Objectives
To describe colostrum management practices carried out in northern Victorian dairy herds and to identify weaknesses in these areas that may affect calf health and welfare by comparing the ...results with the current industry recommendations
Methods
A questionnaire to obtain information about colostrum management and calf‐rearing practices was sent to commercial dairy farming clients of Rochester Veterinary Practice between June and September 2013. The questionnaire consisted of a general herd overview and colostrum harvesting practices.
Results
The response rate was 39% (58/150). Many dairy producers were not meeting the current industry recommendations in the following areas: (1) time of removal calf from the dam, (2) relying on calf suckling colostrum from the dam to achieve adequate passive transfer, (3) failing to supplement calves with colostrum, (4) feeding inadequate volumes of colostrum, (5) delayed colostrum harvesting, (6) pooling of colostrum, (7) failing to objectively assess colostrum quality or relying on visual assessment and (8) storing colostrum for a prolonged periods of time at ambient temperatures.
Conclusion
The results from this survey highlight the need for greater awareness of industry standards for colostrum management and feeding hygiene.
Introduction
Cancer patients are immunosuppressed and may present to an emergency department with atypical symptoms. In the emergency setting, it is important ascertain rapidly if lactic acid levels ...are high, either due to sepsis or tumor lysis syndrome, to effectively manage symptoms. Therefore, it is critical to determine the blood lactic acid level to timely identify who is at risk of sepsis and provide early intervention. We have compared blood lactic acid concentrations (BLAC) in cancer patients obtained by point-of-care testing (POCT) and those measured by laboratory analysis in blood samples drawn within a short time of each other.
Methods
This was a retrospective study in cancer patients whose BLAC had been determined by POCT and laboratory analysis. Only those patients who had blood withdrawn for both testing methods within a 2-h timeframe were included in the study. Regressions were performed together with an analysis categorizing the BLAC from both testing methods.
Results
A total of 274 patients met the criteria for the study. The BLAC from POCT correlated well with the values from laboratory testing (
R
= 0.925). Categorization of BLAC showed that 88.32% of the patients had BLAC that directly matched between the two tests; 28 (10.22%) patients had a normal BLAC according to laboratory analysis but a high BLAC on POCT; and four (1.46%) patients had a high BLAC according laboratory analysis but normal BLAC on POCT.
Conclusions
There was a high correlation between POCT and laboratory analysis values of BLAC in cancer patients, with the results from both testing methods agreeing 96% of the time. This finding suggests that POCT would suffice in most cases. Importantly, in 2% of the cancer patients who presented emergently, BLAC determined by POCT and laboratory analysis did not agree. Therefore, in subsequent decision-making, we recommend that if sepsis is suspected and BLAC determined by POCT is normal, nucleic acids, proteins, circulating cells, and interleukin-3 levels should also be obtained by POCT to confirm sepsis and/or rule out tumor lysis syndrome in patients with cancer.
Other authors have warned that the legal standard of accommodation is insufficient as a strategy for practicing managers leading religiously and spiritually diverse workforces. Recent changes in the ...legal context of faith at work have only amplified those concerns. This article examines the adoption of state laws known as Religious Freedom Restoration Acts, or RFRA's, as well as the US Supreme Court ruling in Burwell v. Hobby Lobby. Both of these changes exacerbate the concerns previously articulated, and illustrate the limitations of using the legal standard of accommodation as a management strategy for negotiating diverse religious and spiritual expression in the workplace. The nature of these two developments is explained, together with a discussion of their significance for practitioners and researchers in the field of management, spirituality, and religion (MSR).
To compare regional cerebral blood flow (rCBF) changes using 99mTc-hexamethylpropyleneamine oxime (99mTc-HMPAO) SPECT in subjects with dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB) and AD and in normal age-matched ...control subjects; to examine the utility of SPECT changes in the differential diagnosis of AD and DLB.
Whole-brain SPECT scans were acquired using a single-headed rotating gamma camera (IGE CamStar XR/T) in elderly subjects with consensus criteria DLB (n = 23; mean age = 79.4 years), National Institute of Neurological and Communicative Disorders and Stroke-Alzheimer's Disease and Related Disorders Association AD (n = 50; 81.9 years), and normal control subjects (n = 20; 78.1 years) after injection with 500 MBq of 99mTc-HMPAO. Region-of-interest analysis was performed using a SPECT template registered in Talairach space, with rCBF normalized to cerebellum.
Both DLB and AD subjects had significantly reduced rCBF in parietal and temporal regions compared with the control subjects. The AD group also showed a significant reduction in rCBF in the frontal and medial temporal regions and the DLB in the occipital areas compared with control subjects. AD and DLB groups differed only in occipital perfusion (p < 0.01). SPECT measures (occipital and medial temporal) correctly classified 69% of all subjects, with a 65% sensitivity and 87% specificity for DLB against AD and control subjects.
Temporoparietal hypoperfusion on SPECT is common to both AD and DLB. Occipital hypoperfusion is more frequently seen in DLB. Although not diagnostically specific in individual cases, occipital hypoperfusion on SPECT should raise suspicion that DLB may be the cause of dementia, prompting careful search for other features of the disorder.
In this paper, we use the Canadian National Longitudinal Survey of Children and Youth data to examine the links between child well-being and neighbourhood ‘quality.’ This study adds to the literature ...by (i) investigating the relationship between neighbourhood quality and child health, (ii) by utilizing subjective assessments by individuals familiar with the neighbourhood (i.e., the survey respondent and interviewer), and (iii) by utilizing multiple assessments of neighbourhood quality, and (iv) by investigating several measures of health. Other work has found that controlling for family level characteristics reduces or eliminates the apparent association between neighbourhood quality and health. We find, measuring both child well-being and neighbourhood quality multi-dimensionally, that even after controlling for family level characteristics neighbourhood quality has strong associations with child well-being.
To examine photoreceptor function in diabetes in detail by evaluating photoreceptor light activation, deactivation of the photoresponse, and recovery of the photoreceptor after bleaching (dark ...adaptation) in rats made diabetic with streptozotocin (STZ).
Animals were assigned to treated and control groups. Light activation in rod photoreceptors was established using a paired-flash electroretinogram (ERG) protocol, and the leading edge of the a-wave was modeled with the mechanisms mediating phototransduction. Deactivation of the photoreceptor response was evaluated at three luminous exposures (1.4-2.2 log cd.m/s-2) using a variable interstimulus interval (ISI) paradigm. Dark adaptation was evaluated at 90-second intervals for 30 minutes after approximately 20% pigment bleach. At each time point, a paired-flash signal (1.4 log cd.s/m-2) was used to extract rod responses.
Diabetic animals showed decreased amplitudes of the photoreceptor response 12 weeks after diabetes induction. No difference was found in the rate of deactivation of the photoresponse in diabetic rats. Normalized amplitudes showed that diabetic animals had significantly faster dark adaptation (P<0.01) than did controls.
Although photoreceptor activation was abnormal, deactivation was unaltered after 12 weeks of diabetes. The faster relative recovery found in diabetes after bleach, in the presence of normal pigment dynamics, may reflect a decrease in outer segment lengths.
We have measured the ionization performance of a CDMS II detector using CNRS/LPN HEMTs as opposed to Si JFETs in the front end electronics. We find no significant difference in ionization resolution ...when using HEMTs compared to Si JFETs indicating the CNRS/LPN HEMTs can act as a low power, low noise replacement for Si JFETs in cryogenic applications. We present the HEMT DC/AC properties, measured noise in both low impedance and high impedance closed-loop configurations using CDMS electronics, and performance with a CDMS detector exposed to a
241
Am source.
Twenty-eight genetic loci are associated with serum urate levels in Europeans. Evidence for association with gout at most loci is absent, equivocal or not replicated. Our aim was to test the loci for ...association with gout meeting the American College of Rheumatology gout classification criteria in New Zealand European and Polynesian case-control sample sets.
648 European cases and 1550 controls, and 888 Polynesian (Ma¯ori and Pacific) cases and 1095 controls were genotyped. Association with gout was tested by logistic regression adjusting for age and sex. Power was adequate (>0.7) to detect effects of OR>1.3.
We focused on 24 loci without previous consistent evidence for association with gout. In Europeans, we detected association at seven loci, one of which was the first report of association with gout (IGF1R). In Polynesian, association was detected at three loci. Meta-analysis revealed association at eight loci-two had not previously been associated with gout (PDZK1 and MAF). In participants with higher Polynesian ancestry, there was association in an opposing direction to Europeans at PRKAG2 and HLF (HLF is the first report of association with gout). There was obvious inconsistency of gout association at four loci (GCKR, INHBC, SLC22A11, SLC16A9) that display very similar effects on urate levels.
We provide the first evidence for association with gout at four loci (IGF1R, PDZK1, MAF, HLF). Understanding why there is lack of correlation between urate and gout effect sizes will be important in understanding the aetiology of gout.
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