Introduction: Using an animal model, we examined weight gain in rats exposed to olanzapine, as well as whether increased weight was associated with food intake, visceral fat and/or locomotion. Methods: Sprague-Dawley rats were chronically treated with olanzapine while being offered diets including standard chow, a high fat (60% fat) diet, and a high fat/high carbohydrate (42% fat; 42.7% carbohydrate) diet. Body weight, food intake, visceral fat and locomotor activity were measured. Results: Our findings related to weight gain are in line with other reports indicating that while olanzapine-induced weight gain can be observed, it does not mirror what is observed in humans on two levels: (i) it is not of the same magnitude, and (ii) it is more gender specific i.e., females greater than males. Conclusions: These data confirm that chronic treatment with olanzapine has varying effects on weight gain, food intake, visceral fat and locomotor activity.

Objective: The aim of this study is to examine the relationship between vitamin D and calcium intake and obesity in a population of young adolescents who participated in a Vitamin D and Sunlight Exposure study in Pittsburgh, PA. Participants: 252 healthy 6 to 14.9 year old young adolescents (54% male, 69% African American) were recruited between June 2006 and December 2009. Main outcome measures: Weight status, BMI, vitamin D intake, calcium intake, vitamin D and calcium rich food intake. Results: A significant difference by race was observed with 30.1% of African Americans and 8.5% of Caucasians being obese (P<0.01). No difference was found by gender. Median (25%, 75%) vitamin D intake in the total population was 254.9 IU (146.8, 407.3) which is below the level recommended by the Institute of Medicine. Median calcium intake in the total population was 1193.6 mg (752.8, 1161.1) which met recommended guidelines. Median vitamin D intake differed by weight status (normal, overweight, obese) in the total population (259.5 IU, 325.2 IU and 181.9 IU, respectively; P=0.015). A similar pattern was observed for calcium (1193.4 mg, 1416.3 mg and 911.6 mg, respectively; P=0.016). No correlation was found between vitamin D or calcium intake and BMI in the total population or by race and gender. Conclusion: Vitamin D and calcium intake was significantly different based on weight status, particularly in obese and African American subjects. Vitamin D intake in the population was reportedly below recommended guidelines. Further research is necessary to determine the ideal vitamin D and calcium intake in children for optimal health status, including longitudinal studies to better assess the relationship between vitamin D and calcium intake and weight status.

The aim of this experiment was to test whether LIPX-induced decreases in body fat affect appetitive (foraging effort and food hoarding) or consummatory (food intake) ingestive behaviors and whether the effects of LIPX on these behaviors is in turn affected by changes in energy expenditure produced by varying the amount of work required to obtain food. This was accomplished by housing male Siberian hamsters (Phodopus sungorus) in a foraging/hoarding apparatus where food pellets (75 mg) could be earned by completing various wheel running requirements. Requiring a foraging effort (10 revolutions/pellet) abolished the normal compensation of WAT mass by the non-excised WAT pads that typically follows IWATx or EWATx. After foraging, food hoarding was increased more than food intake when hamsters were required to forage for food (10 revolutions/pellet). The magnitude of the LIPX-induced lipid deficit (IWATx > EWATx) did not correspond to a proportional change in either appetitive or consummatory ingestive behaviors.

Dietary energy is the largest single cost in pork production. Accurate and current understanding of energy metabolism is crucial to production efficiency. The overall objective of this thesis was to evaluate the effects of dietary energy concentration and energy intake on growth, nutrient deposition rates and energy utilization in weaned pigs. In experiment 1, the optimum total lysine:DE ratio for weaned pigs was estimated at 4.27 and 4.46 g/Mcal for pigs growing from 7.5 to 12.8 kg and 7.5 to 22.5 kg BW, respectively. Experiment 2 determined if a more predictable growth, nutrient deposition and energy utilization in the weaned pig is achieved with NE or with DE. ADG either remained similar or was depressed with increased NE compared to the control (P < 0.05). Empty body protein content and deposition (PD) declined relative to the control (P < 0.05) and lipid content and deposition (LD) tended to increase (P < 0.10). Body composition and nutrient deposition rates were more correlated with determined NE concentration and intake compared with DE. The results of Experiment 3 indicated that amino acid intake impaired the growth of pigs when an energy intake restriction greater than 30% occurred. Experiment 4 investigated the interaction of dietary NE concentration and feeding levels (FL) on body weight gain, tissue (protein, lipid, ash, water) accretion rates and ratios. Growth performance was not affected by NE (P > 0.05) but increased with feeding level (P < 0.001). Energy intake increased with NE and FL (P < 0.001), but the efficiency of energy utilization for growth declined (P < 0.05). Empty body protein content declined (P < 0.05) while lipid content increased with NE (interaction, P < 0.05). Empty body PD was not affected by NE (P > 0.05) but both LD and LD:PD ratio increased (interaction, P < 0.001). These data suggest that when amino acid:energy ratio is optimal, increasing dietary energy concentration increased energy intake but does not improve PD and overall body weight gain of weaned pigs. However, body lipid content and LD were increased. Finally, NE offers an advantage over the DE in predicting the body composition and nutrient deposition rates rather than in overall BW gain.

Clients experiences in attempting to access counselling help have rarely been studied. As such, a full and clear understanding of clients experiences with accessing services, as well as identification of the barriers encountered by clients and clients ideas about what would make accessing more comfortable, have eluded researchers. Typically, the research focus has been quantitative investigations of the no-show phenomenon, whereby clients fail to arrive at pre-booked counselling appointments. Such studies have left 24% of the variance in the unexplained "other" category. More recently, researchers have begun to question whether or not mental health stigma impacts counselling attendance. The present study sought to describe the experience of individuals who self identified as having booked a counselling appointment within the previous 8-months and then had failed to attend. A basic interpretive qualitative research design (Merriam, 2002) was employed for the purpose of describing and understanding this phenomenon, with special emphasis given to identifying possible barriers to accessing counselling. Interviews with four middle class Caucasian adults aged 27-33; two of whom had accessed counselling previously and two of whom had not, were conducted. Transcripts were analyzed in terms of a shared meaning and descriptive categories (Kearney, 2001). Findings revealed that stigma, self-stigma, several fears, and some counselling practices functioned as barriers. However, participants also expressed positive emotions associated with reaching out and accessing counselling help and a desire for information about what to expect in counselling, whether they had accessed previously or not. The beginnings of a pattern associated with accessing counselling are discussed and implications for counselling practice and future research are described.

This study was undertaken to compare the effects of changing energy intake, either by restricting feed intake or by altering dietary energy concentration, on the growth performance of pigs. The relative abilities of the DE, ME and NE systems to predict pig growth performance were also evaluated. A total of 72 barrows, having initial body-weights of 30 ± 2 kg, were randomly assigned to one of nine dietary treatments. These treatments were organized in a 3 x 3 factorial arrangement consisting of three dietary energy concentrations (2.18, 2.29 and 2.40 Mcal NE/kg) and three levels of feed allowance (80, 90 and 100% of ad libitum). Actual feed allowances of 79, 91 and 100% of ad libitum were achieved. No interactive effects of feeding level and dietary energy concentration were observed (P > 0.10). Increases in feed allowance from 79 to 91 to 100% of ad libitum resulted in increases in daily intakes of feed (P < 0.0001) and energy (P < 0.0001). Improvements in the rate (P < 0.0001) and efficiency (P < 0.0001) of body-weight gain were also noted. Additionally, feeding level affected the amount of energy available for body-weight gain on a daily (P < 0.0001) but not on a total (P > 0.10) basis. The efficiency with which dietary energy was used for weight gain was unaffected by feeding level (P > 0.10). Increases in dietary energy concentration were accompanied by decreases in daily feed intakes (P = 0.0016); however, dietary energy concentration did not affect daily energy intakes (P > 0.10). Neither average daily gains nor feed conversion efficiencies were affected by changes in dietary energy concentration (P > 0.10). Additionally, there were no differences among energy concentration treatments in terms of the amount of dietary energy available for body-weight gain (P > 0.10) or the efficiency with which it was used (P > 0.10). No differences were observed between the DE, ME and NE systems in terms of their abilities to predict the growth performance of pigs. The present study demonstrates that the energy intake of pigs can be effectively manipulated via adjustments in feeding level and that changes in dietary energy density, over the range studied here, are unable to affect changes in energy intake. This finding indicates that extreme caution should be used when extrapolating data obtained from studies in which feed allowance was manipulated to scenarios (e.g. commercial practice) in which energy density is to be altered, and vice versa.

Syfte: Syftet med denna litteraturstudie var att beskriva hur måltidsmiljön på särskilt boende inverkar på de äldres födointag och att beskriva de i studien ingående artiklarnas kvalité. Metod: En deskriptiv litteraturstudie genomfördes. Kvantitativa och kvalitativa vetenskapliga artiklar söktes i databaserna Medline (PubMed) och CINAHL. Tolv artiklar inkluderades i studien efter kvalitetsgranskning. Huvudresultat: Det finns många faktorer som kan påverka ätandet hos äldre människor. Det framgick att sinnesintryck i samband med måltidsmiljön var betydelsefull för aptiten hos äldre personer. Generellt visade resultatet att en trevligt inredd måltidsmiljö hade en god inverkan på de äldres aptit samt födointag. Att inreda matsalen med stark röd och blå färg på matservisen var något som ökade födo- och vätskeintaget hos äldre personer med demens. Ytterligare något som visade sig ha en god och positiv effekt på de äldres födointag var när olika musikstilar spelades under måltiden samt när olika dofter användes, vid doft ökade även hungerkänslorna hos de äldre. Slutsats: Mer forskning behövs inom detta område. Med små kostnader och enkla medel kan födointaget förbättras hos äldre människor och därmed minimera riskerna för komplikationer och lidande som de äldre kan drabbas av samt minska vårdkostnaden för samhället. / Aim: The purpose of this literature study was to describe how meal environment in different nursing home affecting the older people´s food intake and to describe the study´s articles quality. Method: A descriptive literature review was conducted. Quantitative and qualitative scientific articles were searched in the databases Medline (PubMed) and CINAHL. Twelve articles were included in the study after a quality review. Main results: There are many factors that can affect eating in elderly people. Visual impression in relation to meal environment was important for the appetite in elderly people. It also showed that a nicely decorated meal environment had a good impact on older people´s appetite and food intake. Decorating the dining room with strong red and blue color of the tableware increased food- and fluid intake in people with dementia. When different styles of music was played during the meal and using different odors also increased the food intake and hunger emotions. Conclusion: More research needs in this area. With little cost and simple means the food intake can improve in the elderly people and that minimize the risk for complications and suffering the elderly may be affected of and reduce the healthcare costs for the society.

This study was conducted to determine the effect of forage CP level on intake and digestion of Coastal bermudagrass hay by horses. Four cecally fistulated geldings were used in a 4 x 4 Latin square design with four treatments and four periods. Horses were fed one of four Coastal bermudagrass hays consisting of 7, 10, 13, or 16% CP during each of the 4 15-d periods. Intake and apparent digestibility were determined for each horse at the end of each period by total fecal collection. In addition, cecal fluid and blood samples were collected from each horse on the last day of each period for determination of cecal ammonia, cecal pH, plasma urea nitrogen, and plasma glucose concentrations. Crude protein concentration of Coastal bermudagrass hay influenced equine intake and digestion. Increasing CP concentration linearly increased digestible OM intake (DOMI) from 3.79 to 5.98 kg/d for 7 and 16% CP hay, respectively (P = 0.04). Furthermore, as forage CP level increased, CP intake increased linearly (P < 0.01). Forage CP level had no effect on forage DM intake. Quadratic effects (P less than or equal to 0.05) were observed for forage OM, NDF, ADF, and digestible energy. Overall digestibility was lowest for the 7% CP hay and highest for the 10% CP hay. Cecal pH remained above 6.62 irrespective of treatment and time, indicating that cecal pH was suitable for microbial growth. As forage CP level increased, cecal ammonia concentration increased linearly from 0.03 mM for the 7% to 1.74 mM for the 15% CP hay (P < 0.01). Concentration of plasma glucose also linearly increased (P = 0.04) from 68.77 to 73.68 mg/dL as CP concentration increased from 7% to 16% CP. Plasma urea nitrogen exhibited a quadratic effect as concentration increased (P < 0.01) from 4.34 to 5.61 mM for the 7 and 16% CP hays, respectively.

Objectives of this study were to determine if variation in energy expenditures contributed to differences in feed efficiency between low and high RFI steers. Nine steers with the lowest and highest residual feed intakes (RFI) were selected from 169 Braunvieh-sired crossbred steers that were individually fed a pelleted roughage-based diet for 77 d. Following the RFI measurement period, heat production (HP) measurements were obtained using indirect calorimetry while steers were fed the same roughage diet (RD) and on a high-concentrate diet (CD). Linear regression analyses of log HP or retained energy on ME intake were used to determine energy partitioning. Motion and lying activity were measured concurrently with HP on the RD and CD. During the RFI measurement period, low RFI steers had lower (P < 0.01) RFI (-1.7 vs. 1.6 ± 0.17 kg/d), DMI (7.7 vs. 10.2 ± 0.42 kg/d) and feed:gain ratio (F:G; 7.2 vs. 10.6 ± 0.60), but similar final BW and ADG compared to high RFI steers. However, there were smaller differences in DMI (8.4 vs. 9.7 ± 0.38 kg/d; P < 0.05; 7.56 vs. 8.16 ± 0.31; P = 0.19) and F:G (10.0 vs. 10.9 ± 0.40; P = 0.36; 6.5 vs. 7.5 ± 0.30; P < 0.05) between low and high RFI steers, on the RD and CD, respectively. ME for maintenance (MEm; kg .75 d–1) and the partial efficiencies of ME used for maintenance and gain were similar for low and high RFI steers. Likewise, no differences were found in fasting HP or fed HP. Motion activity was lower (P < 0.05) for low RFI steers compared to high RFI steers during fasting HP. Covariate analysis of HP at the same activity level yielded similar results. At slaughter, weights of lung and trachea (P < 0.05), spleen (P < 0.05) and adrenal gland (P = 0.07) were higher for low RFI cattle. The lack of differences in energy partitioning between divergent RFI steers may have been the result of alterations in feeding behavior or stress imposed by adapting steers to calorimetry chambers.

The objective of these studies was to develop near-infrared reflectance spectroscopy calibration equations from diet-fecal pair datasets to predict the diet quality and intake of donkeys. One hundred-forty diet-fecal pair samples were generated from two independent in vivo feeding trials conducted in the United States (N = 100) and Africa (N = 40). At each site, ten female donkeys were fed mixed diets blended from 25 forage and crop residues. The modified partial least square model (MPLS) was used to develop calibration equations for crude protein (CP), digestible organic matter (DOM), dry matter digestibility (DDM) and organic matter digestibility (OMD), for the US, Africa and US/Africa combined datasets, and dry matter (DM) and organic matter (OM) intake calibrations from the US datasets. Crude protein (CP) equations were developed with standard error of calibration (SEC) < 1.0 and coefficient of determination (R2) > 0.90, (SEL = 0.5). The US, US/Africa and Africa CP equations had SEC value of 0.77, 0.97 and 0.88 with corresponding R2 of 0.97, 0.95 and 0.88, respectively. Validation of the US CP equation resulted in a standard error of prediction (SEP) of 1.79 with corresponding coefficient of correlation (r2) of 0.82 and slope of 0.84 indicating high accuracy of prediction. In vivo derived DOM equations were also developed for the US, Africa and US/Africa datasets with SEC values of 2.58, 4.91 and 3.52, and R2 of 0.60, 0.81 and 0.84, respectively. In addition, the SEC and R2 values were 3.25 and 0.72 for US OMD, 3.28 and 0.79 for US DDM, and 4.2 and 0.85 for US/Africa OMD, and 4.3 and 0.87 for US/Africa DDM equation, respectively. Calibration equations for predicting DMI and OMI have resulted in SEC values of 3.45 and 3.21 (g/kgw0.75) and R2 values of 0.89 and 0.84, respectively. The present study explored the relationship between DMI and diet quality attributes. Crude protein and digestible organic matter to crude protein ration (DOM/CP) with r2 values of 0.60 and 0.39, respectively, have shown good correlations with intake. The present studies have confirmed the potential for the fecal NIRS profiling for predicting CP, DOM, DDM, OMD, DMI and OMI of donkeys. Both calibration and validation results have indicated that the present donkey equations were comparable to previously developed equations for ruminants; they have the capability for accurate prediction of diet quality and intake, and can be a useful tool for monitoring the nutritional well-being of donkeys with acceptable accuracy. Research works to further expand the present calibration equations with additional diet-fecal samples particularly from Africa that did not meet the required accuracy level is recommended.