Reproduction in the yellow mongoose revisited

Previous reports on female reproduction in yellow mongooses, based on anatomical examination of specimens, concluded that this species is monoestral but with an extended breeding period. Our long-term studies on known females provide clear evidence of the production of two litters annually within a period of 2-4 months, females initiating a new oestrus cycle while still lactating. We present a biological explanation for the adaptive significance of polyoestry in this species based on a unique mode of infant nutrition for viverrids

The sediment of mixtures of charged colloids: segregation and inhomogeneous electric fields

We theoretically study sedimentation-diffusion equilibrium of dilute binary, ternary, and polydisperse mixtures of colloidal particles with different buoyant masses and/or charges. We focus on the low-salt regime, where the entropy of the screening ions drives spontaneous charge separation and the formation of an inhomogeneous macroscopic electric field. The resulting electric force lifts the colloids against gravity, yielding highly nonbarometric and even nonmonotonic colloidal density profiles. The most profound effect is the phenomenon of segregation into layers of colloids with equal mass-per-charge, including the possibility that heavy colloidal species float onto lighter ones

Ensilering av frasorterte poteter og gulrøtter - fra tap til fôr med tilleggsverdi

Omtrent en fjerde del av potetene og gulrøttene som pakkeriene mottar blir sortert ut fordi de ikke oppfyller kravene til salg av fersk mat. Disse restråvarene har lav økonomisk verdi til tross for god fôrverdi. I dag leveres frasorterte råvarer til matindustri og brukes som fôr til drøvtyggere. Målet med prosjektet var å finne ut om potet og gulrot ensilert med probiotiske bakterier kan ha et potensiale som fôrprodukt. I tillegg til en litteraturgjennomgang på ensilering, fôring med ensilasje og probiotika, besto prosjektet av to deler: Ensileringsforsøk med vakuumposer for å teste effekten av ulike blandinger og tilsetning av melkesyrebakterier på ensileringskvalitet og lagringsstabilitet og en casestudie for å sammenligne betydningen av ulike scenarier for logistikk og økonomi. Produsentpakkeriet Trøndelag AS på Frosta fungerte som case i prosjektet. To ensileringsforsøk ble gjennomført i samarbeid mellom NORSØK, NIBIO, SINTEF Ocean og Technical Research Centre of Finland Ltd (VTT). Møreforskning Molde og NORSØK samarbeidet om casestudien. Ensilering av kokt potet var vanlig på 50-tallet i Norge og ble fôret til gris. Ensilert potet ble også gitt til drøvtyggere for eksempel i USA og i Tyskland. Det finnes få rapporter om ensilering av gulrot, men et pågående prosjekt har dette som tema i Finland. Nyere publikasjoner om ensilering av potet indikerer økende interesse å utnytte denne ressursen bedre. Det er også mye fokus på probiotika og tarmhelse hos produksjonsdyr som kan redusere behovet for antibiotika. Ensileringsforsøkene viste at blanding av hakket potet med hvetekli eller høy og en tørrstoffandel på 33-45% ga lite avrenning og rask pH-senkning (til pH 4) som følge av melkesyregjæring. Gulrot kunne ensileres også ved lavere tørrstoffinnhold uten fare for avrenning (15-40%). Tilsetning av melkesyrebakterier ga noe lavere pH og er en fordel når det er vanskelig å oppnå rask pH-senkning. Fiskehydrolysat økte proteininnholdet i blandingen, men også pH-verdien. Lagringsstabiliteten etter åpning av ensilasjeposene varierte mye. I mange tilfeller kunne ensilasjen lagres ved romtemperatur i opptil to uker uten at varmgang ble registrert. Mikrobiologiske analyser i forsøk 2 viste at store mengder melkesyrebakterier var tilstede i alle blandinger. Det ble ikke funnet uønskede bakterier, men mugg- og gjærsopp ble funnet i to prøver. Ensilering av 4.000 tonn potet og 350 tonn gulrot krever investering i utstyr for hakking, blanding og pakking. I casestudien ble pakking i rundballer med en kompaktor valgt. Scenariene inneholdt rå og kokt potet, rå gulrot, valset bygg, høy og tilsetning av ulike bakteriepreparater samt et alternativ med innblanding av 10% fiskehydrolysat. De største årlige kostnadene var innkjøp av bygg og arbeidsinnsats. Ved en estimert salgspris på 825 kr/tonn potetensilasje (33% tørrstoff), 950 kr/tonn for ensilasje av kokt potet, 500 kr/tonn gulrotensilasje (20% tørrstoff) og 1.238 kr/tonn potetensilasje med fiskehydrolysat var inntektene lavere enn kostnadene. Underskuddet var på -88 til - 408 kr/tonn råvare. Til sammenligning ga dagens system et overskudd på 108 kr/tonn råvare. Ensilasjen som hadde det laveste underskuddet var kokt potet ensilert med bygg. En må finne prisgunstige alternativer til bygg som tørrstoffingrediens for at ensilering kan lønne seg. Likevel vil det kun for større pakkerier være aktuelt å investere i en kostbar produksjonslinje for ensilering. Betydningen for regionen Midt-Norge vil dermed være avhengig av at en kan senke kostnadsnivået i produksjonen av ensilert fôr. Det vil også være nødvendig å skape et marked ved å dokumentere og formidle eventuelle positive effekter av probiotika og å utvikle praktiske løsninger for utfôring. Implementeringen er per i dag ikke mulig, men prosjektgruppen konkluderte at det er behov for mer kunnskap om alternative tørrstoffingredienser, smakelighet av fôret og helseeffekter i ulike husdyrproduksjoner

Application of Room Temperature Ionic Liquids to the Development of Electrochemical Lipase Biosensing Systems for Water-Insoluble Analytes

Biosensors have been prepared by modification of glassy carbon electrodes with functionalised multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWCNT) dispersed in the room temperature ionic liquid, 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium bis(trifluoromethane)sulfonimide (BmimNTF2) and with lipase cross-linked with glutaraldehyde. The biosensor was applied to the determination of olive oil triglycerides by cyclic voltammetry. A phosphate buffer (pH 7.0) / BmimNO3 mixture is a better electrolyte than aqueous buffer alone. The response signal in the buffer-BmimNO3 mixture was found to increase with the number of cycles until a constant current was achieved. The calibration curve obtained exhibited a sigmoid-shape and a fourparameter model was used to fit the data which gave a limit of detection of 0.11 μg mL−1. Close inspection of such calibration curves showed two distinct linear regions indicating changes in the mechanism of the electrochemical response. Overall, the oxidative analytical response was found to be due to phenolic compounds present in the olive oil, released in the presence of lipase, rather than due to triglycerides per se. It was also found that there were no interferences from either cholesterol or glycerol. A possible mechanism of olive oil determination at a MWCNT-BmimNTF2/Lip biosensor is proposed

Farmer Share and Efficiency of Breeding Cow Marketing Channels in Bali

Experts have widely carried out research on cattle since 1960. However, regarding the efficiency of the cattle marketing channel in Bali, especially in the livestock group in the village of Ayunan, it is necessary to study its efficiency for that researcher conducted research to know the efficiency of marketing cattle in Bali. Using the census method, 40 farmers consisted of two livestock groups, namely the Karang Ayu livestock group and the Karya livestock group, each consisting of 20 people. Instruments or measuring tools used in the interview guide to help obtain answers from respondents are structured and closed questionnaires for open-ended questions. The results showed four channels formed from the marketing system of cattle breeds in Bali, namely marketing channel i. Breeders sell livestock to other farmers in one village (12.5%), Marketing Channel ii. Breeders sell directly to animal markets (7.5%). %), Channel iii Farmers sell livestock to blank in the cattle barn (74.5%), and IV Farmers sell livestock to blank in the animal market (5.5%). With marketing efficiency for male seeds for each channel of 0; 2.57; 1.18, and 1.61, while the marketing efficiency in each channel for female cattle is: 0;3.53; 1.50, and 1.92. It is said that the most effective marketing channel for cattle breeds in Bali is through my marketing, namely the breeders selling the cow breeds in the stables and those who buy them around the farm because they do not incur marketing costs

Triterpenoid CDDO-EA Protects from Obesity and Insulin Resistance in an Animal Model of Type 2 Diabetes

Background: Type 2 diabetes (T2D) is characterized by insulin resistance, an impaired response to insulin by cells. Although several medications target insulin sensitivity, they fail to prevent progression to T2D in most high-risk individuals. Oleanolic acid (OA) is a pentacyclic triterpenoid found in plants with unique cardioprotective and anti-diabetic properties. OA can serve as a scaffold to produce synthetic molecules, known as synthetic oleanane triterpenoids (SOs), with enhanced biological activity. Our published findings show that the SO CDDO-EA (2-cyano-3,12-dioxooleana-1,9(11)-dien-28-oic acid-ethyl amide) facilitates translocation of the glucose transporter protein, GLUT4, as a new mechanism of CDDO-EA in regulating glucose metabolism. Thus, we hypothesize that CDDO-EA prevents glucose intolerance to protect from the development of T2D. Methods: CDDO-EA was synthesized in powder form from OA via CDDO-methyl ester. The final product, CDDO-EA, was analyzed by high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) and atmospheric pressure ionization/mass spectrometry (APCI-MS) to determine the purity and confirm the exact molecular formula. C57BL/6J mice (6 – 8 weeks old, male) were fed a low- fat diet (LFD, 10% of total calories from fat) or a high-fat diet (HFD, 60% of total calories from fat) with or without CDDO-EA (diet containing 0.04% CDDO-EA) for six weeks. Mice were unrestrained and awake throughout the collection of blood samples, oral glucose tolerance tests (OGTTs), and measurements of body weight. Blood samples were collected via tail snip before the start of experimental feeding and then every two weeks. Glucose levels were measured using a glucometer, and insulin concentrations were measured using an ELISA. Mice were weighed once a week. OGTTs were performed after the six-week experimental feeding. Results: HPLC showed high purity (\u3e99%) and APCI-MS showed the correct mass and fragmentation pattern of the synthesized CDDO-EA. Mice fed a HFD weighed significantly more than the LFD fed animals by week two, and this was consistent throughout the six-week study. The incorporation of CDDO-EA in the HFD prevented excess weight gain in mice fed a HFD. Further, CDDO-EA decreased energy intake in mice fed a HFD. Serum glucose levels were significantly increased in mice fed only a HFD at 2 weeks and remained significantly increased throughout the rest of the feeding. Serum glucose levels in mice fed a HFD with CDDO-EA did not increase throughout the six-week feeding. In addition, serum insulin levels were significantly higher at 2 weeks and remained significantly higher in mice fed only a HFD compared to mice fed a HFD with CDDO-EA. OGTTs showed that CDDO-EA prevented increased serum glucose and insulin concentrations in mice fed a HFD. The HFD + CDDO-EA group’s glucose levels overlap with the HFD up to the 45 min. timepoint and then significantly decrease to glucose levels before experimental feeding. The HFD+CDDO-EA group insulin levels did not increase significantly and did overlap with the insulin levels before experimental feeding. Conclusions: CDDO-EA prevents obesity due to decreased food intake and protects from hyperglycemia, hyperinsulinemia, and glucose intolerance. Our findings show for the first time that CDDO-EA has the potential to prevent insulin resistance and T2D