Can one cure the nonunitarity of three-dimensional quadratic gravity using a topological Chern-Simons term?

Quadratic gravity in (2+1)D is nonunitarity at the tree level. When a topological Chern-Simons term is added to this theory, the harmless massive scalar mode of the former gives rise to a troublesome massive spin-0 ghost, while the massive spin-2 ghost is replaced by two massive physical particles both of spin-2. Therefore, unlike what it is claimed in the literature, quadratic Chern-Simons gravity in (2+1)D is nonunitary at the tree level. © 2004 Published by Elsevier B.V.

Quintessential inflation and non-oscillatory reheating model

A numerical study of the non-oscillatory reheating mechanism in a quintessential inflation context shows that high reheating temperature can be achieved compared with the usual reheating mechanism in which particles are produced gravitationally. We find that even for a very small coupling between the inflaton field and a massless scalar field, the non-oscillatory reheating production of particles dominates over the gravitational production mechanism. © 2004 Published by Elsevier B.V.

On the role of boundary terms in the AdS/CFT correspondence

We consider a scalar field theory on AdS, and show that the usual AdS/CFT prescription is unable to map to the boundary a part of the information arising from the quantization in the bulk. We propose a solution to this problem by defining the energy of the theory in the bulk through the Noether current corresponding to time displacements, and, in addition, by introducing a proper generalized AdS/CFT prescription. We also show how this extended formulation could be used to consistently describe double-trace interactions in the boundary. The formalism is illustrated by focusing on the non-minimally coupled case using Dirichlet boundary conditions. © 2004 Published by Elsevier B.V.

Synergistic action of olive oil supplementation and dietary restriction on serum lipids and cardiac antioxidant defences

Caloric intake is higher than recommended in many populations. Therefore, enhancing olive oil intake alone may not be the most effective way to prevent cardiovascular diseases. The purpose of the present study was to analyse the association of olive oil and dietary restriction on lipid profile and myocardial antioxidant defences. Male Wistar rats (180-200 g, n = 6) were divided into 4 groups: control ad libitum diet (C), 50% restricted diet (DR), fed ad libitum and supplemented with olive oil (3 mL/(kg-day)) (OO), and 50% restricted diet and supplemented with olive oil (DROO). After 30 days of treatments, OO, DR, and DROO groups had increased total cholesterol and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol concentrations. DR and DROO animals showed decreased low-density lipoprotein cholesterol. DROO had the lowest low-density lipoprotein cholesterol concentration. Total lipids and triacylglycerols were raised by dietary restriction and diminished by olive oil. OO rats had higher myocardial Superoxide dismutase and lower catalase and glutathione peroxidase activities than C rats. DR and DROO showed enhanced cardiac Superoxide dismutase, catalase, and glutathione peroxidase activities from the control. Olive oil supplementation alone improved the lipid profile but was more effective when coupled with dietary restriction. There was a synergistic beneficial action of dietary restriction and olive oil on serum lipids and myocardial antioxidant defences.

Minerals in the nutrition of extremely low birth weight infants

Objective: To review the literature on the role of calcium, phosphorus and trace elements in the nutrition of extremely low birth weight infants, considering their importance for metabolism, bone mineralization and as dietary components. Sources of data: MEDLINE, the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews and books on nutrition were searched between 1994 and 2004. Original research studies and reviews were selected. Summary of the findings: Extremely preterm infants are frequently growth-restricted at hospital discharge as a consequence of difficulties in the provision of adequate nutrition. The long-term effects of this growth restriction need to be determined. There is a paucity of studies about the role of minerals, especially micronutrients, in the nutrition of extremely preterm infants. The principal focus of this review was on calcium and phosphorus metabolism, bone mineralization and parenteral and enteral supplementation. A critical evaluation of post-discharge nutrition and its influence upon growth and bone mineralization was presented. Selenium and zinc requirements and the role of selenium as an antioxidant with possible effects on free radical diseases of the preterm infant were discussed. Conclusions: Extremely preterm infants have low mineral reserves and, as a consequence, may have deficiencies in the postnatal period if they do not receive parenteral or enteral supplementation. More studies are needed to elucidate the actual requirements and the appropriate supplementation of micronutrients. There are controversies about the outcome and the influence of post-discharge nutrition on bone disease of prematurity. Copyright © 2005 by Sociedade Brasileira de Pediatria.

Effect of fortification of drinking water with iron plus ascorbic acid or with ascorbic acid alone on hemoglobin values and anthropometric indicators in preschool children in day-care centers in Southeast Brazil

Background. Iron-deficiency anemia currently is the most frequently occurring nutritional disorder worldwide. Previous Brazilian studies have demonstrated that drinking water fortified with iron and ascorbic acid is an adequate vehicle for improving the iron supply for children frequenting day-care centers. Objective. The objective of this study was to clarify the role of ascorbic acid as a vehicle for improving iron intake in children in day-care centers in Brazil. Methods. A six-month study was conducted on 150 children frequenting six day-care centers divided into two groups of three day-care centers by drawing lots: the iron-C group (3 day-care centers, n = 74), which used water fortified with 10 mg elemental iron and 100 mg ascorbic acid per liter, and the comparison group (3 day-care centers, n = 76), which used water containing only 100 mg ascorbic acid per liter. Anthropometric measurements and determinations of capillary hemoglobin were performed at the beginning of the study and after six months of intervention. The food offered at the day-care centers was also analyzed. Results. The fo od offered at the day-care center was found to be deficient in ascorbic acid, poor in heme iron, and adequate in non-heme iron. Supplementation with fortified drinking water resulted in a decrease in the prevalence of anemia and an increase in mean hemoglobin levels associated with height gain in both groups. Conclusions. Fortification of drinking water with iron has previously demonstrated effectiveness in increasing iron supplies. This simple strategy was confirmed in the present study. The present study also demonstrated that for populations receiving an abundant supply of non-heme iron, it is possible to control anemia in a simple, safe, and inexpensive manner by adding ascorbic acid to drinking water. © 2005, The United Nations University.

β-Carotene supplementation results in adverse ventricular remodeling after acute myocardial infarction

Objective: We studied the effects of β-carotene (BC) on ventricular remodeling after myocardial infarction. Methods: Myocardial infarction was induced in Wistar rats that were then treated with a BC diet (500 mg/kg of diet per day; MI-BC; n = 27) or a regular diet (MI; n = 27). Hearts were analyzed in vivo and in vitro after 6 mo. Results: BC caused decreased left ventricular wall thickness (MI = 1.49 ± 0.3 mm, MI-BC = 1.23 ± 0.2 mm, P = 0.027) and increased diastolic (MI = 0.83 ± 0.15 cm2, MI-BC = 0.98 ± 0.14 cm2, P = 0.020) and systolic (MI = 0.56 ± 0.12 cm2, MI-BC = 0.75 ± 0.13 cm2, P = 0.002) left ventricular chamber areas. With respect to systolic function, the BC group presented less change in fractional area than did controls (MI = 32.35 ± 6.67, MI-BC = 23.77 ± 6.06, P = 0.004). There was no difference in transmitral diastolic flow velocities between groups. In vitro results showed decreased maximal isovolumetric systolic pressure (MI = 125.5 ± 24.1 mmHg, MI-BC = 95.2 ± 28.4 mmHg, P = 0.019) and increased interstitial myocardial collagen concentration (MI = 3.3 ± 1.2%, MI-BC = 5.8 ± 1.7%, P = 0.004) in BC-treated animals. Infarct sizes were similar between groups (MI = 45.0 ± 6.6%, MI-BC = 48.0 ± 5.8%, P = 0.246). Conclusion: Taken together, these data suggest that BC has adverse effects on ventricular remodeling after myocardial infarction. © 2006 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Superstring Amplitudes in the Pure Spinor Formalism

Among other things, the pure spinor formalism has been used to rederive some particular superstring scattering amplitudes in the last few years. I will briefly review how the computations were done and show that the kinematical factors of these amplitudes can be simply written as integrals in a pure spinor superspace. © 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Uso de probióticos em ração de rã-touro (Rana catesbeiana): Desempenho produtivo

This experiment had as objective to evaluate the effect of two probiotics, added in the commercial ration (40% PB) on the productive performance of bullfrog Rana catesbeiana. The test was lead with two dosages of each probiotic (5 g/kg of food and 10 g/kg of food), plus a control group, with three repetitions, totalizing five treatments. The weight gain, the feed conversion (CA) and the specific growth rate (TCE) have been analyzed. The results show that the probiotics affect the weight gain of Rana catesbeiana until reaching 200 g, thus decreasing the time of productivity in 28 days but not improving the CA and the TCE. With bases in these experimental conditions probiotic 1 (Lactobacillus acidofillus, Bifidobacterium bifidum and Enterococcus faecium -3×10 6 UFC/g) at lower dose (5 g/kg of ration) provided the best performance of the animals.

Agentes tróficos na dieta de leitões desmamados sobre a atividade das enzimas digestivas e o desempenho

It was evaluated the effect of the addition of glutamine, polyunsaturated fatty acids or cellular wall of yeast to the diet of weaned pigs on the activity of the pancreatic enzymes (lipase, amylase and trypsin) and the intestinal mucous membrane (dipeptidase, sucrase and maltase) and on the performance. Forty-five weaned pigs were used and distributed in a randomized block design, in factorial outline, with four diets (T1 - basal diet (BD); T2 - BR + 1% glutamine; T3 - BD + 0,2% cellular wall of yeast; T4 - BD + 5% fish oil) and two slaughter ages (seven and 14 days post weaning). The performance was measured in the first two weeks post-weaning. The addition of 1% glutamine in the diet of pigs increased the specific and total activity of the amylase, and total activity of the trypsin in the second week post weaning. The others supplements not change the activity of the digestive enzymes in the pigs. Also an increase was observed in the total activity of the lipase, and specific activity of the trypsin and maltase in function of the age post-weaning. In general, the activities of the digestive enzymes were correlated positively, except for the dipeptidase that was not correlated with any other enzyme. Positive correlation was observed between weight gain and activity of the lipase and of the amylase. The supplements included in the diet not influence the performance of weaned pigs.

Cultivation of Pleurotus ostreatus using supplemented spent oyster Mushroom substrate

Spent Agaricus and Pleurotus substrates are mainly used as components of amendments and growing substrates, but not in sufficient quantities to solve the problem of their accumulation in mushroom producing areas, where they represent a potential pollution risk. The mushroom growing sector in Spain generates about 5105 t of spent compost, while the EU, as a whole, produces more than 3.5106 t. Among alternative management applications, it is possible to reuse these wastes in the cultivation of mushrooms, as a casing material for growing Agaricus spp. and as substrate for growing other species. In this work, the application of commercial nutritional supplements (Calprozime, Champfood and Promycel), widely used in Agaricus cultivation, is evaluated for its possible use as additive to substrates, based on spent oyster mushroom substrate (SMS), for the cultivation of Pleurotus ostreatus. Using a mixture of straw and SMS (1:1, w/w) as base material, the addition of CaSO4 (50 g kg-1) and CaCO3 (10 g kg-1) and the above supplements at 20 g kg-1 brought about a remarkable increase in production compared with the substrate without any supplement. The biological efficiencies did not differ significantly from that obtained when a commercial substrate was used as control, reaching values of 48.9 kg/100 kg substrate (dry matter) when Calprozime was used as supplement. Sporophores harvested from the supplemented substrates presented a higher dry matter content than those obtained from both commercial and non-supplemented substrates. SMS is cheap and easily available; it can be integrated into new formulations with the added advantages of lowering production costs, limiting growers' dependence on straw, and decreasing the environmental impact of its ever-growing accumulation.

Neutrinos masses in a multi-higgs model with A 4 symmetry

Presently it is well known that neutrino oscillation data are well described by massive neutrinos and their mixing. This suggests changes in the standard model (SM) and makes the flavor physics even more interesting. Recently, it has been proposed a multi-Higgs extension of the SM with Abelian and non-Abelian discrete symmetries which seeks to explain the origin of the masses and mixing matrices in all charge sectors. © 2012 Elsevier B.V.

Essential oils from medicinal and aromatic plants: A review of the gastroprotective and ulcer-healing activities

Gastric ulcer is an excoriated area of the gastric mucosa. It is among the predominant gastrointestinal chronic diseases. The essential oils represent an important part of the traditional pharmacopoeia in many countries and have been successfully used for gastroprotection and ulcer healing. Thus, this review presents the experimental activity of essential oils traditionally used in the gastric ulcer prevention and treatment, considering their families, part of the plant studied, bioassays, and their mechanisms of gastroprotection and ulcer healing, with the aim of stimulating novel studies in the search for a new phytomedicine to treat gastric diseases. © 2012 The Authors Fundamental and Clinical Pharmacology © 2012 Société Française de Pharmacologie et de Thérapeutique.

High dosage folic acid supplementation, oral cleft recurrence and fetal growth

Objectives: To evaluate the effects of folic acid supplementation on isolated oral cleft recurrence and fetal growth. Patients and Methods: The study included 2,508 women who were at-risk for oral cleft recurrence and randomized into two folic acid supplementation groups: 0.4 and 4 mg per day before pregnancy and throughout the first trimester. The infant outcome data were based on 234 live births. In addition to oral cleft recurrence, several secondary outcomes were compared between the two folic acid groups. Cleft recurrence rates were also compared to historic recurrence rates. Results: The oral cleft recurrence rates were 2.9% and 2.5% in the 0.4 and 4 mg groups, respectively. The recurrence rates in the two folic acid groups both separately and combined were significantly different from the 6.3% historic recurrence rate post the folic acid fortification program for this population (p = 0.0009 when combining the two folic acid groups). The rate of cleft lip with palate recurrence was 2.9% in the 0.4 mg group and 0.8% in the 4 mg group. There were no elevated fetal growth complications in the 4 mg group compared to the 0.4 mg group. Conclusions: The study is the first double-blinded randomized clinical trial (RCT) to study the effect of high dosage folic acid supplementation on isolated oral cleft recurrence. The recurrence rates were similar between the two folic acid groups. However, the results are suggestive of a decrease in oral cleft recurrence compared to the historic recurrence rate. A RCT is still needed to identify the effect of folic acid on oral cleft recurrence given these suggestive results and the supportive results from previous interventional and observational studies, and the study offers suggestions for such future studies. The results also suggest that high dosage folic acid does not compromise fetal growth. © 2013 by the authors; licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.