Changes in the rumen and colon microbiota and effects of live yeast dietary supplementation during the transition from the dry period to lactation of dairy cows

The first objective of this study was to evaluate the dynamics and their potential association with animal performance of the microbiota in both the rumen and colon of dairy cows as they move from a nonlactation to a lactation ration. The second objective was to assess the potential effects on the microbiota of live yeast supplementation. Twenty-one Holstein cows were split in 2 treatments consisting of 1 × 10¹⁰ cfu/d of live yeast (LY; n = 10) or no supplementation (control; n = 11) starting 21 d before until 21 d after calving. At 14 d before and 7 and 21 d after calving, samples of rumen and colon digesta were obtained from each cow using an endoscope. Total DNA was extracted and submitted to high-throughput sequencing. Shannon diversity index, in both the rumen and colon, was unaffected by LY; however, in the rumen it was lowest 7 d after calving and returned to precalving values at 21 d in milk, whereas in the colon it was greatest 14 d before calving but decreased after calving. In the rumen, LY supplementation increased the relative abundance (RA) of Bacteroidales (group UCG-001), Lachnospiracea (groups UCG-002 and UCG-006), and Flexilinea 14 d before calving, and increased RA of Streptococcus 21 d after calving compared with control cows. However, changes in the ruminal microbiota were more drastic across days relative to calving than as influenced by the dietary treatment, and the effect of LY in the colon was milder than in the rumen. The ruminal RA of several genera was associated with postcalving DMI, and that of Gastranaerophilales was the only order positively associated with milk yield. Several genera were positively correlated with feed efficiency, with Clostridiales (unclassified) being the only genus negatively associated with feed efficiency. In the colon, Prevotellaceae (group Ga6A1) was the only genus positively associated with feed efficiency. The ruminal RA of Prevotella 7 and Ruminobacter 14 d precalving was negatively correlated with dry matter intake and milk yield postcalving. The RA of Parabacteroides in the colon 14 d before calving was negatively correlated with milk yield, whereas the RA of Eggerthellaceae (unclassified) and Erysipelotrichaceae (groups c and unclassified) were positively correlated with feed efficiency. Interestingly, LY supplementation doubled the RA of Eggerthellaceae (unclassified) in the colon. It is concluded that microbial diversity in the rumen experiences a transient reduction after calving, whereas in the colon, the reduction is maintained at least until 21 d in milk. Most of the effects of LY on rumen microbiota were observed before calving, whereas in the colon, LY effects were more moderate but consistent and independent of the stage of production. The microbial community of the rumen after calving is more associated with feed intake, milk yield, and feed efficiency than that of the colon. However, the colon microbiota before calving is more associated with feed efficiency after calving than that of the rumen.     

New Approach to Aqueous Granulation of Highly Hydrosoluble Drugs

The critical effect of binding solvents in aqueous wet granulation,on the physicalstability of tablets was investigated. The implications of the shelfcementation process in aqueous granulation of Piracetam are discussed.     

Assessment of dryland condition using spatial anomalies of vegetation index values

A landscape's long‐term capacity to retain, utilize and recycle local resources is an objective basis for assessing its ecological functionality or condition. In subtropical and tropical drylands, where plant growth is moisture‐limited for much of the time, land condition is reflected in the local water balance. The ratio of long‐term actual evapotranspiration and precipitation (E _a/P) is proposed as an objective indicator of dryland condition. A spatial modelling framework is developed for the quantification of E _a/P over large areas using remotely sensed vegetation density patterns. Model parameters are defined by two particular situations: (i) non‐vegetated sites, where E _a/P depends on the long‐term runoff coefficient of bare soil surfaces (RC_bs), and (ii) non‐degraded sites with a vegetation density close to the potential value for which E _a/P?1.0. Specht's evaporative coefficient is used as an independent variable for the prediction of the potential vegetation density, whereas RC_bs is estimated with the curve number method.

The performance of the method was evaluated in a 900 km² area in south‐east Spain, where predicted land condition was found to be in good agreement with qualitative field observations on the nature and intensity of land degradation processes.     

Selecting key formulation factors in antacid suspensions

The physical characteristics and “in vitro” neutralisation capacity were measured for eight antacid suspensions in the absence and presence of an equilibrated standard diet. The results obtained permit an assessment to be made of the potential therapeutic advantages and disadvantages of these formulations.     

Prognostic factors in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis

Survival in patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis is highly variable. In a prospective study of 71 patients, we analyzed the influence of several clinical factors on survival: age of onset, sex, initial involvement (bulbar, upper extremities or lower extremities) and familial history. Mean time of evolution was 2.6 years, with 25% survival 5 years after onset. Patients under 45 years old had better survival than those over 45 (5.8 and 2.2 years, respectively, p < 0.002). The prognosis for women was worse (2.07 and 3.6 years for women and men, respectively, p < 0.001), probably because age of onset was later in women (61 versus 53 years, respectively, p < 0.006). Neither first symptom or familial history of the disease affected prognosis. We conclude that age at onset is a decisive prognostic factor that is inversely related to survival. In the design of clinical trials in which survival is a variable, the treatment and control groups should be matched for age.     

Short communication: Comparison of pH,volatile fatty acids,and microbiome of rumen samples from preweaned calves obtained via cannula or stomach tube

The objective of this study was to compare rumen samples from young dairy calves obtained via a stomach tube (ST) or a ruminal cannula (RC). Five male Holstein calves (46 ± 4.0 kg of body weight and 11 ± 4.9 d of age) were ruminally cannulated at 15 d of age. Calves received 4 L/d of a commercial milk replacer (25% crude protein and 19.2% fat) at 12.5% dry matter, and were provided concentrate and chopped oats hay ad libitum throughout the study (56 d). In total, 29 paired rumen samples were obtained weekly throughout the study in most of the calves by each extraction method. These samples were used to determine pH and volatile fatty acids (VFA) concentration, and to quantify Prevotella ruminicola and Streptococcus bovis by quantitative PCR. Furthermore, a denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis was performed on rumen samples harvested during wk 8 of the study to determine the degree of similarity between rumen bacteria communities. Rumen pH was 0.30 units greater in ST compared with RC samples. Furthermore, total VFA concentrations were greater in RC than in ST samples. However, when analyzing the proportion of each VFA by ANOVA, no differences were found between the sampling methods. The quantification of S. bovis and P. ruminicola was similar in both extraction methods, and values obtained using different methods were highly correlated (R² = 0.89 and 0.98 for S. bovis and P. ruminicola, respectively). Fingerprinting analysis showed similar bacteria band profiles between samples obtained from the same calves using different extraction methods. In conclusion, when comparing rumen parameters obtained using different sampling techniques, it is recommended that VFA profiles be used rather than total VFA concentrations, as total VFA concentrations are more affected by the method of collection. Furthermore, although comparisons of pH across studies should be avoided when samples are not obtained using the same sampling method, the comparison of fingerprinting of a bacteria community or a specific rumen bacterium is valid.     

Postoperative analgesia in herniated disk surgery. Comparative study of diclofenac , lysine acetylsalicylate, and ketorolac

INTRODUCTION: Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) are effective in treating musculoskeletal pain and are theoretically ideal for treating postoperative pain of the lumbar column. OBJECTIVES: To compare the analgesic efficacy and side effects of treatment with 3 NSAIDs (lysine acetylsalicylate, ketorolac and diclofenac) in the treatment of pain after surgery for lumbar disc hernia. PATIENTS AND METHODS: We enrolled 75 ASA I-II patients undergoing discectomy because of lumbar disc hernia; balanced general anesthesia was used in all cases. The patients were randomly distributed in 3 groups based on type of analgesia given in the immediate postoperative period. Group A received lysine acetylsalicylate (1800 mg), group B received ketorolac (30 mg) and group C received diclofenac (75 mg). The analgesics were diluted in 100 mg of saline solution and administered through a peripheral vein over 10 min. We evaluated the analgesia attained on a visual analog scale (VAS) and the physiological response to pain was assessed by monitoring changes in arterial pressure, heart rate and breathing frequency. If analgesia was insufficient 30 min after administration of the drug, 200 mg of lysine cloximate was given as a top-up. The side effects of each drug were also recorded. RESULTS: VAS evaluation showed significant reductions in pain 60 min after administration in groups A and B and after 120 min in group C. Nine patients in each group required lysine cloximate. There were no significant differences in physiological response among the 3 groups. No patient suffered major side effects. Mild side effects were reported most often in group B. CONCLUSIONS: The NSAIDs studied were inadequately for treating pain after surgery for lumbar disc hernia. Ketorolac was no better than the other analgesics studied but was associated with a higher number of mild side effects.     

“In Vitro” Studies on Buccoadhesive Tablet Formulations of Hydrocortisone Hemisuccinate

Different bioadhesive and matrix-forming polymers were evaluated using “in-vitro” tests to identify a potentially convenient “in-vivo” formulation for the sustained delivery of hydrocortisone hemisuccinate to the oral cavity. The selected composition allows an erosion-diffusion mechanism coherent with the low hydrosolubility of the drug and with potential advantages for both the patient and the manufacturer.     

Biometric dispersion matcher versus LDA

This paper compares the recently developed biometric dispersion matcher (BDM) with the classical linear discriminant analysis (LDA) for biometric pattern recognition. BDM is extended to the BDM with simultaneously diagonalization (BDMSD) of the covariance matrices and, from a theoretical point of view, it is demonstrated that the feature selection of LDA and BDMSD are equivalent. However, LDA uses the between-class scatter matrix (S_B) only for feature selection and BDMSD also uses it for classification. This implies a set of advantages. Mainly the BDMSD offers better generalization capability for classifying samples of users that have not been used for training the classifier. Experimental results show that BDM and BDMSD outperform LDA in face recognition and hand-geometry recognition. These two cases correspond to very different situations: number of samples greater than their dimensionality (hand-geometry) and number of samples similar to their dimensionality (face recognition).