Accounting for Errors When Using Systems Approaches

Complex systems problems require the use of a formal philosophical construct and dictate the use of a rigorous systems approach. A systems approach may utilize one of a variety of proven methods, but in each case it involves the imposition of order that ranges from the philosophical to the procedural. Independent of the construct or rigor used to address the complex systems problem is the opportunity to commit a number of errors as part of a systems approach. This paper will discuss six classifications for problem solving errors that may be experienced during the application of a systems approach as part of understanding and treating complex systems problems. © 2013 The Authors

Reducing Barriers to Entry for the Direct Sales of Local Foods in Ohio

According to the U.S. Census of Agriculture, Ohio ranks in the top 10 states for direct farm sales. Other signs of growth include an increasing number of farm markets, farmers' markets, wineries, produce auctions, and chef grower networks. The growth of grower conferences such as the Mid-Ohio Growers, the Southwest Ohio Vegetable Conference and the Ohio Ecological Food and Farming Association (OEFFA) shows growers are interested in growing and providing local foods throughout Ohio. When making direct sales, Ohio growers and marketers are voicing concerns regarding the barriers to entry they face. In most cases, this relates to the sales of eggs, meats and cottage foods at farm markets, farmers' markets and other retail locations. Current laws, rules and interpretations vary significantly. Growers in one county face steeper costs for licensing and equipment than others. Some aspects of these laws are not up-to-date with food safety research. To combat this issue and to make a level playing field, OSU Extension partnered with the Kirwan Institute for the Study of Race and Ethnicity and the John Glenn College of Public Affairs. Together, they completing a multi-faceted project to gain insight into the rules and regulations affecting farm direct marketers in Ohio. The team conducted literature reviews in the areas of barriers in other states and food safety concerns relating to the sales of local foods. A chart was developed to show the top direct marketing states in the United States and Ohio to give a side-by-side comparison of laws and regulations to gain a better understanding of how Ohio compares to similar states. A comparative analysis was used to compare the available information for producers regarding the implementation of the laws and rules of each state. Additionally, listening sessions were held across Ohio, and surveys were conducted of both farmers' market managers and health department sanitarians to gain insight into current processes and potential improvements. Four themes were identified as a result of the project. These themes include: 1) The confusion about regulations and oversight needs to be addressed by the state and partnering agencies/groups; 2) Issues relating to food safety need to be addressed at farmers' markets; 3) Education is needed, possibly in a one-stop-shop location for producers to go for information; and 4) Ohio should consider a farmers' market manager certification to address other issues. Initial work to reducing the barriers outlined in the report include addressing the need for educational resources. The team published a direct marketing eggs fact sheet, a law bulletin about selling food foods at the farm, and has plans more fact sheets. The project's findings are being shared with this and other groups to address the issues and possible changes which could help reduce barriers to entry for Ohio's growers and marketers.AUTHOR AFFILIATION: Eric Barrett, Assistant Professor, The Ohio State University Extension, Mahoning County, [email protected] (Corresponding Author); Peggy Hall, Assistant Professor, The Ohio State University Extension; Emily Adams, Educator, The Ohio State University Extension.Ohio ranks in the top 10 states for direct farm sales. When making direct sales, growers and marketers are voicing concerns regarding barriers to entry. In most cases, this relates to the sales of eggs, meats and cottage foods. Current laws, rules and interpretations vary significantly. Growers in one county face steeper costs for licensing and equipment than others. Several colleges at Ohio State partnered to combat the issues. Four themes were identified as a result of the project. These include: 1) confusion about regulations and oversight that needs to be addressed; 2) issues relating to food safety direct marketing sites; 3) education is needed, possibly in a one-stop shop location for producers; and 4) the need for a farmers' market manager certification to address other issues. This poster will share the project's findings to address the issues and possible changes which could help reduce barriers to entry for Ohio's growers and marketers

Systems Theory as the Foundation for Understanding Systems

As currently used, systems theory is lacking a universally agreed upon definition. The purpose of this paper is to offer a resolution by articulating a formal definition of systems theory. This definition is presented as a unified group of specific propositions which are brought together by way of an axiom set to form a system construct: systems theory. This construct affords systems practitioners and theoreticians with a prescriptive set of axioms by which a system must operate; conversely, any set of entities identified as a system may be characterized by this set of axioms. Given its multidisciplinary theoretical foundation and discipline-agnostic framework, systems theory, as it is presented here, is posited as a general approach to understanding system behavior. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc

Changing expectations about speed alters perceived motion direction

SummaryOur perceptions are fundamentally altered by our knowledge of the world. When cloud-gazing, for example, we tend spontaneously to recognize known objects in the random configurations of evaporated moisture. How our brains acquire such knowledge and how it impacts our perceptions is a matter of heated discussion. A topic of recent debate has concerned the hypothesis that our visual system ‘assumes’ that objects are static or move slowly [1] rather than more quickly [1–3]. This hypothesis, or ‘prior on slow speeds’, was postulated because it could elegantly explain a number of perceptual biases observed in situations of uncertainty [2]. Interestingly, those biases affect not only the perception of speed, but also the direction of motion. For example, the direction of a line whose endpoints are hidden (as in the ‘aperture problem’) or poorly visible (for example, at low contrast or for short presentations) is more often perceived as being perpendicular to the line than it really is — an illusion consistent with expecting that the line moves more slowly than it really does. How this ‘prior on slow speeds’ is shaped by experience and whether it remains malleable in adults is unclear. Here, we show that systematic exposure to high-speed stimuli can lead to a reversal of this direction illusion. This suggests that the shaping of the brain's prior expectations of even the most basic properties of the environment is a continuous process

The Use of Sequential Surveys to Shorten Implementation Time for Healthcare System-Level Enhanced Recovery After Surgery (ERAS) Pathways

Background Enhanced Recovery After Surgery (ERAS) pathways improve healthcare quality, safety, and cost-effectiveness. We hypothesized that the RAND Method (a hybrid Delphi approach), involving anonymous sequential surveys and face-to-face meetings, would allow for more rapid agreement and initiation of new ERAS pathways. Methods Using the ERAS Society guidelines for cesarean section as a baseline, our institution’s ERAS Leadership Team (ELT) compiled published literature and institutional practices to design a 32-component survey that was sent to obstetricians, nurse midwives, anesthesiologists, pharmacists, and nurses. Components that did not reach 90% consensus were included in a second survey the following week, and meetings were held to review results. At the conclusion of this process, time to agreement was retrospectively compared to the colorectal ERAS pathway process at this institution. Results ERAS pathway components were compiled and reviewed by 121 stakeholders at 7 hospitals using iterative surveys with review meetings over a 13-week period. Survey response rates were 61% and 50% in the initial and follow-up surveys, respectively. There was agreement on 28/32 and 32/32 items on the initial and follow-up surveys. Using the RAND Method, time to agreement decreased by 54.1% (24 vs 13 weeks) compared to prior system-wide efforts to standardize the colorectal surgery ERAS pathway. Discussion With rapidly expanding healthcare systems, effective methods to gain consensus and adopt ERAS pathways are critical to implementation of ERAS guidelines. We demonstrate that the RAND Method allows for a transparent and efficient means of agreement across a diverse group of clinicians practicing in several settings

Leucine Supplementation Improves Diastolic Function in HFpEF by HDAC4 Inhibition

Heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF) is a complex syndrome associated with a high morbidity and mortality rate. Leucine supplementation has been demonstrated to attenuate cardiac dysfunction in animal models of cachexia and heart failure with reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF). So far, no data exist on leucine supplementation on cardiac function in HFpEF. Thus, the current study aimed to investigate the effect of leucine supplementation on myocardial function and key signaling pathways in an established HFpEF rat model. Female ZSF1 rats were randomized into three groups: Control (untreated lean rats), HFpEF (untreated obese rats), and HFpEF_Leu (obese rats receiving standard chow enriched with 3% leucine). Leucine supplementation started at 20 weeks of age after an established HFpEF was confirmed in obese rats. In all animals, cardiac function was assessed by echocardiography at baseline and throughout the experiment. At the age of 32 weeks, hemodynamics were measured invasively, and myocardial tissue was collected for assessment of mitochondrial function and for histological and molecular analyses. Leucine had already improved diastolic function after 4 weeks of treatment. This was accompanied by improved hemodynamics and reduced stiffness, as well as by reduced left ventricular fibrosis and hypertrophy. Cardiac mitochondrial respiratory function was improved by leucine without alteration of the cardiac mitochondrial content. Lastly, leucine supplementation suppressed the expression and nuclear localization of HDAC4 and was associated with Protein kinase A activation. Our data show that leucine supplementation improves diastolic function and decreases remodeling processes in a rat model of HFpEF. Beneficial effects were associated with HDAC4/TGF-β1/Collagenase downregulation and indicate a potential use in the treatment of HFpEF

The polaroid image as photo-object

This article is part of a larger project on the cultural history of Polaroid photography and draws on research done at the Polaroid Corporate archive at Harvard and at the Polaroid company itself. It identifies two cultural practices engendered by Polaroid photography, which, at the point of its extinction, has briefly flared into visibility again. It argues that these practices are mistaken as novel but are in fact rediscoveries of practices that stretch back as many as five decades. The first section identifies Polaroid image-making as a photographic equivalent of what Tom Gunning calls the ‘cinema of attractions’. That is, the emphasis in its use is on the display of photographic technologies rather than the resultant image. Equally, the common practice, in both fine art and vernacular circles, of making composite pictures with Polaroid prints, draws attention from image content and redirects it to the photo as object

The Iowa Homemaker vol.19, no.1

Dedication, page 2 There’s Research Excitement, page 3 The Chem E’s Soybean, page 4 A Past Editor Goes to Town, page 5 Sally Previews, page 6 Let Letters Live, page 8 Bridal Showers Forecast, page 9 What’s New in Home Economics, page 10 Building a Little House in Print, page 12 Danforth Play Time, page 13 Behind Bright Jackets, page 14 Alums in the News, page 15 Gay Commencement Colors, page 16 An Activities Ace, page 17 It’s Veishea Time, page 18 From Journalistic Spindles, page 19 Biography of a Home Economist, page 2

A retroviral link to vertebrate myelination through retrotransposon RNA-mediated control of myelin gene expression

Myelin, the insulating sheath that surrounds neuronal axons, is produced by oligodendrocytes in the central nervous system (CNS). This evolutionary innovation, which first appears in jawed vertebrates, enabled rapid transmission of nerve impulses, more complex brains, and greater morphological diversity. Here, we report that RNA-level expression of RNLTR12-int, a retrotransposon of retroviral origin, is essential for myelination. We show that RNLTR12-int-encoded RNA binds to the transcription factor SOX10 to regulate transcription of myelin basic protein (Mbp, the major constituent of myelin) in rodents. RNLTR12-int-like sequences (which we name RetroMyelin) are found in all jawed vertebrates, and we further demonstrate their function in regulating myelination in two different vertebrate classes (zebrafish and frogs). Our study therefore suggests that retroviral endogenization played a prominent role in the emergence of vertebrate myelin.<br/