352. Variations in the carotene and vitamin A contents of certain New Zealand butterfats

1947 ◽  
Vol 15 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 80-88 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. R. Barnicoat

1. Chemical estimations of carotene and vitamin A in New Zealand butters from two of the principal butter-making districts of the North Island during the seasons 1935–6 show that the total vitamin A potency was fairly high.2. There were seasonal variations apparently due to nutritional rather than physiological causes. The minimum values (33–37 i.u./g. butterfat) for total vitamin A were found in late summer (February) at the time when the pasture normally tends to dry up, while the peak values (42–53 i.u./g. butterfat) occurred in late winter and spring (July-October). The variations in vitamin A potency with season were in the opposite direction to the variations recorded in the literature for Europe and America. The difference is no doubt due to the practice of stall-feeding in these countries in contrast with the all-the-year-round grazing commonly practised on dairy farms in New Zealand. The spring flush of grass is also later in the season in Europe than in New Zealand.3. The more deeply-coloured Jersey butterfat was only slightly richer in total vitamin A potency than Friesian butterfat.4. Contents of carotene and vitamin A in the fat of colostrum were very high, but reached normal values within 4 or 5 days after parturition.

2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. 10429-10434

The climate has an influence on the COVID-19 virus lethality. The aim of this study is to verify if the summer weather coincided with the decrease of the Case Fatality Ratio (CFR) in Europe and if, on the contrary, an inverse trend was observed in Australia and New Zealand. To verify our hypothesis, we considered the largest European countries (Germany, UK, France, Italy, and Spain), plus Belgium and the Netherlands. Furthermore, we compared these countries with Australia and New Zealand. For each country considered, we have calculated the CFR from the beginning of the pandemic to May 6th and from May 6th to September 21st (late summer in Europe, late winter in the southern hemisphere). The CFRs were calculated from the John Hopkins University database. According to the results, in all European countries, a progressive decrease in CFR is observed. A diametrically opposite result is found in Australia where, on the contrary, the CFR is much higher at the end of September (at the end of winter) than on May 6th (mid-autumn), and the risk of dying if we count the infection is higher in September. In New Zealand, there are no statistically significant differences between the two surveys. The present study was based on public access macro data.


2020 ◽  
Vol 33 (1) ◽  
pp. 201-212
Author(s):  
G. Wolf ◽  
A. Czaja ◽  
D. J. Brayshaw ◽  
N. P. Klingaman

AbstractLarge-scale, quasi-stationary atmospheric waves (QSWs) are known to be strongly connected with extreme events and general weather conditions. Yet, despite their importance, there is still a lack of understanding about what drives variability in QSW. This study is a step toward this goal, and it identifies three statistically significant connections between QSWs and sea surface anomalies (temperature and ice cover) by applying a maximum covariance analysis technique to reanalysis data (1979–2015). The two most dominant connections are linked to El Niño–Southern Oscillation and the North Atlantic Oscillation. They confirm the expected relationship between QSWs and anomalous surface conditions in the tropical Pacific and the North Atlantic, but they cannot be used to infer a driving mechanism or predictability from the sea surface temperature or the sea ice cover to the QSW. The third connection, in contrast, occurs between late winter to early spring Atlantic sea ice concentrations and anomalous QSW patterns in the following late summer to early autumn. This new finding offers a pathway for possible long-term predictability of late summer QSW occurrence.


1970 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 291-298
Author(s):  
A. C. Rowland

SUMMARYThe seasonal incidence of rumen and liver lesions is recorded in traditional and in intensively managed cattle, together with the vitamin A status of the two groups. Rumen lesions were observed to reach a peak in the late winter and early spring in traditional cattle, at which time the liver vitamin A levels fell to the lowest point; liver lesions reached a peak in the late summer. No specific trend was observable in rumen and liver lesions in the barley beef group. The mean levels of vitamin A were approximately one-third of those shown by the traditionally managed animals.It did not prove possible using the agglutination test to identify the sera of animals showing active hepatic necrobacillosis at the time of slaughter.


1953 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
pp. 76-100 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. K. R. McDowell ◽  
F. H. McDowall

Results of a survey of the carotene and vitamin A contents, and of the vitamin A potency, of New Zealand butterfat and butter, are presented. The butter samples were drawn from twenty representative commercial factories at fortnightly intervals over three successive years (1946–8). The survey covers the analysis of 1517 samples of fresh butter and 670 samples of stored butter.There were uniform and regularly recurring seasonal variations in both carotene and vitamin A contents of butterfats from all North Island districts. Maximum values were found in the late-autumn/winter/early-spring, and minimum values in the late-summer/early-autumn butterfats. The seasonal trends were thus distinctly different from those which have been reported for northern hemisphere butterfats, for which the maximum values are commonly found during the summer grazing period.The seasonal variations in carotene and vitamin A contents of South Island butterfat were less marked and less consistent than those in the corresponding values for North Island butterfat.


1976 ◽  
Vol 54 (3-4) ◽  
pp. 281-292 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lynda J. Goff ◽  
Kathleen Cole

A 20-month field study of the reproductive biology of the parasitic red alga Harveyella mirabilis was undertaken to investigate the effects of environmental parameters on the reproductive periodicity of Harveyella in the intertidal habitat. In the northeast Pacific, tetraspores have been observed in the late winter - early spring; apparently they are produced in response to increased available sunlight and water temperature. Gametogenesis appears to be temperature sensitive; it occurs between a narrow temperature range (9–11 °C). Carpospores are produced in the late summer when both water temperature and day length reach a peak. The phenology of H. mirabilis in the North Atlantic differs from that which is observed in the North Pacific in the timing of gametogenesis and carposporogenesis. The significance of this is discussed in relation to the possible effects of differences in seawater temperature on gametogenesis.


The difference between the northern and southern hemispheres in the distribution of land and sea fundamentally affects the problems of the origin, dispersal and distribution of the biota. Whereas a circumpolar distribution seems to be quite natural in the north, it is much more difficult to explain when we get to the south. Although the naturalists of James Cook’s first and second voyages visited both New Zealand and Tierra del Fuego, the purport of the existence of closely related but geographically widely disjunct organisms did not dawn upon them; Terra Australis, a vision of the old cosmographers to counterbalance the solid North, but searched for in vain by Cook, had disappeared from the map. It fell to Joseph Hooker to discover a circumpolar Flora Antarctica at a time when the Antarctic Continent, thus named by Ross, had become a reality. What Hooker found on truly antarctic shores was not very promising, but the discovery of fossilized gymnosperm wood on Kerguelen made him speculate on former antarctic forests and on the possibility of greater land areas where only small, scattered islands are found now. In a letter to Darwin in November 1851 (Huxley 1918, p. 445) he wrote: ‘... recent discoveries rather tend to ally the N. Zeald. Flora with the Australian—though there is enough affinity with extratropical S. America to be


2019 ◽  
Vol 96 (1133) ◽  
pp. 139-143 ◽  
Author(s):  
Qian Wu ◽  
Zhiwei Xu ◽  
Yi-Lin Dan ◽  
Chan-Na Zhao ◽  
Yan-Mei Mao ◽  
...  

ObjectiveAlthough patients with psoriasis frequently report seasonal changes in their symptoms, the seasonality of psoriasis has rarely been explored. This study aims to investigate the seasonal pattern of and global public interest in psoriasis using Google search data.MethodsInternet search data were collected from Google Trends. Data on the relative search volume (RSV) from January 2004 to December 2018 were retrieved using the term psoriasis. Cosinor analyses were conducted to examine the seasonality of psoriasis using data from two southern hemisphere countries (Australia and New Zealand) and four northern hemisphere countries (USA, Canada, UK and Ireland).ResultsOverall, searches for psoriasis steadily decreased between 2004 and 2010, and then rose from 2011 to 2018. On cosinor analyses, RSV of ‘psoriasis’ displayed a significant seasonal variation worldwide (p<0.025). Further analyses confirmed the seasonality of psoriasis-related RSV in Australia, New Zealand, USA, Canada, UK and Ireland (p<0.025 for all), with peaks in the late winter/early spring months and troughs in the late summer/early autumn months. The top 11 rising topics were calcipotriol/betamethasone dipropionate, ustekinumab, apremilast, shampoo, eczema, guttate psoriasis, seborrhoeic dermatitis, dermatitis, psoriatic arthritis, atopic dermatitis and arthritis.ConclusionThere was a significant seasonal pattern for psoriasis, with peaks in the late winter/early spring and troughs in the late summer/early autumn. Further studies are warranted to confirm the seasonal pattern of psoriasis using clinical data and to explore the underlying mechanisms.


1952 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
pp. 119-126 ◽  
Author(s):  
W. A. McGillivray

1. Reasons for the seasonal variations in the vitamin A potency of New Zealand butterfat have been investigated. Adequate carotene for the production of butterfat of maximum potency has been shown to be present in New Zealand pasture throughout the year, but during the summer period this carotene is relatively non-available to dairy cows.2. In experiments with monozygotic twins grazing average summer pasture it has been shown that a supplement of 1 g. of tocopherol per day increased both carotene and vitamin A levels in the milk fat, the total vitamin A potency being raised from a typical midsummer minimum of 34 i.u./g. fat to a value approaching the maximum late winterspring level of about 50 i.u./g. This maximum level was unaffected by increasing the tocopherol supplement to 3 g. per day or by supplying 300 mg. of carotene in a readily available form in addition to the 3 g. tocopherol.3. Supplementing the summer pasture with 300 mg. of carotene in oil without tocopherol was without effect on the potency of the fat, supporting the conclusion that the carotene intake was already adequate.4. A significant correlation was found to exist between vitamin A potency and tocopherol content of New Zealand butterfat.5. It is suggested that the low vitamin A potencies may be associated with the high percentage of clover in the summer pastures.


2010 ◽  
Vol 61 (6) ◽  
pp. 633 ◽  
Author(s):  
Adrian W. T. Lill ◽  
Aparna Lal ◽  
Gerard P. Closs

Mysids typically form a large proportion of the hyperbenthic faunal biomass in estuaries and are central to the functioning of estuarine food webs. The population dynamics, annual life histories and reproductive effort of two common temperate estuarine mysids, Tenagomysis chiltoni and T. novae-zealandiae, are described in the intermittently open Kaikorai Lagoon, New Zealand. Mysids were sampled by night, monthly from September 2003 to September 2004. Both species completed their life cycles in the lagoon. There was an apparent spatial separation of breeding populations, with T. chiltoni prevalent in the upper lagoon and T. novae-zealandiae dominating the lower lagoon. Densities were lowest in late winter and peaked in late summer/early autumn for both species. Both species exhibited multivoltine life cycles, with breeding peaks occurring in October 2003, December 2003 and February/March 2004 for T. novae-zealandiae, and October/November 2003 and February/March 2004 for T. chiltoni. Breeding strategy for both species varied over the year with the adult size, brood size and the reproductive effort of both T. novae-zealandiae and T. chiltoni all being highest in spring. The life histories of both T. novae-zealandiae and T. chiltoni in the Kaikorai Lagoon are comparable to life histories described for other temperate estuarine mysid species in large open estuaries, and were not significantly modified to cope with the unpredictable demands of life in an intermittent estuary.


2005 ◽  
Vol 30 (2) ◽  
pp. 19-27 ◽  
Author(s):  
Freda Briggs ◽  
Russell Hawkins

An earlier evaluation of the New Zealand child protection program ‘Keeping Ourselves Safe’ found, inter alia, that girls with learning problems were highly vulnerable to drugs, sexual abuse and violence (Briggs & Hawkins 1996a). This led to the present study, the aim of which was to focus specifically on children with learning disabilities, and to include data from boys as well as girls.Quantitative and qualitative data were collected from one hundred and sixteen students aged 11–17 years (61 females and 55 males) who were interviewed in special education units. Their common characteristics were that they had all been assessed as being 3 years or more behind their chronological age group in their development and achievement, they needed individually planned curricula across the range of school subjects, and they had all previously attended mainstream schools throughout the North and South Islands of New Zealand.The study confirmed the vulnerability of children with learning disabilities to the risks of drugs, violence, psychological bullying, pornography and sexual abuse. Significant levels of violence in both schools and the home were found. The study also showed the need for special attention for the protection of boys.It is possible that children with learning disabilities were targeted because they were seen as safer targets in terms of an expectation that they would be less aware of the difference between right and wrong and less likely than other children to make a report about any abusive behaviour. If this speculative hypothesis is correct, it means that children with learning disabilities require even more vigilant forms of protection than other children.


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