CoordenaÃÃo de AperfeiÃoamento de Pessoal de NÃvel Superior / Foram utilizados 32 leitÃes machos castrados de linhagem comercial, com 70 dias de idade e com peso mÃdio de 27,53 kg, com o objetivo de avaliar os efeitos de diferentes nÃveis de inclusÃo do farelo da amÃndoa da castanha de caju (FACC) e formas de arraÃoamento sobre o desempenho zootÃcnico de suÃnos nas fases de crescimento (70 a 104 dias e peso de 27,53 a 61,4 kg) e terminaÃÃo (104 a 137 dias e peso de 61,4 a 93,7 kg), bem como sua viabilidade econÃmica. O delineamento experimental utilizado foi o de blocos ao acaso com esquema fatorial 4 X 2 (quatro nÃveis de inclusÃo de FACC (0; 6; 12 e 18%) e duas formas de arraÃoamento - dietas secas e Ãmidas) com quatro repetiÃÃes por tratamento e um animal por parcela. O critÃrio para formaÃÃo dos blocos foi o peso inicial dos animais. Os resultados mostraram que para a fase de crescimento e o perÃodo total, o ganho de peso mÃdio diÃrio (GPMD), consumo de raÃÃo mÃdio diÃrio (CRMD) e a conversÃo alimentar (CA) nÃo foram afetados (P > 0,05) pelos diferentes nÃveis de inclusÃo de FACC e formas de arraÃoamento. Para a fase de terminaÃÃo, o ganho de peso mÃdio diÃrio e a conversÃo alimentar tambÃm nÃo apresentaram diferenÃa significativa (P > 0,05), porÃm, houve efeito linear decrescente (Y = 3.372,6 - 24,56x) com R2 = 0,82 para o consumo de raÃÃo mÃdio diÃrio dos suÃnos à medida que aumentaram os nÃveis de FACC nas raÃÃes. Para o ganho de peso mÃdio diÃrio nas fases de crescimento e perÃodo total, a interaÃÃo entre os nÃveis de farelo da amÃndoa da castanha de caju e as formas de arraÃoamento mostrou efeito linear crescente para a raÃÃo Ãmida, (Y = 938,65 + 6,90x) com R2 = 0,79 e (Y = 980,75 + 3,79x) com R2 = 0,73, respectivamente, jà para o consumo de raÃÃo mÃdio diÃrio na fase de terminaÃÃo houve efeito linear decrescente (Y = 3.470 - 38,33x) com R2 = 0,81. Conclui-se que à tecnicamente viÃvel a utilizaÃÃo do farelo da amÃndoa da castanha de caju atà o nÃvel de 18% nas raÃÃes para suÃnos nas fases de crescimento e terminaÃÃo independente da forma de arraÃoamento, e que o nÃvel de 12% de inclusÃo de FACC foi o que mostrou melhor resposta bioeconÃmica / It was 32 piglets castrated males of commercial lineage, with 70 days old and with mean weight of 27,53 kg, with objective to evaluate the effect of the inclusion of different levels of cashew nut meal (CNM) and feeds forms on the performance zootecnic of swines in the phases of growth (from 70 to 104 days and weight from 27,53 to 61,4 kg) e termination (from 104 to 137 days and weight from 61,4 to 93,7 kg), how so your economic viability. The experiment design used was randomized blocks with scheme factorial 4 X 2, four levels of inclusion of CNM (0; 6; 12 e 18%) and two feed forms (humid and dry diets) with four replications to treatment and one animal to part. The criterion used for block formation was the initial weight of animals. In the phase of growth and during the total period, the daily mean weight gain (DMWG), daily mean feed intake (DMFI) and the feed conversion (FC) werenÂt affected (P > 0,05) by inclusion of different levels of cashew nut meal (CNM) and humid and dry diets. In the phase of termination, the daily mean weight gain (DMWG) and the feed conversion (FC) didnÂt exhibited different significant, but, there was decrescent linear effect (Y = 3.372,6 â 24,56x) with R2 = 0,82 to the daily mean feed intake (DMFI) of swines while increased the levels of CNM. There was significant different in the interation between the inclusion levels of CNM and humid diets, exhibiting crescent linear effect (Y = 938,65 + 6,9x) with R2 = 0,79 and (Y = 980,75 + 3,79x) with R2 = 0,73 to the daily mean weight gain (DMWG) in the phase of growth and during the total period, respectivement, and to the dry diets, decrescent linear effect (Y = 3.470 - 38,33x) with R2 = 0,81, to the daily mean feed intake (DMFI) in the phase of termination. Concluded that the utilization of cashew nut meal until the level of 18% in the feeds is viable technicament for swines in the phases of growh and termination, and that the inclusion levels of CNM of 12% obtained the best bioeconomic response.

A surpreendente descoberta de uma assembléia de anuros terrícolas extremamente abundante, sintópica à fauna peculiar de lagartos, serpentes e anfisbenas, numa localidade dos mares de areia do médio Rio São Francisco (estado da Bahia, Brasil) motivou: (1) o estudo do uso de alimento e eletividades na dieta dos anuros locais, (2) a investigação de evidências de adaptação na sua dieta ao ambiente desafiador das dunas e (3) a avaliação do possível impacto que os anuros causam na assembléia sintópica de Squamata anteriormente estudada. O uso de alimento e as eletividades na dieta das três espécies de anuros mais abundantes, assim como suas variações ontogenéticas, foram descritas e premissas sobre adequação das estimativas de uso e disponibilidade de recursos alimentares foram testadas. Evidências de adaptação nas dietas dos anuros às dunas foram feitas comparando-se sua dieta com as de espécies filogeneticamente próximas. As estimativas de uso e de disponibilidade utilizadas foram consideradas adequadas. Bufo granulosus apresentou eletividade positiva por formigas. Pleurodema diplolistris e Physalaemus albifrons apresentaram ambos eletividade positiva por besouros e eletividade negativa por cupins e por formigas, respectivamente. Não houve variação ontogenética nos tipos de presa consumidas por nenhuma das espécies estudadas e isso não pôde ser atribuído à avaliação de uma pequena extensão de tamanhos dos anuros. Variações ontogenéticas no tamanho das presas foram observadas apenas para B. granulosus e P. diplolistris. Não houve evidência de apomorfia na dieta de B. granulosus e não houve dados disponíveis suficientes para realizar essa análise para P. diplolistris. As apomorfias registradas na dieta de P. albifrons podem ser explicadas por interações competitivas com outros componentes da herpetofauna local. Os anuros não parecem causar impacto forte sobre a assembléia de Squamata sintópica, devido a divergências nas eletividades por alimento e nos horários de atividade entre a maioria deles e grande parte desse padrão divergente parece ter se estabelecido antes da formação dessa assembléia. A eletividade positiva por formigas de B. granulosus e do tropidurídeo Tropidurus psammonastes pode apontar interação competitiva contemporânea entre eles, devido a suas grandes abundâncias locais. No entanto, é necessário haver indícios de limitação de recursos para levantar tal hipótese, porque a divergência nos horários de atividade deles impede competição por interferência. Mas formigas são abundantes na área. / The discovery of an extremely abundant anuran terrestrial assemblage, that is syntopic to a peculiar fauna of lizards, snakes, and worm snakes, in a locality at the sand dune fields of the Middle São Francisco River (Bahia state, Brazil) motivated: (1) the study of food use and electivities of local anurans, (2) investigations about evidences of adaptation in anurans’ diet to the challenges of a semi-arid environment, and (3) the assessment of the impact caused by anurans on the Squamata syntopic assemblage already studied. Food use, food electivities, and ontogenetic variation in diet of the three most abundant anuran species were described, and premises about the adequacy of the used estimates of food use and food availability were tested. Evidences of adaptation in diet were assessed by comparison of the diet of anurans from the dunes and that of phylogenetically related species. Estimates of food use and availability were considered suitable. Bufo granulosus showed positive electivity for ants. Pleurodema diplolistris and Physalaemus albifrons had both positive electivities for beetles and negative electivities for termites and ants, respectively. No species changed the types of prey it consumed during ontogeny and this was not a spurious result of a narrow range of anurans size analyzed. B. granulosus and P. diplolistris ate bigger preys as they grew. There was no evidence of adaptation in B. granulosus diet and insufficient data precluded this analysis with P. diplolistris diet. Apomorphies registered in P. albifrons diet can be explained by ecological contemporary interactions with local herpetofauna components. Anurans do not seem to cause a big impact on Squamata syntopic species, because in general anurans and squamates show divergent food electivities and/or activity times. Moreover, most of this divergent pattern has probably evolved before the establishment of the current assemblage. Coincident positive electivities for ants of B. granulosus and the tropidurid Tropidurus psammonastes can be an indicative of contemporary competitive interactions between them, principally because they are very abundant at the dunes. But evidence of limiting resources are necessary to rise this hypothesis because divergent activity times preclude interference competition, but ants are very abundant at the dunes.

No description available.

Magister Scientiae (Biodiversity and Conservation Biology) - MSc (Biodiv and Cons Biol) / The objective of this thesis was to elucidate intra- and interspecific variability in the distribution patterns and diet of the two most common demersal catsharks taken as by-catch by the commercial trawling industry targeting the two Cape hake species off the West and South coasts of South Africa. Samples and data were collected during routine demersal hake biomass surveys conducted by DAFF, with distribution data collected from 1994 to 2015 and stomach content and stable isotope data collected from 2014 to 2015. On examination of the distribution data, Holohalaelurus regani was found to be more abundant on the West Coast and Scyliorhinus capensis was found to be more abundant on the South Coast. Both catsharks were observed to display size-based segregations, with catshark size increasing with depth in both species. Differences in the distribution patterns of male and female H. regani were also noted, with female catsharks inhabiting inshore areas and male catsharks inhabiting offshore areas. The two catsharks appeared to display high levels of dietary overlap, with individuals feeding on the most abundant crustaceans and cephalopods caught as by-catch in the trawl on each coast.

No description available.

Dietary-derived lipoproteins, chylomicrons (CM) and CM remnants (CMR), have been implicated in the progression of cardiovascular disease. Retinyl esters are currently the most widely used method for monitoring CM metabolism. The availability, however, of a specific antisera to apo B-48, the protein uniquely associated with dietary-derived lipoproteins, has allowed more extensive investigation of CM and CMR metabolism. The effect of habitual, moderate levels of exercise (3 to 4 exercise sessions a week) on the lipaemic response to meals of varying fat content was assessed in young male subjects. Apo B-48, triacylglycerol (TAG) and retinyl ester were used as markers for CM particles. Active subjects had a lower response than an inactive group in all parameters measured over time after the meals. Lipoprotein lipase (LPL) activity levels measured at the end of the postprandial period were higher in the active group. The area under the time-response curves (AUC) for apo B-48 in the inactive group increased with increasing fat content of the meals, whereas the AUC for apo B-48 was the same after each meal in the active group. Validation of a specific ELISA for apo B-48 was carried out. Cross-reactivity of the antisera with low levels of apo B-100, the protein present on endogenous lipoproteins, was ruled out. The assay was specific and sensitive for measuring apo B-48 concentrations in the CM-enriched fractions. The use of the assay in the current format for plasma samples could not be fully assessed due to difficulties with isolating a pure, concentrated sample of apo B-100 and problems with reactivity between the secondary antibody used in the assay and plasma proteins. The assay was useful for showing postprandial patterns of changes in apo B-48 levels in plasma. The effects of meal frequency on the lipaemic response to a high fat test meal challenge were assessed in an intervention study. A nibbling diet was found to cause differences between the response of various parameters after the meal (NEFA-AUC, LPL activity, infranatant-TAG AUC and time to peak) compared with the normal meal frequency. The size and density distribution of CMR in plasma were investigated. Apo B-48 was found in the IDL and LDL fractions in both the postabsorptive and postprandial states. A comparison between the retinyl ester and apo B-48 responses in the postprandial studies showed that the time to peak retinyl ester level was delayed compared to apo B-48 and TAG. The importance of apo B-48 for studying the metabolism of CM and CMR metabolism was demonstrated.

The pelagic stingray, Pteroplatytrygon violacea, is a bycatch species in the global pelagic longline fishery. However, little research has been conducted on its basic biology, including prey composition, trophic positioning, and habitat utilization. Descriptions of the habitat utilization have largely been through indirect analyses of catch rates in commercial fisheries, which also provided no information on actual behaviors. The first chapter of this thesis will describe the habitat utilization and behavior of four individual pelagic stingrays using electronic tagging technology. Prior diet descriptions were hampered, in part, by low sample sizes and accordingly provided little information on the ecological interactions of these animals. Similarly, the second chapter of this thesis will therefore provide a new diet description for the pelagic stingray using a combined analysis of traditional stomach contents with stable isotope values, thereby addressing both ingestion and assimilation. A more robust study of the trophic dynamics of the pelagic stingray, in conjunction with the description of its habitat utilization, will provide a better understanding of its role within the pelagic ecosystem. Ultimately, the goal is to obtain knowledge of the less economic species with good science so when management approaches shift from species-specific to ecosystem based, the transition will already have known information to change efficiently.

Abstract The risk factors for atherosclerosis and coronary heart disease (CHD) are multiple and may interact with each other. Diet has a significant role among the main risk factors for atherosclerosis, as it regulates the levels of plasma lipids and lipoproteins, their oxidative modification or protection from oxidation, blood pressure, energy balance, and thrombogenesis. Nutrients can transfer their effects directly through plasma concentrations or modify the cell transduction or gene expression of important regulatory genes. The response to dietary modification varies between individuals. The plasma cholesterol response induced by dietary modification is at least partly regulated genetically and some of the variation is explained by other environmental factors. Apolipoprotein E (apo E) and apolipoprotein B (apo B) are the key regulatory proteins in cholesterol and lipoprotein metabolism. The genetic variation of apo E is associated with the plasma lipid levels and the CHD risk. The polymorphic variation of the apo B gene is also associated with increased plasma cholesterol and CHD risk. Obesity is associated with increased morbidity and mortality. Plasma lipid abnormalities, impaired glucose metabolism and increased blood pressure caused by obesity are the main reasons for increased CHD mortality among obese subjects. To study the magnitude of the response to dietary modification, genetically selected groups were investigated. Dietary modification had a significant impact on plasma total, LDL, and HDL cholesterol concentrations, and the individual response in plasma LDL cholesterol varied from 3 to 100%. The role of genetic variation in the apo E gene was not significant in the lipid response, but the blood pressure response was more distinct among subjects with the ε 4 allele than those with the ε 3 allele. The determination of apo B EcoRI and MspI gene polymorphisms revealed subjects with a greater response to diet, a finding which may have clinical importance in the future for the attempt to identify subjects for effective dietary counselling. The effect of caloric restriction on gene expression was studied in obese gallstone patients. Moderate weight reduction during caloric restriction was associated with reduced lipoprotein lipase gene expression, while the cholesteryl ester transfer protein gene expression remained unchanged. Some of the beneficial changes in plasma lipids and lipoproteins during and after weight reduction may be followed by altered transcription of their modifying genes. Meta-analysis is a modern and generally accepted method. Many clinical uncertainties can be solved by combining all the data available to a quantitative and objective analysis. However, the use of meta-analysis do not resolve the problem of the effect of publication bias.

>Magister Scientiae - MSc / The incidence of type 2 diabetes (T2D) is persistently increasing globally. T2D is associated with pancreatic β cell dysfunction and insulin resistance in peripheral tissues such as the liver and skeletal muscle. Skeletal muscle is the major site for insulin stimulated glucose uptake. Maintenance on a gestational high fat diet may programme insulin resistance. Programming is induced by the exposure of organisms to either a stimulus or insult during foetal and/or early neonatal life and alters offspring physiology and metabolism. The aim of the present study was therefore to investigate the effects of maternal diets, varying in fat content, on neonatal hepatic and skeletal muscle gene (mRNA) and protein (immunoreactivity) expression of proximal insulin signalling factors: insulin receptor alpha (IRα), insulin receptor substrate 2 (IRS2) and phosphoinositide 3-kinase-p110 alpha (PI3K-p110α), and to assess the therapeutic potential of Aspalathus linearis extract after high fat programming. Pregnant rats were randomised into groups maintained on diets with varying fat proportions: 10% (control), 20% (20F), 30% (30F) and 40% (40F) fat as energy throughout gestation. Neonatal liver and skeletal muscle were collected to determine the proximal insulin signalling expression profiles of the target factors: IRα, IRS2 and PI3K-p110α. Quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) was applied to determine mRNA expression of these target insulin signalling factors. Immunostaining of the target proteins in the liver and skeletal muscle was performed followed by relative quantification with image analysis software. Further, Aspalathus linearis (Al) extract was orally administered to mothers during gestation in the 10% (Control-Al) and 40% (HFD-Al) diets at a dose of 150 mg/kg. Body weight, food intake and blood glucose concentrations were monitored throughout gestation in mothers. Maternal diets, varying in the percentage of fat content, showed no significant effect on neonatal hepatic IR and IRS2 mRNA expression. However, hepatic PI3K mRNA expression was elevated in 30F neonates compared to 20F neonates. Skeletal muscle IR and PI3K mRNA expression were reduced in the 30F and 40F neonates compared to 20F neonates. There was reduced hepatic IRα immunoreactivity in 40F neonates compared to control and 20F neonates. Further, skeletal muscle IRα immunoreactivity was significantly reduced in 30F and 40F neonates compared to control neonates. Therefore foetal high fat programming reduced IRα in both the liver and skeletal muscle which may impair proximal insulin signalling in these glucose recipient organs. Aspalathus linearis had no effect on maternal serum insulin and glucagon concentrations. In addition, maternal caloric intake, body weight and organ weights (liver, brain and pancreas) were not altered amongst the groups. Further, HFD-Al neonates were heavier than control neonates. In conclusion, Aspalathus linearis, at a dose of 150 mg/kg, had neither harmful nor ameliorative effects in pregnant mothers fed high fat diet during gestation. In addition, Aspalathus linearis treatment had no ameliorative effects on neonates from mothers fed high fat diet throughout gestation.

Study Objective. To assess the dietary intakes of children with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD); including macro- and micronutrient intake, the percentage of low nutrient density foods in the diet, as well as specific biochemical and anthropometric parameters. Design. Observational study. Setting. Provincial ADHD Program of BC, Children’s’ Hospital, Vancouver, BC. Sample. 44 children aged 6 - 12 years with ADHD, treatment-naïve or stable on medication for 6 months or longer. Main Results. ADHD Children were taller and heavier than population norms, and significantly taller than previously reported in ADHD. Of children aged 6-8 years, 28% were below the Estimate Average Requirement (EAR) for zinc and 61% of children aged 9-12 years were below the EAR for zinc. In addition, 28% of children aged 6-8 years and 39% of children aged 9-12 years were below the EAR for copper. Only 2% of children in the sample were below lab normal cutoffs for ferritin; however, 73% had serum zinc values below lab normal cut-offs and 23% had serum copper below lab normal cutoffs. Overall prevalence of serum zinc below the 2.5 percentile was 23% compared to 2% from National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey II (NHANES) data. Additionally, mean serum copper was significantly lower than NHANES II data. Mean energy intake was comparable to mean Estimated Energy Requirement (EER) based on the age, gender, height, weight and physical activity of subjects. In addition, mean dietary intake of Low Nutrient Density foods was not significantly different from NHANES II data and there was no significant difference in energy intake or the proportion of daily energy from protein, fat, and carbohydrate than what is observed from CCHS data. Medication treatment for ADHD was not associated with altered dietary intake or nutrient status. Conclusion. Results are suggestive of low zinc status in ADHD. / Land and Food Systems, Faculty of / Graduate