Effects of a nitrogen-based supplement on intake, live weight and body energy reserves in breeding Bos indicus cross cows

Breeding cows grazing seasonally dry rangelands usually lose substantial live weight (LW) during the dry season, when in late pregnancy. An experiment investigated the effects of feeding a N-based supplement to cows in late pregnancy on voluntary intake, total live weight (T-LW), body condition score (CS) and estimated body net energy content (Body-NE), as well as carry-over effects during lactation. In Phase A for 139 days from mid-pregnancy, mature Bos indicus cross breeders [initially 438 kg T-LW and 5.7 CS units (9-point scale)] were fed in pens on low quality tropical grass hay alone (Control) or with a N supplement (Supplemented). Most (17/22) of the cows calved during this interval. Voluntary hay intake averaged 6.74 g DM/kg T-LW/d in Control cows, and was increased by 35% (P<0.001) when supplement was fed. As a result, feeding supplement reduced loss in conceptus-free live weight (CF-LW) by 30% (from 1.11 kg/d to 0.78 kg/d; P<0.001) and in Body-NE by 20% (from 26.6 to 21.2 MJ NE/d; P = 0.007). Control cows mobilized 24% of maternal LW and 32% of body energy when fed low quality hay during late pregnancy, and these losses were substantially reduced when a N-based supplement was fed. During Phase B, when the lactating cows with their calves grazed a high quality rainy season grass-Stylosanthes pasture, the previously supplemented cows produced more milk (P = 0.065) and their calves grew faster (P = 0.077) in early lactation than Control cows. In addition, during early lactation Control cows exhibited compensatory LW gain relative to the Supplemented cows (0.80 vs. 0.43 kg/d, respectively; P<0.001) and there was no discernable weight difference between the groups by 205 days of lactation. In conclusion the losses in LW and body energy reserves by late pregnant cows fed low quality tropical grass hay were substantially reduced by a N supplement, but the differences were not maintained when the cows subsequently grazed high quality pasture

High-cut harvesting of maize stover and genotype choice can provide improved feed for ruminants and stubble for conservation agriculture

In smallholder crop–livestock systems where maize (Zea mays L.) is a staple cereal, the stover is usually an important but low-quality ruminant feed. Maize stover has various competing uses, and optimal allocation of stover, particularly for forage and mulch, is essential for improving whole-farm productivity and sustainability. Knowledge that feed quality increases with height in maize stover provides opportunities. An experiment investigated the effects of a high cutting height of stover at grain harvest (cut at two internodes below the lowest ear) on the yields and feed quality of the upper and lower stover (stubble) fractions. Measurements were made on six maize genotypes at two sites during two cropping seasons in Ethiopia. The upper stover fraction (USF) on average comprised 674 g kg–1 of the entire stover and was also substantially higher (P <.001) than the lower stover fraction (LSF) in in vitro dry matter digestibility (527 vs. 450 g kg−1 dry matter [DM]) and total N concentrations (8.8 vs. 6.2 g kg−1 DM) and was lower in fiber. Stems (including leaf sheath and tassel), husks (including shank), and leaf blade comprised 484, 310, and 206 g kg−1 of the USF, respectively. Yields and feed quality of stover varied among genotypes and environments. Use of an USF can provide a feedstuff of increased nutritional quality for ruminants, but the efficacy of the LSF for mulch requires investigation. In conclusion, a simple management change to harvest maize stover at higher stubble height combined with use of appropriate genotypes can provide higher-quality feed while leaving stubble for conservation agriculture

Variations in seed and post-harvest residue yields and residues quality of common bean ( Phaseolus vulgaris L.) as a ruminant feedstuff

Common bean is widely grown as a food legume and the post-harvest crop residues (CR) (i.e. haulm + pod wall (HPW)) are valuable as ruminant feedstuffs. The yields and constituents indicative of nutritive value for ruminants of the HPW from a wide range of common bean genotypes (G) were examined at 4 trial sites in Ethiopia during the 2013 main cropping season to assess the extent of genetic variation among G for simultaneous improvement of both HPW attributes and seed yield. Attributes measured were seed and HPW yields and the amounts of the morphological components, their concentrations of total nitrogen (N), neutral detergent fibre (aNDFom) and acid detergent fibre (ADFom), and the dry matter digestibility (DMD). The constituents were measured using near infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) and calibrations based on a large set of reference tropical forages and CR (including common bean), and were validated against other CR reference samples. These CR quality attributes were very well predicted with R2v and RPDv ranging from 0.90 to 0.98 and 3.13–7.36, respectively. There was considerable variation in yields of HPW and seed, and in the proportions and attributes of the HPW fractions among the common bean G. Trial site means for yields of HPW and seed ranged from 0.74 to 2.54 t/ha and 0.79–2.62 t/ha, respectively while for N, aNDFom and ADFom concentrations and DMD of HPW ranged from 7.7 to 11.4 g/kg DM, 648–739 g/kg DM, 502–585 g/kg DM, and 467–570 g/kg DM, respectively. Environment (E), as represented by site, generally affected the yields of HPW and seed (P < 0.001) and nutritive value of the HPW fractions (P < 0.05) as feedstuffs. Seed yield was positively correlated with HPW yield both within and across trial sites (r = 0.92; P < 0.0001), but in general seed yield was not related to the N concentration. Across all sites, seed yield was positively correlated (r = 0.68; P < 0.0001) with haulm DMD. Although this correlation may be due to variation associated with E rather than G, it is nevertheless important in that selection for higher seed yield is likely to also increase metabolisable energy (ME) content of the HPW. There were G x E interaction effects on yields of HPW (P < 0.0001) and seed (P = 0.011), but these were generally less important than E effects which explained 52–58% of the variation. In conclusion the study demonstrated that it is possible to identify genotypes such as ECAB0081 which combine high yields of both seed and HPW, and with HPW attributes which improve their quality as ruminant feedstuffs

A clinical and cost effectiveness trial of a parent group intervention to manage challenging restricted and repetitive behaviours in young children with autism spectrum disorder: study protocol for a randomized controlled trial

Background Restricted and repetitive behaviours vary greatly across the autism spectrum, and although not all are problematic some can cause distress and interfere with learning and social opportunities. We have, alongside parents, developed a parent group based intervention for families of young children with autism, which aims to offer support to parents and carers; helping them to recognise, understand and learn how to respond to their child’s challenging restricted repetitive behaviours. Methods The study is a clinical and cost-effectiveness, multi-site randomised controlled trial of the Managing Repetitive Behaviours (MRB) parent group intervention versus a psychoeducation parent group Learning About Autism (LAA) (n = 250; 125 intervention/125 psychoeducation; ~ 83/site) for parents of young children aged 3–9 years 11 months with a diagnosis of autism. All analyses will be done under intention-to-treat principle. The primary outcome at 24 weeks will use generalised estimating equation (GEE) to compare proportion of children with improved RRB between the MRB group and the LAA group. The GEE model will account for the clustering of children by parent groups using exchangeable working correlation. All secondary outcomes will be analysed in a similar way using appropriate distribution and link function. The economic evaluation will be conducted from the perspective of both NHS costs and family access to local community services. A ‘within trial’ cost-effectiveness analysis with results reported as the incremental cost per additional child achieving at least the target improvement in CGI-I scale at 24 weeks. Discussion This is an efficacy trial to investigate the clinical and cost-effectiveness of a parent group based intervention designed to help parents understand and manage their child’s challenging RRB. If found to be effective, this intervention has the potential to improve the well-being of children and their families, reduce parental stress, greatly enhance community participation and potential for learning, and improve longer-term outcomes. Trial registration Trial ID: ISRCTN15550611 Date registered: 07/08/2018. Sponsor and Monitor: Cumbria, Northumberland, Tyne and Wear NHS Foundation Trust R&D Manager Lyndsey Dixon, Address: St Nicholas Hospital, Jubliee Road, Gosforth, Newcastle upon Tyne NE3 3XT, [email protected], Tel: 0191 246 722

Transmission patterns of smallpox: systematic review of natural outbreaks in Europe and North America since World War II

BACKGROUND: Because smallpox (variola major) may be used as a biological weapon, we reviewed outbreaks in post-World War II Europe and North America in order to understand smallpox transmission patterns. METHODS: A systematic review was used to identify papers from the National Library of Medicine, Embase, Biosis, Cochrane Library, Defense Technical Information Center, WorldCat, and reference lists of included publications. Two authors reviewed selected papers for smallpox outbreaks. RESULTS: 51 relevant outbreaks were identified from 1,389 publications. The median for the effective first generation reproduction rate (initial R) was 2 (range 0–38). The majority outbreaks were small (less than 5 cases) and contained within one generation. Outbreaks with few hospitalized patients had low initial R values (median of 1) and were prolonged if not initially recognized (median of 3 generations); outbreaks with mostly hospitalized patients had higher initial R values (median 12) and were shorter (median of 3 generations). Index cases with an atypical presentation of smallpox were less likely to have been diagnosed with smallpox; outbreaks in which the index case was not correctly diagnosed were larger (median of 27.5 cases) and longer (median of 3 generations) compared to outbreaks in which the index case was correctly diagnosed (median of 3 cases and 1 generation). CONCLUSION: Patterns of spread during Smallpox outbreaks varied with circumstances, but early detection and implementation of control measures is a most important influence on the magnitude of outbreaks. The majority of outbreaks studied in Europe and North America were controlled within a few generations if detected early

Genetic risk and a primary role for cell-mediated immune mechanisms in multiple sclerosis.

Multiple sclerosis is a common disease of the central nervous system in which the interplay between inflammatory and neurodegenerative processes typically results in intermittent neurological disturbance followed by progressive accumulation of disability. Epidemiological studies have shown that genetic factors are primarily responsible for the substantially increased frequency of the disease seen in the relatives of affected individuals, and systematic attempts to identify linkage in multiplex families have confirmed that variation within the major histocompatibility complex (MHC) exerts the greatest individual effect on risk. Modestly powered genome-wide association studies (GWAS) have enabled more than 20 additional risk loci to be identified and have shown that multiple variants exerting modest individual effects have a key role in disease susceptibility. Most of the genetic architecture underlying susceptibility to the disease remains to be defined and is anticipated to require the analysis of sample sizes that are beyond the numbers currently available to individual research groups. In a collaborative GWAS involving 9,772 cases of European descent collected by 23 research groups working in 15 different countries, we have replicated almost all of the previously suggested associations and identified at least a further 29 novel susceptibility loci. Within the MHC we have refined the identity of the HLA-DRB1 risk alleles and confirmed that variation in the HLA-A gene underlies the independent protective effect attributable to the class I region. Immunologically relevant genes are significantly overrepresented among those mapping close to the identified loci and particularly implicate T-helper-cell differentiation in the pathogenesis of multiple sclerosis

Sustainable Diets: another hurdle or a better food future?,

The notion of sustainable diets has emerged forcibly onto the food policy agenda in recent years, but has also met resistance. The article reviews the case for sustainable diets. It counterbalances the current dominant policy emphasis on raising food output as the best route to a sustainable food future. The article suggests that a process of democratic experimentation is underway. Some official guidelines have emerged alongside a mix of civil society and academic formulations. More coherence of data, principles and purpose is needed at the global and regional policy-making levels for these to become effective in the common task of reducing the food system’s negative impact on health, environment and economies

The impact of corporate social responsibility disclosure on financial performance : evidence from the GCC Islamic banking sector.

This paper examines the relationship between corporate social responsibility (CSR) and financial performance for Islamic banks in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) region over the period 2000–2014 by generating CSR-related data through disclosure analysis of the annual reports of the sampled banks. The findings of this study indicate that there is a significant positive relationship between CSR disclosure and the financial performance of Islamic banks in the GCC countries. The results also show a positive relationship between CSR disclosure and the future financial performance of GCC Islamic banks, potentially indicating that current CSR activities carried out by Islamic banks in the GCC could have a long-term impact on their financial performance. Furthermore, despite demonstrating a significant positive relationship between the composite measure of the CSR disclosure index and financial performance, the findings show no statistically significant relationship between the individual dimensions of the CSR disclosure index and the current financial performance measure except for ‘mission and vision’ and ‘products and services’. Similarly, the empirical results detect a positive significant association only between ‘mission and vision’ dimension and future financial performance of the examined banks