Super Chief Tomato Hybird

Super Chief is the F 1 hybrid resulting from a cross of SD 82- 106 x SD 85-048-1. Both parents were developed in the South Dakota fresh-market tomato breeding program. The hybrid was evaluated as 87-13

Contributions to variability of clinical measures for use as indicators of udder health status in a clinical protocol

A cross-sectional observational study with repeated observations was conducted on 16 Danish dairy farms to quantify the influence of observer, parity, time (stage in lactation) and farm on variables routinely selected for inclusion in clinical protocols, thereby to enable a more valid comparison of udder health between different herds. During 12 months, participating herds were visited 5 times by project technicians, who examined 20 cows and scored the selected clinical variables. The estimates of effect on variables were derived from a random regression model procedure. Statistical analyses revealed that, although estimates for occurrence of several the variables, e.g. degree of oedema, varied significantly between observers, the effects on many of these estimates were similar in size. Almost all estimates for occurrences of variables were significantly affected either parity and lactation stage, or by both e.g. udder tissue consistency. Some variables, e.g. mange, had high estimates for the farm component, and others e.g. teat skin quality had a high individual component. Several of the variables, e.g. wounds on warts, had a high residual component indicating that a there still was a major part of the variation in data, which was unexplained. It was concluded that most of the variables were relevant for implementation in herd health management, but that adjustments need to be made to improve reliability

Existing fluid responsiveness studies using the mini-fluid challenge may be misleading:Methodological considerations and simulations

BACKGROUND: The mini-fluid challenge (MFC) is a clinical concept of predicting fluid responsiveness by rapidly infusing a small amount of intravenous fluids, typically 100 ml, and systematically assessing its haemodynamic effect. The MFC method is meant to predict if a patient will respond to a subsequent, larger fluid challenge, typically another 400 ml, with a significant increase in stroke volume. METHODS: We critically evaluated the general methodology of MFC studies, with statistical considerations, secondary analysis of an existing study, and simulations. RESULTS: Secondary analysis of an existing study showed that the MFC could predict the total fluid response (MFC + 400 ml) with an area under the receiver operator characteristics curve (AUROC) of 0.92, but that the prediction was worse than random for the response to the remaining 400 ml (AUROC = 0.33). In a null simulation with no response to both the MFC and the subsequent fluid challenge, the commonly used analysis could predict fluid responsiveness with an AUROC of 0.73. CONCLUSION: Many existing MFC studies are likely overestimating the classification accuracy of the MFC. This should be considered before adopting the MFC into clinical practice. A better study design includes a second, independent measurement of stroke volume after the MFC. This measurement serves as reference for the response to the subsequent fluid challenge

Cancer patients’ experiences of error and consequences during diagnosis and treatment

The study objective was to investigate patient experienced error during diagnosis and treatment of cancer. The design included a nationwide patient survey on quality and safety in Danish cancer care. Responses regarding patient experienced error were separately analyzed, quantitative responses using descriptive statistics and qualitative responses using systematic text analysis. Study participants included 6,720 adult patients with a first time diagnosis of cancer registered between May 1st and August 31st 2010. The patients received a questionnaire concerning their experiences of care received by general practitioners, specialist practitioners and at the hospital. A response rate of 65% was achieved. 10 – 25% of patients experienced error during diagnosis or treatment. 61% reported that hospital errors had consequences. Unexpected surgical errors/complications (27%), delay due to doctors’ assessment errors (24%) and unavailable test results (21%) were the most frequent types of errors identified using closed questions. 819 qualitative responses supplemented this information and revealed errors related to cancer detection, planning & coordination, patient-provider communication, administrative processes and treatment & medication. Physical, psychological, social as well as organizational consequences of the errors were uncovered. Patient experiences of errors suggest that practices related to informed consent, diagnostic reasoning as well as handling of test results, referrals and the medical chart should be further improved. In addition, safety aspects of the patient-provider communication and involvement of patients as an extra safety barrier merit further study

Assessment of muscle function using hybrid PET/MRI:comparison of ¹⁸F-FDG PET and T2-weighted MRI for quantifying muscle activation in human subjects

PURPOSE: The aim of this study was to determine the relationship between relative glucose uptake and MRI T (2) changes in skeletal muscles following resistance exercise using simultaneous PET/MRI scans. METHODS: Ten young healthy recreationally active men (age 21 – 28 years) were injected with (18)F-FDG while activating the quadriceps of one leg with repeated knee extension exercises followed by hand-grip exercises for one arm. Immediately following the exercises, the subjects were scanned simultaneously with (18)F-FDG PET/MRI and muscle groups were evaluated for increases in (18)F-FDG uptake and MRI T (2) values. RESULTS: A significant linear correlation between (18)F-FDG uptake and changes in muscle T (2) (R (2) = 0.71) was found. for both small and large muscles and in voxel to voxel comparisons. Despite large intersubject differences in muscle recruitment, the linear correlation between (18)F-FDG uptake and changes in muscle T (2) did not vary among subjects. CONCLUSION: This is the first assessment of skeletal muscle activation using hybrid PET/MRI and the first study to demonstrate a high correlation between (18)F-FDG uptake and changes in muscle T (2) with physical exercise. Accordingly, it seems that changes in muscle T (2) may be used as a surrogate marker for glucose uptake and lead to an improved insight into the metabolic changes that occur with muscle activation. Such knowledge may lead to improved treatment strategies in patients with neuromuscular pathologies such as stroke, spinal cord injuries and muscular dystrophies

A mixed methods inquiry into the validity of data

This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Licens

Examining the synergies and tradeoffs of net-zero climate protection with the Sustainable Development Goals

This article discusses and illuminates the synergies and jeopardies or tradeoffs that exist between the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and net-zero or future climate protection options such as greenhouse gas removal (GGR) technologies and solar radiation management (SRM) deployment approaches, respectively. Through a large-scale expert-interview exercise (N = 125), the study finds firstly that numerous synergies and tradeoffs exist between GGR, SRM, and the SDGs. More specifically, we reveal that GGR deployment could enhance the attainment of 16 of the 17 SDGs, but this comes with possible tradeoffs with 12 of the SDGs. SRM deployment could not only enhance the attainment of 16 of the 17 SDGs, but also create possible tradeoffs with (a different) 12 SDGs. The findings further support the understanding of the complexity of SRM and GGR proposals and help policymakers and industrial pioneers understand, navigate, and benchmark between geoengineering approaches using sustainable development goals

A mixed methods inquiry: How dairy farmers perceive the value(s) of their involvement in an intensive dairy herd health management program

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Research has been scarce when it comes to the motivational and behavioral sides of farmers' expectations related to dairy herd health management programs. The objectives of this study were to explore farmers' expectations related to participation in a health management program by: 1) identifying important ambitions, goals and subjective well-being among farmers, 2) submitting those data to a quantitative analysis thereby characterizing perspective(s) of value added by health management programs among farmers; and 3) to characterize perceptions of farmers' goals among veterinarians.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>The subject was initially explored by means of literature, interviews and discussions with farmers, herd health management consultants and researchers to provide an understanding (a concourse) of the research entity. The concourse was then broken down into 46 statements. Sixteen Danish dairy farmers and 18 veterinarians associated with one large nationwide veterinary practice were asked to rank the 46 statements that defined the concourse. Next, a principal component analysis was applied to identify correlated statements and thus families of perspectives between respondents. Q-methodology was utilized to represent each of the statements by one row and each respondent by one column in the matrix. A subset of the farmers participated in a series of semi-structured interviews to face validate the concourse and to discuss subjects like animal welfare, veterinarians' competences as experienced by the farmers and time constraints in the farmers' everyday life.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Farmers' views could be described by four families of perspectives: Teamwork, Animal welfare, Knowledge dissemination, and Production. Veterinarians believed that farmers' primary focus was on production and profit, however, farmers' valued teamwork and animal welfare more.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>The veterinarians in this study appear to focus too much on financial performance and increased production when compared to most of the participating farmers' expectations. On the other hand veterinarians did not focus enough on the major products, which farmers really wanted to buy, i.e. teamwork and animal welfare. Consequently, disciplines like sociology, economics and marketing may offer new methodological approaches to veterinarians as these disciplines have understood that accounting for individual differences is central to motivate change, i.e. 'know thy customer'.</p