Can we use meat inspection data for animal health and welfare surveillance?

Ante- and post-mortem inspections at abattoir were originally introduced to provide assurance that animal carcasses were fit for human consumption. However, findings at meat inspection can also represent a valuable source of information for animal health and welfare surveillance. Yet, before making secondary use of meat inspection data, it is important to assess that the same post-mortem findings get registered in a consistent way among official meat inspectors across abattoirs, so that the results are as much independent as possible from the abattoir where the inspection is performed. The most frequent findings at official meat inspections of pigs and beef cattle in Sweden were evaluated by means of variance partitioning to quantify the amount of variation in the probabilities of these findings due to abattoir and farm levels. Seven years of data (2012-2018) from 19 abattoirs were included in the study. The results showed that there was a very low variation between abattoirs for presence of liver parasites and abscesses, moderately low variation for pneumonia and greatest variation for injuries and nonspecific findings (e.g., other lesions). This general pattern of variation was similar for both species and implies that some post-mortem findings are consistently detected and so are a valuable source of epidemiological information for surveillance purposes. However, for those findings associated with higher variation, calibration and training activities of meat inspection staff are necessary to enable correct conclusions about the occurrence of pathological findings and for producers to experience an equivalent likelihood of deduction in payment (independent of abattoir)

Energy efficient cornering using over-actuation

This work deals with utilisation of active steering and propulsion on individual wheels in order to improve a vehicle’s energy efficiency during a double lane change manoeuvre at moderate speeds. Through numerical optimisation, solutions have been found for how wheel steering angles and propulsion torques should be used in order to minimise the energy consumed by the vehicle travelling through the manoeuvre. The results show that, for the studied vehicle, the energy consumption due to cornering resistance can be reduced by approximately 10 % compared to a standard vehicle configuration. Based on the optimisation study, simplified algorithms to control wheel steering angles and propulsion torques that results in more energy efficient cornering are proposed. These algorithms are evaluated in a simulation study that includes a path tracking driver model. Based on a combined rear axle steering and torque vectoring control an improvement of 6-8 % of the energy consumption due to cornering was found. The results indicate that in order to improve energy efficiency for a vehicle driving in a non-safety-critical cornering situation the force distribution should be shifted towards the front wheels

Career as a professional gamer: gaming motives as predictors of career plans to become a professional esport player

Increasing numbers of young video gamers view esports (i.e., competitive video gaming) as a career opportunity, rather than just a recreational activity. Previous studies have explored the motivational differences between esport and recreational gamers and the motivational changes through career journey to become a professional esport player. The present study explored the predictors of career plans to become a professional esport player, with a specific focus on gaming motivations. Gaming time, gaming motivations, and esport-related playing experience were also examined among Hungarian gamers with competitive gaming experience (N = 190), such as years spent in esports, medium and frequency of participating in esport tournaments, the effort put into training before the tournaments, and the plans to become a professional esport player. Binary logistic regressions were carried out and results showed that the gaming motivations of competition, skill development, and social motivations predicted career planning as a professional esport player. Additionally, results showed that younger players were more likely to seek career opportunity as professional esport players than older players. Future studies should focus on novice esport players’ psychological exposure to the hypercompetitive scene of esports, such as high expectations or the risk of becoming problematic videogame users due to their motivational changes

Insertion of an SVA-E retrotransposon into the CASP8 gene is associated with protection against prostate cancer

To access publisher's full text version of this article, please click on the hyperlink in Additional Links field or click on the hyperlink at the top of the page marked Files. This article is open access.Transcriptional and splicing anomalies have been observed in intron 8 of the CASP8 gene (encoding procaspase-8) in association with cutaneous basal-cell carcinoma (BCC) and linked to a germline SNP rs700635. Here, we show that the rs700635[C] allele, which is associated with increased risk of BCC and breast cancer, is protective against prostate cancer [odds ratio (OR) = 0.91, P = 1.0 × 10(-6)]. rs700635[C] is also associated with failures to correctly splice out CASP8 intron 8 in breast and prostate tumours and in corresponding normal tissues. Investigation of rs700635[C] carriers revealed that they have a human-specific short interspersed element-variable number of tandem repeat-Alu (SINE-VNTR-Alu), subfamily-E retrotransposon (SVA-E) inserted into CASP8 intron 8. The SVA-E shows evidence of prior activity, because it has transduced some CASP8 sequences during subsequent retrotransposition events. Whole-genome sequence (WGS) data were used to tag the SVA-E with a surrogate SNP rs1035142[T] (r(2) = 0.999), which showed associations with both the splicing anomalies (P = 6.5 × 10(-32)) and with protection against prostate cancer (OR = 0.91, P = 3.8 × 10(-7)).National Cancer Research Institute (NCRI) G0500966/75466 Department of Health, Medical Research Council Cancer Research UK University of Cambridge NIHR Department of Health Anniversary Fund of the Austrian National Bank 15079 Medical and Scientific Fund of the Mayor of the City of Vienna 10077 Common Fund of the Office of the Director of the National Institutes of Health NCI NHGRI NHLBI NIDA NIMH NINDS NCI\SAIC-Frederick, Inc. (SAIC-F) 10XS170 Roswell Park Cancer Institute 10XS171 Science Care, Inc. X10S172 SAIC-F 10ST1035 HHSN261200800001E deCODE genetics/AMGEN HHSN268201000029C DA006227 DA033684 N01MH000028 MH090941 MH101814 MH090951 MH090937 MH101820 MH101825 MH090936 MH101819 MH090948 MH101782 MH101810 MH10182

Meta-analysis of genome-wide association studies identifies novel loci that influence cupping and the glaucomatous process

Glaucoma is characterized by irreversible optic nerve degeneration and is the most frequent cause of irreversible blindness worldwide. Here, the International Glaucoma Genetics Consortium conducts a meta-analysis of genome-wide association studies of vertical cup-disc ratio (VCDR), an important disease-related optic nerve parameter. In 21,094 individuals of European ancestry and 6,784 individuals of Asian ancestry, we identify 10 new loci associated with variation in VCDR. In a separate risk-score analysis of five case-control studies, Caucasians in the highest quintile have a 2.5-fold increased risk of primary open-angle glaucoma as compared with those in the lowest quintile. This study has more than doubled the known loci associated with optic disc cupping and will allow greater understanding of mechanisms involved in this common blinding condition

The mediating effect of motivations between psychiatric distress and gaming disorder among esport gamers and recreational gamers

Research examining the relationship between gaming disorder, gaming motivations, and mental health is increasing, but the types of gaming use, such as recreational gaming and esports are not commonly distinguished. The present study compared recreational gamers and esport gamers (N = 4284) on a number of variables including game time, gaming motivations, severity of gaming disorder, and psychiatric symptoms. Additionally, the mediating effect of gaming motivations among esport and recreational gamers between psychiatric distress and problematic gaming was examined. Results showed that esport gamers spent significantly more time playing video games both on weekdays and weekend days than recreational gamers. Moreover, esport gamers had higher scores on social, competition, and skill development gaming motivations than recreational gamers. The mediation model demonstrated a significant positive direct and significant mediated effect via escapism (i.e., gaming excessively to avoid real life problems) between the higher levels of psychiatric distress and gaming disorder. However, esport and recreational gamers showed no significant differences in the model. The escapism motive appeared to be the common predictor of problematic gaming among both esport and recreational gamers. Future studies should focus on exploring escapism's mechanism in different subgroups of gamers in relation to problematic gaming to help the development of prevention, intervention, and treatment programs

Heterozygous Variants in KMT2E Cause a Spectrum of Neurodevelopmental Disorders and Epilepsy.

We delineate a KMT2E-related neurodevelopmental disorder on the basis of 38 individuals in 36 families. This study includes 31 distinct heterozygous variants in KMT2E (28 ascertained from Matchmaker Exchange and three previously reported), and four individuals with chromosome 7q22.2-22.23 microdeletions encompassing KMT2E (one previously reported). Almost all variants occurred de novo, and most were truncating. Most affected individuals with protein-truncating variants presented with mild intellectual disability. One-quarter of individuals met criteria for autism. Additional common features include macrocephaly, hypotonia, functional gastrointestinal abnormalities, and a subtle facial gestalt. Epilepsy was present in about one-fifth of individuals with truncating variants and was responsive to treatment with anti-epileptic medications in almost all. More than 70% of the individuals were male, and expressivity was variable by sex; epilepsy was more common in females and autism more common in males. The four individuals with microdeletions encompassing KMT2E generally presented similarly to those with truncating variants, but the degree of developmental delay was greater. The group of four individuals with missense variants in KMT2E presented with the most severe developmental delays. Epilepsy was present in all individuals with missense variants, often manifesting as treatment-resistant infantile epileptic encephalopathy. Microcephaly was also common in this group. Haploinsufficiency versus gain-of-function or dominant-negative effects specific to these missense variants in KMT2E might explain this divergence in phenotype, but requires independent validation. Disruptive variants in KMT2E are an under-recognized cause of neurodevelopmental abnormalities

Barnmorskors upplevelse av svåra situationer inom förlossningsvården

Barnmorskors arbete inom förlossningsvården innebär ofta en nära kontakt med den födande kvinnan, och barnmorskan har kompetens att självständigt bedöma när en situation under förlossningsarbetet avviker från det normala samt förestå en handlingsberedskap för komplikationer och akuta situationer. Svåra händelser kan påverka barnmorskan emotionellt, och syftet med studien är att utforska hur barnmorskor upplever svåra situationer inom förlossningsvården, samt vilket stöd de får i samband med detta. Semistrukturerade intervjuer genomfördes med sex barnmorskor som hade minst tre års erfarenhet från arbete på förlossningsavdelning. Intervjuerna analyserades enligt kvalitativ innehållsanalys med induktiv ansats. Tre huvudkategorier framkom i resultatet med åtta underkategorier Huvudkategorierna är: Att hantera det som känns svårt, Att utsättas för psykisk påfrestning, En utsatthet i relation till professionen. Att handlägga en förlossning är ett stort ansvar, och barnmorskor belyste situationer då de upplevt oro inför det som hände eller kunde ha hänt. Barnmorskorna betonade vikten av stöd både från chefer och kollegor i samband med svåra situationer, samt efterfrågade tid till samtal med kollegor och chefer eller handledning med extern gruppledare