Addition of Fat to Diets of Lactating Sows. I. Effects on Sow and Pig Performance

Sow energy intake during lactation is an important factor to consider when trying to maximize sow and pig performance. It has been shown that inadequate energy intake during lactation results in decreased litter weaning weight. Poor energy intake during lactation is also thought to result in a reduction in postweaning reproductive performance by extending the period from weaning to rebreeding. This reduction in postweaning performance is typically preceded by the excessive loss of weight and backfat during lactation. One method that has been used to increase sow energy intake, and thus alleviate the problems described above is to add dietary fat. The addition of high concentrations of fat (e.g., 7.5 to 15% of the diet) has been shown to result in increased sow energy intake during lactation, and if consumed for approximately one week before farrowing, increased survival rates for pigs with light birthweights. This article reports the effects of high fat diets on sow lactation performance, litter performance, and sow feed and energy intake. A subsequent article will discuss the effects of added dietary fat on energy intake, meal patterns, and blood hormones and metabolites. A specific objective of this research was to determine the effects of dietary fat on milk production and composition

The Effects of Tallow Addition to the Diets of Lactating Sows on Hormone and Metabolite Concentrations

The metabolic responses of sows fed a corn-soybean meal or a corn-soybean meal-10% tallow diet were measured. The addition of tallow to lactating sows diets had no effect on feed or energy intake. In addition, there were no effects on the concentrations of glucose, non-esterified fatty acids (NEFA), insulin, or glucagon. No differences in either the time spent consuming feed or the number of meals consumed were observed. Finally, no linear association between eating time and area under the curve for insulin was observed for sows consuming either diet. These results show the addition of tallow to lactation diets does not affect the concentrations of glucose, NEFA, insulin or glucagon in the fed state

A systematic review of the safety of lisdexamfetamine dimesylate

BACKGROUND: Here we review the safety and tolerability profile of lisdexamfetamine dimesylate (LDX), the first long-acting prodrug stimulant for the treatment of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). METHODS: A PubMed search was conducted for English-language articles published up to 16 September 2013 using the following search terms: (lisdexamfetamine OR lisdexamphetamine OR SPD489 OR Vyvanse OR Venvanse OR NRP104 NOT review [publication type]). RESULTS: In short-term, parallel-group, placebo-controlled, phase III trials, treatment-emergent adverse events (TEAEs) in children, adolescents, and adults receiving LDX were typical for those reported for stimulants in general. Decreased appetite was reported by 25-39 % of patients and insomnia by 11-19 %. The most frequently reported TEAEs in long-term studies were similar to those reported in the short-term trials. Most TEAEs were mild or moderate in severity. Literature relating to four specific safety concerns associated with stimulant medications was evaluated in detail in patients receiving LDX. Gains in weight, height, and body mass index were smaller in children and adolescents receiving LDX than in placebo controls or untreated norms. Insomnia was a frequently reported TEAE in patients with ADHD of all ages receiving LDX, although the available data indicated no overall worsening of sleep quality in adults. Post-marketing survey data suggest that the rate of non-medical use of LDX was lower than that for short-acting stimulants and lower than or equivalent to long-acting stimulant formulations. Small mean increases were seen in blood pressure and pulse rate in patients receiving LDX. CONCLUSIONS: The safety and tolerability profile of LDX in individuals with ADHD is similar to that of other stimulants

Improved dd+4^4He potentials by inversion, the tensor force and validity of the double folding model

Improved potential solutions are presented for the inverse scattering problem for $d$+$^4$He data. The input for the inversions includes both the data of recent phase shift analyses and phase shifts from RGM coupled-channel calculations based on the NN Minnesota force. The combined calculations provide a more reliable estimate of the odd-even splitting of the potentials than previously found, suggesting a rather moderate role for this splitting in deuteron-nucleus scattering generally. The approximate parity-independence of the deuteron optical potentials is shown to arise from the nontrivial interference between antisymmetrization and channel coupling to the deuteron breakup channels. A further comparison of the empirical potentials established here and the double folding potential derived from the M3Y effective NN force (with the appropriate normalisation factor) reveals strong similarities. This result supports the application of the double folding model, combined with a small Majorana component, to the description even of such a loosely bound projectile as the deuteron. In turn, support is given for the application of iterative-perturbative inversion in combination with the double folding model to study fine details of the nucleus-nucleus potential. A $d$-$^4$He tensor potential is also derived to reproduce correctly the negative $^6$Li quadrupole moment and the D-state asymptotic constant.Comment: 22 pages, 12 figures, in Revte

Efficacy of lisdexamfetamine dimesylate throughout the day in children and adolescents with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder:results from a randomized, controlled trial

Lisdexamfetamine dimesylate (LDX) is a long-acting, prodrug stimulant therapy for patients with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). This randomized placebo-controlled trial of an optimized daily dose of LDX (30, 50 or 70 mg) was conducted in children and adolescents (aged 6–17 years) with ADHD. To evaluate the efficacy of LDX throughout the day, symptoms and behaviors of ADHD were evaluated using an abbreviated version of the Conners’ Parent Rating Scale-Revised (CPRS-R) at 1000, 1400 and 1800 hours following early morning dosing (0700 hours). Osmotic-release oral system methylphenidate (OROS-MPH) was included as a reference treatment, but the study was not designed to support a statistical comparison between LDX and OROS-MPH. The full analysis set comprised 317 patients (LDX, n = 104; placebo, n = 106; OROS-MPH, n = 107). At baseline, CPRS-R total scores were similar across treatment groups. At endpoint, differences (active treatment − placebo) in least squares (LS) mean change from baseline CPRS-R total scores were statistically significant (P < 0.001) throughout the day for LDX (effect sizes: 1000 hours, 1.42; 1400 hours, 1.41; 1800 hours, 1.30) and OROS-MPH (effect sizes: 1000 hours, 1.04; 1400 hours, 0.98; 1800 hours, 0.92). Differences in LS mean change from baseline to endpoint were statistically significant (P < 0.001) for both active treatments in all four subscales of the CPRS-R (ADHD index, oppositional, hyperactivity and cognitive). In conclusion, improvements relative to placebo in ADHD-related symptoms and behaviors in children and adolescents receiving a single morning dose of LDX or OROS-MPH were maintained throughout the day and were ongoing at the last measurement in the evening (1800 hours)

Continuous symmetry of C60 fullerene and its derivatives

Conventionally, the Ih symmetry of fullerene C60 is accepted which is supported by numerous calculations. However, this conclusion results from the consideration of the molecule electron system, of its odd electrons in particular, in a close-shell approximation without taking the electron spin into account. Passing to the open-shell approximation has lead to both the energy and the symmetry lowering up to Ci. Seemingly contradicting to a high-symmetry pattern of experimental recording, particularly concerning the molecule electronic spectra, the finding is considered in the current paper from the continuous symmetry viewpoint. Exploiting both continuous symmetry measure and continuous symmetry content, was shown that formal Ci symmetry of the molecule is by 99.99% Ih. A similar continuous symmetry analysis of the fullerene monoderivatives gives a reasonable explanation of a large variety of their optical spectra patterns within the framework of the same C1 formal symmetry exhibiting a strong stability of the C60 skeleton.Comment: 11 pages. 5 figures. 6 table

A common genetic variant of a mitochondrial RNA processing enzyme predisposes to insulin resistance

Mitochondrial energy metabolism plays an important role in the pathophysiology of insulin resistance. Recently, a missense N437S variant was identified in the MRPP3 gene, which encodes a mitochondrial RNA processing enzyme within the RNase P complex, with predicted impact on metabolism. We used CRISPR-Cas9 genome editing to introduce this variant into the mouse Mrpp3 gene and show that the variant causes insulin resistance on a high-fat diet. The variant did not influence mitochondrial gene expression markedly, but instead, it reduced mitochondrial calcium that lowered insulin release from the pancreatic islet β cells of the Mrpp3 variant mice. Reduced insulin secretion resulted in lower insulin levels that contributed to imbalanced metabolism and liver steatosis in the Mrpp3 variant mice on a high-fat diet. Our findings reveal that the MRPP3 variant may be a predisposing factor to insulin resistance and metabolic disease in the human population

Rapidly re-computable EEG (electroencephalography) forward models for realistic head shapes

Solution of the EEG source localization (inverse) problem utilizing model-based methods typically requires a significant number of forward model evaluations. For subspace based inverse methods like MUSIC [6], the total number of forward model evaluations can often approach an order of 10{sup 3} or 10{sup 4}. Techniques based on least-squares minimization may require significantly more evaluations. The observed set of measurements over an M-sensor array is often expressed as a linear forward spatio-temporal model of the form: F = GQ + N (1) where the observed forward field F (M-sensors x N-time samples) can be expressed in terms of the forward model G, a set of dipole moment(s) Q (3xP-dipoles x N-time samples) and additive noise N. Because of their simplicity, ease of computation, and relatively good accuracy, multi-layer spherical models [7] (or fast approximations described in [1], [7]) have traditionally been the 'forward model of choice' for approximating the human head. However, approximation of the human head via a spherical model does have several key drawbacks. By its very shape, the use of a spherical model distorts the true distribution of passive currents in the skull cavity. Spherical models also require that the sensor positions be projected onto the fitted sphere (Fig. 1), resulting in a distortion of the true sensor-dipole spatial geometry (and ultimately the computed surface potential). The use of a single 'best-fitted' sphere has the added drawback of incomplete coverage of the inner skull region, often ignoring areas such as the frontal cortex. In practice, this problem is typically countered by fitting additional sphere(s) to those region(s) not covered by the primary sphere. The use of these additional spheres results in added complication to the forward model. Using high-resolution spatial information obtained via X-ray CT or MR imaging, a realistic head model can be formed by tessellating the head into a set of contiguous regions (typically the scalp, outer skull, and inner skull surfaces). Since accurate in vivo determination of internal conductivities is currently not currently possible, the head is typically assumed to consist of a set of contiguous isotropic regions, each with constant conductivity