Nutritional value of suckler beef from temperate pasture systems

The role of beef in human diets has been questioned over the last few decades, due largely to its typically high mass-based carbon footprint. However, recent advancements in sustainability literature challenge this paradigm based on the new theory that climate impacts of food commodities should be measured relative to their overall nutritional value rather than their nominal mass. This shift has opened a new opportunity for the global beef industry, and especially for pasture-based systems that can avoid food-feed competition for land and other resources, as beef is a nutritionally dense food. Nonetheless, the sector’s true capability to supply a wide range of nutrients for humans, consistently across multiple systems under multiple weather patterns, has not been well-documented. Using whole-system datasets from the North Wyke Farm Platform in the South West of England, we investigated the nutritional value of beef produced from the three most common pasture systems in temperate regions: permanent pasture (PP), grass and white clover (GWC) and a short-term monoculture grass ley (MG). Beef produced from these three pasture systems was analysed for key nutrients (fatty acids, minerals and vitamin E) over three production cycles (2015–2017) to determine potential differences between systems. Fatty acid, mineral and vitamin E profiles of the pasture and silage fed to each group were also assessed, with subtle differences between pastures reported. For beef, subtle differences were also observed between systems, with GWC having higher omega-6 polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA) concentrations than PP and MG. However, the overall nutritional quality of beef was found to be largely comparable across all systems, suggesting that temperate pasture-based beef can be classified as a single commodity in future sustainability assessments, regardless of specific sward types. A 100 g serving of temperate pasture-based beef was found to be a high source (>20% recommended daily intake: RDI) of protein, monounsaturated fatty acids, saturated fatty acids, vitamins – B2, B3, B12 and minerals – Fe, P, Zn; a good source (10–19% RDI) of vitamin – B6 and mineral – K; and a complementary source (5–9% RDI) of omega-3 PUFA, vitamin – B9 and minerals – Cu, Mg, Se. The nutritional value of a food item should be used in defining its environmental cost (e.g. carbon footprint) to make fair comparisons across different food groups (e.g. protein sources). Here, we showed that pasture-based beef had a nutrient indexed carbon footprint of between 0.19 and 0.23 Kg CO2-eq/1% RDI of key nutrients

The effect of high polyphenol oxidase grass silage on metabolism of polyunsaturated fatty acids and nitrogen across the rumen of beef steers

Polyphenol oxidase (PPO) activity in red clover (Trifolium pratense) has been reported to reduce both proteolysis and lipolysis, resulting in greater N use efficiency and protection of PUFA across the rumen. Although high levels of PPO have been reported in grasses such as cocksfoot (orchard grass; Dactylis glomerata), no in vivo research has determined whether grass PPO elicits the same response as red clover PPO. To test the hypothesis that silage ensiled from grass with high levels of PPO protects N and PUFA across the rumen, 6 steers with ruminal and duodenal cannulas were offered cocksfoot silage (CO; high-PPO grass), perennial ryegrass silage (PR; Lolium perenne; low-PPO grass), or red clover silage (RC; high-PPO control) at 16 g DM/ kg BW daily with the experiment consisting of two 3 × 3 Latin squares with 21-d periods, consisting of 12 d of diet adaptation, 6 d of duodenal marker infusion, 2 d of duodenal sampling, and 1 d of ruminal sampling. All silages were well preserved, with DM of 34.4, 55.3, and 45.4% for CO, PR, and RC. Activity of PPO in silages was low due to deactivation but was greater in CO than either PR or RC (0.15 vs. 0.05 and 0.08 μkatal/g DM). Protein-bound phenol (mg/g DM) as a measure of the degree of oxidation and an indication of PPO protection was greatest for RC (15.9) but comparable for PR (10.1) and CO (12.2). Biohydrogenation of C18 PUFA was significantly lower on RC compared to the 2 grass silages with CO greater than PR. Despite lower levels of total fatty acid intake and subsequent duodenal flow, CO resulted in greater levels of phytanic acid and total branched and odd chain fatty acids in duodenal digesta than RC or PR. Ruminal ammonia concentration was greatest for RC, with no difference between the grasses. Duodenal flow of microbial N and efficiency of microbial protein synthesis were lowest for CO and comparable for RC and PR. The CO (high-grass PPO) did not result in elevated levels of C18 PUFA escaping the rumen or improve efficiency of total N transfer through the rumen compared to PR. The RC resulted in a greater flow of N and nonmicrobial N to the duodenum than the 2 grasses with PR greater than CO

Impact of COVID-19 on Cardiovascular Testing in the United States Versus the Rest of the World

Objectives: This study sought to quantify and compare the decline in volumes of cardiovascular procedures between the United States and non-U.S. institutions during the early phase of the coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted the care of many non-COVID-19 illnesses. Reductions in diagnostic cardiovascular testing around the world have led to concerns over the implications of reduced testing for cardiovascular disease (CVD) morbidity and mortality. Methods: Data were submitted to the INCAPS-COVID (International Atomic Energy Agency Non-Invasive Cardiology Protocols Study of COVID-19), a multinational registry comprising 909 institutions in 108 countries (including 155 facilities in 40 U.S. states), assessing the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on volumes of diagnostic cardiovascular procedures. Data were obtained for April 2020 and compared with volumes of baseline procedures from March 2019. We compared laboratory characteristics, practices, and procedure volumes between U.S. and non-U.S. facilities and between U.S. geographic regions and identified factors associated with volume reduction in the United States. Results: Reductions in the volumes of procedures in the United States were similar to those in non-U.S. facilities (68% vs. 63%, respectively; p = 0.237), although U.S. facilities reported greater reductions in invasive coronary angiography (69% vs. 53%, respectively; p < 0.001). Significantly more U.S. facilities reported increased use of telehealth and patient screening measures than non-U.S. facilities, such as temperature checks, symptom screenings, and COVID-19 testing. Reductions in volumes of procedures differed between U.S. regions, with larger declines observed in the Northeast (76%) and Midwest (74%) than in the South (62%) and West (44%). Prevalence of COVID-19, staff redeployments, outpatient centers, and urban centers were associated with greater reductions in volume in U.S. facilities in a multivariable analysis. Conclusions: We observed marked reductions in U.S. cardiovascular testing in the early phase of the pandemic and significant variability between U.S. regions. The association between reductions of volumes and COVID-19 prevalence in the United States highlighted the need for proactive efforts to maintain access to cardiovascular testing in areas most affected by outbreaks of COVID-19 infection