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Dietary factors, particularly proteins, have been extensively explored to combat cognitive impairment. We have previously reported that dietary fish (Alaska Pollock) protein (APP) is more effective than casein (CAS) or fish oil in maintaining short‐term memory in senescence‐accelerated mice prone 10 (SAMP10). To examine the specificity of the protective effect of APP intakes against short‐term memory decline, we assessed the impact of various dietary animal proteins, including APP, CAS, chicken breast protein (CP), and whey protein (WP), against age‐related cognitive function in SAMP10 mice. After feeding the experimental diets for 5 months, memory was assessed using the Y‐maze. The APP group exhibited a significant increase in spontaneous alternation behavior as an indicator of working memory when group compared with groups fed with other protein source. Additionally, the APP group displayed significantly higher neurofilament heavy chain positivity than the CAS and CP groups, as evidenced immunohistochemical analysis. Gut microbiota analysis indicated that dietary APP significantly enhanced the relative abundance of Lactobacillus, which positively correlated with spontaneous alternation behavior. Collectively, these findings suggest that dietary APP is more effective than CAS, CP, or WP in preventing age‐related short‐term memory decline and morphological abnormalities in the hippocampal axons of SAMP10 mice. Moreover, APP‐mediated improvements in cognitive deficits may be associated with changes in microbiota diversity. Practical Application: This research suggests that dietary fish protein from Alaska Pollock may be more efficient in prevention short‐term memory decline in mice, compared to other animal proteins. This finding has practical implications for nutritional optimization, developing the new health food products, and elucidating the relationship between the impact of specific proteins on gut microbiota and prevention of age‐related cognitive decline. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Daily feed intake (DFI) is an important consideration for improving feed efficiency, but measurements using electronic feeder systems contain many missing and incorrect values. Therefore, we evaluated three methods for correcting missing DFI data (quadratic, orthogonal polynomial, and locally weighted (Loess) regression equations) and assessed the effects of these missing values on the genetic parameters and the estimated breeding values (EBV) for feeding traits. DFI records were obtained from 1622 Duroc pigs, comprising 902 individuals without missing DFI and 720 individuals with missing DFI. The Loess equation was the most suitable method for correcting the missing DFI values in 5–50% randomly deleted datasets among the three equations. Both variance components and heritability for the average DFI (ADFI) did not change because of the missing DFI proportion and Loess correction. In terms of rank correlation and information criteria, Loess correction improved the accuracy of EBV for ADFI compared to randomly deleted cases. These findings indicate that the Loess equation is useful for correcting missing DFI values for individual pigs and that the correction of missing DFI values could be effective for the estimation of breeding values and genetic improvement using EBV for feeding traits. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim: To investigate the significance of the Glasgow Prognostic Score (GPS) for predicting the postoperative survival of gastric cancer (GC) patients with a normal preoperative serum level of carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA). Because CEA is a useful marker for prognostication of several types of cancer, some patients with GC have a normal CEA level. On the other hand, the GPS has been established as a valuable inflammation-based prognostic system for cancer patients., Patients and Methods: Among 650 patients who had undergone elective surgery for GC, 425 with a normal preoperative serum CEA level (≤5.0 ng/ml) were enrolled. Uni- and multivariate analyses were performed to evaluate the relationship of the GPS to overall survival. The Kaplan-Meier analysis and log rank test were used to compare the survival curves among patients with GPS 0, 1 and 2., Results: Multivariate analysis using clinical characteristics selected from univariate analyses revealed that the GPS (0, 1/2) was associated with overall survival (hazard ratio=2.048; 95% C.I. (confidence interval)=1.002-4.185; p=0.049) along with age (≤70/>70) (years), sex, tumor type (3, 4, 5/0, 1, 2), lymph node metastasis (presence/absence) and platelet count (≤35/>35) (×10(4)/mm(3)). The Kaplan-Meier analysis and log rank test demonstrated that there were significant differences in overall survival among patients with GPS 0, 1 and 2 (p<0.001)., Conclusion: Even if GC patients have a normal serum level of CEA, the GPS is able to predict their postoperative survival and classify such patients into three independent groups before surgery., (Copyright© 2014 International Institute of Anticancer Research (Dr. John G. Delinassios), All rights reserved.)

Aim: To investigate the influence of clinical characteristics including nutritional markers on postoperative survival in patients undergoing total gastrectomy (TG) for gastric cancer (GC)., Patients and Methods: One hundred fifty-four patients were enrolled. Uni- and multivariate analyses using the Cox proportional hazard model were performed to explore the most valuable clinical characteristic that was associated with postoperative survival., Results: Multivariate analysis using twelve clinical characteristics selected from univariate analyses revealed that age (≤ 72/>72), carcinoembryonic antigen (≤ 20/>20) (ng/ml), white blood cell count (≤ 9.5/>9.5) (× 10(3)/mm(3)), prognostic nutritional index (PNI) (≤ 45/>45) and lymph node metastasis (negative/positive) were associated with postoperative survival. Kaplan-Meier analysis and log-rank test showed that patients with higher PNI (>45) had a higher postoperative survival rate than those with lower PNI (≤ 45) (p<0.001)., Conclusion: PNI is associated with postoperative survival of patients undergoing TG for GC and is able to divide such patients into two independent groups before surgery., (Copyright© 2014 International Institute of Anticancer Research (Dr. John G. Delinassios), All rights reserved.)