RESUMO
The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of shiitake mushroom (Lentinula edodes) supplementation on the hematology and biochemical blood parameters of young Thoroughbred racehorses. The study was conducted with 20 horses divided into two groups: the supplemented and the control group. The supplemented group was given 30 g of L. edodes daily for four months. One blood sample was collected four times from each horse at four-week intervals. The hematology analysis in the supplemented group showed a higher level of monocytes at day 56 when compared to the control group (p = 0.000986). Biochemical analysis showed that alkaline phosphatase is most sensitive to shiitake mushroom supplementation, with statistically significant lower levels in supplemented group compared to the control group on all individual days of blood sampling. It was also found that supplementation had an effect on the decrease of glucose levels on days 28 (p = 0.009109) and 56 y (p = 0.025749), on reduction aspartate aminotransferase level on day 56 (p = 0.017258) and a decrease of lactic acid on day 28 of sampling (p = 0.037636). Cholesterol levels decreased consistently in all individual days of blood sampling. Further studies are needed to show the influence of supplementation with shiitake mushroom in larger groups of horses over a longer period.
RESUMO
Shiitake mushrooms have been highly regarded as possessing enormous nutritive and medicinal values. No clinical studies have yet investigated the effect of shitake supplementation on the health of horses. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of shiitake mushroom supplementation on the morphological and biochemical blood properties in horses. A total of 17 adult horses were divided into two groups: supplemented and control. The supplemented group was fed 60 g of shiitake mushrooms per day for 5 months. Blood samples were collected in five sessions. Blood morphological analysis showed higher levels of lymphocytes in session 3 and monocytes in session 4 in the supplemented group. In addition, basophils, hemoglobin, and hematocrit were elevated compared to the control group. Biochemical analysis showed that the shiitake mushrooms affected a large number of parameters. In particular, alkaline phosphatase was found to be the most sensitive to shitake mushroom supplementation, for which the statistical differences were significant for sessions 2, 4, and 5. Furthermore, calcium was found to be affected by supplementation only in session 4, and gamma-glutamyl transferase in session 2. In addition, the bilirubin and glucose levels were lower in the supplemented group, and the albumin/globulin ratio was higher compared to the control group. The differences between the supplement and the control group in various sessions suggest that shiitake mushrooms are a beneficial nutritional supplement for horses.
RESUMO
Presently, most passive safety tests are performed with a precisely specified seat position and carefully seated ATD (anthropomorphic test device) dummies. Facing the development of autonomous vehicles, as well as the need for safety verification during crashes with various seat positions such research is even more urgently needed. Apart from the numerical environment, the existing testing equipment is not validated to perform such an investigation. For example, ATDs are not validated for nonstandard seatback positions, and the most accurate method of such research is volunteer tests. The study presented here was performed on a sled test rig utilizing a 50cc Hybrid III dummy according to a full factorial experiment. In addition, input factors were selected in order to verify a safe test condition for surrogate testing. The measured value was head acceleration, which was used for calculation of a head injury criterion. What was found was an optimal seat angle -117°-at which the head injury criteria had the lowest represented value. Moreover, preliminary body dynamics showed a danger of whiplash occurrence for occupants in a fully-reclined seat.
