The short-term feeding of low- and high-histidine diets prior to market affects the muscle carnosine and anserine contents and meat quality of broilers.

Functional dipeptides carnosine and anserine are abundant in muscle. We determined the effect of short-term dietary histidine (His) content on muscle carnosine and anserine contents and meat quality of broilers. Three groups of 28-day-old female broilers were fed diets with His contents of 67%, 100%, or 150% of requirement for 10 days before market (His contents 0.21%, 0.32%, and 0.48%, respectively). The carnosine and anserine contents of 0-h aged muscle significantly increased with dietary His content; in particular, the carnosine content was 162% higher in the His 0.48% group than in the His 0.32% group. The contents of both peptides also increased with dietary His content in 48-h aged muscle, but carnosine was not detected in 0- and 48-h aged muscle of the His 0.21% group. The drip loss, cooking loss, shear force, and pH of meat were not affected by the dietary His content. The 2-thiobarbituric acid-reactive substances contents of 24- and 48-h aged muscles were lower in the His 0.48% group than in the other groups, and the a* and b* values were lower in the His 0.21% group. These results suggest that short-term dietary His content affects imidazole dipeptide contents, antioxidative capacity, and color of broiler meat.

C K-XANES of graphitic carbons with oxygenated functional groups.

The X-ray absorption near-edge structure (XANES) in the C K region of graphite oxide (GO) exhibits a complicated and broad profile in the π* (285 eV)-σ* (293 eV) region due to oxygenated carbon atoms. To clarify the oxidation effect on carbon atoms in the spectral profile of GO, we measured the C K-XANES of various oxygenated aromatic compounds and theoretically analyzed them using density function theory (DFT) calculations. From the measured and calculated C K-XANES, the π* peaks of oxygenated carbon atoms shift to the higher-energy range by 0.5-4 eV from 285.5 eV of the typical π* peak of graphite. The energy positions of the shifted π* peaks depend on both the oxygenated functional groups and the molecular structures, confirming that the energy shifts of the π* peaks due to oxygenated carbon atoms cause the broad and complicated peak profiles in the π*-σ* region in C K-XANES of GO.

Development of a novel feeding method for Japanese black calves with thermophile probiotics at postweaning.

AIMS: Probiotic effects of compost containing thermophiles on productivity have been reported in domestic animals, although not cattle. We evaluated the effects of administering Caldibacillus hisashii, a thermophile contained in compost, on growth, blood components, faecal organic acid concentrations and microbiota population in Japanese black calves. METHODS AND RESULTS: Calves were administered C. hisashii from 3 to 5 months of age. Administering C. hisashii decreased feed intake without affecting body weight, indicating that feed efficiency is improved by administration. Administering C. hisashii decreased plasma insulin concentration without affecting glucose and non-esterified fatty acid concentrations. Chao1 was decreased by exposure at 5 months of age. Similarly, weighted and unweighted UniFrac distances were affected by treatment at 5 months of age. Faecal abundance of the phylum Bacteroidetes tended to be increased by exposure. Faecal propionic acid concentration was correlated positively with faecal abundance of phylum Bacteroidetes but negatively with that of Firmicutes. Interestingly, the population of the genus Methanobrevibacter, representing the majority of methanogens, was lowered by exposure and was negatively correlated with faecal propionic acid concentration. CONCLUSION: Administration of C. hisashii has the potential to improve growth performance of Japanese black calves and to contribute to reducing environmental load, which may be associated with altered endocrine kinetics and gut microbial populations. SIGNIFICANCE AND IMPACT OF THE STUDY: This study revealed that isolated thermophiles included in compost may exert probiotic effects on calves.

Relationship between Width and Height of π* Peak in C K-XANES of Graphitic Carbons.

The relationship between the width and height of the π* peak on X-ray absorption near edge structure (XANES) in the C K region of graphitic carbons is investigated from XANES measurements and theoretical analysis. This relationship is herein named the "characteristic diagram of π* peak profile". Mechanically ground (MG) graphite experimentally exhibits a linear correlation on the diagram. To understand the linear correlation, C K-XANES of the graphitic hexagonal carbon layers are calculated using first-principles calculations by focusing on the edge carbon atoms. The linear correlation is well explained by the ratio of the edge carbon atoms of the graphitic hexagonal carbon layers. The characteristic diagram of π* peak profile is applied to industrial carbon black (CB) for identification. CBs exhibit identical distributions on the diagram, which depend on their uses. It is therefore confirmed that the proposed characteristic diagram of π* peak profile can be a useful tool to identify graphitic carbons from the edge carbon atoms.

Accumulation of xanthophylls from the phaffia yeast (Xanthophyllomyces dendrorhrous) in calves.

An investigation into the absorption and accumulation of carotenoids from phaffia yeast in two to three-week-old calves was carried out. Carotenoid contents of the control cattle (n=1) were 615.0 ng/g in the liver, 263.7 ng/g in the duodenum, 218.0 ng/g in the pancreas, 170.0 ng/g in the blood, 140.3 ng/g in the jejunum, 115.0 ng/g in the spleen. Among the accumulated carotenoids, ß-carotene was presented as a major component (86.0 to 94.3%) along with lutein (5.7 to 14.0%) as a minor component. On the other hand, carotenoid contents in phaffia yeast-supplemented (5 g/day for one month) calves (n=3) were 4 to 10 times higher than those of the control calf. Carotenoid contents of phaffia yeast-supplemented calves were 2570.1±782 ng/g in the liver, 1806.6±1064 ng/g in the pancreas, 1648.4±630.2 ng/g in the spleen, and 1255.9±300.2 ng/g in the blood. In addition to ß-carotene, keto-carotenoids from phaffia yeast, echinenone, (3R)-3-hydroxyechinenone, and (3R,3'R)-astaxanthin, were accumulated in all organs of phaffia yeast-supplemented calves. ß-Carotene and (3R)-3-hydroxyechinenone were present as major carotenoids followed by echinenone. However, (3R,3'R)-astaxanthin, which was the major carotenoid in phaffia yeast, was found to be a minor carotenoid in calves. This indicated that calves well absorbed fewer polar xanthophylls, echinenone and (3R)-3-hydroxyechinenone compared to the polar xanthophyll, astaxanthin.

Effect of dietary astaxanthin rich yeast, Phaffia rhodozyma, on meat quality of broiler chickens.

We evaluated effects of dietary supplementation with astaxanthin (Ax)-rich yeast, Phaffia rhodozyma (Xanthophyllomyces dendrorhous), on broiler chicken meat quality. Fourteen-day-old female Ross broilers were divided into three groups: control group, Ax-free diet; Ax 10 group, 10 mg/kg Ax diet; and Ax 20 group, 20 mg/kg Ax diet for 28 days. At 42 days old, chickens were slaughtered, and then growth performance, meat quality and sensory attributes were analyzed. Compared with the control, a* values increased significantly after slaughter and 48 h postmortem for Ax 20 samples (P<0.05) and for b* values in Ax 20 and Ax 10 groups (P<0.05). Cooking loss decreased in the Ax 20 group (P<0.05). After 120 h aging, contents of several free amino acids and total free amino acid content of Ax 20 group were significantly higher than the control (P<0.05). In sensory evaluation, meat texture attributes improved significantly in the Ax 20 group (P<0.01). No significant changes occurred in flavor attribute scores of meat soup from the Ax 20 group compared with the control even though most assessors preferred meat soup from the Ax 20 group. Overall, Ax-rich yeast in the diet improves broiler chicken meat quality.

[Relationships between participation in community activities and psychosocial and physical health of community-dwelling elderly].

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to clarify relationships between participation in community activities and psychosocial and physical health of community-dwelling elderly. METHODS: The participants of the present study were 413 people selected on the basis of a random 1/3 extraction of people aged 65 or older and living in a rural community in Miyagi prefecture. The baseline survey was conducted in February 2008. One year later, we conducted a follow-up survey to clarify how participation in community activities influenced the elderly. Finally, we analyzed data for 218 people, focusing on influences on psychosocial and physical health using the logistic regression model. The state of community activity was treated as a dependent variable, and mental and physical health indicators were assessed as the independent variables. RESULTS: Of the elderly sample, 63 persons were found to be frequent participants in community activities, 60 were infrequent participants, and 95 did not participate. The frequently participating individuals displayed significantly better results for declines in depression (OR = 0.34, 95% CI: 0.13-0.89), and social participation (OR = 0.12, 95% CI: 0.05-0.29), as well as the TMIG index of competence (OR = 0.26, 95% CI: 0.08-0.78) as compared with those who did not participate. CONCLUSION: These results suggest that community activities prevent deterioration of mental health, improve social health, and maintain higher-level functional capacity among community-dwelling elderly individuals.

[Clinical analysis of patients with tuberculosis admitted on an emergency cases].

A retrospective study was made of 75 patients with tuberculosis and tuberculous pleurisy who received medical care in our hospital from 2002 through 2006. Of the 75 patients, 9 were admitted as tertiary emergency cases, and 12 patients were admitted by ambulance as secondary emergency cases. We studied the reason for their emergency medical admission, and the process of diagnosing 21 patients as tuberculosis. In some cases, the reasons for emergency admission were cardiorespiratory arrest, loss of consciousness, and injury resulting from a traffic accident, not common symptoms of tuberculosis such as dyspnea, hemoptysis and bloody sputum. Chest radiographic findings of most patients showed tuberculosis, and other cases were likely to be diagnosed as tuberculosis from their medical history or back-ground such as being homeless, previous tuberculosis, and receiving for therapy of tuberculosis. It was not so difficult to diagnose our cases as tuberculosis, nevertheless we may have an unconscious patient with normal chest radiograph. These data suggest that any patients visiting the emergency room may possibly have tuberculosis even if they are without respiratory symptoms.