Traceability in food supply chain:: Towards the synchronised supply chain

Today, food products are distributed all over the world. This has led to advantages in terms of availability but disadvantages in terms of more complex food supply chains. Global food competition is intense and therefore actors have started to adapt their mindsets toward a more holistic view and a supply chain perspective. In addition, food scares during recent years have turned focus towards food safety and traceability in a “farm-to-fork” perspective. The aim of this study is to explore and elaborate on challenges raised by supply chain traceability and on how traceability in food supply chains can add value to the actors. The theoretical findings are combined with empirical input from a case study within a food supply chain. To achieve a value-added approach to traceability this study shows the need to go beyond regulatory demands. The literature study indicates and the case study confirms that gaining supply chain traceability raises challenges for supply chain actors. The study also shows that supply chain traceability can be value-adding for supply chain actors. The added values gained through supply chain traceability can enable synchronisation of the supply chain

Brownboard - A tool to facilitate improved supply chain traceability

This paper aims to describe the brownboard tool and to elaborate on its characteristics. Brownboard can be seen as a tool within process mapping and it is focused on supply chain traceability. The process map is created in a dynamical group process where supply chain actors with different competence level meet and interact. The brownboard tool is used in a case study based on a Swedish supply chain for frozen food; ice cream. The data collection includes on-site interviews, observations, and review of internal documents. Empirical results from the case are used to exemplify the use of the tool. This study indicates that the brownboard tool enables identification of potential traceability related improvements by its visualization of the flow throughout the supply chain and through highlighting potential risks connected to traceability for the supply chain actors.The evidence has so far been collected through a single case study, and is thereby limited. Although there are limitations in how far one can generalize, the evidence should be regarded as a first step toward future research on this tool in a wider supply chain context. The Swedish food industry has worked intensively with internal traceability, while supply chain traceability is identified as important but not yet fully implemented. In addition, due to increased consumer awareness about food safety, new regulations, and standards, traceability has become a focus area for the food industry in Sweden. Brownboard is one possible tool that can be used in order to facilitate the process towards fully implemented supply chain traceability. This paper describes and illustrates the use of a novel tool within process mapping for gaining improved supply chain traceability

The outcome of an automated assessment of trabecular pattern in intraoral radiographs as a fracture risk predictor

Objectives: This study aims to investigate if automated analyses of the trabecular pattern in intraoral radiographs independently contribute to fracture risk assessment when other risk factors incorporated in the Fracture Risk Assessment Tool (FRAX) are taken into account. A secondary aim is to explore the correlation between the automated trabecular pattern assessment in intraoral radiographs and Trabecular Bone Score (TBS). Methods: A total of 567 intraoral radiographs from older females participating in a large population-based study (SUPERB) based in Gothenburg, Sweden, were selected to analyse trabecular pattern using semi-automated and fully automated software. Associations between trabecular pattern analysis and incident fractures were studied using Cox proportional hazard model, unadjusted and adjusted for FRAX risk factors (previous fracture, family history of hip fracture, smoking, corticosteroids, rheumatoid arthritis, without and with bone mineral density (BMD) of the femoral neck). In addition, the correlation between trabecular pattern analysis and TBS of the lumbar spine was investigated using Pearson correlation analysis. Results: Neither the unadjusted nor the adjusted trabecular pattern analysis in intraoral radiographs was significantly associated with any fracture or major osteoporotic fracture (MOF). A weak correlation was found between semi-automated trabecular pattern analysis and TBS. No correlation was found between the fully automated trabecular pattern analysis and TBS. Conclusions: The present study shows that semi-automated and fully automated digital analyses of the trabecular pattern in intraoral radiographs do not contribute to fracture risk prediction. Furthermore, the study shows a weak correlation between semi-automated trabecular pattern analysis and TBS

Reproductive changes among women in their 40s : A cross-sectional study

Introduction: The aim was to describe and compare changes in the reproductive pattern of women in their 40s observed over a decade in Scandinavia. Material and Methods: Cross-sectional study using the total population of women aged 40-49 years between 2008-2018 in Denmark, Norway and Sweden (on average n = 1.5 million). Aggregated data concerning birth and induced abortion rate were collected and analyzed from national health registers. National data on redeemed prescriptions of hormonal contraceptives in the three countries were collected from prescription registers. Births after spontaneous and assisted conceptions were identified by using cross-linked data on deliveries from the Medical Birth Registers and National Registers of Assisted Reproduction in the three countries. Results: Use of hormonal contraception increased among women aged 40-44 years in Denmark from 24% to 31%, in Sweden from 27% to 30%, and in Norway from 22% to 24%. The levonorgestrel-releasing intrauterine device was the most frequently used method in all countries. Birth rates among women 40-44 years increased continuously from 9.5 to 12/1000 women in Denmark and from 11.7 to 14.3/1000 in Sweden, but remained stable in Norway at similar to 11/1000 women. There was a doubling of assisted conceptions in Denmark from 0.71 to 1.71/1000 women, Sweden from 0.43 to 0.81/1000 and Norway from 0.25 to 0.53/1000 women 40-49 years of age. Sweden had the highest induced abortion rate (7.7 to 8.1/1000 women) in women aged 40-49 years during the study period. Conclusions: From 2008 to 2018, birth rates continuously increased among women aged 40-49 years in Denmark and Sweden and births resulting from assisted reproductive technology doubled in all three countries.Peer reviewe

A Genome-Wide Association Study of Diabetic Kidney Disease in Subjects With Type 2 Diabetes

dentification of sequence variants robustly associated with predisposition to diabetic kidney disease (DKD) has the potential to provide insights into the pathophysiological mechanisms responsible. We conducted a genome-wide association study (GWAS) of DKD in type 2 diabetes (T2D) using eight complementary dichotomous and quantitative DKD phenotypes: the principal dichotomous analysis involved 5,717 T2D subjects, 3,345 with DKD. Promising association signals were evaluated in up to 26,827 subjects with T2D (12,710 with DKD). A combined T1D+T2D GWAS was performed using complementary data available for subjects with T1D, which, with replication samples, involved up to 40,340 subjects with diabetes (18,582 with DKD). Analysis of specific DKD phenotypes identified a novel signal near GABRR1 (rs9942471, P = 4.5 x 10(-8)) associated with microalbuminuria in European T2D case subjects. However, no replication of this signal was observed in Asian subjects with T2D or in the equivalent T1D analysis. There was only limited support, in this substantially enlarged analysis, for association at previously reported DKD signals, except for those at UMOD and PRKAG2, both associated with estimated glomerular filtration rate. We conclude that, despite challenges in addressing phenotypic heterogeneity, access to increased sample sizes will continue to provide more robust inference regarding risk variant discovery for DKD.Peer reviewe

To identify risk factors for contrast-induced nephropathy (CIN)

BAKGRUND: Dagligen genomgår ett stort antal patienter datortomografiundersök-ningar med intravenöst (i.v.) kontrastmedel. Kontrastmedlet kan bidra till en stegring av S-kreatinin värdet och orsaka njurskada = kontrastmedels nefropati (KMN). För att kunna bedöma och följa patientens njurfunktion tas S-kreatinin prov. SYFTE: Att be-lysa riskfaktorer för KMN på polikliniska patienter som ska genomgå röntgenundersök-ningar med i.v. kontrastmedel. Utifrån riskfaktorerna och hur de identifieras finna klar-het i vilken utsträckning ett aktuellt S-kreatinin prov behövs i samband med en kon-trastundersökning. METOD: För att få svar på frågorna genomfördes en litteraturstu-die, där 10 vetenskapliga artiklar granskades samt en genomgång av nation-ella/europeiska och amerikanska riktlinjer beträffande i.v. kontrastmedels undersök-ningar. RESULTAT: Endast ca 5 % av patienter ≤ 70 år med ett normalt S-kreatinin värde och inga riskfaktorer drabbas av KMN. Den viktigaste åtgärden för att identifiera riskpatienter är genom ett patientfrågeformulär där viktig information om patientens eventuella sjukdomar samt medicinering framkommer. För patienter som löper risk att utveckla KMN efter en i.v. kontrastundersökning räcker det inte att patienten tagit ett S-kreatinin utan en beräkning av glomerulus filtrationen (GFR) ska utföras, som ger ett mer tillförlitligt värde på njurfunktionen. KONKLUSION: Med dessa verktyg identi-fieras riskpatienter med större säkerhet samt att ett fåtal patienter behöver ta ett aktuellt S-kreatinin prov. Röntgensjuksköterskan kan med ökad kunskap om patienten och för-bättrade verktyg genomföra undersökningen med mindre risk för patienten att drabbas av KM

I skrivandets spår : elever skriver i SO

Tracing writing. Students writing in the context of Social studies education. This doctoral thesis is a contribution to the field of writing research and to the understanding of literacy practices as part of disciplinary learning. The thesis deals with writing as a literacy practice in the context of Social studies education in Swedish secondary school. Writing is understood in a broad sense, which include the use of different modalities and semiotic resources. The aim of the study is to explore and describe what characterises literacy practices, focusing on students´ writing in their daily school life, both inside and outside school. This is conducted by studying how writing emerge when students learn a subject content about law and order as part of the teaching of Social sciences. The analytical framework employed draws on the research of The New Literacy Studies (NLS), The Triadic model, (Triadmodellen), the Wheel of writing, (Skrivhjulet) and the sociological concepts of ritual, strategic and communicative actions. The concepts writing events, acts of writing and writing practices are central for the study. To form the foundation of an ecological understanding of writing as a literacy practice the data has been collected during a longer period of ethnographic fieldwork. The study employs a combination of ethnographic methods to enable a qualitative analysis and to establish a thick description. The collected materials include field notes from classroom observations together with audio- and video recordings combined with interviews with students and the teacher, students´ journals, assignments and a written test. The data also includes a survey, a collection of various texts such as teacher planning material, work material and instructions, textbook, policy documents, reflection notes and photos. The empirical results are presented in three chapters, each one of them focusing on students´ writing during teaching, writing in connection to an oral presentation and writing in conjunction with a final written test. The results show that writing in social sciences are used, primarily to store, organize and structure subject content, mainly by answering questions in the textbook which, together with the teaching, strongly mediates the subject content. This results in reproductive writing strategies and texts sticking close to the textbook. Furthermore, the results show that students´ disciplinary writing practices depend on where the writing is situated, in school or outside school, and that the acts of writing are conducted to prepare for oral participation in teaching. As spoken modes dominate during lessons, the writing practices appears in a supporting rather than independent role. A final important result is that the writing practices in general seem to be shaped by those required during a final written test. The results demonstrate how students´ writing is strategically and ritually motivated and that communicative actions are rare. It is argued that this is a result of the school culture´s and the teaching practices´ strong focus on final tests, assessment and grading, which in turn has to do with the Swedish school system governed by a national curriculum based on performance culture and measurement

I skrivandets spår : elever skriver i SO

Tracing writing. Students writing in the context of Social studies education. This doctoral thesis is a contribution to the field of writing research and to the understanding of literacy practices as part of disciplinary learning. The thesis deals with writing as a literacy practice in the context of Social studies education in Swedish secondary school. Writing is understood in a broad sense, which include the use of different modalities and semiotic resources. The aim of the study is to explore and describe what characterises literacy practices, focusing on students´ writing in their daily school life, both inside and outside school. This is conducted by studying how writing emerge when students learn a subject content about law and order as part of the teaching of Social sciences. The analytical framework employed draws on the research of The New Literacy Studies (NLS), The Triadic model, (Triadmodellen), the Wheel of writing, (Skrivhjulet) and the sociological concepts of ritual, strategic and communicative actions. The concepts writing events, acts of writing and writing practices are central for the study. To form the foundation of an ecological understanding of writing as a literacy practice the data has been collected during a longer period of ethnographic fieldwork. The study employs a combination of ethnographic methods to enable a qualitative analysis and to establish a thick description. The collected materials include field notes from classroom observations together with audio- and video recordings combined with interviews with students and the teacher, students´ journals, assignments and a written test. The data also includes a survey, a collection of various texts such as teacher planning material, work material and instructions, textbook, policy documents, reflection notes and photos. The empirical results are presented in three chapters, each one of them focusing on students´ writing during teaching, writing in connection to an oral presentation and writing in conjunction with a final written test. The results show that writing in social sciences are used, primarily to store, organize and structure subject content, mainly by answering questions in the textbook which, together with the teaching, strongly mediates the subject content. This results in reproductive writing strategies and texts sticking close to the textbook. Furthermore, the results show that students´ disciplinary writing practices depend on where the writing is situated, in school or outside school, and that the acts of writing are conducted to prepare for oral participation in teaching. As spoken modes dominate during lessons, the writing practices appears in a supporting rather than independent role. A final important result is that the writing practices in general seem to be shaped by those required during a final written test. The results demonstrate how students´ writing is strategically and ritually motivated and that communicative actions are rare. It is argued that this is a result of the school culture´s and the teaching practices´ strong focus on final tests, assessment and grading, which in turn has to do with the Swedish school system governed by a national curriculum based on performance culture and measurement