Self-monitoring of blood glucose measurements and glycaemic control in a managed care paediatric type 1 diabetes practice

Background. Intensive diabetes management requires intensive insulin treatment and self-monitoring of blood glucose (SMBG) measurements to obtain immediate information on the status of the blood glucose level and to obtain data for pattern analysis on which meal planning, insulin and lifestyle adjustments can be made. The value and optimal frequency of SMBGs are often questioned.Objectives. To document the relationship between SMBG frequency and glycaemic control in a managed care paediatric type 1 diabetes practice.Methods. A retrospective analysis was performed on 141 managed care paediatric and adolescent patients over a 1-year period from 1 February 2010 to 30 January 2011. The patients were stratified according to their insulin regimen. The frequency of SMBG was analysed and glycaemic control measured by glycated haemoglobin (HbA1c).Results. A highly significant decrease (p<0.0001) in HbA1c was found when moving from two injections per day to three- and fiveinjection regimens. The average HbA1c and its variability reduced as the diabetes regimen became more intensive. A highly significant decrease (p<0.001) in HbA1c levels was detected as the frequency of SMBG increased, with an average decrease of 0.19% in HbA1c per unit increase in the number of SMBG measurements performed per day. The modal frequency of five SMBG measurements per day was required to achieve the American Diabetes Association and International Society for Pediatric and Adolescent Diabetes guideline recommended target HbA1c of <7.5% for a paediatric population.Conclusion. A beneficial relationship exists between frequency of SMBG and lower HbA1c in paediatric patients with type 1 diabetes.

Panel: Educating Future IS Researchers

As the information systems discipline grows, so do the number of programs offering graduate research degrees. These include honors (or fourth year) with research components, masters by research, and doctoral degree programs. Within these programs, we expect students to gain a deep understanding of developments and thinking about information systems and information management from both academia and practice. At the same time, we require them to obtain research skills and practice rigorous research. Thus students are faced with a quantum leap in expectations and required skills. In research, the onus on students is high: they need to find a referent discipline, select a research method and paradigm, defend the research relevance, and fulfil the requirements of adding to a body of knowledge. Frequently students are starting these programs with limited or no prior research training and with under-developed critical thinking skills. How do we maximize theses or dissertation completion rates? How can we structure programs to ensure that research is not forgotten on the library shelves, but rather forms the basis of a research career, that grows into a useful contribution to the body of knowledge? In posing these questions, we are suggesting that Ph.D. education is more than merely writing a thesis; it includes the initiation of scholars into the community of IS researchers

Investigating the beneficial traits of Trichoderma hamatum GD12 for sustainable agriculture : insights from genomics

Trichoderma hamatum strain GD12 is unique in that it can promote plant growth, activate biocontrol against pre- and post-emergence soil pathogens and can induce systemic resistance to foliar pathogens. This study extends previous work in lettuce to demonstrate that GD12 can confer beneficial agronomic traits to other plants, providing examples of plant growth promotion in the model dicot, Arabidopsis thaliana and induced foliar resistance to Magnaporthe oryzae in the model monocot rice. We further characterize the lettuce-T. hamatum interaction to show that bran extracts from GD12 and an N-acetyl-β-D-glucosamindase-deficient mutant differentially promote growth in a concentration dependent manner, and these differences correlate with differences in the small molecule secretome. We show that GD12 mycoparasitises a range of isolates of the pre-emergence soil pathogen Sclerotinia sclerotiorum and that this interaction induces a further increase in plant growth promotion above that conferred by GD12. To understand the genetic potential encoded by T. hamatum GD12 and to facilitate its use as a model beneficial organism to study plant growth promotion, induced systemic resistance and mycoparasitism we present de novo genome sequence data. We compare GD12 with other published Trichoderma genomes and show that T. hamatum GD12 contains unique genomic regions with the potential to encode novel bioactive metabolites that may contribute to GD12's agrochemically important traits. Read Full Tex

Evaluation of lion (Panthera leo) scat as a wild dog (Lycaon pictus) deterrent on game farms

DATA AVAILABILITY : The data that support this study were in part obtained from the Endangered Wildlife Trust and the Mapesu Private Game Reserve by permission. Therefore, data will only be shared upon reasonable request to the corresponding author with permission from the third partiesCONTEXT : The conservation of the Endangered African wild dog (Lycaon pictus) poses a major challenge to conservationists because outside the boundaries of protected areas, wild dogs are prone to conflict with farmers. Mitigation measures appropriate for game farmers are scarce, leaving them with limited options to reduce wild dog impact. As a result, targeted persecution is a common occurrence. However, wild dogs are subject to intraguild competition with dominant competitors, often resulting in their suppression and spatial displacement. Therefore, olfactory cues of lion presence may trigger an adverse reaction in wild dogs, and could be a means to manage wild dog movements across the landscape to prevent conflict with farmers. AIMS : We aimed to evaluate whether wild dogs can be deterred by simulating lion presence. METHODS : By using translocated scent cues in the form of lion scat deployed along the perimeter of plots, lion presence was simulated on game farms where lions were absent. The rate and duration of incursions by wild dogs, collared with GPS trackers, into control and treatment plots (‘group’) were evaluated. KEY RESULTS : Wild dog incursion rate dropped by 55.5%, and duration of incursion events dropped by 72.7%, after lion scat was deposited. Control and treatment plots were equally affected with no significant effect of the grouping on wild dog movement. The magnitude of the treatment effect differed between packs. CONCLUSION : The significant decline of wild dog movement after implementation of treatment suggests a deterrence effect. The insignificant effect of group on wild dog movement indicates large-scale avoidance triggered by a change in the wild dogs’ risk perception across the landscape following treatment. The fact that the magnitude of the treatment effect differed between packs indicates that the response to predator cues is likely to be context-dependent. IMPLICATIONS : The findings present a novel approach to managing free-roaming wild dogs by utilising biologically relevant cues, which may benefit wild dog conservation. There is a need for further research to develop the emerging field of scent studies to provide non-lethal solutions and progress towards evidence-based large carnivore management practices.The Kevin Richardson Foundation.https://www.publish.csiro.au/WRhj2024Centre for Veterinary Wildlife StudiesProduction Animal StudiesSDG-15:Life on lan

Attitudes and tolerance of private landowners shape the African wild dog conservation landscape in the greater Kruger National Park

The survival of wildlife ultimately relies on its acceptability to humans. The African wild dog Lycaon pictus is an endangered species that often comes into conflict with humans. Currently, the only viable population in South Africa resides in the Kruger National Park (KNP). To begin to understand the acceptability of wild dogs outside this important wild dog stronghold, we interviewed private landowners (n = 186) along the KNP western and southern boundaries. Respondents generally held positive attitudes towards wild dogs and had a good knowledge of them. Attitudes were also more positive when the property was part of a conservancy, indicating that the conservation landscape for wild dogs on private land outside the KNP is promising. However, the impact of edge effects such as disease transmission should not be ignored in future research, and creative solutions for mitigating these effects must be sought to ensure the future conservation of wild dogs.Jaguar Land Rover South Africa, Vaughan de la Harpe and his Climb for Kruger Wild Dogs Expedition, Richard Bosman and GCCL2 Management Services, and Rhodes University for the Henderson Prestigious Masters Postgraduate Scholarship.http://www.int-res.com/journals/esr/esr-homeam2018Mammal Research InstituteZoology and Entomolog

Modelling the Influence of Foot-and-Mouth Disease Vaccine Antigen Stability and Dose on the Bovine Immune Response

Foot and mouth disease virus causes a livestock disease of significant global socio-economic importance. Advances in its control and eradication depend critically on improvements in vaccine efficacy, which can be best achieved by better understanding the complex within-host immunodynamic response to inoculation. We present a detailed and empirically parametrised dynamical mathematical model of the hypothesised immune response in cattle, and explore its behaviour with reference to a variety of experimental observations relating to foot and mouth immunology. The model system is able to qualitatively account for the observed responses during in-vivo experiments, and we use it to gain insight into the incompletely understood effect of single and repeat inoculations of differing dosage using vaccine formulations of different structural stability

Erratum: Sequence data and association statistics from 12,940 type 2 diabetes cases and controls.

This corrects the article DOI: 10.1038/sdata.2017.179