INFLUENCE OF FINISHING DIET ON FATTY ACID PROFILE OF LONGISSIMUS MUSCLE OF BLACK SLAVONIAN PIGS

Regarding nutritional recommendations for humans, pork in general has too high ratio of n-6 and n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids. The n-6/n-3 index is particularly high if animals were intensively fed concentrate feeds, because the cereals like corn are rich in linoleic acid (C18:2 n-6). Traditional Black Slavonian pig production is an outdoor grazing system, which includes utilization of the natural resources of pasture and oak woodland with supplement of small amounts of corn or some other grains. However, fattening with corn-based concentrate mixtures before slaughter is common. In this study, the influence of finishing diet of acorn or corn-based mixture on fatty acid profile of longissimus muscle of Black Slavonian pigs was investigated. The indication of beneficial effects of acorn was found when Black Slavonian pigs were fed acorn instead of concentrate feed during pre-slaughter fattening. Feeding acorn ad libitum for a period of three weeks prior slaughter significantly increased the content of alpha linolenic acid (C18:3 n-3) in the longissimus muscle in comparison to concentrate fed pigs (0.37 vs. 0.12, respectively; expressed as % of total fatty acid methyl esters, P ≤ 0.01). As a consequence, the n-6/n-3 ratio in the muscle of acorn finishing pigs was nearly threefold lower than in concentrate finishing pigs (24.1 vs. 69.3, P ≤ 0.01)

Bioaccessibility of tocols in commercial maize hybrids D determined by an in vitro digestion model for poultry

Despite the high proportion of maize grain in animal diets, the contribution made by maize phytochemicals is neglected. Tocols and their contribution to the vitamin E content of animal diets are one example, exacerbated by sparse information on the tocol bioaccessibility of commercial hybrids. In this study, the contents of individual and total tocols and their bioaccessibility were determined in the grain samples of 103 commercial hybrids using a standardized INFOGEST digestion procedure. In the studied hybrids, total tocol content ranged from 19.24 to 54.44 µg/g of dry matter. The contents of micellar α-, γ-, δ-tocopherols, γ-tocotrienol, and total tocols correlated positively with the corresponding contents in the grain samples of the studied hybrids. In contrast, a negative correlation was observed between the bioaccessibility of γ- tocopherol, α- and γ-tocotrienol, and total tocols, along with the corresponding contents in the grain of studied hybrids. The highest bioaccessibility was exhibited by γ-tocotrienol (532.77 g/kg), followed by δ-tocopherol (529.88 g/kg), γ-tocopherol (461.76 g/kg), α-tocopherol (406.49 g/kg), and α-tocotrienol (359.07 g/kg). Overall, there are significant differences in the content and bioaccessibility of total and individual tocols among commercial maize hybrids, allowing the selection of hybrids for animal production based not only on crude chemical composition but also on the content of phytochemicals

Isospin dependence of relative yields of K+K^+ and K0K^0 mesons at 1.528 AGeV

Results on $K^+$ and $K^0$ meson production in $^{96}_{44}$Ru + $^{96}_{44}$Ru and $^{96}_{40}$Zr + $^{96}_{40}$Zr collisions at a beam kinetic energy of 1.528$A$ GeV, measured with the FOPI detector at GSI-Darmstadt, are investigated as a possible probe of isospin effects in high density nuclear matter. The measured double ratio ($K^+/K^0$)$_{Ru}$/($K^+/K^0$)$_{Zr}$ is compared to the predictions of a thermal model and a Relativistic Mean Field transport model using two different collision scenarios and under different assumptions on the stiffness of the symmetry energy. We find a good agreement with the thermal model prediction and the assumption of a soft symmetry energy for infinite nuclear matter while more realistic transport simulations of the collisions show a similar agreement with the data but also exhibit a reduced sensitivity to the symmetry term.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figures. accepted for publication in Phys. Rev.

The ASY-EOS experiment at GSI: investigating the symmetry energy at supra-saturation densities

The elliptic-flow ratio of neutrons with respect to protons in reactions of neutron rich heavy-ions systems at intermediate energies has been proposed as an observable sensitive to the strength of the symmetry term in the nuclear Equation Of State (EOS) at supra-saturation densities. The recent results obtained from the existing FOPI/LAND data for $^{197}$Au+$^{197}$Au collisions at 400 MeV/nucleon in comparison with the UrQMD model allowed a first estimate of the symmetry term of the EOS but suffer from a considerable statistical uncertainty. In order to obtain an improved data set for Au+Au collisions and to extend the study to other systems, a new experiment was carried out at the GSI laboratory by the ASY-EOS collaboration in May 2011.Comment: Talk given by P. Russotto at the 11th International Conference on Nucleus-Nucleus Collisions (NN2012), San Antonio, Texas, USA, May 27-June 1, 2012. To appear in the NN2012 Proceedings in Journal of Physics: Conference Series (JPCS

Centrality dependence of subthreshold ϕ\phi meson production in Ni+Ni collisions at 1.9A GeV

We analysed the $\phi$ meson production in central Ni+Ni collisions at the beam kinetic energy of 1.93A GeV with the FOPI spectrometer and found the production probability per event of $[8.6 ~\pm~ 1.6 ~(\text{stat}) \pm 1.5 ~(\text{syst})] \times 10^{-4}$. This new data point allows for the first time to inspect the centrality dependence of the subthreshold $\phi$ meson production in heavy-ion collisions. The rise of $\phi$ meson multiplicity per event with mean number of participants can be parameterized by the power function with exponent $\alpha = 1.8 \pm 0.6$. The ratio of $\phi$ to $\text{K}^-$ production yields seems not to depend within the experimental uncertainties on the collision centrality, and the average of measured values was found to be $0.36 \pm 0.05$.Comment: 9 pages, 5 figure

Strange meson production in Al+Al collisions at 1.9A GeV

The production of K$^+$, K$^-$ and $\varphi$(1020) mesons is studied in Al+Al collisions at a beam energy of 1.9A GeV which is close or below the production threshold in NN reactions. Inverse slopes, anisotropy parameters, and total emission yields of K$^{\pm}$ mesons are obtained. A comparison of the ratio of kinetic energy distributions of K$^-$ and K$^+$ mesons to the HSD transport model calculations suggests that the inclusion of the in-medium modifications of kaon properties is necessary to reproduce the ratio. The inverse slope and total yield of $\phi$ mesons are deduced. The contribution to K$^-$ production from $\phi$ meson decays is found to be [17 $\pm$ 3 (stat) $^{+2}_{-7}$ (syst)] %. The results are in line with previous K$^{\pm}$ and $\phi$ data obtained for different colliding systems at similar incident beam energies.Comment: 16 pages, 11 figure

Measurement of K∗(892)0K^*(892)^0 and K0K^0 mesons in Al+Al collisions at 1.9AA GeV

New measurement of sub-threshold $K^*(892)^0$ and $K^0$ production is presented. The experimental data complete the measurement of strange particles produced in Al+Al collisions at 1.9$A$ GeV measured with the FOPI detector at SIS/GSI. The $K^*(892)^0$ / $K^0$ yield ratio is found to be $0.0315\pm 0.006 (\mathrm{stat.})\pm 0.012 (\mathrm{syst.})$ and is in good agreement with the UrQMD model prediction. These measurements provide information on in-medium cross section of $K^+$ - $\pi^-$ fusion which is the dominant process on sub-threshold $K^*(892)^0$ production.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figures, accepted for publication in Phys. Rev.

Proton-deuteron radiative capture cross sections at intermediate energies

Differential cross sections of the reaction $p(d,^3{\rm He})\gamma$ have been measured at deuteron laboratory energies of 110, 133 and 180 MeV. The data were obtained with a coincidence setup measuring both the outgoing $^3$He and the photon. The data are compared with modern calculations including all possible meson-exchange currents and two- and three- nucleon forces in the potential. The data clearly show a preference for one of the models, although the shape of the angular distribution cannot be reproduced by any of the presented models.Comment: 6 pages, 6 figures, accepted for publication in EPJ