477 research outputs found
Night feeding to reduce bird predation in feedlots
During times of heavy infestations by birds, feedlots can have 25 to 30% increases in feed usage, thereby resulting in large economic losses. Because starlings, blackbirds, grackles, and other avian pests normally feed during daylight hours, we hypothesized that feeding cattle at night would minimize feed contamination and feed loss due to bird infestation. Crossbred beef heifers (n=96; 770 lb) were used to evaluate the effects of feeding at night on performance and carcass characteristics.
Heifers were fed for 107 days during the
months of November to March, when large
bird populations were observed. Feed was delivered once daily at approximately 10:00 a.m. for heifers with continuous access to feed and 30 minutes before dusk for heifers that had access to feed only at night. Feed calls for heifers fed at night were managed so that no feed remained in the bunk at dawn, whereas the control heifers were allowed ad libitum access to feed. Daily feed deliveries per animal (21.51 vs. 18.15 lb for heifers fed continuously or only at night, respectively) were decreased by 16% (P<0.01) when cattle were provided access to feed only at night, but daily gain was not different. Feed efficiency was improved by 14% (P=0.05) with night time feeding, but carcass weights and dressing percentage
remained similar. Overall, feeding cattle only during hours of darkness yielded similar growth performance compared to cattle
fed continuously. However, feed efficiency
was improved substantially, which we attribute to reduced theft by birds
Dakota GoldÂź-brand dried distillerâs grains with solubles: effects on finishing performance and carcass characteristics
A 153-day trial was conducted using
345 heifers to determine optimal level of
Dakota Gold dried distillerâs grains with
solubles (DDGS) in finishing diets based
on steam-flaked corn. Diets contained six
levels of DDGS: 0%, 15%, 30%, 45%,
60%, and 75%. DDGS affected average
daily gain, final weight and hot carcass
weight, all of which increased with 15%
DDGS and then decreased as additional
DDGS was added. Growth performance of
heifers fed 30% DDGS was similar to those
fed no DDGS. In general, heifers were
overfinished, with 61% being Yield Grade
3 or greater and 83% grading Choice or
Prime. Backfat tended to decrease with
addition of DDGS, and kidney, pelvic, and
heart fat and marbling scores tended to be
greatest for intermediate levels of DDGS.
Percentage of carcasses grading Choice or
Prime tended to be lower for heifers fed 60
or 75% DDGS
The High Magnetic Field Phase Diagram of a Quasi-One Dimensional Metal
We present a unique high magnetic field phase of the quasi-one dimensional
organic conductor (TMTSF)ClO. This phase, termed "Q-ClO", is
obtained by rapid thermal quenching to avoid ordering of the ClO anion. The
magnetic field dependent phase of Q-ClO is distinctly different from that
in the extensively studied annealed material. Q-ClO exhibits a spin density
wave (SDW) transition at 5 K which is strongly magnetic field
dependent. This dependence is well described by the theoretical treatment of
Bjelis and Maki. We show that Q-ClO provides a new B-T phase diagram in the
hierarchy of low-dimensional organic metals (one-dimensional towards
two-dimensional), and describe the temperature dependence of the of the quantum
oscillations observed in the SDW phase.Comment: 10 pages, 4 figures, preprin
Current-Induced Effects in Nanoscale Conductors
We present an overview of current-induced effects in nanoscale conductors
with emphasis on their description at the atomic level. In particular, we
discuss steady-state current fluctuations, current-induced forces, inelastic
scattering and local heating. All of these properties are calculated in terms
of single-particle wavefunctions computed using a scattering approach within
the static density-functional theory of many-electron systems. Examples of
current-induced effects in atomic and molecular wires will be given and
comparison with experimental results will be provided when available.Comment: revtex, 10 pages, 8 figure
Weak Liouville-Arnold Theorems & Their Implications
This paper studies the existence of invariant smooth Lagrangian graphs for
Tonelli Hamiltonian systems with symmetries. In particular, we consider Tonelli
Hamiltonians with n independent but not necessarily involutive constants of
motion and obtain two theorems reminiscent of the Liouville-Arnold theorem.
Moreover, we also obtain results on the structure of the configuration spaces
of such systems that are reminiscent of results on the configuration space of
completely integrable Tonelli Hamiltonians.Comment: 24 pages, 1 figure; v2 corrects typo in online abstract; v3 includes
new title (was: A Weak Liouville-Arnold Theorem), re-arrangement of
introduction, re-numbering of main theorems; v4 updates the authors' email
and physical addresses, clarifies notation in section 4. Final versio
Effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of daily all-over-body application of emollient during the first year of life for preventing atopic eczema in high-risk children (The BEEP trial): protocol for a randomised controlled trial.
BACKGROUND: Atopic eczema (AE) is a common skin problem that impairs quality of life and is associated with the development of other atopic diseases including asthma, food allergy and allergic rhinitis. AE treatment is a significant cost burden for health care providers. The purpose of the trial is to investigate whether daily application of emollients for the first year of life can prevent AE developing in high-risk infants (first-degree relative with asthma, AE or allergic rhinitis). METHODS: This is a protocol for a pragmatic, two-arm, randomised controlled, multicentre trial. Up to 1400 term infants at high risk of developing AE will be recruited through the community, primary and secondary care in England. Participating families will be randomised in a 1:1 ratio to receive general infant skin-care advice, or general skin-care advice plus emollients with advice to apply daily to the infant for the first year of life. Families will not be blinded to treatment allocation. The primary outcome will be a blinded assessment of AE at 24Â months of age using the UK Working Party Diagnostic Criteria for Atopic Eczema. Secondary outcomes are other definitions of AE, time to AE onset, severity of AE (EASI and POEM), presence of other allergic diseases including food allergy, asthma and hay fever, allergic sensitisation, quality of life, cost-effectiveness and safety of the emollients. Subgroup analyses are planned for the primary outcome according to filaggrin genotype and the number of first-degree relatives with AE and other atopic diseases. Families will be followed up by online and postal questionnaire at 3, 6, 12 and 18Â months with a face-to-face visit at 24Â months. Long-term follow-up until 60Â months will be via annual questionnaires. DISCUSSION: This trial will demonstrate whether skin-barrier enhancement through daily emollient for the first year of life can prevent AE from developing in high-risk infants. If effective, this simple and cheap intervention has the potential to result in significant cost savings for health care providers throughout the world by preventing AE and possibly other associated allergic diseases. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ISRCTN registry; ID: ISRCTN21528841 . Registered on 25 July 2014
Clinical and laboratory variability in a cohort of patients diagnosed with type 1 VWD in the United States
Von Willebrand disease (VWD) is the most common inherited bleeding disorder, and type 1
VWD is the most common VWD variant. Despite its frequency, diagnosis of type 1 VWD
remains the subject of much debate. In order to study the spectrum of type 1 VWD in the United
States, the Zimmerman Program enrolled 482 subjects with a previous diagnosis of type 1 VWD
without stringent laboratory diagnostic criteria. VWF laboratory testing and full length VWF
gene sequencing were performed for all index cases and healthy control subjects in a central
laboratory. Bleeding phenotype was characterized using the ISTH Bleeding Assessment Tool.
At study entry, 64% of subjects had VWF:Ag or VWF:RCo below the lower limit of normal,
while 36% had normal VWF levels. VWF sequence variations were most frequent in subjects
with VWF:Ag < 30 IU/dL (82%) while subjects with type 1 VWD and VWF:Ag â„ 30 IU/dL had
an intermediate frequency of variants (44%). Subjects whose VWF testing was normal at study
entry had a similar rate of sequence variations as the healthy controls at 14% of subjects. All
subjects with severe type 1 VWD and VWF:Ag †5 IU/dL had an abnormal bleeding score, but
otherwise bleeding score did not correlate with VWF:Ag level. Subjects with a historical
diagnosis of type 1 VWD had similar rates of abnormal bleeding scores compared to subjects
with low VWF levels at study entry. Type 1 VWD in the United States is highly variable, and
bleeding symptoms are frequent in this population
The problems with systematic reviews: a living systematic review
Objectives
Systematic reviews and meta-analyses are proliferating as they are an important building block to inform evidence-based guidelines and decision-making. Enforcement of best practice in clinical trials is firmly on the research agenda of good clinical practice, but there is less clarity as to how evidence syntheses that combine these studies can be influenced by bad practice. Our aim was to conduct a living systematic review of articles that highlight flaws in published systematic reviews to formally document and understand these problems.
Study Design and Setting
We conducted a comprehensive assessment of all literature examining problems, which relate to published systematic reviews.
Results
The first iteration of our living systematic review (https://systematicreviewlution.com/) has found 485 articles documenting 67 discrete problems relating to the conduct and reporting of systematic reviews which can potentially jeopardize their reliability or validity.
Conclusion
Many hundreds of articles highlight that there are many flaws in the conduct, methods, and reporting of published systematic reviews, despite the existence and frequent application of guidelines. Considering the pivotal role that systematic reviews have in medical decision-making due to having apparently transparent, objective, and replicable processes, a failure to appreciate and regulate problems with these highly cited research designs is a threat to credible science
Lamotrigine versus inert placebo in the treatment of borderline personality disorder: study protocol for a randomized controlled trial and economic evaluation
Background: People with borderline personality disorder (BPD) experience rapid and distressing changes in mood, poor social functioning and have high rates of suicidal behaviour. Several small scale studies suggest that mood stabilizers may produce short-term reductions in symptoms of BPD, but have not been large enough to fully examine clinical and cost-effectiveness. Methods/Design: A two parallel-arm, placebo controlled randomized trial of usual care plus either lamotrigine or an inert placebo for people aged over 18 who are using mental health services and meet diagnostic criteria for BPD. We will exclude people with comorbid bipolar affective disorder or psychosis, those already taking a mood stabilizer, those who speak insufficient English to complete the baseline assessment and women who are pregnant or contemplating becoming pregnant. Those meeting inclusion criteria and provide written informed consent will be randomized to up to 200mg of lamotrigine per day or an inert placebo (up to 400mg if taking combined oral contraceptives).Participants will be randomized via a remote web-based system using permuted stacked blocks stratified by study centre, severity of personality disorder, and level of bipolarity. Follow-up assessments will be conducted by masked researchers 12, 24 weeks, and 52 weeks after randomization. The primary outcome is the Zanarini Rating Scale for Borderline Personality Disorder (ZAN-BPD). The secondary outcomes are depressive symptoms, deliberate self-harm, social functioning, health-related quality of life, resource use and costs, side effects of treatment, adverse events and withdrawal of trial medication due to adverse effects. The main analyses will use intention to treat without imputation of missing data. The economic evaluation will take an NHS/Personal Social Services perspective. A cost-utility analysis will compare differences in total costs and differences in quality of life using QALYs derived from the EQ-5D. Discussion: The evidence base for the use of pharmacological treatments for people with borderline personality disorder is poor. In this trial we will examine the clinical and cost-effectiveness of lamotrigine to assess what if any impact offering this has on peoplesâ mental health, social functioning, and use of other medication and other resources. Trial registration: Current Controlled Trials ISRCTN90916365 (registered 01/08/2012
Hydromorphological, hydraulic and ecological effects of restored wood: findings and reflections from an academic partnership approach
This is the peer reviewed version of the following article: Pinto, C. , Ing, R. , Browning, B. , Delboni, V. , Wilson, H. , Martyn, D. and Harvey, G. L. (2019), Hydromorphological, hydraulic and ecological effects of restored wood: findings and reflections from an academic partnership approach. Water and Environment Journal. doi:10.1111/wej.12457, which has been published in final form at https://doi.org/10.1111/wej.12457. This article may be used for non-commercial purposes in accordance with Wiley Terms and Conditions for Use of Self-Archived Versions© 2019 CIWEM Large wood (re)introduction can deliver multiple benefits in river restoration, but there is a dearth of the detailed and longer-term post-project monitoring and evaluation required for improving best practice. We present findings from an academic partnership approach to post-project evaluation, based on successive MSc research projects on restored large wood in the Loddon catchment, UK. Field and modelling data reveal: (i) key differences in large wood features between restored and natural reaches; (ii) increased hydraulic retention and changes to mesohabitats associated with large wood; (iii) differences in macroinvertebrate community composition around large wood but a lack of site-level effects; (iv) interactions between macrophytes and large wood that may be specific to restored reaches; (v) a need for further field and modelling studies to inform the accurate representation of large wood in hydraulic models. Some key challenges in partnership working are identified to aid planning and effectiveness of future collaborations
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