Wenn Milchkühe ihre Kälber säugen - freier vs. Halbtagskontakt

The influence of three calf rearing systems on milk yield, milk composition, udder 18:00, n=11) and no damtheir dam after birth. In the 10th week of life contact dams and calves were physicallyseparated and had only visual contact. They were trained to drink from nipple buckets. In the 11th week of life thcontact. All calves were gradually weaned from milk until the 13th- cows and those gave less milk than-indicating disturbed milk ejection. Udder health was not affected. Nursed calves grew ut after separation there was a growth check. However, two weeks after weaning live weights of dam reared calves were still significantly higher Hence, our results suggest that half-day mother-calfcontact helps to decrease milk losses while calf development is still improved

Agitation behaviour and heart rate of dairy cows with and without calf-contact during different stimuli in the parlour

Farmers who are interested to rear calves together with the dairy cows during the first weeks of life are confronted with problems of poor milk let-down during machine milking. Therefore it was investigated whether 3 calf-associated stimuli were capable to enhance milkability of the cows. In this contribution, the effect of the stimulations during milking on heart rate (HR) and agitation (rumination, posture of the head and behaviour during udder preparation)are presented. Olfactory (calf hair), tactile (teat massage) and acoustic(recorded calf calls)stimulation were tested on 15 dairy cows with permanent contact to their calves and 22 control cows. All cows were milked twice daily. Stimulation tests were conducted in 3 consecutive weeks during day 25–51 of lactation, each stimulus tested in 4 milkings versus 4 routine milkings. As HR was only measured at morning milkings there were only 2 repetitions per stimulus. Mixed models with the fixed factors stimulation (vs. routine milking), calf-contact, breed (German Red Pied vs. German Holstein) and parity (primiparous vs. pluriparous) and the random factor animal were applied for each parameter. Rumination and posture of the head were not influenced by any factor. Agitation behaviour and HR in the parlour were not affected by calf-contact. This questions stress as elicitor of problems with milk ejection. Tactile stimulation had an increasing, acoustic stimulation a decreasing effect on HR. German Red Pied showed more agitation behaviour during udder preparation and a higher HR in this phase compared to the German Holsteins. This could be due to differences in temperament or sensitivity to touching. According to expectations, primiparous cows showed more agitation during udder preparation than pluriparous, but this was not accompanied by an HR increase. The results did not indicate higher stress reactions in the parlour of dairy cows with calf contact. Acoustic stimulation led to a lower HR independent from calf-contact compared with HR at routine milking

Milchleistung, Milchfluss und Milchinhaltsstoffe von Kühen mit und ohne Kalbkontakt in Abhängigkeit von verschiedenen Stimulationsverfahren beim Melken

Farmers who are interested to rear calves together with the dairy cows during the first weeks of life are confronted with problems of poor milk let-down during machine milking. This study investigates the influence of three calf-associated stimuli during milking on milk yield, milk content and milk flow characteristics: olfactory (calf hair), tactile (teat massage) and acoustic (recorded calf calls) stimulation including 14 dairy cows with permanent contact to their calves (group KM) and 22 control cows (group M). All cows were milked twice daily. Stimulation tests were conducted in three consecutive weeks during day 25-51 of lactation, each stimulus tested in four milkings versus four milkings without stimulation. Mixed models with the fixed factors stimulation (vs. no stimulation), group, time of day, interaction stimulation*group and the random factor cows were applied for each stimulus. Stimulations had only minor effects on the measured parameters and did thus not improve the existing milkability of the dairy cows with and without calf contact. Differences between the groups were significant. KM-cows had a decreased milk yield of ca. 10 kg per milking and reduced fat content of about 1%. Also milk flow was lower than in M-cows. Further research on how to improve milk let-down of cows with calf contact should pay attention to the duration of pre-stimulation and the length of daily calf contact

Leiden behornte Milchkühe weniger unter leichtem bis moderatem Hitzestress als enthornte?

Es wird vermutetet, dass Hörner bei der Thermoregulation von Rindern eine Rolle spielen könnten. Deshalb wurde die Atemfrequenz, als Indikator für Hitzestress, von behornten und enthornten Europäischen Milchkühen, die gemeinsam in einer Herde im Stall gehalten wurden, erfasst. Die Gruppenzusammensetzung (N=7) war bezüglich Laktationsstand (35-354 d), Milchleistung (5,6-36,6 kg/d) und Fellfarbe balanciert. Die Atemfrequenz jedes Tieres wurde an fünf aufeinanderfolgenden Tagen durch eine Person erfasst. Der Temperature Humidity Index (THI) wurde alle 10 min. im Stall gemessen. Zur Datenanalyse wurde ein gemischtes Modell verwendet (zufälliger Faktor: Tier, fixe Faktoren: Hornstatus, THI). Der THI lag zwischen 71,9-81,5 (Mittel=75,9). Mit steigendem THI, stieg auch die Atemfrequenz an (Modellschätzwert=0,9, P=0,0341). Die Atemfrequenz lag zwischen 29,6-78,5 (Mittel=55,0). Der Hornstatus hatte keinen Einfluss auf die Atemfrequenz (P=0,5294). Im Stall hatte die Behornung keinen abschwächenden Effekt auf leichten bis moderaten Hitzestress

A possible mechanism for cold denaturation of proteins at high pressure

We study cold denaturation of proteins at high pressures. Using multicanonical Monte Carlo simulations of a model protein in a water bath, we investigate the effect of water density fluctuations on protein stability. We find that above the pressure where water freezes to the dense ice phase ($\approx2$ kbar), the mechanism for cold denaturation with decreasing temperature is the loss of local low-density water structure. We find our results in agreement with data of bovine pancreatic ribonuclease A.Comment: 4 pages for double column and single space. 3 figures Added references Changed conten

Review: ‘Gimme five’: future challenges in multiple sclerosis. ECTRIMS Lecture 2009

This article is based on the ECTRIMS lecture given at the 25th ECTRIMS meeting which was held in Düsseldorf, Germany, from 9 to 12 September 2009. Five challenges have been identified: (1) safeguarding the principles of medical ethics; (2) optimizing the risk/benefit ratio; (3) bridging the gap between multiple sclerosis and experimental autoimmune encephalitis; (4) promoting neuroprotection and repair; and (5) tailoring multiple sclerosis therapy to the individual patient. Each of these challenges will be discussed and placed in the context of current research into the pathogenesis and treatment of multiple sclerosis

Novel multiple sclerosis susceptibility loci implicated in epigenetic regulation

We conducted a genome-wide association study (GWAS) on multiple sclerosis (MS) susceptibility in German cohorts with 4888 cases and 10,395 controls. In addition to associations within the major histocompatibility complex (MHC) region, 15 non-MHC loci reached genome-wide significance. Four of these loci are novel MS susceptibility loci. They map to the genes L3MBTL3, MAZ, ERG, and SHMT1. The lead variant at SHMT1 was replicated in an independent Sardinian cohort. Products of the genes L3MBTL3, MAZ, and ERG play important roles in immune cell regulation. SHMT1 encodes a serine hydroxymethyltransferase catalyzing the transfer of a carbon unit to the folate cycle. This reaction is required for regulation of methylation homeostasis, which is important for establishment and maintenance of epigenetic signatures. Our GWAS approach in a defined population with limited genetic substructure detected associations not found in larger, more heterogeneous cohorts, thus providing new clues regarding MS pathogenesis

Practice Schedule And The Learning Of Motor Skills In Children And Adults: Teaching Implications

Understanding how motor skills are learned influences how one teaches effective motor skill attainment. Educators must ask, “Does repetitive practice of the same task make for better performance or does contextual variability (random practice) offer some benefit when learning motor skills?” Studies on the effects of Contextual Interference may provide some insight. Contextual interference (CI) studies typically use simple tasks involving movements already acquired by adults, which may account for random practice benefits. In contrast, children do not consistently demonstrate CI effects, as tasks usually require acquisition of a new movement pattern. In this experiment, adults and children ((8-10 yrs old) threw a Frisbee to targets for 54 trials under random or blocked conditions. Having had considerable throwing experience with other throwing objects, adults were expected to benefit from random practice. For children, a blocked practice advantage was predicted as it provides for devising and stabilizing a suitable movement pattern. Retention/retraining trials were administered 30 minutes after acquisition and seven days later. Two transfer tests were given after the delayed retention test: (a) same throwing object/different target distances (SODT), which required re-scaling the practiced movement, and (b) different throwing object (ropeball)/same target distances (DOST) which required a new movement pattern. Throwing accuracy was measured by absolute error from the target. Both age groups showed a blocked practice benefit on retention and SODT transfer tests. Findings from this experiment suggest that task variables and stage of learning are important determinants of CI effects and thus should influence how we teach motor skill attainment

Investigation of sex-specific effects of apolipoprotein E on severity of EAE and MS

Background Despite pleiotropic immunomodulatory effects of apolipoprotein E (apoE) in vitro, its effects on the clinical course of experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE) and multiple sclerosis (MS) are still controversial. As sex hormones modify immunomodulatory apoE functions, they may explain contentious findings. This study aimed to investigate sex-specific effects of apoE on disease course of EAE and MS. Methods MOG35-55 induced EAE in female and male apoE-deficient mice was assessed clinically and histopathologically. apoE expression was investigated by qPCR. The association of the MS severity score (MSSS) and APOE rs429358 and rs7412 was assessed across 3237 MS patients using linear regression analyses. Results EAE disease course was slightly attenuated in male apoE-deficient (apoE −/− ) mice compared to wildtype mice (cumulative median score: apoE −/−  = 2 [IQR 0.0–4.5]; wildtype = 4 [IQR 1.0–5.0]; n = 10 each group, p = 0.0002). In contrast, EAE was more severe in female apoE −/− mice compared to wildtype mice (cumulative median score: apoE −/−  = 3 [IQR 2.0–4.5]; wildtype = 3 [IQR 0.0–4.0]; n = 10, p = 0.003). In wildtype animals, apoE expression during the chronic EAE phase was increased in both females and males (in comparison to naïve animals; p < 0.001). However, in MS, we did not observe a significant association between MSSS and rs429358 or rs7412, neither in the overall analyses nor upon stratification for sex. Conclusions apoE exerts moderate sex-specific effects on EAE severity. However, the results in the apoE knock-out model are not comparable to effects of polymorphic variants in the human APOE gene, thus pinpointing the challenge of translating findings from the EAE model to the human disease

Cardiotoxicity of mitoxantrone treatment in a german cohort of 639 multiple sclerosis patients

Background and Purpose: The aim of this study was to elucidate the role of therapy-related cardiotoxicity in multiple sclerosis (MS) patients treated with mitoxantrone and to identify potential predictors for individual risk assessment. Methods: Within a multicenter retrospective cohort design, cardiac side effects attributed to mitoxantrone were analyzed in 639 MS patients at 2 MS centers in Germany. Demographic, disease, treatment, and follow-up data were collected from hospital records. Patients regularly received cardiac monitoring during the treatment phase. Results: None of the patients developed symptomatic congestive heart failure. However, the frequency of patients experiencing cardiac dysfunction of milder forms after mitoxantrone therapy was 4.1% (26 patients) among all patients. Analyses of the risk for cardiotoxicity revealed that cumulative dose exposure was the only statistically relevant risk factor associated with cardiac dysfunction. Conclusions: The number of patients developing subclinical cardiac dysfunction below the maximum recommended cumulative dose is higher than was initially assumed. Interestingly, a subgroup of patients was identified who experienced cardiac dysfunction shortly after initiation of mitoxantrone and who received a low cumulative dose. Therefore, each administration of mitoxantrone should include monitoring of cardiac function to enhance the treatment safety for patients and to allow for early detection of any side effects, especially in potential high-risk subgroups (as determined genetically)