The Right Stuff , Farming by Location

A satellite-based positioning system is being developed to determine the location of farm equipment while working in the field. A satellite receiver mounted in a moving tractor or combine calculates position coordinates based on signals received from a selection of satellites in the Department of Defense Global Positioning System (GPS). The position coordinates are retrieved from the receiver by a computer and combined in a common data base with additional information collected by the computer such as yield, soil fertility, soil moisture, temperature, implement draft, and fuel consumption. There are a number of possible applications for this system. One is the automation of position information and data collection for research purposes. Comparison of results between years can be easily made. Another application is the optimized and automated application of manure, fertilizers and chemicals. Profits can be increased and environmental damage minimized

Independent Study 490A: Canine Behavior Evaluations: Can it Predict Canine Aggression and Therefore Improve Subsequent Adoption Rates?

Over the last two decades, many animal shelters have employed behavior evaluations on a selection of canines prior to their adoption to (1) more accurately match the canine with the owner / family and (2) to reduce the probability that canines displaying aggression will not be placed up for adoption. Therefore, the objectives of this study was to (1) determine how successful canines were after completing the behavior test with being adopted and (2) if canines were returned to the shelter if reasons given related to an aggressive citation by the new owner. This study was performed at the Animal Rescue League (ARL) of Iowa, located in Ankeny, IA. All canine behavior evaluations were conducted on a weekly basis (Friday afternoons) from the last week of January through the first week of April 2009. A standardized form for all canine behavior evaluations was used. The canine adoption information was collected on three separate occasions; April 1st, 22nd and 29th, 2009. The program used to find adoption information was PetPoint. A total of 41 canines were observed. Thirty-three canines were successfully adopted (87 %) and five were adopted but returned (13 %). Of these five canines returned, only one (20%) reason noted “aggression towards cat.” In conclusion, the majority of canines that underwent and passed the behavior evaluation were successful in their adoption. Furthermore, of the five canines returned after being placed for adoption, only one was linked to some form of aggression

Independent Study 490A: Reasons for Giving Up a Dog at the Animal Rescue League of Iowa

It is important that when an owner decides to relinquish their canine that the information provided on the forms are accurate and not conflicting in detail. Therefore, the objectives of this study were to (1) identify the top three issues for why a canine is relinquished, (2) report on the percentage of canines relinquished due to the recession and, (3) identify the percentage of canines relinquished for behavioral related issues at the Animal Rescue League of Iowa. The top three issues for owner relinquishment for canines at the ARL were 1) too many animals (13.4 %), 2) moving (12.1 %) and 3) found-cannot keep (9.0 %) respectively. Owner relinquishment due to “cannot afford” for 2008 on average was 8.3 %. However, the second half of the year (July to December) had a much higher average percentage of relinquishments per month (10.7 %) than the first half of the year (January to June; 6%). Overall, owner relinquishment due to “cannot afford” for 2008 was 8.3 %. Of the 1,947 canine relinquishment cases that were included in this retrospective study, 96 % of those dogs were relqinuisehd with “non-behavior related relinquishmetns” and 4 % were “behavior related relinquishments.” Therefore in conclusion, the top three issues given by the owners for why a canine was relinquished at the ARL of Iowa was not behaviorally related. The 2008 recession did seem to affect the number of canine relinquishments with more dogs entering the ARL of Iowa in the second half of 2008 with “cannot afford” noted by their owners as the main reason

Independent Study 490A: What Were the Reasons for Why Adopters Choose a Black Dog Over Other Colors?

Many animal shelters across the country have noticed that black dogs are not adopted as quickly as lighter colored dogs. This trend goes even further as a dog that is all black is not adopted as quickly as a black dog with one white toe or other small white flashing. Therefore, the objective of this study was to determine the reasons why an adopter chose a black dog over other colors. This study was performed at the Animal Rescue League (ARL) of Iowa, located in Des Moines IA. A total of 13 canine records were used in this study. The dogs that qualified for this data set had been 100% black (solid). The three questions asked of each adopter were as follows; (1) What attracted you to a black dog? (2) Have you had a black dog before? and (3) If no to question 2, are you familiar with a black dog from friends’ family or the neighborhood? In addition, the type, age, sex and how long that dog was at the ARL was also collected. A variety of dog breeds were involved in the study with the most popular all black dog breed being classified as a Labrador mix (8) respectively. What attracted you to a black dog? The most commonly cited reason for why a black dog was being adopted was based on appearance (n = 4). Next, breed (n = 2), color did not matter (n = 2) and previous ownership (n = 2) were cited. “Other” (n = 3) included an emotional connotation “he is big and smart” “I felt lucky” and “I love black dogs.” Have you had a black dog before? Of the 13 responses, 8 said that they had owned a black dog in the past (Figure 1). If no to question 2, are you familiar with a black dog from friends’ family or the neighborhood? Of the 13 responses, 12 were familar with a black dog before. Therefore in conclusion, the most common reason cited for adopoting a black dog was based on dog apperance. Even though 8 out of 13 adopters had owned a black dog before, previous ownership was only cited twice. Furthemore, the majority of adopters were familiar with a black dog and it could be hypothezied that this interaction was favorable

Independent Study 490A: To Determine the Effectiveness of the “Black Dog” Program

Many animal shelters across the country have noticed that black dogs are not adopted as quickly as lighter colored dogs. This trend goes even further as a dog that is all black is not adopted as quickly as a black dog with one white toe or other small white flashing. Therefore, the objective of this study was to determine the effectiveness of the “black dog program” on the speed of adoption of all black dogs at the Animal Rescue League of Iowa. This study was performed at the Animal Rescue League (ARL) of Iowa, located in Ankeny, IA. A total of 43 canine records (30 pre BDC and 13 post BDC) were used in this study. A total of 30 black dogs were in the “pre” BDC and 13 black dogs were in the “post” BDC. The average time (days) for black dogs in the “pre” black dog club to be adopted was 15 days (range 0 to 64 d). The average time for “post” was 11 days (range 2 to 22d; Table 1). There was a difference (P = 0.009) for the length of time that black dogs remained in adoption, with dogs being adopted faster after the implementation of the program (11. 51 ± 1.9 vs. 19.69 ± 2.68 days) respectively. Therefore in conclusion, this program has essentially added extra value to the all black dogs thus making them more appealing to potential adopters. As a result, dogs that are all black spend less time in adoption which may increase their quality of life. Quicker adoption rates for these dogs also improves the quality of life of other dogs because they are able to go into adoption more quickly when space is limited

Can We Efficiently Help Adults Strengthen their Relational Practice?

Human interactions across settings shape young people’s learning and development, and building adult expertise in facilitating productive interactions takes deliberate practice and reflective experience. However, relational practices are not consistently part of adult learning for those who work with youth. We describe a 2-year design study to develop the Simple Interactions Leadership Program, a professional learning workshop focused on relational practices. We refined the program across 3 iterations with library and after-school staff (with a total of 41 participants). Iterative changes included adding participant-driven “try-it-out” projects, adding external accountability features, and combining staff from the library and after-school sectors. Using artifacts and memos from workshops and participants’ reflections, we found that these features incrementally improved participants’ engagement, depth of learning, and sense of professional community—which we suggest are three central goals for related professional development efforts. As a collective youth-serving field, we need effective and scalable ways to help adults recognize and strengthen their relational practices with young people. The Simple Interactions Leadership Program offers a flexible structure for professional learning focused on building expertise in relational practice while sustaining change and improvement through continuous reflection within communities of practice

Time to change the way we think about tuberculosis infection prevention and control in health facilities: insights from recent research

In clinical settings where airborne pathogens, such as Mycobacterium tuberculosis, are prevalent, they constitute an important threat to health workers and people accessing healthcare. We report key insights from a 3-year project conducted in primary healthcare clinics in South Africa, alongside other recent tuberculosis infection prevention and control (TB-IPC) research. We discuss the fragmentation of TB-IPC policies and budgets; the characteristics of individuals attending clinics with prevalent pulmonary tuberculosis; clinic congestion and patient flow; clinic design and natural ventilation; and the facility-level determinants of the implementation (or not) of TB-IPC interventions. We present modeling studies that describe the contribution of M. tuberculosis transmission in clinics to the community tuberculosis burden and economic evaluations showing that TB-IPC interventions are highly cost-effective. We argue for a set of changes to TB-IPC, including better coordination of policymaking, clinic decongestion, changes to clinic design and building regulations, and budgeting for enablers to sustain implementation of TB-IPC interventions. Additional research is needed to find the most effective means of improving the implementation of TB-IPC interventions; to develop approaches to screening for prevalent pulmonary tuberculosis that do not rely on symptoms; and to identify groups of patients that can be seen in clinic less frequently

Tuberculosis infection prevention and control: why we need a whole systems approach.

Infection prevention and control (IPC) measures to reduce transmission of drug-resistant and drug-sensitive tuberculosis (TB) in health facilities are well described but poorly implemented. The implementation of TB IPC has been assessed primarily through quantitative and structured approaches that treat administrative, environmental, and personal protective measures as discrete entities. We present an on-going project entitled Umoya omuhle ("good air"), conducted in two provinces of South Africa, that adopts an interdisciplinary, 'whole systems' approach to problem analysis and intervention development for reducing nosocomial transmission of Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) through improved IPC. We suggest that TB IPC represents a complex intervention that is delivered within a dynamic context shaped by policy guidelines, health facility space, infrastructure, organisation of care, and management culture. Methods drawn from epidemiology, anthropology, and health policy and systems research enable rich contextual analysis of how nosocomial Mtb transmission occurs, as well as opportunities to address the problem holistically. A 'whole systems' approach can identify leverage points within the health facility infrastructure and organisation of care that can inform the design of interventions to reduce the risk of nosocomial Mtb transmission

Time to change the way we think about tuberculosis infection prevention and control in health facilities: insights from recent research

In clinical settings where airborne pathogens, such as Mycobacterium tuberculosis, are prevalent, they constitute an important threat to health workers and people accessing healthcare. We report key insights from a 3-year project conducted in primary healthcare clinics in South Africa, alongside other recent tuberculosis infection prevention and control (TB-IPC) research. We discuss the fragmentation of TB-IPC policies and budgets; the characteristics of individuals attending clinics with prevalent pulmonary tuberculosis; clinic congestion and patient flow; clinic design and natural ventilation; and the facility-level determinants of the implementation (or not) of TB-IPC interventions. We present modeling studies that describe the contribution of M. tuberculosis transmission in clinics to the community tuberculosis burden and economic evaluations showing that TB-IPC interventions are highly cost-effective. We argue for a set of changes to TB-IPC, including better coordination of policymaking, clinic decongestion, changes to clinic design and building regulations, and budgeting for enablers to sustain implementation of TB-IPC interventions. Additional research is needed to find the most effective means of improving the implementation of TB-IPC interventions; to develop approaches to screening for prevalent pulmonary tuberculosis that do not rely on symptoms; and to identify groups of patients that can be seen in clinic less frequently

Commentary: Time to change the way we think about tuberculosis infection prevention and control in health facilities: insights from recent research

Aaron S Karat - ORCID: 0000-0001-9643-664X https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9643-664XKarina Kielmann - ORCID: 0000-0001-5519-1658 https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5519-1658In clinical settings where airborne pathogens, such as Mycobacterium tuberculosis, are prevalent, they constitute an important threat to health workers and people accessing healthcare. We report key insights from a 3-year project conducted in primary healthcare clinics in South Africa, alongside other recent tuberculosis infection prevention and control (TB-IPC) research. We discuss the fragmentation of TB-IPC policies and budgets; the characteristics of individuals attending clinics with prevalent pulmonary tuberculosis; clinic congestion and patient flow; clinic design and natural ventilation; and the facility-level determinants of the implementation (or not) of TB-IPC interventions. We present modeling studies that describe the contribution of M. tuberculosis transmission in clinics to the community tuberculosis burden and economic evaluations showing that TB-IPC interventions are highly cost-effective. We argue for a set of changes to TB-IPC, including better coordination of policymaking, clinic decongestion, changes to clinic design and building regulations, and budgeting for enablers to sustain implementation of TB-IPC interventions. Additional research is needed to find the most effective means of improving the implementation of TB-IPC interventions; to develop approaches to screening for prevalent pulmonary tuberculosis that do not rely on symptoms; and to identify groups of patients that can be seen in clinic less frequently.https://doi.org/10.1017/ash.2023.1923pubpub