Effects of Brown Midrib Corn Silage Hybrids with or without Kernel Processing at Harvest on Nutrient Metabolism in Beef Steers

A 2 × 3 factorial digestion study evaluated three corn silage hybrids and kernel processing for finishing steers. The three hybrids included a control corn silage, a brown midrib, and a brown midrib with a softer endosperm. Both brown midrib hybrids had greater fiber digestibility than the traditional control corn silage hybrid. No differences were observed between brown midrib hybrids for all other nutrients. Cattle fed brown midrib hybrids had a lower average ruminal pH compared to the control suggesting more fermentation, but no differences in volatile fatty acid concentration or proportions. Kernel processing had no effect on apparent total tract nutrient digestibility for any nutrients measured in this study. Kernel processing did not impact any ruminal characteristics or metabolism by beef steers. In finishing diets including elevated levels of corn silage, brown midrib corn silage hybrids allow for improved fiber digestibility and more energy available to the animal for improved growth performance over cattle fed control corn silages. Kernel processing did not appear to affect any ruminal fermentation and digestibility parameters, despite an observed improvement in feed efficiency in a similar finishing trial

Confidence in eating disorder knowledge does not predict actual knowledge in collegiate female athletes

Background Eating disorders are serious psychological disorders with long term health impacts. Athletic populations, tend to have higher incidences of eating disorders compared to the general population. Yet there is little known about athletes’ eating disorder knowledge and how it relates to their confidence in their knowledge. Therefore, the purpose of our study was to evaluate collegiate female athletes’ eating disorder (ED) knowledge and confidence in their knowledge. 51 participants were recruited from a National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) university in the mid-west and asked to complete a 30-question exam assessing one’s knowledge of five different categories related to eating disorders. Confidence in the correctness of answers was assessed with a 5-point Likert-scale (1 = very unconfident, 5 = very confident). A one-way ANOVA was used to determine differences between scores on different categories and overall scores. A simple regression analysis was used to determine if confidence or age was predictive in knowledge scores. Results The average score of participants was 69.1%, SD = 10.8% with an average confidence of 3.69/5, SD = 0.33. Athletes scored lowest with regards to Identifying Signs and Symptoms of EDs compared to other sub-scores (p < 0.05). There was no relationship between knowledge and confidence scores. Discussion There is limited ED knowledge among collegiate female athletes. This may be problematic as many athletes appear confident in the correctness of their answers despite these low scores. Coaches should be aware of this lack of knowledge and work with clinical practitioners, such as dieticians, team physicians and athletic trainers to educate and monitor their athletes on eating disorders, specifically signs and symptoms

The association of alcohol use and positive and negative urgency to same day objective binge eating in emerging adults

IntroductionObjective binge eating and problematic alcohol use often co-occur and are common behaviors in emerging adults. Both behaviors are thought to be driven by affect regulation processes. Objective binge eating often occurs in the context of increasing or acute negative affect, and often occurs in solitude. Alcohol use in emerging adults can also be associated with negative affect regulation. However, in contrast to objective binge eating, a large body of research indicates that there are positively valenced pathways to alcohol use in this age group. Emerging adults often drink socially, to enhance enjoyment, and in the context of positive mood. We propose that one pathway to objective binge eating in this developmental period is through alcohol use itself, such that emerging adults who consume alcohol and who are more likely to act impulsively in the context of positive emotion (i.e., have high levels of positive urgency) may be more likely to binge eat following drinking.MethodsWe collected data using ecological momentary assessment in 106 undergraduates on positive and negative affect, motives for drinking and eating, and alcohol use and objective binge eating, in addition to baseline questionnaires of impulsivity.ResultsThere were no significant changes in affect prior to drinking in this sample. Alcohol use at one time point significantly increased odds of objective binge eating at a later time point in the same day. Individual differences in positive urgency, the tendency to act rashly while experiencing positive affect, were also associated with increased odds of objective binge eating that occurred after alcohol use. Individual differences in negative urgency, the tendency to act rashly after experiencing negative affect, did not have a main effect on objective binge episodes, but did interact with alcohol use to increase the odds of objective binge eating following drinking. The vast majority of drinking episodes prior to objective binge eating were social drinking episodes, and participants most commonly endorsed "to have fun" as a reason for drinking.DiscussionResults suggest that alcohol consumption may increase risk for objective binge eating in emerging adults

Accuracy and precision of tidal wetland soil carbon mapping in the conterminous United States

© The Author(s), 2018. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in Scientific Reports 8 (2018): 9478, doi:10.1038/s41598-018-26948-7.Tidal wetlands produce long-term soil organic carbon (C) stocks. Thus for carbon accounting purposes, we need accurate and precise information on the magnitude and spatial distribution of those stocks. We assembled and analyzed an unprecedented soil core dataset, and tested three strategies for mapping carbon stocks: applying the average value from the synthesis to mapped tidal wetlands, applying models fit using empirical data and applied using soil, vegetation and salinity maps, and relying on independently generated soil carbon maps. Soil carbon stocks were far lower on average and varied less spatially and with depth than stocks calculated from available soils maps. Further, variation in carbon density was not well-predicted based on climate, salinity, vegetation, or soil classes. Instead, the assembled dataset showed that carbon density across the conterminous united states (CONUS) was normally distributed, with a predictable range of observations. We identified the simplest strategy, applying mean carbon density (27.0 kg C m−3), as the best performing strategy, and conservatively estimated that the top meter of CONUS tidal wetland soil contains 0.72 petagrams C. This strategy could provide standardization in CONUS tidal carbon accounting until such a time as modeling and mapping advancements can quantitatively improve accuracy and precision.Synthesis efforts were funded by NASA Carbon Monitoring System (CMS; NNH14AY67I), USGS LandCarbon and the Smithsonian Institution. J.R.H. was additionally supported by the NSF-funded Coastal Carbon Research Coordination Network while completing this manuscript (DEB-1655622). J.M.S. coring efforts were funded by NSF (EAR-1204079). B.P.H. coring efforts were funded by Earth Observatory (Publication Number 197)

Updates on Genome-Wide Association Findings in Eating Disorders and Future Application to Precision Medicine

Heterogeneity, frequent diagnostic fluctuation across presentations, and global concerns with the absence of effective treatments all encourage science that moves the field toward individualized or precision medicine in eating disorders. We review recent advances in psychiatric genetics focusing on genome-wide association studies (GWAS) in eating disorders. Given that the only eating disorder to be the subject of GWAS to date is anorexia nervosa, we review anorexia GWAS and enumerate the prospects and challenges of a genomics-driven approach towards personalized intervention in eating disorders

En vivo neuroimaging of the choroid plexus to characterize neuroinflammation in restrictive eating disorders

Despite the important role the choroid plexus (CP) plays in brain homeostasis, it is largely unexplored in psychiatry. The CP consists of a network of capillaries enclosed by a single layer of epithelial cells joined together by tight junctions to form the blood-CSF barrier. The blood-CSF barrier is an active barrier, secreting CSF and transferring metabolites from CSF to blood bidirectionally, and thus, playing a crucial role in communicating inflammatory reactions from the periphery to the central nervous system. Integrity of the CP is crucial for maintaining CSF ion homeostasis and blood-CSF barrier permeability. Enlargement of CP may reflect greater neuroinflammation, as abnormal function of the CP requires greater passage of peripheral inflammation markers to dampen neuroinflammation. The current study explores the role of the choroid plexus in restrictive eating disorders, severe psychiatric disorders in which disruptions in appetite and motivation are hypothesized to be maintained by neuroinflammation. Adolescents and young adults with anorexia nervosa (N= 59) and age-matched healthy controls (N=39) completed 3T MRI scans which were parcellated with Freesurfer, as well as hand-drawn masking of the lateral choroid plexus by a neuroanatomist, to capture CP enlargement in cases and controls. To confirm that enlargement was driven truly by the CP, we ran a series of linear models accounting to total lateral ventricles, total gray matter, and lateral ventricles + total gray matter. We also compared freesurfer CP volumes to hand-draw models and discuss challenges of CP imaging. In all models, the left CP was significantly lager in eating disorders, compared to controls (all p< 0.001). Correlations with targeted-proteomics of peripheral inflammation markers will be incorporated in future analyses. In addition, we will discuss and incorporate on-going collection of CSF in cases, to discuss central and peripheral inflammation relationships with CP enlargement

Bidirectional relationship between eating disorders and autoimmune diseases

Background: Immune system dysfunction may be associated with eating disorders, and associations could have implications for detection, risk assessment, and treatment of both autoimmune diseases and eating disorders. However, questions regarding the nature of the relationship between these two disease entities remain. We evaluated the strength of associations for the bidirectional relationships between eating disorders and autoimmune diseases. Methods: In this nationwide population-based cohort study, Swedish registers were linked to establish a cohort of more than 2.5 million individuals born in Sweden between January 1, 1979 and December 31, 2005 and followed-up until December 2013. Cox proportional hazard regression models were used to investigate: 1) subsequent risk of eating disorders in individuals with autoimmune diseases; and 2) subsequent risk of autoimmune diseases in individuals with eating disorders. Results: We observed a strong, bidirectional relationship between the two classes of illness indicating that diagnosis in one illness class increased the risk of the other. In women, autoimmune disease diagnoses increased subsequent hazard of anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, and other eating disorders. Similarly, anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, and other eating disorders increased subsequent hazard of autoimmune diseases. The gastrointestinal-related autoimmune diseases celiac disease and Crohn's disease showed a bidirectional relationship with anorexia nervosa and other eating disorders. Psoriasis showed a bidirectional relationship with other eating disorders. Prior type 1 diabetes increased risk for anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, and other eating disorders. In men, we did not observe a bidirectional pattern, but prior autoimmune arthritis increased risk for other eating disorders. Conclusions: The associations between eating disorders and autoimmune diseases provide additional support for previously reported associations. The bidirectional risk pattern observed in women suggests either a shared mechanism or a third mediating variable contributing to the association of these illnesses.Swedish Research Council (PI: Bulik; VR Dnr: 538-2013-8864)Anorexia Nervosa Genetics Initiative (ANGI), the Klarman Family Foundationthe Foundation of Hope: Research and Treatment of Mental IllnessNational Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship under Grant No.1000183151Swedish Research Council through the Swedish Initiative for Research on Microdata in the Social And Medical Sciences (SIMSAM) framework grant no 340-2013-5867Stockholm County Council (ALF-projects)Accepte

Accountability in promoting representation of historically marginalized racial and ethnic populations in the eating disorders field: A call to action

Promoting representation of historically marginalized racial and ethnic populations in the eating disorders (EDs) field among professionals and the populations studied and served has long been discussed, with limited progress. This may be due to a reinforcing feedback loop in which individuals from dominant cultures conduct research and deliver treatment, participate in research, and receive diagnoses and treatment. This insularity maintains underrepresentation: EDs in historically marginalized populations are understudied, undetected, and undertreated. An Early Career Investigators Workshop generated recommendations for change that were not inherently novel but made apparent that accountability is missing. This paper serves as a call to action to spearhead a paradigm shift from equality to equity in the ED field. We provide a theoretical framework, suggest ways to disrupt the feedback loop, and summarize actionable steps to increase accountability in ED leadership and research toward enhancing racial/ethnic justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion (JEDI). These actionable steps are outlined in the service of challenging our field to reflect the diversity of our global community. We must develop and implement measurable metrics to assess our progress toward increasing diversity of underrepresented racial/ethnic groups and to address JEDI issues in our providers, patients, and research participants