Effects of pruning timing, leaf removal, and shoot thinning on \u27MidSouth\u27 winegrape quality in South Mississippi

‘MidSouth’, a relatively low maintenance interspecific hybrid bunch grape currently grown in South Mississippi, has low sugar and high acid levels for red wine use. Two studies, conducted at the Mississippi State University McNeill Research Unit in 2020 and 2021, determined the effects of pruning timing, leaf removal, and shoot thinning on ‘MidSouth’ development and fruit and wine quality. Treatments in the first study included early versus normal pruning timing, both with and without leaf removal, and treatments in the second study included leaf removal, shoot thinning, and control vines. Cluster temperatures, leaf chlorophyll, berries per cluster, berry and cluster weights, crop yield, Ravaz index, total soluble solids, titratable acidity, juice pH, monomeric anthocyanin pigment, and total phenolic content data were collected. It was determined that ‘MidSouth’ fruit quality can be altered through canopy manipulation, but not enough of a desired effect was achieved for these practices to be recommended

Professional appraisal of online information about children’s footwear measurement and fit : readability, usability and quality

Parents increasingly use the internet to seek health information, share information and for purchasing textiles and footwear. This shift in footwear purchasing habits raises concern about how (and if) parents are getting their children's feet measured, and what support strategies are in place to support the fit of footwear. In response to this, some companies and healthcare organisations have developed resources to support home measurement of foot size, and link these measures to footwear selection, measurement and fitting. The aim of this research was to undertake an appraisal of web-based resources about measurement and fit of children's footwear, focussing specifically on readability, usability and quality. Search terms relating to children's foot measurement were compiled and online searching was undertaken. Search results were saved and screened for relevance. Existing resources were categorised based on their source e.g. a footwear company or a health website. The 15 most commonly identified resources were reviewed by a professional panel for readability, content, usability and validity. One researcher also assessed the accessibility and reading ease of the resources. Online resources were predominantly from commercial footwear companies (54%). Health information sources from professional bodies made up 4.2% of the resources identified. The top 15 resources had appropriate reading ease scores for parents (SMOG Index 4.3-8.2). Accessibility scores (the product of the number of times it appeared in search results and its ranking in the results) were highest for commercial footwear companies. The panel scores for readability ranged from 2.7 to 9 out of 10, with a similar range for content, usability and validity. Information for parents seeking to purchase footwear for their children is readily available online but this was largely dominated by commercial footwear companies. The quality and usability of this information is of a moderate standard; notable improvements could be made to the validity of the task the child is asked to undertake and the measures being taken. Improvements in these resources would improve the data input to the selection of footwear and therefore have a beneficial impact on footwear fit in children. [Abstract copyright: © The Author(s). 2020.

Center Based Cardiac Rehabilitation Outcomes Associated with COVID-19 Pandemic: A Retrospective Comparative Cohort Study

Background: Traditional cardiac rehabilitation (CR) is a multidisciplinary, multifaceted program for cardiac patients. Throughout the Covid-19 pandemic, health care, including center-based CR (CBCR) programs, were closed to in-person sessions. Even with the return to CBCR participation, patient outcomes may have been affected by this disruption in care. The goal of this study was to determine if CR participation outcomes differed before and after CBCR program closure due to Covid-19. Methods: A retrospective comparative cohort design was used to examine CR participant outcome data before and after the Covid-19 pandemic. Convenience sampling of CR participants at a large, urban midwestern community hospital was used. Comparison of CR patients who completed CBCR prior to restriction (within 60 days prior to Covid-19 closure) were compared to CR participants attending CBCR within the 60 days following CBCR restriction. Data was collected from CR participants’ medical record and included: a) participant demographic and clinical characteristics, and b) CR outcomes: BMI, BP, MET’s and diet modification. Results: A total of 37 CR participants were included in this study; 12 participants in the pre-Covid group and 25 participants in the post-Covid group. The mean age of CR participants in both groups was 71 years (pre-Covid M=71.17, post-Covid M=71.32). The average number of CBCR classes attended by the pre-Covid group was M=23.36, compared to M=27.12 in the post-Covid group. Data analysis to compare differences between demographic, clinical and outcome variables in each group were analyzed using chi square and t-test statistical analysis. There were no statistically significant differences between the pre- or post-Covid groups. Baseline and discharge BMI for the pre-Covid group was M=31.36 and M=29.19 respectively; compared to the post-Covid group BMI M=29.66 at baseline and M=29.7l at discharge. Blood pressure (BP) was categorized as normal, Stage 1 hypertension, or Stage 2 hypertension. The majority of the pre-Covid group had participants in the normal BP category at CR baseline and discharge. The majority of the post-Covid group had participants in the elevated BP category at CR baseline and normal at CR discharge. Dietary modification was measured by Rate Your Plate (RYP). The pre-Covid group had a RYP score of M=65.78, with decrease to M=61.66 at CR discharge; compared to the post-Covid RYP score of M=61.00 at baseline and increase to M=67.25 at discharge. A six-minute walk test completed at CR admission and discharge demonstrated both groups increased distance walked. The pre-Covid group baseline was M=1211.36 ft. and increased to M=1800.00 ft at discharge; compared to post-Covid group with CR baseline M=1085 ft and increased to M=1533 ft at discharge. Conclusions: During the pre-post Covid phases of the pandemic, CR participant outcomes were comparable. During the pandemic, CR participants were able to demonstrate progress in cardiovascular health and improvements in secondary cardiovascular risk reduction. Furthermore, the evaluation of CR participant outcomes provides a basis for providers to coach and support CR participants’ secondary CV risk reduction after completion of the CBCR program. Limitations to the study includes the number of available patients observed through chart review

Determining the Effects of Weaning Methods on Circulating Glucose in Beef Calves

The abstract for this presentation can be downloaded by clicking on the blue download button

Stay and Play with Mickey Mouse: Familiar Characters Increase Children’s Exploratory Play

When children are introduced to a novel toy, they explore to discover how the toy works, but do not always discover all of the functions (Bonawitz et al., 2011). Research has shown that children prefer objects with a familiar character on them (Danovitch & Mills, 2014). This study investigates whether the presence of a familiar character’s image on a novel toy encourages exploratory play. Four- and 5-year-olds (n = 40) were presented with a novel toy, containing 5 different functions, that either displayed an image of their favorite familiar character or an image of that character’s color scheme. Children were given up to 5 minutes to play with the toy. Children’s play was coded for the number of functions they discovered and how long they played with the toy. Results showed no significant difference between conditions for number of functions discovered. However, children who were given a toy with their favorite character’s image on it spent significantly more time exploring the toy than children who had a toy with the character’s color scheme on it. These findings suggest that seeing a familiar character on an object promotes children’s exploration of that object.https://ir.library.louisville.edu/uars/1010/thumbnail.jp

Telehealth: Advances in Alternative Payment Models

Introduction Previous studies indicated that telehealth services may improve hospital performance. However, the extent to which these telehealth provisions would improve hospital total performance score under the hospital value-based purchasing (HVBP) programme is not clear. The aim of this study is to examine the association between telehealth provision and hospital performance. Methods We performed a retrospective analysis of the association between the provision of telehealth services and 2699 hospital’s total performance score (TPS) on the 2018 HVBP programme and its four domains. Multivariate regression models were used to analyse TPS and hospital performance on each domain. Telehealth services offered by a hospital was categorically operationalized as hospitals with no telehealth services, with one to two telehealth services, and with three or more telehealth services. Results Hospitals with one to two telehealth services have TPS (ß coefficient = 1.50; 95% confident intervals (CI): 0.28, 2.73; p \u3c 0.05) and hospitals with three or more telehealth services have higher efficiency and cost reduction (ß = 1.10; 95% CI: 0.32, 1.87; p \u3c 0.01) domain scores. However, the impact of telehealth on clinical care, person and community engagement, and safety domain scores was not significant. Discussion The expansion of hospital telehealth service provision can improve not only the efficiency of care, but also the total performance of the hospital. Since total performance is directly associated with hospital payments from the government, these findings have significant practice and policy implications. In addition, the effect of telehealth on other quality measures such as clinical care and safety needs further investigation

COVID-19 Variants of Concern in Australia, September 2020- April 2021

Variants of concern have been sequenced in Australia, through introduction via returned travellers (3). It has been shown that disease transmission and epidemic severity are directly related to variant emergence (82). It has also been shown that the mutations related to these variants confer resistance to neutralising antibodies, vaccine-induced or through previous infection (13). This Watching Brief summarises these issues, and asks key questions to guide Public Health policy regarding the vaccine and response strategies to variants of concern in Australia