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Predicting potential pollination services of wild bees in crops requires knowledge of their spatial distribution within fields. Field margins can serve as nesting and foraging habitats for wild bees and can be a source of pollinators. Regional differences in pollinator community composition may affect this spill-over of bees. We studied how regional and local differences affect the spatial distribution of wild bee species richness, activity-density and body size in crop fields. We sampled bees both from the field centre and at two different types of semi-natural field margins, grass strips and hedges, in 12 strawberry fields. The fields were distributed over four regions in Northern Europe, representing an almost 1100 km long north-south gradient. Even over this gradient, daytime temperatures during sampling did not differ significantly between regions and did therefore probably not impact bee activity. Bee species richness was higher in field margins compared with field centres independent of field size. However, there was no difference between centre and margin in body-size or activity-density. In contrast, bee activity-density increased towards the southern regions, whereas the mean body size increased towards the north. In conclusion, our study revealed a general pattern across European regions of bee diversity, but not activity-density, declining towards the field interior which suggests that the benefits of functional diversity of pollinators may be difficult to achieve through spillover effects from margins to crop. We also identified dissimilar regional patterns in bee diversity and activity-density, which should be taken into account in conservation management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Thirty patients having had anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) reconstruction with bone-patellar tendon-bone (BPTB) autograft and thirty patients having had ACL reconstruction with hamstring (HS) autograft were enrolled. All procedures were performed using an endoscopic technique with identical postoperative rehabilitation, such that the only variable was the type of graft and its fixation. Lateral and 45° posteroanterior (PA) weightbearing radiographs were performed in each patient at 6–12 (mean 9) months postoperatively in the HS group and 9–22 (mean 13) months postoperatively in the PT group. The sclerotic margins of the tunnel were measured at the widest dimension of the tunnel by a single observer and were compared with the initially drilled tunnel size after correction for radiographic magnification. For the BPTB group, all bone plugs appeared to be incorporated radiographically. On the femoral side, the bone plug was incorporated at the roof of the intercondylar notch, such that no tunnel measurement could be made. Well-defined sclerotic margins were always present at the tibial and femoral tunnels for the HS group and at the tibial tunnel for the BPTB group. The mean percentage increase in tunnel size in the PA view was 9.7% ± 14.7% for the BPTB tibial tunnel, 20.9% ± 13.4% for the HS tibial tunnel, and 30.2% ± 17.2% for the HS femoral tunnel. The mean percentage increase in tunnel size in the lateral view was 14.4% ± 16.1% for the BPTB tibial tunnel, 25.5% ± 16.7% for the HS tibial tunnel, and 28.1% ± 14.7% for the HS femoral tunnel. The difference in HS and BPTB tibial tunnel expansion on both the PA and lateral views was statistically significant ( P = 0.003 and P = 0.01, respectively). Inter-observer variability was excellent with an intra-class correlation coefficient of 0.92. Tunnel expansion was significantly greater following ACL reconstruction using HS autografts than in those using BPTB autografts. The points of fixation for the HS grafts are at a greater distance from the normal insertion site and biomechanical point of action of the ACL than the points of fixation for BPTB grafts. We believe that this greater distance creates a potentially larger force moment during graft cycling which may lead to greater expansion of bone tunnels. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The objective was to evaluate the effects of ractopamine hydrochloride (Actogain; Zoetis, Kalamazoo, MI) on nutrient digestibility and N excretion. In experiment 1, twelve Simmental × Angus steers were used in a randomized complete block design. Dietary treatments were top-dressed and included: 1) a control without Actogain (CON) or 2) 400 mg·steer-1·d-1 ractopamine hydrochloride (RAC) for 35 d before slaughter. Steers were blocked by weight (BW = 571 ± 21 kg). Diets contained 55% dry rolled corn, 20% corn silage, 15% modified wet distillers grains with solubles, and 10% supplement on a DM basis. Two 5 d sampling periods were conducted for each block for total collection of feed, orts, feces and urine. No interaction (P > 0.10) between treatment and collection period was observed for any parameter evaluated. Dietary treatment had no effect (P = 0.38) on DMI, but RAC-fed steers had decreased fecal DM output (2.1 vs. 2.5 kg DM/d; P = 0.04) compared with CON-fed steers. Steers fed RAC had greater apparent total tract DM digestibility (72.8 vs. 68.9%; P = 0.02), NDF digestibility (59.2 vs. 53.3%; P < 0.01), and ADF digestibility (53.8 vs. 47.9%; P = 0.05) than CON-fed steers. Although dietary treatment did not affect N intake (P = 0.51) or N digestibility (P = 0.14), RAC-fed steers excreted less total N (120.8 vs. 138.2 g/d; P = 0.02) than CON-fed steers due to a tendency for decreased fecal N output (61.5 vs. 71.8 g/d; P = 0.09) in RAC-fed steers compared with CON-fed steers. Dietary treatment had no effect (P = 0.31) on urinary N output. Experiment 2 was an in vitro experiment conducted in split-plot design to validate the effects of RAC on nutrient digestibility using a separate, yet contemporary group of heifers (N = 20). Rumen fluid was collected by stomach tube from CON- and RAC-fed heifers (whole-plot) to inoculate tubes containing a CON or RAC substrate (split-plot). No interaction between rumen fluid source and in vitro substrate was observed (P = 0.44). Greater IVDMD (64.0 vs. 58.6%; P = 0.01) was observed in rumen fluid from RAC-fed heifers compared with rumen fluid from CON-fed heifers. Inclusion of RAC in the in vitro substrate increased IVDMD (63.1 vs. 59.5%; P < 0.01). Overall, feeding RAC impacted microbial digestion of the finishing diet to increase total tract digestion and reduce N excretion in the 35 d period prior to slaughter. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and Purpose: Cerebellar ataxia, neuropathy, and vestibular areflexia syndrome (CANVAS) is a neurodegenerative disease of the cerebellum. The disease progression is slow, with up to 25% of people diagnosed needing to use a wheelchair after 15 years from diagnosis. Vestibular symptoms arise from centrally-mediated ocular movement degradation and the reduced vestibular-ocular reflex functioning bilaterally. To date, no report has shown an improvement in VOR gain or gait outcome measures in someone with CANVAS after a course of vestibular physical therapy., Case Description: A 65-year-old male, Patient X, first noticed symptoms in his fourth decade of life and was diagnosed with (CANVAS) in his seventh decade. Patient X reported numbness and tingling in his hands and feet, decreased ability to perform daily activities, and several falls., Intervention: Patient X completed a four-month course of vestibular physical therapy, including vestibular ocular reflex exercises, balance training, gait training, and the VestAid application for eye gaze compliance monitoring. The Vestaid application uses eyes and facial recognition software to record the percentage of time that the patient kept their eyes on the target., Outcomes: After vestibular therapy, Patient X had a clinically meaningful improvement in gait speed: from 1.02 m/s to 1.13 m/s and in the Functional Gait Assessment from 20/30 to 27/30. Patient X's eye gaze compliance improved from a median of 43% (range 25-68%) to a median of 67% (58-83%)., Discussion: This case study demonstrates that vestibular rehabilitation improved eye gaze compliance and functional outcomes in a person living with CANVAS., Competing Interests: Dr. Whitney is a paid consultant for Intelligent Automation, a BlueHalo Company, and is a member of the team who has submitted a patent for VestAid., (© 2023 PLA General Hospital Department of Otolaryngology Head and Neck Surgery. Production and hosting by Elsevier (Singapore) Pte Ltd.)

Wetland area in agricultural landscapes has been heavily reduced to gain land for crop production, but in recent years there is increased societal recognition of the negative consequences from wetland loss on nutrient retention, biodiversity and a range of other benefits to humans. The current trend is therefore to re-establish wetlands, often with an aim to achieve the simultaneous delivery of multiple ecosystem services, i.e., multifunctionality. Here we review the literature on key objectives used to motivate wetland re-establishment in temperate agricultural landscapes (provision of flow regulation, nutrient retention, climate mitigation, biodiversity conservation and cultural ecosystem services), and their relationships to environmental properties, in order to identify potential for tradeoffs and synergies concerning the development of multifunctional wetlands. Through this process, we find that there is a need for a change in scale from a focus on single wetlands to wetlandscapes (multiple neighboring wetlands including their catchments and surrounding landscape features) if multiple societal and environmental goals are to be achieved. Finally, we discuss the key factors to be considered when planning for re-establishment of wetlands that can support achievement of a wide range of objectives at the landscape scale., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest There are no financial or personal interests affecting the contents of this paper., (Copyright © 2022 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)