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The aim of this study was to determine whether behavior, reproductive and health parameters could differ between sows housed individually throughout gestation (Stall) or group-housed on days 3 to 5 (Pen5) or 38 to 42 (Pen42) after insemination. After insemination, 198 sows of a same commercial farm were randomly allocated to one of three housing treatments, namely Stall, Pen5 and Pen42 systems. There was interaction between the housing system and gestation time on behavior parameters. The prevalence of active sows was higher in the Stall system than in group-housing. Stall system sows displayed marked exploratory behavior than the sows in Pen5 system. Sows in Stall system showed lower prevalence of health disorders such as vulva and body lesions and manure on the body, but higher prevalence of rectal prolapse and constipation than group-housed sows. Sows in Pen42 system showed higher rates of live piglets at birth, total piglets born and shorter gestation period than sows in Stall System. Lower number of mummified fetuses and larger number of stillbirths and stillbirths type 2, were associated to sows in Pen5 system. Sows in Pen5 system presented a reduction in health problems such as rectal prolapse and bursitis and skin inflammation as well as colds, decreased the stress level of the sows that showed greater expression of positive social behavior and decreased stereotypic behaviors, as well as maintained the reproductive parameters similar to those in individual stalls., O objetivo deste estudo foi determinar se os parâmetros comportamentais, reprodutivos e de saúde podem diferir entre as porcas alojadas individualmente durante a gestação (Individual) ou alojadas em grupos entre os dias 3 a 5 (Grupo5) ou 38 a 42 (Grupo42) após a inseminação. Após a inseminação, 198 porcas de uma mesma granja comercial foram alocadas aleatoriamente em um dos três tratamentos, denominados sistema Individual, Grupo5 e Grupo42. Houve interação entre o sistema de alojamento e o tempo de gestação sobre os parâmetros comportamentais. A prevalência de porcas com comportamento ativo foi maior no sistema Individual do que nos sistemas em grupos. As porcas no sistema Individual apresentaram maior prevalência de comportamento exploratório do que as porcas no sistema Grupo5. As porcas no sistema Individual apresentaram menor prevalência de problemas de saúde, como vulva e lesões corporais e esterco no corpo, e maior prevalência de prolapso retal e constipação do que as porcas nos sistemas de grupos. As porcas no sistema Grupo42 apresentaram maior número de leitões nascidos vivos, total de leitões nascidos e menor período de gestação do que as porcas no sistema Individual. Menor número de fetos mumificados e maior número de natimortos e natimortos tipo 2 foram associados a porcas no sistema Grupo5. As porcas no sistema Grupo5 apresentaram redução de problemas de saúde, como prolapso retal e bursite e inflamação de pele, além de resfriados, e diminuíram o nível de estresse pois apresentaram maior expressão de comportamento social positivo e diminuição de comportamentos estereotipados, além de manterem os parâmetros reprodutivos semelhantes àquelas do sistema Individual.

Background: In a first step toward standardization, the Primary Aldosteronism Surgical Outcomes investigators introduced consensus criteria defining the clinical outcomes after adrenalectomy for primary aldosteronism. Within this retrospective cohort study, we evaluated the use of these consensus criteria in daily clinical practice in 16 centers in Europe, Canada, Australia, and the United States. Methods: Patients who underwent unilateral adrenalectomy for primary aldosteronism between 2010 and 2016 were included. Patients with missing data regarding preoperative or postoperative blood pressure or their defined daily dose were excluded. According to the Primary Aldosteronism Surgical Outcomes criteria, patients were classified as complete, partial, or absent clinical success. Results: A total of 380 patients were eligible for analysis. Complete, partial, and absent clinical success was achieved in 30%, 48%, and 22%, respectively. Evaluation of the Primary Aldosteronism Surgical Outcomes criteria showed that in 11% and 47% of patients with partial and absent clinical success, this classification was incorrect or debatable (16% of the total cohort). This concept of a “debatable classification of success” was due mainly to the cutoff of ≥20 mmHg used to indicate a clinically relevant change in systolic blood pressure and the use of percentages instead of absolute values to indicate a change in defined daily dose. Conclusion: Although introduction of the Primary Aldosteronism Surgical Outcomes consensus criteria induced substantial advancement in the standardization of postoperative outcomes, our study suggests that there is room for improvement in the concept for success given the observed limitations when the criteria were tested within our international cohort. In line, determining clinical success remains challenging, especially in patients with opposing change in blood pressure and defined daily dose.

Background: Many patients are admitted to hospital with non-visible or palpable veins, often resulting in multiple painful attempts at cannulation, anxiety and catheter failure. We developed a difficult intravenous pathway at our institution to reduce the burden of difficult access for patients by increasing first attempt success with ultrasound guidance. The emphasis was to provide a solution for hospitalised patients after business hours by training the after-hours clinical support team in ultrasound guided cannulation. Methods: Inception cohort study of patients referred to the after-hours clinical support team including outcomes such as number of attempts at cannulation before and after referral, insertion site, type of device inserted and recorded pain score for attempts prior to referral and for attempts by the after-hours clinical support team. Results: Between January and December 2016, 379 patients were referred to the after-hours clinical support team for placement of a peripheral intravenous catheter under ultrasound guidance. The median number of unsuccessful attempts before referral was 2 (IQR 2, 4), this ranged between 1 attempt to 10 attempts compared to only 1 attempt (IQR 1, 1, p<0.001) with no more than 2 attempts in total by the after-hours clinical support team. The first time success rate by the after-hours clinical support team was 93% (n=348). The median pain score for attempts with ultrasound use was 2/10 (IQR 1-3) compared to 7/10 (IQR 5-9) for previous attempts without ultrasound (p<0.001). Conclusion: The use of ultrasound guidance for peripheral intravenous catheter insertion by the after-hours clinical support team for patients with difficult venous access has been successful at our institution with 9 out of every 10 catheters inserted at first attempt with significantly lower recorded pain scores.

The objective of this study was to predict the economic values for production, functional and fertility traits, as well as to rank them in order of economic importance for milk production systems in southern Brazil. For this, two clusters were formed according to their production and the characteristics considered were: milk production (MP), lactation persistency (LP), milk fat (FAT), milk protein (PROT), somatic cell count (SCC), age at first calving (AFC), calving interval (CI), feed intake (Intake), mortality (MORT) and cow weight (CW). Revenue was based on the sale of milk, surplus heifers and cull cows and the actual operating costs were used to calculate profit and gross margin. The profit function used to calculate the economic values was based on a 100-cow farm. The average economic values of the characteristics that affect the profit of the producer were in order: FAT: US $ 3,776.07; PROT: US $ 1,888.03; MP US $ 1,258.69, LP: US $ 1,258.69; CW: US $ 124.03; MORT: US $ -14.30; Intake: US $ -614.01; CI: US $ -1,023.62; AFC: US $ -2,724.29; SCC: US $ -3,146.87. Therefore, the economic values calculated for the volume of milk, fertility, milk quality, disease resistance and feed intake addressed that the use of these traits as selection objectives in breeding programmes should result in an increased profitability for the farmer., O objetivo deste estudo foi prever os valores econômicos para características de produção, funcionais e de fertilidade, bem como para classificá-las em ordem de importância econômica para os sistemas de produção de leite no sul do Brasil. Para isso, dois grupos foram formados, de acordo com a sua produção, e as características consideradas foram: a produção de leite (L), a persistência da lactação (PL), a gordura do leite (GOR), a proteína do leite (PROT), a contagem de células somáticas (CCS), a idade de primeiro parto (IPP), o intervalo entre partos (IP), o consumo de ração (Consumo), a mortalidade (MORT) e o peso da vaca (PV). A receita baseou-se na venda de leite, de novilhas excedentes e de vacas de descarte, e os custos reais de operação foram utilizados para calcular o lucro e a margem bruta. A função de lucro utilizada para calcular os valores econômicos foi baseada em uma fazenda de 100 vacas. Os valores econômicos médios das características que afetam o lucro do produtor foram em ordem: GOR: US $ 3.776,07; PROT: US $ 1.888,03; L US $ 1.258,69, PL: US $ 1.258,69; PV: US $ 124,03; MORT: US $ -14,30; Consumo: US $ -614,01; IP: US $ -1.023,62; IPP: US $ -2.724,29; CSS: US $ -3.146,87. Os valores econômicos calculados para o volume de leite, fertilidade, qualidade do leite, resistência a doenças e consumo de ração, indicou que o uso dessas características como objetivos de seleção em programas de melhoramento deve resultar em aumento da rentabilidade para o produtor.

The aim of the present work was to perform a population viability analysis of the Crioula Lageana cattle breed to study its demographic and genetic parameters, as well as to verify the interference of factors that may affect the survival and development this population. Population viability was estimated using 128 hypothetical scenarios to assess the risk of extinction of this genetic resource, simulated over a 500 year period. The results showed that the possibility of extinction of this breed over the next 500 years was remote, even in less favourable scenarios. The deterministic growth rate was always positive during the evaluated period, and the mortality of animals up to one year of age was the most important factor that affected this parameter. The population size increased rapidly until the carrying capacity (k) was reached, which was a limiting factor for population growth. The level of retained heterozygosis in the population in the worst scenario was above 80% and the inbreeding coefficient was always below 0.20 at the end of the 500 years of simulation. The analysis of the population viability showed that the Crioula Lageana population has no long-term risk of extinction, and the carrying capacity is the main limiting factor for population growth., O objetivo do presente trabalho foi realizar uma análise de viabilidade populacional da raça bovina Crioula Lageana, para estudar seus parâmetros demográficos e genéticos, bem como verificar a interferência de fatores que podem afetar a sobrevivência eo desenvolvimento dessa população. A viabilidade da população foi estimada utilizando 128 cenários hipotéticos para avaliar o risco de extinção deste recurso genético, simulada por um período de 500 anos. Os resultados mostraram que a possibilidade de extinção desta raça durante os próximos 500 anos foi remota, mesmo em cenários menos favoráveis. A taxa de crescimento determinística (det.r) foi sempre positiva durante o período avaliado, sendo a mortalidade dos animais de até um ano de idade o fator mais importante que afetou este parâmetro. O tamanho da população aumentou rapidamente até atingir a capacidade de suporte da área (k), sendo este o principal fator limitante para o crescimento da população. O nível de heterozigose esperada (He) da população no pior cenário foi superior a 80% e o coeficiente de endogamia (F) foi inferior a 0,20 no final dos 500 anos de simulação. A análise da viabilidade populacional mostrou que a população de Crioula Lageana não apresentou risco aparente de extinção a longo prazo e que a capacidade de suporte da área é o principal fator limitante para o crescimento da população.

Data from 5689 lactating cows in 35 different dairy herds in Southern Brazil were evaluated over a 15-year period to examine the influence of meteorological variables on milk production in dairy cows with primiparous (1st) and multiparous (2nd to 4th) lactation. Meteorological variables considered were maximum and minimum temperature, relative humidity of air, solar radiation, wind speed, precipitation and temperature and humidity index corrected for solar radiation and wind speed (THIc). Data were submitted to principal component analysis (PRINCOMP), Pearson correlation (CORR) and step-by-step (STEPDISC) discriminant analyses, using the Statistical Analysis System (SAS®). lactation order and milk production showed a negative and significant correlation with minimum temperature, but with low magnitude. Primiparous and multiparous cows were negatively affected by maximum temperature in summer, while the higher the minimum temperature in winterwas, the better the milk production was. Primiparous cows produced, on average, 28.17 kg/day of milk and were 26.15 months old while the multiparous cows in average produced 30.76 kg/day and were 54.47 months old. The greatest average maximum temperature recorded during the 15 years of observations did not exceed 30ºC and the THI corrected were maintained within acceptable values for animal thermal comfort. Lactation order and milk production showed a negative and significant correlation with minimum temperature, but with low magnitude. Milk production of multiparous cows was negatively affected by maximum temperature in summer and milk production of both categories were affected negatively by minimum temperature in fall. The principal component analysis did not show any association between milk production, lactation order and meteorological variables. Discriminant analysis presented significant values for meteorological variables, but with very low values of partial R2 estimated. Meteorological variables in a Cfb climatic zone, Os dados de 5689 vacas em lactação de 35 rebanhos leiteiros diferentes no Sul do Brasil foram avaliados durante um período de 15 anos para examinar a influência de variáveis meteorológicas na produção de leite em vacas leiteiras primíparas (1º lactação) e multíparas (2º a 4º lactações). As variáveis meteorológicas consideradas foram a temperatura máxima e a mínima, a umidade relativa do ar, a radiação solar, a velocidade do vento, a precipitação e o índice de temperatura e umidade corrigido para a radiação solar e a velocidade do vento (ITHc). Os dados foram submetidos à análise de componentes principais (PRINCOMP), correlação de Pearson (CORR) e análise discriminante step-by-step (STEPDISC), utilizando o programa estatístico SAS (SAS®). Vacas primíparas produziram, em média, 28,17 kg de leite por dia e apresentaram idade média de 26,15 meses, enquanto que as vacas multíparas produziram em média 30,76 kg de leite por dia e apresentaram idade média de 54,47 meses. A maior temperatura média máxima registada durante os 15 anos de observações não excedeu os 30ºC e o ITH corrigido foram mantidos dentro de valores aceitáveis para o conforto térmico animal. Ambas as ordens de lactação e a produção de leite apresentaram correlação negativa e significativa com a temperatura mínima, mas com baixa magnitude. A produção leiteira de vacas multíparas foi afetada negativamente pela temperatura máxima no verão e a produção leiteira de ambas categorias foram afetadas negativamente pela temperatura mínima no outono. A análise de componentes principais não apresentou nenhuma associação entre a produção de leite, a ordem de lactação e as variáveis meteorológicas. As análises discriminantes apresentaram valores significativos para as variáveis meteorológicas, mas com valores muito baixos do coeficiente de correlação (R2) parcial estimado. As variáveis meteorológicas em uma zona climática Cfb não afetaram negativamente a produção de leite em vacas primíparas e multíparas.