Use of natural ingredients in Japanese quail diet and their effect on carcass and meat quality — A review

Rey David Vargas-Sanchez,Felix Joel Ibarra-Arias,Brisa del Mar Torres-Martinez,Armida Sanchez-Escalante,Gaston Ramon Torrescano-Urrutia 아세아·태평양축산학회 2019 Animal Bioscience Vol.32 No.11

The present paper reviews the findings of different research studies on the effect of natural ingredients in the Japanese quail (Coturnix coturnix japonica) diet on carcass characteristics and meat quality. The results show a relationship between the type and concentration of ingredients used in diets and carcass characteristics and meat quality. The inclusion of medicinal herbs (thyme, black seed, and mint), plants (canola), seeds (chickpea), spices (cinnamon and coriander), worms (earthworms), bee products (propolis), phytochemicals (lycopene), and edible fungi (common mushrooms) in the diet improved carcass quality characteristics compared to the control diets (basal diets). The inclusion of medicinal herbs (spearmint and green tea), spices (cinnamon), vegetables (tomato), plants (verbena and canola), seeds (marijuana), and edible fungi (oyster mushrooms) improved meat quality. In conclusion, the use of ingredients of natural origin in the diet of Japanese quail improves carcass quality characteristics and meat quality.

DOMESTIC INTEGRATION OF RICE MARKETS IN THE PHILIPPINES AND ITS DETERMINANTS

Torres, Maria Angelica C.,Bacud, Eva Salve,Delos Reyes, Julieta 한국무역학회 2019 한국무역학회 국제학술대회 Vol.2019 No.08

Due to the high political significance of rice, government has been putting efforts in order to address rice insufficiency in the Philippines. Provisioning of trade reforms and policies is one of the interventions to improve the availability and affordability of rice in the country, and to protect the welfare of the local rice farmers. Government intervention and support services would not be fully effective if markets are not integrated, since price signals would not be transmitted efficiently and gains from trade will not be fully grasped. This paper examined integration between domestic rice markets across 16 regions in the Philippines using Johansen co-integration approach with 18-year period monthly retail price series of regular-milled rice from January 2000 to December 2017. Determinants of market integration were also identified. It was found out that 63% of the regional rice markets are integrated. Volume of production, distance and shock affected areas have significantly influenced integration among regional rice markets.

Migratory Aesthetics in Diasporic Claustrophobia

Maria Luisa Torres Reyes Academy of Mobility Humanities 2022 Mobility Humanities Vol.1 No.1

The studies of people’s migration and artistic mobilisation are traditionally viewed separately as discreet critical and disciplinary practices: the former is said to belong to the social sciences and the latter, to the humanities. From this perspective, Literature, for example, is considered to belong to the Arts and Humanities. However, this paper suggests that Literature could constitute an axis of articulation of mobile forces of real diasporic lives studied by the social sciences and of itinerant figures of imagined lives depicted by the arts. This paper shows such an intersection through a close reading of “Arrivederci,” an award-winning Tagalog short story written by Fanny A. Garcia, a multi-awarded fictionist in the Philippines. This short story was published in the early 1980s, during the early years of “exporting” Filipino labour as government policy during the Marcos dictatorship. The analysis points to how a literary text could both depict the dire conditions of the life of Filipino domestic workers in diaspora and foreshadow the by-now-familiar narrative of the so-called “mga bagong bayani” (“the new heroes”)‚ the overseas Filipino workers (OFWs). In this narrative, what unfold are the textualualization of the concrete experience of migration of Filipino overseas domestic helpers and the realisation of the principle of aesthetic structuring in a literary text. Both in Philippine literary history and the history of Filipino migration since the 1970s, the significance of “Arrivederci” is in its early, almost prescient,literary iteration of the specificity of the experience of the overseas contract workers, foreshadowing its later reiteration in their real lives, which this paper refers to as diasporic claustrophobia.

Introduction: Filipinos, Filipinos, Everywhere

Maria Luisa Torres Reyes 건국대학교 아시아·디아스포라 연구소 2017 International Journal of Diaspora&Cultural Critici Vol.7 No.1

The Ethical in the Aesthetic/The Aesthetic in the Ethical in Literatures from the Philippines

Maria Luisa Torres Reyes 건국대학교 아시아·디아스포라 연구소 2019 International Journal of Diaspora&Cultural Critici Vol.9 No.1

In Philippine literary studies, the “ethical turn” interfaces with the “aesthetic turn” particularly through the ways in which Western literary genres are artfully deployed, negotiated, reinvented and even resisted in non-Western contexts. In this sense, the aesthetic turn - “the question of genre or formal convention” - is intertwined with the ethical turn, at once foregrounding the textual strategies by which the particularities of poetics are constituted and highlighting the dynamic of reciprocal constitution at the point of interface. Rather than viewed in fixed, unitary, abstract, and universalizing terms, the interface might be regarded as evocative of mobile textuality between aesthetic valuation and ethical judgments; additionally, it is characterized by textual mobility across linguistic, cultural, social and historical contexts allowing for rich hermeneutical reflexivity. This mobility at the dynamic moment of interface will be discussed in this paper, but while such interface continues to be germane in the country’s postcolonial literature, the focus will be on the earlier periods of the country’s complex colonial history.

Unveiling the effects of liberalizing rice imports on domestic rice markets and poverty: Case in the Philippines

Bacud, Eva Salve,Torres, Maria Angelica C,Delos Reyes, Julieta 한국무역학회 2019 한국무역학회 국제학술대회 Vol.2019 No.08

Whether to liberalize or protect the Philippine rice industry, has been a topic in question for many decades now especially among rice importing countries. Consequences of tarrification reforms on domestic rice markets in terms of prices and production, as well as well as its welfare effects are not conclusively known. Using Seemingly Unrelated Regression Equations (SURE) analysis, elasticities of change on wholesale and farmgate prices, rice harvested area, rice supply, and consumption expenditures were estimated. These elasticities were then used in estimating the changes on prices, supply, and expenditures and welfare. Findings suggest that imposing tariffs results to increasing wholesale prices as well as farmgate prices. The level of price changes of wholesale rice prices appeared to be more than the change in farmgate prices. As majority of the country’s population are net consumers rather than producers, this would mean that more consumers will shoulder price increases as brought by tariffication. Meanwhile, domestic rice producers could benefit from improvements in farmgate prices. In fact, it was further found out that rice acreage and rice supply could increase as a result of this positive consequence on farmgate prices. Moreover, the mentioned changes increase by increasing tariff rates 35%, 40% and 180% (which are tariffs levels imposed under the Rice Tariffication Law). Import surges appeared to increase poverty incidence as immediate effects of tariffication but could then lower poverty level in the long run.

Growth performance, carcass traits, muscle fiber characteristics and skeletal muscle mRNA abundance in hair lambs supplemented with ferulic acid

( Edgar Fernando Peña-torres ),( Candelario Castillo-salas ),( Ismael Jiménez-estrada ),( Adriana Muhlia-almazán ),( Etna Aida Peña-ramos ),( Araceli Pinelli-saavedra ),( Leonel Avendaño-reyes ),( Cin 한국축산학회 2022 한국축산학회지 Vol.64 No.1

Ferulic acid (FA) is a phytochemical with various bioactive properties. It has recently been proposed that due to its phytogenic action it can be used as an alternative growth promoter additive to synthetic compounds. The objective of the present study was to evaluate the growth performance, carcass traits, fiber characterization and skeletal muscle gene expression on hair-lambs supplemented with two doses of FA. Thirty-two male lambs (n = 8 per treatment) were individually housed during a 32 d feeding trial to evaluate the effect of FA (300 and 600 mg d^-1) or zilpaterol hydrochloride (ZH; 6 mg d^-1) on growth performance, and then slaughtered to evaluate the effects on carcass traits, and muscle fibers morphometry from Longissimus thoracis (LT) and mRNA abundance of β2-adrenergic receptor (β₂-AR), MHC-I, MHC-IIX and IGF-I genes. FA increased final weight and average daily gain with respect to non-supplemented animals (p < 0.05). The ZH supplementation increased LT muscle area, with respect to FA doses and control (p < 0.05). Cross-sectional area (CSA) of oxidative fibers was larger with FA doses and ZH (p < 0.05). Feeding ZH increased mRNA abundance for β₂-AR compared to FA and control (p < 0.05), and expression of MHC-I was affected by FA doses and ZH (p < 0.05). Overall, FA supplementation of male hair lambs enhanced productive variables due to skeletal muscle hypertrophy caused by MHC-I up-regulation. Results suggest that FA has the potential like a growth promoter in lambs.

HOXA9 is Underexpressed in Cervical Cancer Cells and its Restoration Decreases Proliferation, Migration and Expression of Epithelial-to-Mesenchymal Transition Genes

Alvarado-Ruiz, Liliana,Martinez-Silva, Maria Guadalupe,Torres-Reyes, Luis Alberto,Pina-Sanchez, Patricia,Ortiz-Lazareno, Pablo,Bravo-Cuellar, Alejandro,Aguilar-Lemarroy, Adriana,Jave-Suarez, Luis Feli Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention 2016 Asian Pacific journal of cancer prevention Vol.17 No.3

HOX transcription factors are evolutionarily conserved in many different species and are involved in important cellular processes such as morphogenesis, differentiation, and proliferation. They have also recently been implicated in carcinogenesis, but their precise role in cancer, especially in cervical cancer (CC), remains unclear. In this work, using microarray assays followed by the quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR), we found that the expression of 25 HOX genes was downregulated in CC derived cell lines compared with non-tumorigenic keratinocytes. In particular, the expression of HOXA9 was observed as down-modulated in CC-derived cell lines. The expression of HOXA9 has not been previously reported in CC, or in normal keratinocytes of the cervix. We found that normal CC from women without cervical lesions express HOXA9; in contrast, CC cell lines and samples of biopsies from women with CC showed significantly diminished HOXA9 expression. Furthermore, we found that methylation at the first exon of HOXA9 could play an important role in modulating the expression of this gene. Exogenous restoration of HOXA9 expression in CC cell lines decreased cell proliferation and migration, and induced an epithelial-like phenotype. Interestingly, the silencing of human papilloma virus (HPV) E6 and E7 oncogenes induced expression of HOXA9. In conclusion, controlling HOXA9 expression appears to be a necessary step during CC development. Further studies are needed to delineate the role of HOXA9 during malignant progression and to afford more insights into the relationship between downmodulation of HOXA9 and viral HPV oncoprotein expression during cercical cancer development.

Spatial Market Integration of Regional Fertilizer Markets in the Philippines and Determinants

Eva Salve T,Bacud,Julieta A,Delos Reyes,Maria Angelica C,Torres,Christhaline A,Arellano 한국무역연구원 2019 The International Academy of Global Business and T Vol.15 No.1

Purpose - While several studies focusing on the integration of rice markets in order to lower prices have been conducted, little is understood about the market integration of production inputs. Price variation in production inputs, however, is also a strong factor influencing rice prices. Fertilizer is among the major inputs in rice production, implying that any change in fertilizer prices would have implications on rice prices. As fertilizer tends to register high prices and wide disparities in domestic markets, lowering its price is deemed to be effective in increasing its uptake among rice farmers. This paper attempted to answer the following research questions: (1) How closely integrated are the domestic fertilizer markets? (2) Is there price leadership, and correspondingly, are there price followers? (3) Do higher fertilizer prices exist in more segmented markets? (4) What are the determinants of price differences and market integration across regional fertilizer markets? Design/Methodology/Approach - In order to test for spatial market integration, the correlation coefficient analysis, Granger causality and the Johansen cointegration test were employed. The Johansen cointegration test was performed on 2000-2017 price series data of urea and complete fertilizer of all 16 regions in the Philippines. Findings - It was found that 95% of regional markets for urea and 81% for complete fertilizer were integrated. Rice-producing regions tended to act as price leaders, whereas regions producing less rice were price followers. Results from OLS regression analysis suggest that lower price differences tended to prevail in integrated markets and infrastructures; distance and output difference are among the determinants of market integration. Research Implications - Identifying which markets are integrated is extremely crucial in policy development as it allows the government to fast track its interventions. In integrated markets, any price fluctuation in one market is also likely to happen in another integrated market. It therefore signals to the government in which regions to focus the interventions on, especially in its efforts to stabilize the prices of rice. For instance, it could implement centralized policies in integrated fertilizer markets, and decentralized policies in less integrated ones. Having identified the determinants that influence integration should also allow the government to decide what kind of interventions to implement in order to promote the integration of spatially segregated markets.

Characterization of hypotensive and vasorelaxant effects of PHAR-DBH-Me a new cannabinoid receptor agonist

Oscar Alberto López-Canales,Natalia Pavón,Laura Matilde Ubaldo-Reyes,Marco Antonio Juárez-Oropeza,Patricia Victoria Torres-Durán,Ignacio Regla,María Cristina Paredes-Carbajal 대한약리학회 2022 The Korean Journal of Physiology & Pharmacology Vol.26 No.2

The effect of PHAR-DBH-Me, a cannabinoid receptor agonist, on different cardiovascular responses in adult male rats was analyzed. The blood pressure was measured directly and indirectly. The coronary flow was measured by Langendorff preparation, and vasomotor responses induced by PHAR-DBH-Me in aortic rings precontracted with phenylephrine (PHEN) were analyzed. The intravenous injection of the compound PHAR-DBH-Me (0.018–185 μg/kg) resulted in decreased blood pressure; maximum effect was observed at the dose of 1,850 μg/kg. A concentrationdependent increase in the coronary flow was observed in a Langendorff preparation. In the aortic rings, with and without endothelium, pre-contracted with PHEN (10–6 M), the addition of PHAR-DBH-Me to the superfusion solution (10–12–10–5 M), produced a vasodilator response, which depends on the concentration and presence of the endothelium. L-NAME inhibited these effects. Addition of CB1 receptor antagonist (AM 251) did not modify the response, while CB2 receptor antagonist (AM630) decreased the potency of relaxation elicited by PHAR-DBH-Me. Indomethacin shifted the curve concentration-response to the left and produced an increase in the magnitude of the maximum endothelium dependent response to this compound. The maximum effect of PHAR-DBH-Me was observed with the concentration of 10–5 M. These results show that PHAR-DBH-Me has a concentration-dependent and endothelium-dependent vasodilator effect through CB2 receptor. This vasodilation is probably mediated by the synthesis/release of NO. On the other hand, it is suggested that PHAR-DBH-Me also induces the release of a vasoconstrictor prostanoid.