Influence of daily free time spent outside in a paddock and stable management on behavioural disturbances and health in the horse

"People involved with horses must understand causes and effects of behaviours, why they arise, their cost and benefits, if they truly are undesirable behaviours and in that case to whom and in the end how to best treat them without reducing the horses quality of life"(Cooper and Mason 1998). The present study investigated whether lack of daily spent free time outside in a paddock, possibility for social contact between horses, number of feeding occasions of roughage and concentrate and keeping horses on muddy grounds affects the prevalence of behavioural disturbances (like wood-chewing, wind-sucking, crib-biting, weaving and box-walking) and the health of the horse (in particular problem related to the hooves and legs, to the respiratory system and to the digestive system). A total of 841 horses in the central part of Sweden were studied during 2002 and 2004. The type of horses included were Swedish trotters, ponies, Swedish halfbloods, Icelandic horses, mixed large breeds, coldbloods and thoroughbreds, divided into categories of mares with foal, weaned foal, horses that had reached one year but were not yet in training, competition horses, companionship or exercise horses, convalescents and stallions. Data collection was carried out during personal inspections, made by the same inspector at all locations, including a personal meeting with each horse-keeper at the farm. Participants were provided with questionnaires detailing the housing, diet, daily spent free time outside in a paddock, social contact between horses, injuries occurring when spending free time outside in a paddock or indoors in housing or during transport, behavioural disturbances (wood-chewing, weaving, crib-biting and box-walking) and health related problems (related to the hooves/legs, respiratory- or digestive systems) of the horses. The questions were framed in a way that enabled comparison of results on both national and international levels. The prevalence of behavioural disturbances reported in the present study was on average 3.3% (1.4% wood-chewing, 0.6% either weaving or crib-biting and 0.4% box-walking) compared to an average 21.4% (11.8% wood-chewing, 4.1% crib-biting, 3.3% weaving and 2.2% box-walking) on an international level. The results from the present study indicate that fewer feeding occasions of roughage may increase the risk of behavioural disturbances and digestive related health problems. Further, spending less than 12h/day outside may increase the risk of behavioural disturbance and respiratory related problems in horses

Utmaningar med bassamfundslagens undantag : alternativa lösningar och de lege ferenda

Skatteflykt är en stor utmaning på internationellt plan. Därför försöker stater och olika aktörer hindra detta med hjälp av reglering. Bassamfund är ett vanligt sätt för multinationella företag att kringgå skatt. Därför har bassamfundslagen stiftats i Finland 1995. Arbete mot utnyttjandet av bassamfund har utförts även av EU, i och med direktivet mot skatteflykt, samt av OECD, i och med BEPS-projektet. Syftet med den internationella regleringen är att ha ett harmoniserat internationellt skattesystem, för att hindra att företag kan utnyttja nationella lagars skiljaktigheter. Ett bassamfund är ett subjekt i en stat med låg skattebörda, som kontrolleras av finländska delägare. Bassamfund kan utnyttjas i företags aggressiva skatteplanering, genom att överföra inkomster till dessa subjekt. Trots att regleringen har minskat användningen av bassamfund, finns det ännu många utmaningar som bör åtgärdas. En stor del av BSL:s utmaningar uppstår på grund av dess undantag. Därför är målet med denna avhandling att identifiera dessa utmaningar, och hitta lösningar för att åtgärda dessa problem. Undantaget gäller ekonomisk verksamhet och är indelat i två olika undantag, beroende på var subjektet har sin hemvist. Dessa undantag kallas för substans- och branschundantaget. Enligt avhandlingens resultat har det identifierats många olika utmaningar med dessa undantag. Det finns utmaningar med bland annat rättssäkerhet, skatteflykt och att viss typ av affärsverksamhet kan diskrimineras. Det finns dock många alternativa lösningar för att åtgärda dessa problem, bland annat att klargöra hur undantagen tillämpas i praktiken

Customer Portfolio Analysis Using the SOM

In order to compete for profitable customers, companies are looking to add value using Customer Relationship Management (CRM). One subset of CRM is customer segmentation, which is the process of dividing customers into groups based upon common features or needs. Segmentation methods can be used for customer portfolio analysis (CPA), the process of analyzing the profitability of customers. This study was made for a case organization, who wanted to identify their profitable and unprofitable customers, in order to gain knowledge on how to develop their marketing strategies. Data about the customers were gathered from the case organization’s own database. The Self-Organizing Map (SOM) was used to divide the customers into segments, which were then analyzed in light of product sales information

Emergency Medical Response in Mass Casualty Tunnel Incidents—with Emphasis on Prehospital Care

Responding to mass casualty incidents in a tunnel environment is problematic not least from a prehospital emergency medical services (EMS) perspective. The aim of this review was to 1) categorize preconditions for emergency response in tunnel environments based on Haddon’s matrix and 2) identify specific EMS knowledge of providing prehospital care. Twenty eight articles, reports and book chapters were selected for further analysis. Firstly, sorting the data from each included article was done according to Haddon’s matrix. The result covers human factors, technical factors, physical environmental factors and socioeconomic environmental factors all related to preconditions for emergency response. To describe the EMS’s knowledge the data was also sorted according to command and safety, communication, assessment, and triage treatment and transport, also known as CSCATT. Few studies, especially of high quality, actually provide detailed information regarding emergency response to tunnel incidents and those that do, often have a main focus on management by the rescue service. While many incidents studied were caused by fires in tunnels, thus requiring rescue service in action, the subsequent EMS response issues that have taken place appear to have been given limited attention. To optimize the survival rates and health of the injured, as well as to provide a safe and effective work environment for the emergency services, there is a need to explore the event phase

Activation of NLRP3 Inflammasome in the Skin of Patients with Systemic and Cutaneous Lupus Erythematosus

NLRP3 inflammasome is suggested to contribute to the complex pathogenesis of systemic lupus erythematosus, but its role in cutaneous lupus erythematosus has not been addressed. This study investigated the expression of NLRP3 inflammasome components and levels of type I interferons in the skin of 20 patients with cutaneous lupus erythematosus. Expression of NLRP1/3, adaptor protein ASC (apoptosis-associated speck-like protein), caspase-1, interferon-alpha (IFN-alpha), myxovirus resistance protein (MxA), and interferon-induced proteins 1 and 2 (IFIT 1/2) in the skin was assessed using reverse transcription quantitative real-time PCR (RT-qPCR), western blotting and immunohistochemistry. Serum interferon-a protein levels from 12 patients were measured using digital enzyme-linked immunoassay (ELISA). Interleukin-1 beta expression was significantly upregulated in the lesional skin of patients with cutaneous lupus erythematosus compared with their uninvolved skin. However, NLRP1/3, ASC and caspase-1 were not significantly upregulated compared with the skin of control persons. IFN-alpha and IFN-induced proteins MxA and IFIT1/2 were strongly expressed in cutaneous lupus erythematosus skin. Variability in the expression of NLRP3 inflammasome components among patients suggests heterogeneity of pathological pathways in cutaneous lupus erythematosus.Peer reviewe

GIFT:Hybrid Museum Experiences through Gifting and Play

he GIFT project develops new approaches to creating hybrid physi-cal-digital visitor experiences in museums. Through design exploration of two concepts focusing on gifting and playful appropriation, the project charts how museums can create a deeper and more meaningful experience by giving visitors the tools to tell their own stories. The project is highly cross-disciplinary com-bining HCI research, artist-led exploration, technology explorations, and experi-ence design in collaboration with museums. Furthermore, the project gathers 10 prominent museums from Europe and the US in an action research project that both serves to ground the prototypes and framework in the needs of museums, while also facilitating the museum sector's need to become 'digital-ready', under-standing and capitalising on digital technology. As the project has progressed through half of its duration, we report on initial findings and how these have shaped our direction of progress

SNP Variants in Major Histocompatibility Complex Are Associate with Sarcoidosis Susceptibility - A Joint Analysis in Four European Populations

Sarcoidosis is a multiorgan inflammatory disorder with heritability estimates up to 66%. Previous studies have shown the major histocompatibility complex (MHC) region to be associated with sarcoidosis, suggesting a functional role for antigen-presenting molecules and immune mediators in the disease pathogenesis. To detect variants predisposing to sarcoidosis and to identify genetic differences between patient subgroups, we studied four genes in the MHC Class III region (LTA, TNF, AGER, BTNL2) and HLA-DRA with tag-SNPs and their relation to HLA-DRB1 alleles. We present results from a joint analysis of four study populations (Finnish, Swedish, Dutch, and Czech). Patients with sarcoidosis (n = 805) were further subdivided based on the disease activity and the presence of Lofgren's syndrome. In a joint analysis, seven SNPs were associated with non-Lofgren sarcoidosis (NL; the strongest association with rs3177928, P = 1.79E-07, OR = 1.9) and eight with Lofgren's syndrome [ Lofgren syndrome (LS); the strongest association with rs3129843, P = 3.44E-12, OR = 3.4] when compared with healthy controls (n = 870). Five SNPs were associated with sarcoidosis disease course (the strongest association with rs3177928, P = 0.003, OR = 1.9). The high linkage disequilibrium (LD) between SNPs and an HLA-DRB1 challenged the result interpretation. When the SNPs and HLA-DRB1 alleles were analyzed together, independent association was observed for four SNPs in the HLA-DRA/BTNL2 region: rs3135365 (NL; P = 0.015), rs3177928 (NL; P <0.001), rs6937545 (LS; P = 0.012), and rs5007259 (disease activity; P = 0.002). These SNPs act as expression quantitative trait loci (eQTL) for HLA-DRB1 and/or HLA-DRB5. In conclusion, we found novel SNPs in BTNL2 and HLA-DRA regions associating with sarcoidosis. Our finding further establishes that polymorphisms in the HLA-DRA and BTNL2 have a role in sarcoidosis susceptibility. This multi-population study demonstrates that at least a part of these associations are HLA-DRB1 independent (e.g., not due to LD) and shared across ancestral origins. The variants that were independent of HLA-DRB1 associations acted as eQTL for HLA-DRB1 and/or -DRB5, suggesting a role in regulating gene expression.Peer reviewe