Microbial composition and omasal flows of bacterial, protozoal, and nonmicrobial amino acids in lactating dairy cows fed fresh perennial ryegrass (Lolium perenne L.) not supplemented or supplemented with rolled barley

peer-reviewedThe objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of rolled barley supplementation on microbial composition and omasal flows of bacterial, protozoal, and nonmicrobial AA in cows fed fresh perennial ryegrass (Lolium perenne L.; PRG). Ten ruminally cannulated multiparous Holstein cows averaging (mean ± standard deviation) 49 ± 23 d in milk and 513 ± 36 kg of body weight were assigned to 1 of 2 treatments in a switchback design. The treatment diets were PRG only or PRG plus 3.5 kg of dry matter rolled barley (G+RB). The study consisted of three 29-d periods where each period consisted of 21 d of diet adaptation and 8 d of data and sample collection. A double-marker system was used to quantify nutrient flow entering the omasal canal along with 15N-ammonium sulfate to label and measure the microbial and nonmicrobial omasal flow of AA. Overall, rolled barley supplementation had no effect on the AA composition of the omasal liquid-associated and particle-associated bacteria. Rolled barley supplementation affected the AA concentrations of omasal protozoa; however, the differences were nutritionally minor. Particle-associated bacteria AA flow was increased for all AA, except for Trp and Pro, in cows fed the G+RB diet. Rolled barley supplementation had no effect on protozoal AA flow. On average, protozoa accounted for 23% of the microbial essential AA flow, which ranged from 17 to 28% for Trp and Lys, respectively. The flow of all AA in omasal true digesta increased in cows fed the G+RB diet compared with the PRG-only diet, resulting in a 228 g/d increase in total AA flow in cows fed the G+RB diet. This increase in total AA flow in cows fed the G+RB diet was due to an increase in microbial AA flow. Rolled barley supplementation had no effect on nonmicrobial AA flow. The nonmicrobial AA flow modestly contributed to total AA flow, accounting for 15.6% on average. These results indicated that extensive ruminal degradation of PRG AA occurred (83.5%), and we demonstrated that cows consuming PRG-based diets exhibit a large dependence on microbial AA to support metabolizable AA supply. Rolled barley supplementation can increase the omasal flow of microbial AA in cows consuming PRG-based diets. However, further research is required to elucidate if this increased AA supply can support higher milk yield under such dietary conditions

Rapid assessment of visual impairment (RAVI) in marine fishing communities in South India - study protocol and main findings

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Reliable data are a pre-requisite for planning eye care services. Though conventional cross sectional studies provide reliable information, they are resource intensive. A novel rapid assessment method was used to investigate the prevalence and causes of visual impairment and presbyopia in subjects aged 40 years and older. This paper describes the detailed methodology and study procedures of Rapid Assessment of Visual Impairment (RAVI) project.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>A population-based cross-sectional study was conducted using cluster random sampling in the coastal region of Prakasam district of Andhra Pradesh in India, predominantly inhabited by fishing communities. Unaided, aided and pinhole visual acuity (VA) was assessed using a Snellen chart at a distance of 6 meters. The VA was re-assessed using a pinhole, if VA was < 6/12 in either eye. Near vision was assessed using N notation chart binocularly. Visual impairment was defined as presenting VA < 6/18 in the better eye. Presbyopia is defined as binocular near vision worse than N8 in subjects with binocular distance VA of 6/18 or better.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The data collection was completed in <12 weeks using two teams each consisting of one paramedical ophthalmic personnel and two community eye health workers. The prevalence of visual impairment was 30% (95% CI, 27.6-32.2). This included 111 (7.1%; 95% CI, 5.8-8.4) individuals with blindness. Cataract was the leading cause of visual impairment followed by uncorrected refractive errors. The prevalence of blindness according to WHO definition (presenting VA < 3/60 in the better eye) was 2.7% (95% CI, 1.9-3.5).</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>There is a high prevalence of visual impairment in marine fishing communities in Prakasam district in India. The data from this rapid assessment survey can now be used as a baseline to start eye care services in this region. The rapid assessment methodology (RAVI) reported in this paper is robust, quick and has the potential to be replicated in other areas.</p

Rumen metabolism, omasal flow of nutrients, and microbial dynamics in lactating dairy cows fed fresh perennial ryegrass (Lolium perenne L.) not supplemented or supplemented with rolled barley grain

peer-reviewedThe objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of rolled barley grain (RB) supplementation on rumen metabolism, omasal flow of nutrients, and microbial dynamics in lactating dairy cows fed fresh perennial ryegrass (Lolium perenne L.; PRG)-based diets. Ten ruminally cannulated Holstein cows averaging (mean ± standard deviation) 49 ± 23 d in milk and 513 ± 36 kg of body weight were assigned to 1 of 2 treatments in a switchback design. The treatment diets were PRG only (G) or PRG plus 3.5 kg of dry matter RB (G+RB). The study consisted of three 29-d periods where each period consisted of 21 d of diet adaptation and 8 d of data and sample collection. A double marker system was used to quantify nutrient flow entering the omasal canal along with labeled 15N-ammonium sulfate to measure bacterial, protozoal, and nonmicrobial N flow. Rumen evacuation techniques were used to determine nutrient and microbial pool size, allowing the calculation of fractional rates of digestion and microbial growth. There was no difference in daily milk yield or energy-corrected milk yield between treatments. Milk fat concentration and milk urea N decreased, whereas milk protein concentration increased in cows fed the G+RB diet. During the omasal sampling phase, dry matter intake was higher in cows fed the G+RB diet. Ruminal and total-tract neutral detergent fiber digestibility was lower in G+RB cows; however, no difference was observed in reticulorumen pH. The rumen pool size of fermentable carbohydrate was increased in cows fed the G+RB diet; however, the fractional rate of digestion was decreased. Flow of nonammonia N and bacterial N at the omasal canal increased in cows fed the G+RB diet compared with the G diet. Protozoa N flow was not different between diets; however, protozoa appeared to supply a much larger amount of microbial N and exhibited shorter generation time than previously considered. Feed N ruminal digestibility, corrected for microbial contribution, was similar for both treatments (88.4 and 89.0% for G and G+RB, respectively). In conclusion, RB supplementation did not benefit overall animal performance; however, it reduced ruminal neutral detergent fiber digestibility and increased bacterial N flow. The results demonstrate the large dependence of cows consuming PRG-based diets on microbial N as the main source of nonammonia N supply. Additional quantitative research is required to further describe the supply of nutrients and microbial dynamics in cows consuming PRG-based diets in an effort to determine most limiting nutrients

Work-Unit Absenteeism: Effects of Satisfaction, Commitment, Labor Market Conditions, and Time

Prior research is limited in explaining absenteeism at the unit level and over time. We developed and tested a model of unit-level absenteeism using five waves of data collected over six years from 115 work units in a large state agency. Unit-level job satisfaction, organizational commitment, and local unemployment were modeled as time-varying predictors of absenteeism. Shared satisfaction and commitment interacted in predicting absenteeism but were not related to the rate of change in absenteeism over time. Unit-level satisfaction and commitment were more strongly related to absenteeism when units were located in areas with plentiful job alternatives

Investigating hyper-vigilance for social threat of lonely children

The hypothesis that lonely children show hypervigilance for social threat was examined in a series of three studies that employed different methods including advanced eye-tracking technology. Hypervigilance for social threat was operationalized as hostility to ambiguously motivated social exclusion in a variation of the hostile attribution paradigm (Study 1), scores on the Children’s Rejection-Sensitivity Questionnaire (Study 2), and visual attention to socially rejecting stimuli (Study 3). The participants were 185 children (11 years-7 months to 12 years-6 months), 248 children (9 years-4 months to 11 years-8 months) and 140 children (8 years-10 months to 12 years-10 months) in the three studies, respectively. Regression analyses showed that, with depressive symptoms covaried, there were quadratic relations between loneliness and these different measures of hypervigilance to social threat. As hypothesized, only children in the upper range of loneliness demonstrated elevated hostility to ambiguously motivated social exclusion, higher scores on the rejection sensitivity questionnaire, and disengagement difficulties when viewing socially rejecting stimuli. We found that very lonely children are hypersensitive to social threat

Bone metastases from renal cell carcinoma: patient survival after surgical treatment

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Surgery is the primary treatment of skeletal metastases from renal cell carcinoma, because radiation and chemotherapy frequently are not effecting the survival. We therefore explored factors potentially affecting the survival of patients after surgical treatment.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>We retrospectively reviewed 101 patients operatively treated for skeletal metastases of renal cell carcinoma between 1980 and 2005. Overall survival was calculated using the Kaplan-Meier method. The effects of different variables were evaluated using a log-rank test.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>27 patients had a solitary bone metastasis, 20 patients multiple bone metastases and 54 patients had concomitant visceral metastases. The overall survival was 58% at 1 year, 37% at 2 years and 12% at 5 years. Patients with solitary bone metastases had a better survival (p < 0.001) compared to patients with multiple metastases. Age younger than 65 years (p = 0.036), absence of pathologic fractures (p < 0.001) and tumor-free resection margins (p = 0.028) predicted higher survival. Gender, location of metastases, time between diagnosis of renal cell carcinoma and treatment of metastatic disease, incidence of local recurrence, radiation and chemotherapy did not influence survival.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>The data suggest that patients with a solitary metastasis or a limited number of resectable metastases are candidates for wide resections. As radiation and chemotherapy are ineffective in most patients, surgery is a better option to achieve local tumor control and increase the survival.</p

Long-term reductions in tinnitus severity

BACKGROUND: This study was undertaken to assess long-term changes in tinnitus severity exhibited by patients who completed a comprehensive tinnitus management program; to identify factors that contributed to changes in tinnitus severity within this population; to contribute to the development and refinement of effective assessment and management procedures for tinnitus. METHODS: Detailed questionnaires were mailed to 300 consecutive patients prior to their initial appointment at the Oregon Health & Science University Tinnitus Clinic. All patients were then evaluated and treated within a comprehensive tinnitus management program. Follow-up questionnaires were mailed to the same 300 patients 6 to 36 months after their initial tinnitus clinic appointment. RESULTS: One hundred ninety patients (133 males, 57 females; mean age 57 years) returned follow-up questionnaires 6 to 36 months (mean = 22 months) after their initial tinnitus clinic appointment. This group of patients exhibited significant long-term reductions in self-rated tinnitus loudness, Tinnitus Severity Index scores, tinnitus-related anxiety and prevalence of current depression. Patients who improved their sleep patterns or Beck Depression Inventory scores exhibited greater reductions of tinnitus severity scores than patients who continued to experience insomnia and depression at follow-up. CONCLUSIONS: Individualized tinnitus management programs that were designed for each patient contributed to overall reductions in tinnitus severity exhibited on follow-up questionnaires. Identification and treatment of patients experiencing anxiety, insomnia or depression are vital components of an effective tinnitus management program. Utilization of acoustic therapy also contributed to improvements exhibited by these patients

COVID-19-related consultation-liaison (CL) mental health services in general hospitals: A perspective from Europe and beyond

Objective: The COVID-19 pandemic posed new challenges for integrated health care worldwide. Our study aimed to describe newly implemented structures and procedures of psychosocial consultation and liaison (CL) services in Europe and beyond, and to highlight emerging needs for co-operation. Methods: Cross-sectional online survey from June to October 2021, using a self-developed 25-item questionnaire in four language versions (English, French, Italian, German). Dissemination was via national professional societies, working groups, and heads of CL services. Results: Of the participating 259 CL services from Europe, Iran, and parts of Canada, 222 reported COVID-19 related psychosocial care (COVID-psyCare) in their hospital. Among these, 86.5% indicated that specific COVID-psyCare co-operation structures had been established. 50.8% provided specific COVID-psyCare for patients, 38.2% for relatives, and 77.0% for staff. Over half of the time resources were invested for patients. About a quarter of the time was used for staff, and these interventions, typically associated with the liaison function of CL services, were reported as most useful. Concerning emerging needs, 58.1% of the CL services providing COVID-psyCare expressed wishes for mutual information exchange and support, and 64.0% suggested specific changes or improvements that they considered essential for the future. Conclusion: Over 80% of participating CL services established specific structures to provide COVID-psyCare for patients, their relatives, or staff. Mostly, resources were committed to patient care and specific interventions were largely implemented for staff support. Future development of COVID-psyCare warrants intensified intra- and inter-institutional exchange and co-operation

Multipliers of Dirichlet series and monomial series expansions of holomorphic functions in infinitely many variables

[EN] Let H-infinity be the set of all ordinary Dirichlet series D = Sigma(n) a(n)(n-1) ann-s representing bounded holomorphic functions on the right half plane. A completely multiplicative sequence (b(n)) of complex numbers is said to be an l(1)-multiplier for H-infinity whenever Sigma(n vertical bar)a(n)b(n vertical bar) < infinity for every D is an element of H-infinity. We study the problem of describing such sequences (b(n)) in terms of the asymptotic decay of the subsequence (b(pj)), where p(j) denotes the j th prime number. Given a completely multiplicative sequence b = (b(n)) we prove (among other results): b is an l(1)-multiplier for H-infinity provided vertical bar b(pj)vertical bar < 1 for all j and (lim(n)) over bar 1/log(n) Sigma(n)(j=1) b(p j)*(2) < 1, and conversely, if b is an l(1)-multiplier for H-infinity, then vertical bar b(pj)vertical bar < 1 for all j and (lim(n)) over bar 1/log(n) Sigma(n)(j=1) b(p j)*(2) <= 1 (here b* stands for the decreasing rearrangement of b). Following an ingenious idea of Harald Bohr it turns out that this problem is intimately related with the question of characterizing those sequences z in the infinite dimensional polydisk D-infinity (the open unit ball of l(infinity)) for which every bounded and holomorphic function f on D-infinity has an absolutely convergent monomial series expansion Sigma(alpha) partial derivative alpha f (0)/alpha! z alpha. 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