Correlations of feed intake predicted with milk infrared spectra and breeding values in the Dutch Holstein population.

Feed is a major cost in dairy production, and substantial genetic variation in feed efficiency exists between cows. Therefore, breeders aim to improve feed efficiency of dairy cattle. However, phenotypic data on individual feed intake on commercial farms is scarce, and accurate measurements are very costly.

Genome-wide fine-mapping identifies pleiotropic and functional variants that predict many traits across global cattle populations.

The difficulty in finding causative mutations has hampered their use in genomic prediction. Here, we present a methodology to fine-map potentially causal variants genome-wide by integrating the functional, evolutionary and pleiotropic information of variants using GWAS, variant clustering and Bayesian mixture models. Our analysis of 17 million sequence variants in 44,000+ Australian dairy cattle for 34 traits suggests, on average, one pleiotropic QTL existing in each 50 kb chromosome-segment.

Improving Genomic Prediction of Crossbred and Purebred Dairy Cattle.

This study assessed the accuracy and bias of genomic prediction (GP) in purebred Holstein (H) and Jersey (J) as well as crossbred (H and J) validation cows using different reference sets and prediction strategies. The reference sets were made up of different combinations of 36,695 H and J purebreds and crossbreds. Additionally, the effect of using different sets of marker genotypes on GP was studied (conventional panel: 50k, custom panel enriched with, or close to, causal mutations: XT_50k, and conventional high-density with a limited custom set: pruned HDnGBS).

Inbreeding depression across the genome of Dutch Holstein Friesian dairy cattle.

Background: Inbreeding depression refers to the decrease in mean performance due to inbreeding. Inbreeding depression is caused by an increase in homozygosity and reduced expression of (on average) favourable dominance effects. Dominance effects and allele frequencies differ across loci, and consequently inbreeding depression is expected to differ along the genome.

Effect of Outpatient Rehabilitation on Functional Mobility After Single Total Knee Arthroplasty: A Randomized Clinical Trial.

Importance: Even without evidence, rehabilitation practitioners continue to introduce new interventions to enhance the mobility outcomes for the increasing population with a recent total knee arthroplasty (TKA).

Objective: To compare post-TKA functional mobility outcomes among 3 newly developed physical therapy protocols with a standard-of-care post-TKA rehabilitation protocol.

Design, Setting, And Participants: This randomized clinical trial included 4 study arms implemented in 15 outpatient clinics within a single health system in the Baltimore, Maryland, and Washington, District of Columbia, region from October 2013 to April 2017.

Innovative Devices Did Not Provide Superior Total Knee Arthroplasty Outcomes in Post-Operative Rehabilitation: Results From a Four-Arm Randomized Clinical Trial.

Background: Orthopedic surgeons face an increasing array of post-TKA (total knee arthroplasty) rehabilitation interventions that entail innovative equipment and devices, but their relative effectiveness remains unknown. The study compared patient outcomes among primary unilateral TKA patients participating in one of 4 post-TKA rehabilitation interventions-a standard-of-care intervention and 3 more recently developed physical therapy interventions.

Methods: The Knee Arthroplasty Rehabilitation Outcomes Study is a 4-arm randomized clinical trial conducted across 15 outpatient rehabilitation clinics.

Use of rehabilitation after hip and knee replacement in New Zealand: a national survey.

Aims: Our objective was to describe rehabilitation used before and after joint replacement in New Zealand and evaluate variation based on geography and ethnicity.

Methods: In this descriptive cross-sectional questionnaire-based study we recruited participants 45 years or older (n=608) from the New Zealand Joint Registry six months after primary total hip, total knee or uni-compartmental knee replacement.

Results: The cohort was predominantly New Zealand European (89.

Inbreeding depression due to recent and ancient inbreeding in Dutch Holstein-Friesian dairy cattle.

Background: Inbreeding decreases animal performance (inbreeding depression), but not all inbreeding is expected to be equally harmful. Recent inbreeding is expected to be more harmful than ancient inbreeding, because selection decreases the frequency of deleterious alleles over time. Selection efficiency is increased by inbreeding, a process called purging.

Joint replacement rehabilitation and the role of funding source.

Objective: To examine associations between funding source, use of rehabilitation and outcomes after total joint replacement and to evaluate variations based on demographic characteristics.

Design: Cross-sectional, questionnaire-based national survey.

Subjects: Participants aged 45 years or older (n = 522) who received either private or public funding for their surgery, were recruited from the New Zealand Joint Registry 6 months after a total hip, total knee or unicompartmental knee replacement.

Rehabilitation after total joint replacement: a scoping study.

Purpose: The evidence supporting rehabilitation after joint replacement, while vast, is of variable quality making it difficult for clinicians to apply the best evidence to their practice. We aimed to map key issues for rehabilitation following joint replacement, highlighting potential avenues for new research.

Materials And Methods: We conducted a scoping study including research published between January 2013 and December 2016, evaluating effectiveness of rehabilitation following hip and knee total joint replacement.

Coming to Terms With the IMPACT Act of 2014.

The Improving Medicare Post-Acute Transformation (IMPACT) Act of 2014 will set the course for much of postacute care well into the next decade. It (1) authorizes a uniform method of patient assessment in postacute care; (2) sets a timetable for developing, implementing, and reporting quality measures; and (3) lays the groundwork for future payment reform in postacute care. This article places the IMPACT Act into the larger arc of health care reform and change.

Advancing SCI health care to avert rehospitalization.

This commentary reflects on the high rate of health care utilization among individuals with traumatic spinal cord injury (SCI) in the first year of injury as reported by Skelton et al. in the current issue of this journal. Commentary argues that the variation in risk-adjusted rehospitalization rates suggests that there is considerable opportunity for improvement.

Factors associated with pressure ulcer risk in spinal cord injury rehabilitation.

Objective: The aim of this study was to identify patient and clinical factors most strongly associated with a spinal cord injury patient's risk for developing a pressure ulcer (PU) during rehabilitation.

Design: This is a prospective observational cohort study conducted at an urban rehabilitation hospital-based specialized spinal cord injury center. The main outcome measure was the onset of a stage 2 or higher PU.

Attending to biographical disruption: the experience of rehabilitation following tetraplegia due to spinal cord injury.

Purpose: To explore the experience of rehabilitation from the perspective of individuals with tetraplegia.

Methods: Semi-structured interviews of between 40 and 60 min were conducted with three men and one woman, with spinal injuries at C7 or higher, within 6 months of discharge from inpatient spinal cord injury (SCI) rehabilitation. Data were subject to an Interpretive Phenomenological Analysis (IPA).

Site-neutral payment for postacute care: framing the issue.

This commentary evaluates the merits of proposals in the United States to create a site-neutral payment system for postacute care for patients with select rehabilitation-related conditions. Under a site-neutral payment system, Medicare would pay providers based on patients' clinical needs, not on the peculiarities of individual postacute settings such as skilled nursing facilities and inpatient rehabilitation facilities. This commentary frames the policy choices by taking into account the research evidence on setting costs and outcomes, the policy tools and preconditions needed for an effective site-neutral payment system, and the overall direction of American health and postacute policy.

Acute rehospitalizations during inpatient rehabilitation for spinal cord injury.

Objectives: To investigate frequency of and reasons for readmission to acute care (RTAC) during inpatient rehabilitation after traumatic spinal cord injury (SCI), and to identify factors associated with RTAC.

Design: Prospective observational cohort.

Setting: Inpatient rehabilitation.

Rehospitalization in the first year of traumatic spinal cord injury after discharge from medical rehabilitation.

Objective: To determine rates of rehospitalization among discharged rehabilitation patients with traumatic spinal cord injury (SCI) in the first 12 months postinjury, and to identify factors associated with rehospitalization.

Design: Prospective observational cohort study.

Setting: Six geographically dispersed rehabilitation centers in the U.

Association of various comorbidity measures with spinal cord injury rehabilitation outcomes.

Objective: To investigate the amount of variation in short- and medium-term spinal cord injury (SCI) rehabilitation outcomes explained by various comorbidity measures, over and above patient preinjury characteristics and neurologic and functional status.

Design: Prospective observational cohort study of traumatic SCI patients receiving inpatient rehabilitation and followed up at 1 year postinjury.

Setting: Inpatient rehabilitation and community follow-up at 6 SCI treatment centers.

Comparing rehabilitation services and outcomes between older and younger people with spinal cord injury.

Objective: To compare patient and injury characteristics, rehabilitation services, and outcomes between people incurring traumatic spinal cord injury (SCI) at younger and older ages.

Design: Multisite prospective observational cohort study.

Setting: Six acute rehabilitation facilities.

Relation between inpatient and postdischarge services and outcomes 1 year postinjury in people with traumatic spinal cord injury.

Objective: To examine the association between inpatient and postdischarge rehabilitation services and function, life satisfaction, and community participation 1 year after spinal cord injury (SCI).

Design: Prospective, observational.

Setting: Six rehabilitation facilities.

Role of body weight in therapy participation and rehabilitation outcomes among individuals with traumatic spinal cord injury.

Objective: To examine the association between body weight, therapy participation, and functional outcomes among people with spinal cord injury (SCI).

Design: Multisite prospective observational cohort study.

Setting: Six acute rehabilitation facilities.

A deletion in the bovine FANCI gene compromises fertility by causing fetal death and brachyspina.

Fertility is one of the most important traits in dairy cattle, and has been steadily declining over the last decades. We herein use state-of-the-art genomic tools, including high-throughput SNP genotyping and next-generation sequencing, to identify a 3.3 Kb deletion in the FANCI gene causing the brachyspina syndrome (BS), a rare recessive genetic defect in Holstein dairy cattle.

Practice-based evidence research in rehabilitation: an alternative to randomized controlled trials and traditional observational studies.

Sound rigorous methods are needed by researchers and providers to address practical questions about risks, benefits, and costs of interventions as they occur in routine clinical practice such as: Are treatments used in daily practice associated with intended outcomes? For whom does an intervention work best? With limited clinical resources, what are the best interventions to use for specific types of patients? Answers to such questions can help clinicians, patients, researchers, and health care administrators learn from, and improve, real-world everyday clinical practice. In this article, we describe existing research designs to demonstrate clinical usefulness and comparative effectiveness of rehabilitation treatments. We compare randomized controlled trials and observational cohort studies of various types, including those that use instrumental variables or propensity scores to control for potential patient or treatment selection effects.

Outcomes and weight-bearing status during rehabilitation after arthroplasty for hip fractures.

Objective: To examine the association of weight-bearing status with patient-related variables and outcomes of inpatient rehabilitation after hip arthroplasty for acute hip fracture.

Design: A multi-site prospective observational cohort study.

Setting: Eighteen skilled nursing and inpatient rehabilitation facilities.