Current clinical guidelines for people at risk of heart disease in Australia recommend nutrition intervention in conjunction with pharmacotherapy(1). However, Australians living in rural and remote regions have less access to medical nutritional therapy (MNT) provided by Accredited Practising Dietitians (APDs) than their urban counterparts(2). The aim of the HealthyRHearts study was to trial the delivery of MNT by APDs using telehealth to eligible patients of General Practitioners (GPs) located in small to large rural towns in the Hunter New England region(3) of New South Wales, Australia. The study design was a 12-month pragmatic randomised controlled trial. The key outcome was reduced total cholesterol. The study was place-based, meaning many of the research team and APDs were based rurally, to ensure the context of the GPs and patients was already known. Eligible participants were those assessed as moderate-to-high risk of CVD by their GP. People in the intervention group received five MNT consults (totalling two hours) delivered via telehealth by APDs, and also answered a personalised nutrition questionnaire to guide their priorities and to support personalised dietary behaviour change during the counselling. Both intervention and control groups received usual care from their GP and were provided access to the Australian Eating Survey (Heart version), a 242-item online food frequency questionnaire with technology-supported personalised nutrition reports that evaluated intake relative to heart healthy eating principles. Of the 192 people who consented to participate, 132 were eligible due to their moderate-to-high risk. Pre-post participant medication use with a registered indication(4) for hypercholesterolemia, hypertension and glycemic control were documented according to class and strength (defined daily dose: DDD)(5). Nine GP practices (with 91 participants recruited) were randomised to the intervention group and seven practices (41 participants) were randomised to control. Intervention participants attended 4.3 ± 1.4 out of 5 dietetic consultations offered. Of the132 people with baseline clinical chemistry, 103 also provided a 12-month sample. Mean total cholesterol at baseline was 4.97 ± 1.13 mmol/L for both groups, with 12-m reduction of 0.26 ± 0.77 for intervention and 0.28 ± 0.79 for control (p = 0.90, unadjusted value). Median (IQR) number of medications for the intervention group was 2 (1–3) at both baseline and 12 months (p = 0.78) with 2 (1–3) and 3 (2–3) for the control group respectively. Combined DDD of all medications was 2.1 (0.5–3.8) and 2.5 (0.75–4.4) at baseline and 12 months (p = 0.77) for the intervention group and 2.7 (1.5–4.0) and 3.0 (2.0–4.5) for the control group (p = 0.30). Results suggest that medications were a significant contributor to the management of total cholesterol. Further analysis is required to evaluate changes in total cholesterol attributable to medication prescription relative to the MNT counselling received by the intervention group.

Salmonella spp. is a common zoonotic pathogen, causing gastrointestinal infections in people. Pigs and pig meat are a major source of infection. Although farm biosecurity is believed to be important for controlling Salmonella transmission, robust evidence is lacking on which measures are most effective. This study enrolled 250 pig farms across nine European countries. From each farm, 20 pooled faecal samples (or similar information) were collected and analysed for Salmonella presence. Based on the proportion of positive results, farms were categorised as at higher or lower Salmonella risk, and associations with variables from a comprehensive questionnaire investigated. Multivariable analysis indicated that farms were less likely to be in the higher-risk category if they had ‘<400 sows’; used rodent baits close to pig enclosures; isolated stay-behind (sick) pigs; did not answer that the hygiene lock/ anteroom was easy to clean; did not have a full perimeter fence; did apply downtime of at least 3 days between farrowing batches; and had fully slatted flooring in all fattener buildings. A principal components analysis assessed the sources of variation between farms, and correlation between variables. The study results suggest simple control measures that could be prioritised on European pig farms to control Salmonella.

When solid stands of foxtail millet are cut for swath grazing, the grazing season for cattle is extended and winter feeding costs reduced. The economic success of this practice depends on inexpensive weed control. Eight single- and double-rate herbicide combinations (g ai/ha) were evaluated and compared to a weed-free check: MCPA + bromoxynil (280 + 280 or 560 + 560); MCPA + clopyralid (560 + 100 or 1120 + 200); MCPA + fluroxypyr (562 + 108 or 1124 + 216); and MCPA + clopyralid + fluroxypyr (560 + 100 + 144 or 1120 + 200 + 288). This study was conducted at Indian Head, Saskatchewan (SK) in 2004, 2005, 2006, and 2007 and at Scott, SK, in 2006 and 2007. Crop injury and dry matter yield were measured. Results of the study indicate that crop injury exceeded 20% at only one out of six sites at 7 to 14 d after herbicide treatment. Double-rate MCPA + bromoxynil treatments had higher injury ratings than the weed-free check 7 to 14 d after treatment in all site years. As the growing season progressed, injury ratings tended to decline except at Scott in 2007, where injury ratings at the 21 to 35 d period were numerically greater than the other two rating periods. There were no differences among treatments for crop biomass production. We conclude that all four herbicide combinations at the labeled rate are safe to use on foxtail millet in Saskatchewan, and probably in other areas with similar environmental growing conditions.

Wild oat is a serious weed in cultivated oat because there are no herbicides to selectively control it. Considering the effect of time of emergence on weed–crop interference is critical for the development of accurate crop yield loss models and weed density thresholds. Therefore, field experiments were conducted at two locations in Saskatchewan, Canada, in 2002 and 2003 to determine the effect of wild oat density and time of emergence on cultivated oat yield and quality. Wild oat was planted at 50 growing degree day (GDD) intervals ranging from 100 GDD before to 100 GDD after crop planting. Wild oat density ranged from 0 to 320 plants m−2. High densities of early emerging wild oat greatly reduced cultivated oat yield and increased wild oat contamination, with observed oat yield losses as great as 70% and wild oat contamination levels of 15%. Wild oat that emerged before cultivated oat caused considerably more yield and quality loss and had higher reproductive output than wild oat that emerged after cultivated oat. The yield loss caused by individual wild oat plants at low densities (parameter I) ranged from 0.40 to 0.49%. The effect of relative time of wild oat emergence (parameter C) always varied significantly between site-years. However, little variation in absolute values within site-years was observed for cultivated oat yield loss, wild oat seed production, and wild oat contamination, suggesting that relative time of wild oat emergence influences all similarly. The results of this study emphasize both the need to control early emerging wild oat, as well as the importance of time of emergence in the prediction of crop yield loss. Furthermore, our approach of conducting an emergence study based on thermal time is novel and demonstrates a robust, mechanistic method of estimating crop yield losses due to relative time of emergence.

Vitamin D plays an important role in skeletal health throughout life. Some studies have hypothesised that vitamin D may reduce the risk of other diseases. Our study aimed to estimate age-specific and sex-specific serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25(OH)D) status and to identify the determinants of serum 25(OH)D status in Hong Kong, a subtropical city in southern China. In 2009–2010, households in Hong Kong were followed up to identify acute respiratory illnesses, and sera from 2694 subjects were collected in three to four different study phases to permit measurement of 25(OH)D levels at different times of the year. A questionnaire survey on diet and lifestyle was conducted among children, with simultaneous serum collection in April and May 2010. The mean of serum 25(OH)D levels in age groups ranged from 39 to 63 nmol/l throughout the year with the mean values in all age groups in spring below 50 nmol/l. Children aged 6–17 years, and girls and women had significantly lower serum 25(OH)D levels than adults, and boys and men, respectively (all P< 0·001). We estimated that serum 25(OH)D levels in Hong Kong followed a lagged pattern relative to climatic season by 5 weeks with lowest observed levels in early spring (March). For children aged 6–17 years, reporting a suntan, having at least 1 servings of fish/week and having at least 1 serving of eggs/week were independently associated with higher serum 25(OH)D levels. Adequate sunlight exposure and increased intake of dietary vitamin D could improve vitamin D status, especially for children and females in the winter and spring.

Rocks are composed of minerals, bounding matrix, cracks and pores. The study of changes in the physical properties of rocks as a function of heat treatment is relevant to various engineering and industrial applications. The effect of thermal damage on the compression, strength, ultimate compression strain, color and loss of mass of two different limestones extracted from the Yucatan Peninsula is studied. Different thermal treatments are applied by heating the sample from room temperature up to 600°C, with steps of 100°C. The results show a high correlation between the heat transport characteristics, mechanical properties, content of organic matter and the presence of carbonates and iron oxides in each type of limestone rock.

To examine the prevalence of human pathogens carried by rats in urban areas in Hanoi and Hai Phong, Vietnam, we live-trapped 100 rats in January 2011 and screened them for a panel of bacteria and viruses. Antibodies against Leptospira interrogans (22·0%), Seoul virus (14·0%) and rat hepatitis E virus (23·0%) were detected in rats, but antibodies against Yersinia pestis were not detected. Antibodies against L. interrogans and Seoul virus were found only in adult rats. In contrast, antibodies to rat hepatitis E virus were also found in juvenile and sub-adult rats, indicating that the transmission mode of rat hepatitis E virus is different from that of L. interrogans and Seoul virus. Moreover, phylogenetic analyses of the S and M segments of Seoul viruses found in Rattus norvegicus showed that Seoul viruses from Hai Phong and Hanoi formed different clades. Human exposure to these pathogens has become a significant public health concern.

Knowledge of the mechanical and petrographic properties of limestone rocks is an important issue to different areas of science and engineering. Sedimentary limestone rock is one of the most abundant materials in the Peninsula of Yucatán used for decorative and building construction. This work studies the petrographic, mineralogical, and physical properties of three different types of limestone slabs of the state of Yucatán.

The nickel-aluminum (Ni/Al) intermetallic system is useful for a variety of reactive material applications, and reaction characteristics are well studied at the normal self-heating rates of 103–106 K/s. Recent experiments at 1011–1012 K/s have measured the kinetic energy of material ejected from the reaction zone, indicating additional kinetic energy from the reactive system despite high heating rates. In order to better probe reaction phenomena at these time scales, and determine the presence of expected elements and their temperatures, we report on emission spectroscopy of electrically heated, patterned Ni/Al bridge wires, time resolved over 350 ns through the use of a streak camera. Unlike previous studies where emission was dominated by Ar and N from residual gasses in the vacuum test chamber, here we report on experiments with encapsulated laminates allowing better quantification of Al and Ni emission. We were able to identify all major spectral lines from the dominant elements present in the films, and found the multilayered Ni/Al laminates to exhibit a brighter and longer duration emission than either Al or Ni control samples. We also found the measured electrical energy absorption of the Ni/Al laminates to follow that of the Al samples up to 150 ns following the onset of emission, indicating that the exothermic mixing of vapor phase Ni and Al was the most likely source for the higher emission intensity. These results will be important for new, energetically enhanced, high efficiency bridge wire applications, where shock initiation of subsequent energetic reactions may be accomplished with less electrical energy than is currently required.

The regulatory role of tumour necrosis factor (TNF) was investigated in murine infection with tetrathyridia of Mesocestoides corti. Recombinant TNFα reduced macrophage larvicidal activity in vitro. M. corti primed mice for TNF release in response to bacterial lipopolysaccharide (LPS) in vivo. TNF activity was amplified 100-fold at 14 days post-infection (p.i.), with a further rise at day 28 p.i. Maximal inflammatory reaction was observed histologically in the liver at the height of TNF activity. Hepatic necrosis was located within inflammatory foci, but not within the vicinity of the parasite itself, suggesting that TNF may contribute to the pathogenesis of infection. Peritoneal cells from infected mice, when stimulated with tetrathyridia in vitro, showed a 4-fold increase in TNFα activity at day 14 p.i. However, when peritoneal cells were stimulated with LPS in vitro, a marked increase in TNFα secretion was observed at 2 months post-infection followed by a slow decline. It is suggested that impaired macrophage effector function, previously attributed to endogenous endotoxin, which gains access to peritoneal macrophages through an inability of the liver to detoxify endotoxin, may be mediated through TNFα.

A microarray is an orderly arrangement of spots printed on an impermeable solid support, usually glass, silicon chips or nylon membrane. Each gene is represented by multiple spots and a single microarray chip can detect thousands of expressed genes simultaneously and in some cases the entire genome of an organism. Microarrays therefore allow high-throughput determination of changes in expression of thousands of genes of both known and unknown function in response to experimental treatment and so aids in the identification of novel genes associated with physiological pathways. For most mammalian species there is currently either a lack of a specific microarray or a limited coverage of the genome, both of which limit the use of microarrays in those species. For humans and rodents, however, there is complete coverage of the expressed genome. The aim of this study was therefore to determine whether the human Affymetrix GeneChip could be used to measure gene expression in a ruminant species and whether this is a viable alternative to species specific microarrays.