Air-classified faba bean protein fraction as a substitute to soybean meal in pelleted and extruded broiler diets.

1. The hypothesis that air-classified faba bean protein fraction (FBP) can replace soybean meal (SBM) in pelleted or extruded broiler diets without adverse effect on performance or nutrient digestibility was tested.2. At 17 d of age, male broilers were randomly distriibuted among four dietary treatments consisting of either SBM or FBP (main dietary protein source) and pelleting or extrusion as processing methods. Treatments had 10 replicate pens containing five birds each.3. Compared to SBM, birds fed FBP had significantly lower feed intake, less weight gain and had poorer feed conversion.4. Pellet durability was high (above 92%) for all diets. In pelleted diets, FBP was harder than SBM whereas extruded diets had similar hardness. Pelleting increased water stability compared to extrusion. FBP diets were more water stable than the SBM diets.5. Gizzard content weight was 2.2-fold higher (P = 0.002) for birds given FBP compared to those fed SBM. The weight of the jejunum and ileum with contents was 1.4-fold lower for the FBP diets, and this effect was larger (P < 0.05) for the extruded FBP diet.6. Birds fed FBP diets had significantly higher nitrogen digestibility in the lower jejunum and ileum compared to those given SBM diets, while the starch digestibility coefficient was above 0.980 in all treatments.7. The high nutrient digestibility of FBP diets indicates that the poor performance of the FBP group was due to lower feed intake which was not explained by the differences in pellet durability or hardness. The reduced palatability of the FBP and the longer retention of the FBP diets in the upper gut are more likely to have depressed feed intake.

In vitro release of curcumin from vehicles containing alginate and cyclodextrin. Studies of curcumin and curcuminoides. XXXIII.

Combinations of cyclodextrins and alginates were used to solubilize the hydrophobic compound curcumin in aqueous vehicles intended for topical delivery. A careful selection of the excipients is necessary to achieve a sufficient release of curcumin towards a membrane of hydrophilic character, e.g. mucosa. The aim of the study was to investigate the effect of different combinations of cyclodextrins and alginates on curcumin release towards hydrophilic membranes in vitro. The curcumin flux through semi-permeable membranes of different molecular weight cut-off was measured to differentiate between the flux of curcumin in its uncomplexed form (restricted flux), its uncomplexed form together with its inclusion complexes (partly restricted flux) and the overall flux of curcumin-cyclodextrin complexes and uncomplexed curcumin (unrestricted flux). A high viscosity of the vehicle was expected to inhibit curcumin flux. Vehicles containing 3% alginate were found to have lower unrestricted flux than the vehicles containing 0.5% alginate independent of the type of cyclodextrin used. The results indicate that the unrestricted curcumin flux (e.g. in the case of wounded skin) is rather independent of the composition of the hydrophilic vehicle and mostly limited by the viscosity. However, partly restricted and restricted curcumin flux were found to depend on both the viscosity and the composition of the vehicles. The cyclodextrin with the demonstrated lowest solubilisation capacity (i.e. hydroxypropyl-beta-cyclodextrin) resulted in the highest values of both the restricted and unrestricted curcumin flux. In conclusion, a combination of hydroxypropyl-beta-cyclodextrin and propylene glycol alginate seemed to be the best choice with respect to curcumin solubility and release from the vehicle.

Predicting discharge and follow-up status of hospitalized adolescents.

The functioning of 58 adolescent psychiatric patients at hospital admission, discharge, and one-and-a-half-year follow-up was examined in relation to six predictor variables: level of precipitating stress, primary process thinking on the Rorschach test, cognitive inefficiency, severity of psychopathology, maladaptive behavior on the unit, and process versus reactive illness. Severity of psychopathology and cognitive inefficiency were significantly related to the adolescents' functioning at all three observation points. High precipitating stress and short duration of symptoms (that is, in reactive illnesses) were associated with significantly better functioning at follow-up. Primary process thinking on the Rorschach was correlated with severe disturbances on admission, but was unrelated to outcome at discharge or follow-up. Maladaptive behavior on the unit was unrelated to functioning at any time. The authors concluded that outcome for hospitalized adolescents is determined by key patient differences and is systematically predictable.