Global assessment of manure management policies and practices

In 2014 an assessment of livestock manure policies was performed in 34 countries in Asia, Africa and Latin America, followed by an in-depth assessment of manure management practices in Bangladesh, Viet Nam, Ethiopia, Malawi, Argentina and Costa Rica. The assessments revealed the key barriers for improving integrated manure management and identified six opportunities for actual practice changes to improve manure related policies as well as farm practices with the overall objective of improving food security while mitigating methane emissions at the same tim

Developments in Transduction, Connectivity and AI/Machine Learning for Point-of-Care Testing

We review some emerging trends in transduction, connectivity and data analytics for Point-of-Care Testing (POCT) of infectious and non-communicable diseases. The patient need for POCT is described along with developments in portable diagnostics, specifically in respect of Lab-on-chip and microfluidic systems. We describe some novel electrochemical and photonic systems and the use of mobile phones in terms of hardware components and device connectivity for POCT. Developments in data analytics that are applicable for POCT are described with an overview of data structures and recent AI/Machine learning trends. The most important methodologies of machine learning, including deep learning methods, are summarised. The potential value of trends within POCT systems for clinical diagnostics within Lower Middle Income Countries (LMICs) and the Least Developed Countries (LDCs) are highlighted

Towards computerizing intensive care sedation guidelines: design of a rule-based architecture for automated execution of clinical guidelines

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Computerized ICUs rely on software services to convey the medical condition of their patients as well as assisting the staff in taking treatment decisions. Such services are useful for following clinical guidelines quickly and accurately. However, the development of services is often time-consuming and error-prone. Consequently, many care-related activities are still conducted based on manually constructed guidelines. These are often ambiguous, which leads to unnecessary variations in treatments and costs.</p> <p>The goal of this paper is to present a semi-automatic verification and translation framework capable of turning manually constructed diagrams into ready-to-use programs. This framework combines the strengths of the manual and service-oriented approaches while decreasing their disadvantages. The aim is to close the gap in communication between the IT and the medical domain. This leads to a less time-consuming and error-prone development phase and a shorter clinical evaluation phase.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>A framework is proposed that semi-automatically translates a clinical guideline, expressed as an XML-based flow chart, into a Drools Rule Flow by employing semantic technologies such as ontologies and SWRL. An overview of the architecture is given and all the technology choices are thoroughly motivated. Finally, it is shown how this framework can be integrated into a service-oriented architecture (SOA).</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The applicability of the Drools Rule language to express clinical guidelines is evaluated by translating an example guideline, namely the sedation protocol used for the anaesthetization of patients, to a Drools Rule Flow and executing and deploying this Rule-based application as a part of a SOA. The results show that the performance of Drools is comparable to other technologies such as Web Services and increases with the number of decision nodes present in the Rule Flow. Most delays are introduced by loading the Rule Flows.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>The framework is an effective solution for computerizing clinical guidelines as it allows for quick development, evaluation and human-readable visualization of the Rules and has a good performance. By monitoring the parameters of the patient to automatically detect exceptional situations and problems and by notifying the medical staff of tasks that need to be performed, the computerized sedation guideline improves the execution of the guideline.</p

Weaned age variation in the Virunga mountain gorillas (Gorilla beringei beringei)

The final publication is available at Springer via http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s00265-016-2066-6Weaning marks an important milestone during life history in mammals indicating nutritional independence from the mother. Age at weaning is a key measure of maternal investment and care, affecting female reproductive rates, offspring survival and ultimately the viability of a population. Factors explaining weaned age variation in the endangered mountain gorilla are not yet well understood. This study investigated the impact of group size, group type (one-male versus multi-male), offspring sex, as well as maternal age, rank, and parity on weaned age variation in the Virunga mountain gorilla population. The status of nutritional independence was established in 69 offspring using long-term suckling observations. A Cox-regression with mixed effects was applied to model weaned age and its relationship with covariates. Findings indicate that offspring in one-male groups are more likely to be weaned earlier than offspring in multi-male groups, which may reflect a female reproductive strategy to reduce higher risk of infanticide in one-male groups. Inferior milk production capacity and conflicting resource allocation between their own and offspring growth may explain later weaning in primiparous mothers compared to multiparous mothers. Sex-biased weaned age related to maternal condition defined by parity, rank, and maternal age will be discussed in the light of the Trivers-Willard hypothesis. Long-term demographic records revealed no disadvantage of early weaning for mother or offspring. Population growth and two peaks in weaned age within the Virunga population encourage future studies on the potential impact of bamboo shoots as a weaning food and other environmental factors on weaning

Physical characteristics of set yoghurt made with altered casein to whey protein ratios and EPS-producing starter cultures at 9 and 14% total solids

This study investigated firmness and syneresis of set yoghurts made at the CN to WP ratios of 4:1, 3:1, 2:1 and 1: 1 using non-EPS-, capsular EPS- and ropy EPS-producing starter cultures. The yoghurts were made at 9 and 14% (w/w) total solids. The total solids, total protein, the concentration of lactose and the ratios of CN to WP as well as the protein&#039;s profiles (native- polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis) in heated and unheated milk blends were investigated. The level of soluble denatured whey protein aggregates in heated milk was also determined. The concentration of EPS, firmness and level of spontaneous syneresis in set yoghurt were monitored weekly throughout 28 days of storage. The microstructure of the set yoghurt made with milk blends at the CN to WP ratio of 4:1 and using three types of starter cultures was carried out after I day of storage. There was no difference in the total solids, total protein and lactose concentration of liquid milk blends, except the CN to WP ratios. There was no difference in whey protein denaturation between milk blends. The level of soluble denatured whey protein aggregates in heated milk blends decreased with reducing CN to WP ratio. The firmness and the level of spontaneous syneresis in set yoghurts decreased as the CN to WP ratios were reduced. The use of EPS-producing starter cultures reduced firmness and syneresis and changed the protein matrix in the microstructure of set yoghurts made at 9% (w/w) total solids compared to the control products. These were not observed in set yoghurts made at 14% (w/w) total solids

Physical characteristics of set yogurts as affected by co-culturing with non-EPS and EPS starter cultures and supplementation with WPC

In our earlier study, co-culturing with non-exopolysaccharide (EPS)- and EPS starter cultures and fortification with whey protein concentrate (WPC) were shown to increase EPS production by S. thermophilus during fermentation. The current study investigated physical characteristics of non-fat set yogurts as affected by the use of non-EPS- and EPS starter cultures, as well as by co-culturing with non-EPS- and EPS starter cultures and supplementation with 0.5% WPC. The set yogurts were evaluated for viable counts of starter cultures, EPS concentration, syneresis, firmness, yield stress and apparent viscosity. The use of EPS starter cultures or co-culturing with non-EPS- and EPS starter cultures decreased the firmness, apparent viscosity and syneresis, but increased the yield stress of the yogurts. The products supplemented with 0.5% WPC showed firmer texture than those made from reconstituted skim milk (RSM). The EPS concentration increased in products that contained WPC. A further increase in EPS concentration was observed upon co-culturing with non-EPS- and EPS starter cultures in RSM containing 0.5% WPC. The viable counts of L. delbrueckii ssp. bulgaricus were lower in products containing WPC than those made using RSM only

Physical characteristics of yoghurts made using exopolysaccharide-producing starter cultures and varying casein to whey protein ratios

This study investigated the physical characteristics of set and stirred yoghurts made at 9% (w/w) total solids with various casein (CN)-to-whey protein (WP) ratios and with exopolysaccharide (EPS)-producing starter cultures (capsular or ropy) during storage. The yoghurt was evaluated for composition, firmness and syneresis of set yoghurt, and for the flow curve and the area of hysteresis loop between the upward and downward curve of stirred yoghurt. Viable counts of starter bacteria and concentrations of lactic acid and EPS in the yoghurt were also determined. EPS concentration did not decrease during storage for 28 d. Firmness and syneresis of set yoghurt decreased when the CN-to-WP ratio was reduced from ratio 4:1 to 1:1 and when EPS starter cultures (especially ropy EPS) were used. Stirred yoghurt with a CN-to-WP ratio of 3:1 and made using ropy EPS-producing starter cultures had a higher shear stress and hysteresis loop area than yoghurt made using capsular EPS- or non-EPS-producing starter cultures. The results suggested that the physical characteristics of set and stirred yoghurts can be improved by varying CN-to-WP ratio and by the use of EPS-producing starter cultures

Chemistry and crystal structures of some constituents of Zingiber cassumunar

The novel aromatic compounds cis-3-(2',4',5'-trimethoxyphenyl)-4-[(E)-2''',4''',5'''-trimethoxy-styryl]cyclohex-1-ene(1), cis-3-(3',4'-dimethoxyphenyl)-4-[(E)-3''',4'''-dimethoxystyryl]cyclohex-1-ene (2), a substance assigned the tentative structure cis-3-(3',4'-dimethoxyphenyl)-4-[(E)-2''',4''',5'''- trimethoxystyryl]cyclohex-1-ene (3),(E)-4-(3',4'-dimethoxypheny1)but-3-en-1-ol (5), (E)-4-(3',4'-dimethoxypheny1)but-3-en-1-yl acetate (6), and 8-(3',4'-dimethoxyphenyl)-2-methoxynaphtho-1,4- quinone (7) have been isolated from the rhizomes of Zingiber cassurnunav Roxb. (Zingiberaceae). The crystal structures of the cyclohexene derivative (1) and the quinone (7) have been determined from X-ray diffractometer data at 295 K and refined by block diagonal least squares to residuals of 0.046 (2099 'observed' reflections) and 0.093 (1246), respectively. Crystals of compound (1) are triclinic, P1, a 18.027(12), b 10.037(9), c 6.530(5) α, 84.22 (7), β 81.87 (6), γ 85.72 (6)º, Z 2. Crystals of the quinone (7) are monoclinic, P21/a, a 22.89 (1), b 8.022 (5), c 8.458 (5) Å, β 91.98 (5)º, Z 4. Although the latter crystal structure determination is imprecise, due largely to the very small size of the crystal available, the solution is unambiguous