Veterinarians’ experiences and preparedness to receive questions about animal welfare legislation and the official control

Farmers are one of the key contributors to successfully improving the implementation of farm animal welfare regulations. In Sweden, the County Administrative Board (CAB) is responsible for ensuring that the animal welfare legislation is complied with by performing official animal welfare inspections. In a previous study, it emerged that many Swedish dairy farmers would turn to their veterinarian for information about the animal welfare control. This study investigated how often Swedish clinical veterinarians are asked questions about the official animal welfare control and the animal welfare legislation when visiting farmers and horse keeper on their premises for treatment or counselling. The study also investigated veterinarians’ experiences and handling of questions related to animal welfare legislation and official control. An electronic questionnaire was developed and answered by 130 veterinarians during spring 2023. Additionally, 9 interviews were performed. The result showed that the respondents in general received questions about the legislation and the control at occasional farm visits, mainly before inspections and around slaughter. The respondents also got questions at occasional farm visits on what applies according to the legislation. Working with pigs as a veterinarian was related to receiving the most questions, while working with horses was related to receiving the least questions. Most veterinarians reported a greater knowledge of the legislation than of the control, and stated that knowledge in these areas mainly has come through further education after the veterinary education. Further, they reported a better impression of the legislation and its content than of the control and how it is carried out, which was related to how they handle questions concerning inspections. The result in the study reflects a feeling of farmers and horse keepers having great trust in veterinarians, which contributes to veterinarians having a considerable part in the discussions around legislation and control. Many veterinarians called for better cooperation with the CAB, which should be considered as it can increase veterinarians’ knowledge and preparedness to handle questions about the control

How animal welfare inspectors experience and are affected by the media’s reporting of animal welfare

Interest in animal welfare is increasing in Sweden as well as the rest of Europe, and criticism is aimed towards intensive livestock production. In order to ensure compliance with the Swedish animal welfare legislation, the County Adiministrative Boards (CABs) are carrying out official control at animal premises. Since animal welfare can be delicate area of concern, the handling of animal welfare controls tends to get attention by the media. How media reports about animal welfare controls can affect the reputation of CAB’s work. The purpose of this study was to investigate how animal welfare inspectors experience medias’ reporting about animal welfare controls, and if media affects the CABs’ work. The study also aimed to investigate if there were a perceived difference between how agricultural media and other media report about animal welfare. Data was collected through a questionnaire that was distributed by email to all animal welfare inspectors in Sweden. The result indicated that agricultural media often portray animal welfare control in a negative way while other media tend to be more neutral in its presentation. However, animal welfare inspectors experienced that agricultural media have more knowledge related to animal welfare controls and report more accurately compared to other media. The result showed a risk that agricultural media as well as other media will affect animal keepers’ in a negative way toward the CABs work, which can create conflicts and negatively impact the conversations and time effectiveness during animal welfare inspections. However, the inspectors did not feel that media per se influence the CABs’ decisions. Due to mean and harsh comments in social media, the inspectors’ own health could be affected. Future studies ought to investigate strategies to increase public awareness of animal welfare control, considering that media’s reporting may be incorrect. Furthermore, future studies may focus on relations between CAB and animal owners

Nybildade familjer i samhället- en kvalitativ studie om hur professionella i olika verksamheter ser på arbetet med nyblivna familjer

Abstract Author: Frida Landgren Title: New families in our community - A qualitative study of how professionals work to support parents with infants Supervisor: Maria Bangura Arvidsson Assessor: Elizabeth Martinell Barfoed The purpose of this study was to look at different kinds of activities aimed at families with infants, and to see how they work. I have examined whether the activities conveys a consensus or a multi-faceted picture of parenthood. I have also examined what the professionals think is important for parents in their family relationship. I have also examined how the professional works to inform and help the family. To investigate this I used following questions: How do the professionals define the concept of family? What do the professional think is important in a family relationship? How does the professionals work to support and help the parents? To study this I have searched different kinds of literature, studied various theories and interviewed professionals with expertise in the various activities. I have understood that today there is no clear-cut family, it can look very different. The work with the families in the various activities can also look very different, depending on the family they meet

Systembolaget och unga : En studie om hur systembolagets reklamfilmers budskap tas emot

Abstract\u2028  Title:Systembolaget och unga - En studie om hur Systembolagets reklamfilmers budskap tas emot  Authors: Frida Johnsson, Evelina Josefsson, Minda Landgren  Aim: The aim with this essay is to analyze how the target audience 18-19-year olds, and consumers of Systembolaget, the target audience of 20- 25-year olds, are affected by two specific commercials named “Systrar” and “Bröder” and furthermore examine whether the commercials have a deterrent effect on the audience or not. The questions the essay answers are “How do 18-19-year olds perceive that they are affected by the campaign films?” and “How do 20-25-year olds perceive that they are affected by the campaign films?”. This essay uses the methods qualitative analysis and focus group interviewand is based on the theoryEncoding/Decoding. In conclusion Systembolaget uses emotions to convey their message. To the audiences the commercials are not as deterrent as one might first imagine.   Number of pages: 56 Course: Media and Communication studies C Department: Department of Informatics and Media University: Uppsala University Period: Autumn 2018 Tutor: Per Gunnar Holmlöv Keywords: Ungdomar, Systembolaget, Alkohol, Reklamfilm, Encoding/Decoding, Teman, Koder, Kontext 

Systembolaget och unga : En studie om hur systembolagets reklamfilmers budskap tas emot

Abstract\u2028  Title:Systembolaget och unga - En studie om hur Systembolagets reklamfilmers budskap tas emot  Authors: Frida Johnsson, Evelina Josefsson, Minda Landgren  Aim: The aim with this essay is to analyze how the target audience 18-19-year olds, and consumers of Systembolaget, the target audience of 20- 25-year olds, are affected by two specific commercials named “Systrar” and “Bröder” and furthermore examine whether the commercials have a deterrent effect on the audience or not. The questions the essay answers are “How do 18-19-year olds perceive that they are affected by the campaign films?” and “How do 20-25-year olds perceive that they are affected by the campaign films?”. This essay uses the methods qualitative analysis and focus group interviewand is based on the theoryEncoding/Decoding. In conclusion Systembolaget uses emotions to convey their message. To the audiences the commercials are not as deterrent as one might first imagine.   Number of pages: 56 Course: Media and Communication studies C Department: Department of Informatics and Media University: Uppsala University Period: Autumn 2018 Tutor: Per Gunnar Holmlöv Keywords: Ungdomar, Systembolaget, Alkohol, Reklamfilm, Encoding/Decoding, Teman, Koder, Kontext 

Systembolaget och unga : En studie om hur systembolagets reklamfilmers budskap tas emot

Abstract\u2028  Title:Systembolaget och unga - En studie om hur Systembolagets reklamfilmers budskap tas emot  Authors: Frida Johnsson, Evelina Josefsson, Minda Landgren  Aim: The aim with this essay is to analyze how the target audience 18-19-year olds, and consumers of Systembolaget, the target audience of 20- 25-year olds, are affected by two specific commercials named “Systrar” and “Bröder” and furthermore examine whether the commercials have a deterrent effect on the audience or not. The questions the essay answers are “How do 18-19-year olds perceive that they are affected by the campaign films?” and “How do 20-25-year olds perceive that they are affected by the campaign films?”. This essay uses the methods qualitative analysis and focus group interviewand is based on the theoryEncoding/Decoding. In conclusion Systembolaget uses emotions to convey their message. To the audiences the commercials are not as deterrent as one might first imagine.   Number of pages: 56 Course: Media and Communication studies C Department: Department of Informatics and Media University: Uppsala University Period: Autumn 2018 Tutor: Per Gunnar Holmlöv Keywords: Ungdomar, Systembolaget, Alkohol, Reklamfilm, Encoding/Decoding, Teman, Koder, Kontext 

Good Features for Reliable Registration in Multi-Atlas Segmentation

This work presents a method for multi-organ segmentation in whole-body CT images based on a multi-atlas approach. A robust and efficient feature-based registration technique is developed which uses sparse organ specific features that are learnt based on their ability to register different organ types accurately. The best fitted feature points are used in RANSAC to estimate an affine transformation, followed by a thin plate spline refinement. This yields an accurate and reliable nonrigid transformation for each organ, which is independent of initialization and hence does not suffer from the local minima problem. Further, this is accomplished at a fraction of the time required by intensity-based methods. The technique is embedded into a standard multi-atlas framework using label transfer and fusion, followed by a random forest classifier which produces the data term for the final graph cut segmentation. For a majority of the classes our approach outperforms the competitors at the VISCERAL Anatomy Grand Challenge on segmentation at ISBI 2015

Hyaluronan-binding protein 2 (HABP2) gene variation in women with recurrent miscarriage

Background: Idiopathic recurrent miscarriage, defined as three or more consecutive miscarriages, is a distressing early pregnancy complication. Although, the etiology of recurrent miscarriage is still unknown, an aberrant regulation of the endometrial receptivity marker hyaluronan-binding protein 2 (HABP2) has been suggested. The objective of the present study was to investigate the effect of genetic variations of HABP2 in women with idiopathic recurrent miscarriage compared to fertile women. Methods: This study was designed as a case-control study. In total, 165 women who had three or more consecutive miscarriages and 289 fertile women were included in the study. Polymorphisms in the HABP2 gene were analyzed using TaqMan SNP Genotyping Assays. Three polymorphisms in the HABP2 gene, rs1157916, rs2240879 and rs7080536 (Marburg I) were studied. Results: Polymorphism in HABP2 showed no significant difference in women with recurrent miscarriage compared to fertile women, except for rs1157916 minor A allele that was more prevalent among RM patients (p = 0.058). Significantly higher live birth rate was observed among women with three to four miscarriages compared to those with more miscarriages (p = 0.001). Conclusions: Variations in the HABP2 gene did not seem to be involved in the etiology of recurrent miscarriage, while, the number of previous miscarriages had an impact on the live birth rate

Phosphodiesterase 8B gene polymorphism in women with recurrent miscarriage : A retrospective case control study.

BACKGROUND: Recurrent miscarriage affects approximately 1% of all couples. There is a known relation between hypothyroidism and recurrent miscarriage. Phosphodiesterase 8B (PDE8B) is a regulator of cyclic adenosine monophosphate (cAMP) with important influence on human thyroid metabolism. Single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) rs 4704397 in the PDE8B gene has been shown to be associated with variations in serum Thyroid Stimulating Hormone (TSH) and thyroxine (T4) levels. The aim of this study was to investigate whether there is an association between the SNP rs 4704397 in the PDE8B gene and recurrent miscarriage. METHODS: The study was designed as a retrospective case control study. 188 cases with recurrent miscarriage were included and compared with 391 controls who had delivered at least once and with no history of miscarriage or assisted reproduction. RESULTS: No difference between cases and controls concerning age was found. Bivariate associations between homozygous A/A (OR 1.57, 95% CI 0.98-2.52) as well as G/G carriers (OR 1.52, 95% CI 1.02-2.25) of SNP rs 4704397 in PDE8B and recurrent miscarriage were verified (test for trend across all 3 genotypes, p = 0.059). After adjustment for known confounders such as age, BMI and smoking the association between homozygous A/A (AOR 1.63, 95% CI 1.01 - 2.64, p = 0.045) and G/G (AOR 1.52, 95% CI 1.02 - 2.27, p = 0.039) carriers of SNP rs 4704397 in PDE8B and recurrent miscarriage remained. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings suggest that there is an association between homozygous A/A as well as homozygous G/G carriers of SNP rs 4704397 in PDE8B and recurrent miscarriage