1,720,969 research outputs found
Rabbit metabolic response and selected meat quality traits: Evaluation of dietary PLX®23 and LycoBeads® feed supplement.
No full textEffects of dietary supplementation of verbascoside and lycopene, alone and in combination, on some blood parameters, plasma oxidative status and meat quality traits in intensively reared rabbits were investigated. The test lasted 60 days and was conducted on 200 weaned-rabbits, divided into four groups of 50 animals each (5 animals each cage × 10 repetitions). The control group (CON) received a fattening feed without any feed supplements, whereas the experimental groups received the following: the first, an integration in 22 g of PLX ® 23 (Lippia citriodora extract; VB group) per ton of feed; the second, an integration in 100 g of LycoBeads ® (Solanum lycopersicum extract; LIC group) per ton of feed; and the third, an integration of both feed supplements in combination at the same doses (LIC+VB group). The dietary supplementation with Lippia citriodora and Solanum lycopersicum resulted in an improvement of the blood lipid profile, oxidative plasma markers, and hepatic and renal activity of treated growing rabbits. Feed additives also produced meat with a lower content in SFA and an increased PUFA content, and inhibited the lipid oxidation improving the oxidative stability of rabbit meat. The dietary supplementation, even reporting no effects on productive parameters and carcass yield, showed an improvement on several blood parameters, as indicator of animal welfare, and on quality and healthy meat markers. © 2018 Blackwell Verlag Gmb
Signatures of selection and runs of homozygosity in the genome of several fancy and meat rabbit breeds
No full textThe European rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus) is a multi-purpose species raised for meat, fiber, and fur production. It is also considered an important animal model and a companion animal, with many fancy breeds distinguished by several exterior traits. In this study, we analysed
SNP array datasets from 16 fancy and meat rabbit breeds using FST analysis and runs of
homozygosity (ROH) analysis. We performed FST comparisons using the windows-based
approach. ROH islands were defined by evaluating the percentile-based threshold of homozygous SNPs frequency. We identified 309 genomic regions that contained putative
signatures of selection. ROH islands were detected in a total of 11 autosomes, which covered
about 10-20 Mb of the rabbit genome. The putative regions under selection contain genes
involved in pigmentation processes and external traits (e.g. ASIP, MC1R, TYR, and LIPH).
The present study contributes to clarify the genetic architecture and mechanisms that affect phenotypic differences between rabbit breeds
Population genomic structures and signatures of selection define the genetic uniqueness of several fancy and meat rabbit breeds
Full text linkFollowing the recent domestication process of the European rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus), many different breeds and lines, distinguished primarily by exterior traits such as coat colour, fur structure and body size and shape, have been constituted. In this study, we genotyped, with a high-density single-nucleotide polymorphism panel, a total of 645 rabbits from 10 fancy breeds (Belgian Hare, Champagne d'Argent, Checkered Giant, Coloured Dwarf, Dwarf Lop, Ermine, Giant Grey, Giant White, Rex and Rhinelander) and three meat breeds (Italian White, Italian Spotted and Italian Silver). ADMIXTURE analysis indicated that breeds with similar phenotypic traits (e.g. coat colour and body size) shared common ancestries. Signatures of selection using two haplotype-based approaches (iHS and XP-EHH), combined with the results obtained with other methods previously reported that we applied to the same breeds, we identified a total of 5079 independent genomic regions with some signatures of selection, covering about 1777 Mb of the rabbit genome. These regions consistently encompassed many genes involved in pigmentation processes (ASIP, EDNRA, EDNRB, KIT, KITLG, MITF, OCA2, TYR and TYRP1), coat structure (LIPH) and body size, including two major genes (LCORL and HMGA2) among many others. This study revealed novel genomic regions under signatures of selection and further demonstrated that population structures and signatures of selection, left into the genome of these rabbit breeds, may contribute to understanding the genetic events that led to their constitution and the complex genetic mechanisms determining the broad phenotypic variability present in these untapped rabbit genetic resources
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Full text linkThe 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
Variations on the Author
Full text link“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
Appropriate Similarity Measures for Author Cocitation Analysis
Full text linkWe provide a number of new insights into the methodological discussion about author cocitation analysis. We first argue that the use of the Pearson correlation for measuring the similarity between authors’ cocitation profiles is not very satisfactory. We then discuss what kind of similarity measures may be used as an alternative to the Pearson correlation. We consider three similarity measures in particular. One is the well-known cosine. The other two similarity measures have not been used before in the bibliometric literature. Finally, we show by means of an example that our findings have a high practical relevance.information science;Pearson correlation;cosine;similarity measure;author cocitation analysis
Minimal inhibitory and Mutant prevention concentrations of enrofloxacin for Pasteurella multocida from rabbits affected by pasteurellosis
Full text linkPasteurella multocida is the agent of one of the most significant diseases in rabbits and it is associated
with a heterogeneous clinical picture. Drugs belonging to the fluoroquinolones class are useful to
control pasteurellosis. Among them, enrofloxacin is one of the most used molecules in rabbit industry
and it is the only one fluoroquinolone registered for this species in Italy.
Enrofloxacin adopted dosages are currently based on Minimum Inhibitory Concentration (MIC).
Nevertheless, MIC is not effective against possible pathogen sub-populations with lower susceptibility
that may be selectively amplified, leading to possible problems of antibiotic resistance. Mutant
Prevention Concentration (MPC) could represent an approach to minimize the risk of resistance
selection in pathogens. The aim of this work was to test the sensitivity to enrofloxacin of P. multocida
strains isolated from rabbits affected by pasteurellosis to evaluate if MPC-based dosages can represent
a valid option.
The study was performed on ten strains of P. multocida isolated from rabbits from two industrial
farms of Puglia, South Italy. The sensitivity to enrofloxacin has been evaluated by MIC tests by
microdilution method and MPC tests performed according to Marcusson et al. (2005) with minor
modifications.
The results of MIC and MPC tests have revealed that MPC dosages are on average 8,4 times higher
than MIC dosages. This data highlight that, although MPC-based dosages are useful to prevent the
selection of potential mutant, they could be higher than MIC-based ones, leading to possible issues
related to their application in field, for example the potential risk of possible toxicity for animals and
residues in meat
Dispelling the Myths Behind First-author Citation Counts
Full text linkWe conducted a full-scale evaluative citation analysis study of scholars in the XML research field to explore just how different from each other author rankings resulting from different citation counting methods actually are, and to demonstrate the capability of emerging data and tools on the Web in supporting more realistic citation counting methods. Our results contest some common arguments for the continued
use of first-author citation counts in the evaluation of scholars, such as high correlations between author rankings by first-author citation counts and other citation
counting methods, and high costs of using more realistic citation counting methods that are not well-supported by the ISI databases. It is argued that increasingly available digital full text research papers make it possible for citation analysis studies to go beyond what the ISI databases have directly supported and to employ more
sophisticated methods
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