In order to examine the factors governing the timing and flexibility of skeletal muscle switching between fat and carbohydrate oxidation, Ukropcova et al. studied the effect of glucose and fatty acid availability on the preference for fat oxidation in myocytes cultured from human male quadriceps muscle taken from subjects with varied BMI, fat mass, and insulin sensitivity. The authors found tha...

Zilpaterol hydrochloride is a β-adrenergic agonist, which belongs to a group of compounds known as catecholamines. β-Adrenergic agonists activate β-receptors in muscle and fat causing increased lipolysis, decreased lipogenesis or increased protein accretion (Mersmann, 1998), or both. β-Adrenergic agonists vary greatly in their effect on meat animals. Supplementation of diets with β-agonists can...

Turbulent and volatile markets are becoming the norm as life-cycles shorten and global economic and competitive forces create additional uncertainty. The risk attached to lengthy and slow-moving logistics ‘pipelines’ has become unsustainable, forcing organisations to look again at how their supply chains are structured and managed. This paper suggests that the key to survival in these changed c...

Carcass-value marketing systems continue to demand the efficient production of lean pork. Unfortunately, some swine genotypes which provide a high percentage of carcass lean also tend to produce carcasses which are poor in overall quality. An increased incidence of soft carcass fat, which is seen in some lean genotypes, has been associated with mechanized processing difficulties and decreased c...

Because human energy metabolism evolved to favor adiposity over leanness, the availability of palatable, easily attainable, and calorically dense foods has led to unprecedented levels of obesity and its associated metabolic co-morbidities that appear resistant to traditional lifestyle interventions. However, recent progress identifying the molecular signaling pathways through which the brain an...