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-This study aimed to characterize the Brazilian dairy calves raising systems through a survey of major aspects of animal husbandry. One hundred seventy-nine producers and/or technicians were interviewed. The questionnaire addressed issues related to the management of the dry cow and the newborn, nutritional management of the liquid-feeding phase, housing, and health management. A third of newborn calves stay with their mothers for more than 24 h after delivery, and only 56% of the calves receive colostrum within the first 8 h of life. Four out of ten producers allow the calf to suckle colostrum directly from the mother. Regarding the liquid diet, 44 and 35% of the farms provide marketable milk and discard milk for the calves, respectively. It was possible to identify several areas of improvement in the raising system; for instance, greater attention could be given to dry cows and the monitoring of births and to the establishment of adequate protocols to evaluate colostrum quality and feeding management.

Background: Research over the last two decades has highlighted the critical role of Brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) in brain neuroplasticity. Studies suggest that physical exercise may have a positive impact on the release of BDNF and therefore, brain plasticity. These results in animal and human studies have potential implications for the recovery from damage to the brain and for interventions that aim to facilitate neuroplasticity and, therefore, the rehabilitation process.Purpose: The aim of this study was to carry out a systematic review of the literature investigating how aerobic exercises and functional task training influence BDNF concentrations post-stroke in humans and animal models.Data Sources: Searches were conducted in PubMed (via National Library of Medicine), SCOPUS (Elsevier), CINAHL with Full Text (EBSCO), MEDLINE 1946—present with daily updates (Ovid) and Cochrane.Study Selection: All of the database searches were limited to the period from January, 2004 to May, 2017.Data Extraction: Two reviewers extracted study details and data. The methodological quality of the studies that used animal models was assessed using the ARRIVE Guidelines, and the study that evaluated human BDNF was assessed using the PEDro Scale.Data Synthesis: Twenty-one articles were included in this review. BDNF measurements were performed systemically (serum/plasma) or locally (central nervous system). Only one study evaluated human BDNF concentrations following physical exercise, while 20 studies were experimental studies using a stroke model in animals. A wide variation was observed in the training protocol between studies, although treadmill walking was the most common type of intervention among the studies. Studies were of variable quality: the studies that used animal models scored from 8/20 to 15/20 according to the ARRIVE Guidelines. The only study that evaluated human subjects scored 5/10 according to the PEDro scale and, which indicates a quality classified as “fair”.Conclusions: The results of the current systematic review suggest that aerobic exercise promotes changes in central BDNF concentrations post-stroke. On the other hand, BDNF responses following functional exercises, such as reaching training and Constraint Induced Movement Therapy (CIMT), seem to be still controversial. Given the lack of studies evaluating post-stroke BDNF concentration following physical exercise in humans, these conclusions are based on animal work.

RESUMOOs objetivos desta pesquisa foram simular, analisar e quantificar o impacto econômico da frequência média anual de mastite clínica em rebanhos bovinos leiteiros. A pesquisa foi realizada por meio de simulação no sistema computacional CU$TO MASTITE, considerando rebanhos leiteiros com 1, 7 e 15% de mastite clínica. Foram consideradas como prevenção as despesas com monitoramento (cultura e antibiograma, contagem de células somáticas no tanque e contagem de células somática individual), pré e pós dipping, vacinação, tratamento de vacas secas e manutenção de ordenhadeira. Como medida curativa considerou-se apenas tratamento de casos clínicos. O impacto da mastite foi estimado como sendo o total em perdas acrescido das despesas com prevenção e tratamento de casos clínicos. O aumento da frequência média anual de mastite influenciou diretamente no impacto econômico da mastite, evidenciando a necessidade de monitoramento da mastite clínica e subclínica e adoção de medidas preventivas para diminuir os prejuízos ocasionados por essa enfermidade. As despesas com tratamento preventivo representaram, no máximo, 19,7% do impacto econômico, o que demonstra vantagens em investir nessa prática, pois ela irá contribuir significativamente para reduzir o impacto econômico da mastite. PALAVRAS-CHAVE: Bovinocultura leiteira, mastite clínica, sanidade animal. ABSTRACT INFLUENCE OF THE ECONOMIC IMPACT OF MASTITIS IN DAIRY CATTLE. The objectivesof this research were to analyze and quantify the economic impact of the annual average frequency of clinical mastitis in dairy cattle. The research was carried through data simulation in the CU$TO MASTITE computational system, considering dairy cattle with 1, 7 and 15% of clinical mastitis. The expenditures considered as prevention included those of monitoring (culture and antibiogram, bulk tank somatic cell count and individual somatic cell count) pre-and post-dipping, vaccination, treatment of dry cows and maintenance of the milking machine. The measures considered as healing consisted only of the treatment of clinical cases. The impact of the mastitis was estimated as being the total in losses in addition to the expenditures with prevention and treatment of clinical cases. The increase of the annual average frequency of mastitis directly influenced the economic impact of the mastitis. The higher economic impact evidences the need for the monitoring of clinical and subclinical mastitis and the adoption of preventative measures to diminish the damages caused by this disease. The expenditures with preventive treatment represented, at maximum, 19.7% of the economic impact, which demonstrates the advantages of investing in this practice, since it contributes significantly toward reducing the economic impact of mastitis.

Background and aimUnderstanding the maturation of upper limb (UL) movement characteristics in typically developing (TD) children is key to explore UL deficits in those with neurodevelopmental disorders. Three-dimensional motion analysis (3DMA) offers a reliable tool to comprehensively evaluate UL motion. However, studies thus far mainly focused on specific pre-defined parameters extracted from kinematic waveforms. Here, we investigated age-related differences in UL movement characteristics over the entire movement cycle in TD children.Participants and methodsWe assessed the non-dominant UL of 60 TD children (mean age 10y3m±3y1m) using 3DMA during eight tasks: reaching (forwards (RF), upwards (RU), sideways (RS)), reach-to-grasp (sphere (RGS), vertical cylinder (RGV)) and activities-of-daily-living mimicking tasks (hand-to-head (HTH), hand-to-mouth (HTM), hand-to-shoulder (HTS)). We investigated differences between four age-groups (5-7y, 8-10y, 11-12y, 13-15y) in: (1) spatiotemporal parameters (movement duration, peak velocity, time-to-peak velocity and trajectory straightness), and (2) 12 UL joint angles, using Statistical Parametric Mapping (SPM).ResultsWe found that the 5-7y children moved with lower peak velocity and less straight trajectories compared to the 11-12y group (peak velocity: RS, HTS, p<0.01; trajectory: RU, RS, RGV, HTS, p<0.01) and the 13-15y group (peak velocity: RF, RS, RGS, RGV, HTH, HTS, p<0.01; trajectory, all tasks, p<0.01). The 5-7y children showed increased scapular protraction compared to older children (8-10y and 11-12y, HTS), as well as increased scapular medial rotation compared to the 13-15y group (RGS). During RU, the 5-7y children moved more towards the frontal plane (shoulder), unlike the 13-15y group. Lastly, the 5-7y group used less elbow flexion than older children (11-12y and 13-15y) during HTH and HTS.Discussion and conclusionIn conclusion, our results point toward a maturation in UL movement characteristics up to age 11-12y, when UL motion seemed to reach a plateau. The reference values provided in this study will help to further optimize the interpretation of UL deficits in children with neurodevelopmental disorders.

-The objective of this study was to evaluate the nutritional and microbiological composition of colostrum samples collected from colostrum banks or newly calved cows on dairy farms. For this purpose, 66 colostrum samples from dairy cows were directly collected during the milking of newly calved cows or from colostrum storage bank. Samples were collected from commercial properties in the states of Minas Gerais, São Paulo, and Paraná -Brazil, which were classified according to the total daily milk yield (MY). Even though average immunoglobulin concentrations were either adequate (79.7 and 51.7 mg/mL, for farms with MY>701 L/d and <200 L/d, respectively) or marginal (48.1 mg/mL for MY between 201-700 L/d), for only 48.4% of the colostrum samples, immunoglobulin concentrations were greater than 50 mg/mL. A variety of factors such as production system, animal breed, and time of sample collection can also affect the variables studied. In addition to emphasizing nutrition, good hygiene practices during the colostrum collection and storage process also deserve attention, since 24% of colostrum samples were below the microbial quality parameters. When nutritional and microbiological quality were simultaneously analyzed, only 22.6% of colostrum samples met the recommendations. Therefore, most of the calves in this region of Brazil are likely to present failure of passive immunity transfer and are exposed to pathogens when fed maternal colostrum.

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Chronic ischemic post-stroke patients have bilateral proprioceptive deficits in the shoulder during abduction and flexion. But these deficits are dependent on the movement performed and the angle tested. The results demonstrate the need to include bilateral exercises and/or visual feedback in the rehabilitation program.