Feeding oleamide to lactating Jersey cows. 2. Effects on nutrient digestibility, plasma fatty acids, and hormones

Six lactating Jersey cows were used in a 6 x 6 Latin square with 14-d periods to evaluate different ratios of canola oil and oleamide on nutrient digestibility, plasma fatty acids, and plasma hormones. The control diet contained no added fat. All other diets contained 3.5% added fat consisting of 0, 25, 50, 75, and 100% as oleamide and the remainder as canola oil. Data were collected during the final 4 d of each period. Dry matter intake was reduced by the addition of canola oil to the diet, and further reduced by replacing canola oil with oleamide. Milk yield was not affected by diet but increasing oleamide proportion in the fat supplement caused linear increases in cis-C18:1 and linear decreases in C4 to C16 fatty acids in milk. Adding canola oil reduced total tract digestibilities of fiber and fatty acids, but had no effect on the digestibilities of dry matter or protein. Replacing canola oil with oleamide increased protein digestibility linearly, and increased digestibility of fiber (quartic relationship) and fatty acids (quadratic relationship). Oleic acid concentration in plasma increased by adding canola oil to the diet, and was further increased by replacing canola oil with oleamide. Diet had no effect on plasma concentrations of insulin or IGF-I. Oleamide fed to Jersey cows in this study was highly digestible and had no deleterious effects on total tract digestility of fiber or protein. Increasing oleic acid concentration in plasma lipids while maintaining a constant level of added fat in the ration had no effect on circulating concentrations of insulin or IGF-I in Jerseys.     

Medical evaluation of Persian Gulf veterans with fatigue and/or chemical sensitivity

The purpose of this study was to determine if Gulf War veterans with complaints of severe fatigue and/or chemical sensitivity (n = 72) fulfill case definitions for chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) and/or multiple chemical sensitivity (MCS) and to compare the characteristics of those veterans who received a diagnosis of CFS (n = 24) to a group of non-veterans diagnosed with CFS (n = 95). Thirty-three veterans received a diagnosis of CFS with 14 having MCS concurrently; an additional six had MCS but did not fulfill a case definition for CFS. The group of fatigued veterans receiving a diagnosis of CFS was comprised of significantly fewer women and fewer Caucasians than the civilian group, and significantly fewer veterans reported a sudden onset to their illness. Veterans with CFS had a milder form of the illness than their civilian counterparts based on medical examiner assessment of the severity of the symptoms, reported days of reduced activity, and ability to work. Since CFS in veterans seems less severe than that seen in civilians, the prognosis for recovery of veterans with this disorder may be better.     

Retrieval practice improves memory in multiple sclerosis: Clinical application of the testing effect.

The testing effect is a robust cognitive phenomenon by which memory retrieval on a test improves subsequent recall more than restudying. Also known as retrieval practice, the testing effect has been studied almost exclusively in healthy undergraduates. The current study investigated whether retrieval practice during testing leads to better delayed recall than restudy among persons with multiple sclerosis (MS), a neurologic disease associated with memory dysfunction. In a within-subjects design, 32 persons with MS and 16 demographically matched healthy controls (HC) studied 48 verbal paired associates (VPA) divided across 3 learning conditions: massed restudy (MR), spaced restudy (SR), and spaced testing (ST). Delayed VPA cued recall was measured after 45 min. There was a large main effect of learning condition (ηp2 = .54, p     

Potential use of 1,25-dihydroxycholecalciferol for prevention of parturient paresis.

Twelve cows, at least third parity, were assigned randomly to either a control or treatment group. Treated cows received .4 mg of the vitamin D metabolite, 1,25-dihydroxycholecalciferol intramusculary in 5 ml corn oil. Intramuscular injections were started 5 days before predicted calving with reinjections every 5 days until calving. Incidence of parturient paresis was 0 and 33% (2 of 6) in the treated and control groups. Response to treatment was rapid with elevated calcium in serum approximately 12 h postinjection. Treatment maintained or elevated calcium and phosphorus concentrations in serum during the critical period, 24 h pre- to 48 h postpartum, when milk fever is most likely to occur. There was, however, no significant difference between treatments at 72 h postpartum. Based on these observations 1,25-dihydroxycholecalciferol holds promise as a preventative of parturient paresis; however, further studies are needed on application and safety.     

The use of Zn-desferrioxamine for radioprotection in mice, tissue culture, and isolated DNA

We previously reported that nitric oxide (NO) production in the unipolar brush (UB) cells is involved in vestibular compensation [T. Kitahara, N. Takeda, P.C. Emson, T. Kubo, H. Kiyama, Changes in nitric oxide synthase-like immunoreactivities in unipolar brush cells in the rat cerebellar flocculus after unilateral labyrinthectomy, Brain Res. 765 (1997) 1-6]. To further elucidate the role of NO-mediated signaling in flocculus after unilateral labyrinthectomy (UL), we examined UL-induced Fos expression, a marker of neural activity, in vestibular brainstem with continuous floccular infusions of Nomega-nitro-l-arginine methyl ester (l-NAME), an inhibitor of NO synthase (NOS). After UL with floccular l-NAME infusions, Fos expression appeared in bilateral medial vestibular (MVe) and prepositus hypoglossal (PrH) nuclei. After UL with floccular saline infusions, however, Fos expression was observed only in the ipsi-MVe and contra-PrH. Furthermore, it has been revealed that UL with l-NAME infusions caused more severe vestibulo-ocular disturbances than UL with saline infusions at the initial stage [Kitahara et al. Brain Res. 765 (1997) 1-6]. Therefore, it is suggested that UL with floccular l-NAME infusions activates the contra-MVe and ipsi-PrH neurons and causes more severe imbalance between intervestibular nuclear activities at the initial stage. NO-mediated signaling in flocculus could be a possible driving force of the flocculus-mediated inhibition on the contra-MVe and ipsi-PrH at the initial stage of vestibular compensation.     

Treating the core deficits of developmental dyslexia: Evidence of transfer of learning after phonologically- and strategy-based reading training programs.

Individuals with dyslexia have difficulty generalizing from word identification training. This study compared 2 forms of word identification training to promote transfer of learning by children with dyslexia. 62 children were randomly assigned to 1 of the training programs or to a study skills control program. One program trained phonological analysis and blending skills and provided direct instruction of letter–sound correspondences; the other trained the acquisition, use, and monitoring of 4 metacognitive decoding strategies. Results provided clear evidence of transfer of learning after treatment of the core reading deficits of these children. Both training approaches were associated with large positive effects, transfer on several measures, and generalized achievement gains. The phonological program resulted in greater generalized gains in the phonological domain and the strategy program in broader-based transfer for real words. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Late myocardial ischemic events after saphenous vein graft intervention--importance of initially "nonsignificant" vein graft lesions

Patients undergoing percutaneous coronary revascularization (PCR) for narrowed saphenous vein grafts (SVGs) have a high incidence of subsequent cardiac events, but the relative contribution of treated and untreated SVGs, and of native coronary narrowings to late events is uncertain. This study evaluated the role of progression of SVG disease at untreated sites to cardiac events in these patients. All patients with successful PCR of SVG lesions who were enrolled in clinical trials with mandated repeat angiography from 1990 to 1994 were studied. One hundred three patients (age 63 +/- 8 years, 82% men, ejection fraction 54 +/- 12%, graft age 8 +/- 4 years), contributing 1,095 analyzable 15- to 25-mm SVG segments were followed 29 +/- 13 months (4 patients were lost to follow-up). Actuarial event-free (death, myocardial infarction, bypass surgery, or PCR) and overall survival at 12 months were 47 +/- 5% and 94 +/- 2%, respectively. Fifty-six percent of all early (< or = 12 months) events resulted from ischemia from recurrence at initially treated SVG sites, 26% at nontreated SVG sites, and 14% at nontreated native coronary sites. By 36 months, event-free and overall survival were 25 +/- 6% and 86 +/- 4%, respectively. Events occurring > 12 months after initial treatment resulted most frequently from ischemia from progression of narrowing at untreated SVG sites (46%). Ischemic events from initially untreated SVG sites were correlated with initial percent stenosis (initial, 41% to 50%; 45% events, 31% to 40%; 18% events, < or = 30%; 2% events, p <0.001) and reference SVG diameter (p = 0.003). Recurrent ischemic events from initially treated SVG sites were independently correlated with initial percent stenosis (initial > 75%; 43% events, 50% to 75%; 27% events, < 50%; 18% events, p = 0.01), but not with final percent stenosis. The frequent occurrence of events from nontreated 41% to 50% stenoses suggests a need for increased surveillance in patients with these lesions. The low incidence of events from initially treated lesions < 50% suggests that the hypothesis that "nonsignificant" 41% to 50% lesions might best be treated at the time other more severe narrowings are treated should be examined.     

Efficient Flexible Solar Cell based on Composition‐Tailored Hybrid Perovskite

Organic–inorganic hybrid perovskites (OIHPs) are new photoactive layer candidates for lightweight and flexible solar cells due to their low‐temperature process capability; however, the reported efficiency of flexible OIHP devices is far behind those achieved on rigid glass substrates. Here, it is revealed that the limiting factor is the different perovskite film deposition conditions required to form the same film morphology on flexible substrates. An optimized perovskite film composition needs a different precursor ratio, which is found to be essential for the formation of high‐quality perovskite films with longer radiative carrier recombination lifetime, smaller density of trap states, reduced precursor residue, and uniform and pin‐hole free films. A record efficiency of 18.1% is achieved for the flexible perovskite solar‐cell devices made on an indium tin oxide/poly(ethylene terephthalate) substrate via a low temperature (≤100 °C) solution process.