Marketing efficiency perspective of sustainable Andaliman agroforestry in Humbang Hasundutan Regency

Indonesia has so many herbal medicinal plants and spices that are endemic and location-specific since it has a very vast tropical rainforest area. One of them is Andaliman (Zanthoxylum acanthopodium DC). This endemic species is very sensitive to climate and location changes so the farmers only have around 5 Andaliman trees planted in between any other kind of plants in their agroforestry land on average. There is an undeveloped and very promising future for the competitiveness improvement of Indonesia’s herbs and spices. This study was accomplished to investigate the marketing efficiency of Andaliman agroforestry in Humbang Hasundutan Regency to accommodate stakeholders in formulating policies to progress Andaliman's competitiveness. The results showed that all of Andaliman’s marketing channels in the research area were efficient. The most efficient was Channel II, followed by Channel III, and the last position was seated by Channel I. Marketing losses and labour costs were at the top of the list as the largest marketing costs, so they truly needed to be optimized at almost all channel levels and types of marketing channels to improve marketing efficiency. Therefore, referring to these results, we composed a suggestion to improve farmers' welfare by doing simple processing such as processing Andaliman into several dried and packaged products that are easier to use, long-last, and attractive, as well as combining more efficient production with distribution in shorter marketing channels. This will encourage farmers to maintain Andaliman agroforestry as a farming option that is more sustainable and natural

Marketing efficiency perspective of sustainable

Indonesia has so many herbal medicinal plants and spices that are endemic and location-specific since it has a very vast tropical rainforest area. One of them is Andaliman (Zanthoxylum acanthopodium DC). This endemic species is very sensitive to climate and location changes so the farmers only have around 5 Andaliman trees planted in between any other kind of plants in their agroforestry land on average. There is an undeveloped and very promising future for the competitiveness improvement of Indonesia’s herbs and spices. This study was accomplished to investigate the marketing efficiency of Andaliman agroforestry in Humbang Hasundutan Regency to accommodate stakeholders in formulating policies to progress Andaliman's competitiveness. The results showed that all of Andaliman’s marketing channels in the research area were efficient. The most efficient was Channel II, followed by Channel III, and the last position was seated by Channel I. Marketing losses and labour costs were at the top of the list as the largest marketing costs, so they truly needed to be optimized at almost all channel levels and types of marketing channels to improve marketing efficiency. Therefore, referring to these results, we composed a suggestion to improve farmers' welfare by doing simple processing such as processing Andaliman into several dried and packaged products that are easier to use, long-last, and attractive, as well as combining more efficient production with distribution in shorter marketing channels. This will encourage farmers to maintain Andaliman agroforestry as a farming option that is more sustainable and natural

Using thoracic ultrasound to detect interstitial lung disease in patients with rheumatoid arthritis: a protocol for the diagnostic test accuracy AURORA study

Introduction Pulmonary diseases are significant contributors to morbidity and mortality in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA). RA-associated interstitial lung disease (RA-ILD) may be prevalent in up to 30% and clinically evident in 10% of patients with RA. Feasible methods to detect concomitant ILD in RA are warranted. Our objective is to determine the diagnostic accuracy of thoracic ultrasound (TUS) for ILD in patients with RA with respiratory symptoms, by using chest high-resolution CT (HRCT) as the reference standard. Further, we aim to evaluate the diagnostic accuracy for the promising blood biomarkers surfactant protein-D and microfibrillar-associated protein 4 in the detection of ILD in this group of patients.Methods and analysis By use of a standardised 14 zone protocol patients suspected of having RA-ILD will undergo TUS as index test performed by a junior resident in rheumatology (BKS), who is certified by the European Respiratory Society in performing TUS assessments. Participants form a consecutive series of up to 80 individuals in total. The anonymised TUS images will be stored and scored by the junior resident as well as two senior rheumatologists, who have received training in TUS, and a TUS-experienced pulmonologist. HRCT will be used as the gold standard for ILD diagnosis (reference standard). The two basic measures for quantifying the diagnostic test accuracy of the TUS test are the sensitivity and specificity in comparison to the HRCT.Ethics and dissemination Data will be collected and stored in the Research Electronic Data Capture database. The study is approved by the Committees on Health Research Ethics and the Danish Data Protection Agency. The project is registered at clinicaltrials.gov (NCT05396469, pre-results) and data will be published in peer-reviewed journals