Forages for Horses Programmes

A survey by the American Horse Council in 1996 showed there were 6.9 million horses in the USA with 1.9 million horse owners and 7.1 million people involved in allied industries. The value of the USA horse industry to the gross national product is $25.3 billion. Nationally, 2.2$776 million per year. Most of the 48,500 homes with horses in Ohio have 2-5 horses with 1-2 ha of land. Many exercise lots and high-use areas are little more than mud lots. Since each horse needs a minimum of 0.8 ha for feed, many pastures and hay fields are over-grazed and poorly managed leading to soil erosion, nutrient management problems with excess manure, and water quality problems. Most horse owners have a need for basic education to help them make good decisions on pasture and horse management. The educational resources directed at the 263,500 Ohioans involved in the horse industry are minor compared to its size. The objectives of the Ohio Horse Program are: 1) To increase awareness, knowledge and skills for horse owners on managing hay fields and pastures to produce quality horse forages, 2) To change management practices of horse owners to produce higher quality forages by learning how to better evaluate, produce, store and manage quality forages, 3) To develop a curriculum and provide a notebook of indexed referenced material to all programme participants, 4) To establish a grass plot programme to compare forage varieties for yield and quality, and 5) To provide field day and pasture walk experiences

Applying a research ethics review processes in rural practice-based research

Introduction: Partnering with rural primary care in practice-based research allows researchers access to a vital segment of the health care sector and a window into some of the most vulnerable, high-risk, high-need patient populations. The readiness for rural primary care to fully embrace research partnerships, however, is often tempered by ethical questions in conducting research in close-knit settings. This research provides practices with a refined decision support tool for evaluating the fit of research opportunities for their unique practices. Materials and Methods: A two-phase effort was conducted to glean insight from currently available literature on ethical considerations in practice-based research and augment this information by consulting with state-based subject matter experts. Qualitative data were gathered through semi-structured interviews with key stakeholders at each of the West Virginia medical schools. Results: The literature clearly acknowledges the need to ensure ethical standards in practice-based research – from the standpoints of the clinician and the researcher. The need to ensure comprehensive, culturally appropriate institutional review board approval is essential in developing and safeguarding participants. From discussions with subject matter experts, we find complementary guidance. However, tempering this sentiment is an overall caution of the unique role of rural primary care in representing and protecting the needs of the community. Five fundamental cautions regarding the conduct of practice-based research in rural settings are here identified, spanning the protection of individual patients, their communities, and clinicians. Discussion: Findings from this study can support and empower primary care clinicians and practices, especially those in rural and close-knit communities, to address essential considerations in practice-based research. Results allow for framing of a refined decision support tool for primary care practices and clinicians to use in evaluating the fit of research opportunities for their unique practices, instilling a sense of shared power in the research process by better equipping primary care to proactively engage in substantive dialogue with research partners

Applying a research ethics review processes in rural practice-based research

Introduction: Partnering with rural primary care in practice-based research allows researchers access to a vital segment of the health care sector and a window into some of the most vulnerable, high-risk, high-need patient populations. The readiness for rural primary care to fully embrace research partnerships, however, is often tempered by ethical questions in conducting research in close-knit settings. This research provides practices with a refined decision support tool for evaluating the fit of research opportunities for their unique practices. Materials and Methods: A two-phase effort was conducted to glean insight from currently available literature on ethical considerations in practice-based research and augment this information by consulting with state-based subject matter experts. Qualitative data were gathered through semi-structured interviews with key stakeholders at each of the West Virginia medical schools. Results: The literature clearly acknowledges the need to ensure ethical standards in practice-based research – from the standpoints of the clinician and the researcher. The need to ensure comprehensive, culturally appropriate institutional review board approval is essential in developing and safeguarding participants. From discussions with subject matter experts, we find complementary guidance. However, tempering this sentiment is an overall caution of the unique role of rural primary care in representing and protecting the needs of the community. Five fundamental cautions regarding the conduct of practice-based research in rural settings are here identified, spanning the protection of individual patients, their communities, and clinicians. Discussion: Findings from this study can support and empower primary care clinicians and practices, especially those in rural and close-knit communities, to address essential considerations in practice-based research. Results allow for framing of a refined decision support tool for primary care practices and clinicians to use in evaluating the fit of research opportunities for their unique practices, instilling a sense of shared power in the research process by better equipping primary care to proactively engage in substantive dialogue with research partners

Walking Speed Differentially Alters Spinal Loads in Persons with Traumatic Lower Limb Amputation

Persons with lower limb amputation (LLA) perceive altered motions of the trunk/pelvis during activities of daily living as contributing factors for low back pain. When walking (at a singular speed), larger trunk motions among persons with vs. without LLA are associated with larger spinal loads; however, modulating walking speed is necessary in daily life and thus understanding the influences of walking speed on spinal loads in persons with LLA is of particular interest here. Three-dimensional trunk-pelvic kinematics, collected during level-ground walking at self-selected (SSW) and two controlled speeds (~1.0 and ~1.4 m/s), were obtained for seventy-eight participants: 26 with transfemoral and 26 with transtibial amputation, and 26 uninjured controls (CTR). Using a kinematics-driven, non-linear finite element model of the lower back, the resultant compressive and mediolateral/anteroposterior shear loads at the L5/S1 spinal level were estimated. Peak values were extracted and compiled. Despite walking slower at SSW speeds (~0.21 m/s), spinal loads were 8–14% larger among persons with transfemoral amputation vs. CTR. Across all participants, peak compressive, mediolateral, and anteroposterior shear loads increased with increasing walking speed. At the fastest (vs. slowest) controlled speed, these increases were respectively 24–84% and 29–77% larger among persons with LLA relative to CTR. Over time, repeated exposures to these increased spinal loads, particularly at faster walking speeds, may contribute to the elevated risk for low back pain among persons with LLA. Future work should more completely characterize relative risk in daily life between persons with vs. without LLA by analyzing additional activities and tissue-level responses

The molecular mechanisms underlying BiP-mediated gating of the Sec61 translocon of the endoplasmic reticulum

The Sec61 translocon of the endoplasmic reticulum membrane forms an aqueous pore that is gated by the lumenal Hsp70 chaperone BiP. We have explored the molecular mechanisms governing BiP-mediated gating activity, including the coupling between gating and the BiP ATPase cycle, and the involvement of the substrate-binding and J domain–binding regions of BiP. Translocon gating was assayed by measuring the collisional quenching of fluorescent probes incorporated into nascent chains of translocation intermediates engaged with microsomes containing various BiP mutants and BiP substrate. Our results indicate that BiP must assume the ADP-bound conformation to seal the translocon, and that the reopening of the pore requires an ATP binding–induced conformational change. Further, pore closure requires functional interactions between both the substrate-binding region and the J domain–binding region of BiP and membrane proteins. The mechanism by which BiP mediates translocon pore closure and opening is therefore similar to that in which Hsp70 chaperones associate with and dissociate from substrates

Molecular signatures associated with the treatment of triple-negative MDA-MB231 breast cancer cells with the histone deacetylase inhibitors JAHA and SAHA

Jay Amin Hydroxamic Acid (JAHA; N8-ferrocenylN1-hydroxy-octanediamide) is a ferrocene-containing analogue of the histone deacetylase inhibitor (HDACi) suberoylanilide hydroxamic acid (SAHA). JAHA’s cytotoxic activity on MDA-MB231 triple negative breast cancer (TNBC) cells at 72 h has been previously demonstrated with an IC50 of 8.45 M. JAHA’s lethal effect was found linked to perturbations of cell cycle, mitochondrial activity, signal transduction and autophagy mechanisms. In order to glean novel insights on how MDA-MB231 breast cancer cells respond to the cytotoxic effect induced by JAHA, and to compare the biological effect with the related compound SAHA, we have employed a combination of differential display-PCR, proteome analysis and COMET assay techniques and shown some differences in the molecular signature profiles induced by exposure to either HDACis. In particular, in contrast to the more numerous and diversified changes induced by SAHA, JAHA has shown a more selective impact on expression of molecular signatures involved in anti-oxidant activity and DNA repair. Besides expanding the biological knowledge of the effect exerted by the modifications in compound structures on cell phenotype, the molecular elements put in evidence in our study may provide promising targets for therapeutic interventions on TNBCs