Evaluation of laboratory and on-farm tests to estimate colostrum quality for dairy cows

The objectives of this study were to evaluate different analytical methods to determine colostrum quality in dairy cattle, including one laboratory-based method (ELISA) and 4 on-farm tests. We hypothesized that the colostral IgG concentration using different analytical methods, such as ELISA (mg/mL), digital Brix refractometer (% Brix), colostrometer (specific gravity and mg/mL), an outflow funnel (seconds), and a lateral flow assay (mg/mL), were highly correlated with the reference method, radial immunodiffusion (RID; mg/mL) and would generate comparable results. Colostrum samples were collected from 209 Holstein Friesian cows on 2 commercial dairy farms in Germany. Colostrum weight and colostrum temperature were measured. Test characteristics, such as optimum thresholds, sensitivity, specificity, and area under the curve (AUC) were determined using a receiver operating characteristic curve analyses for each test. Out of 209 colostrum samples assessed by RID, 186 (89%) samples had high quality (≥50 mg IgG/mL), while 23 colostrum samples (11%) showed poor quality with IgG concentrations less than 50 mg/mL. The mean IgG concentration (±SD) was 101.3 ± 45.9 mg/mL and the range was 6.0 to 244.3 mg/mL. The Pearson correlation coefficient (r) between RID and ELISA was r = 0.78. In comparison to RID, Pearson correlation coefficients for the on-farm tests were: r = 0.79 (digital Brix refractometry), r = 0.58 (colostrometer: specific gravity), r = 0.61 (colostrometer: temperature corrected), r = 0.26 (outflow funnel) and r = 0.43 (lateral flow assay), respectively. The optimal threshold to identify high-quality colostrum using ELISA was 50.8 mg/mL with sensitivity 91.3%, specificity 92.3%, and AUC of 0.94. For the on-farm tests sensitivity ranged from 95.7% (Brix refractometry) to 60.9% (lateral flow assay). Specificity ranged from 88.6% (lateral flow assay) to 75.9% (colostrometer: temperature corrected). The AUC ranged from 0.93 (Brix refractometry) to 0.73 (outflow funnel). Based on the AUC, ELISA (0.94) and Brix refractometry (0.93) can be considered highly accurate. In conclusion, the ELISA is accurate to assess colostrum quality. Regarding the on-farm tests only the digital Brix refractometer and the colostrometer were adequate to determine colostrum quality.

Methodology for the investigation of ignition near hot surfaces in a high-pressure shock tube

Autoignition of fuel/air mixtures is a determining process in internal combustion engines. Ignition can start either homogeneously in the gas phase after compression or in the vicinity of hot surfaces. While ignition properties of commercial fuels are conventionally described by a single quantity (octane number), it is known that some fuels have a varying propensity to the two processes. We present a new experimental concept that generates well-controlled temperature inhomogeneities in the shock-heated gases of a high-pressure shock tube. A shock-heated reactive mixture is brought into contact with a heated silicon nitride ceramic glow plug. The glow-plug temperature can be set up to 1200 K, higher than the post-reflected-shock gas temperatures (650-1050 K). High-repetition-rate chemiluminescence imaging is used to localize the onset of ignition in the vicinity of the hot surface. In experiments with ethanol, the results show that in most cases under shock-heated conditions, the ignition begins inhomogeneously in the vicinity of the glow plug and is favored because of the high wall temperature. Additionally, the interaction of geometry, external heating, and gas-dynamic effects was investigated by numerical simulations of the shock wave in a non-reactive flow.

Strong Neutron Pairing in core+4n Nuclei

The emission of neutron pairs from the neutron-rich N=12 isotones ^{18}C and ^{20}O has been studied by high-energy nucleon knockout from ^{19}N and ^{21}O secondary beams, populating unbound states of the two isotones up to 15 MeV above their two-neutron emission thresholds. The analysis of triple fragment-n-n correlations shows that the decay ^{19}N(-1p)^{18}C^{*}→^{16}C+n+n is clearly dominated by direct pair emission. The two-neutron correlation strength, the largest ever observed, suggests the predominance of a ^{14}C core surrounded by four valence neutrons arranged in strongly correlated pairs. On the other hand, a significant competition of a sequential branch is found in the decay ^{21}O(-1n)^{20}O^{*}→^{18}O+n+n, attributed to its formation through the knockout of a deeply bound neutron that breaks the ^{16}O core and reduces the number of pairs.

Quasifree (p, 2p) Reactions on Oxygen Isotopes: Observation of Isospin Independence of the Reduced Single-Particle Strength

Quasifree one-proton knockout reactions have been employed in inverse kinematics for a systematic study of the structure of stable and exotic oxygen isotopes at the R^{3}B/LAND setup with incident beam energies in the range of 300-450  MeV/u. The oxygen isotopic chain offers a large variation of separation energies that allows for a quantitative understanding of single-particle strength with changing isospin asymmetry. Quasifree knockout reactions provide a complementary approach to intermediate-energy one-nucleon removal reactions. Inclusive cross sections for quasifree knockout reactions of the type ^{A}O(p,2p)^{A-1}N have been determined and compared to calculations based on the eikonal reaction theory. The reduction factors for the single-particle strength with respect to the independent-particle model were obtained and compared to state-of-the-art ab initio predictions. The results do not show any significant dependence on proton-neutron asymmetry.

[Social Security Needs Social Medicine: Self-image of Physicians Practicing Social Medicine in Statutory Health Insurances and Social Security Systems]

OBJECTIVE

In January, 2014, the division "Social Medicine in Practice and Rehabilitation" of the German Society for Social Medicine and Prevention established a working group on the self-image of the physicians active in the field of social medicine (medical expertise and counseling).

METHODS

The result of this work is the contribution presented here after consensus was achieved by specialists of social medicine from different fields and institutions (social security etc.) and in good cooperation with Prof. Dr. Gostomzyk and Prof. Dr. Robra.

RESULTS

Based on the importance of an up to date social medicine for claimants and recipients of benefits on the one hand and the social security system on the other, and also on a description of the subjects, objectives and methods the following aspects are presented: · The perspective of social medicine. · Qualification in social medicine, concerning specialist training and continuing medical education. · The fields of duty of experts in social medicine. · The proceedings in social medicine. The working group identified challenges for the specialists in social medicine by a narrowed perception of social medicine by physicians in hospitals and practice, accompanied by an enlarged importance of expertise in social medicine, by the demand for more "patient orientation" and gain of transparency, and concerning the scientific foundation of social medicine.

CONCLUSIONS

The working group postulates: · The perspective of social medicine should be spread more widely.. · Confidence in experts of social medicine and their independency should be strengthened.. · The not case-related consulting of the staff and executives should be expanded.. · Social medicine in practice needs support by politics and society, and especially by research and teaching.. · Good cooperation and transfer of experiences of the different branches of social security are essential for the impact of social medicine..

Nuclear deformation and neutron excess as competing effects for dipole strength in the pygmy region

The electromagnetic dipole strength below the neutron-separation energy has been studied for the xenon isotopes with mass numbers A=124, 128, 132, and 134 in nuclear resonance fluorescence experiments using the γELBE bremsstrahlung facility at Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf and the HIγS facility at Triangle Universities Nuclear Laboratory Durham. The systematic study gained new information about the influence of the neutron excess as well as of nuclear deformation on the strength in the region of the pygmy dipole resonance. The results are compared with those obtained for the chain of molybdenum isotopes and with predictions of a random-phase approximation in a deformed basis. It turned out that the effect of nuclear deformation plays a minor role compared with the one caused by neutron excess. A global parametrization of the strength in terms of neutron and proton numbers allowed us to derive a formula capable of predicting the summed E1 strengths in the pygmy region for a wide mass range of nuclides.

Development and validation of a Viviparous-1 STS marker for pre-harvest sprouting tolerance in Chinese wheats

Pre-harvest sprouting (PHS) of wheat reduces the quality of wheat grain, and improving PHS tolerance is a priority in certain wheat growing regions where conditions favorable for PHS exist. Two new Viviparous-1 allelic variants related to PHS tolerance were investigated on B genome of bread wheat, and designated as Vp-1Bb and Vp-1Bc, respectively. Sequence analysis showed that Vp-1Bb and Vp-1Bc had an insertion of 193-bp and a deletion of 83-bp fragment, respectively, located in the third intron region of the Vp-1B gene. The insertion and deletion affected the expression level of the Vp1 at mature seed stage, more correctly spliced transcripts were observed from the genotypes with either insertion or deletion than that of the wild type. Based on these insertions and deletions, a co-dominant STS marker of Vp-1B gene was developed and designated as Vp1B3, which in most cases could amplify either 845 or 569-bp fragment from the tolerant cultivars, and 652-bp from the susceptible ones. This Vp1B3 marker was mapped to chromosome 3BL using a set of Chinese Spring nulli-tetrasomic and ditelosomic lines. A total of 89 white-grained Chinese wheat cultivars and advanced lines, were used to validate the relationship between the polymorphic fragments of Vp1B3 and PHS tolerance. Statistical analysis indicated that Vp1B3 was strongly associated with PHS tolerance in this set of Chinese germplasm, suggesting that Vp1B3 could be used as an efficient and reliable co-dominant marker in the evaluation of wheat germplasm for PHS tolerance and marker-assisted breeding for PHS tolerant cultivars.

Full-genome RNAi profiling of early embryogenesis in Caenorhabditis elegans

A key challenge of functional genomics today is to generate well-annotated data sets that can be interpreted across different platforms and technologies. Large-scale functional genomics data often fail to connect to standard experimental approaches of gene characterization in individual laboratories. Furthermore, a lack of universal annotation standards for phenotypic data sets makes it difficult to compare different screening approaches. Here we address this problem in a screen designed to identify all genes required for the first two rounds of cell division in the Caenorhabditis elegans embryo. We used RNA-mediated interference to target 98% of all genes predicted in the C. elegans genome in combination with differential interference contrast time-lapse microscopy. Through systematic annotation of the resulting movies, we developed a phenotypic profiling system, which shows high correlation with cellular processes and biochemical pathways, thus enabling us to predict new functions for previously uncharacterized genes.

Molecular cytogenetic analysis of wheat-barley hybrids using genomic in situ hybridization and barley microsatellite markers

In the present investigation, genomic in situ hybridization (GISH) and barley microsatellite markers were used to analyse the genome constitution of wheat-barley hybrids from two backcross generations (BC1 and BC2). Two BC1 plants carried 3 and 6 barley chromosomes, respectively, according to GISH data. Additional chromosomal fragments were detected using microsatellites. Five BC2 plants possessed complete barley chromosomes or chromosome segments and six BC2 plants did not preserve barley genetic material. Molecular markers revealed segments of the barley genome with the size of one marker only, which probably resulted from recombination between wheat and barley chromosomes. The screening of backcrossed populations from intergeneric hybrids could be effectively conducted using both genomic in situ hybridization and molecular microsatellite markers. GISH images presented a general overview of the genome constitution of the hybrid plants, while microsatellite analysis revealed the genetic identity of the alien chromosomes and chromosomal segments introgressed. These methods were complementary and provided comprehensive information about the genomic constitution of the plants produced.

Microsatellite analysis of wheat chromosome 2D allows the reconstruction of chromosomal inheritance in pedigrees of breeding programmes

The dwarfing gene Rht8 and the photoperiodic insensitivity gene Ppd-D1 are linked on the short arm of chromosome 2D of bread wheat and play an important role in determining the geographic adaptation of modern wheat varieties. The genes are believed to originate from the old Japanese variety 'Akakomugi' and have been distributed throughout the world by diverse breeding programmes. Twelve microsatellite loci previously mapped on wheat chromosome 2D were used for a retrospective analysis of 59 wheat varieties with known pedigree, to trace the transmittance of the chromosomal region around these genes during extended breeding programmes. Within the range of the screened varieties 100 alleles were detected at the 12 microsatellite loci. For each microsatellite locus, a screen over varieties was performed to find the alleles corresponding to the parental variety 'Akakomugi'. A comparison of wheat varieties carrying the 192-bp allele, at locus Xgwm261-2D which is diagnostic for the presence of the gene Rht8, with the varieties without Rht8, showed linkage disequilibrium of 'Akakomugi' alleles for a segment of chromosome 2D which comprised at least 28 cM. Selection was accompanied with a linkage drag of 'Akakomugi' alleles in the neighbouring loci to Rht8. A diminution of the segment of chromosome 2D originating from 'Akakomugi' during several pedigree generations was observed. Varieties of the early generations were found to carry the whole short arm of chromosome 2D of 'Akakomugi', while the varieties of further selections possessed smaller segments including the diagnostic allele at locus Xgwm261-2D. Our results demonstrate that microsatellites can be successfully used for studying the inheritance of chromosomes within pedigrees of breeding programmes.

Genetic mapping of 66 new microsatellite (SSR) loci in bread wheat

In hexaploid bread wheat ( Triticum aestivum L. em. Thell), ten members of the IWMMN ( International Wheat Microsatellites Mapping Network) collaborated in extending the microsatellite (SSR = simple sequence repeat) genetic map. Among a much larger number of microsatellite primer pairs developed as a part of the WMC ( Wheat Microsatellite Consortium), 58 out of 176 primer pairs tested were found to be polymorphic between the parents of the ITMI ( International Triticeae Mapping Initiative) mapping population W7984 x Opata 85 (ITMI pop). This population was used earlier for the construction of RFLP ( Restriction Fragment Length Polymorphism) maps in bread wheat (ITMI map). Using the ITMI pop and a framework map (having 266 anchor markers) prepared for this purpose, a total of 66 microsatellite loci were mapped, which were distributed on 20 of the 21 chromosomes (no marker on chromosome 6D). These 66 mapped microsatellite (SSR) loci add to the existing 384 microsatellite loci earlier mapped in bread wheat.

Frequencies and sequence characteristics of di-, tri-, and tetra-nucleotide microsatellites in wheat

Microsatellites have emerged as an important source of genetic markers for eukaryotic genomes. In this report, two wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) genomic libraries were screened for several di-, tri-, and tetranucleotide tandem repeats. Clones containing (AC)n, (AG)n, (TCT)n, and (TTG)n repeats were isolated and sequenced. On average, there was one (AC)n microsatellite every 292 kbp and one (AG)n microsatellite every 212 kbp. The trinucleotide tandem repeats (TCT)n and (TTG)n were about 10 times less common than the two dinucleotide tandem repeats tested and tetranucleotide tandem repeats were rare. Many of the microsatellites had more than 10 repeats. The maximum repeat number found for (AC)n was 36 and for (TCT)n was more than 50. The prevailing category of (AG)n microsatellites from (AG)n isolates was perfect repeats. About half of the (AC)n microsatellites were compound repeats, while most of the (TCT)n microsatellites were imperfect repeats. In a small sample, (TTG)n microsatellites consisted mainly of compound repeats. The most frequently associated repeats were (AC)n with (AG)n, (TCT)n with (TCC)n, and (TTG)n with (TGG)n. Among 32 pairs of microsatellite primers surveyed, seven produced polymorphic products in the expected size range and these loci were mapped using a hexaploid wheat mapping population or aneuploid stocks.

An RFLP-based linkage map of oats based on a cross between two diploid taxa (Avena atlantica × A. hirtula)

A restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) map for the A genome of Avena has been developed using F3 families from the cross A. atlantica × A. hirtula. The main source of markers were an oat cDNA and a barley cDNA library. A total of 194 RFLP markers was used, 192 of which were mapped or assigned to linkage groups. Seven main linkage groups, presumably corresponding to the seven chromosomes of the haploid genome, were identified. The linkage groups varied in size from 30 to 118 cM for a total map length of 614 cM. This map provides a tool for the interpretation of genome organization in Avena and for marker selection in the development of a map of hexaploid oats.Key words: restriction fragment length polymorphism, Avena, mapping.