Crossover Experiment Research Articles

Six nights of sleep extension increases regional cerebral oxygenation without modifying cognitive performance at rest or following acute aerobic exercise.

Long sleep durations (≥540min) are associated with poor cognitive performance in ageing adults, but the underlying cause is unclear. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of extended sleep on cognitive performance and cerebral vascular function before and then after aerobic exercise. In all, 12 adults completed 6nights of 8- (control) and 10+-h (sleep extension) time in bed in a randomised, crossover experiment. Sleep was measured using wrist actigraphy. On the last day of each time in bed protocol, participants performed three bouts of brisk walking. Sustained attention, spatial rotation ability, mental flexibility, and working memory were assessed, while prefrontal oxygen saturation index (ΔTSI) was measured using near-infrared spectroscopy. A two-way repeated-measures analysis of variance (time in bed×before/after exercise) was used for statistical analysis. Average sleep duration was longer following sleep extension as compared to control, at a mean (SD) of 551(16) versus 428(20)min (p<0.001). Sleep extension did not alter cognitive performance as compared to control, but increased ΔTSI during tests of spatial rotation ability (main effect for time in bed, p=0.03), mental flexibility (p=0.04), and working memory (p<0.01). Cognitive performance was improved (main effect for exercise, p<0.05) following brisk walking for all cognitive domains except sustained attention with no interaction with time in bed. In summary, 6nights of extended time in bed accompanied by long sleep durations does not impair cognitive performance at rest or alter the positive effect of acute aerobic exercise on cognition but may increase frontal cerebral oxygenation during cognitive functioning.

Single-Micelle and Single-Zinc-Particle Imaging Provides Insights into the Physical Processes Underpinning Organozinc Reactions in Water.

Micelles on the surfaces of individual metallic zinc particles are imaged by fluorescence microscopy with sensitivity up to single micelles. These micelles are made fluorescent to enable imaging, through the incorporation of boron dipyrromethene fluorophores as representative organic molecular "cargo". Highlighting an advantage of this in situ and sensitive fluorescence technique, the same micelles are not visible by ex situ scanning electron microscopy/energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy analysis. Examination of micellar solutions with zinc reveals an aging process: micelles do not immediately adhere to the zinc surfaces upon mixing but rather build up over time. Furthermore, at longer times, smaller zinc particles become fully encased in micelle "shells". Once adhered, micelles remain in the local regions of the zinc surface for the duration of the imaging experiments (>2 h). Single micelles are imaged in solution, and their molecular contents are characterized. Two-color fluorescence crossover experiments show that micelles adhered to the surface of the zinc exchange molecular contents with micelles in solution, achieving molecular exchange equilibrium in ∼2.5 h. Unique (non-ensemble averaged) exchange kinetics are displayed by micelles at different locations on the zinc surface, consistent with exchange kinetics of single micelles or small local clusters of micelles. The aging of the micellar solutions and the rate of exchange while on the surface of the zinc suggest that micelle mass transport processes may contribute to overall reaction barriers in sustainable organozinc cross-coupling reactions in micellar water. The observed aging of the system suggests routes for improvement of preparative, bench-scale synthetic reactions involving micellar preparations of organozinc compounds.

Effects of short sleep duration on hemodynamic and psychological responses under long working hours in healthy middle-aged men: an experimental study.

This study examined the effects of short sleep duration (SSD) on hemodynamic and psychological responses under long working hours (LWH) in a laboratory experiment. Sixteen subjects participated in a crossover design experiment consisting of two conditions: normal (7-hours) sleep and short (5-hours) sleep. In each condition, participants engaged in simulated LWH (13 hours a day), comprising 12 task sessions. Hemodynamic and psychological responses were measured in each session. Results showed that there were significant main effects of condition and session but no interaction for hemodynamic and psychological responses. Systolic blood pressure and fatigue were higher in the later sessions than the first one. Stroke volume, sleepiness, fatigue, and stress were higher in the 5-hour than the 7-hour sleep condition (all p<0.05). These results suggest that although the combined effect of LWH and SSD was not significant, both LWH and SSD caused a hemodynamic and psychological burden.

Does gender affect the driving performance of young patients with diabetes?

Recent evidence suggests that poor glycemic control among young patients with type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM) has negative cognitive and physical effects, whose extent is gender-dependent. For example, female patients with diabetes present more physical and cognitive limitations than male patients in terms of cognitive adjustment, quality of decision making, and functioning. Studies about traffic safety report that diabetic drivers are at increased risk of being involved in road crashes, especially when driving in a state of hypoglycemia under which their blood glucose level is too low. We have recently demonstrated that acute hyperglycemia (when the blood glucose level is too high) can also lead to poor driving performance among T1DM young adult patients. Against this background, the objective of the present study was to find out whether gender affects the driving performance of young drivers with diabetes. Twenty-six T1DM drivers participated in a counterbalanced crossover experiment. While being monitored by an eye tracker, they drove a driving simulator and twice navigated through the nine hazardous scenarios: once under a normal blood glucose (euglycemia) level and once high blood glucose (hyperglycemia) level. The first main result is that young female drivers are more affected by diabetes than young male drivers, regardless of momentary glycemic changes. The second main result is that poor glycemic control substantially deteriorates hazard perception and driving performance of young males with diabetes. Thus, it is argued that an uncontrolled state of a high blood glucose level may be more hazardous for young males with diabetes since it negatively impacts their driving performance.

Does nutritional history impact on future performance and utilization of plant based diet in common carp?

This study investigated the possibility to improve the use of plant based feed in common carp (Cyprinus carpio), via feeding plant based diet from the early life stage. Fry, obtained from larvae produced by common carp broodstock fed with either of two diets viz. fish based diet (F diet) or plant based diet (P diet), were stocked into six earthen ponds in triplicate. Fry obtained from the F- and P- group were also fed with isoproteic (37% crude protein) and isolipidic (6.5% crude lipid) F- and P- diet respectively, for four months to attain juvenile stage. This early feeding period referred as ‘nutritional history F or P', and fish from the respective nutritional histories were denoted as ‘F- or P- fish’. After four months, a crossover experiment was initiated with random distribution of F- and P- fish into twelve cages fixed in the pond. Fish in triplicate cages per treatment group were either fed with their original diets or respective complementary diet for six weeks (C- phase). After six weeks, fish reared with complementary diets were switched to their original diet for another six weeks (O- phase). Growth performance, nutrient utilization, gene expression profile (IGF-1, GH and GHR) and protein metabolism enzyme activity were analysed at the end of both C- and O- phase. During C- phase, higher growth performance and improved nutrient utilization in P- fish and F- fish were recorded when they were fed with their original diet (P/F) compared to the complementary diet (F/P). The decreased growth performance and nutrient utilization of F- fish fed with P diet during the C- phase increased again during the O- phase and resumed to a similar growth performance with F- fish fed with F diet; however P- fish could not resume the same growth performance in the O- phase. Expression patterns of IGF-1 and GHR genes in the liver were concomitant with the growth performance. The present study confirms that nutritional history has a significant impact on nutrient utilization during latter life stages, and nutritional programming at early stage may be the strategy for complete replacement of fish based diet with plant based diet in common carp without compromising the growth performance and nutrient utilization. Conclusively, the findings revealed the profound effect of feeding common carp according to their nutritional history on the later performance of the progeny, as well as effective utilization of the plant based diet.

Acute effects of cocoa flavanols on visual working memory: maintenance and updating.

Consumption of cocoa flavanols may have acute physiological effects on the brain due to their ability to activate nitric oxide synthesis. Nitric oxide mediates vasodilation, which increases cerebral blood flow, and can also act as a neurotransmitter. This study aimed to examine whether cocoa flavanols have an acute influence on visual working memory (WM). Two separate randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled, counterbalanced crossover experiments were conducted on normal healthy young adult volunteers (NExp1 = 48 and NExp2 = 32, gender-balanced). In these experiments, 415mg of cocoa flavanols were administered to test their acute effects on visual working memory. In the first experiment, memory recall precision was measured in a task that required only passive maintenance of grating orientations in WM. In the second experiment, recall was measured after active updating (mental rotation) of WM contents. Habitual daily flavanols intake, body mass index, and gender were also considered in the analysis. The results suggested that neither passive maintenance in visual WM nor active updating of WM were acutely enhanced by consumption of cocoa flavanols. Exploratory analyses with covariates (body mass index and daily flavanols intake), and the between-subjects factor of gender also showed no evidence for effects of cocoa flavanols, neither in terms of reaction time, nor accuracy. Overall, cocoa flavanols did not improve visual working memory recall performance during maintenance, nor did it improve recall accuracy after memory updating.

Prediction of lncRNA-Disease Associations via Closest Node Weight Graphs of the Spatial Neighborhood Based on the Edge Attention Graph Convolutional Network.

Accumulated evidence of biological clinical trials has shown that long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) are closely related to the occurrence and development of various complex human diseases. Research works on lncRNA–disease relations will benefit to further understand the pathogenesis of human complex diseases at the molecular level, but only a small proportion of lncRNA–disease associations has been confirmed. Considering the high cost of biological experiments, exploring potential lncRNA–disease associations with computational approaches has become very urgent. In this study, a model based on closest node weight graph of the spatial neighborhood (CNWGSN) and edge attention graph convolutional network (EAGCN), LDA-EAGCN, was developed to uncover potential lncRNA–disease associations by integrating disease semantic similarity, lncRNA functional similarity, and known lncRNA–disease associations. Inspired by the great success of the EAGCN method on the chemical molecule property recognition problem, the prediction of lncRNA–disease associations could be regarded as a component recognition problem of lncRNA–disease characteristic graphs. The CNWGSN features of lncRNA–disease associations combined with known lncRNA–disease associations were introduced to train EAGCN, and correlation scores of input data were predicted with EAGCN for judging whether the input lncRNAs would be associated with the input diseases. LDA-EAGCN achieved a reliable AUC value of 0.9853 in the ten-fold cross-over experiments, which was the highest among five state-of-the-art models. Furthermore, case studies of renal cancer, laryngeal carcinoma, and liver cancer were implemented, and most of the top-ranking lncRNA–disease associations have been proven by recently published experimental literature works. It can be seen that LDA-EAGCN is an effective model for predicting potential lncRNA–disease associations. Its source code and experimental data are available at https://github.com/HGDKMF/LDA-EAGCN.

Induction of hypocalcaemia and evaluation of reticuloruminal motility using a three-axis accelerometer

Context Reticuloruminal motility, which is continuous and regular, is essential for digestive activity, but some functional abnormalities can appear in cattle with several metabolic disorders. Particularly in periparturient dairy cows, decreased blood calcium concentrations induce deterioration of rumen motility as well as the risk of reproductive disorders. Aims This study aimed to evaluate reticuloruminal motility using a bolus-type biosensor incorporated with a three-axis accelerometer (3XA) following induction of hypocalcaemia by infusion of ethylenediamine–tetraacetic acid disodium salt dihydrate (Na2EDTA) solution. Methods In the 2 × 2 crossover experiment, six non-pregnant and non-lactating cows were assigned to each of the treatment (TRE) and control (CON) groups and infused for 1 h with 13% Na2EDTA solution and physiological saline respectively. The cylindrical biosensor was fed and placed in the reticulum before the experiment, and the three acceleration values of each cow were recorded and transmitted wirelessly. Considering the device shape, the reticuloruminal motility was represented as the vector value (V2) calculated with each change in X- and Z-axis acceleration over time. Key results Plasma calcium concentrations were measured to confirm hypocalcaemia, and the average was significantly decreased to 1.23 mmol/L at 1 h in TRE. The mean V2 value was significantly decreased in TRE compared with CON, from 1 to 2 h after Na2EDTA infusion. Conclusion 3XA was able to detect a change in reticuloruminal motility caused by hypocalcaemia. The use of 3XA in cattle will allow for rapid treatment of hypocalcaemia or other metabolic disorders that reduce productivity. Implications The 3XA inserted into the reticulum of a dairy cow detected a decrease in reticuloruminal motility wirelessly caused by induced hypocalcaemia.

Dynamic Kinetic Resolution in Gold-Catalyzed (4 + 2)-Annulations between Alkynyl Benzaldehydes and Allenamides to Yield Enantioenriched All-Carbon Diarylalkylmethane Derivatives.

This work reports the synthesis of diarylmethane derivatives via gold-catalyzed (4 + 2)-annulations between alkynyl benzaldehydes and allenamides, followed by an aza-Claisen rearrangement. Deuterium labeling and crossover experiments have been performed to confirm this proposed mechanism. With racemic 3-substituted allenamides in a substrate ratio (1:1), we employ chiral gold catalysts to achieve a dynamic kinetic resolution to obtain enantioenriched diarylalkylmethane derivatives with high e.r. levels (up to 93:7).

Reducing indoor relative humidity can improve the circulation and cardiorespiratory health of older people in a cold environment: A field trial conducted in Chongqing, China

The changing climate is one of the most important factors affecting public health. Older people are particularly threatened due to their less efficient immune systems. To evaluate the potential benefits of short-term indoor dehumidification on their circulation and cardiopulmonary health, we conducted a random, cross-over experiment with 36 healthy residents of an aged-care center in Chongqing, China in 2020. Vapor compression dehumidifiers were used over two 48-h periods. At the end of each 48 h, we immediately measured sixteen circulatory system biomarkers of inflammation, coagulation, and oxidative stress; lung function; blood pressure; and heart rate. Indoor temperature and relative humidity were monitored throughout the study period. Linear, mixed-effect models were used to associate health endpoints with indoor relative humidity. This intervention study showed that when the indoor relative humidity decreased from 75% to 45%: (1) the coagulation indicators, sCD40l, and PAI-1, decreased significantly, by 58.82% and 23.50%, respectively; (2) the inflammatory indicators, CRP, IL-6, and TNF-α decreased significantly, by 4.09%, 25.78%, and 10.60%, respectively; (3) PEF, FEV1 and FVC were increased significantly by 20.08%, 14.54%, and 15.75% respectively. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study to examine the impact of short-term dehumidification on clinical and biochemical measures of cardiorespiratory health in humid areas, and our study suggests that RH in the dehumidified rooms (46.9 ± 8.7%) may be healthier than that in humid rooms (75.2 ± 7.9%). Humidity may be involved in the development of atherosclerosis by activating oxidative stress and mediating the secretion of inflammatory indicators. At the same time, platelet activation induced by oxidative stress stimulates thrombosis to increase cardiovascular risk in older people. Conclusion: This intervention study shows that in a Chinese city like Chongqing with serious indoor environmental humidity, indoor short-term dehumidification has obvious cardiopulmonary benefits for the healthy elderly.

Evaluation of the Impact of Different Doses of Curcuma longa L. on Antioxidant Capacity: A Randomized, Double-Blind, Crossover Pilot Trial.

Curcumin is a bioactive compound derived from Curcuma longa L. root, extensively studied due to its antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties. This study evaluates the effects of different doses of powdered C. longa root on antioxidant capacity in healthy men. In a pilot randomized, double-blinded, crossover experiment, we acutely administered a low dose (1.5 g, LCG), moderate dose (3.0 g, MCG), and high dose (6.0 g, HCG) of C. longa to nine healthy men. There were no differences in plasma curcumin levels (p = 0.593) and antioxidant capacity (p = 0.473) for time × group interactions. Plasma curcumin levels increased in all groups after 20 and 90 min of C. longa intake (p < 0.05). HCG had a lower postprandial incremental area under the antioxidant capacity curve than LCG or MCG (p < 0.01). A low dose of C. longa increased the antioxidant capacity in healthy men. However, plasma curcumin levels were not dose dependently affected.

Mobile bag technique for estimation of nutrient digestibility when hay is supplemented with alternative fibrous feedstuffs in horses

To evaluate the effect of substituting hay with alternative fibrous feedstuffs, the total collection of faeces was used to measure the apparent total tract digestibility (ATTD). Nutrient disappearance and digestion kinetics were examined with the mobile bag technique (MBT) and marker passage measurements. Four caecally-cannulated horses (body weight (BW) 558 ± 32 kg) were used in a cross-over design experiment with two periods of 14 days adaptation and four days of faecal collection. Horses were fed three times a day with either a hay-only (HAY) diet or a mixture of hay:supplement (MIX) (15.1 and 8.4:6.7 g dry matter (DM)/kg BW/day, respectively). The hay used in both treatments (HAY and MIX) was mainly of Timothy and first cut. The MIX supplement diet consisted of oat hulls, alfalfa-, sugar beet pulp- (SBP), grass- and soya hull pellets, each given in 0.44 g DM/kg BW/meal. On day 15 in each period, 20 bags of either hay or SBP and 6–12 bags (1×2x12 cm; 37 µm pore size; 0.5 g feed) of each feedstuff and ytterbium (Yb, 3 g) were placed in the stomach or caecum, respectively. Bags were harvested from the caecum every hour and faeces were checked for bags every fourth hour, collection time was noted and data from the bags were used to estimate pre-caecal, hindgut and total tract nutrient disappearance. Further, faecal subsamples of 300 g were collected, weighed and stored for Yb analysis and further estimation of feed mean retention time. Rate and extent of feed degradation were estimated from the MBT assuming exponential degradation. The ATTD of DM was similar between the two diets (P > 0.05), but the HAY diet had higher ATTD of crude protein (CP) (P = 0.001), neutral detergent fibre assayed with heat-stable amylase and expressed inclusive of residual ash (aNDF) (P = 0.006), acid detergent fibre (ADF) (P = 0.017), hemicellulose (P = 0.001) and celluloseNDF (P < 0.001). The hindgut mean retention time (MRT) for Yb was longer for the MIX than the HAY diet (P < 0.001). No differences for DM, aNDF or ADF digestibility were measured when comparing the ATTD with nutrient disappearance from bags found in the time interval 20–30 h, indicating the ATTD of these nutrients can be predicted by the MBT. The estimated degradation (Dt), but not effective degradation (ED), is preferred when the MBT is used to predict the ATTD. It can be concluded that hay can be substituted partly by fibrous feedstuffs and that the MBT can predict the ATTD of DM, aNDF and ADF in a mixed ration based on MBT measures on individual feedstuffs.

No evidence for changes in GABA concentration, functional connectivity, or working memory following continuous theta burst stimulation over dorsolateral prefrontal cortex

Continuous theta burst stimulation (cTBS) is thought to reduce cortical excitability and modulate functional connectivity, possibly by altering cortical inhibition at the site of stimulation. However, most evidence comes from the motor cortex and it remains unclear whether similar effects occur following stimulation over other brain regions. We assessed whether cTBS over left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex altered gamma aminobutyric acid (GABA) concentration, functional connectivity and brain dynamics at rest, and brain activation and memory performance during a working memory task. Seventeen healthy individuals participated in a randomised, sham-controlled, cross-over experiment. Before and after either real or sham cTBS, magnetic resonance spectroscopy was obtained at rest to measure GABA concentrations. Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) was also recorded at rest and during an n-back working memory task to measure functional connectivity, regional brain activity (low-frequency fluctuations), and task-related patterns of brain activity. We could not find evidence for changes in GABA concentration (P = 0.66, Bayes factor [BF10] = 0.07), resting-state functional connectivity (P(FWE) > 0.05), resting-state low-frequency fluctuations (P = 0.88, BF10 = 0.04), blood-oxygen level dependent activity during the n-back task (P(FWE) > 0.05), or working memory performance (P = 0.13, BF10 = 0.05) following real or sham cTBS. Our findings add to a growing body of literature suggesting the effects of cTBS are highly variable between individuals and question the notion that cTBS is a universal ‘inhibitory’ paradigm.

Choline-Based Multi-Ingredient Supplementation Can Improve Explosive Strength during a Fatiguing Task.

Various choline-based multi-ingredient supplementations (CMS) have been suggested in the current market, but the research is limited. The purpose of this study was to investigate the acute effect of a CMS on physical performance. Fourteen male college football players (20.4 ± 1.0 years) participated in a randomized double-blind crossover experiment separated by 7 days. Subjects were given a CMS or a placebo 60 min before physical performance testing measures, including maximum vertical jumps, maximum voluntary isometric contractions (MVIC), maximal voluntary concentric contractions (MVCC), and fatiguing contractions. Four MVICs and seven sets of two MVCCs at various loads (1 N·m to 60% MVIC torque) were performed with the knee extensor muscles while seated on a dynamometer before and after the fatiguing tasks. During the fatiguing tasks, 120 MVCCs (4 sets × 30 reps) were performed with a load equivalent to 20% MVIC. Twitch interpolation technique was used to assess muscle contractile properties and voluntary activation. No significant differences were seen at baseline between sessions for all testing measures including vertical jump height, strength, power, muscle contractile properties and voluntary activation. Rate of torque development and impulse was higher in supplemental session compared to control session throughout the fatiguing contractions (p = 0.018, p < 0.001, respectively). Acute CMS can improve explosive strength by delaying the onset of fatigue.

Validation of an alternate method for monitoring the presence of cows at the feed bunk in a Calan Broadbent Feeding System using a 3-axis, data-logging accelerometer

Daily dry matter intake is a key observation in dairy nutrition, and observation of feeding behavior provides insight into the physiological control of hunger and satiety that regulate intake. The objective of the study was to develop and validate an alternative method to observe feeding behavior, including meal length and frequency, in a Calan Broadbent Feeding System (American Calan) using a 3-axis accelerometer (Hobo Pendant G, Onset Computer Corp.). Sensors were mounted between the door and the feed divider using commonly available materials without making permanent modifications to the feeding system. Forty-eight sensors were deployed with a recording frequency of 30 s for the last 7 d of each period in a crossover experiment with 24 multiparous and 24 primiparous animals housed in a freestall barn. The tilt angle on the Z-axis was used to determine when the door was open to indicate feeding activity. The sensor system was in very high agreement with 6 h of visual observation (Cohen's κ = 0.92 ± 0.014; estimate ± 95% confidence interval). The minimum intermeal interval is the time between 2 feeding bouts that is still considered one meal. This essential criterion to characterize meals was calculated by determining the intersection of a mixture of Gaussian distributions fitted to the log-transformed between-feeding intervals. The best fitting mixture of Gaussian distributions was determined with the distribution module of JMP Pro 14.3.0 (SAS Institute Inc.). The minimum intermeal interval was 31.3 min using the best fitting model, a mixture of 3 Gaussian distributions. Using the determined minimum intermeal interval, meal length averaged 37.3 min/meal and meal frequency averaged 7.3 meals/d. In conclusion, data-logging 3-axis accelerometers are adequate to monitor presence of cows in the feed gate in the Calan Broadbent Feeding System, and this approach allows for reasonable estimation of meal length and frequency.

Safety and efficacy of oral mirtazapine in New Zealand White rabbits (Oryctolagus cuniculus)

One of the most common presenting complaints in rabbits is decreased food intake and/or fecal output. This can occur as a clinical consequence of pain, anesthesia and systemic or gastrointestinal disease. In conjunction with diagnosing and treating the underlying condition, veterinary care should aim to normalize food intake and fecal output. Mirtazapine is a tetracyclic antidepressant that has appetite stimulating effects in other species. However, studies in rabbits are currently lacking. Nine six-month old, intact (4 male, 5 female) New Zealand White rabbits (Oryctolagus cuniculus ) were used in a randomized, blinded, controlled, complete cross-over experiment. Each rabbit received a low-dose of mirtazapine (1 mg/kg), high-dose (3 mg/kg) and control treatment orally once a day for a total of 2 sequential days with a 5- day washout period between treatment groups. Fecal output, food intake and body weight were measured before, during and after treatment. Fecal output was 25% higher (95% CI: 6.3%–46.9%, P = 0.01) on treatment days following high-dose mirtazapine treatment. Body weight was 1.5% higher (95% CI: 0. 5% to 2.6%, P = 0.006) for all groups on the 2 days following treatment compared to baseline. Body weight was reduced by 2.1% (95% CI: -3.6% to -0.6%, P = 0.011) the week following high-dose mirtazapine treatment. Mirtazapine did not have a statistically significant effect on food intake. Oral administration of mirtazapine at 3 mg/kg once a day resulted in increased fecal output but not a concurrent increase in food intake. Overall, mirtazapine is well tolerated and may be a useful treatment to increase fecal output in rabbits. However, due to a mild reduction in weight following treatment, clinical monitoring is warranted.

320 Liver Transcriptome Analysis Reveals Important Genes Involved in the Feed Efficiency of Lactating Cows Fed a High and Low Starch Diet

Abstract The objectives of this study were to identify different gene expression and metabolic pathways in the liver associated with feed efficiency of lactating cows fed high or low starch diets. Ten lactating cows were involved in a cross-over design experiment consisting of two 56-d treatment periods with 11-d diet adaptation fed either high starch (HS; 27% starch) or low starch (LS; 13% starch) diets. Feed efficiency, measured by residual feed intake (RFI), was estimated based on the difference between observed and expected metabolizable energy intake within each experimental period. The 3 highest RFI cows were considered high RFI (HRFI), the 3 lowest RFI cows were considered low (LRFI), and the remaining 4 cows were considered medium (MRFI) in each experimental period. Total RNA was used for next-generation RNA sequencing analysis. Raw reads were mapped to the cattle genome (UMD3.1) using STAR. Differential gene expression analysis was done using Cufflinks. We discovered 642 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) between HS and LS (FDR&amp;lt; 0.05) with 240 genes upregulated and 402 genes downregulated for HS versus LS diet. Via gene-set enrichment analysis (GSEA) analysis (FDR&amp;lt; 0.05), these genes were enriched in 25 gene ontology (GO) pathways related to mitochondria components and 4 GO biological processes involved in peptide metabolism. There were 1427 DEGs impacted by RFI (FDR&amp;lt; 0.05), of which 829 were upregulated, and 598 were downregulated in LRFI compared to HRFI. The 6 GO biological processes enriched by these genes were mainly related to organic substrate metabolism processing and carbon metabolism (FDR&amp;lt; 0.05). Between the DEGs affected by diet and RFI, 522 DGEs were unique to diet and 1307 DEGs were unique to RFI. Our results suggested that genes contributing to different RFIs and the ones associated with the dietary starch treatment may impact distinct pathways. Further functional annotation of these genes may improve feed efficiency.

Bicyclist Stress Perceptions and Heart Rate Variability

This paper describes the relationship between a physiological marker of stress (heart rate variability) and survey-based stress responses from a cross-over real-world bicycling experiment. The analysis shows that while heart rate variability was inversely associated with survey-based estimates of stress, large uncertainty in the relationship indicates carefully controlled experiments are still needed before we can be confident that bicyclist stress can be measured through heart rate variability.

1,3-Aza-Brook Rearrangement of Aniline Derivatives: In Situ Generation of 3-Aminoaryne via 1,3-C-(sp2)-to-N Silyl Migration.

The design, synthesis, and validation of 3-aminobenzyne precursors induced by C-(sp2)-to-N 1,3-aza-Brook rearrangement have been achieved, allowing access to diverse aniline derivatives. Through crossover experiments, we demonstrated the intramolecular mechanism of 1,3-C-to-N silyl transfer. To gain insight into the regioselectivity observed in the reactions, we performed density functional theory calculations. Finally, the method was applied to the synthesis of xylanigripones A in five linear steps in an overall yield of 30%.

MILK PRODUCTION AND NITROGEN EXCRETION BY DAIRY COWS IN LATE LACTATION FED CUT PASTURES OF DIFFERENT RYEGRASS – CLOVER SPECIES IN SMALL-SCALE DAIRY SYSTEMS

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Background: &lt;/strong&gt;Nitrogen (N) plays an important role in dairy systems, both in production costs and as an indicator of environmental impact. &lt;strong&gt;Objective: &lt;/strong&gt;The objective was to investigate the effects on milk production and nitrogen excretion by dairy cows fed cut pastures either of perennial ryegrass-red clover (PRG-RCL) or annual ryegrass-white clover (ARG-WCL), complemented with ground maize straw and of commercial concentrate. &lt;strong&gt;Methodology: &lt;/strong&gt;Six dairy cows were used in a double cross-over on-farm experiment with 14-day experimental periods. Milk yield and composition, live weight, body condition score, chemical composition of feeds and N content in f&lt;del cite="mailto:HP%20%200455648" datetime="2021-03-18T11:36"&gt;a&lt;/del&gt;eces, urine, milk and blood were recorded over the last four days of each experimental period. &lt;strong&gt;Results: &lt;/strong&gt;No differences were found (&lt;em&gt;P &lt;/em&gt;&amp;gt; 0.05) for milk yield nor composition. Cows on ARG-WCL had a higher N intake and N balance than those on PRG-RCL (&lt;em&gt;P &lt;/em&gt;&amp;lt; 0.05); also, there were higher levels of blood urea nitrogen (BUN) and urine urea nitrogen (UUN) when cows were fed ARG-WCL than PRG-RCL (&lt;em&gt;P&lt;/em&gt; &amp;lt; 0.05). &lt;strong&gt;Implications:&lt;/strong&gt; This work allows us to know the amount of nitrogen excreted in milk production in small-scale dairy systems.&lt;strong&gt; Conclusions: &lt;/strong&gt;It is concluded that PRG-RCL may be a feeding strategy to reduce N excretion and achieve higher efficiency in N use for small-scale dairy systems.&lt;/p&gt;