Age at puberty, ovulation rate, and uterine length of developing gilts fed two lysine and three metabolizable energy concentrations from 100 to 260 d of age

The objective of this study was to determine the effect of ad libitum feeding diets differing in standard ileal digestible (SID) lysine and ME concentrations that bracket those fed to developing gilts in U.S. commercial settings. Average SID lysine and ME concentrations in diets currently fed to developing gilts were obtained from a poll of the U.S. commercial swine industry. Crossbred Large White × Landrace gilts (n = 1,221), housed in groups, were randomly allotted to 6 corn-soybean diets in a 2 × 3 factorial arrangement formulated to provided 2 SID lysine and 3 ME concentrations. Gilts received grower diets formulated to provide 1.02% (control = survey average) or 0.86% (control minus 15%) SID lysine and 2.94, 3.25, or 3.57 (survey average ME ± 10%) Mcal of ME/kg from 100 d of age until approximately 90 kg BW. Then, gilts were fed finisher diet containing 0.85% (control = survey average) or 0.73% (control minus 15%) SID lysine and 2.94, 3.26, or 3.59 (control ± 10%) Mcal of ME/kg until 260 d of age. Gilts were weighed, and backfat thickness and loin muscle area were recorded at the beginning of the trial and then every 28 d. Starting at 160 d of age, gilts were exposed daily to vasectomized boars and observed for behavioral estrus. At approximately 260 d of age, gilts were slaughtered and their reproductive tract was collected. Each reproductive tract was examined to determine whether the gilt was cyclic, the stage of estrus cycle, ovulation rate, and uterine length. Data were evaluated for normality and analyzed using mixed model methods. Average age at puberty was 193 d of age with a range from 160 to 265 d. When all gilts on trial at 160 d of age were included in the analysis, 91.0% reached puberty as determine by observation of standing estrus. Differences between dietary treatments on age at puberty or measurements of the reproductive tract were not detected. Growth rates to 160 d were not limiting for attainment of puberty in response to daily boar stimulation from 160 d

Measuring the effectiveness of in-hospital and on-base Prevent Alcohol and Risk-related Trauma in Youth (P.A.R.T.Y.) programs on reducing alcohol related harms in naval trainees: P.A.R.T.Y. Defence study protocol

Abstract Background Reducing alcohol related harms in Australian Defence Force (ADF) trainees has been identified as a priority, but there are few evidence-based prevention programs available for the military setting. The study aims to test whether the P.A.R.T.Y. program delivered in-hospital or on-base, can reduce harmful alcohol consumption among ADF trainees. Methods/design The study is a 3-arm randomized controlled trial, involving 953 Royal Australian Navy trainees from a single base. Trainees, aged 18 to 30 years, will be randomly assigned to the study arms: i. in-hospital P.A.R.T.Y.; ii. On-base P.A.R.T.Y.; and iii. Control group. All groups will receive the routine ADF annual alcohol awareness training. The primary outcome is the proportion of participants reporting an Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT) score of 8 or above at 12 months’ post-intervention. The secondary outcome is the number of alcohol related incidents reported to the Royal Australian Navy (RAN) in the 12 months’ post-intervention. Discussion This is the first trial of the use of the P.A.R.T.Y. program in the military. If the proposed intervention proves efficacious, it may be a useful program in the early education of RAN trainees. Trial registration Australian New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry (ANZCTR): ACTRN12614001332617 , date of registration: 18/12/2014 ‘retrospectively registered’

The effectiveness of interventions to change six health behaviours: a review of reviews

Background: Several World Health Organisation reports over recent years have highlighted the high incidence of chronic diseases such as diabetes, coronary heart disease and cancer. Contributory factors include unhealthy diets, alcohol and tobacco use and sedentary lifestyles. This paper reports the findings of a review of reviews of behavioural change interventions to reduce unhealthy behaviours or promote healthy behaviours. We included six different health-related behaviours in the review: healthy eating, physical exercise, smoking, alcohol misuse, sexual risk taking (in young people) and illicit drug use. We excluded reviews which focussed on pharmacological treatments or those which required intensive treatments (e. g. for drug or alcohol dependency). Methods: The Cochrane Library, Database of Abstracts of Reviews of Effectiveness (DARE) and several Ovid databases were searched for systematic reviews of interventions for the six behaviours (updated search 2008). Two reviewers applied the inclusion criteria, extracted data and assessed the quality of the reviews. The results were discussed in a narrative synthesis. Results: We included 103 reviews published between 1995 and 2008. The focus of interventions varied, but those targeting specific individuals were generally designed to change an existing behaviour (e. g. cigarette smoking, alcohol misuse), whilst those aimed at the general population or groups such as school children were designed to promote positive behaviours (e. g. healthy eating). Almost 50% (n = 48) of the reviews focussed on smoking (either prevention or cessation). Interventions that were most effective across a range of health behaviours included physician advice or individual counselling, and workplace- and school-based activities. Mass media campaigns and legislative interventions also showed small to moderate effects in changing health behaviours. Generally, the evidence related to short-term effects rather than sustained/longer-term impact and there was a relative lack of evidence on how best to address inequalities. Conclusions: Despite limitations of the review of reviews approach, it is encouraging that there are interventions that are effective in achieving behavioural change. Further emphasis in both primary studies and secondary analysis (e.g. systematic reviews) should be placed on assessing the differential effectiveness of interventions across different population subgroups to ensure that health inequalities are addressed.</p

Wellsprings of a 'World War': An early English attempt to conquer Canada during King William's war, 1688-97

This is the author's PDF version of an article published in Journal of Imperial and Commonwealth History© 2006. The definitive version is available at www.tandf.co.uk/journals/FICHThis article discusses the military history of the early years of King William's War, 1688-97, including an early attempt to conquer French Canada in 1690 by Sir William Phips. The article places this within differeing interpretations of the military historiography of early modern colonial America.This article was submitted to the RAE2008 for the University of Chester - History

Phylogeography of an endangered disjunct herb: long-distance dispersal, refugia and colonization routes

Quaternary glacial cycles appear to have had a consistent role in shaping the genetic diversity and structure of plant species. Despite the unusual combination of the characteristics of the western Mediterranean– Macaronesian area, there are no studies that have specifically examined the effects of palaeoclimatic and palaeogeographic factors on the genetic composition and structure of annual herbs. Astragalus edulis is a disjunct endemic found in the easternmost Canary Islands and the semi-arid areas of north-eastern Africa and south-eastern Iberian Peninsula. This endangered species shows no evident adaptations to long-distance dispersal. Amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP) data and plastid DNA sequences were analysed from a total of 360 individuals distributed throughout the range of this species. The modelled potential distribution of A. edulis under current conditions was projected over the climatic conditions of the Last Interglacial (130 ka BP) and Last Glacial Maximum (21 ka BP) to analyse changes in habitat suitability and to look for associations between the modelling and genetic results. Amplified fragment length polymorphism analysis showed clear phylogeographic structure with four distinct genetic clusters. Approximate Bayesian computation (ABC) models based on plastid DNA sequences indicated a Middle Pleistocene long-distance dispersal event as the origin of the populations of the Canary Islands. The models also suggested south-western Morocco as the ancestral area for the species, as well as subsequent colonization of north-eastern Morocco and the Iberian Peninsula. The data compiled indicated the possibility of the presence of refuge areas at favourable locations around the High Atlas and Anti-Atlas mountain ranges. Moreover, palaeodistribution models strongly support the events inferred by ABC modelling and show the potential distribution of the species in the past, suggesting a putative colonization route.This work has been financed by the Spanish Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación through the projects CGL2012- 32574 and REN2003-09427, as well as by the Andalusian Consejería de Innovación, Ciencia y Tecnología through the project RNM1067. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish or preparation of the manuscript

Alcohol, binge drinking and associated mental health problems in young urban Chileans

OBJECTIVE: To explore the link between alcohol use, binge drinking and mental health problems in a representative sample of adolescent and young adult Chileans. METHODS: Age and sex-adjusted Odds Ratios (OR) for four mental wellbeing measures were estimated with separate conditional logistic regression models for adolescents aged 15-20 years, and young adults aged 21-25 years, using population-based estimates of alcohol use prevalence rates from the Chilean National Health Survey 2010. RESULTS: Sixty five per cent of adolescents and 85% of young adults reported drinking alcohol in the last year and of those 83% per cent of adolescents and 86% of young adults reported binge drinking in the previous month. Adolescents who reported binging alcohol were also more likely, compared to young adults, to report being always or almost always depressed (OR 12.97 [95% CI, 1.86-19.54]) or to feel very anxious in the last month (OR 9.37 [1.77-19.54]). Adolescent females were more likely to report poor life satisfaction in the previous year than adolescent males (OR 8.50 [1.61-15.78]), feel always or almost always depressed (OR 3.41 [1.25-9.58]). Being female was also associated with a self-reported diagnosis of depression for both age groups (adolescents, OR 4.74 [1.49-15.08] and young adults, OR 4.08 [1.65-10.05]). CONCLUSION: Young people in Chile self-report a high prevalence of alcohol use, binge drinking and associated mental health problems. The harms associated with alcohol consumption need to be highlighted through evidence-based prevention programs. Health and education systems need to be strengthened to screen and support young people. Focussing on policy initiatives to limit beverage companies targeting alcohol to young people will also be needed

Dietary lysine-to-energy ratios for managing growth and pubertal development in replacement gilts

Objective: Our objective was to determine growth rates, body composition, and pubertal development of replacement gilts fed diets with different ratios of standardized ileal digestible (SID) lysine to ME. Materials and Methods: Diets with low, medium, and high ratios of SID lysine to ME (grower: 2.3, 2.6, and 2.8; and, finisher; 1.7, 1.9, and 2.1 g/Mcal) were fed from 100 to 200 d of age, after which gilts were moved from the gilt development unit to sow farms. Boar exposure and estrus detection began at 160 d of age and continued until first detected estrus. Estimates of BW and body composition were determined at 100, 142, 160, and 200 d of age and at puberty. Results and Discussion: Body weights and growth rates were reduced (P \u3c 0.05) as dietary SID lysine–to– ME ratio decreased. Greater SID lysine–to–ME ratios increased the number of gilts that exhibited estrus upon boar exposure, increased the number of gilts with a spontaneous first estrus, reduced the number of gilts requiring P.G.600 (Merck Animal Health, Kenilworth, NJ), and decreased age at first estrus (P \u3c 0.05). Slower growing gilts that weighed less with less backfat were more likely to require P.G.600 to induce puberty (P \u3c 0.05). Implications and Applications: Reducing SID lysine– to–ME ratios in gilt diets can increase the number of gilts within optimal BW range at first estrus, but overall pubertal development is delayed if ratios are reduced below 2.8 and 2.1 g of SID lysine to megacalorie of ME in grower and finisher diets, respectively

Sonification and Music as Support to the Communication of Alcohol-Related Health Risks to Young People : Study design and results

Excessive consumption of alcohol has been recognised as a significant risk factor impacting the health of young people. Effective communication of such risk is considered to be one key step to improve behaviour. We evaluated an innovative multimedia intervention that utilised audio (sonification—using sound to display data—and music) and interactivity to support the visual communication of alcohol health risk data. A 3-arm pilot experiment was undertaken. The trial measures included health knowledge, alcohol risk perception and user experience of the intervention. Ninety-six subjects participated in the experiment. At 1 month follow-up, alcohol knowledge and alcohol risk perception improved significantly in the whole sample. However, there was no difference between the intervention groups that experienced (1) visual presentation with interactivity (VI-Exp group) and, (2) visual presentation with audio (sonification and music) and interactivity (VAI-Exp group), when compared to the control group which experienced a (3) visual only presentation (V-Cont group). Participants reported enjoying the presentations and found them educational. The majority of participants indicated that the audio, music and sonification helped to convey the information well, and, although a larger sample size is needed to fully establish the effectiveness of the different interventions, this study provides a useful model for future similar studies

Protocol for a systematic review of the effects of schools and school-environment interventions on health: evidence mapping and syntheses

Background: Schools may have important effects on students' and staff's health. Rather than treating schools merely as sites for health education, 'school-environment' interventions treat schools as settings which influence health. Evidence concerning the effects of such interventions has not been recently synthesised. Methods/design: Systematic review aiming to map and synthesise evidence on what theories and conceptual frameworks are most commonly used to inform school-environment interventions or explain school-level influences on health; what effects school-environment interventions have on health/health inequalities; how feasible and acceptable are school-environment interventions; what effects other school-level factors have on health; and through what processes school-level influences affect health. We will examine interventions aiming to promote health by modifying schools' physical, social or cultural environment via actions focused on school policies and practices relating to education, pastoral care and other aspects of schools beyond merely providing health education. Participants are staff and students age 4-18 years. We will review published research unrestricted by language, year or source. Searching will involve electronic databases including Embase, ERIC, PubMed, PsycInfo and Social Science Citation Index using natural-language phrases plus reference/citation checking. Stage 1 will map studies descriptively by focus and methods. Stage 2 will involve additional inclusion criteria, quality assessment and data extraction undertaken by two reviewers in parallel. Evidence will be synthesised narratively and statistically where appropriate (undertaking subgroup analyses and meta-regression and where no significant heterogeneity of effect sizes is found, pooling these to calculate a final effect size). Discussion: We anticipate: finding a large number of studies missed by previous reviews; that non-intervention studies of school effects examine a greater breadth of determinants than are addressed by intervention studies; and that intervention effect estimates are greater than for school-based health curriculum interventions without school-environment components