Intensive forage cultivation reduces labour input and increases cattle production income in smallholder mixed farming communities of South Central Coastal Vietnam

We investigated the impact of growing introduced forages on cattle production in three communes (Cat Trinh, An Chan and Phuoc Dinh) in South Central Coastal Vietnam. New forages, management, and feeding practices were introduced to 45 selected Best Bet Farmers (BBF) using participatory-adaptive methods over a 3-year period. The BBF changed their cattle production system from grazing and harvesting of native forages to partial grazing plus stall-feeding of cultivated forages. This changed production system reduced the labour time for the BBF because they spent less time managing and cutting native forage for their cattle. The reduction in labour time enabled farmers to re-allocate saved labour to diversify their activities, and increase household income and social interaction within the community. The process succeeded because the BBF accepted the new forage species and applied the new farming practices delivered within a participatory-adaptive framework. The smallholder farmers’ acceptance and ownership of proposed techniques are important for optimising livelihood benefits and ensuring the scaling-out of such techniques to other farmers

Evaluation of the Small Ruminant Nutrition System model (SRNS) for goat production in Vietnam

Applied nutrition models that can accurately predict goat performance under different feed intake regimes play a crucial role in developing improved feeding strategies. The primary objective of this study was to evaluate the ability of the SRNS model to predict the dry matter intake (DMI), average daily gain (ADG), nutrient digestibility, and faecal output characteristics of Vietnamese goats.The SRNS version 1.9.4468 (http://nutritionmodels.tamu.edu/srns.html) was used to simulate animal intake and performance of two local Vietnamese goat breeds for four feeding experiments.The model under-predicted DMI (kg/d) for most treatments (R2 = 0.70) and under-predicted ADG (g/d) for all treatments (R2 = 0.69) (Table 1). Nutrient digestibility and faecal outputs were generally under-predicted. Coefficients of determination for DM (0.94) and CP digestibility (0.93) were high.Our evaluation indicated that the SRNS model can predict the DMI and ADG of Vietnamese goats when nutritive values of the feeds are known. The regression equations developed in this study could be used to adjust the outputs of the SRNS model to predict the results of feeding systems

The comprehensive cohort model in a pilot trial in orthopaedic trauma

Background: The primary aim of this study was to provide an estimate of effect size for the functional outcome of operative versus non-operative treatment for patients with an acute rupture of the Achilles tendon using accelerated rehabilitation for both groups of patients. The secondary aim was to assess the use of a comprehensive cohort research design (i.e. a parallel patient-preference group alongside a randomised group) in improving the accuracy of this estimate within an orthopaedic trauma setting. Methods: Pragmatic randomised controlled trial and comprehensive cohort study within a level 1 trauma centre. Twenty randomised participants (10 operative and 10 non-operative) and 29 preference participants (3 operative and 26 non-operative). The ge range was 22-72 years and 37 of the 52 patients were men. All participants had an acute rupture of their Achilles tendon and no other injuries. All of the patients in the operative group had a simple end-to-end repair of the tendon with no augmentation. Both groups then followed the same eight-week immediate weight-bearing rehabilitation programme using an off-the-shelf orthotic. The disability rating index (DRI; primary outcome), EQ-5D, Achilles Total Rupture Score and complications were assessed ed at two weeks, six weeks, three months, six months and nine months after initial injury. Results: At nine months, there was no significant difference in DRI between patients randomised to operative or non-operative management. There was no difference in DRI between the randomised group and the parallel patient preference group. The use of a comprehensive cohort of patients did not provide useful additional information as to the treatment effect size because the majority of patients chose non-operative management. Conclusions: Recruitment to clinical trials that compare operative and non-operative interventions is notoriously difficult; especially within the trauma setting. Including a parallel patient preference group to create a comprehensive cohort of patients has been suggested as a way of increasing the power of such trials. In our study, the comprehensive cohort model doubled the number of patients involved in the study. However, a strong preference for non-operative treatment meant that the increased number of patients did not significantly increase the ability of the trial to detect a difference between the two interventions

Forages Improve Livelihoods of Smallholder Farmers with Beef Cattle in South Central Coastal Vietnam

In South Central Coastal Vietnam, on-farm research and farmer experience demonstrated the benefits of growing improved forages as a means of improving the year round quantity and quality of feed available for beef cattle. In Binh Dinh, Phu Yen and Ninh Thuan provinces, five new forage species (Panicum maximum, cv. TD58, Brachiaria hybrid cv. Mulato II, Pennisetum purpureum cv.VA06, Paspalum atratum cv. Terenos and Stylosanthes guianensis cv. CIAT 184) were evaluated for yield and crude protein concentration. There was not a consistent yield difference between locations for the forage grasses, but in Binh Dinh province P. maximum TD58 produced the highest yield. The grasses were comparable in crude protein concentration. Stylo CIAT 184 performed relatively well and had the highest crude protein concentration. All species have potential use, depending on the circumstances and site factors such as fertility, drainage and availability of irrigation. This work was expanded to a total of 45 farmers to gain feedback on farmer experience in growing different forages. The percentage of farmers who “liked” the introduced forages was Mulato II, 92%; TD58, 85%; VA06, 82%; Paspalum, 46%; and Stylo, 36%. By far the most important early socio-economic impact of developing perennial forage plots close to households was an average 50% reduction in the amount of labour and time that farmers spend supplying cut and carry forage to their animals. In addition, the growing of forages can meaningfully reduce the grazing pressure on common grazing lands, thereby lowering the potential for environmental degradation

Temporal perception deficits in schizophrenia: integration is the problem, not deployment of attentions

Patients with schizophrenia are known to have impairments in sensory processing. In order to understand the specific temporal perception deficits of schizophrenia, we investigated and determined to what extent impairments in temporal integration can be dissociated from attention deployment using Attentional Blink (AB). Our findings showed that there was no evident deficit in the deployment of attention in patients with schizophrenia. However, patients showed an increased temporal integration deficit within a hundred-millisecond timescale. The degree of such integration dysfunction was correlated with the clinical manifestations of schizophrenia. There was no difference between individuals with/without schizotypal personality disorder in temporal integration. Differently from previous studies using the AB, we did not find a significant impairment in deployment of attention in schizophrenia. Instead, we used both theoretical and empirical approaches to show that previous findings (using the suppression ratio to correct for the baseline difference) produced a systematic exaggeration of the attention deficits. Instead, we modulated the perceptual difficulty of the task to bring the baseline levels of target detection between the groups into closer alignment. We found that the integration dysfunction rather than deployment of attention is clinically relevant, and thus should be an additional focus of research in schizophrenia

Identification of novel clostridium perfringens type E strains that carry an iota toxin plasmid with a functional enterotoxin gene

Clostridium perfringens enterotoxin (CPE) is a major virulence factor for human gastrointestinal diseases, such as food poisoning and antibiotic associated diarrhea. The CPE-encoding gene (cpe) can be chromosomal or plasmid-borne. Recent development of conventional PCR cpe-genotyping assays makes it possible to identify cpe location (chromosomal or plasmid) in type A isolates. Initial studies for developing cpe genotyping assays indicated that all cpe-positive strains isolated from sickened patients were typable by cpe-genotypes, but surveys of C. perfringens environmental strains or strains from feces of healthy people suggested that this assay might not be useful for some cpe-carrying type A isolates. In the current study, a pulsed-field gel electrophoresis Southern blot assay showed that four cpe-genotype untypable isolates carried their cpe gene on a plasmid of ~65 kb. Complete sequence analysis of the ~65 kb variant cpe-carrying plasmid revealed no intact IS elements and a disrupted cytosine methyltransferase (dcm) gene. More importantly, this plasmid contains a conjugative transfer region, a variant cpe gene and variant iota toxin genes. The toxin genes encoded by this plasmid are expressed based upon the results of RT-PCR assays. The ~65 kb plasmid is closely related to the pCPF4969 cpe plasmid of type A isolates. MLST analyses indicated these isolates belong to a unique cluster of C. perfringens. Overall, these isolates carrying a variant functional cpe gene and iota toxin genes represent unique type E strains. © 2011 Miyamoto et al

Drainage-structuring of ancestral variation and a common functional pathway shape limited genomic convergence in natural high- and low-predation guppies

This is the final version. Available from Public Library of Science via the DOI in this record. Data Availability: Raw sequencing reads are available on ENA: PRJEB43917 (Aripo, Madamas, Tacarigua) and PRJEB10680 (Guanapo and Oropouche). Final VCF data are available on FigShare, doi: 10.6084/m9.figshare.14315771. Other data and scripts used to analyse data are available on github: github.com/JimWhiting91/guppy_convergence. This repository is archived with Zenodo, doi: 10.5281/zenodo.4740381.Studies of convergence in wild populations have been instrumental in understanding adaptation by providing strong evidence for natural selection. At the genetic level, we are beginning to appreciate that the re-use of the same genes in adaptation occurs through different mechanisms and can be constrained by underlying trait architectures and demographic characteristics of natural populations. Here, we explore these processes in naturally adapted high- (HP) and low-predation (LP) populations of the Trinidadian guppy, Poecilia reticulata. As a model for phenotypic change this system provided some of the earliest evidence of rapid and repeatable evolution in vertebrates; the genetic basis of which has yet to be studied at the whole-genome level. We collected whole-genome sequencing data from ten populations (176 individuals) representing five independent HP-LP river pairs across the three main drainages in Northern Trinidad. We evaluate population structure, uncovering several LP bottlenecks and variable between-river introgression that can lead to constraints on the sharing of adaptive variation between populations. Consequently, we found limited selection on common genes or loci across all drainages. Using a pathway type analysis, however, we find evidence of repeated selection on different genes involved in cadherin signaling. Finally, we found a large repeatedly selected haplotype on chromosome 20 in three rivers from the same drainage. Taken together, despite limited sharing of adaptive variation among rivers, we found evidence of convergent evolution associated with HP-LP environments in pathways across divergent drainages and at a previously unreported candidate haplotype within a drainage.H2020 European Research CouncilNatural Environment Research Counci

On the genetic architecture of rapidly adapting and convergent life history traits in guppies

This is the final version. Available on open access from Springer Nature via the DOI in this recordData availability: All sequencing read data are available from the ENA (Study accession: PRJEB48691). All scripts and other data associated with analysis are available on GitHub (github.com/JimWhiting91/guppy_LH_QTL) and are archived on Zenodo (https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.5938562). The VCF, phenotypes, and linkage map are deposited with dryad (https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.w3r2280sk).The genetic basis of traits shapes and constrains how adaptation proceeds in nature; rapid adaptation can proceed using stores of polygenic standing genetic variation or hard selective sweeps, and increasing polygenicity fuels genetic redundancy, reducing gene re-use (genetic convergence). Guppy life history traits evolve rapidly and convergently among natural high- and low-predation environments in northern Trinidad. This system has been studied extensively at the phenotypic level, but little is known about the underlying genetic architecture. Here, we use four independent F2 QTL crosses to examine the genetic basis of seven (five female, two male) guppy life history phenotypes and discuss how these genetic architectures may facilitate or constrain rapid adaptation and convergence. We use RAD-sequencing data (16,539 SNPs) from 370 male and 267 female F2 individuals. We perform linkage mapping, estimates of genome-wide and per-chromosome heritability (multi-locus associations), and QTL mapping (single-locus associations). Our results are consistent with architectures of many loci of small-effect for male age and size at maturity and female interbrood period. Male trait associations are clustered on specific chromosomes, but female interbrood period exhibits a weak genome-wide signal suggesting a potentially highly polygenic component. Offspring weight and female size at maturity are also associated with a single significant QTL each. These results suggest rapid, repeatable phenotypic evolution of guppies may be facilitated by polygenic trait architectures, but subsequent genetic redundancy may limit gene re-use across populations, in agreement with an absence of strong signatures of genetic convergence from recent analyses of wild guppies.European Research Council (ERC)Natural Environment Research Council (NERC)National Science Foundation (NSF)Wellcome TrustBiotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC

On the genetic architecture of rapidly adapting and convergent life history traits in guppies

This is the final version. Available on open access from Springer Nature via the DOI in this recordData availability: All sequencing read data are available from the ENA (Study accession: PRJEB48691). All scripts and other data associated with analysis are available on GitHub (github.com/JimWhiting91/guppy_LH_QTL) and are archived on Zenodo (https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.5938562). The VCF, phenotypes, and linkage map are deposited with dryad (https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.w3r2280sk).The genetic basis of traits shapes and constrains how adaptation proceeds in nature; rapid adaptation can proceed using stores of polygenic standing genetic variation or hard selective sweeps, and increasing polygenicity fuels genetic redundancy, reducing gene re-use (genetic convergence). Guppy life history traits evolve rapidly and convergently among natural high- and low-predation environments in northern Trinidad. This system has been studied extensively at the phenotypic level, but little is known about the underlying genetic architecture. Here, we use four independent F2 QTL crosses to examine the genetic basis of seven (five female, two male) guppy life history phenotypes and discuss how these genetic architectures may facilitate or constrain rapid adaptation and convergence. We use RAD-sequencing data (16,539 SNPs) from 370 male and 267 female F2 individuals. We perform linkage mapping, estimates of genome-wide and per-chromosome heritability (multi-locus associations), and QTL mapping (single-locus associations). Our results are consistent with architectures of many loci of small-effect for male age and size at maturity and female interbrood period. Male trait associations are clustered on specific chromosomes, but female interbrood period exhibits a weak genome-wide signal suggesting a potentially highly polygenic component. Offspring weight and female size at maturity are also associated with a single significant QTL each. These results suggest rapid, repeatable phenotypic evolution of guppies may be facilitated by polygenic trait architectures, but subsequent genetic redundancy may limit gene re-use across populations, in agreement with an absence of strong signatures of genetic convergence from recent analyses of wild guppies.European Research Council (ERC)Natural Environment Research Council (NERC)National Science Foundation (NSF)Wellcome TrustBiotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC

Coliform pyosalpinx as a rare complication of appendicectomy: a case report and review of the literature on best practice

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Introduction</p> <p>Coliform pyosalpinx is a rare entity. We report a case that occurred three months after appendicectomy for gangrenous appendicitis. There follows a literature review on best practice for the treatment of pyosalpinx.</p> <p>Case presentation</p> <p>A seventeen year old girl presented with an acute abdomen three months after an appendicectomy for gangrenous appendicitis. Intraoperative findings were bilateral pyosalpinx treated by aspiration, saline and Betadine irrigation and intravenous antibiotics.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Microbiological analysis of the pus revealed <it>Escherichia coli </it>and anaerobes. Chlamydia and Candida were not isolated. This is the first known reported case of Coliform Pyosalpinx following appendicectomy. The best treatment does not necessarily involve salpingectomy especially in women of reproductive age where fertility may become compromised.</p