We previously found that guar gum (GG) and chickpea flour (CPF) added to flatbread wheat flour lowered postprandial blood glucose (PPG) and insulin responses dose dependently. However, rates of glucose influx cannot be determined from PPG, which integrates rates of influx, tissue disposal and hepatic glucose production. The objective was to quantify rates of glucose influx and related fluxes as contributors to changes in PPG with GG and CPF additions to wheat-based flatbreads. In a randomised cross-over design, twelve healthy males consumed each of three different 13C-enriched meals: control flatbreads (C), or C incorporating 15 % CPF with either 2 % (GG2) or 4 % (GG4) GG. A dual isotope technique was used to determine the time to reach 50 % absorption of exogenous glucose (T50 %abs, primary objective), rate of appearance of exogenous glucose (RaE), rate of appearance of total glucose (RaT), endogenous glucose production (EGP) and rate of disappearance of total glucose (RdT). Additional exploratory outcomes included PPG, insulin, glucose-dependent insulinotropic peptide and glucagon-like peptide 1, which were additionally measured over 4 h. Compared with C, GG2 and GG4 had no significant effect on T50 %abs. However, GG4 significantly reduced 4-h AUC values for RaE, RaT, RdT and EGP, by 11, 14, 14 and 64 %, respectively, whereas GG2 showed minor effects. Effect sizes over 2 and 4 h were similar except for significantly greater reduction in EGP for GG4 at 2 h. In conclusion, a soluble fibre mix added to flatbreads only slightly reduced rates of glucose influx, but more substantially affected rates of postprandial disposal and hepatic glucose production.

In this paper we present a first supercloseness analysis for higher-order Galerkin FEM applied to a singularly perturbed convection-diffusion problem. Using a solution decomposition and a special representation of our finite element space, we are able to prove a supercloseness property of p + 1/4 in the energy norm where the polynomial order p ≥ 3 is odd.

Because plants significantly affect radionuclides (RN) cycling and further dispersion into the biosphere, it is important to understand the biological factors influencing RN plant uptake, accumulation and redistribution. In this respect, mycorrhizal fungi are of particular interest. The effects of ecto-mycorrhizal (ECM) and arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi on the transport of uranium (U) or radiocaesium (Cs) were investigated both under pot and in vitro culture conditions. Results obtained in vitro demonstrated that AM hyphae can take up and translocate U and Cs towards roots, while this uptake and translocation were not perceptible using pot culture systems with soil. These contrasting results could be due to different experimental conditions, including the K level in the external solution and the bio-availability of Cs. The in vitro studies also indicated that root colonisation by AM fungi might limit U and Cs root transport. Under pot culture conditions, they appeared to significantly reduce root to shoot translocation of U. Under the same conditions, ECM transport of Cs was demonstrated, and appeared to be dependent on fungal species. A better estimation of the potential use of mycorrhizal fungi for the phytoremediation of RN-contaminated areas is now available and will be further discussed.

A new phenomenon, found only in Gilles de la Tourette (GTS) patients, and which we have called ‘mental play’, is described. It was compared with the phenomenon of counting, which occurred in both GTS and obsessive-compulsive patients. In the GTS patients both mental play and counting were best characterised as playful impulsions. In contrast to the GTS patients, the counting of the obsessive-compulsive patients was in line with their obsessive-compulsive behaviour. These findings suggest that repetitive symptoms in GTS patients, even when they share superficial similarities with obsessive-compulsive symptoms, should not be diagnosed automatically as obsessive-compulsive.