Dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry scans accurately predict differing body fat content in live sheep

Background There is considerable interest in implementing mobile scanning technology for on-farm body composition analysis on live animals. These experiments evaluated the use of dual energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) as an accurate method of total body fat measurement in live sheep. Results In Exp. 1, visceral and whole body fat analysis was undertaken in sheep with body condition scores (BCS) in the range 2 to 3.25 (scale 1: thin to 5: fat). The relationship of BCS was moderately correlated with visceral fat depot mass (r = 0.59, P  0.05, n = 9). There was a moderate correlation between DXA body fat and BCS (r = 0.70, P < 0.01, n = 17), and DXA body fat was highly correlated with chemical body fat (r = 0.81, P < 0.001, n = 9). In Exp. 3, a series of five DXA scans, at 8-week intervals, was performed on growing sheep over a 32-week period. The average BCS ranged from 2.39 ± 0.07 (S.E.M.) to 3.05 ± 0.11 and the DXA body fat (%) ranged from 16.8 ± 0.8 to 24.2 ± 1.2. There was a moderate correlation between DXA body fat and BCS over the 32 weeks (r = 0.61, P < 0.001, n = 24). Conclusions Overall, these experiments indicated that there was good agreement between BCS, DXA and chemical analysis for measuring total body fat in sheep, and that DXA scanning is a valid method for longitudinal measurement of total body fat in live sheep

Which treatment is most effective for patients with Achilles tendinopathy?:A living systematic review with network meta-analysis of 29 randomised controlled trials

Objective: To provide a consistently updated overview of the comparative effectiveness of treatments for Achilles tendinopathy. Design: Living systematic review and network meta-analysis. Data sources: Multiple databases including grey literature sources were searched up to February 2019. Study eligibility criteria: Randomised controlled trials examining the effectiveness of any treatment in patients wit

Protection induced by simultaneous subcutaneous and endobronchial vaccination with BCG/BCG and BCG/adenovirus expressing antigen 85A against Mycobacterium bovis in cattle

The incidence of bovine tuberculosis (bTB) in the GB has been increasing since the 1980s. Immunisation, alongside current control measures, has been proposed as a sustainable measure to control bTB. Immunisation with Mycobacterium bovis bacillus Calmette-Guerin (BCG) has been shown to protect against bTB. Furthermore, much experimental data indicates that pulmonary local immunity is important for protection against respiratory infections including Mycobacterium tuberculosis and that pulmonary immunisation is highly effective. Here, we evaluated protection against M. bovis, the main causative agent of bTB, conferred by BCG delivered subcutaneously, endobronchially or by the new strategy of simultaneous immunisation by both routes. We also tested simultaneous subcutaneous immunisation with BCG and endobronchial delivery of a recombinant type 5 adenovirus expressing mycobacterial antigen 85A. There was significantly reduced visible pathology in animals receiving the simultaneous BCG/BCG or BCG/Ad85 treatment compared to naïve controls. Furthermore, there were significantly fewer advanced microscopic granulomata in animals receiving BCG/Ad85A compared to naive controls. Thus, combining local and systemic immunisation limits the development of pathology, which in turn could decrease bTB transmission

Cosmic Chronometers: Constraining the Equation of State of Dark Energy. I: H(z) Measurements

We present new determinations of the cosmic expansion history from red-envelope galaxies. We have obtained for this purpose high-quality spectra with the Keck-LRIS spectrograph of red-envelope galaxies in 24 galaxy clusters in the redshift range 0.2 < z < 1.0. We complement these Keck spectra with high-quality, publicly available archival spectra from the SPICES and VVDS surveys. We improve over our previous expansion history measurements in Simon et al. (2005) by providing two new determinations of the expansion history: H(z) = 97 +- 62 km/sec/Mpc at z = 0.5 and H(z) = 90 +- 40 km/sec/Mpc at z = 0.8. We discuss the uncertainty in the expansion history determination that arises from uncertainties in the synthetic stellar-population models. We then use these new measurements in concert with cosmic-microwave-background (CMB) measurements to constrain cosmological parameters, with a special emphasis on dark-energy parameters and constraints to the curvature. In particular, we demonstrate the usefulness of direct H(z) measurements by constraining the dark- energy equation of state parameterized by w0 and wa and allowing for arbitrary curvature. Further, we also constrain, using only CMB and H(z) data, the number of relativistic degrees of freedom to be 4 +- 0.5 and their total mass to be < 0.2 eV, both at 1-sigma.Comment: Submitted to JCA

Assessment of health risks of policies

The assessment of health risks of policies is an inevitable, although challenging prerequisite for the inclusion of health considerations in political decision making. The aim of our project was to develop a so far missing methodological guide for the assessment of the complex impact structure of policies. The guide was developed in a consensual way based on experiences gathered during the assessment of specific national policies selected by the partners of an EU project. Methodological considerations were discussed and summarized in workshops and pilot tested on the EU Health Strategy for finalization. The combined tool, which includes a textual guidance and a checklist, follows the top-down approach, that is, it guides the analysis of causal chains from the policy through related health determinants and risk factors to health outcomes. The tool discusses the most important practical issues of assessment by impact level. It emphasises the transparent identification and prioritisation of factors, the consideration of the feasibility of exposure and outcome assessmentwith special focus on quantification. The developed guide provides useful methodological instructions for the comprehensive assessment of health risks of policies that can be effectively used in the health impact assessment of policy proposals.

Measurements of the observed cross sections for e+e−→e^+e^-\to exclusive light hadrons containing π0π0\pi^0\pi^0 at s=3.773\sqrt s= 3.773, 3.650 and 3.6648 GeV

By analyzing the data sets of 17.3, 6.5 and 1.0 pb$^{-1}$ taken, respectively, at $\sqrt s= 3.773$, 3.650 and 3.6648 GeV with the BES-II detector at the BEPC collider, we measure the observed cross sections for $e^+e^-\to \pi^+\pi^-\pi^0\pi^0$, $K^+K^-\pi^0\pi^0$, $2(\pi^+\pi^-\pi^0)$, $K^+K^-\pi^+\pi^-\pi^0\pi^0$ and $3(\pi^+\pi^-)\pi^0\pi^0$ at the three energy points. Based on these cross sections we set the upper limits on the observed cross sections and the branching fractions for $\psi(3770)$ decay into these final states at 90% C.L..Comment: 7 pages, 2 figure