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

Warm Magnetic Field Measurements of LARP HQ Magnet

The US-LHC Accelerator Research Program is developing and testing a high-gradient quadrupole (HQ) magnet, aiming at demonstrating the feasibility of Nb{sub 3}Sn technologies for the LHC luminosity upgrade. The 1 m long HQ magnet has a 120 mm bore with a conductor-limited gradient of 219 T/m at 1.9 K and a peak field of 15 T. HQ includes accelerator features such as alignment and field quality. Here we present the magnetic measurement results obtained at LBNL with a constant current of 30 A. A 100 mm long circuit-board rotating coil developed by FNAL was used and the induced voltage and flux increment were acquired. The measured b{sub 6} ranges from 0.3 to 0.5 units in the magnet straight section at a reference radius of 21.55 mm. The data reduced from the numerical integration of the raw voltage agree with those from the fast digital integrators

Isospin dependence of electromagnetic transition strengths among an isobaric triplet

Electric quadrupole matrix elements, M, for the J=2→0, ΔT=0, T=1 transitions across the A=46 isobaric multiplet Cr-V-Ti have been measured at GSI with the FRS-LYCCA-AGATA setup. This allows direct insight into the isospin purity of the states of interest by testing the linearity of M with respect to T. Pairs of nuclei in the T=1 triplet were studied using identical reaction mechanisms in order to control systematic errors. The M values were obtained with two different methodologies: (i) a relativistic Coulomb excitation experiment was performed for Cr and Ti; (ii) a “stretched target” technique was adopted here, for the first time, for lifetime measurements in V and Ti. A constant value of M across the triplet has been observed. Shell-model calculations performed within the fp shell fail to reproduce this unexpected trend, pointing towards the need of a wider valence space. This result is confirmed by the good agreement with experimental data achieved with an interaction which allows excitations from the underlying sd shell. A test of the linearity rule for all published data on complete T=1 isospin triplets is presented.Peer Reviewe

Summary of HQ01e magnetic measurements

The magnetic measurements of HQ01e, a 1 m long LHC Accelerator Research Program (LARP) high-gradient quadrupole model, were performed at 4.4 K and above 40 K at the magnet test facility of LBNL in July 2011. The 120 mm aperture cos2θ Nb{sub 3}Sn magnet was designed with accelerator magnet features including alignment and field quality. Conductor-limited gradient was 195 T/m at 4.4 K. During the measurement, a ramp rate of 10 A/s was used and measurements at the nominal current of 14.2 kA (82% of short-sample limit with a gradient of 160 T/m) were performed using the 250 mm long printed-circuit board rotating probe developed by FNAL. At 14.2 kA, 2.7 units of b{sub 6} and 0.7 units of b{sub 10} were measured. Large persistent current contribution and strong dynamic effects were observed. We analyzed the allowed and non-allowed harmonics obtained during the measurements above 40 K and at the nominal current. Significant change of the skew sextupole occurred between 50 K and 95 K. The allowed multipole and the low-order non-allowed multipoles at the straight section were explained through the rigid displacement of coil blocks with an amplitude less than 100 μm. We also attempted to correlate the coil asymmetry (a{sub 3} and b{sub 3}) with the measured coil pole azimuthal strain. The dynamic multipole measured at the magnetic straight section varied linearly with the ramp rate of magnet current ranging from 10 A/s to 60 A/s. It was attributed to the inter-strand coupling currents with low crossover resistance. The crossover resistance of the cables at the inner layer of the magnet was estimated to range between 0.2 μΩ to 0.7 μΩ

Effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on surgery for indeterminate thyroid nodules (THYCOVID): a retrospective, international, multicentre, cross-sectional study

Background Since its outbreak in early 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic has diverted resources from non-urgent and elective procedures, leading to diagnosis and treatment delays, with an increased number of neoplasms at advanced stages worldwide. The aims of this study were to quantify the reduction in surgical activity for indeterminate thyroid nodules during the COVID-19 pandemic; and to evaluate whether delays in surgery led to an increased occurrence of aggressive tumours.Methods In this retrospective, international, cross-sectional study, centres were invited to participate in June 22, 2022; each centre joining the study was asked to provide data from medical records on all surgical thyroidectomies consecutively performed from Jan 1, 2019, to Dec 31, 2021. Patients with indeterminate thyroid nodules were divided into three groups according to when they underwent surgery: from Jan 1, 2019, to Feb 29, 2020 (global prepandemic phase), from March 1, 2020, to May 31, 2021 (pandemic escalation phase), and from June 1 to Dec 31, 2021 (pandemic decrease phase). The main outcomes were, for each phase, the number of surgeries for indeterminate thyroid nodules, and in patients with a postoperative diagnosis of thyroid cancers, the occurrence of tumours larger than 10 mm, extrathyroidal extension, lymph node metastases, vascular invasion, distant metastases, and tumours at high risk of structural disease recurrence. Univariate analysis was used to compare the probability of aggressive thyroid features between the first and third study phases. The study was registered on ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT05178186.Findings Data from 157 centres (n=49 countries) on 87 467 patients who underwent surgery for benign and malignant thyroid disease were collected, of whom 22 974 patients (18 052 [78 center dot 6%] female patients and 4922 [21 center dot 4%] male patients) received surgery for indeterminate thyroid nodules. We observed a significant reduction in surgery for indeterminate thyroid nodules during the pandemic escalation phase (median monthly surgeries per centre, 1 center dot 4 [IQR 0 center dot 6-3 center dot 4]) compared with the prepandemic phase (2 center dot 0 [0 center dot 9-3 center dot 7]; p<0 center dot 0001) and pandemic decrease phase (2 center dot 3 [1 center dot 0-5 center dot 0]; p<0 center dot 0001). Compared with the prepandemic phase, in the pandemic decrease phase we observed an increased occurrence of thyroid tumours larger than 10 mm (2554 [69 center dot 0%] of 3704 vs 1515 [71 center dot 5%] of 2119; OR 1 center dot 1 [95% CI 1 center dot 0-1 center dot 3]; p=0 center dot 042), lymph node metastases (343 [9 center dot 3%] vs 264 [12 center dot 5%]; OR 1 center dot 4 [1 center dot 2-1 center dot 7]; p=0 center dot 0001), and tumours at high risk of structural disease recurrence (203 [5 center dot 7%] of 3584 vs 155 [7 center dot 7%] of 2006; OR 1 center dot 4 [1 center dot 1-1 center dot 7]; p=0 center dot 0039).Interpretation Our study suggests that the reduction in surgical activity for indeterminate thyroid nodules during the COVID-19 pandemic period could have led to an increased occurrence of aggressive thyroid tumours. However, other compelling hypotheses, including increased selection of patients with aggressive malignancies during this period, should be considered. We suggest that surgery for indeterminate thyroid nodules should no longer be postponed even in future instances of pandemic escalation.Funding None.Copyright (c) 2023 Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved

Study of Isomeric States in ^{198,200,202,206}Pb and ²⁰⁶Hg Populated in Fragmentation Reactions

Isomeric states in isotopes in the vicinity of doubly-magic 208Pb were populated following reactions of a relativistic 208Pb primary beam impinging on a 9Be fragmentation target. Secondary beams of 198;200;202;206Pb and 206Hg were isotopically separated and implanted in a passive stopper positioned in the focal plane of the GSI Fragment Separator. Delayed γ rays were detected with the Advanced GAmma Tracking Array (AGATA). Decay schemes were re-evaluated and interpreted with shell-model calculations. The momentum-dependent population of isomeric states in the two-nucleon hole nuclei 206Pb/206Hg was found to differ from the population of multi neutron-hole isomeric states in 198;200;202Pb