Evaluation of beef carcass quality using the muscle eye area M. longissimus dorsi

In Japan, Korea, the USA, and Australia, the area of the “muscle eye” (cross-section of the M. longissimus dorsi during the division of the half-carcass between the 12th and 13th rib into the front and rear parts) is used to assess the quality of cattle carcasses. The correlation between this feature and the slaughter and quality characteristics of carcasses in 20-22-month-old crossbred bulls (Ukrainian Black-and-White Dairy × Holstein) has been studied. The area of the “muscle eye” in bulls was determined before slaughter by an ultrasound analyzer Emperor 860. After slaughter, it was calculated by the length and depth of the "muscle eye".  The colour of muscle and adipose tissue, carcass conformation, development, and subcutaneous fat thickness have been examined. The correlation between the size of the "muscle eye" and carcasses' quantitative and qualitative characteristics has been determined. The area of the "muscle eye" has a positive relationship (r = 0.612; p >0.999) with live weight after fasting, carcass weight (r = 0.598; p >0.999), flesh weight (r = 0.498; p >0.99), including the highest (r = 0.745; p >0.999), and first grade (r = 0.662; p >0.99), the amount of adipose tissue (r = 0.491; p >0.99) and tendons and ligaments (r = 0.435; p >0.99). With its increase, there is a tendency to an inverse relationship with the content of second-grade flesh in the carcass (r = 0.303), carcass conformation (r = 0.147), fat-irrigation thickness (r = 0.125), and marbling (r = 0.340). The area of the "muscle eye" is inversely correlated with the development of subcutaneous fat (r = -0.389; p >0.95) and the saturated colour of muscle tissue (r = -0.309). The correlation coefficients between the area of the "muscle eye" determined by ultrasound and quantitative and qualitative characteristics of carcasses are significantly higher than those obtained by post-slaughter calculation of the area of the muscle eye by measuring the length and depth. The data's practical significance is obtaining knowledge that allows beef to be sorted based on the correlation between the muscle eye area and the quality of carcasses and beef

The expressiveness of meat forms of cattle depending on the content of adipose tissue under the skin and between the muscles

The paper covers the peculiarities of the degree of meat shapes in the bulls of the Ukrainian meat breed, depending on the adipose tissue content under the skin and between the muscles. They were evaluated according to their productivity from 8 to 18, 21, and 23 months. Bulls with better development of meat shapes are characterized by fat deposition in the carcass and between the muscles earlier and more intensively. They have from 15.1 to 44.7% more fatty tissue in the carcass, including under the skin – from 3.8 to 44.1%. With a different degree of meat shapes, subcutaneous fat is deposited more than between muscles. The content of adipose tissue under the skin relative to its total amount in the body of animals tends to decrease by 6.5 points with age for a better degree of meat shapes, and on the contrary, to increase by 2.6 points for a worse degree. If the fat under the bull skin at 18 months in the best shapes is 72.1% of the fat in the carcass, and in the worst – 72.3%, then at 23 months, its amount decreases by 13.6 and 4.4 points, respectively. The fat between the muscles, on the contrary, increases from 27.9 and 27.7% by the same amounts, respectively. With a greater degree of meat shapes and subcutaneous fat thickness on the carcasses of 18-month-old bulls, intramuscular fat (marbling) content is lower by 75.0%. 18-month-old bulls with better-developed meat shapes have fat cuts off from the carcass by 15.2% more than animals with less developed shapes, 23 – by 11.3%. A large amount of produced waste in the body of animals in the best meat shape leads to excessive (from 0.9 to 14.5%) feed consumption (feed unit) for the increase in live weight. The subcutaneous fat content and the number of cuts off from 16 to 24 months positively correlate with the degree of meat shapes in bulls at 15 months and have correlation coefficients of 0.26 and 0.17, respectively

Ticagrelor in patients with diabetes and stable coronary artery disease with a history of previous percutaneous coronary intervention (THEMIS-PCI) : a phase 3, placebo-controlled, randomised trial

Background: Patients with stable coronary artery disease and diabetes with previous percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI), particularly those with previous stenting, are at high risk of ischaemic events. These patients are generally treated with aspirin. In this trial, we aimed to investigate if these patients would benefit from treatment with aspirin plus ticagrelor. Methods: The Effect of Ticagrelor on Health Outcomes in diabEtes Mellitus patients Intervention Study (THEMIS) was a phase 3 randomised, double-blinded, placebo-controlled trial, done in 1315 sites in 42 countries. Patients were eligible if 50 years or older, with type 2 diabetes, receiving anti-hyperglycaemic drugs for at least 6 months, with stable coronary artery disease, and one of three other mutually non-exclusive criteria: a history of previous PCI or of coronary artery bypass grafting, or documentation of angiographic stenosis of 50% or more in at least one coronary artery. Eligible patients were randomly assigned (1:1) to either ticagrelor or placebo, by use of an interactive voice-response or web-response system. The THEMIS-PCI trial comprised a prespecified subgroup of patients with previous PCI. The primary efficacy outcome was a composite of cardiovascular death, myocardial infarction, or stroke (measured in the intention-to-treat population). Findings: Between Feb 17, 2014, and May 24, 2016, 11 154 patients (58% of the overall THEMIS trial) with a history of previous PCI were enrolled in the THEMIS-PCI trial. Median follow-up was 3·3 years (IQR 2·8–3·8). In the previous PCI group, fewer patients receiving ticagrelor had a primary efficacy outcome event than in the placebo group (404 [7·3%] of 5558 vs 480 [8·6%] of 5596; HR 0·85 [95% CI 0·74–0·97], p=0·013). The same effect was not observed in patients without PCI (p=0·76, p interaction=0·16). The proportion of patients with cardiovascular death was similar in both treatment groups (174 [3·1%] with ticagrelor vs 183 (3·3%) with placebo; HR 0·96 [95% CI 0·78–1·18], p=0·68), as well as all-cause death (282 [5·1%] vs 323 [5·8%]; 0·88 [0·75–1·03], p=0·11). TIMI major bleeding occurred in 111 (2·0%) of 5536 patients receiving ticagrelor and 62 (1·1%) of 5564 patients receiving placebo (HR 2·03 [95% CI 1·48–2·76], p<0·0001), and fatal bleeding in 6 (0·1%) of 5536 patients with ticagrelor and 6 (0·1%) of 5564 with placebo (1·13 [0·36–3·50], p=0·83). Intracranial haemorrhage occurred in 33 (0·6%) and 31 (0·6%) patients (1·21 [0·74–1·97], p=0·45). Ticagrelor improved net clinical benefit: 519/5558 (9·3%) versus 617/5596 (11·0%), HR=0·85, 95% CI 0·75–0·95, p=0·005, in contrast to patients without PCI where it did not, p interaction=0·012. Benefit was present irrespective of time from most recent PCI. Interpretation: In patients with diabetes, stable coronary artery disease, and previous PCI, ticagrelor added to aspirin reduced cardiovascular death, myocardial infarction, and stroke, although with increased major bleeding. In that large, easily identified population, ticagrelor provided a favourable net clinical benefit (more than in patients without history of PCI). This effect shows that long-term therapy with ticagrelor in addition to aspirin should be considered in patients with diabetes and a history of PCI who have tolerated antiplatelet therapy, have high ischaemic risk, and low bleeding risk