Nutritional performance

Relatively high levels of copper in pig diets can improve nutritional performance due to the antimicrobial effects in the gastrointestinal tract. However, if land is fertilized with dung from pigs and subsequently grazed by sheep, the sheep may suffer copper toxicity because of their increased susceptibility to copper compared with pigs. Similarly, pig diets would be unacceptable for sheep because of the high levels of copper therein. 

Despite these issues, creatine remains well-known as a nutritional, performance-enhancing supplement used by athletes to improve high-intensity muscle endurance and performance. Bodybuilders and weightlifters supplement with creatine to bulk up muscles, and athletes involved in team sports train with creatine to increase their energy for sprints and other short and intense muscular tasks. Statistics show that the use of creatine by adolescent and adult athletes is growing. Yet research is still largely inconclusive on exactly how... 

The assessment of compositional equivalence, livestock nutritional performance, and safety in rodent feeding studies share many common features. All these studies involve test, control, and reference groups, a specified experimental design that involves randomization and replication, followed by data collection (measurements) and lastly, evaluation (statistics). The study plan for the compositional analysis of maize has been described in detail previously (11) and is summarized in Table 1. The maize test line (event NK603), the control line (a near isogenic parental hybrid), and reference lines (19 conventional, non-transgenic commercial hybrids) obtained from controlled field trials were included in the study. Field sites were located in two different geographic areas, the United States (U.S.) and the European Union (E.U.), over... 

The study plan for the evaluation of the nutritional performance of maize... 

Van Milgen, J., 2002. Modeling biochemical aspects of energy metabolism in mammals. J. Nut 132,3195-3202. Verite, R. and L. Delaby, 2000. Relation between nutrition, performances and nitaogen excretion in dairy cows. Ann. Zootech. 49,217-230. 

Protein Content. The protein content of milk can be determined using a variety of methods including gasometric, Kjeldahl, titration, colorimetric, and optical procedures (see Proteins). Because most of the techniques are too cumbersome for routine use in a dairy plant, payment for milk has seldom been made on the basis of its protein content. Dye-binding tests have been appHed to milk for determination of its protein content these are relatively simple to perform and can be carried out in dairy plant laboratories. More emphasis will be given to assessing the nutritional value of milk, and the dependence on fat content as a basis for payment will most likely change. 

Wool, as a keratin, is a highly cross-linked, insoluble proteinaceous fiber, and few animals have developed the specialized digestive systems that aUow them to derive nutrition from the potential protein resource. In nature, these few keratin-digesting animals, principally the larvae of clothes moths and carpet beetles, perform a useful function in scavenging the keratinous parts of dead animals and animal debris (fur, skin, beak, claw, feathers) that ate inaccessible to other animals. It is only when these keratin-digesting animals attack processed wool goods that they are classified as pests. Very often they enter domestic or industrial huildings from natural habitats such as birds nests. 

Akermark, C., Jacobs, I., Rasmusson, M., and Karlsson, J., 1996. Diet and muscle glycogen concentration in relation to physical performance in Swedish elite ice hockey players. International Journal of Sport Nutrition 6 272-284. 

On the GM debate and biosafety research, a review of results performed under the European Commission supervision ( EC-sponsored Research on Safety of Genetically Modified Organisms , edited by C. Kessler and I. Economidis) is available also online at the EU-website http //europa.eu.int/ comm/research/quality-of-life/gmo/. An update on current research in food safety, nutrition and food-related disease might be found in the websites of the World Health Organization, http //www.who.int/fsf/GMfood/index.htm, and of the UK Food Standards Agency, http //www.foodstandards.gov.uk/. 

Other than a nutritional role linked to mineralization processes, humic compounds have been hypothesized to directly affect plant nutrition, since it has been suggested that roots may take up low-molecular-weight humic molecules (21). Interestingly, plants have been ob.served to express carriers for amino acids (22) and small peptides (23) at the root level. Certain components of the humic fraction have been found inside root cells and were, moreover, translocated to the shoots (24,25). Recent experiments performed on rice cells in suspension culture seem to suggest that they may use carbon skeletons from humic molecules to synthesize proteins and DNA (26). 

The first step before delivering specialized nutrition support is to perform a nutritional assessment and determine nutrient requirements based on the patient s nutritional status and clinical conditions. Collect subjective and objective data to determine a patient s level of nutrition, to identify patients with malnutrition or at risk for malnutrition, and to identify risk factors that may put a patient at risk for nutrition-related problems.1 A nutrition assessment should include 1,19... 

After performing a nutrition assessment and estimating nutritional requirements, determine the optimal route to provide specialized nutrition support (e.g., oral, enteral, or parenteral). If PN is deemed necessary, venous access (i.e., peripheral or central see below) for PN infusion must be obtained. Finally, formulate a PN prescription, and administer PN according to proper safety guidelines. 

The goal is to transition the patient to enteral or oral nutrition and taper off PN as soon as feasible clinically. When initiating enteral or oral nutrition, monitor the patient for glucose, fluid, and electrolyte abnormalities. Perform calorie counts to determine the adequacy of nutrition via the oral or enteral route. When the patient is tolerating more than 50% of total estimated daily calorie and protein requirements via the oral or enteral route, wean PN by about 50%. PN can be stopped once the patient is tolerating more than 75% of total estimated daily calorie and protein requirements via the oral or enteral route, assuming that intestinal absorption is maintained. 

Soekhoe, U. and Kerstens, H.J. (1995) Determination ofPropoxur, Methiocarb, and Tinopal on Gloves, Filters, and Leaves by High Performance Liquid Chromatography, Report DATV/BT/076, TNO Nutrition and Food Research Institute, Department of Occupational Toxicology, Rijswijk, The Netherlands (in Dutch). 

McArdle, W.D., Katch, F.I., and Katch, V.L., Exercise Physiology, Energy, Nutrition and Human Performance, 4th ed., Williams Wilkins, Baltimore, 1996. 

Kennedy DO, Scholey AB and Wesnes KA (2001a). Differential, dose dependent changes in cognitive performance following acute administration of a Ginkgo biloba/Panax ginseng combination to healthy young volunteers. Nutritional Neuroscience, 4, 399-412. 

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