Establishment of optimal control strategies to eliminate bovine viral diarrhoea in New Zealand : a thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Veterinary Epidemiology at Massey University, Manawatu, New Zealand

Although there has been a noticeable reduction in the prevalence of bovine viral diarrhoea virus (BVDV) in New Zealand over the past decade, it is well recognised that New Zealand will need a systematic compulsory programme to eliminate BVDV. The aims of this thesis were to address the knowledge gaps around the epidemiology and economics of BVDV to explore the cost-effectiveness of different national BVDV control frameworks. First, the risk factors for BVDV infection were explored using data collected from cattle herds across the country. A Bayesian network analysis revealed that animal contacts between neighbouring farms significantly increased the risk of herds being seropositive for BVDV. The second study used data collected from New Zealand commercial beef farms to estimate the transmission rate of BVDV from extensively grazed persistently infected (PI) animals. Using an approximate Bayesian computation method, the BVDV transmission rate was estimated at 0.11 per PI animal per day, which was lower than previously derived estimates for dairy herds and intensively farmed beef herds. For the third study, BVDV simulation models were developed for New Zealand dairy and beef farms to estimate the economic impacts of BVDV outbreak and to identify the most cost-effective control strategies at an individual farm level. The direct losses due to BVDV outbreak were estimated as NZ$22.22 per dairy cow per year and NZ$ 41.19 per beef cow per year. Annual testing to cull identified PI calves and annual vaccination were economically beneficial to control a BVDV outbreak for a dairy and beef breeding farm, respectively. In the fourth study, BVDV transmission was simulated at a national scale with the models, predicting that BVDV could be successfully and economically controlled by requiring dairy farms to double fence boundaries and perform either annual calf testing or herd-level screening test and requiring beef farms to conduct annual vaccination. Overall, the findings from the thesis highlight that BVDV elimination is both technically feasible and cost-efficient in New Zealand. The outputs of this thesis can be used to facilitate discussion with farmers and stakeholders about the benefits and feasibility of national BVDV elimination in New Zealand

Role of Myokines in Regulating Skeletal Muscle Mass and Function

Loss of skeletal muscle mass and strength has recently become a hot research topic with the extension of life span and an increasingly sedentary lifestyle in modern society. Maintenance of skeletal muscle mass is considered an essential determinant of muscle strength and function. Myokines are cytokines synthesized and released by myocytes during muscular contractions. They are implicated in autocrine regulation of metabolism in the muscle as well as in the paracrine/endocrine regulation of other tissues and organs including adipose tissue, the liver, and the brain through their receptors. Till date, secretome analysis of human myocyte culture medium has revealed over 600 myokines. In this review article, we summarize our current knowledge of major identified and characterized myokines focusing on their biological activity and function, particularly in muscle mass and function

Characteristics of DSSC Panels with Silicone Encapsulant

Dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSC) allow light transmission and the application of various colors that make them especially suitable for building-integrated PV (BIPV) application. In order to apply DSSC modules to windows, the module has to be panelized: a DSSC module should be protected with toughened glass on the entire surface. Up to the present, it seems to be common to use double glazing with DSSC modules, with air gaps between the glass pane and the DSSC modules. Few studies have been conducted on the characteristics of various glazing methods with DSSC modules. This paper proposes a paneling method that uses silicone encapsulant, analyzing the performance through experimentation. Compared to a multilayered DSSC panel with an air gap, the encapsulant-applied panel showed 6% higher light transmittance and 7% higher electrical efficiency. The encapsulant also prevented electrolyte leakage by strengthening the seals in the DSSC module

Conservative Management of Spontaneous Isolated Dissection of the Superior Mesenteric Artery

Purpose. We report the clinical outcomes of patients with spontaneous isolated dissection of the superior mesenteric artery (SIDSMA) who were treated conservatively. Materials and Methods. A retrospective review was performed in 14 patients from 2006 to 2016 with SIDSMA. Their clinical features and computed tomographic angiography (CTA) characteristics, treatment methods, and clinical outcomes were analyzed. The mean age was 53.6 (range, 41–73) years, and the mean follow-up duration was 20.6 (range, 1–54) months. Conservative management was the primary treatment if no bowel ischemia or arterial rupture was noted. Results. The mean initial abdominal visual analog pain score was 7 (range, 5–9) in seven patients. The mean total duration of abdominal pain was 10.2 days (range, 2–42 days) in 10 patients. The mean percentage stenosis of the dissected SMA at the initial presentation was 78.8% in 14 patients. Complete obstruction of the SMA at the initial presentation was evident in 4 of the 14 patients (28.6%). Conservative management was successful in all 14 patients. None of the 14 patients developed bowel ischemia or an infarction. Abdominal pain did not recur in any patient during follow-up (mean, 20.6 months; range, 1–54 months). Conclusion. Conservative management was successful for all SIDSMA patients, even those with severe compression of the true lumen or complete obstruction of the dissected SMA

Estimation of the within-herd transmission rates of bovine viral diarrhoea virus in extensively grazed beef cattle herds

International audienceMany research groups have developed mathematical models to simulate the dynamics of BVDV infections in cattle herds. However, most models use estimates for within-herd BVDV transmission rates that are either based on expert opinion or adapted from other dairy herd simulation models presented in the literature. There is currently little information on the transmission rates for BVDV in extensively grazed beef herds partly due to the logistical challenges in obtaining longitudinal data of individual animal’s seroconversion, and it may not be appropriate to apply the same transmission rates from intensive dairy herds given the significant differences in herd demographics and management. To address this knowledge gap, we measured BVDV antibody levels in 15 replacement heifers in each of 75 New Zealand beef breeding farms after their first calving and again at pregnancy scanning or weaning to check for seroconversion. Among these, data from 9 farms were used to infer the within-herd BVDV transmission rate with an approximate Bayesian computation method. The most probable within-herd BVDV transmission rate was estimated as 0.11 per persistently infected (PI) animal per day with a 95% highest posterior density interval between 0.03 and 0.34. This suggests that BVDV transmission in extensively grazed beef herds is generally slower than in dairy herds where the transmission rate has been estimated at 0.50 per PI animal per day and therefore may not be sufficient to ensure that all susceptible breeding females gain adequate immunity to the virus before the risk period of early pregnancy for generating new PI calves

Remifentanil Prevents Tourniquet-Induced Arterial Pressure Increase in Elderly Orthopedic Patients under Sevoflurane/N2O General Anesthesia

Aims: Prolonged tourniquet inflation produces a hyperdynamic cardiovascular response. We investigated the effect of continuous remifentanil infusion on systemic arterial pressure, heart rate, and cardiac output changes during prolonged tourniquet use in elderly patients under sevoflurane/N2O general anesthesia

Machine learning for additive manufacturing: Predicting materials characteristics and their uncertainty

Additive manufacturing (AM) is known for versatile fabrication of complex parts, while also allowing the synthesis of materials with desired microstructures and resulting properties. These benefits come at a cost: process control to manufacture parts within given specifications is very challenging due to the relevance of a large number of processing parameters. Efficient predictive machine learning (ML) models trained on small datasets, can minimize this cost. They also allow to assess the quality of the dataset inclusive of uncertainty. This is important in order for additively manufactured parts to meet property specifications not only on average, but also within a given variance or uncertainty. Here, we demonstrate this strategy by developing a heteroscedastic Gaussian process (HGP) model, from a dataset based on laser powder bed fusion of a glass-forming alloy at varying processing parameters. Using amorphicity as the microstructural descriptor, we train the model on our Zr52.5Cu17.9Ni14.6Al10Ti5 (at.%) alloy dataset. The HGP model not only accurately predicts the mean value of amorphicity, but also provides the respective uncertainty. The quantification of the aleatoric and epistemic uncertainty contributions allows to assess intrinsic inaccuracies of the dataset, as well as identify underlying physical phenomena. This HGP model approach enables to systematically improve ML-driven AM processes

PVP2010-25373 EFFECT OF CREEP MISMATCH FACTOR ON STRESS REDISTRIBUTION IN WELDED BRANCH PIPES

ABSTRACT This paper describe steady state stress distribution into the weld metal of welded branch components using detailed three dimensional elastic creep finite element analyses. In order to show the effect of the loading mode, this research is carried out under various loading conditions such as internal pressure, inplane bending to the branch pipe and out-of-plane bending to branch pipe. Also, to generalize the unique aspect, three geometries of branch components including welded large bore branch, medium bore branch, and trunnion are considered. It is a well-known fact that the creep strain rate of welds material is faster than that of parent material. Therefore, the creep exponent and constants for the parent and weld metal are systematically varied to analyze under-matching, evenmatching and over-matching conditions in creep. It can be shown that mismatch effect can be quantified as mismatch factor with specific characteristics