Evaluation of factors associated with bulk milk somatic cell count and total plate count in Indonesian smallholder dairy farms

Increasing milk quality in smallholder dairy farms will result in a greater quantity of milk being delivered to milk collection centers, an increased milk price for farmers and consequently an improved farmers’ livelihood. However, little research on milk quality has been performed on smallholder farms in Southeast Asia. The objective of this study was to identify risk factors associated with somatic cell count (SCC) and total plate count (TPC) in Indonesian smallholder dairy farms. One dairy cooperative in West Java, Indonesia was selected based on its willingness to participate. All 119 member farmers in the cooperative, clustered in six groups, were interviewed and a bulk milk sample from all farms was collected in April 2022. Risk factors associated with dairy farms’ SCC and TPC were investigated using multivariable population-averaged generalized estimating equations (GEE) models. The mean geometric SCC and TPC from these farms were 529,665 cells/mL of milk and 474,492 cfu/mL of milk, respectively. Five risk factors including manure removal frequency, receiving mastitis treatment training, washing the udder using soap, number of workers, and ownership of the pasture area were associated with SCC. Two risk factors, manure removal frequency and dairy income contribution, were associated with TPC. These findings can therefore be used as a starting point to improve udder health and milk quality in Indonesia and other countries where smallholder farmers play a significant role in milk production

The effects of pause software on the temporal characteristics of computer use.

The study investigated the natural work-pause pattern of computer users and the possible effects of imposing pause regimes on this pattern. Hereto, the precise timing of computer events was recorded across a large number of days. It was found that the distribution of the pause durations was extremely skewed and that pauses with twice the duration are twice less likely to occur. The effects of imposing pause regimes were studied by performing a simulation of commercially available pause software. It was found that depending on the duration of the introduced pause, the software added 25-57% of the pauses taken naturally. Analysis of the timing of the introduced pauses revealed that a large number of spontaneous pauses were taken close to the inserted pause. Considering the disappointing results of studies investigating the effects of introducing (active) pauses during computer work, this study has cast doubt on the usefulness of introducing short duration pauses

Patient-Reported Outcomes and Function after Surgical Repair of the Ulnar Collateral Ligament of the Thumb

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to report prospectively collected patient-reported outcomes of patients who underwent open thumb ulnar collateral ligament (UCL) repair and to find risk factors associated with poor patient-reported outcomes. Methods: Patients undergoing open surgical repair for a complete thumb UCL rupture were included between December 2011 and February 2021. Michigan Hand Outcomes Questionnaire (MHQ) total scores at baseline were compared to MHQ total scores at three and 12 months after surgery. Associations between the 12-month MHQ total score and several variables (i.e., sex, injury to surgery time, K-wire immobilization) were analyzed. Results: Seventy-six patients were included. From baseline to three and 12 months after surgery, patients improved significantly with a mean MHQ total score of 65 (standard deviation [SD] 15) to 78 (SD 14) and 87 (SD 12), respectively. We did not find any differences in outcomes between patients who underwent surgery in the acute (&lt;3 weeks) setting compared to a delayed setting (&lt;6 months). Conclusions: We found that patient-reported outcomes improve significantly at three and 12 months after open surgical repair of the thumb UCL compared to baseline. We did not find an association between injury to surgery time and lower MHQ total scores. This suggests that acute repair for full-thickness UCL tears might not always be necessary. Type of study/level of evidence: Therapeutic II.</p

Perturbation of the yeast N-acetyltransferase NatB induces elevation of protein phosphorylation levels

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The addition of an acetyl group to protein N-termini is a widespread co-translational modification. NatB is one of the main N-acetyltransferases that targets a subset of proteins possessing an N-terminal methionine, but so far only a handful of substrates have been reported. Using a yeast <it>nat3Δ </it>strain, deficient for the catalytic subunit of NatB, we employed a quantitative proteomics strategy to identify NatB substrates and to characterize downstream effects in <it>nat3Δ</it>.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Comparing by proteomics WT and <it>nat3Δ </it>strains, using metabolic ¹⁵N isotope labeling, we confidently identified 59 NatB substrates, out of a total of 756 detected acetylated protein N-termini. We acquired in-depth proteome wide measurements of expression levels of about 2580 proteins. Most remarkably, NatB deletion led to a very significant change in protein phosphorylation.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Protein expression levels change only marginally in between WT and <it>nat3Δ</it>. A comparison of the detected NatB substrates with their orthologous revealed remarkably little conservation throughout the phylogenetic tree. We further present evidence of post-translational N-acetylation on protein variants at non-annotated N-termini. Moreover, analysis of downstream effects in <it>nat3Δ </it>revealed elevated protein phosphorylation levels whereby the kinase Snf1p is likely a key element in this process.</p

Shake a tail feather: the evolution of the theropod tail into a stiff aerodynamic surface

Theropod dinosaurs show striking morphological and functional tail variation; e.g., a long, robust, basal theropod tail used for counterbalance, or a short, modern avian tail used as an aerodynamic surface. We used a quantitative morphological and functional analysis to reconstruct intervertebral joint stiffness in the tail along the theropod lineage to extant birds. This provides new details of the tail's morphological transformation, and for the first time quantitatively evaluates its biomechanical consequences. We observe that both dorsoventral and lateral joint stiffness decreased along the non-avian theropod lineage (between nodes Theropoda and Paraves). Our results show how the tail structure of non-avian theropods was mechanically appropriate for holding itself up against gravity and maintaining passive balance. However, as dorsoventral and lateral joint stiffness decreased, the tail may have become more effective for dynamically maintaining balance. This supports our hypothesis of a reduction of dorsoventral and lateral joint stiffness in shorter tails. Along the avian theropod lineage (Avialae to crown group birds), dorsoventral and lateral joint stiffness increased overall, which appears to contradict our null expectation. We infer that this departure in joint stiffness is specific to the tail's aerodynamic role and the functional constraints imposed by it. Increased dorsoventral and lateral joint stiffness may have facilitated a gradually improved capacity to lift, depress, and swing the tail. The associated morphological changes should have resulted in a tail capable of producing larger muscular forces to utilise larger lift forces in flight. Improved joint mobility in neornithine birds potentially permitted an increase in the range of lift force vector orientations, which might have improved flight proficiency and manoeuvrability. The tail morphology of modern birds with tail fanning capabilities originated in early ornithuromorph birds. Hence, these capabilities should have been present in the early Cretaceous, with incipient tail-fanning capacity in the earliest pygostylian birds

New Protocetid Whale from the Middle Eocene of Pakistan: Birth on Land, Precocial Development, and Sexual Dimorphism

BACKGROUND: Protocetidae are middle Eocene (49-37 Ma) archaeocete predators ancestral to later whales. They are found in marine sedimentary rocks, but retain four legs and were not yet fully aquatic. Protocetids have been interpreted as amphibious, feeding in the sea but returning to land to rest. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Two adult skeletons of a new 2.6 meter long protocetid, Maiacetus inuus, are described from the early middle Eocene Habib Rahi Formation of Pakistan. M. inuus differs from contemporary archaic whales in having a fused mandibular symphysis, distinctive astragalus bones in the ankle, and a less hind-limb dominated postcranial skeleton. One adult skeleton is female and bears the skull and partial skeleton of a single large near-term fetus. The fetal skeleton is positioned for head-first delivery, which typifies land mammals but not extant whales, evidence that birth took place on land. The fetal skeleton has permanent first molars well mineralized, which indicates precocial development at birth. Precocial development, with attendant size and mobility, were as critical for survival of a neonate at the land-sea interface in the Eocene as they are today. The second adult skeleton is the most complete known for a protocetid. The vertebral column, preserved in articulation, has 7 cervicals, 13 thoracics, 6 lumbars, 4 sacrals, and 21 caudals. All four limbs are preserved with hands and feet. This adult is 12% larger in linear dimensions than the female skeleton, on average, has canine teeth that are 20% larger, and is interpreted as male. Moderate sexual dimorphism indicates limited male-male competition during breeding, which in turn suggests little aggregation of food or shelter in the environment inhabited by protocetids. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: Discovery of a near-term fetus positioned for head-first delivery provides important evidence that early protocetid whales gave birth on land. This is consistent with skeletal morphology enabling Maiacetus to support its weight on land and corroborates previous ideas that protocetids were amphibious. Specimens this complete are virtual 'Rosetta stones' providing insight into functional capabilities and life history of extinct animals that cannot be gained any other way

Homeotic transformations reflect departure from the mammalian 'rule of seven' cervical vertebrae in sloths: inferences on the Hox code and morphological modularity of the mammalian neck

Background: Sloths are one of only two exceptions to the mammalian 'rule of seven' vertebrae in the neck. As a striking case of breaking the evolutionary constraint, the explanation for the exceptional number of cervical vertebrae in sloths is still under debate. Two diverging hypotheses, both ultimately linked to the low metabolic rate of sloths, have been proposed: hypothesis 1 involves morphological transformation of vertebrae due to changes in the Hox gene expression pattern and hypothesis 2 assumes that the Hox gene expression pattern is not altered and the identity of the vertebrae is not changed. Direct evidence supporting either hypothesis would involve knowledge of the vertebral Hox code in sloths, but the realization of such studies is extremely limited. Here, on the basis of the previously established correlation between anterior Hox gene expression and the quantifiable vertebral shape, we present the morphological regionalization of the neck in three different species of sloths with aberrant cervical count providing indirect insight into the vertebral Hox code. Results: Shape differences within the cervical vertebral column suggest a mouse-like Hox code in the neck of sloths. We infer an anterior shift of HoxC-6 expression in association with the first thoracic vertebra in short-necked sloths with decreased cervical count, and a posterior shift of HoxC-5 and HoxC-6 expression in long-necked sloths with increased cervical count. Conclusion: Although only future developmental analyses in non-model organisms, such as sloths, will yield direct evidence for the evolutionary mechanism responsible for the aberrant number of cervical vertebrae, our observations lend support to hypothesis 1 indicating that the number of modules is retained but their boundaries are displaced. Our approach based on quantified morphological differences also provides a reliable basis for further research including fossil taxa such as extinct 'ground sloths' in order to trace the pattern and the underlying genetic mechanisms in the evolution of the vertebral column in mammals