Severe cutaneous adverse drug reactions: diagnostic approach and genetic study in a Brazilian case series.

Summary: Background. Severe cutaneous adverse reactions (SCAR) are potentially fatal reactions. Genetic predisposition is involved in their pathogenesis related to drugs and ethnicities, however in a mixed population these relationships are still unknown. The aim of this study was to describe phenotypes, suspect drugs and HLA-alleles related to SCAR, identified by a systematized approach in a Brazilian case series. Methods. Patients who were diagnosed with SCAR between March 2011 and July 2019 at our university hospital were included. European Network for Drug Allergy (ENDA) questionnaire was used to collect clinical and laboratory data and algorithms for assessment of drug causality were applied. Socio-demographic variables included age, gender and skin color/ethnicity. Drug patch tests (DPT) and HLA-A, -B, -DRB1 typing were carried out. Results. A total of 74 patients were included: 36 (48.64%) with SJS/TEN, 32 (43.24%) DRESS/DIHS, 3 (4.05%) AGEP, 2 (2.70%) overlap(DRESS/SJS and DRESS/AGEP) and 1 (1.35%) GBFDE. The median age was31.5 years (IQR = 14-52.25), most were female (n = 44/59.46%) and brown (n = 38/51.35%). Anticonvulsants (n = 32/43.24%) were the largest group involved and antibiotics (n = 26/35.13%) were the second most common. Two patients with DRESS died during the acute phase. Positive DPT were shown only in anticonvulsant associated DRESS. HLA related to abacavir, allopurinol and carbamazepine were identified. Conclusions. A systematized approach allowed the phenotypic characterization of SCAR. The HLA-A*31:01, B*57:01 and B*58:01 alleles were identified, reinforcing the causality in SCAR by CBZ, ABC and ALLO in the Brazilian population.

Use of the spectrophotometric color method for the determination of the age of skin lesions on the pig carcass and its relationship with gene expression and histological and histochemical parameters.

The presence of lesions on the pig carcass is an indicator of poor animal welfare and has economic impact as it downgrades the carcass value. The assessment of the age of lesions on the carcass may help identify risk factors and ultimately prevent their occurrence. The aim of this study was to assess the age of lesions on pig carcasses through spectrophotometric color evaluation and to relate the results with gene expression and histological and histochemical parameters. A total of 96 barrows were mixed 4 times over 3 d before slaughter and 80 lesions were selected after skin lesion observations to define 4 age categories: < 7 h (T1), 7-25 h (T2), 25-30 h (T3), and 49-54 h (T4). A nonlesioned skin area was used as a control. At slaughter, 3 biopsies per lesion and control skin were taken immediately after bleeding for analyses of gene expression (, , , , , , , , , ), skin histological characteristics (inflammation, erosion or ulceration, and necrosis), and enzyme activity (alkaline phosphatase and adenosine triphosphatase). The number of lesions was counted on each carcass, and the color was assessed visually by a pictorial chart and instrumentally through a spectrophotometer. Delta values (Δ) were calculated as the difference between the value of the lesion and the value of the control for all measures, except for the histological analysis. Results indicated that visual color observation was not sufficiently accurate to discriminate lesions by time of infliction ( > 0.10), while the spectrophotometer ΔL* and Δa* values variation allowed the identification of < 7 h or > 25 h old lesions ( < 0.05). Similarly, the expression of , , , , and genes was higher ( < 0.05) in < 7 h old lesions, while gene expression was higher ( < 0.05) in < 25 h old lesions. As for the histological analysis, the severity of inflammation was correlated with the age of the lesion (lower score in < 7 h old lesions and higher score in > 25 h old lesions; < 0.05). To conclude, the spectrophotometric color assessment of the carcass lesions at slaughter appears to be a reliable method to discriminate between fresh and older lesions on the carcass at the abattoir.

Mottness at finite doping and charge-instabilities in cuprates.

The influence of the Mott physics on the doping-temperature phase diagram of copper oxides represents a major issue that is subject of intense theoretical and experimental effort. Here, we investigate the ultrafast electron dynamics in prototypical single-layer Bi-based cuprates at the energy scale of the O-2p→Cu-3d charge-transfer (CT) process. We demonstrate a clear evolution of the CT excitations from incoherent and localized, as in a Mott insulator, to coherent and delocalized, as in a conventional metal. This reorganization of the high-energy degrees of freedom occurs at the critical doping pcr ≈0.16 irrespective of the temperature, and it can be well described by dynamical mean field theory calculations. We argue that the onset of the low-temperature charge instabilities is the low-energy manifestation of the underlying Mottness that characterizes the p < pcr region of the phase diagram. This discovery sets a new framework for theories of charge order and low-temperature phases in underdoped copper oxides.

Spin-Hall Voltage over a Large Length Scale in Bulk Germanium.

We exploit the spin-Hall effect to generate a uniform pure spin current in an epitaxial n-doped Ge channel, and we detect the electrically induced spin accumulation, transverse to the injected charge current density, with polar magneto-optical Kerr microscopy at a low temperature. We show that a large spin density up to 400 µm^{-3} can be achieved at the edges of the 100-µm-wide Ge channel for an applied electric field lower than 5 mV/µm. We find that the spin density linearly decreases toward the center of the Ge bar, due to the large spin diffusion length, and such a decay is much slower than the exponential one observed in III-V semiconductors, allowing very large spin accumulations over a length scale of tens of micrometers. This lays the foundation for multiterminal spintronic devices, where different spin voltages can be exploited as inputs for magnetologic gates on the same Ge platform.

Cross-cultural and socio-demographic correlates of homophobic attitude among university students in three European countries.

PURPOSE: The aim of this study was to investigate homophobic attitudes in three European countries: Italy, Albania, and Ukraine. One thousand and forty-eight students were recruited in Italian (n = 766), Albanian (n = 180), and Ukrainian (n = 102) university centers. METHODS: A socio-demographic questionnaire and Homophobia Scale (HS) were administered by our staff. RESULTS: Cross-cultural and significant differences among Italian, Albanian, and Ukrainian students were found on the Homophobia Scale (HS; Italy: mean = 22.26 ± 16.73; Albania: mean = 38.15 ± 17.28; Ukraine: mean = 59.18 ± 16.23). The analysis of socio-demographic characteristics revealed that the male gender emerged as main predictor of homophobic attitude in all the three countries, although also a conservative political orientation and the religious belief predict higher homophobia levels in Italy and Albania, particularly. CONCLUSIONS: This study revealed that in these European countries assessed, attitudes toward homosexuality are different. Ukrainians display higher levels of homophobia than Albanians and Italians, confirming the central role of cultural differences in homophobic attitudes. Nevertheless, some socio-demographic aspects such as identification as male have a similar influence on homophobic attitudes in all assessed populations.

Optically induced effective mass renormalization: the case of graphite image potential states.

Many-body interactions with the underlying bulk electrons determine the properties of confined electronic states at the surface of a metal. Using momentum resolved nonlinear photoelectron spectroscopy we show that one can tailor these many-body interactions in graphite, leading to a strong renormalization of the dispersion and linewidth of the image potential state. These observations are interpreted in terms of a basic self-energy model, and may be considered as exemplary for optically induced many-body interactions.

Investigation of dairy cattle ease of movement on new methyl methacrylate resin aggregate floorings.

Freestall dairy farms commonly present issues with cattle slips and falls caused by smooth flooring and manure slurry. This study examined the effect of 4 new methyl methacrylate (MMA) resin aggregate flooring types (1-4) compared with rubber (positive) and concrete (negative control) on dairy cow (n=18) ease of movement when walking on straight and right-angled corridors. Our hypothesis was that cow ease of movement when walking on the MMA surfaces would be better than when walking on traction milled concrete, and at least as good as when walking on rubber. Cattle ease of movement was measured using kinematics, accelerometers, and visual observation of gait and associated behaviors. Stride length, swing time, stance time, and hoof height were obtained from kinematic evaluation. Acceleration and asymmetry of variance were measured with accelerometers. Locomotion score and behaviors associated with lameness, such as arch back, head bob, tracking up, step asymmetry, and reluctance to bear weight were visually observed. Stride length, swing time, stance time, and the number of steps taken were the only variables affected by flooring type. Differences between flooring types for these variables were tested using a generalized linear mixed model with cow as a random effect, week as a random block factor, and flooring type as a fixed effect. Multiple comparisons with a Scheffé adjustment were done to analyze differences among flooring types. Stride length was 0.14 m longer (better) on rubber when compared with concrete, and 0.11 and 0.17 m shorter on MMA 1 and 2 compared with rubber. On MMA 3 and 4, stride length did not differ from either rubber or concrete. Swing time was 0.04 s shorter (worse) on MMA 1 than on rubber, but did not differ from any other flooring. Stance time was 0.18 s longer (worse) on MMA 2 when compared with rubber, but it did not differ from any other treatment. The number of steps was higher on MMA 4 compared with rubber (4.57 vs. 3.95 steps), but did not differ from any other treatment. Of all the MMA floors tested, MMA 3 was the only one that was consistently as good as rubber (positive control). All 4 MMA floors never differed from concrete (negative control) in any of the ease of movement variables measured. These results suggest that MMA 3 may improve cow ease of movement, compared with the other MMA floors, but more research is required to confirm these findings.

Macrospin dynamics in antiferromagnets triggered by sub-20 femtosecond injection of nanomagnons.

The understanding of how the sub-nanoscale exchange interaction evolves in macroscale correlations and ordered phases of matter, such as magnetism and superconductivity, requires to bridging the quantum and classical worlds. This monumental challenge has so far only been achieved for systems close to their thermodynamical equilibrium. Here we follow in real time the ultrafast dynamics of the macroscale magnetic order parameter in the Heisenberg antiferromagnet KNiF3 triggered by the impulsive optical generation of spin excitations with the shortest possible nanometre wavelength and femtosecond period. Our magneto-optical pump-probe experiments also demonstrate the coherent manipulation of the phase and amplitude of these femtosecond nanomagnons, whose frequencies are defined by the exchange energy. These findings open up opportunities for fundamental research on the role of short-wavelength spin excitations in magnetism and strongly correlated materials; they also suggest that nanospintronics and nanomagnonics can employ coherently controllable spin waves with frequencies in the 20 THz domain.

Effects of season, truck type, and location within truck on gastrointestinal tract temperature of market-weight pigs during transport.

Two experiments were done to assess the effects of season, truck type, and location in the truck on the gastrointestinal tract temperature (GTT) of market-weight pigs during transport. In Exp. 1, a total of 504 sentinel pigs were selected from a total load of 3,756 pigs over 12 wk in summer or winter and transported in either a double-decked (DD) hydraulic truck or a pot-belly (PB) trailer for 2 h. In Exp. 2, a total of 330 sentinel pigs were selected from a total load of 2,145 pigs over 11 wk in summer or winter and transported in a PB trailer for 8 h. In both experiments, sentinel pigs were equipped with a temperature data logger for the real-time GTT recording from the farm to slaughter. Transport was divided into 8 periods in Exp. 1 (rest, pretravel, initial travel, prearrival 1, prearrival 2, unloading, lairage 1, and lairage 2) and in Exp. 2 (rest, pretravel 1, pretravel 2, travel, prearrival 1, prearrival 2, lairage 1, and lairage 2). A delta GTT (ΔGTT) was calculated as the difference between the measured GTT at any determined event and the GTT measured at rest. In Exp. 1, the ΔGTT of pigs was greater ( < 0.001) in summer than in winter and only during the pretravel and initial travel periods. No difference was observed in the ΔGTT between the 2 truck types ( > 0.10). In summer, pigs located in the front top and rear top compartments of the PB trailer presented greater ( < 0.05) ΔGTT values than those transported in the middle top and front belly compartments during initial travel. In summer, during prearrival 1 and 2, a greater ( < 0.05) loss of GTT was found in pigs located in the rear top compartment of the DD truck compared with the rear lower compartment and in the front middle compartment compared with the rear middle compartment of the PB trailer. In Exp. 2, the ΔGTT of pigs was greater ( = 0.03) in summer than in winter during pretravel 2. Pigs in the front top compartment had a greater ( < 0.05) ΔGTT compared with pigs in the middle top, lower deck, and front belly compartments during the pretravel periods. Based on the results of the 2 experiments, modifications of the PB trailer model are recommended to limit body temperature increase due to physical stress at loading and unloading, and during transport due to inconsistent ventilation rate across vehicle locations.

Measure and characterization of lameness in gestating sows using force plate, kinematic, and accelerometer methods.

The objective was to assess sows' lameness by measuring weight distribution on limbs using a force plate made up of 4 individual platforms each resting on 4 single-ended beam load cells. The weight was recorded at an average rate of 14 readings per s over a 15 min period. Ten sows (5 lame sows and 5 sound sows) were weighed twice on 2 different days to assess the repeatability of the measure. Sixty-one sows were then selected in 2 different sites and visually scored for lameness, using a 3-point scoring system (0=normal gait; 1=abnormal gait, and/or stiffness; and 2=shortened stride, and/or the sow puts less weight or avoids putting weight on 1 leg). Various measures were recorded from each sow using the force plate (percentage of weight, the ratio between the weights applied by contralateral legs, weight shifting, and amplitude of weight bearing and weight removing), kinematics (speed, stride length, swing time, stance time, foot height, and carpal and tarsal joints angle average and amplitude), and accelerometers (time spent standing during 24 h, frequency of stepping behavior during feeding, and latency to lie down after feed delivery). The within-sow CV for each measure taken from the force plate were lower than 15%, which reflects a good repeatability. Among force plate measures, only the weight shifting frequency and the ratio between the weights applied by contralateral legs differed between lameness scores. Sows that scored 2 had a higher frequency of weight shifting for fore legs (P=0.0003) and hind legs (P=0.0007) than sows scored 0 and 1. The ratio between the weights applied by contralateral legs decreased with the increase of lameness score for the hind limbs (P=0.014). However, these measures also differed between sites (P<0.01). These differences may be due to various reasons, including but not limited to genetics and housing systems. Nevertheless, the results suggest that force plate measures such as the asymmetry in the weight applied between a pair of legs and weight shifting are good indicators of lameness. Multivariate analysis on fore and hind legs showed independency between variables related to animals in movement (measures from kinematics) and variables related to static animals (measures from the force plate and accelerometers). Therefore, both static and dynamic methods need to be used to detect various lame sows.

Photo-enhanced antinodal conductivity in the pseudogap state of high-Tc cuprates.

A major challenge in understanding the cuprate superconductors is to clarify the nature of the fundamental electronic correlations that lead to the pseudogap phenomenon. Here we use ultrashort light pulses to prepare a non-thermal distribution of excitations and capture novel properties that are hidden at equilibrium. Using a broadband (0.5-2 eV) probe, we are able to track the dynamics of the dielectric function and unveil an anomalous decrease in the scattering rate of the charge carriers in a pseudogap-like region of the temperature (T) and hole-doping (p) phase diagram. In this region, delimited by a well-defined T*neq(p) line, the photoexcitation process triggers the evolution of antinodal excitations from gapped (localized) to delocalized quasiparticles characterized by a longer lifetime. The novel concept of photo-enhanced antinodal conductivity is naturally explained within the single-band Hubbard model, in which the short-range Coulomb repulsion leads to a k-space differentiation between nodal quasiparticles and antinodal excitations.

On-farm evaluation of methods to assess welfare of gestating sows.

The objectives were to evaluate quantitative animal-based measures of sow welfare (lameness, oral stereotypies and reactivity to humans) under commercial farm conditions, and to estimate the influence of housing, sow parity and stage of gestation on the outcome of these measures. Across 10 farms, 311 sows were used. Farms differed in terms of housing design (pen v. stall), space allowance, floor type in stalls (partially v. fully slatted), and feeding system in pens (floor v. trough). Lameness was assessed in terms of gait score, walking speed, stride length, stepping behaviour, response to a stand-up test and latency to lie down after feeding. The presence of oral stereotypies and saliva foam were recorded. Reactivity to humans was assessed by approach (attempt to touch the sow between the ears) and handling tests (exit of the stall for stall-housed sows, or isolation of the animal for pen-housed sows). Only stride length and walking speed were associated with lameness in stall-housed sows (P<0.05 and P<0.01). In stalls, the probability that a sow was lame when it presented a short stride length (<83 cm) or a low speed (<1 m/s) was high (69% and 72%, respectively), suggesting that these variables were good indicators of lameness, but were not sufficient to detect every lame sow in a herd (sensitivity of 0.39 and 0.71, respectively). The stage of gestation and parity also influenced measures of stride length and walking speed (P<0.05). Saliva foam around the mouth was associated with the presence of sham chewing and fixture biting (P<0.05). The probability that a sow presents sham chewing behaviour when saliva foam around her mouth was observed was moderate (63%) but was not sufficient to detect all sows with stereotypies (41%). A high discrimination index was obtained for behavioural measures (aggressions, escapes) and vocalisations during the approach test (stalls: 78.0 and 64.0; pens: 71.9 and 75.0, respectively), the number of interventions needed to make the sow exit the stall during the handling test for stall-housed sows (74.9), and attempts to escape during the handling test for pen-housed sows (96.9). These results suggest that these measures have a good power to discriminate between sows with low and high reactivity to humans. Finally, the outcome of several measures of lameness, stereotypies and reactivity to humans were influenced by the housing characteristics, sow parity and stage of gestation. Therefore, these factors should be considered to avoid misinterpretations of these measures in terms of welfare.

[The possible uses of balneotherapy in treating chronic venous insufficiency of lower limbs]. / Possibilità della balneoterapia termale nell'insufficienza venosa cronica degli arti inferiori.

The Chronic Venous Insufficiency (CVI) of inferior limbs is a widespread disease, with an increasing incidence as a consequence of longer life expectance, life-style, obesity, smoking, use of drugs as oestrogens and progestins and working conditions. Medical therapy is still lacking for evidence of efficacy, and compression therapy is useful only in preventing a worsening of this condition. Surgical treatment is the only radical therapy effective for the advanced phases of the disease. In this context spa balneotherapy can be considered as a possible chance to improve some subjective and objective symptoms of CVI of inferior limbs, and to prevent worsening of this condition. The authors performed a review of the relevant scientific literature concerning the treatment of CVI of inferior limbs with mineral water balneotherapy, in order to evaluate its effects on objective and subjective symptoms and its effectiveness to prevent further worsening. We searched the PubMed/Medline, Cochrane Library, Embase, Web of Science databases for articles published between 1990 and 2011 on this topic. To this end, the authors selected few clinical-controlled and case-controlled studies; patients affected from CVI of inferior limbs were treated with balneotherapy at health spas with sulphureous, sulphate, salsojodic or salsobromojodic mineral waters. Baths in mineral waters were often associated with idromassotherapy and vascular pathway. Effects of spa balneotherapy are related to some aspecific properties, like hydrostatic pressure, osmotic pressure and water temperature, partly related with specific chemico-physical properties of the adopted mineral water. The controlled clinical studies on spa therapy showed significant improvement of subjective (such as itch, paresthesias, pain, heaviness) and objective symptoms (namely edema and skin discromias). These studies suggest that spa balneotherapy may give a good chance of secondary prevention and effective therapy of CVI of inferior limbs, but also that it needs of other clinical controlled trials.

Arabidopsis thaliana Yellow Stripe1-Like4 and Yellow Stripe1-Like6 localize to internal cellular membranes and are involved in metal ion homeostasis.

Several members of the Yellow Stripe1-Like (YSL) family of transporter proteins are able to transport metal-nicotianamine (NA) complexes. Substantial progress has been made in understanding the roles of the Arabidopsis YSLs that are most closely related to the founding member of the family, ZmYS1 (e.g., AtYSL1, AtYSL2 and AtYSL3), but there is little information concerning members of the other two well-conserved YSL clades. Here, we provide evidence that AtYSL4 and AtYSL6, which are the only genes in Arabidopsis belong to YSL Group II, are localized to vacuole membranes and to internal membranes resembling endoplasmic reticulum. Both single and double mutants for YSL4 and YSL6 were rigorously analyzed, and have surprisingly mild phenotypes, in spite of the strong and wide-ranging expression of YSL6. However, in the presence of toxic levels of Mn and Ni, plants with mutations in YSL4 and YSL6 and plants overexpressing GFP-tagged YSL6 showed growth defects, indicating a role for these transporters in heavy metal stress responses.

Competition between the Pseudogap and superconducting states of Bi2Sr2Ca0.92Y0.08Cu2O8+δ single crystals revealed by ultrafast broadband optical reflectivity.

Ultrafast broadband transient reflectivity experiments are performed to study the interplay between the nonequilibrium dynamics of the pseudogap and the superconducting phases in Bi(2)Sr(2}Ca(0.92)Y(0.08)Cu(2)O(8+δ). Once superconductivity is established, the relaxation of the pseudogap proceeds ~2 times faster than in the normal state, and the corresponding transient reflectivity variation changes sign after ~0.5 ps. The results can be described by a set of coupled differential equations for the pseudogap and for the superconducting order parameter. The sign and strength of the coupling term suggest a remarkably weak competition between the two phases, allowing their coexistence.

Microwave TM(010) cavities as versatile 4D electron optical elements.

The realization of high quality ultrashort pulsed beams requires ultrafast time-dependent electron optics. We present derivations of closed expressions both for the longitudinal and transverse focusing powers of resonant microwave TM010 cavities. The derived expressions are validated by particle tracking simulations using realistic cavity fields. For small field amplitudes, in which case the "weak lens" approximation holds, the focusing powers obtained from simulations are in good agreement with the derived expressions. Furthermore, the required phase and temperature stability for synchronization of electron bunches generated by femtosecond photoemission are discussed.

The APOL1 genotype of African American kidney transplant recipients does not impact 5-year allograft survival.

Apolipoprotein L-1 (APOL1) gene variants are associated with end-stage renal disease in African Americans (AAs). Here we investigate the impact of recipient APOL1 gene distributions on kidney allograft outcomes. We conducted a retrospective analysis of 119 AA kidney transplant recipients, and found that 58 (48.7%) carried two APOL1 kidney disease risk variants. Contrary to the association seen in native kidney disease, there is no difference in allograft survival at 5-year posttransplant for recipients with high-risk APOL1 genotypes. Thus, we were able to conclude that APOL1 genotypes do not increase risk of allograft loss after kidney transplantations, and carrying 2 APOL1 risk alleles should not be an impediment to transplantation.

Disentangling the electronic and phononic glue in a high-Tc superconductor.

Unveiling the nature of the bosonic excitations that mediate the formation of Cooper pairs is a key issue for understanding unconventional superconductivity. A fundamental step toward this goal would be to identify the relative weight of the electronic and phononic contributions to the overall frequency (Ω)-dependent bosonic function, Π(Ω). We performed optical spectroscopy on Bi(2)Sr(2)Ca(0.92)Y(0.08)Cu(2)O(8+δ) crystals with simultaneous time and frequency resolution; this technique allowed us to disentangle the electronic and phononic contributions by their different temporal evolution. The spectral distribution of the electronic excitations and the strength of their interaction with fermionic quasiparticles fully account for the high critical temperature of the superconducting phase transition.

Effect of split marketing on the welfare, performance, and carcass traits of finishing pigs.

The aim of this study was to compare a split marketing (SM) strategy, in which the heaviest pigs in a group are removed and slaughtered earlier than the others, with an all-out (AO) marketing strategy, in which all pigs are removed from the pen simultaneously and slaughtered on the same day, in terms of welfare, performance, and carcass traits of noncastrated (i.e., intact) male and female pigs. The experimental treatments were arranged in a 2 × 2 factorial array with 1) marketing strategy (SM vs. AO) and 2) sex (males vs. females), which yielded 4 treatment groups of 14 pigs (73.1 ± 4.8 kg): male SM, male AO, female SM, and female AO (7 replicates/group). Pigs in AO groups were all slaughtered after 6 wk on trial, whereas in SM groups the 3 heaviest pigs were removed and slaughtered 2 wk before the remainder of the group, which were slaughtered at the same time as the AO pigs. Pigs were fed a liquid diet from a long trough 3 times daily. Behavioral observations were conducted before and after SM, the day of SM, and 1 and 2 wk later. Behavior was recorded both during and between feed events, and skin lesions were scored on all, except the 3 pigs removed from SM groups before and 2 wk after SM. Growth performance, feed efficiency, and carcass traits were recorded. The number of aggressive interactions during feed events decreased after the 3 pigs were removed from SM groups. This reduction in aggressive interactions was observed on the day of SM in male groups (before SM: 24.3 vs. the day of SM: 14.7, SED = 3.31, P < 0.05 for interaction) and in subsequent observations in female groups (before SM: 21.4 vs. days after SM: 13.4, SED = 3.31, P < 0.05 for interaction). However, SM had no effect on behaviors recorded between feed events or on the number and severity of skin lesions (P > 0.10). There were no differences between the 11 remaining pigs in SM groups and the 14 pigs in AO groups in terms of growth performance, feed efficiency, and carcass traits of female or intact male pigs (P > 0.10). However, reduced within-pen CV in carcass weight was detected in pigs from SM groups compared with pigs from AO groups (8.6 vs. 10.9, SEM = 0.72, P < 0.05). Therefore, in restrictively fed pigs, a SM strategy improved the welfare of both female and intact male pigs by reducing aggressive interactions during feeding but had no effect on performance or carcass traits.

Celiac disease and obesity: need for nutritional follow-up after diagnosis.

More than 20 years of serological approach to diagnosis of celiac disease (CD) has deeply changed the classical clinical presentation of the disease, and some reports indicate that CD and obesity can coexist in both childhood and adolescence. We reviewed clinical records of 149 children with CD followed in our institution between 1991 and 2007, considering weight, height and body mass index (BMI), both at diagnosis and after at least 12 months of gluten-free diet (GFD). In all, 11% of patients had BMI z-score >+1 and 3% were obese (z-score >+2) at presentation. In our population, there was a significant (P=0.008) increase in BMI z-score after GFD and the percentage of overweight (z-score >+1) subjects almost doubled (11 vs 21%, P=0.03). Our data suggest the need for a careful follow-up of nutritional status after diagnosis of CD, especially addressing those who are already overweight at presentation.