With the aim to develop nutritionally and functionally improved biscuits, standard wheat flour based recipe was supplemented with inulin (Raftilin) (10.5%) in combination with one of the following ...raw materials: soy flour, amaranth, carob (24.5%), apple fibre or oat fibre (16.5%). Various nutritional parameters such as proteins, fat, ash, carbohydrates total minerals, protein digestibility and energy value were determined in modified biscuits. Dietary fibre content, polyphenolic content and bioavailability and antioxidative activity were also assessed in the view of estimating the functionality of investigated samples. In order to evaluate the impact of technological procedure (baking) on analysed parameters, all experiments were conducted in dough samples as well. Supplementation with soy flour resulted in significant increase (
p
<
0.05) in protein content and digestibility (from 10.04 to 14.49
mg/100
g and from 68.9% to 81.5%, respectively). The increase of total dietary fibre content in relation to the reference sample ranged from 30.9% (sample with amaranth) to 130.6% (sample enriched with oat fibre). Best results regarding total phenolic content and antioxidative activity were achieved by incorporation of carob and apple fibre into the reference sample. Supplementation with inulin resulted in significant decrease of the total energy value of modified biscuits (from 445 to 412
kcal/100
g dry matter).
An Endo-European Reference Network guideline initiative was launched including 16 clinicians experienced in endocrinology, pediatric and adult and 2 patient representatives. The guideline was ...endorsed by the European Society for Pediatric Endocrinology, the European Society for Endocrinology and the European Academy of Andrology. The aim was to create practice guidelines for clinical assessment and puberty induction in individuals with congenital pituitary or gonadal hormone deficiency. A systematic literature search was conducted, and the evidence was graded according to the Grading of Recommendations, Assessment, Development and Evaluation system. If the evidence was insufficient or lacking, then the conclusions were based on expert opinion. The guideline includes recommendations for puberty induction with oestrogen or testosterone. Publications on the induction of puberty with follicle-stimulation hormone and human chorionic gonadotrophin in hypogonadotropic hypogonadism are reviewed. Specific issues in individuals with Klinefelter syndrome or androgen insensitivity syndrome are considered. The expert panel recommends that pubertal induction or sex hormone replacement to sustain puberty should be cared for by a multidisciplinary team. Children with a known condition should be followed from the age of 8 years for girls and 9 years for boys. Puberty induction should be individualised but considered at 11 years in girls and 12 years in boys. Psychological aspects of puberty and fertility issues are especially important to address in individuals with sex development disorders or congenital pituitary deficiencies. The transition of these young adults highlights the importance of a multidisciplinary approach, to discuss both medical issues and social and psychological issues that arise in the context of these chronic conditions.
AbstractThermally driven moisture and vapor transport in unsaturated soil under a thermal loading applied by underground structures affects the magnitude and distribution of matric suction. There is ...a lack of data about the temperature dependency on the hydraulic conductivity function (HCF). This study (1) developed and used a temperature-controllable soil column for directly and simultaneously measuring the temperature dependency on both the soil-water retention curve (SWRC) and HCF using the instantaneous profile method, and (2) conducted water-vapor heat transport analyses to illustrate the effects of temperature dependency of SWRC and HCF on matric suction. The measurements showed that for sand there was a suction threshold of 2 kPa, below which the hydraulic conductivity of sand heated to 50°C became higher than that at 20°C due to decreased water viscosity. Above this threshold, the hydraulic conductivity at 50°C became lower, by as much as an order of magnitude at 10 kPa suction, because of temperature-induced reduction of water-retention ability. A parametric study revealed that using SWRC or/and HCF obtained at 20°C overestimated the magnitude of suction for soil heated to a temperature higher than 20°C. The overestimations were greater when heating took place in drier soil. The effects of vapor transport were negligible during the early stage of heating, and became prominent only after 7–8 days of continuous constant heating of the soil, regardless of the amount of initial soil suction considered.
Levels of some essential minerals (Ca, Mg, Cu and Mn) were determined in ten different types of experimentally prepared hard biscuits. In relation to the wheat flour-based reference sample, other ...investigated samples were enriched with different ratios of integral raw materials of different origin or various dietary fibers in view of improving their functionality and nutritive quality. The goal of the research was to evaluate enriched biscuits as additional sources of calcium, magnesium, copper and manganese in nutrition and to investigate if the modifications of wheat flour based biscuit composition significantly change the amounts of total and bioaccessible minerals in the final product. Since our results indicated significant changes of mineral bioaccessibility among the samples, obtained results were correlated to the content of proteins, phytic acid and polyphenols for the sake of assessing their impact as limiting factors of mineral bioaccessibility in these types of foods.
Background
Inclusion body disease (IBD) is a disease of snakes with a global distribution and has recently been shown to be caused by reptarenaviruses. Testing for this group of viruses in ...asymptomatic snakes allows the association between infection and disease to be further elucidated.
Methods
A reptarenavirus was detected by RT‐PCR in a reticulated python (Malayopython reticulatus) from an Australian zoological collection that was open‐mouth breathing and had erythematous oral mucosa. Another 27 pythons, 4 elapids, 2 colubrids and 2 boas from this collection were then screened. From these animals, swabs, whole blood and/or tissue were tested for reptarenaviruses by RT‐PCR. Additionally, blood films from 10 snakes were examined by light microscopy for the presence of inclusion bodies. The majority of samples were collected over a 484‐day period.
Results
A total of 8 animals were RT‐PCR‐positive (8/36 = 22.2%): 6 were pythons, 1 was a corn snake (Pantherophis guttatus) and 1 was a Madagascar tree boa (Sanzinia madagascariensis). From them, 57 samples were collected, but only one from each animal was RT‐PCR‐positive (8/57 = 14.0%). From all 36 animals in this study, 8/182 samples were RT‐PCR‐positive (4.4%). Inclusion bodies were not recognised in any of the blood films. Only the reticulated python showed signs of illness, which improved without any further intervention. All other RT‐PCR‐positive snakes were apparently healthy throughout the duration of the study.
Conclusion
This study showed a weak association between the presence of reptarenaviruses and disease. Testing serially collected swab and whole‐blood samples increased the number of animals in which reptarenaviruses were detected.
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