The effects of mushroom powder and vitamin D2 -enriched mushroom powder supplementation on the growth performance and health of newly weaned pigs.

A complete randomised block design experiment was conducted to examine the effects of mushroom powder (MP) and vitamin D2 -enriched mushroom powder (MPD2 ) on growth performance, faecal scores, coefficient of apparent total tract digestibility (CATTD) of nutrients and selected microflora in weaned pigs up to day 35 post-weaning. One hundred and ninety-two weaned pigs (7.8kg [SD 1.08kg]) were blocked according to live weight, sex and litter of origin and randomly assigned to the following: (T1) control diet; (T2) control diet +MP; (T3) control diet + MPD2 ; and (T4) control diet +zinc oxide (ZnO) (n = 12 replicates/treatment). Mushroom powders were included at 2 g/kg of feed achieving a ß-glucan content of 200ppm. ZnO was included at 3100 mg/kg feed and halved to 1550 mg/kg after 21 days. Vitamin D content was enhanced in MPD2 using synthetic UVB exposure to obtain a vitamin D2 level of 100 µg/kg of feed. Faecal samples were collected on day 14 for microbial and nutrient digestibility analysis. There was no difference (p > 0.05) in ADG, G:F, faecal scores, microbial populations and CATTD of nutrients in pigs supplemented with MP or MPD2 compared with the control diet. The supplementation of MP and MPD2 caused a reduction (p < 0.05) in feed intake compared with the control and ZnO diet throughout the 35-day experimental period. ZnO supplementation increased ADG and ADFI (p < 0.05) during the first period (D0-21) compared with pigs offered MP and MPD2 . In conclusion, MP and MPD2 supplementation resulted in similar ADG, G:F, faecal scores compared with the control but were not comparable to ZnO, mainly due to a reduction in feed intake.

Effects of Dietary Supplementation with Mushroom or Vitamin D2-Enriched Mushroom Powders on Gastrointestinal Health Parameters in the Weaned Pig.

The objective of this study was to compare the molecular, physiological and microbial effects of mushroom powder (MP), vitamin D2 enriched mushroom powder (MPD2) and zinc oxide (ZnO) in pigs post-weaning. Pigs (four pigs/pen; 12 pens/treatment) were assigned to: (1) basal diet (control), (2) basal diet + ZnO, (3) basal diet + MP (2 g/kg feed) and (4) basal diet + MPD2 (2 g/kg feed). Zinc oxide supplementation improved the feed intake (p < 0.001); increased the caecal abundance of Lactobacillus (p < 0.05); increased the villus height (p < 0.05) in the duodenum, jejunum and ileum; increased the expression of chemokine interleukin 8 (CXCL8; p < 0.05); and decreased the expression of pro-inflammatory cytokine gene interleukin 6 (IL6; p < 0.05), tumour necrosis factor (TNF; p < 0.05), nutrient transporters peptide transporter 1 (SLC15A1; p < 0.05) and fatty acid binding protein 2 (FABP2; (p < 0.05) in the duodenum. Whereas dietary supplementation with MPD2 improved the gastrointestinal morphology (p < 0.05); increased the total volatile fatty acid concentrations (p < 0.05); increased the expression of anti-inflammatory cytokine gene interleukin 10 (IL10; p < 0.05) and nutrient transporters SLC15A1 (p < 0.05), FABP2 (p < 0.05) and vitamin D receptor (VDR; p < 0.05); and reduced the expression of pro-inflammatory cytokine gene IL6 (p < 0.05), it adversely affected average daily feed intake (ADFI; p < 0.001) and average daily gain (ADG; p < 0.05). Mushroom powder supplementation had a positive impact on gastrointestinal morphology (p < 0.05) and upregulated the expression of nutrient transporters SLC15A1 (p < 0.05) and FABP2 (p < 0.05) and tight junction claudin 1 (CLDN1) (p < 0.05) compared to the controls but had no effect on the expression of inflammatory markers (p > 0.05). Furthermore, MP reduced ADFI (p < 0.01); however, this did not negatively impact the ADG (p > 0.05). In conclusion, MP and MPD2 have limited use as commercial feed additives in replacing ZnO in pig diets as feed intake was reduced post-weaning.

Efficient Hydrogen-Dependent Carbon Dioxide Reduction by Escherichia coli.

Hydrogen-dependent reduction of carbon dioxide to formic acid offers a promising route to greenhouse gas sequestration, carbon abatement technologies, hydrogen transport and storage, and the sustainable generation of renewable chemical feedstocks [1]. The most common approach to performing direct hydrogenation of CO2 to formate is to use chemical catalysts in homogeneous or heterogeneous reactions [2]. An alternative approach is to use the ability of living organisms to perform this reaction biologically. However, although CO2 fixation pathways are widely distributed in nature, only a few enzymes have been described that have the ability to perform the direct hydrogenation of CO2 [3-5]. The formate hydrogenlyase (FHL) enzyme from Escherichia coli normally oxidizes formic acid to carbon dioxide and couples that reaction directly to the reduction of protons to molecular hydrogen [6]. In this work, the reverse reaction of FHL is unlocked. It is established that FHL can operate as a highly efficient hydrogen-dependent carbon dioxide reductase when gaseous CO2 and H2 are placed under pressure (up to 10 bar). Using intact whole cells, the pressurized system was observed to rapidly convert 100% of gaseous CO2 to formic acid, and >500 mM formate was observed to accumulate in solution. Harnessing the reverse reaction has the potential to allow the versatile E. coli system to be employed as an exciting new carbon capture technology or as a cell factory dedicated to formic acid production, which is a commodity in itself as well as a feedstock for the synthesis of other valued chemicals.

Independent or Integrated? The Impact on Subject Examination Scores of Changing a Neuropsychiatry Clerkship to Independent Clerkships in Psychiatry and Neurology.

OBJECTIVE: This study was undertaken to assess any impact on National Board of Medical Examiners (NBME) neurology and psychiatry subject examination scores of changing from an integrated neuropsychiatry clerkship to independent neurology and psychiatry clerkships. METHODS: NBME psychiatry and neurology subject examinations scores were compared for all 625 students completing the required neuropsychiatry clerkship in academic years 2005-2006 through 2008-2009 with all 650 students completing the independent neurology and psychiatry clerkships in academic years 2009-2010 through 2012-2013. Statistical adjustments were made to ensure comparability across groups and over time. RESULTS: A significant improvement in subject examination scores was associated with the independent clerkships. CONCLUSIONS: The independent clerkship model was associated with a modest improvement in NBME subject examination scores. This finding may be attributable to many causes or combination of causes other than curricular design. Curricular planners need to pay attention to the potential impact of course integration on specialty-specific NBME subject examination performance.

Ethylene tri- and tetramerization: a steric parameter selectivity switch from X-ray crystallography and computational analysis.

A steric parameter (θN-sub) is introduced to describe the steric bulk at the nitrogen atom on a range of PNP ligands used in ethylene tri- and tetramerization. This parameter was calculated for the free ligands and different metal complexes thereof and compared to catalytic data. A specific tendency is observed for the value of θN-sub and 1-hexene selectivity, and a slight increase in 1-octene selectivity is found with increased bulkiness of the substituents on the nitrogen atom.

Forty-five-year mortality rate as a function of the number and type of psychiatric diagnoses found in a large Danish birth cohort.

OBJECTIVE: Psychiatric comorbidities are common among psychiatric patients and typically associated with poorer clinical prognoses. Subjects of a large Danish birth cohort were used to study the relation between mortality and co-occurring psychiatric diagnoses. METHOD: We searched the Danish Central Psychiatric Research Registry for 8109 birth cohort members aged 45 years. Lifetime psychiatric diagnoses (International Classification of Diseases, Revision 10, group F codes, Mental and Behavioural Disorders, and one Z code) for identified subjects were organized into 14 mutually exclusive diagnostic categories. Mortality rates were examined as a function of number and type of co-occurring diagnoses. RESULTS: Psychiatric outcomes for 1247 subjects were associated with 157 deaths. Early mortality risk in psychiatric patients correlated with the number of diagnostic categories (Wald χ² = 25.0, df = 1, P < 0.001). This global relation was true for anxiety and personality disorders, but not for schizophrenia and substance abuse, which had intrinsically high mortality rates with no comorbidities. CONCLUSIONS: Risk of early mortality among psychiatric patients appears to be a function of both the number and the type of psychiatric diagnoses.

Effects of premature birth on the risk for alcoholism appear to be greater in males than females.

OBJECTIVE: A large Danish birth cohort was used to test the independent and joint effects of perinatal measures associated with premature birth as predictors of the development of alcoholism in male and female subjects. METHOD: Subjects were born at the Copenhagen University Hospital between 1959 and 1961 (N = 9,125). A comprehensive series of measures was obtained for each of the 8,109 surviving and eligible infants before birth, during birth, shortly after birth, and at 1 year. The adult alcoholism outcome was defined as any ICD-10 F10 diagnosis (Mental and behavioral disorders due to alcohol use) or an equivalent ICD-8 diagnosis found in the Danish Psychiatric Central Research Register or the Municipal Alcohol Clinics of Copenhagen by 2007. RESULTS: Multiple perinatal markers of premature birth independently predicted the development of an alcoholism diagnosis in male (n = 310) but not female (n = 138) subjects. Logistic regression modeling with a global prematurity score, adjusted for social status, maternal smoking, and gender, indicated a significant association of prematurity score for males (p < .02), but not females (p = .51), on the risk of developing an alcohol use disorder. CONCLUSIONS: The results suggest that neurodevelopmental sequelae of premature birth are associated with gender-specific effects on the development of alcoholism in the male baby: small, premature, or growth-delayed male babies appear to be selectively vulnerable to alcoholic drinking years later. The findings implicate neurodevelopmental influences in alcoholism pathophysiology in males and suggest the possibility of distinct, gender-specific pathways in the etiology of severe problem drinking.

Do premorbid predictors of alcohol dependence also predict the failure to recover from alcoholism?

OBJECTIVE: In a search for viable endophenotypes of alcoholism, this longitudinal study attempted to identify premorbid predictors of alcohol dependence that also predicted the course of alcoholism. METHOD: The 202 male subjects who completed a 40-year follow-up were originally selected from a Danish birth cohort (N = 9,182). Two thirds of the subjects were high-risk biological sons of treated alcoholics. A large number of measures (361) were obtained at different periods before any subject had developed an alcohol-use disorder. At age 40, a psychiatrist provided mutually exclusive lifetime diagnoses of alcohol abuse or alcohol dependence that were characterized as currently active or currently in remission according to Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Third Edition, Revised, course specifiers. RESULTS: The majority of subjects with a diagnosis of alcohol abuse were in remission at age 40 compared with those with a diagnosis of alcohol dependence (88% vs. 58%). Treatment did not predict remission. Fourteen of the 18 predictors of remission that also predicted dependence were submitted to an exploratory factor analysis (varimax). Two premorbid dimensions were identified: cognitive efficiency and early behavioral dyscontrol in childhood. Both factors predicted the failure to remit (low cognitive efficiency and high behavioral dyscontrol) even when lifetime alcoholism severity was controlled. CONCLUSIONS: This 4-decade study found a striking disconnect between measures that predicted alcohol dependence and measures that predicted remission from alcohol dependence. Reduced cognitive efficiency and increased behavioral dyscontrol may be basic to gaining a fuller understanding of the etiology of alcoholism.

A cw EPR and ENDOR investigation on a series of Cr(I) carbonyl complexes with relevance to alkene oligomerization catalysis: [Cr(CO)4L]+ (L = Ph2PN(R)PPh2, Ph2P(R)PPh2).

The preparation and characterisation of the Cr(I) complexes [Cr(CO)(4)L](+) (L = Ph(2)PN(R)PPh(2), Ph(2)P(R)PPh(2)), which are used as pre-catalysts for the selective oligomerization of ethylene, are reported. The electronic properties and structural features of these complexes in frozen solution have been established via continuous wave X-band Electron Paramagnetic Resonance (cw-EPR) and continuous wave (1)H, (14)N and (31)P Electron Nuclear Double Resonance (cw-ENDOR) spectroscopy. The EPR spectra are dominated by the g anisotropy, with notably large (P)A couplings from the two equivalent (31)P nuclei. The spin Hamiltonian parameters (g(perpendicular) (g(xx) = g(yy)) > g(e) > g(parallel) (g(zz))) are consistent with a low-spin d(5) system possessing C(2v) symmetry, with a SOMO where the metal contribution is primarily d(xy) for all complexes. The isotropic Fermi contact term ((P)a(iso), determined by EPR and ENDOR) was found to be largest for complexes containing ligands e, d, f and g, indicating that the (31)P 3 s character in the SOMO is higher for the PNP type ligands than the PCP type. Subtle structural differences in the complexes were also identified through variations in the Deltag shifts (identified by EPR), and through differences in the phenyl ring conformations (identified by (1)H ENDOR). Attempts to correlate trends in EPR-derived parameters with data measured for catalysis using these pre-catalysts are also made, but no clear connections were found.

Minor versus major depression: a comparative clinical study.

OBJECTIVE: To examine whether minor depression differs from major depression in clinically relevant ways. METHOD: Structured interviews, Symptom Checklist-90-Revised (SCL-90-R) scores, and physicians' treatment recommendations were obtained systematically from 1,458 admissions to an outpatient teaching clinic during a 5-year period from 1981 to 1986. Of these, 1,002 (69%) satisfied inclusive DSM-III lifetime criteria for a major depressive episode. Of the 456 outpatients who did not formally satisfy criteria for a major depressive episode, 79 (17%) acknowledged significant depressive symptoms that caused major interference in their lives. These 79 outpatients were classified as suffering from minor depression. RESULTS: No gender or other sociodemographic differences were found between the 2 outpatient groups except that the minor depression group had achieved a higher level of education. No differences were found for a family history of psychiatric illness among first-degree relatives, including a family history of depression. Ratings of childhood unhappiness/problems did not distinguish the 2 groups. The major depression group endorsed more lifetime depressive symptoms and met criteria for more co-occurring disorders, principally mania and the anxiety disorders. The group with major depression reported poorer psychosocial functioning when first seen and more past psychiatric treatment. The Symptom Checklist-90-Revised (SCL-90-R) profile was significantly elevated in both groups. The type of initial treatment recommended did not distinguish the major from minor depression groups. CONCLUSIONS: Minor depression seems to represent the same illness as major depression but in a less severe form that, nevertheless, requires the attention of professional health care providers in both primary and specialized care settings.

Childhood ADHD and conduct disorder as independent predictors of male alcohol dependence at age 40.

OBJECTIVE: The Danish Longitudinal Study on Alcoholism was designed to identify antecedent predictors of adult male alcoholism. The influence of premorbid behaviors consistent with childhood conduct disorder (CD) and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) on the development of alcohol misuse was examined. METHOD: Subjects were selected from a Danish birth cohort (9,125), which included 223 sons of alcoholic fathers (high risk) and 106 matched sons of nonalcoholic fathers (low risk). These subjects have been studied systematically over the past 40 years. They were evaluated in their teens (n=238), later as adults at age 30 (n=241), and more recently at age 40 (n=202). At 19-year/20-year follow-ups, an ADHD scale was derived from teacher ratings and a CD scale was derived from a social worker interview. At 30-year and 40-year follow-ups, a psychiatrist used structured interviews and criteria from the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Third Edition, Revised, to quantify lifetime alcoholism severity and to diagnose alcohol-use disorder. Of the original subjects, 110 had complete data for the two childhood measures and the adult alcoholism outcomes. RESULTS: In this smaller subsample, paternal risk did not predict adult alcohol dependence. Subjects who were above a median split on both the ADHD and the CD scales were more than six times more likely to develop alcohol dependence than subjects who scored below the median on both. Although the two childhood measures were correlated, a multiple regression showed that each independently predicted a measure of lifetime alcoholism severity. CONCLUSIONS: ADHD comorbid with CD was the strongest predictor of later alcohol dependence.

N,N-Bis(diphenyl-phosphino)ethyl-amine.

In the title compound, C(26)H(25)NP(2), the diphenyl-phosphino groups are staggered relative to the PNP backbone, even though the ethyl substituent coordinated to the N atom is not sterically bulky. The N atom adapts an almost planar geometry with two P atoms and a C atom of the allyl group attached to it in order to accommodate the steric bulk of the phenyl groups and the alkyl group. The distortion of the trigonal-pyramidal geometry of the nitro-gen is further illustrated by the bond angles which range between 114.0 (1) and 123.7 (1)°. There are no classical inter-molecular inter-actions.

Neonatal vitamin K might reduce vulnerability to alcohol dependence in Danish men.

OBJECTIVE: Levels of oxidative defenses and blood-clotting factors are normally reduced in newborns, increasing the risk of injury to developing brain structures around the time of birth. This early neonatal vulnerability corresponds to a timeframe in which the development of reward-related limbic structures is particularly active. Taking advantage of a serendipitous event in the history of treating newborns, we tested the hypothesis that vitamin K supplementation, administered to facilitate the synthesis of blood-clotting proteins within this critical timeframe, might also reduce the development of alcohol dependence later in life. METHOD: Subjects were approximately full-term male infants, selected from a large Danish birth cohort. Two thirds of the original 330 subjects in this study were high-risk sons of alcoholic fathers; 241 of the total completed the 30-year follow-up. Of subjects reported on for this article (N = 238), 44 received vitamin K supplementation at birth; 161 were considered high risk, and 66 were categorized as having lower birth weight (<6 lbs). A comprehensive series of measures was obtained on each subject before, during and shortly after birth as well as at 1 year of age. The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Third Edition, Revised, diagnosis of alcohol dependence and a measure of lifetime problem drinking served as the 30-year outcome variables. RESULTS: Vitamin K treatment, inherited risk and low birth weight each independently predicted alcohol dependence and problem drinking at age 30. Vitamin K treatment was associated with significantly lower rates of alcohol dependence and fewer symptoms of problem drinking. CONCLUSIONS: Vitamin K treatment at birth might protect against the development of alcoholism in adults by reducing early postnatal hemorrhage and oxidative brain damage.

Developmental differences in childhood motor coordination predict adult alcohol dependence: proposed role for the cerebellum in alcoholism.

BACKGROUND: The Danish Longitudinal Study of Alcoholism has identified a number of early biological indicators that predicted alcohol dependence 30 years later. In light of recent evidence linking deficits of the cerebellum to certain neuropsychiatric disorders often comorbid with alcoholism, we hypothesized that developmental deficits in the cerebellar vermis may also play a role in the initiation of adult alcohol dependence. The present study evaluated whether measures of motor development in the first year of life predict alcohol dependence three decades later. METHODS: A total of 241 subjects of the original 330 infants who were entered into this study completed the 30-year follow-up (12 had died). The subjects were men who were drawn from a large birth cohort born in Copenhagen, Denmark, from 1959 to 1961. A comprehensive series of measures were obtained on each subject before, during, and shortly after birth as well as at 1 year of age. Muscle tone at birth and day 5 as well as 1-year measures of motor coordination--age to sitting, standing, and walking--were examined. A DSM-III-R diagnosis of alcohol dependence and a measure of lifetime problem drinking served as the 30-year outcome variables. RESULTS: Several measures of childhood motor development significantly predicted alcohol dependence at 30 years of age. These included deficits in muscle tone 5 days after birth, delays in the age to sitting, and delays in the age to walking. CONCLUSIONS: Relationships found between adult alcoholism and early delays in motor development offer support for the theory that cerebellar deficits may play a causal role in the addiction process.

Comparison of desipramine or carbamazepine to placebo for crack cocaine-dependent patients.

The authors compared the effects of desipramine or carbamazepine to placebo in an intensive outpatient program for cocaine abuse. Subjects recruited from an urban drug treatment program were randomly assigned to a double-blind, placebo-controlled, eight-week trial of desipramine, carbamazepine, or placebo. Patient ratings, urine drug screens, and blood samples were obtained weekly. Using survival analysis, the three groups did not differ in time to drop out of treatment. While subjects improved over time on all self-ratings related to cocaine use, mood, and craving, only two items related to mood were significantly different over time as a function of treatment group. Subjects in the two treated groups reported significantly more improvement on self-ratings of depression and irritability. No treatment differences were noted for sustained abstinence or for proportion of positive urine drug screens. Desipramine subjects who attained a minimum blood level were retained in treatment significantly longer than placebo or other non-compliant treatment groups. This finding supports previous reports of a possible role for desipramine in cocaine abuse treatment.

Risk factors that predicted problem drinking in Danish men at age thirty.

OBJECTIVE: The Danish Longitudinal Study of Alcoholism utilized a prospective, high-risk research paradigm to identify putative markers of adult male alcoholism from a comprehensive database that began with the birth of the subject and extended over three decades. This article focuses on measures antedating abusive drinking that predicted lifetime alcohol abuse/dependence at age 30 years. METHOD: The original 330 subjects of this study were drawn from a large Danish birth cohort (N = 9,125) born between 1959 and 1961. The sample included 223 sons of treated alcoholic fathers (high-risk group) and 107 matched sons whose biological fathers had no record of treatment for alcoholism (low-risk group). This sample has been thoroughly investigated with a variety of methods representing multiple domains that included perinatal records, pediatric records, school records, teacher ratings, school physician records and a series of structured interviews and psychometric tests at ages 19-20 and 30 years. The present analysis focuses on the degree to which premorbid differences between the high- and low-risk groups later predicted lifetime drinking problems at age 30 (n = 241). RESULTS: As expected lifetime alcohol abuse/dependence by age 30 was reported significantly more often in the high-risk group. Of the 394 premorbid variables tested, 68 were found to distinguish the high- from the low-risk group before any subjects had developed a drinking problem. Of these 68 variables, 28 (41%) were also associated with DSM-III-R alcohol abuse/dependence at age 30. These 28 putative markers were reduced to 12 that were entered into a multiple regression analysis to search for the most powerful unique predictors of alcoholism. Four of the 28 putative markers were independently associated with problem drinking at age 30: low birth weight, number of life crises in childhood, ratings of childhood unhappiness and antisocial personality disorder. The regression model accounted for 46% of the drinking outcome variance. A father's alcoholism by itself no longer independently contributed to the prediction of his son's drinking and with one exception, did not systematically interact with the putative markers to facilitate the prediction of alcohol dependence at age 30. CONCLUSIONS: Risk itself. which significantly predicted problem drinking at age 30, was not uniquely associated with the development of alcoholism in adulthood. These findings, rather, provide broad support for the biopsychosocial model of alcoholism, especially for those models that emphasize the cumulative influence over time of internal and external variables in biologically vulnerable individuals.