Investigation of the allergenic potential of wines fined with various proteinogenic fining agents by ELISA

Hidden allergens are a common problem in food safety that has been known for many years. This is why the European Parliament adopted Directive 2003/89/EC amending 2000/13/EC. In addition to specific ingredients, Directive 2003/89/EC also requests the declaration of specific products that were used in the production and could be a risk for allergic individuals. This also includes the declaration of fining agents and lysozyme used in wines. In fact, it could be assumed that fining agents would be almost completely removed during the manufacturing process; however, until now there has been no necessity to analyze wine for these fining agents. By applying enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), residuals of fining agent proteins and the stabilizer lysozyme were investigated in various German wines. The results showed no detectable amounts of fining agents in wines, except for dried egg white and lysozyme, both derived from hen's egg white. For those products, adverse reactions against treated wines could not be excluded.     

Identifying crop yield gaps with site- and season-specific data-driven models of yield potential

Precision Agriculture - There is considerable interest and value in identifying the gap between crop yields that have actually been achieved, and yields that could have potentially been achieved. A...     

Treatment of Intraoperative Persistent Penile Erection in a Stallion

This case report describes the occurrence of persistent penile erection in a breeding stallion that occurred while the horse was under inhalant anesthesia for a carpal arthroscopy. The horse had no history of breeding problems, and no abnormalities were detected on physical examination, complete blood count, or serum chemistry tests performed prior to surgery. Anesthesia was induced with guaifenesin and ketamine after sedation with xylazine and was maintained with isoflurane in 100% oxygen. Penile erection developed approximately 35 minutes after induction and persisted for over 2 hours despite various physical and pharmacological attempts to alleviate it (massage, cold compresses, intravenous benztropine administration, and intracavernosal phenylephrine). Successful resolution of the erection was obtained by cannulation and drainage of blood from the corpus cavernosum and subsequent irrigation with heparinized sterile saline and infusion of phenylephrine in the corpus cavernosum. The detumescent penis was placed back into the sheath, and purse string sutures were placed in the sheath to ensure the penis would remain inside the sheath during recovery. The stallion's recovery from anesthesia was uneventful, the sutures were removed, and the horse was fitted with a penile sling to prevent additional edema or trauma. The stallion recovered completely from the persistent penile erection. Semen was collected 6 days after the event, and he returned to normal pasture breeding 6 weeks after surgery.     

Genetic diversity of livestock-associated MRSA isolates obtained from piglets from farrowing until slaughter age on four farrow-to-finish farms

During a previous longitudinal study, performed on four farrow-to-finish farms (A to D), samples were taken from twelve sows, their offspring, and the environment on various occasions over six months to study the MRSA presence. During the present study, a selection of the obtained MRSA isolates were typed by multiple-locus variable-number tandem-repeat analysis (MLVA), Pulsed Field Gel Electrophoresis (PFGE), spa typing, and SCCmec typing to study the genetic diversity of LA-MRSA isolates and to determine possible MRSA sources for pig(let)s. PFGE, spa typing, and SCCmec typing revealed the presence of one or few dominant genotype(s) per farm. In contrast, 212 MLVA types were detected on the four farms, forming one cluster on farm A, three on farm B, four on farm C and two on farm D. The genotype, found on farm A was unique for this farm. Farms B, C and D shared one cluster. In general, MLVA types from these clusters were isolated from piglets, sows, and the environment on various sampling events. Piglets carried MLVA types both related and unrelated to their mother sows’ MLVA types at farrowing and onwards. In conclusion, molecular typing revealed that within a farm one or a few dominant strain(s) are widespread. Potential MRSA sources for piglets were mother sows, the environment and other piglets.

Electronic supplementary material

The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s13567-014-0089-4) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.     

Recent developments and improvements in ornamental fish packaging systems for air transport

Current ornamental fish packaging systems are characterized by very high fish loading densities and high metabolic wastes in the transport water after shipment. They focus mainly on management of the quality of transport water. Recent studies using the guppy as a model fish showed that post‐shipment mortality could be reduced through enhancement of the stress resistance of the fish, and hence emphases should also be placed on the preparation of the fish for transport and recovery of the fish after shipment. Farmers can contribute significantly by applying nutritional prophylaxis before harvesting. Exporters may use the salinity stress test to identify fish lots of good quality for transport, apply health prophylaxis to eradicate parasites and optimize other techniques such as starvation of the fish or addition of salt to the transport water to enhance the stress resistance of the fish. Importers may adopt proper acclimation procedure and allow fish to recover in low salinity water to reduce post‐shipment mortality. As the main bulk of post‐shipment mortality is stress‐mediated and occurs during the 1‐week recovery period, the industry should consider revising the basis of the current warranty system for their customers, from death on arrival to cumulative mortality at 7 days post shipment (or death after 7 days, DA7), in order to cut down fish losses after shipment.     

A synthesis of the life history and ecology of juvenile Pacific herring in Prince William Sound,Alaska

Physical and biological variables affecting juvenile Pacific herring (Clupea pallasi) in Prince William Sound (PWS) from 1995 to 1998 were investigated as part of a multifaceted study of recruitment, the Sound Ecosystem Assessment (SEA) program. Though more herring larvae were retained in eastern PWS bays, ages‐0 and ‐1 herring used bays throughout PWS as nursery areas. Water transported into PWS from the Gulf of Alaska (GOA) contributed oceanic prey species to neritic habitats. Consequently, variations in local food availability resulted in different diets and growth rates of herring among bays. Summer food availability and possible interspecific competition for food in nursery areas affected the autumn nutritional status and juvenile whole body energy content (WBEC), which differed among bays. The WBEC of age‐0 herring in autumn was related to over‐winter survival. The limited amount of food consumption in winter was not sufficient to meet metabolic needs. The smallest age‐0 fish were most at risk of starvation in winter. Autumn WBEC of herring and winter water temperature were used to model over‐winter mortality of age‐0 herring. Differences in feeding and energetics among nursery areas indicated that habitat quality and age‐0 survival were varied among areas and years. These conditions were measured by temperature, zooplankton abundance, size of juvenile herring, diet energy, energy source (GOA vs. neritic zooplankton), WBEC, and within‐bay competition.