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Temperament measures have been correlated to ADG and DMI in feedlot cattle. However, most of these experiments evaluate intake at the pen level, rather than within the individual animal. Moreover, some of these relationships are often investigated using an average temperament score (either over time or numerous measures) rather than a single measure of temperament. The objective of this experiment was to examine relationships between temperament measures and performance in individual beef steers based on initial temperament scores. Steers from one source (n = 105) were randomly allocated to 4 pens in 2 weight blocks. Steers were fed a common TMR 3 times each day at approximately 0700, 1000, and 1400 for 70 d. Individual feed and water intake (WI) were measured daily using an Insentec feeding system. Body weights, exit velocity (EV), and chute score (CS) were measured every 14 d. Exit velocity was measured over 1.5 m; CS was measured by the same trained observer and reported on a 1-4 scale, where 1 is calm and 4 is wild. Animals were assigned an EV and CS ranking based on initial measures. Chute score ranking was assigned according to the first measure. Animals 1 SD above the EV mean were ranked as a 2 and animals 1 SD below the mean were a 0, with animals between ranking a 1. Lower ranks are indicative of calmer temperament. Dry matter intake, ADG, G:F, and WI were split into 5 periods (d 0-14, 14-28, 0-28, 28-70, and 0-70). Data were analyzed using the MIXED procedure of SAS where the model included main effects of EV and CS; block was used as a random effect. There was no effect of EV or CS on DMI or WI for any period (P ≥ 0.90). There were no treatment effects for periods d 0-14, 14-28, or 0-70 (P ≥ 0.72). From d 0-28, steers with a CS of 2 or 3 had a increased ADG and G:F (P = 0.04) compared to steers with CS of 1 or 4. From d 28-70, steers with an EV of 1 had decreased ADG and G:F (P ≤ 0.05) compared to steers with EV of 0 or 2. Chute score may be more important for measures during early periods in the feedlot. Additionally, because each temperament measure related to performance in a different manner, this data supports the concept that CS and EV measure different underlying traits. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Lipid screening identifies at-risk patients to facilitate cardiovascular risk reduction. National pediatric guidelines recommend universal lipid screening between 9-11 and 17-21 years of age. We aimed to improve adherence to lipid screening for all age-appropriate outpatient pediatric cardiology visits from a baseline of 35% to 90% between November 2021 and July 2023., Methods: All outpatient visits for patients 9-11 and 17-21 years were included. Chart review and an Epic electronic health record report identified patients screened, lipid test results, and need for further testing. A P-chart was generated. After establishing a baseline for 8 weeks, interventions, including an Epic dot phrase, group and individual feedback, and Epic best practice alert (BPA), were incorporated via plan-do-study-act cycles. Balancing measures included anonymous provider surveys on visit length and experience., Results: More than 1,700 patient visits were included. At baseline, 35% of all age-appropriate patients were screened. The Epic dot phrase prompted a positive shift with a new mean of 59% screened. Another change occurred after the BPA alert, with an increase in screening to 84%. Lipid screening prompted by this initiative found that 38% of those with testing results in Epic had abnormal results requiring follow-up. Providers did not report a significant change in visit length due to screening., Conclusions: Quality improvement interventions improved adherence to universal lipid screening guidelines. The Epic dot phrase and BPA facilitated positive shifts. These simple interventions can be spread to other practices to improve adherence to lipid screening and other guidelines., (Copyright © 2024 the Author(s). Published by Wolters Kluwer Health, Inc.)

Background/Objectives: Research-engaged academic institutions offer the opportunity to couple undergraduate education/citizen science projects with antimicrobial biodiscovery research. Several initiatives reflecting this ethos have been reported internationally (e.g., Small World, Tiny Earth, MicroMundo, Antibiotics Unearthed). These programs target soil habitats due to their high microbial diversity and promote initial screening with non-selective, nutrient media such as tryptic soy agar (TSA). However, evaluation of published outputs to date indicates that isolate recovery on TSA is consistently dominated by the genera Bacillus , Pseudomonas, and Paenibacillus . In this study, we evaluated the potential of soil extract agar to enhance soil isolate diversity and antibiosis induction outcomes in our undergraduate Antibiotics Unearthed research program. Methods: We comparatively screened 229 isolates from woodland and garden soil samples on both tryptic soy agar (TSA) and soil extract agar (SEA) for antimicrobial activity against a panel of clinically relevant microbial pathogens. Results: On one or both media, 15 isolates were found to produce zones of clearing against respective pathogens. 16S rRNA gene sequencing linked the isolates with three genera: Streptomyces (7), Paenibacillus (6), and Pseudomonas (2). Six of the Streptomyces isolates and one Pseudomonas demonstrated antimicrobial activity when screened on SEA, with no activity on TSA. Furthermore, incorporation of the known secondary metabolite inducer N acetyl-glucosamine (20 mM) into SEA media altered the pathogen inhibition profiles of 14 isolates and resulted in broad-spectrum activity of one Streptomyces isolate, not observed on SEA alone. In conclusion, SEA was found to expand the diversity of culturable isolates from soil and specifically enhanced the recovery of members of the genus Streptomyces . SEA was also found to be a superior media for antibiosis induction among Streptomyces isolates when compared to TSA. It was noted that Paenibacillus isolates' antibiosis induction demonstrated a strain-specific response with respect to the growth media used. Conclusions: The authors propose SEA inclusion of in soil screening protocols as a cost-effective, complementary strategy to greatly enhance outcomes in undergraduate/citizen science-engaged antimicrobial biodiscovery initiatives.

Background: Impactful, evidence-based solutions in surveillance, prevention, acute care, and rehabilitation for stroke survivors are required to address the high global burden of stroke. Patient and public involvement (PPI), where patients, their families, and the public are actively involved as research partners, enhances the relevance, credibility, and impact of stroke-related research., Aims: This scoping review, adhering to the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis (PRISMA) Scoping Review guidelines, aims to identify and summarize how PPI is currently implemented and reported in empirical stroke research using a participatory approach., Summary of Review: A comprehensive search strategy was developed and implemented across Medline, CINAHL, EMBASE, PsynchINFO, and Cochrane electronic databases, supplemented by gray literature searches. Empirical stroke research articles in the English language, published from 2014 up to 2023, and documenting PPI activity were included. Of the 18,143 original articles identified, 2824 full-text manuscripts matching from this time window were screened. Only 2% (n = 72) of these directly reported embedded PPI activity in empirical research. The majority were qualitative in design (60%) and conducted in high-income countries (96%). Only one included study originated from a developing country, where the burden of stroke is highest. Most studies (94%) provided some information about the activities carried out with their PPI partners, mainly centered on the study design (57%) and management (64%), with only 4% of studies integrating PPI across all research cycle phases from funding application to dissemination. When studies were examined for compliance with the Guidance for Reporting Involvement of Patients and the Public (GRIPP) short-form checklist, only 11% of included studies were 100% compliant. Twenty-one studies (29%) reported barriers and facilitators to including PPI in stroke research. Organization, authentic partnership, and experienced PPI representatives were common facilitators and identified barriers reflected concerns around adequate funding, time required, and diversity in perspectives. A positive reporting bias for PPI impact was observed, summarized as keeping the patient perspective central to the research process, improved care of study participants, validation of study findings, and improved communication/lay-summaries of complex research concepts., Conclusions: PPI is underutilized and inconsistently reported in current empirical stroke research. PPI must become more widely adopted, notably in low- and middle-income countries. Consensus-driven standards for inclusion of PPI by funding organizations and publishers are required to support its widespread adoption., Competing Interests: Declaration of conflicting interestsThe author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Green stormwater infrastructure (GSI) is adopted to reduce the impact of stormwater on urban flooding and water quality issues. This study assessed the performance of GSI, like bioretention basins, in accumulating metals. Twenty one GSI basins were considered for this study, which were located in New York and Pennsylvania, USA. Shallow (0-5 cm) soil samples were collected from each site at inlet, pool, and adjacent reference locations. The study analyzed 3 base cations (Ca, Mg, Na) and 6 metals (Cd, Cr, Cu, Ni, Pb, and Zn), some of which are toxic to ecosystem and human health. The accumulation of cations/metals at the inlet and pool differed between the selected basins. However, accumulation was consistently higher at the inlet or the pool of the basin as compared to the reference location. Contrary to prior research, this study did not find significant accumulation with age, suggesting that other factors such as site characteristics (e.g., loading rate) might be confounding. GSI basins that receive water only from parking lots or parking lots and building roofs combined showed higher metals and Na accumulation as compared to the basins that received stormwater only from building roofs. Cu, Mg and Zn accumulation showed a positive relationship with the organic matter content in soil, indicating likely sorption of metals on organic matter. Ca and Cu accumulation was greater in GSI basins with larger drainage areas. A negative relationship between Cu and Na implies that Na loading from de-icers may reduce Cu retention. Overall, the study found that the GSI basins are successfully accumulating metals and some base cations, with highest accumulation at the inlet. Additionally, this study provided evidence of GSI effectiveness in accumulating metals using a more cost efficient and time averaged approach compared to traditional means of stormwater inflow and outflow monitoring., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2023 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Enteric methane is a potent greenhouse gas and represents an escape of energy from the ruminant digestive system. Additive genetic variation in methane production suggests that genetic selection offers an opportunity to diminish enteric methane emissions. Logistic and monetary difficulties in directly measuring methane emissions can make genetic evaluation on an indicator trait such as predicted methane production a more appealing option, and inclusion of genotyping data can result in greater genetic progress. Three predicted methane production traits were calculated for 830 crossbred steers fed in seven groups. The methane prediction equations used included mathematical models from Ellis et al. (2007), Mills et al. (2003), and IPCC (2019). Pearson correlations between the traits were all greater than 0.99, indicating that each prediction equation behaved similarly. Further, the Spearman correlations between the estimated breeding values for each trait were also 0.99, which suggests any of the predicted methane models could be used without substantially changing the ranking of the selection candidates. The heritabilities of Ellis, Mills, and IPCC predicted methane production were 0.60, 0.62, and 0.59, respectively. A genome-wide association study identified one single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) that reached the threshold for significance for all of the traits on chromosome 7 related to oxidoreductase activity. Additionally, the SNP slightly below the significance threshold indicate genes related to collagen, intracellular microtubules, and DNA transcription may play a role in predicted methane production or its component traits., (© The Author(s) 2023. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the American Society of Animal Science. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.)

Almost 2 years ago, the novel coronavirus, severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) was discovered to be the causative agent of the disease COVID-19. Subsequently, SARS-CoV-2 has spread across the world infecting millions of people, resulting in the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. The current 'gold standard' for COVID-19 diagnosis involves obtaining a nasopharyngeal swab (NPS) from the patient and testing for the presence of SARS-CoV-2 RNA in the specimen using real-time reverse transcription PCR (RT-qPCR). However, obtaining a NPS specimen is an uncomfortable and invasive procedure for the patient and is limited in its applicability to mass testing. Interest in saliva as an alternative diagnostic specimen is of increasing global research interest due to its malleability to mass testing, greater patient acceptability and overall ease of specimen collection. However, the current literature surrounding the sensitivity of saliva compared to NPS is conflicting. The aim of this review was to analyse the recent literature to assess the viability of saliva in COVID-19 diagnosis. We hypothesize that the discrepancies in the current literature are likely due to the variations in the saliva collection and processing protocols used between studies. The universal adaptation of an optimised protocol could alleviate these discrepancies and see saliva specimens be as sensitive, if not more, than NPS for COVID-19 diagnosis. Whilst saliva specimens are more complimentary to mass-testing, with the possibility of samples being collected from home, the RT-qPCR diagnostic process remains to be the rate-limiting step and therefore interest in salivary rapid antigen tests, which negate the wait-times of RT-qPCR with results available within 15-30 min, may be an answer to this., Competing Interests: The authors declare that there are no conflicts of interest., (© 2022 The Authors.)

Avalanche and Single-Photon Avalanche photodetectors (APDs and SPADs) rely on the probability of photogenerated carriers to trigger a multiplication process. Photon penetration depth plays a vital role in this process. In silicon APDs, a significant fraction of the short visible wavelengths is absorbed close to the device surface that is typically highly doped to serve as a contact. Most of the photogenerated carriers in this region can be lost by recombination, get slowly transported by diffusion, or multiplied with high excess noise. On the other hand, the extended penetration depth of near-infrared wavelengths requires thick semiconductors for efficient absorption. This diminishes the speed of the devices due to the long transit time in the thick absorption layer that is required for detecting most of these photons. Here, we demonstrate that it is possible to drive photons to a critical depth in a semiconductor film to maximize their gain-bandwidth performance and increase the absorption efficiency. This approach to engineering the penetration depth for different wavelengths in silicon is enabled by integrating photon-trapping nanoholes on the device surface. The penetration depth of short wavelengths such as 450 nm is increased from 0.25 µm to more than 0.62 µm. On the other hand, for a long-wavelength like 850 nm, the penetration depth is reduced from 18.3 µm to only 2.3 µm, decreasing the device transit time considerably. Such capabilities allow increasing the gain in APDs by almost 400× at 450 nm and by almost 9× at 850 nm. This engineering of the penetration depth in APDs would enable device designs requiring higher gain-bandwidth in emerging technologies such as Fluorescence Lifetime Microscopy (FLIM), Time-of-Flight Positron Emission Tomography (TOF-PET), quantum communications systems, and 3D imaging systems.

Extensive time and financial resources have been dedicated to address nonpoint sources of nitrogen and phosphorus in watersheds. Despite these efforts, many watersheds have not seen substantial improvement in water quality. The objective of this study is to review the literature and investigate key factors affecting the lack of improvement in nutrient levels in waterways in urban and agricultural regions. From 94 studies identified in the academic literature, we found that, although 60% of studies found improvements in water quality after implementation of Best Management Practices (BMPs) within the watershed, these studies were mostly modeling studies rather than field monitoring studies. For studies that were unable to find improvements in water quality after the implementation of BMPs, the lack of improvement was attributed to lack of knowledge about BMP functioning, lag times, nonoptimal placement and distribution of BMPs in the watershed, postimplementation BMP failure, and socio-political and economic challenges. We refer to these limiting factors as known unknowns . We also acknowledge the existence of unknown unknowns that hinder further improvement in BMP effectiveness and suggest that machine learning, approaches from the field of business and operations management, and long-term convergent studies could be used to resolve these unknown unknowns .

In the future, water may not be as readily available due to increases in competition from a growing human population, wildlife, and other agricultural sectors, making selection for water efficiency of beef cattle increasingly important. Substantial selection emphasis has recently been placed on feed efficiency in an effort to reduce production costs, but no emphasis has been placed on making cattle more water efficient due to lack of data. Thus, the objective of this study was to calculate water efficiency metrics for cattle and evaluate their relationship to growth, feed intake (FI), and feed efficiency. Individual daily FI and water intake (WI) records were collected on 578 crossbred steers over a 70-d test period. Animals with low water intake ate less feed, had lower gains, and were more water efficient (as defined by water to gain ratio, W/G, and residual water intake, RWI). However, the amount of water consumed by animals had minimal phenotypic relationship with feed efficiency (residual feed intake [RFI], R2 = 0.1050 and feed to gain ratio (F/G) ratio R2 = 0.0726). Cattle that had low DMI consumed less water, had lower gains, had lower RFI, and had higher F/G. The level of feed consumed had minimal relationship with water efficiency. WI, W/G, RWI, and ADG had moderate heritability estimates of 0.39, 0.39, 0.37, and 0.37, respectively. High heritability estimates were observed for DMI and RFI (0.67 and 0.65, respectively). Feed to gain had a low heritability estimate of 0.16. WI had a strong positive genetic correlation with W/G (0.99) and RWI (0.88), thus selecting for decreased WI should also make cattle more water efficient. The genetic correlation between WI and ADG was 0.05; thus, selecting for low WI cattle should have little effect on growth. There is a low to moderate genetic correlation between WI and DMI (0.34). RWI has a positive genetic correlation with W/G ratio (0.89) and F/G ratio (0.42) and is negatively genetically correlated with RFI (-0.57). Water to gain and F/G had a strong positive genetic correlation (0.68). RFI has a positive genetic correlation with W/G ratio (0.37) and F/G (0.88). Minimal antagonisms seem to be present between WI and ADG, although it should be noted that standard errors were large and often not significantly different from zero due to the small sample size. However, care should be taken to ensure that unintended changes do not occur in DMI or other production traits and incorporation of WI into a selection index would likely prove to be the most effective method for selection., (Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the American Society of Animal Science 2019.)

This study explores the spatial distribution of green stormwater infrastructure (GSI) relative to sociodemographic and landscape characteristics in Portland, OR, and Baltimore, MD, USA at census block group (CBG) and census tract scales. GSI density is clustered in Portland, while it is randomly distributed over space in Baltimore. Variables that exhibit relationships with GSI density are varied over space, as well as between cities. In Baltimore, GSI density is significantly associated with presence of green space (+), impervious surface coverage (+), and population density (-) at the CBG scale; though these relationships vary over space. At the census tract scale in Baltimore, a different combination of indicators explains GSI density, including elevation (+), population characteristics, and building characteristics. Spatial regression analysis in Portland indicates that GSI density at the CBG scale is associated with residents identifying as White (-) and well-draining hydrologic soil groups A and B (-). At both census tract and CBG scales, GSI density is associated with median income (-) and sewer pipe density (-). Hierarchical modelling of GSI density presents significant spatial dependence as well as group dependence implicit to Portland at the census tract scale. Significant results of this model retain income and sewer pipe density as explanatory variables, while introducing the relationship between GSI density and impervious surface coverage. Overall, this research offers decision-relevant information for urban resilience in multiple environments and could serve as a reminder for cities to consider who is inherently exposed to GSI benefits., (Copyright © 2019 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Cyanotic heart lesions are a complex subset of congenital heart disease (CHD) in which patients are desaturated until surgical repair or palliation. We hypothesized that a direct relationship would exist between degree of desaturation and presence of systemic inflammation and brain injury in unrepaired patients less than 1 year of age. The pre-operative desaturation with augmented systemic inflammation would predict a more complex post-operative course. Fifty patients with CHD were enrolled in this study and classified as cyanotic (O 2  ≤ 90%) or acyanotic (O 2  > 90%) based on SpO 2 . Serum inflammatory mediators measured included interleukins (IL)-6, IL-8, IL-12p70, IL-10, IL-1β, tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α, interferon (INF)-γ; macrophage inhibitory factor (MIF) and a novel brain biomarker, phosphorylated neurofilament heavy subunit (pNF-H). Twenty-two cyanotic and 28 acyanotic subjects were enrolled with SpO 2 of 78 ± 18% and 98 ± 2% (p < 0.001), respectively, and mean age of 72 days (range 2-303) and 102 days (range 1-274), respectively. Cyanotic vs acyanotic subjects had elevated serum IL-6 (6.6 ± 7.6 vs 2.9 ± 2.9 pg/ml, p = 0.019) and pNF-H (222 ± 637 vs 57 ± 121 pg/ml, p = 0.046), and both biomarkers correlated with degree of desaturation (Spearman rank-order correlation ρ = - 0.30, p = 0.037 and ρ = - 0.29 p = 0.049, respectively). Post-operative inotrope scores at 24 h and duration of mechanical ventilation correlated inversely with pre-operative oxygen saturation (ρ = - 0.380, p = 0.014 and ρ = - 0.362, p = 0.020, respectively). The degree of pre-operative desaturation correlated with a more complicated post-operative course supporting the need for advanced peri-operative therapy in this population.

Water is an essential nutrient, but there are few recent studies that evaluate how much water individual beef cattle consume and how environmental factors affect an individual's water intake (WI). Most studies have focused on WI of whole pens rather than WI of individual animals. Thus, the objective of this study was to evaluate the impact of environmental parameters on individual-animal WI across different seasons and develop prediction equations to estimate WI, including within different environments and management protocols. Individual daily feed intake and WI records were collected on 579 crossbred steers for a 70-d period following a 21-d acclimation period for feed and water bunk training. Steers were fed in 5 separate groups over a 3-yr period from May 2014 to March 2017. Individual weights were collected every 14 d and weather data were retrieved from the Oklahoma Mesonet's Stillwater station. Differences in WI as a percent of body weight (WI%) were analyzed accounting for average temperature (TAVG), relative humidity (HAVG), solar radiation (SRAD), and wind speed (WSPD). Seasonal (summer vs. winter) and management differences (ad libitum vs. slick bunk) were examined. Regression analysis was utilized to generate 5 WI prediction equations (overall, summer, winter, slick, and ad libitum). There were significant (P < 0.05) differences in WI between all groups when no environmental parameters were included in the model. Although performance was more similar after accounting for all differences in weather variables, significant (P < 0.05) seasonal and feed management differences were still observed for WI%, but were less than 0.75% of steer body weight. The best linear predictors of daily WI (DWI) were dry mater intake (DMI), metabolic body weights (MWTS), TAVG, SRAD, HAVG, and WSPD. Slight differences in the coefficient of determinations for the various models were observed for the summer (0.34), winter (0.39), ad libitum (0.385), slick bunk (0.41), and overall models (0.40). Based on the moderate R2 values for the WI prediction equations, individual DWI can be predicted with reasonable accuracy based on the environmental conditions that are present, MWTS, and DMI consumed, but substantial variation exists in individual animal WI that is not accounted for by these models.

Water is an essential nutrient, but the effect it has on performance generally receives little attention. There are few systems and guidelines for collection of water intake (WI) phenotypes in beef cattle, which makes large-scale research on WI a challenge. The Beef Improvement Federation has established guidelines for feed intake (FI) and ADG tests, but no guidelines exist for WI. The goal of this study was to determine the test duration necessary for collection of accurate WI phenotypes. To facilitate this goal, individual daily WI and FI records were collected on 578 crossbred steers for a total of 70 d using an Insentec system at the Oklahoma State University Willard Sparks Beef Research Unit. Steers were fed in five groups and were individually weighed every 14 d. Within each group, steers were blocked by BW (low and high) and randomly assigned to one of four pens containing approximately 30 steers per pen. Each pen provided 103.0 m2 of shade and included an Insentec system containing six feed bunks and one water bunk. Steers were fed a constant diet across groups and DMI was calculated using the average of weekly percent DM within group. Average FI and WI for each animal were computed for increasingly large test durations (7, 14, 21, 28, 35, 42, 49, 56, 63, and 70 d), and ADG was calculated using a regression formed from BW taken every 14 d (0, 14, 28, 42, 56, and 70 d). Intervals for all traits were computed starting from both the beginning (day 0) and the end of the testing period (day 70). Pearson and Spearman correlations were computed for phenotypes from each shortened test period and for the full 70-d test. Minimum test duration was determined when the Pearson correlations were greater than 0.95 for each trait. Our results indicated that minimum test duration for WI, DMI, and ADG were 35, 42, and 70 d, respectively. No comparable studies exist for WI; however, our results for FI and ADG are consistent with those in the literature. Although further testing in other populations of cattle and areas of the country should take place, our results suggest that WI phenotypes can be collected concurrently with DMI, without extending test duration, even if following procedures for decoupled intake and gain tests.