Endoplasmic reticulum stress improved chicken tenderness,promoted apoptosis and autophagy during postmortem ageing

In this study,endoplasmic reticulum(ER)stress inducer tunicamycin(TM)and inhibitor 4-phenylbutyric acid(4-PBA)were used to treat postmortem chicken breast muscle to investigate changes in tenderness and effects on apoptosis and autophagy during 5 days ageing.TM-induced ER stress reduced shear force,enhanced myofibril fragmentation index(MFI),disrupted myofibril structure,increased desmin degradation,and activatedμ-calpain and caspase-12.In addition,TM-induced ER stress increased the expression of Bax,Bim,and cytochrome c,and decreased the expression of Bcl-x L.Furthermore,TM-induced ER stress improved the conversion of LC3I to LC3II,raised the expression of Beclin-1,and decreased the expression of p62,PI3K,and m TOR.The opposite results were observed after 4-PBA treatment.These results suggested that ER stress could improve chicken tenderness,promote apoptosis and autophagy during chicken postmortem ageing.

Analyses of Chicken Tenderness Traits Based on Transcriptome Sequencing

The calpain system is ubiquitous in cells, mainly comprising calpains and calpain inhibitors, and is a widespread calcium-dependent cysteine protease in organisms that is involved in many cellular processes such as muscle degradation in vivo and affects the tenderness of meat after animal slaughter. The study found 128 DEGs that probably regulated tenderness traits were selected from 16 significantly enriched GO terms by transcriptome sequencing analysis, and found that the developmental changes in the expression levels of the CAPN1 gene in the pectoral and leg muscles were significantly positively correlated ( P <0.05) with the cumulative growth values of live weight and comb weight. The developmental changes in the expression levels of the CAST gene in the pectoral and leg muscles were not significantly correlated with the cumulative growth values of live weight and comb weight. Our results helped demonstrate the potential molecular mechanisms of tenderness in chickens and provide valuable information for chicken breeding.

Application of Bromelain Extract for Muscle Foods Tenderization

This study investigates the tenderizing effects of bromelain extract (BE) obtained from the top phase of an aqueous two-phase system comprising of 18% PEG 6000–17% MgSO4 in muscle foods. Uniform-sized chunks of beef, chicken, and squid were marinated with different concentrations of BE (0, 3, 7%, and 20%, w/w) for 1 h at room temperature. The physico-chemical and quality characteristics of the marinated samples were determined. Decreases in pH and moisture content were observed in the samples BE treated, but the TCA-soluble peptides content significantly increased (p < 0.05). Water holding capacity and cooking yields were observed in all of the tested samples, especially when the concentration of BE increased. In addition, a reduction of meat firmness and toughness were also observed in all of the samples when compared to the control (p < 0.05). Electrophoretic patterns also revealed extensive proteolysis and a reduction in number and intensity of the protein bands in all of the treated samples. At the microstructural level, tissue fibers were broken, cell membranes were more strongly degraded, the connections between the sarcolemma and the myofibrils were disappeared, and the generation of numerous gaps could be clearly observed when 20% (w/w) BE was added. The results show that the bromelain extract derived from the two-phase extraction of a pineapple peel could be used as an effective meat tenderizer.

Artificial Tactile Sense Technique for Predicting Beef Tenderness Based on FS Pressure Sensor

We present a rapid system for predicting beef tenderness by mimicking the human tactile sense. The detection system includes a FS pressure sensor, a power supply conversion circuit, a signal amplifier and a box in which the sample is mounted. A sample of raw Longissimus dorsi (LD) muscle is placed in the measuring box; then a rod connected to the pressure sensor is pressed into the beef sample to a given depth; the reaction force of the beef sample is measured and used to predict the tenderness. Sensory evaluation and Warner-Bratzler Shear Force (WBSF) evaluation of samples from the same LD muscle are used for comparison. The new detection system agrees with established procedure 95% of the time, and the time to test a sample is less than 5 minutes.

Model for Bidding and Tendering with Bill of Quantities Based on Bid-Winning Estimate at Reasonable Low Price

The possibility and rationality of introducing an bid-winning estimate based on a reasonable low price into construction bidding mode with bill of quantities were analyzed by setting up a model for bidding and tendering, and the functions of the estimate of reasonable low price in the bidding were revealed. On this basis, a new bidding mode of the project with bill of quantities was pro- posed. The application of the new mode will be advantageous to the promotion of the bill of quantities in China.

Understanding fundamentals of electrochemical reactions with tender X-rays:A new lab-based operando X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy method for probing liquid/solid and gas/solid interfaces across a variety of electrochemical systems

Electrocatalysis is key to improving energy efficiency,reducing carbon emissions,and providing a sustainable way of meeting global energy needs.Therefore,elucidating electrochemical reaction mechanisms at the electrolyte/electrode interfaces is essential for developing advanced renewable energy technologies.However,the direct probing of real-time interfacial changes,i.e.,the surface intermediates,chemical environment,and electronic structure,under operating conditions is challenging and necessitates the use of in situ methods.Herein,we present a new lab-based instrument commissioned to perform in situ chemical analysis at liquid/solid interfaces using ambient pressure X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy(APXPS).This setup takes advantage of a chromium source of tender X-rays and is designed to study liquid/solid interfaces by the“dip and pull”method.Each of the main components was carefully described,and the results of performance tests are presented.Using a three-electrode setup,the system can probe the intermediate species and potential shifts across the liquid electrolyte/solid electrode interface.In addition,we demonstrate how this system allows the study of interfacial changes at gas/solid interfaces using a case study:a sodium–oxygen model battery.However,the use of APXPS in electrochemical studies is still in the early stages,so we summarize the current challenges and some developmental frontiers.Despite the challenges,we expect that joint efforts to improve instruments and the electrochemical setup will enable us to obtain a better understanding of the composition–reactivity relationship at electrochemical interfaces under realistic reaction conditions.

Risk pre-warning of tender evaluation for civil projects:an outlier detection model

The marking scheme method removes the low scores of the contractor's attributes given by experts when the overall score is calculated, which may result in that a contractor with some latent risks will win the project. In order to remedy the above defect of the marking scheme method, an outlier detection model, which is one mission of knowledge discovery in data, is established on the basis of the sum of similar coefficients. Then, the model is applied to the historical score data of tender evaluation for civil projects in Tianjin, China, according to which the outliers of the scores of the contractor's attributes can be detected and analyzed. Consequently, risk pre-warning can be carried out, and some advice to employers can be given to prevent some latent risks and help them improve the success rate of bidding projects.

Computer Aided Call for Tenders: A Tool for Software Bidding

Under a broad comprehension of Software Engineering, it is preferred the term software life cycle instead of just software production. The reason is that cycle starts at software conception and stops when the software is relegated. Given contemporary companies’ market strategies of focusing on their competitive advantages, most of them have externalized their software production to outsourced services. Therefore, the call for software tenders has become a common step in the software life cycle. In this paper, we present a tool which aids non-experts to specify call for software tenders. The motivation was Chile situation of most of rural and semi-urban city halls which do not have engineering teams to build call for software tenders. We describe the problem in terms of lack of competitiveness and empty biddings generated by low quality calls for tenders. As a second step, we show the technical considerations to develop the proposed tool and its features. We include an initial tool perception from a first group of users.

Development of Tender Price Indices for the Ghanaian Building Industry

Tender price indices (TPI) remain an optimum process for predicting tender prices. There have been several indices’ developments in the Ghanaian Building Industry (GBI) to help in cost management practices, for instance, building cost indices, and material indices among others. Notwithstanding, there are no indices for forecasting tender price at the design stage of building projects in the Ghanaian Building Industry. The motivation of this study is to develop tender price indices that would facilitate easy prediction of the initial cost of building projects. Through a thorough literature review and secondary data collection, the index was formulated using Laspeyres with Excel spreadsheet for the actual index. The variables considered include preliminaries and measured work sections which include the substructure, concrete work, reinforcement, masonry, lining/sheathing, window/door/stairs, metalwork, surface finishes, sanitary appliances/fitting and electrical supply/power light system of the Bills of Quantities. The finding of the study shows that on average there is a change in price of about 4.42 per cent within the eight-year period from 2008 to 2016. The study has developed tender price indices for the Ghanaian Building industry for the facilitation of the easy prediction of the tender prices at the initial design stage, however, the indices have an error margin of ±3. The development of these indices will serve as the basis for further development of other indices in GBI such as locational indices and value-based indices for effective cost management practices.

Comparing the Cost and Time of Tender Opening Committee Report Preparation for Manual and E-Procurement Tenders in the Roads and Highways Department of Bangladesh

Bangladesh’s public procurement system has been traditional, i.e., a manual tendering system, under the legislative guidance of PPA-2006 and PPR-2008. Manual tendering has long been a source of concern for public procurement agencies regarding tender opening related to cost and time. To resolve this challenge and make the dream of a Digital Bangladesh a reality, the Government of Bangladesh launched the e-Procurement system in 2011 under the flagship of e-GP Guidelines. Following the successful pilot testing conducted under the umbrella of the CPTU, all public PEs are attempting to implement electronic procurement tenders. This study aims to examine the cost and time involved in preparing Tender Opening Committee (TOC) Reports for manual and e-procurement tenders in Bangladesh’s Roads and Highways Department. A mixed-method was used to collect data from the population of 11 RHD zones, including KII and primarily survey questionnaires. The independent samples t-test was used to compare data and hypothesis tests from two groups using SPSS software. The results indicated that e-Procurement tendering, tender opening preparation costs and time were more efficient than manual tendering. Academicians, students, practitioners, researchers, and policymakers will benefit from the study’s conclusions. Additionally, the government will be urged to improve policies such as the PPA 2006, the PPR 2008, and the 2011 e-GP Guideline.

Effects of Different Rearing Modes on the Muscular Histological Traits and Meat Tenderness of Chicken

[ Objective] The aim of this experiment was to explore the effects of different rearing modes on muscle histological traits and muscle ten demess and to provide theoretical basis for regulating chicken meat quality. [ Method] The effects of outdoor rearing, indoor rearing and cage rea ring modes on the muscular histological traits and meat tenderness of Hetian chicken at the age of 8 weeks, 12 weeks and 16 weeks were re searched. [Result] The results showed that the breast and thigh muscle fibre diameter and muscle shear force of outdoor rearing chicken were sig nificently higher than that of cage rearing chicken （ P 〈 0.05）, and muscle fibre density was significantly lower than that of cage rearing chicken （ P 〈 0.05）. With aging, the muscle fibre diameter and shear force increased and muscle fibre density decreased （ P 〈 0.05）. The muscle fibre di ameter and shear force of male were higher than that of female. The correlation analysis showed that the breast muscle shear force had a signifi cantly positive relation with fibre diameter and negative relation with fibre density （ P 〈 0.05）, but thigh muscle shear force had an insignificantly pos itive relation with fibre diameter and fibre density. [ Condusion] Muscular histological traits varied in different rearing modes, and the outdoor rearing promoted the muscular fibre development and increased the muscular shear force.

Muscular Histological Traits and Meat Tenderness of Different Local Broilers

Objective＇ To study the muscular histological traits and their relationship with meat tenderness in local broilers and provide a theoretical basis for promoting meat quality of broiler. [Methed] The diameter and density of muscle fiber of three local varieties of chicken （Beijing Fatty broil- er, Fujian Hetian broiler and Taining Black broiler） were detected at the age of 8 weeks, 12 weeks and 16 weeks. And the differences in the diame- ter and density of muscle fiber as well as their relationship with meat tenderness were respectively analyzed with SAS software. [ Resultl Fatty broil- er had the smallest muscle fiber diameter while Hetian broiler the largest; Fatty broiler had the highest muscle fiber density while Hetian broiler the lowest Hetian broiler had the highest muscle shear force of leg muscle while Black broiler the lowest （ P 〈0.05） ; Black broiler had the highest mus- cle shear force of breast muscle while Fatty broiler the lowest （P〈0.05）. The correlation analysis showed that the shear force of breast muscle and leg muscle had significantly positive relation with fiber diameter and significantly negative relation with fiber density （ P 〈 0.05）. [ Conclusion] Muscu- lar histological traits varied in different local broilers, and the muscular shear force had significantly relation with fiber diameter and density.

Study on the Cutting Rooting of Syriga Microphylla with Tender Branches

[Objective] The study was carried out in order to find out the best method of rapid cutting rooting of Syriga microphylla with tender branches.[Method] Effect of rooting reagent with different concentrations on the rapid cutting rooting of Syriga microphylla with tender branches was studied in our paper.[Result] There was great difference between cuttings with auxin and without auxin.[Conclusion] Tender branches treated by 90 mg/L indole butyric acid（IBA）had the best cutting rooting.

DIA-based quantitative proteomic analysis on porcine meat quality at different chilling rates

The objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of chilling rate on porcine meat quality from the perspective of proteome using data independent acquisition(DIA)-based quantitative proteomic strategy. M. longissimus thoracis et lumborum(n = 9) was assigned randomly to the control group(3.72 ℃/h), very fast chilling-Ⅰ group(VFC-Ⅰ, 9.31℃/h) and VFC-Ⅱ group(14.43 ℃/h). The DIA was used to analyze the difference in proteins under different chilling rates. Results showed that tenderness was improved significantly in meat at the chilling rate of 14.43 ℃/h. Seventy-nine differential abundant proteins(fold change > 1.5, P < 0.05), including 46 up-regulated and 33 down-regulated proteins, were identified and mainly involved in carbon metabolism, pyruvate metabolism and proteasome pathways. These pathways indicated that VFC delayed cell metabolism and glycolysis by down-regulating the expression of metabolic enzymes. The tenderness was improved by up-regulating the expression of proteasome and m-calpain.

Variation Law of Pericarp Tenderness of Super Sweet Corn Kernel

To investigate the variation law of pericarp tenderness in growth progress of super sweet corn kernel, the values of pericarp tenderness of 10 super sweet corn inbreeds were measured during kernel growth, and the variations under differ- ent conditions were analyzed. The results showed that there existed gradient differ- ences in pericarp tenderness among the 10 materials, of which PE10 had the best pericarp tenderness, T105 took medial place, and $33205 performed worst in peri- carp tenderness. Pericarp tenderness values of these 3 inbreeds increased curvedly from 12 to 24 days after pollination, in the spring （Wuhan, Hubei） and winter （Ling- shui, Hainan） of 2014. Moreover, the average pericarp tenderness at different time points presented the same decreasing order of $33205, T105, PE10, which was not altered by enviroment. With the growth of kernel, for one material, the difference of pericarp tenderness under different environments presented a law of increment, re- duction, uniformity. As for optimum-picking time, there was four days difference be- tween the spring in Wuhan and winter in Lingshui. However, there was no obvious difference in pericarp tenderness on the optimum picking time, which indicated that growing environment could affect the variation ratio of pericarp tenderness, but it still depended on the nature of materials.

Close Association between 4685 Loci on CAPN1 Gene and Meat Tenderness

[Objective] The paper was to explore the impact of 4685 loci on CAPN1 gene of Yanbian yellow cattle and red steppe cattle on meat tenderness. [Method] The 4685 loci in 14th intron region of CAPN1 gene of Yanbian yellow cattle and red steppe cattle was conducted analysis of gene polymorphism and meat tenderness by PCR-RFLP technology, and the effect of the loci on Jilin local cattle breeds was verified. [Result] The loci had close relationship with related detection indices of meat tenderness （cooking loss, muscle fibre diameter, shear force and drip loss）, and the existence of T allele could significantly increase the tenderness level of in- dividuals, but the loci was not associated to pH value. 4685 loci was not associated to carcass traits （carcass weight, net meat weight and carcass yield ratio）, which only had certain correlation with eye muscle area. [Conclusion] The 4685 loci on CAPN1 gene of Yanbian yellow cattle and red steppe cattle had close association with meat tenderness.

A Way to Rootedness: Traveling in Tender Is the Night

Traveling is one major theme of Fitzgerald's novel Tender Is the Night. This fashionable activity for the 1920 s Americans is represented in the novel as ostensibly bearing different meanings to the main characters, but a deeper look would reveal that it is unanimously resorted to as a weapon against the spiritual barrenness caused by the cult of business, and more importantly, as a way to the experience of rootedness.

Role of calpain system in meat tenderness: A review

Aging is a popular method used by meat industry for improving the sensory attributes of meat.Despite the advent of many novel technologies,aging has not lost its charm and is still widely used commercially as a post-mortem intervention for tenderization.Aging improves the tenderness of meat through disruption of the muscle structure by intracellular proteolytic systems.Muscles undergo various molecular changes that cause proteolysis of key myofibrillar and cytoskeletal proteins,disrupting the overall integrity of muscle cells.Although several endogenous proteolytic systems are capable of post-mortem proteolysis,a great body of scientific evidence supports a major role for the calpain system.Calpains are intracellular calcium-dependent cysteine proteases found in most eukaryotes.At least three calpains(μ-and m-calpains and calpain 3)and calpastatin,their specific endogenous inhibitor,are found in muscle.They are known to be involved in the proteolysis of functionally relevant structural proteins such as the myofibrillar proteins and cytoskeletal anchorage complexes.These ubiquitous proteases are also present in mitochondria and play important roles in a variety of pathophysiological conditions including apoptotic and necrotic cell death phenomena.This review discusses the role and contribution of the calpain system and the factors that influence calpain activity during aging.