357 research outputs found
Whole corn rations for finishing heifers: A comparison of self-fed and mixed supplement, with and without salt.
Twenty-four Hereford x Angus heifers averaging 714 lbs. were allotted by weight to four groups of six animals each to study effects on gain, feed intake, and feed efficiency of: 1. Free-choice whole corn without roughage. 2. Protein supplement either mixed with whole corn or supplied seperately (free-choice). 3. Omitting sal
The views of children and young people on the use of silk garments for the treatment of eczema: a nested qualitative study within the CLOTHES randomised controlled trial
Background: Many children suffer with skin diseases, but to date, most dermatological research has been done âonâ rather than âwithâ children; in this study we actively sought the experiences of children and young people. Atopic eczema (AE) is a chronic, itchy, inflammatory skin condition that affects around 20% of children and can impact on health and wellbeing for children and their families. The role of specialist clothing in the management of AE is poorly understood.
Objectives: The aim of this study, which was nested in a randomised controlled trial was to qualitatively examine child participantsâ experiences of using silk garments for the treatment of AE.
Methods: Eighteen children aged 5-15, who took part in the CLOTHES trial, participated in age-appropriate individual interviews or focus groups.
Results: Thematic analysis generated 4 themes directly related to the garments: i) expectations of the garments; ii) wearing the silk garments; iii) did they help? and iv) thoughts about the garments. The conclusions from this nested qualitative study are that: there was some limited improvement in eczema for some children but that the hoped for âmiracle cureâ did not transpire. A mixed picture of knowledge, beliefs and experiences of using the silk garments emerged.
Conclusion: Engaging children in the evaluation of the garments provided first hand nuanced insights that enhanced understanding of the CLOTHES study as a whole. This nested study demonstrates that children can and indeed want to be engaged in dermatological research in meaningful ways that add to our understanding of treatment options
A randomised controlled trial of prehabilitation in patients undergoing elective cardiac surgery
The feasibility, safety and efficacy of prehabilitation in adult patients awaiting elective cardiac surgery are unknown. A total of 180 participants undergoing elective cardiac surgery were allocated randomly to receive either standard pre-operative care or prehabilitation, consisting of pre-operative exercise and inspiratory muscle training. The primary outcome was change in six-minute walk test distance from baseline to pre-operative assessment. Secondary outcomes included change in inspiratory muscle strength (maximal inspiratory pressure); sarcopenia (handgrip strength); quality of life and compliance. Safety outcomes were pre-specified surgical and pulmonary complications and adverse events. All outcomes were assessed at baseline; at pre-operative assessment; and 6 and 12âweeks following surgery. Mean (SD) age was 64.7 (10.2) years; 33/180 (18%) were women. In total, 65/91 (71.4%) participants who were allocated to prehabilitation attended at least four of eight supervised in-hospital exercise classes; participants aged >â50âyears were more likely than younger participants to attend (odds ratio (95%CI) of 4.6 (1.0â25.1)). Six-minute walk test was not significantly different between groups (mean difference (95%CI) -7.8âm (-30.6â15.0), pâ=â0.503) in the intention-to-treat analysis. Subgroup analyses based on tests for interaction indicated improvements in six-minute walk test distance were larger amongst sarcopenic patients in the prehabilitation group (pâ=â0.004). Change in maximal inspiratory pressure from baseline to all time-points was significantly greater in the prehabilitation group, with the greatest mean difference (95%CI) observed 12âweeks after surgery (10.6 cmH2O (4.6â16.6) cmH2O, pâ<â0.001). There were no differences in handgrip strength or quality of life up to 12âweeks after surgery. There was no significant difference in postoperative mortality (one death in each group), surgical or pulmonary complications. Of 71 pre-operative adverse events, six (8.5%) were related to prehabilitation. The combination of exercise and inspiratory muscle training in a prehabilitation intervention before cardiac surgery was not superior to standard care in improving functional exercise capacity measured by six-minute walk test distance pre-operatively. Future trials should target patients living with sarcopenia and include inspiratory muscle strength training
Weak antiferromagnetism due to Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction in BaCuOCl
The antiferromagnetic insulating cuprate BaCuOCl contains
folded CuO chains with four magnetic copper ions () per unit cell.
An underlying multiorbital Hubbard model is formulated and the superexchange
theory is developed to derive an effective spin Hamiltonian for this cuprate.
The resulting spin Hamiltonian involves a Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya term and a more
weak symmetric anisotropic exchange term besides the isotropic exchange
interaction. The corresponding Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya vectors of each magnetic
Cu-Cu bond in the chain reveal a well defined spatial order. Both, the
superexchange theory and the complementary group theoretical consideration,
lead to the same conclusion on the character of this order. The analysis of the
ground-state magnetic properties of the derived model leads to the prediction
of an additional noncollinear modulation of the antiferromagnetic structure.
This weak antiferromagnetism is restricted to one of the Cu sublattices.Comment: 13 pages, 1 table, 4 figure
Judgements during information seeking: a naturalistic approach to understanding the assessment of enough information
Does nitrogen availability have greater control over the formation of tropical heath forests than water stress? A hypothesis based on nitrogen isotope ratios
lobal scale analyses of soil and foliage δ15N have found positive relationships between δ15N and ecosystem N loss (suggesting an open N cycle) and a negative relationship between δ15N and water availability. We show here that soils and leaves from tropical heath forests are depleted in 15N relative to 'typical' forests suggesting that they have a tight N cycle and are therefore limited by N rather than by, often suggested, water availability
Strategic positioning:an integrated decision process for manufacturers
Purpose â This paper describes research that has sought to create a formal and rational process that guides manufacturers through the strategic positioning decision. Design/methodology/approach â The methodology is based on a series of case studies to develop and test the decision process. Findings â A decision process that leads the practitioner through an analytical process to decide which manufacturing activities they should carryout themselves. Practical implications â Strategic positioning is concerned with choosing those production related activities that an organisations should carry out internally, and those that should be external and under the ownership and control of suppliers, partners, distributors and customers. Originality/value â This concept extends traditional decision paradigms, such as those associated with âmake versus buyâ and âoutsourcingâ, by looking at the interactions between manufacturing operations and the wider supply chain networks associated with the organisation
Diverse Beliefs and Time Variability of Risk Premia
Why do risk premia vary over time? We examine this problem theoretically and empirically by studying the effect of market belief on risk premia. Individual belief is taken as a fundamental primitive state variable. Market belief is observable; it is central to the empirical evaluation and we show how to measure it. Our asset pricing model is familiar from the noisy REE literature but we adapt it to an economy with diverse beliefs. We derive equilibrium asset prices and implied risk premium. Our approach permits a closed form solution of prices; hence we trace the exact effect of market belief on the time variability of asset prices and risk premia. We test empirically the theoretical conclusions. Our main result is that, above the effect of business cycles on risk premia, fluctuations in market belief have significant independent effect on the time variability of risk premia. We study the premia on long positions in Federal Funds Futures, 3- and 6-month Treasury Bills (T-Bills). The annual mean risk premium on holding such assets for 1-12 months is about 40-60 basis points and we find that, on average, the component of market belief in the risk premium exceeds 50% of the mean. Since time variability of market belief is large, this component frequently exceeds 50% of the mean premium. This component is larger the shorter is the holding period of an asset and it dominates the premium for very short holding returns of less than 2 months. As to the structure of the premium we show that when the market holds abnormally favorable belief about the future payoff of an asset the market views the long position as less risky hence the risk premium on that asset declines. More generally, periods of market optimism (i.e. "bull" markets) are shown to be periods when the market risk premium is low while in periods of pessimism (i.e. "bear" markets) the market's risk premium is high. Fluctuations in risk premia are thus inversely related to the degree of market optimism about future prospects of asset payoffs. This effect is strong and economically very significant
Association of a novel mutation in the plasmodium falciparum chloroquine resistance transporter with decreased piperaquine sensitivity
Background. Amplified copy number in the plasmepsin II/III genes within Plasmodium falciparum has been associated with decreased sensitivity to piperaquine. To examine this association and test whether additional loci might also contribute, we performed a genome-wide association study of ex vivo P. falciparum susceptibility to piperaquine. Methods. Plasmodium falciparum DNA from 183 samples collected primarily from Cambodia was genotyped at 33 716 genomewide single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs). Linear mixed models and random forests were used to estimate associations between parasite genotypes and piperaquine susceptibility. Candidate polymorphisms were evaluated for their association with dihydroartemisinin- piperaquine treatment outcomes in an independent dataset. Results. Single nucleotide polymorphisms on multiple chromosomes were associated with piperaquine 90% inhibitory concentrations (IC90) in a genome-wide analysis. Fine-mapping of genomic regions implicated in genome-wide analyses identified multiple SNPs in linkage disequilibrium with each other that were significantly associated with piperaquine IC90, including a novel mutation within the gene encoding the P. falciparum chloroquine resistance transporter, PfCRT. This mutation (F145I) was associated with dihydroartemisinin-piperaquine treatment failure after adjusting for the presence of amplified plasmepsin II/III, which was also associated with decreased piperaquine sensitivity. Conclusions. Our data suggest that, in addition to plasmepsin II/III copy number, other loci, including pfcrt, may also be involved in piperaquine resistance
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