Effect of slaughter age between 5 and 14 months on the quality of sheep meat with specific focus on collagen concentration and solubility : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Masters of Science in Animal Science at Massey University, Manawatu, New Zealand

In New Zealand, pasture-raised lamb is considered the highest quality sheep meat product while hogget is a downgraded product considered to be of poorer quality. The objectives of this study were to investigate the difference in meat quality between sheep slaughtered at 5, 8 and 14 months-of-age. This study also aimed to develop an assay to measure collagen concentration and solubility and to compare shear force to collagen concentration and solubility for meat from sheep slaughtered at 5, 8 and 14 months. Sixty Romney crossbreed rams born in the spring of 2015 were allocated to one of three slaughter age groups: 5-group (n=20), 8-months group (n=20) and 14- months group (n=20). The ram lambs were grazed together on perennial ryegrass-based pasture. At slaughter, the loin (Longissimus lumborum) from the left side of the carcass was excised, chilled for 24 hours and then frozen. Shear force, pH, colour, driploss, myofibrillar fragmentation index, sarcomere length, soluble collagen, insoluble collagen and total collagen were measured on the loin. Longissimus lumborum muscle from the 5-months group was darker (P=0.045) with higher pH (P<0.001) than 8 and 14-months groups. Longissimus lumborum muscle from the 14-months group was redder (P<0.001), yellower (P<0.001) with higher intramuscular fat (0.003), shorter sarcomere length (P<0.001), lower collagen concentration (P=0.020) and lower soluble collagen in percentage (P=0.007) and in g/100g fresh weight (P=0.008) than 5 and 8-months groups. The peak shear force was lower at 14 months, intermediate at 5 months and greater at 8 months (P<0.001). Longissimus lumborum muscle from the 8-months group had greater drip loss (P<0.01) than 5-months group and 14-months group. The results suggest that slaughtering sheep at 14 months could have benefits on eating quality due to an increase in intramuscular fat

Subcutaneous Immunoglobulin Replacement Therapy with Hizentra® is Safe and Effective in Children Less Than 5 Years of Age.

BACKGROUND:Hizentra® (IGSC 20%) is a 20% liquid IgG product approved for subcutaneous administration in adults and children 2 years of age and older who have primary immunodeficiency disease (PIDD). There is limited information about the use of IGSC 20 % in very young children including those less than 5 years of age. METHODS:A retrospective chart review involved 88 PIDD infants and children less than 5 years of age who received Hizentra®. RESULTS:The mean age at the start of Hizentra® was 34 months (range 2 to 59 months). IGSC 20 % was administered weekly to 86 infants (two additional infants received twice weekly and three times weekly infusions, respectively) and included an average of 63 infusions (range 6-182) for an observation period up to 45.5 months. Infusion by manual delivery occurred in 15 patients. The mean dose was 674 mg/kg/4 weeks. The mean IgG level was 942 mg/dL while on IGSC 20 %, compared to a mean trough IgG level of 794 mg/dL (p &lt; 0.0001) during intravenous or subcutaneous IgG administration prior to IGSC 20 %. Average infusion time was 47 (range 5-120) minutes, and the median number of infusion sites was 2 (range 1-4). Local reactions were mostly mild and observed in 36/88 (41%) children. No serious adverse events were reported. A significant increase in weight percentile (7 % ± 19.2, p = 0.0012) among subjects was observed during IGSC 20% administration. The rate of serious bacterial infections was 0.067 per patient-year while receiving IGSC 20%, similar to previously reported efficacy studies. CONCLUSIONS:Hizentra® is effective in preventing infections, and is well tolerated in children less than age 5 years

Extractability of slurry and fertilizer phopshorus in soil after repeated freezing

The potential effects of freezing on phosphorus (P) chemistry in Finnish soils are not well known. We studied the effects of multiple freeze-thaw cycles on soil P chemistry in a laboratory incubation experiment with one organic and one mineral surface soil. The soils were incubated at +5°C or at alternating +5/–20°C temperatures for 24 weeks, either without amendment or amended with pig slurry or with commercial compound fertilizer (NPK 20–3–9). After incubation, the soils were analyzed for water-soluble reactive and unreactive P, and acid ammonium acetate soluble P (PAAA). Freezing and thawing of soils during the incubation had no significant effect on any of the water-soluble P fractions or PAAA. The outcome was most likely a consequence of the good P status of the soils, which masked the gentle effects of freezing. According to these results, the time of soil sampling (fall vs. spring) has no effect on P test results on soils with a good P status. Concentrations of soluble P after incubation were roughly twice as high in the slurry treatments than in the fertilizer treatments, demonstrating potentially better long-term availability of slurry P

The effects of postactivation potentiation on sprint and jump performance of male academy soccer players.

The purpose of this investigation was to evaluate the postactivation potentiation (PAP) effects of both dynamic and isometric maximum voluntary contractions (MVCs) on sprint and jump performance and establish whether PAP methods could be used effectively in warm up protocols for soccer players. Twelve male soccer players performed 4 warm up protocols in a cross-over, randomized, and counterbalanced design. In addition to a control warm up, subjects performed deadlift (5 repetitions at 5 repetitions maximum), tuck jump (5 repetitions), and isometric MVC knee extensions (3 repetitions for 3 s) as PAP treatments in an otherwise identical warm up protocol. After each treatment, the subjects underwent 3 10 m and 20 m sprints 4, 5, and 6 minutes post-warm up and 3 vertical jumps (VJ) at 7, 8, and 9 minutes post-warm up. Repeated measures analysis of variance showed no significant differences in the first 10 m (p = 0.258) and 20 m (p = 0.253) sprint and VJ (p = 0.703) performance and the average 10 m (p = 0.215), 20 m (p = 0.388), and VJ (p = 0.529) performance between conditions. There were also no significant differences in performance responses between the strongest and weakest subjects, but large variations in individual responses were found between the subjects. The findings suggest that there was no significant group PAP effect on sprint and jump performance after dynamic and isometric MVCs compared with a control warm up protocol. However, the large variation in individual responses (-7.1% to +8.2%) suggests PAP should be considered on an individual basis. Factors such as method, volume, load, recovery, and interindividual variability of PAP must be considered in the practical application of PAP and the rigorous research design of future studies to evaluate the potential for performance enhancement

Effect of fumaric acid, calcium formate and mineral levels in diets on the intake and growth performance of newly weaned pigs

peer-reviewedThe weaned pig has limited ability to acidify its stomach contents. The objective of this study (comprising three experiments) was to examine the effect of feeding diets containing fumaric acid (FA), calcium formate (CF) or diets of low acid binding capacity (ABC) on post-weaning pig performance. In all three experiments, pigs (10 per treatment) were weaned at 19 to 24 days, blocked on sex and weight and assigned at random to one of six treatments. In Experiment 1, treatments were: (1) control diet, (2) control 20 g/kg FA, (3) control 15 g/kg CF, (4) low Ca (2.8 g/kg) and P (5.1 g/kg) (LCaP) diet for seven days followed by the control diet, (5) LCaP diet for seven days followed by control 20 g/kg FA, and (6) LCaP diet for seven days followed by control 15 g/kg CF. In Experiment 2, treatments were: (1) control diet, (2) control 20 g/kg FA, (3) control 15 g/kg CF, (4) LCaP diet for 14 days followed by the control diet, (5) LCaP diet for 14 days followed by control 20 g/kg FA, and (6) LCaP diet for seven days followed by control diet. In Experiment 3, treatments were: (1) high Ca (HC) diet (12 g/kg), (2) medium Ca (MC) diet (9 g/kg), (3) low Ca (LC) diet (6 g/kg), (4) HC 20 g/kg FA, (5) MC 20 g/kg FA, and (6) LC 20 g/kg FA. Pigs were individually fed for 26 days. In Experiment 1, CF tended to depress daily feed intake (DFI) in the final two weeks (691 v. 759 and 749, (s.e. 19) g/day, P = 0.07) and overall average daily gain (322 v. 343 and 361 (s.e. 11) g/day, P = 0.09) compared with the control and FA supplemented diets, respectively. Feeding diets with LCaP for seven days post weaning increased DFI (208 v. 178, (s.e. 8) g/day, P < 0.01) in week 1 and tended to improve feed conversion rate in the first two weeks (1.65 v. 1.85, s.e. 0.10, P = 0.09). In Experiment 2, treatment had no significant effect on pig performance but feed conversion rate in weeks three and four was improved for Treatment 5 compared with Treatment 4 (1.30 v. 1.39 (s.e. 0.06) g/g, P < 0.01). In experiment 3, FA increased (P < 0.05) pig weight at day 14 (8.4 v. 7.7 (s.e. 0.2) kg) and feed intake in weeks one and two (223 v. 251, (s.e. 9) g/day). It is concluded that CF did not improve performance but reducing diet ABC or including FA in the diet did improve performance

The influence of different sources of polyphenols on submaximal cycling and time trial performance

The primary purpose of the study was to establish the effects of commercially available polyphenol-rich antioxidant supplements, Pycnogenol® with added bioflavonoids (PYC-B) and CherryActive (CHA), on 20 km cycling performance. Using a double-blind counterbalanced, repeated-measures design, nine male cyclists or triathletes (32.1 ± 11.2 years; maximal aerobic capacity 4.2 ± 0.7 L•min-1; maximal power output 391.7 ± 39.5 watts) consumed 200 mg of CHA, 120 mg of PYC-B, or 200 mg of placebo (PLA) capsules, 2 days before and on the day of each experimental trial. The experimental trials consisted of four 5 minute stages at 40%, 50%, 60%, and 70% maximal power output (Wmax), followed by a 20 km time trial (TT). Statistical analysis revealed no significant differences between trials for heart rate, respiratory exchange ratio, gross mechanical efficiency, oxygen consumption, or blood lactate, at any of the intensities completed during the initial 20 minute phase of the trial (p>0.05). Final 20 km TT times were not significantly different between trials (p=0.115), but, compared to PLA, PYC-B did significantly increase power output by 6.2% over the final 5 km of the TT (p=0.022). The study suggests that the PYC-B supplement could be beneficial towards the end of an intense bout of cycling exercise. However, as total 20 km time was not significantly different between trials the doses used are unlikely to benefit 20 km cycling time trial performance

Usefulness of bioelectrical impedance analysis for monitoring patients with refractory ascites

Background: bioelectrical impedance analysis is a technique for the determination of the hydropic component. The hydropic component, determined by blood volume, could be a reflection of the hemodynamic situation. This study aimed to evaluate the usefulness of peripheral bioelectrical impedance analysis (BIA) for the prediction of hemodynamic changes in large-volume paracentesis and prognosis. Methods: this was a proof-of-concept prospective study of 14 patients with liver cirrhosis and refractory ascites. Peripheral bioimpedance was measured three times using a portable device, IVOL®, before and after large-volume paracentesis, at different frequencies (5, 10, 20, 50, 100 and 200 kHz). Consequently, resistance, reactance and phase angle were obtained, both pre- and post-paracentesis (the difference between them was defined as Δ). Results: the mean age of patients was 62.2 ± 9.6 years, the Child-Pugh was 8.4 ± 1.3 and the MELD score was 15.2 ± 3.9. A direct correlation between the extraction of ascitic fluid and Δresistance (10 kHz [r = 0.722; n = 12; p = 0.008], 20 kHz [r = 0.658; n = 12; p = 0.020] and 50 kHz [r = 0.519; n = 14; p = 0.057]) was observed. The presence of edema was related to lower values of both pre-paracentesis resistance (10 Hz [23.9 ± 8 vs 32.2 ± 4; p = 0.043]) and phase angle (5 kHz [-1.9 ± 2.8 vs 5.9 ± 7.3; p = 0.032]). Pre-paracentesis phase angle was directly correlated with the decline in blood pressure after paracentesis at lower frequencies (5 kHz [r = 0.694; n = 13; p = 0.008] and 10 kHz [r = 0.661; n = 13; p = 0.014]). Lower frequencies of Δphase-angle impacted on patient prognosis (5 kHz [-8.6 ± 5 vs -2.5 ± 2.7; p = 0.021]), patients with Δphase-angle 5 kHz > -4 had a higher rate of mortality (83.3% [5/6] vs 0% [0/6]; logRank 7.306, p = 0.007). Δresistance values were associated with overt HE at six months (10 kHz [4.9 ± 2.5 vs -0.4 ± 4.7; p = 0.046]). Conclusions: in conclusion, a significant correlation between peripheral impedance and hemodynamic changes was found. Impedance was also significantly related to prognosis and overt hepatic encephalopathy

Threshold Resummation Effects in the polarized Drell-Yan process at GSI and J-PARC

We present studies of QCD corrections to dilepton production in transversely polarized pp and \bar{p}p scattering. In particular we briefly discuss the effects of NNLL threshold resummation on the rapidity distribution of the lepton pair.Comment: 5 pages, 2 figures, to appear in the proceedings of DIS 2006, April 20-24, 2006, Tsukuba, Japa