Supplementation of lamb diets with vitamin E and rosemary extracts on meat quality parameters

BACKGROUND Supranutritional supplementation of lamb diets with alpha-tocopherol is an effective method to reduce lipid oxidation and colour deterioration in meat products. However, alternative antioxidant sources have been proposed to replace the supranutritional vitamin E applications. RESULTS Indoor concentrate-fed Rasa Aragonesa male lambs (n = 480) were supplemented with increasing levels of all-rac-alpha-tocopheryl acetate (0.25, 0.5, 1.0 g kg(-1) compound feed), rosemary extract (0.20, 0.40, or 0.80 g kg(-1) compound feed), or rosemary extract embedded in a fat matrix (0.20, 0.40, or 0.80 g kg(-1) compound feed) for 14 days before slaughter. The longissimus thoracis et lumborum muscle from three lambs per pen (18 lambs per treatment) were modified-atmosphere packaged (70% O-2 + 30% CO2) and maintained under retail conditions for 14 days. Supranutritional supplementation with antioxidants had no effect (P > 0.05) on average daily weight gain, feed intake, and feed efficiency. Rosemary extract supplementation (with or without fat embedment) had no effect on lipid oxidation, myoglobin forms, or colour stability parameters, regardless of the dose. All vitamin E supplementation levels significantly affected lipid oxidation, colour stability (L*, C*, and h), myoglobin forms, and meat discoloration parameters compared with non-supplemented lambs. CONCLUSIONS This study demonstrates that, unlike vitamin E, neither dose nor protection of the rosemary extract had an effect on lipid oxidation or meat colour stability of lambs during the 14 days of storage under retail conditions

Selective extraction of proteins and other macromolecules from biological samples using molecular imprinted polymers

The accurate determination of intact macromolecules in biological samples, such as blood, plasma, serum, urine, tissue and feces is a challenging problem. The increased interest in macromolecules both as candidate drugs and as biomarkers for diagnostic purposes means that new method development approaches are needed. This review charts developments in the use of molecularly imprinted polymers first for small-molecular-mass compounds then for proteins and other macromolecules. Examples of the development of molecularly imprinted polymers for macromolecules are highlighted. The two main application areas to date are sensors and separation science, particularly SPE. Examples include peptides and polypeptides, lysozyme, hemoglobin, ovalbumin, bovine serum albumin and viruses

Using pyrosequencing to shed light on deep mine microbial ecology

BACKGROUND: Contrasting biological, chemical and hydrogeological analyses highlights the fundamental processes that shape different environments. Generating and interpreting the biological sequence data was a costly and time-consuming process in defining an environment. Here we have used pyrosequencing, a rapid and relatively inexpensive sequencing technology, to generate environmental genome sequences from two sites in the Soudan Mine, Minnesota, USA. These sites were adjacent to each other, but differed significantly in chemistry and hydrogeology. RESULTS: Comparisons of the microbes and the subsystems identified in the two samples highlighted important differences in metabolic potential in each environment. The microbes were performing distinct biochemistry on the available substrates, and subsystems such as carbon utilization, iron acquisition mechanisms, nitrogen assimilation, and respiratory pathways separated the two communities. Although the correlation between much of the microbial metabolism occurring and the geochemical conditions from which the samples were isolated could be explained, the reason for the presence of many pathways in these environments remains to be determined. Despite being physically close, these two communities were markedly different from each other. In addition, the communities were also completely different from other microbial communities sequenced to date. CONCLUSION: We anticipate that pyrosequencing will be widely used to sequence environmental samples because of the speed, cost, and technical advantages. Furthermore, subsystem comparisons rapidly identify the important metabolisms employed by the microbes in different environments

Mapping the column density and dust temperature structure of IRDCs with Herschel

Infrared dark clouds (IRDCs) are cold and dense reservoirs of gas potentially available to form stars. Many of these clouds are likely to be pristine structures representing the initial conditions for star formation. The study presented here aims to construct and analyze accurate column density and dust temperature maps of IRDCs by using the first Herschel data from the Hi-GAL galactic plane survey. These fundamental quantities, are essential for understanding processes such as fragmentation in the early stages of the formation of stars in molecular clouds. We have developed a simple pixel-by-pixel SED fitting method, which accounts for the background emission. By fitting a grey-body function at each position, we recover the spatial variations in both the dust column density and temperature within the IRDCs. This method is applied to a sample of 22 IRDCs exhibiting a range of angular sizes and peak column densities. Our analysis shows that the dust temperature decreases significantly within IRDCs, from background temperatures of 20-30 K to minimum temperatures of 8-15 K within the clouds, showing that dense molecular clouds are not isothermal. Temperature gradients have most likely an important impact on the fragmentation of IRDCs. Local temperature minima are strongly correlated with column density peaks, which in a few cases reach NH2 = 1 x 10^{23} cm^{-2}, identifying these clouds as candidate massive prestellar cores. Applying this technique to the full Hi-GAL data set will provide important constraints on the fragmentation and thermal properties of IRDCs, and help identify hundreds of massive prestellar core candidates.Comment: Accepted for publication in A&A Herschel special issu

Gender Inequalities in Diagnostic Inertia around the Three Most Prevalent Cardiovascular Risk Studies: Protocol for a Population-Based Cohort Study

Evidence shows that objectives for detecting and controlling cardiovascular risk factors are not being effectively met, and moreover, outcomes differ between men and women. This study will assess the gender-related differences in diagnostic inertia around the three most prevalent cardiovascular risk factors: dyslipidemia, arterial hypertension, and diabetes mellitus, and to evaluate the consequences on cardiovascular disease incidence. This is an epidemiological and cohort study. Eligible patients will be adults who presented to public primary health care centers in a Spanish region from 2008 to 2011, with hypertension, dyslipidemia, or/and diabetes and without cardiovascular disease. Participants’ electronic health records will be used to collect the study variables in a window of six months from inclusion. Diagnostic inertia of hypertension, dyslipidemia, and/or diabetes is defined as the registry of abnormal diagnostic parameters—but no diagnosis—on the person’s health record. The cohort will be followed from the date of inclusion until the end of 2019. Outcomes will be cardiovascular events, defined as hospital admission due to ischemic cardiopathy, stroke, and death from any cause. The results of this study could inform actions to rectify the structure, organization and training of health care teams in order to correct the inequality

A Monte Carlo simulation of the Sudbury Neutrino Observatory proportional counters

The third phase of the Sudbury Neutrino Observatory (SNO) experiment added an array of 3He proportional counters to the detector. The purpose of this Neutral Current Detection (NCD) array was to observe neutrons resulting from neutral-current solar neutrino-deuteron interactions. We have developed a detailed simulation of the current pulses from the NCD array proportional counters, from the primary neutron capture on 3He through the NCD array signal-processing electronics. This NCD array Monte Carlo simulation was used to model the alpha-decay background in SNO's third-phase 8B solar-neutrino measurement.Comment: 38 pages; submitted to the New Journal of Physic

Dark Matter Spin-Dependent Limits for WIMP Interactions on 19-F by PICASSO

The PICASSO experiment at SNOLAB reports new results for spin-dependent WIMP interactions on $^{19}$F using the superheated droplet technique. A new generation of detectors and new features which enable background discrimination via the rejection of non-particle induced events are described. First results are presented for a subset of two detectors with target masses of $^{19}$F of 65 g and 69 g respectively and a total exposure of 13.75 $\pm$ 0.48 kgd. No dark matter signal was found and for WIMP masses around 24 GeV/c$^2$ new limits have been obtained on the spin-dependent cross section on $^{19}$F of $\sigma_F$ = 13.9 pb (90% C.L.) which can be converted into cross section limits on protons and neutrons of $\sigma_p$ = 0.16 pb and $\sigma_n$ = 2.60 pb respectively (90% C.L). The obtained limits on protons restrict recent interpretations of the DAMA/LIBRA annual modulations in terms of spin-dependent interactions.Comment: Revised version, accepted for publication in Phys. Lett. B, 20 pages, 7 figure