A participatory approach to design monitoring indicators of production diseases in organic dairy farms

Production diseases have an important negative effect on the health and welfare of dairy cows. Although organic animal production systems aim for high animal health levels, compliance with European organic farming regulations does not guarantee that this is achieved. Herd health and production management (HHPM) programs aim at optimizing herd health by preventing disease and production problems, but as yet they have not been consistently implemented by farmers. We hypothesize that one reason is the mismatch between what scientists propose as indicators for herd health monitoring and what farmers would like to use. Herd health monitoring is a key element in HHPM programs as it permits a regular assessment of the functioning of the different components of the production process. Planned observations or measurements of these components are indispensable for this monitoring. In this study, a participatory approach was used to create an environment in which farmers could adapt the indicators proposed by scientists for monitoring the five main production diseases on dairy cattle farms. The adaptations of the indicators were characterized and the farmers’ explanations for the changes made were described. The study was conducted in France and Sweden, which differ in terms of their national organic regulations and existing advisory services. In both countries, twenty certified organic dairy farmers and their animal health management advisors participated in the study. All of the farmers adapted the initial monitoring plan proposed by scientists to specific production and animal health situation on their farm. This resulted in forty unique and farm-specific combinations of indicators for herd health monitoring. All but three farmers intended to monitor five health topics simultaneously using the constructed indicators. The qualitative analysis of the explanations given by farmers for their choices enabled an understanding of farmers’ reasons for selecting and adapting indicators. This is valuable information for scientists involved in the design of HHPM programs. Advisors in the field also can benefit from this participatory approach because it transforms monitoring tools provided by scientists into farm-specific tools

Evaluation of the impact of a Herd Health and Production Management programme in organic dairy cattle farms: a process evaluation approach

Animal health planning activities are not always providing a satisfactory positive impact on herd health and welfare. Moreover, evaluating the impact of advisory programmes is complex due to multiple interacting elements that influence its outcome. Therefore, measuring solely health outcomes is not sufficient: the whole process of the implementation and use of such programmes should be evaluated. In order to evaluate the impact of an intervention with a Herd Health and Production Management (HHPM) programme a process evaluation framework was designed and used. The intervention involved 20 organic dairy cattle farmers and their advisors, in both France and Sweden. In both countries 20 organic dairy farms were selected as control herds. The evaluation of the HHPM programme was based on: (a) the compliance to the programme; (b) the programme’s functions influencing herd health management practices and stimulating dialogue between farmers and advisors; (c) its effectiveness in terms of improving herd health compared with control farms. Complete compliance to the programme was fulfilled by 21 out of 40 farmers–advisors. Results from a questionnaire showed that the programme functioned as intended (e.g. by allowing early identification of herd health problems), stimulated change in farmers’ herd health management practices and farmer–advisor dialogue. Even though the majority of the users perceived that the programme contributed to herd health improvements, no significant differences in health outcomes were found when compared with control farms 12 months after the start of the intervention. The programme allowed creating an environment promoting the exchange of information between farmers and advisors, necessary to define pertinent advice in a farm-specific situation. Future research should aim at improving methods for the evaluation of the effect of advisory programmes, by identifying early indicators for effective advice and developing methods to evaluate the quality of advisory situations without interfering with them

Carbon isotope values of hazelnut shells: a new proxy for canopy density

Hazel (Corylus avellana) has been abundant in the vegetation of northern and central Europe since the early Holocene and has provided food and materials for humans ever since. Here we use stable carbon isotope (δ13 14 C) values of hazelnut shells to infer woodland openness based on the premise of the “canopy effect”. It is well established that plants growing in dense, shaded forests have lower carbon isotope (δ13C) values than plants growing in open areas. By measuring δ13 C values in hazelnuts collected from trees growing in different levels of light intensity, we show that the canopy effect is preserved in hazelnuts and that their δ13 C values can be used to infer woodland openness in the past. We apply the method to hazelnuts recovered from sites dated to between the Mesolithic and Iron Age (c. 7000 BCE to 1000 CE) in southern Sweden. Our results show that the nuts dated to the Mesolithic were harvested from hazels growing in a range of closed to open settings while nuts from subsequent periods were harvested from progressively more open environments. Given the abundance of hazelnuts recovered from many archaeological contexts, this method has the potential to reconstruct the microhabitats exploited by humans in the past and explore the impact of humans on their environment

Tumour microvessel density as predictor of chemotherapy response in breast cancer patients

The aim of this study was to evaluate the predictive value of intratumoural microvessel density in breast cancer. We studied immunohistochemically primary tumours of 104 patients with metastasised breast cancer who took part in a randomised multicentre trial comparing docetaxel to sequential methotrexate and 5-fluorouracil. Vessels were highlighted with factor VIII staining and counted microscopically. Microvessel density was compared with clinical response to chemotherapy and patient survival. The microvessel density of the primary tumour was not significantly associated with patient's response to chemotherapy, time to progression or overall survival in the whole patient population or in the docetaxel or methotrexate and 5-fluorouracil groups. However, disease-free survival was longer in patients with low microvessel density (P=0.01). These findings suggest that microvessel density of the primary tumour cannot be used as a predictive marker for chemotherapy response in advanced breast cancer

Reduction in albuminuria with dapagliflozin cannot be predicted by baseline clinical characteristics or changes in most other risk markers

The sodium glucose co-transporter-2 inhibitor dapagliflozin has been shown to decrease urinary albumin-to-creatinine ratio (UACR). This effect, however, varies among individual patients. In this study, we assessed the baseline characteristics and concurrent changes in other cardiovascular risk markers that might be associated with UACR response to dapagliflozin. A pooled analysis of 11 phase 3 randomized, controlled clinical trials was performed. UACR change from baseline after 24 weeks treatment with dapagliflozin 10 mg/d in 531 patients with type 2 diabetes and UACR ≥30 mg/g at baseline was determined. UACR response was defined as >30% reduction from baseline at 24 weeks, whereas UACR non-response was defined as ≤30% reduction at 24 weeks. A total of 288 (54%) patients were classified as responders and 243 (46%) as non-responders. At 24 weeks, the UACR-adjusted mean change from baseline was -71.2% and 25.9% in responders and non-responders, respectively. Baseline characteristics were similar between both groups. Changes in HbA1c and body weight were comparable across groups. Responders showed a numerically larger reduction in estimated glomerular filtration rate and systolic blood pressure versus non-responders. UACR reduction to dapagliflozin is an individual characteristic that cannot be predicted by baseline clinical features or changes in metabolic variables. Whether UACR response would improve long-term renal and cardiovascular outcomes remains to be determined

Cyclin A as a marker for prognosis and chemotherapy response in advanced breast cancer

We wanted to study cyclin A as a marker for prognosis and chemotherapy response. A total of 283 women with metastatic breast cancer were initially enrolled in a randomised multicentre trial comparing docetaxel to sequential methotrexate-fluorouracil (MF) in advanced breast cancer after anthracycline failure. Paraffin-embedded blocks of the primary tumour were available for 96 patients (34%). The proportion of cells expressing cyclin A was determined by immunohistochemistry using a mouse monoclonal antibody to human cyclin A. Response evaluation was performed according to WHO recommendations. The median cyclin A positivity of tumour cells was 14.5% (range 1.2–45.0). Cyclin A correlated statistically significantly to all other tested proliferation markers (mitotic count, histological grade and Ki-67). A high cyclin A correlated significantly to a shorter time to first relapse, risk ratio (RR) 1.94 (95% CI 1.24–3.03) and survival from diagnosis, RR 2.49 (95% CI 1.45–4.29), cutoff point for high/low proliferation group 10.5%. Cyclin A did not correlate to chemotherapy response or survival after anthracycline, docetaxel or MF therapy. Of all tumour biological factors tested (mitotic count, histological grade and Ki-67), cyclin A seemed to have the strongest prognostic value. Cyclin A is a good marker for tumour proliferation and prognosis in breast cancer. In the present study, cyclin A did not predict chemotherapy response