Broiler efficiency as affected by dietary protein supply and grain source

This experiment was conducted to compare the effects of different diet compositions on performance and carcass yield of male broilers from 15 to 36 days of age. In total, 593 male birds were divided across a randomized design that consisted of 6 dietary treatments, each with 8 replications. The treatments included pelleted diets that varied in grain type and crude protein (CP) value: 3 sorghum-based diets at 20%, 18.75%, and 17.5% CP and 3 corn-sorghum blended diets at the same CP levels. CP amounts impacted only body weight gain and feed conversion rate while feed intake only differed with grain source (

Comparison of heart rate recovery from physical and mental stress

The present study evaluated a new paradigm for identifying individuals who show exaggerated, delayed physiological recovery following mental stress. Siibjects first performed a mental task, a face-to-face quiz, wliile heart rate was recorded. Ten minutes later they performed a physical task, squeezing a hand dynamometer, with the force varied in order to produce a heart rate elevation identical to the mental task. Each task was followed by a ten minute recovery period. Twenty seven subjects satisfied the criterion for equivalent heart rate elevations to both stressors. A difference score, reflecting relatively slower recovery from the mental stressor (relative to the physical task), was significantly correlated with the Anger-Out subscale of the Anger Expression scale (Sp i.e Iber ger, Johnson, Russell, et al,, .1 985 ) for the first five minutes of recovery from the mental stressor. In contrast, residual recovery heart rate scores, controlling for resting and stress response level, were correlated with reported levels of physical fitness, but not personality factors. These results indicate the value of combining this new difference score paradigm with the standard residual score analysis of recovery to identify which factors are affecting recovery through psychological versus physiological mechanisms

Specialist palliative medicine physicians and nurses accuracy at predicting imminent death (within 72 hours) : a short report

Research suggests that clinicians are not very accurate at prognosticating in palliative care. The 'horizon effect' suggests that accuracy ought to be better when the survival of patients is shorter. The aim of this study was to determine the accuracy of specialist palliative care clinicians at identifying which patients are likely to die within 72 hours. In a secondary data analysis of a prospective observational study, specialist palliative care doctors and nurses (in a hospice and a hospital palliative care team) provided survival predictions (yes/no/uncertain) about which patients would die within 72 hours. Survival predictions were obtained for 49 patients. A prediction from a nurse was obtained for 37/49 patients. A prediction from a doctor was obtained for 46/49 patients. In total, 23 (47%)/49 patients actually died within 72 hours of assessment. Nurses accurately predicted the outcome in 27 (73%)/37 cases. Doctors accurately predicted the outcome in 30 (65%)/46 cases. When comparing predictions given on the same patients (27 [55%]/49), nurses were slightly better at recognising imminent death than doctors (positive predictive value (the proportion of patients who died when the clinician predicted death)=79% vs 60%, respectively). The difference in c-statistics (nurses 0.82 vs doctors 0.63) was not significant (p=0.13). Even when patients are in the terminal phase and close to death, clinicians are not very good at predicting how much longer they will survive. Further research is warranted to improve prognostication in this population. [Abstract copyright: © Author(s) (or their employer(s)) 2020. Re-use permitted under CC BY. Published by BMJ.

Water Uptake by Evaporating pMDI Aerosol Prior to Inhalation Affects Both Regional and Total Deposition in the Respiratory System

© 2021 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)As pulmonary drug deposition is a function of aerosol particle size distribution, it is critical that the dynamics of particle formation and maturation in pMDI sprays in the interim between generation and inhalation are fully understood. This paper presents an approach to measure the evaporative and condensational fluxes of volatile components and water from and to solution pMDI droplets following generation using a novel technique referred to as the Single Particle Electrodynamic Lung (SPEL). In doing so, evaporating aerosol droplets are shown capable of acting as condensation nuclei for water. Indeed, we show that the rapid vaporisation of volatile components from a volatile droplet is directly correlated to the volume of water taken up by condensation. Furthermore, a significant volume of water is shown to condense on droplets of a model pMDI formulation (hydrofluoroalkane (HFA), ethanol and glycerol) during evaporative droplet ageing, displaying a dramatic shift from a core composition of a volatile species to that of predominantly water (non-volatile glycerol remained in this case). This yields a droplet with a water activity of 0.98 at the instance of inhalation. The implications of these results on regional and total pulmonary drug deposition are explored using the International Commission of Radiological Protection (ICRP) deposition model, with an integrated semi-analytical treatment of hygroscopic growth. Through this, droplets with water activity of 0.98 upon inhalation are shown to produce markedly different dose deposition profiles to those with lower water activities at the point of inspiration.Peer reviewe

Detection of the synthetic cathinone N,N-dimethylpentylone in seized samples from prisons

Drug use is prevalent in prisons with drugs associated with depressant effects found to be moreprevalent than stimulants. Synthetic cathinones (SCats; often sold as “bath salts”, “ecstasy”, “molly”,and “monkey dust”) are the second largest category of new psychoactive substances (NPS) currentlymonitored by the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction (EMCDDA) and arecommonly used as substitutes for regulated stimulants, such as amphetamine, cocaine, and MDMA.N,N-dimethylpentylone (also known as dimethylpentylone, dipentylone, and bk-DMBDP) was detectedfor the first time in the Scottish prisons in seven powder samples seized between January and July 2023.Samples were analyzed using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS), ultra-highperformance liquid chromatography-quadrupole time of flight mass spectrometry (UPLC-QToF-MS),and nuclear magnetic resonance imaging (NMR). Dimethylpentylone was detected alongside otherdrugs in four samples, including the novel benzodiazepine desalkylgidazepam (bromonordiazepam) andthe synthetic cannabinoid receptor agonists (SCRAs) MDMB-INACA and MDMB-4en-PINACA

A deficiency of uPAR alters endothelial angiogenic function and cell morphology

The angiogenic potential of a cell requires dynamic reorganization of the cytoskeletal architecture that involves the interaction of urokinase-type plasminogen activator receptor (uPAR) with the extracellular matrix. This study focuses on the effect of uPAR deficiency (uPAR-/-) on angiogenic function and associated cytoskeletal organization. Utilizing murine endothelial cells, it was observed that adhesion, migration, proliferation, and capillary tube formation were altered in uPAR-/- cells compared to wild-type (WT) cells. On a vitronectin (Vn) matrix, uPAR-/- cells acquired a "fried egg" morphology characterized by circular actin organization and lack of lamellipodia formation. The up-regulation of β1 integrin, FAK(P-Tyr925), and paxillin (P-Tyr118), and decreased Rac1 activation, suggested increased focal adhesions, but delayed focal adhesion turnover in uPAR-/- cells. This accounted for the enhanced adhesion, but attenuated migration, on Vn. VEGF-enriched Matrigel implants from uPAR-/- mice demonstrated a lack of mature vessel formation compared to WT mice. Collectively, these results indicate that a uPAR deficiency leads to decreased angiogenic functions of endothelial cells

Very Shallow Water Bathymetry Retrieval from Hyperspectral Imagery at the Virginia Coast Reserve (VCR\u2707) Multi-Sensor Campaign

A number of institutions, including the Naval Research Laboratory (NRL), have developed look up tables for remote retrieval of bathymetry and in-water optical properties from hyperspectral imagery (HSI) [6]. For bathymetry retrieval, the lower limit is the very shallow water case (here defined as \u3c 2m), a depth zone which is not well resolved by many existing bathymetric LIDAR sensors, such as SHOALS [4]. The ability to rapidly model these shallow water depths from HSI directly has potential benefits for combined HSI/LIDAR systems such as the Compact Hydrographic Airborne Rapid Total Survey (CHARTS) [10]. In this study, we focused on the validation of a near infra-red feature, corresponding to a local minimum in absorption (and therefore a local peak in reflectance), which can be correlated directly to bathymetry with a high degree of confidence. Compared to other VNIR wavelengths, this particular near-IR feature corresponds to a peak in the correlation with depth in this very shallow water regime, and this is a spectral range where reflectance depends primarily on water depth (water absorption) and bottom type, with suspended constituents playing a secondary role

Interpopulation differences and temporal synchrony in rates of adult survival between two seabird colonies that differ in population size and distance to foraging grounds

Understanding the processes that drive interpopulation differences in demography and population dynamics is central to metapopulation ecology. In colonial species, populations are limited by local resource availability. However, individuals from larger colonies will travel greater distances to overcome density-dependent competition. Consequently, these individuals may also experience greater carry-over effects and interpopulation differences in demography. To test this prediction, we use mark-recapture data collected over four decades from two breeding colonies of a seabird, the Manx shearwater (Puffinus puffinus), that exhibit strong spatial overlap throughout the annual cycle but differ in population size and maximum foraging distances. We quantify interpopulation differences and synchrony in rates of survival and assess whether local mean wind speeds act to strengthen or disrupt synchrony. In addition, we examine whether the imputed interpopulation differences in survival can generate population-level consequences. The colony where individuals travel further during the breeding season had slightly lower and more variable rates of survival, indicative of individuals experiencing greater carry-over effects. Fluctuations in survival were highly synchronous between the colonies, but neither synchronous, nor asynchronous, variation could be strongly attributed to fluctuations in local mean wind speeds. Finally, we demonstrate that the imputed interpopulation differences in rates of survival could lead to considerable differences in population growth. We hypothesise that the observed interpopulation differences in rates of adult survival reflect carry-over effects associated with foraging distances during the breeding season. More broadly, our results highlight that breeding season processes can be important for understanding interpopulation differences in the demographic rates and population dynamics of long-lived species, such as seabirds

Changing trends in novel benzodiazepine use within Scottish prisons:detection, quantitation, prevalence, and modes of use

Drug use within prisons is increasingly complex and unpredictable. Benzodiazepines are currently one of the most common drugs detected in individuals leaving Scottish prisons; however, understanding illicit benzodiazepine use within prisons and assessing the potential harm to individuals is challenging due to the lack of available analytical data on the substances circulating. Increasingly, materials, such as paper and clothing, infused with novel benzodiazepines have been identified as a smuggling route into Scottish prisons. Methods were developed for the qualitative and quantitative analysis of benzodiazepines using gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC–MS) and applied to 495 seized samples from 11 Scottish prisons, including papers, cards, blotters, powders, tablets, and clothing. Evolution in the benzodiazepines being detected was demonstrated, with etizolam being the most prevalent throughout 2020/2021 following which flubromazepam and bromazolam detections increased. Additionally, significant changes in the smuggling methods and drug formats detected occurred over time following policy changes within prisons. These data represent the first reported widescale etizolam quantitation data and demonstrate high levels of variability across all sample types, most notably within tablets (0.34–2.33 mg per tablet). Additionally, concentration mapping of a whole seized card sample revealed the total concentration of drug present (312.5 mg) and demonstrated variability across the surface of the card (1.16–1.87 mg/cm 2). These data highlight the challenges of consistent dosing for individuals and the high risks of unintentional overdose. Increased understanding of the challenge of such drug smuggling and benzodiazepine use will aid in the development of strategies to reduce supply and mitigate harm.</p