The influence of food restriction versus ad libitum feeding of chow and purified diets on variation in body weight, growth and physiology of female Wistar rats.

Ad libitum (AL) supply of standard chow is the feeding method most often used for rodents in animal experiments. However, AL feeding is known to result in a shorter lifespan and decreased health as compared with restricted feeding. Restricted feeding and thus limiting calorie intake prevents many health problems, increases lifespan and can also increase group uniformity.

Assessing the search for and implementation of the Three Rs: a survey among scientists.

A survey among scientists into the current practice of searching for Replacement, Reduction and Refinement (Three Rs) alternatives, highlights the gap between the statutory required need to apply the Three Rs concept whenever possible and the lack of criteria for searching for Three Rs alternatives. A questionnaire was distributed to 342 scientists (Federation of European Laboratory Animal Science Associations [FELASA] Category C and B individuals), of which 67 responded. These scientists are customers of the Central Animal Laboratory of Radboud University Nijmegen Medical Centre.

Prediction of pork quality using visible/near-infrared reflectance spectroscopy.

Near-infrared spectroscopy is a rapid screening technique that may be used to determine meat quality traits. While several calibrations on meat quality parameters have been published, the accuracy and robustness of a calibration has rarely been validated with independent samples. In this study, in 207 loin muscles from three independent batches of pigs of different breeds drip loss, colour values, pH and intramuscular fat were determined.

Short-term feeding strategies and pork quality.

Two experiments were done to determine whether short-term supplementation (5 days pre-slaughter) with magnesium acetate, or a combination of magnesium acetate, tryptophan, vitamin E and vitamin C would improve pork quality. In the first experiment the pigs (Pietrain×Yorkshire, n=96) were fed a standard feed or a magnesium supplemented feed for 5 days prior to slaughter. As a possible stress factor half of the animals were slaughtered upon arrival at the slaughterplant whereas the remaining animals were allowed two hours of rest in lairage before slaughter.

Minimally invasive technique based on ultraslow ultrafiltration to collect and store time profiles of analytes.

A device is described to collect and store continuously time profiles of analytes over periods of 24 h suitable to sample freely moving individuals (humans and animals). The device consists of a hollow fiber ultrafiltration probe, a long capillary and a nonmechanical unit (a disposable medical syringe) driven by vacuum to withdraw fluid. The principle is that at low rates (< or = 100 nL/min), sample fluid is collected through the ultrafiltration probe into the capillary.