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A second survey of the 51 Land-Grant Universities in the United States (US) and 7 corresponding institutions in Canada has been undertaken to determine the current sex and minority status of poultry oriented graduate students and their academic staffs. Of the institutions contacted in the US, 50 responded. Seventeen of these had departments of poultry science. In Canada 6 institutions provided information with one poultry department noted. There were 379 students enrolled in graduate programs in the US and 35 in Canada, excluding foreign students. The breakdown for the US and Canada, respectively, were as follows: 63.6 and 85.7%, male; 36.4 and 14.3%, female; 87.3 and 82.8%, white; 6.1 and 14.3%, black; 0 and 0%, American Indian; 3.5 and 2.9%, Hispanic, and 3.2 and 0%, Asian or Pacific Islanders. A substantial increase in women was noted from previous surveys with the number of minorities up slightly but subject to more variability. There were 72 and 13 foreign poultry students in the US and Canada, respectively. For the academic staff, a total of 378 individuals was indicated for the US and 41 for Canada. Their respective breakdowns are as follows: 90.7 and 87.8%, male; 9.3 and 12.2%, female; 97.9 and 85.4%, white; .3 and 4.9%, black; 0 and 0%, American Indian; .8 and 0%, Hispanic; and 1.0 and 9.7%, Asian or Pacific Islanders. An improvement in the number of women and minorities was observed between this and the previous survey. Percentage breakdowns by degree and academic rank are also provided.

Four hundred and eighty, sexed (White Leghorn) chicks were divided so that each sex was fed one of eight rations to determine the effect of sex, dietary cholesterol, and stearic, oleic, and/or linoleic acid on cholesterol deposition in blood, liver and aortic tissues. After 5 months on the dietary regimen, 3 cockerels from each of the rations were orally administered 100 mC. sodium-1-C14-acetate and 200 mC. cholesterol-1,2-H3 to determine whether body tissues contained cholesterol from endogenous or exogenous origin. After 5 months on the experimental rations it was observed that male birds had higher free cholesterol levels than did females. The addition of cholesterol (2%) and fatty acids (6%) to ration increased free cholesterol levels in liver and aorta. Cholesterol stored in livers and aortas occurs principally as free cholesterol while blood cholesterol was in esterified form. Cholesterol levels in both liver and aorta are primarily of endogenous origin.

INTEREST in the biological significance of molybdenum was stimulated when this element was found to be an integral part of the prosthetic group of two flavoprotein enzymes—xanthine oxidase (De Renzo et al., 1953; and Richert and Westerfield, 1953) an d nitrate reductase (Nicholas and Nason, 1954). This element has been reported to be a growth promoting factor in the avian specie (Reid et al., 1956; Underwood, 1956; Kurnick et al., 1957; Reid et al, 1957; and Teekell and Watts, 1959). The findings concerning molybdenum have encouraged further investigations on this element as to mode(s) of blood transport and various deposition sites. EXPERIMENTAL PROCEDURE One hundred and fifteen three-week-old chicks were orally dosed with 0.5 mc. Mo99 [as (NH4)6 Mo7O24] wit h a specific activity of 240 mc./gm. Mo. The chicks were sacrificed at intervals ranging from one to 48 hours subsequently. Blood, liver and kidney uptakes were…

INTRODUCTION SINCE its discovery in hog bile by Strecker (1862), the nutritional importance of choline has been increasingly recognized. It is considered by many nutritionists as a member of the B-complex group of vitamins and is a component of the widely distributed lecithin phospholipids found in egg yolk, liver, yeast, heart, brain and kidney (Best et al., 1932a, b, 1939; and Ewing, 1963). Choline also functions in methylation and demethylation reactions which are important in biological systems (Gillis and Norris, 1949; and Leach et al., 1966). It plays a vital role in growth promotion and as an antiperotic factor in chicks (Jukes, 1940a, b), and is involved in lipid mobilization in liver tissue of various animals (Atrom, 1958, 1960; Olson et al., 1958; Yoshida and Harper, 1960; Daghir and Balloun, 1961; Eric et al., 1965; and Rikans et al., 1965). To date, no quantitative requirement for dietary choline has been…

INTRODUCTION ONLY in recent years have we begun to realize the importance of choline as an essential factor in the normal growth and development of animals as well as in man. This is particularly evident in young animals and birds. Choline is a B-complex vitamin belonging to the lipotropic factor group in biological systems although some authors do not regard it as a vitamin (Ewing, 1963). Its involvement in methylation and demethylation reactions are becoming more evident as research of this metabolite progresses. Injections of methyl-14 C labeled methionine produced an activity for choline in rats of approximately 38% indicating that one probable acceptor of the methyl group of methionine for choline synthesis is ethanolamine or its dimethyl derivatives (Sterkol et al., 1953). Lust and Daniel (1964) while studying the biosynthesis of methyl groups of choline in vitamin B12 deficient Ochromonas malhemensis found that formate-14 C and formaldehyde-14 C incorporation into phospholipid choline…

IN AN effort to obtain molybdenum deficient chicks, a reported molybdenum antagonist, sodium tungstate (Higgins et al., 1956a,b; Leach and Norris, 1957; and Konen, 1958) was added to a practical corn-soybean diet of breeder hens. It was felt that this method would yield chicks sufficiently depleted to be used satisfactorily for molybdenum assay. The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of supplemental tungsten (as sodium tungstate) in the diets of breeder hens. EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN One-hundred and sixty breeder hens (WPR) were divided into two groups. One group (65 hens) was fed the breeder ration and the second group (95 hens) was fed this same ration which was supplemented with 250 p.p.m. tungsten, as sodium tungstate. Adequate males were maintained in each group to insure maximum fertility. In order to determine the effect of sodium tungstate in the diet, hens were sacrificed periodically and xanthine dehydrogenase was determined …

DIETARY requirements for vitamin A are quoted in the literature as being from 500 to 3,000 International Units per pound of finished feed (Ringrose and Norris, 1936; Bearse and Miller, 1937; Taylor and Russell, 1947; Kurnick et al., 1961; Ascarelli and Bartow, 1963). Liver stores and blood levels have been used as evaluation criteria for this vitamin (Parrish et al., 1963; Squibb et al., 1958; Rubin and Bird, 1941; Olsen et al., 1959; and Tiews and Kring, 1962). In this investigation the effects of vitamin A, as well as the effect of vitamin E, were studied as they affected blood levels, liver storage and growth and the relationship between the circulating blood levels and liver storage of vitamin A. MATERIALS AND METHODS Two trials were run to determine the possible effects of 4 levels of stabilized vitamin A 2 palmitate on weight gain and blood and liver levels. The second trial …

SINCE it appeared that tungsten supplementation of breeder hen rations produced chicks deficient in molybdenum (Teekell and Watts, 1959), it was decided to use these chicks in evaluating the effect of adding various levels of molybdenum to the chicks’ diet. The anomalous response of the chicks from breeder hens fed supplemental tungsten and from non-supplemented hens which had been previously observed, raised some question as to the nature of the condition produced by the tungsten supplementation. The purpose of this study was to test the effect of molybdenum supplementation at various levels in a purified diet and a practical corn-soybean diet. Chicks from tungsten-supplemented and non-supplemented dams (control) were used in this study. EXPERIMENTAL The purified ration portion of this study involved 936 chicks in a series of 10 trials from the tungsten-supplemented hens and 854 chicks from non-tungsten supplemented hens. A purified cerelose-Drackett C-l assay protein ration was formulated …

METHIONINE is known to possess a dual metabolic function for protein synthesis and as a labile methyl group for one-carbon metabolism. McKittrick (1947) stated that choline and methionine could replace each other in a diet but only to the level of their essential increments. Quillin et al. (1961) revealed improved growth from choline additions on the lower methionine supplementation and likewise methionine supplementation resulted in improved growth with low choline rations; however, these rations were limiting in total methyl donors. Cardin (1967) attempted to determine if a preferential utilization of methionine for protein synthesis or transmethylation existed at various dietary levels of methionine using methyl-C-14-methionine and methionine-2-C-l4. He found transmethylation was occurring rapidly at all supplemental levels of methionine. Due to the widespread distribution of labeled methionine in the tissues, he could not postulate a true preference of methionine for protein synthesis or transmethylation. Methionine has been shown to be…

DEEP fat fried foods have assumed a place of importance in the diets of many individuals especially in the last few years and they should be investigated to determine any changes in the product as a result of frying in various fats and oils. The ingredients of the batter as they influence absorption and/or adsorption of the oil should be included in this study. Using cooking methods which did not include oil, Chang and Watts (1952) found only a small reduction in polyunsaturated fatty acids. Chung et al. (1966) using oil in deep frying of beef, pork and fish recorded the uptake of oil from the medium. Smith and Vail (1961) also found deep fat frying resulted in an increased percentage of fat in the product. This evidence indicated that an exchange of fat from the product to the cooking medium and from the oil to the product could occur…

Two-week-old chicks were administered orally mixtures of vari ous kinds and amounts of amino acids. The effect of these amino acids on RNA synthesis was measured by the incorporation of tritium from uridine-5-3H into RNA of the chick liver. High levels of amino acids (300 mg) administered to chicks resulted in a decrease in RNA synthesis. Of the precursors of the purine ring tested (folie acid, glycine, glutamine and asparuc acid), only aspartA­cacid had any effect on RNA synthesis. It increased the synthesis of RNA. When tested at various levels, 20 mg of aspartic acid per chick promoted the highest amount of RNA synthesis whereas 40 mg of aspartic acid decreased the synthesis of RNA. Amino acid imbalances generally lowered both RNA and protein synthesis when compared to a completely balanced amino acid mixture. Of the imbalances tested by measuring the incorporation of carbon-14 from glycine-l-1'lC into both RNA and protein, a deficiency of tryptophan seemed to have the greatest effect. The data from these experiments in general indicate that amino acids will increase the synthesis of RNA when administered at recommended dietary intakes but will decrease synthesis of RNA when fed at excessively high intakes or as certain unbalanced mixtures. J. Nutr. 102: 987-994, 1972.

IN STUDIES concerning nitrogen metabolism in chickens, the interrelated metabolism of the energy nutrients (carbohydrates and fats) and protein present a problem in the formulation of rations. The effects of dietary energy levels on nitrogen components of the urine has not been extensively investigated. The findings of urinary nitrogen components were reviewed by O’Dell et al. (1960). These workers also presented data on urinary nitrogen components as influenced by various protein sources. It was of interest in this laboratory to determine whether dietary energy levels would affect the nitrogen components of avian urine while being maintained on an iso-protein ration. MATERIALS AND METHODS Twelve hens (S.C. White Leghorn) were selected and placed in an air-conditioned room (75° ± 1°F.). Surgical techniques used for the separate collection of feces and urine were similar to those described by Dixon and Wilkinson (1957) and Dixon (1958) and modified by Richardson et al., (1960).

IT HAD been shown that dietary energy level had an effect on hen's urinary nitrogen components (Richardson et al., 1968). It was of interest to study possible effects of dietary protein on certain nitrogenous components of the urine, i.e. uric acid, ammonia, urea, creatine and amino acid nitrogen. Folin's laws (Folin, 1905) of human urine composition were based on such a study. Rather than switch from a high-protein to a non-protein diet as Folin, it was decided to conduct a protein depletion type study. It was reasoned that by following the daily urinary nitrogen components, these might indicate the protein level necessary for maintenance. It was hypothesized that as long as the nitrogen requirement was met or exceeded, the urinary nitrogen excretion would depend on the intake, but when the maintenance requirement was not met, the hen would mobilize body stores and the relative amounts of urinary nitrogen components would . . .