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Iron levels were lower in semitendinosus muscle of beef and lamb than in longissimus or triceps brachii muscles, and were lower for muscles of male than female lambs, but were similar for muscles from bulls, heifers and mature cows. Soluble proportions of haem iron were higher for beef than lamb (66% vs. 56% of total iron, P < 0.0001), and percentages, as insoluble haem iron or insoluble and soluble non-haem iron, were lower in beef. For beef semitendinosus muscle, increases in cooking time and temperature led to losses of soluble iron and haem iron, with increases in insoluble and non-haem forms of iron, and also in the level of iron in the cooking juice. Losses of iron in drip from a free meat sample or a sample on a pad were over 90% soluble haem iron and were greater following freezing and thawing due mainly to higher volumes of drip.

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This study examined the effects of tonal and atonal music on respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA) in 40 mothers and their 3-month-old infants. The tonal music fragment was composed using the structure of a harmonic series that corresponds with the pitch ratio characteristics of mother–infant vocal dialogues. The atonal fragment did not correspond with a tonal structure. Mother–infant ECG and respiration were registered along with simultaneous video recordings. RR-interval, respiration rate, and RSA were calculated. RSA was corrected for any confounding respiratory and motor activities. The results showed that the infants’ and the mothers’ RSA-responses to the tonal and atonal music differed. The infants showed significantly higher RSA-levels during the tonal fragment than during the atonal fragment and baseline, suggesting increased vagal activity during tonal music. The mothers showed RSA-responses that were equal to their infants only when the infants were lying close to their bodies and when they heard the difference between the two fragments, preferring the tonal above the atonal fragment. The results are discussed with regard to music-related topics, psychophysiological integration and mother-infant vocal interaction processes.

A cohort of first-year biology students was surveyed regarding their opinions and viewing habits for live and recorded lectures. Most respondents (87%) attended live lectures as a rule (attenders), with 66% attending more than two-thirds of the lectures. In contrast, only 52% accessed recordings and only 13% viewed more than two-thirds of the available recordings. Respondents regarded lectures as efficient for information delivery (75%), and 89% enjoyed live lectures because they were useful for learning (89%), understanding coursework (94%), and keeping up with the subject (93%). Lecture enjoyment was driven less by entertainment (34%) or interaction with the lecturers (47%), although most students preferred an entertaining lecturer to a factual expert (72%). Exam marks were positively correlated with the number of lectures attended (P < 0.001) and negatively correlated with the number of recordings viewed (P < 0.05), although marks were similar for lecture attenders and nonattenders (P > 0.05). Lecture attenders mostly missed lectures to complete assessments during the same week (68%), whereas nonattenders were more likely to miss lectures due to outside commitments or preference for study from books or recorded lectures (P < 0.001). Recordings were used to replace missed lectures (64%), rather than for revision, and were viewed mostly alone (96%) in one sitting (65%). Only 22% of respondents agreed that some lectures could be replaced by recordings, but 59% agreed with having some videoconference lectures from experts on another campus. Overall, this cohort showed a clear preference for live lectures over recordings, with limited support for synchronous videoconference lectures.

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