Guidelines for developing agricultural information portals in the Southern African Development Community Region (SADC)

The Internet and the Web have become a source of agricultural information for many people, including researchers working in agricultural research organizations. According to Besemer, Addison and Ferguson (2003:2), the Web has changed the information landscape in the field of agriculture and natural resources. The relatively small investment required to set up a Web site enables a great many institutions to become instant information providers

Treatment of Congenital and Acquired Undescended Testes

Undescended testis (UDT) is one of the most frequent urogenital abnormalities, and can be of congenital or acquired origin. The problem with most literature is that since acquired UDT was only recently accepted as a distinct entity, it does not discriminate between congenital and acquired UDT. For congenital UDT much is known on the aetiology, natural course, and treatment, however, these matters are less clear for acquired UDT

Minimally Invasive Mapping Guided Surgical Treatment of Atrial Fibrillation. Utopia or Near Future?

Isolation of the pulmonary veins has been used as surgical treatment for atrial fibrillation (AF) from the early 90s, as it was incorporated in the Maze procedure. With the evidence that triggers form this area can induce AF, the Maze III procedure has been adapted and modified towards a single lesion around the pulmonary veins for the treatment of paroxysmal and chronic AF in some centers. New ablation techniques with a diversity of energy sources further paved the way for less invasive procedures. Minimal invasive techniques to prevent major surgery may potentially make the treatment available for a patient population that do not have to undergo cardiac surgery for other reasons. Besides these technical developments, high density mapping can be used to identify the AF substrate in the individual patient and optimization of the treatment by local substrate guided ablation. This review aims to summarize the robotic and thoracoscopic techniques to isolate the pulmonary veins. Furthermore, it is discussed why pulmonary veins isolation may be effective in patients with chronic AF, and whether there is a role for mapping guided minimal invasive surgical treatment of AF in the near future

Tiffany : research management in voedingsonderzoek

Het Top Institute Food and Nutrition (TIFN) is een samenwerkingsverband tussen publieke en private partners dat zich bezighoudt met wetenschappelijke doorbraken in voeding en gezondheid. Het in opdracht van TIFN ontwikkelde Tiffany is een research management systeem dat ontworpen is om elk stadium van wetenschappelijk onderzoek in detail te kunnen documenteren en ontsluiten. Uitleg wordt gegeven van de mogelijkheden, de voordelen en de architectuur van Tiffan

Economische voor- en nadelen eigen watervoorziening

In de loop der jaren is de prijs van leidingwater sterk gestegen. Verwacht wordt dat deze trend zich in de toekomst zal doorzetten. Veel varkenshouders overwegen over te gaan op een eigen waterbron. Indien de waterkwaliteit aan de grenswaarden voldoetis het investeren in een waterbron en ontijzeringsinstallatie voor sommige bedrijven beslist de moeite waard

Development and validation of a severity scale for leprosy Type 1 Reactions

Objectives: To develop a valid and reliable quantitative measure of leprosy Type 1 reactions.Methods: A scale was developed from previous scales which had not been validated. The face and content validity were assessed following consultation with recognised experts in the field. The construct validity was determined by applying the scale to patients in Bangladesh and Brazil who had been diagnosed with leprosy Type 1 reaction. An expert categorized each patient's reaction as mild or moderate or severe. Another worker applied the scale. This was done independently. In a subsequent stage of the study the agreement between two observers was assessed.Results: The scale had good internal consistency demonstrated by a Cronbach's alpha &gt;0.8. Removal of three items from the original scale resulted in better discrimination between disease severity categories. Cut off points for Type 1 reaction severities were determined using Receiver Operating Characteristic curves. A mild Type 1 reaction is characterized using the final scale by a score of 4 or less. A moderate reaction is a score of between 4.5 and 8.5. A severe reaction is a score of 9 or more.Conclusions: We have developed a valid and reliable tool for quantifying leprosy Type 1 reaction severity and believe this will be a useful tool in research of this condition, in observational and intervention studies, and in the comparison of clinical and laboratory parameters.<br/

Interventions for erythema nodosum leprosum:A Cochrane review

Introduction: Treatment for erythema nodosum leprosum (ENL), an immunological complication of leprosy, is diverse. We undertook a systematic review as it was not clear which treatments were most beneficial. Methods: We did a systematic search to identify randomised controlled trials (RCTs) comparing treatment with placebo, no treatment or another therapy. Two authors assessed quality and checked data. Results: We included 13 studies involving 445 participants. These trials assessed: betamethasone, thalidomide, pentoxifylline, clofazimine, indomethacin and levamisole. The quality of the trials was generally poor and no results could be pooled due to the treatments being so heterogeneous. Treatment with thalidomide showed a significant benefit compared to aspirin (RR 2.43; 95% CI 1.28 to 4.59). Clofazimine treatment was superior to prednisolone (more treatment successes; RR 3.67; 95% CI 1.36 to 9.91) and thalidomide (fewer recurrences; RR 0.08; 95% CI 0.01, 0.56). Minor adverse events were significantly lower in participants on a low dose thalidomide regimen compared to a high dose thalidomide regimen (RR 0.46; 95% CI 0.23 to 0.93). Significantly more minor adverse events were reported in participants taking clofazimine compared with prednisolone (RR 1.92; 95% CI 1.10 to 3.35). None of the studies assessed quality of life or economic outcomes. Conclusion: There is some evidence of benefit for thalidomide and clofazimine, but generally we did not find clear benefits for interventions in the management of ENL.</p

Financiele ruimte voor de bewerking van zeugenmest

Er bestaan veel vragen over de haalbaarheid van bewerking van dunne mest op boerderijniveau. Het Praktijkonderzoek Varkenshouderij onderzoekt in samenwerking met de Cehave hoe hoog de jaarkosten voor mestbewerking in verschillende praktijksituaties mogen zijn