RESUMO -O estudo objetivou oferecer informações sobre a morfologia (in vivo e na carcaça), características comerciais, componentes do peso vivo, qualidade da carcaça e da carne em cordeiros não castrados cruzas de Border Leicester com ovelhas Corriedale e Ideal, criados em condições de campo nativo no Rio Grande do Sul, Brasil. Foram utilizados 24 cordeiros, 11 procedentes do cruzamento de Border x Corriedale e 13 de Border Leicester x Ideal, sacrificados com 6,5 meses de idade. Foi verificado um efeito entre os cruzamentos para a perda ao resfriamento (em kg e %), peso e percentagem da pele, peso e percentagem do pescoço e capacidade de retenção de água. Igualmente, foi verificado que há diferença no desenvolvimento relativo dos componentes do peso vivo, composição regional da carcaça e composição tecidual da paleta entre os cordeiros Border Leicester x Corriedale e Border Leicester x Ideal e, dentro de cada genotipo verificou-se uma diferença quantitativa e qualitativa entre a paleta e a perna. As diferença quanto à qualidade da carcaça e carne não apresentam importância prática que justifique uma diferenciação do produto; porém, a comercialização deve ser com base no peso de carcaça fria e não com base no peso vivo ou carcaça quente. A paleta é mais precoce que a perna em ambos grupos genéticos.Palavras-chave: carcaça, carne, cordeiros, cruzamento, desenvolvimento, ovinos Meat Production in Male Lambs Derived from the Crossing Between Border Leicester Rams with Corriedale and Polwarth EwesABSTRACT -This study offers information on the morphology (in live and in carcass), commercial characteristics, components of the liveweight, quality of the carcass and meat in no castrated lambs derived from the crossing between Border Leicester rams and Corriedale and Polwarth ewes, grazing on native pasture in Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. Twenty-four lambs slaughtered at 6.5 months of age were used, from which 11 were from Border Leicester rams x Corriedale ewes and 13 were from Border Leicester rams x Polwarth ewes. Significant effects between crosses were observed for carcass looses (in kg and %), weight and percentage of the skin and neck, and capacity of water retention. Relative development of the components of liveweight, carcass regional composition and tissue composition of shoulder differed between crosses and, within of each genetic group, there were quantitative and qualitative differences between shoulder and leg. Differences in carcass and meat quality were not important as to indicate that products are different, however, it should be pointed out that commercialization should be based on the weight of cold carcasses, rather than liveweight or weight of hot carcasses. ., v.31, n.3, p.1469-1480, 2002 (suplemento) IntroduçãoA utilização do cruzamento de ovelhas adaptadas a uma região, como é o caso das raças Corriedale e Ideal ao Rio Grande do Sul, com raças paternas especializadas para carne é uma alternativa para aumentar a eficiência dos sistemas produtivos, que necessitam manter a oferta de um produto de qu...

Cadmium is a natural element found in the earth’s crust; it is usually associated with other metals, but due to the impacts caused by human activity, its concentration has increased in the aquatic environment. This metal may damage aquatic animal reproduction, decreasing the rate of fertilization of organisms such as fish. Thus, this study aimed to evaluate the in vitro toxicity of different concentrations of cadmium (0 (control), 0.5, 5, and 10 μg/L) using sperm cells of model organism zebrafish, Danio rerio. Structural parameters, including integrity and fluidity of the plasma membrane, concentration of oxygen species, mitochondrial function and DNA fragmentation were measured by flow cytometry. The following sperm movement parameters were also measured using the computer assisted sperm analysis (CASA) system: motility, time of motility, curvilinear velocity, average path velocity and straight line velocity in μm/s. Significant effects were observed on path speed, straight speed, curvilinear velocity, motility time, progressive and total motility, and plasma and DNA integrity. The results showed that cadmium can negatively affect some reproductive parameters in D. rerio, which may reduce the fertility rate of these animals.

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This study evaluated the quality of frozen-thawed dog spermatozoon after the inclusion of egg yolk plasma (EYP) instead of whole egg yolk (EY) in the cryopreservation extender and after distinct periods of exposure to EYP. Seven mongrel dogs were used as sperm donors, and EYP was obtained by centrifugation. In Experiment 1, post-thawing sperm motility (MOT) and integrity of membrane (INT) and acrosome (ACR) were superior for spermatozoon extended with 20% EYP T2 than with 20% EY (P < 0.05), although normal sperm morphology (MOR) did not differ (P > 0.05). In Experiment 2, after ejaculates extended with 20% EYP were cooled at 5°C for 2, 6 and 10 h before freezing, MOT, INT and ACR were similar among periods (P > 0.05). Thus, dog spermatozoon extended with 20% EYP can be kept cooled for up to 10 h prior to freezing, achieving post-thawing quality greater than that obtained with the inclusion of EY in freezing extenders.

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