Effects of postmortem calcium chloride injection on meat palatability traits of strip loin steaks from cattle supplemented with or without zilpaterol hydrochloride

An experiment was conducted to determine the effects of zilpaterol hydrochloride mM supplementation (ZH; 8.3 mg/kg on a DM basis for 20 d) and calcium chloride injection [CaCl2, 200 at 5% (wt/wt) at 72 h postmortem] on palatability traits of beef (Bos taurus) strip loin steaks. Select (USDA) strip loins were obtained from control (no ZH = 19) and ZH-supplemented carcasses (n = 20). Right and left sides were selected alternatively to serve as a control (no INJ) or CaCl2-injected (INJ) and stored at 4 degrees C Before injecting the subprimals (72 h postmortem), 2 steaks were cut for proximate, sarcomere length, and myofibrillar fragmentation index (MFI) analyses. At 7 d postmortem each strip loin was portioned into steaks, vacuum packaged, and aged for the appropriate period for Warner-Bratzler shear force (WBSF; 7, 14, 21, and 28 d postmortem), trained sensory analysis (14 and 21 d postmortem), purge loss (7 d), and MFI (3, 7, 14, 21, and 28 d postmortem). Results indicated steaks from both ZH supplementation and INJ had reduced WBSF values as days of postmortem aging increased. The WBSF values of ZH steaks were greater (P 0.05) due to ZH at 14, 21, or 28 d or due to INJ at any aging period. Trained panelists rated tenderness less in ZH steaks than steaks with no ZH at 14 d and 21 d. However, INJ improved (P < 0.05) the tenderness ratings and flavor intensity of the trained panelists, compared with their non-injected cohorts at 21 d. Zilpaterol hydrochloride supplementation reduced (P < 0.05) MFI values, but INJ resulted in greater (P < 0.05) MFI values compared with no INJ. Subprimals from ZH and INJ showed greater purge loss (P < 0.05). Although no interactions were found with ZH and CaCl2, injecting USDA Select strip loins from ZH-fed cattle can help reduce the normal WBSF variation as it does in steaks from non-ZH-fed cattle.90103584359

Dynamic “Inline” Images: Context-Sensitive Retrieval and Integration of Images into Web Documents

Integrating relevant images into web-based information resources adds value for research and education. This work sought to evaluate the feasibility of using “Web 2.0” technologies to dynamically retrieve and integrate pertinent images into a radiology web site. An online radiology reference of 1,178 textual web documents was selected as the set of target documents. The ARRS GoldMiner™ image search engine, which incorporated 176,386 images from 228 peer-reviewed journals, retrieved images on demand and integrated them into the documents. At least one image was retrieved in real-time for display as an “inline” image gallery for 87% of the web documents. Each thumbnail image was linked to the full-size image at its original web site. Review of 20 randomly selected Collaborative Hypertext of Radiology documents found that 69 of 72 displayed images (96%) were relevant to the target document. Users could click on the “More” link to search the image collection more comprehensively and, from there, link to the full text of the article. A gallery of relevant radiology images can be inserted easily into web pages on any web server. Indexing by concepts and keywords allows context-aware image retrieval, and searching by document title and subject metadata yields excellent results. These techniques allow web developers to incorporate easily a context-sensitive image gallery into their documents

High tannin sorghum in diets of japanese quails (Coturnix coturnix japonica)

This experiment was carried out to evaluate the effects of replacing corn by high tannin sorghum in diets of japanese quails (Coturnix coturnix japonica) on performance and egg quality. Two hundred and fifty-two quails with 50 weeks of age were evaluated during four periods of 21 days. The treatments consisted of diets containing 20, 40, 60, 80 and 100% of sorghum, and a control treatment (100% of corn). Diets were formulated so that the levels of energy, protein, amino acids (methionine+cystine and lysine), calcium and phosphorus were similar A completely randomized experimental design was used, with six treatments, six replicates and seven quails for experimental unit. Evaluated parameters were egg production (%), feed intake, feed: gain ratio (kg/kg and kg/dozen), egg mass (g), egg weight and egg quality (Haugh unit, eggshell percentage, shell thickness and yolk color). The increasing sorghum levels had a negative linear effect (p<0.05) on egg production (Y=82.9138 - 0.0966553X; R²=0.87), egg mass (Y= 8.0840626 - 0.009336932X; R²=0.80) and yolk color (Y=7.14340-0.0546875X; R²=0.98). On the other hand, the replacement had a positive linear effect on feed:gain ratio expressed as kg/kg (Y=0.372174 + 0.000536191X; R²=0.92) and as kg/dozen (Y=2.71516 + 0.00423485X; R²=0.94). Control treatment means were different by Dunnett's test (p<0.05) for egg mass (g) when compared to the treatment with 100% of replacement and for yolk color when compared to treatments containing 20, 40, 60, 80 and 100% of sorghum. There were no differences (p>0.05) in feed intake, egg weight, Haugh unit, eggshell percentage and shell thickness. In conclusion, up to 80% of high tannin sorghum may be used on diets if xanthophyll pigments are added in order to maintain the commercial quality of final products

White Matter Integrity is Associated with Treatment Outcome Measures in Cocaine Dependence

Cocaine dependence is associated with white matter impairments that may compromise cognitive function and hence drug users' abilities to engage in and benefit from treatment. The main aim of this study was to assess whether white matter integrity correlates with treatment outcome measures in cocaine dependence. Diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) was used to assess the white matter (WM) of 16 treatment-seeking cocaine-dependent patients before 8 weeks of therapy. The measures for treatment outcome were longest self-reported duration of continuous cocaine abstinence, percent of urine screens negative for cocaine, and duration (weeks) of treatment retention. Correlations between treatment outcome measures and DTI parameters (fractional anisotropy (FA), longitudinal eigenvalue (λ1), perpendicular eigenvalue (λT), and mean diffusivity (MD)) were analyzed. Longest self-reported abstinence from cocaine and percent of cocaine-negative urine samples during treatment positively correlated with FA values and negatively correlated with λ1, λT, and MD values across extensive brain regions including the corpus callosum, frontal, parietal, temporal, and occipital lobes, and cerebellum. The findings of an association between better WM integrity at treatment onset and longer abstinence suggest that strategies for improving WM integrity warrant consideration in developing new interventions for cocaine dependence