Effect of herbal choline and rumen-protected methionine on lamb performance and blood metabolites

Twenty-four lambs (Pelibuey x East Friesian), weighing 22.7 ± 3.2 kg, were fed a basal diet of corn silage, oat hay, alfalfa hay, and concentrate (60% forage and 40% concentrate). Treatments consisted of oral doses of rumen-protected methionine (RPM) (0 and 1.5 g/day) and herbal choline (biocholine) (0 and 4 g/day) in a completely random block design with factorial arrangement of treatments, where lambs were blocked by sex. The experiment was conducted for 60 days, and measurements of live weight and dry matter intake were obtained. No effects of the treatments were observed on performance variables (lamb growth, consumption and feed conversion). Non-esterified fatty acids (NEFA) were increased by biocholine and unaffected by methionine (Met). Biocholine increased glucose and cholesterol, whereas methionine increased triglycerides, albumin and plasma protein. The dietary supplementation with biocholine and RPM did not improve lambs’ growth; however, biocholine and Met showed a lipotropic effect by mobilizing NEFA and stimulating glucose and cholestrol synthesis.Keywords: feed additives, growing sheep, lipid metabolis

Mediodorsal Thalamic Neurons Mirror the Activity of Medial Prefrontal Neurons Responding to Movement and Reinforcement during a Dynamic DNMTP Task

The mediodorsal nucleus (MD) interacts with medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) to support learning and adaptive decision-making. MD receives driver (layer 5) and modulatory (layer 6) projections from PFC and is the main source of driver thalamic projections to middle cortical layers of PFC. Little is known about the activity of MD neurons and their influence on PFC during decision-making. We recorded MD neurons in rats performing a dynamic delayed nonmatching to position (dDNMTP) task and compared results to a previous study of mPFC with the same task (Onos et al., 2016). Criterion event-related responses were observed for 22% (254/1179) of neurons recorded in MD, 237 (93%) of which exhibited activity consistent with mPFC response types. More MD than mPFC neurons exhibited responses related to movement (45% vs. 29%) and reinforcement (51% vs. 27%). MD had few responses related to lever presses, and none related to preparation or memory delay, which constituted 43% of event-related activity in mPFC. Comparison of averaged normalized population activity and population response times confirmed the broad similarity of common response types in MD and mPFC and revealed differences in the onset and offset of some response types. Our results show that MD represents information about actions and outcomes essential for decision-making during dDNMTP, consistent with evidence from lesion studies that MD supports reward-based learning and action-selection. These findings support the hypothesis that MD reinforces task-relevant neural activity in PFC that gives rise to adaptive behavior

Workplace pedometer interventions for increasing physical activity (review)

The World Health Organization recommends that most people should undertake at least 30 minutes of moderate-intensity physical activity on most days, as it reduces the risk of cardiovascular disease, diabetes and some cancers. However, less than 40% of the world’s population are undertaking adequate amounts of physical activity and rates have been declining. Here we assess whether pedometer workplace interventions increase physical activity and thereby lead to subsequent health benefits. To assess this, we searched for randomised controlled trials of workplace health promotion interventions that involved the use of a pedometer undertaken in employed adults. Between 30th January and 6th February 2012 we searched a range of electronic libraries and references of relevant papers, retrieving 3282 potential papers. We eventually included four studies in the review. One study compared pedometer programmes with an alternative physical activity programme, but there were important baseline differences between the intervention and control groups that made it difficult to distinguish the true effect. The three remaining studies compared pedometer programmes with minimally active control groups. One study observed an improvement in physical activity in the pedometer programme, but two other studies found no significant difference between the pedometer group and the control group. We could not combine these results together, as each study used a different measure for physical activity, so it is not clear what the overall effect is. Single studies found beneficial changes in body mass index, fasting plasma glucose, the mental component of quality of life and worksite injury associated with the pedometer programmes as opposed to the control group. However, none of the studies identified consistent differences between the pedometer programme and the control group for waist circumference, blood pressure and quality of life outcomes. In addition, we judged the majority of included studies to have a high risk of bias, mainly due to participants and staff knowing who was in the intervention and who was in the control group, attrition of participants and not having published a protocol prior to running the study. We conclude that there was insufficient evidence to assess whether workplace pedometer interventions are of benefit. There is a need for further high quality randomised controlled trials to be undertaken with a range of health outcomes and assessment in the long term

Stationary quasivariational inequalities with gradient constraint and nonhomogeneous boundary conditions

Publicado em "From particle systems to partial differential equations. Part 2. (Springer proceedings in mathematics & statistics, vol. 75). ISBN 978-3-642-54270-1We study existence of solution of stationary uasivariational inequalities with gradient constraint and nonhomogeneous boundary condition of Neumann or Dirichlet type. Through two different approaches, one making use of a fixed point theorem and the other using a process of regularization and penalization, we obtain different sufficient conditions for the existence of solution.(undefined

Prefrontal Neurons Encode Actions and Outcomes in Conjunction with Spatial Location in Rats Performing a Dynamic Delayed Non-Match to Position Task

To respond adaptively to change organisms must utilize information about recent events and environmental context to select actions that are likely to produce favorable outcomes. We developed a dynamic delayed nonmatching to position task to study the influence of spatial context on event-related activity of medial prefrontal cortex neurons during reinforcement-guided decision-making. We found neurons with responses related to preparation, movement, lever press responses, reinforcement, and memory delays. Combined event-related and video tracking analyses revealed variability in spatial tuning of neurons with similar event-related activity. While all correlated neurons exhibited spatial tuning broadly consistent with relevant task events, for instance reinforcement-related activity concentrated in locations where reinforcement was delivered, some had elevated activity in more specific locations, for instance reinforcement-related activity in one of several locations where reinforcement was delivered. Timing analyses revealed a limited set of distinct response types with activity time-locked to critical behavioral events that represent the temporal organization of dDNMTP trials. Our results suggest that reinforcement-guided decision-making emerges from discrete populations of medial prefrontal neurons that encode information related to planned or ongoing movements and actions and anticipated or actual action-outcomes in conjunction with information about spatial context

Witness: The Modern Writer as Witness

Editor\u27s Note [Excerpt] Magic can mean many different things, especially for writers. Magic can be an illusion, a sleight of hand designed to trick onlookers into believing the impossible. Or magic can be a supernatural force in a world of harsh reality, a set of beliefs that sits just outside the realms of organized religion and advanced technology. Wizards and demons, Las Vegas entertainers and houngans --they all practice a kind of sorcery. For poets and prose writers, though, magic affords an opportunity for us to stretch the limitations of the physical world in search of new themes, settings, and characters. Magic is a door we eagerly walk through to reach new lands. We at Witness have thoroughly enjoyed the process of selecting the themed works we have collected here, mainly because the idea of enchantment is inspiring. There is the possibility of positive charms; there is a chance for dark witchery. And sometimes the spell cast by a character is nebulous, difficult to categorize. It’s arguable that we cherish these incantations the most, since they leave us in a state of wonderment bordering on disorientation. Yes, magic can also leave us bewildered and thankful for the bewilderment.https://digitalscholarship.unlv.edu/witness/1001/thumbnail.jp

β-thalassemia Intermedia In A Brazilian Patient With - 101 (c > T) And Codon 39 (c > T) Mutations

Context: We verified molecular alterations in a 72-year-old Brazilian male patient with a clinical course of homozygous β-thalassemia intermedia, who had undergone splenectomy and was surviving without regular blood transfusions. The blood cell count revealed microcytic and hypochromic anemia (hemoglobin = 6.5 g/dl, mean cell volume = 74 ft, mean cell hemoglobin = 24 pg) and hemoglobin electrophoresis showed fetal hemoglobin = 1.3%, hemoglobin A 2 = 6.78% and hemoglobin A = 79.4%. Objective: To identify mutations in a patient with the symptoms of β-thalassemia intermedia. Design: Molecular inquiry into the mutations possibly responsible for the clinical picture described. Setting: The structural molecular biology and genetic engineering center of the Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Campinas, Brazil. Procedures: DNA extraction was performed on the patient's blood samples. The polymerase chain reaction (PCR) was done using five specific primers that amplified exons and the promoter region of the β globin gene. The samples were sequenced and then analyzed via computer programs. Results: Two mutations that cause the disease were found: -101 (C > T) and codon 39 (C > T). Conclusions: This cases represents the first description of -101 (C > T) mutation in a Brazilian population and it is associated with a benign clinical course.12112830Baysal, E., Carver, M.F.H., The beta and delta-thalassemia repository (1995) Hemoglobin., 19 (3-4), pp. 213-236Zago, M.A., Costa, F., Bottura, C., Beta-thalassemia in Brazil (1981) Braz. J. Med. Biol. Res., 14 (6), pp. 383-388Ewing, B., Green, P., Base-calling of automated sequencer traces using Phred. II Error probabilities (1998) Genome Res., 8 (3), pp. 186-194Green, P., (2002), http://bozeman.genome.washington.edu/phrap.docs/phrap.html, The Phred/Phrap/Consed System Home Page. Phrap Assembler. Available at URL September 30Gordon, D., Abajian, C., Green, P., Consed: A graphical tool for sequence finishing (1998) Genome Res., 8 (3), pp. 195-20

Confusing the extragalactic neutrino flux limit with a neutrino propagation limit

We study the possible suppression of the extragalactic neutrino flux due to a nonstandard interaction during its propagation. In particular, we study neutrino interaction with an ultra-light scalar field dark matter. It is shown that the extragalactic neutrino flux may be suppressed by such an interaction, leading to a new mechanism to reduce the ultra-high energy neutrino flux. We study both the cases of non-self-conjugate as well as self-conjugate dark matter. In the first case, the suppression is independent of the neutrino and dark matter masses. We conclude that care must be taken when explaining limits on the neutrino flux through source acceleration mechanisms only, since there could be other mechanisms for the reduction of the neutrino flux.Comment: 15 pages, 4 figures. Important changes implemented. Abstract modified. Conclusions remain. To be published in JCA

Sinalização visual e Biologia Reprodutiva de Dendropsophus werneri (Anura: Hylidae) em área de Mata Atlântica no Estado do Paraná, Brasil

We studied the reproductive biology and visual signaling of Dendropsophus werneri, whose distribution is limited to the Atlantic Rain Forest. The fieldwork was carried out in the Estação 2 do IAPAR, municipality of Morretes, state of Paraná, Brazil, from August 2006 to March 2007. Additional information on reproduction was gathered in the Reserva Natural Salto Morato, municipality of Guaraqueçaba, state of Paraná, Brazil, from September 2006 to March 2007. Males were smaller than females. Males called throughout all the study period in Morretes, but were active only during three months in Guaraqueçaba; males called from low vegetation along the edge of temporary ponds in open areas. The visual signaling was observed in two contexts: (1) aggressive behaviors between two males and (2) during the reproduction, by amplectant males. In the territorial behavior, males exhibited both aggressive and mixed calls, visual signaling as well as physical combats. We also recorded satellite behavior in four males. The mean egg number per clutch was 244 ± 32 eggs, varying between 188 and 310 eggs. We observed two reproductive modes: Mode 1 and Mode 24. In the present study, Dendropsophus werneri showed elaborated social interactions involving visual signaling, territorial behavior, mating bahavior with tactile stimuli, and two different reproductive modes, demonstrating its complex reproductive biology.Estudamos a sinalização visual e a biologia reprodutiva de Dendropsophus werneri, espécie cuja distribuição está limitada à Floresta Tropical Atlântica. O estudo foi desenvolvido no município de Morretes, entre agosto de 2006 e março de 2007; observações adicionais foram realizadas na Reserva Natural Salto Morato, Município de Guaraqueçaba, de setembro de 2006 a março de 2007, ambas no Estado do Paraná, Brasil. As fêmeas foram maiores que os machos. Os machos vocalizaram durante todo o período de estudo em Morretes e em apenas três meses no município de Guaraqueçaba, utilizando a vegetação marginal das poças temporárias como sítio de vocalização. A sinalização visual foi observada em dois contextos: (1) comportamentos agressivos entre dois machos e (2) durante a reprodução, com o macho em amplexo com a fêmea. No comportamento territorial os machos utilizaram sinalização visual, vocalização agressiva e mista além de combate físico. Foi registrado o comportamento satélite em quatro machos. O número de ovos por desova variou de 188 a 310, sendo postos em média 244 ± 32 ovos. Foram observados dois modos reprodutivos: o modo 1 e o modo 24. No presente estudo, Dendropsophus werneri apresentou interações sociais elaboradas envolvendo uso de sinalização visual, comportamento territorial, dois modos reprodutivos distintos e comportamento de côrte com estímulos táteis, demonstrando a complexidade de sua biologia reprodutiva