Association of body condition with lameness in dairy cattle: a single-farm longitudinal study

Abstract This research communication describes the relationship between the occurrence of lameness and body condition score (BCS) in a sample of 288 cows from a single farm that were repeatedly scored in the course of 9 months while controlling for confounding variables. The relationship between BCS and lameness was evaluated using generalised linear mixed-effects models. It was found that the proportion of lame cows was higher with decreasing but also with increasing BCS, increased with lactation number and decreased with time since the last claw trimming. This is likely to reflect the importance of sufficient body condition in the prevention of lameness but also raises the question of the impact of overcondition on lameness and the influence of claw trimming events on the assessment of lameness. A stronger focus on BCS might allow improved management of lameness that is still one of the major problems in housed cows.

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Prevalence of gastric ulcers and relationship to other parameters in Standardbred racehorses

Comparative Exercise Physiology ◽

10.3920/cep12009 ◽

2012 ◽

Vol 8 (1) ◽

pp. 47-51 ◽

Cited By ~ 6

Author(s):

R.E. Cate ◽

B.D. Nielsen ◽

H.S. Spooner ◽

C.I. O'Connor-Robison ◽

H.C. Schott II

Keyword(s):

Body Condition ◽

Body Condition Score ◽

Gastric Ulcers ◽

Performance History ◽

Racing Performance ◽

Condition Score ◽

Relationship Of ◽

The Impact ◽

The Relationship ◽

Standardbred Racehorses

Gastric ulcer prevalence rate is reported to be 60-90% in racehorses. This study examined a population of 40 Standardbred horses in race training and assessed the relationship of ulcers to performance history and body condition score (BCS). Forty Standardbreds on two racing facilities in southern Michigan were examined during the last 2 weeks of December 2007 and the second week of January 2008. Age of horses (as of January 1) ranged from 3 to 12 years. Squamous epithelial ulcers were graded (0-4) using an established scoring system during gastroscopic examinations and BCS was recorded (1 to 9 scale). Trainers graded racing performance of each horse on a scale of A to F, with A being best. Horses were grouped according to gender, age, and BCS. Prevalence of ulcers was similar between facilities (50% and 56%) but the mean prevalence (52.5%) was lower than in previous reports. Ulcer score was not related to gender (P=0.84), age (P=0.72), BCS (P=0.64), or performance history (P=0.55). These findings suggest that commonly cited prevalence rates of ulcers may not be consistent for all populations of racehorses. Further, given that less than 20% of the horses examined had an ulcer score grade 2 or higher, the impact that ulcers have on performance may be overestimated in some equine populations. Finally, this study clearly demonstrates that a gastroscopic examination is necessary to determine presence of ulcers, rather than assuming their presence based on decreased performance or low body condition score.

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Do Inpatient Antimicrobial Stewardship Programs help us in the Battle against Antimicrobial Resistance?

Clinical Infectious Diseases ◽

10.1093/cid/ciaa1004 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Sara Y Tartof ◽

Lie Hong Chen ◽

Yun Tian ◽

Rong Wei ◽

Theresa Im ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Mixed Effects ◽

Unintended Consequences ◽

Mixed Effects Models ◽

Defined Daily Dose ◽

Drug Resistant ◽

Linear Mixed Effects Models ◽

Linear Mixed Effects ◽

Days Of Therapy ◽

Generalized Linear Mixed Effects ◽

The Impact

Abstract Background Antibiotic stewardship programs (ASPs) have demonstrated success at reducing costs, yet there is limited quality evidence of their effectiveness to reduce infections of high-profile drug-resistant organisms. Methods This retrospective cohort study included all Kaiser Permanente Southern California (KPSC) members hospitalized in 9 KPSC hospitals aged ≥18 years from January 1, 2008 to December 31, 2016. We measured the impact of staggered ASP implementation on consumption of 18 ASP-targeted antibiotics using generalized linear mixed effects models. We used multivariable generalized linear mixed effects models to estimate the adjusted effect of ASP on rates of infection with drug-resistant organisms. Analyses were adjusted for confounding by time, cluster effects, and patient-level and hospital-level characteristics. Results We included 765,111 hospitalizations (288,257 pre-ASP, 476,854 post-ASP). By defined daily dose, we found a 6.1% (-7.5% - -4.7%) overall decrease in use of antibiotics post-ASP, and by days of therapy, we detected a 4.3% (-5.4% - -3.1%) decrease in overall use of antibiotics. The number of prescriptions increased post-ASP (1.04 [1.03–1.05]). In adjusted analyses, we detected an overall increase of VRE infection following ASP (1.37 [1.10-1.69]). We did not detect a change in the rates of ESBL, CRE and MDR Pseudomonas aeruginosa following ASP. Conclusions ASPs with successful reductions in consumption of targeted antibiotics may not see changes in infection rates with antibiotic-resistant organisms in the 2 to 6 years post-implementation. There are likely differing timescales for reversion to susceptibility across organisms and antibiotics, and unintended consequences from compensatory prescribing may occur.

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The Use of Theory of Linear Mixed-Effects Models to Detect Fraudulent Erasures at an Aggregate Level

Educational and Psychological Measurement ◽

10.1177/0013164421994893 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 001316442199489

Author(s):

Luyao Peng ◽

Sandip Sinharay

Keyword(s):

Type I Error ◽

Real Data ◽

Mixed Effects ◽

Error Rates ◽

Mixed Effects Models ◽

Type I ◽

Aggregate Level ◽

Linear Mixed Effects Models ◽

Linear Mixed Effects ◽

Best Linear Unbiased

Wollack et al. (2015) suggested the erasure detection index (EDI) for detecting fraudulent erasures for individual examinees. Wollack and Eckerly (2017) and Sinharay (2018) extended the index of Wollack et al. (2015) to suggest three EDIs for detecting fraudulent erasures at the aggregate or group level. This article follows up on the research of Wollack and Eckerly (2017) and Sinharay (2018) and suggests a new aggregate-level EDI by incorporating the empirical best linear unbiased predictor from the literature of linear mixed-effects models (e.g., McCulloch et al., 2008). A simulation study shows that the new EDI has larger power than the indices of Wollack and Eckerly (2017) and Sinharay (2018). In addition, the new index has satisfactory Type I error rates. A real data example is also included.

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