Redclaw from harvest to market: a manual of handling procedures

Optimizing the quality of redclaw crayfish (Cherax quadricarinatus) for the market is dependent on many factors throughout the production chain. Poor farming or handling practices at any time from juvenile production through to harvesting of market size stock may be reflected in poor quality product or high levels of mortality during live transport. Optimizing product quality during post-harvest processes cannot therefore be isolated from farming methods and quality assurance procedures should begin at the initial stages of production. The converse is also true, and post-harvest procedures should ensure that harvested stock is maintained at high quality until it reaches its market destination and the consumer. It is important that producers, wholesalers and buyers of live redclaw acknowledge that specialized handling techniques are necessary and that a range of alternative products for processed redclaw may have equal or better market opportunity. Procedures are recommended for holding stock, grading and purging, treatment of unattractive product, flavour enhancement, transport methods for live redclaw and processing of killed redclaw

Reformers and revolutionaries: the battle for the working classes in Gibraltar and its hinterland, 1902-1921

This article examines labour organisation in Gibraltar and its hinterland from c.1902-1921. It demonstrates that the traditionally strong links which had existed between organisations in Gibraltar and neighbouring Spain - links based upon a shared belief in anarchist ideas and practices - had, by 1921, broken down due to the adoption of gradualist and constitutionalist politics and industrial relations by workers on the Rock. Two principal agents drove this change. First, in 1919, the British Workers’ Union established a branch in Gibraltar which successfully worked to establish itself as principal negotiator and representative of workers on the Rock. Second, a reforming governor in Gibraltar undertook to open up political spaces in Gibraltar which offered the potential to work with, rather than against, the state in the colony. By the end of the period, anarchism, and anarchist ideas, were not extinguished in Gibraltar, but they would never again serve as the inspiration for industrial and political campaigns on the Rock, much to the delight of both Gibraltarian employers and the British colonial authorities. This case-study invites further consideration of how British style trade union activity in the empire displaced indigenous forms of organising, a subject which has heretofore received scant attention

Expectations and Assumptions: Examining the Influence of Staff Culture on a Novel School-Based Intervention to Enable Risky Play for Children with Disabilities

Risky play is challenging, exciting play with the possibility of physical, social, or emotional harm. Through risky play, children learn, develop, and experience wellbeing. Children with disabilities have fewer opportunities than their typically developing peers to engage in this beneficial type of play. Our team designed a novel, school-based intervention to address this disparity; however, our intervention yielded unexpected quantitative results. In the present study, we qualitatively examined divergent results at two of the five schools that participated in the intervention. Specifically, we aimed to explore how staff culture (i.e., shared beliefs, values, and practices) influenced the intervention. To explore this relationship, we employed a retrospective, qualitative, multiple case study. We used thematic analysis of evaluative interviews with staff members to elucidate the cultures at each school. Then, we used cross-case analysis to understand the relationships between aspects of staff culture and the intervention’s implementation and results. We found that staff cultures around play, risk, disability influenced the way, and the extent to which, staff were willing to let go and allowed children to engage in risky play. Adults’ beliefs about the purpose of play and recess, as well as their expectations for children with disabilities, particularly influenced the intervention. Furthermore, when the assumptions of the intervention and the staff culture did not align, the intervention could not succeed. The results of this study highlight the importance of (1) evaluating each schools’ unique staff culture before implementing play-focused interventions and (2) tailoring interventions to meet the needs of individual schools

Trade unions and the challenge of fostering solidarities in an era of financialisation

This articles re-examines evidence that trade unions in the UK have struggled to renew themselves despite considerable investment of time and effort. It argues that financialisation in the realms of capital accumulation, organisational decision making and everyday life has introduced new barriers to building the solidarities within and between groups of workers that would be necessary to develop a stronger response to the catastrophic effects on labour of financialisation in general, and the financial crisis specifically. The crisis highlighted the weaknesses of trade unions as institutions of economic and industrial democracy, but has also given some opportunities to establish narratives of solidarity in spaces and platforms created within a financialised context

Rationale, design and conduct of a randomised controlled trial evaluating a primary care-based complex intervention to improve the quality of life of heart failure patients: HICMan (Heidelberg Integrated Case Management) : study protocol

Background: Chronic congestive heart failure (CHF) is a complex disease with rising prevalence, compromised quality of life (QoL), unplanned hospital admissions, high mortality and therefore high burden of illness. The delivery of care for these patients has been criticized and new strategies addressing crucial domains of care have been shown to be effective on patients' health outcomes, although these trials were conducted in secondary care or in highly organised Health Maintenance Organisations. It remains unclear whether a comprehensive primary care-based case management for the treating general practitioner (GP) can improve patients' QoL. Methods/Design: HICMan is a randomised controlled trial with patients as the unit of randomisation. Aim is to evaluate a structured, standardized and comprehensive complex intervention for patients with CHF in a 12-months follow-up trial. Patients from intervention group receive specific patient leaflets and documentation booklets as well as regular monitoring and screening by a prior trained practice nurse, who gives feedback to the GP upon urgency. Monitoring and screening address aspects of disease-specific selfmanagement, (non)pharmacological adherence and psychosomatic and geriatric comorbidity. GPs are invited to provide a tailored structured counselling 4 times during the trial and receive an additional feedback on pharmacotherapy relevant to prognosis (data of baseline documentation). Patients from control group receive usual care by their GPs, who were introduced to guidelineoriented management and a tailored health counselling concept. Main outcome measurement for patients' QoL is the scale physical functioning of the SF-36 health questionnaire in a 12-month follow-up. Secondary outcomes are the disease specific QoL measured by the Kansas City Cardiomyopathy questionnaire (KCCQ), depression and anxiety disorders (PHQ-9, GAD-7), adherence (EHFScBS and SANA), quality of care measured by an adapted version of the Patient Chronic Illness Assessment of Care questionnaire (PACIC) and NTproBNP. In addition, comprehensive clinical data are collected about health status, comorbidity, medication and health care utilisation. Discussion: As the targeted patient group is mostly cared for and treated by GPs, a comprehensive primary care-based guideline implementation including somatic, psychosomatic and organisational aspects of the delivery of care (HICMAn) is a promising intervention applying proven strategies for optimal care. Trial registration: Current Controlled Trials ISRCTN30822978

Recommendations of Common Data Elements to Advance the Science of Selfâ Management of Chronic Conditions

PurposeCommon data elements (CDEs) are increasingly being used by researchers to promote data sharing across studies. The purposes of this article are to (a) describe the theoretical, conceptual, and definition issues in the development of a set of CDEs for research addressing selfâ management of chronic conditions; (b) propose an initial set of CDEs and their measures to advance the science of selfâ management; and (c) recommend implications for future research and dissemination.Design and MethodsBetween July 2014 and December 2015 the directors of the National Institute of Nursing Research (NINR)â funded P20 and P30 centers of excellence and NINR staff met in a series of telephone calls and a faceâ toâ face NINRâ sponsored meeting to select a set of recommended CDEs to be used in selfâ management research. A list of potential CDEs was developed from examination of common constructs in current selfâ management frameworks, as well as identification of variables frequently used in studies conducted in the centers of excellence.FindingsThe recommended CDEs include measures of three selfâ management processes: activation, selfâ regulation, and selfâ efficacy for managing chronic conditions, and one measure of a selfâ management outcome, global health.ConclusionsThe selfâ management of chronic conditions, which encompasses a considerable number of processes, behaviors, and outcomes across a broad range of chronic conditions, presents several challenges in the identification of a parsimonious set of CDEs. This initial list of recommended CDEs for use in selfâ management research is provisional in that it is expected that over time it will be refined. Comment and recommended revisions are sought from the research and practice communities.Clinical RelevanceThe use of CDEs can facilitate generalizability of research findings across diverse population and interventions.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/134268/1/jnu12233_am.pdfhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/134268/2/jnu12233.pd

Anarchy in the UK('s most famous fortress): comradeship and cupidity in Gibraltar and neighbouring Spain, 1890-1902

This article is the first to investigate the growth of anarchist ideology and tactics in Gibraltar and the surrounding Spanish region, the Campo de Gibraltar, in the period 1890-1902. We draw upon hitherto unused material from both The National Archives in London and the Gibraltar Government Archives. By doing so, we demonstrate that during this period Gibraltarian and Spanish workers came together, not only to defend and advance their interests by direct action, such as strikes and attacks on employers, but also to advance educational and social causes too. Indeed, by 1898-9 the appeal of this movement was so strong that an attempt by the British Social Democratic Federation to establish a more constitutionalist approach to industrial relations failed. By 1902, the power of anarchist movements and tactics concerned employers in Gibraltar so greatly that they engineered a lock-out – styled a general strike by local workers – and successfully smashed the organising power of the local movement. Meanwhile, on the Spanish side of the frontier a massacre engineered by the local Spanish authorities resulted in the deaths of a number of activists and a hiatus in the movement that would last until the Great War of 1914-18

Quality of life at the end of life

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Little is known about self-perceived quality of life (QOL) near the end of life, because such information is difficult to collect and to interpret. Here, we describe QOL in the weeks near death and determine correlates of QOL over time, with emphasis on accounting for death and missing data.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Data on QOL were collected approximately every week in an ongoing randomized trial involving persons at the end of life. We used these data to describe QOL in the 52 weeks after enrollment in the trial (prospective analysis, N = 115), and also in the 10 weeks just prior to death (retrospective analysis, N = 83). The analysis consisted of graphs and regressions that accounted explicitly for death and imputed missing data.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>QOL was better than expected until the final 3 weeks of life, when a terminal drop was observed. Gender, race, education, cancer, and baseline health status were not significantly related to the number of “weeks of good-quality life” (WQL) during the study period. Persons younger than 60 had significantly higher WQL than older persons in the prospective analysis, but significantly lower WQL in the retrospective analysis. The retrospective results were somewhat sensitive to the imputation model.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>In this exploratory study, QOL was better than expected in persons at the end of life, but special interventions may be needed for persons approaching a premature death, and also for the last 3 weeks of life. Our descriptions of the trajectory of QOL at the end of life may help other investigators to plan and analyze future studies of QOL. Methodology for dealing with death and the high amount of missing data in longitudinal studies at the end of life needs further investigation.</p

Biomarkers as Common Data Elements for Symptom and Selfâ Management Science

PurposeBiomarkers as common data elements (CDEs) are important for the characterization of biobehavioral symptoms given that once a biologic moderator or mediator is identified, biologically based strategies can be investigated for treatment efforts. Just as a symptom inventory reflects a symptom experience, a biomarker is an indicator of the symptom, though not the symptom per se. The purposes of this position paper are to (a) identify a â minimum setâ of biomarkers for consideration as CDEs in symptom and selfâ management science, specifically biochemical biomarkers; (b) evaluate the benefits and limitations of such a limited array of biomarkers with implications for symptom science; (c) propose a strategy for the collection of the endorsed minimum set of biologic samples to be employed as CDEs for symptom science; and (d) conceptualize this minimum set of biomarkers consistent with National Institute of Nursing Research (NINR) symptoms of fatigue, depression, cognition, pain, and sleep disturbance.Design and MethodsFrom May 2016 through January 2017, a working group consisting of a subset of the Directors of the NINR Centers of Excellence funded by P20 or P30 mechanisms and NINR staff met bimonthly via telephone to develop this position paper suggesting the addition of biomarkers as CDEs. The full group of Directors reviewed drafts, provided critiques and suggestions, recommended the minimum set of biomarkers, and approved the completed document. Best practices for selecting, identifying, and using biological CDEs as well as challenges to the use of biological CDEs for symptom and selfâ management science are described. Current platforms for sample outcome sharing are presented. Finally, biological CDEs for symptom and selfâ management science are proposed along with implications for future research and use of CDEs in these areas.FindingsThe recommended minimum set of biomarker CDEs include proâ and antiâ inflammatory cytokines, a hypothalamicâ pituitaryâ adrenal axis marker, cortisol, the neuropeptide brainâ derived neurotrophic factor, and DNA polymorphisms.ConclusionsIt is anticipated that this minimum set of biomarker CDEs will be refined as knowledge regarding biologic mechanisms underlying symptom and selfâ management science further develop. The incorporation of biological CDEs may provide insights into mechanisms of symptoms, effectiveness of proposed interventions, and applicability of chosen theoretical frameworks. Similarly, as for the previously suggested NINR CDEs for behavioral symptoms and selfâ management of chronic conditions, biological CDEs offer the potential for collaborative efforts that will strengthen symptom and selfâ management science.Clinical RelevanceThe use of biomarker CDEs in biobehavioral symptoms research will facilitate the reproducibility and generalizability of research findings and benefit symptom and selfâ management science.Peer Reviewedhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/143764/1/jnu12378.pdfhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/143764/2/jnu12378_am.pd

Integration of decision support systems to improve decision support performance

Decision support system (DSS) is a well-established research and development area. Traditional isolated, stand-alone DSS has been recently facing new challenges. In order to improve the performance of DSS to meet the challenges, research has been actively carried out to develop integrated decision support systems (IDSS). This paper reviews the current research efforts with regard to the development of IDSS. The focus of the paper is on the integration aspect for IDSS through multiple perspectives, and the technologies that support this integration. More than 100 papers and software systems are discussed. Current research efforts and the development status of IDSS are explained, compared and classified. In addition, future trends and challenges in integration are outlined. The paper concludes that by addressing integration, better support will be provided to decision makers, with the expectation of both better decisions and improved decision making processes