Caponization is associated with some morbidity and mortality, which contributes to important economic losses. This practice is executed without any pain relief (neither anesthesia nor analgesia) and can be painful and without consideration of animal welfare. On the other hand, immunocastration accomplished by Improvac and Bovipriva in pigs and cattle represents a noninvasive procedure, and for that reason is regarded as an alternative with improved animal welfare. This study includes 4 experimental groups consisting of capons, slips, roosters, and birds submitted to the Improvac treatment. The administration of Improvac was associated with a considerable reduction in serum testosterone concentration (reduced by 79% compared to average serum testosterone of roosters). Regarding significant differences among experimental groups, birds from the Improvac group were intermediate between capons and slips with respect to abdominal fat pad weight and yield, breast meat water and protein contents, and femur length. Conversely, color parameters such as lightness, redness, and hue angle for Improvac birds were intermediate between roosters and capons. Thus, immunocastration with Improvac could represent an alternative solution to caponization, with considerable improvements in animal welfare.

A gender difference has been found in motor competence using several instruments. The Movement Assessment Battery for Children (MABC) seems to be one of the most developed instruments for children's motor coordination assessment, allowing the identification of developmental coordination disorders. Our study aimed to systematically review the differences in the motor performance between genders in studies using only the MABC. Five databases (Scopus, EBSCO+Sport Discus, Web of Knowledge, B-ON and Pubmed) were systematically investigated and studies were included if the MABC tests was a central objective and gender was a considered factor. Five authors independently assessed the eligibility of the studies. A systematic review of electronic databases and reference lists has identified nineteen peer-reviewed studies that meet the inclusion criteria. Results revealed that gender differences in performance were consistent across studies, since boys had more success and ease in activities involving gross motor skills, and girls did better activities involving fine motor skills. Differences in balance were not conclusive as the results on this parameter were mixed. This systematic review highlights the magnitude of gender differences on motor competence as evaluated by the MABC.

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Blackcurrant berries (Rigrum L.) are of great interest for food scientists/technologists as a source of delphinidin-3-rutinoside (D3R). This is an uncommon phenolic compound in diets that unveils potent antiproliferative activity besides its colour. Other phenolic compounds, such as chlorogenic acid (CA) and epicatechin (EC), also known by their antiproliferative effects, are abundant in foods and beverages. To design smart food/supplements combinations containing blackcurrant and improved anticancer properties at the gastrointestinal level, there is the need for more data concerning the combined effects of those molecules. In this work, synergistic, additive, or antagonistic effects against gastric and intestinal cancers of D3R, CA, and EC were assessed in vitro. The antiproliferative activity of D3R, CA, and EC, alone and in binary combinations (D3R+CA, D3R+EC, and CA+EC) on NCI-N87 (gastric) and Caco-2 (intestinal) cells, was assessed following the Chou-Talalay theorem at equipotent contributions (i.e., (IC50)1/(IC50)2). D3R presented the strongest antiproliferative activity of the single molecules tested, with IC50 values of 24.9 µM and 102.5 µM on NCI-N87 and Caco-2 cells, respectively. The combinations D3R+CA and CA+EC were synergic against NCI-N87 until IC50 and IC75, respectively, while D3R+EC shifted from slight antagonism to synergism at higher doses. On Caco-2 cells, antagonism at low doses and synergism at high doses was observed. Therefore, the synergisms observed on the gastric cancer model at low doses occurred on the colon model only at high doses. Data herein described is vital to the targeted smart design of foods and supplements, as it is foreseen that the same combination of phenolic compounds causes different interactions/effects depending on the dose and gastrointestinal compartment.