Impact of Shade in Beef Feedyards on Performance, Body Temperature, and Heat Stress Measures

A study using crossbred steers was conducted at a commercial feedyard to determine the effects of pen shades on cattle performance, body temperature, and cattle activity. Two heat events (Event 1 and Event 2) and one cool event were defined for the feeding period. No significant differences were observed for average daily gain, dry matter intake, feed to gain, or carcass characteristics at the end of the trial. During Event 1, cattle in pens with shade had lower panting scores than cattle in open pens. During Event 2, cattle in shade pens had greater dry matter intake, lower panting scores, and lower ear temperature. Throughout the entire feeding period, cattle in open pens had greater ear temperature and panting scores than cattle in shaded pens while movement was not different between treatments. Using shades for feedyard cattle did not impact performance, but did improve some measures of heat stress

Mitochondrial Strokes: Diagnostic Challenges and Chameleons

Mitochondrial stroke-like episodes (SLEs) are a hallmark of mitochondrial encephalomyopathy, lactic acidosis, and stroke-like episodes (MELAS). They should be suspected in anyone with an acute/subacute onset of focal neurological symptoms at any age and are usually driven by seizures. Suggestive features of an underlying mitochondrial pathology include evolving MRI lesions, often originating within the posterior brain regions, the presence of multisystemic involvement, including diabetes, deafness, or cardiomyopathy, and a positive family history. The diagnosis of MELAS has important implications for those affected and their relatives, given it enables early initiation of appropriate treatment and genetic counselling. However, the diagnosis is frequently challenging, particularly during the acute phase of an event. We describe four cases of mitochondrial strokes to highlight the considerable overlap that exists with other neurological disorders, including viral and autoimmune encephalitis, ischemic stroke, and central nervous system (CNS) vasculitis, and discuss the clinical, laboratory, and imaging features that can help distinguish MELAS from these differential diagnoses

Relationships of Chute-Side Measurements to Carcass Measurements

Three data sets were compiled to determine the relationship of weight, performance, hip height and ultrasound-measured fat thickness to hot carcass weight and fat thickness. Weight is generally the best predictor of relative differences in carcass weight at any time in the production system. Hip heights do not predict relative differences in carcass weight. Although the combination of hip height and weight is a more precise indicator of carcass weight than is hip height alone, generally this combination is inferior to weight alone. Only ultrasound-measured fat thickness predicted relative differences in fat thickness. Prediction of relative differences in carcass weight from body weight and fat thickness from ultrasound scans improved as marketing date approached

Memory as embodiment : the case of modality and serial short-term memory

Classical explanations for the modality effect—superior short-term serial recall of auditory compared to visual sequences—typically recur to privileged processing of information derived from auditory sources. Here we critically appraise such accounts, and re-evaluate the nature of the canonical empirical phenomena that have motivated them. Three experiments show that the standard account of modality in memory is untenable, since auditory superiority in recency is often accompanied by visual superiority in mid-list serial positions. We explain this simultaneous auditory and visual superiority by reference to the way in which perceptual objects are formed in the two modalities and how those objects are mapped to speech motor forms to support sequence maintenance and reproduction. Specifically, stronger obligatory object formation operating in the standard auditory form of sequence presentation compared to that for visual sequences leads both to enhanced addressability of information at the object boundaries and reduced addressability for that in the interior. Because standard visual presentation does not lead to such object formation, such sequences do not show the boundary advantage observed for auditory presentation, but neither do they suffer loss of addressability associated with object information, thereby affording more ready mapping of that information into a rehearsal cohort to support recall. We show that a range of factors that impede this perceptual-motor mapping eliminate visual superiority while leaving auditory superiority unaffected. We make a general case for viewing short-term memory as an embodied, perceptual-motor process

Educating law students for rural and regional legal practice: embedding place consciousness in law curricula

As with other professions, the declining rates of recruitment and retention of lawyers in rural and regional Australia is of significant concern. Whilst the causes of this vary between communities, common depictions of the rural and regional lawyer’s role indicate that employment as a lawyer in such areas is characterised by unique personal and professional challenges. Nonetheless, employment as a rural and regional lawyer also offers practitioners rewarding opportunities and lifestyle benefits. Research from other disciplines indicates that the challenges inherent in rural and regional professional practice may be alleviated, and benefits more easily harnessed, via place conscious discipline-specific curriculum that sensitises tertiary students to, and prepares them for, the rural and regional career context.Largely oriented towards substantive content to satisfy external accrediting bodies, undergraduate legal education does not typically acknowledge the ‘places’in which graduates will practice as professionals. This article argues however that there is scope to incorporate place within legal education, and documents an innovative curriculum development project which embeds place consciousness to better prepare law students for employment in rural and regional legal practice.Drawing upon methods from other disciplines, the project team designed a curriculum package which aims to sensitise students to the rural and regional legal practice context, and equip them with the skills to overcome challenges and take advantage of the opportunities available in a rural or regional professional career

Impact of COVID-19 pandemic on ophthalmic presentations to an Australian outer metropolitan and rural emergency department: a retrospective comparative study.

BACKGROUND: To analyse ophthalmic presentations to an outer metropolitan and a rural emergency department (ED) during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in New South Wales (NSW), Australia. METHODS: A retrospective comparative study of ophthalmic emergency presentations to Campbelltown Hospital (fifth busiest NSW metropolitan ED; population 310,000) and Bowral and District Hospital (rural ED; population 48,000) before and during COVID-19 was conducted. Patient demographics, triage category, referral source, diagnosis, length of stay, departure status, and follow-up location were assessed from coding data between March 1st to May 31st in 2019 and 2020, corresponding to the peak case numbers and restrictions during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in NSW. Differences before and during COVID-19 were analysed using chi-squared tests or independent sample t-tests. RESULTS: There was no change in ophthalmic presentations at Campbelltown (n = 228 in 2019 vs. n = 232 in 2020; + 1.75%, p = 0.12) and an increase at Bowral (n = 100 in 2019 vs. n = 111 in 2020; + 11%, p < 0.01) during COVID-19. Urgent ophthalmic presentations (Triage Category 3) decreased at Bowral (p = 0.0075), while non-urgent ophthalmic presentations (Triage Category 5) increased at both hospitals (Campbelltown p < 0.05, Bowral p < 0.01). CONCLUSIONS: There was no change in the total number of ophthalmic presentations to an outer metropolitan and an increase to a rural ED during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in New South Wales, Australia. A change in the type of ophthalmic presentations at these peripheral EDs suggest that a high demand for ophthalmic services remained despite the pandemic and its associated gathering and movement restrictions. A flexible healthcare delivery strategy, such as tele-ophthalmology, may optimise patient care during and after COVID-19

Developing a machine learning algorithm to predict the probability of aseptic loosening of the glenoid component after anatomical total shoulder arthroplasty:protocol for a retrospective, multicentre study

INTRODUCTION: Despite technological advancements in recent years, glenoid component loosening remains a common complication after anatomical total shoulder arthroplasty (ATSA) and is one of the main causes of revision surgery. Increasing emphasis is placed on the prevention of glenoid component failure. Previous studies have successfully predicted range of motion, patient-reported outcomes and short-term complications after ATSA using machine learning methods, but an accurate predictive model for (glenoid component) revision is currently lacking. This study aims to use a large international database to accurately predict aseptic loosening of the glenoid component after ATSA using machine learning algorithms.METHODS AND ANALYSIS: For this multicentre, retrospective study, individual patient data will be compiled from previously published studies reporting revision of ATSA. A systematic literature search will be performed in Medline (PubMed) identifying all studies reporting outcomes of ATSA. Authors will be contacted and invited to participate in the Machine Learning Consortium by sharing their anonymised databases. All databases reporting revisions after ATSA will be included, and individual patients with a follow-up less than 2 years or a fracture as the indication for ATSA will be excluded. First, features (predictive variables) will be identified using a random forest feature selection. The resulting features from the compiled database will be used to train various machine learning algorithms (stochastic gradient boosting, random forest, support vector machine, neural network and elastic-net penalised logistic regression). The developed and validated algorithms will be evaluated across discrimination (c-statistic), calibration, the Brier score and the decision curve analysis. The best-performing algorithm will be used to create an open-access online prediction tool.ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION: Data will be collected adhering to the WHO regulation on data sharing. An Institutional Review Board review is not applicable. The study results will be published in a peer-reviewed journal.</p

Sorting Strategies for Yearlings

One hundred sixty medium-framed English-cross steers were used in each year of a two-year study to determine effects of three sorting strategies on performance, carcass characteristics and profitability in an extensive beef production system. Sorting by weight before the grazing period or entering the feedlot decreased variation in carcass weight. Sorting by weight before the grazing period increased marbling scores and resulted in significantly higher premiums. However, no sorting strategy significantly increased carcass weight or improved profitability

Sorting Strategies for Long Yearling Cattle Grown in an Extensive Forage Utilization Beef Production System

One hundred sixty English-cross steers (244 kg, SD=23 kg) were used in each yr of a 2-yr study to determine effects of sorting on performance, carcass characteristics, variability, and profitability in a long yearling system utilizing ranch-source calves. Steers were back grounded during winter then grazed smooth brome-grass pastures followed by warm season native range prior to entering the feedlot in the fall. Steers were stratified by BW and allotted to 1 of 4 treatments: 1) 40 head sorted by pre-grazing BW where heavy steers entered the feedlot in July (PST), 2) 40 head sorted by BW entering the feedlot (FDL), 3) 60 head sorted by BW and fat thickness at the end of the feeding period (IND), and 4) 20 head that were not sorted (UNS). No differences were observed for performance during back-grounding or grazing phases (P \u3e 0.30). Cattle receiving PST sorting weighed less entering the feedlot and consumed less feed with less feedlot ADG compared to other treatments (P \u3c 0.05). No differences in feed efficiencies were detected (P = 0.84). Cattle receiving PST sorting had greater marbling scores (P \u3c 0.05) and less variation in BW upon feedlot entry which resulted in less variation in carcass weight compared with UNS (P \u3c 0.05). Cattle sorted by BW entering the feedlot tended (P = 0.08) to have less variation in carcass weight compared with UNS. There were no differences in carcass weight or profitability when calculated on either a live or value basis. No sorting strategy increased carcass weight, reduced discounts for overweight or corpulent carcasses, or improved profitability over UNS