Sheep Updates 2005 - Part 1

This session covers seven papers from different authors: Boosting lambing percentages of WA sheep flocks. R.W. Kelly CSIRO Livestock Industries, Floreat WA , R. Kingwell Department of Agriculture WA, Kiwis can fly - 30% higher lambing in 15 years, AR Bray, Meat and Wool New Zealand, Wellington, New Zealand Rams are not a trivial expense, so what can you do to maximise on your investment? Chri Oldham, Department of Agriculture Western Australia, Graeme Martin, University of West Australia. Care for mun - fetal programming, lamb survival and lifetime performance. RW Kelly CSIRO Livestock Industries, Floreat WA Boost lamb survival - select calm ewes, D Blanch University of western Australia, D Ferguson CSIRO FD McMaster Lab, NSW Getting high marking percentages in WA, Keith Crocker, Department of Agriculture Western Australia. Healthy, Welfare and Wise! Di Evans, Department of Agriculture Western Australi

Prophylactic non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs for the prevention of macular oedema after cataract surgery.

BACKGROUND: Macular oedema (MO) is the accumulation of extracellular fluid in the central retina (the macula). It may occur after cataract surgery and may give rise to poor visual outcome, with reduced visual acuity and distortion of the central vision. MO is often self-limiting with spontaneous resolution, but a small proportion of people with chronic persistent MO may be difficult to treat. Chronic oedema may lead to the formation of cystic spaces in the retina termed 'cystoid macular oedema' (CMO). Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) are commonly used in cataract surgery and may reduce the chances of developing MO. OBJECTIVES: The aim of this review is to answer the question: is there evidence to support the prophylactic use of topical NSAIDs either in addition to, or instead of, topical steroids postoperatively to reduce the incidence of macular oedema (MO) and associated visual morbidity. SEARCH METHODS: We searched a number of electronic databases including CENTRAL, MEDLINE and Embase. Date last searched 2 September 2016. SELECTION CRITERIA: We included randomised controlled trials (RCTs) in which adult participants had undergone surgery for age-related cataract. We included participants irrespective of their baseline risk of MO, in particular we included people with diabetes and uveitis. We included trials of preoperative and/or postoperative topical NSAIDs in conjunction with postoperative topical steroids. The comparator was postoperative topical steroids alone. A secondary comparison was preoperative and/or postoperative topical NSAIDs alone versus postoperative topical steroids alone. DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS: Two review authors independently selected studies for inclusion, assessed risk of bias and extracted data using standard methods expected by Cochrane. We pooled data using a random-effects model. We graded the certainty of the evidence using GRADE and considered the following: risk of bias of included studies, precision of the effect estimate, consistency of effects between studies, directness of the outcome measure and publication bias. MAIN RESULTS: We identified 34 studies that were conducted in the Americas, Europe, the Eastern Mediterranean region and South-East Asia. Over 5000 people were randomised in these trials. The majority of studies enrolled one eye per participant; a small subset (4 trials) enrolled a proportion of people with bilateral surgery. Twenty-eight studies compared NSAIDs plus steroids with steroids alone. Six studies compared NSAIDs with steroids. A variety of NSAIDs were used, including ketorolac, diclofenac, nepafenac, indomethacin, bromfenac, flurbiprofen and pranopfen. Follow-up ranged from one to 12 months. In general, the studies were poorly reported. We did not judge any of the studies at low risk of bias in all domains. Six studies were funded by industry, seven studies were funded from non-industry sources, and the rest of the studies did not report the source of funding.There was low-certainty evidence that people receiving topical NSAIDs in combination with steroids may have a lower risk of poor vision due to MO at three months after cataract surgery compared with people receiving steroids alone (risk ratio (RR) 0.41, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.23 to 0.76; eyes = 1360; studies = 5; I2 = 5%). We judged this to be low-certainty evidence because of risk of bias in the included studies and indirectness, as the extent of visual loss was not always clear. Only one study reported poor vision due to MO at 12 months and we judged this to be very low-certainty evidence as there were only two events. Quality of life was only reported in one of the 34 studies comparing NSAIDs plus steroids versus steroids alone, and it was not fully reported, other than to comment on lack of differences between groups. There was evidence of a reduced risk of MO with NSAIDs at three months after surgery, but we judged this to be low-certainty due to risk of bias and publication bias (RR 0.40, 95% CI 0.32 to 0.49; eyes = 3638; studies = 21). There was inconsistent evidence on central retinal thickness at three months (I2 = 87%). Results ranged from -30.9 µm in favour of NSAIDs plus steroids to 7.44 µm in favour of steroids alone. Similarly, data on best corrected visual acuity (BCVA) were inconsistent, but nine out of 10 trials reporting this outcome found between-group differences in visual acuity of less than 0.1 logMAR.None of the six studies comparing NSAIDs alone with steroids reported on poor vision due to MO at three or 12 months. There was low-certainty evidence that central retinal thickness was lower in the NSAIDs group at three months (mean difference (MD) -22.64 µm, 95% CI -38.86 to -6.43; eyes = 121; studies = 2). Five studies reported on MO and showed a reduced risk with NSAIDs, but we judged this evidence to be of low-certainty (RR 0.27, 95% CI 0.18 to 0.41; eyes = 520). Three studies reported BCVA at three months and the results of these trials were inconsistent, but all three studies found differences of less than 0.1 logMAR between groups.We did not note any major adverse events - the main consistent observation was burning or stinging sensation with the use of NSAIDs. AUTHORS' CONCLUSIONS: Using topical NSAIDs may reduce the risk of developing macular oedema after cataract surgery, although it is possible that current estimates as to the size of this reduction are exaggerated. It is unclear the extent to which this reduction has an impact on the visual function and quality of life of patients. There is little evidence to suggest any important effect on vision after surgery. The value of adding topical NSAIDs to steroids, or using them as an alternative to topical steroids, with a view to reducing the risk of poor visual outcome after cataract surgery is therefore uncertain. Future trials should address the remaining clinical uncertainty of whether prophylactic topical NSAIDs are of benefit, particularly with respect to longer-term follow-up (at least to 12 months), and should be large enough to detect reduction in the risk of the outcome of most interest to patients, which is chronic macular oedema leading to visual loss

Prioritising search effort to locate previously unknown populations of endangered marine reptiles

Strategies aimed to conserve and manage rare species are often hindered by the lack of data needed for their effective design. Incomplete and inaccurate data on habitat associations and current species distributions pose a barrier to effective conservation and management for several species of endemic sea snakes in Western Australia that are thought to be in decline. Here we used a correlative modelling approach to understand habitat associations and identify suitable habitats for five of these species (Aipysurus apraefrontalis, A. foliosquama, A. fuscus, A. l. pooleorum and A. tenuis). We modelled species-specific habitat suitability across 804,244 km(2) of coastal waters along the North-west Shelf of Western Australia, to prioritise future survey regions to locate unknown populations of these rare species. Model projections were also used to quantify the effectiveness of current spatial management strategies (Marine Protected Areas) in conserving important habitats for these species. Species-specific models matched well with the records on which they were trained, and identified additional regions of suitability without records. Subsequent field validation of the model projections uncovered a previously unknown locality for A. fuscus within the mid-shelf shoal region, outside its currently recognised global range. Defining accurate geographic distributions for rare species is a vital first step in defining more robust extent of species occurrence and range overlap with threatening processes

Do riparian forest fragments provide ecosystem services or disservices in surrounding oil palm plantations?

Agricultural expansion across tropical regions is causing declines in biodiversity and altering ecological processes. However, in some tropical agricultural systems, conserving natural habitat can simultaneously protect threatened species and support important ecosystem services. Oil palm cultivation is expanding rapidly throughout the tropics but the extent to which non-crop habitat supports biodiversity and ecosystem services in these landscapes is poorly documented. We investigated whether riparian forest fragments (riparian reserves) provide a pest control service or increase pest activity (disservice) within oil palm dominated landscapes in Sabah, Malaysian Borneo. We assessed the activity of potential predators of pest herbivores using plasticine caterpillar mimics and quantified herbivory rates on oil palm fronds in areas with and without riparian reserves. We also manipulated the shape and colour of the mimics to assess the extent to which artificial pest mimics reflect a predatory response. The presence of riparian reserves increased the attack rate on mimics by arthropods, but not by birds. Our methodological study suggested attacks on artificial pest mimics provide a better indication of predatory activity for birds than for arthropod predators. Herbivory rates were also not significantly affected by the presence of a riparian reserve, but we found some evidence that herbivory rates may decrease as the size of riparian reserves increases. Overall, we conclude that riparian forest fragments of 30 – 50 m width on each side of the river are unlikely to provide a pest control service. Nevertheless, our results provide evidence that these riparian buffer strips do not increase the density of defoliating pests, which should reassure managers concerned about possible negative consequences of preserving riparian buffers

Multiplexed, High Density Electrophysiology with Nanofabricated Neural Probes

Extracellular electrode arrays can reveal the neuronal network correlates of behavior with single-cell, single-spike, and sub-millisecond resolution. However, implantable electrodes are inherently invasive, and efforts to scale up the number and density of recording sites must compromise on device size in order to connect the electrodes. Here, we report on silicon-based neural probes employing nanofabricated, high-density electrical leads. Furthermore, we address the challenge of reading out multichannel data with an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) performing signal amplification, band-pass filtering, and multiplexing functions. We demonstrate high spatial resolution extracellular measurements with a fully integrated, low noise 64-channel system weighing just 330 mg. The on-chip multiplexers make possible recordings with substantially fewer external wires than the number of input channels. By combining nanofabricated probes with ASICs we have implemented a system for performing large-scale, high-density electrophysiology in small, freely behaving animals that is both minimally invasive and highly scalable

Estimation of spectral parameters of residual ECG signal during atrial fibrillation using autoregressive models

The application of AutoRegressive (AR) models to extract spectral parameters from residual ECG (rECG) signals is exploited. In particular, a new method based on AR spectra is employed to estimate the dominant atrial cycle length (DACL) on ECG obtained from patients undergoing episodes of atrial fibrillation (AF). The traditional FFT-based spectral approach will be compared with the new method. Potentialities and possible superior performances of AR spectra are documented and discussed

Achieving enhanced gain in photorefractive polymers by eliminating electron contributions using large bias fields

Photorefractive polymers have been extensively studied for over two decades and have found applications in holographic displays and optical image processing. The complexity of these materials arises from multiple charge contributions, for example, leading to the formation of competing photorefractive gratings. It has been recently shown that in a photorefractive polymer at relatively moderate applied electric fields the primary charge carriers (holes) establish an initial grating, followed by a subsequent competing grating (electrons) resulting in a decreased two-beam coupling and diffraction efficiencies. In this paper, it is shown that with relatively large sustainable bias fields, the two-beam coupling efficiency is enhanced owing to a decreased electron contribution. These results also explain the cause of dielectric breakdown experienced under large bias fields. Our conclusions are supported by self-pumped transient two-beam coupling and photocurrent measurements as a function of applied bias fields at different wavelengths