Factors Influencing the Green House Gas Footprint of US Dairy Farms

Environmental Economics and Policy, Livestock Production/Industries,

Aspects of the planetary Birkhoff normal form

The discovery in [G. Pinzari. PhD thesis. Univ. Roma Tre. 2009], [L. Chierchia and G. Pinzari, Invent. Math. 2011] of the Birkhoff normal form for the planetary many--body problem opened new insights and hopes for the comprehension of the dynamics of this problem. Remarkably, it allowed to give a {\sl direct} proof of the celebrated Arnold's Theorem [V. I. Arnold. Uspehi Math. Nauk. 1963] on the stability of planetary motions. In this paper, using a "ad hoc" set of symplectic variables, we develop an asymptotic formula for this normal form that may turn to be useful in applications. As an example, we provide two very simple applications to the three-body problem: we prove a conjecture by [V. I. Arnold. cit] on the "Kolmogorov set"of this problem and, using Nehoro{\v{s}}ev Theory [Nehoro{\v{s}}ev. Uspehi Math. Nauk. 1977], we prove, in the planar case, stability of all planetary actions over exponentially-long times, provided mean--motion resonances are excluded. We also briefly discuss perspectives and problems for full generalization of the results in the paper.Comment: 44 pages. Keywords: Averaging Theory, Birkhoff normal form, Nehoro{\v{s}}ev Theory, Planetary many--body problem, Arnold's Theorem on the stability of planetary motions, Properly--degenerate kam Theory, steepness. Revised version, including Reviewer's comments. Typos correcte

The structure of Organizational Virtual Social Networks

Organizational virtual social networks (OVSN) reshape social structures due to their ability to strengthen social ties, to change power relations and to enable new forms of cooperation. Research in Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) has led to various approaches that analyze the impact of OVSN on organizations in terms of structure and behavior. Our study aims to analyze important features related to the structure of OVSN. It also aims to strengthen a network approach to analyze organizational phenomena such as working groups and connected individuals, as well as the impact of online networks in organizations. This study was based on the lines of approach described by Oinas-Kukkonen et al. (2010) and on the research carried out by Bobsin & Hoppen (2012) to understand the process of structuring OVSN. Our main results are an OVSN structure consisting of actors and roles, interactions, operating elements and articulating goals. We also analyzed some structural elements of networks which may contribute to the development of a network based approach to study organizational phenomena

Antibiotic cycling versus mixing: the difficulty of using mathematical models to definitively quantify their relative merits.

Published PDF version deposited in accordance with SHERPA RoMEO guidelines.We ask the question Which antibiotic deployment protocols select best against drug-resistant microbes: mixing or periodic cycling? and demonstrate that the statistical distribution of the performances of both sets of protocols, mixing and periodic cycling, must have overlapping supports. In other words, it is a general, mathematical result that there must be mixing policies that outperform cycling policies and vice versa. As a result, we agree with the tenet of Bonhoefer et al. [1] that one should not apply the results of [2] to conclude that an antibiotic cycling policy that implements cycles of drug restriction and prioritisation on an ad-hoc basis can select against drug-resistant microbial pathogens in a clinical setting any better than random drug use. However, nor should we conclude that a random, per-patient drug-assignment protocol is the de facto optimal method for allocating antibiotics to patients in any general sense

Inflammatory parameters predict etiologic patterns but do not allow for individual prediction of etiology in patients with CAP – Results from the German competence network CAPNETZ

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Aim of this study was to evaluate the correlation of inflammatory markers procalcitonin (PCT), C-reactive protein (CRP) and leukocyte count (WBC) with microbiological etiology of CAP.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>We enrolled 1337 patients (62 ± 18 y, 45% f) with proven CAP. Extensive microbiological workup was performed. In all patients PCT, CRP, WBC and CRB-65 score were determined. Patients were classified according to microbial diagnosis and CRB-65 score.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>In patients with typical bacterial CAP, levels of PCT, CRP and WBC were significantly higher compared to CAP of atypical or viral etiology. There were no significant differences in PCT, CRP and WBC in patients with atypical or viral etiology of CAP. In contrast to CRP and WBC, PCT markedly increased with severity of CAP as measured by CRB-65 score (p < 0.0001). In ROC analysis for discrimination of patients with CRB-65 scores > 1, AUC for PCT was 0.69 (95% CI 0.66 to 0.71), which was higher compared to CRP and WBC (p < 0.0001). CRB-65, PCT, CRP and WBC were higher (p < 0.0001) in hospitalised patients in comparison to outpatients.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>PCT, CRP and WBC are highest in typical bacterial etiology in CAP but do not allow individual prediction of etiology. In contrast to CRP and WBC, PCT is useful in severity assessment of CAP.</p

Continuation of the exponentially small transversality for the splitting of separatrices to a whiskered torus with silver ratio

We study the exponentially small splitting of invariant manifolds of whiskered (hyperbolic) tori with two fast frequencies in nearly-integrable Hamiltonian systems whose hyperbolic part is given by a pendulum. We consider a torus whose frequency ratio is the silver number $\Omega=\sqrt{2}-1$. We show that the Poincar\'e-Melnikov method can be applied to establish the existence of 4 transverse homoclinic orbits to the whiskered torus, and provide asymptotic estimates for the tranversality of the splitting whose dependence on the perturbation parameter $\varepsilon$ satisfies a periodicity property. We also prove the continuation of the transversality of the homoclinic orbits for all the sufficiently small values of $\varepsilon$, generalizing the results previously known for the golden number.Comment: 17 pages, 2 figure

Developing a Standard Set of Patient-centred Outcomes for Adult Oral Health - An International, Cross-disciplinary Consensus.

OBJECTIVE: To develop a minimum Adult Oral Health Standard Set (AOHSS) for use in clinical practice, research, advocacy and population health. MATERIALS AND METHODS: An international oral health working group (OHWG) was established, of patient advocates, researchers, clinicians and public health experts to develop an AOHSS. PubMed was searched for oral health clinical and patient-reported measures and case-mix variables related to caries and periodontal disease. The selected patient-reported outcome measures focused on general oral health, and oral health-related quality of life tools. A consensus was reached via Delphi with parallel consultation of subject matter content experts. Finally, comments and input were elicited from oral health stakeholders globally, including patients/consumers. RESULTS: The literature search yielded 1,453 results. After inclusion/exclusion criteria, 959 abstracts generated potential outcomes and case-mix variables. Delphi rounds resulted in a consensus-based selection of 80 individual items capturing 31 outcome and case-mix concepts. Global reviews generated 347 responses from 87 countries, and the patient/consumer validation survey elicited 129 responses. This AOHSS includes 25 items directed towards patients (including demographics, the impact of their oral health on oral function, a record of pain and oral hygiene practices, and financial implications of care) and items for clinicians to complete, including medical history, a record of caries and periodontal disease activity, and types of dental treatment delivered. CONCLUSION: In conclusion, utilising a robust methodology, a standardised core set of oral health outcome measures for adults, with a particular emphasis on caries and periodontal disease, was developed

Dental sealant knowledge, opinion, values and practice of Spanish dentists

[Background] Multiple guidelines and systematic reviews recommend sealant use to reduce caries risk. Yet, multiple reports also indicate that sealants are significantly underutilized. This study examined the knowledge, opinions, values, and practice (KOVP) of dentists concerning sealant use in the southwest region of Andalusia, Spain. This is a prelude to the generation of a regional plan for improving children’s oral health in Andalusia.[Methods] The survey’s target population was dentists working in western Andalusia, equally distributed in the provinces of Seville, Cadiz, and Huelva (N=2,047). A convenience sample of meeting participants and meeting participant email lists (N=400) were solicited from the annual course on Community and Pediatric Dentistry. This course is required for all public health sector dentists, and is open to all private sector dentists. Information on the dentist’s KOVP of sealants was collected using four-part questionnaire with 31, 5-point Likert-scaled questions.[Results] The survey population demographics included 190 men (48%) and 206 women (52%) with an average clinical experience of 10.6 (± 8.4) years and 9.3 (± 7.5) years, respectively. A significant sex difference was observed in the distribution of place of work (urban/suburb) (p=0.001), but no sex differences between working sector (public/private). The mean ± SD values for each of the four KOVP sections for pit and fissure sealants were: knowledge = 3.57 ± 0.47; opinion = 2.48 ± 0.47; value = 2.74 ± 0.52; and practice = 3.48 ± 0.50. No sex differences were found in KOVP (all p >0.4). Independent of sex: knowledge statistically differed by years of experience and place of work; opinion statistically differed by years of experience and sector; and practice statistically differed by years of experience and sector. Less experienced dentists tended to have slightly higher scores (~0.25 on a Likert 1–5 scale). Statistically significant correlations were found between knowledge and practice (r=0.44, p=0.00) and between opinion and value (r=0.35, p=0.00).[Conclusions] The results suggest that, similar to other countries, Andalusian dentists know that sealants are effective, have neutral to positive attitudes toward sealants; though, based on epidemiological studies, underuse sealants. Therefore, methods other than classical behavior change (eg: financial or legal mechanisms) will be required to change practice patterns aimed at improving children's oral health.We acknowledge the following sources for invaluable financial support NIMHD 1 R34 DE022272 (NIH2385) and NIDCR 1 U24 MD006964

Development of ASAS quality standards to improve the quality of health and care services for patients with axial spondyloarthritis

Objectives The Assessment of SpondyloArthritis International Society (ASAS) aimed to develop a set of quality standards (QS) to help improve the quality of healthcare provided to adult patients affected by axial spondyloarthritis (axSpA) worldwide. Methods An ASAS task force developed a set of QS using a stepwise approach. First, key areas for quality improvement were identified, discussed, rated and agreed on. Thereafter, areas were prioritised and statements for the most important key areas were phrased on consensus. Appropriate quality measures were defined to allow quantification of the QS at the community level. Results The ASAS task force, consisting of 20 rheumatologists, two physiotherapists and two patients, selected and proposed 34 potential key areas for quality improvement which were then commented by 140 ASAS members and patients. Within that process three new key areas came up, which led to a re-evaluation of all 37 key areas by 120 ASAS members and patients. Five key areas were identified as most important to determine quality of care: referral including rapid access, rheumatology assessment, treatment, education/self-management and comorbidities. Finally, nine QS were agreed on and endorsed by the whole ASAS membership. Conclusions ASAS successfully developed the first set of QS to help improving healthcare for adult patients with axSpA. Even though it may currently not be realistic to achieve the QS in all healthcare systems, they provide high-quality of care framework for patients with axSpA that should be aimed for