Development of a patient decision aid for prevention of myocardial infarction in type 2 diabetes – rationale, design and pilot testing

Aims: Development and testing of a decision aid about prevention of myocardial infarction for persons with type 2 diabetes

Selective information seeking: can consumers' avoidance of evidence-based information on colorectal cancer screening be explained by the theory of cognitive dissonance?

Background: Evidence-based patient information (EBPI) is a prerequisite for informed decision-making. However, presentation of EBPI may lead to irrational reactions causing avoidance, minimisation and devaluation of the information

NEED FOR PHOSPHORUS INPUT IN AUSTRIAN ORGANIC FARMING?

On organic farms, phosphorus (P) balances are often negative because no or little P is imported into the farms. Negative P balances may deteriorate P availability over time. We calculated P balances of the main farm production types in organic farming for the main Austrian production areas. Using data from various data bases and expert knowledge, we applied the sustainability assessment tool REPRO for calculations. The P balances were balanced to slightly deficient for organic forage dairy farms, cash crop farms and permanent crop farms, and slightly to highly surplus on organic refinement, pig producing farms. Deficient P balances, mainly on organic cash crop farms, call for P input especially on farms where available P fractions in the soil are very low and / or P stocks in the soils are low, i.e. on sandy soils and on some calcareous soils. Possibilities for enhancing P mobilisation are discussed. There is an urgent need to close nutrient cycles on the farm and regional scale and to substitute P from rock phosphate reserves by alternative P fertilisers also in organic farming

On the different "worlds" of intra-organizational knowledge management: Understanding idiosyncratic variation in MNC cross-site knowledge-sharing practices

This qualitative field study investigated cross-site knowledge sharing in a small sample of multinational corporations in three different MNC business contexts (global, multidomestic, transnational). The results disclose heterogeneous "worlds" of MNC knowledge sharing, ultimately raising the question as to whether the whole concept of MNC knowledge sharing covers a sufficiently unitary phenomenon to be meaningful. We derive a non-exhaustive typology of MNC knowledge-sharing practices: self-organizing knowledge sharing, technocratic knowledge sharing, and best practice knowledge sharing. Despite its limitations, this typology helps to elucidate a number of issues, including the latent conflict between two disparate theories of MNC knowledge sharing, namely "sender-receiver" and "social learning" theories (Noorderhaven & Harzing, 2009). More generally, we develop the term "knowledge contextualization" to highlight the way that firm-specific organizational features pre-define which knowledge is considered to be of special relevance for intra-organizational sharing. (authors' abstract

Vergleich von Treibhausgasemissionen unterschiedlich wirtschaftender Modellbetriebe im Alpenvorland

About 8.8 % (UBA 2010) of the total greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in Austria are caused by agricultural practices. Besides the release of climate relevant gases, C-sequestration occurs depending on the natural conditions and farming system. The focus of the project was to describe the GHG-emissions and sinks of the most relevant farming types, both organic and conventional, within the main production areas in Austria. Results of an intensively cultivated region in the North-West are presented. Based on the input data, six model-farms were created with the programme REPRO, whereby forage production, cash crops and refinement systems were considered. All systems had a positive humus balance and sequestered carbon in the soil, especially forage production systems. Due to the use of mineral fertilizers, a higher N-balance occurred in all conventional systems. Organic systems on the other hand were able to utilize nutrients to a wider extent. The GHG-potential related to area was at least 29 % higher at conventional compared to organic systems, whereby N2O-emissions, calculated according to IPCC 1997, were most relevant. Differences were reduced and results even reversed calculating the GHG-potential per product unit. When calculating the N2O-Emissions with an increased N2O emission factor of 2.5 % of N input in a scenario, the emissions increased almost proportionally

Enlarged cerebrospinal fluid spaces in opiate-dependent male patients: A stereological CT study

Computed tomography was performed in 9 male patients with a diagnosis of opiate dependence and in 9 age-matched psychiatric controls (neurotic depression). Patients with a history or diagnosis of another substance dependence (alcohol, cocaine, cannabis) were excluded from the study. The volumes of internal and external components of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) were measured with a point-counting stereological method. Analysis of variance with age as a covariate revealed a significant enlargement of external and external CSF spaces in male patients with opiate dependence. There was no significant correlation between the length of opiate dependence and the volumes of internal and external CSF spaces. The present results suggest that opiate dependence is associated with structural brain alterations. However, the relationship between opiate dependence and structural brain changes is complex and still not well understood

Why not? – Communicating stochastic information by use of unsorted frequency pictograms – a randomised controlled trial

Objective: Statistical health risk information has been proven confusing and difficult to understand. While existing research indicates that presenting risk information in frequency formats is superior to relative risk and probability formats, the optimal design of frequency formats is still unclear. The aim of this study was to compare presentation of multi-figure pictographs in consecutive and random arrangements regarding accuracy in perception and vulnerability for cognitive bias