The association between herd- and cow-level factors and somatic cell count of Irish dairy cows

peer-reviewedSomatic cell count (SCC) is an indicator of both udder health and milk quality and is measured at an animal level through national milk recording schemes. The objective of this study was to assess the animal and herd factors contributing to elevated SCC (i.e. poorer milk quality). Test day records (n = 2,658,928) from 519,456 cow lactations obtained between 2007 and 2011 were included in the analyses. Herd factors tested included the geographical region of the herd and production system operated (spring calving or mixed calving system). Animal factors tested included breed, parity and age nested within parity. Four definitions of normalised SCC (i.e. SCS) were considered: 1) average test-day SCS within a 24 hour period (TD_SCS), 2) maximum SCS (peak_SCS), 3) minimum SCS (min_SCS), and 4) average SCS (avg_SCS) recorded across cow lactation; in addition, the proportion of test day records with an SCC count >200,000 (prop_200) or >250,000 (prop_250) within cow lactation were included. Following adjustment for fixed effects, average TD_SCS was 179,308 cells per mL while avg_SCS, and average min_SCS and peak_SCS were 119,481, 50,992 and 298,813 cells per mL, respectively. All animal and herd factors had a significant effect on SCC. Older animals, animals which were younger at calving than contemporaries and Holstein animals had higher SCC than younger alternative breed animals who calved at the median age. In addition, mixed calving production systems and herds in Connaught had higher SCC than spring calving herds in the other regions of Ireland.The authors gratefully acknowledge funding for this work from the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food under the Joint FIRM / RSF Initiative (Project Number: 10/RD/AAQUALITYMILK/ TMFRC713)

Computational acquisition of knowledge in small-data environments: a case study in the field of energetics

The UK’s defence industry is accelerating its implementation of artificial intelligence, including expert systems and natural language processing (NLP) tools designed to supplement human analysis. This thesis examines the limitations of NLP tools in small-data environments (common in defence) in the defence-related energetic-materials domain. A literature review identifies the domain-specific challenges of developing an expert system (specifically an ontology). The absence of domain resources such as labelled datasets and, most significantly, the preprocessing of text resources are identified as challenges. To address the latter, a novel general-purpose preprocessing pipeline specifically tailored for the energetic-materials domain is developed. The effectiveness of the pipeline is evaluated. Examination of the interface between using NLP tools in data-limited environments to either supplement or replace human analysis completely is conducted in a study examining the subjective concept of importance. A methodology for directly comparing the ability of NLP tools and experts to identify important points in the text is presented. Results show the participants of the study exhibit little agreement, even on which points in the text are important. The NLP, expert (author of the text being examined) and participants only agree on general statements. However, as a group, the participants agreed with the expert. In data-limited environments, the extractive-summarisation tools examined cannot effectively identify the important points in a technical document akin to an expert. A methodology for the classification of journal articles by the technology readiness level (TRL) of the described technologies in a data-limited environment is proposed. Techniques to overcome challenges with using real-world data such as class imbalances are investigated. A methodology to evaluate the reliability of human annotations is presented. Analysis identifies a lack of agreement and consistency in the expert evaluation of document TRL.Open Acces

"Mobiles for museum visit should be abolished" : a comparison of smart replicas, smart cards, and phones

A comparative evaluation of smart replicas, phone app and smart cards looked at the personal preferences of visitors and the appeal of mobiles in museum exhibitions. As part of an exhibition evaluation, 76 participants used all three interactions modes and gave their opinions in a questionnaire. The result shows that Phone and Replica are equally liked but the Phone is the most disliked interaction mode. Preference for the phone is due to its mobility as opposed to a listen in place interaction; but the phone takes the attention away from the exhibition and isolates from the group. Visitors expect museums to provide the phones as opposed to apps for "bring your own"

istep.org.uk

iStep (Intergenerational Support To Encourage Physical Activity) is a web platform. It has been developed to allow younger and older members of a family to form partnerships in order to encourage one another to exercise more

Cutaneous glucocorticoid receptor sensitivity and proinflammatory cytokine levels in antidepressant-resistant depression

ABSTRACT Background. There is evidence to indicate that peripheral glucocorticoid receptor (GR) function is reduced in major depression, and a possible molecular explanation for this is the impact of raised pro-inflammatory cytokines. The topical steroid vasoconstriction assay provides a convenient probe of peripheral GR function. The present study sought to assess the sensitivity of peripheral GRs in antidepressant-resistant major depressives and investigate the association between GR sensitivity and circulating plasma cytokines. Method. Nineteen antidepressant-resistant depressives together with age- and sex-matched healthy controls underwent the steroid vasoconstriction assay using three commercial preparations of corticosteroids containing clobetasol propionate 0.05%, betamethasone valerate 0.1%, and clobetasone butyrate 0.05%, corresponding to very potent, potent, and moderately potent steroid creams respectively. The pro-inflammatory cytokines, tumour necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-a) and interleukin-6 (IL-6) were measured using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays. The severity of the depressive episode was assessed using the Hamilton Depression Scale (HAMD). Results. Depressed subjects had a significantly reduced vasoconstriction response across all three strengths of steroid. They also had significantly higher concentrations of TNF-a and IL-6. There was a significant inverse correlation between TNF-a concentration and vasoconstriction response and also between the HAMD score and vasoconstriction response. Conclusions. These findings suggest that cutaneous GR function is abnormal in antidepressantresistant depression, that circulating TNF-a may play a significant role in this abnormality and that the efficacy of topical steroids in antidepressant-resistant depressives is reduced

Effect of a proficiency-based progression simulation programme on clinical communication for the deteriorating patient: a randomised controlled trial

Objective: This study aimed to determine the effectiveness of a proficiency-based progression (PBP) training approach to clinical communication in the context of a clinically deteriorating patient.Design This is a randomised controlled trial with three parallel arms.Setting: This study was conducted in a university in Ireland.Participants: This study included 45 third year nursing and 45 final year medical undergraduates scheduled to undertake interdisciplinary National Early Warning Score (NEWS) training over a 3-day period in September 2016.Interventions: Participants were prospectively randomised to one of three groups before undertaking a performance assessment of the ISBAR (Identification, Situation, Background, Assessment, Recommendation) communication tool relevant to a deteriorating patient in a high-fidelity simulation facility. The groups were as follows: (i) E, the Irish Health Service national NEWS e-learning programme only; (ii) E+S, the national e-learning programme plus standard simulation; and (iii) E+PBP, the national e-learning programme plus PBP simulation.Main outcome measures: The primary outcome was the proportion in each group reaching a predefined proficiency benchmark comprising a series of predefined steps, errors and critical errors during the performance of a standardised, high-fidelity simulation assessment case which was recorded and scored by two independent blinded assessors.Results: 6.9% (2/29) of the E group and 13% (3/23) of the E+S group demonstrated proficiency in comparison to 60% (15/25) of the E+PBP group. The difference between the E and the E+S groups was not statistically significant (χ2=0.55, 99% CI 0.63 to 0.66, p=0.63) but was significant for the difference between the E and the E+PBP groups (χ2=22.25, CI 0.00 to 0.00, p<0.000) and between the E+S and the E+PBP groups (χ2=11.04, CI 0.00 to 0.00, p=0.001).Conclusions: PBP is a more effective way to teach clinical communication in the context of the deteriorating patient than e-learning either alone or in combination with standard simulation.Trial registration number: NCT02886754; Results