Different methods for stunning pigs at slaughter : a comparison from an animal welfare point of view

Stunning of pigs at slaughter constitutes of primarily two methods; carbon dioxide and electricity. Both methods have advantages and disadvantages from an animal welfare point of view. The purpose of this study is to compare different methods of stunning pigs from a welfare point of view. Questions included in the study are 1) What differences are there, from an animal welfare point of view, between CO2 and electricity as methods for stunning pigs? 2) What alternatives are there to the methods currently in use? 3) Which method for stunning pigs is preferable from an animal welfare point of view? This report is a literature review. The results of the study are not conclusive; which method is preferred differs between situations. Argon seems better than CO2 from an animal welfare point of view, and for electricity there is a conflict of interest between slaughter efficiency and animal welfare

Online informationssøgning i en overgangstid: - med særligt fokus på det historiske forløb i et større dansk forskningsbibliotek

Over the centuries, searching for information took place through searches in printed works. computers enabled the onset of electronic data processing. In the wake of this, an information industry emerged that partly digitized information in large databases and made the contents of the databases searchable and accessible. This article describes the brief but hectic development where online information search was established as a service in documentation centres. This is exemplified by illustrating the conditions at the then Odense University Library. In the period up to the turn of the millennium, end users of online information gradually took over the search process itself, which led to a reduction in the search activity at the documentation centres, while the total number of searches increased. Gradually, the information search service was adapted to the users’ new needs. The users' use of paid databases remains an area of ​​concern for the library sector, as users often prefer the free bases of the Internet, but they do not necessarily find the best references. Thus, there is still a task in promoting the scientific databases and educating the users. Concepts such as “information literacy” and “digital education” are therefore central to the work of research libraries.&nbsp

What opportunities do the New EU international investment agreements offer for developing countries?

Purpose: Cancer chemotherapy, although based on body surface area, often causes unpredictable myelosuppression, especially severe neutropenia. The aim of this study was to evaluate qualitatively and quantitatively the influence of patient-specific characteristics on the neutrophil concentration-time course, to identify patient subgroups, and to compare covariates on system-related pharmacodynamic variable between drugs. Experimental Design: Drug and neutrophil concentration, demographic, and clinical chemistry data of several trials with docetaxel (637 patients), paclitaxel (45 patients), etoposide (71 patients), or topotecan (191 patients) were included in the covariate analysis of a physiology-based pharmacokinetic-pharmacodynamic neutropenia model. Comparisons of covariate relations across drugs were made. Results: A population model incorporating four to five relevant patient factors for each drug to explain variability in the degree and duration of neutropenia has been developed. Sex, previous anticancer therapy, performance status, height, binding partners, or liver enzymes influenced system-related variables and alpha(1)-acid glycoprotein, albumin, bilirubin, concomitant cytotoxic agents, or administration route changed drug-specific variables. Overall, female and pretreated patients had a lower baseline neutrophil concentration. Across-drug comparison revealed that several covariates (e.g., age) had minor (clinically irrelevant) influences but consistently shifted the pharmacodynamic variable in the same direction. Conclusions: These mechanistic models, including patient characteristics that influence drug-specific parameters, form the rationale basis for more tailored dosing of individual patients or subgroups to minimize the risk of infection and thus might contribute to a more successful therapy. In addition, nonsignificant or clinically irrelevant relations on system-related parameters suggest that these covariates could be negligible in clinical trails and daily use

Asymmetric Cerebral Blood Flow in Patients with Mild Cognitive Impairment: Possible Relationship to Further Cognitive Deterioration

To explore patterns of cerebral blood flow in patients with mild cognitive impairment (MCI), who (1) eventually deteriorate into overt dementia, with no particular focus on the type of dementia, or (2) do not appear to further deteriorate in their cognitive functions

Meningkatkan Kinerja Database Billing pada Warnet PT. Dinustech dengan Menggunakan Trigger dan Stored Procedure

Laporan Tugas Akhir dengan judul "Meningkatkan Kinerja Database Billing Pada Warnet PT. Dinustech dengan Menggunakan Trigger dan Stored Procedure" merupakan sistem yang di buat untuk memperbaiki sistem yang sudah ada dalam database billing. Sistem yang dibuat ini diharapkan dapat meningkatkan kinerja database billing sehingga mengurangi delay atau lag pada sistem sebelumnya Metodologi pengumpulan data menggunakan metode : interview yaitu cara mengumpulkan data dengan mengadakan tanya jawab langsung dengan bagian yang berhubungan dengan obyek yang diteliti. Survei yaitu pengamatan langsung mengenai sistem database yang lama pada Warnet PT. Dinustec. Studi pustaka adalah pengumpulan data dengan mempelajari buku atau literatur-literatur mengenai perancangan dan desain suatu sistem. Desain sistem dan perancangan database yang digunakan mulai dari Context Diagram, DFD Level, ERD, Normalisasi dan Kamus Data menghasilkan suatu sistem database yang lebih baik dan tertata dibandingkan dengan database sebelumnya, Peningkatan pada sistem database ini terdapat pada penataan ulang relasi-relasi tabel pada database sebelumnya. Kemudian melakukan otomatisasi pada beberapa proses dengan menggunakan trigger dan stored procedure. Dengan adanya peningkatan ini, masalah-masalah sebelumnya berupa delay atau lag pada client warnet tersebut berkurang, dan juga sistem laporan pun menjadi lebih mudah dan jelas

Orchestrating sustainable urban development: Final report of the SASUI project

Transition towards a low-carbon society needs the development of innovations, such as solutions of low-carbon everyday mobility or new techniques of collaborative urban densification. Partnerships as social innovations are pivotal in enabling these developments. Cities may take several roles in partnership arrangements. The roles can be anything from being project partners in experiments that are closely related to the jurisdiction of the local authorities to orchestrating whole innovation ecosystems. This report summarizes the findings of the two-year project that aim to serve both as useful theoretical insights and as practical solutions to the described overall challenge and to the problems of the particular cases. We have used the term ‘architecture’ in connection to successful innovation processes, and asked what social, operational and informational architectural prerequisites are needed for successful sustainable urban development. We have developed the conceptual framework further during the project to better acknowledge that there is a clear difference between cities and private sector actors as facilitators of innovation. Whereas the companies operate on the markets and may be interested in long-lasting growth coalitions with the cities, the cities are always accountable also to the people. The partnership arrangements are not of the type public-private but public-private-people. Besides the theoretical development, we have been observers and participants of urban development in our case study areas. We have three main case studies: two from Finland, one from Sweden. The intention has not been to study them in a strict comparative framework, although the cases do offer themselves for some comparisons. It is rather that insights in one case have made us look at the other cases in new ways. Many undertakings of the projects can actually be labelled action research, meaning that we have also been active (co-)producers of interventions with the purpose to make a difference, and have reflected on how the action has taken effect in the case study areas. In this report, we will first outline a general model of the urban governance system as a learning system. While doing so, we will also introduce a number of key theoretical concepts of our study. Then, in the chapters that follow, we will use this theoretical basis in our three case studies: the Otaniemi OK process, the Tammela urban infill case and the Malmö case. Finally, based on our theoretical work and case observations, we will offer some policy recommendations for the development of systemic architectures for sustainable urban innovation in the context of Finnish urban governance. Sustainability is a challenge that addresses the whole governance culture. Especially, it calls for transcending the dysfunctional and legitimacy-eroding effects of poorly managed institutional ambiguity with the idea of hybrid governance that, while nurturing innovativeness and partnerships towards sustainability, is sensitive to its own sources of legitimacy and trust

PENGARUH LIMBAH SERBUK BESI SEBAGAI PENGGANTI SEJUMLAH AGREGAT HALUS TERHADAP CAMPURAN ASPAL

The obieaive of this research examining stability andfla+, value was to iwestigste the impact of the utility of iron Jillings waste as a subtitute matqlal for the mtmber of suprisingly small sggregates in the mixture of asphalt. In lhis research, the portion of irontilings waste which given were 5 %o, I0 % and I 5 % of the heauy mixture smooth aggregotes. The stobility quantitative value was 2093 kg in 15 % iron Jilings contents. The higatflow quaftitative value was 3,5 mm in 5 % iron tilings contents. The result of characteristic validdion Mmshall on the number of sabtituted smooth aggregates which used iron/ilings gave o standard coflictent specfrcation 8M.2005. So based on thal, the iron/illings waste technically could be received as a subtitute material for the mixture of suprisingly small aggregates

Prevalence of SARS-CoV-2 Omicron Sublineages and Spike Protein Mutations Conferring Resistance against Monoclonal Antibodies in a Swedish Cohort during 2022–2023

Monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) are an important treatment option for COVID-19 caused by SARS-CoV-2, especially in immunosuppressed patients. However, this treatment option can become ineffective due to mutations in the SARS-CoV-2 genome, mainly in the receptor binding domain (RBD) of the spike (S) protein. In the present study, 7950 SARS-CoV-2 positive samples from the Uppsala and Örebro regions of central Sweden, collected between March 2022 and May 2023, were whole-genome sequenced using amplicon-based sequencing methods on Oxford Nanopore GridION, Illumina MiSeq, Illumina HiSeq, or MGI DNBSEQ-G400 instruments. Pango lineages were determined and all single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) mutations that occurred in these samples were identified. We found that the dominant sublineages changed over time, and mutations conferring resistance to currently available mAbs became common. Notable ones are R346T and K444T mutations in the RBD that confer significant resistance against tixagevimab and cilgavimab mAbs. Further, mutations conferring a high-fold resistance to bebtelovimab, such as the K444T and V445P mutations, were also observed in the samples. This study highlights that resistance mutations have over time rendered currently available mAbs ineffective against SARS-CoV-2 in most patients. Therefore, there is a need for continued surveillance of resistance mutations and the development of new mAbs that target more conserved regions of the RBD.Acknowledgements: We would like to thank the personnel at Clinical Microbiology and Hospital Hygiene, Uppsala University Hospital for their help with handling samples, RNA extraction, PCR, and whole-genome sequencing.Funder: Regional Research Council Mid Sweden; Grant(s): RFR-98011