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PubMed1991

Effect of diet and population density on male turkeys under various environmental conditions. 1. Turkey growth and health performance.

The performance of 1,312 male market turkeys (Large White, Nicholas strain) from 0 to 20 wk of age fed diets varying in feed form and energy level was measured under two stocking densities (.21 or .46 m2 per bird) and four lighting and temperature programs. The four diets were 1) corn and soybean meal with 1% supplemental fat, mash (CSM); 2) as 1, pelleted (CSP); 3) as Diet 1 but with 1, 2, 4, 6, and 8% supplemental fat during 0 to 4, 4 to 8, 8 to 12, 12 to 16, and 16 to 20 wk of age, respectively (CSF); and 4) as Diet 1 but with barely included at 0, 20, 35, 50, and 65% during the respective 4-wk age periods (CSB). The four light and temperature programs were 1) Environment A with intermittent light [4 [2 h light (L):4 h dark (D)]] in combination with cycling temperature at 7 and 21 C during light and dark photoperiod, respectively; Environment B with intermittent light, 21 C; Environment C with continuous light (18L:6D) and cycling temperature of 7 to 21 C; and Environment D with intermittent light, 7 C. Lighting and temperature programs started at 1 and 4 wk of age, respectively. Body weights at 20 wk of age decreased (P less than .05) with increasing temperature (13.86 versus 12.26 kg for Environments D and B, respectively) with cycling temperature intermediate (13.51 kg for Environment A). Intermittent light (P less than .05) improved BW and feed conversion by 3.4 and 2.0%, respectively, compared with continuous light. Rearing males at .21 m2 per bird versus .46 m2 per bird decreased weight (P less than .05) by 5.5%. Twenty-week BW of males fed the CSP (13.52 kg) and CSF (13.58 kg) diets were greater (P less than .05) than those fed CSM (12.90 kg) and CSB (12.69 kg) diets. Significant (P less than .05) interactions between diet, environment, and density were not detected for most performance characteristics. Environmental measurements indicated higher dust and ammonia levels in the warm environment (B). Isolates of aspergillus and incidence of airsacculitis at time of processing were greatest in Environment B.

Air Sacs↗
PubMed1991

Effect of diet and population density on male turkeys under various environmental conditions. 2. Body composition and meat yield.

Large White Nicholas male turkeys were reared at two stocking densities (.21 or .46 m2 per bird) and fed one of four diets: 1) control corn and soybean (mash) with 1% fat (CSM); 2) as Diet 1, pelleted (CSP); 3) as Diet 1 with supplemental fat increasing from 1 through 8% with age (CSF); and 4) as Diet 1 with barley at 0, 20, 35, 50, and 65% during successive 4-wk periods (CSB). The turkeys were reared in four environments: (A) intermittent light schedule [4(2 h light (L):4 h dark D))] with temperature at 7 or 21 C during light and dark photoperiod, respectively; (B) and (D) with intermittent light (2L:4D) with a constant 21 and 7 C temperatures, respectively; (C) continuous light cycle (18L:6D) with temperatures as in Environment A. At 20 wk of age, two turkeys per replicate pen, were killed for determination of body composition and meat yield. Compared with turkeys fed CSM diet, those on CSF and CSP diet had increased percentage carcass fat. Meat yield per bird and percentage carcass fat were greater for turkeys reared at .46 m2 per bird compared with rearing at .21 m2 per bird. Pelleting and fat supplementation resulted in significantly increased amounts of breast meat and leg compared with CSM. Breast meat yield (percentage) and amount were greater at 7 C (Environment D) than at 21 C (Environment B) and the cycling regimen (Environment A). Percentage abdominal fat was greatest at 7 C. Interactions of environment and diet were detected for breast meat yield percentage (P less than .023) and weight (P less than .036). Diet type had no effect on percentage breast meat or weight in Environment C. An increased amount of breast meat was obtained by feeding CSP in Environments A, B, and D, and dietary fat supplementation increased breast meat yield in Environments A and D over CSM treatment.

Adipose Tissue↗
PubMed1994

Growth, livability, and feed conversion of 1957 vs 1991 broilers when fed "typical" 1957 and 1991 broiler diets.

The relative contributions of genetic selection and dietary regimen on the performance of broilers was assessed. Body weight, feed consumption, mortality (M), and the degree of tibial dyschondroplasia (TD) were measured in the 1957 Athens-Canadian Randombred Control (ACRBC) strain of broilers and in the 1991 Arbor Acres (AA) feather-sexable strain when fed "typical" 1957 and 1991 diets. Energy and protein levels, vitamin and mineral packs, and the coccidiostats used in the two dietary regimens were chosen to be representative of those in use by the industry for the two time periods. Eight treatment groups, i.e., two strains, two sexes, and two dietary regimens, were assigned into four blocks of eight litter floor pens for grow out. The 1957 diets were fed as mash, and the 1991 starter and grower diets were fed as crumbles and pellets, respectively. Feed consumption and BW were recorded at 21, 42, 56, 70, and 84 d of age, a period covering the normal marketing ages for the two broilers. Mortality and the cause of death was recorded daily. The incidence and severity of TD was assessed using a Lixiscope at 42 d of age. Average BW were 190, 508, 790, 1,087, and 1,400 g for the ACRBC on the 1957 diets vs 700, 2,132, 3,108, 3,812, and 4,498 g for the AA on the 1991 diets at 21, 42, 56, 70, and 84 d of age, respectively. The 1991 diets increased the BW of the AA by an average of 14% (20% at 42 d, but only 8% at 84 d) and of the ACRBC by 22%. The BW advantage for the 1991 diet over the 1957 diet for the AA was less for males than for females after 42 d of age, and the advantage decreased with age, probably due to the increasing incidence of leg problems. The M for AA was 9.1% vs 3.3% for the ACRBC at 42 d. Most of the ACRBC M occurred before 21 d, whereas M occurred throughout for the AA, with most after 21 d due to flip-overs and ascites. The feed conversion at 42 d for the ACRBC on the 1957 diet was 3.00 vs 2.04 for the AA on the 1991 diet. The AA on the 1991 diet had a 48.6% incidence of TD vs 25.6% on the 1957 diet. The ACRBC had approximately 1.2% TD on both diets. The TD was more severe with the 1991 diet.

Animal Feed↗
PubMed1995

Stunting syndrome in broilers: physical, physiological, and behavioral aspects.

The effect of stunting syndrome (SS) on young broilers induced by orally administering an inoculum prepared from intestines of SS-affected broiler chicks was studied in two experiments. Depression of growth, feed intake, and feed utilization, respectively, was negatively related to the age of inoculation, i.e., highest at posthatch inoculation (63, 57, and 61%), and intermediate at the ages of 3 (42, 45, and 50%) and 7 d (29, 34, and 53%), whereas at the age of 14 d inoculation was ineffectual and the inoculated chicks performed similarly to the naive controls. Eating behavior was determined by periodically recording the number of chicks in each treatment group exhibiting this behavior, i.e., pecking mash in the feeder or pecking the litter. Eating activity was much higher in inoculated chicks (about 20 to 24%) than in the naive controls (6 to 12%) and as with performance negatively related to the age of inoculation. In chicks inoculated at the age of 14 d, eating activity was quite similar to that of the naive control chicks. Noninoculated chickens raised in the same room as their inoculated counterparts were infected by the disease agents. In some respects the consequences of horizontal infection were similar to those observed in inoculated chicks, i.e., depressed feed intake, growth, and feed utilization and a heavier heart, crop, proventriculus, gizzard, intestine, and gastrointestinal contents. In contrast, the activities of the pancreatic digestive enzymes were more similar to those of the naive controls than to those of the inoculated groups. At the age of 14 d, activities of amylase, trypsin, chymotrypsin, and lipase in the pancreas were lower in the inoculated than in the naive control birds. At the age of 21 d, the results were reversed and activity in the inoculated birds was higher than in the naive control birds. During both periods, the activity of pancreatic lipase was higher in the naive controls than in the inoculated birds. The hyperactivity estimated via a determination of eating activity suggests that SS is an affliction not only of digestion but also of metabolism.

Aging↗
PubMed1995

Early skip-a-day feeding of female broiler chicks fed high-protein realimentation diets. Performance and body composition.

The effect of an early skip-a-day feeding program on performance and body composition of broiler chicks fed high-protein realimentation diets was studied. One-day-old female broiler chicks were withheld from feed for 2d (0 to 2 d of age), and at 7 d of age three pens of 15 chicks each were randomly assigned to one of five treatments. One treatment (as the control) involved ad libitum access to feed, and other four treatments were subjected to a skip-a-day regimen from 7 to 13 d of age. From 14 to 20 d of age, chicks of the five treatment groups were fed diets containing 21, 21, 25, 30, or 35% protein. Thereafter, chicks were fed a commercial finisher mash diet (18% CP and 3,160 kcal/kg ME) until 56 d of age. Restricted chicks exhibited compensatory growth during the refeeding period, but the 35% CP realimentation diet impaired this phenomenon as indicated by lower recovery index. Chicks of the skip-a-day program, regardless of dietary protein level, had less abdominal fat, as compared with chicks that ate ad libitum. In comparison with the control, less body fat and ash and greater protein contents were observed in chicks fed the 35% CP realimentation diet. Greater or less liver triglyceride content was observed in chicks fed 21% CP, or the 30 and 35% CP realimentation diet, respectively, whereas, less carcass triglyceride content was found in chicks fed 21 or 35% CP realimentation diet, as compared with the control group.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Animals↗
PubMed1995

Intubation of weight-selected chicks with soybean oil or residual yolk: effect on early growth and development.

Experiments were conducted to study the role of residual yolk on growth and development of chicks during the 1st wk after hatch. Surgical removal of the yolk sac at hatch reduced early body weight gains. Intubating chicks with a mixture of soybean meal and soybean oil or with residual yolk obtained from chicks at hatch increased body weights and enhanced development of the liver and pancreas. Whereas intubation with residual yolk reduced absorption of yolk sac contents, absorption was similar for chicks that consumed mash ad libitum or were intubated with the soybean meal-soybean oil diet. After cessation of yolk intubation, absorption of residual yolk resumed. Removal of the yolk sac decreased amylase and lipase activity in the pancreas. In the intestinal chyme, activity of amylase, trypsin, and chymotrypsin was reduced by yolk sac removal. Intubation with yolk increased enzyme activity (amylase excepted) in the pancreas or intestinal chyme only in chicks that had their yolk sacs removed. There was evidence that contents of the yolk sac did not enter the intestine via the yolk stalk, but were absorbed directly via the blood.

Aging↗
PubMed1995

The effects of continuously or diurnally fed melatonin on broiler performance and health.

An experiment was designed to investigate the effects of dietary melatonin (MEL) on the performance and health of broiler chicks. Chicks raised under constant lighting were fed practical broiler diets in mash form containing 0, 20, or 40 ppm MEL from 0 to 3 wk. A fourth treatment (0 ppm MEL: 6h/d; 20 ppm MEL: 18 h/d) was used to mimic a diurnal light:dark cycle. Commercial broiler grower diets without MEL supplementation were fed from 3 to 6 wk of age. A small dose-related decrease was observed in weight gain (0 to 14 d) and feed consumption (0 to 21 d) due to continuous feeding of MEL. Continuously fed MEL also improved feed efficiency in the first 3 wk vs the control (0 ppm). Growth and feed consumption from 0 to 21 d were not affected by the diurnally fed diet when compared with the control treatment. No effects were found for mortality. However, the incidence of sudden death syndrome (SDS) was numerically less for the diurnal (3.56%) and 40 ppm (3.76%) diets from 0 to 42 d than for the control treatment 5.56%. Skeletal disease was generally unaffected, with the exception of the incidence of crooked toes at 42 d (0 ppm MEL: 8.67% vs diurnal: 4.89%). Dietary MEL fed either continuously or in a diurnal pattern had a minor effect on the performance and health of broiler chickens.

Animals↗
PubMed1996

Effects of dietary fatty acid pattern on melting point and composition of adipose tissues and intramuscular fat of broiler carcasses.

Soybean oil (SO), rapeseed oil (RO), or two commercial fat products (FP1, FP2) were incorporated at 3.5% levels into four different corn-soybean meal mash broiler diets. Each of the four diets was fed to five replicates (pens) of broiler chickens for 42 d. After slaughtering the birds, samples of the abdominal fat, subcutaneous fat, and fat extracted from the thigh and the breast portion were collected from 16 birds per treatment. The fat samples were analyzed for their fatty acid composition using gas chromatography and the melting point of the abdominal fat was recorded. The results showed that the abdominal and subcutaneous fat had very similar fatty acid patterns and differed significantly from the composition of the fat extracted from breast and thigh. The different dietary treatments caused significant changes in the fatty acid patterns for all analyzed tissues, although the differences were more pronounced for the adipose tissues. Overall, the adipose tissues contained more polyunsaturated and less saturated fatty acids than the fat from the breast and thigh portions. The melting point of the abdominal fat was significantly altered by the use of different dietary fats: RO gave a lower melting point than SO and FP1; the highest values were recorded for FP2. The data presented here indicate that the selection of certain dietary fat sources has a major impact on the composition and the melting point of broiler adipose tissues. The effect on the fatty acid composition of meat portions, however, is limited.

Adipose Tissue↗
PubMed1996

Interrelationship between the effects of dietary factors and feed withdrawal on the content and composition of liver fat in broiler chicks.

Four experiments were carried out to evaluate the effects of the composition and pelleting of diets fed to broiler chicks up to marketing age on changes in their liver size and the content and composition of liver fat due to feed withdrawal (FW) during 0, 10, and 24 h. Birds not exposed to FW that were fed diets with high energy to protein ratio (E:P) and diets in pelleted from-diets that increase fattening-had significantly (P < 0.05) higher liver fat content than those fed diets with the recommended E:P and in mash form, respectively. Those fed pellets also had higher liver weight. Dietary energy level did not affect these variables. Feed withdrawal for 10 or 24 h decreased, at times significantly, liver weight and its fat content, irrespective of the diets fed previously. The values observed after FW were not affected by the dietary factors evaluated. The composition of liver fatty acid in chicks not exposed to FW was markedly affected by increases in dietary energy (soybean oil) level and E:P. The main effects of the former were increased levels of stearic, linoleic, and arachidonic acids and a decreased level of oleic acid; those of the latter were an increased level of oleic and decreased levels of stearic, linoleic, and arachidonic acids. Irrespective of the diets used, FW increased the concentrations of stearic, linoleic, and arachidonic acids, and decreased those of palmitic and oleic acids. This effect on arachidonic acid was consistently significant, whereas the effects on the other fatty acids were significant in two out of three experiments. Due to these effects of FW, part of the differences in the composition of liver fatty acids caused by dietary factors observed in fed chicks, completely disappeared after FW. The length of FW (10 vs 24 h) did not affect liver size or fat content, but the concentrations of oleic and arachidonic acids in liver fat were significantly higher in birds exposed to 24 h of FW. It was concluded that the composition and form of the diets markedly affect liver weight and the content and composition of its fat in birds not exposed to FW. The effects of the dietary factors on liver size and its fat content completely disappear after 24 h of FW.

Animals↗
PubMed2026

AI-driven diagnostic and prognostic models for metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease: insights from clinical, imaging, and multi-omics studies-a scoping review.

Metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD), formerly known as non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), is the most common chronic liver disease around the world, affecting 33.6% of the adult population (95% CI: 28.1%-39.5%; I 2&#x2009;=&#x2009;99.9%), or roughly one in three. The extent of the liver damage is variable, from simple steatosis to metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis (MASH, formerly NASH), cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Early diagnosis is essential to prevent serious liver damage. Traditional diagnostic techniques such as liver biopsy, imaging, and biomarker testing are all invasive, costly, reduced sensitive to early-stage disease, and they also have variability among observers. Modern diagnostic and prognostic approaches based on the principles of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and specifically on machine learning (ML) and deep learning (DL) have enabled multimodal approaches integrating clinical, imaging and molecular data. This scoping review conducted per PRISMA-ScR guidelines, synthesizes findings from 73 studies (search window 2020-2026) across three dimensions: clinical data driven models, imaging-based classifiers (ultrasound, CT and MRI), and multi-omics (genomics, transcriptomics and proteomics) techniques. Moreover, emergence of models such as U-Net and LiverNet 2.x, classification models like DeepLiverNet and BiLSTM models, as well as transformer frameworks and the identification of biomarkers models are also described. This study also investigates challenges such as data heterogeneity, data interpretability, fairness and real-world clinical application. Finally, important areas of research opportunities and future directions are highlighted to present a developing clinically applicable, explainable and ethical AI solutions to manage MASLD.

MASLD↗
PubMed2000

Combined effect of hop resins and sodium hexametaphosphate against certain strains of Escherichia coli.

The combined antimicrobial effects of hop resins with sodium hexametaphosphate, glycerol monocaprate, and lysozyme were investigated aiming to make an effective agent against Escherichia coli. When they are used separately, the antimicrobial activity against E. coli was minimal. However, the combination of hop resins with sodium hexametaphosphate exhibited strong antimicrobial activity against E. coli, but no effect was found in combinations of hop resins with the other agents. The activity was strongest when the combination was added at the beginning of growth of the bacteria, resulting in a prolonged lag phase. However, when the antimicrobials were added during the log phase, growth was depressed considerably. By addition of these materials, cell components with absorbance near 260 nm were leaked out. This possibly may have resulted from damage to the cell membranes of the bacteria. The combined effect was also detected in model food systems such as mashed potatos. The use of hop resins and sodium hexametaphosphate in combination may thus be useful for controlling E. coli.

Animals↗
PubMed2006

Presence and growth of Bacillus cereus in dehydrated potato flakes and hot-held, ready-to-eat potato products purchased in New Zealand.

Potato products prepared from dehydrated potato flakes have been implicated in foodborne illness incidents involving Bacillus cereus intoxications. B. cereus can survive as spores in potato flakes and can germinate and multiply in the rehydrated product. This study assessed the frequency and concentration of B. cereus in dehydrated potato flakes and hot-held, ready-to-eat mashed potato products. Of 50 packets of potato flakes tested, eight contained greater than 100 CFU/g B. cereus (maximum 370 CFU/g). The temperature of the potato portion of 44 hot-held food products was measured immediately after purchase, and 86% were below the safe hot-holding temperature of 60 degrees C. The potato portions were subsequently tested for B. cereus. Only two of the potato portions contained B. cereus at greater than 100 CFU/g, a potato-topped pastry (1000 CFU/g) and a container of potato and gravy (120 CFU/g). To assess multiplication of B. cereus in this food, we held rehydrated potato flakes with naturally occurring B. cereus at 37, 42, and 50 degrees C and tested them over 6 h. By 6 h, the number of B. cereus in potato stored at 37 degrees C had exceeded 10(3) CFU/g, was greater than 10(4) CFU/g at 50 degrees C, and was close to 10(6) CFU/g at 42 degrees C. Growth data were compared to predictions from the U.S. Department of Agriculture Pathogen Modeling Program (PMP 7.0). The PMP predictions were found to simulate the measured growth better at 42 degrees C than at 37 degrees C. Hot-held potato products should be safe for consumption if held at 60 degrees C or above or discarded within 2 h.

Bacillus cereus↗
PubMed1990

A field trial to determine the feasibility of delivering oral vaccines to wild swine.

A field study was conducted on Ossabaw Island, Georgia (USA) to determine the feasibility of delivering oral vaccines to wild swine (Sus scrofa). Baits were made of polymerbound fish meal and contained a gelatin capsule as a potential vaccine chamber. Two biomarkers, iophenoxic acid and tetracycline, were incorporated into each bait, and soured chicken mash was used as an attractant. Baits (n = 1,980) were distributed in a grid pattern on a 405-ha test site and monitored for animal disturbance. Within 72 hr, 88% of 393 monitored baits were gone, and observations of track-beds surrounding 100 baits indicated that at least 52% were taken by wild swine. Subsequent testing of 80 wild swine for the biomarkers revealed that 95% of the animals had consumed bait. Track-bed observations indicated that raccoons (Procyon lotor) were the only non-target animal that frequently took baits. Biomarker analyses indicated 44% of 16 raccoons tested had eaten bait. It was concluded that oral vaccine delivery to wild swine should be considered as a feasible method of control or eradication of pseudorabies and/or swine brucellosis in wild swine if effective vaccines become available.

Administration, Oral↗
PubMed1999

Integration trend gains steam: how to avoid pitfalls when disciplines merge.

If your hospital hasn't already collapsed social work, utilization review, discharge planning, and other disciplines into case management, it's probably just a matter of time before it does, experts say. And whether or not the integration effort succeeds depends largely on the real motivation behind it. Simply mashing case management and utilization review together in an effort to cut costs--and corners--is likely to result in tension among all disciplines involved and may not be in the best interests of patients. At University Hospital in Denver, the case management team has partnered with the Office of Clinical Practice to form a unit that preserves the integrity of both case managers and quality managers while giving each group a better perspective on how their roles interrelate.

Case Management↗
PubMed1999

Risk factors for nosocomial Salmonella infection among hospitalized horses.

OBJECTIVE: To identify risk factors for nosocomial Salmonella infections among hospitalized horses. DESIGN: Longitudinal study. ANIMALS: 1,583 horses hospitalized in an intensive care unit between January 1992 and June 1996. PROCEDURE: Survivor functions were used to estimate time to shedding salmonellae for various Salmonella serotypes. Survival analysis was then used to determine how variables associated with patient management, environmental conditions, hospital conditions, and other disease processes affected the risk of nosocomial Salmonella infection. RESULTS: 78 horses shed Salmonella organisms: 35 shed Salmonella krefeld, 26 shed S typhimurium, and 17 shed other Salmonella serotypes. Mean time from admission to shedding was significantly longer for horses shedding S krefeld or S typhimurium than for horses shedding other Salmonella serotypes. Therefore, infection with S krefeld or S typhimurium was considered nosocomial. Seven variables were found to be significantly associated with risk of nosocomial Salmonella infection: mean number of horses in the hospital shedding S krefeld during the 4 days prior to and the day of admission, mean number of horses shedding S typhimurium during this period, a diagnosis of large colon impaction, withholding feed, number of days fed bran mash, duration of treatment with potassium penicillin G, and mean daily ambient temperature. CLINICAL IMPLICATIONS: Results suggest that risk of nosocomial Salmonella infections is greater for horses with large colon impactions. In addition to implementing hospital protocols that minimize cross contamination between patients, strategies to reduce the risk of nosocomial Salmonella infection should include minimizing use of potassium penicillin G and regulation of environmental temperature in the hospital.

Animals↗
PubMed1999

Lateral hypothalamic serotonergic responsiveness to food intake in rat obesity as measured by microdialysis.

The hypothalamic serotonergic system is involved in the regulation of food ingestion and energy metabolism. Since disturbances of both energy intake and expenditure can contribute to obesity, the objective of the present study was to evaluate the serotonergic response stimulated by food ingestion in two different models of obesity: the hyperphagic Zucker and the hypophagic and hypometabolic, monosodium glutamate (MSG) obese Wistar rat. For this we used microdialysis to examine the release of 5-hydroxytryptamine (serotonin, 5HT) and 5-hydroxyindoleacetic acid (5HIAA) in the lateral hypothalamus. Daily intake of MSG-obese rats was 40% lower while that of Zucker obese rats was 60% higher than that of the respective lean controls. In overnight-fasted animals, 20-min microdialysate samples were collected before (basal release) and during a 2-h period of access to a balanced palatable food mash. The animals began to eat during the first 20 min of food access, and food consumption was similar among the four groups in all six individual 20-min periods recorded. Ingestion of food increased 5HT release in all groups. In MSG-obese and lean Wistar rats, 5HT levels were similarly elevated during the whole experimental period. In the Zucker strain, 5HT increments of basal release tended to be higher in obese than in lean rats at 20 and 40 min, and a significantly higher increment was observed at 60 min after food access (40 and 135% for lean and obese, respectively). The area under the curve relating serotonin levels to the 120 min of food availability was significantly higher in Zucker obese (246.7 +/- 23.3) than MSG-obese (152.7 +/- 13.4), lean Wistar (151.9 +/- 11.1), and lean Zucker (173.5 +/- 24.0) rats. The present observation, of a food-induced serotonin release in the lateral hypothalamus of lean Wistar and Zucker rats, evidences that 5HT in the lateral hypothalamus is important in the normal response to feeding. In obese animals, the serotonin response was similar to (in the hypophagic-hypometabolic MSG model) or even higher than (in the hyperphagic Zucker model) that seen in the respective lean controls. This result indicates that the energy homeostasis disturbances of both these obesity models may not be ascribed to an impairment of the acute lateral hypothalamic serotonin response to a dietary stimulus.

Animals↗
PubMed1999

[Gunshot wounds of the abdomen studied by computed tomography. The authors' personal experience in 30 cases].

INTRODUCTION: CT plays an important role in depicting gunshot wounds in parenchymal and hollow organs in the abdomen. Relative to other techniques and to emergency laparotomy, CT permits good assessment of abdominal content, major injuries and changes in other districts, such as chest, pelvis and skull. We investigated the yield and role of CT in diagnosing abdominal gunshot wounds, with their rich and varied radiological signs and associated injuries. MATERIAL AND METHODS: We retrospectively reviewed the findings of 30 patients with abdominal gunshot wounds examined in 4 years at Loreto-Mare Hospital, Naples. All patients were men, age ranging 19-54 years (mean: 35); 6 of them were not from the European Union. Examinations were carried out from diaphragm to pubis with i.v. contrast injection and the CT angiography technique. CT was integrated with chest studies in 6 cases and with skull studies in 5. Subsequent CT follow-ups were necessary in 12 cases submitted to conservative treatment. RESULTS: Liver was the most damaged parenchyma, with hemorrhage and lacerocontusion in 7 cases and mashed in 1 case; spleen was involved in 4 cases; hemoperitoneum was found in 18 cases. Diaphragm was involved in 5 cases and pancreas in 2; gallbladder, stomach and duodenum were involved in 1 case each and jejunum-ileum and colon in 3 and 6 cases, respectively. CT showed renal injury in 3 cases and bladder injury in 2. Eight patients had vertebral gunshot damage. Pneumothorax, hemothorax and lacerocontusion were found in 7 cases; brain was injured in 4 cases and limbs in 16. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS: Tissue damage extent depends on the speed and kinetic energy the bullet carries into the abdomen. Abdominal radiography shows the bullet and its site, pneumoperitoneum from gastrointestinal perforation, crash bone injuries, vertebral trauma and subcutaneous emphysema. Instead, CT depicts early parenchymal damage and vascular injury and thus becomes a complete and necessary tool for imaging gunshot wounds. CT provides early diagnostic information which help plan emergency treatment and thus decrease mortality. As for angiography and US, we suggest they be used subsequently because in emergency they may delay the diagnosis. Moreover, vessel rupture and active intraabdominal bleeding are easily detected with spiral CT, which appears the best tool for prompt assessment of the injuries associated with gunshot wounds in other districts such as, the skull. To conclude, CT permits adequate planning of emergency surgery and helps select the cases for follow-up, intensive care and conservative treatment.

Abdominal Injuries↗
PubMed1999

Graded and areal expression patterns of regulatory genes and cadherins in embryonic neocortex independent of thalamocortical input.

The differentiation of areas of the mammalian neocortex has been hypothesized to be controlled by intrinsic genetic programs and extrinsic influences such as those mediated by thalamocortical afferents (TCAs). To address the interplay between these intrinsic and extrinsic mechanisms in the process of arealization, we have analyzed the requirement of TCAs in establishing or maintaining graded or areal patterns of gene expression in the developing mouse neocortex. We describe the differential expression of Lhx2, SCIP, and Emx1, representatives of three different classes of transcription factors, and the type II classical cadherins Cad6, Cad8, and Cad11, which are expressed in graded or areal patterns, as well as layer-specific patterns, in the cortical plate. The differential expression of Lhx2, SCIP, Emx1, and Cad8 in the cortical plate is not evident until after TCAs reach the cortex, whereas Cad6 and Cad11 show subtle graded patterns of expression before the arrival of TCAs, which later become stronger. We find that these genes exhibit normal-appearing graded or areal expression patterns in Mash-1 mutant mice that fail to develop a TCA projection. These findings show that TCAs are not required for the establishment or maintenance of the graded and areal expression patterns of these genes and strongly suggest that their regulation is intrinsic to the developing neocortex.

Animals↗