Låga ljusintensiteters påverkan på mjölkkors beteende

The animal welfare act in Sweden states that dairy cows need to have at least a dim light present at night, but there are no recommendations for what intensity the light should have. It is unknown how cows perceive and react to low light intensities and earlier studies on this topic are limited. Red light as night light has also been suggested, based on the cows’ inability to perceive red light. This have however been questioned. The aim with this study was to investigate how four different light intensities affect dairy cows behavior. The aim was also to investigate how red light affects the cows’ behavior. In the study, twelve cows’ behavior and locomotion pattern were observed at the different light intensities 0, 5, 20 and 50 lux in presence or absence of red light. The cows were asked to pass through an obstacle course and perform a novel object test (NOT) in the different treatments. The study design was following a change-over design with four groups of cows and four different light intensity treatments. The experiment prolonged for four weeks and each treatment period lasted one day. Based on results in this study, it can be concluded that dairy cows can perceive light intensities down to 5 lux. It is further hypothesized that cows may be affected of a light intensity as low as 0.2 lux. This study also show that behavior is significantly affected by a light intensity since step frequency, number of stops, time taken for passing the obstacle course as well as step length and step rate were different at 0 lux compared to 5, 2 and 50 lux. In the NOT, time taken to the first interaction with an object was prolonged at 0 lux compared to the other light intensities. The cows’ behavior was not affected by the presence of red light in light intensities at 5, 20 and 50 lux. At 0 lux with presence of red light the cows had a higher frequency of steps, interacted less with the surrounding and knocked down fewer obstacles in the obstacle course compared to the other three tested light intensities. In the NOT, time taken for the cows to first interact with the objects was longer at 0 lux accompanied by red light compared to the other light intensities and compared to 0 lux in absence of red light. It is unclear if this is a result of a light intensity of 0.2 lux emitted by the red light or due to the precipitation of red light.Enligt Sveriges djurskyddslag ska mjölkkor ha tillgång till dämpad belysning under natten, men det finns inga rekommendationer för hur stark belysningen bör vara. Hur kor uppfattar och reagerar på låga ljusintensiteter är ännu inte känt och det finns endast ett begränsat antal studier inom området. Nattbelysning som ger ifrån sig ett rött sken har introducerats i flera företag, med förklaringen att kor inte uppfattar det röda ljuset. Detta har dock ifrågasatts. Syftet med denna studie var att undersöka hur fyra olika ljusintensiteter påverkar kors beteende. Syftet var även att undersöka om röd belysning påverkar deras beteende. I studien observerades tolv kors beteenden i fyra olika ljusintensiteter, 0, 5, 20 och 50 lux i närvarande eller frånvarande av röd belysning. Korna manades igenom en hinderbana varefter ett novel object test utfördes i de olika behandlingarna. Utformningen av studien följde en change-over design av de fyra olika behandlingarna, där korna var indelade i fyra grupper om tre i varje. Experimentet pågick under fyra veckor, varav varje enskild behandling pågick under en dag. Slutsatsen av studien är att kor kan uppfatta ljusintensiteter ner till 5 lux och troligtvis också ända ner till 0.2 lux. Deras beteende ändrades tydligt i 0 lux, jämfört med 5, 20 och 50 lux. Korna tog fler steg, stannade oftare, tog längre tid på sig i hinderbanan, minskade sin steglängd och steghastighet i hinderbanan i 0 lux jämfört med i de andra testade ljusintensiteterna. I novel object testet så tog det längre tid för dem att interagera med objekten i 0 lux jämfört med i de andra testade ljusintensiteterna. Kornas beteende påverkades inte av den röda belysningen i de högre ljusintensiteterna 5, 20, och 50 lux. I röd belysning vid 0 lux tog korna fler antal steg, interagerade mindre med omgivningen, slog ner färre hinder i hinderbanan, medan det i NOT testet tog längre tid för dem att interagera med objekten jämfört med i 0 lux utan röd belysning. Om detta beror på att den röda belysningen ger ifrån sig en ljusintensitet på 0.2 lux eller att korna uppfattar den röda belysningen går inte att avgöra

Tarmflorans påverkan på fetma

Obesity is a problem that increases exponentially in humans and companion animals. It is defined as a big accumulation of fat in the body and is usually connected with several diseases. This study describes how obesity can be diagnosed, in which way the gut flora can affect obesity, if the gut flora is genetically influenced or not, and how it differs between individuals with obesity and obesity-related diseases. Conclusions of the study are that both the bacterial strains Bacteriodetes and Firmicutes probably have a connection to obesity. The intestinal flora is probably also genetically related. Probiotics contain living microorganisms and is consumed in increasingly large amount by both humans and animals. These substances also contain large amount of the bacterial strain Firmicutes, which can lead to an increased risk of weight gain at high consumption.Fetma är ett problem som ökar exponentiellt hos både människor och sällskapsdjur. Det definieras som en stor ansamling fett i kroppen och är ofta kopplat till flera olika sjukdomar. I denna studie redovisas hur fetma diagnostiseras, samt på vilka sätt tarmfloran kan ha en påverkan på fetma, om tarmflorans sammansättning är ärftlig samt hur tarmflorans sammansättning skiljer sig hos individer med fetma och fetmarelaterade sjukdomar. Slutsatser som har dragits utifrån studien är att bakterierstammarna Bacterioidetes och Firmicutes troligtvis har en koppling till fetma, då många tidigare studier stärker detta. Probiotika konsumeras i allt större utsträckning främst av människor och innehåller stora mängder av dessa bakterier, vilket möjligen kan leda till en ökad risk för viktökning vid stor konsumtion. Tarmsammansättningen påverkas även troligen av individens genetiska anlag

Stackars deltidsanställda - ofrivilligt deltidsanställda och deras rätt till arbetslöshetsförsäkringen

The labor market, and therefore employment conditions, has changed in recent decades. Today, flexibilisation has led to a large number of employees who work part-time or lack permanent employment. An involuntary part-time worker refers to an individual who is working part-time and states that they want to work more hours than what the employer offers. As long as the employer complies with the provisions of rotation or preferential rights to re-employment, the employer, through its management rights, has the right to determine what new employment that will be offered. In Sweden, involuntary part-time workers are offered partial unemployment insurance benefits but since the part-time unemployed received this legal right, it has been problematic for the legislature. The purpose of this thesis is therefore to investigate, describe and analyze how involuntary part-time workers in the labor market are affected by the labor law and unemployment insurance based on current law. We also want to examine the extent to which unemployment insurance compensates the involuntary part-time worker’s vulnerable position in the labor market. The hope is to identify the problems that arise and address the contributing factors. Thesis judicial investigations have led to various problems that have been identified. Legislation has made an attempted to address these problems, but our analysis shows that some problems still persist. We believe that involuntary part-time employees end up disadvantaged over both the employer and the state. This is because part-time employees do not have the opportunity to modify or control the relationship. Arbetsmarknaden och därmed också anställningsförhållandena har förändrats under de senaste decennierna. Dagens flexibilisering har lett till att ett stort antal arbetstagare arbetar deltid eller saknar fast anställning. Ofrivilligt deltidsarbete avser individer som arbetar deltid och uppger att de vill arbeta fler timmar än vad arbetsgivaren erbjuder. Så länge arbetsgivaren följer bestämmelserna om turordning eller företrädesrätt till återanställningar har arbetsgivaren genom sin företagsledningsrätt rätt att bestämma vilka nya anställningsvillkor som ska erbjudas. I Sverige erbjuds ofrivilligt deltidsanställda partiell ersättning från arbetslöshetsförsäkringen, men ända sedan deltidsarbetslösa fick denna rätt har detta varit ett problem för lagstiftaren. Syfte med denna uppsats är att utifrån gällande rätt utreda, beskriva och analysera hur den ofrivilligt deltidsanställdas situation på arbetsmarknaden berörs av den arbetsrättsliga regleringen och arbetslöshetsförsäkringen. Vi vill även undersöka i vilken utsträckning som arbetslöshetsförsäkringen kompenserar för de ofrivilligt deltidsanställdas utsatta ställning i arbetslivet. Förhoppningen är att kunna identifiera de problem som uppstår och besvara vad de beror på. Uppsatsens rättsliga utredning har lett till att olika problem kunnat identifieras. Lagstiftningen har gjort en del för att komma till rätta med problemen, men vår analys visar att en del problem fortfarande kvarstår. Vi anser att den ofrivilligt deltidsanställda hamnar i ett underläge både gentemot arbetsgivaren och staten. Detta då den deltidsanställda inte har möjlighet att själv ändra eller styra förhållandet

NEPA, a new fixed combination of netupitant and palonosetron, is a cost-effective intervention for the prevention of chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting in the UK

Background: The objective was to evaluate the cost-effectiveness of NEPA, an oral fixed combination netupitant (NETU, 300 mg) and palonosetron (PA, 0.5 mg) compared with aprepitant and palonosetron (APPA) or palonosetron (PA) alone, to prevent chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting (CINV) in patients undergoing treatment with highly or moderately emetogenic chemotherapy (HEC or MEC) in the UK. Scope: A systematic literature review and meta-analysis were undertaken to compare NEPA with currently recommended anti-emetics. Relative effectiveness was estimated over the acute (day 1) and overall treatment (days 1–5) phases, taking complete response (CR, no emesis and no rescue medication) and complete protection (CP, CR and no more than mild nausea [VAS scale <25 mm]) as primary efficacy outcomes. A three-health-state Markov cohort model, including CP, CR and incomplete response (no CR) for HEC and MEC, was constructed. A five-day time horizon and UK NHS perspective were adopted. Transition probabilities were obtained by combining the response rates of CR and CP from NEPA trials and odds ratios from the meta-analysis. Utilities of 0.90, 0.70 and 0.24 were defined for CP, CR and incomplete response, respectively. Costs included medications and management of CINV-related events and were obtained from the British National Formulary and NHS Reference Costs. The expected budgetary impact of NEPA was also evaluated. Findings: In HEC patients, the NEPA strategy was more effective than APPA (quality-adjusted life days [QALDs] of 4.263 versus 4.053; incremental emesis-free and CINV-free days of +0.354 and +0.237, respectively) and was less costly (£80 versus £124), resulting in NEPA being the dominant strategy. In MEC patients, NEPA was cost effective, cumulating in an estimated 0.182 extra QALDs at an incremental cost of £6.65 compared with PA. Conclusion: Despite study limitations (study setting, time horizon, utility measure), the results suggest NEPA is cost effective for preventing CINV associated with HEC and MEC in the UK

Quality of Life and Utility in Patients with Metastatic Soft Tissue and Bone Sarcoma: The Sarcoma Treatment and Burden of Illness in North America and Europe (SABINE) Study

The aim of the study was to assess health-related quality of life (HRQoL) among metastatic soft tissue (mSTS) or bone sarcoma (mBS) patients who had attained a favourable response to chemotherapy. We employed the EORTC QLQ-C30, the 3-item Cancer-Related Symptoms Questionnaire, and the EQ-5D instrument. HRQoL was evaluated overall and by health state in 120 mSTS/mBS patients enrolled in the SABINE study across nine countries in Europe and North America. Utility was estimated from responses to the EQ-5D instrument using UK population-based weights. The mean EQ-5D utility score was 0.69 for the pooled patient sample with little variation across health states. However, patients with progressive disease reported a clinically significant lower utility (0.56). Among disease symptoms, pain and respiratory symptoms are common. This study showed that mSTS/mBS is associated with reduced HRQoL and utility among patients with metastatic disease

Study of an altered magnetic circuit of a permanent magnet linear generator for wave power

The wave energy converter (WEC) studied and developed at Uppsala University in Sweden is a point absorbing buoy connected to a linear generator (LG) on the seabed. Previous studies have improved the sustainability of the generator, changing its magnets from Nd 2 Fe 14 B-magnets to ferrites. In this paper, the magnetic circuit of the linear generator is further studied. Ferrite magnets of two different types (Y30 and Y40) are studied along with different shapes of pole shoes for the system. The finite element method (FEM) simulations in a program called Ace are performed. The results show that a linear generator including both Y30 and Y40 magnets and shortened T-shaped pole shoes can generate a similar magnetic energy in the airgap as a linear generator only containing Y40 magnets and rectangular pole shoes. This shows that the magnetic circuit can be altered, opening up sizes and strengths of magnets for different retailers, and thereby possibly lowering magnet cost and transportation. This work was previously presented as a conference at the European Wave and Tidal Energy Conference (EWTEC) 2017 in Cork, Ireland; this manuscript has been carefully revised and some discussions, on magnet costs for example, have been added to this paper

The utilization of an ocular wound chamber on corneal epithelial wounds

Purpose Currently available ocular moisture chambers are not adequate to manage the treatment of periocular burns, corneal injuries, and infection. The purpose of these studies was to demonstrate that a flexible, semi-transparent ocular wound chamber device adapted from technology currently used on dermal wounds is safe for use on corneal epithelial injuries. Materials and methods A depilatory cream (Nair™, 30 seconds) was utilized to remove the excess hair surrounding the left eyes of anesthetized Institute Armand Frappier (IAF) hairless, female guinea pigs (Crl:HA-Hrhr). A 4 mm corneal epithelium defect was created using a corneal rust ring remover (Algerbrush®II). Epithelial defects were either left untreated or the eyes were fitted with an ocular wound chamber and 0.5 mL of hydroxypropyl methylcellulose (HPMC) gel (GenTeal®) or HPMC liquid (GenTeal®) was injected into each chamber (N=5 per group). At 0, 24, 48, and 72 hours fluorescein and optical coherence tomography imaging was collected and the intraocular pressure (IOP) was measured. H&E staining was performed on corneal and eyelid skin samples and evaluated by a veterinary pathologist. Results: Corneal epithelial wounds demonstrated 100% closure rates when left untreated or treated with an ocular wound chamber containing HPMC gel at 72 hours while wounds treated with an ocular wound chamber containing HPMC liquid were 98% healed. No significant differences were found in corneal thickness and wound healing, IOP, or eyelid skin pathology in any treatment group when compared to controls. Conclusions: This study indicates that adapted wound chamber technology can be safely used on sterile, corneal epithelial wounds without adverse effects on periocular or ocular tissue when filled with a liquid or gel