Secondary production, trophic position, and potential for accumulation of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in predatory Diptera in four wetlands of the Athabasca oil sands, Alberta, Canada.

Larvae of aquatic Diptera are important predators in fishless wetlands of northeast Alberta. Annual production was estimated for benthic (Chironomidae: Tanypodinae) and pelagic (Chaoboridae: Chaoborus) dipteran populations in 4 wetlands in surface-mined areas of the Athabasca oil sands, two of which received oil sands mine process material (OSPM; containing polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs)), and two of which were reference wetlands. The structure of benthic and pelagic food webs was estimated by measuring stable carbon and nitrogen isotopes. Stable nitrogen isotopes were also used to determine trophic levels of Tanypodinae and Chaoborus in order to determine their potential to bioaccumulate PAHs. Annual production was estimated along with total PAH body burdens to determine the potential for biomass and PAH export by the emergent adult insects. Tanypodinae production (1.55--28.77 g/m2/y) consistently exceeded Chaoborus production (0.009--0.372 g/m 2/y). Chaoborus trophic position estimates were consistently greater than estimates for Tanypodinae, suggesting greater PAH bioaccumulation potential for Chaoborus. Tanypodinae had greater potential to export PAHs (1.86--37.1 mg/m 2/y) than Chaoborus (1.1 x 10-2 --4.5 x 10-1 mg/m2/y) due to greater production and PAH body burdens. (Abstract shortened by UMI.)Dept. of Biological Sciences. Paper copy at Leddy Library: Theses & Major Papers - Basement, West Bldg. / Call Number: Thesis2002 .G36. Source: Masters Abstracts International, Volume: 41-04, page: 1006. Adviser: Jan J. H. Ciborowski. Thesis (M.Sc.)--University of Windsor (Canada), 2002

Factors associated with antimicrobial resistant enterococci in Canadian beef cattle: A scoping review

IntroductionAntimicrobial resistance (AMR) is a global health concern, occurring when bacteria evolve to render antimicrobials no longer effective. Antimicrobials have important roles in beef production; however, the potential to introduce AMR to people through beef products is a concern. This scoping review identifies factors associated with changes in the prevalence of antimicrobial-resistant Enterococcus spp. applicable to the Canadian farm-to-fork beef continuum.MethodsFive databases (MEDLINE, BIOSIS, Web of Science, Embase, and CAB Abstracts) were searched for articles published from January 1984 to March 2022, using a priori inclusion criteria. Peer-reviewed articles were included if they met all the following criteria: written in English, applicable to the Canadian beef production context, primary research, in vivo research, describing an intervention or exposure, and specific to Enterococcus spp.ResultsOut of 804 screened articles, 26 were selected for inclusion. The included articles discussed 37 factors potentially associated with AMR in enterococci, with multiple articles discussing at least two of the same factors. Factors discussed included antimicrobial administration (n = 16), raised without antimicrobials (n = 6), metal supplementation (n = 4), probiotics supplementation (n = 3), pen environment (n = 2), essential oil supplementation (n = 1), grass feeding (n = 1), therapeutic versus subtherapeutic antimicrobial use (n = 1), feeding wet distiller grains with solubles (n = 1), nutritional supplementation (n = 1) and processing plant type (n = 1). Results were included irrespective of their quality of evidence.DiscussionComparability issues arising throughout the review process were related to data aggregation, hierarchical structures, study design, and inconsistent data reporting. Findings from articles were often temporally specific in that resistance was associated with AMR outcomes at sampling times closer to exposure compared to studies that sampled at longer intervals after exposure. Resistance was often nuanced to unique gene and phenotypic resistance patterns that varied with species of enterococci. Intrinsic resistance and interpretation of minimum inhibitory concentration varied greatly among enterococcal species, highlighting the importance of caution when comparing articles and generalizing findings.Systematic Review Registration[http://hdl.handle.net/1880/113592

Emergence and effect of brands : a systematic overview of theoretical explanations and a practical illustration of a selected theory using the example of NIO

Die Arbeit beschäftigt sich mit der Entstehung und Wirkung von Marken. Dafür wird das Wesen von Marken erläutert und auch auf verschiedene Markentheorien eingegangen. Als praktische Veranschaulichung wird eine Theorie an dem Beispiel von NIO erforscht. Es wird beschrieben, wie sich ein junges Startup in der Automobilbranche etablieren kann und ob es dort gegenüber der Konkurrenz bestehen kann. Die Methodik der Arbeit ist komparativ-kompilatorisc

Library and Informatics Training May Improve Question Formulation among Public Health Practitioners, A Review of: Eldredge, Jonathan D., Richard Carr, David Broudy, and Ronald E. Voorhees. “The Effect of Training on Question Formulation among Public Health Practitioners: Results from a Randomized Controlled Trial.” Journal of the Medical Library Association 96.4 (2008): 299‐309.

Objective – To determine whether providing library and informatics training to public health professionals would increase the number and sophistication of work‐related questions asked by these workers.Design – Randomized controlled trial.Setting – New Mexico Department of Health.Subjects – Public health professionals from a variety of professions, including “administrators, disease prevention specialists, epidemiologists, health educators, nurses, nutritionists, physicians, program directors, and social workers” (301). Only staff from the New Mexico Department of Health were eligible to participate.Methods – All subjects received a three‐hour training session on finding evidence based public health information, with a focus on using PubMed. Two sessions were offered, two weeks apart. Participants were randomized to either an intervention group, which received instruction on the first date, or a control group, which received instruction on the second date. The intervening two weeks constitute the study period, in which both groups were surveyed by e‐mail about their work‐related question generation. Three times per week, subjects received e‐mail reminders asking them to submit survey responses regarding all questions that had arisen in their practice, along with information about their attempts to answer them. Questions were tallied, and totals were compared between the two groups. Questions were also analysed for level of sophistication, and classified by the investigators as either “background” questions, which are asked when one has little knowledge of the field, and can usually be answered using textbooks or other reference sources, or “foreground” questions, which are often asked when an individual is familiar with the subject, and looking for more sophisticated information that is usually found in journals and similar sources. This scheme for classifying questions was developed by Richardson and Mulrow.Main Results – The investigators found differences in both the number and sophistication of the questions asked between the control and intervention groups. The control group averaged only 0.69 questions per participant during the two‐week observation period, while the intervention group averaged 1.24 questions. Investigators also found that a higher percentage of the questions asked by the intervention group were foreground questions (50.0%, versus 42.9% for the control group). However, when two‐tailed t‐test analysis was performed on both the frequency of questions and the level of sophistication, the findings were not statistically significant within a 95% confidence interval.Conclusion – This study suggests that library and informatics training for public health professionals may increase the number of questions that they ask on work‐related topics, and also the sophistication of these questions. However, more studies need to be done to confirm these findings. The authors suggest that replication of the study would be useful, particularly as Hurricanes Katrina and Rita interfered with their ability to recruit and retain participants. They also suggest that studies be conducted on other training methods to see which are most effective at motivating users to seek information. Finally, the authors suggest that a prospective cohort study might be a useful method for predicting the effect of training on participants’ motivation to pursue answers to their questions