Trivial Effects Research Articles

Short-Term Compound Training on Physical Performance in Young Soccer Players.

This study aimed to investigate the effects of a five-week compound training (with strength and plyometric exercises performed on separate days) on sprint, change of direction, and vertical jump in young soccer players. Eighteen novices in strength and plyometric training were assigned to either a compound training (CMPT) or a control condition (CNT). Both groups trained three times per week. One session was dedicated to soccer-specific drills. The other two weekly sessions were dedicated to circuit-based training routines employing on one-day strength exercises and on the other day plyometric exercises in the CMPT group. At the same time, the CNT group performed two weekly soccer-specific training sessions. All players were tested by 15-m sprint, change-of-direction and acceleration test (CODAT), squat jump, and countermovement jump with arms swing tests. CMPT group improved CODAT, squat jump and countermovement jump to a higher extent compared to CNT group (large vs small or trivial effects, p < 0.05), while both groups had similar 15-m sprint performance (p > 0.05). These results support the use of compound training to improve change of direction and vertical jump performances in young novice soccer players, which are unfamiliar with structured and advanced strength and plyometric training.

Band structure and insulating states driven by Coulomb interaction in twisted bilayer graphene

We analyze the phase diagram of twisted graphene bilayers near a magic angle. We consider the effect of the long range Coulomb interaction, treated within the self consistent Hartree-Fock approximation, and we study arbitrary band fillings. We find a rich phase diagram, with different broken symmetry phases, although tehy do not show necessarily a gap at the Fermi energy. There are non trivial effects of the electrostatic potential on the shape and the gaps of the bands in the broken symmetry phases. The results suggest that the non superconducting broken symmetry phases observed experimentally are induced by the long range exchange interaction.

No Influence of Prematch Subjective Wellness Ratings on External Load During Elite Australian Football Match Play.

To determine whether there is an association between external match load and contextual factors on subjective wellness in the days before and after Australian Rules football match play. A total of 34 elite male Australian football players completed a subjective wellness questionnaire in the days leading into the match (-3, -2, and -1d), the day of (match day), and the days after each match (+3, +2, and +1d). Players subjectively rated each item (mood, energy, stress, leg heaviness, muscle soreness, sleep quality, hours slept, and total wellness [a sum of the total response score]) on a visual analog scale ranging from 1 to 10, with 1 representing the negative end of the continuum. External load during competitive matches was quantified using accelerometer-derived PlayerLoad, and running activity was quantified using global positioning system technology across 2 competitive seasons. The relationships between perceptions of wellness (within-individual z score), external match load, and contextual factors (match result, match location, and between-matches recovery duration) were analyzed using linear mixed models. Mixed-effect linear models revealed trivial effects of match-day wellness z score on subsequent external match load metrics. Match result (win) and PlayerLoad in the anteroposterior vector (au·min-1) were associated with an increased (estimate ± SE: 0.30 ± 0.13 z score) and reduced subjective wellness (-0.15 ± 0.06 z score), respectively. The results of this study suggest that prematch perceived wellness does not relate to external match load in elite Australian football players. The between-matches microcycle length appears to be sufficient to restore perceived wellness to values that do not affect the subsequent external match loads.

Pirfenidone: A novel hypothetical treatment for COVID-19

Cytokine storm, multiorgan failure, and particularly acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) is the leading cause of mortality and morbidity in patients with COVID-19. A fulminant ARDS kills the majority of COVID-19 victims.Pirfenidone (5-methyl-1-phenyl-2-[1H]-pyridone), is a novel anti-fibrotic agent with trivial adverse effects. Pirfenidone is approved for the treatment of Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis (IPF) for patients with mild to moderate disease. Pirfenidone could inhibit apoptosis, downregulate ACE receptors expression, decrease inflammation by several mechanisms and ameliorate oxidative stress and hence protect pneumocytes and other cells from COVID-19 invasion and cytokine storm simultaneously. Based on the pirfenidone mechanism of action and the known pathophysiology of COVID-19, I believe that pirfenidone has the potential for the treatment of COVID-19 patients.

"How Am I Going, Coach?"-The Effect of Augmented Feedback During Small-Sided Games on Locomotor, Physiological, and Perceptual Responses.

To investigate whether providing global positioning system feedback to players between bouts of small-sided games (SSGs) can alter locomotor, physiological, and perceptual responses. Using a reverse counterbalanced design, 20 male university rugby players received either feedback or no feedback during "off-side" touch rugby SSGs. Eight 5v5, 6 × 4-minute SSGs were played over 4d. Teams were assigned to a feedback or no-feedback condition (control) each day, with feedback provided during the 2-min between-bouts rest interval. Locomotor, heart rate, and differential rating of perceived exertion of breathlessness and leg-muscle exertion were measured and analyzed using a linear mixed model. Outcomes were reported using effect sizes (ES) and 90% confidence intervals (CI), and then interpreted via magnitude-based decisions. Very likely trivial to unclear differences at all time points were observed in heart rate and differential rating of perceived exertion measures. Possibly to very likely trivial effects were observed between conditions, including total distance (ES = 0.15; 90 CI, -0.03 to 0.34), high-speed distance (ES = -0.07; 90 CI, -0.27 to 0.13), and maximal sprint speed (ES = 0.11; 90% CI, -0.11 to 0.34). All within-bout comparisons showed very likely to unclear differences, apart from possible increases in low-speed distance in bout 2 (ES = 0.23; 90% CI, 0.01 to 0.46) and maximal sprint speed in bout 4 (ES = 0.21; 90% CI, -0.04 to 0.45). In this study, verbal feedback did not alter locomotor, physiological, or perceptual responses in rugby players during SSGs. This may be due to contextual factors (eg,opposition) or the type (ie,distance) or low frequency of feedback provided.

Jet charge modification in finite QCD matter

Jet production and jet substructure modification in heavy-ion collisions have played an essential role in revealing the in-medium evolution of parton showers and the determination of the properties of strongly-interacting matter under extreme conditions. It is imperative to extend these studies to include flavor tagging and to devise observables that are sensitive to the partonic origin of jets. The average jet charge, defined as the momentum-weighted sum of the electric charges of particles inside the jet, is a proxy of the electric charge of the quark or gluon that initiates the jet. We demonstrate how the factorization framework of soft-collinear effective theory can be generalized to evaluate the jet charge in a dense strongly-interacting matter environment, such as the one produced in nuclear reactions at collider energies. Observables that can separate the contribution of in-medium branching from the trivial isospin effects are identified and their connection to established jet quenching effects is elucidated. We present predictions for the transverse momentum dependence of the jet charge distribution in nucleus-nucleus collisions and its modification relative to the proton case.

A comprehensive mathematical model for nanofibre formation in centrifugal spinning methods

Motivated by our experimental observations of nanofibre formation via the centrifugal spinning process, we develop a string model to study the behaviours of a Newtonian, viscous curved jet, in a non-orthogonal curvilinear coordinate system including both air-drag effects and solvent evaporation for the first time. In centrifugal spinning a polymeric solution emerges from the nozzle of a spinneret rotating at high speeds around its axis of symmetry and thins as it moves away from the nozzle exit until it finally lands on the collector. Except for the Newtonian fluid assumption, our model includes the key parameters of the curved jet flow, e.g. viscous, inertial, rotational, surface tension, gravitational, mass diffusion within the jet, mass diffusion into air and aerodynamic effects, via Rossby ( ), Reynolds ( ), Weber ( ), Froude ( ), Peclet ( ), air Reynolds ( ) and air Peclet ( ) numbers, and the collector radial position ( ). Our results, including comparison to experiments, reveal that the aerodynamic effects must be considered to enable a correct prediction of the jet trajectory and radius. Decreasing not only renders the jet thinning much faster, but also forces the jet to wrap tighter around the rotation axis. Increasing , and leads to a longer jet. Decreasing causes the jet to wrap tighter around the spinneret but it shows trivial effects on the solvent evaporation. Changes in and do not significantly affect the jet trajectory. Finally, we propose simple relations to estimate the jet radius and the jet breakup length.

Loss of Sex Steroids Affects Wheel Running Patterns in Male and Female Mice

Physical inactivity increases chronic disease risk and can lead to premature death. Aging can lead to changes in sex steroid levels that might influence physical activity patterns leading to the higher risk for hypokinetic diseases. The purpose of this study is to evaluate changes in wheel running patterns in response to changing sex steroid levels in male and female C57BL/6J mice. Male and female mice (n = 20) were acquired at eight weeks of age. All mice were housed individually with access to running wheels that were monitored on a turn‐by‐turn basis. Mice acclimated to the cage environment and running wheels for ten days before data collection began. At the end of acclimation, all mice underwent surgical (n = 8) or sham (n = 10) gonadectomies to induce hormone deficiency; two surgically treated mice were euthanized immediately following surgery due to complications during recovery. Wheel running data were collected for seven days and each wheel revolution was counted and time‐stamped to accumulate a daily turn‐by‐turn wheel revolution record. Daily wheel running records were used to calculate 24‐hour averages across the seven day experimental period for distance (km), duration (min), and speed (m·min−1). Instantaneous rotational speed was calculated for each wheel rotation. The average frequency of instantaneous speed (percentage of all rotations) was collected across five speed ranges (0–15, 15–25, 25–35, 35–45, 45 or more m·min1). Two‐way ANOVAs were used to evaluate differences in 24‐hour distance, duration, and speed in relation to hormone status (hormone‐deficient vs. normal hormone levels) and sex (male vs. female). A two‐way MANOVA was used to evaluate differences in the frequency of self‐selected instantaneous speed as related to hormone status and sex. An a priori alpha level of 0.05 was deemed significant for all statistical tests. Significant effects for hormone status [F(1,14) = 17.7, p = 0.001] and sex [F(1,14) = 6.9, p = 0.02] were found for distance. Distance decreased in both sexes following the loss of endogenous sex steroids and females ran more than males regardless of hormone status. Duration was effected by both hormone status [F(1,14) = 19.9, p = 0.001] and sex [F(1,14) = 11.0, p = 0.005]. Overall, duration was less in males and hormone deficiency lead to decreases in running time in both sexes. Speed was potentially affected by hormone status, but was dependent upon sex [F(1,14) = 5.6, p = 0.03], however, follow‐up post‐hoc testing indicated that the loss of hormones had trivial effects on wheel running speed when the parameter was averaged over 24‐hours. A two‐way MANOVA was run to evaluate the effects of sex and hormone status on the selection of instantaneous wheel running speed. No significant effects were found for sex or hormone status, however, the analysis was under powered (power = 0.39 and 0.15) for both variables. In conclusion, 24‐hour averaged distance and duration were affected by hormone status and sex, but 24‐hour averaged speed was not. Trivial differences in self‐selected instantaneous speed may indicate a more nuanced relationship between running speeds and sex or hormone status. A higher‐powered study design is necessary to assess this relationship effectively.

Autonomy support and reduced feedback frequency have trivial effects on learning and performance of a golf putting task.

Optimizing Performance Through Intrinsic Motivation and Attention for Learning (OPTIMAL) Theory proposes that choices of any kind support an individual's need for autonomy, motivating them to learn and perform motor skills more effectively. Notably, the authors suggest asking learners to choose when to receive feedback in order to increase autonomy. Conversely, the guidance hypothesis predicts an impact of feedback schedule independent of motivational influences. The purpose of this experiment was to compare the relative and combined effects of autonomy and feedback schedule for the acquisition of a golf putting task without vision of results. Autonomy support (autonomy support vs. yoked) and knowledge of results (KR) schedule (100%-KR vs. 50%-faded-KR) were combined in a 2×2 factorial design. Participants (N=56) in the autonomy support groups were asked to choose from three colours of golf balls for each putt during 10 acquisition blocks. Yoked groups were yoked to the golf ball colour choices of their autonomy support group counterparts. Participants in the 100%-feedback schedule groups were provided x- and y-coordinate KR following every putt during acquisition, while participants in the 50%-faded groups received KR after half of their putts, with feedback frequency decreasing over acquisition blocks. All participants completed a 24-h delayed retention and transfer test without KR. The results were somewhat consistent with OPTIMAL Theory yet the effects were not statistically significant and trivially small. The results were inconsistent with the guidance hypothesis.

The Role of Positive Airway Pressure Therapy in Adults with Obesity Hypoventilation Syndrome. A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

Rationale: Obesity hypoventilation syndrome (OHS) is an undesirable complication of severe obesity. Although weight loss is an accepted component of management, it is difficult to achieve and sustain the degree of weight loss necessary to reverse OHS. As such, positive airway pressure (PAP) during sleep has become the cornerstone therapy for most patients with OHS. However, the value of PAP therapy remains uncertain.Objective: To perform a systematic review to determine whether adults with OHS should be treated with PAP therapy or not.Methods: This systematic review informed an international, multidisciplinary panel of experts who had converged to develop a clinical practice guideline on OHS for the American Thoracic Society. MEDLINE, the Cochrane Library, and Embase were searched from January 1946 to March 2019 for studies that compared PAP therapy (i.e., continuous PAP or noninvasive ventilation) to no PAP therapy in patients with OHS. The Grading of Recommendations, Assessment, Development, and Evaluation (GRADE) approach was used to appraise the quality of evidence.Results: The search identified 2,994 unique articles. The full text of 56 articles was reviewed, and 25 studies were selected, including 3 randomized trials, 12 nonrandomized comparative studies, and 10 randomized and nonrandomized studies without a comparator group. Sample size ranged from 21 to 1,527 patients. PAP was associated with increased resolution of OHS and improvements in mortality, gas exchange, daytime sleepiness, sleep quality, quality of life, and emergency department visits. Nearly half of patients experienced trivial adverse effects related to PAP therapy. Certainty in the estimated effects was low or very low for most outcomes.Conclusions: The panel made a conditional (i.e., weak) recommendation that PAP therapy during sleep be offered to patients with OHS to improve outcomes. This recommendation was based on very low-quality evidence.

Evaluation of CO2 injection into shale gas reservoirs considering dispersed distribution of kerogen

Injection of CO2 into shale gas reservoir has gained great interest due to its potential for both enhanced gas recovery and permanent CO2 sequestration. It is revealed that the heterogeneous shale rock is comprised of organic matter (kerogen) and inorganic matter (including clay, quartz, pyrite etc.) and kerogen is a dispersed phase. The distinct physio-chemical properties between organic and inorganic matter that reflect in the matrix permeability, pore size, wettability and gas occurring status, lead to different gas transport and flow performance in porous media. However, most previous studies built up the simulation models by using one continuum in shale matrix without distinguishing organic and inorganic matter, which may lead to inaccurate evaluation of CO2 injection performance. In this work, the shale matrix is subdivided into organic matrix and inorganic matrix with their unique characteristics. The organic matrix is dispersed and embedded in the inorganic matrix. The inorganic matrix is directly connected to the hydraulic/natural fractures that created explicitly by embedded discrete fracture model. Both huff-n-puff and gas flooding schemes in shale gas reservoir are examined. The simulation results indicate that the CO2 storage capacity of shale reservoir is significantly reduced if dispersed distribution of kerogen is considered. Most of injected CO2 enters inorganic pores while limited amount of CO2 can contact the kerogen due to the low flow conductivity between organic and inorganic matrix. The CO2 in inorganic pores will be quickly reproduced without replacing adsorbed methane in kerogen. Sensitivity tests show that total organic carbon and injection rate have trivial effects on the efficiency of CO2 injection while gas diffusion is a key factor for evaluation.

The effect of a curriculum-based physical activity intervention on accelerometer-assessed physical activity in schoolchildren: A non-randomised mixed methods controlled before-and-after study.

Classroom-based physical activity (PA) interventions offer the opportunity to increase PA without disrupting the curriculum. We aimed to explore the feasibility and potential effectiveness of a classroom-based intervention on moderate to vigorous PA (MVPA) and total PA. The secondary aim was to assess the acceptability and sustainability of the intervention. In a mixed-methods, non-randomised, exploratory controlled before-and-after study, 152 children (10 ± 0.7 years) were recruited from five schools; two intervention (n = 72) and three control (n = 80) schools. School teachers delivered an 8-week classroom-based intervention, comprising of 10 minutes daily MVPA integrated into the curriculum. The control schools maintained their usual school routine. Mean daily MVPA (min), total PA (mean cpm), physical fitness, and health-related quality of life measurements were taken at baseline, end of intervention, and 4-weeks post-intervention (follow-up). Data were analysed using a constrained baseline longitudinal analysis model accounting for the hierarchical data structure. For the primary outcomes (MVPA and total PA) the posterior mean difference and 95% compatibility interval were derived using a semi-Bayesian approach with an explicit prior. The acceptability and sustainability of the intervention was explored via thematic content analysis of focus group discussions with teachers (n = 5) and children (n = 50). The difference in mean daily MVPA (intervention-control) was 2.8 (-12.5 to 18.0) min/day at 8 weeks and 7.0 (-8.8 to 22.8) min/day at follow-up. For total PA, the differences were -2 (-127 to 124) cpm at 8-weeks and 11 (-121 to 143) cpm at follow-up. The interval estimates indicate that meaningful mean effects (both positive and negative) as well as trivial effects are reasonably compatible with the data and design. The intervention was received positively with continuation reported by the teachers and children. Classroom-based PA could hold promise for increasing average daily MVPA, but a large cluster randomised controlled trial is required.

How important are socioeconomic background and other factors to the university career vis-à-vis prior student performance: evidence from Australian longitudinal data

ABSTRACT The literature on the relationship between socioeconomic background (SES) and university education is inconsistent. Some studies conclude SES is important to university entry and course completion, others find trivial SES effects, net of students’ prior performance, and a third group concludes that SES effects are important and policy relevant even when considering prior performance. Parallel arguments apply to demographic, school sector, and institutional differences in the university career, that is, are they unimportant when considering student performance? Using comprehensive and accurate measures of SES and student performance, and a statistical method that utilizes all non-missing data, this study quantifies the effects of socioeconomic, demographic, and institutional factors and prior student performance. SES has only weak effects on university entry and attrition, and no effects on course completion. Student performance has strong effects on entry and has moderate effects on attrition and completion. Demographic other differences mostly disappear when controlling for student performance.

Experimentally manipulating social media abstinence: results of a four-week diary study

ABSTRACT Social media use has a weak, negative association with well-being in cross-sectional and longitudinal research, but this association in experimental studies is mixed. This investigation explores whether social media abstinence leads to improved daily well-being over four weeks of time. Community and undergraduate participants (N = 130) were randomly assigned to five experimental conditions: no change in social media use, and one week, two weeks, three weeks, and four weeks abstinence from social media (i.e., Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat). All participants completed a daily diary measuring loneliness, well-being, and quality of day. Results showed no main effect of social media abstinence. The duration of abstinence was not associated with change in outcomes and order of abstinence did not explain variance in outcomes. Results are consistent with trivial effects detected in large cross-sectional research, and call into question the causal relationship between social media and well-being on the daily level.

An investigation into the physical, physiological and technical demands of small sided games using varying pitch dimensions in Gaelic football

ABSTRACTIntroduction: The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of pitch size on the physical, physiological and technical demands of small-sided games (SSGs) in a sub-elite Gaelic football setting. Methods: Thirty-four sub-elite adult male Gaelic football players completed tailored Gaelic football SSGs on three different pitch sizes (40 x 20 m, 60 x 20 m, 80 x 20 m) in a 4v4 format, resulting in 312 individual player observations over the course of the 2018 season. Results: Participants performed significantly greater high-speed running (>17 km∙h−1) (p ≤ 0.001) and sprinting (>22 km∙h−1) (p ≤ 0.001) on the 60x20 m pitch compared to the 40x20 m and 80x20 m pitches. Pitch size had only trivial effects on the average heart rate and the peak heart rate recorded in games. Games played on the 40x20 m pitch resulted in more scores per team (p = 0.062; η2 = 0.071), no-score entries (p = 0.075; η2 = 0.067) and possessions per team (p = 0.015; η2 = 0.106), while ball-in-play percentage was moderately higher (p = 0.040; η2 = 0.082) on the 80x20 m pitch. Conclusion: Coaches should consider pitch size and the associated effects on physical and technical demands when planning training games, with specific reference to the stated objectives of each respective session.

Match Performance of Soccer Teams in the Chinese Super League-Effects of Situational and Environmental Factors.

To investigate the effects of situational factors (match location, strength of team and opponent) and environmental factors (relative air humidity, temperature and air quality index) on the technical and physical match performance of Chinese Soccer Super League teams (CSL). The generalized mixed modelling was employed to determine the effects by using the data of all 240 matches in the season 2015 collected by Amisco Pro®. Increase in the rank difference would increase the number of goal-scoring related, passing and organizing related actions to a small-to-moderate extent (Effect size [ES]: 0.37–0.99). Match location had small positive effects on goal-scoring related, passing and organizing related variables (ES: 0.27–0.51), while a small negative effect on yellow card (ES = −0.35). Increment in relative air humidity and air quality index would only bring trivial or small effects on all the technical performance (ES: −0.06–0.23). Increase in humidity would decrease the physical performance at a small magnitude (ES: −0.55–−0.38). Teams achieved the highest number in the physical performance-related parameters at the temperature between 11.6 and 15.1 °C. In the CSL, situational variables had major effects on the technical performance but trivial effects on the physical performance, on the contrary, environmental factors affected mainly the physical performance but had only trivial or small impact on the technical performance.

QED challenges at FCC-ee precision measurements

The expected experimental precision of the rates and asymmetries in the Future Circular Collider with electron–positron beams (FCC-ee) in the center of the mass energy range 88–365 GeV considered for construction in CERN, will be better by a factor 5–200. This will be thanks to the very high luminosity, a factor up to 10^5 higher than in the past LEP experiments. Consequently, it poses the extraordinary challenge of improving the precision of the Standard Model predictions by a comparable factor. In particular the perturbative calculations of the trivial QED effects, which have to be removed from the experimental data, are considered to be a major challenge for almost all quantities to be measured at FCC-ee. The task of this paper is to summarize the “state of the art” in this class of the calculations left over from the LEP era and to examine what is to be done to match the precision of the FCC-ee experiments – what kind of technical advancements are necessary. The above analysis will be done for most important observables of the FCC-ee, like the total cross sections near Z and WW threshold, charge asymmetries, the invisible width of Z boson, the spin asymmetry from tau lepton decay and the luminosity measurement.

Fractional Erbium-YAG Laser and Platelet-Rich Plasma as Single or Combined Treatment for Atrophic Acne Scars: A Randomized Clinical Trial.

IntroductionAcne scarring is a common undesirable complication of acne vulgaris. Fractional erbium-yttrium aluminum garnet (YAG) 2940 nm laser and platelet-rich plasma have been used in treating acne scars with variable outcomes. The objective of this study is to assess the efficacy of fractional erbium-YAG 2940 nm laser and platelet-rich plasma as a single line of treatment in comparison with combined treatment in atrophic postacne scars.MethodsSeventy-five patients were included in this trial and randomized into three equal groups (25 each). Group A was subjected to six sessions of erbium-YAG laser for 6 months, group B was treated with 12 sessions of platelet-rich plasma over the same period, and group C was subjected to six sessions of erbium-YAG laser plus 12 sessions of platelet-rich plasma over the same period. Each subject was evaluated by acne scar grading, photography, and subjective evaluation.ResultsBoth treatment modalities showed improvement of acne scars, but the improvement with combined treatment was better than that with erbium-YAG laser or platelet-rich plasma alone regarding scar grade improvement (P = 0.007 and 0.001), clinical improvement (P = 0.001 and 0.001), and patient satisfaction (P = 0.005 and 0.001), respectively.ConclusionsThe combination of platelet-rich plasma plus erbium-YAG laser is superior to either treatment alone for acne scars, with trivial side effects for all treatment modalities.Trial RegistrationClinicalTrials.gov identifier; NCT03933033.

Responses of Pigs of Different Genotypes to a Variation in the Dietary Indispensable Amino Acid Content in Terms of Their Growth and Carcass and Meat Quality Traits.

Simple SummaryThe aim of the experiment was to study the response of pigs of different genotypes to a variation in their dietary amino acid allowance. Ninety-six crossbred barrows of two lean paternal genetic lines (Hypor Maxter and PIC 337) were housed in eight pens from body weight 60 to 145 kg and fed quasi ad libitum on feeds with either high or low ileal digestible indispensable amino acid contents. The high and low amino acid feeds were formulated to have the same standardized ileal digestible (SID) lysine, methionine, tryptophan and threonine contents per unit of crude protein, but provided 9.4 to 8.0 (assumed to be non-limiting) or 8.5 to 6.5 (close to National Research Council recommendations) g/kg of SID lysine, respectively. The low amino acid feed reduced the estimated N excretion compared with the high, without affecting growth, carcass yield, carcass anatomical composition and meat quality traits. Genetic line had trivial effects and the amino acid level × genotype interaction was never significant. We concluded that the two pig genotypes did not differ sufficiently in growth potential and leanness to respond differently.We studied the response of pigs from two crossbred genetic lines (GL) in the 60 to 145 kg body weight interval to a variation in the indispensable amino acid (AA) content of their feed. Ninety-six barrows of two paternal GLs (Hypor Maxter and PIC 337) were housed in eight pens and fed quasi ad libitum on feeds differing in their standardized ileal digestible (SID) indispensable AA contents. Pigs in four pens received feeds containing 9.4 to 8.0 g/kg of SID Lys (HAA), considered non-limiting, while the others received feeds containing 8.5 to 6.5 g/kg of SID Lys (LAA). The two feeds had identical indispensable lysine, methionine, tryptophan and threonine contents per unit of crude protein (CP). Feed intake, growth, carcass weight, and the weights of the lean and fat cuts were recorded, and samples of longissimus lumborum were analyzed. Data were analyzed using a two-way factorial mixed model. The LAA feed lowered the estimated N excretion (p < 0.001) compared with HAA, without affecting growth, carcass or meat quality traits. Genetic line had trivial effects and the AA level × genotype interaction was never significant. The two pig genotypes did not differ sufficiently in growth potential and leanness to respond differently.

Total reaction cross-section and reduction methodology for various projectiles on medium-mass 58Ni target

For the measured elastic scattering angular distribution of the tightly bound 10B on the 58Ni target, at energies close to the Coulomb barrier, the study is made to extract the total reaction cross-section. Total reaction cross-sections were extracted from the elastic-scattering analysis using the optical model with double-folding–type potentials. We have also taken the total reaction cross-section of the systems with the same mass range target, that is, 58Ni and different projectiles, from the literature and tried to compare them with our system by reducing the cross-sections, for the elimination of trivial effects due to different sizes and different Coulomb barriers. In addition to that, for all the considered systems, one-channel calculations that account only for fusion have been performed to study the quantitative effect of the direct reaction channels on the total reaction cross-section.