A cohort study of the associations between udder conformation, milk somatic cell count, and lamb weight in suckler ewes

A cohort study of 67 suckler ewes from 1 farm was carried out from January to May 2010 to investigate associations between udder conformation, udder half milk somatic cell count (SCC), and lamb weight. Ewes and lambs were observed at lambing. Ewe health and teat condition and lamb health and weight were recorded on 4 to 5 further occasions at 14-d intervals. At each observation, a milk sample was collected from each udder half for somatic cell counting. Two weeks after lambing, ewe udder conformation and teat placement were scored. Low lamb weight was associated with ewe SCC >400,000 cells/mL (−0.73kg), a new teat lesion 14 d previously (−0.91kg), suboptimal teat position (−1.38kg), rearing in a multiple litter (−1.45kg), presence of diarrhea at the examination (−1.19kg), and rearing by a 9-yr-old ewe compared with a 6-yr-old ewe (−2.36kg). High lamb weight was associated with increasing lamb age (0.21kg/d), increasing birth weight (1.65kg/kg at birth), and increasing number of days the ewe was given supplementary feed before lambing (0.06kg/d). High udder half SCC was associated with pendulous udders (9.6% increase in SCC/cm of drop) and greater total cross-sectional area of the teats (7.2% increase of SCC/cm2). Low SCC were associated with a heavier mean litter weight (6.7% decrease in SCC/kg). Linear, quadratic, and cubic terms for days in lactation were also significant. We conclude that poor udder and teat conformation are associated with high levels of intramammary infection, as indicated by increased SCC and that both physical attributes of the udder and SCC are linked to lamb growth, suggesting that selection of suckler ewes with better udder and teat conformation would reduce intramammary infection and increase lamb growth rate

Os jovens na "era do jazz" ou "os belos e os malditos"

Os anos vinte foram anos de grande bulício e agitação em todas as esferas da vida social, cultural, económica e política. Porém, nenhum aspecto foi tão comentado e tratado com auras de maior sensacionalismo do que a dita revolta dos jovens: uma simples alusão aos anos 20 tem o efeito de evocar a primeira visita ao "speakeasy" (bar secreto escondido no subsolo); a primeira experiência sexual - que a privacidade e intimidade do automóvel proporcionavam -; a procura de uma felicidade concreta e imediata, etc. Contudo, a revolta dos jovens constituiu simplesmente o corolário de um desdém pelas condições económico - sociais vigentes, e não se confinou aos Estados Unidos da América, mas atingiu todo o mundo ocidental, em resultado da primeira grande guerra do século. Dado o "boom" na indústria americana, com as suas fábricas gigantescas e ruidosas e a resultante agressividade em larga escala, o culto da elegância nos modos e no porte (que a época anterior favorecera) foi progressivamente abandonado: com guerra ou sem guerra, cada vez se tornava mais difícil para os jovens adoptarem padrões de comportamento que não se ajustassem ao mundo de negócios em que teriam de competir

Advance Equitable Livelihoods

Food system transformation provides the opportunity to shift current trends in all forms of malnutrition, prioritizing the availability and affordability of nutritious food for all - from shifting priorities in agricultural production, to improved food systems that favor nutrition and sustainability. The task of Action Track 4 is to explore approaches to doing so that will advance equitable livelihoods for producers, businesses, workers across the food system and consumers, with a particular emphasis on addressing inequalities and power imbalances. As the Science Group for AT 4, we explore the nature of these issues, using the drivers of food systems as articulated by the High Level Panel of Experts of the UN Committee on World Food Security (HLPE 2020) as framing. Small and medium-sized producers and people who rely on food systems in rural and urban areas for livelihoods are disproportionately affected by all biophysical and environmental drivers, including soil and water resources and climate change. Unequal opportunity in access to all types of resources reduces overall production, resilience and rural transformation. Advances in innovation, technology and infrastructure have had important impacts on food production and sustainability, transportation and processing along food value chains, marketing, and, ultimately, diets, including the consumption of both nutritious and unhealthy foods. However, achievement of equitable livelihoods in food systems will require that issues of access to contextually suitable innovation and technology, inclusive of indigenous knowledge, be substantially enhanced. Many economic and political factors can be essential causes of inequality and power imbalances at the household, community, national and global levels, which may constrain the ability of food system transformation to deliver poverty reduction and sustainable, equitable livelihoods. Finally, vast evidence illustrates that several socio-cultural and demographic drivers underpin inequalities among and within societies and constrain the potential for some to benefit from actions to improve their livelihoods, particularly women, youths, the disabled, the elderly and indigenous peoples. These issues have been exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. The pandemic is having a significant impact on global commodity markets and trading systems, economic growth, incomes, and poverty levels, with a likely disproportionate burden falling on vulnerable communities in both urban and rural areas. This is likely to worsen inequalities and set back progress against poverty and hunger goals. To address these issues, we must transform not only food systems, but the structures and systems that continue to enable and exacerbate inequities. Drivers of food system inequities are highly interconnected, and progress in addressing one will likely require change across several. For example, globalization and trade interact with other powerful drivers, especially technology resource mobilization and demographic trends, which shape food production, distribution, and consumption. Hence, in the final section, we reflect on several factors that should be part of effective solutions for combating inequalities in food systems, including rights-based approaches. We then share a series of recommendations aimed at enhancing inclusive decision-making, protecting the livelihoods of those living in situations of vulnerability while creating opportunities, adapting institutions and policies to favor equitable food system livelihoods, and increasing investment so as to realize the potential of improved institutional and policy actions. We invite governments, businesses, and organizations to hold themselves and others to account in advancing equitable livelihoods, and open avenues towards realizing the potential of science, innovation, technology, and evidence to favor equitable livelihoods

Optimizing the bioenergy water footprint by selecting SRC willow canopy phenotypes: regional scenario simulations

© The Author(s) 2019. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Annals of Botany Company. All rights reserved. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted reuse, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.Background and Aims: Bioenergy is central for the future energy mix to mitigate climate change impacts; however, its intricate link with the water cycle calls for an evaluation of the carbon–water nexus in biomass production. The great challenge is to optimize trade-offs between carbon harvest and water use by choosing cultivars that combine low water use with high productivity. Methods: Regional scenarios were simulated over a range of willow genotype × environment interactions for the major UK soil × climate variations with the process-based model LUCASS. Soil available water capacity (SAWC) ranged from 51 to 251 mm and weather represented the north-west (wet, cool), north-east (dry, cool), south-west (wet, warm) and south-east (dry, warm) of the UK. Scenario simulations were evaluated for small/open narrow-leaf (NL) versus large/closed broad-leaf (BL) willow canopy phenotypes using baseline (1965–89) and warmer recent (1990–2014) weather data. Key Results: The low productivity under baseline climate in the north could be compensated by choosing BL cultivars (e.g. ‘Endurance’). Recent warmer climate increased average productivity by 0.5–2.5 t ha−1, especially in the north. The modern NL cultivar ‘Resolution’ had the smallest and most efficient water use. On marginal soils (SAWC <100 mm), yields remained below an economic threshold of 9 t ha−1 more frequently under baseline than recent climate. In the drought-prone south-east, ‘Endurance’ yielded less than ‘Resolution’, which consumed on average 17 mm year−1 less water. Assuming a planting area of 10 000 ha, in droughty years between 1.3 and 4.5 × 106 m3 of water could be saved, with a small yield penalty, for ‘Resolution’. Conclusions: With an increase in air temperature and occasional water scarcities expected with climate change, high-yielding NL cultivars should be the preferred choice for sustainable use of marginal lands and reduced competition with agricultural food crops.Peer reviewedFinal Published versio

Advance Equitable Livelihoods : A paper on Action Track 4

Food systems transformation provides the opportunity to shift current trends in all forms of malnutrition, prioritizing nutritious food availability and affordability for all – from shifting priorities in agricultural production, to improved food systems that favour nutrition and sustainability. The task of Action Track 4 is to explore approaches to doing so that will ensure equitable livelihoods for producers, businesses, workers across the food system and consumers, with particular emphasis on addressing inequalities and power imbalances. As the Science Group for AT 4, we explore the nature of these issues, using the drivers of food systems as articulated by the High Level Panel of Experts of the UN Committee on World Food Security1 as framing. Small and medium sized producers and people living on the food system in rural and urban areas are disproportionately affected by all biophysical and environmental drivers including soil and water resources, and climate change. Unequal opportunity in access to all types of resources reduces overall production, resilience, rural transformation. Advances in innovation, technology and infrastructure have had important impacts on food production and sustainability, transportation and processing along food value chains, marketing, and ultimately diets, including consumption of both nutritious and unhealthy foods. But achievement of equitable livelihoods in food systems will require that issues of access to contextually suitable innovation and technology be substantially enhanced, and that such advances better build on and learn from indigenous knowledge. Many economic and political factors are essential causes of inequality and power imbalances at house- hold, community, national and global levels, which constrain the ability of food systems transformation to deliver poverty reduction and sustainable, equitable livelihoods. Finally, vast evidence illustrates that several socio-cultural and demographic drivers underpin inequalities among and within societies and constrain the potential for some to benefit from actions to improve livelihoods, particularly women, youth, disabled, elderly, and indigenous peoples. These issues are exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. The pandemic is having a significant impact on the global commodity markets and trading systems, economic growth, incomes, and poverty levels, with likely disproportionate burden on the vulnerable communities in both urban and rural areas. This is likely to worsen inequalities and under- nutrition including child wasting. To address these issues, we must transform not only food systems, but the structures and systems that continue to enable and exacerbate inequities. Drivers of food systems inequities are highly interconnected and progress to address one will likely require change across several. For example, globalization and trade interact with other powerful drivers, especially technology resource mobilization, and demographic trends, which shape food production, distribution, and consumption. Drawing of this evidence review, in the final section we reflect on several factors that should be part of effective solutions, including grounding in rights-based approaches. We then share a series of recommendations aimed to enhance inclusive decision making, protect the livelihoods of those living in situations of vulnerability while creating opportunities, adapting institutions and policies to favour equitable food systems livelihoods, and increasing investment to realize the potential of improved institutional and policy actions. We invite governments, businesses, and organizations to hold themselves and others to account for ensuring equitable livelihoods, and open avenues to realize the potential of science, innovation, technology, and evidence to favour equitable livelihoods

Advance equitable livelihoods

Food system transformation provides the opportunity to shift current trends in all forms of malnutrition, prioritizing the availability and affordability of nutritious food for all – from shifting priorities in agricultural production, to improved food systems that favor nutrition and sustainability. The task of Action Track 4 is to explore approaches to doing so that will advance equitable livelihoods for producers, businesses, workers across the food system and consumers, with a particular emphasis on addressing inequalities and power imbalances. As the Science Group for AT 4, we explore the nature of these issues, using the drivers of food systems as articulated by the High Level Panel of Experts of the UN Committee on World Food Security (HLPE 2020) as framing. Small and medium-sized producers and people who rely on food systems in rural and urban areas for livelihoods are disproportionately affected by all biophysical and environmental drivers, including soil and water resources and climate change. Unequal opportunity in access to all types of resources reduces overall production, resilience and rural transformation. Advances in innovation, technology and infrastructure have had important impacts on food production and sustainability, transportation and processing along food value chains, marketing, and, ultimately, diets, including the consumption of both nutritious and unhealthy foods. However, achievement of equitable livelihoods in food systems will require that issues of access to contextually suitable innovation and technology, inclusive of indigenous knowledge, be substantially enhanced. Many economic and political factors can be essential causes of inequality and power imbalances at the household, community, national and global levels, which may constrain the ability of food system transformation to deliver poverty reduction and sustainable, equitable livelihoods. Finally, vast evidence illustrates that several socio-cultural and demographic drivers underpin inequalities among and within societies and constrain the potential for some to benefit from actions to improve their livelihoods, particularly women, youths, the disabled, the elderly and indigenous peoples. These issues have been exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. The pandemic is having a significant impact on global commodity markets and trading systems, economic growth, incomes, and poverty levels, with a likely disproportionate burden falling on vulnerable communities in both urban and rural areas. This is likely to worsen inequalities and set back progress against poverty and hunger goals. To address these issues, we must transform not only food systems, but the structures and systems that continue to enable and exacerbate inequities. Drivers of food system inequities are highly interconnected, and progress in addressing one will likely require change across several. For example, globalization and trade interact with other powerful drivers, especially technology resource mobilization and demographic trends, which shape food production, distribution, and consumption. Hence, in the final section, we reflect on several factors that should be part of effective solutions for combating inequalities in food systems, including rights-based approaches. We then share a series of recommendations aimed at enhancing inclusive decision-making, protecting the livelihoods of those living in situations of vulnerability while creating opportunities, adapting institutions and policies to favor equitable food system livelihoods, and increasing investment so as to realize the potential of improved institutional and policy actions. We invite governments, businesses, and organizations to hold themselves and others to account in advancing equitable livelihoods, and open avenues towards realizing the potential of science, innovation, technology, and evidence to favor equitable livelihoods

A Randomized Case-Series Study Comparing the Stability of Implant with Two Different Surfaces Placed in Fresh Extraction Sockets and Immediately Loaded

Background. Hydrophilic and moderately rough implant surfaces have been proposed to enhance the osseointegration response. Aim. The aim of this study was to compare early changes of stability for two implants with identical macrodesign but with different surface topographies. Materials and Methods. In 11 patients, a total of 22 implants (11 bimodal (minimally rough, control) and 11 proactive (moderately rough and hydrophilic, test), Neoss Ltd., Harrogate, UK) were immediately placed into fresh extraction sockets and immediately loaded. The peak insertion torque (IT) was measured in Ncm at placement. Resonance Frequency Analysis (RFA) measurements were made at baseline and 2, 4, 6, and 12 weeks after surgery. Results. The two implant types showed similar IT and RFA values at placement (NS). A dip of RFA values after 2 weeks followed by an increase was observed, where the test implant showed a less pronounced decrease and a more rapid recovery than the control implant. The test implants were significantly more stable than the control ones after 12 weeks. Conclusions. The results from the present study indicated that the hydrophilic and rougher test implant was more resistant to immediate loading and showed a significantly higher stability than the smoother control implant after 12 weeks

A histomorphometric study of dental implants with different surface characteristics

PURPOSE. One of the major keys to achieve successful osseointegration of the implant is its surface properties. The aim of this study was to investigate the bone response to dental implants with different surface characteristics using the rabbit tibia model. Tricalcium phosphate (TCP) coated, anodic oxidized and turned (control) surfaces were compared. MATERIALS AND METHODS. Seventy two implants were placed in the tibia of eighteen rabbits. Nine rabbits were sacrificed at 3 weeks of healing and the remaining nine were sacrificed at 6 weeks of healing. The bone-to-implant contact (BIC) and the bone volume density (BVD) were assessed by light microscope after 3 and 6 weeks of healing. RESULTS. Statistical analysis showed that no significant differences in the BIC and BVD were observed between the different implant surfaces and the control group at 3 weeks and 6 weeks of healing. Data also suggested that the BVD of all the surfaces showed significant difference at 3 and 6 weeks. CONCLUSION. The present study has showed that osseointegration occurred in all investigated types of surface-treated implants. In the current study all of the threads of the implants were observed to calculate BIC and BVD values (instead of choosing some of the threads from the bone cortex for example), which didn`t make BIC or BVD percentage values better than in the control group, therefore the clinical relevance of these results remains to be shown. [J Adv Prosthodont 2010;2:142-7]