Modeling daily yields of milk, fat, protein, and lactose of New Zealand dairy goats undergoing standard and extended lactations.

This study aimed to assess the milk production data for New Zealand dairy goats in either a standard lactation (SL; ≤305 d in milk [DIM]) or extended lactation (EL; >305 and ≤670 DIM) using a random regression (RR) with third- and fifth-order Legendre polynomials, respectively. Persistency of EL was defined as (B/A) × 100, where A was the accumulated yield from d 1 to 305, and B was the accumulated yield from d 366 to 670. On average, goats in SL produced 1,183 kg of milk, 37 kg of fat, 37 kg of protein, and 54 kg of lactose. The average production of milk, fat, protein, and lactose in EL were 2,473 kg, 78 kg, 79 kg, and 112 kg, respectively. The average persistences for milk, fat, protein, and lactose yields during EL were 98%, 98%, 102%, and 96%, respectively. The relative prediction errors were close to 10% and the concordance correlation coefficients >0.92, indicating that the RR model with Legendre polynomials is adequate for modeling lactation curves for both SL and EL. Total yields and persistency were analyzed with a mixed model that included the fixed effects (year, month of kidding, parity, and proportion of Saanen) as covariates and the random effects of animal and residual errors. Effects of year, month of kidding, and parity were significant on the total yields of milk, fat, protein, and lactose for both SL and EL. The total milk yield of first-parity goats with SL was 946 kg and the total milk yield of second-parity goats with SL was 1,284 kg, making a total of 2,230 kg over 2 years. The total milk yield of a first-parity goat with EL was 2,140 kg. Thus, on average, a goat with SL for the first and second parity produced 90 kg more milk than a first-parity goat subjected to EL. However, a second-parity goat subjected to EL produced 43 kg more milk (2,639 kg) than a goat with SL following the second and third parity (1,284 kg + 1,312 kg). These data, along with the various other benefits of EL (e.g., fewer offspring born and reduced risk of mastitis, lameness, and metabolic problems in early lactation), indicate that EL as a management strategy holds the potential to improve dairy goat longevity and lifetime efficiency without compromising milk production.

A successful clinical pilot registry of four radiation oncology practices in Africa and Ontario.

OBJECTIVE: Radiation Oncology practices can exhibit heterogeneities between and sometimes within institutions. Clinical registries with scope and detail could quantify consistency and distinctives that justify difference. Retrospective, isolated clinical audits are problematic, typically because not all data are captured in charts, while useful prospective clinical registries will have to be practical, efficient and accurate. We tested feasibility of a clinical registry at a critical time-point in the patient's clinical trajectory when treating physicians could have requisite data. DESIGN: This was a prospective and non-randomized observational study. Four centres used a 1-page form to acquire data during a 4-month period. Patients had curative breast, rectum or prostate cancers, or were palliative. Objectives were to demonstrate form completion and to delineate patterns of disease presentation and clinical practice. RESULTS: The 107 cases had 99% complete data, internally consistent within cases and centres. Similar practices were seen for 22 cases with curative rectal and prostate cancer, and 34 palliative cases, but of the 51 curative breast cancer cases those in Africa were with greater Stage, underwent more extensive surgery, were less likely to receive shorter radiation schedules, and were less exposed to Taxane-based chemotherapy regimens. CONCLUSIONS: This study demonstrates the feasibility for a simple clinical registry requiring minimal effort by participants. A real-time pan-African registry, operating continually or in regular waves, could provide important knowledge at little cost.

Impact of management interventions on helminth levels, and body and blood measurements in working donkeys in South Africa.

The aim of the study was to determine the effect of alternative management interventions on levels of nematodes and the condition of working donkeys in South Africa. Twenty-four adult donkeys (Equus asinus) within an area of 200km radius were randomly allocated to eight paddocks. Two replicates each of three management interventions together with a control group were tested in a 16-month study. The interventions included monthly removal of feces from paddocks where the donkeys grazed, a pre-winter moxidectin treatment, and a combination of a pre-winter moxidectin treatment and monthly fecal removal. The influence of the different interventions on the nematode fecal egg counts, animal live weights, body condition scores and general blood chemistry were compared. In addition, herbage samples were collected from the pastures in each paddock to determine the number of third-stage larvae (L(3)) per kg dry matter. At the end of the study worm recoveries and counts were performed on eight of the animals following euthanasia. The cyathostomes represented the largest portion of the helminth species composition in both the fecal egg counts and larval cultures. Monthly fecal removal alone did not significantly reduce the L(3) on pasture and consideration of more frequent removal is discussed. Pre-winter moxidectin treatment resulted in a 100% reduction in fecal egg counts, an average egg reappearance period of 42-55 days, a reduced average egg count for up to 8 months, and reduced total helminth burdens in all the treated donkeys. It also resulted in improved live weights, hemoglobin concentration, packed cell volumes and to some extent body condition score of the donkeys.

Cation-exchange separation of strontium from manganese and other elements in citrate media.

Mn(IT) can be eluted quantitatively with 0.067M ammonium citrate at pH 7.0 or 7.5 from a column of AG50W-X8 cationexchange resin (200-400 mesh), and separated from Sr which is retained. Mg, Ca, Cu(II), Zn and Co(II) accompany Mn(II). From citric acid solutions up to 1M (20%) and from 5 % citric acid solution at pH 2.2 both Mn(II) and Sr are retained very strongly. This is in agreement with some previous work but disagrees with a recent statement by others that 5 % citric acid at pH 2.2 is an effective eluting agent for Sr.

New spectrophotometer and tristimulus mask colorimeter.

An apparatus is described which consists of a double grating-mirror dispersion system, and which can be used both as a spectrophotometer and as a tristimulus calorimeter of high accuracy. Three masks, cut to the exact requirements of the CIE distribution coefficients for equal energy stimuli, can be placed alternately in the plane of the spectrum. Chromaticities were calculated for some fluorescent lamps from their spectral irradiance data and also directly measured by utilizing the three masks. These results are compared and discussed. Results are also given of measurements made on a set of fluorescent lamps both by a mask photometer at NPL, Teddington, and by the NPRL mask photometer.