Alfalfa but not milk in lamb's diet improves meat fatty acid profile and a-tocopherol content

To establish animal feeding recommendations, it is required to quantify whether the effects of combining dietary alfalfa and milk on meat composition of light lambs are overlapped or independent. This experiment aimed to evaluate the separate effects of dietary alfalfa and milk access on the light lamb carcass quality (10–11 kg), meat colour, chemical composition, fatty acid profile and a-tocopherol content. Thirty-two lambs were assigned to one of four treatments in a 2 × 2 factorial design. The factors were the inclusion of dietary forage (grazed alfalfa vs. concentrate-fed indoors) and lactation length (weaning at a target live-weight of 13 kg vs. suckling until slaughter at 22–24 kg). Dietary alfalfa but not milk supply improved conjugated linoleic acid isomers (CLA), omega-3 fatty acids and a-tocopherol contents in lamb meat without affecting meat colour attributes. Milk supply affected more the fatty acid profile (more saturated) than the a-tocopherol content of meat. Thus, dietary alfalfa improved CLA, omega-3 fatty acids and a-tocopherol content in light lamb without affecting the meat colour, whereas lengthening the lactation period did not provide benefits in terms of meat colour or healthy nutrient composition

Surface mesoscale pico–nanoplankton patterns at the main fronts of the Alboran Sea

© 2014 Elsevier B.V. The mesoscale (10-100. km, days-weeks) plays a key role in the Ocean's ecosystem structure and dynamics. This work compares the pico-nanoplankton patterns observed in the Alboran Sea (Western Mediterranean) during three oceanographic cruises. We analyse its response to different expressions of mesoscale circulation associated with the three major hydrodynamic features in the basin; namely the Northwestern Alboran Front (NWAF, surveyed in OMEGA-1 cruise), the Almeria-Oran Front (AOF, surveyed in OMEGA-2 cruise) and the Western Alboran Gyre (WAG, surveyed in BIOMEGA cruise). The first two surveys were carried out under the most typical quasi-stationary twin gyre conditions of the Alboran Sea, whereas the third cruise was performed after an eastward migration of the WAG. The analysis of pico and nanoplankton populations was carried out using flow cytometry. The patchiness observed in the three cruises indicates an association of phytoplankton peaks with the main frontal structures: abundances were higher in the NWAF/upwelling area in OMEGA-1, at the Mediterranean side of the AOF in OMEGA-2, and at a tongue of recent Atlantic Water west of the WAG in BIOMEGA. However, a more detailed analysis reveals that different factors explain the origin of the phytoplankton biomass in each front/cruise. Mixing processes at the Strait of Gibraltar and the subsequent advection of water properties into the Western Alboran Sea were the mechanisms responsible for the abundances observed in the NWAF. The highest concentrations observed in the AOF were related to the intrusion of Mediterranean Surface Waters to the north of the front. During the migrating WAG the phytoplankton distribution was influenced by the formation of a new gyre. The relation between phytoplankton and mesoscale dynamics is further explored in terms of vertical velocity diagnosis. In all cases, intense vertical motion is negatively correlated with the abundance of phytoplankton populations. This resulted from the intense geostrophic background flow associated with large vertical velocities, which drove low residence times of water mass properties and hence a weak biological response. Fast-repeated surveys made during the OMEGA-1 and OMEGA-2 cruises reveal that the surveyed hydrographic features are subjected to significant temporal variability. In this case, the impact on the biology is most evident at taxa level.This work was partially supported by the EU funded MAST project OMEGA (MAS3-CT95-0001) and by the BIOMEGA project, funded by the Spanish Marine Science and Technology Program (REN2002-04044-C02-02). P. Leon was financed by a FPI grant from the Spanish Ministry of Education and Science (BES-2003-1032)Peer Reviewe

Milk yield and genomewide expression profiling in the mammary gland of beef primiparous cows in response to the dietary management during the pre- and postweaning periods

Accelerated growth programs during prepubertal periods have been promoted to advance the first calving of beef heifers. The objectives of the present study were to evaluate nutrition-induced changes on first lactation milk yield and composition and on gene expression of the mammary gland in Parda de Montaña primiparous cows. Female calves (n = 16) were involved in a 2 × 2 factorial experiment. In the preweaning period (PRE-W; 0–6 mo), female calves were either fed a creep feed supplement (Creep) or fed only their dam’s milk (Control). In the postweaning period (POST-W; 6–15 mo), heifers received either a high-energy diet (91.7 MJ/d) or a moderate-energy diet (79.3 MJ/d). All the heifers were managed together from breeding (15 mo) to the end of their first lactation (32 mo). Animal performance; milk production and quantity during the first lactation; plasma glucose, IGF-I, and leptin concentrations; and RNA samples from the mammary gland at the end of the first lactation of the primiparous cows (32 mo) were analyzed. The BW and ADG of the primiparous cow during its first lactation were not different among treatments; however, creep feeding during PRE-W reduced milk production (P < 0.01), milk CP, crude fat, lactose, nonfat solids, and casein content throughout lactation and increased somatic cell count in the third (P < 0.05) and fourth month of lactation (P < 0.10). The energy level during the POST-W had no effect on milk production and quality. Gene expression in the mammary gland was affected by the diet in the PRE-W and POST-W, with the PRE-W diet having the greatest impact. During the PRE-W, creep feeding resulted in upregulation of genes related to immune response and chemokine activity, suggesting that these animals might be in a compromised immune status. Therefore, this strategy would not be recommendable; meanwhile, increasing the energy level in the diet during the POST-W would be recommendable, because it had no deleterious effects on milk yield and composition

Enhancing the hydrogen transfer catalytic activity of hybrid carbon nanotube-based NHC–iridium catalysts by increasing the oxidation degree of the nanosupport

CVD-grown multiwalled carbon nanotubes were purified by applying four different treatments with increasing oxidation severity. The growing severity of the treatment results in progressive oxygen functionalization of the surface along with introduction of an increasing quantity of defects on the carbon nanotube walls. Iridium-N-heterocyclic carbene complexes were covalently anchored to those oxidized surfaces through their surface carboxylic acids via acetyl linkers. The carbon nanotube-based iridium-NHC hybrid materials developed are active in the hydrogen-transfer reduction of cyclohexanone to cyclohexanol with 2-propanol/KOH as hydrogen source but with rather different activity. The catalytic activity of the hybrid catalysts is strongly influenced by the type and amount of oxygenated functionalization resulting from the treatment applied to the support, being the most active and the most oxidized material.The authors thank the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness (MINECO/FEDER) (Projects Consolider Ingenio 2010 CSD2009-00050 and CTQ2013-42532-P) and the Diputación General de Aragón (FSE-E07 and FSE-E69) for their financial support. Dr. P. A. thanks MINECO for a Ramón y Cajal contract. M. B. acknowledges his fellowship from MECD (AP2010-0025).Peer Reviewe

Catalytic activity of iridium NHC complexes covalently bonded to carbon nanotubes and graphene oxide

Trabajo presentado a la Annual World Conference on Carbon, celebrada en Dresden (Alemania) del 12 al 17 de julio de 2015.Carbon nanotubes and graphene have been extensively applied as proactive supports to generate heterogeneous catalysts. Both exhibit a carbon structure composed by carbon atoms with sp2 hybridization and both are used in similar applications, as in catalysis. However, the role of each particular substrate, determined by its structural peculiarities, can be differentvshould be studied for each particular catalytic reaction and in their structure.The aim of this work is to study the differences between oxidized carbon nanotubes (CNT) and graphene oxides (GO) as proactive supports of iridium Nheterocyclic carbene (NHC) catalyst. The effect of their inherent structure in the catalytic activity in hydrogen transfer reactions was studied in detail.The authors thank MINECO/MECD (Projects CONSOLIDER INGENIO 2010 CSD2009-00050, CTQ 2010-15221, Ramón y Cajal contract of P. Alvarez and fellowship of M. Blanco) and the Diputación General de Aragón (E07) for their financial support.Peer Reviewe

Moving Magnetic Features around a Pore

Spectropolarimetric observations from Sunrise II/IMaX obtained in June 2013 are used for a statistical analysis to determine the physical properties of moving magnetic features (MMFs) observed near a pore. MMFs of the same and opposite polarity with respect to the pore are found to stream from its border at an average speed of 1.3 km s$^{-1}$ and 1.2 km s$^{-1}$ respectively, with mainly same-polarity MMFs found further away from the pore. MMFs of both polarities are found to harbor rather weak, inclined magnetic fields. Opposite-polarity MMFs are blue-shifted, while same-polarity MMFs do not show any preference for up- or downflows. Most of the MMFs are found to be of sub-arcsecond size and carry a mean flux of $\sim$ 1.2$\times 10^{17}$ Mx.Comment: 8 pages, 4 figures, accepted for publication in ApJ