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Introduction: We aimed to develop an automated, low‐volume method for thrombocyte counting in capillary blood using the Sysmex predilution (PD) mode. Methods: Microsamples were prepared by resuspension of 50 μL blood in 300 μL DCL CellPack. Thrombocyte counting was done in the impedance (PLT‐I) and fluorescence (PLT‐F) channels. The imprecision and bias was evaluated in >394 microsamples from adult blood. Preanalytical factors (skin‐piercing, storage, and transportation in our pneumatic tube system) was assessed, and studies on pediatric microsamples were made for comparison. The improvement in analytical quality and turnaround time was examined. Results: For PLT‐F, the imprecision was 1.1%–3.7%, and the bias was 10.1% (95% CI: 8.8–11.3). After skin‐piercing, the bias was 8.1% (95% CI: 5.6–10.6) and the imprecision 1.9% (95% CI: 1.3–2.5). Thrombocyte counts kept stable after 4 h at room temperature (94.8% [95% CI: 93.2–96.4]) and after pneumatic tube transportation [6.7% (95% CI: 4.8–8.6)]. The bias of the PD mode for pediatric microsamples was 13.0% (95% CI: −8.4–34.4) in the PLT‐F channel. The automated method had a considerably lower imprecision than the existing manual thrombocyte counting method and reduced turnaround times. Conclusion: The automated microsample method offers a low‐volume alternative for measurement of thrombocytes. The method appears useful also in pediatric samples. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Phosphorus (P) is an essential nutrient for livestock but its efficiency of utilization is below 40%, contributing to environmental issues. In this review, we summarize recent approaches to optimize P availability in livestock diets and improve its utilization efficiency. Phase feeding could potentially reduce P excretion by 20%. Addition of phytase enzymes to diets increased P availability from 42 to 95%. Low phytate transgenic plants and transgenic animals increased P availability by 14% and 52-99%, respectively. In practice, a combination of phase feeding and enzymes has the highest potential for P reduction but legislation and ethics implications will prevent using transgenic animals in the short term. Functional and nutritional genomics may provide tools to improve efficiency in the future.