Variation in the chemical composition, physical characteristics and energy values of cereal grains produced in the Western Cape area of South Africa

Grain samples were produced at 10 different locations in the Western Cape region of South Africa, on 2.1 m x 6 m experimental plots, over a period of three years. Twenty different cereal grain cultivars were used in the study. A randomised square experimental design with four replicates per sample was used. An area of 1.35 m x 5 m from each plot was harvested during 1994, 1995 and 1996 and the yield was determined. Thousand seed mass (TSM) and hectolitre mass (HLM) were also determined. Samples were analysed for dry matter (DM), ash, crude protein (CP), ether extract (EE), neutral detergent fibre (NDF), acid detergent fibre (ADF) and in vitro organic matter digestibility (IVOMD). Digestible energy values (DE) for pigs were determined with a mobile nylon bag technique, while non-structural carbohydrate values (NSC) were calculated. In the first analysis, cultivars were compared by a one-way analysis of variance, followed by pooling of grain type data. Naked oats had the highest DE value, and the respective values (DM basis) for naked oats, wheat, triticale, 2-row brewer's barley, 6-row feed barley and oats were 18.0, 16.0, 15.8, 14.9, 14.4, and 12.6 MJ/kg DM. The high EE value of naked oats (97 g/kg) might be partly responsible for the high DE value. The 6-row and 2-row naked barley cultivars had the highest IVOMD (946 g/kg and 944 g/kg), followed by wheat (910 g/kg), triticale (905 g/kg), naked oats (899 g/kg), 2-row brewer's barley (882 g/kg), 6-row feed barley (844 g/kg) and oats (671 g/kg). Considerable variation was found between samples within a cultivar for DE and IVOMD. Two-row naked barley had the highest mean CP value (159 g/kg) followed by naked oats (159 g/kg), 6-row naked barley (154 g/kg), wheat (148 g/kg), triticale (146 g/kg), oats (143 g/kg), 2-row brewer's barley (136 g/kg) and 6-row feed barley (135 g/kg) on DM basis. Triticale had the highest yield, with naked oats and barley cultivars having the lowest yield. Keywords: Cereal grains, Chemical composition, Energy value South African Journal of Animal Science Vol.33(2) 2003: 117-12

Beyond Gross-Pitaevskii Mean Field Theory

A large number of effects related to the phenomenon of Bose-Einstein Condensation (BEC) can be understood in terms of lowest order mean field theory, whereby the entire system is assumed to be condensed, with thermal and quantum fluctuations completely ignored. Such a treatment leads to the Gross-Pitaevskii Equation (GPE) used extensively throughout this book. Although this theory works remarkably well for a broad range of experimental parameters, a more complete treatment is required for understanding various experiments, including experiments with solitons and vortices. Such treatments should include the dynamical coupling of the condensate to the thermal cloud, the effect of dimensionality, the role of quantum fluctuations, and should also describe the critical regime, including the process of condensate formation. The aim of this Chapter is to give a brief but insightful overview of various recent theories, which extend beyond the GPE. To keep the discussion brief, only the main notions and conclusions will be presented. This Chapter generalizes the presentation of Chapter 1, by explicitly maintaining fluctuations around the condensate order parameter. While the theoretical arguments outlined here are generic, the emphasis is on approaches suitable for describing single weakly-interacting atomic Bose gases in harmonic traps. Interesting effects arising when condensates are trapped in double-well potentials and optical lattices, as well as the cases of spinor condensates, and atomic-molecular coupling, along with the modified or alternative theories needed to describe them, will not be covered here.Comment: Review Article (19 Pages) - To appear in 'Emergent Nonlinear Phenomena in Bose-Einstein Condensates: Theory and Experiment', Edited by P.G. Kevrekidis, D.J. Frantzeskakis and R. Carretero-Gonzalez (Springer Verlag

The differentiation status of primary gonadal germ cell tumors correlates inversely with telomerase activity and the expression level of the gene encoding the catalytic subunit of telomerase

BACKGROUND: The activity of the ribonucleoprotein enzyme telomerase is detectable in germ, stem and tumor cells. One major component of telomerase is human telomerase reverse transcriptase (hTERT), which encodes the catalytic subunit of telomerase. Here we investigate the correlation of telomerase activity and hTERT gene expression and the differentiation status of primary testicular germ cell tumors (TGCT). METHODS: Telomerase activity (TA) was detected by a quantitative telomerase PCR ELISA, and hTERT mRNA expression was quantified by online RT-PCR in 42 primary testicular germ cell tumors. The control group consisted of benign testicular biopsies from infertile patients. RESULTS: High levels of telomerase activity and hTERT expression were detected in all examined undifferentiated TGCTs and in the benign testicular tissue specimens with germ cell content. In contrast, differentiated teratomas and testicular control tissue without germ cells (Sertoli-cell-only syndrome) showed no telomerase activity and only minimal hTERT expression. CONCLUSIONS: These findings demonstrate an inverse relationship between the level of telomerase activity and hTERT mRNA expression and the differentiation state of germ cell tumors. Quantification of telomerase activity and hTERT mRNA expression enables a new molecular-diagnostic subclassification of germ cell tumors that describes their proliferation potential and differentiation status

EuraHS: the development of an international online platform for registration and outcome measurement of ventral abdominal wall hernia repair

Background Although the repair of ventral abdominal wall hernias is one of the most commonly performed operations, many aspects of their treatment are still under debate or poorly studied. In addition, there is a lack of good definitions and classifications that make the evaluation of studies and meta-analyses in this field of surgery difficult. Materials and methods Under the auspices of the board of the European Hernia Society and following the previously published classifications on inguinal and on ventral hernias, a working group was formed to create an online platform for registration and outcome measurement of operations for ventral abdominal wall hernias. Development of such a registry involved reaching agreement about clear definitions and classifications on patient variables, surgical procedures and mesh materials used, as well as outcome parameters. The EuraHS working group (European registry for abdominal wall hernias) comprised of a multinational European expert panel with specific interest in abdominal wall hernias. Over five working group meetings, consensus was reached on definitions for the data to be recorded in the registry. Results A set of well-described definitions was made. The previously reported EHS classifications of hernias will be used. Risk factors for recurrences and co-morbidities of patients were listed. A new severity of comorbidity score was defined. Post-operative complications were classified according to existing classifications as described for other fields of surgery. A new 3-dimensional numerical quality-of-life score, EuraHS-QoL score, was defined. An online platform is created based on the definitions and classifications, which can be used by individual surgeons, surgical teams or for multicentre studies. A EuraHS website is constructed with easy access to all the definitions, classifications and results from the database. Conclusion An online platform for registration and outcome measurement of abdominal wall hernia repairs with clear definitions and classifications is offered to the surgical community. It is hoped that this registry could lead to better evidence-based guidelines for treatment of abdominal wall hernias based on hernia variables, patient variables, available hernia repair materials and techniques

Effect of extended morning fasting upon ad libitum lunch intake and associated metabolic and hormonal responses in obese adults

Background/Objectives: Breakfast omission is positively associated with obesity and increased risk of disease. However, little is known about the acute effects of extended morning fasting upon subsequent energy intake and associated metabolic/regulatory factors in obese adults. Subjects/Methods: In a randomised cross-over design, 24 obese men (n=8) and women (n=16) extended their overnight fast by omitting breakfast consumption or ingesting a typical carbohydrate-rich breakfast of 2183±393 kJ (521±94 kcal), before an ad libitum pasta lunch 3 h later. Blood samples were obtained throughout the day until 3 h post lunch and analysed for hormones implicated in appetite regulation, along with metabolic outcomes and subjective appetite measures. Results: Lunch intake was unaffected by extended morning fasting (difference=218 kJ, 95% confidence interval −54 kJ, 490 kJ; P=0.1) resulting in lower total intake in the fasting trial (difference=−1964 kJ, 95% confidence interval −1645 kJ, −2281 kJ; P<0.01). Systemic concentrations of peptide tyrosine–tyrosine and leptin were lower during the afternoon following morning fasting (Pless than or equal to0.06). Plasma-acylated ghrelin concentrations were also lower following the ad libitum lunch in the fasting trial (P<0.05) but this effect was not apparent for total ghrelin (Pgreater than or equal to0.1). Serum insulin concentrations were greater throughout the afternoon in the fasting trial (P=0.05), with plasma glucose also greater 1 h after lunch (P<0.01). Extended morning fasting did not result in greater appetite ratings after lunch, with some tendency for lower appetite 3 h post lunch (P=0.09). Conclusions: We demonstrate for the first time that, in obese adults, extended morning fasting does not cause compensatory intake during an ad libitum lunch nor does it increase appetite during the afternoon. Morning fasting reduced satiety hormone responses to a subsequent lunch meal but counterintuitively also reduced concentrations of the appetite-stimulating hormone-acylated ghrelin during the afternoon relative to lunch consumed after breakfast

Increased chromosomal stability in cultures of ovarian tumours of low malignant potential compared to cystadenomas

Cell cultures of ovarian cystadenomas transfected with SV40 large T antigen are not immortal because they invariably reach a phenomenon called crisis, which is triggered in part by telomere attrition. Recovery from crisis may be an integral component of the malignant transformation process. We reported earlier that such ovarian cystadenoma cell cultures undergo severe changes in DNA ploidy as they approach crisis and that such changes are an important determinant of crisis independent of telomere attrition. Here, we show that in sharp contrast to these benign ovarian tumours, the DNA content of ovarian tumours of low malignant potential (LMP) was remarkably stable as they approached crisis, suggesting that telomere attrition was the main determinant of this mortality checkpoint. Lack of a ploidy-based crisis was not due to loss of expression of a functional SV40 large T antigen protein. We conclude that ovarian LMP tumours are characterised by increased numerical chromosomal stability compared to cystadenomas. This might account for the fact that most LMP tumours are diploid or near diploid in vivo. This fundamental difference in chromosomal stability between ovarian cystadenomas and LMP tumours also suggests potential differences in predisposition to progression to malignancy between these two ovarian tumour subtypes

Clinical Value of Prognostic Instruments to Identify Patients with an Increased Risk for Osteoporotic Fractures: Systematic Review

There is a plethora of evidence available studying the association of risk profiles and the development of osteoporotic fractures. The small number of out-of-sample validations, the large variety of study characteristics, outcomes and follow-up periods impedes from deriving robust summaries and from conclusions regarding the clinical performance of many tools. First and foremost, future activity in this field should aim at reaching a consensus among clinical experts in respect to the existing instruments. Then we call for careful validations and expedient adaptations for local circumstances of the most promising candidates

Search for new phenomena in final states with an energetic jet and large missing transverse momentum in pp collisions at √ s = 8 TeV with the ATLAS detector

Results of a search for new phenomena in final states with an energetic jet and large missing transverse momentum are reported. The search uses 20.3 fb−1 of √ s = 8 TeV data collected in 2012 with the ATLAS detector at the LHC. Events are required to have at least one jet with pT > 120 GeV and no leptons. Nine signal regions are considered with increasing missing transverse momentum requirements between Emiss T > 150 GeV and Emiss T > 700 GeV. Good agreement is observed between the number of events in data and Standard Model expectations. The results are translated into exclusion limits on models with either large extra spatial dimensions, pair production of weakly interacting dark matter candidates, or production of very light gravitinos in a gauge-mediated supersymmetric model. In addition, limits on the production of an invisibly decaying Higgs-like boson leading to similar topologies in the final state are presente