Effects of forage types on digestibility, methane emissions, and nitrogen utilization efficiency in two genotypes of hill ewes

Thirty-six nonpregnant hill ewes (18 pure Scottish Blackface and 18 Swaledale × Scottish Blackface) aged 18 mo and weighing 48 ± 4.8 kg were allocated to 3 forage treatments balanced for genotype and BW. Each genotype was offered 3 forages (pelleted ryegrass, fresh lowland grass, and fresh hill grass) ad libitum with 6 ewes for each of the 6 genotype × diet combination treatments. Pelleted ryegrass was sourced from a commercial supplier (Drygrass South Western Ltd, Burrington, UK). Fresh lowland grass was harvested daily in the morning from a third regrowth perennial ryegrass () sward. Fresh hill grass was harvested from a seminatural hill grassland every 2 d and stored in plastic bags at 4 to 5°C until offered. The animals were individually housed in pens and offered experimental diets for 14 d before being transferred to 6 individual respiration chambers for a further 4 d, during which feed intake, fecal and urine outputs, and CH emissions were measured. There was no interaction between genotype and forage types on any variable measured. In a comparison of effects of the 3 forages, pelleted ryegrass had the greatest ( < 0.001) values in DMI, GE intake, CH emissions, N intake (NI), and fecal N (FN), urine N (UN), and manure N (MN) outputs, whereas hill grass had the lowest ( < 0.001) values in DMI, energy (GE, DE, and ME) intake, CH emissions, NI, UN, and MN. However, pelleted ryegrass had the lowest ratio in CH emissions per unit DMI ( = 0.022) or GE intake ( = 0.026) or UN excretion as a proportion of NI or MN ( < 0.001). Lowland grass had a greater ( < 0.001) digestibility of DM, OM, CP, NDF, ADF, and GE and a greater ( < 0.001) ME:GE ratio or retained N:NI ratio than pelleted ryegrass and hill grass. Genotypes of sheep had no effect on any variable in feed intake, digestibility, CH emissions, or N utilization. The CH conversion factors (CH energy/GE) for pelleted ryegrass, lowland grass, and hill grass were 4.4, 5.7, and 5.6%, respectively. All data were then pooled to develop regression equations between CH and DMI or between N excretions (FN, UN, and MN) and NI. Methane emissions and N excretions were positively related to DMI and NI ( < 0.001), respectively. However, increasing DMI could reduce CH emissions per kilogram DMI. These equations add new information in predicting enteric CH emissions and N utilization efficiency and can be used to quantify the environmental footprint of hill sheep production systems.

Development of mu rhythm in infants and preschool children

Mu rhythm is an idling rhythm that originates in the sensorimotor cortex during rest. The frequency of mu rhythm, which is well established in adults, is 8-12 Hz, whereas the limited results available from children suggest a frequency as low as 5.4 Hz at 6 months of age, which gradually increases to the adult value. Understanding the normal development of mu rhythm has important theoretical and clinical implications since we still know very little about this signal in infants and how it develops with age. We measured mu rhythm over the left hemisphere using a pediatric magnetoencephalography (MEG) system in 25 infants (11-47 weeks), 18 preschool children (2-5 years) and 6 adults (20-39 years) for two 5-min sessions during two intermixed conditions: a rest condition in which the hands were at rest, and a prehension condition in which the subject squeezed a pipette with his/her right hand. In all participants, mu rhythm was present over the frontoparietal area during the rest condition, but was clearly suppressed during the prehension condition. Mu rhythm peak frequency, determined from the amplitude spectra, increased rapidly as a function of age from 2.75 Hz at 11 weeks to 8.25 Hz at 47 weeks (r2 = 0.83). It increased very slowly during the preschool period (3.1 ± 0.9 years; 8.5 ± 0.54 Hz). The frequency in these children was, however, lower than in adults (10.3 ± 1.2 Hz). Our results show a rapid maturation in spontaneous mu rhythm during the first year of life.

Some biochemical and behavioural aspects of the paradoxical sleep window

It has recently been proposed that there is a vulnerable period of time following successful learning when paradoxical sleep (PS) is necessary for learning. This vulnerable time period has been called the PS window. In Experiment 1, the protein synthesis inhibitor anisomycin (ANI) was administered following shuttle avoidance training in the Sprauge-Dawley rat to coincide with the onset of an established PS window. Control groups received either saline or ANI either 3 hours before or 3 hours after the beginning of the PS window. Three hours after the injection, each group was retested. Then animals were immediately sacrificed, and whole brain biochemical analyses were done on levels of acetylcholine (ACh) and activity of acetylcholinesterase (AChE). Only the rats given ANI timed to coincide with the beginning of the PS window showed learning deficits. All ANI-treated groups had less ACh and AChE activity. In Experiment 2, the ACh antagonist scopolamine (SCOP) was injected at the same times as in Experiment 1, and each of these groups had a corresponding saline control group as before. Retesting was done 1 day later; once again, the only group to show learning deficits was the group receiving SCOP timed to coincide with the PS window. Results suggested that the transmitter ACh plays an important role in learning/memory processes at the PS window.

Spinal manipulation and beta-endorphin: a controlled study of the effect of a spinal manipulation on plasma beta-endorphin levels in normal males

The role of spinal manipulation in the relief of pain is becoming clearer and more demonstrable as time passes. One approach to this study is the effect of manipulation on the neurochemical mechanisms of antinociception. Chief among these is beta-endorphin, which has been found to produce a wide range of beneficial effects, especially analgesia. The intent of our study was to demonstrate the effect of spinal manipulation on plasma beta-endorphin levels. Three groups of male subjects were randomly created: the experimental, sham and control groups. All three groups were screened for symptomatology, present use of medications and the present use of innocuous stimulants, such as nicotine and caffeine. A standard protocol involving a 20-min pretest resting period, an intervention and a 40-min test period ensued. The experimental group received a manipulation in the region of the cervical spine; the placebo group received a sham maneuver with no dynamic thrust; the control group received no intervention. Samples were taken by venipuncture at -20, -5, +5, +10 and +30 min. The data were analyzed by repeated measures analysis of variance and by Scheffe's post-hoc multiple comparison tests. Plasma beta-endorphin levels were assessed by radioimmune assay technique (according to the method described by Harber and Sutton in 1984). The results of our study demonstrated a small, but statistically significant, increase in serum beta-endorphin levels in the experimental group at the 5-min postintervention point. The levels in the placebo and control groups demonstrated a steady decrease that was distinct from the response in the experimental group.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)