APPLICABILITY OF THE TOBEC METHOD IN SELECTION OF HEN’S EGGS BASED ON THEIR COMPOSITION

Applicability of the TOBEC method (electrical conductivity) was tested for the in vivo determination of different egg components and for the separation of eggs with different composition. Altogether 300 hen’s eggs – originated from a 36 weeks old ROSS-308 hybrid parent stock – were measured by TOBEC, and the extreme and average 5-5% – based on the measured values – were chosen for chemical analysis. It was established that the albumen/yolk ratio and the dry matter, crude protein and crude fat content of the eggs are in medium correlation with the E-value/egg weight ratio (r=0.47, -0.58, -0.59 and -0.35 respectively). The albumen/yolk ratio, the dry matter and the crude protein content of the eggs, selected for high and low E-value/egg weight ratio, differed significantly at P<0.05 level. The difference between the average crude fat content of the eggs in the two extreme groups was significant at P<0.10 level

Obszesszív-kompulzív tünetek előnyei az egyéni szelekció és a csoportszelekció szempontjából: a kényszerbetegség evolúciós pszichológiai megközelítése [Advantage of obsessive-compulsive symptoms from the aspect of individual selection and group selection: an evolutionary psychological approach to obsessive-compulsive disorder]

Psychiatric disorders are difficult to explain from an evolutionary aspect, since it is hard to reason how a characteristic carrying a reproductive disadvantage survives through natural selection. There are several evolution-based papers concerning obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), which aim at resolving this contradiction. Recent studies provided considerable evidence in support for the evolutionary theories of OCD. Research confirmed an important role for genetic factors in the background of OCD, and neuroanatomic studies supported that neuroanatomical structures playing a role in OCD are those areas which are activated during the processing of danger and threat. From the evolutionary aspect OCD can be explained both from the individual and group selection aspect. According to the theory of individual selection, OCD symptoms are based on such behaviors which are by themselves advantageous serving individual survival and reproduction and therefore carry on through natural selection. According to group selection theory, although OCD is disadvantageous for the individual, it is adaptive for the survival of the group. In our paper we review the individual and group selection theories of OCD, and we also outline the continuity and discontinuity theories which show a significant overlap with the evolutionary theories. We review characteristic age and gender differences related to OCD from this aspect. The evolutionary approach to OCD is important in understanding the background factors, development and symptoms of OCD, which mean new tools in the prevention and treatment of this disorder

Sensory and rheological evaluation of meat from rabbits reared at different floor type and stocking density

Thirty-six weaned rabbits were used to test the effect of floor type (wire net vs straw bed) and stocking density (8 vs 12 vs 16 rabbits/m2) on meat quality, according to a balanced 2x3 experimental design. Rabbits were slaughtered at 11 weeks of age and both parts of M. Longissimus dorsi were dissected and used for sensory evaluation (tenderness, \u201crabbit flavour\u201d, off-flavours), cooking losses, Warner-Bratzler Shear Force (WBSF) and Texture Profile Analysis (TPA) parameters. Sensory evaluation was performed by eighteen trained panelists according to a ranking test of intensity level of each descriptor. Each sample was evaluated by 3 panelists (108 observations). The panelists were asked to judge positively or negatively the \u201crabbit flavour\u201d and to define each off-flavour perceived on a descriptors scale. Experimental factors didn\u2019t affect the analysed variables. WBSF was significantly correlated (P<0.01) with TPA-hardness (R= 0.66), moderately correlated (P<0.05) with tenderness (R= -0.37) and \u201crabbit flavour\u201d (R= -0.34). Tenderness was correlated with TPA-hardness and TPA-gumminess with R= -0.38 and P<0.05. The high rabbit\u2019s flavour intensity was considered positive by the 72% of panelists. Off-flavours were detected on 46% of observations, judging freezer burned the 16%, livery the 13% and rancid the 11% of them. The off-flavour evaluation was independent to the \u201crabbit flavour\u201d judgment, underlying the discrimination power of the selected off-flavours descriptors

Generation of Useful Insertionally Blocked Sterol Degradation Pathway Mutants of Fast-Growing Mycobacteria and Cloning, Characterization, and Expression of the Terminal Oxygenase of the 3-Ketosteroid 9α-Hydroxylase in Mycobacterium smegmatis mc(2)155

Integration of the pCG79 temperature-sensitive plasmid carrying Tn611 was used to generate libraries of mutants with blocked sterol-transforming ability of the sterol-utilizing strains Mycobacterium smegmatis mc(2)155 and Mycobacterium phlei M51-Ept. Of the 10,000 insertional mutants screened from each library, 4 strains with altered activity of the sterol-degrading enzymes were identified. A blocked 4-androstene-3,17-dione-producing M. phlei mutant transformed sitosterol to 23,24-dinorcholane derivatives that are useful starting materials for corticosteroid syntheses. A recombinant plasmid, pFJ92, was constructed from the genomic DNA of one of the insertional mutants of M. smegmatis, 10A12, which was blocked in 3-ketosteroid 9α-hydroxylation and carrying the transposon insertion and flanking DNA sequences, and used to isolate a chromosomal fragment encoding the 9α-hydroxylase. The open reading frame encodes the 383-amino-acid terminal oxygenase of 3-ketosteroid 9α-hydroxylase in M. smegmatis mc(2)155 and has domains typically conserved in class IA terminal oxygenases. Escherichia coli containing the gene could hydroxylate the steroid ring at the 9α position

First description of a rifampicin-resistant Neisseria meningitidis serogroup Y strain causing recurrent invasive meningococcal disease in Hungary.

A Hungarian soldier previously immunized against Neisseria meningitidis by quadrivalent polysaccharide vaccine was twice infected with meningococci within six weeks. The patient was treated with ceftriaxone during both episodes and he successfully recovered. His close contacts received rifampicin prophylaxis. An investigation was performed to characterize the genetic background of the pathogens to ascertain if the recurrent invasive meningococcal disease was caused by the same strain and to find out the reason for reinfection. Both meningococci belonged to the fine type Y:P1.5-2,10-1:F4-1:ST-23. This is the first description of the Europe-wide prevalent N. meningitidis serogroup Y in Hungary. In the first episode, we found wild-type rpoB allele in the non-culturable sample implying the susceptibility to rifampicin. The culturable isolate from the second episode proved resistant to rifampicin and had a point mutation in the rpoB gene. The rifampicin resistance might have evolved during the prophylactic treatment of contacts. Previous immunization of the patient with polysaccharide vaccine was ineffective due to his immunodeficiency, thus immunization with conjugate vaccine was proposed. We have proposed the implementation of centralized rifampicin susceptibility testing of N. meningitidis strains within a defined time frame to intervene and administer appropriate prophylaxis to close contacts