Use of carcass weight to classify Manchego sucking lambs and its relation to carcass and meat quality

Eighty-seven Manchego sucking lambs raised exclusively on maternal milk were slaughtered. The carcasses were weighed immediately after dressing and classified according to hot carcass weight (HCW): low HCW (<5.5 kg), medium HCW (5.5 to 6.5 kg) and high HCW (≥ 6.5 kg). The effects of this classification system on carcass and meat quality were studied. Carcass conformation improved as carcass weight increased; carcasses became more compact. Carcass fatness increased (P< 0.001) as carcasses became heavier. With regard to the joints, leg (P< 0.001) and shoulder (P< 0.05) proportions decreased as carcass weight increased, whereas loin-rib (P< 0.001) and flank (P< 0.001) proportions increased. The proportion of fat in the leg clearly increased in the heavier carcasses (P< 0.001), while that of bone decreased (P< 0.001) and that of muscle was not affected. pH at 24 h in them. longissimusdorsi andm. semitendinosusdecreased as carcass weight increased. The only meat colour parameter affected by carcass weight was the yellowness index; lighter-weight carcasses displayed lower index (P< 0.05). Cooking losses were unaffected as carcass weight increased, whereas with regard to tenderness, the shear force value tended to be higher in the low carcass weight group. No differences between carcass weight groups were found in the sensory analysis. Fatty acid composition did not show any significant effect due to carcass weight except in stearic fatty acid (C18:0); C18:0 proportion decreased (P< 0.01) as carcasses became heavier. Carcass weight affected carcass quality (all carcass quality parameters studied were higher in the heavier carcasses), whereas meat quality varied little as a result the small variation between carcass weights in sucking lambs.

[Stroke incidence in Asturias, 1990-1991]

BACKGROUND

Stroke, with a rate of 121/100,000 was the second cause of death in Asturias, Spain. Here we communicate the results of a population based stroke register in the oriental health districts of Asturias.

METHOD

The study took place between October 1, 1990 and May 30, 1991, covering a population of 652,549. Surveillance was both active and passive and included the public and private hospitals, and the primary health care. Death certificates could not be checked due to legal reasons. We defined case following the WHO criteria.

RESULTS

During the eight months of study 708 case occurred. The crude incidence rate of first stroke was 132.4/100,000 and that of any stroke, 162.7/100,000. The age adjusted incidence to the world population was, respectively, 61.3/100,000 and 73.6/100,000. There were no differences in the incidence across sexes. Age showed a strong effect in cerebral infarctation and less marked in intracerebral hemorrhage Infarcts are very rare in women before 50. Distribution of stroke type was: infarct: 77%; intracerebral hemorrhages: 14%: subarachnoid hemorrhage: 4% and unspecified stroke: 4%. Almost 50% of the strokes occurred in the morning hours, from 6:00 am to 12:00 am also during the cold season, winter and fall, the proportion of stroke was higher than during the warm season.

CONCLUSION

Stroke is an important cause of morbi-mortality in Asturias. The magnitude of mortality is larger than the expected from the incidence. It maybe explained by a high case/fatality ratio in Asturias due to proportion of hemorrhagic stroke, the ageing of the population and the distribution of competing causes of death. However, we cannot rule out a small incomplete registration of cases, mostly in patients over 85. We estimated the incidence of any stroke, given underegistration, to be 176/100,000 for any stroke.

[Effect of manganese poisoning on the levels of manganese and iron in rat viscera]

Twenty rats were poisoned by manganese inhalation, and sacrificed six months after the first exposure. The tissue concentrations (in microgram/g dry weight) of manganese and iron were found in liver, pancreas, lung, kidney and suprarenal gland for atomic absorption spectrometry in control and experimental animals. The measurements show high tissue concentrations of manganese, especially in liver and pancreas of the experimental animals, as well as a little increase in the tissue concentrations of iron, fundamentally in liver, kidney and suprarenal gland.

[Levels of manganese and iron in the brain of normal and manganese-poisoned rats]

Forty rats were poisoned by manganese inhalation and were sacrificed after six and nine months. Tissue concentrations (in mg/g dry weight) were measured in brain, cerebellum and stem-brain of the experimental animals and the twenty control rats, for atomic absorption spectometry. The increase in tissue manganese concentrations were very pronounced in cerebellum, and minor in brain and stem-brain. The tissue iron concentrations undergo a light increase in cerebellum and stem-brain.