Production and economic potentials of cattle in pasture-based systems of the Western Amazon region of Brazil.

Our objectives were to evaluate strategies to improve productivity and economic returns from beef and dual-purpose cattle systems based on data collected on one dual-purpose (Bos taurus × Bos indicus) and two beef (Nellore) cattle farms in the western Amazon region of Brazil. Forage chemical composition and digestion rates of carbohydrate fractions of grazed Brachiaria decumbens and Brachiaria brizantha cv. Marandu grasses and Pueraria phaseoloides (tropical kudzu) legume were measured monthly during a 9-mo period from the end of one dry season to the end of the subsequent rainy season. Measurements of milk and growth responses to grazing these forages were used to predict animal productivity responses to dietary nutrient availability throughout an annual cycle. The ME available for gain in our simulations was always more limiting than metabolizable protein. The predicted ME available for gain was 0.50 kg/d for steers grazing B. brizantha and 0.40 kg/d for finishing steers grazing B. decumbens. Grasses contained more NDF and neutral detergent insoluble protein and less ME (P < 0.05) in the rainiest months than in the less rainy season, which resulted in 20% less predicted weight gain by growing steers (P < 0.05). Supplementation with sorghum grain was required to increase milk production and growth by 25 or 50% per animal, respectively, but this strategy was less profitable than current forage-only diets. Greater productivity of land and labor from higher stocking indicated greater net margins for beef production, but not for milk. This study suggested that more intensive beef production by judicious fertilization of grass-legume pastures and greater stocking density is the preferable strategy for owners of these cattle systems to improve economic returns under current conditions. It also might help decrease the motivation for additional forest clearing

Highlights from the Pierre Auger Observatory

The Pierre Auger Observatory is the world's largest cosmic ray observatory. Our current exposure reaches nearly 40,000 km$^2$ str and provides us with an unprecedented quality data set. The performance and stability of the detectors and their enhancements are described. Data analyses have led to a number of major breakthroughs. Among these we discuss the energy spectrum and the searches for large-scale anisotropies. We present analyses of our X$_{max}$ data and show how it can be interpreted in terms of mass composition. We also describe some new analyses that extract mass sensitive parameters from the 100% duty cycle SD data. A coherent interpretation of all these recent results opens new directions. The consequences regarding the cosmic ray composition and the properties of UHECR sources are briefly discussed.Comment: 9 pages, 12 figures, talk given at the 33rd International Cosmic Ray Conference, Rio de Janeiro 201

International longitudinal registry of patients with atrial fibrillation and treated with rivaroxaban: RIVaroxaban Evaluation in Real life setting (RIVER)

Background Real-world data on non-vitamin K oral anticoagulants (NOACs) are essential in determining whether evidence from randomised controlled clinical trials translate into meaningful clinical benefits for patients in everyday practice. RIVER (RIVaroxaban Evaluation in Real life setting) is an ongoing international, prospective registry of patients with newly diagnosed non-valvular atrial fibrillation (NVAF) and at least one investigator-determined risk factor for stroke who received rivaroxaban as an initial treatment for the prevention of thromboembolic stroke. The aim of this paper is to describe the design of the RIVER registry and baseline characteristics of patients with newly diagnosed NVAF who received rivaroxaban as an initial treatment. Methods and results Between January 2014 and June 2017, RIVER investigators recruited 5072 patients at 309 centres in 17 countries. The aim was to enroll consecutive patients at sites where rivaroxaban was already routinely prescribed for stroke prevention. Each patient is being followed up prospectively for a minimum of 2-years. The registry will capture data on the rate and nature of all thromboembolic events (stroke / systemic embolism), bleeding complications, all-cause mortality and other major cardiovascular events as they occur. Data quality is assured through a combination of remote electronic monitoring and onsite monitoring (including source data verification in 10% of cases). Patients were mostly enrolled by cardiologists (n = 3776, 74.6%), by internal medicine specialists 14.2% (n = 718) and by primary care/general practice physicians 8.2% (n = 417). The mean (SD) age of the population was 69.5 (11.0) years, 44.3% were women. Mean (SD) CHADS2 score was 1.9 (1.2) and CHA2DS2-VASc scores was 3.2 (1.6). Almost all patients (98.5%) were prescribed with once daily dose of rivaroxaban, most commonly 20 mg (76.5%) and 15 mg (20.0%) as their initial treatment; 17.9% of patients received concomitant antiplatelet therapy. Most patients enrolled in RIVER met the recommended threshold for AC therapy (86.6% for 2012 ESC Guidelines, and 79.8% of patients according to 2016 ESC Guidelines). Conclusions The RIVER prospective registry will expand our knowledge of how rivaroxaban is prescribed in everyday practice and whether evidence from clinical trials can be translated to the broader cross-section of patients in the real world

Bounds on the density of sources of ultra-high energy cosmic rays from the Pierre Auger Observatory

We derive lower bounds on the density of sources of ultra-high energy cosmic rays from the lack of significant clustering in the arrival directions of the highest energy events detected at the Pierre Auger Observatory. The density of uniformly distributed sources of equal intrinsic intensity was found to be larger than similar to (0.06 – 5) x 10(-4) Mpc(-3) at 95% CL, depending on the magnitude of the magnetic defections. Similar bounds, in the range (0.2 – 7) x 10(-4) Mpc(-3), were obtained for sources following the local matter distribution.We are very grateful to the following agencies and organizations for financial support,: Comision Nacional de Energia Atomica, Fundacion Antorchas, Gobierno De La, Provincia de Ailendoza. Municipalidad de Malargile. INDM floldings and Valle Las Lenas, in gratitude for their continuing cooperation over land access. Argentina; the Australian Research Council; Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Cientifico e 'Tecnologico (CNPq), Financiadora de Estudos e Projetos (FINEP), Fundacdo de Amparo a Pesquisa do Est ado de Rio de Janeiro (FAP HRJ), Fundacdo de Amparo Pesquisa do Estado de Sdo Paulo (FAPESP), Ministerio de Ciencia e Tecnologia (IVICT), Brazil; AVCR AVOZ10100502 and AVOZ10100522, GAAV KJB100100904, AISMT-CR LA08016, LG11044, 1VIEB111003, MSAI0021620859, LA08015, TACR TA01010517 and GA U.K. 119810, Czech Republic; Centre de Calcul I-N2P3/CNRS, Centre National de la -Recherche Scientifique ((1 NRS), Conseil Regional Ile-de-France, f)epartement, Physique Nuclealre et Corpusculaire (I N( Departement Sciences de l'Univers (SDU-INSU/CNRS), France; Bundesministerium fur Bildung und Forschung (BMBF), Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DITG), Finanzministerium Baden-Wurttemberg, flelmholtz-Gemeinschaft Deutscher Forschungszentren Ministerium fur Wissenschaft und Forschung, Nordrhein-Westfalen, Ministerimn fur Wissenschaft, Forschung und Kunst, Baden-WUrttemberg, Germany; Istituto Nazion ale di Fisica Nucleare (INFN), Ministero dell'Istruzione, delhLniversita e della Ricerca (MIUR), Italy: Consejo Nacional de Ciencia y Tecnologia (CONACYT), Mexico; Ministerie van Onden s Cultuur on NVetenschap Nederlandse Organisatie voor Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek (NWO), Stichting voor Rmdamenteel Onderzoek der Materie (FOM), Netherlands; Ministry of Science and Higher Education, Grant Nos. N N202 200239 and N N202 207238, Poland; Portuguese national funds and FEDER funds within COMPETE - Programa Operacional Factores de Competitividade through Fundacao para a Ciencia e a Tecnologia, Portugal; Romanian Authority for Scientific Research ANCS, CNDI-UEFISETD1 partnership projects nr.20/2012 and nr.194/2012, project nr.1 /ASPERA2/20I2 ERA-NET and PN-IIRU-PD-2011-3-0145-17, Romania; Ministry for Higher Education, Science, and 'Technology, Slovenian Research Agency, Slovenia; Comunidad de Madrid, FEDER funds, Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovacion and Consolider-Ingenio 2010 (( PAN), X unta de Galicia Spain; Science and Technology Facilities Council, United kingdom; Department of Luergy, Contract Nos. DE-ACO2-07(11-111359, DE-FR02-04E1(41300, DE-FG02-99E1(41107, National Science Foundation, Grant No. 0450696, The Grainger Foundation U.S.A.; NAFOSTED, Vietnam; Marie Curie-IRSES/HPLANET, European Particle Physics Latin American Network, European Union 7th Frarneworlc Program. Grant No. IIRSES-2009-GA-246806; and UNESCO.Peer reviewe

Measurement of exclusive pion pair production in proton–proton collisions at √s=7 TeV with the ATLAS detector

The exclusive production of pion pairs in the process pp→ ppπ+π- has been measured at s=7TeV with the ATLAS detector at the LHC, using 80μb-1 of low-luminosity data. The pion pairs were detected in the ATLAS central detector while outgoing protons were measured in the forward ATLAS ALFA detector system. This represents the first use of proton tagging to measure an exclusive hadronic final state at the LHC. A cross-section measurement is performed in two kinematic regions defined by the proton momenta, the pion rapidities and transverse momenta, and the pion–pion invariant mass. Cross-section values of 4.8±1.0(stat)-0.2+0.3(syst)μb and 9±6(stat)-2+2(syst)μb are obtained in the two regions; they are compared with theoretical models and provide a demonstration of the feasibility of measurements of this type

Antiinflammatory Therapy with Canakinumab for Atherosclerotic Disease

Background: Experimental and clinical data suggest that reducing inflammation without affecting lipid levels may reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease. Yet, the inflammatory hypothesis of atherothrombosis has remained unproved. Methods: We conducted a randomized, double-blind trial of canakinumab, a therapeutic monoclonal antibody targeting interleukin-1β, involving 10,061 patients with previous myocardial infarction and a high-sensitivity C-reactive protein level of 2 mg or more per liter. The trial compared three doses of canakinumab (50 mg, 150 mg, and 300 mg, administered subcutaneously every 3 months) with placebo. The primary efficacy end point was nonfatal myocardial infarction, nonfatal stroke, or cardiovascular death. RESULTS: At 48 months, the median reduction from baseline in the high-sensitivity C-reactive protein level was 26 percentage points greater in the group that received the 50-mg dose of canakinumab, 37 percentage points greater in the 150-mg group, and 41 percentage points greater in the 300-mg group than in the placebo group. Canakinumab did not reduce lipid levels from baseline. At a median follow-up of 3.7 years, the incidence rate for the primary end point was 4.50 events per 100 person-years in the placebo group, 4.11 events per 100 person-years in the 50-mg group, 3.86 events per 100 person-years in the 150-mg group, and 3.90 events per 100 person-years in the 300-mg group. The hazard ratios as compared with placebo were as follows: in the 50-mg group, 0.93 (95% confidence interval [CI], 0.80 to 1.07; P = 0.30); in the 150-mg group, 0.85 (95% CI, 0.74 to 0.98; P = 0.021); and in the 300-mg group, 0.86 (95% CI, 0.75 to 0.99; P = 0.031). The 150-mg dose, but not the other doses, met the prespecified multiplicity-adjusted threshold for statistical significance for the primary end point and the secondary end point that additionally included hospitalization for unstable angina that led to urgent revascularization (hazard ratio vs. placebo, 0.83; 95% CI, 0.73 to 0.95; P = 0.005). Canakinumab was associated with a higher incidence of fatal infection than was placebo. There was no significant difference in all-cause mortality (hazard ratio for all canakinumab doses vs. placebo, 0.94; 95% CI, 0.83 to 1.06; P = 0.31). Conclusions: Antiinflammatory therapy targeting the interleukin-1β innate immunity pathway with canakinumab at a dose of 150 mg every 3 months led to a significantly lower rate of recurrent cardiovascular events than placebo, independent of lipid-level lowering. (Funded by Novartis; CANTOS ClinicalTrials.gov number, NCT01327846.