Search

This study was carried out to determine the quality of sugar beet pulp (Beta vulgaris L.), lenox (Brassica rapa L.), and ryegrass (Lolium multiflorium cv. caramba) silages used in feeding dairy cattle, in comparison to corn silage. Whole corn was harvested at the dough stage, lenox was harvested at the end of flowering, and ryegrass was harvested at the beginning of spike. No additives were added to the corn silage, but 5% molasses was added to the sugar beet pulp, ryegrass, and lenox silages that have low levels of easily degradable sugar. Additionally, 5% sainfoin was added to the sugar beet pulp silage to increase its dry matter level to 20%. All silages used in the study were classified as "very good" according to the Fleig scoring system. Four Holstein dairy cattle at a mean age of 3 years old, at the 3rd month of lactation, and with milk yields close to each other were used in the feeding experiment. In this study, the 4 × 4 Latin square trial design was applied, and each period of the experiment consisted of 21 days, 14 days for exercise and 7 days for sample collection. The amount of feed to be consumed by the animals according to the periods was calculated based on the National Research Council (NRC) standards considering their yield levels. In the experiment, milk yield was found to be similar in the silage groups, but milk fat levels were higher in the group consuming corn silage than the other groups. The rumen fluid and blood serum values of the animals were within the reference ranges. As a result, it was determined that these silages were competitive with corn silage in the feeding of dairy cattle as long as 5% molasses would be added to wet the beet pulp, lenox and ryegrass silages, whereas it was concluded that the digestibility and energy content of the ryegrass silage was lower than those of the other silages. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Electromagnetic radiation (EMR) and epilepsy are reported to mediate the regulation of apoptosis and oxidative stress through Ca influx. Results of recent reports indicated that EMR can increase temperature and oxidative stress of body cells, and TRPV1 channel is activated by noxious heat, oxidative stress, and capsaicin (CAP). We investigated the effects of mobile phone (900 MHz) EMR exposure on Ca influx, apoptosis, oxidative stress, and TRPV1 channel activations in the hippocampus of pentylenetetrazol (PTZ)-induced epileptic rats. Freshly isolated hippocampal neurons of twenty-one rats were used in study within three groups namely control, PTZ, and PTZ + EMR. The neurons in the three groups were stimulated by CAP. Epilepsy was induced by PTZ administration. The neurons in PTZ + EMR group were exposed to the 900 MHz EMR for 1 h. The apoptosis, mitochondrial membrane depolarization, intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS), and caspase-3 and caspase-9 values were higher in PTZ and PTZ + EMR groups than in control. However, EMR did not add additional increase effects on the values in the hippocampal neurons. Intracellular-free Ca concentrations in fura-2 analyses were also higher in PTZ + CAP group than in control although their concentrations were decreased by TRPV1 channel blocker, capsazepine. However, there were no statistical changes on the Ca concentrations between epilepsy and EMR groups. In conclusion, apoptosis, mitochondrial, ROS, and Ca influx via TRPV1 channel were increased in the hippocampal neurons by epilepsy induction although the mobile phone did not change the values. The results indicated that TRPV1 channels in hippocampus may possibly be a novel target for effective target of epilepsy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fourteen-years-old girl was brought to emergency room by 112 with vomiting, hypotension, and convulsive seizures. According to the story of the patient's relatives, 2 hours ago whole family ate pancakes at the same time and 6 other family members were taken to different emergency services with the similar findings. The patient's general condition was severe so she was monitored. Necessary blood samples were collected due to similar finding in other relatives-, and sent to Ankara Refik Saydam Institute for toxicology scanning. According to results of blood tests; poisoning by endosulfan was understood. Endosulfan poisoning is rarely encountered in the literature and in patients presenting to the emergency service with convulsive seizures should be considered in the differential diagnosis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study was carried out to determine the most suitable mixing ratios to obtain a high quality silage from sunflower and sugar beet plants. As the silage material in the study, Sunflower crops in the dough stage (whole plant) and sugar beets (whole plant, including leaves and roots) were used. The sunflower crops (S) and sugar beet plants (SB) were ensiled as 5 replicates in 1-liter glass jars by slicing and mixing based on weight as 100%S and 0%SB, 85%S and 15%SB, 55%S and 45%SB. The jars were opened for analyses at the end of 70 days of incubation. In the 100%S and 0%SB, 85%S and 15%SB, 55%S and 45%SB groups, the silage dry matter (DM, %) values were 24.97, 26.29 and 28.72; pH values were 4.39, 4.34 and 4.41; ammonia nitrogen (NH3-N, mg.dl-1) values were 5.59, 3.65 and 4.34; lactic acid (LA, %) values were 2.41, 1.91 and 2.16; Fleig scores were good, very good and very good; organic matter digestibility (OMD, %) values were 54.60, 51.34 and 49.42; metabolic energy (ME, Mcal.kg-1) values were 1.97, 1.87 ve 1.79; net energy lactation (NEL, Mcal.kg-1) values were 1.22, 1.14 and 1.09, respectively. Considering the nutrient content, fermentation quality, in-vitro digestibility and energy content parameters of the silages prepared in the study, it was concluded that qualified silages could be obtained from not only pure sunflower crops but also the mixture of sunflower crops and sugar beets, without needing any supplements. However, a decrease in OMD and energy contents was observed in the group with 45% sugar beet plant added. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study was conducted to determine the silage quality, in vitro digestibility and energy content of forage turnip (Brassica rapa) ensiled with molasses or ground barley. Forage turnip was harvested at three different stages: the beginning, middle and end of the flowering period, and it was ensiled with no additive (control), 5% molasses or 4% ground barley. In the trial, pH, nutrient contents, ammonia nitrogen (NH3-N) contents, volatile fatty acid (VFA) contents, Fleig scores, in vitro digestibility and energy content were determined. It was observed that the effect of the vegetative stage on the difference between the groups was significant (p < 0.05). Accordingly, with the progression of the vegetative stage, the contents of dry matter (DM), organic matter (OM), ether extract (EE), neutral detergent fiber (NDF) and acid detergent fiber (ADF) showed an increase while a decrease was observed in crude protein (CP). The effects of the additives on the difference between the groups were found to be significant except for the CP parameter (p < 0.05). Molasses and barley addition to the silages increased DM, OM and EE contents and reduced the levels of NDF and ADF. With the progression of the vegetative stage, lactic acid (LA) and acetic acid (AA) values decreased while pH values and Fleig scores increased. The effects of additives were found to be insignificant for all parameters except for AA and Fleig scores. As the vegetative stage progressed, the dry matter digestibility (DMD), organic matter digestibility (OMD), digestible energy (DE), metabolic energy (ME) and net energy for lactation (NEL) values of the silages decreased significantly (p < 0.05). The addition of molasses or barley, compared to the control, resulted in a significant increase in the levels of DMD, OMD, DE, ME, and NEL (p < 0.05). In conclusion, in parallel with the progression of the vegetative stage, the DMD, OMD, DE, ME, and NEL values of the silages decreased, increasing with the addition of the additives, and the obtained silages were of high-quality as alternative quality roughage in ruminant feeding. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many of toxic effects elicited by exposure to environmental stressors including electromagnetic radiation (EMR) are reported to be mediated the regulation of apoptosis and oxidative stress through Ca2+ influx. Changes in the apoptotic process induce in most of the neurodegenerative diseases including epilepsy. However, there is no report of cell phone exposure on Ca2+ influx, apoptosis and oxidative stress in epileptic rats through TRPV1 cation channels. Therefore, we tested the effects of cell phone frequency (900 MHz) exposure on Ca2+ influx, apoptosis, oxidative stress and TRPV1 channel activations in the hippocampus of pentylentetrazol (PTZ)-induced epileptic rats. Twenty-one rats were used in study within three groups namely control, PTZ and PTZ+EMR. Epilepsy was induced introperitoneal administrations of PTZ. After 1 hour, the hippocampal neurons were freshly isolated from the rats. The neurons in 900 MHz and PTZ+EMR groups were exposed to the 900 MHz EMR for one hour. The apoptosis levels, caspase-3 and -9 activities, mitochondrial depolarization rate and cytosolic reactive oxygen species (ROS) levels were higher in PTZ and PTZ+EMR groups than in control. Cytosolic free Ca2+ [Ca2+] i concentration was also higher in epilepsy+capsaicine group than in control although its concentration was decreased by TRPV1 channel blocker, capsazepine. There was no statistical significance on the values between PTZ and PTZ+EMR groups. In conclusion, in our experimental model, epilepsy but not cell phone-induced EMR (900 MHz) exposure induced Ca2+ influx (via TRPV1 channel activation), apoptosis and oxidative stress in the hippocampus neurons. We were not able to see risk on use of cell phone in the epileptic hippocampus. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We investigated the gating effect of passive and active movement on the vibrotactile detection thresholds of the Pacinian (P) psychophysical channel and forward masking. Previous work on gating mostly used electrocutaneous stimulation and did not allow focusing on tactile submodalities. Ten healthy adults participated in our study. Passive movement was achieved by swinging a platform, on which the participant’s stimulated hand was attached, manually by a trained operator. The root-mean-square value of the movement speed was kept in a narrow range (slow: 10–20 cm/s, fast: 50–60 cm/s). Active movement was performed by the participant him-/herself using the same apparatus. The tactile stimuli consisted of 250-Hz sinusoidal mechanical vibrations, which were generated by a shaker mounted on the movement platform and applied to the middle fingertip. In the forward-masking experiments, a high-level masking stimulus preceded the test stimulus. Each movement condition was tested separately in a two-interval forced-choice detection task. Both passive and active movement caused a robust gating effect, that is, elevation of thresholds, in the fast speed range. Statistically significant change of thresholds was not found in slow movement conditions. Passive movement yielded higher thresholds than those measured during active movement, but this could not be confirmed statistically. On the other hand, the effect of forward masking was approximately constant as the movement condition varied. These results imply that gating depends on both peripheral and central factors in the P channel. Active movement may have some facilitatory role and produce less gating. Additionally, the results support the hypothesis regarding a critical speed for gating, which may be relevant for daily situations involving vibrations transmitted through grasped objects and for manual exploration. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Objective: The purpose of the current study was to investigate the possible effects of phototherapy on bone status of term infants evaluated by measurement of tibial bone speed of sound (SOS).Materials and Methods: The phototherapy group (n = 30) consisted of children who had undergone phototherapy for at least 24 h and the control group (n = 30) comprised children who had not received phototherapy. Blood samples were obtained from all infants for serum calcium, phosphorus, magnesium, alkaline phosphatase, parathyroid hormone and vitamin D concentrations. The left tibial quantitative ultrasound (QUS) measurements were performed using a commercial device.Results: There was no statistically significant difference between phototherapy-exposed and nonexposed infants in terms of Ca, P, ALP, PTH and vitamin D levels. Comparison of bone SOS between the phototherapy-exposed and control group revealed no statistically difference. Also, no significant difference in Z-score for SOS was observed between those with or without exposure.Conclusion: The data of our study indicate that phototherapy treatment has no impact on bone status in the hyperbilirubinemic infants. Although there is no statistically significant evidence of an excess risk of bone damage following phototherapy, studies with larger sample sizes and longer duration of follow-up are needed to gain a better understanding of its effects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]