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The objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of oral administration of fiber from the first week of life on the growth and hindgut environment of preweaning calves. Twenty newborn female Holstein calves were divided into 2 groups as control and treatment. Calves in both groups were reared under the same feeding program except for oral fiber administration. Timothy hay and psyllium were mixed at a 50-to-6 ratio as a treatment diet for oral fiber administration. Calves in the treatment group were orally administered 50 g of fiber daily from 3 to 7 d of age and 100 g of fiber from 8 d of age until weaning. Feed intake and occurrence of diarrhea were recorded daily, and body weight (BW) was recorded weekly for the individual calf. Fresh feces were collected from calves at 7, 21, 35, 49, and 56 d of age to analyze fermentation parameters and microbiota to characterize the hindgut environment. Higher fiber intake in the treatment group due to oral administration of timothy and psyllium did not affect the starter intake and achieved higher BW at 21 d of age. The fecal pH, total volatile fatty acid, lactate, and ammonia nitrogen concentrations were not affected by oral fiber administration; meanwhile, the molar proportion of propionate was higher in the treatment group at 7 d of age. The difference in fecal microbiota in the calves subjected to the oral administration of fiber was observed within 21 d of life; Lactobacillus spp. and Prevotella spp. showed higher abundance, whereas that of Clostridium perfringens was decreased. These higher abundances of beneficial bacteria and lower abundance of pathogenic bacteria during early life may partly explain the higher BW of calves in the treatment group at 21 d of age. Furthermore, no adverse effect was observed for the BW and health status in the treatment group throughout the preweaning period. Therefore, early fiber feeding via oral administration potentially contributes to improving the hindgut environment in newborn calves, which leads to better growth of calves during the early stage of life. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Information on the clinical behavior of the recently proposed primary duodenal follicular lymphoma (DFL) is limited. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Among a number of different lipoprotein abnormalities, 'midband lipoprotein' migrating at a position between LDL and VLDL on polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (PAGE), is an atherogenic lipoprotein and intima-media thickness (IMT) of the carotid artery is a useful marker of atherosclerotic diseases. The present study evaluated relationships between the presence of 'midband lipoprotein' and carotid IMT in subjects with type 2 diabetes. The average IMT of the carotid artery was determined from the means of maximal thicknesses of both left and right common carotid arteries, carotid bulb, and internal carotid artery using ultrasound B mode imaging in 118 Japanese patients (72 men, 46 women) and 43 healthy controls. Multivariate regression analyses indicated that the duration of diabetes and presence of 'midband lipoprotein' were independent determinants of carotid artery IMT in 46 female subjects with diabetes, and these subjects were then subclassified into midband-positive (n=24) and midband-negative (n=22) groups. IMT of the carotid artery was significantly different between midband-positive (0.98+/-0.32mm) and midband-negative (0.79+/-0.17mm) groups (P=0.02). These findings suggest that 'midband lipoprotein' is a possible risk factor for IMT of the carotid artery in Japanese female type 2 diabetic patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]