Stress Injuries of the Knee.

Stress injuries to the bone and physis of the knee are common in the active adolescent patient and can be broken down into bone stress injuries (BSIs) and chronic physeal stress injuries. BSIs result from prolonged, repetitive bone loading, whereas chronic physeal stress injuries develop from repetitive loading to the apophysis or epiphysis. Most stress injuries of the knee resolve with relative rest but will occasionally need surgical intervention in more severe cases. Early and accurate identification is paramount for optimal management and to avoid long-term consequences

Sugarcane-derived animal feed

Sugarcane cultivation in the tropics and subtropics has been a matter of record for as long as written and pictorial records have survived the ravages of time, and it is undoubtedly true that the crop was cultivated by primitive humans long before. It is also undoubtedly true that cultivated sugarcane has been part of the diet of domesticated animals for a similar period of time and, to this day, crop residues from cultivated sugarcane are an important source of forage or supplementary fodder in the tropics and subtropics (Peacock 1996, Aregheore 2005). In contrast, commercial sugarcane production now occurs in more than 100 countries in an area of more than 26 million hectares (FAOSTAT 2014), and its cultivation generates the highest annual tonnage of biomass of any crop, approximately 1.84 billion tons (FAOSTAT 2014).With an increasing global demand for meat, milk, dairy, and other products derived from domesticated animals, there is an increasing demand for animal feed and an increasing need to integrate existing crop residues and processing products into animal feed. Given the prominence of sugarcane in global plant biomass production, it is clear that sugarcane has a significant role to play in increasing global animal production. Furthermore, modeling of integrated sugarcane and animal production shows that the approach can have substantial economic advantages (Gradiz et al. 2007). Sugarcane has significant advantages as a forage crop in the tropics and subtropics including - (i) adaptation to tropical and subtropical conditions; - (ii) reduced sensitivity to poor soil fertility, heat and humidity, and insect and disease pressures compared with other crops; - (iii) existing technology for production and processing at industrial scale; - (iv) high biomass yields can be achieved, and; - (v) the unusual ability to maintain consistent quality as a standing crop in the field (Pate et al. 2002). Indeed, there are examples of sugarcane cultivars that have been specifically bred to provide animal feed and thrive under region-specific environmental conditions (Suzuki et al. 2014). This chapter provides an overview of how sugarcane crop residues, the products of sugarcane processing, and the products of raw sugar production are being used to support animal production and describes technologies available to enhance them for this purpose