Sheep Updates 2007 - part 4

This session covers eight papers from different authors: GRAZING 1. The impact of high dietary salt and its implications for the management of livestock grazing saline land, Dean Thomas, Dominique Blache, Dean Revell, Hayley Norman, Phil Vercoe, Zoey Durmic, Serina Digby, Di Mayberry, Megan Chadwick, Martin Sillence and David Masters, CRC for Plant-based Management of Dryland Salinity, Faculty of Natural & Agricultural Sciences, The University of Western Australia, WA. 2. Sustainable Grazing on Saline Lands - outcomes from the WA1 research project, H.C. Norman1,2, D.G. Masters1,2, R. Silberstein1,2, F. Byrne2,3, P.G.H. Nichols2,4, J. Young3, L. Atkins1,2, M.G. Wilmot1,2, A.J. Rintoul1,2, T. Lambert1,2, D.R. McClements2,4, P. Raper4, P. Ward1,2, C. Walton5 and T. York6 1CSIRO Centre for Environment and Life Sciences, Wembley, WA 2CRC for Plant-based Management of Dryland Salinity. 3School of Agricultural and Resource Economics, University of Western Australia. 4Department of Agriculture and Food WA. 5Condering Hills, Yealering. 6Anameka Farms, Tammin. MEAT QUALITY 3. Development of intramuscular fat in prime lambs, young sheep and beef cattle, David Pethick1, David Hopkins2 and Malcolm McPhee3,1School of Veterinary and Biomedical Sciences, Murdoch University, Murdoch, WA, 2NSW Department of Primary Industries, Cowra, NSW,3NSW Dept. of Primary Industries, University of New England, Armidale, NSW, 4. Importance of drinking water temperature for managing heat stress in sheep, Savage DB, Nolan JV, Godwin IR, Aoetpah A, Nguyen T, Baillie N and Lawler C University of New England, Armidale, NSW, Australia EWE MANAGEMENT TOOLS 5. E - sheep Management of Pregnant Merino Ewes and their Finishing Lambs, Ken GeentyA, John SmithA, Darryl SmithB, Tim DyallA and Grant UphillA A Sheep CRC and CSIRO Livestock Industries, Chiswick, NSW B Turretfield Research Station, SARDI, Roseworthy, SA 6. Is it important to manage ewes to CS targets? John Young, Farming Systems Analysis Service, Kojonup, WA MULESING 7. Mulesing accreditation - Vital for Wool\u27s Future, Dr Michael Paton, Department of Agriculture and Food WA, 8. Mulesing Alternatives, Jules Dorrian, Affiliation Project Manager Blowfly Control Australian Wool Inovatio

New insights into the genetic etiology of Alzheimer's disease and related dementias

Characterization of the genetic landscape of Alzheimer's disease (AD) and related dementias (ADD) provides a unique opportunity for a better understanding of the associated pathophysiological processes. We performed a two-stage genome-wide association study totaling 111,326 clinically diagnosed/'proxy' AD cases and 677,663 controls. We found 75 risk loci, of which 42 were new at the time of analysis. Pathway enrichment analyses confirmed the involvement of amyloid/tau pathways and highlighted microglia implication. Gene prioritization in the new loci identified 31 genes that were suggestive of new genetically associated processes, including the tumor necrosis factor alpha pathway through the linear ubiquitin chain assembly complex. We also built a new genetic risk score associated with the risk of future AD/dementia or progression from mild cognitive impairment to AD/dementia. The improvement in prediction led to a 1.6- to 1.9-fold increase in AD risk from the lowest to the highest decile, in addition to effects of age and the APOE ε4 allele

Genomic reconstruction of the SARS-CoV-2 epidemic in England.

The evolution of the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) virus leads to new variants that warrant timely epidemiological characterization. Here we use the dense genomic surveillance data generated by the COVID-19 Genomics UK Consortium to reconstruct the dynamics of 71 different lineages in each of 315 English local authorities between September 2020 and June 2021. This analysis reveals a series of subepidemics that peaked in early autumn 2020, followed by a jump in transmissibility of the B.1.1.7/Alpha lineage. The Alpha variant grew when other lineages declined during the second national lockdown and regionally tiered restrictions between November and December 2020. A third more stringent national lockdown suppressed the Alpha variant and eliminated nearly all other lineages in early 2021. Yet a series of variants (most of which contained the spike E484K mutation) defied these trends and persisted at moderately increasing proportions. However, by accounting for sustained introductions, we found that the transmissibility of these variants is unlikely to have exceeded the transmissibility of the Alpha variant. Finally, B.1.617.2/Delta was repeatedly introduced in England and grew rapidly in early summer 2021, constituting approximately 98% of sampled SARS-CoV-2 genomes on 26 June 2021

Depletion of testis cell populations in pre-pubertal Bos indicus cattle by irradiation

Recovery of spermatogenesis following a single dose of irradiation was evaluated in pre-pubertal Brahman bulls, after receiving a single dose of 3, 6, 9 or 12. Gray (Gy) irradiation. Biopsy samples of testis tissue were collected and processed for immunohistology at various times following irradiation. Spermatogenic recovery was defined by the changes in tubule diameter, and absolute numbers of undifferentiated spermatogonia (PLZF positive cells) and Sertoli cells (GATA-4 positive cells) per tubule cross section. The effect of irradiation on the depletion of testicular cells was dose-dependent. Immunohistological results from both the 9 and 12. Gy group showed degeneration of seminiferous tubules, compared with other doses and controls. From 2 weeks after the treatment, irradiation resulted in a significant and dramatic reduction in tubule diameter (up to 40%), number of undifferentiated spermatogonia (up to 90%) and Sertoli cells (up to 70%), which was sustained for up to 16 weeks post-irradiation in 9 and 12. Gy groups (P< 0.0001). However, a moderate depletion effect was observed in the 6. Gy treatment groups, compared with 9 and 12. Gy doses. The 6. Gy treatment had significant effects on spermatogonia (up to 79% reduction) and Sertoli cell (30% reduction) numbers following irradiation (P< 0.0001). In contrast, the 3. Gy dose had no significant effect at either 3 or 5 weeks post-irradiation on tubule diameter, spermatogonia or Sertoli cells. In conclusion, the results from the current study suggest that treatment of recipient testes with a single dose of 6. Gy irradiation can temporarily deplete spermatogonial cells in pre-pubertal Brahman bulls, whilst minimising the impact on Sertoli cells and tubule morphology

Associations between motivation and mental health in sport: a test of the hierarchical model of intrinsic and extrinsic motivation

Motivation has been the subject of much research in the sport psychology literature, whereas athlete mental health has received limited attention. Motivational complexities in elite sport are somewhat reflected in the mental health literature, where there is evidence for both protective and risk factors for athletes. Notably, few studies have linked motivation to mental health. Therefore, the key objective of this study was to test four mental health outcomes in the motivational sequence posited by the Hierarchical Model of Intrinsic and Extrinsic Motivation: motivational climate!basic psychological needs!motivation!mental health outcomes. Elite team-sport athletes (140 females, 75 males) completed seven psychometric inventories of motivation-related and mental health variables. Overall, the athletes reported positive motivational patterns, with autonomous motivation and task climate being more prevalent than their less adaptive counterparts. Elevated depressive symptoms and poor sleep quality affected nearly half of the cohort. Structural equation modeling supported pathways between motivational climate, basic needs, motivation, and mood, depressive symptoms, sleep quality, and trait anxiety. Specifically, a task climate was positively associated with the three basic psychological needs, and an ego climate was positively associated with competence. Autonomy and relatedness had positive and negative associations with autonomous and controlled forms of motivation, respectively. Controlled motivation regulations were positively associated with the four mental health outcomes. Integrated regulation had a negative association with anxiety, and intrinsic regulation had a positive association with depressive symptoms. These findings highlight the complexities of and interrelations between motivation and mental health among athletes, and support the importance of considering mental health as an outcome of motivation

Genomic reconstruction of the SARS-CoV-2 epidemic in England

AbstractThe evolution of the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) virus leads to new variants that warrant timely epidemiological characterization. Here we use the dense genomic surveillance data generated by the COVID-19 Genomics UK Consortium to reconstruct the dynamics of 71 different lineages in each of 315 English local authorities between September 2020 and June 2021. This analysis reveals a series of subepidemics that peaked in early autumn 2020, followed by a jump in transmissibility of the B.1.1.7/Alpha lineage. The Alpha variant grew when other lineages declined during the second national lockdown and regionally tiered restrictions between November and December 2020. A third more stringent national lockdown suppressed the Alpha variant and eliminated nearly all other lineages in early 2021. Yet a series of variants (most of which contained the spike E484K mutation) defied these trends and persisted at moderately increasing proportions. However, by accounting for sustained introductions, we found that the transmissibility of these variants is unlikely to have exceeded the transmissibility of the Alpha variant. Finally, B.1.617.2/Delta was repeatedly introduced in England and grew rapidly in early summer 2021, constituting approximately 98% of sampled SARS-CoV-2 genomes on 26 June 2021.</jats:p

New insights into the genetic etiology of Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias

Characterization of the genetic landscape of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and related dementias (ADD) provides a unique opportunity for a better understanding of the associated pathophysiological processes. We performed a two-stage genome-wide association study totaling 111,326 clinically diagnosed/‘proxy’ AD cases and 677,663 controls. We found 75 risk loci, of which 42 were new at the time of analysis. Pathway enrichment analyses confirmed the involvement of amyloid/tau pathways and highlighted microglia implication. Gene prioritization in the new loci identified 31 genes that were suggestive of new genetically associated processes, including the tumor necrosis factor alpha pathway through the linear ubiquitin chain assembly complex. We also built a new genetic risk score associated with the risk of future AD/dementia or progression from mild cognitive impairment to AD/dementia. The improvement in prediction led to a 1.6- to 1.9-fold increase in AD risk from the lowest to the highest decile, in addition to effects of age and the APOE ε4 allele

New insights into the genetic etiology of Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias

Characterization of the genetic landscape of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and related dementias (ADD) provides a unique opportunity for a better understanding of the associated pathophysiological processes. We performed a two-stage genome-wide association study totaling 111,326 clinically diagnosed/‘proxy’ AD cases and 677,663 controls. We found 75 risk loci, of which 42 were new at the time of analysis. Pathway enrichment analyses confirmed the involvement of amyloid/tau pathways and highlighted microglia implication. Gene prioritization in the new loci identified 31 genes that were suggestive of new genetically associated processes, including the tumor necrosis factor alpha pathway through the linear ubiquitin chain assembly complex. We also built a new genetic risk score associated with the risk of future AD/dementia or progression from mild cognitive impairment to AD/dementia. The improvement in prediction led to a 1.6- to 1.9-fold increase in AD risk from the lowest to the highest decile, in addition to effects of age and the APOE ε4 allele. © 2022, The Author(s)

New insights into the genetic etiology of Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias

Characterization of the genetic landscape of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and related dementias (ADD) provides a unique opportunity for a better understanding of the associated pathophysiological processes. We performed a two-stage genome-wide association study totaling 111,326 clinically diagnosed/‘proxy’ AD cases and 677,663 controls. We found 75 risk loci, of which 42 were new at the time of analysis. Pathway enrichment analyses confirmed the involvement of amyloid/tau pathways and highlighted microglia implication. Gene prioritization in the new loci identified 31 genes that were suggestive of new genetically associated processes, including the tumor necrosis factor alpha pathway through the linear ubiquitin chain assembly complex. We also built a new genetic risk score associated with the risk of future AD/dementia or progression from mild cognitive impairment to AD/dementia. The improvement in prediction led to a 1.6- to 1.9-fold increase in AD risk from the lowest to the highest decile, in addition to effects of age and the APOE ε4 allele