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Biomedical subjects

G V Petersen

Publications and source records attributed to G V Petersen.

15 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1984

Cross-sectional studies of ultimate pH in lambs.

The ultimate pH of the longissimus muscle was measured in 1536 lambs routinely slaughtered at a meat export works in the southern part of the North Island during the 1981/82 season. The mean ultimate pH of all samples was 5.60, and 7.2 percent of the carcases had values equal to, or above, 6.00 whereas 85.3 percent of carcases had values below 5.80 which is considered to be optimal. The ultimate pH values of samples from lambs slaughtered during the summer period was significantly higher than those obtained during three other seasonal sampling periods and Perendale lambs had significantly higher ultimate pH values as compared to lambs of other breeds. There was no statistical association between distance travelled before slaughter and the ultimate pH of carcases but there was a highly significant direct correlation between holding periods of lambs in the stockyards and ultimate pH of their meat. There was also a highly significant inverse correlation between fleece weight and ultimate pH and it is suggested that both this effect and the seasonal pattern of ultimate pH values indirectly reflect the major role that nutrition may play in the development of high ultimate pH meat in lambs. It is further suggested that washing of animals prior to slaughter and the length of subsequent resting periods are important factors in relation to the development of undesirably high ultimate pH values.

Journal Article↗
PubMed1983

Orf virus infection of workers in the meat industry.

Two hundred and thirty-one cases of orf were reported in one year from 18 meat works slaughtering lambs and sheep. This represented 1.4 percent of the total employees at these works and 4 percent of those working on the mutton slaughter board. One hundred and nineteen of these reports were accompanied by samples of the lesion and 85 percent of lesions contained orf virus particles as determined by electron microscopy. The tasks that led to the greatest risk of contracting orf were related to handling pelts and/or wool. Ninety-five percent of lesions were on the hands. The risk of a worker contracting orf did not decrease with the number of years employed at the meat works and 18 cases of re-infection were reported. Control of the disease in man in the meat industry will be difficult in the short term. In the long term control of the disease in man will rely on control of the disease in sheep. Alternative vaccines for sheep will need to be found.

Animals↗
PubMed1983

The relative precision of different methods of measuring pH in carcass muscles.

Comparisons between a sample method and a direct probe method for measuring the ultimate pH in muscles of sheep indicated that the two methods have the same relative precision. However, the precision of the probe method was considerably less than the sample method in measuring the pre-rigor pH decline. A greater degree of within muscle variation of ultimate pH values was found in the M. supraspinatus as compared to the M. biceps femoris and the M. longissimus dorsi. Although differences were observed in pH values between different sites within the M. longissimus dorsi of both sheep and cattle, it was shown that such differences appear to occur at random and therefore the site of sampling of this muscle is of little importance in relation to the precision of the test. Statistical evaluation of data from these studies also indicated that there is little advantage in taking multiple samples when measuring the ultimate pH of this muscle.

Animals↗
PubMed1982

The effect of different slaughter methods on the post mortem glycolysis of muscle in lambs.

Differences in muscular activity and rates of decline in the pH of the M. longissimus dorsi of lambs subjected to different methods of stunning and slaughter were observed. Lambs electrically stunned by a head-to-leg method had significantly lower initial pH values as compared to animals stunned by an electrical head-only method, or by captive bolt, or without any form of stunning prior to slaughter. When electrical stunning by a head-to-leg method was combined with low voltage (24 V) electrical stimulation during slaughter and bleeding, mean pH values declined at the highest rate and fell to approximately 6.0 within two hours of slaughter. This last procedure, therefore, has the potential to greatly reduce times between slaughter and freezing without increasing the risk of cold shortening and the associated toughness of meat.

Journal Article↗
PubMed1975

Ill-effects of cardiac resuscitation: report of two unusual cases.

Two mishaps associated with closed-chest cardiac resuscitation are presented. One-pneumoperitoneum-became evident during life, created considerable diagnostic difficulty, and evoked treatment that possibly hastened the patient's death. The other-cardiac puncture-appeared at autopsy and its mechanism may be unique.

Aged↗
PubMedDate not supplied

One-stage prothrombin times and subcutaneous haemorrhagic speckling in lambs.

The one-stage prothromhin times of 100 lambs from ten different farms varied from 13 to 24 seconds with a mean of 16.6 seconds. The extent and severity of subcutaneous haemorrhagic speckling of carcases was assessed in 775 animals from the same farms and the prevalence of this lesion was similar to that found at the same works during the 1977/78 season. The means of both one-stage prothrombin times and speckling varied significantly between groups of lambs from different farms but there was no statistical association between the prevalence of speckling and the one-stage prothrombin times.

Journal Article↗