Kebakaran Hutan dan Lahan di Pulau Rupat, Riau

Forest and land fires in Riau province generally occur on peatlands. This is due to the large area of ​​peatlands and intensive land conversion. Peat fires result in high PM 2.5 pollutant content, as happened on Rupat Island, Meranti Islands. Rupat Island has a history of repeated cases of forest and land fires in 2015 and 2019. This study aims to analyze the background of the causes of forest and land fires on Rupat Island, Riau Province. The research was carried out through several stages, namely data collection, data processing and data analysis. Forest fires on Rupat Island caused PM 2.5 content in February and March to have values ​​above the PM 2.5 content threshold. Based on the results of the study, it is known that the background causes of forest and land fires on Rupat Island, Riau, are caused by poor canal management, damaged peat conditions and the influence of the arrival of El Nino. This is the cause of the widespread forest and land fires on Rupat Island. Keywords: forest fires, peat land, Rupat islan

Purdue Conference on Active Nonproliferation

One major problem with nuclear security measurements involves source identification inthe presence of low signal-to-background ratio. This scenario iscommon to several applications, ranging from radiation identification atportal monitors to radiation source search with unmanned vehicles. In this context of identification of a large variety of sources, including natural and medical sources, sensitive sources of particular interest, but also potentially new/unknown sources for which no reference measurement is available, statistical methods are particularly appealing for their ability to capture the random nature of the measurements. Among them, Bayesian methods form a generic framework allowing for uncertainty quantification and propagation, which is of prime interest for detection (of known and unknown sources), classification, and quantification of smuggled nuclear and radiological materials. We demonstratethe use of Bayesian models for the identificationof mixed gamma sources, measured with organic scintillatorswithinshort acquisition times. We alsocompare the estimation performance using two different materials: liquid EJ-309 and stilbene crystal

Positive effects of audit and feedback on antimicrobial use in hospitalized patients limited to audited patients

Objective: Audit and feedback is an antimicrobial stewardship (AMS) strategy, with the potential to also optimize antimicrobial use in non-audited patients. This study aimed to determine whether audit and feedback reduce antimicrobial use in both audited and non-audited patients.Design: Before-after trial with a 1-year intervention period and 2.5-year historical cohort.Setting: 750-bed community hospital in the Netherlands.Patients: All patients admitted to the urology wards during the 3.5-year study period were observed. Patients were classified as using antimicrobials if any antimicrobial was used for therapeutic reasons. Patients using antimicrobials prophylactically were excluded from measurements.Intervention: The AMS team provided audit and feedback on antimicrobial use for patients using antimicrobials for 2 days. Retrospectively, antimicrobial use and length of stay (LOS) were compared with the historical cohort.Results: Audits modified antimicrobial treatment in 52.8% of the cases. De-escalating, stopping, and switching from intravenous to oral treatment accounted for 72% of these modifications. Compared to patients from the cohort, who also used antimicrobials for 2 days, antimicrobial use decreased from 14.21 DDD/patient (95% CI, 13.08–15.34) to 11.45 DDD/patient (95% CI, 8.26–14.64; P = .047) for audited patients. Furthermore, mean LOS decreased from 7.42 days (95% CI, 6.79–8.06) to 6.13 days (95% CI, 5.38–6.89; P = .031). However, looking at all patients admitted to the urology wards, the percentage of patients using antimicrobials and total antimicrobial use remained unchanged.Conclusions: Audit and feedback reduce antimicrobial use and LOS, but only for audited patients. Positive effects are not automatically transferred to patients for whom no audits have been performed

Long term outcome of high-risk neuroblastoma patients after immunotherapy with antibody ch14.18 or oral metronomic chemotherapy

Background: The treatment of high-risk neuroblastoma patients consists of multimodal induction therapy to achieve remission followed by consolidation therapy to prevent relapses. However, the type of consolidation therapy is still discussed controversial. We applied metronomic chemotherapy in the prospective NB90 trial and monoclonal anti-GD2-antibody (MAB) ch14.18 in the NB97 trial. Here, we present the long term outcome data of the patient cohort. Methods: A total of 334 stage 4 neuroblastoma patients one year or older were included. All patients successfully completed the induction therapy. In the NB90 trial, 99 patients received at least one cycle of the oral maintenance chemotherapy (NB90 MT, 12 alternating cycles of oral melphalan/etoposide and vincristine/cyclophosphamide). In the NB97 trial, 166 patients commenced the MAB ch14.18 consolidation therapy (six cycles over 12 months). Patients who received no maintenance therapy according to the NB90 protocol or by refusal in NB97 (n = 69) served as controls. Results: The median observation time was 11.11 years. The nine-year event-free survival rates were 41 ± 4%, 31 ± 5%, and 32 ± 6% for MAB ch14.18, NB90 MT, and no consolidation, respectively (p = 0.098). In contrast to earlier reports, MAB ch14.18 treatment improved the long-term outcome compared to no additional therapy (p = 0.038). The overall survival was better in the MAB ch14.18-treated group (9-y-OS 46 ± 4%) compared to NB90 MT (34 ± 5%, p = 0.026) and to no consolidation (35 ± 6%, p = 0.019). Multivariable Cox regression analysis revealed ch14.18 consolidation to improve outcome compared to no consolidation, however, no difference between NB90 MT and MAB ch14.18-treated patients was found. Conclusions: Follow-up analysis of the patient cohort indicated that immunotherapy with MAB ch14.18 may prevent late relapses. Finally, metronomic oral maintenance chemotherapy also appeared effective

Kanta-asiakasohjelman hyödyntäminen

Yritys x:n toiminta perustuu elektroniikkatuotteiden huoltoon ja jälleenmyyntiin. Tutkimustehtävänä oli tutkia, millä tavoin kanta-asiakasohjelmaa voidaan hyödyntää yrityksen näkökulmasta parhaiten. Tutkimuksen kyselyssä kysyttiin kehitysideoita työntekijöiltä. Tavoitteena oli sitouttaa asiakkaita yritys x:ään hyödyntämällä olemassa olevaa kanta-asiakasohjelmaa. Tarkoituksena oli kysellä työntekijöiltä kehitysideoita, jotka liittyvät kanta-asiakasohjelman hyödyntämiseen. Saamamme kehitysideat hyödyttivät sekä asiakkaita että yritystä. Tutkimusmenetelmänä käytimme teemahaastattelua. Haastattelimme yritys x:n työntekijöitä yksitellen, minkä jälkeen litteroimme vastaukset. Tutkimustulosten perusteella selvisi kaksi tärkeää asiaa, jotka liittyvät eritys x:n kanta-asiakasohjelman hyödyntämiseen. Kaksi tärkeintä asiaa, jotka tulivat tutkimuksen kautta esiin, olivat markkinointi ja kanta-asiakasohjelman etujen tärkeys. Markkinoimalla kanta-asiakasohjelmaa ja kehittämällä kanta-asiakasohjelman etuja kanta-asiakkaille yritys x voi hyödyntää olemassa olevaa kanta-asiakasohjelmaa enemmän.Making use of a customer loyalty program This thesis project was commissioned by Company X, which specialises in the maintenance and resale of electronic products. The objective of the research was to investigate the ways in which a customer loyalty program can be best used from the perspective of the company. Empirical data was collected through theme interviews which were conducted individually with employees, and in which they were asked for development ideas for utilizing the company’s customer loyalty program. The development ideas that were received will benefit both the company and their customers. The responses to the interviews were transcribed and analysed. Based on the results two important areas related to the utilization of the company’s customer loyalty programs were identified, which were marketing and the importance of the level of interest in the customer loyalty program. By marketing the customer loyalty program and developing the benefits of the customer loyalty program for regular customers, company x can better utilize the existing customer loyalty program

Non-invasive evaluation of physiological stress hormone responses in a captive population of the greater bilby Macrotis lagotis

Captive breeding programs are increasingly being used as a management option for threatened mammals. The greater bilby Macrotis lagotis, for example, is a vulnerable species which is maintained in captivity at several facilities in Australia. Non-invasive evaluation of stress hormones (cortisol in mammals) via excretory metabolites can be used to monitor physiological stress responses of captive individuals. In this study, we validated an enzyme-immunoassay (EIA) to measure cortisol metabolites in fresh faecal samples of adult male and female bilbies (n = 7) held in captivity at the Dreamworld Theme Park, Queensland, Australia. The faecal cortisol EIA was validated via parallelism and the recovery of exogenous cortisol added to pooled faecal extracts (>99% recovery). Female bilbies had higher average faecal cortisol metabolite concentrations and higher day-to-day variation than male bilbies; however, there was no relationship with bilby age. Cortisol metabolites for most individuals varied widely through time, with numerous peaks and troughs in response to long-term stressors (illnesses, injury and reproductive issues) and short-term stressors, such as use in shows at Dreamworld or public displays in local schools, manual restraint and short-term veterinary procedures (e.g. general anaesthesia). Overall, the higher mean cortisol metabolite concentrations of individuals suffering long-term stress was related to a greater response to short-term stressors. This suggests an interaction between responses to short-term and long-term stressors which is perhaps due to habituation and/or facilitation of long-term stressors. Non-invasive faecal monitoring of stress hormones could provide further information on the implications of captive breeding programs and the release of animals reared in captivity