Statistical approaches to the surveillance of infectious diseases for veterinary public health

This technical report covers the aspect of using statistical methodology for the monitoring of routinely collected surveillance data in veterinary public health. An account of the Farrington algorithm and Poisson cumulative sum schemes for the detection of aberrations is given with special attention devoted to the occurrence of seasonality and spatial aggregation of the time series. Modelling approaches for retrospective analysis of surveillance counts are described. To illustrate the applicability of the methodology in veterinary public health, data from the surveillance of rabies among fox in Hesse, Germany, are analysed

Integrated marketing communication, unhealthy food and power : an under-investigated dynamic

This paper seeks to explore the dynamic between the food and beverage industry's promotion of unhealthy foods and beverages to children and adolescents, IMC, and power. It proposes a conceptual model that identifies three characteristics of IMC that through the enabling processes of legitimacy, hegemony and exploitation help to reinforce and expand the powerful position of this industry. Coupled with these practices is society's acceptance of such behaviour within the context of our neo-liberal, consumer-culture environment. The proposed conceptual framework builds on existing works within the macromarketing discipline related to the food industry, e.g. Witkoski's (2007) analysis of food marketing and obesity in developing countries and discussion of ethical and public policy issues, and Redmond's (2009) analysis of regulatory failure of packaged foods in the United States

Students' Community Service: Self-Selection and the Effects of Participation

Numerous studies demonstrate the effectiveness of university-based community service programs on students' personal, social, ethical, and academic domains. These effects depend on both, the characteristics of students enrolled and the characteristics of the programs, for instance whether they are voluntary or mandatory. Our study investigates whether effects of voluntary service programs are indeed caused by the service experience or by prior self-selection. Using data from a pre-post quasi-experimental design conducted at a public university in Europe and taking students' socioeconomic background into account, our findings on self-efficacy, generalized trust, empathic concern, and attributions for poverty show that there are no participation effects. Instead, students who join in community service differ significantly from nonparticipants with regard to almost all investigated domains a priori, indicating strong self-selection. Our results underline the importance of structured group reflection, most notably with regard to attitude-related topics

Pulmonary hemorrhage: Imaging with a new magnetic resonance blood pool agent in conjunction with breathheld three-dimensional magnetic resonance angiography

Purpose: To describe the three-dimensional magnetic resonance angiography (3D MRA) imaging appearance of the pulmonary arteries following administration of a superparamagnetic iron oxide blood pool agent to human volunteers, and to demonstrate in an animal model (pigs) how this technique can be used to detect pulmonary parenchymal hemorrhage. Methods: Two volunteers were examined following the intravenous administration of a superparamagnetic iron oxide blood pool agent (NC100150 Injection, Nycomed Amersham Imaging, Wayne, PA, USA). T1-weighted 3D gradient recalled echo (GRE) image sets (TR/TE 5.1/1.4 msec, flip angle 30°) were acquired breathheld over 24 sec. To assess the detectability of pulmonary bleeding with intravascular MR contrast, pulmonary parenchymal injuries were created in two animals under general anesthesia, and fast T1-weighted 3D GRE image sets collected before and after the injury. Results: Administration of the intravascular contrast in the two volunteers resulted in selective enhancement of the pulmonary vasculature permitting complete visualization and excellent delineation of central, segmental, and subsegmental arteries. Following iatrogenic injury in the two animals, pulmonary hemorrhage was readily detected on the 3D image sets. Conclusion: The data presented illustrate that ultrafast 3D GRE MR imaging in conjunction with an intravenously administered intravascular blood pool agent can be used to perform high-quality pulmonary MRA as well as to detect pulmonary hemorrhag

In vitro image characteristics of an abdominal aortic stent graft: CTA versus 3D MRA

Percutaneous stent-grafting is increasingly employed as a less invasive alternative to surgery for the treatment of infrarenal abdominal aortic aneurysms. It requires long-term imaging follow-up, to document the structural integrity of the device, to exculude perigraft channels and endograft leakages, as well as the shrinkage of the aneurysmal sac. The expectation of severe stent induced artifacts and safety concerns have prevented 3D MRA from being used. The purpose of this in vitro study was to investigate the imaging characteristics of a bifurcated stent graft with 3D MRA (3D Frourier transform fast spoiled GRE) at 1.5 T in comparison to those of CTA. Measurement of the stent wall thickness and luminal diameter were made on a agar gel embedded stent graft at five locations on both CTA and MRA images. The stent graft was depicted as a dark ring on MR images. Wall thickness measurments at the five locations of the stent graft overestimated the true stent thickness, while luminal diameters were slightly underestimated. Measurement differences between MR and CT were not statistically significant (P=0.67;P=0.85). Artifacts emanating from the platinum markers were considerably less severe on the MR-images. A wider area of signal loss was seen only at the insertion of the iliac stent leg into the aortic stent portion due to the overlap of two radio-opaque platinum markers. 3D MRA images should permit a comprehensive assessment of the arterial lumen, and of perivascular tissue

Interneteinführungen für Kinder : Konzepte für die Stadtbibliothek Hammelburg

Die vorliegende Arbeit stellt dar, wie für die Stadtbibliothek Hammelburg ein Konzept für eine Interneteinführung für Kinder entwickelt und umgesetzt wird. Bei der Entwicklung werden allgemeingültige Aspekte berücksichtigt und Bezug zur Situation der Stadtbibliothek Hammelburg hergestellt. Dabei werden verschiedene Punkte betrachtet, die für die Umsetzung wichtig sind. Es werden verschiedene Modelle anderer Bibliotheken vorgestellt und in Bezug auf Hammelburg bewertet. Themen wie Kinder- und Jugendschutz im Internet, kindgerechte Webseiten wie auch technische und personelle Voraussetzungen, spielen hierbei eine Rolle. Neben der Entwicklung des Konzepts wird auch die praktische Umsetzung in der Stadtbibliothek Hammelburg dargestellt und evaluiert. Ziel ist es, ein leicht in die Praxis umsetzbares Konzept zu entwickeln, das den Anforderungen der Bibliothek und der Kinder gerecht wird. Schlagwörter: Internet; Kinder; Einführung; Bibliothe

Personality disorder and intellectual disability: the impacts of horticultural therapy within a medium-secure unit

This study was designed to explore the efficacy of a horticultural therapy intervention for the enhancement of subjective health and wellbeing in male service users with a dual diagnosis of personality disorder and intellectual disability in a medium secure unit in the north of England, UK. Service users (n=7) were involved in three focus groups; one just prior to a new garden facility opening, and then again at the six and twelve month points, which explored the personal impacts upon service users’ health and wellbeing. The garden was itself an upshot of participant involvement; service users were involved in all aspects of the garden design and maintenance, and also assisted with dissemination of the research goals and findings. Service users reported numerous personal health benefits as a result of their engagement with horticultural activities, allied to personal development enhancements in respect of gardening knowledge, employability skills, personal achievements and positive changes in behaviour towards self and others. Particularly, underlying these outputs, participants identified reduced stress, and a general “feel good” factor as key to their improved life-satisfaction. The mechanisms providing for these impacts included: interaction with a natural environment; enhanced intrinsic motivation derived from participation in a variety of tasks; and opportunities to develop specific horticultural skills. Immersion in horticultural activity may thus be an effective treatment modality in promoting positive health benefits to service users