Economic Importance of The Iowa Egg Industry

The egg production and processing industry has a significant impact on Iowa's economy. And if consumer demand for eggs continues to increase and Iowa continues its commitment to grow the industry, expansion of Iowa's egg industry will continue.

Hamburgers and coke or bread and roses? : learning responsible consumption

This thesis explores possibilities of working towards a more responsible consumption and just trade relations through education. Education for responsible consumption has served as a case to look closer at possibilities for change. However, sustainable consumption and Fair Trade are the responsibility of all actors in the field, among them not only consumers, but equally companies, governments and non-government initiatives. The first part of this research therefore explores thinking about and experience with possibilities and concrete tools for the different stakeholders to act upon their responsibility. In the second part I have looked at the ways in which education for responsible consumption is or could be institutionalised in the case of Córdoba in Spain. The context of the issue, practical experiences with consumer education, the question of institutionalisation of such education and networks or links between institutions were the aspects that served to structure and guide my investigation. The core of the investigation has been a series of interviews and a cooperative inquiry or research circle with educators to experiment with the process of changing individual consumption patterns. There are a number of barriers to bring education for responsible consumption into the schools in Córdoba: Up till now awareness of the matter is low and the burden of bringing it into the classroom lies entirely with interested teachers. Both an institutional framework and higher awareness among teachers and schools are necessary prerequisites for bringing education for responsible consumption into schools. Changes in the curriculum and a revision of the consumption in schools are crucial. Such an environment would turn responsible consumption into a routine, taking pressure of the teachers, and can thus create a positive environment, for bringing the issue into the classroom. On the other hand teaching complex issues with no fixed answers requires a different attitude to teaching and methods for joint inquiry with the students. To prepare for teaching on unstable ground innovative forms of teacher training are necessary that focus on content, methods and individual attitudes. Research circles as described in this thesis can be spaces where teachers can inquire into their own habits and experiment with change. On this basis they can develop their own tools for teaching and support each other on the way.Esta tesina explora las opciones que existen para trabajar por un consumo responsable y unas relaciones de comercio más justas a través de la educación. La educación para un consumo responsable ha servido como un caso de estudio para investigar más en detalle las posibilidades de un cambio. Sin embargo, consumo responsable y Comercio Justo son una responsabilidad de todos los actores presentes en este campo, entre ellos no sólo las consumidoras y consumidores, sino igualmente empresas, gobiernos e iniciativas no gubernamentales. En consecuencia, la primera parte de esta investigación explora ideas y experiencias con diferentes opciones y herramientas concretas para los distintos actores. ii La segunda parte está enfocada en cómo la educación para un consumo responsable es o puede ser institucionalizada en el caso de Córdoba, España. El contexto del problema, experiencias prácticas en educación para el consumo, la cuestión de la institucionalización de dicha educación y las redes o enlaces entre instituciones son los aspectos que han estructurado y guiado mi investigación. El centro del estudio ha sido una serie de entrevistas y una investigación cooperativa (co-operative inquiry) con educadores sobre el proceso de cambio en los hábitos de consumo individuales. Existen una serie de barreras para llevar la educación para un consumo responsable a los centros educativos en Córdoba: hasta hoy la sensibilización hacia el problema es insuficiente y la labor de incluir la cuestión al aula descansa enteramente sobre la profesora o el profesor interesado. Tanto un marco institucional como una mayor sensibilización entre el profesorado y en los centros son prerrequisitos necesarios para llevar la educación para el consumo responsable a los centros. Es crucial que se realicen cambios en el plan de estudios y una revisión del consumo en cada centro. En tal ambiente el consumo responsable se volvería más común, aliviando la presión sobre el profesorado y creando así unas condiciones positivas para tratar el contenido en la clase. Por otro lado, enseñar una cuestión compleja que no tiene respuestas fijas requiere una actitud diferente ante el proceso de enseñaza y métodos para un trabajo conjunto con los estudiantes. Para preparar al profesorado en una enseñanza de este tipo son imprescindibles formas innovadoras de formación del profesorado, enfocadas tanto en contenidos como en métodos y actitudes particulares. Una investigación basada en el trabajo en grupo como los descritos en esta tesina pueden ser espacios donde los profesores pueden reflexionar sobre sus hábitos y experimentar con el cambio. Sobre esta base pueden desarrollar sus propias herramientas para la enseñanza y apoyarse mutualmente en el camino

Oncological Outcome of Primary versus Secondary Muscle-Invasive Bladder Cancer Is Comparable after Radical Cystectomy

Background: High-risk non-muscle-invasive bladder cancer (NMIBC) progressing to muscle-invasive bladder cancer (MIBC) is associated with adverse tumour biology. It is unclear, however, whether outcome of NMIBC progressing to MIBC is adverse compared to primary MIBC and whether NMIBC of higher risk of progression to MIBC is adverse compared to NMIBC of lower risk. Objective: Our objective was to assess cancer-specific survival (CSS) following radical cystectomy (RC) for primary MIBC and for NMIBC progressing to MIBC in dependence of EORTC risk score. Materials and Methods: Clinical and histopathological characteristics and CSS of 150 patients were assessed. Secondary MIBCs were stratified by EORTC risk score at the last transurethral resection of bladder tumour for NMIBC. Results: CSS did not differ significantly between primary and secondary MIBC (p = 0.521). Secondary MIBC with high EORTC score had significantly shorter CSS compared to secondary MIBC with intermediate EORTC score (p = 0.029). In multivariable analysis, pathological tumour stage (HR = 3.77; p = 0.020) and lymph node stage (HR = 2.34; p = 0.022) were significantly correlated with CSS. Conclusion: While the outcome of secondary MIBC is not generally adverse compared to primary MIBC, the EORTC risk score not only reflects high risk of progression of NMIBC to MIBC, but also worse outcome following RC for secondary MIBC. Timely RC should thus be debated in high-risk NMIBC

Inherent Grading Characteristics of Individual Pathologists Contribute to Clinically and Prognostically Relevant Interobserver Discordance Concerning Broders' Grading of Penile Squamous Cell Carcinomas

Introduction: The aim of our study was to evaluate the significance of transurethral resection of the prostate (TURP) to detect prostate cancer (PCa). A comparison was performed of the TURP specimens of patients undergoing high-intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU) with the core biopsies. Materials and Methods: TURP before undergoing HIFU therapy was performed in 106 patients without neoadjuvant treatment. The resected tissue was subjected to histopathological evaluation and compared to the histological results of transrectal prostate biopsy. Results: Cancer was detected in the resected tissue of 69 patients (65%). A positive correlation of the amount of resected tissue and detection of PCa could be demonstrated in a multivariate analysis. Conclusions: With a rate of 65% PCa detected by TURP, our data provide evidence that TURP might be suitable to detect PCa in a small group of selected patients with continuously rising PSA levels and several negative biopsies. On the other hand, these data underline/reinforce the necessity to treat the whole gland using modern treatment modalities such as HIFU and cryotherapy

A conserved aromatic residue in the autochaperone domain of the autotransporter Hbp is critical for initiation of outer membrane translocation

Autotransporters are bacterial virulence factors that share a common mechanism by which they are transported to the cell surface. They consist of an N-terminal passenger domain and a C-terminal β-barrel, which has been implicated in translocation of the passenger across the outer membrane (OM). The mechanism of passenger translocation and folding is still unclear but involves a conserved region at the C terminus of the passenger domain, the so-called autochaperone domain. This domain functions in the stepwise translocation process and in the folding of the passenger domain after translocation. In the autotransporter hemoglobin protease (Hbp), the autochaperone domain consists of the last rung of the β-helix and a capping domain. To examine the role of this region, we have mutated several conserved aromatic residues that are oriented toward the core of the β-helix. We found that non-conservative mutations affected secretion with Trp1015 in the cap region as the most critical residue. Substitution at this position yielded a DegP-sensitive intermediate that is located at the periplasmic side of the OM. Further analysis revealed that Trp1015 is most likely required for initiation of processive folding of the β-helix at the cell surface, which drives sequential translocation of the Hbp passenger across the OM

The Charlson Comorbidity Index Predicts Survival after Disease Recurrence in Patients following Radical Cystectomy for Urothelial Carcinoma of the Bladder

Objective: To identify prognostic clinical and histopathological parameters, including comorbidity indices at the time of radical cystectomy (RC), for overall survival (OS) after recurrence following RC for urothelial carcinoma of the bladder (UCB). Materials and Methods: A retrospective multicenter study was carried out in 555 unselected consecutive patients who underwent RC with pelvic lymph node dissection for UCB from 2000 to 2010. A total of 227 patients with recurrence comprised our study group. Cox proportional hazards regression models were calculated with established variables to assess their independent influence on OS after recurrence. Results: The median time from RC to recurrence and the median OS after recurrence was 10.9 and 5.4 months, respectively. Neither the time to recurrence nor the type of recurrence (systematic vs. local) was predictive of the OS. In contrast, age (hazard ratio (HR) 1.53, p = 0.011), lymph node metastasis (HR 1.56, p = 0.007), and positive surgical margins (HR 1.53, p = 0.046) significantly affected the OS after disease recurrence. In addition, the dichotomized Charlson comorbidity index (CCI; dichotomized into >2 vs. 0-2) was the only comorbidity score with an independent prediction of OS (HR 1.41, p = 0.033). We observed a significant gain in the base model's predictive accuracy, i.e. from 68.4 to 70.3% (p < 0.001), after inclusion of the dichotomized CCI. Conclusions: We present the first outcome study of comorbidity indices used as predictors of OS after disease recurrence in patients undergoing RC for UCB. The CCI at the time of RC had no significant influence on the time to recurrence but represented an independent predictor of OS after disease recurrence

Aminoglycoside ototoxicity and hair cell ablation in the adult gerbil: A simple model to study hair cell loss and regeneration

The Mongolian gerbil, Meriones unguiculatus, has been widely employed as a model for studies of the inner ear. In spite of its established use for auditory research, no robust protocols to induce ototoxic hair cell damage have been developed for this species. In this paper, we demonstrate the development of an aminoglycoside-induced model of hair cell loss, using kanamycin potentiated by the loop diuretic furosemide. Interestingly, we show that the gerbil is relatively insensitive to gentamicin compared to kanamycin, and that bumetanide is ineffective in potentiating the ototoxicity of the drug. We also examine the pathology of the spiral ganglion after chronic, long-term hair cell damage. Remarkably, there is little or no neuronal loss following the ototoxic insult, even at 8 months post-damage. This is similar to the situation often seen in the human, where functioning neurons can persist even decades after hair cell loss, contrasting with the rapid, secondary degeneration found in rats, mice and other small mammals. We propose that the combination of these factors makes the gerbil a good model for ototoxic damage by induced hair cell loss

Metabolic adjustment enhances food web stability

International audienceUnderstanding ecosystem stability is one of the greatest challenges of ecology. Over several decades, it has been shown that allometric scaling of biological rates and feeding interactions provide stability to complex food web models. Moreover, introducing adaptive responses of organisms to environmental changes (e.g. like adaptive foraging that enables organisms to adapt their diets depending on resources abundance) improved species persistence in food webs. Here, we introduce the concept of metabolic adjustment, i.e. the ability of species to slow down their metabolic rates when facing starvation and to increase it in time of plenty. We study the reactions of such a model to nutrient enrichment and the adjustment speed of metabolic rates. We found that increasing nutrient enrichment leads to a paradox of enrichment (increase in biomasses and oscillation amplitudes and ultimately extinction of species) but metabolic adjustment stabilises the system by dampening the oscillations. Metabolic adjustment also increases the average biomass of the top predator in a tri-trophic food chain. In complex food webs, metabolic adjustment has a stabilising effect as it promotes species survival by creating a large diversity of metabolic rates. However, this stabilising effect is mitigated in enriched ecosystems. Phenotypic plasticity of organisms must be considered in food web models to better understand the response of organisms to their environment. As metabolic rate is central in describing biological rates, we must pay attention to its variations to fully understand the population dynamics of natural communities

Activation of superior colliculi in humans during visual exploration

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Visual, oculomotor, and – recently – cognitive functions of the superior colliculi (SC) have been documented in detail in non-human primates in the past. Evidence for corresponding functions of the SC in humans is still rare. We examined activity changes in the human tectum and the lateral geniculate nuclei (LGN) in a visual search task using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and anatomically defined regions of interest (ROI). Healthy subjects conducted a free visual search task and two voluntary eye movement tasks with and without irrelevant visual distracters. Blood oxygen level dependent (BOLD) signals in the SC were compared to activity in the inferior colliculi (IC) and LGN.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Neural activity increased during free exploration only in the SC in comparison to both control tasks. Saccade frequency did not exert a significant effect on BOLD signal changes. No corresponding differences between experimental tasks were found in the IC or the LGN. However, while the IC revealed no signal increase from the baseline, BOLD signal changes at the LGN were consistently positive in all experimental conditions.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Our data demonstrate the involvement of the SC in a visual search task. In contrast to the results of previous studies, signal changes could not be seen to be driven by either visual stimulation or oculomotor control on their own. Further, we can exclude the influence of any nearby neural structures (e.g. pulvinar, tegmentum) or of typical artefacts at the brainstem on the observed signal changes at the SC. Corresponding to findings in non-human primates, our data support a dependency of SC activity on functions beyond oculomotor control and visual processing.</p