Genotype imputation strategies for Portuguese Holstein cattle using different SNP panels.

Abstract: Although several studies have investigated the factors affecting imputation accuracy, most of these studies involved a large number of genotyped animals. Thus, results from these studies cannot be directly applied to small populations, since the population structure affects imputation accuracy. In addition, factors affecting imputation accuracy may also be intensified in small populations. Therefore, we aimed to compare different imputation strate-gies for the Portuguese Holstein cattle population considering several commercially available single nucleotide poly-morphism (SNP) panels in a relatively small number of genotyped animals. Data from 1359 genotyped animals were used to evaluate imputation in 7 different scenarios. In the S1 to S6 scenarios, imputations were performed from LDv1, 50Kv1, 57K, 77K, HDv3 and Ax58K panels to 50Kv2 panel. In these scenarios, the bulls in 50Kv2 were divided into reference (352) and validation (101) populations based on the year of birth. In the S7 scenario, the validation population consisted of 566 cows genotyped with the Ax58K panel with theirgenotypes masked to LDv1. In general, all sample imputation accuracies were high with correlations ranging from 0.94 to 0.99 and concordance rate rang-ing from 92.59 to 98.18%. SNP-specific accuracy was consistent with that of sample imputation. S4 (40.32% of SNPs imputed) had higher accuracy than S2 and S3, both with less than 7.59% of SNPs imputed. Most probably, this was due to the high number of imputed SNPs with minor allele frequency (MAF) < 0.05 in S2 and S3 (by 18.43% and 16.06% higher than in S4, respectively). Therefore, for these two scenarios, MAF was more relevant than the panel density. These results suggest that genotype imputation using several commercially available SNP panels is feasible for the Portuguese national genomic evaluation

NASA POWER satellite meteorological system is a good tool for obtaining estimates of the temperature-humidity index under Brazilian conditions compared to INMET weather stations data.

Heat stress negatively afects livestock, with undesirable efects on animals? production and reproduction. Temperature and humidity index (THI) is a climatic variable used worldwide to study the efect of heat stress on farm animals. Temperature and humidity data can be obtained in Brazil through the National Institute of Meteorology (INMET), but complete data may not be available due to temporary failures on weather stations. An alternative to obtaining meteorological data is the National Aeronautics and Space Administration Prediction of Worldwide Energy Resources (NASA POWER) satellite-based weather system. We aimed to compare THI estimates obtained from INMET weather stations and NASA POWER meteorological information sources using Pearson correlation and linear regression. After quality check, data from 489 INMET weather stations were used. The hourly, average daily and maximum daily THI were evaluated. We found greater correlations and better regression evaluation metrics when average daily THI values were considered, followed by maximum daily THI, and hourly THI. NASA POWER satellite-based weather system is a suitable tool for obtaining the average and maximum THI values using information collected from Brazil, showing high correlations with THI estimates from INMET and good regression evaluation metrics, and can assist studies that aim to analyze the impact of heat stress on livestock production in Brazil, providing additional data to complement the existing information available in the INMET database

Improvement of Rheumatic Valvular Heart Disease in Patients Undergoing Prolonged Antibiotic Prophylaxis

Secondary prophylaxis of rheumatic heart diseases is efficient in reducing disease recurrence, heart damage, and cardiac impairment. We aimed to monitor the clinical evolution of a large Brazilian cohort of rheumatic patients under prolonged secondary prophylaxis. From 1986 to 2018, a cohort of 593 patients with rheumatic fever was followed every 6 months by the Reference Center for the Control and Prevention of Rheumatic Fever and Rheumatic Cardiopathy (CPCFR), Paraná, Brazil. In this cohort, 243 (41%) patients did not present cardiac damage (group I), while 350 (59%) were diagnosed with rheumatic heart disease (RHD) (group II) using the latest case definition. Among group II, 233 and 15 patients had impairment of the mitral and aortic valves, respectively, while 102 patients had impairment of both valves. Lesions on the mitral and aortic valves presented a regression in 69.9 and 48.7% of the patients, respectively. Active patient recruitment in the reference center and early detection of oropharyngeal GAS were important factors for optimal adherence to the prophylactic treatment. Patients with disease progression were associated with noncompliance to secondary prophylaxis. No patients undergoing regular prophylaxis presented progression of the rheumatic cardiac disease. Eighteen valvular surgeries were performed, and four (0.7%) patients died. This study confirmed that tailored and active efforts invested in rheumatic heart disease secondary prevention allowed for significant clinical improvement