The Productivity of Coastal Meadows in Finland

The coastal meadows of Finland have gained a new interest as a summer pasture for cattle. These habitats have great historical, aesthetic and biological value (Pessa & Anttila, 2000). Typical features of the coastal meadows are the varying vegetation zones and wet, sometimes waterlogged, soils. The meadows are important nesting and feeding habitats for many water birds. When grazing ceases, reeds, trees and shrubs take over and the area loses its openness. Lately the amount of grasslands and pastures has drastically declined all over Europe. In Finland, the area of semi-natural biotopes has decreased to 1% of what it had been at the beginning of the twentieth century (Pitkänen & Tiainen, 2001). The goal of this study was to determine the yield and nutritional value of grass herbage in the meadows

Topological Alterations of the Structural Brain Connectivity Network in Children with Juvenile Neuronal Ceroid Lipofuscinosis

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: We used diffusion MR imaging to investigate the structural brain connectivity networks in juvenile neuronal ceroid lipofuscinosis, a neurodegenerative lysosomal storage disease of childhood. Although changes in conventional MR imaging are typically not visually apparent in children agedPeer reviewe

Effects of a Two-Year Home-Based Exercise Training Program on Oxidized LDL and HDL Lipids in Coronary Artery Disease Patients with and without Type-2 Diabetes

We investigated the effect of two-year home-based exercise training program on oxidized low-density lipoprotein LDL (ox-LDL) and high-density lipoprotein HDL (ox-HDL) lipids in patients with coronary artery disease (CAD), both with and without type-2 diabetes (T2D). Analysis of lipoprotein-oxidized lipids was based on the determination of baseline conjugated dienes in lipoprotein lipids. In order to study the effect of an exercise load on ox-LDL and ox-HDL lipids patients in both CAD and CAD + T2D intervention, groups were divided in three based on exercise load (high, medium, and low). During the two-year home-based exercise training program, the study showed that only higher training volume resulted in a decreased concentration of ox-LDL, while the two groups with lower training volumes showed no change. This result indicates that the training load needs to be sufficiently high in order to decrease the concentration of atherogenic ox-LDL lipids in patients with CAD and CAD + T2D. Interestingly, the concentration of ox-HDL did not change in any of the subgroups. This could indicate that the lipid peroxide-transporting capacity of HDL, suggested by results from exercise training studies in healthy adults, may not function similarly in CAD patients with or without T2D. Moreover, the lipid-lowering medication used may have had an influence on these results

Meat quality and fatty acid profile of M. longissimus dorsi of growing bulls under insulated, uninsulated and outdoor housing conditions

The objective of the present study was to compare the colour, chemical composition, meat quality and fatty acid profile of the longissimus dorsi (LD) muscle of growing bulls housed in an insulated tie-stall, an uninsulated barn or a forest paddock. Two housing experiments were conducted at the North Ostrobothnia Research Station of MTT Agrifood Research Finland in Ruukki (64°44N, 25°15E). The first experiment was conducted from November 1999 to October 2000 and comprised 30 Hereford bulls, the second from November 2000 to December 2001 with 30 Ayrshire bulls. In both experiments the bulls were divided into six groups of five animals according to live weight and the groups were randomly allotted to one of three treatments: tie-stall in an insulated barn (IB bulls, ten animals/individual stall), uninsulated barn (UB bulls, five animals/pen, two pens) and forest paddock (PAD bulls, five animals/paddock, two paddocks). Nine carcasses from experiment 1 (three/treatment) and twelve from experiment 2 (four/treatment) were randomly selected for meat quality analyses. After slaughter, the carcasses were cooled for 24h at 2 °C and LD samples were taken by complete cross-section between the 12th and 13th ribs. The results were calculated across the two experiments and analysed as one data. There were no differences between housing environments in temperature or pH of the LD or meat moisture, fat or protein composition of the LD. Instead, the myoglobin content of the LD was 21% higher in PAD bulls than in IB bulls (p < 0.05). Between IB and UB bulls there was no difference in meat myoglobin content and there were no significant (p < 0.05) differences between housing environments in the colour of the LD. However, the muscle tended to be 6% lighter (L-value) in IB bulls than in PAD bulls (p = 0.09). There were no significant differences in shear force or sensory analysis (tenderness, juiciness, overall flavour) between treatments. The LD of the PAD bulls contained a higher proportion of 18:2 and 18:3 fatty acids compared to that of IB bulls (p < 0.05). There were no significant differences in the saturated fatty acid (SFA) or monounsaturated fatty acid proportions of the LD between treatments. Instead, the polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA) proportion of the LD was 34% higher in PAD bulls than in IB bulls (p < 0.05). The PUFA:SFA ratio was higher in PAD bulls than in IB bulls (p < 0.05) but there was no difference in the PUFA:SFA ratio between UB and IB bulls. In conclusion, there were no important effects of housing system on the meat quality characteristics of the LD, although according to meat fatty acid profiles, outdoor housed bulls produced meat with a higher PUFA:SFA ratio than tethered bulls in an insulated barn.;Tutkimuksen tarkoituksena oli selvittää tuotantoympäristön vaikutusta naudanlihan laatuun ja lihan rasvahappokoostumukseen. Tutkimukseen sisältyi kaksi tuotantokoetta, jotka toteutettiin MTT:n Ruukin toimipisteessä. Ensimmäisessä kokeessa oli koe-eläiminä 30 hereford-rotuista sonnia ja toisessa kokeessa 30 ayrshire-sonnia. Kummassakin kokeessa sonnit ryhmiteltiin kokeen alkaessa elopainon perusteella kuuteen viiden eläimen koeryhmään, joista kaksi sijoitettiin lämpimään parsinavettaan. Kaksi koeryhmää siirrettiin eristämättömään pihattoon, jossa ne sijoitettiin kahteen ryhmäkarsinaan. Kaksi viiden eläimen ryhmää sijoitettiin metsätarhaan vierekkäisiin aitauksiin. Parsinavetassa parsien etuosa oli kiinteää betonilattiaa ja takaosa metalliritilää. Parsissa ei käytetty kuiviketta. Eristämätön pihatto oli kolmiseinäinen rakennus, jossa karsina-alue muodostui lantakäytävästä ja kuivikepohjasta. Karsinassa oli tilaa 6,4 m2 eläintä kohti. Karsinan etuosassa sijaitsevalla ruokintapöydällä oli syöntitilaa 80 cm eläintä kohti. Kuivikepohjan päälle syntyvää makuualuetta kuivitettiin silputulla oljella tarpeen mukaan. Kuivikepohja tyhjennettiin säännöllisesti, samoin kuin lantakäytävälle kertynyt lanta. Metsätarha-alue oli nuorta sekametsää, joka jaettiin väliaidalla puoliksi kahdelle ryhmälle. Eläintä kohden tilaa oli 0,1 ha. Tarhaan rakennettiin pulpettikattoinen, kolmiseinäinen suojarakennus, joka puolitettiin väliseinän avulla kahden koeryhmän käyttöön. Rakennuksen takaosaan muotoiltiin hiekasta vinokuivikepohja, jonka päälle syntyvä makuuala oli kooltaan 3,2 m2 eläintä kohti. Makuualustaa käytettiin kestokuivikepohjan tavoin niin, että tarpeen mukaan makuupohjalle lisättiin silputtua olkea. Suojarakennuksen edessä sijaitsevan betonipohjaisen ruokinta-alueen etuosassa sijaitsevalla ruokintapöydällä oli syöntitilaa 100 cm eläintä kohti. Lihanlaatuanalyyseihin valittiin ensimmäisestä kokeesta yhdeksän ruhoa (3 jokaiselta koekäsittelyltä) ja toisesta kokeesta 12 ruhoa (4jokaiselta koekäsittelyltä). Lihanlaatuanalyyseihin valituista ruhoista otettiin teurastuksen yhteydessä ulkofilenäyte lihan laadun arviointia varten. Raakakypsyneestä ulkofileestä analysoitiin vesi-, proteiini- ja lihaksen sisäinen rasvapitoisuus, rasvahappokoostumus, myoglobiinipitoisuus, leikkuupinnan väri ja leikkuuvaste. Aistinvaraisessa arvioinnissa määritettiin mureus, mehukkuus ja maku kypsennetystä lihasta. Lihan laatuanalyysit suoritettiin Lihateollisuuden tutkimuskeskuksella. Koekäsittelyjen välillä ei ollut eroja lihaksen vesi- proteiini- tai rasvapitoisuudessa. Sen sijaan metsätarhassa kasvatettujen sonnien lihasta mitattiin 21% suurempi myoglobiinipitoisuus kuin parressa kasvatettujen sonnien lihasta (