Brevipalpus mites pose a significant threat to citrus and coffee production worldwide due to their transmission of plant viruses. This study surveyed all seven provinces of Costa Rica to identify Brevipalpus species associated with these economically vital crops. The investigation revealed the presence of five Brevipalpus species, including B. yothersi, a major vector of citrus leprosis cilevirus in numerous countries, B. papayensis, previously linked to coffee ringspot dichorhavirus in South America, B. phoenicis, B. californicus, and B. azores, vectors of dichorhaviruses causing citrus leprosis diseases. Despite their presence, no viral symptoms were observed in the plantations surveyed. Generalized linear models revealed different distributional patterns across altitude gradients; the probability of occurrence of B. papayensis increased with altitude, whereas the detection of B. yothersi declined at higher elevations across both hosts. The other three species occurred at very low frequencies; B. californicus and B. phoenicis were positively associated with altitude, though the latter only on Citrus. In contrast, B. azores slight decline with altitude on Citrus. In addition, the study documented 17 predatory mite species, 14 species belonging to Phytoseiidae and three to Stigmaeidae. This study examines the relationship between Brevipalpus distribution and altitude using empirical survey data across an entire country, demonstrating that Brevipalpus distributions in Costa Rica on these two hosts are strongly shaped by altitude and host, with species responding in contrasting ways. Such ecological differentiation has important implications for predicting virus risk under changing environmental conditions and provides a critical baseline for designing integrated pest management strategies in citrus and coffee production systems.
Background and aim: High intensity gait training (HIGT) involves walking at 70-85% of maximal cardiovascular capacity. Although evidence supporting the use of high intensity gait training for stroke patients is increasing, its clinical implementation remains limited. The aim was to elucidate physiotherapists' experiences with delivering high intensity training to persons with stroke in municipality rehabilitation, hospital-based neurorehabilitation or at home. Methods: This is a qualitative interview study inspired by the phenomenological perspective. Data is analyzed using content analysis. Results: Interviews were conducted with ten experienced physiotherapists working in neurorehabilitation. The overarching theme-High-intensity gait training after stroke: advantages and barriers-was supported by four categories: 1) Organization and planning, 2) Challenges for high intensity gait training in the practical field, 3) Match between high intensity gait training, patients, and physiotherapists, and 4) Integrating high intensity gait training into daily life at home. Conclusions: Physiotherapists considered high intensity gait training motivating and meaningful. They expressed it useable across sectors, although lack of equipment was perceived as a barrier to home-based training which has the potential benefits of being more meaningful and less energy demanding. High intensity gait training can be provided as group training to support motivational benefits. Participants expressed conflicting opinions, partly because high intensity gait training does not explicitly address movement quality during gait. However, high intensity gait training was generally perceived as motivating and beneficial in helping patients achieve their rehabilitation goals.
ABSTRACT The Eurasian crane (Grus grus), a symbol of conservation success in Europe, has made an impressive recovery since the 1979 Birds Directive, with current estimates reaching around 590,000 individuals. However, this transition from vulnerability to abundance brings new challenges, particularly arising from interactions with human activities (e.g., conflicts with agriculture). Understanding the future dynamics of crane populations requires knowledge of demographic parameters that are crucial for predicting population trends and informing management and conservation measures. We analysed 37 years of data (1985–2021) from 5049 juvenile‐banded cranes and 172,725 resightings, providing estimates of survival rates across age classes and over time. Our findings indicate that juveniles exhibit the lowest survival rates, while sub‐adults have higher survival, and adults show a decrease in their survival probability with age, as expected with the senescence process. Over the study period, juvenile survival declined by almost 30% overall, while sub‐adults experienced a smaller decrease, and adults showed no change. Life expectancy at birth was 10 years, and maximum lifespan reached 25 years. We found no difference in the survival estimates of males and females. The decline in juvenile survival over the years highlights the growing challenges likely driven by habitat degradation, climate change, agricultural practices, and increasing population densities. These findings align with previous research on crane survival and underscore the importance of understanding age‐specific survival dynamics in response to environmental changes. This study highlights the challenges facing Eurasian crane populations, where further declines in juvenile and immature survival rates could lead to population declines unless compensated by a stable or higher adult survival. Effective conservation strategies will require further research into reproductive success and details on age‐specific mortality causes and environmental pressures, although targeted interventions can already be implemented to mitigate current impacts of habitat degradation and climate change.
OBJECTIVE: To describe the cumulative injury proportion after 1,000 and 2,000 kilometers of running amongst runners from 87 countries worldwide using wearable devices. Secondly, examine if the cumulative injury proportion differed between runners from different countries. DESIGN: Cohort study with an 18-month follow-up. METHODS: Runners aged ≥18 years who were familiar with the English language, and who were using a Garmin sports watch that supported tracking of running were eligible for inclusion. The exposure was residential country; self-reported running-related injury was the primary outcome. A generalized linear model was used to estimate the cumulative injury proportion for each country and the cumulative risk difference between the countries (country with the lowest risk used as reference). Data were analyzed at 1,000 and 2,000 kilometers (km). RESULTS: The proportions of injured runners among the 7,605 included runners from 87 different countries were 57.6% [95%CI:56.9%-59.0%] at 1,000 km and 69.8% [95%CI:68.3%-71.4%] at 2,000 km. Runners from the Czech Republic (40.3% [95%CI:28.7%-51.9%]), Austria (41.1% [95%CI:25.9%-52.2%]), and Germany (41.9% [95%CI:36.0%-47.9%]) had the lowest cumulative injury proportions at 1,000 km, whereas Ireland (75.4%[95%CI:60.4%-90.4%]), Great Britain and Northern Ireland (73.2% [95%CI:69.3%-77.1%]) and Finland (67.5% [95%CI: 47.2%-87.7%]) had the highest proportions. At 2,000 km, Poland (47.7% [95%CI:36.0%- 59.4%]), Slovenia (52.2% [95%CI:28.5%-75.8%]), and Croatia (54.2% [95%CI:35.6%-72.7%]) had the lowest proportions of injured runners. The highest cumulative injury proportions were reported in Great Britain and Northern Ireland (83.6% [95%CI:79.6%-87.6%]) and the Netherlands (78.3% [95%CI:70.6%-85.9%)]. CONCLUSION: More than half of the population of adult runners from 87 countries using wearable devices sustained a running-related injury during follow-up. There were considerable between-country differences in injury proportions.
Abstract The objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of supplementation of vitamin B complex on post-weaning performance of beef calves. The study was conducted during fall of 2023 at Eastern Oregon Agriculture Research Center (EOARC; Burns, OR). At weaning (d 0), 63 calves [Angus × Hereford; body weight (BW) = 252 ± 3.6 kg] were randomly assigned to 1 of 3 treatments: 1) Control, 2) VitB1, or 3) VitB2. Calves assigned to Control treatment served as a negative control and were not supplemented with vitamin B complex. Calves assigned to treatment VitB1 were supplemented at 1g/calf daily, while calves assigned to VitB2 treatment were supplemented at 2g/calf daily of vitamin B complex during the 42 d of preconditioning. Upon weaning processing, calves were allocated to 21 pens (3 calves/pen) and treatments were allocated to each pen (7 pens/treatment). Vitamin B complex [Vivalto, pantothenic acid (B5; 40,000 mg/kg), pyridoxine (B6; 20,000 mg/kg), folic acid (B9; 3,200 mg/kg), biotin (B7; 3,200,000 mcg/kg), cobalamin (B12; 320,000 mcg/kg); Selko USA, Indianapolis, IN] supplementation was offered at pen level beginning on d 1 and until the end of the preconditioning phase (d 42). Vitamin B complex was offered to calves assigned to vitamin B complex treatment mixed with 1.3 kg of dried distiller’s grains. Additionally, calves had free access to chopped alfalfa-grass hay mix and whole corn. Pen intake was recorded daily. On d 0, BW and blood samples were collected from all calves. Additional blood and BW were collected on d 1, 3, 7, 14, 21, 42 post-weaning. Body weights were used to calculate calf average daily gain (ADG) and blood samples were assayed for acute phase proteins (ceruloplasmin and haptoglobin). Additional blood samples will be analyzed for cortisol and vitamin B concentrations. Variables were analyzed considering pen as the experimental unit and pen(treatment) as a random effect. Blood variables were evaluated as repeated measures and effects of treatment, day, and treatment the interactions were analyzed with the MIXED procedure of SAS (SAS Inst. Inc., Cary, NC). Significance was set at P ≤ 0.05. No treatment effects (P = 0.98) were observed for final BW (283, 283, and 284 kg respectively for Control, Vit1, and Vit2) or for ADG (P = 0.53; 0.735, 0.795, and 0.747 kg/d respectively for Control, Vit1, and Vit2). Similarly, no treatment effects were observed for the acute phase proteins analyzed, ceruloplasmin (P = 0.66; 27, 30, and 33 µg/dL respectively for Control, Vit1, and Vit2) and haptoglobin (P = 0.41; 0.55, 0.62, and 0.59 mg/mL, respectively for Control, Vit1, and Vit2). Supplementation of vitamin B complex to beef calves post-weaning does not seem to affect calf performance, regardless of the level of supplementation.
