[Veterinary Herd Health Management and Selective Dry Cow Treatment in Germany - Results of a survey among farm veterinarians]. / Integrierte Tierärztliche Bestandsbetreuung und Selektives Trockenstellen in Deutschland.

OBJECTIVE: The aim of the survey was to evaluate the development and implementation of Veterinary Herd Health Management (VHHM), as well as Selective Dry Cow Treatment (SDCT), in German veterinary practices and dairy farms. Furthermore, this survey set out to compare and contrast veterinary practitioners that utilize VHHM in relation to SDCT with those that do not. MATERIAL AND METHODS: The survey (n=600) was distributed to veterinary livestock practitioners at 7 advanced training courses. Participation was voluntary and anonymous. Data analysis was carried out by means of descriptive statistics as well as by linear and logistic regression. RESULTS: The response rate amounted to 39.3% (n=236). 54.2% (n=128) of the veterinarians reported that they conduct VHHM. Procedures for SDCT were used on farms overseen by 75% (n=177) of the vets. Different decision criteria applied at herd (81.6%, n=142) and at individual cow level (97.7%, n=172) respectively. A performance review of SDCT was carried out more frequently on farms of veterinarians that practice VHHM (66%, n=66) than those that do not (41%, n=28). An increase in the number of farms conducting VHHM was associated with an increase in the proportion of farms using SDCT. An increase of the probability of good udder health was associated with SDCT farms that also apply VHHM (OR: 1.025; p<0.05). The provision of consultation for problems arising during the dry period (OR: 3.639; p<0.05), the frequency of veterinarians addressing SDCT with farmers (OR: 1,595; p<0,05) and vice versa (OR: 1,538; p<0.05), as well as frequency of consultation for drying off management (OR: 1,608; p<0.05) had an positive impact on the likelihood of SDCT being implemented on a farm and whether this process was ultimately successful. CONCLUSIONS: According to available data, both VHHM and SDCT are established parts of veterinary practice in bovine care. In practice, SDCT is partially conducted within the framework of a controlled procedure including a performance review. The implementation of VHHM has an effect on the number of farms performing SDCT as well as on udder health where VHHM and SDCT are combined on a farm. The range and frequency of consultation by veterinarians have a significant influence on a reduction of use of antibiotics by implementation of SDCT.

Using interpretable boosting algorithms for modeling environmental and agricultural data.

We describe how interpretable boosting algorithms based on ridge-regularized generalized linear models can be used to analyze high-dimensional environmental data. We illustrate this by using environmental, social, human and biophysical data to predict the financial vulnerability of farmers in Chile and Tunisia against climate hazards. We show how group structures can be considered and how interactions can be found in high-dimensional datasets using a novel 2-step boosting approach. The advantages and efficacy of the proposed method are shown and discussed. Results indicate that the presence of interaction effects only improves predictive power when included in two-step boosting. The most important variable in predicting all types of vulnerabilities are natural assets. Other important variables are the type of irrigation, economic assets and the presence of crop damage of near farms.

A 4-year longitudinal study investigating the relationship between flexible school starts and grades.

The mismatch between teenagers' late sleep phase and early school start times results in acute and chronic sleep reductions. This is not only harmful for learning but may reduce career prospects and widen social inequalities. Delaying school start times has been shown to improve sleep at least short-term but whether this translates to better achievement is unresolved. Here, we studied whether 0.5-1.5 years of exposure to a flexible school start system, with the daily choice of an 8 AM or 8:50 AM-start, allowed secondary school students (n = 63-157, 14-21 years) to improve their quarterly school grades in a 4-year longitudinal pre-post design. We investigated whether sleep, changes in sleep or frequency of later starts predicted grade improvements. Mixed model regressions with 5111-16,724 official grades as outcomes did not indicate grade improvements in the flexible system per se or with observed sleep variables nor their changes-the covariates academic quarter, discipline and grade level had a greater effect in our sample. Importantly, our finding that intermittent sleep benefits did not translate into detectable grade changes does not preclude improvements in learning and cognition in our sample. However, it highlights that grades are likely suboptimal to evaluate timetabling interventions despite their importance for future success.