Genetic analysis of stifle arthrosis in Swedish boxer dogs

Stifle problems in Boxer dogs have been a major issue in discussions in Swedish boxer breeding circles for a long time. Since 1997, the Swedish Kennel Club (SKC) has a ge-netic health programme for boxers to reduce the number of dogs affected by stifle arthrosis. This study is based records from the SKC on radiographic evaluations of stifle, elbow and hip joints of Swedish boxer dogs between the years 1989 to May 2005. The number of radiographed stifle joints, hip joints and elbow joints were 3990, 4197 and 390, respec-tively. This material was merged with a pedigree file including 26943 boxers. The study also contains information and statistics on insured boxers from the insurance company Agria From 1992 to 2005 the proportion of Boxers with stifle arthrosis has decreased from 18% to 6%. The proportion of radiographed dogs has increased during the period studied from 36% in 1992 and was in 2005 about 65% of the registered Boxers. The number of regis-tered boxers in Sweden during the last fifteen years has been stable around 550 dogs per year. To be able to estimate how much of the phenotypic variation in a trait that depends on genetic variation the heritability must be calculated. The genetic analysis of this material showed heritabilities for stifle arthrosis of 0.11 ± 0.04 and for hip dysplasia (HD) 0.28 ± 0.03. There were significantly more male dogs affected of stifle arthrosis than female dogs. Furthermore, there was a significantly higher risk of stifle arthrosis and HD with increased age at screening. For HD, the effect of test year was also significant. The ge-netic correlation between stifle arthrosis and HD was not different from zero (0.09 ± 0.14). The number of boxers with elbow dysplasia (ED) was very low and only few had been radiographed. Therefore, in this study ED has not been analysed. The material from the insurance company Agria showed that the numbers of boxers with stifle related problems decreased, but not as much for all other breeds. The number of boxer owners that were paid for their dogs' life insurance due to stifle problems de-creased more than for all other breeds. Since the start of SKC:s health programme there has been a steadily decreasing trend of young Boxer affected with stifle arthrosis. In the statistics from the insurance company Agria the status of the elderly Boxers are more likely to be represented. The decreasing of stifle arthrosis in this material is not that large as for all other breeds. In the future it is of great importance to the Boxer dogs in Sweden to continue the radio-graphic screening of stifle joints. Furthermore, one should in the breeding programme only use breeding animals that not are affected with stifle arthrosis and actively evaluate the progenies of these animals regarding the status of the stifle arthrosis.Knäledsproblem hos boxer är ett känt problem i Sverige och har diskuterats i boxerkretsar länge. Svenska Kennelklubben (SKK) har sedan 1997 ett hälsoprogram för att minska förekomsten av knäledsartros hos boxer. Denna studie baseras på information från SKK omfattande röntgenutlåtanden avseende knäleder, armbågsleder och höftleder för svenska boxerhundar undersökta mellan åren 1989 till maj 2005. Antalet hundar med röntgenresultat för knäleder, höftleder och armbågar var 3990, 4197, respektive 390. Materialet sammanställdes mot härstamningsfilen för boxrar registrerade i SKK omfattande 26943 hundar. I studien finns även information och statistik från försäkringsbolaget Agria Från 1992 till 2005 har andelen hundar drabbade av knäledsartros minskat från 18 % till 6 %. Andelen röntgade hundar har ökat från 36% 1992 till ca 65 % röntgade under år 2005 av antalet registrerade hundar. Antalet boxrar som registreras i SKK har varit stabilt under de senaste femton åren och ligger på ungefär 550 nyregistrerade hundar om året. För att kunna avgöra hur stor del av den fenotypiska variationen avseende knäledsartros och höftledsdysplasi som beror på genetisk variation har arvbarheter för dessa egenskaper skattats. Den genetiska analysen av materialet visade arvbarheter på 0,11 ± 0,04 för knäledsartros och 0,28 ± 0,03 för höftledsdysplasi (HD). Det var signifikant fler hanhundar som drabbades av knäledsartros än tikar. Risken för knäledsartros och höftledsdysplasi ökar signifikant med ökad ålder vid röntgen. Andelen hundar med höftledsdysplasi ökade signifikant under de senaste åren. Den genetiska korrelationen mellan knäledsartros och HD var låg och icke signifikant (0,09 ± 0,14). Armbågsledsartros (AD) är ett mycket litet problem för boxer och det fanns få röntgade hundar i materialet. Därför har ingen genetisk analys gjorts av AD i den här studien. Materialet från försäkringsbolaget Agria visade att antalet boxrar med knäledsrelaterade problem minskade men inte i samma takt som för alla raser sammanslaget. Antalet boxrar för vilka livförsäkringen hade tagits ut på grund av knäledsskador minskade dock mer än för alla raser sammanslaget. SKK:s hälsoprogram för boxer har resulterat i en minskning av antalet unga boxer som drabbas av knäledsartros. Hur statusen för de äldre hundarna ser ut bör man kunna se i materialet från försäkringsbolaget Agria där minskningen inte är lika stor för boxer som för alla andra raser sammanslaget. I framtiden är det viktigt för aveln av svenska boxrar att fortsätta med arbetet att röntga knäleder och registrera resultatet. Dessutom bör man i aveln enbart använda avelsdjur utan anmärkning på knäleder och aktivt utvärdera avkommornas röntgenresultat för knälederna

Effects of access to feed, water, and a competitive exclusion product in the hatcher on some immune traits and gut development in broiler chickens

1. This study evaluated the effect of access to feed, water, and the competitive exclusion (CE) product Broilact((R)), administered in the hatcher, on broiler performance, caecal microbiota development, organ development, intestinal morphology, serum levels of IgY and vaccine-induced antibody responses.2. In total, 250 chicks were hatched in a HatchCare (TM) hatcher and divided into four groups, given access to feed, water and the CE product sprayed on the chicks (CEs); access to feed, water, and the CE product in water (CEw); access to feed and water (Cpos); or no access to feed and water (Cneg) in the hatcher.3. At the research facility, 10 chicks per hatching treatment were euthanised for organ measurements. The remaining 200 chicks were randomly distributed to 20 pens. On d 11, all birds were vaccinated against avian pneumovirus (APV). Three focal birds per pen were blood-sampled weekly for quantification of IgY and serum antibodies to APV. On d 11 and 32, two birds per replicate pen were euthanised for organ measurements and sample collection. Feed intake and body weight were recorded weekly.4. Delayed access to feed and water reduced weight gain and feed intake early in life. At the end of the study, no differences in body weight remained.5. There were some early effects on organs, with depressed intestinal development and higher relative gizzard weight for the Cneg group at placement. No treatment effects on the immune traits measured were detected.6. The relative abundance of seven bacterial genera differed between treatment groups at d 11 of age. The results suggested that chickens are capable of compensating for 40 h feed and water deprival post-hatch. Provision of Broilact((R)) did not have any persistent performance-enhancing properties, although different outcomes under rearing conditions closer to commercial production cannot be ruled out

Implementing clinical quidelines in psychiatry : a qualitative study of perceived facilitators and barriers

BACKGROUND: Translating scientific evidence into daily practice is complex. Clinical guidelines can improve health care delivery, but there are a number of challenges in guideline adoption and implementation. Factors influencing the effective implementation of guidelines remain poorly understood. Understanding of barriers and facilitators is important for development of effective implementation strategies. The aim of this study was to determine perceived facilitators and barriers to guideline implementation and clinical compliance to guidelines for depression in psychiatric care. METHODS: This qualitative study was conducted at two psychiatric clinics in Stockholm, Sweden. The implementation activities at one of the clinics included local implementation teams, seminars, regular feedback and academic detailing. The other clinic served as a control and only received guidelines by post. Data were collected from three focus groups and 28 individual, semi-structured interviews. Content analysis was used to identify themes emerging from the interview data. RESULTS: The identified barriers to, and facilitators of, the implementation of guidelines could be classified into three major categories: (1) organizational resources, (2) health care professionals' individual characteristics and (3) perception of guidelines and implementation strategies. The practitioners in the implementation team and at control clinics differed in three main areas: (1) concerns about control over professional practice, (2) beliefs about evidence-based practice and (3) suspicions about financial motives for guideline introduction.Peer reviewe

Supported local implementation of clinical guidelines in psychiatry: a two-year follow-up

BACKGROUND: The gap between evidence-based guidelines for clinical care and their use in medical settings is well recognized and widespread. Only a few implementation studies of psychiatric guidelines have been carried out, and there is a lack of studies on their long-term effects.The aim of this study was to measure compliance to clinical guidelines for treatment of patients with depression and patients with suicidal behaviours, two years after an actively supported implementation. METHODS: Six psychiatric clinics in Stockholm, Sweden, participated in an implementation of the guidelines. The guidelines were actively implemented at four of them, and the other two only received the guidelines and served as controls. The implementation activities included local implementation teams, seminars, regular feedback, and academic outreach visits. Compliance to guidelines was measured using quality indicators derived from the guidelines. At baseline, measurements of quality indicators, part of the guidelines, were abstracted from medical records in order to analyze the gap between clinical guidelines and current practice. On the basis of this, a series of seminars was conducted to introduce the guidelines according to local needs. Local multidisciplinary teams were established to monitor the process. Data collection took place after 6, 12, and 24 months and a total of 2,165 patient records were included in the study. RESULTS: The documentation of the quality indicators improved from baseline in the four clinics with an active implementation, whereas there were no changes, or a decline, in the two control clinics. The increase was recorded at six months, and persisted over 12 and 24 months. CONCLUSIONS: Compliance to the guidelines increased after active implementation and was sustained over the two-year follow-up. These results indicate that active local implementation of clinical guidelines involving clinicians can change behaviour and maintain compliance.Peer reviewe

Flu viruses a lucky community and cosine graphs: the possibilities opened up by the use of a socio-political perspective to study learning in an undergraduate access course in mathematics

This is an Accepted Manuscript of an article published by Taylor & Francis in African Journal of Research in Mathematics, Science and Technology Education on 20 August 2013 available online: http://www.tandfonline.com/10.1080/10288457.2009.10740656.In this paper I present a perspective of mathematics education and learning, termed a 'sociopolitical perspective'. Classroom mathematical activity, in which certain ways of acting, behaving and knowing are given value, is located in a wider network of socio-political practices. Learning in mathematics is regarded as coming to participate in the discourse of the community that practises the mathematics. I argue that the use of a socio-political perspective allows the researcher and teacher to view classroom mathematical activity as a product of the network of socio-political practices in which it is located, rather than as a product of individual cognitive ability. I illustrate the use of this perspective by drawing on a study of learning in a first-year university access course in Mathematics at a South African university. Fairclough's method for critical discourse analysis, supplemented with work by Sfard and Morgan in mathematics education, was used to analyse both the text of a 'real world' problem in mathematics and a transcript representing the activity as a group of five students solved the problem. This analysis suggests that, despite containing traces of discourses from outside of mathematics, the problem text constructs the activity as solving a mathematical problem with features of a school mathematical word problem. When solving the problem the students draw on practices associated with school mathematics and their university mathematics course, some of which enable and others constrain their participation. For example, they refer to named functions learned at school, they have difficulty making productive links between the mathematical functions and the 'real world' context, and they have varied opportunities for mathematical talk in the group. The study identifies as key to the students' progress the presence of an authority (in this case a tutor) who can make explicit the ways of thinking, acting, and talking that are valued in the discourse of undergraduate mathematics, and who provides opportunities for mathematical talk

An approach to measure compliance to clinical guidelines in psychiatric care

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The aim of this study was to measure six months compliance to Swedish clinical guidelines in psychiatric care after an active supported implementation process, using structured measures derived from the guidelines.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>In this observational study four psychiatric clinics each participated in active implementation of the clinical guidelines for the assessment and treatment of depression and guidelines for assessment and treatment of patients with suicidal behaviours developed by The Stockholm Medical Advisory Board for Psychiatry. The implementation programme included seminars, local implementation teams, regular feedback and academic visits. Additionally two clinics only received the guidelines and served as controls. Compliance to guidelines was measured using indicators, which operationalised requirements of preferred clinical practice. 725 patient records were included, 365 before the implementation and 360 six months after.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Analyses of indicators registered showed that the actively implementing clinics significantly improved their compliance to the guidelines. The total score differed significantly between implementation clinics and control clinics for management of depression (mean scores 9.5 (1.3) versus 5.0 (1.5), p < 0.001) as well as for the management of suicide (mean scores 8.1 (2.3) versus 4.5 (1.9), p < 0.001). No changes were found in the control clinics and only one of the OR was significant.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Compliance to clinical guidelines measured by process indicators of required clinical practice was enhanced by an active implementation.</p

Persistence and compliance to antidepressant treatment in patients with depression: A chart review

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Adherence has recently been suggested to be divided into these two components: persistence (i.e., whether patients continue treatment or not) and compliance (i.e., whether patients take doses as instructed). However, no study has yet assessed these two clinically relevant components at the same time in adherence to antidepressant treatment in the clinical outpatient setting.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>In this retrospective chart-review, 6-month adherence to antidepressants was examined in 367 outpatients with a major depressive disorder (ICD-10) (170 males; mean ± SD age 37.6 ± 13.9 years), who started antidepressant treatment from April 2006 through March 2007. Additionally, we evaluated Medication Possession Rate (MPR), defined as the total days a medication was dispensed to patients divided by the treatment period.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Only 161 patients (44.3%) continued antidepressant treatment for 6 months. Among 252 patients who discontinued their initial antidepressant, 63.1% of these patients did so without consulting their physicians. Sertraline use was associated with a higher persistence rate at month 6 (odds ratio 2.59 in comparison with sulpiride), and the use of anxiolytic benzodiazepines had a positive effect on persistence to antidepressant treatment only at month 1 (odds ratio 2.14). An overall MPR was 0.77; 55.6% of patients were considered compliant (i.e., a MPR of ≥ 0.8).</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Given a high rate of antidepressant discontinuation without consulting their physicians, closer communication between patients and their physicians should be encouraged. Although the use of anxiolytic benzodiazepines was associated with a higher persistence to antidepressant treatment at month 1, the use of these drugs should be avoided as a rule, given their well-known serious adverse effects.</p