Manglende generalisering av trenerferdigheter på tvers av situasjoner etter Workshop om Incidental Teaching

Incidental Teaching er en prosedyre som benyttes for å øke spontant språk, og har vist seg effektiv i opplæring og generalisering av språkferdigheter hos personer med ulike diagnoser i ulike situasjoner. Det er behov for kostnadseffektive intervensjoner for å sette lærere og andre trenere i stand til å bruke Incidental Teaching; forskning på personalopplæring innen Incidental Teaching er begrenset. Selv om flere studier har konkludert med at Incidental Teaching kan læres gjennom workshops, er det ukjent om trenere generaliserer ferdighetene til situasjoner hvor de ikke har mottatt eksplisitt opplæring. Vi undersøkte effekten av to workshops på antall episoder med Incidental Teaching lærerne lykkes i å implementere. Resultatene viser en signifikant økning hos begge deltakerne i forhold til bruk av Incidental Teaching i de situasjonene hvor de hadde mottatt eksplisitt opplæring gjennom workshop, men ingen av deltagerne generaliserte ferdighetene i Incidental Teaching til en situasjon som ikke ble omhandlet i workshops.Incidental Teaching is a procedure that is used to increase the use of spontaneous language. IT has been shown to be effective in teaching and promoting generalization of language skills in a variety of persons and settings. However, cost-effective interventions to enable teachers and paraprofessionals to implement Incidental Teaching are needed: research on how to do staff training to increase use of Incidental Teaching is limited. Although several studies have concluded that Incidental Teaching can be successfully taught using workshops, the extent to which therapists generalize teaching skills to settings not explicitly taught is unknown. We investigated the effect of two workshops on the number of Incidental Teaching episodes achieved by two teachers. Although results showed that both participating teachers significantly increased their use of Incidental Teaching in the settings that were explicitly taught in the workshops, neither of them generalized these new skills to a setting that was not explicitly discussed in the workshops

Farm specific transmission patterns of Fasciola hepatica in Danish dairy cattle based on different diagnostic methods and monitoring of grazing management

A recent survey based on meat inspection data showed that approximately 30% of Danish cattle farms were infected with liver flukes, leading to significant economic losses. Despite the widespread problem, up-to-date knowledge on transmission patterns, diagnostic methods and practical measures for control is still lacking. We therefore initiated a longitudinal, observational study in a few infected dairy farms to elucidate farm specific transmission patterns based on different diagnostic methods and grazing management. Two organic and two conventional dairy farms with high F. hepatica antibody levels in bulk tank milk were selected. From each farm a cohort of 40 animals from different age groups (calves, heifers, primiparous and multiparous cows) were sampled 7 times between April 2015 and January 2017. Diagnostic methods included faecal egg count by sedimentation, serum ELISA and coproantigen ELISA. Additionally, monthly bulk tank milk samples were analyzed by ELISA. The analyses are ongoing, but preliminary results indicate that F. hepatica is mainly transmitted via summer infection of snails as most animals seroconvert in late autumn without shedding of eggs. However, infection early in the grazing season due to overwintered snails has also been observed. One farm where cows are stabled have had some older cows continuing to shed F. hepatica eggs, suggesting long life span of F. hepatica, although other routes of infection cannot be ruled out. The final results will provide novel and practical information about different diagnostic tests and transmission patterns related to grazing management on farm-level

Farm-level risk factors for Fasciola hepatica infection in Danish dairy cattle

Recent studies suggest that liver fluke (Fasciola hepatica) infections in cattle have increased in Denmark in recent years. This study aimed to identify potential farm level risk factors for liver fluke infection in Danish dairy farms using two different diagnostic methods. Based on liver condemnation data of all individual cattle slaughtered in Denmark, 145 and 77 farms were selected as cases and matched controls. The selection criteria were; 1) minimum 50 animals were slaughtered in 2013, 2) minimum three cases of liver condemnation due to liver flukes in 2013 (case) / no history of liver condemnation due to liver flukes for the last three years (control), and 3) control farms were located within 10 km from the case farms. Bulk tank milk (BTM) samples from the farms were analysed using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), and telephone interviews were used to obtain information on the type of production, the farmers’ knowledge about liver fluke infection, grazing pattern, anthelmintic treatments and management routines. Preliminary results based on 132 case and 64 control farms indicate that grazing was significantly associated with liver fluke infection (p=0.006). However, in 12 case herds, grazing was not applied (all-in systems), suggesting indoor rearing does not completely prevent liver fluke infections, although misdiagnosis or incorrect registration at slaughter is possible. The percentage of farms allowing heifers to graze on wet areas was significantly higher in case than control farms (p<0.001). Using grazing for heifers and drinking from natural waterways were associated with liver fluke infections (p=0.07 and p=0.01). Approximately 30% of case farms tried actively to avoid infection by anthelmintic treatment or preventive management measures. The prevalences of liver flukes estimated by BTM ELISA were 75% and 12.5% for case and control groups, respectively. The negative ELISA results in some of the case herds may be due to their low in-herd prevalence, but it is still under investigation. Based on the risk analysis, we expect grazing management can be improved on many infected farms as part of the control of liver fluke. The substantial discrepancy between different diagnostic methods should be taken into account for future studies