Pullulan and gamma-cyclodextrin are incompletely digestible, glucose-based, nonstructural carbohydrates synthesized by microorganisms. To determine their effect when incorporated into a complete ...liquid diet on ileal and total tract nutrient digestibility, ileal cannulated dogs (n = 8) were used in a repeated 4 x 4 Latin-square design. Twice daily, diets were offered containing 30% (DMB) maltodextrin, high-molecular-weight (MW) pullulan (MW 100,000), low-MW pullulan (MW 6300), or gamma-cyclodextrin. Fecal and ileal samples were collected for the last 4 d of each 10-d period. Dogs consuming high-MW pullulan had lower (P < 0.05) dry matter, organic matter, crude protein, fat, carbohydrate ileal and total tract digestibilities, and fecal DM, and higher (P < 0.05) fecal output and fecal scores (indicating looser stools). To evaluate glycemic and insulinemic responses to pullulans, food-deprived dogs consumed 25 g maltodextrin, high-MW pullulan, or low-MW pullulan in a repeated 3 x 3 Latin-square design. Glucose and insulin responses were determined for 180 min. Consumption of 25 g alpha-, beta-, and gamma-cyclodextrin resulted in regurgitation within 60 min. High-MW pullulan reduced (P < 0.05) blood glucose concentration at 15, 30, 45, and 60 min. Compared with maltodextrin, low-MW pullulan and gamma-cyclodextrin did not alter nutrient digestibilities or fecal characteristics to any extent, and low MW pullulan did not affect glycemic response. Although high MW pullulan decreased glycemic response, consumption of large amounts negatively affected nutrient digestibility and fecal characteristics.
An experiment was conducted to analytically define several novel fish substrates and determine the effects of feeding diets containing these substrates on total tract nutrient digestibilities and on ...immune status of senior dogs. The control diet contained poultry by-product meal while test diets contained 20% milt meal (MM), pink salmon hydrolysate (PSH) and white fish meal (WFM) added at the expense of poultry by-product meal. Concentrations of lymphocytes positive for CD3, CD4, CD8α and CD21 cell-surface markers and immunoglobulin concentrations were measured. Gene expression of cytokines tumour necrosis factor (TNF)-α, interleukin (IL)-6, interferon (IFN)-γ, IL-10 and transforming growth factor (TGF)-β was determined by quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction. Major compositional differences were noted among fish substrates but apparent nutrient digestibility coefficients and immune indices were not affected by treatment. Fish protein substrates were found to be effective substitutes for poultry by-product meal, providing diets of high nutritive value for senior dogs.
Applying nutrition concepts and the scientific method in a practical way can increase student learning. Group projects are a way for students to collaborate with each other on assigned projects that ...are more complex and challenging. University of Nebraska-Lincoln students enrolled in a Companion Animal Nutrition course were required to complete a group project designing and conducting their own research project. Upon completion of the project, students were required to complete an exit survey ranking items on a 1 (strongly disagree) to 5 (strongly agree) Likert-type scale. Students (n = 66) indicated that they had a better appreciation for nutrition research after they completed the project (mean = 3.97). Students expressed that the nutrition assignments allowed them to apply what they had learned in class to the projects they were conducting (mean = 4.09). However, groups had mixed opinions when they were asked if members from their group equally contributed to the completion of the project (mean = 3.56, SD = 1.44). Groups indicated that the completion of the projects improved their communication skills (mean = 3.20) and critical thinking skills (mean = 3.68). The group projects allowed learning activities that built upon the core objectives of the class.
The ATLAS High Level Trigger's (HLT) primary function of event selection will be accomplished with a Level-2 trigger farm and an event filter (EF) farm, both running software components developed in ...the ATLAS offline reconstruction framework. While this approach provides a unified software framework for event selection, it poses strict requirements on offline components critical for the Level-2 trigger. A Level-2 decision in ATLAS must typically be accomplished within 10 ms and with multiple event processing in concurrent threads. To address these constraints, prototypes have been developed that incorporate elements of the ATLAS data flow, high level trigger, and offline framework software. To realize a homogeneous software environment for offline components in the HLT, the Level-2 Steering Controller was developed. With electron/gamma- and muon-selection slices it has been shown that the required performance can be reached, if the offline components used are carefully designed and optimized for the application in the HLT.
The objectives of this study were to determine if lengthening the time that soybeans (SB) spend in the extractor during preparation of soybean meal (SBM) results in increased relative bioavailability ...of phosphorus without negatively impacting true amino acid digestibilities, and to compare those modified SBM with that produced from a low-phytate SB. Three SBM were prepared under uniform conditions with the exception of the length of time SB spent in the extractor 45 min (300 rpm), 60 min (225 rpm), or 90 min (150 rpm). A SBM prepared from low-phytate SB was obtained for comparison. Relative phosphorus bioavailability in chicks and true amino acid digestibilities by cecectomized roosters were determined. Increasing the length of time that SB spent in the extractor from 45 to 90 min resulted in lower phytate phosphorus and increased phosphorus bioavailability from 34 to 56%. However, this increase came at the expense of available lysine status, with the SBM extracted for 90 min containing less total lysine and less digestible lysine than the SBM extracted for 45 min (traditional extraction time). Phosphorus bioavailability from SBM prepared from low-phytate SB was 1.5 times higher than for SBM extracted for 45 min. Increasing the length of time that SB spend in the extractor led to an increase in bioavailable phosphorus but a decrease in bioavailable lysine, potentially negating the positive effect on phosphorus.
This study was conducted to determine if supplemental pullulan and γ-cyclodextrin affect canine nutrient digestibility, microbial populations, and fecal characteristics. Ileal cannulated dogs were ...fed a commercial diet, and treatments were administered daily in a 5×5 Latin square design: (i) no supplement; (ii) 2 g pullulan; (iii) 4 g pullulan; (iv) 2 g γ-cyclodextrin; (v) 4 g γ-cyclodextrin. Ileal and fecal samples were collected the last 4 d of each 14-d period. Increasing pullulan tended (p < 0.10) to linearly increase ileal bifidobacteria and lactobacilli and quadratically increase fecal lactobacilli. A similar response was noted in ileal bifidobacteria and lactobacilli with γ-cyclodextrin. γ-Cyclodextrin resulted in a quadratic decrease (p < 0.05) in fecal Clostridium perfringens. Increasing pullulan linearly increased (p < 0.05) fecal score, while γ-cyclodextrin resulted in a linear decrease (p < 0.05). Pullulan and γ-cyclodextrin supplementation may have beneficial effects on the microbial ecology of dogs.
Our objective was to examine the effects of fructan supplementation on the immune response of weanling puppies subjected to bacterial challenge. Previous studies in bacterial challenged neonatal ...piglets have reported benefits of fructan supplementation. Thirty hound-cross puppies (12 wk of age) were used in a 2 x 3 factorial randomized complete block design. Following a 7-d baseline period, puppies were assigned to diets containing: 1) no prebiotic, 2) 1% short-chain fructooligosaccharides (scFOS), or 3) 1% inulin. After 14 d on treatment diet, dogs received an oral gavage of: 1) Salmonella typhimurium DT104 (5 x 10⁸ colony forming units) or 2) 0.9% saline. Food intake, fecal and activity scores, body temperature, body weight, blood chemistry, intestinal nutrient transport, intestinal morphology and pathology, and gut microbiota were measured. Food intake decreased (P < 0.01) and body temperature increased (P < 0.05) in infected puppies. However, the decrease in food intake was less (P < 0.05) in those consuming fructans. Infected puppies consuming fructans also had decreased (P = 0.05) severity of enterocyte sloughing than those fed the control diet. Ileal Na+-dependent glucose transport was decreased (P = 0.02) in infected vs. noninfected puppies consuming CON, whereas no changes occurred in fructan-supplemented animals. Puppies consuming inulin also had increased fecal acetate (P = 0.03) and total short-chain fatty acid (P = 0.06) concentrations than scFOS-fed puppies and controls. Finally, puppies fed inulin had an increase (P = 0.05) in Lactobacillus concentrations compared with scFOS and CON. In summary, fructan supplementation appeared to attenuate some of the negative responses associated with Salmonella challenge and may provide protection against infection in weanling puppies.
Abstract
Purpose
Executive functions (EF) are a dynamic collection of complex cognitive processes governing volitional, goal-directed behaviour. EFs are particularly susceptible to environmental ...influences such as exercise or concussion. Exercise improves EF but it is unclear if having good EF improves exercise engagement habits. Expanding upon a previously derived higher-order, four-factor screener for executive behaviour problems (Duggan et al., 2018), we extracted a common EF factor using a bifactor structure and examined if self-reported executive difficulties predict weekly engagement in strenuous exercise. We also examined if a history of concussion affects self-ratings of executive difficulties.
Methods
197 university students (Mean age=20.46; 79% female) completed the BASC-2-COL and self-report of concussion history and past 7-day exercise habits. An a-priori bifactor model of executive behaviour was established using CFA. Using SEM, the bifactor latent executive function was used to predict past 7-day exercise. Concussion history was used to predict variations in the bifactor executive function.
Results
Bifactor fit indices were not optimal but generally adequate (CFI=.897; TLI=.868; RMSEA=.037). Latent bifactor EF was predictive of past week strenuous exercise (p=.046). Concussion history was not predictive of EF problems (p=.296).
Conclusion
Results suggest that latent EF predicts recent strenuous exercise engagement. Baseline EF should be accounted for when examining the positive effects of exercise. Having a history of one or more concussions did not appear to influence current self-report of behavioral EF problems.
This research examined variation in chemical composition and nutrient quality of soybeans (SBs) and soybean meals (SBMs) produced at seven commercial extruder/expeller plants in the United States ...(experiment 1), as well as differences in amino acid digestibilities when roosters were fed SBMs extruded at 121, 135, 150, or 160 °C at a U.S. pilot processing plant (experiment 2). In experiment 1, limited variation existed in the composition of SBs arriving at the plants, whereas substantial differences were noted in amino acid composition and protein quality of the resultant SBMs. In experiment 2, the SBMs extruded at 121 and 135 °C were underprocessed as noted by high urease activities and lower amino acid digestibilities. Soybean meals extruded at 150 and 160 °C resulted in higher amino acid digestibilities and lower urease activities, indicating adequate processing. Large variation exists in the nutritional quality of extruder/expeller SBMs currently in the marketplace. Optimal processing temperatures should be >135 °C, and temperatures as high as 165 °C do not result in overprocessing. Keywords: Extruder/expeller; poultry; processing; soybean meal
The objective of this study was to evaluate the glycemic, insulinemic, and breath hydrogen responses of healthy adult humans to low–molecular weight pullulan (molecular weight = 6300). Subjects (n = ...34) consumed 50 g of maltodextrin or low–molecular weight pullulan in a randomized, double-masked, crossover design. Plasma glucose and serum insulin responses were determined over 180 minutes, and breath hydrogen response was determined for 8 hours. Low–molecular weight pullulan did not improve glucose response, but a reduction (
P < .05) in serum insulin at 30, 60, and 90 minutes was noted. Peak insulin and area under the curve were reduced (
P < .05) by 23% and 20%, respectively. Breath hydrogen increased (
P < .05) at 4, 5, 6, 7, and 8 hours. Although low–molecular weight pullulan does not impact glycemia per se, it may reduce insulin response, resulting in decreased insulin concentrations in healthy adult humans.
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