Risk Analyses of Disposal of Pig Carcasses Smaller Than 40 KG in The Netherland

A study based on the literature, an on- farm audit and expert knowledge, was carried out to determine 1) the risks of spread of animal diseases among farms; 2) odour nuisance due to carcasses at the rendering plant; and 3) measurements to reduce these risks. It was concluded that the possible risks of spread of animal diseases among farms due to the removal of carcasses mainly has to do with the entrance of the place from where the carcasses are collected by the driver of the truck , the contact of the grab of the haulier with the cadaver container or place and driving with the haulier which is not fully closed. The true size of the risk of spread of disease is unknown and is probably different for each pathogen. Strict hygiene measurements by the driver and farmer can reduce the risk of spread of animal diseases due to cadaver removal. According to the interviewees at the expert assessment session, the odour nuisance at the rendering plant due to carcasses is mainly caused by bacterial conversion of proteins. Cooling of carcasses contribute to the slowing down of the conversions. No unambigious answer could be obtained as to the cooling temperature: not lower than -7°C because of the processing at the rendering plant and preferably not higher than 5°C. Frequent removal of carcasses from the farms and a quick handling at the rendering plant may also reduce odour nuisance at the rendering plant.Risk analyses, pig, carcasses, disposal, spread of disease, odour nuisance, pig farms, rendering plant, Livestock Production/Industries,

Risk management of Salmonella in pig fattening farms based on HACCP

To gain insight in the practical feasibility and effectiveness of using a HACCP-Iike framework to control Salmonella on pig fattening farms a study was carried out. In this paper the risk evaluation technique used for the study is explained. The first experiences show that it appears possible to determine the serious risks and Critical Control Points for Salmonella introduction and transmission on fattening farms by means of an HACCP-Iike framework. Further research is carried out

Onderzoek naar brandveiligheid voor dieren in veestallen = Study regarding fire safety of barns for farm animals

Study regarding bottle necks in fire safety of barns for farm animals and possible improvements, inter alia in legislation

Antibiotic use in Brazilian broiler and pig production: an indication and forecast of trends

To gain insight in antibiotic use in relation to imported products the current use of antibiotics in pork and broiler production in Brazil are identified and trend forecasting of antibiotic use in the coming 3-5 years is performed

The aortic root in repaired tetralogy of Fallot:Serial measurements and impact of losartan treatment

Background: Aortic root dilatation is common in adults with repaired tetralogy of Fallot (rTOF) and might lead to aortic dissection. However, little is known on progression of aortic dilatation and the effect of pharmaceutical treatment. This study aims to determine factors associated with aortic growth and investigate effects of losartan. Methods and results: We performed a prespecified analysis from the 1:1 randomized, double-blind REDEFINE trial. Aortic root diameters were measured at baseline and after 2.0 ± 0.3 years of follow-up using cardiovascular magnetic resonance (CMR) imaging. A total of 66 patients were included (68% men, age 40 ± 12 years, baseline aortic root 37 ± 6 mm, 32% aortic dilatation (>40 mm)). There was a trend towards slow aortic root growth (+0.6 ± 2.3 mm after two years, p = 0.06) (n = 60). LV stroke volume was the only factor associated with both a larger baseline aortic root (β: 0.09 mm/ml (95% C.I.:0.02, 0.15), p = 0.010) and with aortic growth during follow-up (β: 0.04 mm/ml (95% C.I.:0.005, 0.066), p = 0.024), after correction for age, sex, and body surface area using linear regression analysis. No treatment effect of losartan was found (p = 0.17). Conclusions: Aortic root dilatation was present in about one-third of rTOF patients. A larger LV stroke volume was associated with both a larger baseline aortic root and ongoing growth. Our findings provide no arguments for lower aortic diameter thresholds for prophylactic surgery compared to the general population

The Cost of Sex: Quantifying Energetic Investment in Gamete Production by Males and Females

The relative energetic investment in reproduction between the sexes forms the basis of sexual selection and life history theories in evolutionary biology. It is often assumed that males invest considerably less in gametes than females, but quantifying the energetic cost of gamete production in both sexes has remained a difficult challenge. For a broad diversity of species (invertebrates, reptiles, amphibians, fishes, birds, and mammals), we compared the cost of gamete production between the sexes in terms of the investment in gonad tissue and the rate of gamete biomass production. Investment in gonad biomass was nearly proportional to body mass in both sexes, but gamete biomass production rate was approximately two to four orders of magnitude higher in females. In both males and females, gamete biomass production rate increased with organism mass as a power law, much like individual metabolic rate. This suggests that whole-organism energetics may act as a primary constraint on gamete production among species. Residual variation in sperm production rate was positively correlated with relative testes size. Together, these results suggest that understanding the heterogeneity in rates of gamete production among species requires joint consideration of the effects of gonad mass and metabolism

Monitoring and Discussing Health-Related Quality of Life in Adolescents With Type 1 Diabetes Improve Psychosocial Well-Being: A randomized controlled trial

OBJECTIVE—To test the effects of monitoring and discussing of health-related quality of life (HRQoL) in adolescents with type 1 diabetes in a multicenter randomized controlled trial

Universal Artifacts Affect the Branching of Phylogenetic Trees, Not Universal Scaling Laws

The superficial resemblance of phylogenetic trees to other branching structures allows searching for macroevolutionary patterns. However, such trees are just statistical inferences of particular historical events. Recent meta-analyses report finding regularities in the branching pattern of phylogenetic trees. But is this supported by evidence, or are such regularities just methodological artifacts? If so, is there any signal in a phylogeny?In order to evaluate the impact of polytomies and imbalance on tree shape, the distribution of all binary and polytomic trees of up to 7 taxa was assessed in tree-shape space. The relationship between the proportion of outgroups and the amount of imbalance introduced with them was assessed applying four different tree-building methods to 100 combinations from a set of 10 ingroup and 9 outgroup species, and performing covariance analyses. The relevance of this analysis was explored taking 61 published phylogenies, based on nucleic acid sequences and involving various taxa, taxonomic levels, and tree-building methods.All methods of phylogenetic inference are quite sensitive to the artifacts introduced by outgroups. However, published phylogenies appear to be subject to a rather effective, albeit rather intuitive control against such artifacts. The data and methods used to build phylogenetic trees are varied, so any meta-analysis is subject to pitfalls due to their uneven intrinsic merits, which translate into artifacts in tree shape. The binary branching pattern is an imposition of methods, and seldom reflects true relationships in intraspecific analyses, yielding artifactual polytomies in short trees. Above the species level, the departure of real trees from simplistic random models is caused at least by two natural factors--uneven speciation and extinction rates; and artifacts such as choice of taxa included in the analysis, and imbalance introduced by outgroups and basal paraphyletic taxa. This artifactual imbalance accounts for tree shape convergence of large trees.There is no evidence for any universal scaling in the tree of life. Instead, there is a need for improved methods of tree analysis that can be used to discriminate the noise due to outgroups from the phylogenetic signal within the taxon of interest, and to evaluate realistic models of evolution, correcting the retrospective perspective and explicitly recognizing extinction as a driving force. Artifacts are pervasive, and can only be overcome through understanding the structure and biological meaning of phylogenetic trees. Catalan Abstract in Translation S1

Systematic Evaluation of the Descriptive and Predictive Performance of Paediatric Morphine Population Models

Purpose: A framework for the evaluation of paediatric population models is proposed and applied to two different paediatric population pharmacokinetic models for morphine. One covariate model was based on a systematic covariate analysis, the other on fixed allometric scaling principles. Methods: The six evaluation criteria in the framework were 1) number of parameters and condition number, 2) numerical diagnostics, 3) prediction-based diagnostics, 4) η-shrinkage, 5) simulation-based diagnostics, 6) diagnostics of individual and population parameter estimates versus covariates, including measurements of bias and precision of the population values compared to the observed individual values. The framework entails both an internal and external model evaluation procedure. Results: The application of the framework to the two models resulted in the detection of overparameterization and misleading diagnostics based on individual predictions caused by high shrinkage. The diagnostic of individual and population parameter estimates versus covariates proved to be highly informative in assessing obtained covariate relationships. Based on the framework, the systematic covariate model proved to be superior over the fixed allometric model in terms of predictive performance. Conclusions: The proposed framework is suitable for the evaluation of paediatric (covariate) models and should be applied to corroborate the descriptive and predictive properties of these models