Coordinating teamplay using named locations in a multilingual game environment - Playing esports in an educational context

Author's accepted version (postprint).This is an Accepted Manuscript of an article published by Taylor & Francis in Classroom Discourse on 03/02/2022.Available online: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/19463014.2021.2024444acceptedVersio

Idealist eller realist? En kvalitativ studie om ledarskap och handlingsutrymme inom socialt arbete.

This study is based on qualitative semi-structured interviews with five social work managers, working within the public functional disabilities sector, in three different municipalities. The aim of the study is to examine and analyze how these managers experience the discretion in the context wherein they operate, and how it influences their role as frontline managers within social work. The theories applied in this study are; role theory and discretion theory. The result of the study shows that the managers experience that the organizational restrictions effects their possibilities to take on a more leadership based role leading to a more administrative style of work. Even though these restrictions affects the role as a social work manager the results of this study shows that it doesn’t affect the way these managers view their role and purpose within the organization. They feel it’s within their responsibility to not only work towards the units in their care, but also to help develop and progress their organization at large. This viewpoint is further backed up by the feedback they receive from the organization in form of workload relief by appointing coordinators in the workgroups and assistant managers to relieve the administrative workload on the managers. This in turn helps preventing eventual role-conflict and illustrates the importance of leadership in the role as a manager in the public functional disabilities sector

Modelling spread and surveillance of Mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis in the Swedish cattle trade network

To monitor a state of disease freedom and to ensure a timely detection of new introductions of disease, surveillance programmes need be evaluated prior to implementation. We present a strategy to evaluate surveillance of Mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis (MAP) using simulated testing of bulk milk in an infectious disease spread model. MAP is a globally distributed, chronic infectious disease with substantial animal health impact. Designing surveillance for this disease poses specific challenges because methods for surveillance evaluation have focused on estimating surveillance system sensitivity and probability of freedom from disease and do not account for spread of disease or complex and changing population structure over long periods. The aims of the study were to 1. define a model that describes the spread of MAP within and between Swedish herds; 2. define a method for simulation of imperfect diagnostic testing in this framework; 3. to compare surveillance strategies to support surveillance design choices. The results illustrate how this approach can be used to identify differences between the probability of detecting disease in the population based on choices of the number of herds sampled and the use of risk-based or random selection of these herds. The approach was also used to assess surveillance to detect introduction of disease and to detect a very low prevalence endemic state. The use of bulk milk sampling was determined to be an effective method to detect MAP in the population with as few as 500 herds tested per year if the herd-level prevalence was 0.2 %. However, detection of point introductions in the population was unlikely in the 13-year simulation period even if as many as 2000 herds were tested per year. Interestingly, the use of a risk-based selection strategy was found to be a disadvantage to detect MAP given the modelled disease dynamics

Understanding the interface between European wild boar (Sus scrofa) and domestic pigs (Sus scrofa domesticus) in Sweden through a questionnaire study

Background In recent years, the wildlife/livestock interface has attracted increased attention due to disease transmission between wild and domestic animal populations. The ongoing spread of African swine fever (ASF) in European wild boar (Sus scrofa) emphasize the need for further understanding of the wildlife/livestock interface to prevent disease spill-over between the wild and domestic populations. Although wild boar may also act as a potential source for other infectious disease agents, ASF is currently the most severe threat from wild boar to domestic pigs. To gather information on the wild boar situation at commercial pig producing farms in Sweden, a digital questionnaire survey was distributed through the animal health services. Results Most pigs produced for commercial purposes in Sweden are raised without outdoor access. Of the 211 responding pig producers, 80% saw wild boar or signs of wild boar activity in the vicinity of their farm at least once during the year. Observations were significantly correlated with geographical region, but there was no correlation between farm characteristics (farm size, main type of production, outdoor access) and observed wild boar presence or proximity. However, a reported higher frequency of wild boar observations was positively correlated with the observations being made in closer proximity to the farm. Hunting and strategic baiting were the most common mitigation strategies used to keep wild boar at bay. Of the 14 farms raising pigs with outdoor access, 12 responded that these pigs could be raised solely indoors if needed. Pigs with outdoor access are required to be fenced in, but double fencing in these outdoor pig enclosures was not practiced by all. A perimeter fence surrounding any type of pig farm was very rare. More than half of the producers that grew crops with intended use for pigs reported crop damage by wild boar. Conclusion This study shows that although pigs raised for commercial purposes in Sweden are, to a large extent, kept indoors the potential for indirect contact with wild boar exists and must be considered. Variable local situations regarding wild boar abundance may require an adaptive approach regarding biosecurity efforts

Wild and Domestic Pig Interactions at the Wildlife–Livestock Interface of Murchison Falls National Park, Uganda, and the Potential Association with African Swine Fever Outbreaks

Bushpigs (BPs) (Potamochoerus larvatus) and warthogs (WHs) (Phacochoerus africanus), which are widely distributed in Eastern Africa, are likely to cohabitate in the same environment with domestic pigs (DPs), facilitating the transmission of shared pathogens. However, potential interactions between BP, WH, and DP, and the resulting potential circulation of infectious diseases have rarely been investigated in Africa to date. In order to understand the dynamics of such interactions and the potential influence of human behavior and husbandry practices on them, individual interviews (n = 233) and participatory rural appraisals (n = 11) were carried out among Ugandan pig farmers at the edge of Murchison Falls National Park, northern Uganda. In addition, as an example of possible implications of wild and DP interactions, non-linear multivariate analysis (multiple correspondence analyses) was used to investigate the potential association between the aforementioned factors (interactions and human behavior and practices) and farmer reported African swine fever (ASF) outbreaks. No direct interactions between wild pigs (WPs) and DP were reported in our study area. However, indirect interactions were described by 83 (35.6%) of the participants and were identified to be more common at water sources during the dry season. Equally, eight (3.4%) farmers declared exposing their DP to raw hunting leftovers of WPs. The exploratory analysis performed suggested possible associations between the farmer reported ASF outbreaks and indirect interactions, free-range housing systems, dry season, and having a WH burrow less than 3 km from the household. Our study was useful to gather local knowledge and to identify knowledge gaps about potential interactions between wild and DP in this area. This information could be useful to facilitate the design of future observational studies to better understand the potential transmission of pathogens between wild and DPs. (Résumé d'auteur

Perceptions of pastoralist problems: A participatory study on animal management, disease spectrum and animal health priorities of small ruminant pastoralists in Georgia

Small ruminants support the livelihoods of millions of poor pastoralist and sedentary households around the world. While pastoralists are generally not amongst the poorest in terms of assets, they are frequently marginalised in terms of their access to political power, health and education. This study was undertaken among pastoralist households keeping small ruminants in four regions of the country of Georgia. Small ruminants are an important cultural, social and economic asset in Georgia and are mainly managed in a transhumant pastoralist system. Georgia suffered its first, and so far only outbreak of peste des petits ruminants (PPR) in 2016. This qualitative interview study was designed to acquire contextual understanding of local small ruminant husbandry and the livelihood situations of the participating pastoralists, and to detect historical, unreported PPR outbreaks. Focus group discussions comprising participatory epidemiology tools and other forms of interviews were used to explore small ruminant management, disease spectrum and management, and animal health priorities.The participants had experienced a wide variety of animal health constraints, with intestinal worms, braxy, piroplasmosis, pasture-related problems, predators and lameness emerging as priorities. No historic, unreported PPR outbreak was detected in this study, and PPR was not a priority for participants. Instead, the day-to-day reality of animal health for the pastoralists was characterised by co-infections of mainly endemic pathogens, and problems related to other challenges such as access to land, feed and genetic resources. The rationale behind the participants' prioritisation of animal health problems was supported by the need to pay extra attention to animals in order to avoid risk factors, keep animals healthy and minimise the negative impact of diseases or management problems; the various epidemiological and clinical parameters of the prioritised diseases; the economic impact of the specific problems and the zoonotic potential of diseases and predation. Even within regions, and within seemingly socially and culturally homogenous groups, there were important local differences in the problems faced by pastoralists that affect their livestock management. This study underlines the importance of a contextualised understanding of the local disease panorama and complexities in the livelihood situations of rural people when designing actions to improve animal health in general or, more specifically, passive surveillance as well as prevention or control measures. Finally, it is concluded that to achieve such an understanding, there is a need for participatory, scoping-style studies that specifically acknowledge diversity and power relations

A Novel Mechanism of Bacterial Toxin Transfer within Host Blood Cell-Derived Microvesicles.

Shiga toxin (Stx) is the main virulence factor of enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli, which are non-invasive strains that can lead to hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS), associated with renal failure and death. Although bacteremia does not occur, bacterial virulence factors gain access to the circulation and are thereafter presumed to cause target organ damage. Stx was previously shown to circulate bound to blood cells but the mechanism by which it would potentially transfer to target organ cells has not been elucidated. Here we show that blood cell-derived microvesicles, shed during HUS, contain Stx and are found within patient renal cortical cells. The finding was reproduced in mice infected with Stx-producing Escherichia coli exhibiting Stx-containing blood cell-derived microvesicles in the circulation that reached the kidney where they were transferred into glomerular and peritubular capillary endothelial cells and further through their basement membranes followed by podocytes and tubular epithelial cells, respectively. In vitro studies demonstrated that blood cell-derived microvesicles containing Stx undergo endocytosis in glomerular endothelial cells leading to cell death secondary to inhibited protein synthesis. This study demonstrates a novel virulence mechanism whereby bacterial toxin is transferred within host blood cell-derived microvesicles in which it may evade the host immune system