Milk yield of Holstein-Friesian and Jersey x Holstein-Friesian cows supplemented with canola meal and cracked lupins

Milk yield is a key selection trait in dairy cows. During the course of lactation, milk yield follows a typical curvilinear pattern characterized by an initial increase immediately after calving, a rise to peak before an eventual decline. Cows in mid-lactation are typically in the decline phase and would require supplementation to ensure persistency in milk yield, particularly during summer when pasture availability is limited. This study evaluated the milk yield responses of purebred and crossbred dairy cows to two levels (1 or 2 kg/cow/day) of canola meal or cracked lupins supplementation in a pasture-based production system. Fifty Holstein-Friesian (HF) and Jersey x Holstein-Friesian (JHF) dairy cows (10 unsupplemented control and 40 supplemented) were randomly assigned to treatment groups after balancing for initial milk yield, BCS and days in milk (mean initial milk yield, body weight and body condition scores were 122.5 ± 12.1 litres/d, 352.6 ± 31 kg, and 2.5 respectively). A 2 x 2 x 2 balanced factorial experimental design representing 2 breeds, 2 supplements and 2 feeding levels was utilized. All cows had ad libitum access to the basal diet of barley and ryegrass while supplemented cows had three weeks of adjustment before the 12 weeks of feeding trial commenced. All cows were milked twice daily and milk yield individually recorded automatically at milking. Data were tested for significance by fitting the fixed effects of breed, supplement, feeding level and their first order interactions using mixed model procedures in SAS with cow and days in milk as random effects. Overall differences between treatment means were declared significant at P0.26). Supplementing with lupins at 1kg/cow/day gave the best milk yield response and would be a far cheaper option for supplementing mid-lactation cows than canola

Tests of scaling assumputions, construct validity and reliability of the Chinese child health questionnaire, partent form (CHQ-PF50) and child form (CHQ-CF87)

Poster SessionValidated instruments for assessment of quality of life in Chinese children are as yet unavailable. We determined the construct validity and reliability of the translated Chinese versions of the Child Health Questionnaires (Landgraf, Abetz & Ware, 1999) designed for completion by parents (CHQ-PF50) and children (CHQ-CF87). The Chinese versions were developed through iterative forward and backward translation processes by independent parties. The feasibility, as rated by degree of difficulty using a 4-point scale, and time for completion were evaluated for the Chinese CHQ-PF50 and CHQ-CF87 in 15 and 11 subjects, respectively. To assess the construct validity and reliability, 1143 parents of healthy children and 823 school children were invited to complete the Chinese CHQ-PF50 and CHQ-CF87, respectively. The results showed that both the Chinese CHQ-PF50 (mean rating 1.66) and CHQ-CF87 (mean rating 1.33) were easy to complete, with completion times of 14.23±5.23 minutes and 13.82±3.52 minutes, respectively. Psychometric analysis on item convergent validity and discriminant validity showed perfect or near perfect (>99%) rates of success for all ten scales in the CF87 and >94% for all but one scale in the PF50. The exception was the general health scale (86%). Minimal floor effects were observed for both questionnaires. However, substantial ceiling effects were observed for the five scales in both questionnaires (physical functioning, role-emotional, behavioral, role-physical, bodily pain and family activities). The median alpha coefficient of reliability for CF87 was 0.90 (range 0.85 to 0.94). The median alpha coefficient for PF50 was 0.80 (range 0.44 to 0.88), with the mental health scale falling just below the minimum criterion for group level analysis (0.68) and the general health scale being the lowest (0.44). These findings suggest that the Chinese translations of CHQ-PF50 and CHQ-CF87 are robust and sufficient. Additional work with regard to ceiling effects is required to assess the performance of the measures in condition groups

Pericardial effusion after open heart surgery for congenital heart disease

Objectives: To determine the prevalence and time course of pericardial effusion after open heart surgery for congenital heart diseases and to identify predisposing risk factors. Design and patients: Prospective assessment of development of pericardial effusion in 336 patients (163 males) undergoing open heart surgery for congenital heart disease by serial echocardiography on days 5, 7, 14, 21, and 28 postoperatively. Setting: Tertiary paediatric cardiac centre. Results: The prevalence of pericardial effusion was 23% (77 of 336). Of the 77 patients who developed effusion, 43 (56%) had moderate to large effusions and 18 (23%) were symptomatic. Patients who had a large amount of effusion were more likely to be symptomatic than those with only a small to moderate amount (47.4% v 15.5%, p = 0.01). The mean (SD) onset of pericardial effusion was 11 (7) days after surgery, with 97% (75 of 77) of cases being diagnosed on or before day 28 after surgery. The prevalence of effusion after Fontan-type procedures (60%, 6 of 10) was significantly higher than that after other types of cardiac surgery: repair of left to right shunts (22.1%, 43 of 125), repair of lesions with right ventricular outflow tract obstruction (22.6%, 19 of 84), arterial switch operation (6.7%, 1 of 15), and miscellaneous procedures (25%, 8 of 32) (p = 0.037). Univariate analyses showed that female patients (p = 0.009) and those receiving warfarin (p = 0.002) had increased risk of postoperative pericardial effusion. A greater pericardial drain output in the first four hours after surgery also tended to be significant (p = 0.056). Multivariate logistic regression similarly identified warfarin treatment (β = 1.73, p = 0.009) and female sex (β for male = -0.63, p = 0.037) as significant determinants. Conclusions: Pericardial effusion occurs commonly after open heart surgery for congenital heart disease. Serial echocardiographic monitoring up to 28 days postoperatively is indicated in selected high risk patients such as those with symptoms of postpericardiotomy syndrome and those given warfarin.published_or_final_versio

Sample entropy analysis of EEG signals via artificial neural networks to model patients' consciousness level based on anesthesiologists experience.

Electroencephalogram (EEG) signals, as it can express the human brain's activities and reflect awareness, have been widely used in many research and medical equipment to build a noninvasive monitoring index to the depth of anesthesia (DOA). Bispectral (BIS) index monitor is one of the famous and important indicators for anesthesiologists primarily using EEG signals when assessing the DOA. In this study, an attempt is made to build a new indicator using EEG signals to provide a more valuable reference to the DOA for clinical researchers. The EEG signals are collected from patients under anesthetic surgery which are filtered using multivariate empirical mode decomposition (MEMD) method and analyzed using sample entropy (SampEn) analysis. The calculated signals from SampEn are utilized to train an artificial neural network (ANN) model through using expert assessment of consciousness level (EACL) which is assessed by experienced anesthesiologists as the target to train, validate, and test the ANN. The results that are achieved using the proposed system are compared to BIS index. The proposed system results show that it is not only having similar characteristic to BIS index but also more close to experienced anesthesiologists which illustrates the consciousness level and reflects the DOA successfully.This research is supported by the Center forDynamical Biomarkers and Translational Medicine, National Central University, Taiwan, which is sponsored by Ministry of Science and Technology (Grant no. MOST103-2911-I-008-001). Also, it is supported by National Chung-Shan Institute of Science & Technology in Taiwan (Grant nos. CSIST-095-V301 and CSIST-095-V302)

Milk composition and somatic cell counts in pasture-based dairy cows supplemented with cracked lupins and canola meal

The price paid to dairy farmers on the basis of protein and butterfat is higher than milk volume averaging $9.31/kg of protein and$4.98/kg of butterfat compared to 49.69 cents/litre of milk. Supplementing lactating dairy cows with protein and energy sources such as canola and lupins could be a key income driver, but what feeding level is considered optimal for milk composition in pasture-based dairy cows in mid-lactation? This study evaluated the protein, fat, lactose, solids-not-fat and somatic cell counts of purebred and crossbred dairy cows fed 1 or 2 kg/cow/day of cracked lupins supplements or canola meal over a 12-week period. Fifty Holstein-Friesian (HF)and Jersey x Holstein-Friesian (JHF) dairy cows (10 unsupplemented control and 40 supplemented) were randomly assigned to treatment groups after balancing for initial milk yield, BCS and days in milk (mean initial milk yield, body weight and body condition scores were 122.5 ± 12.1 litres/d, 352.6 ± 31 kg, and 2.5 respectively). A 2 x 2 x 2 balanced factorial experimental design representing 2 breeds, 2 supplements and 2 feeding levels was utilized. All cows had ad libitum access to the basal diet of barley and ryegrass while supplemented cows had three weeks of adjustment. All cows were milked twice daily but milk samples for composition analysis was taken once a month and analysed at TasHerd milk testing laboratory in Hadspen, Tasmania. Data were tested for significance by fitting the fixed effects of breed, supplement, feeding level and their first order interactions using mixed model procedures in SAS with cow and days in milk as random effects. Overall differences between treatment means were declared significant at P<0.05. Protein, fat and somatic cell counts were significantly higher in JHF crossbreds than purebred HF, while breed differences in solids-not-fats were negligible. Supplementing with lupins at 1kg/cow/day led to a significantly low milk fat content (1.2%), low somatic cell count (97) but high protein content (3.4%) while canola fed at 2kg/cow/day gave the highest milk lactose content. The overall cheaper and more profitable option for optimal milk composition appears to be cracked lupins fed at 1kg/cow/day

Growth responses of lactating first-parity dairy cows to canola and lupin supplementation

The effect of supplementing young, first-parity dairy heifers in mid-lactation with canola meal and cracked lupins on growth traits was investigated. The objective was to evaluate body condition scores (BCS), liveweight (LWT) and average daily gain (ADG) responses in purebred Holstein-Friesian and Holstein-Friesian x Jersey crossbreds and to ascertain variation due to breed, supplement and feeding level. A 2 x 2 x 2 balanced factorial experimental design representing 2 breeds, 2 supplements and 2 feeding levels (1 or 2 kg/cow/day) was utilized in randomly allocating fifty (10 unsupplemented control and 40 supplemented) cows to treatment groups after balancing for LWT, BCS and days in milk. All cows had ad libitum access to ryegrass pasture and barley and had a 3-week adjustment period to the supplements. The feeding trial lasted for 12 weeks commencing from October 2008 and ending in February 2009. LWT and BCS measurements were taken monthly. Average daily gain was computed and all data statistically analysed using mixed models procedure in SAS. Our results demonstrated that Holstein-Friesian cows gained 10kg more LWT than Holstein-Friesian x Jersey crossbreds and 20kg more than the unsupplemented cows at the end of the experiment. In all breeds, liveweight increased from 352kg in October, reached a peak in January and began to decline in February. BCS followed a similar pattern rising from an initial score of 2.5 to 3.5 in all breeds with the Holstein-Friesian in better condition than the crosses and control group. In contrast to LWT, ADG declined from an initial 0.6kg/day in October to 0.0kg/d in February in Holstein-Friesian while the unsupplemented cows lost weight as the feeding trial progressed. It was clearly demonstrated that the highest responses in ADG and LWT were in cows fed canola at 1kg/cow/day closely followed by 2kg/cow/day of lupins. In conclusion, supplementing mid-lactation dairy cows with canola elicits a better LWT and ADG response than lupins. Also, supplementing at 1kg/cow/day is cheaper and triggers the same response as 2kg/cow/day. Supplementation would be beneficial in maintaining liveweight and good body condition for better conception rates in young breeding cows

Haemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis: An uncommon clinical presentation of tuberculosis

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Methylated DNA recognition during the reversal of epigenetic silencing is regulated by cysteine and cerine residues in the Epstein-Barr Virus lytic switch protein

Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) causes infectious mononucleosis and is associated with various malignancies, including Burkitt's lymphoma and nasopharyngeal carcinoma. Like all herpesviruses, the EBV life cycle alternates between latency and lytic replication. During latency, the viral genome is largely silenced by host-driven methylation of CpG motifs and, in the switch to the lytic cycle, this epigenetic silencing is overturned. A key event is the activation of the viral BRLF1 gene by the immediate-early protein Zta. Zta is a bZIP transcription factor that preferentially binds to specific response elements (ZREs) in the BRLF1 promoter (Rp) when these elements are methylated. Zta's ability to trigger lytic cycle activation is severely compromised when a cysteine residue in its bZIP domain is mutated to serine (C189S), but the molecular basis for this effect is unknown. Here we show that the C189S mutant is defective for activating Rp in a Burkitt's lymphoma cell line. The mutant is compromised both in vitro and in vivo for binding two methylated ZREs in Rp (ZRE2 and ZRE3), although the effect is striking only for ZRE3. Molecular modeling of Zta bound to methylated ZRE3, together with biochemical data, indicate that C189 directly contacts one of the two methyl cytosines within a specific CpG motif. The motif's second methyl cytosine (on the complementary DNA strand) is predicted to contact S186, a residue known to regulate methyl-ZRE recognition. Our results suggest that C189 regulates the enhanced interaction of Zta with methylated DNA in overturning the epigenetic control of viral latency. As C189 is conserved in many bZIP proteins, the selectivity of Zta for methylated DNA may be a paradigm for a more general phenomenon

Impact of the Herbal Medicine Sophora flavescens on the Oral Pharmacokinetics of Indinavir in Rats: The Involvement of CYP3A and P-Glycoprotein

Sophora flavescens is a Chinese medicinal herb used for the treatment of gastrointestinal hemorrhage, skin diseases, pyretic stranguria and viral hepatitis. In this study the herb-drug interactions between S. flavescens and indinavir, a protease inhibitor for HIV treatment, were evaluated in rats. Concomitant oral administration of Sophora extract (0.158 g/kg or 0.63 g/kg, p.o.) and indinavir (40 mg/kg, p.o.) in rats twice a day for 7 days resulted in a dose-dependent decrease of plasma indinavir concentrations, with 55%–83% decrease in AUC0-∞ and 38%–78% reduction in Cmax. The CL (Clearance)/F (fraction of dose available in the systemic circulation) increased up to 7.4-fold in Sophora-treated rats. Oxymatrine treatment (45 mg/kg, p.o.) also decreased indinavir concentrations, while the ethyl acetate fraction of Sophora extract had no effect. Urinary indinavir (24-h) was reduced, while the fraction of indinavir in faeces was increased after Sophora treatment. Compared to the controls, multiple dosing of Sophora extract elevated both mRNA and protein levels of P-gp in the small intestine and liver. In addition, Sophora treatment increased intestinal and hepatic mRNA expression of CYP3A1, but had less effect on CYP3A2 expression. Although protein levels of CYP3A1 and CYP3A2 were not altered by Sophora treatment, hepatic CYP3A activity increased in the Sophora-treated rats. All available data demonstrated that Sophora flavescens reduced plasma indinavir concentration after multiple concomitant doses, possibly through hepatic CYP3A activity and induction of intestinal and hepatic P-gp. The animal study would be useful for predicting potential interactions between natural products and oral pharmaceutics and understanding the mechanisms prior to human studies. Results in the current study suggest that patients using indinavir might be cautioned in the use of S. flavescens extract or Sophora-derived products

Comparison of Artificial Neural Network and Logistic Regression Models for Predicting In-Hospital Mortality after Primary Liver Cancer Surgery

BACKGROUND: Since most published articles comparing the performance of artificial neural network (ANN) models and logistic regression (LR) models for predicting hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) outcomes used only a single dataset, the essential issue of internal validity (reproducibility) of the models has not been addressed. The study purposes to validate the use of ANN model for predicting in-hospital mortality in HCC surgery patients in Taiwan and to compare the predictive accuracy of ANN with that of LR model. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Patients who underwent a HCC surgery during the period from 1998 to 2009 were included in the study. This study retrospectively compared 1,000 pairs of LR and ANN models based on initial clinical data for 22,926 HCC surgery patients. For each pair of ANN and LR models, the area under the receiver operating characteristic (AUROC) curves, Hosmer-Lemeshow (H-L) statistics and accuracy rate were calculated and compared using paired T-tests. A global sensitivity analysis was also performed to assess the relative significance of input parameters in the system model and the relative importance of variables. Compared to the LR models, the ANN models had a better accuracy rate in 97.28% of cases, a better H-L statistic in 41.18% of cases, and a better AUROC curve in 84.67% of cases. Surgeon volume was the most influential (sensitive) parameter affecting in-hospital mortality followed by age and lengths of stay. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: In comparison with the conventional LR model, the ANN model in the study was more accurate in predicting in-hospital mortality and had higher overall performance indices. Further studies of this model may consider the effect of a more detailed database that includes complications and clinical examination findings as well as more detailed outcome data