Blattmasse feinsamiger Leguminosen als Eiweißkomponente für Schweine und Geflügel

The nutrient supply of pigs and poultry in organic livestock farming suffers from a shortage of suitable home-grown protein sources. While clover-like legumes are widely used in cattle, the high levels of crude fiber restrict the use of these feedstuffs in the diet of monogastric animals. In the current study, comprehensive analyses were conducted with the focus on the leaf mass of clover-like legumes. The results revealed that in general leaf mass contained less fiber than the whole plant and on average high levels of protein and essential amino acids. However, values were severely affected among others by plant species, cut and time of harvest and thus varied considerably. Quality checks by analysis are required to make the potential of cloverlike legumes accessible for pig and poultry in organic farming

Dopamine D1/D2 receptor activity in the nucleus accumbens core but not in the nucleus accumbens shell and orbitofrontal cortex modulates risk-based decision making

Background: It is well known that brain dopamine (DA) signals support risk-based decision making; however, the specific terminal regions of midbrain DA neurons through which DA signals mediate risk-based decision making are unknown. Methods: Using microinfusions of the D1/D2 receptor antagonist flupenthixol, we sought to explore the role of D1/D2 receptor activity in the rat orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) and core and shell regions of the nucleus accumbens (AcbC and AcbS, respectively) in the regulation of risky choices. A risk-discounting task was used that involves choices between a certain small-reward lever that always delivered 1 pellet or a risky large-reward lever which delivered 4 pellets but had a decreasing probability of receiving the reward across 4 subsequent within-session trial blocks (100%, 50%, 25%, 12.5%). To validate task sensitivity to experimental manipulations of DA activity, we also examined the effects of systemic amphetamine and flupenthixol. Results: Systemic amphetamine increased while systemic flupenthixol reduced risky choices. Results further demonstrate that rats that received intra-AcbC flupenthixol were able to track increasing risk associated with the risky lever but displayed a generally reduced preference for the risky lever across all trial blocks, including in the initial trial block (large reward at 100%). Microinfusions of flupenthixol into the AcbS or OFC did not alter risk-based decision making. Conclusions: Our data suggest that intra-AcbC D1/D2 receptor signaling does not support the ability to track shifts in reward probabilities but does bias risk-based decision making. That is, it increased the rats’ preference for the response option known to be associated with higher risk-related costs

New Plant breeding Techniques and Organic Farming: scientific, regulatory and consumer issues

The LIVESEED project (Improving the performance and competitiveness of the organic sector by boosting organic seed and plant breeding efforts) will present & discuss the scientific controversies and the regulatory issues related to New Plant Breeding Techniques (NPBTs) as well as the results of a European survey on consumers attitudes and preferences on NPBTs in organic farming

Optimal timing of contrast-enhanced three-dimensional magnetic resonance left atrial angiography before pulmonary vein ablation

Background: To achieve high image quality of cardiovascular magnetic resonance (CMR) pulmonary vein (PV) angiography prior catheter ablation in patients with atrial fibrillation, optimal timing of the angiographic sequence during contrast agent passage is important. The present study identified influential cardiovascular parameters for prediction of contrast agent travel time.Methods: One hundred six consecutive patients underwent a CMR examination including three-dimensional (3D) contrast-enhanced PV angiography with real-time bolus tracking prior to catheter ablation. Correct scan timing was characterized by relative signal enhancement measurements in the pulmonary artery, left atrium (LA), and ascending aorta. Furthermore, left- and right-ventricular function, left- and right-atrial dimensions, presence of mitral or tricuspid insufficiencies, and main pulmonary artery diameter were determined.Results: The highest relative signal enhancement in LA demonstrated optimal scan timing. Contrast agent travel time showed wide variability (range: 12–42 s; mean: 18 ± 4 s). On univariate analysis, most cardiovascular parameters correlated with contrast agent travel time while on multivariate analysis left- and right-ventricular function remained the only independent predictors, but overall a poor fit to the data (adjusted R2, 27.5%) was found.Conclusions: Contrast agent travel time was mainly influenced by left- and right-ventricular function but prediction models poorly fitted the data. Thus, 3D PV angiography prior to PV ablation procedures necessitates real-time assessment, with visual determination of individual contrast agent passage time to ensure consistently high CMR image quality

Effects of GPR139 agonism on effort expenditure for food reward in rodent models: Evidence for pro-motivational actions

Apathy, deficiency of motivation including willingness to exert effort for reward, is a common symptom in many psychiatric and neurological disorders, including depression and schizophrenia. Despite improved understanding of the neurocircuitry and neurochemistry underlying normal and deficient motivation, there is still no approved pharmacological treatment for such a deficiency. GPR139 is an orphan G protein-coupled receptor expressed in brain regions which contribute to the neural circuitry that controls motivation including effortful responding for reward, typically sweet gustatory reward. The GPR139 agonist TAK-041 is currently under development for treatment of negative symptoms in schizophrenia which include apathy. To date, however, there are no published preclinical data regarding its potential effect on reward motivation or deficiencies thereof. Here we report in vitro evidence confirming that TAK-041 increases intracellular Ca2+ mobilization and has high selectivity for GPR139. In vivo, TAK-041 was brain penetrant and showed a favorable pharmacokinetic profile. It was without effect on extracellular dopamine concentration in the nucleus accumbens. In addition, TAK-041 did not alter the effort exerted to obtain sweet gustatory reward in rats that were moderately food deprived. By contrast, TAK-041 increased the effort exerted to obtain sweet gustatory reward in mice that were only minimally food deprived; furthermore, this effect of TAK-041 occurred both in control mice and in mice in which deficient effortful responding was induced by chronic social stress. Overall, this study provides preclinical evidence in support of GPR139 agonism as a molecular target mechanism for treatment of apathy

The Role of lncRNAs TAPIR-1 and -2 as Diagnostic Markers and Potential Therapeutic Targets in Prostate Cancer

In search of new biomarkers suitable for the diagnosis and treatment of prostate cancer, genome-wide transcriptome sequencing was carried out with tissue specimens from 40 prostate cancer (PCa) and 8 benign prostate hyperplasia patients. We identified two intergenic long non-coding transcripts, located in close genomic proximity, which are highly expressed in PCa. Microarray studies on a larger cohort comprising 155 patients showed a profound diagnostic potential of these transcripts (AUC~0.94), which we designated as tumor associated prostate cancer increased lncRNA (TAPIR-1 and -2). To test their therapeutic potential, knockdown experiments with siRNA were carried out. The knockdown caused an increase in the p53/TP53 tumor suppressor protein level followed by downregulation of a large number of cell cycle- and DNA-damage repair key regulators. Furthermore, in radiation therapy resistant tumor cells, the knockdown leads to a renewed sensitization of these cells to radiation treatment. Accordingly, in a preclinical PCa xenograft model in mice, the systemic application of nanoparticles loaded with siRNA targeting TAPIR-1 significantly reduced tumor growth. These findings point to a crucial role of TAPIR-1 and -2 in PCa