Previous studies have shown that elevated basal homocysteine levels are correlated among family members of patients with coronary vascular disease and juvenile venous thrombosis. This suggests the possibility of the presence of inherited basal mild hyperhomocysteinemia (mHH). We studied homocysteine levels, fasting as well as after methionine load, among 96 family members of 21 post-load hyperh...

Four hundred and eighty mixed-sex broiler chicks aged 3 hrs after hatching were allotted according to a completely random design in a 6 × 2 × 2 factorial schedule into 2 groups of 12 replications of 20 chicks each. The main experimental factors were fasting for 0, 6, 12, 24, 36, and 48 hrs after chick placement, calcium gluconate (Ca-glu) injection (0 and 0.6 mL) and sex (male and female). Inde...

Sir,—I refer to the recent review by Phillips, Daborn and Hatch [1]. Between 1991 and 1993 the Department of Anaesthetics in Newcastle examined the problem of preoperative fasting intervals for children presenting for routine surgery. An initial audit revealed that many children were undergoing prolonged fasts before anaesthesia. After reviewing the literature [2], 8 clear fluid fast of 2 h was...

A previous genome-wide association study (GWAS) exposed histone deacetylase 2 (HDAC2) as a possible candidate gene for breast muscle weight in chickens. The present research has examined the possible role of HDAC2 in skeletal muscle development in chickens. Gene expression was measured by quantitative polymerase chain reaction in breast and thigh muscles during both embryonic (four ages) and po...

Domestication is thought to increase stress tolerance. The connection between stressor exposure, glucocorticoids and behavioural responses has been studied in adults, where domestication effects are evident. Early stress exposure may induce detrimental effects both in short-and long term. Previous research has reported a lack of glucocorticoid response in newly hatched chickens (Gallus gallus),...

Post-hatch fishes lack a functional gill and use cutaneous surfaces for exchange with the surrounding environment. The ionoregulatory hypothesis posits that ionoregulation is the first physiological process to be limited by cutaneous exchange, necessitating its shift to the gills. We hypothesized that the ontogeny of branchial ammonia excretion (J amm) is coupled to Na(+) uptake (J Na in) in ac...

The effect of early transition of the digestive system to exogenous nutrition was examined in three experiments with growing birds. A nutrient mixture (0.5 ml) of glucose, starch and oil (1:1:0.5, by vol) was orally administered immediately after hatch to turkey poults (Meleagris gallopavo) having immediate or delayed access to feed (Expt 1). Increasing amounts (0, 0.25 and 0.5 ml) of this mixt...

Early developmental experiences, such as incubation conditions, can have important consequences for post-hatching fitness in birds. Although the effects of incubation temperature on phenotype of avian hatchlings are poorly understood, recent research suggests that subtle changes in incubation conditions can influence hatchling characteristics, including body size and condition. We designed an e...

Desalination is a promising sustainable solution to meet growing water needs of cities across the United States. However, the environmental impacts of the resulting filtrate (brine) discharged to surface water need to be evaluated before large-scale desalination can be successful in the United States. Developing fish are especially sensitive to changes in salinity and varying ionic composition....