Different carbohydrate sources affect swine performance and post-prandial glycaemic response

The type of starch and fibre in the diet affects several parameters, including glycaemic and insulin response, that are involved in pig growth performance. Four experimental diets for growing pigs differing for carbohydrates source (corn, barley, faba bean and pea) were tested. The diets were analysed in vitro to assess the carbohydrates characteristics, and they were administered to 56 crossbreed growing pigs (Landrace × Large White) randomly divided into four groups (mean age of 95 ± 6 days; body weight 80 kg ± 4 days). Clinical examination and average daily gain were performed before recruitment and after 40 days of experiment. The metabolic effects were investigated by blood count and serum biochemical parameters and by the glycaemic and insulin post-prandial response. The study revealed substantial differences among the diets, suggesting that alternative feedstuffs for swine affect several parameters, including glycaemic and insulin response, with no negative effects on growing performance. The Barley group showed the highest daily weight gain (p <.05) associated with the highest glycaemic (p <.05) and insulin response at 1 and 2 h post-prandial (p <.01), suggesting that the barley-based diet can support performance comparable to that of the corn-based diet in growing pig. By contrast, the lowest glycaemia was observed in the Faba bean group (p <.05), confirming the capacity of this legume to modulate post-prandial glucose levels. Moreover, the ability of some ingredients in lowering glucose and insulin response enriches the knowledge on functional nutrients for animal diets and to prevent the incidence of enteric diseases.Highlights The type of starch and fibre used in the diet highly affected some blood parameters, such as glycaemic and insulin responses. The Barley group showed the highest daily weight gain. Lower glycaemia levels were observed in the Faba bean group compared to the Corn one. Alternative protein sources for swine diets can limit the glycaemic and insulin response with no negative effects on growing performance

Mice, men, mustard and methylated xanthines: the potential role of caffeine and related drugs in the sensitization of human tumours to alkylating agents.

The relationships between DNA damage from UV radiation, alkylating drugs and the methylated xanthines (MX) have been studied in normal and malignant rodent and human cells. A comparison of the level of DNA excision repair (repair replication and unscheduled DNA synthesis) confirms that some forms of alkylating-agent damage (probably mono-filar DNA adducts) are less completely removed by both normal and malignant rodent cells than by their human counterparts, rendering rodent cells more susceptible to the toxic potential of unexcised lesions. The toxicity of alkylating agents can be increased by the presence of several MXs during the period of DNA replication which follows infliction of the damage. Human cells appear capable of excising more DNA damage, rendering them somewhat less susceptible to enhancement of cytotoxicity by MX. This resistance of human cells is only quantitative, however, since 2 human cancer cell lines (HeLa and HT-29) could be sensitized to a variety of alkylating agents by appropriate concentrations of MX. Trimethylxanthine (caffeine) and the 2 clinically useful dimethylxanthines (theophylline and theobromine) appeared equally effective in sensitizing cells. The sensitization was dependent upon a slightly cytotoxic concentration of the MX and a suitably prolonged period of post-damage MX exposure. Of these 3 classic MXs, only theobromine might be clinically useful. The levels required for alkylating-agent sensitization exceed the clinically tolerable level of theophylline, and probably approach the tolerance of man to caffeine. The most likely mechanism by which MX sensitization is achieved is reversal of the inhibition of DNA replicon initiation which follows the infliction of significant DNA damage. Through the selection of suitable clinically useful alkylating agents (those dependent on active cellular transport for cell penetration) and appropriate MX scheduling, an enhanced therapeutic ratio might be achieved, potentially increasing the clinical usefulness of these alkylating agents. MX would thus form a useful class of agents adjuvant to conventional anti-cancer drugs

Effects of Two Commercial Diets on Several Reproductive Parameters in Bitches: Note One-From Estrous Cycle to Parturition

The close link between nutrition management and reproductive efficiency is well known, but there is very little data available concerning this topic in canine species. The present study aimed to compare the effect of two different diets upon the follicular period and gestation in bitches. Eighteen pluriparus medium and large size bitches were recruited and divided into control (CTR) and experimental (EX) groups and fed, respectively, with a commercial kibble diet and a specially formulated diet from two months before the expected onset of proestrus up to the end of the trial. It was possible to observe how the EX group had a better clinical presentation of the estrous phase, a higher number of ovarian follicles (p &lt; 0.05), a lower percentage of fetal resorption (p &lt; 0.05), and lower oxidative status, expressed by d-ROMs (p &lt; 0.01), at the moment of pregnancy diagnosis compared to CTR group. Moreover, the EX group showed a lower fetal resorption rate and higher litter size (p &lt; 0.05). These results highlight how a diet characterized by high protein and fat content and richer in essential fatty acids can improve reproductive performance in dogs

Effects of Two Commercial Diets on Several Reproductive Parameters in Bitches: Note Two-Lactation and Puppies' Performance

The study aimed to compare two diets, Control (CTR) and Experimental (EX) (mainly differing as regards their ingredients, energy, and protein contents) administered to medium and large-sized bitches from two months before the expected proestrus and up to 30 days after delivery on mothers’ weight, body condition score, litter size, milk quality, and puppies’ growth. No differences were found for body weight during pregnancy, even if the BCS after delivery was significantly (p &lt; 0.01) higher in the EX group than in the CTR one. Concerning the size effect, the percentage of weight gain on the initial body weight was double in medium-sized dogs compared to large dogs (p &lt; 0.01). The number of puppies per litter was significantly higher (p &lt; 0.05) for the EX group compared to the CTR one. Concerning puppies’ weight, the CTR group showed a significantly (p &lt; 0.01) higher body weight from the 21st day of life due to the significant (p &lt; 0.01) higher daily weight gain during the suckling period. Considering the performance of bitches and puppies, both diets seem useful for these stages of their lives. In fact, after 30 days of lactation, all tested bitches showed a healthy status and both the percentage of newborns mortality and puppies’ growth kinetics fell into the normal physiological range for the species

Metacognition and emotion regulation as treatment targets in binge eating disorder: a network analysis study

Background: This study aims to examine the underlying associations between eating, affective and metacognitive symptoms in patients with binge eating disorder (BED) through network analysis (NA) in order to identify key variables that may be considered the target for psychotherapeutic interventions. Methods: A total of 155 patients with BED completed measures of eating psychopathology, affective symptoms, emotion regulation and metacognition. A cross-sectional network was inferred by means of Gaussian Markov random field estimation using graphical LASSO and the extended Bayesian information criterion (EBIC-LASSO), and central symptoms of BED were identified by means of the strength centrality index. Results: Impaired self-monitoring metacognition and difficulties in impulse control emerged as the symptoms with the highest centrality. Conversely, eating and affective features were less central. The centrality stability coefficient of strength was above the recommended cut-off, thus indicating the stability of the network. Conclusions: According to the present NA findings, impaired self-monitoring metacognition and difficulties in impulse control are the central nodes in the psychopathological network of BED whereas eating symptoms appear marginal. If further studies with larger samples replicate these results, metacognition and impulse control could represent new targets of psychotherapeutic interventions in the treatment of BED. In light of this, metacognitive interpersonal therapy could be a promising aid in clinical practice to develop an effective treatment for BED

In vitro fermentation of structural carbohydrate-rich feeds using faecal inoculum from pigs

Seven feeds were tested in vitro using faecal inoculum from pigs. Sugar beet pulp, wheat bran, soybean hulls, grapecake, glutamic beet pulp, citrus by-product and fructo-oligo- saccharides (FOS) were fermented for 96 h. Cumulative gas production was measured as indicator of the fermentation kinetics. At the end of incubation organic matter disappearance and fermentation end-products (short-chain fatty acids and NH3) were also measured. The gas production profiles were fitted with a multi- phasic model. Significant differences were detected between grapecake and FOS: the very low gas production for the first one was probably due to the high lignin and tannins contents of this by-product, while the higher organic matter cumulative gas volume (OMCV) and organic matter disappearance (OMD) values for FOS were due to the high soluble fibre proportion. Soybean hulls and citrus by-product, showed similar values of degradability and gas production and were characterised by different fermentation profiles. Grapecake showed the lower fermentation, while citrus by-product was characterized high gas and short-chain fatty acids production. These characteristics could be particularly useful to optimize the caecum-colon fermentation in order to obtain a high butyrate acid production

Minority and mode conversion heating in (3He)-H JET plasma

Radio frequency (RF) heating experiments have recently been conducted in JET (He-3)-H plasmas. This type of plasmas will be used in ITER's non-activated operation phase. Whereas a companion paper in this same PPCF issue will discuss the RF heating scenario's at half the nominal magnetic field, this paper documents the heating performance in (He-3)-H plasmas at full field, with fundamental cyclotron heating of He-3 as the only possible ion heating scheme in view of the foreseen ITER antenna frequency bandwidth. Dominant electron heating with global heating efficiencies between 30% and 70% depending on the He-3 concentration were observed and mode conversion (MC) heating proved to be as efficient as He-3 minority heating. The unwanted presence of both He-4 and D in the discharges gave rise to 2 MC layers rather than a single one. This together with the fact that the location of the high-field side fast wave (FW) cutoff is a sensitive function of the parallel wave number and that one of the locations of the wave confluences critically depends on the He-3 concentration made the interpretation of the results, although more complex, very interesting: three regimes could be distinguished as a function of X[He-3]: (i) a regime at low concentration (X[He-3] < 1.8%) at which ion cyclotron resonance frequency (ICRF) heating is efficient, (ii) a regime at intermediate concentrations (1.8 < X[He-3] < 5%) in which the RF performance is degrading and ultimately becoming very poor, and finally (iii) a good heating regime at He-3 concentrations beyond 6%. In this latter regime, the heating efficiency did not critically depend on the actual concentration while at lower concentrations (X[He-3] < 4%) a bigger excursion in heating efficiency is observed and the estimates differ somewhat from shot to shot, also depending on whether local or global signals are chosen for the analysis. The different dynamics at the various concentrations can be traced back to the presence of 2 MC layers and their associated FW cutoffs residing inside the plasma at low He-3 concentration. One of these layers is approaching and crossing the low-field side plasma edge when 1.8 < X[He-3] < 5%. Adopting a minimization procedure to correlate the MC positions with the plasma composition reveals that the different behaviors observed are due to contamination of the plasma. Wave modeling not only supports this interpretation but also shows that moderate concentrations of D-like species significantly alter the overall wave behavior in He-3-H plasmas. Whereas numerical modeling yields quantitative information on the heating efficiency, analytical work gives a good description of the dominant underlying wave interaction physics

Early- and late-stage mergers among main sequence and starburst galaxies at 0.2 ≤ z ≤ 2

We investigate the fraction of close pairs and morphologically identified mergers on and above the star-forming main sequence (MS) at 0.2 ≤ z ≤2.0. The novelty of our work lies in the use of a non-parametric morphological classification performed on resolved stellar mass maps, reducing the contamination by non-interacting, high-redshift clumpy galaxies. We find that the merger fraction rapidly rises to ≥70 per cent above the MS, implying that - already at z ≳ 1 - starburst (SB) events (∆MS ≥ 0.6) are almost always associated with a major merger (1:1 to 1:6 mass ratio). The majority of interacting galaxies in the SB region are morphologically disturbed, late-stage mergers. Pair fractions show little dependence on MS offset and pairs are more prevalent than late-stage mergers only in the lower half of the MS. In our sample, major mergers on the MS occur with a roughly equal frequency of ̃5-10 per cent at all masses ≳ 1010 M☉. The MS major merger fraction roughly doubles between z = 0.2 and 2, with morphological mergers driving the overall increase at z ≳ 1. The differential redshift evolution of interacting pairs and morphologically classified mergers on the MS can be reconciled by evolving observability time-scales for both pairs and morphological disturbances. The observed variation of the late-stage merger fraction with ∆MS follows the perturbative 2-Star Formation Mode model, where any MS galaxy can experience a continuum of different star formation rate enhancements. This points to an SB-merger connection not only for extreme events, but also more moderate bursts which merely scatter galaxies upward within the MS, rather than fully elevating them above it