Epidemiological indicators for meat inspection of farmed game

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Validation of EN ISO method 10273-Detection of pathogenic Yersinia enterocolitica in foods

EN ISO 10273 method for the detection of pathogenic Yersinia enterocolitica in foods was validated in the project Mandate M/381 funded by European Commission. A total of 14 laboratories from five European countries participated in the interlaboratory study (ILS) organized during 2013 and 2014. Before the ITS, the method was revised by an international group of experts and the performance of the revised method was assessed in an ILS study. The results are published as a part of the standard EN ISO 10273 revision. The study included three rounds with different sample types; raw milk, iceberg lettuce and minced meat, inoculated with a low and high level of pathogenic Y. enterocolitica strains representing major pathogenic bioserotypes 4/O:3 and 2/O:9. The homogeneity and stability of the samples were verified before dispatching them to the laboratories. The results demonstrated the method sensitivity of 96% in raw milk, 97% in minced meat, and 98% in lettuce at high inoculation level of pathogenic Y. enterocolitica. The specificity was 100% in raw milk, 96% in minced meat, and 98% in lettuce. The level of detection, LOD50, varied between study rounds, being 9.4 CFU/25 ml in raw milk, 9.9 CFU/25 g in minced meat and 63 CFU/25 g in lettuce samples. During the study, confirmation by using real-time PCR method ISO/TS 18867 together with pyrazinamidase testing was also validated, as alternative to conventional biochemical confirmation. When comparing different isolation steps used in the revised method during the study rounds, PSB enrichment and plating on CIN after alkaline (KOH) treatment showed the highest sensitivity (52-92%) in raw milk and minced meat samples. In lettuce samples, however, ITC with KOH treatment before plating on CIN showed higher sensitivity (64% at low level; 82% at high level) than plating on CIN from PSB with KOH treatment (44% at low level; 74% at high level). Statistical analysis of different isolation steps supported the use of two enrichment media, PSB and ITC, in the revised method. Recovery of pathogenic Y. enterocolitica on ON was most efficient after KOH treatment and, based on the analysis, plating on CIN agar without KOH treatment could be left as optional procedure in the method.Peer reviewe

Breastfeeding and childhood asthma: a six-year population-based cohort study

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The question of the protective effect of breastfeeding on development of asthma has raised substantial interest, but the scientific evidence of the optimal duration of breastfeeding is controversial.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>The authors elaborated the optimal duration of breastfeeding with respect to the risk of asthma primarily, and secondarily to the risk of persistent wheezing, cough and phlegm in school age in a population-based cohort study with the baseline in 1991 and follow-up in 1997. The study population comprised 1984 children aged 7 to 14 years at the end of the follow-up (follow-up rate 77). Information on breastfeeding was based on the baseline survey and information on the health outcomes at the follow-up.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>There was a U-shaped relation between breastfeeding and the outcomes with the lowest risk with breastfeeding from four to nine months for asthma and seven to nine months for persistent wheezing, cough and phlegm.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Our results suggest a U shape relation between duration of breastfeeding and risk of asthma with an optimal duration of 4 to 6 months. A true concave relation would explain the inconsistent results from the previous studies.</p

Are self-report of disability pension and long-term sickness absence accurate? Comparisons of self-reported interview data with national register data in a Swedish twin cohort

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Self-reported disability pension (DP) and sickness absence are commonly used in epidemiological and other studies as a measure of exposure or even as an outcome. The aims were (1) to compare such self-reports with national register information in order to evaluate the validity of self-reported DP and sickness absence, and (2) to estimate the concordance of reporting behaviour in different twin zygosity groups, also by sex.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>All Swedish twins born 1933-1958 who participated in the Screening Across the Lifespan Twin study (SALT) 1998-2003, were included (31,122 individuals). The self-reported DP and long-term sickness absence (LTSA) at the time of interview was compared to the corresponding register information retrieved from the National Social Insurance Agency by calculating the proportions of agreements, kappa, sensitivity, specificity, concordance rates, and chi-square test, to evaluate construct validity.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The proportions of overall agreement were 96% and specificity 99% for both DP and LTSA, while the sensitivity was 70% for DP and 45% for LTSA. Kappa estimates were 0.76 for DP, and 0.58 for LTSA. The proportions of positive agreement were 64% for DP and 42% for LTSA. No difference in response style was found between zygosity groups among complete twin pairs for DP and LTSA. Results were similar for women and men and across age. Kappa estimates for DP differed somewhat depending on years of education, 0.68 (college/university) vs. 0.77 (less than 13 years in school) but not for LTSA.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Self-reported DP data may be very useful in studies when register information is not available, however, register data is preferred especially for LTSA. The same degree of twin similarity was found for truthful self-report of DP and LTSA in both monozygotic and dizygotic twin pairs. Thus, the response style was not influenced by genetic factors. One consequence of this would be that when estimating the relative importance of genetic and environmental effects from twin models, heritability estimates would not be biased.</p

An estimate of the number of tropical tree species

The high species richness of tropical forests has long been recognized, yet there remains substantial uncertainty regarding the actual number of tropical tree species. Using a pantropical tree inventory database from closed canopy forests, consisting of 657,630 trees belonging to 11,371 species, we use a fitted value of Fisher’s alpha and an approximate pantropical stem total to estimate the minimum number of tropical forest tree species to fall between ∼40,000 and ∼53,000, i.e. at the high end of previous estimates. Contrary to common assumption, the Indo-Pacific region was found to be as species-rich as the Neotropics, with both regions having a minimum of ∼19,000–25,000 tree species. Continental Africa is relatively depauperate with a minimum of ∼4,500–6,000 tree species. Very few species are shared among the African, American, and the Indo-Pacific regions. We provide a methodological framework for estimating species richness in trees that may help refine species richness estimates of tree-dependent taxa

Specialpedagogiskt arbete i matematik

Syftet med arbetet är att kartlägga och ta reda på vilka faktorer som påverkar hur det specialpedagogiska arbetet i matematik bedrivs på individnivå, gruppnivå och organisationsnivå. Arbetet ger en översikt över tidigare forskning om den specialpedagogiska rollen samt matematiksvårigheter. Med hjälp av enkäter till pedagoger som undervisar i matematik och intervjuer med specialpedagoger och skolledare vill vi få en klar bild av de faktorer som påverkar hur det specialpedagogiska arbetet bedrivs. Vi vill undersöka vad som styr valet av metod på individnivå, vad som styr hur specialpedagogen arbetar på gruppnivå samt vilka faktorer som påverkar hur det specialpedagogiska stödet är organiserat. Dessutom vill vi ta reda på vilka samverkansformer det finns mellan dessa nivåer. För att få en teoretisk grund redogör vi först för den litteratur vi utgått ifrån samt de inlärningsteorier vi tror kan vara giltiga för vårt arbete. Sammanfattningsvis kan vi konstatera att det specialpedagogiska arbetet i matematik inte prioriteras på samma sätt som i svenskämnet i de lägre årskurserna. Där används resurserna till läs- och skrivinlärning. I de högre årskurserna finns oftast en tydligare gång när det gäller att fånga upp och ge stöd åt elever i matematiksvårigheter. Där är det målet att uppnå betyget godkänt i kärnämnet matematik som styr resursfördelningen.Special education in mathematic

Språkstörning -en okänd funktionsnedsättning? : En studie om pedagogers kunskaper omkring språkstörning

  Syftet med denna studie har varit att få en bild av vilken kunskap några pedagoger har omkring språkstörning. Jag har också velat öka pedagogernas kunskaper i ämnet. Totalt har jag träffat 58 pedagogerna på deras arbetsplatser på förskolor eller skolor. De fick fylla i en enkät med bl a frågor om hur de uppskattade sin kunskap omkring språkstörning. Efter det höll jag en informationsföreläsning omkring språkstörning. Sedan fick pedagogerna fylla i en ny enkät där de bl a fick uppskatta hur mycket deras kunskap ökat efter att ha hört föreläsningen. Enkäterna har sedan sammanställts både som en hel grupp och indelade efter olika utbildningsgrupper. I mina förberedelser inför föreläsningen har jag gjort en litteraturstudie där jag sökt efter vad språkstörning är. Jag kunde då konstatera att det fanns relativt lite skrivet och forskat omkring språkstörning. I min slutsats kan jag konstatera att pedagoger behöver mera kunskap omkring språkstörning. Efter min föreläsning uppskattade 57 av de 58 deltagande pedagogerna att de ökat sin kunskap med minst 25 %. Endast en person uppgav sig inte ha ökat sin kunskap alls. Det behövs också mera forskning i ämnet. Idag strävar vi efter att alla ska inkluderas i skolan. Det ställer stora krav på pedagogernas kunskaper omkring olika funktionsnedsättningar.

The prevalence of e-rostering systems in managing the healthcare workforce asset : A scoping review

This scoping review aimed to investigate to what extent there is existing and current research about e-rostering software solutions that automatize and optimize nurse staffing in healthcare. The need of healthcare personnel is growing globally and a complex and widespread nurse shortage exist. It is of primary concern to manage the current and future nursing staff well in order to provide a safe and effective healthcare service and to retain staff. Personnel scheduling and rostering is an essen-tial part of managing the workforce asset. The evolvement of new techniques, an increasing work-load, laws and regulations concerning workforce scheduling has made managing the workforce asset in healthcare even more challenging than before. Performing an accurate and efficient per-sonnel rostering is fundamental in achieving wellbeing among the nursing staff, ensuring good roster planning practices, generating cost savings, promoting an effective use of resources and en-abling nursing managers to focus on their core duties. Relevant research was reviewed comprehen-sively in order to find research on electronic software solutions for personnel planning in healthcare. A total of 371 studies were found using the keywords defined in Table 1. Based on the title a total of 332 studies were excluded from the study. An evident gap in the research area was discovered as only two (2) separate research findings on the topic were finally included in the study according to the inclusion criteria. An overview of a market analysis on e-rostering systems in Sweden was included. The findings point out and underline a substantial lack of research considering the vast field of healthcare and existing technology. Needs for future research emerged and is suggested to encompass benefits analyses, using methods that enable comparative analysis of the results as well as research on the systems’ implementation processes

I&#x0027;ve lost the person I used to be&#x2014;Experiences of the consequences of fatigue following myocardial infarction

Fatigue has been found to be the most frequent and bothersome symptom after myocardial infarction (MI), influencing health-related quality of life negatively. Moreover, fatigue after MI has been described as incomprehensible due to its unpredictable occurrence and lack of relationship to physical effort. The aim of this study is therefore to explore persons&#x2019; experiences of consequences of fatigue and their strategies for dealing with it 2 months after MI. In total, 18 informants, aged 42&#x2013;75 years, participated in the study. Interviews were conducted and analysed using constructivist grounded theory methodology. Grounded in the data, the main consequence of fatigue, as illustrated in the core category, was: I&#x0027;ve lost the person I used to be. It indicates a sense of reduced ability to manage daily life due to experiences of fatigue. The core category was developed from the four categories: involuntary thoughts, certainties replaced with question marks, driving with the handbrake on and just being is enough. Furthermore, attempts to relieve fatigue were limited. These findings indicate that patients with symptoms of fatigue should be supported in developing relief strategies, for example, rest and sleep hygiene as well as physical activity. In conclusion, the results show that fatigue can be understood in light of the concepts &#x201C;comprehensibility&#x201D; and &#x201C;manageability.&#x201D; They also indicate that, working from a person-centered perspective, health-care professionals can support patients experiencing post-MI fatigue by giving them opportunities to straighten out the question marks and by inviting them to discuss involuntary thoughts and feelings of being restricted in their daily life functioning