Spectral entropy and haemodynamic response to surgery during sevoflurane anaesthesia

No Abstract. Southern African Journal of Anaesthesia and Analgesia Vol. 12(1) 2006: 21-2

Agreement between NRS-2002 and MUST nutrition risk scores – a retrospective study

No Abstrac

A systematic review of reviews to identify key research opportunities within the field of eHealth implementation

Introduction: This paper is a systematic review of the relevant literature surrounding the implementation and utilisation of eHealth to identify key challenges and opportunities to future eHealth applications. Methods: NHS Evidence, PubMed, IEEE Explorer, Cochrane Library and JMIR Publications were all searched for reviews published between 1 January 2010 and 30 June 2017. Results: A total of 47 papers met the final inclusion criterion. The published literature focused on a wide array of challenges categorised into five areas, facing the implementation and utilisation of eHealth; from this, four areas of opportunity to advance eHealth were identified. Discussion: The five challenge areas are (C1) stakeholders and system users, (C2) technology and interoperability, (C3) cost-effectiveness and start-up costs, (C4) legal clarity and legal framework and (C5) local context and regional differences. The four opportunity areas are (O1) participation and contribution, (O2) foundation and sustainability, (O3) improvement and productivity and (O4) identification and application. Conclusion: The literature analysed in this systematic review identifies design and implementation priorities that can guide the development and utilisation of future eHealth initiatives

The Relationship between Servant Leadership, Affective Commitment: Organizational Citizenship Behavior and Team Effectiveness

The goal of the study was to conduct an analysis of the relationships between servant leadership, affective team commitment, OCB and team effectiveness in the South African school system. A non-probability sample made up of 288 school teachers was drawn from 38 schools in the Western Cape Province of South Africa. Item analysis and confirmatory factor analysis were used to analyse the data. Positive relationships were found between servant leadership and team effectiveness; servant leadership and affective team commitment, affective team commitment and team effectiveness, servant leadership and OCB; affective team commitment and OCB; and OCB and team effectiveness

An Evaluation of Grazing Value of Maize and Companion Crops for Wintering Lactating Ewes

Northwestern KwaZulu-Natal (KZN), in South Africa, is well known for its sheep production from natural rangeland in summer (October to May). During winter, however, the nutritional value of the rangeland cannot maintain young growing sheep or pregnant and lactating ewes. With this in mind, Lyle (1991) suggested the use of planted pastures for the winter. Crichton et al. (1998) and Esterhuizen & Niemand (1989) suggested the use of maize crop residues for both cattle and sheep during winter, whereas Moore (1997) evaluated grazing (not harvested) maize for this purpose. He found that the crude protein content of the crop was inadequate and for this protein-rich companion crops were evaluated in this study

Neue Nationalbibliotheken in Europa : Konzeption und Bau

In dieser Arbeit werden Die Deutsche Bibliothek, die Bibliothèque Nationale de France und die estnische Nationalbibliothek vorgestellt. Nach einer kurzen Definition von Nationalbibliotheken und ihren Aufgaben werden diese 3 Bibliotheken in ihrer Konzeption und Architektur beschrieben. Es folgt eine Bewertung hinsichtlich ihrer Funktionalität und Benutzerfreundlichkeit, sowie eine Stellungnahme der Verfasserin

Biochar and Ash Amendments to Improve Soil Phosphorus Fertility, Water Relations and Retention

Biochar and ash, both as separate products and including ash as a component of biochar, are produced as by-products from thermochemical decomposition and bio-energy generation processes such as combustion, gasification, or pyrolysis. The addition of biochar to improve nutrient uptake and retention has been studied in various settings and with a variety of crops. However, biochar, when applied without other treatments, has often been found to have limited impact on crop yields in Canadian prairie soils. This study aimed to determine the effects of biochar amendments, with and without added phosphorus fertilizer, on soils and crops in the Canadian prairies as related to crop yield, phosphorus uptake and recovery, soil phosphorus retention, water dynamics and phosphorus loss in leachate and runoff. This thesis reports on studies undertaken in 2022 with biochar and phosphorus fertilizer amendments on nutrient poor soils from the brown and black soil zones in southern Saskatchewan (controlled environment study) and from the brown soil zone at a site near Central Butte, Saskatchewan (field study). Under optimal conditions of the growth chamber, biochar derived from canola hull, manure and willow feedstocks were shown to contribute some available P for plant uptake, with observed recovery of applied biochar P being at best about 50% of Triple Superphosphate fertilizer. The biochars increased residual P in soil in both chamber and field depending on feedstock, with manure and willow biochars as well as the meat and bonemeal ash being the most effective, but the effects of biochar amendments on crop yield were variable, leading to the conclusion that the effects are at least partly related to the biochar feedstock and production conditions, as has been shown in many other studies on biochar. An important benefit of biochar amendment observed in the study was increased phosphorus retention in soil that contributed to increased post-harvest labile P as well as reduced leaching and snowmelt runoff export. To a lesser extent the biochars contributed to increased water holding capacity and water infiltration. The results of this study indicate that biochars and ash can potentially benefit canola and wheat production, by enhancing P nutrition and recovery, and that a balance may be obtained between biochar supplying P during the growing season while at the end of the season reducing P loss in the spring snowmelt runoff or during leaching events. Biochar added at 10 tonnes per ha showed the best performance in terms of agricultural improvement potential under both controlled environment and field conditions when applied to brown and black chernozem soils from southern Saskatchewan

An Agronomic Evaluation of Grazing Maize Combined with Companion Crops for Sheep in Northwestern KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa

Northwestern KwaZulu-Natal (KZN), in South Africa, is well known for its sheep production from natural rangeland in summer (October to May). During winter however, the nutritional value of the rangeland cannot maintain young growing sheep or pregnant and lactating ewes. With this in mind Lyle (1991) suggested the use of planted pastures for the winter. Crichton, Gertenbach & Henning (1998) and Esterhuizen & Niemand (1989) suggested maize crop residues for both cattle and sheep during winter, whereas Moore (1997) evaluated grazing maize (not harvested) for this purpose. He found that the protein content of the crop was inadequate and for this reason, protein rich companion crops were evaluated in this study

An Agronomic Evaluation of Grazing Maize Combined with Companion Crops for Sheep in Northwestern KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa

Northwestern KwaZulu-Natal (KZN), in South Africa, is well known for its sheep production from natural rangeland in summer (October to May). During winter however, the nutritional value of the rangeland cannot maintain young growing sheep or pregnant and lactating ewes. With this in mind Lyle (1991) suggested the use of planted pastures for the winter. Crichton, Gertenbach & Henning (1998) and Esterhuizen & Niemand (1989) suggested maize crop residues for both cattle and sheep during winter, whereas Moore (1997) evaluated grazing maize (not harvested) for this purpose. He found that the protein content of the crop was inadequate and for this reason, protein rich companion crops were evaluated in this study

Functional MRI studies of memory, attention and treatment response in prodromal Alzheimer’s Disease

BACKGROUND: Alzheimer's disease (AD) is characterised by initial episodic amnesia followed by deficits in divided attention. Amnestic mild cognitive impairment (AMCI), considered prodromal for AD, is characterised by isolated amnesia but attentional deficits have also been observed. Amnesia in AD is ascribed to medial temporal lobe pathology; however, attention deficits are likely due to lesions in other areas that demonstrate early AD neuropathology e.g. prefrontal cortex and basal forebrain cholinergic system. These lesions could contribute to episodic amnesia and causes attention deficits in prodromal AD. Acetylcholinesterase inhibitor drugs are used as treatment in AD and their effects on memory and attention remain to be determined in AMCI. METHODS: Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) was used to study divided and selective attention, and verbal episodic memory in AMCI (n=20) by comparison to controls (n=10). AMCI were followed to identify those that progressed to AD. A controlled treatment trial was conducted to study the effects of the acetylcholinesterase inhibitor rivastigmine. RESULTS: The AMCI sample had a high rate of progression to AD (n=12). AMCI demonstrated slower reaction times and altered cortical activation during divided attention. Reaction times correlated inversely with default mode network activation. Cortical activation was altered during selective attention. Verbal amnesia was associated with semantic deficits that correlated with altered cortical activation. Rivastigmine improved reaction times on divided attention but did not affect memory. CONCLUSIONS: Divided attention is impaired and selective attention processing altered in prodromal AD. Verbal amnesia appears partly related to executive failure. Furthermore, correlations between memory and attention deficits suggest that executive failure contributes to deficits across cognitive domains in prodromal AD. Activation changes in prodromal AD during memory and attention processing suggest impaired regulation and failure of cortical resources. Rivastigmine improves divided attention via enhanced cortical processing but it does not benefit verbal episodic memory