Specialisation through co-operation between farms in organic farming

Co-operation in organic production provides the potential for production specialisation with the help of co-operation in machinery use, input integration, crop rotation, shared buildings and marketing. Co-operation models provide the opportunity to optimise production between different lines of production from environmental, economic and functional perspectives

The usability of an augmented reality map application on the Microsoft Hololens 2

Abstract. Augmented reality (AR) has seen rapid progress in recent years, especially from a consumer standpoint. Hardware, as well as software, is becoming better, cheaper, and more available. As the technology becomes more mainstream, we will see adaptations for many applications currently used on personal computers and smartphones. This thesis aims to explore the adaptation of one such application further by developing and studying the usability and effectiveness of a map application running on one of the most modern AR headsets available to consumers, the Microsoft HoloLens 2. To develop the application, we chose to use the cross-platform game engine Unity. It would provide us an opportunity to develop the application reliably and fast, as the third-party packages available for it would prove to provide plenty of ready-to-use assets and code. In addition, both of the group members had some previous experience in using Unity. While planning the application we studied many research papers to get an understanding of what makes a good AR application. With the application ready for testing, we recruited test subjects from family members who would give us feedback relating to the efficiency and usability of the system as a whole. The test subjects would perform tasks inside the application but also have the opportunity to explore it however much they liked. After the test, they would fill out a questionnaire and participate in an interview, which would then be analyzed further. From analyzing the questionnaire and interview answers, we were able to conclude several things. Firstly the system in its current state provides no additional value in comparison to traditional browser or mobile based map applications. It is also inconvenient, hard to use and unintuitive. Despite these shortcomings, the test subjects saw future potential in the system and found it to be useful and fun to use. The findings suggest that even if the application is developed further, the experience as a whole would still be lacking as AR technology is not ready for mainstream adaptation quite yet

Effect of Donor Simvastatin Treatment on Gene Expression Profiles in Human Cardiac Allografts during Ischemia-Reperfusion Injury

Purpose Numerous studies have shown that statin therapy initiated early after heart transplantation has beneficial effects on the development of cardiac allograft vasculopathy. Recently, we were able to show in a randomized clinical trial that simvastatin treatment of brain-dead donors conditions the heart transplant to withstand ischemia-reperfusion injury and to reduce the need for rejection treatments early after transplantation. In this study, we analyzed myocardial gene expression profiles in cardiac allografts after donor simvastatin treatment. Methods 84 heart transplant donors received 80 mg of simvastatin via nasogastric tube (n=42), or no treatment (n=42) in a prospective, double-blinded randomized controlled trial. Transmural Tru-Cut biopsies were taken from the apex of left ventricle of the donor heart immediately before reperfusion and 1 hour after reperfusion. 20 heart biopsies from donors without treatment and 20 heart biopsies from donors with simvastatin treatment will be analyzed with RNA sequencing. Results The preliminary analysis of RNA sequencing data from myocardial biopsies revealed altogether 137 significantly differentially expressed genes in all pairwise comparisons. The overall biological functions of these genes were related to gene ontology terms such as response to toxic substance, leukocyte migration, neutrophil mediated immunity, response to lipopolysaccharide, and response to oxidative stress. At the KEGG pathway level, our results indicated alterations in IL-17, TNF, MAPK and the AGE-RAGE signaling pathways. Conclusion We have shown in previous studies that donor simvastatin treatment induces protective effects against IRI in heart transplant recipients. In this study, we were able to detect significantly differentially expressed genes related to effects of simvastatin treatment. In order to single out genes that show beneficial effects of simvastatin treatment, further analysis will be conducted by exploring gene expression changes in specific biological functional categories, such as interleukin signaling and neutrophil degranulation. The complete analysis will be presented at the ISHLT 2019 congress.Peer reviewe

Enhanced light extraction from InGaN/GaN quantum wells with silver gratings

We demonstrate that an extraction enhancement by a factor of 2.8 can be obtained for a GaN quantum well structure using metallic nanostructures, compared to a flat semiconductor. The InGaN/GaN quantum well is inserted into a dielectric waveguide, naturally formed in the structure, and a silver grating is deposited on the surface and covered with a polymer film. The polymer layer greatly improves the extraction compared to a single metallic grating. The comparison of the experiments with simulations gives strong indications on the key role of weakly guided modes in the polymer layer diffracted by the grating.Peer reviewe

INtravenous Contrast computed tomography versus native computed tomography in patients with acute Abdomen and impaired Renal functiOn (INCARO) : a multicentre, open-label, randomised controlled trial - study protocol

Introduction CT is the primary imaging option for acute abdominal pain in adults. Intravenous (IV) contrast media use improves CT quality but may cause post-contrast acute kidney injury (PC-AKI). Retrospective studies show no association between reduced baseline renal function and IV contrast CT, but, to our knowledge, no data from randomised controlled trials exist. Methods and analysis The INCARO (INtravenous Contrast computed tomography versus native computed tomography in patients with acute Abdomen and impaired Renal functiOn) trial is a multicentre, open-label, parallel group, superiority, individually randomised controlled trial comparing IV contrast-enhanced CT to native CT in patients requiring emergency abdominal or body CT with impaired renal function defined as an estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) of 15 to 45 mL/min/1.73 m(2). The primary outcome is a composite of all-cause mortality or renal replacement therapy (RRT) within 90 days from CT. Secondary outcomes are AKI measured by KDIGO (The Kidney Disease: Improving Global Outcomes) criteria within 72 hours from CT, organ dysfunction defined by mSOFA (modified Sequential Organ Failure Assessment) criteria after 48 hours from CT, alive and hospital-free days within 90 days after CT, and time from imaging to definitive treatment. All-cause mortality, need for RRT and renal transplant in long-term follow-up are also measured. The calculated sample size is 994 patients. Patient recruitment is estimated to take 3 years. Ethics and dissemination The Ethics Committee of Helsinki University Hospital approved the study. The findings will be disseminated in peer-reviewed academic journals.Peer reviewe

Higher Yield and Fewer Weeds in Four-Species Grass/Legume Mixtures Than in Monocultures: Results from the First Year at 20 Sites of Cost Action 852

Utilisation of grass/legume mixtures instead of grass monocultures is a sensible alternative for low input, efficient agricultural systems that reduce production costs, promote environmental policy and maintain a living countryside. Consequently, widely adapted forage legumes will become increasingly important. Instability of simple grass / legume mixtures with only one grass and one legume species is a major problem (Wachendorf et al., 2001). An experiment was established in 39 sites in Europe, Australia and Canada within COST Action 852 to: (1) assess the benefits of grass / legume mixtures in terms of forage production, (2) test whether the combination of fast and slow-growing species improves the stability of the mixtures and (3) assess response patterns over a large environmental gradient

Artificial Intelligence in Clinical Decision Support : Challenges for Evaluating AI and Practical Implications

OBJECTIVES This paper draws attention to: i) key considerations for evaluating artificial intelligence (AI) enabled clinical decision support; and ii) challenges and practical implications of AI design, development, selection, use, and ongoing surveillance. METHOD A narrative review of existing research and evaluation approaches along with expert perspectives drawn from the International Medical Informatics Association (IMIA) Working Group on Technology Assessment and Quality Development in Health Informatics and the European Federation for Medical Informatics (EFMI) Working Group for Assessment of Health Information Systems. RESULTS There is a rich history and tradition of evaluating AI in healthcare. While evaluators can learn from past efforts, and build on best practice evaluation frameworks and methodologies, questions remain about how to evaluate the safety and effectiveness of AI that dynamically harness vast amounts of genomic, biomarker, phenotype, electronic record, and care delivery data from across health systems. This paper first provides a historical perspective about the evaluation of AI in healthcare. It then examines key challenges of evaluating AI-enabled clinical decision support during design, development, selection, use, and ongoing surveillance. Practical aspects of evaluating AI in healthcare, including approaches to evaluation and indicators to monitor AI are also discussed. CONCLUSION Commitment to rigorous initial and ongoing evaluation will be critical to ensuring the safe and effective integration of AI in complex sociotechnical settings. Specific enhancements that are required for the new generation of AI-enabled clinical decision support will emerge through practical application