Eine Erhebung zur Parasitenkontrolle auf biologisch wirtschaftenden Schaf- und Ziegenbetrieben in der Schweiz

To determine the current control measures for strointestinal nematodes (GIN) on Swiss organic small ruminant farms, a phone questionnaire was developed and conducted. The survey also aimed to assess the understanding and implementation of possible alternative GIN control options. In total, 52 meat sheep and 58 dairy goat farm questionnaires were completed, and it was found that in general, farmers were aware of the potential benefit of an adequate grazing management to reduce GIN infection. However, practical realisation was often limiting. On average it was stated that adult meat sheep and dairy goats were drenched 1.5 and 1.3 times per animal and year, respectively, whilst lambs and kids were treated 1.6 and 1.3 times per animal and year, respectively. Sixteen percent of the interviewed organic goat farmers and 10% of the organic meat sheep farmers stated that they have confirmed anthelmintic resistance on their properties

Transfer of quantum states using finite resources

We discuss the problem of transfering a qubit from Alice to Bob using a noisy quantum channel and only finite resources. As the basic protocol for the transfer we apply quantum teleportation. It turns out that for a certain quality of the channel direct teleportation combined with qubit purification is superior to entanglement purification of the channel. If, however, the quality of the channel is rather low one should simply apply an estimation-preparation scheme.Comment: 9 pages RevTeX including 5 figures, replaced with revised version, to appear in Phys. Rev.

Advances in Computational Social Science and Social Simulation

Aquesta conferència és la celebració conjunta de la "10th Artificial Economics Conference AE", la "10th Conference of the European Social Simulation Association ESSA" i la "1st Simulating the Past to Understand Human History SPUHH".Conferència organitzada pel Laboratory for Socio­-Historical Dynamics Simulation (LSDS-­UAB) de la Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona.Readers will find results of recent research on computational social science and social simulation economics, management, sociology,and history written by leading experts in the field. SOCIAL SIMULATION (former ESSA) conferences constitute annual events which serve as an international platform for the exchange of ideas and discussion of cutting edge research in the field of social simulations, both from the theoretical as well as applied perspective, and the 2014 edition benefits from the cross-fertilization of three different research communities into one single event. The volume consists of 122 articles, corresponding to most of the contributions to the conferences, in three different formats: short abstracts (presentation of work-in-progress research), posters (presentation of models and results), and full papers (presentation of social simulation research including results and discussion). The compilation is completed with indexing lists to help finding articles by title, author and thematic content. We are convinced that this book will serve interested readers as a useful compendium which presents in a nutshell the most recent advances at the frontiers of computational social sciences and social simulation researc

Investigation on success of ventilation with a laryngeal mask or facemask by medical students unexperienced in airway management - a teaching evaluation from manikin training to patient

Ventilation of the patient's lungs is an elementary skill of medical practice. Especially in the treatment of critically ill patients. Tracheal tube placement is a complex skill and unsuccessful in an unacceptably high percentage when performed by unskilled providers. If tracheal tube placemant fails, international guidelines recommend ventilation by facemask or, as an alternative, insertion of a supraglottic airway device. There is growing evidence and scientific consensus that supraglottic airway devices should be used as a first measure by personnel unexperienced with tracheal intubation as manikin trials have shown that placement of supraglottic airway devices is easy even for unexperienced users. However, there is an ongoing discussion to what extend manikin based studies can be transferred to real patients. Therefore this study compares the facemask and the LMA-Supreme(TM) laryngeal mask with regard to how well airway skills were transferred from manikin to patient by medical students during their anaesthesia rotation. The students were required to ventilate the lungs of a manikin using a facemask and then position a LMA-Supreme(TM) and ventilate the lungs. This process was then repeated on anaesthetised patients with identical respirator settings. Sixty-three students participated in the manikin study. The success rate for ventlating the lungs was 100% for both devices, but the mean (SD) time to achieve successful ventilation was 27.8 (24.4) s with the facemask compared with 38.6 (22.0) s with the LMA-Supreme(TM) (p = 0.008). Fifty-one of the students progressed to the second part of the study. In anaesthetised patients, the success rate for ventilating the lungs was lower for the facemask, 27/41 (66%) compared to the LMA-Supreme(TM) 37/41 (90%, p = 0.006). For 26 students who succeeded with both devices, the tidal volume was lower using the facemask, 431 (192) ml compared with the LMA-Supreme 751 (221) ml (p = 0.001), but the time to successful ventilation did not differ, 60.0 (26.2) s vs 57.3 (26.6) s (p = 0.71). Therefore, manikin training alone is of limited value for education of medical students, as well as the results of manikin-based studies regarding single airway skills or the performance of distinct airway devices are of limited value. Based on the findings of this study, supraglottic airway devices, such as the LMA-Supreme(TM), might be a more appropriate option for novices in airway management as compared to facemask ventilation and future guidelines should take this into account.2015-10-2

Sensitivity of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus type 2 rapid antigen point-of-care tests in vaccinated patients

Rapid antigen point-of-care tests (antigen POC tests) are frequently used to detect COVID-19 infections. Based on clinical impressions, we suspected that the sensitivity of antigen POC tests might be lower in vaccinated patients. OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the sensitivity of antigen POC tests in vaccinated patients. DESIGN, SETTING AND PARTICIPANTS: We retrospectively evaluated all patients over 18 years of age that tested positive for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus type 2 (SARS-CoV-2) in November 2021 at our institution, whose antigen POC test result had been recorded. We considered patients who were either fully vaccinated or unvaccinated, as well as whether they were symptomatic. OUTCOME MEASURE AND ANALYSIS: We calculated the sensitivity of antigen POC tests in vaccinated and unvaccinated as well as in symptomatic and asymptomatic patients and compared the results. RESULTS: A total of 4080 reverse transcription PCR tests were performed in our institution in November 2021, of which 360 patients tested positive for SARS-CoV-2. Of those, 234 patients met inclusion criteria and were further evaluated. The sensitivity of the antigen POC test was only 39.4% [95% confidence interval (CI), 31.3–48.1%] in vaccinated patients and differed significantly from the sensitivity of 53.3% (95% CI, 43.9–62.4%) in unvaccinated patients (difference of sensitivities, 13.9%; 95% CI, 1.1–26.1%). In symptomatic patients, the sensitivity increased by only 11.8% from 45.7% in all patients (95% CI, 39.5–52.1%) to 57.5% in symptomatic patients (95% CI, 49.9–64.7%). In asymptomatic patients, the antigen POC test was only able to detect SARS-CoV-2 positive patients in 16.4% of the cases (95% CI, 9.4–27.1%). CONCLUSION: Point-of-care antigen tests are likely not useful for ruling out SARS-CoV-2 infection, especially in vaccinated and asymptomatic patients, potentially due to lower viral load. Moreover, the use of these tests might lead to a false sense of security, especially when used by the public as part of a public health testing strategy

Diagnostic gap in Bovine viral diarrhea virus serology during the periparturient period in cattle

Detection of antibodies against Bovine viral diarrhea virus (BVDV) in serum and milk by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) is a crucial part of all ongoing national schemes to eradicate this important cattle pathogen. Serum and milk are regarded as equally suited for antibody measurement. However, when retesting a seropositive cow 1 day after calving, the serum was negative in 6 out of 9 different ELISAs. To further investigate this diagnostic gap around parturition, pre- and postcalving serum and milk samples of 5 cows were analyzed by BVDV antibody ELISA and serum neutralization test (SNT). By ELISA, 3 out of the 5 animals showed a diagnostic gap in the serum for up to 12 days around calving but all animals remained positive in SNT. In milk, the ELISA was strongly positive after birth but antibody levels decreased considerably within the next few days. Because of the immunoglobulin G (IgG)1-specific transport of serum antibodies into the mammary gland for colostrum production, the IgG subclass specificity of the total and the BVDV-specific antibodies were determined. Although all 5 animals showed a clear decrease in the total and BVDV-specific IgG1 antibody levels at parturition, the precalving IgG1-to-IgG2 ratios of the BVDV-specific antibodies were considerably lower in animals that showed the diagnostic gap. Results showed that BVDV seropositive cows may become "false" negative in several ELISAs in the periparturient period and suggest that the occurrence of this diagnostic gap is influenced by the BVDV-specific IgG subclass response of the individual animal