In clinical practice, geriatric nutritional assessment usually includes nutritional screening, a simple anthropometric assessment, measurement of various biochemical parameters, such as serum ...albumin, and sometimes (not always) body composition analysis (BCA). However, there is a high prevalence of undiagnosed malnutrition in patients with dementia. Several factors contribute to this situation; probably, the most notable is the methodology used to assess body composition (BC). In this regard, for BCA, techniques are needed that are noninvasive, affordable, safe, simple and that require the minimum possible collaboration by the elderly patient. Consequently, body mass index (BMI) and waist circumference (WC) are widely used as indicators of overall and central adiposity, respectively; however, there is no consensus on the cutoffs for the elderly, and changes in BC (especially muscle-mass depletion) are masked by normal values of BMI and WC. Bioimpedance analysis is a simple, cost-effective and precise method for BCA, provided that cross-validated equations are used. Its main disadvantage is that it is highly sensitive to changes in body water (overhydration or dehydration), leading to substantial errors in BC estimates. However, using Bioelectrical Impedance Vector Analysis errors are minimized, as there is no need for the subject to be normally hydrated and it does not require the use of predictive models.
The effects of dietary administration of probiotic Pdp11, a bacterial probiotic strain from the Alteromonadaceae family, on growth and stress tolerance to high stocking density was analyzed in ...juvenile gilthead sea bream
Sparus auratus. In the first trial, juvenile specimens were fed during 116
days with control feed or diets supplemented with Pdp11, and growth, serum immunological parameters as well as plasmatic, hepatic and muscular metabolic parameters were assessed. Growth performance improved in group receiving probiotic compared to control group. No differences were observed for the assessed immunological or metabolic parameters. In the second trial, specimens from both groups from the first experiment were submitted to the following conditions for 15
days: i) group fed with control food and either under low density (3
kg/m
3), or high density (30
kg/m
3) and ii) group fed with probiotic supplemented feed and either under low density, or high density. Our results indicated that administration of probiotic Pdp11 in the diet promoted growth and improved stress tolerance under high stocking density, suggesting its use will be beneficial for the aquaculture industry of this species.
Bioelectrical impedance vector analysis (BIVA) is increasingly used in clinical research to assess soft tissue hydration. It is known that physical characteristics of electrodes, such as low ...intrinsic impedance, low electrode/skin contact impedance and type of gel, affect the reliability of noninvasive bioimpedance assessments. The aim of this study was to determine the effect of intrinsic impedance of electrode on the bioimpedance vector displacement in RXc graph.
The intrinsic impedance is measured in nine pregelled disposable Ag/AgCl electrodes usually used for bioimpedance measures. The BIVA method is performed on 35 healthy volunteers using a 50 kHz phase-sensitive bioimpedance analyzer (BIA 101 Anniversary) with the lowest intrinsic impedance electrode and highest. The individual bioimpedance vector is plotted on the bivariate normal interval of reference population. The differences in the mean bioimpedance vectors obtained with each electrode are plotted, with their 95% confidence ellipses, on the dRXc graph. The paired one-sample Hotelling's T
-test is used to compare the differences of the mean bioimpedance vectors.
We found large variability in intrinsic resistance (11-665 Ω) and reactance (0.25-2.5 Ω) values of the electrodes analyzed and significant displacement (P<0.05) of bioimpedance vector positions in healthy adults according to the paired one-sample Hotelling's T
-test.
A robust study of all physical characteristics of commercial Ag/AgCl electrodes is necessary to reach consensus on pregelled Ag/AgCl electrodes valid for bioimpedance measurement. This information will enable BIVA users to avoid systemic errors when performing BIVA assessments, specifically when these measurements are used for clinical interpretations.
The thyroid gland in fish mainly secretes the thyroid prohormone 3,5,3',5'-tetraiodothyronine (T₄), and extrathyroidal outer ring deiodination (ORD) of the prohormone to 3,5,3'-triiodothyronine (T₃) ...is pivotal in thyroid hormone economy. Despite its importance in thyroid hormone metabolism, factors that regulate ORD are still largely unresolved in fish. In addition, the osmoregulatory role of T₃ is still a controversial issue in teleosts. In this study, we investigated the regulation of the ORD pathway by cortisol and T₃ in different organs (liver, kidney, and gills) of Solea senegalensis and the involvement of T₃ in the control of branchial and renal Na(+), K(+)-ATPase activity, a prime determinant of the hydromineral balance in teleosts. Animals were treated with i.p. slow-release coconut oil implants containing cortisol or T₃. Hepatic and renal ORD activities were up-regulated in cortisol-injected animals. T₃-treated fish showed a prominent decrease in plasma-free T₄ levels, whereas ORD activities did not change significantly. Branchial and renal Na(+), K(+)-ATPase activities were virtually unaffected by T₃, but were transiently up-regulated by cortisol. We conclude that cortisol regulates local T₃ bioavailability in S. senegalensis via ORD in an organ-specific manner. Unlike T₃, cortisol appears to be directly implicated in the up-regulation of branchial and renal Na(+), K(+)-ATPase activities.
Business Process Management is a boundary-spanning discipline that aligns operational capabilities and technology to design and manage business processes. The Digital Transformation has enabled human ...actors, information systems, and smart products to interact with each other via multiple digital channels. The emergence of this hyper-connected world greatly leverages the prospects of business processes – but also boosts their complexity to a new level. We need to discuss how the BPM discipline can find new ways for identifying, analyzing, designing, implementing, executing, and monitoring business processes. In this research note, selected transformative trends are explored and their impact on current theories and IT artifacts in the BPM discipline is discussed to stimulate transformative thinking and prospective research in this field.
The effects of three different environmental salinities (15, 25 and 39‰) on growth, osmoregulation and energy metabolism of juvenile Senegalese sole (
Solea senegalensis Kaup, 1858) after a period of ...10 weeks were investigated. Immature sole (
n
=
150, 39
±
1 g mean initial body weight) were randomly divided in 6 groups of 25 fish and reared under three different environmental salinities in an open system. Growth, weight gain, specific growth rate and estimated feed intake decreased in salinities lower than 39‰, with the most profound effects observed at 15‰. Branchial Na
+,K
+-ATPase activity correlated positively with environmental salinity, while renal Na
+,K
+-ATPase activity was not altered. Plasma electrolyte concentrations did not change in the salinity range tested, indicating that osmoregulatory capacities were unaffected. Plasma cortisol levels were higher in salinities different than 39‰ (15
>
25
>
39‰). Plasma glucose, non-esterified fatty acid, triglyceride, and protein levels were decreased in the lower salinities (25 and 15‰), whereas that of lactate was increased two-fold in the 15‰-exposed group only. Measured in tissues (liver, gill, kidney, white muscle), the most profound changes in metabolite levels were generally found in the group exposed to 15‰, compared to the 25‰- and 39‰-groups. A similar pattern was found for the activities of enzymes involved in energy metabolism. Taken together, our data suggest that the poor growth rate of 15‰-exposed fish is caused by decreased feed intake and the subsequent reallocation of energy sources that was non-sufficient to keep similar growth in fish exposed to 15‰ salinity compared with fish exposed to 25 and 39‰ salinity.
We report the first discovery and sampling of vast fields of hydrocarbon-derived carbonate chimneys along the Gulf of Cádiz continental slope, at depths between 500 and 1200 m. A large variety of ...carbonate chimneys (more than 200 samples) were recovered from four different areas, named the DIASOM, TASYO, GBF (Guadalquivir Basin) and ESF (East Moroccan) fields. Observations from an underwater camera revealed a spectacular high density of pipe-like chimneys, some of them longer than 2 m, lying over the sea floor, and some protruding from muddy sediment. Local fissures and alignment of isolated chimneys were also observed, suggesting that their distribution is controlled by fault planes. Chimneys collected show a wide range of morphological types (spiral, cylindrical, conical, mushroom-like and mounded) with numerous nodule protuberances and ramified fluid channelways. The chimneys are mainly composed of authigenic carbonates (ankerite, Fe-bearing dolomite and calcite) with abundance of iron oxides, forming agglomerates of pseudo-pyrite framboids. δ
18O isotopic values vary from 0.7 to 5.5‰ whereas δ
13C values indicate that chimney carbonates are moderately depleted in
13C, ranging from −46‰ to −20‰ PDB, interpreted as formed from a mixture of deep thermogenic hydrocarbons and shallow biogenic methane. These vast fields of carbonate chimneys imply new considerations on the importance of hydrocarbon fluid venting in the Gulf of Cádiz and, moreover, on the active role of the olistostrome/accretionary wedge of the Gibraltar arc.
The influence of three different environmental salinities (seawater, SW:
38 ppt salinity; brackish water, BW:
12 ppt; and low salinity water, LSW:
6 ppt salinity) on the growth, osmoregulation and ...metabolism of young gilthead sea bream (
Sparus aurata L.) was studied over a period of 100 days. 480 inmature fish (20 g mean body weight) were randomly divided into six tanks of 2500 l (80 fish per tank) and maintained under three different salinities (38 ppt, 12 ppt and 6 ppt) in an open system. Every three weeks, 10 fish from each tank were anesthetized, weighed and lenghed. At the end of experiment, 10 fish from each tank were anesthetized, weighed and sampled for plasma, brain, gill and liver. Gill Na
+, K
+-ATPase activity, plasma osmolality, ions (sodium and chloride), glucose, lactate, protein and triglyceride, and hepatosomatic index were examined. In addition, levels of glycogen, lactate, ATP and activities of potential regulatory enzymes (hexokinase, pyruvate kinase, glycogen phosphorylase, and glucose 6-phosphate dehydrogenase) were assesed in liver, brain, and gill. BW-acclimated fish showed a better growth with respect to SW- or LSW-acclimated fish (12
>
38
>
6 ppt). The same relationship was observed for weight gain and specific growth rate. Osmoregulatory parameters in plasma (osmolality, Na
+ and Cl
− levels) were similar in SW- and BW-acclimated fish but significantly higher than those of LSW-acclimated fish. Gill Na
+, K
+-ATPase activity showed lower values in intermediate salinity (6
>
38
>
12 ppt). No changes were observed in metabolic parameters analyzed in plasma, whereas only minor changes were observed in metabolic parameters of liver, gills and brain that could be correlated with the higher growth rates observed in fish acclimated to BW, which do not allow us to attribute the best growth rate observed at 12 ppt to lower metabolic rates in that salinity.
The seasonal variation of PRL, GH and SL gene and protein expression has been analyzed in gilthead sea bream (
Sparus aurata) pituitaries using Real-Time Q-PCR and Western Blots, respectively. ...Animals were cultured in earthen ponds under natural photoperiod, temperature and salinity conditions. Samples were taken during winter 2005 (January), spring 2005 (April), summer 2005 (July) and autumn 2005 (October). β-actin, used as the housekeeping gene both for Q-RT-PCR and Western analysis, did not present significant differences among seasons. Higher expression was observed during spring and autumn for PRL, summer and winter for GH, and spring for SL. Expression of PRI, GH and SL, presented seasonal variation, suggesting that these hormones could play a role in the molecular signal transduction of environmental factors (especially of photoperiod and temperature) in eurythermal fish.
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