Prevention and treatment of parasitic infections in organic pigs

Organic and free range pigs are potentially exposed to a wider range of parasites and zoonotic challenges. The livestock Subproject QLIF addresses 4 strategies to combat these challenges, and the present paper describes the initial results. Rodent control is the first strategy, and a survey concludes that Salmonella and Campylobacter infections were encountered in house mice and Norway rats, but not in other species. T. gondii antibodies could be detected in 6.4% of the blood samples taken from 235 wild small mammals. To reduce the presence of rodents around farms, the use of live-traps may be a good alternative for the use of rodenticides on organic farms. A second strategy is aimed at directing pig dunging behaviour in such a way that contact with (infected) faeces is minimised. The study showed that a rooting area resulted in a cleaner outdoor are and an extra outdoor drinker led to a cleaner area around the drinker, but to a dirtier indoor area. However, no difference in Ascaris suum infection were found. The nutritional strategy tested showed that pure inulin appeared the most effective as Oesophagostomum dentatum presence was reduced by 91%. Finally, as part of Strategy 4, a mixture of dried Thymus vulgaris, Melissa officinalis and Echinacea purpurea in a dosage of 5% in the diet showed to be preventive against a mild round-worm infection. The same mixture, however, was not effective in a lower dosage (3% in the diet) against a serious round-worm infection. Work is continuing to develop the above strategies further

The use of hydroxychloroquine as a systemic treatment in erosive lichen planus of the vulva and vagina

Erosive lichen planus affecting the vulva and vagina (ELPV) is a rare inflammatory skin disease, presenting with painful erosions and severe scarring.1 The disease course is persistent and often refractory to treatment: up to 45% patients do not experience remission with topical treatments, while evidence for systemic treatments remains scarce.2 Hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) is frequently used in daily practice as a first choice systemic therapy.3 However, little evidence is available on HCQ for ELPV.2 The aim of this study was to analyse the effectiveness and safety of HCQ in ELPV.</p

The anisotropy of granular materials

The effect of the anisotropy on the elastoplastic response of two dimensional packed samples of polygons is investigated here, using molecular dynamics simulation. We show a correlation between fabric coefficients, characterizing the anisotropy of the granular skeleton, and the anisotropy of the elastic response. We also study the anisotropy induced by shearing on the subnetwork of the sliding contacts. This anisotropy provides an explanation to some features of the plastic deformation of granular media.Comment: Submitted to PR

Metaphorical and interlingual translation in moving organizational practices across languages

Organizational scholars refer to translation as a metaphor in order to describe the transformation and movement of organizational practices across institutional contexts. However, they have paid relatively little attention to the challenges of moving organizational practices across language boundaries. In this conceptual paper, we theorize that when organizational practices move across contexts that differ not only in terms of institutions and cultures but also in terms of languages, translation becomes more than a metaphor; it turns into reverbalization of meaning in another language. We argue that the meeting of languages opens up a whole new arena for translator agency to unfold. Interlingual and metaphorical translation are two distinct but interrelated forms of translation that are mutually constitutive. We identify possible constellations between interlingual and metaphorical translation and illustrate agentic translation with published case examples. We also propose that interlingual translation is a key resource in the discursive constitution of multilingual organizations. This paper contributes to the stream of research in organization studies that has made translation a core aspect of its inquiry

Does the risk of childhood diabetes mellitus require revision of the guideline values for nitrate in drinking water?

In recent years, several studies have addressed a possible relationship between nitrate exposure and childhood type 1 insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus. The present ecologic study describes a possible relation between the incidence of type 1 diabetes and nitrate levels in drinking water in The Netherlands, and evaluates whether the World Health Organization and the European Commission standard for nitrate in drinking water (50 mg/L) is adequate to prevent risk of this disease. During 1993-1995 in The Netherlands, 1,104 cases of type 1 diabetes were diagnosed in children 0-14 years of age. We were able to use 1,064 of these cases in a total of 2,829,020 children in this analysis. We classified mean nitrate levels in drinking water in 3,932 postal code areas in The Netherlands in 1991-1995 into two exposure categories. One category was based on equal numbers of children exposed to different nitrate levels (0.25-2.08, 2.10-6.42, and 6.44-41.19 mg/L nitrate); the other was based on cut-off values of 10 and 25 mg/L nitrate. We determined standardized incidence ratios (SIRs) for type 1 diabetes in subgroups of the 2,829,020 children with respect to both nitrate exposure categories, sex, and age and as compared in univariate analysis using the chi-square test for trend. We compared the incidence rate ratios (IRRs) by multivariate analysis in a Poisson regression model. We found an effect of increasing age of the children on incidence of type 1 diabetes, but we did not find an effect of sex or of nitrate concentration in drinking water using the two exposure categories. For nitrate levels > 25 mg/L, an increased SIR and an increased IRR of 1.46 were observed; however, this increase was not statistically significant, probably because of the small number of cases (15 of 1,064). We concluded that there is no convincing evidence that nitrate in drinking water at current exposure levels is a risk factor for childhood type 1 diabetes mellitus in The Netherlands, although a threshold value > 25 mg/L for the occurrence of this disease can not be excluded

Extended M1 sum rule for excited symmetric and mixed-symmetry states in nuclei

A generalized M1 sum rule for orbital magnetic dipole strength from excited symmetric states to mixed-symmetry states is considered within the proton-neutron interacting boson model of even-even nuclei. Analytic expressions for the dominant terms in the B(M1) transition rates from the first and second $2^+$ states are derived in the U(5) and SO(6) dynamic symmetry limits of the model, and the applicability of a sum rule approach is examined at and in-between these limits. Lastly, the sum rule is applied to the new data on mixed-symmetry states of 94Mo and a quadrupole d-boson ratio $nd(0^+_1)/nd(2^+_2) \approx 0.6$ is obtained in a largely parameter-independent wayComment: 19 pages, 3 figures, Revte