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Background: Limited universally-adopted data standards in veterinary medicine hinder data interoperability and therefore integration and comparison; this ultimately impedes the application of existing information-based tools to support advancement in diagnostics, treatments, and precision medicine., Objectives: A single, coherent, logic-based standard for documenting breed names in health, production, and research-related records will improve data use capabilities in veterinary and comparative medicine., Methods: The Vertebrate Breed Ontology (VBO) was created from breed names and related information compiled from the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, breed registries, communities, and experts, using manual and computational approaches. Each breed is represented by a VBO term that includes breed information and provenance as metadata. VBO terms are classified using description logic to allow computational applications and Artificial Intelligence-readiness., Results: VBO is an open, community-driven ontology representing over 19,500 livestock and companion animal breed concepts covering 49 species. Breeds are classified based on community and expert conventions (e.g., cattle breed) and supported by relations to the breed's genus and species indicated by National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) Taxonomy terms. Relationships between VBO terms (e.g., relating breeds to their foundation stock) provide additional context to support advanced data analytics. VBO term metadata includes synonyms, breed identifiers/codes, and attributed cross-references to other databases., Conclusion and Clinical Importance: The adoption of VBO as a source of standard breed names in databases and veterinary electronic health records can enhance veterinary data interoperability and computability.

Congenital stationary night blindness (CSNB) is an ocular disorder characterized by nyctalopia. An autosomal recessive missense mutation in glutamate metabotropic receptor 6 (GRM6 c.533C>T, p.(Thr178Met)), called CSNB2, was previously identified in one Tennessee Walking Horse and predicted to reduce binding affinity of the neurotransmitter glutamate, impacting the retinal rod ON-bipolar cell signaling pathway. Thus, the first aim was to identify the allele frequency (AF) of CSNB2 in breeds with reported cases of CSNB and breeds closely related to the Tennessee Walking Horse. The second aim was to perform ocular examinations in multiple breeds to confirm the link between genotype and CSNB phenotype. In evaluating 3518 horses from 14 breeds, the CSNB2 allele was identified in nine previously unreported breeds. The estimated AF was highest in pacing Standardbreds (0.17) and lowest in American Quarter Horses (0.0010). Complete ophthalmic examinations and electroretinograms (ERG) were performed on 19 horses from three breeds, including one CSNB2 homozygote from each breed. All three CSNB2/CSNB2 horses had an electronegative ERG waveform under scotopic light conditions consistent with CSNB. The remaining 16 horses (seven CSNB2/N and nine N/N) had normal scotopic ERG results. All horses had normal photopic ERGs. This study provides additional evidence that GRM6 c.533C>T homozygosity is likely causal to CSNB in Tennessee Walking Horses, Standardbreds, and Missouri Fox Trotting Horses. Genetic testing is recommended for breeds with the CSNB2 allele to limit the production of affected horses. This study represents the largest across-breed identification of CSNB in the horse and suggests that this disorder is likely underdiagnosed., (© 2023 The Authors. Veterinary Ophthalmology published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of American College of Veterinary Ophthalmologists.)

Background: Globoid cell leukodystrophy (GCL) is a fatal autosomal recessive disease caused by variants in the galactosylceramidase (GALC) gene. Two dog breed-specific variants are reported., Objectives: Characterize the putatively causative GALC variant for GCL in a family of dogs and determine population allele frequency., Animals: Four related mixed-breed puppies with signs of neurologic disease were evaluated. Subsequently, 33 related dogs were tested for genetic markers for parentage and the identified GALC variant. Additional GALC genotyping was performed on 278 banked samples from various breeds., Methods: The 4 affected puppies had neurological exams and necropsies. DNA was isolated from blood samples. Variants in GALC were identified via Sanger sequencing. Parentage testing was performed using short tandem repeat markers. Prevalence of the GALC variant of interest was investigated in other breeds., Results: GCL was confirmed histopathologically. A novel missense variant in GALC (NC_006590.4:g.58893972G>A) was homozygous in all affected animals (n = 4). A recessive mode of inheritance was confirmed by parentage testing as was variant linkage with the phenotype (LOD = 3.36). Among the related dogs (n = 33), 3 dogs were homozygous and 7 heterozygous. The variant allele was not detected in screening 278 dogs from 5 breeds. The novel variant is either unique to this family or has an extremely low allele frequency in the general population., Conclusions and Clinical Importance: A novel GALC variant was identified that likely explains GCL in this cohort. The identification of multiple causal variants for GCL in dogs is consistent with findings in humans., (© 2023 The Authors. Journal of Veterinary Internal Medicine published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of American College of Veterinary Internal Medicine.)

Introduction: Nutrition across the first 2000 days of life, from conception to age five, is considered critical in shaping lifelong nutrition and health outcomes, with dietary patterns tracking from infancy into later childhood and adulthood. Identifying potential policy, programmatic, and research opportunities is essential to inform action in this area., Objectives: This research was undertaken to provide an overview of the evidence support, policy mechanisms and stakeholder perspectives on opportunities for improving nutrition across the first 2000 days of life to guide future investments and to inform policy dialogues with relevant government, non-government and external agencies within the state of Victoria, Australia., Methods: Underpinned by UNICEF's Innocenti Framework, this research comprised: a) a rapid review of existing systematic reviews (n = 60) supplemented with key grey literature reports; b) mapping of potential policy and programmatic levers and partnerships against 14 identified areas; and c) qualitative semi-structured interviews with key stakeholders across health (n = 4), education (n = 2), local government (n = 1), non-government organisations/not-for-profits (n = 5), and peak bodies (n = 2)., Results: The 'caregiver behaviours' determinant within the Innocenti Framework yielded the largest number of systematic reviews and had the strongest alignment to existing policy frameworks. Victoria has a robust state-level policy mechanism for preventive health. However, policy voids were identified within the 'external food environment' and 'food supply chains' determinants due to a lack of regulation to restrict marketing and advertising by harmful food industries and no national food and nutrition plan. Thematic analysis of interviews revealed three key themes: a) continuity of care from pre-conception to childcare; b) consistency and strengthening of early years nutrition messages; and c) capacity for early years nutrition initiatives., Conclusion: Numerous opportunities were identified to improve nutrition across the first 2000 days of life within national, state and local government systems, using policy, practice and research mechanisms. More joined-up action and greater program/policy coherence is needed, with funded capacity to facilitate the delivery of coordinated and integrated services to address nutrition in the first 2000 days of life. Further exploration is needed of the feasibility, acceptability and equity impacts, and in some cases effectiveness, of these opportunities in close collaboration with stakeholders., Competing Interests: None declared.

American Standardbreds were developed as a harness racing horse breed. The United States Trotting Association closed the studbook in 1973 and implemented a book size cap in 2009. This study aimed to investigate genetic diversity in the American Standardbred after the studbook cap was introduced using short tandem repeats (STRs) and single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs). Sixteen STRs from horses foaled from 2010 to 2015 and their sires and dams (n = 50 621) were utilized to examine allelic richness (Ar), expected heterozygosity (HE), observed heterozygosity (HO), unbiased heterozygosity (HU), inbreeding coefficient (FIS), and fixation index (FST). These analyses found that trotting and pacing sires were less genetically diverse than dams (HEPBonferroni = 0.029 and 6.3 × 10-5, respectively) and their offspring (ArPBonferroni = 0.034 and 6.9 × 10-6, respectively), and pacing offspring were significantly less diverse than their dams (HEPBonferroni = 2 × 10-3). Inbreeding coefficients for trotters (FIS = -0.014) and pacers (FIS = -0.012) suggest that breeding practices have maintained diversity. Moderate levels of genetic differentiation (0.066 < FST < 0.11) were found between pacing and trotting groups. Additionally, 10 of the most prolific trotting sires and their male offspring (n = 84) were genotyped on the 670K Axiom Equine HD Array. HO values higher than HE (P < 0.001), low inbreeding coefficients (mean F = -0.064), and mean FROH = 21% indicate relatively high levels of diversity in this cohort, further supporting the STR data. However, in contrast, HO values were higher for trotting sires (0.41) than their offspring (0.36). This observation warrants further monitoring of diversity over time. These data provide an updated foundation of diversity indices for further, long-term analysis in the breed., (© The American Genetic Association. 2021.)

Informed by the Innocenti framework, this rapid review of systematic reviews ( n = 60) and sentinel grey literature ( n = 27) synthesises the evidence of what works to improve nutrition and food sustainability across the first 2000 days. Most systematic reviews focused on interventions targeting the behaviour of parents and caregivers ( n = 49), with fewer reviews focusing on the personal ( n = 7) and external ( n = 4) food environments. No reviews focused on food supply-chain activities. Most reviews were rated as critically low ( n = 28, 47%) or low ( n = 21, 35%) quality using AMSTAR 2. Evidence supports the effectiveness of multi-component breastfeeding interventions, interventions delivered in home and child-care settings, particularly when involving parents, interactive skill building and repeated exposure to vegetables. Food vouchers and access to local farmers markets and community gardens have potential for improving access and availability to healthier foods, while evidence supports interventions improving the external food environment, including fiscal strategies such as the SSB tax, restrictions on marketing and advertising of discretionary products and improved food labelling. Overall, this review highlights the importance of action across a range of settings and sectors at the international, national and local levels to improve young children's diets.

Coat color is a trait of economic significance in horses. Variants in seven genes have been documented to cause white patterning in horses. Of the 34 variants that have been identified in KIT proto-oncogene, receptor tyrosine kinase ( KIT ), 27 have only been reported in a single individual or family and thus not all are routinely offered for genetic testing. Therefore, to enable proper use of marker-assisted selection, determining breed specificity for these alleles is warranted. Screening 19 unregistered all-white Shetland ponies for 16 white patterning markers identified 14 individuals whose phenotype could not be explained by testing results. In evaluating other known dominant white variants, 14 horses were heterozygous for W13. W13 was previously only reported in two quarter horses and a family of Australian miniature horses. Genotyping known white spotting variants in 30 owner-reported white animals (25 Miniature Horses and five Shetland ponies) identified two additional W13/N American Miniature Horses. The estimated allele frequency of W13 in the American Miniature Horse was 0.0063 (79 N/N , 1 W13/N ) and the allele was not detected in a random sample ( n = 59) of Shetland ponies. No homozygous W13 individuals were identified and W13/N ponies had a similar all-white coat with pink skin phenotype, regardless of the other white spotting variants present, demonstrating that W13 results in a Mendelian inherited dominant white phenotype and homozygosity is likely lethal. These findings document the presence of W13 in the American Miniature Horse and Shetland pony populations at a low frequency and illustrate the importance of testing for this variant in additional breeds.

Issue Addressed: Support for broad policies to prevent childhood obesity is not clear. This study aimed to investigate the level of support for state government health promotion policies among mothers with infants and its associated factors., Methods: This secondary analysis of data from 1155 mothers in NSW assessed approval for six policy options derived from public health approaches to obesity. Descriptive statistics were used to show the extent of policy approval across the cohort. Logistic regression models tested associations between perceived susceptibility and perceived severity of childhood obesity and approval of each policy option., Results: The proportion of mothers who felt these policy options were 'about the right amount' (56%-68%) or 'not going far enough' (24%-36%), collectively represented 89%-95% approval of government intervention. In comparison, 5%-11% felt that these policies were 'going too far'. Factors associated with their levels of support varied between each policy option, based on mothers' characteristics and perceptions of childhood obesity., Conclusion: These findings indicate high support for government intervention to prevent obesity among mothers in NSW and support health promotion advocacy in this area. SO WHAT?: Governments should give due consideration to implementing each of the six policy options and prioritise the implementation of restrictions on fast food advertising in publicly owned or controlled areas., (© 2020 Australian Health Promotion Association.)

Following the successful creation of a biobank from two adult Thoroughbred mares, this study aimed to recapitulate sample collection in two adult Thoroughbred stallions as part of the Functional Annotation of the Animal Genome (FAANG) initiative. Both stallions underwent thorough physical, lameness, neurologic, and ophthalmic (including electroretinography) examinations prior to humane euthanasia. Epididymal sperm was recovered from both stallions immediately postmortem and cryopreserved. Aseptically collected full thickness skin biopsies were used to isolate, culture and cryopreserve dermal fibroblasts. Serum, plasma, cerebrospinal fluid, urine, and gastrointestinal content from various locations were collected and cryopreserved. Under guidance of a board-certified veterinary anatomic pathologist, 102 representative tissue samples were collected from both horses. Whole tissue samples were flash-frozen and prioritized tissues had nuclei isolated and cryopreserved. Spatially contemporaneous samples of each tissue were submitted for histologic examination. Antemortem and gross pathologic examination revealed mild abnormalities in both stallions. One stallion (ECA&#95;UCD&#95;AH3) had unilateral thoracic limb lameness and bilateral chorioretinal scars. The second stallion (ECA&#95;UCD&#95;AH4) had subtle symmetrical pelvic limb ataxia, symmetrical prostatomegally, and moderate gastrointestinal nematodiasis. DNA from each was whole-genome sequenced and genotyped using the GGP Equine 70K SNP array. The genomic resources and banked biological samples from these animals augments the existing resource available to the equine genomics community. Importantly we may now improve the resolution of tissue-specific gene regulation as affected by sex, as well as add sex-specific tissues and gametes., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2021 Donnelly, Bellone, Hales, Nguyen, Katzman, Dujovne, Knickelbein, Avila, Kalbfleisch, Giulotto, Kingsley, Tanaka, Esdaile, Peng, Dahlgren, Fuller, Mienaltowski, Raudsepp, Affolter, Petersen and Finno.)

Objective: To highlight opportunities for future nutrition intervention research within early childhood and education care (ECEC) settings, with a focus on generating evidence that has applicability to real-world policy and practice. Methods: An overview of opportunities to progress the field was developed by the authors using a collaborative writing approach and informed by recent research in the field. The group developed a list of recommendations aligned with the reach, effectiveness, adoption, implementation and maintenance (RE-AIM) framework. Pairs of authors drafted individual sections of the manuscript, which were then reviewed by a separate pair. The first and senior author consolidated all sections of the manuscript and sought critical input on the draft iterations of the manuscript. Results: Interventions that employ digital platforms (reach) in ECEC settings, as well as research in the family day care setting (effectiveness) were identified as areas of opportunities. Research understanding the determinants of and effective strategies for dissemination (adoption), the implementation of nutrition programs, in addition to de-implementation (implementation) of inappropriate nutrition practices, is warranted. For maintenance, there is a need to better understand sustainability and the sustainment of interventions, in addition to undertaking policy-relevant research. Conclusions: The ECEC setting is prime for innovative and practical nutrition intervention research.

Interventions for obesity prevention in early childhood (first 5 years of life) are likely to have a significant preventive health impact. This mapping review identified recommended policy options for the Australian Federal Government (AFG) by comparing countries with similar population, income, and language to Australia. Policies were mapped in six countries using two matrices. The first matrix examined policy context, describing obesity prevention governance. The second matrix examined policy content, compared with global recommendations. Policies were grouped into downstream (healthcare), midstream (lifestyle and settings), and upstream (determinants of health, including food and built environments). Results identified variance in obesity governance across the six countries including policy coherence, leadership, institutional drivers, and overlapping responsibility across different levels of government. While countries tended to have more downstream or midstream policies, upstream policies were more likely when countries had invested in system-wide approaches to obesity such as developing a national obesity strategy, having separate food/nutrition and physical activity plans, and a dedicated preventive health agency. This study recommends a range of initiatives for the AFG to strengthen policies for the prevention of obesity in early childhood, including prioritising the development of a national food/nutrition strategy., (© 2019 World Obesity Federation.)

Background: Difficulties engaging families with overweight children to enrol into programs aimed at reducing childhood obesity have been well documented. During the implementation of the Parenting, Eating and Activity for Child Health Program (PEACH™) over a large geographical area (Queensland (QLD), Australia), a natural experiment developed. This experiment provided an opportunity to observe if there was a difference in enrolment for families with overweight children with a weight criterion (referred to as the period with a Targeted Eligibility Criterion (TEC)) compared to when a weight criterion was removed (the period referred to as Universal Eligibility Criterion (UEC)). We also examined the eligibility criterion's relationship with attendance, parental concern about their child's weight, estimation of overweight and obesity from parent-reported data., Methods: A secondary analysis of baseline data from 926 overweight/obese children from 817 families enrolled in PEACH™ QLD was performed. Analyses were adjusted to control for the presence of clustered data. Bivariate statistics were performed using Pearson chi-square test with the second-order Rao-Scott correction, and Mann-Whitney U-test for non-parametric continuous variables. Generalized Estimating Equations (GEE) explored the association between weight status-based eligibility criteria and enrolment of overweight children. GEE were adjusted for sex, age and socioeconomic index and stratified for weight category., Results: Compared to obese children, overweight children were almost twice as likely to be enrolled when the program did not have weight status-based eligibility criteria (during UEC period) (OR = 1.90 (CI 95% 1.35-2.68, p <  0.001)). Parents of overweight children enrolled during the UEC period were more likely to regard their child's weight as less of a concern than during the TEC period (UEC 67% vs. TEC 45%, p = 0.036). Children whose parent-reported data underestimated their weight category were more likely to be enrolled while the program did not have weight-related eligibility criteria OR = 2.27 (CI 1.38-3.70, p <  0.01). Program session attendance did not appear to be impacted by the changes in eligibility criteria., Conclusions: The omission of weight criteria for healthy lifestyle programs is a consideration for health professionals and decision-makers alike when encouraging the enrolment of children who are overweight into healthy lifestyle programs., Trial Registration: ACTRN12617000315314 . Retrospectively registered 28 February 2017.

Issue Addressed: Intakes of fruit and vegetables in children are inadequate. Our purpose was to examine national data on the proportion of Australian children meeting the fruit and vegetable recommendations in 2011-2012 and 2014-2015, assessing changes over time and differences by age, sex and socio-economic status (SES)., Methods: Secondary analysis of 2011-2012 and 2014-2015 Australian National Health Surveys of Australian children aged 2-18 years. Percentages of children meeting fruit and vegetable recommendations by survey year, age group, sex and SES tertile were calculated using population weights supplied by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS). Chi-squared tests and logistic regression were used to test for the relative influence of each factor., Results: In 2011-2012, 64.6%, 5.1% and 4.6% of children met the recommended intake for fruit, vegetable and fruit-vegetable combined, respectively. In 2014-2015, 68.2%, 5.3% and 5.1% of all children met the recommended intake for fruit, vegetable and fruit-vegetable combined, respectively. There was a large reduction in proportions of children meeting both the fruit and vegetable recommendations between 3 and 4 years of age, which coincides with when most Australian children start pre-school. There were consistent differences by sex for both fruit and vegetables, but we found little evidence that SES is a significant factor predicting the difference in meeting the vegetable recommendations., Conclusion: The proportion of Australian children meeting fruit and vegetable recommendations are sub-optimal across all SES groups which suggests that a national approach across demographic strata is warranted. SO WHAT?: Future health promotion interventions should have a refocus on vegetables instead of "fruit and vegetables," particularly in the key transition period when children start pre-school., (© 2018 Australian Health Promotion Association.)

Background: PEACH™QLD translated the PEACH™ Program, designed to manage overweight/obesity in primary school-aged children, from efficacious RCT and small scale community trial to a larger state-wide program. This paper describes the lessons learnt when upscaling to universal health coverage., Methods: The 6-month, family-focussed program was delivered in Queensland, Australia from 2013 to 2016. Its implementation was planned by researchers who developed the program and conducted the RCT, and experienced project managers and practitioners across the health continuum. The intervention targeted parents as the agents of change and was delivered via parent-only group sessions. Concurrently, children attended fun, non-competitive activity sessions. Sessions were delivered by facilitators who received standardised training and were employed by a range of service providers. Participants were referred by health professionals or self-referred in response to extensive promotion and marketing. A pilot phase and a quality improvement framework were planned to respond to emerging challenges., Results: Implementation challenges included engagement of the health system; participant recruitment; and engagement. A total of 1513 children (1216 families) enrolled, with 1122 children (919 families) in the face-to-face program (105 groups in 50 unique venues) and 391 children (297 families) in PEACH™ Online. Self-referral generated 68% of enrolments. Unexpected, concurrent and, far-reaching public health system changes contributed to poor program uptake by the sector (only 56 [53%] groups delivered by publicly-funded health organisations) requiring substantial modification of the original implementation plan. Process evaluation during the pilot phase and an ongoing quality improvement framework informed program adaptations that included changing from fortnightly to weekly sessions aligned with school terms, revision of parent materials, modification of eligibility criteria to include healthy weight children and provision of services privately. Comparisons between pilot versus state-wide waves showed comparable prevalence of families not attending any sessions (25% vs 28%) but improved number of sessions attended (median = 5 vs 7) and completion rates (43% vs 56%)., Conclusions: Translating programs developed in the research context to enable implementation at scale is complex and presents substantial challenges. Planning must ensure there is flexibility to accommodate and proactively manage the system changes that are inevitable over time., Trial Registration: ACTRN12617000315314 . This trial was registered retrospectively on 28 February, 2017.

Background: Parenting, Eating and Activity for Child Health (PEACH™) is a multicomponent treatment program delivered over ten group sessions to parents of overweight/obese primary school-aged children. It has been shown to be efficacious in an RCT and was recently translated to a large-scale community intervention funded by the Queensland (Australia) Government. Engagement (enrolment and attendance) was critical to achieving program outcomes and was challenging. The purpose of the present study was to examine sample characteristics and mediating factors that potentially influenced program attendance., Methods: Data collected from parents who attended at least one PEACH™ Queensland session delivered between October 2013 and October 2015 (47 programs implemented in 29 discrete sites), was used in preliminary descriptive analyses of sample characteristics and multilevel single linear regression analyses. Mediation analysis examined associations between socio-demographic and parent characteristics and attendance at group sessions and potential mediation by child and parent factors., Results: 365/467 (78%) enrolled families (92% mothers) including 411/519 (79%) children (55% girls, mean age 9 ± 2 years) attended at least one session (mean 5.6 ± 3.2). A majority of families (69%) self-referred to the program. Program attendance was greater in: advantaged (5.9 ± 3.1 sessions) vs disadvantaged families (5.4 ± 3.4 sessions) (p < 0.05); partnered (6.1 ± 3.1 sessions) vs un-partnered parents (5.0 ± 3.1 sessions) (p < 0.01); higher educated (6.1 ± 3.0 sessions) vs lower educated parents (5.1 ± 3.3 sessions) (p = 0.02); and self-referral (6.1 ± 3.1) vs professional referral (4.7 ± 3.3) (p < 0.001). Child (age, gender, pre-program healthy eating) and parent (perceptions of child weight, self-efficacy) factors did not mediate these relationships., Conclusions: To promote reach and effectiveness of up-scaled programs, it is important to identify ways to engage less advantaged families who carry higher child obesity risk. Understanding differences in referral source and parent readiness for change may assist in tailoring program content. The influence of program-level factors (e.g. facilitator and setting characteristics) should be investigated as possible alternative mediators to program engagement.