Role of plant functional traits in determining vegetation composition of abandoned grazing land in north-eastern Victoria, Australia

Question: In the Northern Hemisphere, species with dispersal limitations are typically absent from secondary forests. In Australia, little is known about dispersal mechanisms and other traits that drive species composition within post-agricultural, secondary forest. We asked whether mode of seed dispersal, nutrient uptake strategy, fire response, and life form in extant vegetation differ according to land-use history. We also asked whether functional traits of Australian species that confer tolerance to grazing and re-colonisation potential differ from those in the Northern Hemisphere. Location: Delatite Peninsula, NE Victoria, Australia. Methods: The vegetation of primary and secondary forests was surveyed using a paired-plot design. Eight traits were measured for all species recorded. ANOSIM tests and Non-metric Multi-dimensional Scaling were used to test differences in the abundance of plant attributes between land-use types. Results: Land-use history had a significant effect on vegetation composition. Specific leaf area (SLA) proved to be the best predictor of response to land-use change. Primary forest species were typically myrmecochorous phanerophytes with low SLA. In the secondary forest, species were typically therophytes with epizoochorous dispersal and high SLA. Conclusions: The attributes of species in secondary forests provide tolerance to grazing suggesting that disturbance caused by past grazing activity determined the composition of these forests. Myrmecochores were rare in secondary forests, suggesting that species had failed to re-colonise due to dispersal limitations. Functional traits that resulted in species loss through disturbance and prevented re-colonisation were different to those in the Northern Hemisphere and were attributable to the sclerophyllous nature of the primary forest

The Impact of Physicians and Nurse Practitioners on Medicare Costs

The objective of this study was to estimate the mean savings per Medicare enrollee from care provided by PAs and NPs based on Medicare payments in 2016 for services billed at the 85% reimbursement rate. The methods used the 2016 Medicare limited data set 5% sample, all bills with payment indicators of services provided by PAs and NPs were extracted. Savings for each state were reported as mean savings per Medicare beneficiary in the state. The number of Medicare beneficiaries reported for each state was the denominator for the calculation of mean savings. Data on the number of Medicare enrollees for traditional Medicare Hospital and Part B services in 2016 was used as the population base. The results of this study suggest significant Medicare cost savings from care provided by a PA or an NP versus a physician. The amount of these savings was shown to vary significantly by state for both PAs and NPs combined. There were also differences noted between PAs and NPs in particular states. The conclusion is that optimal utilization of PAs in the care of Medicare patients will produce significant savings to our health care system as the number of these beneficiaries increases. Current literature does not suggest that the care provided by a PA is inferior to a physician. Yet there are significant differences in the savings by state for care delivered by PAs to the Medicare population. It appears that there are unrealized opportunities to expand these savings by examining what differentiates those states with higher levels of savings per 100,000 beneficiaries from those which have lower levels

Early detection of disease program: Evaluation of the cellular immune response

Surfaces of normal, cultured, and mitogen-stimulated mouse lymphoid cells were examined by scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Lymphocytes with smooth, highly villous and intermediate surfaces were observed in cell suspensions from both spleens and thymuses of normal mice and from spleens of congenitally athymic (nude) mice. Several strain-specific surface features were noted, including the spine-like appearance of microvilli on C57B1/6 lymphocytes. Although thymus cell suspensions contained somewhat more smooth cells than did spleen cell preparations, lymphocyte derivation could not be inferred from SEM examination. Studies of cells stimulated with mitogenic agents for thymus-derived lymphocytes (concanavalin A) or for bone marrow-derived lymphocytes (lipopolysaccharide) suggested that, in the mouse, development of a complex villous surface is a general concomitant of lymphocyte activation and transformation

Einflussfaktoren auf den Metabolismus der Zytostatika Procarbazin und Cyclosphosphamid im Rahmen des BEACOPP-Polychemotherapieschemas bei Morbus Hodgkin

Das bei der Therapie des Morbus Hodgkin mit Erfolg eingesetzte BEACOPP-Polychemotherapieschema weist eine ausgeprägte interindividuelle Variabilität im Ausmaß der Hämatotoxizität auf. Dies ist teilweise in Unterschieden bezüglich der individuellen Pharmakokinetik der verabreichten Substanzen begründet. In der vorliegenden Arbeit wurde die renale Elimination der Zytostatika Procarbazin (PCZ) und Cyclophosphamid (CP) im Rahmen dieses Therapieschemas untersucht. Zur Bestimmung der Urinkonzentrationen des PCZ-Hauptausscheidungsmetaboliten N-Isopropylterephthalsäure (TAC), von CP und seinen Metaboliten N-Dechloroethyl-Cyclophosphamid (DCL-CP), 4-Ketocyclophosphamid (4KetoCP) und Carboxyphos-phamid (CarboxyCP) wurden analytische Verfahren unter Verwendung von HPLC und LC-MS/MS entwickelt und gemäß internationalen Richtlinien validiert. Mit diesen Me-thoden wurde 24-Stunden Sammelurin aus den ersten drei Therapiezyklen von Pati-enten untersucht, die nach dem BEACOPP-Therapieprotokoll behandelt wurden. Für CP und seine Metabolite wurde ein populationspharmakokinetisches Sechs-Kompartiment-Modell entwickelt. In einer Kovarianzanalyse wurde der Einfluss demo-graphischer Faktoren, der Konzentration von Albumin und Kreatinin im Blut sowie der Kreatinin-Clearance auf die individuellen pharmakokinetischen Parameter der beiden Zytostatika untersucht. Der Zusammenhang mit der Hämatotoxizität wurde im Rah-men einer Pharmakokinetik-Pharmakodynamik-Analyse überprüft. Als Maß für die Hämatotoxizität diente die Veränderung der Thrombozytenkonzentration am achten Therapietag im Vergleich zum Wert vor Beginn des jeweiligen Therapiezyklus. Die Analyte variierten zwischen den Patienten z.T. um das bis zu Viertausendfache, während nur geringe Schwankungen zwischen den Therapiezyklen nachweisbar wa-ren. Die Ausscheidung des PCZ-Metaboliten TAC korrelierte mit der Kreatinin-Clearance in Verbindung mit dem Geschlecht. Jedoch bestand kein Zusammenhang mit der Hämatotoxizität. In einem allgemeinen linearen Modell konnten über 43 % der interindividuellen Variabilität in der Hämatotoxizität mit der geschlechtsadaptierten CP-Dosis in Verbindung mit der renalen Ausscheidung des über CYP3A4 gebildeten Metaboliten DCL-CP erklärt werden. An Schweineleberschnitten wurde gezeigt, dass sich das CYP3A4-Modellsubstrat Midazolam zum Nachweis der Autoinduktion dieses Metabolisierungsschritts durch CP in vitro eignet. Durch die Entwicklung eines hochempfindlichen LC-MS/MS-Verfahrens zur Quantifizierung von Midazolam im Humanplasma wurde die Voraus-setzung für eine gering belastende Methode zur Phänotypisierung von CYP3A4 in vivo geschaffen. Somit steht ein Werkzeug zur Überprüfung einer möglichen Rolle der CYP3A4 Aktivität bei der Dosisindividualisierung für CP zur Verfügung. Insgesamt können die hier vorgestellten Untersuchungen dazu beitragen, unter Be-rücksichtigung der individuellen Enzymaktivität in vivo und der ermittelten Einfluss-faktoren auf das Toxizitätsrisiko die Dosis von Cyclophosphamid im Rahmen einer Polychemotherapie individuell zu optimieren

Marketing Efforts to Reengage Consumers in Cancer Screenings during the COVID-19 Pandemic

In 2020, U.S. hospitals became overwhelmed by patients with the viral illness COVID-19. Health systems were advised by the U.S. Surgeon General and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to suspend elective procedures, including mammograms, colonoscopies, and lung computed tomography scans. The purpose of this quantitative study was to investigate whether there was a significant difference in completed appointments, cancer screenings, and cancer diagnoses in consumers receiving targeted direct mail and email communications during the COVID-19 pandemic, based on age, gender, and geographic location. The elaboration likelihood model of persuasion, which emphasized the use of marketing to change consumer behaviors related to health, provided the theoretical framework for this study. Secondary data from 2021 from an Illinois health system were analyzed using multiple linear regression. The results demonstrate that there was a significant difference (p \u3c 0.001) in response to completed appointments, cancer screenings, and cancer diagnoses by age, gender, or geography from consumers receiving targeted direct mail messages versus targeted email messages during the COVID-19 pandemic. These findings indicate that targeting women for cancer screenings may yield better results, as women were more likely to respond after receiving email and direct mail marketing messages. Motivating consumers may be best accomplished through direct mail for those age 65 to 74 and email for those age 55 to 64. Positive social change implications include the potential for greater long-term awareness of needed cancer screenings, which may lead to increases in completed screenings, earlier diagnosis of cancers, better quality of life, and decreased cost of care

Optimización del plan maestro de producción de la fabricación de hojuelas de avenas precocidas usando teoría de restricciones

Publicación a texto completo no autorizada por el autorComprende específicamente el proceso de planeamiento de la producción de hojuelas de avena precocidas, que abarca dos familias de productos que son las avenas envasadas y a granel. Los análisis realizados se centraron principalmente en la priorización de la producción de las diversas presentaciones que se elaboran en la planta de producción aprovechando de manera efectiva la capacidad disponible; es por esto que se formuló la hipótesis a comprobar, sobre si realizando el plan maestro de la producción mediante la metodología de teoría de restricciones obtendríamos un mayor beneficio comparado con el que se obtiene con la metodología tradicional que es usado actualmente en la planta. Para esto se identificaron las estaciones de trabajo cuello de botella en cada mes del año 2014, que son resultado de los planes de producción proyectados para dicho año basados en los pronósticos de venta. Una vez identificadas estas estaciones se procedió a priorizar la producción mediante un ratio que representa el margen unitario por tiempo de producción en la estación cuello de botella que tiene cada presentación. Con las prioridades establecidas se realizó el planeamiento de la producción restringiendo los planes en los meses en los cuales la capacidad de producción fue menor al requerimiento del mercado, y en los meses en los cuales tuvimos holgura de capacidad se recuperó parte de la producción que se no se fabricó en los meses restrictos. La metodología tradicional que es usada actualmente tiene como ratio de priorización solamente al margen unitario que tiene cada presentación, sin tomar en consideración el tiempo de producción que se necesita para su obtención; lo contrario a la metodología de teoría de restricciones que sí toma en cuenta este factor. De esta manera se elaboraron dos planes de producción, uno usando la metodología de teoría de restricciones (TOC) y el otro mediante la metodología tradicional. Luego de realizado esto se calculó el margen monetario que genera cada método empleado y se comprobó que mediante la metodología TOC el beneficio obtenido es mayor que usando la metodología tradicional. Finalmente, luego de haber comprobado que la metodología TOC nos reditúa mayor beneficio, también lo hace sin generar mayores costos o inversiones, es decir, la ganancia es totalmente neta solo con el uso de una metodología de planificación.Tesi