Regional variations in standards – problem or opportunity?

A preliminary analysis and evaluation is made of the differences between the various organic standards and of the different implementation rules of the EU Regulation 2092/91 in Europe. This is part of an EU-funded project on the revision of this regulation. These preliminary results show that many differences have specific justifications, which are strongly influenced by specific national or regional circumstances or policy environment. The potential for more regional variation is discusse

Knospe wird noch sozialer

Im Gegensatz zu vielen anderen Bio-Labels ist die Aussage der Schweizer Knospe klar und deutlich. Sie steht für ökologisch und umweltgerecht hergestellte Produkte. Mit den neuen Sozialstandards steht die Knospe in Zukunft auch für «menschengerecht» hergestellte Lebensmittel

Analysis of EEC Regulation 2092/91 in relation to other national and international organic standards

This Deliverable 3.2 report presents an analysis of differences between EEC Regulation 2092/91 and other organic standards and their implementation, using a specially developed database (www.organicrules.org). It further reports on database development. The work was carried out as part of the “EEC 2092/91 (Organic) Revision” STREP project (No. SSPE-CT- 2004-502397) within the EU 6th Framework Programme. The main objective was to identify differences in organic standards in relation to Regulation (EEC) 2092/91 and to analyse selected national governmental and private organic standards with the aim of identifying specific areas in the (EEC) 2092/91 where revision in terms of harmonisation, regionalisation or simplification may be possible

3D Monte Carlo bone marrow dosimetry for Lu-177-PSMA therapy with guidance of non-invasive 3D localization of active bone marrow via Tc-99m-anti-granulocyte antibody SPECT/CT

Background: The bone marrow (BM) is a main risk organ during Lu-177-PSMA ligand therapy of metastasized castration-resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC) patients. So far, BM dosimetry relies on S values, which are pre-computed for reference anatomies, simplified activity distributions, and a physiological BM distribution. However, mCRPC patients may show a considerable bone lesion load, which leads to a heterogeneous and patient-specific activity accumulation close to BM-bearing sites. Furthermore, the patient-specific BM distribution might be significantly altered in the presence of bone lesions. The aim was to perform BM absorbed dose calculations through Monte Carlo (MC) simulations and to investigate the potential value of image-based BM localization. This study is based on 11 Lu-177-PSMA-617 therapy cycles of 10 patients (10 first cycles), who obtained a pre-therapeutic Ga-68-PSMA-11 PET/CT; quantitative Lu-177 SPECT acquisitions of the abdomen 24 (+CT), 48, and 72 h p.i.; and a Lu-177 whole-body planar acquisition at 24 h post-therapy. Patient-specific 3D volumes of interest were segmented from the Ga-68-PSMA-11 PET/CT, filled with activity information from the Lu-177 data, and imported into the FLUKA MC code together with the patient CT. MC simulations of the BM absorbed dose were performed assuming a physiological BM distribution according to the ICRP 110 reference male (MC1) or a displacement of active BM from the direct location of bone lesions (MC2). Results were compared with those from S values (SMIRD). BM absorbed doses were correlated with the decrease of lymphocytes, total white blood cells, hemoglobin level, and platelets. For two patients, an additional pre-therapeutic Tc-99m-anti-granulocyte antibody SPECT/CT was performed for BM localization. Results: Median BM absorbed doses were 130, 37, and 11 mGy/GBq for MC1, MC2, and SMIRD, respectively. Significant strong correlation with the decrease of platelet counts was found, with highest correlation for MC2 (MC1: r = − 0.63, p = 0.04; MC2: r = − 0.71, p = 0.01; SMIRD: r = − 0.62, p = 0.04). For both investigated patients, BM localization via Tc-99m-anti-granulocyte antibody SPECT/CT indicated a displacement of active BM from the direct location of lesions similar to model MC2 and led to a reduction in the BM absorbed dose of 40 and 41% compared to MC1. Conclusion: Higher BM absorbed doses were observed for MC-based models; however, for MC2, all absorbed doses were still below 2 Gy. MC1 resulted in critical values for some patients, but is suspected to yield strongly exaggerated absorbed doses by neglecting bone marrow displacement. Image-based BM localization might be beneficial, and future studies are recommended to support an improvement for the prediction of hematoxicities

PTX3 Polymorphisms and Invasive Mold Infections After Solid Organ Transplant

Donor PTX3 polymorphisms were shown to influence the risk of invasive aspergillosis among hematopoietic stem cell transplant recipients. Here, we show that PTX3 polymorphisms are independent risk factors for invasive mold infections among 1101 solid organ transplant recipients, thereby strengthening their role in mold infection pathogenesis and patients' risk stratificatio

Database to compare standards

Within the EU project "Organic Revision", a public web-based database has been developed to support the analysis of differences between the EU Regulation on organic agriculture and relevant European organic production standards, as well as some international standards. The database, although not yet fully finalised, has just been published

Analysis of differences between EU Regulation (EEC) 2092/91 in relation to other national and international standards

Differences between the EU Regulation (EEC) 2092/91 and selected private as well as governmental organic standards were analysed as part of an EU-funded research project on the revision of this regulation. Most of the differences were found in the following areas: conversion, fertilising, animal feeding, veterinary treatment and animal husbandry. Many differences have specific justifications, influenced by specific national or regional circumstances or policy framework. The variations between the EU Regulation, governmental and private-sector standards do not concern basic requirements; i.e. there is a general agreement on the main general principles of organic agriculture within the EU. A certain regional flexibility can be justified

Percepção dos trabalhadores da saúde sobre o cuidado às crises na Rede de Atenção Psicossocial

RESUMO Objetivo: O objetivo foi conhecer o cuidado prestado às pessoas em situação de crise em serviços de saúde mental do país, de acordo com relato dos trabalhadores desses serviços. Métodos: O estudo é uma pesquisa qualitativa, em que foram analisados portfólios reflexivos de 156 trabalhadores alunos do Curso Crise e Urgência em Saúde Mental. Resultados: Os trabalhadores descrevem o cuidado como sendo, prioritariamente, através da contenção medicamentosa, seguida da contenção mecânica e internação, ações que priorizam a redução dos sintomas, desvalorizando o sofrimento e colocando em segundo plano aquele que sofre. Conclusão: A conclusão do estudo revela a existência de uma distância entre a realidade dos serviços e o preconizado pela política de saúde mental do país. Demonstra implicações para a prática do cuidado em saúde mental e na consolidação de formas de cuidado baseadas na atenção psicossocial fundamentada no direito à liberdade e no respeito da dignidade humana