The influence of a formula supplemented with dairy lipids and plant oils on the erythrocyte membrane omega-3 fatty acid profile in healthy full-term infants : a double-blind randomized controlled trial

BACKGROUND: Human milk is the optimal nutrition for infants. When breastfeeding is not possible, supplementation of infant formula with long chain polyunsaturated fatty acids appears to promote neurodevelopmental outcome and visual function. Plant oils, that are the only source of fat in most of infant formulas, do not contain specific fatty acids that are present in human and cow milk and do not encounter milk fat triglyceride structure. Experimental data suggest that a mix of dairy lipids and plant oils can potentiate endogenous synthesis of n-3 long chain polyunsaturated fatty acids. This trial aims to determine the effect of an infant formula supplemented with a mixture of dairy lipids and plant oils on the erythrocyte membrane omega-3 fatty acid profile in full-term infants (primary outcome). Erythrocyte membrane long chain polyunsaturated fatty acids and fatty acids content, the plasma lipid profile and the insulin-growth factor 1 level, the gastrointestinal tolerance, the changes throughout the study in blood fatty acids content, in growth and body composition are evaluated as secondary outcomes. METHODS/DESIGN: In a double-blind controlled randomized trial, 75 healthy full-term infants are randomly allocated to receive for four months a formula supplemented with a mixture of dairy lipids and plant oils or a formula containing only plant oils or a formula containing plant oils supplemented with arachidonic acid and docosahexaenoic acid. Twenty-five breast-fed infants constitute the reference group. Erythrocyte membrane omega-3 fatty acid profile, long chain polyunsaturated fatty acids and the other fatty acids content, the plasma lipid profile and the insulin-growth factor 1 level are measured after four months of intervention. Gastrointestinal tolerance, the changes in blood fatty acids content, in growth and body composition, assessed by means of an air displacement plethysmography system, are also evaluated throughout the study. DISCUSSION: The achievement of an appropriate long chain polyunsaturated fatty acids status represents an important goal in neonatal nutrition. Gaining further insight in the effects of the supplementation of a formula with dairy lipids and plant oils in healthy full-term infants could help to produce a formula whose fat content, composition and structure is more similar to human milk. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier NCT01611649

Reproduction and respiration of a climate change indicator species: effect of temperature and variable food in the copepod Centropages chierchiae

The abundance of the calanoid copepod Centropages chierchiae has increased at the northern limits of its distribution in recent decades, mainly due to oceanic climate forcing, suggesting this as a key species in monitoring climate change. Laboratory experiments were conducted to study the combined effect of temperature, food type and concentration on the egg production rate (EPR) and hatching success (HS) of C. chierchiae. Females were fed on two monoalgal diets (Gymnodinium sp. and Phaeodactylum tricornutum) at two food concentrations and at three different temperatures (13, 19, 24C). Respiration rates of both genders were measured at four different temperatures (8, 13, 19, 24C). EPR was significantly different between temperatures and food concentrations, the maximum EPR being attained when the copepods were exposed to high food levels and at 19C. Prey type significantly influenced EPR; feeding on P. tricornutum resulted in higher egg production than Gymnodinium sp. HS was significantly lower at 13C than at 19 and 24C and higher with Gymnodinium sp. Respiration rates were sex independent and increased exponentially with temperature. To maintain basal metabolism, the minimum food intake of P. tricornutum ranged between 0.4 and 1.8 g C and for Gymnodinium sp. between 0.03 and 0.13 g C. Food intake was always higher than the metabolic demands, except for the highest temperature tested (24C). The present results confirm the sensitivity of C. chierchiae to temperature variations and may help in understanding the successful expansion of its distribution towards northern latitudes.Portuguese Science and Technology Foundation (FCT) [PTDC/MAR/098643/2008, PTDC/MAR/111304/2009, PTDC/MAR/0908066/2008]; FCT [SFRH/BD/28198/2006]; [SFRH/BPD/38332/2007

SPHERE: the exoplanet imager for the Very Large Telescope

Observations of circumstellar environments to look for the direct signal of exoplanets and the scattered light from disks has significant instrumental implications. In the past 15 years, major developments in adaptive optics, coronagraphy, optical manufacturing, wavefront sensing and data processing, together with a consistent global system analysis have enabled a new generation of high-contrast imagers and spectrographs on large ground-based telescopes with much better performance. One of the most productive is the Spectro-Polarimetic High contrast imager for Exoplanets REsearch (SPHERE) designed and built for the ESO Very Large Telescope (VLT) in Chile. SPHERE includes an extreme adaptive optics system, a highly stable common path interface, several types of coronagraphs and three science instruments. Two of them, the Integral Field Spectrograph (IFS) and the Infra-Red Dual-band Imager and Spectrograph (IRDIS), are designed to efficiently cover the near-infrared (NIR) range in a single observation for efficient young planet search. The third one, ZIMPOL, is designed for visible (VIR) polarimetric observation to look for the reflected light of exoplanets and the light scattered by debris disks. This suite of three science instruments enables to study circumstellar environments at unprecedented angular resolution both in the visible and the near-infrared. In this work, we present the complete instrument and its on-sky performance after 4 years of operations at the VLT.Comment: Final version accepted for publication in A&

Performance of juvenile turbot (Scophthalmus maximus) fed varying dietary L-carnitine levels at different stocking densities

Commercial farming of turbot (Scophthalmus maximus) at high stocking densities may lead to growth depression and increasing production costs. Moreover, the high levels of accumulated waste in an intensive system may cause rapid deterioration of water quality, which may undermine the production. L-carnitine is known as a growth-enhancer which shows promise as mitigator of crowding effects. The effects of stocking densities (4, 8, 11 and 14 kg m²) on growth performance, feed utilization and body composition were evaluated during 75 days on turbot (75.6 ± 2.8 g) fed two dietary L-carnitine levels (40 or 240 mg kg¹). At the end of the feeding trial, total ammonia excretion (TAN) was measured postprandially for 24h. Specific growth rate and weight gain decreased with increasing stocking density. Fish held at 4 kg m² had higher final body weight (94-96 g) than fish held at higher densities (80-87 g). Protein efficiency ratio was higher in fish held at 4 kg m² (1.33-1.36), in comparison to fish stocked at 8 kg m² (0.98) or 14 kg m² (0.45). Voluntary feed intake decreased from 0.70 to 0.56% BW with increasing stocking density. Dietary L-carnitine supplementation did not affect growth performance and body composition, except for body L-carnitine content which increased from 75 to 128 mg kg¹ BW with supplementation. Fish fed 240 mg L-carnitine supplements had lower TAN that the ones fed 40 mg L-carnitine (p A aquicultura de pregado (Scophthalmus maximus) utilizando elevadas densidades pode reduzir o crescimento e aumentar os custos de produção. Elevados níveis de metabolitos gerados nestes sistemas intensivos provocam rápida deterioração da qualidade da água, podendo também comprometer a performance da produção. A L-carnitina atua como potenciadora do crescimento parecendo ser promissora por atenuar alguns desses efeitos. Os efeitos de densidades (4, 8, 11 e 14 kg m²) no desempenho do crescimento, composição corporal foram avaliados em pregados (75,6 ± 2,8 g) alimentados durante 75 dias a dois níveis dietéticos de L-carnitina (40 ou 240 mg kg¹). Após esse período, determinou-se a excreção de amônia pós-prandial durante 24 horas. Os peixes cultivados na menor densidade, 4 kg m², apresentaram melhores taxas de crescimento e ganho de peso (94-96 g) em comparação aos mantidos em altas densidades (80-87 g). A taxa de eficiência proteica foi mais elevada a 4 kg m² (1,33-1,36), do que a densidades de 8 kg m² (0,98) ou 14 kg m² (0,45). A ingestão voluntária de alimento decresceu de 0,70 para 0,56% do peso corporal com o incremento da densidade. A suplementação de carnitina não afetou o crescimento e a composição corporal, com exceção do conteúdo de carnitine da carcaça que passou de 75 a 128 mg kg¹. Peixes alimentados com suplementos de 240 mg L-carnitina apresentam excreção de amônia mais baixa comparativamente aos alimentados com 40 mg L-carnitina (p < 0,05)

Directorium divini cultus ad Cathedralis Ecclesiae Minoriccensis : eiusque Dioecesis usum

Fecha de imprenta tomada del título

Homoacetogenic Fermentation of Cellulose by a Coculture of Clostridium thermocellum and Acetogenium kivui

Interrelationships between methanogens and fermentative or hydrolytic bacteria are well documented; however, such cocultures do not allow a complete fermentation shift to a peculiar metabolite. We describe here a new stable association between Clostridium thermocellum and Acetogenium kivui which converts 1 mol of cellulose (anhydroglucose equivalent) into 2.7 mol of acetate