Improving the mental health of farmers: what types of remote support are acceptable, feasible, and improve outcomes? A feasibility RCT.

Background: The farming community have high rates of poor mental health, and are relatively 'hard to reach' with mental health services. The aim of this study was therefore to undertake a feasibility RCT, based on two mental health interventions. These were (1) CBT based 'Living Life to the Full for Farming Communities' (LLTTF-F; www.

A framework for assessing confidence in freedom from infection in animal disease control programmes.

In the Surveillance Tool for Outcome-based Comparison of FREEdom from infection (STOC free) project (https://www.stocfree.eu), a data collection tool was constructed to facilitate standardised collection of input data, and a model was developed to allow a standardised and harmonised comparison of the outputs of different control programmes (CPs) for cattle diseases.

Bacteriological Survey of Fresh Minced Beef on Sale at Retail Outlets in Scotland in 2019: Three Foodborne Pathogens, Hygiene Process Indicators, and Phenotypic Antimicrobial Resistance.

Abstract: The health and economic burden of foodborne illness is high, with approximately 2.4 million cases occurring annually in the United Kingdom. A survey to understand the baseline microbial quality and prevalence of food-related hazards of fresh beef mince on retail sale could inform risk assessment, management, and communication to ensure the safety of this commodity.

Output-based assessment of herd-level freedom from infection in endemic situations: Application of a Bayesian Hidden Markov model.

Countries have implemented control programmes (CPs) for cattle diseases such as bovine viral diarrhoea virus (BVDV) that are tailored to each country-specific situation. Practical methods are needed to assess the output of these CPs in terms of the confidence of freedom from infection that is achieved. As part of the STOC free project, a Bayesian Hidden Markov model was developed, called STOC free model, to estimate the probability of infection at herd-level.

The mental health of NHS staff during the COVID-19 pandemic: two-wave Scottish cohort study.

Background: Health and social care workers (HSCWs) are at risk of experiencing adverse mental health outcomes (e.g. higher levels of anxiety and depression) because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Site-specific variations in surface structure and Young's modulus of human hair surfaces at the nanometer scale as induced through bleach treatment.

The effect of bleach treatments on the morphology and mechanical properties of hair surfaces was measured at the nanometer scale using atomic force microscopy. We used an ultrahigh-precision relocation technique to observe the variations in these properties at precise locations on hair surfaces in their virgin state and then after each of the two bleach treatments, to rule out position-dependent fluctuations. We demonstrate that statistically significant variations in roughness and Young's modulus are observed as a result of exposure to bleach, which is known to disrupt the disulfide linkage network throughout the fiber.

Quantifying changes in the British cattle movement network.

The modelling of disease spread is crucial to the farming industry and policy makers. In some of these industries, excellent data exist on animal movements, along with the networks that these movements create, and allow researchers to model spread of disease (both epidemic and endemic). The Cattle Tracing System is an online recording system for cattle births, deaths and between-herd movements in the United Kingdom and is an excellent resource for any researchers interested in networks or modelling infectious disease spread through the UK cattle system.

Photooxidation crosslinking to recover residual stress in decellularized blood vessel.

Decellularization method based on trypsin-digestion is widely used to construct small diameter vascular grafts. However, this method will reduce the opening angle of the blood vessel and result in the reduction of residual stress. Residual stress reduced has an adverse effect on the compliance and permeability of small diameter vascular grafts.

Estimating antimicrobial usage based on sales to beef and dairy farms from UK veterinary practices.

Background: Accurate estimation of antimicrobial use (AMU) is important in assessing reduction of agricultural AMU. This cross-sectional study aimed to evaluate several approaches for estimating AMU at the herd level and to report on AMU for beef and dairy farms in Scotland.

Methods: Pharmaceutical sales data for 75 cattle herds (2011-2015) were screened for antimicrobial products and aggregated by herd and year.

Nanoparticles retard immune cells recruitment in vivo by inhibiting chemokine expression.

The large-scale utilization of nanotechnology depends on public and consumer confidence in the safety of this new technology. Studying the interaction of nanoparticles with immune cells plays a vital role in the safety assessment of nanomedicine. Although some researches have indicated that the immune cells undergo severe interfere after phagocytosis of nanoparticles, the impact on immune system of the whole body are still unclear.

SRGN, a new identified shear-stress-responsive gene in endothelial cells.

Endothelial cells (ECs) play an important role in the pathogenesis of cardiovascular disease, especially atherosclerosis (AS). The abnormal wall shear stress (WSS) which directly contacts with ECs is the key stimulating factor leading to AS. However, the underlying mechanism of ECs responding to WSS is still incompletely understood.

The British E. coli O157 in cattle study (BECS): factors associated with the occurrence of E. coli O157 from contemporaneous cross-sectional surveys.

Background: Escherichia coli O157 is a bacterial pathogen associated with severe disease in humans for which cattle are an important reservoir of infection. The identification of possible risk factors for infection in cattle could facilitate the development of control strategies and interventions to mitigate the risk to human health. The purpose of this study was to utilize data collected in 2014-2015 during the two contemporaneous cross-sectional surveys of the British E.

HbA determination from HemaSpot™ blood collection devices: comparison of home prepared dried blood spots with standard venous blood analysis.

Aim: To assess the clinical performance and patient acceptance of HemaSpot™ blood collection devices as an alternative blood collection method.

Methods: Adult men and women with any type of diabetes, routinely carrying out self-monitoring of blood glucose were recruited (n = 128). Participants provided a venous blood sample and prepared two HemaSpot dried blood spots, one at clinics and one at home.

Strategies for screening young stock for antibodies - optimising numbers to test, cut-points, & predictive values for bovine viral diarrhoea virus.

The antibody seroprevalence of young stock can be a useful indicator of recent or current infection in a herd. We examine the factors that contribute to the assessment of herd exposure to disease, via spot testing for antibody, using bovine viral diarrhoea virus (BVDv) as an example. A statistical distribution of seroprevalences for BVDv in beef herds identified three groups of herds: low, intermediate and high within-herd BVDv antibody seroprevalence.

An empirical comparison of isolate-based and sample-based definitions of antimicrobial resistance and their effect on estimates of prevalence.

Antimicrobial resistance is primarily a problem in human medicine but there are unquantified links of transmission in both directions between animal and human populations. Quantitative assessment of the costs and benefits of reduced antimicrobial usage in livestock requires robust quantification of transmission of resistance between animals, the environment and the human population. This in turn requires appropriate measurement of resistance.

British Escherichia coli O157 in Cattle Study (BECS): to determine the prevalence of E. coli O157 in herds with cattle destined for the food chain.

Escherichia coli O157 are zoonotic bacteria for which cattle are an important reservoir. Prevalence estimates for E. coli O157 in British cattle for human consumption are over 10 years old.

An evaluation of intracameral mydriasis for routine cataract surgery.

Background: Intracameral Mydrane might facilitate a more streamlined cataract service and improve the patient experience. There is limited 'real-world' evidence of its use in a UK setting.

Methods: As part of a local evaluation of cataract surgery using intracameral Mydrane (group 2; n=60), data were collected on intraoperative pupil size and postoperative visual acuity (VA), as well as the rate of mechanical pupil dilation, intraoperative floppy iris syndrome (IFIS) and complications.

Difficulties arising from the variety of testing schemes used for bovine viral diarrhoea virus (BVDV).

Globally, the eradication of bovine viral diarrhoea virus (BVDV) is still in its infancy, but eradication has been, or is being, adopted by several countries or regions. Comparisons between countries' schemes allow others to assess best practice, and aggregating published results from eradication schemes provides greater statistical power when analysing data. Aggregating data requires that results derived from different testing schemes be calibrated against one another.

Not all cows are epidemiologically equal: quantifying the risks of bovine viral diarrhoea virus (BVDV) transmission through cattle movements.

Many economically important cattle diseases spread between herds through livestock movements. Traditionally, most transmission models have assumed that all purchased cattle carry the same risk of generating outbreaks in the destination herd. Using data on bovine viral diarrhoea virus (BVDV) in Scotland as a case example, this study provides empirical and theoretical evidence that the risk of disease transmission varies substantially based on the animal and herd demographic characteristics at the time of purchase.

Replicating disease spread in empirical cattle networks by adjusting the probability of infection in random networks.

Comparisons between mass-action or "random" network models and empirical networks have produced mixed results. Here we seek to discover whether a simulated disease spread through randomly constructed networks can be coerced to model the spread in empirical networks by altering a single disease parameter - the probability of infection. A stochastic model for disease spread through herds of cattle is utilised to model the passage of an SEIR (susceptible-latent-infected-resistant) through five networks.

Associations between bovine viral diarrhoea virus (BVDV) seropositivity and performance indicators in beef suckler and dairy herds.

Data from 255 Scottish beef suckler herds and 189 Scottish dairy herds surveyed as part of national bovine viral diarrhoea virus (BVDV) prevalence studies from October 2006 to May 2008 were examined retrospectively to determine the relationship between serological status and key performance indicators derived from national cattle movement records. On average, calf mortality rates were 1.35 percentage points higher in seropositive beef herds and 3.

Changes in cardiovascular risk factors in relation to increasing ethnic inequalities in cardiovascular mortality: comparison of cross-sectional data in the Health Surveys for England 1999 and 2004.

Objectives: Reducing disease inequalities requires risk factors to decline quickest in the most disadvantaged populations. Our objective was to assess whether this happened across the UK's ethnic groups.

Design: Secondary analysis of repeated but independent cross-sectional studies focusing on Health Surveys for England 1999 and 2004.

Relative associations of cattle movements, local spread, and biosecurity with bovine viral diarrhoea virus (BVDV) seropositivity in beef and dairy herds.

The success of bovine viral diarrhoea virus (BVDV) eradication campaigns can be undermined by spread through local transmission pathways and poor farmer compliance with biosecurity recommendations. This work combines recent survey data with cattle movement data to explore the issues likely to impact on the success of BVDV control in Scotland. In this analysis, data from 249 beef suckler herds and 185 dairy herds in Scotland were studied retrospectively to determine the relative influence of cattle movements, local spread, and biosecurity on BVDV seropositivity.