Objective To compare fixed-time artificial insemination (FTAI) conception rates and serum progesterone concentrations at the time of FTAI for cows treated with the original Ovsynch program (OV) with those treated with a modified Ovsynch (MO) program.Design This was a randomised clinical trial. MethodsThe study used five split-calving, pasture-based dairy herds in Southwest Victoria, Australia. Controls (n = 851) received the OV program: day 0 gonadotropin-releasing hormone, day 7 prostaglandin F 2α (PGF), day 9 gonadotropin-releasing hormone and FTAI at day 10. The treatment group (n = 852) received a MO program with an additional prostaglandin injection on day 8. Subsets of cows from each group were sampled for blood progesterone at the time of FTAI. ResultsThe treatment group demonstrated FTAI conception rates that were 7% (95% confidence interval 2%-12%) greater than the control group. After adjusting for the effect of age, days in milk at Mating Start Date and herd, the odds of conception using FTAI was 1.36 (95% confidence interval 1.12-1.66) times greater for treatment group cows compared with control group cows. The variability of serum progesterone concentrations at the time of FTAI was significantly less for treatment group cows compared with control group cows.Conclusion For Holstein-Friesian and Holstein-Friesian crossbred cows managed in pasture-based dairy herds in southern Australia, a MO protocol, including a second injection of prostaglandin F 2α on day 8, increased FTAI conception rates compared with cows receiving the OV protocol.

ForwardThe Life Study protocol was developed by the scientific leadership team together with experts from a wide range of disciplines drawn from the biomedical, clinical and social science research communities who formed part of a wider affiliated scientific network. The protocol sets out the key research themes of the study, chosen to capitalise on the unique opportunities afforded by the Study design, and to enable a wide range of research questions and policy issues relevant to children to be explored.The Life Study protocol was initially developed in response to the call specification for bids for a leadership team for a new birth cohort study issued by ESRC and MRC in 2009. This call specification was informed by preceding reviews commissioned from Longview by the ESRC between 2006 and 2009. Following international peer review and interviews by an international panel, ESRC awarded funding to the proposal from the leadership team led by Professor Dezateux. Funding was not released until 2011.The Life Study protocol was developed by members of the Scientific Protocol Development Group with input from Scientific Working Groups, each co-chaired by social and biomedical scientists. Ad hoc subgroups and external experts contributed on focussed aspects. A public consultation took place on the draft protocol in July 2012, followed by an independently conducted web survey with input from a wide range of disciplines. The Life Study Scientific Steering Committee (members listed below) is responsible for the content of this protocol, having approved its final content and any revisions needed in the light of experience following piloting. They, and key members of the Life Study team, are its authors. This document sets out the Life Study protocol, approved by the Research Ethics Committee in January 2015 when the first Life Study Centre opened and which was in operation at the time the decision to close Life Study was taken by the funders in July 2015. Members of the Scientific AcknowledgementsThe authors acknowledge with gratitude the contributions made by the chairs and members of the Life Study Scientific Advisory and Working Groups and by individual experts to the development of the Life Study protocol, sampling design, questionnaires, consent and record linkage strategies all of whom gave generously of their time, expertise and advice on specific questions, instruments and topics.Special thanks are extended to Professor Paul Burton -formerly a member of the Scientific Steering Committee -for his expert contributions to the initial proposal and the final protocol in respect of power and sample size calculations.The support of the Centre for Facilitation in using consensus methods to review and prioritise the questionnaire content is gratefully acknowledged.

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for their expertise in assisting with the development of this Strategy and colleagues at the UCL Digital Presence for their assistance with the Life Study website. We are also grateful to the communications teams of our NHS partners at Barking, Havering and Redbridge University Hospitals NHS Trust and the University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust for their commitment to and support of Life Study.The Life Study Scientific Steering Committee would also like to thank Sue Banton of the Life Study Strategic Advisory Committee for her helpful advice over the course of the Study.