STUPANJ OBRAZOVANJA MLIJEČNIH FARMERA NA KOSOVU

A study was conducted to assess the impact of farmers’ education on dairy farming knowledge, national food safety standards, animal diseases, and farm production practices. Farmers’ lack of awareness is likely a contributing factor to food standards not being met in most cases. The data are collected from 150 respondents randomly selected from farmers’ municipality database, in two regions of Kosovo (Gjilan and Ferizaj). The data were collected through face to face interviews and personal visits based on a structured questionnaire. Significant differences were found among farmers (higher level of education compare with primary education) in regard with food safety standards, animal diseases, milk yield, use of milking machine, milk cooling tanks, animal identification, farm register, feeding the animals according to the production level, etc. Awareness, teaching and training programs for dairy farmers can improve: animals feeding, cows’ milk yield, diseases control in animals and reduce the public health risk of milk-borne zoonosis. Also public and donor support schemes for farmers should be strongly linked to food safety standard implementation.Provedeno je istraživanje radi procjene utjecaja obrazovanja farmera na poznavanje rada mliječne farme, nacionalnih standarda sigurnosti hrane, bolesti životinja i postupaka u proizvodnji farme. Pomanjkanje znanja farmera u većini slučajeva vjerojatno doprinosi nepoštivanju standarda hrane. Podaci su prikupljeni od 150 ispitanika nasumce izabranih iz općinskih podataka o farmerima u dva područja na Kosovu (Gjilan i Ferizaj). Podaci su dobiveni u osobnim razgovorima i osobnim posjetima na temelju pripremljenih anketa. Dobivene su značajne razlike među farmerima (viši stupanj obrazovanja u usporedbi s osnovnoškolskim obrazovanjem), s obzirom na standarde sigurnosti hrane, bolesti životinja, prinos mlijeka upotrebu strojeva za mužnju, posuda za hlađenje mlijeka, identifikaciju životinja, registar farme, hranidbu životinja prema stupnju proizvodnje, itd. Svijest, programi obrazovanja i prakse za mliječne farmere mogu poboljšati hranidbu životinja, prinos mlijeka krava, nadziranje bolesti životinja i smanjiti rizik zdravlja ljudi mlijekom prenosivim zoonozama. Također, planove za poticaje javnosti i darovatelje farmerima treba usko povezati s provođenjem standarda sigurnosti hrane

Colorectal Cancer Stage at Diagnosis Before vs During the COVID-19 Pandemic in Italy

IMPORTANCE Delays in screening programs and the reluctance of patients to seek medical attention because of the outbreak of SARS-CoV-2 could be associated with the risk of more advanced colorectal cancers at diagnosis. OBJECTIVE To evaluate whether the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic was associated with more advanced oncologic stage and change in clinical presentation for patients with colorectal cancer. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS This retrospective, multicenter cohort study included all 17 938 adult patients who underwent surgery for colorectal cancer from March 1, 2020, to December 31, 2021 (pandemic period), and from January 1, 2018, to February 29, 2020 (prepandemic period), in 81 participating centers in Italy, including tertiary centers and community hospitals. Follow-up was 30 days from surgery. EXPOSURES Any type of surgical procedure for colorectal cancer, including explorative surgery, palliative procedures, and atypical or segmental resections. MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES The primary outcome was advanced stage of colorectal cancer at diagnosis. Secondary outcomes were distant metastasis, T4 stage, aggressive biology (defined as cancer with at least 1 of the following characteristics: signet ring cells, mucinous tumor, budding, lymphovascular invasion, perineural invasion, and lymphangitis), stenotic lesion, emergency surgery, and palliative surgery. The independent association between the pandemic period and the outcomes was assessed using multivariate random-effects logistic regression, with hospital as the cluster variable. RESULTS A total of 17 938 patients (10 007 men [55.8%]; mean [SD] age, 70.6 [12.2] years) underwent surgery for colorectal cancer: 7796 (43.5%) during the pandemic period and 10 142 (56.5%) during the prepandemic period. Logistic regression indicated that the pandemic period was significantly associated with an increased rate of advanced-stage colorectal cancer (odds ratio [OR], 1.07; 95%CI, 1.01-1.13; P = .03), aggressive biology (OR, 1.32; 95%CI, 1.15-1.53; P < .001), and stenotic lesions (OR, 1.15; 95%CI, 1.01-1.31; P = .03). CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE This cohort study suggests a significant association between the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic and the risk of a more advanced oncologic stage at diagnosis among patients undergoing surgery for colorectal cancer and might indicate a potential reduction of survival for these patients

The impact of crop rotation and land fragmentation on farm productivity in Albania

We estimate the impact of land fragmentation and crop rotation on farm productivity in rural Albania. We employ stochastic production frontier estimation approach and Tobit regression on survey data collected among farm households in Albania in 2013. Our estimates suggest that land fragmentation improves farm efficiency likely because it allows a better use of household labour during the production seasons. Our estimates also suggest that crop rotation increases farm efficiency. However, the land fragmentation dominates the crop rotation in impacting farm efficiency

NMR and EPR-DEER Structure of a Dimeric Guanylate Cyclase Activator Protein-5 from Zebrafish Photoreceptors.

Retinal guanylate cyclases (RetGCs) are regulated by a family of guanylate cyclase-activating proteins (called GCAP1-7). GCAPs form dimers that bind to Ca2+ and confer Ca2+ sensitive activation of RetGC during visual phototransduction. The GCAP5 homologue from zebrafish contains two nonconserved cysteine residues (Cys15 and Cys17) that bind to ferrous ion, which stabilizes GCAP5 dimerization and diminishes its ability to activate RetGC. Here, we present NMR and EPR-DEER structural analysis of a GCAP5 dimer in the Mg2+-bound, Ca2+-free, Fe2+-free activator state. The NMR-derived structure of GCAP5 is similar to the crystal structure of Ca2+-bound GCAP1 (root-mean-square deviation of 2.4 Å), except that the N-terminal helix of GCAP5 is extended by two residues, which allows the sulfhydryl groups of Cys15 and Cys17 to become more solvent exposed in GCAP5 to facilitate Fe2+ binding. Nitroxide spin-label probes were covalently attached to particular cysteine residues engineered in GCAP5: C15, C17, T26C, C28, N56C, C69, C105, N139C, E152C, and S159C. The intermolecular distance of each spin-label probe in dimeric GCAP5 (measured by EPR-DEER) defined restraints for calculating the dimer structure by molecular docking. The GCAP5 dimer possesses intermolecular hydrophobic contacts involving the side chain atoms of H18, Y21, M25, F72, V76, and W93, as well as an intermolecular salt bridge between R22 and D71. The structural model of the GCAP5 dimer was validated by mutations (H18E/Y21E, H18A/Y21A, R22D, R22A, M25E, D71R, F72E, and V76E) at the dimer interface that disrupt dimerization of GCAP5 and affect the activation of RetGC. We propose that GCAP5 dimerization may play a role in the Fe2+-dependent regulation of cyclase activity in zebrafish photoreceptors

Multi-Blade detector with VMM3a-ASIC-based readout: installation and commissioning at the reflectometer Amor at PSI

The Multi-Blade (MB) Boron-10-based neutron detector is the chosen technology for three instruments at the European Spallation Source (ESS): the two ESS reflectometers, ESTIA and FREIA, and the Test Beam Line. A fourth MB detector has been built, installed and commissioned for the user operation of the reflectometer Amor at PSI (Switzerland).Amor can be considered a downscaled version of the ESS reflectometer ESTIA. They are based on the same Selene guide concept, optimized for performing focusing reflectometry on small samples. The experience gained at Amor is invaluable for the future deployment of the MB detector at the ESS. This manuscript describes the MB detector construction and installation at Amor along with the readout electronics chain based on the VMM3a ASIC. The readout chain deployed at Amor is equivalent of that of the ESS, including the readout master module (RMM), event-formation-units (EFUs), Kafka, FileWriter and live visualisation tools.The Multi-Blade (MB) Boron-10-based neutron detector is the chosen technology for three instruments at the European Spallation Source (ESS): the two ESS reflectometers, ESTIA and FREIA, and the Test Beam Line. A fourth MB detector has been built, installed and commissioned for the user operation of the reflectometer Amor at PSI (Switzerland). Amor can be considered a downscaled version of the ESS reflectometer ESTIA. They are based on the same Selene guide concept, optimized for performing focusing reflectometry on small samples. The experience gained at Amor is invaluable for the future deployment of the MB detector at the ESS. This manuscript describes the MB detector construction and installation at Amor along with the readout electronics chain based on the VMM3a ASIC. The readout chain deployed at Amor is equivalent of that of the ESS, including the readout master module (RMM), event-formation-units (EFUs), Kafka, FileWriter and live visualisation tools

Pressure and Temperature Dependence of the Reaction of Vinyl Radical with Alkenes III: Measured Rates and Predicted Product Distributions for Vinyl + Butene

This work reports experimental and theoretical first-order rate constants for the reaction of vinyl radical with C4H8 alkenes: 1-butene, 2-butene, and iso-butene. The experiments are performed over a temperature range of 300 K to 700 K at 100 Torr. Vinyl radicals (H[subscript 2]C=CH) were generated by laser photolysis of vinyl iodide (C[subscript 2]H[subscript ]3I) at 266 nm, and time-resolved absorption spectroscopy was used to probe vinyl radicals at 423.2 and 475 nm. Weighted Arrhenius fits to the experimental rate coefficients for 1-butene (k[subscript 1]), 2-butene (k[subscript 2]), and iso-butene (k[subscript 3]) yield k[subscript 1] = (1.3±0.3)× 10[superscript -12] cm[superscript 3] molecules[superscript -1] s[superscript -1] exp[-(2200 ± 120) K/T]; k2 = (1.7±0.3)× 10[superscript -12] cm[superscript 3] molecules[superscript -1] s[superscript -1] exp[-(2610 ± 120) K/T]; k[superscript 3] = (1.0±0.1)× 10[superscript -12] cm[superscript 3] molecules[superscript -1] s[superscript -1] exp[-(2130 ± 50) K/T], respectively. C6H11 potential energy surfaces (PES) for each system were calculated using the G3 method. RRKM/ME simulations were performed for each system to predict pressure dependent rate coefficients and branching fractions for the major channels. A generic rate rule for vinyl addition to various alkenes is recommended; a similar rate rule for the abstraction of H atoms by vinyl from alkenes is also provided. Some of the vinyl addition reactions exhibit anomalous Evans-Polanyi plots, similar to those reported for previous methyl addition reactions.United States. Dept. of Energy (contract DE-FG02-98ER14914)United States. Dept. of Energy. Office of Basic Energy SciencesUnited States. Dept. of Energy. Chemical Sciences, Geosciences, and Energy Biosciences Divisio