Social behaviour and sociability traits of dairy calves raised in a cow-calf contact system

Calves are usually separated from their dams a few hours after birth, placed in individual house pens, cages or hutches and fed on milk replacer. This system has many welfare and ethical implications on the dam and calf, especially as regards to their bonding and natural behaviours. A case-control behavioural observational study was therefore carried out to evaluate the potential effects of early socialization of calves raised with their dams, other cows, and peers during the first months of life, on later social behaviour and sociability traits in dairy calves. We investigated this on 23 dairy calves that were born in the summer of 2019 and subjected them to two treatments: Cow-Calf Contact treatment (CCC) (10 dairy calves) and Control group (C) (13 dairy calves). When the CCC and the C calves were 25 and 22 weeks of age respectively, video recordings and social behaviours of the calves using focal scans and continuous behavioural observations were done for at least 6 hours/day for five days; three consecutive days when calves were in their groups, one day when the groups were mixed and a day after mixing the groups. A week later when the CCC and the C calves were 26 and 23 weeks old respectively, a runway test was done to evaluate the calves’ sociability. In addition, an avoidance distance test to evaluate animals’ fear towards humans and to quantify the human-animal relationship were also applied. The effect of Treatments (CCC and C), Sex (heifer and castrated male calves) and their interaction were analysed in response to the observed behaviours of calves as the dependent variables. Weaning weights of the calves were included in the model as covariates to social and locomotor play behaviours. Before mixing, castrated males were walking (F=5.76, P=0.028) and self-grooming (F=8.55, P=0.009) more than the heifers. CCC calves performed more bucking (F=5.91, P=0.026) and jumping (F=5.04, P=0.038) locomotor play behaviours than C calves. Social motivation to socialize was observed more in the CCC calves through initiating interactions by performing more pushing, butting and mock fighting play behaviours when mixed. CCC calves expressed a higher motivation to reunite at latency ˂60s and spent more time in the zone closer to the grouped calves compared to the C calves which could indicate a higher motivation to socialize. Potential sociality for both CCC and C calves in the presence of humans was tested through their docility with an attained mean avoidance or flight distance of 0.9m in both treatment groups. CCC calves chin pressed (F=7.40, P=0.022) more than the C calves during the feed competition test. Therefore, raising dairy calves in social contact with their dams, other cows and peers is most likely to positively influence the early development and performance of natural behaviours. Additionally, it could potentially influence the acquiring and retention of sociability traits in calves to positively interact with both familiar and unfamiliar mates, which in turn could ensure animal welfare and well-being at a later stage in life when dairy calves are grouped.Kalvar separeras vanligtvis från sina mammor några timmar efter födseln, placeras i enskilda boxar, eller kalvhyddor och matas med mjölkersättning. Detta system har många välfärds- och etiska konsekvenser för kon och kalven, särskilt när det gäller deras bindning till varandra och naturliga beteenden. En fallkontrollstudie genomfördes därför för att utvärdera de potentiella effekterna av tidig socialisering av kalvar som uppfostrats med sina mammor, andra kor och kalvar under de första levnadsmånaderna, på senare socialt beteende och sällskaplighet hos mjölkraskalvar. Vi undersökte detta på 23 mjölkraskalvar som föddes sommaren 2019 och delades i två grupper som utsattes för olika behandlingar: Ko-kalvkontaktbehandling (CCC) (10 kalvar) och Kontrollbehandling (C) (13 kalvar). När CCC- och C-kalvarna var 25 respektive 22 veckor gamla, gjordes observationer och videoinspelningar av sociala beteenden hos kalvarna med hjälp av fokalskanningar och kontinuerliga beteendeobservationer i minst 6 timmar / dag i fem dagar; tre dagar i följd när kalvar var i sina behandlingsgrupper, en dag när grupperna blandades och en dag efter att grupperna hade blandats. En vecka senare när CCC- och C-kalvarna var 26 respektive 23 veckor gjordes ett sk. ”runway test” för att utvärdera kalvarnas sällskaplighet. Dessutom användes ett sk. ”aviodance test” för att utvärdera djurs rädsla gentemot människor och för att kvantifiera förhållandet mellan människa och djur. Effekten av behandlingar (CCC och C), kön (kviga och kastrerade tjurar) och deras interaktion analyserades för kalvarnas beteenden. Kalvarnas avvänjningsvikter inkluderades i modellen som kovariat för sociala och aktiva beteenden. Innan grupperna blandades gick kvigor mer (F=5.76, P=0,028) och putsade sig mer (F=8.55, P= 0,009) än de kastrerade tjurarna. CCC-kalvar bockade mer (F=5.91, P=0,026) och hoppande mer (F=5.04, P=0,038) än C-kalvar. Social motivation för att umgås med andra kalvar observerades mer i CCC-kalvarna genom att de initierade fler interaktioner när grupperna blandades. CCC-kalvar uttryckte en högre motivation att återförenas vid ”run-way testet” och tillbringade mer tid i den delen av arenan som var nära de grupperade kalvarna jämfört med C-kalvarna. Det var ingen skillnad mellan CCC-kalvar och C-kalvar i deras rädsla för människor då det genomsnittliga flyktavståndet i ”aviodance test” var 0,9 m för båda grupperna. CCC-kalvar pressade hakan mer mot andra kalvar (F = 7.40, P = 0,022) än C-kalvarna under foderkonkurrens. Att öka den sociala kontakten mellan mjölkraskalvar, deras mammor, andra kalvar och kor påverkar troligen den tidiga utvecklingen av naturliga sociala beteenden positivt. Dessutom kan det potentiellt påverka mer sällskapliga egenskaper hos kalvar, vilket i sin tur kan säkerställa djurens välbefinnande i ett senare skede i livet även när mjölkraskalvar grupperas

Development of an efficient sea oats breeding program for coastal restoration

Uniola paniculata (sea oats) has been used extensively to build artificial dunes as well as stabilize existing dunes along the southern Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico coasts of United States. A breeding program could enhance coastal restoration by developing improved plants for beach restoration. Our goal was to initiate a successful breeding program for sea oats adapted to low dune profiles, with high seed yield and germination, and superior vegetative biomass essential for reducing coastal erosion. The specific objectives were to: 1) examine effect of storage environment on sea oats seed germination; 2) determine time necessary for sea oats seeds to germinate; 3) determine sea oats seed moisture content; 4) determine pathogen incidence during germination; 5) determine survival and performance of vegetative sea oats plants and sea oats seedlings at beach environments with shallow dune profiles; 6) develop efficient methods to identify saturation tolerant sea oats lines; 7) determine sea oats seed yield in natural and artificial environments and 8) identify fungal and bacterial pathogens of sea oats seed. Sea oats seed stored in hermetically sealed jars at room temperature had highest average germination and seed germination was highest 21 days after germination. Sea oats seed moisture content, ranged from 6 to 16 %, and was negatively correlated with germination. Small sea oats seedlings had highest mortality however, seedling cost significantly less than vegetative plants. Increasing seedling densities could reduce production costs and result in acceptable survival rates accompanied with genetic diversity. We found that small seedlings flooded continuously to 14 cm depth in greenhouse for 3 months could predict sea oats survival in saturated beach conditions after 6 months. In 2007, 2009, 2010, and 2011 we determined sea oats seed yield in natural and artificial environments. Consistent seed yields were not obtained for either environment; however, sea oats seed were produced in artificial production nurseries. Finally, to determine seed pathogens colonizing sea oats seed, bacteria and fungi were isolated from sea oats seed harvested in 2011 and identified using both morphological and molecular techniques. The dominant bacterial genera colonizing sea oats seed were Bacillus and Enterobacter; while the dominant fungal genera were Fusarium and Curvularia

FACTORS ASSOCIATED WITH PREVALENCE OF HYPERTENSION AMONG ADULTS AGED 30-79 YEARS ATTENDING THE HYPERTENSION CLINIC AT HOIMA REGIONAL REFERRAL HOSPITAL. A CROSS-SECTIONAL STUDY.

Background: Hypertension also known as High or Raised blood pressure is a condition in which the blood vessels have persistently elevated blood pressure. This study, therefore aimed at assessing factors associated with the prevalence of hypertension among adults aged 30-79 years attending the hypertension clinic at Hoima Regional Referral Hospital. Methodology: A cross-sectional study design was employed involving both qualitative and quantitative methods of data collection. Kish and Leslie’s method was used in determining the sample size of 75 respondents who were obtained by simple random sampling technique. Results: The majority 27(30%) of the respondents with hypertension were aged 60-69 years followed by 20(26.7%) aged 50-59 years, 50(86.7%) were females, 35(46.7%) attained at most primary level of education while 20(26.7%) had no formal education and 48(64%) were living in rural areas. Furthermore, the majority 70(93%) of the respondents did not smoke a cigarette or have a history of cigarette smoking, more than half 40(61.5%) regularly ate vegetables more than 3 times a week, 52(69.3%) did not take alcohol, 72(96%) agreed to stress increasing one’s chances of developing hypertension and 28(37.4%) were classified as being overweight while 27(36%) were obese. There was no significant difference between participants having a relative with hypertension and those who did not. 50(66.7%) identified stress as a risk factor for hypertension while the rest of the risk factors were known to a few of the participants. Knowledge regarding the signs and symptoms of hypertension was good and health workers 45(60%) were identified as the major source from which the respondents had ever first got to hear about hypertension. Conclusion: The overall level of knowledge about hypertension among the respondents was average. Recommendations: The government in conjunction with the administration and health workers at HRRH should organize regular and comprehensive health education programs and campaigns regarding hypertension

Monitoring Sustainable Development Goals 3: Assessing the Readiness of Low- and Middle-Income Countries

Background: The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) availed opportunities for scaling up service coverage but called for stringent monitoring and evaluation (M&E) focusing mainly on MDG related programs. The Sustainable Development Goals 3 (SDGs) and the universal health coverage (UHC) agenda present a broader scope and require more sophisticated M&E systems. We assessed the readiness of low- and middle-income countries to monitor SDG 3.Methods: Employing mixed methods, we reviewed health sector M&E plans of 6 countries in the World Health Organization (WHO) Africa Region to assess the challenges to M&E, the indicator selection pattern and the extent of multisectoral collaboration. Qualitative data were analysed using content thematic analysis while quantitative data were analysed using Excel.Results: Challenges to monitoring SDG 3 include weak institutional capacity; fragmentation of M&E functions; inadequate domestic financing; inadequate data availability, dissemination and utilization of M&E products. The total number of indictors in the reviewed plans varied from 38 for Zimbabwe to 235 for Zanzibar. Sixty-nine percent of indicators for the Gambia and 89% for Zanzibar were not classified in any domain in the M&E results chain. Countries lay greater M&E emphasis on service delivery, health systems, maternal and child health as well as communicable diseases with a seeming neglect of the non-communicable diseases (NCDs). Inclusion of SDG 3 indicators only ranged from 48% for Zanzibar to 67% for Kenya. Although monitoring SDG 3 calls for multisectoral collaboration, consideration of the role of other sectors in the M&E plans was either absent or limited to the statistical departments. Conclusion: There are common challenges confronting M&E at county-level. Countries have omitted key indicators for monitoring components of the SDG 3 targets especially those on NCDs and injuries. The role of other sectors in monitoring SDG 3 targets is not adequately reflected. These could be bottlenecks to tracking progress towards SDG 3 if not addressed. Beyond providing compendium of indicators to guide countries, we advocate for a more binding minimum set of indicators for all countries to which they may add depending on their context. Ministries of Health (MoHs) should prioritise M&E as an important pillar for health service planning and implementation and not as an add-on activity

Community health workers trained to conduct verbal autopsies provide better mortality measures than existing surveillance: Results from a cross-sectional study in rural western Uganda

Background: In much of sub-Saharan Africa, health facilities serve as the primary source of routine vital statistics. These passive surveillance systems, however, are plagued by infrequent and unreliable reporting and do not capture events that occur outside of the formal health sector. Verbal autopsies (VA) have been utilized to estimate the burden and causes of mortality where civil registration and vital statistics systems are weak, but VAs have not been widely employed in national surveillance systems. In response, we trained lay community health workers (CHW) in a rural sub-county of western Uganda to conduct VA interviews in order to assess the feasibility of leveraging CHW to measure the burden of disease in resource limited settings. Methods and findings: Trained CHWs conducted a cross-sectional survey of the 36 villages comprising the Bugoye sub-county to identify all deaths occurring in the prior year. The sub county has an estimated population of 50,249, approximately one-quarter of whom are children under 5 years of age (25.3%). When an eligible death was reported, CHWs administered a WHO 2014 VA questionnaire, the results of which were analyzed using the InterVA-4 tool. To compare the findings of the CHW survey to existing surveillance systems, study staff reviewed inpatient registers from neighboring referral health facilities in an attempt to match recorded deaths to those identified by the survey. Overall, CHWs conducted high quality VA interviews on direct observation, identifying 230 deaths that occurred within the sub-county, including 77 (33.5%) among children under five years of age. More than half of the deaths (123 of 230, 53.5%) were reported to have occurred outside a health facility and thus would not be captured by passive surveillance. More than two-thirds (73 of 107, 68.2%) of facility deaths took place in one of three nearby hospitals, yet only 35 (47.9%) were identified on our review of inpatient registers. Consistent with previous VA studies, the leading causes of death among children under five years of age were malaria (19.5%), prematurity (19.5%), and neonatal pneumonia (15.6%). while among adults, HIV/AIDS-related deaths illness (13.6%), pulmonary tuberculosis (11.4%) and malaria (8.6%) were the leading causes of death. No child deaths identified from inpatient registers listed HIV/AIDS as a cause of death despite 8 deaths (10.4%) attributed to HIV/AIDS as determined by VA. Conclusions: Lay CHWs are able to conduct high quality VA interviews to capture critical information that can be analyzed using standard methodologies to provide a more complete estimate of the burden and causes of mortality. Similar approaches can be scaled to improve the measurement of vital statistics in order to facilitate appropriate public health interventions in rural areas of sub-Saharan Africa

Estimation of cause-specific mortality in Rakai, Uganda, using verbal autopsy 1999-2019

BackgroundThere are scant data on the causes of adult deaths in sub-Saharan Africa. We estimated the level and trends in adult mortality, overall and by different causes, in rural Rakai, Uganda, by age, sex, and HIV status.ObjectivesTo estimate and analyse adult cause-specific mortality trends in Rakai, Uganda.MethodologyMortality information by cause, age, sex, and HIV status was recorded in the Rakai Community Cohort study using verbal autopsy interviews, HIV serosurveys, and residency data. We estimated the average number of years lived in adulthood. Using demographic decomposition methods, we estimated the contribution of each cause of death to adult mortality based on the average number of years lived in adulthood.ResultsBetween 1999 and 2019, 63082 adults (15–60 years) were censused, with 1670 deaths registered. Of these, 1656 (99.2%) had completed cause of death data from verbal autopsy. The crude adult death rate was 5.60 (95% confidence interval (CI): 5.33–5.87) per 1000 person-years of observation (pyo). The crude death rate decreased from 11.41 (95% CI: 10.61–12.28) to 3.27 (95% CI: 2.89–3.68) per 1000 pyo between 1999–2004 and 2015–2019. The average number of years lived in adulthood increased in people living with HIV and decreased in HIV-negative individuals between 2000 and 2019. Communicable diseases, primarily HIV and Malaria, had the biggest decreases, which improved the average number of years lived by approximately extra 12 years of life in females and 6 years in males. There were increases in deaths due to non-communicable diseases and external causes, which reduced the average number of years lived in adulthood by 2.0 years and 1.5 years in females and males, respectively.ConclusionThere has been a significant decline in overall mortality from 1999 to 2019, with the greatest decline seen in people living with HIV since the availability of antiretroviral therapy in 2004. By 2020, the predominant causes of death among females were non-communicable diseases, with external causes of death dominating in males

The Network for Analysing Longitudinal Population-based HIV/AIDS data on Africa (ALPHA):Data on mortality, by HIV status and stage on the HIV care continuum, among the general population in seven longitudinal studies between 1989 and 2014

Timely progression of people living with HIV (PLHIV) from the point of infection through the pathway from diagnosis to treatment is important in ensuring effective care and treatment of HIV and preventing HIV-related deaths and onwards transmission of infection. Reliable, population-based estimates of new infections are difficult to obtain for the generalised epidemics in sub-Saharan Africa. Mortality data indicate disease burden and, if disaggregated along the continuum from diagnosis to treatment, can also reflect the coverage and quality of different HIV services. Neither routine statistics nor observational clinical studies can estimate mortality prior to linkage to care nor following disengagement from care. For this, population-based data are required.The Network for Analysing Longitudinal Population-based HIV/AIDS data on Africa brings together studies in Kenya, Malawi, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda, and Zimbabwe. Eight studies have the necessary data to estimate mortality by HIV status, and seven can estimate mortality at different stages of the HIV care continuum. This data note describes a harmonised dataset containing anonymised individual-level information on survival by HIV status for adults aged 15 and above. Among PLHIV, the dataset provides information on survival during different periods: prior to diagnosis of infection; following diagnosis but before linkage to care; in pre-antiretroviral treatment (ART) care; in the first six months after ART initiation; among people continuously on ART for 6+ months; and among people who have ever interrupted ART

Mortality trends in the era of antiretroviral therapy: evidence from the Network for Analysing Longitudinal Population based HIV/AIDS data on Africa (ALPHA)

Background:The rollout of antiretroviral therapy (ART) is one of the largest public health interventions in Eastern and Southern Africa of recent years. Its impact is well described in clinical cohort studies, but population-based evidence is rare.Methods:We use data from seven demographic surveillance sites that also conduct community-based HIV testing and collect information on the uptake of HIV services. We present crude death rates of adults (aged 15–64) for the period 2000–2011 by sex, HIV status, and treatment status. Parametric survival models are used to estimate age-adjusted trends in the mortality rates of people living with HIV (PLHIV) before and after the introduction of ART.Results:The pooled ALPHA Network dataset contains 2.4 million person-years of follow-up time, and 39114 deaths (6893 to PLHIV). The mortality rates of PLHIV have been relatively static before the availability of ART. Mortality declined rapidly thereafter, with typical declines between 10 and 20% per annum. Compared with the pre-ART era, the total decline in mortality rates of PLHIV exceeds 58% in all study sites with available data, and amounts to 84% for women in Masaka (Uganda). Mortality declines have been larger for women than for men; a result that is statistically significant in five sites. Apart from the early phase of treatment scale up, when the mortality of PLHIV on ART was often very high, mortality declines have been observed in PLHIV both on and off ART.Conclusion:The expansion of treatment has had a large and pervasive effect on adult mortality. Mortality declines have been more pronounced for women, a factor that is often attributed to women's greater engagement with HIV services. Improvements in the timing of ART initiation have contributed to mortality reductions in PLHIV on ART, but also among those who have not (yet) started treatment because they are increasingly selected for early stage disease

Migration, hotspots, and dispersal of HIV infection in Rakai, Uganda

HIV prevalence varies markedly throughout Africa, and it is often presumed areas of higher HIV prevalence (i.e., hotspots) serve as sources of infection to neighboring areas of lower prevalence. However, the small-scale geography of migration networks and movement of HIV-positive individuals between communities is poorly understood. Here, we use population-based data from ~22,000 persons of known HIV status to characterize migratory patterns and their relationship to HIV among 38 communities in Rakai, Uganda with HIV prevalence ranging from 9 to 43%. We find that migrants moving into hotspots had significantly higher HIV prevalence than migrants moving elsewhere, but out-migration from hotspots was geographically dispersed, contributing minimally to HIV burden in destination locations. Our results challenge the assumption that high prevalence hotspots are drivers of transmission in regional epidemics, instead suggesting that migrants with high HIV prevalence, particularly women, selectively migrate to these areas

Evaluating the effectiveness of enhanced family planning education on knowledge and use of family planning in fishing communities of Lake Victoria in Uganda: a randomized controlled trial.

INTRODUCTION: Family planning knowledge is poor and use is low in Ugandan fishing communities. We compared the effectiveness of enhanced family planning (FP) education with routine counselling on FP knowledge and use. METHODS: Individuals aged 15-49 years were randomly assigned to intervention or control arm. The intervention constituted enhanced FP education based on a simplified handout extracted from the WHO FP guidance tool called, "Family planning: A global handbook for FP providers" which participants took home for additional reading. The control arm constituted FP counselling following Uganda Ministry of Health guidelines. FP knowledge score and contraceptive prevalence rate (CPR) were compared between trial arms at baseline and at 12 months. Negative binomial regression models were used to estimate the effect of the intervention on FP knowledge and use. RESULTS: Overall, 1410 participants were screened to enrol 1004 (502 per study arm, 48.5% women). Subsequently, 384 (76.5%) and 383 (76.3%) completed the 12 months' follow-up in the intervention and control arms respectively. At baseline, a median FP knowledge score of 8 and a < 70% FP knowledge score was observed for all participants with a CPR of 36.8%. At month-12, the median FP knowledge score improved in both arms, higher in the intervention arm than the control arm (46 vs 30; p < 0.001). In the intervention arm, 304 (79.2%) had a score of ≥70 compared with 21 (5.5%) in the control arm (p < 0.001). In the negative binomial regression model, the change in FP knowledge score was 47% higher in the intervention arm than in the control arm (score ratio: 1.47, 95%CI: 1. 43-1.51, p < 0.001). The change in CPR was 16% higher in the intervention arm than in the control arm (Prevalence ratio: 1.16, 95%CI: 1.01-1.34, p < 0.040). INTERPRETATION: Enhanced FP education using a simplified FP education handout was more effective in increasing FP knowledge and use compared to routine FP counselling for people living in fishing communities. Innovative FP education interventions are recommended for improving FP knowledge and optimizing uptake in remote-rural settings where literacy levels are low. TRIAL REGISTRATION: The study was registered by the Pan African Clinical Trial Registry on 03 July 2021 with a Trial Registration Number PACTR202107891858045 . "Retrospectively registered"