Historical and contemporary perspectives on the sediments of Lake Rotorua

Lake Rotorua is probably the oldest continuously inundated lake in New Zealand, occupying a caldera formed by or closely associated with the eruption of the Mamaku ignimbrite and the collapse of the Rotorua caldera (Healy, 1975; Lowe and Green, 1991). The lake has undergone drastic changes in size and depth as a result of tectonics, volcanic activity and erosion. Since the Rotoehu eruption, (~60 kyr), the lake level has fluctuated between 120 m above present (280 m asl) and 10 m below present level. The modern lake covers an area of 79 km2 and has a mean depth of 10 m. Despite its long history of sedimentation, Lake Rotorua has an irregular bathymetry with features including faulted blocks, slumps, hydrothermal explosion craters, springs and large methane discharge pock marks

Prevalence of axial spondyloarthritis in patients with acute anterior uveitis: A cross-sectional study utilising MRI

Objective: Acute anterior uveitis (AAU) is the most common extra-articular manifestation of axial spondyloarthritis (axSpA). In this study, patients presenting with AAU were evaluated clinically and with MRI in order to estimate the prevalence of axSpA. Methods: Consecutive patients presenting to a university teaching hospital between February 2014 and March 2015 with AAU were invited to participate. Those with a history of chronic back pain (CBP) beginning <45 years were evaluated clinically and with MRI of thoracolumbar spine and sacroiliac joints. Results: Of 366 patients with AAU, 57 had a pre-existing diagnosis of axSpA; 77 others fulfilled the study eligibility criteria and 73 (95%) completed the study. Seventeen patients (23.3%) were diagnosed with axSpA by an experienced rheumatologist; of these, eight were human leucocyte antigen-B27 negative. Including those with a previous diagnosis, this equates to a minimum axSpA prevalence of 20.2%; one-quarter of patients were previously undiagnosed. Conclusion: This is the first study to actively search for the presence of axSpA in unselected patients presenting with AAU utilising MRI as an essential part of the assessment. There is a significant burden of undiagnosed axSpA in patients with AAU, but there does not appear to be a simple mechanism for screening. We recommend that ophthalmologists refer all patients with AAU with CBP, onset <45 years, to rheumatology for further evaluation

Beef production from feedstuffs conserved using new technologies to reduce negative environmental impacts

End of project reportMost (ca. 86%) Irish farms make some silage. Besides directly providing feed for livestock, the provision of grass silage within integrated grassland systems makes an important positive contribution to effective grazing management and improved forage utilisation by grazing animals, and to effective feed budgeting by farmers. It can also contribute to maintaining the content of desirable species in pastures, and to livestock not succumbing to parasites at sensitive times of the year. Furthermore, the optimal recycling of nutrients collected from housed livestock can often be best achieved by spreading the manures on the land used for producing the conserved feed. On most Irish farms, grass silage will remain the main conserved forage for feeding to livestock during winter for the foreseeable future. However, on some farms high yields of whole-crop (i.e. grain + straw) cereals such as wheat, barley and triticale, and of forage maize, will be an alternative option provided that losses during harvesting, storage and feedout are minimised and that input costs are restrained. These alternative forages have the potential to reliably support high levels of animal performance while avoiding the production of effluent. Their production and use however will need to advantageously integrate into ruminant production systems. A range of technologies can be employed for crop production and conservation, and for beef production, and the optimal options need to be identified. Beef cattle being finished indoors are offered concentrate feedstuffs at rates that range from modest inputs through to ad libitum access. Such concentrates frequently contain high levels of cereals such as barley or wheat. These cereals are generally between 14% to 18% moisture content and tend to be rolled shortly before being included in coarse rations or are more finely processed prior to pelleting. Farmers thinking of using ‘high-moisture grain’ techniques for preserving and processing cereal grains destined for feeding to beef cattle need to know how the yield, conservation efficiency and feeding value of such grains compares with grains conserved using more conventional techniques. European Union policy strongly encourages a sustainable and multifunctional agriculture. Therefore, in addition to providing European consumers with quality food produced within approved systems, agriculture must also contribute positively to the conservation of natural resources and the upkeep of the rural landscape. Plastics are widely used in agriculture and their post-use fate on farms must not harm the environment - they must be managed to support the enduring sustainability of farming systems. There is an absence of information on the efficacy of some new options for covering and sealing silage with plastic sheeting and tyres, and an absence of an inventory of the use, re-use and post-use fate of plastic film on farms. Irish cattle farmers operate a large number of beef production systems, half of which use dairy bred calves. In the current, continuously changing production and market conditions, new beef systems must be considered. A computer package is required that will allow the rapid, repeatable simulation and assessment of alternate beef production systems using appropriate, standardised procedures. There is thus a need to construct, evaluate and utilise computer models of components of beef production systems and to develop mathematical relationships to link system components into a network that would support their integration into an optimal system model. This will provide a framework to integrate physical and financial on-farm conditions with models for estimating feed supply and animal growth patterns. Cash flow and profit/loss results will be developed. This will help identify optimal systems, indicate the cause of failure of imperfect systems and identify areas where applied research data are currently lacking, or more basic research is required

Accuracy of physician-estimated probability of brain injury in children with minor head trauma

Objective: To evaluate the accuracy of physician estimates of the probability of intracranial injury in children with minor head trauma. Methods: This is a subanalysis of a large prospective multicentre cohort study performed from July 2001 to November2005. During data collection for the derivation of a clinical prediction rule for children with minor head trauma, physicians indicated their estimate of the probability of brain injury visible on computed tomography (P-Injury) and the probability of injury requiring intervention (P-Intervention) by choosing one of the following options: 0%, 1%, 2%, 3%, 4%, 5%, 10%, 20%, 30%, 40%, 50%, 75%, 90%, and 100%. We compared observed frequencies to expected frequencies of injury using Pearson’s χ2-test in analyses stratified by the level of each type of predicted probability and by year of age. Results: In 3771 eligible subjects, the mean predicted risk was 4.6% (P-Injury) and 1.4% (P-Intervention). The observed frequency of injury was 4.1% (any injury) and 0.6% (intervention). For all levels of P-Injury from 1% to 40%, the observed frequency of injury was consistent with the expected frequency. The observed frequencies for the 50%, 75%, and 90% levels were lower than expected (p\u3c0.05). For estimates of P-Intervention, the observed frequency was consistently higher than the expected frequency. Physicians underestimated risk for infants (mean P-Intervention 6.2%, actual risk 12.3%, p\u3c0.001). Conclusions: Physician estimates of probability of any brain injury in children were collectively accurate for children with low and moderate degrees of predicted risk. Risk was underestimated in infants