Environmental and genetic factors affecting udder characters and milk production in Chios sheep

International audienc

The effect of milking frequency on the milk production of Chios ewes and Damascus goats

International audienc

Quality of life and psychological consequences in elderly patients after a hip fracture: a review

Konstantinos I Alexiou,1 Andreas Roushias,2 Sokratis E Varitimidis,1 Konstantinos N Malizos1 1Department of Orthopaedic Surgery and Musculoskeletal Trauma, Medical School, University of Thessaly, Larissa, Greece; 2Orthopaedic Department, Apollonion Private Hospital, Nicosia, Cyprus Abstract: Fractures due to fragility of the bone around the hip joint have become a major public health issue, presenting with an increasing incidence due to the growth of the elderly population. The purpose of this review was to evaluate the impact of hip fractures on the quality of life (QoL), health status (HS), functioning, and psychological parameters, and factors influencing the outcome and the appropriate interventions for improvement of elderly patients. A systematic electronic search of the relevant literature was carried out using the CINAHL, Cochrane, EMBASE, Medline (OvidSP), and PubMed databases spanning the time period from their establishment up to January 2017. Forty-nine randomized controlled trials or prospective cohort studies reporting the QoL and psychological outcomes were assessed by using standardized questionnaires. Patients with a hip fracture who were older than 65 years, were included in the analysis. In the majority of elderly patients, the hip fracture seriously affected physical and mental functioning and exerted a severe impact on their HS and health-related QoL (HRQoL). Moreover, most of the patients did not return to prefracture levels of performance regarding both the parameters. The levels of mental, physical, and nutritional status, prior to the fracture, comorbidity, and female gender, in addition to the postoperative pain, complications, and the length of hospital stay, were the factors associated with the outcome. Psychosocial factors and symptoms of depression could increase pain severity and emotional distress. For the displaced femoral neck fractures, the treatment with total hip arthroplasty or hemiarthroplasty, when compared to the treatment with internal fixation, provided a better functional outcome. Supportive rehabilitation programs, complemented by psychotherapy and nutritional supplementation prior to and after surgery, provided beneficial effects on the HS and the psychosocial dimension of the more debilitated patients’ lives. Lack of consensus ­concerning the most appropriate HRQoL questionnaires to screen and identify those patients with more difficulties in the psychosocial functions, demonstrates the necessity for further research to assess the newer outcome measurement tools, which might improve our understanding for better care of patients with hip fractures. Keywords: hip fractures, quality of life, psychological outcomes, elderly, health statu

Quality of life and psychological consequences in elderly patients after a hip fracture: A review

Fractures due to fragility of the bone around the hip joint have become a major public health issue, presenting with an increasing incidence due to the growth of the elderly population. The purpose of this review was to evaluate the impact of hip fractures on the quality of life (QoL), health status (HS), functioning, and psychological parameters, and factors influencing the outcome and the appropriate interventions for improvement of elderly patients. A systematic electronic search of the relevant literature was carried out using the CINAHL, Cochrane, EMBASE, Medline (OvidSP), and PubMed databases spanning the time period from their establishment up to January 2017. Forty-nine randomized controlled trials or prospective cohort studies reporting the QoL and psychological outcomes were assessed by using standardized questionnaires. Patients with a hip fracture who were older than 65 years, were included in the analysis. In the majority of elderly patients, the hip fracture seriously affected physical and mental functioning and exerted a severe impact on their HS and health-related QoL (HRQoL). Moreover, most of the patients did not return to prefracture levels of performance regarding both the parameters. The levels of mental, physical, and nutritional status, prior to the fracture, comorbidity, and female gender, in addition to the postoperative pain, complications, and the length of hospital stay, were the factors associated with the outcome. Psychosocial factors and symptoms of depression could increase pain severity and emotional distress. For the displaced femoral neck fractures, the treatment with total hip arthroplasty or hemiarthroplasty, when compared to the treatment with internal fixation, provided a better functional outcome. Supportive rehabilitation programs, complemented by psychotherapy and nutritional supplementation prior to and after surgery, provided beneficial effects on the HS and the psychosocial dimension of the more debilitated patients’ lives. Lack of consensus concerning the most appropriate HRQoL questionnaires to screen and identify those patients with more difficulties in the psychosocial functions, demonstrates the necessity for further research to assess the newer outcome measurement tools, which might improve our understanding for better care of patients with hip fractures. © 2018 Alexiou et al

Environmental and genetic effects on udder characteristics and milk production in Damascus goats

A total of 829 records collected at three experimental farms (ARI, Athalassa and Orites) from 1979 to 1982 was studied for environmental and genetic influences on udder characteristics and milk production in Damascus goats. All udder traits were recorded following weaning (70 ± 3 days) concurrently with the first milk recording (7± 3 days after weaning). Most traits were significantly rekated to flock except milking ease, test-day milk and 90-day milk yield. Year effects were small (P>0.05) for udder depth, udder floor, udder quality, milking ease and total milk yield. Season significantly affected udder depth and total milk production. Lactation number had a significant effect on all traits except udder floor, udder quality and milking ease. Udder floor was significantly related to milk production, while udder quality and milking ease had no effect. Most heritability estimates, except for udder quality (0.03 ± 0.09), were moderate to high. Test-day milk yield (0.31 ± 0.11) and udder floor (0.22 ± 0.11) had moderately low heritability estimates, while teat length and diameter were highly heritable (from 0.55 ± 0.13 to 0.77 ± 0.14). Heritability estimates for 90-day and total milk production were 0.52 ± 0.13 and 0.46 ± 0.12, respectively. Udder circumference and udder depth (traits that describe the volume of the udder) were moderately heritable. Genetic association of udder circumference before milking with milk production was moderately high. Phenotypic correlation among the above traits was positive and also moderately high