Nutritional value of raw and micronised field beans (Vicia fabaL. var.minor) with and without enzyme supplementation containing tannase for growing chickens

An experiment examined the effects of two field bean cultivar samples with different tannin contents, the effect of heat treatment (micronising) and the effect of dietary supplementation of a proprietary enzyme preparation containing tannase, pectinase, and xylanase activities on metabolisable energy (ME), total tract dry matter digestibility (DMD) and ether extract digestibility (EED), nitrogen retention (NR), tannin degradability, gastrointestinal tract (GIT) development, and endogenous mucin losses excretion in broiler chickens. The Control diet contained per kg 221 g crude protein and 12.83 MJ ME. Four additional diets contained 300 g/kg of each of the two untreated or micronised experimental field bean cultivar samples. Each diet was then split into two batches and one of them was supplemented with 3400 units tannase per kg diet resulting in 10 diets in total. Each diet was fed to seven pens with two randomly selected male broilers each. Birds fed the high tannin bean sample had a lower weight gain (p < 0.001), and a lower determined apparent ME (p < 0.05), and DMD (p < 0.001) but a higher tannin degradability (p < 0.001). Compared to the Control diet, feeding field beans increased (p < 0.001) the weights of the proventriculus and gizzard of the birds, and also increased endogenous mucin losses (p < 0.05). Supplementing diets with the tannase-containing enzyme preparation improved dietary ME (p < 0.001), DMD (p < 0.001), NR (p < 0.001) and DEE (p < 0.05), but did not change tannin degradability. Heat treatment of the beans reduced the degradability of condensed tannins and increased endogenous mucin losses (p < 0.05). The differences in the feeding value of the different field bean samples were not improved by heat treatment, but enzyme supplementation improved the feeding value of all diets regardless of the bean samples or heat treatment. Further research is warranted to study the effectiveness of tannase supplementation in poultry diet formulations by dose response trials with purified tannase preparations

Dietary essential oils improve feed efficiency and hepatic antioxidant content of broiler chickens

The aim of this study was to test the hypothesis of an improved growth, dietary nutrient availability and overall health of broiler chickens reared on recycled litter when fed a standardised combination of essential oils (EO; carvacrol, cinnamaldehyde and capsicum oleoresin). To assess the effect of dietary treatments, feed intake, weight gain, feed efficiency, availability of dietary nutrients and energy, villus morphometry, excreta sialic acid concentration, hepatic antioxidants and serum amyloid A (SAA) when fed to broiler chickens were evaluated. Counts of Eimeria spp. oocysts were also determined in excreta samples. Four experimental diets were offered, including two basal control diets based on either wheat or maize that contained 215 g CP/kg and 12.13 MJ/kg metabolisable energy and another two diets using the basal control diets supplemented with the EO combination at 100 mg/kg diet. Each diet was fed to eight floor pens, containing two birds each, following randomisation. Birds fed the EO-supplemented diets had an improved (P0.05) were observed in villus morphometry, sialic acid secretion, number of oocysts and SAA. Feeding the EO improved (P<0.05) the retention of dietary Ca and Na. Compared with maize, feeding wheat-based diets improved the retention coefficients for Ca, P and Na (P<0.05). Feeding dietary EO improved (P<0.05) the concentrations of the hepatic antioxidants, including carotene, coenzyme Q10 and total vitamin E. The hepatic concentration of carotene of the maize-fed birds was 55.6% greater (P<0.05) compared with the wheat-fed birds. These results demonstrated that the addition of a standardised combination of EO in wheat- and maize-based diets provided benefits in terms of feed efficiency, mineral retention and antioxidant status of the birds when reared on recycled litter

Acceptability of aspirin for cancer preventive therapy: a survey and qualitative study exploring the views of the UK general population

Objectives Aspirin could be offered for colorectal cancer prevention for the UK general population. To ensure the views of the general population are considered in future guidance, we explored public perceptions of aspirin for preventive therapy. Design We conducted an online survey to investigate aspirin use, and awareness of aspirin for cancer prevention among the UK general population. We conducted semistructured interviews with a subsample of survey respondents to explore participants’ acceptability towards aspirin for cancer preventive therapy. We analysed the interview data using reflexive thematic analysis and mapped the themes onto the Theoretical Domains Framework, and the Necessity and Concerns Framework. Setting Online survey and remote interviews. Participants We recruited 400 UK respondents aged 50–70 years through a market research company to the survey. We purposefully sampled, recruited and interviewed 20 survey respondents. Results In the survey, 19.0% (76/400) of respondents were aware that aspirin can be used to prevent cancer. Among those who had previously taken aspirin, 1.9% (4/216) had taken it for cancer prevention. The interviews generated three themes: (1) perceived necessity of aspirin; (2) concerns about side effects; and (3) preferred information sources. Participants with a personal or family history of cancer were more likely to perceive aspirin as necessary for cancer prevention. Concerns about taking aspirin at higher doses and its side effects, such as gastrointestinal bleeding, were common. Many described wanting guidance and advice on aspirin to be communicated from sources perceived as trustworthy, such as healthcare professionals. Conclusions Among the general population, those with a personal or family history of cancer may be more receptive towards taking aspirin for preventive therapy. Future policies and campaigns recommending aspirin may be of particular interest to these groups. Multiple considerations about the benefits and risks of aspirin highlight the need to support informed decisions on the medication

Free flux flow resistivity in strongly overdoped high-T_c cuprate; purely viscous motion of the vortices in semiclassical d-wave superconductor

We report the free flux flow (FFF) resistivity associated with a purely viscous motion of the vortices in moderately clean d-wave superconductor Bi:2201 in the strongly overdoped regime (T_c=16K) for a wide range of the magnetic field in the vortex state. The FFF resistivity is obtained by measuring the microwave surface impedance at different microwave frequencies. It is found that the FFF resistivity is remarkably different from that of conventional s-wave superconductors. At low fields (H<0.2H_c2) the FFF resistivity increases linearly with H with a coefficient which is far larger than that found in conventional s-wave superconductors. At higher fields, the FFF resistivity increases in proportion to \sqrt H up to H_c2. Based on these results, the energy dissipation mechanism associated with the viscous vortex motion in "semiclassical" d-wave superconductors with gap nodes is discussed. Two possible scenarios are put forth for these field dependence; the enhancement of the quasiparticle relaxation rate and the reduction of the number of the quasiparticles participating the energy dissipation in d-wave vortex state.Comment: 9 pages 7 figures, to appear in Phys. Rev.

Age at symptom onset and death and disease duration in genetic frontotemporal dementia : an international retrospective cohort study

Background: Frontotemporal dementia is a heterogenous neurodegenerative disorder, with about a third of cases being genetic. Most of this genetic component is accounted for by mutations in GRN, MAPT, and C9orf72. In this study, we aimed to complement previous phenotypic studies by doing an international study of age at symptom onset, age at death, and disease duration in individuals with mutations in GRN, MAPT, and C9orf72. Methods: In this international, retrospective cohort study, we collected data on age at symptom onset, age at death, and disease duration for patients with pathogenic mutations in the GRN and MAPT genes and pathological expansions in the C9orf72 gene through the Frontotemporal Dementia Prevention Initiative and from published papers. We used mixed effects models to explore differences in age at onset, age at death, and disease duration between genetic groups and individual mutations. We also assessed correlations between the age at onset and at death of each individual and the age at onset and at death of their parents and the mean age at onset and at death of their family members. Lastly, we used mixed effects models to investigate the extent to which variability in age at onset and at death could be accounted for by family membership and the specific mutation carried. Findings: Data were available from 3403 individuals from 1492 families: 1433 with C9orf72 expansions (755 families), 1179 with GRN mutations (483 families, 130 different mutations), and 791 with MAPT mutations (254 families, 67 different mutations). Mean age at symptom onset and at death was 49\ub75 years (SD 10\ub70; onset) and 58\ub75 years (11\ub73; death) in the MAPT group, 58\ub72 years (9\ub78; onset) and 65\ub73 years (10\ub79; death) in the C9orf72 group, and 61\ub73 years (8\ub78; onset) and 68\ub78 years (9\ub77; death) in the GRN group. Mean disease duration was 6\ub74 years (SD 4\ub79) in the C9orf72 group, 7\ub71 years (3\ub79) in the GRN group, and 9\ub73 years (6\ub74) in the MAPT group. Individual age at onset and at death was significantly correlated with both parental age at onset and at death and with mean family age at onset and at death in all three groups, with a stronger correlation observed in the MAPT group (r=0\ub745 between individual and parental age at onset, r=0\ub763 between individual and mean family age at onset, r=0\ub758 between individual and parental age at death, and r=0\ub769 between individual and mean family age at death) than in either the C9orf72 group (r=0\ub732 individual and parental age at onset, r=0\ub736 individual and mean family age at onset, r=0\ub738 individual and parental age at death, and r=0\ub740 individual and mean family age at death) or the GRN group (r=0\ub722 individual and parental age at onset, r=0\ub718 individual and mean family age at onset, r=0\ub722 individual and parental age at death, and r=0\ub732 individual and mean family age at death). Modelling showed that the variability in age at onset and at death in the MAPT group was explained partly by the specific mutation (48%, 95% CI 35\u201362, for age at onset; 61%, 47\u201373, for age at death), and even more by family membership (66%, 56\u201375, for age at onset; 74%, 65\u201382, for age at death). In the GRN group, only 2% (0\u201310) of the variability of age at onset and 9% (3\u201321) of that of age of death was explained by the specific mutation, whereas 14% (9\u201322) of the variability of age at onset and 20% (12\u201330) of that of age at death was explained by family membership. In the C9orf72 group, family membership explained 17% (11\u201326) of the variability of age at onset and 19% (12\u201329) of that of age at death. Interpretation: Our study showed that age at symptom onset and at death of people with genetic frontotemporal dementia is influenced by genetic group and, particularly for MAPT mutations, by the specific mutation carried and by family membership. Although estimation of age at onset will be an important factor in future pre-symptomatic therapeutic trials for all three genetic groups, our study suggests that data from other members of the family will be particularly helpful only for individuals with MAPT mutations. Further work in identifying both genetic and environmental factors that modify phenotype in all groups will be important to improve such estimates. Funding: UK Medical Research Council, National Institute for Health Research, and Alzheimer's Society

Velocity-space sensitivity of the time-of-flight neutron spectrometer at JET

The velocity-space sensitivities of fast-ion diagnostics are often described by so-called weight functions. Recently, we formulated weight functions showing the velocity-space sensitivity of the often dominant beam-target part of neutron energy spectra. These weight functions for neutron emission spectrometry (NES) are independent of the particular NES diagnostic. Here we apply these NES weight functions to the time-of-flight spectrometer TOFOR at JET. By taking the instrumental response function of TOFOR into account, we calculate time-of-flight NES weight functions that enable us to directly determine the velocity-space sensitivity of a given part of a measured time-of-flight spectrum from TOFOR

Relationship of edge localized mode burst times with divertor flux loop signal phase in JET

A phase relationship is identified between sequential edge localized modes (ELMs) occurrence times in a set of H-mode tokamak plasmas to the voltage measured in full flux azimuthal loops in the divertor region. We focus on plasmas in the Joint European Torus where a steady H-mode is sustained over several seconds, during which ELMs are observed in the Be II emission at the divertor. The ELMs analysed arise from intrinsic ELMing, in that there is no deliberate intent to control the ELMing process by external means. We use ELM timings derived from the Be II signal to perform direct time domain analysis of the full flux loop VLD2 and VLD3 signals, which provide a high cadence global measurement proportional to the voltage induced by changes in poloidal magnetic flux. Specifically, we examine how the time interval between pairs of successive ELMs is linked to the time-evolving phase of the full flux loop signals. Each ELM produces a clear early pulse in the full flux loop signals, whose peak time is used to condition our analysis. The arrival time of the following ELM, relative to this pulse, is found to fall into one of two categories: (i) prompt ELMs, which are directly paced by the initial response seen in the flux loop signals; and (ii) all other ELMs, which occur after the initial response of the full flux loop signals has decayed in amplitude. The times at which ELMs in category (ii) occur, relative to the first ELM of the pair, are clustered at times when the instantaneous phase of the full flux loop signal is close to its value at the time of the first ELM

Risk profiles and one-year outcomes of patients with newly diagnosed atrial fibrillation in India: Insights from the GARFIELD-AF Registry.

BACKGROUND: The Global Anticoagulant Registry in the FIELD-Atrial Fibrillation (GARFIELD-AF) is an ongoing prospective noninterventional registry, which is providing important information on the baseline characteristics, treatment patterns, and 1-year outcomes in patients with newly diagnosed non-valvular atrial fibrillation (NVAF). This report describes data from Indian patients recruited in this registry. METHODS AND RESULTS: A total of 52,014 patients with newly diagnosed AF were enrolled globally; of these, 1388 patients were recruited from 26 sites within India (2012-2016). In India, the mean age was 65.8 years at diagnosis of NVAF. Hypertension was the most prevalent risk factor for AF, present in 68.5% of patients from India and in 76.3% of patients globally (P < 0.001). Diabetes and coronary artery disease (CAD) were prevalent in 36.2% and 28.1% of patients as compared with global prevalence of 22.2% and 21.6%, respectively (P < 0.001 for both). Antiplatelet therapy was the most common antithrombotic treatment in India. With increasing stroke risk, however, patients were more likely to receive oral anticoagulant therapy [mainly vitamin K antagonist (VKA)], but average international normalized ratio (INR) was lower among Indian patients [median INR value 1.6 (interquartile range {IQR}: 1.3-2.3) versus 2.3 (IQR 1.8-2.8) (P < 0.001)]. Compared with other countries, patients from India had markedly higher rates of all-cause mortality [7.68 per 100 person-years (95% confidence interval 6.32-9.35) vs 4.34 (4.16-4.53), P < 0.0001], while rates of stroke/systemic embolism and major bleeding were lower after 1 year of follow-up. CONCLUSION: Compared to previously published registries from India, the GARFIELD-AF registry describes clinical profiles and outcomes in Indian patients with AF of a different etiology. The registry data show that compared to the rest of the world, Indian AF patients are younger in age and have more diabetes and CAD. Patients with a higher stroke risk are more likely to receive anticoagulation therapy with VKA but are underdosed compared with the global average in the GARFIELD-AF. CLINICAL TRIAL REGISTRATION-URL: http://www.clinicaltrials.gov. Unique identifier: NCT01090362

Ultrafine grained plates of Al-Mg-Si alloy obtained by Incremental Equal Channel Angular Pressing : microstructure and mechanical properties

In this study, an Al-Mg-Si alloy was processed using via Incremental Equal Channel Angular Pressing (I-ECAP) in order to obtain homogenous, ultrafine grained plates with low anisotropy of the mechanical properties. This was the first attempt to process an Al-Mg-Si alloy using this technique. Samples in the form of 3 mm-thick square plates were subjected to I-ECAP with the 90˚ rotation around the axis normal to the surface of the plate between passes. Samples were investigated first in their initial state, then after a single pass of I-ECAP and finally after four such passes. Analyses of the microstructure and mechanical properties demonstrated that the I-ECAP method can be successfully applied in Al-Mg-Si alloys. The average grain size decreased from 15 - 19 µm in the initial state to below 1 µm after four I-ECAP passes. The fraction of high angle grain boundaries in the sample subjected to four I-ECAP passes lay within 53-57 % depending on the examined plane. The mechanism of grain refinement in Al-Mg-Si alloy was found to be distinctly different from that in pure aluminium with the grain rotation being more prominent than the grain subdivision, which was attributed to lower stacking fault energy and the reduced mobility of dislocations in the alloy. The ultimate tensile strength increased more than twice, whereas the yield strength - more than threefold. Additionally, the plates processed by I-ECAP exhibited low anisotropy of mechanical properties (in plane and across the thickness) in comparison to other SPD processing methods, which makes them attractive for further processing and applications