Antimicrobial promotion of pig growth is associated with tissue-specific remodeling of bile acid signature and signaling

The spread of bacterial resistance to antimicrobials (AMA) have intensified efforts to discontinue the non-therapeutic use of AMA in animal production. Finding alternatives to AMA, however, is currently encumbered by the obscure mechanism that underlies their growth-promoting action. In this report, we demonstrate that combinations of antibiotics and zinc oxide at doses commonly used for stimulating growth or preventing post-weaning enteritis in pigs converge in promoting microbial production of bile acids (BA) in the intestine. This leads to tissue-specific modifications in the proportion of BA, thereby amplifying BA signaling in intestine, liver, and white adipose tissue (WAT). Activation of BA-regulated pathways ultimately reinforces the intestinal protection against bacterial infection and pathological secretion of fluids and electrolytes, attenuates inflammation in colon and WAT, alters protein and lipid metabolism in liver, and increases the circulating levels of the hormone FGF19. Conceivably, these alterations could spare nutrients for growth and improve the metabolic efficiency of AMA-treated animals. This work provides evidence that BA act as signaling molecules that mediate host physiological, metabolic, and immune responses to the AMA-induced alterations in gut microbial metabolism, eventually permitting the growth-promoting action of AMA. Consequently, BA emerge as a promising target for developing efficacious alternatives to AMA

Effects of combination of sibutramine and L-carnitine compared with sibutramine monotherapy on inflammatory parameters in diabetic patients

The aim of the study was to evaluate the effects of 12-month treatment with sibutramine plus L-carnitine compared with sibutramine alone on body weight, glycemic control, insulin resistance, and inflammatory state in type 2 diabetes mellitus patients. Two hundred fifty-four patients with uncontrolled type 2 diabetes mellitus (glycated hemoglobin [HbA(1c)] >8.0\%) in therapy with different oral hypoglycemic agents or insulin were enrolled in this study and randomized to take sibutramine 10 mg plus L-carnitine 2 g or sibutramine 10 mg in monotherapy. We evaluated at baseline and after 3, 6, 9, and 12 months these parameters: body weight, body mass index, HbA(1c), fasting plasma glucose, postprandial plasma glucose, fasting plasma insulin, homeostasis model assessment of insulin resistance index, total cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, triglycerides, leptin, tumor necrosis factor-α, adiponectin, vaspin, and high-sensitivity C-reactive protein. Sibutramine plus L-carnitine gave a faster improvement of fasting plasma glucose, postprandial plasma glucose, lipid profile, leptin, tumor necrosis factor-α, and high-sensitivity C-reactive protein compared with sibutramine alone. Furthermore, there was a better improvement of body weight, HbA(1c), fasting plasma insulin, homeostasis model assessment of insulin resistance index, vaspin, and adiponectin with sibutramine plus L-carnitine compared with sibutramine alone. Sibutramine plus L-carnitine gave a better and faster improvement of all the analyzed parameters compared with sibutramine alone without giving any severe adverse effect

A network perspective to the measurement of sense of coherence (SOC): an exploratory graph analysis approach

The measurement of sense of coherence (SOC) has received attention for more than three decades. Despite the extensive use of SOC-13, there is still a long debate regarding its dimensionality structure. Recently, there has been an increasing use of network modeling as a valid alternative to latent-variable modeling. This study proposes an exploratory approach to the structure of SOC-13 by adopting a network perspective. The network structure was estimated with a Gaussian Graphical Model, and Exploratory Graph Analysis (EGA) was used to inspect network dimensionality. We fit and compared the unidimensional, first- and second-order confirmatory factor analysis (CFA), bifactor-CFA, and structure derived from EGA. Our results showed unacceptable fit values for the CFA models, suggesting that SOC-13 is not unidimensional. Inspection of the estimated network suggested that the SOC-13 items emerged as a dynamic system of mutually interacting nodes that formed three distinct clusters of items (communities) that are not those defined in the literature. EGA identified three communities of items: the first community was characterized by comprehensibility and manageability items, the second community was characterized by comprehensibility and manageability items, and the third dimension was characterized by all meaningfulness items and one comprehensibility item. Our study presented a novel perspective in investigating the structure of SOC-13 that strengthens the assumption that SOC should be conceptualized as a complex system of cognitive (comprehensibility), behavioral (manageability), and motivational dimensions (meaningfulness) that are deeply linked and not necessarily distinct

Suppression of charged particle production at large transverse momentum in central Pb-Pb collisions at sNN=2.76\sqrt{s_{\rm NN}} = 2.76 TeV

Inclusive transverse momentum spectra of primary charged particles in Pb-Pb collisions at $\sqrt{s_{_{\rm NN}}}$ = 2.76 TeV have been measured by the ALICE Collaboration at the LHC. The data are presented for central and peripheral collisions, corresponding to 0-5% and 70-80% of the hadronic Pb-Pb cross section. The measured charged particle spectra in $|\eta|<0.8$ and $0.3 < p_T < 20$ GeV/$c$ are compared to the expectation in pp collisions at the same $\sqrt{s_{\rm NN}}$, scaled by the number of underlying nucleon-nucleon collisions. The comparison is expressed in terms of the nuclear modification factor $R_{\rm AA}$. The result indicates only weak medium effects ($R_{\rm AA} \approx$ 0.7) in peripheral collisions. In central collisions, $R_{\rm AA}$ reaches a minimum of about 0.14 at $p_{\rm T}=6$-7GeV/$c$ and increases significantly at larger $p_{\rm T}$. The measured suppression of high-$p_{\rm T}$ particles is stronger than that observed at lower collision energies, indicating that a very dense medium is formed in central Pb-Pb collisions at the LHC.Comment: 15 pages, 5 captioned figures, 3 tables, authors from page 10, published version, figures at http://aliceinfo.cern.ch/ArtSubmission/node/98

Two-pion Bose-Einstein correlations in central Pb-Pb collisions at sNN\sqrt{s_{\rm NN}} = 2.76 TeV

The first measurement of two-pion Bose-Einstein correlations in central Pb-Pb collisions at $\sqrt{s_{\rm NN}} = 2.76$ TeV at the Large Hadron Collider is presented. We observe a growing trend with energy now not only for the longitudinal and the outward but also for the sideward pion source radius. The pion homogeneity volume and the decoupling time are significantly larger than those measured at RHIC.Comment: 17 pages, 5 captioned figures, 1 table, authors from page 12, published version, figures at http://aliceinfo.cern.ch/ArtSubmission/node/388

Ground-Based Measurements of the 2014–2015 Holuhraun Volcanic Cloud (Iceland)

The 2014–2015 Bárðarbunga fissure eruption at Holuhraun in central Iceland was distinguished by the high emission of gases, in total 9.6 Mt SO2, with almost no tephra. This work collates all ground-based measurements of this extraordinary eruption cloud made under particularly challenging conditions: remote location, optically dense cloud with high SO2 column amounts, low UV intensity, frequent clouds and precipitation, an extensive and hot lava field, developing ramparts, and high-latitude winter conditions. Semi-continuous measurements of SO2 flux with three scanning DOAS instruments were augmented by car traverses along the ring-road and along the lava. The ratios of other gases/SO2 were measured by OP-FTIR, MultiGAS, and filter packs. Ratios SO2/HCl = 30–110 and SO2/HF = 30–130 show a halogen-poor eruption cloud. Scientists on-site reported extremely minor tephra production during the eruption. OPC and filter packs showed low particle concentrations similar to non-eruption cloud conditions. Three weather radars detected a droplet-rich eruption cloud. Top of eruption cloud heights of 0.3–5.5 km agl were measured with ground- and aircraft-based visual observations, web camera and NicAIR II infrared images, triangulation of scanning DOAS instruments, and the location of SO2 peaks measured by DOAS traverses. Cloud height and emission rate measurements were critical for initializing gas dispersal simulations for hazard forecasting

Status of the RFQ linac installation and conditioning of the Linear IFMIF Prototype Accelerator

Abstract The Radio Frequency Quadrupole (RFQ) linac and 1.6 MW RF power system of the Linear IFMIF Prototype Accelerator (LIPAc) facility in the International Fusion Energy Research Center (IFERC) in Rokkasho (Japan) has been installed and conditioned. During the assembly and tuning process, the RFQ cavity was protected with a temporary tent from the potential deterioration of performance caused by dust. The vacuum in the cavity was improved through the 100 °C baking process of the cavity. The high power test of the 175 MHz RF systems up to 200 kW in CW for each of the eight RF chains was performed for checking its stable output reproducibility in Japan, before connecting 9–3/16 inch coaxial transmission lines from the RF chains to the RF input couplers of the cavity. It was confirmed that the eight RF chains provided the balanced RF power to the single RFQ cavity in-phase using a feedback loop and a synchronization system. The peak power in the cavity achieved 150 kW in the pulsed mode, which corresponds approximately to the required electric field to accelerate proton beam. Such RF conditioning process is ongoing to achieve 600 kW approximately required for deuteron beam commissioning planned in 2018

Ground-Based measurements of the 2014-2015 holuhraun volcanic cloud (Iceland)

The 2014-2015 Bárðarbunga fissure eruption at Holuhraun in central Iceland was distinguished by the high emission of gases, in total 9.6 Mt SO2, with almost no tephra. This work collates all ground-based measurements of this extraordinary eruption cloud made under particularly challenging conditions: remote location, optically dense cloud with high SO2 column amounts, low UV intensity, frequent clouds and precipitation, an extensive and hot lava field, developing ramparts, and high-latitude winter conditions. Semi-continuous measurements of SO2 flux with three scanning DOAS instruments were augmented by car traverses along the ring-road and along the lava. The ratios of other gases/SO2 were measured by OP-FTIR, MultiGAS, and filter packs. Ratios of SO2/HCl = 30-110 and SO2/HF = 30-130 show a halogen-poor eruption cloud. Scientists on-site reported extremely minor tephra production during the eruption. OPC and filter packs showed low particle concentrations similar to non-eruption cloud conditions. Three weather radars detected a droplet-rich eruption cloud. Top of eruption cloud heights of 0.3-5.5 km agl were measured with ground-and aircraft-based visual observations, web camera and NicAIR II infrared images, triangulation of scanning DOAS instruments, and the location of SO2 peaks measured by DOAS traverses. Cloud height and emission rate measurements were critical for initializing gas dispersal simulations for hazard forecasting