The objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of dietary addition of ground oilseed sources on the quality, fatty acid profile, and CLA content of meat from zebu steers. Thirty-one zebu steers with an initial average age of 23 mo and an initial BW of 365 kg were used in this study. The experimental period was 84 d, which was preceded by an adaption period of 28 d. The diet was provided ad libitum with a forage:concentrate ratio of 40:60. Corn silage was used as the forage source. Four different concentrates were formulated for each treatment: without additional lipids (control) or with ground soybeans (SB), ground cottonseed (CS), or ground linseed (LS). The SB, CS, and LS diets were formulated to have 6.5% ether extract on a total dietary DM basis. The experiment was set up as a completely randomized design. After slaughter, samples were taken from the longissimus thoracis muscle for the measurement of fatty acid concentration and the evaluation of meat quality. The luminosity index was greater in the control and LS diets (P < 0.01). The greatest percentages of myristic acid (C14:0), palmitic acid (C16:0), trans octadecenoic acid (C18:1 trans-10, trans-11, or trans-12), and SFA in the subcutaneous fat were observed in the CS treatment (P < 0.01). Moreover, the least percentages of oleic acid (C18:1 cis-9) and total unsaturated fatty acids in the subcutaneous fat were observed in the CS diet (P < 0.01). The meat linoleic acid and α-linolenic acid percentages were greatest in the SB and LS treatments, respectively (P < 0.001). The unsaturated fatty acid:SFA ratio was smallest for the CS diet (P < 0.01). A gradual increase in oxidation was observed as a function of storage time; however, the diets did not affect the rancidity of the meat (P > 0.05). The fatty acid profile of subcutaneous fat was impaired by the addition of CS. Supplying ground oilseeds did not increase the content of CLA in the meat.

RESUMO -Nellore animals were slaughtered at 519 and 482 kg, respectively. The subcutaneous fat thickness (FT) and longissimus muscle area (LMA) were measured between 12th and 13th ribs. Higher carcass yield of the Nellore breed was observed (57.7 vs 54.7%).However, there was no difference for weight of hot and cold carcass between the groups. Red Norte animals showed greater LMA, and hindquarter and spare ribs with higher weight and yield, and forequarter with lower weight and yielding. The Red Norte genetic group showed higher weight for cap and rump and striploin, while Nellore showed higher weight for shoulder and flatround. Nellore animals had better carcass yield, which contributes to hot carcass weight. Nevertheless, the group Red Norte have higher hindquarter yield and more weight from cuts of highest commercial value.Key Words: longissimus muscle area, slaughter, slaughterhouse freezer IntroduçãoA pecuária brasileira é baseada na rusticidade e fertilidade das raças zebuínas e ainda apresenta médias zootécnicas baixas para os padrões atuais. O aumento da competitividade com outras fontes de proteína animal, bem como outros mercados concorrentes, e a possibilidade de o Brasil se consolidar ainda mais no mercado mundial de carne bovina tem requerido da atividade pecuária de corte a oferta de produto de qualidade de maneira contínua durante todo o ano (Resende et al., 2010). Um dos grandes desafios da cadeia produtiva da carne bovina é produzir carne que atenda às expectativas dos diversos mercados consumidores, cujo grau de exigência tem se elevado de

Amygdalar NMDA receptor activation has been implicated in the acquisition of fear memories in rats. However, little is known about the role of endogenous modulators of the NMDA receptor, such as polyamines, in pavlovian fear-conditioning learning. Therefore, in the present study we investigated whether the immediate pretraining or post-training bilateral infusion of arcaine, an antagonist of the NMDA receptor polyamine-binding site, or spermidine, an agonist of the NMDA receptor polyamine-binding site, into the amygdala affected classical fear conditioning in rats. Bilateral microinjections of arcaine (0.0002-0.2 nmol) decreased, whereas spermidine (0.002-20 nmol) increased, contextual and auditory fear conditioning. Arcaine coadministration, at a dose that had no effect per se, reversed the facilitatory effect of spermidine. These results provide evidence that endogenous and exogenous polyamines modulate the acquisition or early consolidation (or both) of the fear-conditioning task in the amygdala.

The objective of the present study was to evaluate the meat quality and fatty acid (FA) profile of the muscle and subcutaneous fat of young bulls fed ground soybean grain (SB) or rumen protected fat (RPF) with (230 mg head(-1) day(-1)) or without monensin. Forty animals with an initial weight of 359 kg were allotted in a 2×2 factorial arrangement of treatments. The use of monensin increased the arachidonic and α-linolenic acids in the longissimus dorsi (LD) muscle and subcutaneous fat, respectively (P<0.05). The meat from the animals receiving RPF had greater C18:1 content (P<0.01). The CLA and C18:2 contents were greater in the LD muscle of the animals fed SB (P<0.01). However, α-C18:3 was greater in the LD muscle of animals fed RPF (P<0.01). In the subcutaneous fat, SB reduced C12:0 and C14:0 contents (P<0.01) and increased C18:0 (P<0.05). The inclusion of RPF increased the C18:1 and CLA contents (P<0.01) in the subcutaneous fat. Soybean elevated PUFA contents and increased susceptibility of muscle and subcutaneous fat to lipid oxidation.

Fourteen Nellore and 14 Angus young bulls with BW of 381±11.8kg were randomly assigned into 2 feeding groups (whole shelled corn without forage (WSC) or corn silage and ground corn (GC)) to evaluate chemical composition and expression of genes involved in lipid metabolism in the longissimus thoracis (LT). We hypothesized that bulls fed the WSC diet have greater amounts of intramuscular fat and Angus have higher expression levels of PPAR and SREBF. Meat from Angus bulls had greater ether extract compared to Nellore (P<0.05). Muscle from bulls fed the WSC diet had greater expression of PPARA (P<0.05) and lower levels of SREBF1 expression (P<0.01). The LT of Nellore fed GC had greater expression of FABP4, ACACA and SCD genes (P<0.01). In conclusion, the greater concentration of starch in the WSC diet did not increase marbling in the beef of bulls fed this diet due to the reduced expression of SREBF1.

No abstract

SCRAPIE is a prion disease of sheep and goats, and is characterised by the accumulation of pathologically folded prion protein (PrP) derived from host-encoded PrP. For sheep, over 40 polymorphisms of PrP have been described

We compared the frequencies of the haptoglobin (Hp) genotypes of 775 Brazilian patients with sickle-cell disease divided into the following age groups: 3 months-5 years, 6-10 years, 11-15 years, 16-20 years, and over 20 years. The last group (>20 years) was also compared with a healthy control group and was further divided into subgroups including only subjects aged 21-30 years (V.a and Control.a) and over 30 years (V.b and Control.b). There was no significant difference in the frequencies of the Hp genotypes between the different patient groups or between the patients and controls. However, the Hp2-2 genotype was always less frequent than the Hp1-1 genotype in the patient groups, whereas the opposite was observed in healthy controls. The frequency of Hp2-2 was 25.0% in patients in the 21-30 years age group and fell to 19.5% in those over 30 years. In the controls, the corresponding frequency was around 28%. Although our results do not allow us to conclude that Hp genotypes on their own confer greater or lesser selective advantage on sickle-cell disease patients in the population studied, this polymorphism may, when combined with other genetic and environmental factors, contribute to the clinical diversity observed in this disease.