Milk and cheese from cows fed calcium salts of palm and fish oil alone or in combination with soybean products.

Twenty cows were used in a randomized block design experiment for 6 wk to determine the influence of feeding partial ruminally inert Ca salts of palm and fish oil (Ca-PFO), alone or in combination with extruded full-fat soybeans or soybean oil, on milk fatty acid (FA) methyl esters composition and consumer acceptability of milk and Cheddar cheese. Cows were fed either a diet containing 44% forage and 56% concentrate (control) or a diet supplemented with 2.7% Ca-PFO (FO), 5% extruded full-fat soybeans + 2.7% Ca-PFO (FOESM), or 0.75% soybean oil + 2.7% Ca-PFO (FOSO). Total dietary FA content in the control, FO, FOESM, and FOSO diets were 4.61, 6.28, 6.77, and 6.62 g/100 g, respectively. There was no difference in nutrient intake, milk yield, or milk composition among treatments. Conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) C(18:2) cis-9, trans-11 isomer, C(18:1) trans-11 (VA), and total n-3 FA in milk from cows on the control, FO, FOESM, and FOSO treatments were 0.56, 1.20, 1.36, and 1.74; 3.29, 4.66, 6.34, and 7.81; 0.62, 0.69, 0.69, and 0.67 g/100 g of FA, respectively. Concentrations of CLA, VA, and total n-3 FA in cheese were similar to milk. A trained sensory panel detected no difference in flavors of milk and cheese, except for acid flavor below a slightly perceptible level in cheese from all treatments. Results suggest that feeding Ca-PFO alone or in combination with extruded full-fat soybeans or soybean oil enhanced the CLA, VA, total unsaturated and n-3 FA in milk and cheese without negatively affecting cow performance and consumer acceptability characteristics of milk and cheese.

The potential for bias due to attrition in the National Exposure Registry: an examination of reasons for nonresponse, nonrespondent characteristics, and the response rate.

This study examined attrition in the Trichloroethylene (TCE) Subregistry of the National Exposure Registry (NER). The analyses focused on 3915 persons exposed to the chemical TCE through the drinking water in their home. Baseline data were compared for subgroups of the TCE Subregistry members who were eligible to participate in the first TCE Subregistry follow-up. Study members were grouped according to their participation status in the first follow-up: remainers (n = 3494) and losses (n = 421), and three subgroups of losses: refusals, unable to locate, and unable to contact. The comparison of demographic variables of remainers and losses revealed that remainers had a higher percent of females, currently smoked less, were older, and fewer had no education and more had education beyond high school. These differences occurred for the losses subgroups unable to locate and unable to contact, however, not for refusals. The comparison of reporting rates of remainers and losses for 2.3 health outcomes revealed statistically significant decreases by losses for five health conditions but the pattern of statistically significant differences for the losses subgroups was not clear-cut. Altogether, the analyses indicated that the potential for bias due to attrition was minimal.

Environmental personal injury litigation as one source of response effects: findings from the National Exposure Registry.

The potential for error in survey responses obtained from people involved with environmental personal injury litigation was examined in a registry of persons exposed to the chemical trichloroethylene. Two subgroups were selected and compared: environmental personal injury plaintiffs and nonlitigants residing in the same community. Self-reported information on demographic characteristics revealed no statistically significant differences. Although plaintiffs reported higher rates of symptoms and health problems, only 2 of the 20 comparisons on health were statistically significant. The overall similarity between the two groups suggests that environmental personal injury plaintiffs may be no more likely than nonlitigants to provide inaccurate information in health surveys.