International scientists raise warning flag on intestinal cholesterol

Posted in: Production by admin on January 1, 2008 | No Comments

A wave of newly published science and analysis from the 2008 International Symposium
on Chylomicrons in Disease (ISCD) raises a warning flag to the global health community
over an overlooked type of cholesterol. It also serves as a call to action towards further
progress that will be featured at the next ISCD conference planned for March 2010.
The science focuses on chylomicrons – a type of cholesterol carrier formed in the
intestine. Because chylomicrons are processed quickly, they are virtually undetected by
common doctor-directed cholesterol tests. Now growing evidence points to chylomicrons
as a major missing puzzle piece in the diagnosis and treatment of metabolic disorders that
give rise to heart disease and stroke, diabetes, chronic obesity and other dangerous health
conditions.

Interferon-α Production by Swine Dendritic Cells is Inhibited During Acute Infection with Foot-and-Mouth Disease Virus

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Viruses have evolved multiple mechanisms to evade the innate immune response, particularly the actions of interferons (IFNs). We have previously reported that exposure to dendritic cells (DCs) to foot-and-mouth disease virus (FMDV) in vitro yields no infection and induces a strong type I IFN (IFN-α and IFN-ß) response, indicating that DCs may play a critical role in the innate response to the virus. In vivo, FMDV induces lymphopenia and reduced T-cell proliferative responses to mitogen, viral effects that may contribute to evasive of early immune responses. In this study we analyzed the in vivo effects of FMDV infection on the IFN-α response of two populations of dendritic cells. During the acute phase of infection of swine, production of IFN-α from monocyte-derived DCs (MoDCs) and skin derived DCs (skin DCs) is inhibited. This effect occurs concurrently with with rising viral titers in the blood; however, these cells are not productively infected. Interstingly, there are no changes in the capability of these DCs to take up particles and process antigens, indicating that antigen-presenting cell function is normal. These data indicate that inhibition of the IFN-α response of dendritic cell populations from blood and skin by FMDV enhances viral pathogensesis in infected animals.

Solids and nutrients removals from the liquid fraction of swine slurry through screening and flocculation treatment and influence of these processes on anaerobic biodegradability

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Concentrated animals feeding operations (CAFOs) are the objective of many studies since they pose an important environmental risk. The most common practice in farms involves manure flushing and consecutive collection in anaerobic lagoons. The final effluent is usually applied to cropland as fertilizers. However, this practice is becoming a problem because nutrients are spread out constantly in the same area, with the subsequent soil saturation. Some of the negative effects that hog manure causes are gas emissions (which affects animals and humans health), accumulation of heavy metals on soils, groundwater pollution due to leaching as well as contamination of surface water. Therefore an effluent treatment must be implemented before swine waste dischargement. Many techniques used nowadays for treating manure are developed in order to reduce nutrients (biological systems), to generate energy (anaerobic digestion), or to use the manure as solid fertilizer (compostage). In this context, a correct pre-treatment involving the separation of solids from liquid and treating each matrix separately is crucial for the success of the above-mentioned techniques. Mechanical separation and addition of chemicals (coagulants and flocculants) are the common techniques used for the separation of matrices. The inconvenience that mechanical separation exhibits is the impossibility to retain the fine suspended matter that contains the organic nutrients (nitrogen and phosphorus) in swine wastewater (Vanotti and Hunt, 1999). Therefore, many chemicals like ferric chloride and aluminium sulphate (Zhang and Lei, 1998) as inorganic coagulants and polyacrylamides and chitosan as organic polymers have been tested for separation enhancement. Among the organic polymers, polyacrylamides (PAM) have been widely studied during the last years in swine wastes by different authors. The objective of this study was to evaluate the optimal PAM dosage in two different livestock matrices, namely the mixture of hog manure from feeder-to-finish and nursery and from feeder-to finish alone. In order to determine and enhancement on methane productivity, biodegradability assays were carried out using the liquid and solid fraction separately obtained by two different processes; sieving and flocculation followed by sieving. A range of 80–200 ppm of polyacrylamide (PAM) followed by screening was employed in the case of flocculation treatment. The best results were observed when using the highest PAM dose in the matrix correspondent to the mixture of slurries. The removal rates in the liquid fraction were 73% for total solids, 87% for volatile solids, 98% for suspended total and volatile solids, 71% for chemical oxygen demand, 40% for total Kjeldahl nitrogen, and 34% for soluble phosphorus. Once the best PAM dose (120 ppm) was chosen, an anaerobic biodegradability study was performed in order to check the increase of methane production in the separated fractions by using the flocculant and the screen. The assay determined that the solid fractions biodegradability was constant at 79%. Meanwhile for the liquid fractions, an increase of 9% points was achieved with PAM-amendment when compared with 82% reached for the liquid fraction obtained by screening.

For more information the full article can be found at http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/journal/09608524

The Fate of Sulfate in Acidified Pig Slurry during Storage and Following Application to Cropped Soil

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Acidification of slurry with sulfuric acid is a recent agricultural practice that may serve a double purpose: reducing ammonia emission and ensuring crop sulfur sufficiency. In this study they investigated sulfur transformations in untreated and acidified pig slurry stored for up to 11 mo at 2, 10, or 20°C. Furthermore, the fertilizer efficiency of sulfuric acid in acidified slurry was also  investigated.

For more information the full article can be found at https://www.agronomy.org/publications/jeq

Methane Emissions from Manure Storages

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The objectives of this study were to measure methane emissions from liquid manure stored on two farms (farm A
and farm B) in eastern Canada and to evaluate the effect of various mitigation strategies on methane emissions. It was found that manure from farm B (manure B) emitted methane soon after it was loaded to the storage pilots at 10°C and 20°C. It produced twice as much methane at 20°C as at 10°C. Manure from farm A (manure A) produced 3% and 54% of the methane emitted by manure B at 10°C and 20°C, respectively, over the 370‐day monitoring period. Additionally, manure A produced methane after a lag phase of about 250 days at 20°C, which, on most farms, is longer than the storage period between land applications. The important difference between the two farms shows the large error that would arise from estimating methane production using a single emission factor for all farms within a region.

Farmers and pigs both colonized with Staphylococcus in southwestern Ontario

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In a four-month study ending in January 2007, researchers
collected nasal and rectal swabs from 285 pigs of three
different age groups from 20 different farms. Nasal swabs
were collected from farm personnel and a brief questionnaire
was also administered. Nine out of 20 farms studied, or 45 per cent, were positive
for MRSA. Prevalence in pigs was 24.9 per cent with no
difference in colonization between age groups. Twenty per
cent of pig farmers tested positive for MRSA and researchers
found a correlation between the presence of MRSA in pigs
and humans on farms. The study’s senior author, Dr. Scott Weese of the
Department of Pathobiology, Ontario Veterinary College,
University of Guelph, says that the study left researchers
with a number of unanswered questions. “We need to find
out how broad this is,” Weese says. “We need to find out
how representative southern Ontario is compared to the
rest of North America.” One of the interesting findings in Weese’s study is that
one of the farms with the highest rate of MRSA was an
antibiotic-free farm. “I think it’s overly simplistic to say that antibiotic use in pigs is the sole reason this has emerged.
There’s gotta be something else going on.”

Intramuscular fat content has little influence on the eating quality of fresh pork loin chops

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In this study fresh pork loins (n = 290) were selected from a commercial packing facility based on subjective marbling of the intact loin and 24-h pH to determine the influence of marbling on quality measurements, including color, marbling, and firmness, ultimate pH, and drip loss, were determined after aging. Results from a trained panel indicate that the percentage of extractable lipid did not correlate strongly with perceived tenderness, juiciness,
or pork flavor for this group of pork loins that was controlled for genetics, pH, management, and day of slaughter.

Liability Risks in Agri-food Supply Chains: the Case of Wet Feed

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Due to a number of crises in the animal feed
sector, which caused substantial damage in
livestock supply chains, the issue aroused of
increasing the liability insurance coverage for
animal feed producers. In this framework, the
objective of this project is to carry out a
quantitative risk analysis for wet feed producers
in the Netherlands, which could subsequently be
used as a basis for (re)designing liability
insurance schemes. The sensitivity analyses showed that the size of
farms supplied with wet feed and the number of
days in which contaminated wet feed is delivered
are key variables in determining the eventual size
of damage.

Producer incentives and plant investments for Salmonella control in pork supply chains

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This paper presents a unified analysis of dynamic producer incentive systems for
Salmonella control in primary production and slaughter plant investments in Salmonella
control measures. We identify optimal incentive system parameters and cost-effective
control strategies for achieving various levels of Salmonella prevalence. We compare
the performance measures of the combined plant-level control and producer incentive
system with results obtained under a producer incentive system only. The combined
system allocates control effort among producers and the slaughter plant, resulting in
25–83 per cent lower expected total control cost for a wide range of threshold values.

Exercising stall-housed gestating gilts: Effects on lameness, the musculo-skeletal system, production, and behavior

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Lameness in breeding-age gilts and sows is a major cause of culling, resulting in increased economic losses and welfare concerns. This study determined if exercise during gestation would affect the musculo-skeletal system, production variables, and behavior. Gilts were blocked by BW and assigned to 1 of 3 treatment groups: control (n = 10; no exercise), low exercise (n = 14; 122 m/d for 5 d/wk), and high exercise (n = 14; 122 m/d for 2 d/wk and 427 m/d for 3 d/
wk). All gilts were stall-housed during gestation, and gilts were exercised between d 35 and 110 of gestation.
Lameness score, BCS, BW, and blood were taken at multiple points before gestation, and during gestation
and lactation. Blood serum was analyzed for carboxyterminal telopeptide of type I collagen. Sow lying behavior
was recorded for 3 d after farrowing. Farrowing data included litter weight and size at birth and weaning,
and preweaning mortality. After weaning, 38 sows were slaughtered and muscles and the bones of the
left fore- and hind-limbs were harvested. Bone density and quality were determined by computed tomography
(CT) scans, dual energy x-ray scans, and bone-breaking force tests. The control group took longer to lie down
than both exercise groups, and the low exercise group took longer to lie down than the high exercise group
(P < 0.05). The number of pigs weaned was greater in the high exercise group than the control group (P <
0.05). Piglet preweaning mortality was greatest in the control group compared with both exercise groups (P <
0.05). The low exercise treatments exhibited a greater bone density (CT) in the humerus, radius, and tibia
compared with that of the control group (P < 0.05). The bone density (CT) of the humerus in the low exercise
group was greater than that of the high exercise group (P = 0.03). Breaking force in the humerus and femur
was greater (P < 0.05) in the low exercise group than the control group. Breaking force in the tibia of the
high exercise group was greater than the control group (P = 0.01). The tibia of both the low and high exercise
groups had a greater breaking force (P < 0.05) than the control group. Although there was no benefit of exercise
on lameness, differences in bone density and quality, lying behavior, and piglet survivability may provide
useful insight into alternative housing for sows.

For more information the full article can be found at http://jas.fass.org/