Mineral concentrations in bovine milk from farms with contrasting grazing management

Thirty conventional and 24 organic dairy farms were divided into equal-number within system groups: high-pasture, standard-pasture and low-pasture groups. Milk samples were collected monthly for 12 consecutive months. Milk from high-pasture organic farms contained less fat and protein than standard- and low-pasture organic farms, but more lactose than low-pasture organic farms. Pasture, concentrate feeds intakes and the contribution of non-Holstein breeds were the key drivers for these changes. Milk Ca and P concentrations were lower in standard-pasture conven-tional farms than the other conventional groups. Milk from low-pasture organic farms contained less Ca than high- and standard-pasture organic farms, while high-pasture organic farms produced milk with the highest Sn concentration. Differences in mineral concentrations were driven by the contribution of non-Holstein breeds, feeding practices, and grazing activity; due to relatively low numerical differences the subsequent impact on consumers’ mineral intakes would be minor

Glial Cell Line-Derived Neurotrophic Factor (GDNF) as a Novel Candidate Gene of Anxiety.

Glial cell line-derived neurotrophic factor (GDNF) is a neurotrophic factor for dopaminergic neurons with promising therapeutic potential in Parkinson's disease. A few association analyses between GDNF gene polymorphisms and psychiatric disorders such as schizophrenia, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and drug abuse have also been published but little is known about any effects of these polymorphisms on mood characteristics such as anxiety and depression. Here we present an association study between eight (rs1981844, rs3812047, rs3096140, rs2973041, rs2910702, rs1549250, rs2973050 and rs11111) GDNF single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) and anxiety and depression scores measured by the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) on 708 Caucasian young adults with no psychiatric history. Results of the allele-wise single marker association analyses provided significant effects of two single nucleotide polymorphisms on anxiety scores following the Bonferroni correction for multiple testing (p = 0.00070 and p = 0.00138 for rs3812047 and rs3096140, respectively), while no such result was obtained on depression scores. Haplotype analysis confirmed the role of these SNPs; mean anxiety scores raised according to the number of risk alleles present in the haplotypes (p = 0.00029). A significant sex-gene interaction was also observed since the effect of the rs3812047 A allele as a risk factor of anxiety was more pronounced in males. In conclusion, this is the first demonstration of a significant association between the GDNF gene and mood characteristics demonstrated by the association of two SNPs of the GDNF gene (rs3812047 and rs3096140) and individual variability of anxiety using self-report data from a non-clinical sample

Cardiopoietic cell therapy for advanced ischemic heart failure: results at 39 weeks of the prospective, randomized, double blind, sham-controlled CHART-1 clinical trial

Cardiopoietic cells, produced through cardiogenic conditioning of patients' mesenchymal stem cells, have shown preliminary efficacy. The Congestive Heart Failure Cardiopoietic Regenerative Therapy (CHART-1) trial aimed to validate cardiopoiesis-based biotherapy in a larger heart failure cohort

HÚSHASZNOSÍTÁSÚ MAGYAR TARKA TEHENEK KÜLLEMI BÍRÁLATÁNAK EREDMÉNYEI

Conformation scoring data of 1238 beef type Hungarian Simmental cows were evaluated between 2001 and 2011 on the database of Association of Hungarian Simmental Breeders. The aim of the study was to evaluate the effect of sire, herd, birth year and the age at scoring on type score (TIP), height at rump (FMA), width of rump (FSZ), length of rump (FHO), deep of chest (TÖM), length of body (TÖH), muscularity score (IZM), muscularity of shoulder (LIZ), muscularity of thigh (CIZ), conformation of leg (LSZ), side view of hind leg (HLO), gradient of rump (FLE), steepness of pastern (CSÜ), dug score (TGY), deep of dug (TMÉ) and conformation of teats (BIF). The database was analyzed by multifactor analysis of variance. The overall mean of the evaluated ten traits were as follows (mean±SE, point): TIP 5.54±0.04; FMA 5.78±0.07; FSZ 5.25±0.06; FHO 5.33±0.06; TÖM 5.53±0.06; TÖH 5.44±0.05; IZM 4.92±0.06; LIZ 4.83±0.06; CIZ 4.98±0.06; LSZ 5.47±0.03; HLO 5.59±0.05; FLE 5.17±0.05; CSÜ 5.82±0.08; TGY 5.90±0.06; TMÉ 6.27±0.08; BIF 5.34±0.08. The rank in phenotype of the investigated factors was as follows: 1st herd (41.65%), 2nd age at scoring (25.09%), 3rd birth year (15.90%), 4th sire (10.19%), 5th error (7.17%). In the examined period increased the deep of chest, the length of body and the type score. The points of muscularity and dug parameters and the steepness of pastern significantly decreased

114. Effect of grazing and feeding management on milk mineral concentrations

Application. Pasture intake and non-Holstein genetics were negatively correlated with milk I, Mn, and Cu, and positively correlated with milk Ca and P; but other feeds and mineral supplementation also influenced milk mineral concentrations. Introduction. Milk is a good source of minerals (Ca, Mg, P and K) and trace elements (I, Se, Zn), which are essential for optimum health [2]. Pasture intake may increase milk Ca and P concentrations but decrease Cu and Se concentrations, although pasture composition, plant maturity, and animal/environmental factors will also have an effect [1]. This study aimed to (i) investigate the milk mineral concentrations in herds with different pasture intakes, and (ii) assess the relative impact of individual feeds. Material and methods. Bulk-tank milk samples (n = 359) were collected monthly (over 12 months) from 30 dairy farms, and animal diet and breed were gathered via questionnaire. Three groups of 10 farms represented contrasting grazing management between April-September: high pasture intake (HP; 28–65% DMI), standard pasture intake (SP; 5–18% DMI), outdoors with low/limited pasture intake (LP; 0–3% DMI). Milk mineral concentrations were determined using ICP-MS. Analysis of variance by linear mixed effects models used pasture intake (HP, SP, LP), months (12 months), and their interaction as fixed factors. Farm ID was used as a random factor. A multivariate redundancy analysis (RDA; CANOCO 5) assessed the relative impact of breed and feeds on milk mineral concentrations. Results. When compared with HP and LP farms, milk from SP farms contained significantly less Ca (−50 mg/kg and −45 mg/kg, respectively) and P (−25 mg/kg and −29 mg/kg, respectively) (Table 1). The RDA indicated that pasture intake and non-Holstein genetics were negatively correlated with milk I, Mn, and Cu, and positively correlated with milk Ca and P. Grass/grass-clover silage and dry-straights were positively correlated with I, Mn, Cu, Mo, Zn and negatively correlated with Na. Intakes of maize silage, blends, moist by-products, oils and minerals were negatively correlated with Mn, Cu, Mo, Zn, Ca and P. Milk from low/no grazing periods contained, on average, more I (+21.1%), Mn (19.5%), Cu (+16.9%), Zn (+6.1%) and Mo (+5.5%), than milk produced from the grazing season, although between-month differences were not always significant

Late bedtime is associated with decreased hippocampal volume in young healthy subjects

Hippocampal volume loss has been described in several pathological conditions including sleep disorders. Whether differences in normal sleep are associated with differences in hippocampal volume is unknown. Here we designed a study to assess volume of the hippocampus with regard to bedtime, wake up time and sleep duration in 90 healthy university students. To assess hippocampal volumes we applied semi-automatic user-independent magnetic resonance volumetry. We found a significant association between delayed bedtime and smaller hippocampal volumes, a non-significant tendency for smaller hippocampal volumes in the late wake up time group and significantly smaller hippocampal volumes for both short and long sleepers. These results suggest the importance of adequate sleep timing and especially bedtime in determining hippocampal volume

Image_1_17β-estradiol does not have a direct effect on the function of striatal cholinergic interneurons in adult mice in vitro.tif

The striatum is an essential component of the basal ganglia that is involved in motor control, action selection and motor learning. The pathophysiological changes of the striatum are present in several neurological and psychiatric disorder including Parkinson’s and Huntington’s diseases. The striatal cholinergic neurons are the main regulators of striatal microcircuitry. It has been demonstrated that estrogen exerts various effects on neuronal functions in dopaminergic and medium spiny neurons (MSN), however little is known about how the activity of cholinergic interneurons are influenced by estrogens. In this study we examined the acute effect of 17β-estradiol on the function of striatal cholinergic neurons in adult mice in vitro. We also tested the effect of estrus cycle and sex on the spontaneous activity of cholinergic interneurons in the striatum. Our RNAscope experiments showed that ERα, ERβ, and GPER1 receptor mRNAs are expressed in some striatal cholinergic neurons at a very low level. In cell-attached patch clamp experiments, we found that a high dose of 17β-estradiol (100 nM) affected the spontaneous firing rate of these neurons only in old males. Our findings did not demonstrate any acute effect of a low concentration of 17β-estradiol (100 pM) or show any association of estrus cycle or sex with the activity of striatal cholinergic neurons. Although estrogen did not induce changes in the intrinsic properties of neurons, indirect effects via modulation of the synaptic inputs of striatal cholinergic interneurons cannot be excluded.</p