Effects of increasing dietary inclusion of camelina cake on growth performance of growing-finishing pigs.

The objective of this experiment was to determine the dietary inclusion rate of camelina cake (CC) that would support the growth performance of growing-finishing pigs similar to that of a corn-soybean meal-based diet. Pigs (n = 192; BW = 35.2 kg; Duroc x (Yorkshire x Landrace)), balanced for sex and initial weight, were assigned to pens (8 pigs/pen) and pens were assigned randomly to one of four dietary treatments (6 pens/treatment). Treatments consisted of a non GMO corn-soybean meal control diet (CON), or CON containing 5% (5CC), 10% (10CC), or 15% (15CC) camelina cake. Feed disappearance on a pen basis and individual body weights of pigs were recorded every other week to calculate average daily gain (ADG), average daily feed intake (ADFI), and gain to feed ratio (G:F) on a pen basis. Prior to harvest, real-time ultrasonic measurements of back fat depth and loin eye area were collected on all live pigs. Pigs were harvested as a single group at about 23 weeks of age at a commercial abattoir. Data were analyzed using Proc Glimmix with dietary treatment as a fixed effect and pen serving as the experimental unit. Growth performance data collected over time were analyzed using repeated measures within the Proc Glimmix procedure. Overall, pigs fed CON exhibited similar ADG to those consuming 5CC and higher ADG than pigs consuming 10CC and 15CC diets (1.10 kg vs. 1.05 kg for 10CC and 1.02 kg for 15CC; P < 0.05 for both mean comparisons). Pigs fed CON consumed more feed than pigs fed any of the CC diets (ADFI = 2.66 kg for CON vs. 2.46 kg for 5CC, 2.46 kg for 10CC and 2.47 kg for 15CC; P < 0.05 for all). These differences resulted in heavier (P < 0.05) CON-fed pigs at marketing than 10CC or 15CC-fed pigs. There were no differences in any carcass traits analyzed. From these data, we conclude that feeding up to 5% CC in corn-soybean meal-based diets did not negatively influence growth performance, or carcass traits of growing-finishing pigs.

Effectiveness of different corn dried distillers grains with solubles feeding strategies and increasing the time intervals between the second Improvest dose and slaughter of immunologically castrated pigs on belly and pork fat quality.

Effects of dried distillers grains with solubles (DDGS) feeding strategies (a corn-soybean meal (CS) fed continously; CS+40% DDGS fed continously; CS+40, 30, 20, or 10% DDGS in 4 phases, respectively; or CS+40% DDGS in phases 1 to 3 and CS in phase 4 before slaughter) on belly and pork fat quality of immunologically castrated (n=192) pigs were evaluated. All pigs received the first Improvest dose at 11week of age, and the second dose at 9, 7, or 5week before slaughter at 24week of age. Increasing the time interval of the second Improvest dose before slaughter reduced IV in all fat depots and increased belly thickness. Gradually decreasing dietary DDGS and DDGS withdrawal feeding strategies reduced IV in all fat depots. Calculated IV were greater using the Meadus et al. (2010) equation compared with using the AOCS (1998) equation because it includes more long-chain unsaturated fatty acids.

Effect of time interval between the second Improvest® dose and slaughter and corn dried distillers grains with solubles feeding strategies on carcass composition, primal cutout, and pork quality of immunologically castrated pigs.

Effects of dried distillers grains with solubles (DDGS) feeding strategies on carcass composition, primal cutout, and lean quality of immunologically castrated (IC; n=863) pigs were evaluated, and consisted of: 1) corn-soybean meal (CS) diet (PCon); 2) CS+40% DDGS (NCon); 3) CS+40, 30, 20, or 10% DDGS fed in phases 1 to 4, respectively (SD); or 4) CS+40% DDGS fed in phase 1 to 3 and CS in phase 4 (WD). All pigs received the first dose of Improvest® at 11weeks. of age, and the second dose was administered at either 9, 7, or 5weeks. before slaughter at 24weeks. of age. The SD and WD improved carcass dressing percentage and resulted in intermediate primal cut yields and pork loin quality compared with pigs fed PCon and NCon. Increasing the time interval between second dose of Improvest® and slaughter increased adipose tissue accretion but did not affect lean quality of pork.

Effects of adding minimally refined cottonseed oil or crude glycerol to diets containing 40% corn distiller's dried grains with solubles on growth performance, carcass characteristics, and pork fat firmness of growing-finishing pigs.

Diets containing more than 20% distiller's dried grains with solubles (DDGS) reduce fat firmness in pork, but supplementation of cottonseed oil or crude glycerol may improve fat firmness. The objective of this study was to assess the effect of feeding minimally refined cottonseed oil or crude glycerol on growth performance, carcass composition, and fat quality of growing-finishing pigs. Mixed sex pigs ( = 216; 24 ± 4 kg initial BW) were blocked by BW and allotted to 1 of 3 dietary treatments: 1) a basal corn-soybean meal diet with 40% DDGS (CON), 2) CON diet plus 5% minimally refined cottonseed oil added throughout the experiment (COT), or 3) CON fed during the first 8 wk and CON + 8% crude glycerol fed during the last 6 wk of the experiment (GLY). Although diets were not isocaloric, total AA-to-ME ratios were calculated to be equal among diets. Carcass composition was estimated using real-time ultrasound 2 d before harvest. Gilts (16/treatment) closest to the mean BW of each pen were harvested (115 ± 8 kg BW), and bellies were retrieved for in-depth analysis of fat quality. Belly fat was sampled and analyzed for fatty acid composition. Overall, ADFI of pigs fed COT (2.30 kg/d) was less ( < 0.01) than that of pigs fed CON or GLY (2.47 and 2.49 kg/d, respectively). Pigs fed COT (0.93 kg/d) had greater ( < 0.01) ADG compared with pigs fed CON or GLY (0.88 and 0.87 kg/d, respectively). Greater ( < 0.01) G:F was observed for pigs fed COT (0.41) than for pigs fed CON or GLY diets (0.36 and 0.35, respectively). Final BW of pigs fed COT (124.3 kg) was greater ( < 0.01) than that of pigs fed CON or GLY (118.9 and 118.6 kg, respectively). Pigs fed COT had greater ( < 0.01) HCW (94.9 kg) compared with pigs fed CON or GLY (89.9 and 89.2 kg, respectively). No differences were observed for dressing percentage (75.7, 76.3, and 75.3%), fat-free carcass lean percentage (50.5, 49.7, and 50.0%), and belly flop angle (6.21, 8.57, and 6.06°) for CON, COT, and GLY, respectively. Pigs assigned to COT had higher ( < 0.01) melting point of belly fat compared with pigs assigned to CON or GLY (30.4 vs. 26.3 and 25.3°C, respectively). Pigs fed COT had increased ( < 0.05) SFA, PUFA, and iodine value (IV) compared with CON-fed pigs. Glycerol supplementation had no influence on SFA, MUFA, and PUFA concentrations or IV of belly, jowl, and back fat compared with CON. In conclusion, COT diets improved growth performance due to greater energy density, but carcass composition was not affected by treatments. In this experiment, feeding neither COT nor GLY improved fat firmness of pigs fed diets containing 40% DDGS.

Amperometric enzyme-amplified immunoassays.

Enzyme-amplified immunoassays have been adapted for electrochemical measurement, using an NAD+/NADH redox cycle coupled to an electrode via the active site of diaphorase. Two amperometric methods are described, the first employs an organic conducting salt electrode, NMP+/TCNQ-; the second a platinum wire with ferricyanide as electron transfer mediator. In an immunoenzymometric assay for human prostatic acid phosphatase the sensitivities of the electrochemical methods were comparable to that achieved with the existing optical technique, but the dynamic range of the electrochemical assays was increased by at least two orders of magnitude. It is proposed that electrochemical enzyme-amplified immunoassays may eventually replace their optical counterparts.

Effects of low fertility rates on need for physician manpower.

PIP: Some concern has been expressed recently about the effects of declining fertility rates on future needs for physician manpower. Nevertheless, given present low fertility rates, there will be an increase in population size. Also, there will be a gradual aging of the population over the next 60 years. Both of these trends should result in increased demands for medical services if other factors remain constant. The independent effect of the changing age distribution on demand for hospital services will be even greater than its effect on demand for physician outpatient services. The need is likely to be greatest for family physicians, geriatric specialists, and for physicians willing to practice in rural areas. Factors which might invalidate the projections tabulated include decreased "demand" for physicians' services because of better preventive care, improved education and referral for existing public health services, better transportation facilities, and greater proximity to services afforded by increased urbanization. Yet all of these factors, with the exception of the first, should operate to increase demand, and therefore the projected increases in physician manpower needs presented in this article probably should be regarded as minimum estimates.^ieng

Effects of abrupt introduction and removal of high and low digestibility corn distillers dried grains with solubles from the diet on growth performance and carcass characteristics of growing-finishing pigs.

Two experiments were conducted to evaluate the effects of feeding continuously a diet containing 40% dried distillers grains with solubles (DDGS) or intermittently diets containing 20 or 40% DDGS on growth performance and carcass quality of pigs. Responses of the pigs to abrupt introduction and removal of dietary DDGS with differing concentrations of standardized ileal digestible (SID) AA were also evaluated. In Exp. 1, crossbred pigs (n=216; initial BW=51.3±3.1 kg) were assigned randomly to 1 of 4 treatments, which included a corn-soybean meal control (CON), a 20% DDGS diet (D20), a switch between D20 and CON (D20-CON), and a switch between a 40% DDGS diet and CON (D40-CON) with 6 pens per treatment. Pigs abruptly introduced and removed from a 20% DDGS diet (D20-CON) exhibited no differences in growth performance or carcass quality compared with CON pigs. However, intermittently feeding a 40% DDGS diet (D40-CON) resulted in lighter HCW (P<0.05) compared with all other treatments. In Exp. 2, crossbred pigs (n=324; initial BW=33.2±3.0 kg) were assigned randomly to 1 of 6 treatments, including a corn-soybean meal control (CON), a 40% low SID AA DDGS diet (LD), a 40% high SID AA DDGS diet (HD), LD and CON diets alternated (LD-CON), HD and CON diets alternated (HD-CON), or HD and LD diets alternated (HD-LD) with 6 pens per treatment. Final BW and ADG were less (P<0.05) for LD and HD-LD pigs compared with CON pigs, but HD pigs tended to have reduced (P<0.10) final BW and ADG. Loin muscle area was smaller for LD and HD-LD pigs compared with CON pigs (P<0.05). Percentage carcass lean was not affected by dietary treatment. Backfat of DDGS-fed pigs was more unsaturated than CON pigs, but AA digestibility of DDGS did not affect this response. Digestibility of AA in DDGS can influence pig performance and carcass quality when fed at high concentrations (40% or more). The use of a high SID AA DDGS source may diminish some of the negative responses observed for growth performance and carcass characteristics when feeding high concentrations of DDGS if accurate values of SID AA are used in diet formulation. Periodic inclusion and removal of 40% DDGS from diets did not adversely affect growth performance or carcass quality regardless of the SID AA digestibility of the DDGS used. These results indicate that it is possible to abruptly incorporate and remove DDGS from grower-finisher swine diets without meaningful detrimental effects on growth performance or carcass quality.

Evaluation of trace mineral source and preharvest deletion of trace minerals from finishing diets for pigs on growth performance, carcass characteristics, and pork quality.

Weanling crossbred pigs (Sus scrofa; 72 barrows and 72 gilts; BW = 7.4 ± 1.1 kg) were used to evaluate dietary supplemental trace mineral (Cu, Fe, Mn, and Zn) source (inorganic vs. organic) and deletion (0, 2, 4, and 6 wk preharvest) on growth performance, carcass characteristics, and pork quality. Pigs were blocked by BW, ancestry, and sex, and randomly allotted to 24 pens, and fed a diet containing either inorganic or organic trace minerals supplemented at the 1998 NRC requirement estimates for each of 5 BW phases from 7 to 120 kg (equivalent to 14, 14, 42, 28, and 42-d periods, respectively). Two pigs were removed from each pen at the end of Phase IV (BW = 82.6 ± 6.0 kg), and 2 other pigs were removed at the end of Phase V (BW = 128.0 ± 8.3 kg) for collection of various tissues and for determination of carcass characteristics and pork quality. On d 1, 15, and 29 of Phase V, 3 pens within each source of minerals were switched to a common diet without supplemental trace minerals, whereas the remaining 3 pens within each source of minerals were fed diets containing trace minerals throughout the Phase V period. This resulted in 4 groups within each mineral treatment, in which trace mineral supplementation was deleted for 6, 4, 2, or 0 wk of Phase V. Trace mineral source (inorganic vs. organic) did not affect ADG, ADFI, and G:F (773 vs. 778 g/d, 1,680 vs. 1,708 g/d, and 461 vs. 456 g/kg, respectively) during the first 4 phases. During the mineral deletion period, ADG and G:F were not affected by the duration of trace mineral deletion, but ADFI increased when trace minerals were removed from the diet for 6 wk (6 vs. 0 wk, 3,393 vs. 3,163 g/d; P = 0.05). Hot carcass weight, cold carcass weight, carcass shrink, dressing percentage, LM area, 10th rib and midline average backfat, and carcass fat-free lean weight and percentage were not affected (P > 0.10) by the source of mineral or length of mineral deletion, but carcass length tended to decrease (P = 0.09) when time of trace mineral deletion increased. Increasing mineral deletion from 0 to 6 wk tended to reduce linearly (P = 0.08) Hunter a* scores on the day of carcass processing (24 h after slaughter), as well as 2 d after processing, and Hunter b* scores on d 2 and d 6 after processing. Results of this experiment indicate that use of organic trace minerals, rather than inorganic trace minerals, did not influence pig growth performance or carcass characteristics and quality; however, deletion of minerals during the last 6 wk before harvest increased ADFI and affected drip loss, some color scores of the LM, and carcass length.

Influence of genetic type and level of concentrate in the finishing diet on carcass and meat quality traits in beef heifers.

Carcass and meat quality traits of thirty-six feedlot beef heifers from different genetic groups (GG) fed at two concentrate levels (CL) were evaluated using 12 - Nellore (NE), 12 - ½Angus x ½Nellore (AN) and 12 - ½Simmental x ½Nellore (SN) animals. Six heifers of each GG were randomly assigned into one of two treatments: concentrate at 0.8% or 1.2% of body weight (BW). Heifers fed concentrate at 0.8% of BW had greater (P<0.05) dressing percentage. None of the proximate analysis components of the beef were affected (P>0.05) by either CL or GG. Heifers from the AN group had higher (P<0.05) carcass weights, 12th rib fat thickness and lower dressing percentage (P<0.05) compared to the other groups. NE heifers had greater WBSF values (P<0.05) than the other genetic groups. Data suggest that the concentrate level can be reduced without compromising meat quality traits.

Influence of dental carcass maturity on carcass traits and meat quality of Nellore bulls.

Carcasses of sixty-three Nellore bulls slaughtered at a commercial beef plant were randomly selected by dental classification (2, 4, 6 or 8 permanent incisors) in order to evaluate the influence of dental maturity on carcass traits and meat quality. Carcasses with 8 permanent incisors (p.i.) had greatest values (P<0.05) of carcass weight and longissimus area. Carcasses with 4 and 6 p.i. presented similar values of rib fat thickness being greater (P<0.05) than the other groups. Carcasses with 6 and 8 p.i. presented greater (P<0.05) values of shear force than the other groups. Conversely, carcasses with 2 and 4 p.i. displayed greater (P<0.05) myofibrillar fragmentation index and collagen solubility. Greatest values of thawing loss were observed in carcasses with 2 p.i. (P<0.05) while carcasses with 8 p.i. presented greatest values (P<0.05) of drip loss. Regarding longissimus color, carcasses with 8 p.i presented greatest value (P<0.05) of b*. Data suggests that dental maturity influences carcass traits and meat quality of Nellore bulls.

Synthesis and hydrolysis of malyl-coenzyme A by Pseudomonas AM1: an apparent malate synthase activity.

The malate synthase activity detectable in crude extracts of Pseudomonas AM1 has been shown to be due to a coupling of a malyl-CoA hydrolase with malyl-CoA lyase and not due to a discrete malate synthase enzyme. The partial purification of this malyl-CoA hydrolase from Pseudomonas AM1 has shown that it is distinct from citrate synthase which also hydrolyses malyl-CoA. The malyl-CoA hydrolase has a low Km for malyl-CoA (7-0 muM). A mutant of Pseudomonas AM1, ICT51 (Taylor & Anthony, 1975), which is unable to grow on ethanol, malonate or 3-hydroxybutyrate, has been shown to have an altered malyl-CoA hydrolase with a Km for malyl-CoA 30 times higher than that of the enzyme present in the wild-type organism. Two classes of revertants to growth on these substrates have been isolated: (i) those with a malyl-CoA hydrolase of similar Km to the wild-type and (ii) those in which the malyl-CoA hydrolase activity remains the same as in the mutant ICT51. The nature of the mutation leading to the latter class of revertants is unknown.

The autotrophic growth of Micrococcus denitrificans on Methanol.

Ribulose bisphosphate carboxylase is present at a high specific activity in extracts of methanol-grown Microccus denitrificans. Enzymic and physiological evidence indicates that, during growth on methanol, the ribulose bisphosphate cycle is the route of carbon assimilation.

Hexose phosphate synthase in trimethylamine-grown bacterium 2B2, a facultative methylotroph.

Hexose phosphate synthase and hexulose phosphate isomerase activities were found in trimethylamine-grown bacterium 2B2, a facultative methylotroph. The activities were separated by column chromatography of cell extracts on DEAE-cellulose. Hexulose phosphate isomerase activity was measured spectrophotometrically by using the product of the hexose phosphate synthase reaction as substrate.

Metabolism of methanol by Rhodopseudomonas acidophila.

Rhodopseudomonas acidophila strain 10050, grown anaerobically in the light on methanol, contained a methanol and formaldehyde dehydrogenase which could be coupled to phenazine methosulphate; an NAD-linked formaldehyde dehydrogenase which required GSH for activity; and an NAD-linked formate dehydrogenase. The specific activities of these enzymes varied in a non-coordinate manner when the organism was grown on different alcohols, formate or succinate. The affinity of the phenazine methosulphate linked methanol dehydrogenase for methanol was increased 10-fold if the cell-free extract was prepared and assayed in the absence of oxygen. Pulse-labelling experiments with [14C5methanol and [14C]bicarbonate indicated that fixation of carbon dioxide occurred via the ribulose diphosphate cycle and C3 + CO 2 fixation reaction(s). No evidence was obtained for operation of a reduced C1 fixation sequence. This conclusion was borne out by the enzyme content of cell-free extracts of the organism.