Milk production per cow and per hectare of spring-calving dairy cows grazing swards differing in Lolium perenne L. ploidy and Trifolium repens L. composition

peer-reviewedGrazed grass is the cheapest feed available for dairy cows in temperate regions; thus, to maximize profits, dairy farmers must optimize the use of this high-quality feed. Previous research has defined the benefits of including white clover (Trifolium repens L.) in grass swards for milk production, usually at reduced nitrogen usage and stocking rate. The aim of this study was to quantify the responses in milk production of dairy cows grazing tetraploid or diploid perennial ryegrass (Lolium perenne L.; PRG) sown with and without white clover but without reducing stocking rate or nitrogen usage. We compared 4 grazing treatments in this study: tetraploid PRG-only swards, diploid PRG-only swards, tetraploid with white clover swards, and diploid with white clover swards. Thirty cows were assigned to each treatment, and swards were rotationally grazed at a farm-level stocking rate of 2.75 cows/ha and a nitrogen fertilizer rate of 250 kg/ha annually. Sward white clover content was 23.6 and 22.6% for tetraploid with white clover swards and diploid with white clover swards, respectively. Milk production did not differ between the 2 ploidies during this 4-yr study, but cows grazing the PRG-white clover treatments had significantly greater milk yields (+596 kg/cow per year) and milk solid yields (+48 kg/cow per year) compared with cows grazing the PRG-only treatments. The PRG-white clover swards also produced 1,205 kg of DM/ha per year more herbage, which was available for conserving and buffer feeding in spring when these swards were less productive than PRG-only swards. Although white clover is generally combined with reduced nitrogen fertilizer use, this study provides evidence that including white clover in either tetraploid or diploid PRG swards, combined with high levels of nitrogen fertilizer, can effectively increase milk production per cow and per hectar

On the Bohr inequality

The Bohr inequality, first introduced by Harald Bohr in 1914, deals with finding the largest radius $r$, $0<r<1$, such that $\sum_{n=0}^\infty |a_n|r^n \leq 1$ holds whenever $|\sum_{n=0}^\infty a_nz^n|\leq 1$ in the unit disk $\mathbb{D}$ of the complex plane. The exact value of this largest radius, known as the \emph{Bohr radius}, has been established to be $1/3.$ This paper surveys recent advances and generalizations on the Bohr inequality. It discusses the Bohr radius for certain power series in $\mathbb{D},$ as well as for analytic functions from $\mathbb{D}$ into particular domains. These domains include the punctured unit disk, the exterior of the closed unit disk, and concave wedge-domains. The analogous Bohr radius is also studied for harmonic and starlike logharmonic mappings in $\mathbb{D}.$ The Bohr phenomenon which is described in terms of the Euclidean distance is further investigated using the spherical chordal metric and the hyperbolic metric. The exposition concludes with a discussion on the $n$-dimensional Bohr radius

An assessment of the production, reproduction, and functional traits of Holstein-Friesian, Jersey × Holstein-Friesian, and Norwegian Red × (Jersey × Holstein-Friesian) cows in pasture-based systems

Peer-ReviewedPasture-based production systems typically require highly fertile, healthy, and robust genetics, with greater emphasis on milk solids (MSo; kg of fat + protein) production as opposed to milk yield. This study assessed milk production, production efficiency, reproductive performance, body weight (BW), body condition score, and functional traits in 3 different dairy cow genotypes: Holstein-Friesian (HF), Jersey × Holstein-Friesian (JEX), and Norwegian Red × (Jersey × Holstein- Friesian) (3-way). The 3 genotypes were rotationally grazed on 4 different grazing treatments after calving in spring and were stocked at a rate of 2.75 cows/ha. Holstein-Friesian cows produced higher daily and total milk yields compared with JEX and 3-way cows (5,718 vs. 5,476 and 5,365 kg/cow, respectively). However, JEX and 3-way cows had higher milk fat and protein contents (4.86 and 4.75%, respectively, for JEX and 3.87 and 3.88%, respectively, for 3-way) compared with HF (4.52 and 3.72%), resulting in similar MSo yield for JEX and HF (469 and 460 kg/cow) and slightly lower MSo yield for 3-way (453 kg/cow) compared with JEX. As parity increased, milk and MSo yield per cow increased. Reproductive performance was not significantly different between the 3 genotypes, which had similar 24-d submission rates, 6-wk pregnancy rates, and overall pregnancy rates over the 4-yr period. No difference in calving difficulty, incidence of mastitis, or incidence of lameness was observed among the 3 genotypes. Body weight was significantly different among all 3 genotypes, with HF being the heaviest followed by 3-way and JEX (530, 499, and 478 kg, respectively), and 3-way cows had a higher body condition score throughout lactation compared with HF and JEX cows. The differences in BW coupled with similar MSo production resulted in JEX cows having the highest production efficiency (4.58 kg of MSo/kg of metabolic BW), 3-way cows being intermediate (4.30 kg of MSo/kg of metabolic BW), and HF cows having the lowest (4.16 kg of MSo/kg of metabolic BW). In conclusion, HF herds with poor reproductive performance and low milk fat and protein contents are likely to benefit considerably from crossbreeding with Jersey, and all herds are likely to benefit in terms of production efficiency. However, where herd performance, particularly in relation to reproductive performance, is comparable with HF in the current study, crossbreeding with Jersey or Norwegian Red is unlikely to lead to significant improvements in overall herd performance

Inverse spectral problems for Sturm-Liouville operators with singular potentials

The inverse spectral problem is solved for the class of Sturm-Liouville operators with singular real-valued potentials from the space $W^{-1}_2(0,1)$. The potential is recovered via the eigenvalues and the corresponding norming constants. The reconstruction algorithm is presented and its stability proved. Also, the set of all possible spectral data is explicitly described and the isospectral sets are characterized.Comment: Submitted to Inverse Problem

The effect of Lolium perenne L. ploidy and Trifolium repens L. inclusion on dry matter intake and production efficiencies of spring-calving grazing dairy cows

peer-reviewedThe objective of this study was to investigate the effect of perennial ryegrass (Lolium perenne L.; PRG) ploidy and white clover (Trifolium repens L.) inclusion on milk production, dry matter intake (DMI), and milk production efficiencies. Four separate grazing treatments were evaluated: tetraploid PRG only, diploid PRG only, tetraploid PRG with white clover, and diploid PRG with white clover. Individual DMI was estimated 8 times during the study (3 times in 2015, 2 times in 2016, and 3 times in 2017) using the n-alkane technique. Cows were, on average, 64, 110, and 189 d in milk during the DMI measurement period, corresponding to spring, summer, and autumn, respectively. Measures of milk production efficiency were total DMI/100 kg of body weight (BW), milk solids (kg of fat + protein; MSo)/100 kg of BW, solids-corrected milk/100 kg of BW, and MSo/kg of total DMI. Perennial ryegrass ploidy had no effect on DMI; however, a significant increase in DMI (+0.5 kg/cow per day) was observed from cows grazing PRG-white clover swards compared with PRG-only swards. Sward white clover content influenced DMI as there was no increase in DMI in spring (9% sward white cover content), whereas DMI was greater in summer and autumn for cows grazing PRG-white clover swards (+0.8 kg/cow per day) compared with PRG-only swards (14 and 23% sward white clover content, respectively). The greater DMI of cows grazing PRG-white clover swards led to increased milk (+1.3 kg/cow per day) and MSo (+0.10 kg/cow per day) yields. Cows grazing PRG-white clover swards were also more efficient for total DMI/100 kg of BW, solids-corrected milk/100 kg of BW, and MSo/100 kg of BW compared with cows grazing PRG-only swards due to their similar BW but higher milk and MSo yields. The results highlight the potential of PRG-white clover swards to increase DMI at grazing and to improve milk production efficiency in pasture-based systems

The DRESS trial: a feasibility randomized controlled trial of a neuropsychological approach to dressing therapy for stroke inpatients

Objective: To investigate two approaches to treating patients with persistent dressing problems and cognitive difficulties following stroke. Design: Pilot randomized controlled trial. Setting: Inpatient stroke rehabilitation service. Subjects: Seventy consecutive stroke patients with persistent dressing problems and accompanying cognitive difficulties at two weeks after their stroke. Interventions: Patients were randomly allocated to six weeks of either a systematic neuropsychological approach, based on analysis of dressing problems and further cognitive testing, or to the control group who received conventional (functional) dressing practice. Both groups received treatment three times a week in accordance with two separately prepared manuals. Main measures: Nottingham Stroke Dressing Assessment (NSDA), Line Cancellation, 10-hole peg transfer test, Object Decision, Gesture Imitation. Patients were assessed at six weeks after randomization by an independent assessor masked to group allocation. Results: Both neuropsychological and functional groups improved performance on the NSDA over the treatment period (31% and 22%, respectively) but there was no significant difference between groups at six weeks. However, the neuropsychological group showed a significantly greater improvement on a line cancellation test of visual neglect (t(62) = 2.1, P < 0.05) and a planned subanalysis for those with right hemisphere damage showed a trend towards better dressing outcome (P = 0.07, one-tailed). Conclusions: Results demonstrate the potential benefits of a systematic neuropsychological approach to dressing therapy, particularly for patients with right hemisphere damage. This study suggests the need for a phase III study evaluating the efficacy of a systematic neuropsychological approach in treating dressing difficulties, targeting patients with right hemisphere stroke and visuospatial impairments

Automated Detection of Candidate Subjects With Cerebral Microbleeds Using Machine Learning

Cerebral microbleeds (CMBs) appear as small, circular, well defined hypointense lesions of a few mm in size on T2*-weighted gradient recalled echo (T2*-GRE) images and appear enhanced on susceptibility weighted images (SWI). Due to their small size, contrast variations and other mimics (e.g., blood vessels), CMBs are highly challenging to detect automatically. In large datasets (e.g., the UK Biobank dataset), exhaustively labelling CMBs manually is difficult and time consuming. Hence it would be useful to preselect candidate CMB subjects in order to focus on those for manual labelling, which is essential for training and testing automated CMB detection tools on these datasets. In this work, we aim to detect CMB candidate subjects from a larger dataset, UK Biobank, using a machine learning-based, computationally light pipeline. For our evaluation, we used 3 different datasets, with different intensity characteristics, acquired with different scanners. They include the UK Biobank dataset and two clinical datasets with different pathological conditions. We developed and evaluated our pipelines on different types of images, consisting of SWI or GRE images. We also used the UK Biobank dataset to compare our approach with alternative CMB preselection methods using non-imaging factors and/or imaging data. Finally, we evaluated the pipeline's generalisability across datasets. Our method provided subject-level detection accuracy &gt; 80% on all the datasets (within-dataset results), and showed good generalisability across datasets, providing a consistent accuracy of over 80%, even when evaluated across different modalities

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

Metabolite profiles of medulloblastoma for rapid and non-invasive detection of molecular disease groups

\ua9 2024 The AuthorsBackground: The malignant childhood brain tumour, medulloblastoma, is classified clinically into molecular groups which guide therapy. DNA-methylation profiling is the current classification ‘gold-standard’, typically delivered 3–4 weeks post-surgery. Pre-surgery non-invasive diagnostics thus offer significant potential to improve early diagnosis and clinical management. Here, we determine tumour metabolite profiles of the four medulloblastoma groups, assess their diagnostic utility using tumour tissue and potential for non-invasive diagnosis using in vivo magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS). Methods: Metabolite profiles were acquired by high-resolution magic-angle spinning NMR spectroscopy (MAS) from 86 medulloblastomas (from 59 male and 27 female patients), previously classified by DNA-methylation array (WNT (n = 9), SHH (n = 22), Group3 (n = 21), Group4 (n = 34)); RNA-seq data was available for sixty. Unsupervised class-discovery was performed and a support vector machine (SVM) constructed to assess diagnostic performance. The SVM classifier was adapted to use only metabolites (n = 10) routinely quantified from in vivo MRS data, and re-tested. Glutamate was assessed as a predictor of overall survival. Findings: Group-specific metabolite profiles were identified; tumours clustered with good concordance to their reference molecular group (93%). GABA was only detected in WNT, taurine was low in SHH and lipids were high in Group3. The tissue-based metabolite SVM classifier had a cross-validated accuracy of 89% (100% for WNT) and, adapted to use metabolites routinely quantified in vivo, gave a combined classification accuracy of 90% for SHH, Group3 and Group4. Glutamate predicted survival after incorporating known risk-factors (HR = 3.39, 95% CI 1.4–8.1, p = 0.025). Interpretation: Tissue metabolite profiles characterise medulloblastoma molecular groups. Their combination with machine learning can aid rapid diagnosis from tissue and potentially in vivo. Specific metabolites provide important information; GABA identifying WNT and glutamate conferring poor prognosis. Funding: Children with Cancer UK, Cancer Research UK, Children\u27s Cancer North and a Newcastle University PhD studentship