Nutritional value of biofuel residues from beet evaluated in sows and sheep

An alternative substrate in the biogas or bioethanol production may be the sugar containing juice obtained after fractionation of beets into a juice used for fermentation and into a pulp used for feeding. The objective of the present experiment was to evaluate the fresh pulp of top and root from sugar (Angus) and fodder (Colosse) beets as feed for pigs and ruminants. The pulp was prepared by a cold mechanical pressing. Two digestibility experiments were carried out according to the difference method. In experiment 1, 30 sows were housed individually in metabolic cages for 12 d, and urine and feces were collected during the last 7 d. The daily ration consisted of either root or top pulp combined with a basal diet. In experiment 2, 25 wethers were housed individually, and feces were collected during the last 7 d of the experiment. The daily ration was either root or top pulp combined with hay. The chemical composition of the pulp of the 2 beet varieties varied only little. However, the top fraction contained more ash (150 vs. 34 g/kg DM), crude protein (175 vs. 53 g/kg DM) and total dietary fibre (460 vs. 206 g/kg DM) compared to the root fractions. The in vitro and the apparent digestibility of sows and wethers were higher for root pulp than for top pulp, whereas there were no differences between the two beet varieties. The fresh root pulp may be considered a good energy source for both sows and ruminants, whereas the fresh top pulp may serve as a satiety-enhancing feedstuff for sows. The protein value of both root and top pulp is considered to be low

Asparaginase enzyme activity levels and toxicity in childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia:a NOPHO ALL2008 study

Abstract Asparaginase treatment is a mainstay in contemporary treatment of acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), but substantial asparaginase-related toxicity may lead to jeopardized protocol compliance and compromises survival. We investigated the association between risk of asparaginase-associated toxicities (AspTox) and asparaginase enzyme activity (AEA) levels in 1155 children aged 1.0 to 17.9 years, diagnosed with ALL between July 2008 and March 2016, and treated according to the Nordic Society of Pediatric Hematology and Oncology (NOPHO) ALL2008 protocol. Patients with ≥2 blood samples for AEA measurement drawn 14 ± 2 days after asparaginase administration were included (6944 trough values). AEA was measurable (or >0 IU/L) in 955 patients, whereas 200 patients (17.3%) had asparaginase inactivation and few AspTox recorded. A time-dependent multiple Cox model of time to any first asparaginase-associated toxicity adjusted for sex and age was used. For patients with measurable AEA, we found a hazard ratio (HR) of 1.17 per 100 IU/L increase in median AEA (95% confidence interval [CI], 0.98–1.41; P = 0.09). For pancreatitis, thromboembolism, and osteonecrosis, the HRs were 1.40 (95% CI, 1.12–1.75; P = 0.002), 0.99 (95% CI, 0.70–1.40; P = 0.96), and 1.36 (95% CI, 1.04–1.77; P = 0.02) per 100 IU/L increase in median AEA, respectively. No significant decrease in the risk of leukemic relapse was found: HR 0.88 per 100 IU/L increase in AEA (95% CI, 0.66–1.16; P = 0.35). In conclusion, these results emphasize that overall AspTox and relapse are not associated with AEA levels, yet the risk of pancreatitis and osteonecrosis increases with increasing AEA levels