It’s possible that I shall make an ass of myself. But in that case one can always get out of it with a little dialectic. I have, of course, so worded my proposition as to be right either way (K.Marx, Letter to F.Engels on the Indian Mutiny)
Thursday, September 07, 2023
$1 million USDA grant to Purdue aims to boost efficiency at dairy farms
IMAGE: JACQUELYN BOERMAN, ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR OF ANIMAL SCIENCES AT PURDUE UNIVERSITY, AND HER HUSBAND ARE DAIRY FARMERS, AS ARE HER PARENTS. “I WANT TO IMPROVE THE LIVES OF DAIRY FARMERS AND THE COWS THAT LIVE ON THEIR FARMS,” SHE SAID.view more
CREDIT: PURDUE UNIVERSITY PHOTO/TOM CAMPBELL
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – A team of Purdue University researchers has received a $1 million grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture to improve feed efficiency and consistency on dairy farms by using automated video analytics systems. The grant is among $9.6 million in recent NIFA investments supporting 12 projects in animal innovation systems.
“Feed costs are the No. 1 cost for dairy farmers. In order to make improvements on feed efficiency, we have to provide feedback to farmers close to in real time,” said Jacquelyn Boerman, associate professor of animal sciences. “If we can improve the consistency of that feed and we know what individual cows are eating, we’re going to manage that feed better. That has economic implications for dairy farmers.”
The dairy industry aims to become carbon neutral by 2050 via various approaches, including modifying the environment of the cow rumen and managing manure to reduce methane emissions. Boerman’s team will focus on enhancing dairy cow efficiency by providing them with consistent feed and measuring how much they eat.
A cattle nutritionist, Boerman will assess feed composition for consistency, which improves their milk production. Amy Reibman, the Elmore Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering, will handle the video recording logistics and data analytics.
The researchers will carry out the initial testing phase primarily at the Purdue Dairy Unit. “We hope that it will have applications for commercial farms afterward,” Boerman said. The project has letters of support from the Indiana Dairy Producers and from farm nutrition companies.
The collaboration began with an internal 2022 proposal that led to funding a project between faculty members in the College of Agriculture and the College of Engineering. The new project also extends the work of Matthew Rogers, who received a doctorate in agricultural and biological engineering from Purdue in 2022. Rogers used stereovision to measure the volume of granular agricultural materials.
If successful, the project will make it possible to measure feed intake on a per-animal basis in group settings. “To date, we have only measured output per animal and have inputs aggregated per group,” said Buckmaster, who is also the Dean’s Fellow for Digital Agriculture.
Buckmaster is excited to blend early career work on forages, feeding, total mixed ration (TMR) for dairy cows, and particle size with his more recent work in digital architectural data pipelines.
“The ability to know that each batch is uniformly blended without tremendously tedious and expensive sampling will also be of great value in TMR situations,” he said. His role will include assisting with the TMR uniformity experiments and feed characterization.
“I expect there will be some analysis and modeling needed to go from raw bulk volume measurements to per-animal intake, too. That will involve density and moisture content aspects as well as appropriately dividing feed disappearance when cows are side by side,” he said.
The project’s video analytics component will be designed to enhance understanding of the visual data that farmers depend upon for decision-making.
“Farmers are trained to make a lot of decisions based on things that they see,” said Reibman, who specializes in video analytics for animals. “I’m an engineer. I want to solve problems. We should be able to design a system that can augment their abilities.
“We would like the system to be effective in an operational farm, and operational farms sometimes have harsh visual environments: bad lighting, dust. I call it shmutz in the air that gets on your cameras.”
The team’s guiding principles are to obtain the data they need with placement of cameras and other equipment that dairy farmers will not have to work around.
“This notion that ‘it has to work the way it is’ instead of ‘can we change the environment so that it’ll work’ is fascinating to me,” Reibman said.
Pfeiffer, who leads the project’s social science team, specializes in upstream, dialogic and coproduction communication models. “That means we’re engaged upstream in research as the technology is being designed,” Pfeiffer said. “And coproduction means that we’re taking feedback from stakeholders.”
For this project, farmers, nutritionists, veterinarians and industry representatives will share feedback with the engineers and the scientists as they’re designing these camera systems to improve feed efficiency.
“We’re frequently seeing technologies that are being developed to improve life often introduce costs, risks and challenges to the end user that are not often anticipated,” Pfeiffer said. And that can result in resistance to the technologies.
The social science team also includes professor Mark Tucker and PhD candidate Rob Weiner, both in the Department of Agricultural Sciences Education and Communication.
Writer: Steve Koppes
Feed ranks as the highest cost in dairy farming. A team of Purdue University researchers will use video analytics systems to explore how to improve feed efficiency with a $1 million grant from the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture.
Purdue University researchers will conduct initial research on improving feed and dairy cow efficiency at the Purdue Dairy Unit. Further research will continue in cooperation with operational commercial farms.
CREDIT
Purdue University Photo/Tom Campbell
Global food system could help achieve net negative emissions by 2050
Largescale changes to the global food system could enable people not only to reduce greenhouse gas emissions but to achieve net negative emissions by 2050. A team led by Maya Almaraz of Princeton University and Benjamin Houlton of Cornell University report these findings in a new study published September 6 in the open-access journal PLOS Climate.
Currently, the global food system is responsible for about one-third of greenhouse gas emissions. There are multiple opportunities within the food system to reduce emissions, and some have proposed that agriculture could act as a sink to remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and reach net negative emissions.
In the new study, researchers used a global food system model to explore how consumer choices, climate-smart technologies and reductions in food waste would each contribute to achieving net negative emissions by 2050. They estimate that, in a world of 10 billion people, a complete food system transformation could remove the equivalent of up to 33 gigatons of carbon dioxide each year. The greatest benefits would come from a shift toward a plant-based diet and the use of new technologies such as greener fertilizer production, advanced livestock feeds, agroforestry and sustainable seafood harvesting.
The study’s findings highlight the potential for future food systems to help countries meet their climate change emissions targets. This makes agriculture a unique economic sector that should be a key focus when discussing climate charge mitigation. For best effect, the researchers recommend that these approaches should be tailored to fit the local culture, economics, technology readiness and agricultural management capacities of each region.
The authors add: “We find evidence that dietary shifts cannot achieve negative emissions alone, whereas technology deployment and management can, absent dietary changes.”
Citation: Almaraz M, Houlton BZ, Clark M, Holzer I, Zhou Y, Rasmussen L, et al. (2023) Model-based scenarios for achieving net negative emissions in the food system. PLOS Clim 2(9): e0000181. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pclm.0000181
Author Countries: Denmark, Kenya, Malaysia, UK, USA
Funding: The Rockefeller Foundation provided funding to B.S.H. and M.H. support this research as well as salary for M.A. and E.M.. The World Wildlife Fund organized the research team in collaboration with the National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis. M.C. received funding from the Wellcome Trust, Our Planet Our Health (Livestock, Environment and People - LEAP), award number 205212/Z/16/Z. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.
Model-based scenarios for achieving net negative emissions in the food system
ARTICLE PUBLICATION DATE
6-Sep-2023
US adults who don't trust university-based research are less likely to see climate change as an important problem, indicating a need to develop 'a culture of trust'
US adults who don't trust university-based research are less likely to see climate change as an important problem, indicating a need to develop 'a culture of trust'.
Article Title: Why don’t Americans trust university researchers and why it matters for climate change
Author Countries: UK, USA
Funding: RD’s work is supported by the Quadrature Climate Foundation [01-21-000149] and Keynes Fund [JHVH]. RMA and DE’s work is supported by Caltech’s Resnick Sustainability Institute. RD receives salary from the Quadrature Climate Foundation and the Keynes Fund. DE and RMA receive salary from Caltech’s Resnick Sustainability Institute. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.
Is the burden of anaemia among Indian adolescent women increasing? Evidence from Indian Demographic and Health Surveys (2015–21)
ARTICLE PUBLICATION DATE
6-Sep-2023
COI STATEMENT
Competing Interests: The authors have read the journal’s policy and have the following competing interest: AS is a member of the PLOS Editorial Board outside of the submitted work. This does not alter our adherence to PLOS policies on sharing data and materials.
Autistic and neurodivergent workers report experiencing unique pressures to mask traits, to avoid negative reactions from colleagues and employers
IMAGE: MANY PEOPLE – PARTICULARLY THOSE WHO ARE NEURODIVERGENT – FEEL PRESSURE TO HIDE ASPECTS OF THEIR IDENTITY AND PERSONALITY IN THE WORKPLACE.view more
CREDIT: THIS IMAGE WAS CREATED WITH THE ASSISTANCE OF DALL·E BY OPEN AI. BRIAN IRVINE OWNS THE IMAGE, INCLUDING THE RIGHT TO REPRINT, SELL, AND MERCHANDISE (USAGE RIGHTS IN HTTPS://LABS.OPENAI.COM/ABOUT). THE IMAGE IS DISTRIBUTED UNDER THE CC-BY 4.0 LICENSE (HTTPS://CREATIVECOMMONS.ORG/LICENSES/BY/4.0/).
Autistic and neurodivergent workers report experiencing unique pressures to mask traits, to avoid negative reactions from colleagues and employers
Article Title: The workplace masking experiences of autistic, non-autistic neurodivergent and neurotypical adults in the UK
Author Countries: UK
Funding: The present study was funded by an Autistica research grant (REF: 7263) to AR and BH (https://www.autistica.org.uk/). Research at the UCL Centre for Research in Autism and Education is supported by Pears Foundation (https://pearsfoundation.org.uk/). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.
The workplace masking experiences of autistic, non-autistic neurodivergent and neurotypical adults in the UK
ARTICLE PUBLICATION DATE
6-Sep-2023
Medical cannabis use in Australian patients with chronic health issues linked to significant improvements in overall health-related quality of life and fatigue levels
Cannabis therapy also linked to improvements in anxiety, depression, and pain levels—though no changes in sleep disturbance levels reported
IMAGE: CULTIVATION FACILITY OF LITTLE GREEN PHARMA.view more
CREDIT: ARD JONGSMA (HTTPS://STILLWORDS.COM/) AND OWNED BY LITTLE GREEN PHARMA DENMARK, CC-BY 4.0 (HTTPS://CREATIVECOMMONS.ORG/LICENSES/BY/4.0/)
Australian patients with chronic health issues prescribed medical cannabis showed significant improvements in overall health-related quality of life and fatigue in the first three months of use, along with improvements in anxiety, depression, and pain. Interestingly, cannabis therapy did not seem to improve reported sleep disturbances, according to a study published September 6, 2023 in the open-access journal PLOS ONE by Margaret-Ann Tait from the University of Sydney, Australia, and colleagues.
Since 2016 in Australia, medical cannabis has been approved for prescription to patients with health conditions unresponsive to other treatment. Tait and colleagues surveyed a group of Australians with chronic health conditions prescribed medical cannabis to better understand any changes in patient-reported outcomes following cannabis treatment in this population.
The authors used survey responses from 2327 Australian patients with chronic health issues prescribed medical cannabis (THC and CBD dissolved in a medium-chain triglyceride (MCT) carrier oil) between November 2020 and December 2021. Patients were surveyed about their self-reported health-related quality of life, pain, sleep, anxiety, and depression prior to beginning cannabis therapy, after two weeks of treatment, then once a month for three months.
63 percent of the surveyed patients were female, with an average age of 51 years (range 18-97 years). The most-reported conditions being treated were chronic pain (69 percent); insomnia (23 percent); anxiety (22 percent); and anxiety/depression (11 percent); half of patients were being treated for more than one condition. Patients reported significant, clinically-meaningful improvements in health-related quality of life and fatigue measurements across the three months surveyed. Patients also reported clinically meaningful reductions in pain and significant improvements for moderate-severe anxiety and depression. However, though many patients were prescribed cannabis for insomnia, there were no overall improvements in patient-reported sleep disturbance.
The authors did not measure adverse effects as part of the study, though 30 patients formally withdrew from the study due to “unwanted side effects”. Regardless, these results suggest medical cannabis may be effective in helping manage previously-untreatable chronic conditions. The authors also note that more research and development of the cannabis oil products used in this study may be needed in order to successfully treat patients with insomnia and sleep disorders.
The authors add: “Within the first three months of medicinal cannabis therapy, participants reported improvements in their health-related quality of life, fatigue, and health conditions associated with anxiety, depression, and pain.”
Citation: Tait M-A, Costa DS, Campbell R, Norman R, Warne LN, Schug S, et al. (2023) Health-related quality of life in patients accessing medicinal cannabis in Australia: The QUEST initiative results of a 3-month follow-up observational study. PLoS ONE 18(9): e0290549. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0290549
Author Countries: Australia
Funding: The University of Sydney received funding from Little Green Pharma Ltd. to support CR and MT to conduct this study. The funder played no role in the study design; in the collection, analysis, and interpretation of data; in the writing of the report; nor in the decision to submit the article for publication. The study was independently investigator-led and all authors had full access to all data (including statistical reports and tables) in the study and take responsibility for the integrity of the data and the accuracy of the data analysis.
Health-related quality of life in patients accessing medicinal cannabis in Australia: The QUEST initiative results of a 3-month follow-up observational study
ARTICLE PUBLICATION DATE
6-Sep-2023
COI STATEMENT
The University of Sydney received funding from Little Green Pharma Pty Ltd. to support MT and CR to conduct the submitted work; LW is a paid employee of Little Green Pharma Pty Ltd.; no other relationships or activities that could appear to have influenced the submitted work. All authors have completed the ICMJE uniform disclosure form. This does not alter our adherence to PLOS ONE policies on sharing data and materials.
Cannabis-involved traffic injury emergency department visits after cannabis legalization and commercialization
About The Study: This study found large increases in cannabis involvement in emergency department visits for traffic injury over time in Ontario, Canada, which may have accelerated following nonmedical cannabis commercialization. Although the frequency of visits was rare, they may reflect broader changes in cannabis-impaired driving. Greater prevention efforts, including targeted education and policy measures, in regions with legal cannabis are indicated.
Authors: Daniel T. Myran, M.D., M.P.H., of the University of Ottawa in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, is the corresponding author.
Editor’s Note: Please see the article for additional information, including other authors, author contributions and affiliations, conflict of interest and financial disclosures, and funding and support.
About JAMA Network Open: JAMA Network Open is an online-only open access general medical journal from the JAMA Network. On weekdays, the journal publishes peer-reviewed clinical research and commentary in more than 40 medical and health subject areas. Every article is free online from the day of publication.
JOURNAL
JAMA Network Open
Commercialization of cannabis linked to increased traffic injuries
Ottawa, ON, September 5, 2023 РAnnual rates of emergency department visits for cannabis-involved traffic injury increased by 475 percent over 13 years, according to a new study from The Ottawa Hospital, Bruy̬re Research Institute, and ICES.
The study examined cannabis-involvement in emergency department (ED) visits for traffic injuries between 2010 and 2021 and looked for changes after the legalization of cannabis in October 2018 and following the commercialization of the legal market (expanded cannabis products and retail stores), which overlapped with the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Our findings highlight a concerning increase in cannabis-involvement in traffic-injury emergency visits over time, with even sharper spikes following the phases of legalization and commercialization,” says lead author and ICES post-doctoral trainee Dr. Daniel Myran, who is also a family physician and fellow at the Bruyère Research Institute and The Ottawa Hospital. “Conversely, alcohol-involvement in traffic injury ED visits did not increase over the study period, which suggests that legalization of cannabis has played an important role in rising rates.”
While documented cannabis-involvement in traffic injuries ED visits were very rare, the data raise concern about potential broader increases in cannabis-impaired driving which may have accelerated after legal market expansion.
Published in JAMA Network Open, the researchers examined medical record data of 947,604 ED visits for traffic in in Ontario, Canada. They included records from January 2010 and December 2021, but excluded ED visits from individuals who were younger than 16 (minimum legal age of driving) at the time of the ED visit.
Key findings include:
The number of cannabis-involved traffic injury ED visits increased significantly. Annual rates of visits surged by 475 percent, from 0.18 visits per 1,000 total motor vehicle collisions in 2010 to 1.01 in 2021.
Legalization of non-medical cannabis with restrictions was associated with a 94 percent increase in the rate of cannabis-involved traffic injury ED visits compared to the pre-legalization period. The subsequent phase of commercialization, which overlapped with the COVID-19 pandemic, saw an even greater increase of 223 percent in rates compared to the pre-legalization period.
Male sex (assigned at birth), living in lower-income neighborhoods, being aged 19-21, and having a prior cannabis-related ED visit were associated with higher rates of ED visits.
“The observed increase in cannabis-involved traffic injuries might reflect broader trends in cannabis-impaired driving,” says Dr. Myran. “The study highlights the need for enhanced prevention efforts, including targeted education and policy measures.”
One limitation of the study is that ED staff may have been more aware of the potential for cannabis-related traffic injuries after legalization, leading to higher levels of testing for cannabis. The researchers believe that this would not have explained all the observed increase due to the severity of traffic injuries, which would be thoroughly investigated despite policy or testing procedure changes.
The authors caution that it is too soon to understand the impact of cannabis legalization on road safety particularly because of the enormous decline in driving and mobility during the pandemic, which overlapped with much of the legalization period.
The study, “Cannabis-involvement in traffic injury emergency department visits after the legalization and subsequent commercialization of non-medical cannabis” was published in JAMA Network Open.
Author block:Myran DT, Gaudreault A, Pugliese M, Manuel D, Tanuseputro P.
ICES is an independent, non-profit research institute that uses population-based health information to produce knowledge on a broad range of healthcare issues. Our unbiased evidence provides measures of health system performance, a clearer understanding of the shifting healthcare needs of Ontarians, and a stimulus for discussion of practical solutions to optimize scarce resources. ICES knowledge is highly regarded in Canada and abroad and is widely used by government, hospitals, planners, and practitioners to make decisions about care delivery and to develop policy. For the latest ICES news, follow us on Twitter: @ICESOntario
The Bruyère Research Institute supports investigators who contribute to a better, more responsive health care system that delivers the best care to patients, residents, and families. The Institute provides solutions to improve the health and health care of aging and vulnerable Canadians. To learn more, visit http://www.bruyere.org.
The Ottawa Hospital (TOH) is one of Canada’s top learning and research hospitals where we are guided by our vision to provide the world-class and compassionate care we would all want for our loved ones. Our multi-campus hospital, affiliated with the University of Ottawa, is home to the Regional Trauma Centre and Cancer Centre, and to discoveries that are adopted globally. Backed by generous support from the community, we are focused on reshaping the future of health care to improve the health of our diverse population of patients from Eastern Ontario, Western Quebec, and Nunavut. For more information about The Ottawa Hospital, visit OttawaHospital.on.ca.
The University of Ottawa is home to over 50,000 students, faculty and staff, who live, work and study in both French and English. Our campus is a crossroads of cultures and ideas, where bold minds come together to inspire game-changing ideas. We are one of Canada’s top 10 research universities—our professors and researchers explore new approaches to today’s challenges. One of a handful of Canadian universities ranked among the top 200 in the world, we attract exceptional thinkers and welcome diverse perspectives from across the globe. www.uottawa.ca
Cannabis-Involved Traffic Injury Emergency Department Visits After Cannabis Legalization and Commercialization
ARTICLE PUBLICATION DATE
6-Sep-2023
COI STATEMENT
Dr Myran reported grants from Canadian Institutes of Health Research during the conduct of the study. No other disclosures were reported.
Experiencing negatively-perceived emotions might prompt people to withdraw from a social group - specifically, shame for individualistic societies, but anger for more collectivistic cultures
Experiencing negatively-perceived emotions might prompt people to withdraw from a social group - specifically, shame for individualistic societies, but anger for more collectivistic cultures
