Modelled impact of virtual fractional flow reserve in patients undergoing coronary angiography (VIRTU-4).

BACKGROUND: The practical application of 'virtual' (computed) fractional flow reserve (vFFR) based on invasive coronary angiogram (ICA) images is unknown. The objective of this cohort study was to investigate the potential of vFFR to guide the management of unselected patients undergoing ICA. The hypothesis was that it changes management in >10% of cases. METHODS: vFFR was computed using the Sheffield VIRTUheart system, at five hospitals in the North of England, on 'all-comers' undergoing ICA for non-ST-elevation myocardial infarction acute coronary syndrome (ACS) and chronic coronary syndrome (CCS). The cardiologists' management plan (optimal medical therapy, percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI), coronary artery bypass surgery or 'more information required') and confidence level were recorded after ICA, and again after vFFR disclosure. RESULTS: 517 patients were screened; 320 were recruited: 208 with ACS and 112 with CCS. The median vFFR was 0.82 (0.70-0.91). vFFR disclosure did not change the mean number of significantly stenosed vessels per patient (1.16 (±0.96) visually and 1.18 (±0.92) with vFFR (p=0.79)). A change in intended management following vFFR disclosure occurred in 22% of all patients; in the ACS cohort, there was a 62% increase in the number planned for medical management, and in the CCS cohort, there was a 31% increase in the number planned for PCI. In all patients, vFFR disclosure increased physician confidence from 8 of 10 (7.33-9) to 9 of 10 (8-10) (p<0.001). CONCLUSION: The addition of vFFR to ICA changed intended management strategy in 22% of patients, provided a detailed and specific 'all-in-one' anatomical and physiological assessment of coronary artery disease, and was accompanied by augmentation of the operator's confidence in the treatment strategy.

Effects of prilled fat supplementation in diets with varying protein levels on production performance of early lactating Nili Ravi Buffaloes.

Objective: The objective of the current study was to find out the independent and interactive effects of prilled fat supplementation with protein on the production performance of early lactating Nili Ravi buffaloes. Methods: Sixteen early lactating buffaloes (36.75 ± 5.79 d in milk; mean ± SE) received 4 treatments in 4 × 4 Latin-square design according to 2 × 2 factorial arrangements. The dietary treatments were:1) LPLF = low protein low fat, 2) LPHF = low protein high fat, 3) HPLF = high protein low fat, and 4) HPHF = high protein high fat. The dietary treatments contained 2 protein (8.7 and 11.7% CP, crude protein) and fat levels (2.6 and 4.6% EE, ether extract) on a dry matter basis. Results: The yields of milk and fat increased with increasing protein and fat independently (p≤0.05). Energy-, protein-, and fat-corrected milk yields also increased with increasing protein and fat independently (p≤0.05). Increasing dietary protein increased the protein yield by 3.75% and lactose yield by 3.15% and increasing dietary fat supplies increased the fat contents by 3.93% (p≤0.05). Milk yield and fat-corrected milk to dry matter intake ratios were increased at high protein and high fat levels (p≤0.05). Milk nitrogen efficiency was unaffected by dietary fat (p>0.10), whereas it decreased with increasing protein supplies (p≤0.05). Plasma urea nitrogen and cholesterol were increased by increasing protein and fat levels, respectively (p≤0.05). The values of predicted methane production reduced with increasing dietary protein and fat. Conclusion: It is concluded that prilled fat and protein supplies increased milk and fat yield along with increased ratios of milk yield and fat-corrected milk yields to dry matter intake. However, no interaction was observed between prilled fat and protein supplementation for production parameters, body weight, BCS and blood metabolites. Predicted methane production decreased with increasing protein and fat levels.

Effects of peripartal glucose precursor supplementation on lactation performance and metabolic health of primiparous and multiparous dairy cows.

OBJECTIVE: Hyperketonemia remains a major metabolic issue of serious milk production and a major health concern in early lactation cows. Oral supplementation of glucose precursors (GP) can be used to prevent hyperketonemia in dairy cows. The objective of this study was to compare the beneficial effects of orally supplementing a mixture of GP on metabolic health indicators and milk production status of primiparous (PP) and multiparous (MP) dairy cows. METHODS: Twenty-eight Holstein cows were blocked by expected date of parturition, previous lactation yield, and parity. The cows were randomly allocated to one of the four treatment groups (n = 7 cows/group) based on their parity and GP supplementation: i) PP cows fed basal diet only (PP-CON), ii) PP cows with oral supplementation of GP (PP-GP), iii) MP cows fed basal diet only (MP-CON), and iv) MP cows with oral supplementation of GP (MP-GP). Glucose precursor (glycoline liquid) was orally drenched (300 mL/d) in GP cows from 7 days prepartum through 7 days postpartum. Other than GP supplementation, all cows were fed similar pre- and postpartum basal diets. RESULTS: In both pre- and postpartum periods, serum glucose concentration was increased, whereas ß-hydroxybutyrate and free fatty acids were decreased in GP cows compared with the CON cows. Milk yield and milk components were statistically not different between GP and CON cows over the first 9 week of lactation. The yield of actual milk, energy-corrected milk, 63-days cumulative milk, colostrum yield, and calf birth weight remained higher in MP cows compared with PP cows. CONCLUSION: Oral drenching of GP around calving can be recommended to successfully improve the metabolic health and reduce the negative effects of hyperketonemia not only in MP but also in PP dairy cows.

Connected Vehicles: V2V and V2I Road Weather and Traffic Communication Using Cellular Technologies.

There is a continuous need to design and develop wireless technologies to meet the increasing demands for high-speed wireless data transfer to incorporate advanced intelligent transport systems. Different wireless technologies are continuously evolving including short-range and long-range (WiMAX, LTE, and 5G) cellular standards. These emerging technologies can considerably enhance the operational performance of communication between vehicles and road-side infrastructure. This paper analyzes the performance of cellular-based long-term evolution (LTE) and 5GTN (5G Test Network) in pilot field measurements (i.e., vehicle-to-vehicle and vehicle-to-infrastructure) when delivering road weather and traffic information in real-time environments. Measurements were conducted on a test track operated and owned by the Finnish Meteorological Institute (FMI), Finland. The results showed that 5GTN outperformed LTE when exchanging road weather and traffic data messages in V2V and V2I scenarios. This comparison was made by mainly considering bandwidth, throughput, packet loss, and latency. The safety critical messages were transmitted at a transmission frequency of 10 Hz. The performance of both compared technologies (i.e., LTE and 5GTN) fulfilled the minimum requirements of the ITS-Assisted Road weather and traffic platform to offer reliable communication for enhanced road traffic safety. The field measurement results also illustrate the advantage of cellular networks (LTE and 5GTN) with a clear potential to use it heterogeneously in future field tests with short-range protocols, e.g., IEEE 802.11p.

Nitrogen balance, production performance, and plasma metabolites of lactating buffaloes in response to varying dietary protein levels.

Protein imbalance in dairy rations affects N balance and milk N efficiency (MNE) resulting in extra N excretion to the environment. The objective of this study was to investigate the changes in N balance, milk production, and plasma metabolites of lactating buffaloes in response to different dietary crude protein (CP) supplies. Six multiparous Nili Ravi buffaloes in mid-lactation were used in this experiment in a 3 × 3 Latin square design. The treatments were diets with 9.26, 10.0, and 11.4% of CP on DM basis. All the diets were iso-caloric (2.05 Mcal metabolizable energy/kg of DM), whereas oat silage was mixed with the respective concentrate and offered once daily as total mixed ration. Milk fat content and yields of actual milk, 4% fat corrected milk, milk fat, protein, and lactose increased by 3.97, 9.63, 11.8, 6.23, and 6.57%, respectively. Milk protein content tended to increase linearly with increasing dietary CP levels. Milk N secreted as g/d increased, while as percent of N intake decreased. The resulting decrease in MNE (13.7%) was 3.45 greater than the increase in milk yield observed by increasing dietary CP from 9.26 to 11.4% of DM. Total manure N increased linearly in terms of g/d and tended to increase as percent of N excreted. Excretion rate of N also increased linearly by 32%. In conclusion, milk yield, milk fat, protein, and lactose yields increased; however, decreased MNE indicates relatively greater N losses as observed by increased N excretion rate when CP level increased from 9.26 to 11.4% in the diet of lactating buffaloes.

Physiological insights into sulfate and selenium interaction to improve drought tolerance in mung bean.

The present study involved two pot experiments to investigate the response of mung bean to the individual or combined SO4 2- and selenate application under drought stress. A marked increment in biomass and NPK accumulation was recorded in mung bean seedlings fertilized with various SO4 2- sources, except for CuSO4. Compared to other SO4 2- fertilizers, ZnSO4 application resulted in the highest increase in growth attributes and shoot nutrient content. Further, the combined S and Se application (S + Se) significantly enhanced relative water content (16%), SPAD value (72%), photosynthetic rate (80%) and activities of catalase (79%), guaiacol peroxidase (53%) and superoxide dismutase (58%) in the leaves of water-stressed mung bean plants. Consequently, the grain yield of mung bean was markedly increased by 105% under water stress conditions. Furthermore, S + Se application considerably increased the concentrations of P (47%), K (75%), S (80%), Zn (160%), and Fe (15%) in mung bean seeds under drought stress conditions. These findings indicate that S + Se application potentially increases the nutritional quality of grain legumes by stimulating photosynthetic apparatus and antioxidative machinery under water deficit conditions. Our results could provide the basis for further experiments on cross-talk between S and Se regulatory pathways to improve the nutritional quality of food crops. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s12298-021-00992-6.

Heterogeneous (ITS-G5 and 5G) Vehicular Pilot Road Weather Service Platform in a Realistic Operational Environment.

VANETs (Vehicular Ad hoc Networks) operating in conjunction with road-side infrastructure connecting road-side infrastructure are an emerging field of wireless communication technology in the vehicular communication's domain. For VANETs, the IEEE 802.11p-based ITS-G5 is one of the key standards for communication globally. This research work integrates the ITS-G5 with a cellular-based 5G Test Network (5GTN). The resulting advanced heterogeneous Vehicular Network (VN) test-bed works as an effective platform for traffic safety between vehicles and road-side-infrastructure. This test-bed network provides a flexible framework to exploit vehicle-based weather data and road observation information, creating a service architecture for VANETs that supports real-time intelligent traffic services. The network studied in this paper aims to deliver improved road safety by providing real-time weather forecast, road friction information and road traffic related services. This article presents the implementation of a realistic test-bed in Northern Finland and the field measurement results of the heterogeneous VANETs considering the speed of vehicle, latency, good-put time and throughput. The field measurement results have been obtained in a state-of-the-art hybrid VANET system supporting special road weather services. Based on field measurement results, we suggest an efficient solution for a comprehensive hybrid vehicular networking infrastructure exploiting road weather information.