4-H Project Guide: Swine Production

Choosing a Breed. The question Which breed shall I raise confronts every purebred hog producer. He may have a personal preference which will assist him in choosing a breed. If he has no such preference, it would be well worth while to consider the most popular breed in the community. This procedure will help the breeder to gain popularity, in establishing a reputation, and in attracting more buyers into the community. Each breeder may believe he has the best breed because of size, feeding qualities, higher dressing percentage or some other factor; but there is more difference within breeds than between breeds. The six major breeds being produced in South Dakota are Berkshire, Chester White, Duroc, Hampshire, Poland China, and Spotted Poland China. The Yorkshire, Minnesota Number One and the Hereford breeds are present in much smaller numbers

Association of Receiving Multiple, Concurrent Fracture-Associated Drugs With Hip Fracture Risk

Importance: Many prescription drugs increase fracture risk, which raises concern for patients receiving 2 or more such drugs concurrently. Logic suggests that risk will increase with each additional drug, but the risk of taking multiple fracture-associated drugs (FADs) is unknown. Objective: To estimate hip fracture risk associated with concurrent exposure to multiple FADs. Design, Setting, and Participants: This cohort study used a 20% random sample of Medicare fee-for-service administrative data for age-eligible Medicare beneficiaries from 2004 to 2014. Sex-stratified Cox regression models estimated hip fracture risk associated with current receipt of 1, 2, or 3 or more of 21 FADs and, separately, risk associated with each FAD and 2-way FAD combination vs no FADs. Models included sociodemographic characteristics, comorbidities, and use of non-FAD medications. Analyses began in November 2018 and were completed April 2019. Exposure: Receipt of prescription FADs. Main Outcomes and Measures: Hip fracture hospitalization. Results: A total of 11.3 million person-years were observed, reflecting 2,646,255 individuals (mean [SD] age, 77.2 [7.3] years, 1,615,613 [61.1%] women, 2,136,585 [80.7%] white, and 219 579 [8.3%] black). Overall, 2,827,284 person-years (25.1%) involved receipt of 1 FAD; 1,322,296 (11.7%), 2 FADs; and 954,506 (8.5%), 3 or more FADs. In fully adjusted, sex-stratified models, an increase in hip fracture risk among women was associated with the receipt of 1, 2, or 3 or more FADs (1 FAD: hazard ratio [HR], 2.04; 95% CI, 1.99-2.11; P\u3c.001; 2 FADs: HR, 2.86; 95% CI, 2.77-2.95; P\u3c.001; ≥3 FADs: HR, 4.50; 95% CI, 4.36-4.65; P\u3c.001). Relative risks for men were slightly higher (1 FAD: HR, 2.23; 95% CI, 2.11-2.36; P\u3c.001; 2 FADs: HR, 3.40; 95% CI, 3.20-3.61; P\u3c.001; ≥3 FADs: HR, 5.18; 95% CI, 4.87-5.52; P\u3c.001). Among women, 2 individual FADs were associated with HRs greater than 3.00; 80 pairs of FADs exceeded this threshold. Common, risky pairs among women included sedative hypnotics plus opioids (HR, 4.90; 95% CI, 3.98-6.02; P\u3c.001), serotonin reuptake inhibitors plus benzodiazepines (HR, 4.50; 95% CI, 3.76-5.38; P\u3c.001), and proton pump inhibitors plus opioids (HR, 4.00; 95% CI, 3.56-4.49; P\u3c.001). Receipt of 1, 2, or 3 or more non-FADs was associated with a small, significant reduction in fracture risk compared with receipt of no non-FADs among women (1 non-FAD: HR, 0.93; 95% CI, 0.90-0.96; P\u3c.001; 2 non-FADs: HR, 0.84; 95% CI, 0.81-0.87; P\u3c.001; ≥3 non-FADs: HR, 0.74; 95% CI, 0.72-0.77; P\u3c.001). Conclusions and Relevance: Among older adults, FADs are commonly used and commonly combined. In this cohort study, the addition of a second and third FAD was associated with a steep increase in fracture risk. Many risky pairs of FADs included potentially avoidable drugs (eg, sedatives and opioids). If confirmed, these findings suggest that fracture risk could be reduced through tighter adherence to long-established prescribing guidelines and recommendations

Potentials of 3D extrusion‐based printing in resolving food processing challenges: A perspective review

Three-dimensional (3D) printing has promising application potentials in improving food product manufacturing, increasingly helping in simplifying the supply chain, as well as expanding the utilization of food materials. To further understand the current situation of 3D food printing in providing food engineering solutions with customized design, the authors checked recently conducted reviews and considered the extrusion-based type to deserve additional literature synthesis. In this perspective review, therefore, we scoped the potentials of 3D extrusion-based printing in resolving food processing challenges. The evolving trends of 3D food printing technologies, fundamentals of extrusion processes, food printer, and printing enhancement, (extrusion) food systems, algorithm development, and associated food rheological properties were discussed. The (extrusion) mechanism in 3D food printing involving some essentials for material flow and configuration, its uniqueness, suitability, and printability to food materials, (food material) types in the extrusion-based (3D food printing), together with essential food properties and their dynamics were also discussed. Additionally, some bottlenecks/concerns still applicable to extrusion-based 3D food printing were brainstormed. Developing enhanced calibrating techniques for 3D printing materials, and designing better methods of integrating data will help improve the algorithmic representations of printed foods. Rheological complexities associated with the extrusion-based 3D food printing require both industry and researchers to work together so as to tackle the (rheological) shifts that make (food) materials unsuitable.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

A proposal for a coordinated effort for the determination of brainwide neuroanatomical connectivity in model organisms at a mesoscopic scale

In this era of complete genomes, our knowledge of neuroanatomical circuitry remains surprisingly sparse. Such knowledge is however critical both for basic and clinical research into brain function. Here we advocate for a concerted effort to fill this gap, through systematic, experimental mapping of neural circuits at a mesoscopic scale of resolution suitable for comprehensive, brain-wide coverage, using injections of tracers or viral vectors. We detail the scientific and medical rationale and briefly review existing knowledge and experimental techniques. We define a set of desiderata, including brain-wide coverage; validated and extensible experimental techniques suitable for standardization and automation; centralized, open access data repository; compatibility with existing resources, and tractability with current informatics technology. We discuss a hypothetical but tractable plan for mouse, additional efforts for the macaque, and technique development for human. We estimate that the mouse connectivity project could be completed within five years with a comparatively modest budget.Comment: 41 page

Vitamin D Supplementation and Prevention of Type 2 Diabetes

BACKGROUND Observational studies support an association between a low blood 25-hydroxyvitamin D level and the risk of type 2 diabetes. However, whether vitamin D supplementation lowers the risk of diabetes is unknown. METHODS We randomly assigned adults who met at least two of three glycemic criteria for prediabetes (fasting plasma glucose level, 100 to 125 mg per deciliter; plasma glucose level 2 hours after a 75-g oral glucose load, 140 to 199 mg per deciliter; and glycated hemoglobin level, 5.7 to 6.4%) and no diagnostic criteria for diabetes to receive 4000 IU per day of vitamin D3 or placebo, regardless of the baseline serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D level. The primary outcome in this time-to-event analysis was new-onset diabetes, and the trial design was event-driven, with a target number of diabetes events of 508. RESULTS A total of 2423 participants underwent randomization (1211 to the vitamin D group and 1212 to the placebo group). By month 24, the mean serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D level in the vitamin D group was 54.3 ng per milliliter (from 27.7 ng per milliliter at baseline), as compared with 28.8 ng per milliliter in the placebo group (from 28.2 ng per milliliter at baseline). After a median follow-up of 2.5 years, the primary outcome of diabetes occurred in 293 participants in the vitamin D group and 323 in the placebo group (9.39 and 10.66 events per 100 person-years, respectively). The hazard ratio for vitamin D as compared with placebo was 0.88 (95% confidence interval, 0.75 to 1.04; P = 0.12). The incidence of adverse events did not differ significantly between the two groups. CONCLUSIONS Among persons at high risk for type 2 diabetes not selected for vitamin D insufficiency, vitamin D3 supplementation at a dose of 4000 IU per day did not result in a significantly lower risk of diabetes than placebo. (Funded by the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases and others; D2d ClinicalTrials.gov number, NCT01942694.

Development of a heptaplex PCR assay for identification of Staphylococcus aureus and CoNS with simultaneous detection of virulence and antibiotic resistance genes

Background Staphylococcal toxicity and antibiotic resistance (STAAR) have been menacing public health. Although vancomycin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (VRSA) is currently not as widespread as methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA), genome evolution of MRSA into VRSA, including strains engineered within the same patient under anti-staphylococcal therapy, may build up to future public health concern. To further complicate diagnosis, infection control and anti-microbial chemotherapy, non-sterile sites such as the nares and the skin could contain both S. aureus and coagulase-negative staphylococci (CoNS), either of which could harbour mecA the gene driving staphylococcal methicillin-resistance and required for MRSA-VRSA evolution. Results A new heptaplex PCR assay has been developed which simultaneously detects seven markers for: i) eubacteria (16S rRNA), ii) Staphylococcus genus (tuf), iii) Staphylococcus aureus (spa), iv) CoNS (cns), v) Panton-Valentine leukocidin (pvl), vi) methicillin resistance (mecA), and vii) vancomycin resistance (vanA). Following successful validation using 255 reference bacterial strains, applicability to analyse clinical samples was evaluated by direct amplification in spiked blood cultures (n = 89) which returned 100 % specificity, negative and positive predictive values. The new assay has LoD of 1.0x103 CFU/mL for the 16S rRNA marker and 1.0x104 CFU/mL for six other markers and completes cycling in less than one hour. Conclusion The speed, sensitivity (100 %), NPV (100 %) and PPV (100 %) suggest the new heptaplex PCR assay could be easily integrated into a routine diagnostic microbiology workflow. Detection of the cns marker allows for unique identification of CoNS in mono-microbial and in poly-microbial samples containing mixtures of CoNS and S. aureus without recourse to the conventional elimination approach which is ambiguous. In addition to the SA-CoNS differential diagnostic essence of the new assay, inclusion of vanA primers will allow microbiology laboratories to stay ahead of the emerging MRSA-VRSA evolution. To the best of our knowledge, the new heptaplex PCR assay is the most multiplexed among similar PCR-based assays for simultaneous detection of STAAR

Contesting longstanding conceptualisations of urban green space

Ever since the Victorian era saw the creation of “parks for the people,” health and wellbeing benefits have been considered a primary benefit of urban parks and green spaces. Today, public health remains a policy priority, with illnesses and conditions such as diabetes, obesity and depression a mounting concern, notably in increasingly urbanised environments. Urban green space often is portrayed as a nature-based solution for addressing such health concerns. In this chapter, Meredith Whitten investigates how the health and wellbeing benefits these spaces provide are limited by a narrow perspective of urban green space. Whitten explores how our understandings of urban green space remain rooted in Victorian ideals and calls into question how fit for purpose they are in twenty-first-century cities. Calling on empirical evidence collected in three boroughs in London with changing and increasing demographic populations, she challenges the long-held cultural underpinnings that lead to urban green space being portrayed “as a panacea to urban problems, yet treating it as a ‘cosmetic afterthought’” (Whitten, M, Reconceptualising green space: planning for urban green space in the contemporary city. Doctoral thesis, London School of Economics and Political Science, London, U.K. http://etheses.lse.ac.uk/. Accessed 12 Jun 2019, 2019b, p 18)

Self-medication for infants with colic in Lagos, Nigeria

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Infantile colic is a self-limiting condition that is distributed worldwide. It is often misdiagnosed as an organic disease for which an infant is admitted to the hospital. Many studies have described the aetiopathogenesis, pharmacologic and non-pharmacologic management of colic but none has evaluated self-medication for infants with colic. The aim of this study was therefore to determine the knowledge of Nigerian mothers about colic, their home-based management, extent of self-medication for the infants with colic and the types of medicines involved.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>It is a prospective study conducted at the vaccination clinics of 20 primary health care centres, each from different Local Government Areas in Lagos, Nigeria. Eight hundred mothers that brought their infants for vaccination between April and September, 2006 were interviewed with open-and close-ended questionnaire.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Six hundred and eighty three (85.4%) mothers claimed they had a good knowledge of colic. Incessant and excessive cry was the main clinical feature of colic identified by 430(62.9%) mothers. Three hundred and seventy eight (67.7%) infants were treated by self-medication, 157 (28.1%) sought medical intervention and 17 (3.1%) were treated at a traditional birth attendant home. Herbal medicines constituted 51.8% of the self-medicated medicines, of which 48 (26.2%) were "Ororo Ogiri". Nospamin^®(49.5%) and Gripe water^®(43.0%) were the two frequently prescribed and self-medicated medicines for infants with colic.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Nigerian mothers are deficient in their knowledge of colic. Self-medication was the most frequently used home-based intervention. Health education would appear necessary to improve parental management of this self-limiting condition.</p