Mannan oligosaccharide prepartum supplementation: effects on dairy cow colostrum quality and quantity

Providing the neonatal calf with a sufficient quantity and quality of colostrum may optimise future health, performance and reduce the risk of morbidity. A 6-month double blind trial with 80 prepartum dairy cows was conducted to determine if supplementation with mannan oligosaccharide (MOS) influences colostrum quality, quantity and subsequent calf performance. The Holstein cross Friesian 80 cows (no heifers) were allocated into a control and treatment group at the point of drying off by previous lactation number and yield. The control and treatment group were fed the same commercial standard dry cow diet throughout the trial supplemented with a mineral concentrate without or with 1.33% MOS, respectively. Cows were milked out of colostrum within 40 min of calving prior to calf suckling, weight was recorded. Mannan oligosaccharide fed cows produced significantly more colostrum on first milking (7.5 kg, SEM±0.69) compared with cows fed without MOS (5.6 kg, SEM±0.43). The immunoglobulin G (IgG) concentrations (control 53.7 IgG g/l, SEM±5.8 and MOS of 42.7 IgG g/l, SEM±4.9) and total mass of IgG did not differ between treatments. No significant observable MOS-derived effect on calf health or weight gain occurred during the study

Insights into the determinants towards building successful dyadic mentoring relationships.

This thesis provides insight to dyadic mentoring relationships experienced through a mentoring programme within a Higher Education Institution, UK. The aim of the investigation is to explore what happens within mentoring relationships, how they build and whether, determinants, characteristics and traits which differentiate 'successful' and 'unsuccessful' relationships can be identified. This study is important since organisations and individuals invest time and resource into mentoring schemes and by providing insight into factors which support successful mentoring this may help to inform future mentoring scheme design and implementation. Currently there is an identified lack of in-depth empirical research in the field. The experience of eleven mentoring pairs was the focus of this research. A longitudinal study was undertaken over the period of the mentoring intervention and the participants' 'lived' experiences were elicited at four points in time to provide insight into each of the mentoring relationships. Sixty seven interviews were recorded and interpreted. Through the analysis of each case (relationship pairing) insights into the determinants that influence dyadic mentoring relationship building is presented. A conceptual framework is derived, offering new insights, new ways of thinking about how the complexities of mentoring relationship building interplay. This research labels the themes as: perspicacity, capacity, modus-operandi, ingredients. It identifies a typology and classification of mentoring relationship types, which this research labels as: progressive, flat-lining, break-down and reveals determinants which contribute to 'successful' mentoring relationships and conversely factors which inhibit development and may lead to dysfunctionality. The significance of an additional pre-mentoring phase, is highlighted, which focuses attention to the need for participants to have prior knowledge and understanding of their role and responsibility in the process of mentoring relationship building. A mentoring relationship building framework is derived, which illustrates the interrelated roles of the mentor and mentee as they build their mentoring relationships over time through the phases of the mentoring process. These contributions and insight may inform future practice and scheme implementation within organisations and provide opportunities for further research

Phenotypic expansion of DGKE-associated diseases.

Atypical hemolytic uremic syndrome (aHUS) is usually characterized by uncontrolled complement activation. The recent discovery of loss-of-function mutations in DGKE in patients with aHUS and normal complement levels challenged this observation. DGKE, encoding diacylglycerol kinase-ε, has not been implicated in the complement cascade but hypothetically leads to a prothrombotic state. The discovery of this novel mechanism has potential implications for the treatment of infants with aHUS, who are increasingly treated with complement blocking agents. In this study, we used homozygosity mapping and whole-exome sequencing to identify a novel truncating mutation in DGKE (p.K101X) in a consanguineous family with patients affected by thrombotic microangiopathy characterized by significant serum complement activation and consumption of the complement fraction C3. Aggressive plasma infusion therapy controlled systemic symptoms and prevented renal failure, suggesting that this treatment can significantly affect the natural history of this aggressive disease. Our study expands the clinical phenotypes associated with mutations in DGKE and challenges the benefits of complement blockade treatment in such patients. Mechanistic studies of DGKE and aHUS are, therefore, essential to the design of appropriate therapeutic strategies in patients with DGKE mutations

Probability distribution of substituted Titanium in RT12 (R = Nd, Sm, T = Fe, Co) structures

This is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available from IEEE via the DOI in this recordWe investigated the atomic fill site probability distributions across supercell structures of RT12-xTi (R=Nd, Sm, T=Fe, Co). We use a combined molecular dynamics and Boltzmann distribution approach to extrapolate the probability distributions for Ti substitution from lower to higher temperatures with an equilibrium condition to assess how temperature affects the predictability of the structures fill path. It was found that the Nd and Sm based Fe systems have the highest filling probability path at lower temperatures but the cohesive energy change due to Ti substitution in Sm and Nd based crystals indicates that a more stable system could be achieved with a combination Co and Fe in the transition metal site.Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC)Vienna Science and Technology FundRoyal SocietyToyota Motor Corporatio

Objective shade matching, communication, and reproduction by combining dental photography and numeric shade quantification

Objective: The subject of this case report is the application of a newly developed workflow for objective shade communication sans visual shade assessment or the use of shade guides. Clinical Considerations: Clinical complications stemming from issues relating to esthetic integration can present a burden on the restorative team, often resulting in strenuous relationships among its members. The faithful imitation of the optical appearance of dental hard tissues with direct‐ and indirect restorations has been at the center of interest in a great number of publications from the realm of esthetic dentistry over the past 40 years. The present report describes a new approach to objective shade communication, by transcending the role of dental photography from its purely descriptive purpose to the level of quantification, thus abandoning the use of the established shading regimes and replacing them with a patient personal shade recipe based on the CIELAB color space instead. Conclusions: Objective shade communication is possible with the eLAB system by combining numeric shade quantification with dental photography. Clinical Significance: The eLAB system presents a viable alternative to the traditional approach to shade communication and shade matching in dentistry

I-HAZE: a dehazing benchmark with real hazy and haze-free indoor images

Image dehazing has become an important computational imaging topic in the recent years. However, due to the lack of ground truth images, the comparison of dehazing methods is not straightforward, nor objective. To overcome this issue we introduce a new dataset -named I-HAZE- that contains 35 image pairs of hazy and corresponding haze-free (ground-truth) indoor images. Different from most of the existing dehazing databases, hazy images have been generated using real haze produced by a professional haze machine. For easy color calibration and improved assessment of dehazing algorithms, each scene include a MacBeth color checker. Moreover, since the images are captured in a controlled environment, both haze-free and hazy images are captured under the same illumination conditions. This represents an important advantage of the I-HAZE dataset that allows us to objectively compare the existing image dehazing techniques using traditional image quality metrics such as PSNR and SSIM

Characterization of complex networks: A survey of measurements

Each complex network (or class of networks) presents specific topological features which characterize its connectivity and highly influence the dynamics of processes executed on the network. The analysis, discrimination, and synthesis of complex networks therefore rely on the use of measurements capable of expressing the most relevant topological features. This article presents a survey of such measurements. It includes general considerations about complex network characterization, a brief review of the principal models, and the presentation of the main existing measurements. Important related issues covered in this work comprise the representation of the evolution of complex networks in terms of trajectories in several measurement spaces, the analysis of the correlations between some of the most traditional measurements, perturbation analysis, as well as the use of multivariate statistics for feature selection and network classification. Depending on the network and the analysis task one has in mind, a specific set of features may be chosen. It is hoped that the present survey will help the proper application and interpretation of measurements.Comment: A working manuscript with 78 pages, 32 figures. Suggestions of measurements for inclusion are welcomed by the author

Identifying networks in social media: The case of #Grexit

We examine the intensity of ‘#Grexit’ usage in Twitter during a period of economic and financial turbulence. Using a frequency-analysis technique, we illustrate that we can extract detailed information from social media data. This allows us to map the networks of interest as it is reflected in Twitter. Our findings identify high-interest in Grexit from Twitter users in key peripheral countries, core Eurozone members as well as core EU member states outside the Eurozone. Overall, our study presents a useful tool for identifying clusters. This is part of a new research agenda utilising the information extracted from big data available via social media channels