Sheep Updates 2005 - Part 7

This session covers eight papers from different authors: POSTERS 1. Sulpher in wool and its implications for fleece weight and sheep health, SM Liu, AC Schlink, JR Williams, CSIRO Livestock Industries Wembley WA, ME Dowling,JCGreef, Department of Agriculture Western Australia. 2. Stubbles for sheep: a reality check, Roy Butler, Keith Croker, Department of Agriculture Western Australia. 3. Genetic benchmarking using artificial insemination, LC Butler, JC Greeff, Department of Agriculture Western Australia. 4. The potential lambing performances of ewes in mixed age flocks, Kieth Croker, Department of Agriculture Western Australia, Rob Davidson, WAMMCO International, formally University of Western Australia, Ken Hart, Department of Agriculture Western Australia,Doug Harrington Cowcher Farms Narrogin, Mario D\u27Antuono, Department of Agriculture Western Australia. 5. National Livestock Identification System (Sheep) in Western Australia, Julian Gardner, Department of Agriculture Western Australia. DISPLAYS - TOOLS 6. To Feed or Not to Feed - I Only Hamlet had the Calculator!, Geoff Duddy, Livestock Officer(Sheep & Wool) Yanco. 7. WormBoss - a national Australian computer-based sheep worm control tool, RG Woodgate, Department of Agriculture Western Australia, A LeFeuvre, Queensland Department of Primary Industries and Fisheries, and Genie Pty Ltd, Warwick Qld, A Bailey, Department of Primary Industries, Water and Environment, Kings Meadow Tas, RB Besier, Department of Agriculture Western Australia, N. Campbell, Department of Primary Industries Victoria, Attwood Vic, I Carmichael, South Australian Research and Development Institute, Glenside SA, S. Love, NSW Department of Primary Industries, Armidale NSW. 8. \u27Eye in the sky\u27 takes guesswork out of farmers pasture decisions, Richard Stovold, Department of Land Informatio

ERS statement: A core outcome set for clinical trials evaluating the management of COPD exacerbations

Clinical trials evaluating the management of acute exacerbations of COPD assess heterogeneous outcomes, often omitting those that are clinically relevant or more important to patients. We have developed a core outcome set, a consensus-based minimum set of important outcomes that we recommend are evaluated in all future clinical trials on exacerbations management, to improve their quality and comparability. COPD exacerbations outcomes were identified through methodological systematic reviews and qualitative interviews with 86 patients from 11 countries globally. The most critical outcomes were prioritised for inclusion in the core outcome set through a two-round Delphi survey completed by 1063 participants (256 patients, 488 health professionals and 319 clinical academics) from 88 countries in five continents. Two global, multi-stakeholder, virtual consensus meetings were conducted to 1) finalise the core outcome set and 2) prioritise a single measurement instrument to be used for evaluating each of the prioritised outcomes. Consensus was informed by rigorous methodological systematic reviews. The views of patients with COPD were accounted for at all stages of the project. Survival, treatment success, breathlessness, quality of life, activities of daily living, the need for a higher level of care, arterial blood gases, disease progression, future exacerbations and hospital admissions, treatment safety and adherence were all included in the core outcome set. Focused methodological research was recommended to further validate and optimise some of the selected measurement instruments. The panel did not consider the prioritised set of outcomes and associated measurement instruments to be burdensome for patients and health professionals to use

Core outcome set for the management of acute exacerbations of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease: the COS-AECOPD ERS Task Force study protocol.

Randomised controlled trials (RCTs) on the management of COPD exacerbations evaluate heterogeneous outcomes, often omitting those that are clinically important and patient relevant. This limits their usability and comparability. A core outcome set (COS) is a consensus-based minimum set of clinically important outcomes that should be evaluated in all RCTs in specific areas of health care. We present the study protocol of the COS-AECOPD ERS Task Force, aiming to develop a COS for COPD exacerbation management, that could remedy these limitations. For the development of this COS we follow standard methodology recommended by the COMET initiative. A comprehensive list of outcomes is assembled through a methodological systematic review of the outcomes reported in relevant RCTs. Qualitative research with patients with COPD will also be conducted, aiming to identify additional outcomes that may be important to patients, but are not currently addressed in clinical research studies. Prioritisation of the core outcomes will be facilitated through an extensive, multi-stakeholder Delphi survey with a global reach. Selection will be finalised in an international, multi-stakeholder meeting. For every core outcome, we will recommend a specific measurement instrument and standardised time points for evaluation. Selection of instruments will be based on evidence-informed consensus. Our work will improve the quality, usability and comparability of future RCTs on the management of COPD exacerbations and, ultimately, the care of patients with COPD. Multi-stakeholder engagement and societal support by the European Respiratory Society will raise awareness and promote implementation of the COS

Evolution of the eukaryotic ARP2/3 activators of the WASP family: WASP, WAVE, WASH, and WHAMM, and the proposed new family members WAWH and WAML

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>WASP family proteins stimulate the actin-nucleating activity of the ARP2/3 complex. They include members of the well-known WASP and WAVE/Scar proteins, and the recently identified WASH and WHAMM proteins. WASP family proteins contain family specific N-terminal domains followed by proline-rich regions and C-terminal VCA domains that harbour the ARP2/3-activating regions.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>To reveal the evolution of ARP2/3 activation by WASP family proteins we performed a "holistic" analysis by manually assembling and annotating all homologs in most of the eukaryotic genomes available. We have identified two new families: the WAML proteins (WASP and MIM like), which combine the membrane-deforming and actin bundling functions of the IMD domains with the ARP2/3-activating VCA regions, and the WAWH protein (WASP without WH1 domain) that have been identified in amoebae, Apusozoa, and the anole lizard. Surprisingly, with one exception we did not identify any alternative splice forms for WASP family proteins, which is in strong contrast to other actin-binding proteins like Ena/VASP, MIM, or NHS proteins that share domains with WASP proteins.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Our analysis showed that the last common ancestor of the eukaryotes must have contained a homolog of WASP, WAVE, and WASH. Specific families have subsequently been lost in many taxa like the WASPs in plants, algae, Stramenopiles, and Euglenozoa, and the WASH proteins in fungi. The WHAMM proteins are metazoa specific and have most probably been invented by the Eumetazoa. The diversity of WASP family proteins has strongly been increased by many species- and taxon-specific gene duplications and multimerisations. All data is freely accessible via <url>http://www.cymobase.org</url>.</p

Environmental Constraints on the Mechanics of Crawling and Burrowing Using Hydrostatic Skeletons

Mechanics, kinematics, and energetics of crawling and burrowing by limbless organisms using hydrostatic skeletons depend on the medium and mode in which the organism is moving. Whether the animal is moving over or through a solid has long been considered important enough to distinguish crawling and burrowing as different terms, and in fact the mechanics are very different. Crawlers use mechanisms to increase friction to generate thrust while reducing resistive friction. Burrowers in elastic muds extend their burrows by fracture, whereas sands are fluidized by burrowers much larger than grain sizes and smaller burrowers displace individual grains. Gravitational forces depend on how closely the density of the organism matches that of its fluid surroundings, therefore frictional forces depend on whether the organism is moving through air or water and fluidization on whether sands are saturated or unsaturated

Data from: Effect of hidden relatedness on single-step genetic evaluation in an advanced open-pollinated breeding program

Open-pollinated (OP) mating is frequently used in forest tree breeding due to the relative temporal and financial efficiency of the approach. The trade-off is the lower precision of the estimated genetic parameters. Pedigree/sib-ship reconstruction has been proven as a tool to correct and complete pedigree information and to improve the precision of genetic parameter estimates. Our study analyzed an advanced generation Eucalyptus population from an OP breeding program using single-step genetic evaluation. The relationship matrix inferred from sib-ship reconstruction was used to rescale the marker-based relationship matrix (G matrix). This was compared with a second scenario that used rescaling based on the documented pedigree. The proposed single-step model performed better with respect to both model fit and the theoretical accuracy of breeding values. We found that the prediction accuracy was superior when using the pedigree information only when compared with using a combination of the pedigree and genomic information. This pattern appeared to be mainly a result of accumulated unrecognized relatedness over several breeding cycles, resulting in breeding values being shrunk toward the population mean. Using biased, pedigree-based breeding values as the base with which to correlate predicted GEBVs, resulted in the underestimation of prediction accuracies. Using breeding values estimated on the basis of sib-ship reconstruction resulted in increased prediction accuracies of the genotyped individuals. Therefore, selection of the correct base for estimation of prediction accuracy is critical. The beneficial impact of sib-ship reconstruction using G matrix rescaling was profound, especially in traits with inbreeding depression, such as stem diameter