Regulierung der Blutlaus (Eriosoma lanigerum) im Biologischen Apfelbau. Erfahrungen aus drei Versuchsjahren mit direkten und indirekten Verfahren

Einleitung 1997 trat die Blutlaus (Eriosoma /anigerum) in der Schweiz in verschiedenen Bioobstanlagen stark auf. Die Gründe dafür liegen wahrscheinlich in der ungenügenden Parasitisierung der Blutläuse durch die Blutlauszehrwespe. Zwei kalte Winter (1995/96 und 1996/97) aber auch die kühle und nasse Witterung im Mai und Juni 1997 haben die Entwicklung der Zehrwespenpopulationen stark eingeschränkt. Die Schaden waren vielfach enorm und führten nebst Fruchtverschmutzungen zu irreversiblen Trieb- und Knospenschaden, gefolgt von Ernteausfall im Folgejahr, bis zum Absterben ganzer Baume. Die Praktiker begegneten dem Übel mit Mineralölbehandlungen, Entfernung der Kolonien durch Abbürsten bzw. mit einem Hochdruck-Wasserstrahl oder mit viel Geduld für den Aufbau von Nützlingen wie Zehrwespe und Ohrwürmer. Der akuten Lage entsprechend führte das FiBL unter Mitwirkung der Firma Andermatt Biocontrol AG Versuche mit direkten und indirekten Maßnahmen durch

An Evaluation of Integrated Primary Care (IPC), IPC Plus Shared Medical Appointments, and IPC Plus Individual Behavioral Health Care on Diabetes Management

As the health care system continues to evolve, the challenges related to successfully treating chronic conditions persist. To address these challenges, supplemental treatments, such as the shared medical appointment (SMA) and behavioral health care (BHC), have been implemented to provide patients with additional levels of psychoeducation and support in addition to treatment by their physician. The total sample used in this study was 118. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of integrated primary care (IPC), IPC plus SMA, and IPC plus BHC to determine if supplemental treatment combined with IPC produced greater improvement in patients with diabetes. The measures in this study were body mass index (BMI), systolic blood pressure, diastolic blood pressure, hemoglobin A1C (HbA1c), high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol, and total cholesterol. To test this hypothesis, a 3 x 2 analysis of variance with repeated measures on one factor was conducted. The independent variable had three levels describing the treatment type (integrated primary care (IPC), IPC plus SMA, and IPC plus behavioral health). Outcome measures were examined at pre and posttest to determine if the conditions considered to be more integrated showed stronger treatment effects as measured by the outcome variables. Results indicated that none of the seven outcome variables showed significant improvement as a result of receiving a supplemental level of care in addition to IPC. However, four of the seven variables improved over time regardless of treatment condition. This finding suggests that perhaps the addition of SMA and BHC did not add anything over and above IPC only. Careful consideration should be applied to these results, because these particular patients were treated according to the IPC model. Therefore, physicians may have actually been providing patients with similar interventions across conditions, such as psychoeducation and motivational interviewing, during their routine doctor visits. Thus, patients who received IPC may have actually received components included in the other two groups

Agent-based Housing Market Microsimulation for Integrated Land Use, Transportation, Environment Model System

The Housing Market Evolutionary System (HoMES) is the updated housing market module for the Integrated Land Use, Transportation, Environment (ILUTE) model system. HoMES is a disaggregate, agent-based microsimulation of the owner-occupied housing market, with models for households’ residential mobility decisions, location choices and valuations, the endogenous supply of housing by type and location, and the endogenous determination of sale prices and rents. The new model offers significant improvements over previous attempts by including a reformulated market clearing mechanism, market dependency on macro-economic conditions, and improved computational performance. A 100% synthesized population is validated against historical data for the Greater Toronto-Hamilton Area

Increasing Drug Delivery Efficacy of Drug-Coated Balloons

Peripheral artery disease (PAD), the narrowing of peripheral arteries located in areas such as the arms and legs, is a common disease that affects 12% to 20% of people over 65. Numerous therapies have been developed to treat PAD, the most recent technology being drug-coated balloons. Drug-coated balloons release drugs, such as Paclitaxel (PTX), into the arterial wall during balloon angioplasty to locally treat PAD. Current levels of drug transfer from the balloon to the vascular endothelium are at a low 10%-18%. Our Biomedical Engineering Senior Design project aims to increase drug delivery of drug-coated balloons by manipulating the clinically-controllable variables of drug+excipient formulation, balloon inflation pressure, and balloon inflation time. To study the effects of these variable on drug transfer, we first developed in vitro models of the drug-coated balloon (PTX+Urea and PTX+Shellac formulations) and vascular endothelium (porcine blood vessels). These models were then subjected to uniaxial compression testing to simulate balloon inflation against the vessel wall at set inflation pressures and times. Our study found drug transfer to increase with increasing inflation pressure in the PTX+Urea formulation. In contrast, drug transfer for the PTX+Shellac formulation increased with inflation time. Though we were unable to increase drug transfer past 17%, our study indicates that manipulating the above clinical variables can be a powerful tool towards increasing efficacy of drug-coated balloons

La regulación unitaria de las garantías funcionales como requisito para alcanzar un verdadero sistema de garantías en el Perú

El artículo no presenta resumen

The inclusion of collaborative processes in the contract to achieve high performance construction projects

En los últimos años se viene haciendo referencia a los contratos “colaborativos” en América Latina. Sin embargo, no existe un entendimiento común sobre qué significa dicho término, la discusión y desarrollo internacional que hay detrás. En tal sentido, en el presente artículo se busca plantear el marco de la discusión sobre las alternativas disponibles para incrementar la productividad en la industria de la construcción y cómo ello ha llevado a ver el contrato como una herramienta útil para favorecer dicho proceso.In recent years, in Latin America, reference has been frequently made to “collaborative” contracts. However, there is no common understanding of what this term means and the relevant international discussion and development. This article seeks to establish the framework of the discussion on alternatives available to increase productivity in the construction industry and how this has led to seeing the contract as a useful tool to promote said process

The Effects of a High Fat Meal on Blood Flow Regulation during Arm Exercise

A diet high in saturated fats results in endothelial dysfunction and can lead to atherosclerosis, a precursor to cardiovascular disease. Exercise training is a potent stimulus though to mitigate the negative effects of a high saturated fat diet; however, it is unclear how high-saturated fat meal (HSFM) consumption impacts blood flow regulation during a single exercise session. PURPOSE: This study sought to examine the impact of a single HSFM on peripheral vascular function during an acute upper limb exercise bout. METHODS: Ten young healthy individuals completed two sessions of progressive handgrip exercise. Subjects either consumed a HSFM (0.84 g of fat/kg of body weight) 4 hours prior or remained fasted before the exercise bout. Progressive rhythmic handgrip exercise (6kg, 12kg, 18kg) was performed for 3 minutes per stage at rate of 1 Hz. The brachial artery (BA) diameter and blood velocity was obtained using Doppler Ultrasound (GE Logiq e) and BA blood flow was calculated with these values. RESULTS: BA blood flow and flow mediated dilation (normalized for shear rate) during the handgrip exercise significant increased from baseline in all workloads, but no differences were revealed in response to the HSFM consumption. CONCLUSION: Progressive handgrip exercise augmented BA blood flow and flow mediated dilation in both testing days; however, there was no significant differences following the HSFM consumption. This suggests that upper limb blood flow regulation during exercise is unaltered by a high fat meal in young healthy individuals.https://scholarscompass.vcu.edu/gradposters/1060/thumbnail.jp