Soil properties affected by grazing, forage rotations, and tillage in the semi-arid dryland cropping systems central Great Plains

Master of ScienceDepartment of AgronomyJohnathon D. HolmanKraig L. RoozeboomAnnual forages in dryland cropping systems in the semi-arid central Great Plains could improve soil health and provide forage for livestock. A study was initiated in 2016 near Jetmore, KS to investigate tillage effects on grazed continuous winter triticale [×Triticosecale Wittm. ex A. Camus (Secale ×Triticum)]. The two treatments included minimal tillage (MT) and no-till (NT). A second story was conducted from 2012 to 2022 at the Southwest Research Extension Center near Garden City, KS. The crops in the rotations included winter triticale (T), forage sorghum [Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench] (FS) and oats (Avena sativa L.) (O). Six treatments in an incomplete factorial combination of four crop rotation and two tillage treatments include FS-FS (NT), T/FS–FS–O (NT), T/FS–FS–O (RT), T/FS–FS–FS–O (NT), T/FS–FS–FS–O (RT), T-FS-O (NT). At Jetmore, Bulk density was greater pre-till (1.31g cm-3) compared to the post-till (1.23 g cm-3) and was lower under MT (1.24 g cm-3) compared to NT (1.29 g cm-3). Minimal tillage decreased water stable aggregate mean weight diameter, increased wind erodibility, and decreased dry aggregate stable MWD. Penetration resistance was unaffected by tillage systems. No-till had greater sorptivity in 2022 compared to MT. Time to runoff was greater in 2022 compared to 2021. Infiltration rate was unaffected by tillage. Soil organic carbon (SOC) stocks on a fixed depth basis was greater in pre-till than post-till in two of three years, greater in the 5- to 15-cm depth compared to 0- to 5-cm depth, and greater in NT than MT in 2022. Soil equivalent mass SOC stocks were greater in the pre-till compared to post-till and greater in the 5- to 15-cm soil depth than the 0- to 5-cm soil depth. Soil organic carbon concentration was greater in NT than MT in 2022 and greater in the 0- to 5-cm than the 5- to 15-cm depth. Nitrate-N concentration was greater in the MT and was in greater concentration in the 0- to 5-cm depth compared to the 5- to 15-cm depth. Soil phosphorus concentrations in the soil surface were greater pre-till than post-till (884 ppm vs. 554 ppm). Soil pH was slightly lower in NT compared to MT. Early forage biomass was greater in MT compared to NT, but consistent grazing leveled out forage production. Crude protein (CP), neutral detergent fiber digestibility (NDFD), and total digestible nutrients (TDN) were greater in the spring compared to summer. However, acid detergent fiber (ADF), neutral detergent fiber (NDF), and undigested neutral detergent fiber (UNDF) were greater in the summer compared to spring. Minimal tillage increased CP, NDF, and UNDF but decreased NDFD in 2022. Minimal tillage significantly reduced weed density compared to NT. Our findings suggest that MT had minimal effects on soil physical and chemical properties, significantly decreased weed population, and increased early season forage biomass. At Garden City, results showed treatments was not different for soil parameters except total nitrogen (TN), soil nitrate (NO3-) concentrations and soil potassium (K). Soil nitrate-N concentration was greatest in T/S-S-S-O (NT) and the lower nitrate concentrations in T/FS-FS-O (NT), T/FS-FS-O (RT), and T/FS-FS-FS-O (RT). Potassium concentration differed among forage rotations; T/S-S-S-O in NT had the highest level and FS-FS had the lowest level. Tillage had no significant differences in soil parameters except NO3-, K and WSA MWD. No tillage had more soil nitrates and K concentration than RT. However, RT had a higher WSA MWD compared to NT. Sorptivity, infiltration rate, and TTR was not significantly different among treatment. Sorptivity was greater in NT in 2021 but was greater in RT in 2022. Similarly, infiltration rate in 2021 infiltration rate was greater in NT but was greater in RT in 2022. Time to runoff was faster in NT in 2021 but was faster in RT in 2022. Time to run-off saw that 2021 was faster in run-off time compared to 2022. Our findings suggest that forage rotations can be used without negative impacts on soil physical and chemical properties and tillage had limited impacts on soil parameters

Head-to-head comparison of two angiography-derived fractional flow reserve techniques in patients with high-risk acute coronary syndrome: A multicenter prospective study.

FFRangio and QFR are angiography-based technologies that have been validated in patients with stable coronary artery disease. No head-to-head comparison to invasive fractional flow reserve (FFR) has been reported to date in patients with acute coronary syndromes (ACS). This study is a subset of a larger prospective multicenter, single-arm study that involved patients diagnosed with high-risk ACS in whom 30-70% stenosis was evaluated by FFR. FFRangio and QFR - both calculated offline by 2 different and blinded operators - were calculated and compared to FFR. The two co-primary endpoints were the comparison of the Pearson correlation coefficient between FFRangio and QFR with FFR and the comparison of their inter-observer variability. Among 134 high-risk ACS screened patients, 59 patients with 84 vessels underwent FFR measurements and were included in this study. The mean FFR value was 0.82 ± 0.40 with 32 (38%) being ≤0.80. The mean FFRangio was 0.82 ± 0.20 and the mean QFR was 0.82 ± 0.30, with 27 (32%) and 25 (29%) being ≤0.80, respectively. The Pearson correlation coefficient was significantly better for FFRangio compared to QFR, with R values of 0.76 and 0.61, respectively (p = 0.01). The inter-observer agreement was also significantly better for FFRangio compared to QFR (0.86 vs 0.79, p < 0.05). FFRangio had 91% sensitivity, 100% specificity, and 96.8% accuracy, while QFR exhibited 86.4% sensitivity, 98.4% specificity, and 93.7% accuracy. In patients with high-risk ACS, FFRangio and QFR demonstrated excellent diagnostic performance. FFRangio seems to have better correlation to invasive FFR compared to QFR but further larger validation studies are required

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Drug-induced mild therapeutic hypothermia obtained by administration of a transient receptor potential vanilloid type 1 agonist

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The use of mechanical/physical devices for applying mild therapeutic hypothermia is the only proven neuroprotective treatment for survivors of out of hospital cardiac arrest. However, this type of therapy is cumbersome and associated with several side-effects. We investigated the feasibility of using a transient receptor potential vanilloid type 1 (TRPV1) agonist for obtaining drug-induced sustainable mild hypothermia.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>First, we screened a heterogeneous group of TRPV1 agonists and secondly we tested the hypothermic properties of a selected candidate by dose-response studies. Finally we tested the hypothermic properties in a large animal. The screening was in conscious rats, the dose-response experiments in conscious rats and in cynomologus monkeys, and the finally we tested the hypothermic properties in conscious young cattle (calves with a body weight as an adult human). The investigated TRPV1 agonists were administered by continuous intravenous infusion.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Screening: Dihydrocapsaicin (DHC), a component of chili pepper, displayed a desirable hypothermic profile with regards to the duration, depth and control in conscious rats. Dose-response experiments: In both rats and cynomologus monkeys DHC caused a dose-dependent and immediate decrease in body temperature. Thus in rats, infusion of DHC at doses of 0.125, 0.25, 0.50, and 0.75 mg/kg/h caused a maximal ΔT (°C) as compared to vehicle control of -0.9, -1.5, -2.0, and -4.2 within approximately 1 hour until the 6 hour infusion was stopped. Finally, in calves the intravenous infusion of DHC was able to maintain mild hypothermia with ΔT > -3°C for more than 12 hours.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Our data support the hypothesis that infusion of dihydrocapsaicin is a candidate for testing as a primary or adjunct method of inducing and maintaining therapeutic hypothermia.</p

Precision medicine in cats:novel niemann-pick type C1 diagnosed by whole-genome sequencing

State-of-the-art health care includes genome sequencing of the patient to identify genetic variants that contribute to either the cause of their malady or variants that can be targeted to improve treatment. The goal was to introduce state-of-the-art health care to cats using genomics and a precision medicine approach. To test the feasibility of a precision medicine approach in domestic cats, a single cat that presented to the University of Missouri, Veterinary Health Center with an undiagnosed neurologic disease was whole-genome sequenced. The DNA variants from the cat were compared to the DNA variant database produced by the 99 Lives Cat Genome Sequencing Consortium. Approximately 25× genomic coverage was produced for the cat. A predicted p.H441P missense mutation was identified in NPC1, the gene causing Niemann-Pick type C1 on cat chromosome D3.47456793 caused by an adenine-to-cytosine transversion, c.1322A>C. The cat was homozygous for the variant. The variant was not identified in any other 73 domestic and 9 wild felids in the sequence database or 190 additionally genotyped cats of various breeds. The successful effort suggested precision medicine is feasible for cats and other undiagnosed cats may benefit from a genomic analysis approach. The 99 Lives DNA variant database was sufficient but would benefit from additional cat sequences. Other cats with the mutation may be identified and could be introduced as a new biomedical model for NPC1. A genetic test could eliminate the disease variant from the population

Initial validation of the mindful eating scale

Published Mindfulness, 2013, 5(6), pp. 719-729. The final publication is available at Springer via http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s12671-013-0227-5Self-report scales for mindfulness are now widely used in applied settings, and have made a contribution to research, for instance in demonstrating mediation effects. To date there are no convincing data as to whether mindfulness skills generalise fully across life domains, and so some researchers have developed mindfulness scales for particular domains of behaviour. We present the development of a self-report scale to measure mindfulness with respect to eating behaviours