EXAMINING THE POTENTIAL BENEFITS OF FEDERALLY SUBSIDIZED FARM SAVINGS ACCOUNTS FOR DAIRY FARMERS

Financial data from a panel of New York dairy farms was analyzed to examine the potential benefits of establishing federally subsidized farm savings accounts for dairy farmers. The paper examines whether farmers would have sufficient cash flow to fund the accounts, how the accounts would influence farm income variability, and how program design influences eligibility for the benefits received from the accounts.Financial Economics,

Linux kernel compaction through cold code swapping

There is a growing trend to use general-purpose operating systems like Linux in embedded systems. Previous research focused on using compaction and specialization techniques to adapt a general-purpose OS to the memory-constrained environment, presented by most, embedded systems. However, there is still room for improvement: it has been shown that even after application of the aforementioned techniques more than 50% of the kernel code remains unexecuted under normal system operation. We introduce a new technique that reduces the Linux kernel code memory footprint, through on-demand code loading of infrequently executed code, for systems that support virtual memory. In this paper, we describe our general approach, and we study code placement algorithms to minimize the performance impact of the code loading. A code, size reduction of 68% is achieved, with a 2.2% execution speedup of the system-mode execution time, for a case study based on the MediaBench II benchmark suite

Managing women in pregnancy after bariatric surgery: The midwife as the co-ordinator of care

Bariatric surgery is a recommended, cost-effective, evidenced-based intervention to reduce weight and associated comorbidities in severely obese people. People with a BMI of 40 kg/m2 or more, or a BMI between 35–40 kg/m2 with other medical conditions such as diabetes, hypertension, high cholesterol and obstructive sleep apnoea meet the criteria to be considered for bariatric surgery. Over the past 10 years, bariatric surgery in the UK has been more widely accessible and consequently midwives may be required to care for pregnant women who have undergone bariatric surgery such as a gastric band, sleeve gastrectomy and gastric bypass. Midwives are required to work co-operatively, recognising and working within the limits of their competence and providing leadership. The aim of this article is to consider the midwife's role as co-ordinator of care for pregnant women who have undergone bariatric surgery. It outlines the most common bariatric procedures and specific considerations, including nutritional supplementation required when providing care to women in the antenatal and postnatal period

Применение информационных технологий и этические нюансы в управлении массовым сознанием

This paper discusses the current value of information technology in our lives, as well as their application to control the mass consciousness

First-line treatment and outcome of elderly patients with primary central nervous system lymphoma (PCNSL)—a systematic review and individual patient data meta-analysis

Evidence for prognosis and treatment of elderly patient with primary central nervous system is limited. High-dose methotrexate should be applied whenever possible, especially combination with oral alkylating agents is a promising approach. Further combinations with other intravenous drugs do not seem to improve outcome. More prospective trials designed for elderly PCNSL patients are warrante

Subclinical giant cell arteritis in new onset polymyalgia rheumatica:A systematic review and meta-analysis of individual patient data

Objectives: To determine the prevalence and predictors of subclinical giant cell arteritis (GCA) in patients with newly diagnosed polymyalgia rheumatica (PMR). Methods: PubMed, Embase, and Web of Science Core Collection were systematically searched (date of last search July 14, 2021) for any published information on any consecutively recruited cohort reporting the prevalence of GCA in steroid-naïve patients with PMR without cranial or ischemic symptoms. We combined prevalences across populations in a random-effect meta-analysis. Potential predictors of subclinical GCA were identified by mixed-effect logistic regression using individual patient data (IPD) from cohorts screened with PET/(CT). Results: We included 13 cohorts with 566 patients from studies published between 1965 to 2020. Subclinical GCA was diagnosed by temporal artery biopsy in three studies, ultrasound in three studies, and PET/(CT) in seven studies. The pooled prevalence of subclinical GCA across all studies was 23% (95% CI 14%-36%, I2=84%) for any screening method and 29% in the studies using PET/(CT) (95% CI 13%-53%, I2=85%) (n=266 patients). For seven cohorts we obtained IPD for 243 patients screened with PET/(CT). Inflammatory back pain (OR 2.73, 1.32-5.64), absence of lower limb pain (OR 2.35, 1.05-5.26), female sex (OR 2.31, 1.17-4.58), temperature >37° (OR 1.83, 0.90-3.71), weight loss (OR 1.83, 0.96-3.51), thrombocyte count (OR 1.51, 1.05-2.18), and haemoglobin level (OR 0.80, 0.64-1.00) were most strongly associated with subclinical GCA in the univariable analysis but not C-reactive protein (OR 1.00, 1.00-1.01) or erythrocyte sedimentation rate (OR 1.01, 1.00-1.02). A prediction model calculated from these variables had an area under the curve of 0.66 (95% CI 0.55-0.75). Conclusion: More than a quarter of patients with PMR may have subclinical GCA. The prediction model from the most extensive IPD set has only modest diagnostic accuracy. Hence, a paradigm shift in the assessment of PMR patients in favour of implementing imaging studies should be discussed

Prediction of RECRUITment In randomized clinical Trials (RECRUIT-IT)— : —rationale and design for an international collaborative study

Funding: BK has received a project specific grant from the University of Basel to realize this project. In addition, this study is supported by the Swiss National Science Foundation (grant 320030_149496/1) and the Gottfried and Julia Bangerter-Rhyner Foundation. The provided work by BG, JHL, CW, and JY has been supported by the National Cancer Institute Cancer Centre Support Grant P30 CA168524 and used BISR core. The Health Services Research Unit, University of Aberdeen, receives core funding from the Chief Scientist Office of the Scottish Government Health Directorates. DC is supported by a Research Chair from the Canadian Institute for Health Research. The mentioned funding sources have no role in the design and conduct of the study; the collection, management, analysis, and interpretation of the data; the preparation, review, or approval of the manuscript; or the decision to submit the manuscript for publication.Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Premature Discontinuation of Pediatric Randomized Controlled Trials : A Retrospective Cohort Study

Objectives To determine the proportion of pediatric randomized controlled trials (RCTs) that are prematurely discontinued, examine the reasons for discontinuation, and compare the risk for recruitment failure in pediatric and adult RCTs. Study design A retrospective cohort study of RCTs approved by 1 of 6 Research Ethics Committees (RECs) in Switzerland, Germany, and Canada between 2000 and 2003. We recorded trial characteristics, trial discontinuation, and reasons for discontinuation from protocols, corresponding publications, REC files, and a survey of trialists. Results We included 894 RCTs, of which 86 enrolled children and 808 enrolled adults. Forty percent of the pediatric RCTs and 29% of the adult RCTs were discontinued. Slow recruitment accounted for 56% of pediatric RCT discontinuations and 43% of adult RCT discontinuations. Multivariable logistic regression analyses suggested that pediatric RCT was not an independent risk factor for recruitment failure after adjustment for other potential risk factors (aOR, 1.22; 95% CI, 0.57-2.63). Independent risk factors were acute care setting (aOR, 4.00; 95% CI, 1.72-9.31), nonindustry sponsorship (aOR, 4.45; 95% CI, 2.59-7.65), and smaller planned sample size (aOR, 1.05; 95% CI 1.01-1.09, in decrements of 100 participants). Conclusion Forty percent of pediatric RCTs were discontinued prematurely, owing predominately to slow recruitment. Enrollment of children was not an independent risk factor for recruitment failure.Peer reviewe