Calcium.

Plant-based natural products are alternative to antibiotics that can be employed as growth promoters in livestock and poultry production and attractive alternatives to synthetic chemical insecticides for insect pest management. Curcumin is a natural polyphenol compound from the rhizomes of turmeric (Curcuma spp.) and has been suggested to have a number of therapeutic benefits in the treatment of human diseases. It is also credited for its nutritional and pesticide properties improving livestock and poultry production performances and controlling insect pests. Recent studies reported that curcumin is an excellent feed additive contributing to poultry and livestock animal growth and disease resistance. Also, they detailed the curcumin's growth-inhibiting and insecticidal activity for reducing agricultural insect pests and insect vector-borne human diseases. This review aims to highlight the role of curcumin in increasing the growth and development of poultry and livestock animals and in controlling insect pests. We also discuss the challenges and knowledge gaps concerning curcumin use and commercialization as a feed additive and insect repellent.

Despite a marked increase in treatment for bipolar disorder among youths, little is known about their pattern of service use. This article describes mental health service use in the year before and after a new clinical diagnosis of bipolar disorder. Claims were reviewed between April 1, 2004, and March 31, 2005, for 1,274,726 privately insured youths (17 years and younger) who were eligible for services at least one year before and after a service claim; 2,907 youths had new diagnosis of bipolar disorder during this period. Diagnoses of other mental disorders and prescriptions filled for psychotropic drugs were assessed in the year before and after the initial diagnosis of bipolar disorder. The one-year rate of a new diagnosis of bipolar disorder was .23%. During the year before the new diagnosis of bipolar disorder, youths were commonly diagnosed as having depressive disorder (46.5%) or disruptive behavior disorder (36.7%) and had often filled a prescription for an antidepressant (48.5%), stimulant (33.0%), mood stabilizer (31.8%), or antipsychotic (29.1%). Most youths with a new diagnosis of bipolar disorder had only one (28.8%) or two to four (28.7%) insurance claims for bipolar disorder in the year starting with the index diagnosis. The proportion starting mood stabilizers after the index diagnosis was highest for youths with five or more insurance claims for bipolar disorder (42.1%), intermediate for those with two to four claims (24.2%), and lowest for those with one claim (13.8%). Most youths with a new diagnosis of bipolar disorder had recently received treatment for depressive or disruptive behavior disorders, and many had no claims listing a diagnosis of bipolar disorder after the initial diagnosis. The service pattern suggests that a diagnosis of bipolar disorder is often given tentatively to youths treated for mental disorders with overlapping symptom profiles and is subsequently reconsidered.

Vitamin D plays an important role in calcium homeostasis and bone metabolism, with the capacity to modulate innate and adaptive immune function, cardiovascular function, and proliferation and differentiation of both normal and malignant keratinocytes. 1,25(OH)2D, the biologically active form of vitamin D, exerts most of its functions through the almost universally distributed nuclear vitamin D receptor (VDR). Upon stimulation by 1,25(OH)2D, VDR forms a heterodimer with the retinoid X receptor (RXR). In turn, VDR/RXR binds to DNA sequences termed vitamin D response elements in target genes, regulating gene transcription. In order to exert its biological effects, VDR signalling interacts with other intracellular signalling pathways. In some cases 1,25(OH)2D exerts its biological effects without regulating either gene expression or protein synthesis. Although the regulatory role of vitamin D in many biological processes is well documented, there is not enough evidence to support the therapeutic use of vitamin D supplementation in the prevention or treatment of infectious, immunoinflammatory, or hyperproliferative disorders. In this review we highlight the effects of 1,25(OH)2D on bone and calcium homeostasis, on cancer, and refer to its effects on the cardiovascular and immune systems.

Serotonin plays a diverse role in maternal and mammary metabolism. Recent research in the dairy cow has shown a relationship between serotonin and calcium, with increased serotonin concentrations improving calcium homeostasis in the peri‐partum dairy cow. Therefore, the objective was to elucidate how administration of 5‐hydroxy‐l‐tryptophan (5‐HTP), the immediate precursor to serotonin, altered serotonin and calcium metabolism in lactating dairy cows. Twelve mid‐late lactation multiparous cows were blocked by parity, production and days in milk and allocated to a daily intravenous infusion of (i) 1.5 mg/kg of 5‐HTP (n = 6) or (ii) saline (n = 6) for 3 consecutive days. Milk samples were collected daily. Blood samples were collected before and after each infusion with mammary biopsies and blood samples collected at 48, 56, and 72 h relative to termination of first infusion. Infusion of 5‐HTP increased (p = 0.001) circulating serotonin concentrations and decreased blood calcium via a transient hypocalcemia immediately after each infusion (p = 0.02). Treatment with 5‐HTP increased milk calcium concentrations (p = 0.02) and calcium release‐activated channel protein 1 (ORAI1) mRNA at 56 h and protein at 48 h relative to termination of first infusion (p = 0.008 and p = 0.09, respectively). Fifty‐six hours from termination of the first infusion mRNA of parathyroid hormone‐related protein and mammary serotonin content were increased relative to control (p = 0.03 and p = 0.05, respectively). These findings demonstrate the ability of 5‐HTP infusion to increase circulating serotonin concentrations and alter endocrine and mammary autocrine/paracrine calcium and serotonin metabolism in the lactating dairy cow.

In the last two decades, the use of probiotics for animals has been increasing exponentially. This new approach ranges from livestock, poultry, pets, and aquatic animals and has been applied to the diet of animals as feed additive. It positively affects the animal performance and welfare through the modulation of the gut microbiota which plays a critical role in maintaining host health. The most commonly used probiotic microorganisms in animal feed are those belonging to the lactic acid bacteria group, since they are considered safe by regulatory agencies in this area. Additionally, they are recognized by protecting animals against pathogens, enhancing their immune response, and reducing antibiotics use. Since 2006, the European Union has banished the use of antibiotics as growth promoters in animal production and the employment of probiotics as a natural and safer alternative to reduce their massive use was boosted. This chapter explores the main targets for probiotics’ use in ruminants (cattle, goat, and sheep), poultry, aquatic, and monogastric animals (dogs and cats). The mechanism of action and the current knowledge on the contribution of probiotic lactic acid bacteria to the well-being of the animal intestinal microbiota will also be discussed.

Aflatoxicosis represents one of the serious diseases of poultry, livestock and other animals. The cause of this disease in poultry and other food-producing animals has been attributed to the ingestion of various feeds contaminated with A. flavus. This toxigenic fungus is known to produce a group of extremely toxic metabolites, of which aflatoxin B1 (AFB1) is most potent. Avian species especially chicks, goslings, ducklings and turkey poults are most susceptible to AFB1 toxicity. The toxic effects of AFB1 are mainly localized in liver as manifested by hepatic necrosis, bile duct proliferation, icterus and hemorrhage. Chronic toxicity in those birds is characterized by loss of weight, decline in feed efficiency, drop in egg production and increased susceptibility to infections. The incidence of hepatocellular tumors, particularly in ducklings, is considered to be one of the serious consequences of aflatoxicosis. Even though prevention and avoidance are the best way to control aflatoxicosis, natural contamination of crops with A. flavus is sometimes unavoidable. Such aflatoxin-contaminated feeds can be decontaminated using various methods which mainly focus on physical removal or chemical inactivation of the toxins in the feeds. Moreover, dietary additives such as activated charcoal, phenobarbital, cysteine, glutathione, betacarotene, fisetin and selenium have also been reported to be effective in the reduction of aflatoxicosis in poultry.

In this chapter the significant role played by potassium in livestock and poultry animals was discussed with emphasis on the functions, dietary sources (forages, concentrates, roots and by-products), absorbability, requirements, metabolism, excretion, deficiencies, and its toxicity in animals.

Application and research progress of infrared thermography in temperature measurement of livestock and poultry animals: A review

Psychiatry faces numerous challenges: the reconceptualization of symptoms and diagnoses, disease prevention, treatment development and monitoring of its effects, and the provision of individualized, precision medicine. To confront the complexity and heterogeneity intrinsic to brain disorders, psychiatry needs better biological, quantitative, and theoretical grounding. This chapter seeks to identify the sources of complexity and heterogeneity, which include the interplay between genetic and epigenetic factors with the environment and their impact on neural circuits. Computational approaches provide a framework to address complexity and heterogeneity, which cannot be seen as noise to be eliminated from diagnosis and treatment of disorders. Complexity and heterogeneity arise from intrinsic features of brain function, and thus present opportunities for computational models to provide a more accurate biological foundation for diagnosis and treatment of psychiatric disorders. Challenges to be addressed by a computational framework include: (a) improving the search for risk factors and biomarkers, which can be used toward primary prevention of disease; (b) representing the biological ground truth of psychiatric disorders, which will improve the accuracy of diagnostic categories, assist in discovering new treatments, and aid in precision medicine; (c) representing how risk factors, biomarkers, and the underlying biology change through the course of development, disease progression, and treatment process.

This book represents a complete, up to date discussion of calcium metabolism and its relation to the skeleton in health and disease. The subject matter is carefully organized, well documented by an extensive bibliography, and has a sufficiently complete index to make points of interest readily accessible to the reader. This book, as the author states in the introduction, is primarily intended for the clinician or specialist who is interested in the diagnosis and management of disorders involving calcium metabolism. However, the clinical findings presented are related to a background of old and recent research, so that the reader whose interests are primarily academic may still encounter many points of interest concerning calcium metabolism. This book is divided into 3 sections. The first provides a physiological and biochemical basis for the current concepts of calcium metabolism in relation to bone. The second section is concerned with diseases that alter the

Psychiatry and Values Gregory E. Kaebnick This issue of the Hastings Center Report includes a special report that comes out of a three-year Hastings Center research project on controversies surrounding the diagnosis and treatment of mental disorders in children. Over the last couple of decades, the number of children diagnosed with mental disorders has risen significantly, and so, too, has the number of children prescribed medications. Some critics have accused psychiatry of overdiagnosis—of sometimes diagnosing children with psychiatric disorders when their behavior is actually within the range of normal. This controversy led Erik Parens and Josie Johnston, authors of the report and the Hastings Center investigators in this project, to ask what a psychiatric diagnosis is: what kind of statement is it? Is it just a statement of fact? Or does it necessarily reflect individual and cultural values? Similarly, how does a treatment decision work? These matters are exceedingly complex, Parens and Johnston argue. Both the diagnosis of a disorder and the decision about how to treat a disorder (when one is diagnosed) incorporate value judgments at several junctures. This dependence on value judgments helps explain disagreements in diagnosis and treatment. Of course, both diagnosis and treatment also incorporate facts that everyone can agree to, and ultimately, some factual claims about diagnosis are possible. One of the most significant of these noted in the report is that a careful examination of diagnostic patterns in pediatric psychiatry reveals not just overdiagnosis but also misdiagnosis and underdiagnosis. The special report is part of a growing body of work at the Center that looks at how "normal" is defined and deployed. Parens, for example, has also conducted projects on surgical normalization of children's bodies, on prenatal testing for disability, and on the use of enhancement technologies. The approach toward which Parens has been moving over the course of these projects is characterized by what he sometimes calls "binocularity." That word does not pop up in this report, but the idea certainly does. The values at stake in diagnosis and treatment decisions sometimes compete with each other. Parens and Johnston argue, for example, that a treatment decision can be influenced both by the value of efficiency—it's nice when treatments are quick and convenient—and the value of engagement—for there is value, too, in taking time to work with a child and with his environment. Efficiency and engagement compete with each other on occasion, and when they do, it's important to remember both of them. That's binocularity: keeping competing values in tension with each other, recognizing that both values pull on our allegiance and that while some individuals may lean toward one value, others may in similar circumstances lean toward the other, and neither may be wrong. Which is to say, neither is right. Both are defensible. As I understand it, then, binocularity assumes a distinction between public and private morality (between "cultural and individual values," in Parens and Johnston's language). That distinction is not widely accepted in bioethics, I believe—most discussions try to sort out which value should win out in which kinds of cases—but accepting it might well lead to a richer bioethics. [End Page 2] Copyright © 2011 The Hastings Center

The authors present a review of existing literature along with new data regarding the phenomenology, differential diagnosis, course and treatment of panic disorder and agoraphobia. Panic attacks are viewed as central to the development of these disorders, and individual cognitive frameworks contribute to the manner in which a patient's symptoms evolve. An apparent though unclear relation to depressive states is described. Substance abuse may also be a consequence of recurrent panic attacks. A scheme towards differential diagnosis of panic disorder from other psychiatric and medical disorders is proposed. Personality characteristics of these patients vary considerably, but certain factors, such as dependency, are common. Family relations are often strained and assume importance in treatment. Data on the longitudinal course of illness is presented implying a relationship of panic disorder to both depression and stressful life events in many patients. Treatments that thus far seem most effective are pharmacological and behavioural approaches. Imipramine, MAO inhibitors, and alprazolam currently appear to be the most useful medications employed, although other agents may at times be useful alternatives. Dietary interventions, family therapy, and group and individual psychotherapy are also reviewed and discussed as adjunctive therapies in the treatment of panic disorder.

Back to table of contents Previous article Next article Communications and UpdatesFull AccessResponse to Amen LetterBryon Adinoff, M.D., and Michael D. Devous Sr., PH.D.Bryon AdinoffSearch for more papers by this author, M.D., and Michael D. Devous Sr.Dallas, TexasSearch for more papers by this author, PH.D.Published Online:1 Sep 2010https://doi.org/10.1176/appi.ajp.2010.10050671rAboutSectionsView articleSupplemental MaterialPDF/EPUB ToolsAdd to favoritesDownload CitationsTrack Citations ShareShare onFacebookTwitterLinked InEmail View articleTo the Editor: We appreciate the opportunity to respond to the points Dr. Amen raises. Since we have made major professional and research efforts to investigate the use of imaging modalities for psychiatric diagnosis and treatment, we are acutely aware of the need to assure that any clinical tool, particularly those used in children, must be supported by empirical evidence.As noted in our letter as well as in the book review by Leuchter (1), there is presently no evidence to support neuroimaging techniques to aid, substantiate, or otherwise illuminate the diagnosis or treatment of psychiatric disorders. The references offered by Dr. Amen do not suggest otherwise. Camargo (2) notes that “Brain SPECT in psychiatric disorders is still investigational. Despite considerable research interest in this area, specific patterns of the various diseases have not been definitely recognized.” Although Carmago goes on to state that “perfusional and receptor imaging findings may be used as an additional diagnostic tool to guide clinicians searching for a definite diagnosis,” no validated examples of this approach were provided. Brockman et al. also did not advocate the use of SPECT in clinical practice. In fact, Brockman et al. (3) specifically noted that the use of SPECT in predicting treatment response “is beyond the sensitivity of this method.”Dr. Amen's own publications do not support the use of SPECT imaging in assisting with the diagnosis or treatment of psychiatric disorders. His study of patients with completed suicide includes only 12 subjects (4). His retrospective study of 157 patients showed that regional cerebral blood flow, as measured by SPECT, predicted stimulant response in only 29 of these subjects. While of theoretical interest, these findings do not support the use of SPECT in clinical practice. Dr. Amen's recent book (5) also offers only anecdotal examples of imaging being useful in the treatment or diagnosis of psychiatric disorders.The clinical applications of SPECT imaging in children are even more restricted, with only the assessment of epilepsy generally accepted as a diagnostic indication. Indeed, in 2005, the APA Council on Children, Adolescents, and Their Families concluded the following:“Although knowledge is increasing regarding specific pathways and specific brain areas involved in mental disease states, at present the use of brain imaging to study psychiatric disorders is still considered a research tool. Particular caveats are indicated with regard to brain imaging involving radioactive nucleotides for children and adolescents because of children's known greater sensitivity to radiation and risk of radiation induced-cancer. At the present time, the available evidence does not support the use brain imaging for clinical diagnosis or treatment of psychiatric disorders in children and adolescents.” (6)Dr. Amen states that we have a “notion that SPECT is dangerous.” We stand by our previous statement that the unfounded clinical application of any diagnostic technique, including SPECT imaging, provides several dangers to patients, three of which were outlined in our letter. SPECT brain imaging, when applied based on a solid foundation of empirical evidence, is a powerful diagnostic tool capable of providing clinicians with critically valuable information for patient management (7).Dallas, TexasThe authors' disclosures accompany the original letter.

Sex-specific care of musculoskeletal impairments is an increasingly important topic in women's health. This is clinically relevant and of paramount importance as it pertains to diagnosis and treatment of musculoskeletal and peripheral neurologic disorders of pregnancy and the puerperium. It is estimated that virtually all women experience some degree of musculoskeletal discomfort during pregnancy, and 25% have at least temporarily disabling symptoms. This review provides information on common pregnancy-related musculoskeletal conditions, including a discussion of anatomy and physiology, diagnosis, prognosis, and treatment of these disorders.

Borderline personality disorder