Out-of-Feed Events in Grow-Finish Pigs: Causes and Consequences

In theory, bulk bins and automated feed delivery systems assure an uninterrupted flow of feed to the feeder in swine grow-finish facilities. In practice, growing-finishing pigs have varying disruptions in feed availability, some of which may have serious consequences. While every swine grow-finish facility has occasional disruptions due to mechanical failures in the feed delivery system, there are additional disruptions due to human errors associated with keeping feed in the bulk bin and feed bridging associated with feed removal from the bin. Out-of-feed events are a known cause of ulcers in pigs and are suspected of being associated with increased incidence of hemorrhagic bowel syndrome and ileitis. It is speculated that each 20 to 24 hour out-of-feed event results in an increase in variation in growth within a population of pigs and results in a reduction in daily gain

Land cover change and carbon emissions over 100 years in an African biodiversity hotspot

Agricultural expansion has resulted in both land use and land cover change (LULCC) across the tropics. However, the spatial and temporal patterns of such change and their resulting impacts are poorly understood, particularly for the pre-satellite era. Here we quantify the LULCC history across the 33.9 million ha watershed of Tanzania's Eastern Arc Mountains, using geo-referenced and digitised historical land cover maps (dated 1908, 1923, 1949 and 2000). Our time series from this biodiversity hotspot shows that forest and savanna area both declined, by 74% (2.8 million ha) and 10% (2.9 million ha), respectively, between 1908 and 2000. This vegetation was replaced by a five-fold increase in cropland, from 1.2 million ha to 6.7 million ha. This LULCC implies a committed release of 0.9 Pg C (95% CI: 0.4-1.5) across the watershed for the same period, equivalent to 0.3 Mg C ha(-1) yr(-1) . This is at least three-fold higher than previous estimates from global models for the same study area. We then used the LULCC data from before and after protected area creation, as well as from areas where no protection was established, to analyse the effectiveness of legal protection on land cover change despite the underlying spatial variation in protected areas. We found that, between 1949 and 2000, forest expanded within legally protected areas, resulting in carbon uptake of 4.8 (3.8-5.7) Mg C ha(-1) , compared to a committed loss of 11.9 (7.2-16.6) Mg C ha(-1) within areas lacking such protection. Furthermore, for nine protected areas where LULCC data is available prior to and following establishment, we show that protection reduces deforestation rates by 150% relative to unprotected portions of the watershed. Our results highlight that considerable LULCC occurred prior to the satellite era, thus other data sources are required to better understand long-term land cover trends in the tropics. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved

Derecho a la vida versus derecho a la libertad religiosa: obligaciones y deberes del cuerpo médico

El debate sobre la jerarquización del derecho a la vida como derecho fundamental, ante el derecho a la libertad religiosa, cobra aún dimensiones insospechadas desde la academia y la investigación de disciplinas científicas como el derecho, la sociología, filosofía, medicina y las ciencias sociales. El aporte de la investigación recae, en la retroalimentación de las ciencias jurídicas a partir del análisis de la doctrina y praxis jurídica, conllevando a respaldar el paradigma a favor de la prohibición de no matar arbitrariamente. En este orden se utilizaron métodos y técnicas que propiciaron sus conclusiones, entre estos el derecho comprado, exegético analítico, histórico lógico, inductivo deductivo, triangulación y el análisis de documentos. Palabras clave: Derecho a la vida, derecho a la libertad religiosa, derechos Fundamentales, principios jurídicos, bioética.   ABSTRACT The debate on the hierarchy of the right to life as a fundamental right, in the face of the right to religious freedom, still takes on unsuspected dimensions from the academy and the research of scientific disciplines such as law, sociology, philosophy, medicine and the social sciences. The contribution of the research falls on the feedback of the legal sciences from the analysis of the doctrine and legal practice, leading to support the paradigm in favor of the prohibition of not killing arbitrarily. In this order, methods and techniques that led to their conclusions will be used, among these the purchased law, analytical exegetical, logical historical, deductive inductive, triangulation and document analysis. Keywords: Right to life, right to religious freedom, Fundamental rights, legal principles, bioethics

Handedness as a marker of cerebral lateralization in children with and without autism

We employed a multiple case studies approach to investigate lateralization of hand actions in typically and atypically developing children between 4 and 5 years of age. We report on a detailed set of over 1200 hand actions made by four typically developing boys and four boys with autism. Participants were assessed for unimanual hand actions to both objects and the self (self-directed behaviors). Individual and group analyses suggest that typically developing children have a right hand dominance for hand actions to objects and a left hand dominance for hand actions for self-directed behaviors, revealing a possible dissociation for functional specialization of the left and right hemispheres respectively. Children with autism demonstrated mixed-handedness for both target conditions, consistent with the hypothesis that there is reduced cerebral specialization in these children. The findings are consistent with the view that observed lateralized motor action can serve as an indirect behavioral marker for evidence of cerebral lateralization

Proteogenomic Evaluation of Cerebrospinal Fluid in Alzheimer's Disease

BACKGROUND: Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a complex disorder with a strong genetic component, yet many genetic risk factors remain unknown. Integrating genome-wide association studies (GWAS) and high-throughput proteomic platforms is a useful strategy to evaluate protein quantitative trait loci (pQTLs) and to detect candidate genes and pathways involved in AD. Due to the novelty of these techniques, the identification of reliable protein measures through a comprehensive quality control is mandatory. METHOD: We researched the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) proteome using the SOMAscan 7k (7289 proteins), and the Olink Explore (2943 proteins) platform in the Ace Alzheimer Center Barcelona CSF Cohort. To assess reproducibility and reliability of proteomic measures, we analysed 1) intra-platform correlation of two independent SOMAscan assays using two aliquots of the same sample, and 2) inter-platform correlation between SOMAscan and Olink techniques. We also explored associations of highly reliable proteins with the AD Polygenic risk score (PRS) and the conversion to AD dementia. Additionally, we have performed an extensive pQTLs mapping of the SOMAscan platform and analysed pQTLs of significant proteins linked to disease progression. RESULT: Our results revealed 2469 proteins with high intra-platform correlation (rho≥0.5), selected as candidates for further analysis. Moreover, over 600 proteins demonstrated strong inter-platform correlation, reinforcing their robustness. Extending our analysis to the entire CSF cohort (n=1322), we identified 85 proteins (Padj.<0.05) associated with the AD-PRS. Additionally, 93 significant proteins were linked with conversion to AD dementia. Strikingly, these conversion-associated proteins exhibited 89 genome-wide significant pQTLs in the genome, with more than 47% of the genetic signals localized within the APOE-rs429358 locus. CONCLUSION: Our findings emphasize the importance of reliability assessment of highly multiplexed proteomic panels. Using robust measures, we identified significant proteins related to AD genetic risk and disease progression. These insights deepen the AD pathogenesis understanding, expand future research and therapeutic interventions

Distribution and Abundance of MAAs in 33 Species of Microalgae across 13 Classes

We provide a direct comparison of the distribution and abundance of mycosporine-like amino acids (MAAs) in a diverse range of microalgal cultures (33 species across 13 classes) grown without supplementary ultraviolet radiation (UV). We compare the MAAs in cultures with those present in characterised natural phytoplankton populations from the English Channel. We detected 25 UV absorbing compounds including at least two with multiple absorption maxima. We used LC-MS to provide chemical characterisation of the six most commonly occurring MAAs, namely, palythene, palythine, mycosporine-glycine, palythenic acid, porphyra-334 and shinorine. MAAs were abundant (up to 7 pg MAA cell−1) in 10 species, with more minor and often unknown MAAs in a further 11 cultures. Shinorine was the most frequently occurring and abundant MAA (up to 6.5 pg cell−1) and was present in all but two of the MAA-containing species. The study provides further insight into the diversity and abundance of MAAs important from an ecological perspective and as potential source of natural alternatives to synthetic sunscreens

Inequitable gains and losses from conservation in a global biodiversity hotspot

A billion rural people live near tropical forests. Urban populations need them for water, energy and timber. Global society benefits from climate regulation and knowledge embodied in tropical biodiversity. Ecosystem service valuations can incentivise conservation, but determining costs and benefits across multiple stakeholders and interacting services is complex and rarely attempted. We report on a 10-year study, unprecedented in detail and scope, to determine the monetary value implications of conserving forests and woodlands in Tanzania’s Eastern Arc Mountains. Across plausible ranges of carbon price, agricultural yield and discount rate, conservation delivers net global benefits (+US$8.2B present value, 20-year central estimate). Crucially, however, net outcomes diverge widely across stakeholder groups. International stakeholders gain most from conservation (+US$10.1B), while local-rural communities bear substantial net costs (-US$1.9B), with greater inequities for more biologically important forests. Other Tanzanian stakeholders experience conflicting incentives: tourism, drinking water and climate regulation encourage conservation (+US$72M); logging, fuelwood and management costs encourage depletion (-US$148M). Substantial global investment in disaggregating and mitigating local costs (e.g., through boosting smallholder yields) is essential to equitably balance conservation and development objectives.</p

No evidence against Sketch Reinstatement of context, verbal labels or the use of registered intermediaries for children with Autism Spectrum Disorder: response to Henry et al. (2017)

Recently, Henry et al. (2017) found no evidence for the use of Verbal labels, Sketch Reinstatement of Context and Registered Intermediaries by forensic practitioners when interviewing children with a diagnosis of Autism Spectrum Disorder. We consider their claims, noting the limited ecological validity of the experimental paradigm, the impacts of repeated interviewing where retrieval support is not provided at first retrieval, question the interviewer/intermediary training and their population relevant experience, and comment on the suppression of population variances. We submit that rejecting these techniques on the basis of this study is completely unwarranted and potentially damaging, particularly if used in legal proceedings to undermine the value of testimony from children with ASD, who continually struggle to gain access to justice

Correction to: Quantifying and understanding carbon storage and sequestration within the Eastern Arc Mountains of Tanzania, a tropical biodiversity hotspot

Abstract Upon publication of the original article [1], the authors noticed that the figure labelling for Fig. 4 in the online version was processed wrong. The top left panel should be panel a, with the panels to its right being b and c. d and e should be the panels on the lower row, and f is correct. The graphs themselves are all correct. It is simply the letter labels that are wrong