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Objective: Chronic testosterone blood concentrations associate with food intake (FI), but acute effects of testosterone on appetite and effect of protein and glucose consumption on testosterone response have had little examination. Methods: In a randomized, crossover study, twenty‐three adolescent (12‐18 years old) males were given beverages containing either: (a) whey protein (1 g/kg body weight), (b) glucose (1 g/kg body weight) or (c) a calorie‐free control (C). Plasma testosterone, luteinizing hormone (LH), GLP‐1 (active), ghrelin (acylated), glucose, insulin and subjective appetite were measured prior (0) and at 20, 35 and 65 minutes after the consumption of the beverage. FI at an ad libitum pizza meal was assessed at 85 minutes. Results: Testosterone decreased acutely to 20 minutes after both protein and glucose with the decrease continuing after protein but not glucose to 65 minutes (P = 0.0382). LH was also decreased by both protein and glucose, but glucose had no effect at 20 minutes in contrast to protein (P < 0.001). Plasma testosterone concentration correlated positively with LH (r = 0.58762, P < 0.0001) and negatively with GLP‐1 (r = −0.50656, P = 0.0003). No associations with appetite, ghrelin or glycaemic markers were found. Food intake was not affected by treatments. Conclusion: Protein or glucose ingestion results in acute decreases in both plasma testosterone and LH in adolescent males. The physiological significance of this response remains to be determined as no support for testosterone's role in acute regulation of food intake was found. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives Practice-based research networks ( PBRNs) provide a venue to foster evidence-based care. We tested the hypothesis that a higher level of participation in a dental PBRN is associated with greater stated change toward evidence-based practice. Methods A total of 565 dental PBRN practitioner-investigators completed a baseline questionnaire entitled ' Assessment of Caries Diagnosis and Treatment'; 405 of these also completed a follow-up questionnaire about treatment of caries and existing restorations. Certain questions (six treatment scenarios) were repeated at follow-up a mean (SD) of 36.0 (3.8) months later. A total of 224 were 'full participants' (enrolled in clinical studies and attended at least one network meeting); 181 were 'partial participants' (did not meet 'full' criteria). Results From 10% to 62% of practitioners were 'surgically invasive' at baseline, depending on the clinical scenario. Stated treatment approach was significantly less invasive at follow-up for four of six items. Change was greater among full participants and those with a more-invasive approach at baseline, with an overall pattern of movement away from the extremes. Conclusions These results are consistent with a preliminary conclusion that network participation fostered movement of scientific evidence into routine practice. PBRNs may foster movement of evidence into everyday practice as practitioners become engaged in the scientific process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Riley JL III, Gordan VV, Rindal DB, Fellows JL, Ajmo CT, Amundson C, Anderson GA, Gilbert GH and for The Dental PBRN Collaborative Group. Preferences for caries prevention agents in adult patients: findings from the dental practice–based research network. Community Dent Oral Epidemiol 2010; 38: 360–370. © 2010 John Wiley & Sons A/S Objectives: To identify factors that are significantly associated with dentists’ use of specific caries preventive agents in adult patients, and whether dentists who use one preventive agent are also more likely to use certain others. Methods: Data were collected from 564 practitioners in The Dental Practice–Based Research Network, a multi-region consortium of participating practices and dental organizations. Results: In-office topical fluoride was the method most frequently used. Regarding at-home preventive agents, there was little difference in preference between nonprescription fluoride, prescription fluoride, or chlorhexidine rinse. Dentists who most frequently used caries prevention were also those who regularly perform caries risk assessment and individualize caries prevention at the patient level. Higher percentages of patients with dental insurance were significantly associated with more use of in-office prevention modalities. Female dentists and dentists with more-recent training were more likely to recommend preventive agents that are applied by the patient. Dentists who reported more-conservative decisions in clinical treatment scenarios were also more likely to use caries preventive agents. Groups of dentist who shared a common preference for certain preventive agents were identified. One group used preventive agents selectively, whereas the other groups predominately used either in-office or at-home fluorides. Conclusions: Caries prevention is commonly used with adult patients. However, these results suggest that only a subset of dentists base preventive treatments on caries risk at the individual patient level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The invasive weed yellow starthistle (Centaurea solstitialis) has infested between 4 and 6 million hectares in California. It often forms dense infestations and rapidly depletes soil moisture, preventing the establishment of other species. Precise assessment of its canopy cover, especially low-density abundance in the earlier growing season, is the key to effective management. Compact Airborne Spectrographic Imager 2 (CASI-2) hyperspectral imagery was acquired at the western edge of California''s Central Valley grasslands on July 15, 2003. Four linear spectral mixture models (LSMM) were investigated from the original CASI-2 data. Band selections based upon residual analysis and feature extraction (PCA) were further explored to reduce the data dimension. All approaches, except four band-selection unconstrained LSMMs, provide consistent results. The uncertainty of the PCA-based LSMM was estimated through a Monte-Carlo simulation. The maximum standard deviation was approximately 11%. The results suggest that unmixing CASI-2 imagery could be used for estimating and mapping yellow starthistle for larger regional areas. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

1. Outbreaks of insect pest populations are common and can have devastating effects on natural communities and on agriculture. Little is known about the causes of these outbreaks or the causes of en masse migrations during outbreaks. 2. Flightless Mormon crickets ( Anabrus simplex) were the focus of this study. They are a katydid species that forms large, dense, mobile groups (migratory bands) during outbreak periods, eating vegetation in their path. 3. Radiotelemetric methods were used to measure differences in movement rate and directionality in outbreak and non-outbreak populations, testing the hypothesis that these populations differ in their travel rate and consistency of direction. 4. Daily individual movement in outbreak populations differs substantially from non-outbreak populations that are at much lower density. In addition to large differences in distances travelled (1.6 km as compared with 1 m) and rates of travel, there is evidence for collective movement among individual Mormon crickets travelling in migratory bands. 5. These data suggest that the direction of group movement may be influenced by local environmental conditions such as wind direction and movement of nearby band members. This work forms the basis for ongoing work testing hypotheses about mass migrations in outbreak populations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: Studies have suggested that aortic thrombus may be associated with adverse outcomes following endovascular repair of aortic aneurysms, while other reports have suggested higher rates of sac regression and a reduced risk of endoleak. However, the effect of thrombus burden on outcomes following physician modified endografts (PMEGs) remains unknown. This study aimed to assess the volume and morphology of thrombus burden and the effect on outcomes following PMEG for juxtarenal abdominal aortic aneurysm., Methods: This was a retrospective cohort study of patients who underwent PMEG from 2009 to 2021 in a single centre, investigational device exemption trial. Thrombus burden was measured as a percentage of luminal volume using pre-operative computed tomography scans from the lowest renal artery to the level of the aortic bifurcation using centreline reconstruction software. Morphology was documented by the presence of finger like projections. Univariable and multivariable analyses evaluated the impact on peri-operative and long term outcomes., Results: Volumetric and morphological measures of thrombus burden were assessed in 142 patients; 40.1% of the cohort were classified as having a high thrombus burden (≥ 50% luminal volume) on volumetric assessment and 22.5% had finger like projections on morphological assessment. Type II endoleak was more frequently observed in those with low thrombus burden (60.0% vs. 33.3%; p = .008) and persisted after multivariable analysis (odds ratio 2.5, 95% confidence interval 1.1 - 5.8), but there were no other statistically significant differences in peri-operative adverse events or late outcomes, including sac behaviour, freedom from re-intervention, and overall survival when stratifying thrombus burden by quantitative or qualitative measures. There were no observed differences in operative or anatomical characteristics, including landing zone characteristics and rates of inferior mesenteric artery patency., Conclusion: While thrombus burden and morphology were not associated with adverse peri-operative events or survival, low thrombus burden was associated with an increase in type II endoleak. These findings suggest that thrombus burden should not deter treatment for patients requiring PMEG., (Copyright © 2024 European Society for Vascular Surgery. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

The nutritional quality of common wheat-based foods can be improved by adding flours from whole pulses or their carbohydrate and protein constituents. Faba bean ( Vicia faba L.) is a pulse with high protein concentration. In this study, prepared faba bean (FB) flours were added to wheat based baked crackers. Wheat cracker recipes were modified by substituting forty percent wheat flour with flours from whole faba bean, starch enriched flour (starch 60%), protein concentrate (protein 60%) or protein isolate (protein 90%). Baked crackers were ground into meal and analyzed for their macronutrient composition, starch characteristics and in vitro starch hydrolysis. Faba bean supplemented crackers had lower ( p ≤ 0.001) total starch concentrations, but proportionally higher protein (16.8-43%), dietary fiber (6.7-12.1%), fat (4.8-7.1%) and resistant starch (3.2-6%) ( p ≤ 0.001) than wheat crackers (protein: 16.2%, dietary fiber: 6.3%, fat: 4.2, resistant starch: 1.2%). The increased amylose, amylopectin B1- chain and fat concentration from faba bean flour and starch flour supplementation in cracker recipe contributed to increased resistant starch. Flours from whole faba bean, starch or protein fractions improved the nutritional properties and functional value of the wheat-based crackers. The analytical analysis describing protein, starch composition and structure and in vitro enzymatic hydrolysis advance understanding of factors that account for the in vivo benefits of faba bean flours added to crackers in human physiological functions as also previously shown for pasta. The findings can be used to guide development of improve nutritional quality of similar wheat-based food products.

For monitoring and controlling the extent and intensity of an invasive species, a direct multi-date image classification method was applied in invasive species (salt cedar) change detection in the study area of Lovelock, Nevada. With multidate Compact Airborne Spectrographic Imager (CASI) hyperspectral data sets, two types of hyperspectral CASI input data and two classifiers have been examined and compared for mapping and monitoring the salt cedar change. The two types of input data are all two-date original CASI bands and 12 principal component images (PCs) derived from the two-date CASI images. The two classifiers are an artificial neural network (ANN) and linear discriminant analysis (LDA). The experimental results indicate that (1) the direct multitemporal image classification method applied in land cover change detection is feasible either with original CASI bands or PCs, but a better accuracy was obtained from the CASI PCA transformed data; (2) with the same inputs of 12 PCs, the ANN outperforms the LDA due to the ANN's non-linear property and ability of handling data without a prerequisite of a certain distribution of the analysis data.

Objective: To evaluate the speed (efficiency) and effectiveness of 3 different fiber post removal systems., Method and Materials: Fiber posts (D.T. Light-Post no. 1 [Bisco Dental] and ParaPost FiberLux no. 5 [Coltène/Whaledent]) were cemented into 60 single-rooted teeth after endodontic therapy and post space preparation were completed. Three methods of fiber post removal were evaluated-D.T. Light-Post removal kit, the Kodex twist/Tenax ParaPost fiber post removal drill kit, and a combination of diamond bur/Peeso reamer., Results: The efficiency to remove either fiber post was not significantly different, nor was efficiency of any of the 3 post removal systems significantly different. For effectiveness, no difference was observed between post types, but effectiveness was higher with the diamond bur/Peeso reamer compared with the Kodex twist/Tenax ParaPost drills, which in turn was more effective than the D.T. Light-Post removal kit., Conclusions: Fiber posts are efficiently removed by all 3 methods, but effectiveness of removal is higher using the diamond bur/Peeso reamer.

Spectral reflectance values of four canopy components (stems, buds, opening flowers, and postflowers of yellow starthistle (Centaurea solstitialis)) were measured to describe their spectral characteristics. We then physically combined these canopy components to simulate the flowering stage indicated by accumulated flower ratios (AFR) 10%, 40%, 70%, and 90%, respectively. Spectral dissimilarity and spectral angles were calculated to quantitatively identify spectral differences among canopy components and characteristic patterns of these flowering stages. This study demonstrated the ability of hyperspectral data to characterize canopy components, and identify different flowering stages. Stems had a typical spectral profile of green vegetation, which produced a spectral dissimilarity with three reproduction organs (buds, opening flowers, and postflowers). Quantitative differences between simulated flower stages depended on spectral regions and phenological stages examined. Using full-range canopy spectra, the initial flowering stage could be separated from the early peak, peak, and late flowering stages by three spectral regions, i.e. the blue absorption (around 480 nm) and red absorption (around 650 nm) regions and NIR plateau from 730 nm to 950 nm. For airborne CASI data, only the red absorption region and NIR plateau could be used to identify the flowering stages in the field. This study also revealed that the peak flowering stage was more easily recognized than any of the other three stages.

The Ecological Areawide Management (TEAM) of Leafy Spurge program was developed to focus research and control efforts on a single weed, leafy spurge, and demonstrate the effectiveness of a coordinated, biologically based, integrated pest management program (IPM). This was accomplished through partnerships and teamwork that clearly demonstrated the advantages of the biologically based IPM approach. However, the success of regional weed control programs horizontally across several states and provinces also requires a vertical integration of several sectors of society. Awareness and education are the essential elements of vertical integration. Therefore, a substantial effort was made to produce a wide variety of information products specifically designed to educate different segments of society. During its tenure, land managers and agency decision makers have seen the potential of using the TEAM approach to accelerate the regional control of leafy spurge. The example set by the TEAM organization and participants is viewed as a model for future weed-control efforts.