The role of trace elements in biological systems has been described in several animals. However, the knowledge in fish is mainly limited to iron, copper, manganese, zinc and selenium as components of body fluids, cofactors in enzymatic reactions, structural units of non-enzymatic macromolecules, etc. Investigations in fish are comparatively complicated as both dietary intake and waterborne mine...

Background Copper is one of the most critical of the essential trace minerals required by animals. It is vital in the body as a component of (or cofactor for) enzyme systems involved in iron transport and metabolism, red blood cell formation and immune function. Included in almost every trace mineral premix (blended to provide mineral supplementation to animal rations) is enough copper to satis...

Introduction: The Mars Exploration Rovers have detected distinctive suites of evaporite minerals at the Martian surface precipitated from fluids derived from basaltic weathering under low pH conditions. Orbital spectroscopic observations have confirmed the global distributions of these materials. The formation and stability of evaporite assemblages have been well modeled at Meridiani Planum for...

Trace elements are a major area of nutritional status which influence brain functioning and behavior. Recent studies have found significantly abnormal levels of trace nutritive minerals and trace toxic metals in the head hair of children from disadvantaged backgrounds. Utilizing hair element analysis, this study examined 26 trace elements in two groups of young Appalachian children: an economic...

Zinc (Zn) as a micro mineral is essential for growth, skeletal development, and immune competence in chickens (Hudson et al., 2004). Inorganic Zn salts, such as sulphate and oxide, are generally supplemented in diets to meet the Zn requirement of chickens (Cao et al., 2002). However, in the recent past Inorganic trace minerals (ITMs) have been replaced by organic trace minerals (OTMs) because o...

The purpose of this study is twofold: to examine macro (calcium, magnesium, and phosphorus) and trace mineral (iron) concentration in oriental supplements (OS), and to define OS prevalence in elite athletes. Participants of this study were 928 varsity athletes (male: 680, female: 248) with 23 sports types. Recent 3-month dietary supplements (DS) and OS practice was surveyed during training peri...

We conducted a study to evaluate the influences of nutritional management, trace mineral supplementation, and exogenous progesterone on attainment of puberty in beef heifers. Heifers (n = 180) were assigned at weaning to blocks and treatments. Treatments included two dietary regimens (corn silage vs pasture + oatlage), trace mineral supplementation, and puberty induction strategy (with or witho...

The term biomineral refers not only to a mineral produced by organisms, but also to the fact that almost all of these mineralized products are composite materials comprised of both mineral and organic components. Furthermore, having formed under controlled conditions, biomineral phases often have properties such as shape, size, crystallinity, isotopic and trace element compositions quite unlike...

We conducted a study to evaluate the influences of nutritional management, trace mineral supplementation, and exogenous progesterone on attainment of puberty in beef heifers. Heifers (n = 180) were assigned at weaning to blocks and treatments. Treatments included two dietary regimens (corn silage vs pasture + oatlage), trace mineral supplementation, and puberty induction strategy (with or witho...