Starch and oil in the donor cow diet and starch in substrate differently affect the in vitro ruminal biohydrogenation of linoleic and linolenic acids

Trans isomers of fatty acids exhibit different health properties. Among them, trans-10,cis-12 conjugated linoleic acid has negative effects on milk fat production and can affect human health. A shift from the trans-11 to the trans-10 pathway of biohydrogenation (BH) can occur in the rumen of dairy cows receiving high-concentrate diets, especially when the diet is supplemented with highly unsaturated fat sources. The differences of BH patterns between linoleic acid (LeA) and linolenic acid (LnA) in such ruminal conditions remain unknown; thus, the aim of this work was to investigate in vitro the effects of starch and sunflower oil in the diet of the donor cows and starch level in the incubates on the BH patterns and efficiencies of LeA and LnA. The design was a 4 × 4 Latin square design with 4 cows, 4 periods, and 4 diets with combinations of 21 or 34% starch and 0 or 5% sunflower oil. The rumen content of each cow during each period was incubated with 4 substrates, combining 2 starch levels and either LeA or LnA addition. Capillary electrophoresis single-strand conformation polymorphism of incubates showed that dietary starch decreased the diversity of the bacterial community and the high-starch plus oil diet modified its structure. High-starch diets poorly affected isomerization and first reduction of LeA and LnA, but decreased the efficiencies of trans-11,cis-15-C18:2 and trans C18:1 reduction. Dietary sunflower oil increased the efficiency of LeA isomerization but decreased the efficiency of trans C18:1 reduction. An interaction between dietary starch and dietary oil resulted in the highest trans-10 isomers production in incubates when the donor cow received the high-starch plus oil diet. The partition between trans-10 and trans-11 isomers was also affected by an interaction between starch level and the fatty acid added to the incubates, showing that the trans-10 shift only occurred with LeA, whereas LnA was mainly hydrogenated via the more usual trans-11 pathway, whatever the starch level in the substrate, although the bacterial communities were not different between LeA and LnA incubates. In LeA incubates, trans-10 isomer production was significantly related to the structure of the bacterial community

Statistical signatures of critical behavior in small systems

The cluster distributions of different systems are examined to search for signatures of a continuous phase transition. In a system known to possess such a phase transition, both sensitive and insensitive signatures are present; while in systems known not to possess such a phase transition, only insensitive signatures are present. It is shown that nuclear multifragmentation results in cluster distributions belonging to the former category, suggesting that the fragments are the result of a continuous phase transition.Comment: 31 pages, two columns with 30 figure

Effects of heating process of soybean oil and seeds on fatty acid biohydrogenation in vitro

OATAO is an open access repository that collects the work of Toulouse researchers and makes it freely available over the web where possible. This is an publisher-deposited version published in : http://oatao.univ-toulouse.fr/ Eprints ID : 12257 ABSTRACT Heating fat is an efficient way to alter ruminal biohydrogenation (BH) and milk fat quality. Nevertheless, results are variable among studies and this could be due to various heating conditions differently affecting BH. The objectives of this study were to determine the effect of type and duration of heating of soybean oil or seeds on BH in vitro. Ruminal content cultures were incubated to first investigate the effects of roasting duration (no heating, and 0.5-and 6-h roasting) at 125°C and its interaction with fat source (soybean seeds vs. soybean oil), focusing on linoleic acid BH and its intermediates: conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) and trans-C18:1. Additionally, we compared the effects of seed extrusion with the 6 combinations of unheated and roasted oils and seeds. None of the treatments was efficient to protect linoleic acid from BH. Soybean oil resulted in higher trans-11 isomer production than seeds: 5.7 and 1.2 times higher for cis-9,trans-11 CLA and trans-11 C18:1, respectively. A 125°C, 0.5-h roasting increased trans-11 isomer production by 11% compared with no heating and 6-h roasted fat. Extrusion of seeds was more efficient to increase trans-11 C18:1 production than seed roasting, leading to values similar to oils. For other fatty acids, including cis-9,trans-11 CLA, extrusion resulted in similar balances to seeds (mainly 0.5-h-roasted seeds). Extruded oilseeds would be more efficient than roasted seeds to produce trans-11 C18:1; nevertheless, effects of conditions of extrusion need to be explored

Absolute cross sections for the dissociation of hydrogen cluster ions in high-energy collisions with helium atoms

Absolute dissociation cross sections are reported for Hn+ clusters of varied mass (n=3,5,,35) following collisions with He atoms at 60 keV/amu. Initial results have been published previously for a smaller range of cluster sizes [Ouaskit et al., Phys. Rev. A 49, 1484 (1994)]. The present extended study includes further experimental results, reducing the statistical errors associated with the absolute cross sections. The previously suggested quasilinear dependence of the Hn+ dissociation cross sections upon n is developed with reference to expected series of geometrical shells of H2 molecules surrounding a H3+ core. Recent calculations identify n=9 as corresponding to the first closed H2 shell [e.g., tich et al., J. Chem. Phys. 107, 9482 (1997)]. Recurrence of the distinct characteristics observed in the dissociation-cross-section dependence upon cluster size around n=9 provides the basis for the presently proposed subsequent closed shells at n=15, 21, 27, and 33, in agreement with the calculations of Nagashima et al

Post-weaning changes in the digestive physiology and caecal fermentative activity in the greater cane rat (Thryonomys swinderianus)

The greater cane rat is a recently domesticated monogastric herbivore, and the importance of the caecum in the functioning of its digestive tract has frequently been mentioned. However, no data are available on caecal fermentative activity of this animal and research on the digestive physiology was only performed in adult animals. The present work was initiated to describe some  parameters of the digestive tract anatomy and to study caecal fermentation of the growing cane rat. Thirty 40-day-old weaned  cane rats were used in this experiment. Six of them were immediately euthanased and 12 were housed in a collective pen for  gastrointestinal tract (GIT) parameters measurements. Twelve others were kept in individual cages to record growth and food intake. Captive cane rats received a pelleted diet containing 12.5% of crude protein and 16.7% of lignocellulose. Six of the 12 collectively housed animals were euthanased on day 82 and a further six on day 103. The growth rate increased with age (P < 0.01) with a linear growth curve (P < 0.001) while the feed intake (g/kg body weight) did not vary (P>0.05). The caecum   represented the largest compartment of the digestive tract constituting more than 40% of total GIT contents. Acetate was the most abundant short-chain fatty acid with more than 70% of the total, followed by propionate (less than 25%) and butyrate (around 5%). Short-chain fatty acid profiles varied with age: when age increased, the acetate proportion increased (P < 0.01), the propionate proportion decreased (P < 0.001) and the butyrate proportion remained unchanged (P>0.05). The propionate/butyrate ratio showed a decrease with an increase in age (P=0.05). Ammonia concentrations did not vary with age (P>0.05). It is concluded that the caecum is an important site of fermentation in the growing cane rat.Key words: cane rat, digestive physiology, caecum, fermentative activity, Thryonomys

Collective effects in the energy loss of large hydrogen clusters

The energy loss of large molecular-hydrogen clusters incident on aluminum and amorphous carbon targets is analyzed as a function of the cluster size and velocity, using a dielectric formalism to describe the electronic interactions between the projectile and the target. The dependence of the energy loss with the cluster size predicts a marked different behavior for aluminum or amorphous carbon. The energy loss of H2 clusters in aluminum indicates that for each cluster velocity there is a ‘‘resonant’’ cluster size for which the intermolecular contribution to the energy loss is maximum. On the other hand, the intermolecular contribution to the energy loss of H2 clusters in amorphous carbon saturates with the cluster size. The origin of this behavior lies in the low-energy plasmon present in the energy loss function of amorphous carbon. We also discuss the consequences of a proper description of the dielectric properties of the target.Partial support was provided by the Spanish Dirección General de Investigación Científica y Técnica, through projects PB92-0341 and PB93-1125. N.R.A. thanks the Conselleria d’Educació i Ciència de la Generalitat Valenciana for financial support under the program PROPIO