1,720,988 research outputs found
Oxidant/Antioxidant Balance in Animal Nutrition and Health: The Role of Protein Oxidation
No full textThis review examines the role that oxidative stress (OS), and protein oxidation in particular, plays in nutrition, metabolism, and health of farm animals. The route by which redox homeostasis is involved in some important physiological functions and the implications of the impairment of oxidative status on animal health and diseases is also examined. Proteins have various and, at the same time, unique biological functions and their oxidation can result in structural changes and various functional modifications. Protein oxidation seems to be involved in pathological conditions, such as respiratory diseases and parasitic infection; however, some studies also suggest that protein oxidation plays a crucial role in the regulation of important physiological functions, such as reproduction, nutrition, metabolism, lactation, gut health, and neonatal physiology. As the characterization of the mechanisms by which OS may influence metabolism and health is attracting considerable scientific interest, the aim of this review is to present veterinary scientists and clinicians with various aspects of oxidative damage to proteins
Fleece and somatic traits in F1 kids produced by cross-breeding Scottish cashmere male with Mediterranean genetic types of goats
No full textDietary supplementation of Yerba Mate (Ilex paraguariensis) during the dry period improves redox balance in lactating dairy cows
No full textThirty-six pregnant Holstein–Friesian cows were used to study the effect of Yerba Mate (YM) supplementation during the dry period on redox balance. The treatments groups were Control (no YM), YM 250 (250 g/cow/day), and YM 500 (500 g/cow/day). Blood samples were obtained 30 days prepartum, at calving, and monthly postpartum until four months post calving. Liveweight (LW) and body condition score (BCS) were assessed prepartum, at calving, and then postpartum monthly until the end of the trial. Plasma was analyzed for hydroperoxides (d-ROMs), advanced oxidation protein products (AOPP), and biological antioxidant potential (BAP). The oxidative stress index (OSI) was calculated as OSI = ROMs/BAP 100. Cows were milked twice daily, and milk yield data were recorded daily. Redox balance was improved by YM supplementation, as reflected in the lower OSI values observed in the YM groups. Yerba Mate supplementation significantly affected LW, but did not affect BCS. Milk yield averaged 28.1 0.40, 29.0 0.48, and 29.9 0.46 L/cow/day in the Control, YM 250, and YM 500 groups, respectively, but was not significant. Nutritional manipulation during the dry period with Yerba Mate has demonstrated the potential to improve redox balance and milk yiel
The use of digital infrared thermography and measurement of oxidative stress biomarkers as tools to diagnose foot lesions in sheep
No full textThis study reports preliminary data on the use of digital infrared thermography (IRT) and
biomarkers of oxidative stress (OS) to diagnose foot lesions in sheep. Interdigital space skin
temperatures were obtained from crossbred rams with healthy (n=9) and with foot lesions (n=6)
with a FLIR T620 series infrared camera. Interdigital space lesions were scored using a five
point scoring system (0–4). Blood was sampled from all rams and plasma was analysed for
reactive oxygen metabolites (ROMs), biological antioxidant potential (BAP), and advanced
oxidation protein products (AOPP). The degree of OS was estimated by the ratio of ROMs/BAP
(U.Carr./μmol/L) multiplied by 100 to give an OS index (OSI). Footrot scores were used to
stratify the rams in 2 groups: Healthy Group (HG; n=9) or Foot Lesion (FL; n=6), if the lesions
were recorded as absent or present, respectively. Differences in OS biomarkers and IRT
temperatures between the two groups were analysed by a linear mixed model. A significant (P <
0.05) increase of IRT temperature was observed in rams with foot lesions compared with healthy
rams. Rams that presented foot lesions had significantly higher values of ROMs (P < 0.05) and
OSI (P < 0.001) and lower concentration of BAP than healthy rams (P < 0.05). In conclusion,
IRT and biomarkers of oxidative stress were able to identify sheep with foot lesions
The influence of lactation on the quantity and quality of cashmere production
No full textThe aim of this study was to investigate the influence of lactation on cashmere production. Two groups of cashmere bearing goats, aged between 2 and 3 years, were used in this study. The control group included 12 non-lactating, non-pregnant subjects. The experimental group was made up of 12 goats that had given birth to twins or triplets and that had begun lactating in the second half of May. Lactation therefore had begun approximately 45 days prior to the beginning of the emergence of fibre on the body surface. Live weight was not affected by the physiological state under consideration. The decrease observed in January is too remote to have been an effect of lactation. One likely explanation is that after shearing the animals were obliged to use their body reserves for thermoregulation. Prolactin concentration was higher at the beginning of the study in both groups and it was not influenced by lactation. Albeit with a varied intensity, secondary follicles were found to be active during the entire trial period but activ- ity never reached 100% in either group. Lactation significantly suppressed the percentage of secondary follicle activity and this was more evident from June to September. Fibre length and diameter did not differ between the two groups, so lactation did not affect fibre dimensions. The period of growth was shorter in lactating goats (184 vs 226 d). This did not make a difference in fibre length in so much as the lactating goats manifested a higher daily aver- age growth rate (0.27 ± 0.03 vs 0.20 ± 0.03 mm/d; P lesser than 0.05) which compensated for the shorter period of growth. Lactation caused a decrease in productivity of an insignificant nature, therefore we hold that the negative effect of lactation on cashmere production does not depend upon the physiological status as such but, most probably, upon the level of productivity and the degree to which the lactation and fibre growth cycles overlap
The effect of environmental temperature and humidity on cashmere yield, secondary active follicles and thyroid hormones in cashmere goats
No full text
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
No full textThe present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
Role of oxidant?antioxidant balance in reproduction of domestic animals
No full textReproductive process leads to dynamic changes in metabolism and energy consumption, which may be
responsible for the excessive production of free radicals (oxidants) that are generated during the physiological process of
oxygen consumption. As the ovary is a metabolically active organ, it produces oxidants. Growing follicles, granulose cells of
Graffian follicles and ovulated follicles all produce both enzymatic and non-enzymatic antioxidants to preserve themselves
from the oxidative damage of oxidants. Oxidants and antioxidants are involved in several reproductive functions such as
the regulation of follicular fluid environment, folliculogenesis, steroidogenesis, corpus luteum function, and luteolysis.
In this article, the currently available literature is reviewed in relation to the roles of oxidants and oxidative stress in both
normal and abnormal reproductive physiological processes
Variations on the Author
No full text“Variations on the Author” discusses two of Eduardo Coutinho’s recent films (Um Dia na Vida, from 2010, and Últimas Conversas, posthumously released in 2015) and their contribution to the general question of documentary authorship. The director’s filmography is characterized by a consistent yet self-effacing form of authorial self-inscription: Coutinho often features as an interviewer that rather than express opinions propels discourses; an interviewer that is good at listening. This mode of self-inscription characterizes him as an author who is not expressive but who is nonetheless markedly present on the screen. In Um Dia na Vida, however, Coutinho is completely absent form the image, while Últimas Conversas, on the contrary, includes a confessional prologue that moves the director from the margins to the center of his films. This article examines the ways in which these works stand out in the filmography of a director who offers new insights into the notion of cinematic authorship
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