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This 45‐day work aimed to determine the response of juvenile pacu (Piaractus mesopotamicus) to balanced digestible protein (BDP) and to use these responses to determine whether the optimum economic levels of BDP would differ depending on the form in which the fish is sold. Six isoenergetic diets containing 163, 201, 238, 272, 315 and 348 g/kg BDP (dry‐matter basis) were prepared through the serial dilutions of a high‐protein diet with the low‐protein diet. Fish (initial average body weight, 10.82 ± 0.14 g) were fed with respective experimental diets three times a day until apparent satiation. The optimum biological level of BDP was calculated as 326 g/kg (dry‐matter basis) by the quadratic regression model for maximum body weight gain of juvenile pacu. To maximize economic returns (US$/kg) for different end products, the optimum economic levels of BDP were calculated as 311, 317 and 319 g/kg (dry‐matter basis) by an economic model for whole‐body, eviscerated and sliced juvenile pacu respectively. This finding revealed that obtaining maximum biological performance of fish in the case of high feed costs or low prices of the end product in consumer market would substantially reduce the economic returns. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: Hepatitis C virus (HCV) genotype 4 (GT4) is genetically diverse with 17 confirmed and 4 provisional subtypes. In this report, HCV GT4‐infected patient samples from Phase 2/3 clinical studies were analysed to characterize global demographics and genetic diversity of GT4 infection among patients treated with ombitasvir (OBV, NS5A inhibitor) plus paritaprevir/r (NS3/4A inhibitor codosed with ritonavir). Among 17 subtypes isolated from GT4‐infected patients in the PEARL‐I and AGATE‐I studies, subtype prevalence by country of enrolment and country of origin suggested that subtypes 4a and 4d were likely circulating in Europe, while heterogeneous GT4 subtypes and a portion of GT4a detected in European and North American countries were likely due to immigration of HCV‐infected patients from Africa. The distributions of birth cohort and race were also significantly different across GT4 subtypes 4a, 4d, and non‐4a/4d. In addition, phylogenetic analyses of NS5A sequences revealed clustering within subtype 4a which segregated by the patient‐reported country of origin and the presence of the L30R/S polymorphism. HCV NS5A sequences derived from GT4a‐infected patients who originated from Europe and the United States clustered separately from sequences derived from patients who originated from Egypt, suggesting that genetically distinct strains of subtype 4a may be circulating globally. Finally, NS5A baseline polymorphisms were frequently detected at amino acid positions of interest for the inhibitor‐class and OBV retained activity against 37 of 39 NS5A GT4 clinical isolates, with no impact on treatment outcome in the PEARL‐I and AGATE‐I studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: The efficacy and safety of an investigational combination of ombitasvir/paritaprevir/ritonavir (OBV/PTV/r) plus sofosbuvir (SOF) ± ribavirin (RBV) in patients with HCV genotype 2 or 3 infection with or without cirrhosis was evaluated. Patients with HCV genotype 3 infection without cirrhosis were randomized to receive OBV/PTV/r + SOF ± RBV for 12 weeks; OBV/PTV/r + SOF + RBV was administered to genotype 3‐infected patients with cirrhosis for 12 weeks and to genotype 2‐infected patients without cirrhosis for either 6 or 8 weeks. Efficacy was assessed by sustained virologic response [HCV RNA <25 IU/mL] 12 weeks post‐treatment (SVR12). Safety was assessed in all treated patients. In patients with genotype 3 infection with or without cirrhosis treated with 12 weeks of OBV/PTV/r + SOF ± RBV, the overall SVR12 rate was 98% (50/51), with no virologic failures. Patients with genotype 2 infection treated with OBV/PTV/r + SOF + RBV had SVR12 rates of 90% (9/10) and 44% (4/9) following 8‐ and 6‐week treatment durations, respectively; failure to achieve SVR12 for these patients was due to relapse without baseline or treatment‐emergent resistance‐associated substitutions. Thus, the investigational combination of OBV/PTV/r with SOF ± RBV was well tolerated and achieved high SVR rates with no virologic failures in patients with genotype 3 infection. Combining direct‐acting antivirals with complementary mechanisms of action and different viral targets may be an effective treatment strategy that may allow for shorter durations of therapy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aerogel-like silica based materials were obtained by microwave drying of the gels synthesized with methyltrimethoxysilane (MTMS) precursor. The microwave drying is an alternative ambient pressure drying technique for these nanostructured materials that allows a fast fine drying stage and avoids the high temperature cycles of conventional evaporative drying. The gels were synthesized by a two-step acid-base catalyzed sol-gel process following the procedures described in an earlier work. After 2 days of aging, they were placed in an oven at 60°C, during one day, and then washed with distilled water at 40°C. Finally, the gels were dried in a microwave oven, at 450 W, in three cycles of two minutes each with two minutes of interval. During drying, a reduction of the gel volume was observed, but the major part of this volume was recovered by spring-back effect in 2 days, giving aerogel-like materials with a density in the interval 60-80 kg/m3. The final materials are monolithic, flexible and have a thermal conductivity of ˜0.04 W/(m K), which make them suitable for insulation applications. Additionally, they exhibit high hydrophobicity (contact angle ˜150°) and surface area (414 m2/g), what can be beneficial for adsorption of some organic pollutants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]