phage type 8 isolates from a human (E700-87) eggs (Y-8P2), or the ovary of a hen (27A). Oral or IV inoculation of 2 x 10(8) to 4 x 10(8) colony-forming units (CFU) of E700-87 caused depression, anorexia, reduced egg production, diarrhea, and some mortality. Lower doses resulted in milder clinical signs. S. enteritidis was cultured from the shells of a few eggs but not from egg contents. Fecal shedding persisted for up to 6 weeks in some birds. Isolate Y-8P2 (10(6) CFU) also caused anorexia, diarrhea, and a drop in egg production. Hens inoculated orally or IC were less severely affected than those inoculated IV. Fecal shedding was intermittent and lasted up to 18 days. Eggshells from the IC-inoculated birds had the highest rate of contamination, and S. enteritidis was isolated from the albumen of 11 and yolk of three of 726 eggs. Oral inoculation of 10(6) CFU of isolate 27A resulted in a bacteremic infection with seeding of the liver, spleen, peritoneum, ovule, and oviduct. However, the birds remained clinically normal with normal egg production. S. enteritidis was cultured from the yolk and albumen of a small number of eggs until 11 days postinfection. Antigen prepared from S. enteritidis detected antibody in more sera than did commercially available S. pullorum antigen in agglutination tests.     

Non‐Linear Relationships of Internal and External Resources on a Firm's Innovation: The Case of the Spanish Vinalopó Footwear Cluster

This paper aims to enrich the analysis on the significance of the individual firm resources in a cluster and the effects of diverse cluster relationships, including local and non‐local ones, on firms' innovation capacity. On questioning the commonly accepted direct and positive impact, we explore the joint and non‐linear effects of internal resources and inter‐organisational relationships on innovation. Data from 251 footwear manufacturers located in the Spanish Vinalopó cluster were used to explore the proposed causal relationships. According to findings, the impact of each factor on product innovation is not homogeneous. Internal innovation efforts and cooperation with local suppliers positively affect the creation of new products, while collaboration with local customers and extra‐cluster linkages presents an inverted U‐shaped relationship with product innovation. Finally, a number of implications may be drawn for policy makers, practitioners, and future research.     

Effect of excess levels of lysine and leucine in wheat‐based,amino acid‐fortified diets on the mRNA expression of two selected cationic amino acid transporters in pigs

An experiment was conducted to evaluate the effect of excess levels of Leu and Lys on the expression of b^0,+ and CAT‐1 mRNA in jejunum, liver and the muscles Longissimus dorsi (LDM) and Semitendinosus (STM). Twenty pigs with an average initial BW of 16.4 ± 1.7 kg were used in a Randomized Complete Block. Dietary treatments (T) were as follows: T1, basal diet; T2, basal plus 3.5 g l ‐Lys/kg diet; T3, basal plus 1.5 g l ‐Leu/kg diet; T4, basal plus 3.5 g l ‐Lys plus 1.5 g l ‐Leu/kg diet. Diets in T1 and T3 met 100% the requirement of Lys for pigs within the 10 to 20 kg body weight range; diets in T2 and T4 contained 35% excess of Lys. Also, diets in T1 and T2 supplied 104%, whereas diets in T3 and T4 supplied 116% the requirement of Leu. The expression of b^0,+ in jejunum was reduced (p = 0.002) because of the supplementation of l ‐Leu, but l ‐Lys supplementation had no effect (p = 0.738). In contrast, the expression of b^0,+ in STM (p = 0.012) and liver (p = 0.095) was reduced by the high level of Lys, but Leu had no effect (p > 0.100). CAT‐1 expression in STM increased by high Lys (p = 0.023) and Leu (p = 0.007) levels. In liver, the expression of CAT‐1 substantially increased (p = 0.001) because of Lys. In conclusion, excess levels of dietary Lys and Leu affect the expression of cationic amino acid transporters, and this effect varies depending on the studied tissue.     

The Effect of Dose and Type of Cloprostenol on the Luteolytic Response of Dairy Cattle during the Ovsynch Protocol under Different Oestrous Cycle and Physiological Characteristics

The objective of this study was to characterize the effect of dose and type of cloprostenol (CLO) on the luteolytic response of dairy cattle during the Ovsynch protocol under different oestrus cycle and physiological characteristics. Twelve non‐lactating dairy cows and 111 lactating dairy cows were used in three experiments. In Experiment I, cows were synchronized so that they had only a 5.5‐ to 6‐day‐old corpus luteum (CL) at the time of the prostaglandin F_2α (PGF_2α) treatment of Ovsynch. In Experiment II, cows were synchronized so that they had at least a CL of approximately 14 days old at the time of PGF_2α treatment and an accessory CL if they had responded to the first GnRH of Ovsynch. Furthermore, in each experiment, cows received either a standard or a double dose of d‐CLO as the luteolytic treatment. In Experiment III, lactating cows were blocked by parity and assigned to one of three luteolytic treatments during Ovsynch: 500 μg d,l‐CLO, 150 or 300 μg of d‐CLO. In Experiment I, the dose of d‐CLO had an effect (p = 0.08) on the percentage of cows with full luteolysis, but not in Experiment II (p > 0.1). More cows in Experiment II had full luteolysis than did cows of Experiment I (87% vs 58%, respectively; p = 0.007). In Experiment III, 87.1%, 84.4% and 86.2% lactating dairy cows had full luteolysis and 37.8%, 36.8% and 36.1% of cows became pregnant after treatment with 500 μg d,l‐CLO, 150 or 300 μg of d‐CLO, respectively (p > 0.05).     

Effects of water and salt stresses on growth,water relations and gas exchange in Rosmarinus officinalis

Summary

Plants of Rosmarinus officinalis were submitted to water and salt stress, independently. The effects of water or salt stress on growth, water relations and gas exchange were investigated in order to understand the tolerance and adaptative mechanisms of R. officinalis to these types of stress. Under both stress conditions, plants developed avoidance mechanisms to minimise water loss based on morphological and physiological changes (e.g., reduction of plant biomass and leaf area, stomatal closure). Only under salt stress conditions were treated plants able to maintain turgor via osmotic adjustment, which was achieved by the uptake of Na⁺ and Cl^– ions. Osmotic adjustment was not observed in R. officinalis plants submitted to water stress. The results indicate that high accumulation of Na⁺ and Cl^– ions was responsible for the growth reduction observed in salinised plants. However, the growth reduction observed in water-stressed plants was caused by a dehydration process.     

Wild vegetables of the Mediterranean area as valuable sources of bioactive compounds

The intake of traditionally consumed wild edible species is nowadays receiving renewed attention, due to the recognition of their potential benefits for human health. This paper represents a contribution to the knowledge of the chemical composition of different wild and under-utilized vegetables of the Mediterranean area, concerning their organic acid profile and the distribution of ascorbic and dehydroascorbic acids as vitamin C activity. Fifteen species, belonging to ten botanical families, were selected, analyzing two samples of each one from two different localities of Central Spain. Each species showed a specific organic acids fingerprint. Citric acid was 90% of total organic acids in Tamus communis; malic acid was the major one in Humulus lupulus, Taraxacum obovatum and Cichorium intybus, and oxalic acid was the main organic acid in Beta maritima, Papaver rhoeas, Silybum marianum, Foeniculum vulgare, Rumex pulcher, Silene vulgaris, Scolymus hispanicus, Rumex papillaris and Bryonia dioica. The distribution of ascorbic and dehydroascorbic acid was highly variable. Mean values for total vitamin C ranged between 1.5 and 79.4 mg/100 g. Tamus communis, R. pulcher, S. vulgaris and B. dioica, showed the highest content of AA, and together with F. vulgare and H. lupulus, the highest total vitamin C content. These results can be useful to complete food composition databases with the inclusion of wild vegetables from the Mediterranean area, contributing to enhance the diversity of the diet as well as its nutritional quality.