Home About us Contact
|
Home About us Contact | ||
|
|
||
Intensive Use (intensive + use)
Selected AbstractsIntensive use of ground water and sustainabilityGROUND WATER, Issue 3 2005Emilio Custodio No abstract is available for this article. [source] Habitat use and foraging success of 0+ pike (Esox lucius L.) in experimental ponds related to prey fish, water transparency and light intensityECOLOGY OF FRESHWATER FISH, Issue 2 2002C. Skov Abstract ,,,This study investigated the habitat use of 0+ pike (9,17 cm) in relation to two different water transparency regimes (clear water/chlorophyll water), two different light regimes (day/night) and the presence/absence of prey using 16 m2 experimental ponds. Pike could freely choose between two structured habitats (a simple structured and a complex structured), an interface habitat (between the structured habitats and open water) and an open water habitat. Foraging success of the pike in relation to water transparency was investigated by comparing mean condition (Fultons K) of the pike as well as the number of surviving prey fish. Habitat use was influenced by the presence/absence of prey and varied between waters with different transparency. The presence of prey intensified the use of structural habitats of 0+ pike in both clear and chlorophyll waters. A preference for complex habitats was found in clear water and was presumably related to foraging. The pike in chlorophyll water, in contrast, appeared more evenly distributed among all habitats, as illustrated by a more intensive use of open water in chlorophyll water compared to the clear water. No detectable impact of water transparency on the foraging success of 0+ pike was found. [source] Cytogenetic damage in female Chilean agricultural workers exposed to mixtures of pesticidesENVIRONMENTAL AND MOLECULAR MUTAGENESIS, Issue 1 2005Carolina Márquez Abstract The VIII Region of Bío-Bío is a major fruit-growing area of Chile that makes intensive use of agricultural pesticides. The cytogenetic damage associated with exposure to mixtures of pesticides was evaluated by comparing peripheral blood lymphocyte micronucleus (MN) frequencies in a group of 64 female agricultural workers and 30 female controls. The exposed subjects worked during the spring and summer in thinning and pruning fruit trees and in harvesting and packing different fruits, such as raspberries, grapes, apples, and kiwis. They did not use any protective measures during their work activities. A significant increase in the frequency of binucleated cells with micronuclei (BNMN) was found in the exposed women as compared with the controls (36.94 ± 14.47 vs. 9.93 ± 6.17 BNMN/1000 BN cells; P < 0.001). The frequency of BNMN varied as a function of age in both the exposed and control groups, but no correlation was found between BNMN frequency and the duration of exposure. Also, smoking and other habits had no effect on MN frequency. Our study confirms that occupational exposure to pesticide mixtures results in cytogenetic damage. Environ. Mol. Mutagen., 2005. © 2004 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [source] The management of arable land from prehistory to the present: Case studies from the Northern Isles of ScotlandGEOARCHAEOLOGY: AN INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL, Issue 1 2006Erika B. Guttmann The arable soils from two multiperiod settlements were analyzed to identify changes in agricultural methods over time. The settlement middens were also analyzed to determine whether potential fertilizers were discarded unused. Results suggest that in the Neolithic period (,4000,2000 B.C. in the UK) the arable soils at Tofts Ness, Orkney, and Old Scatness, Shetland, were created by flattening and cultivating the settlements' midden heaps in situ. The arable area at Tofts Ness was expanded in the Bronze Age (,2000,700 B.C. in the UK), and the new land was improved by the addition of ash, nightsoil, and domestic waste. Cultivation continued briefly after the fields were buried in windblown sand in the Late Bronze Age or Early Iron Age, but by the Early Iron Age cultivation ceased and organic-rich material was allowed to accumulate within the settlement. By contrast, at Old Scatness, arable production was increased in the Iron Age (,700 B.C.,A.D. 550 in Scotland) by the intensive use of animal manures. The results indicate that during the lifespan of the two settlements the arable soils were fertilized to increase production, which was intensified over time. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. [source] Burnout contagion among intensive care nursesJOURNAL OF ADVANCED NURSING, Issue 3 2005Arnold B. Bakker PhD Aim., This paper reports a study investigating whether burnout is contagious. Background., Burnout has been recognized as a problem in intensive care units for a long time. Previous research has focused primarily on its organizational antecedents, such as excessive workload or high patient care demands, time pressure and intensive use of sophisticated technology. The present study took a totally different perspective by hypothesizing that , in intensive care units , burnout is communicated from one nurse to another. Methods., A questionnaire on work and well-being was completed by 1849 intensive care unit nurses working in one of 80 intensive care units in 12 different European countries in 1994. The results are being reported now because they formed part of a larger study that was only finally analysed recently. The questionnaire was translated from English to the language of each of these countries, and then back-translated to English. Respondents indicated the prevalence of burnout among their colleagues, and completed scales to assess working conditions and job burnout. Results., Analysis of variance indicated that the between-unit variance on a measure of perceived burnout complaints among colleagues was statistically significant and substantially larger than the within-unit variance. This implies that there is considerable agreement (consensus) within intensive care units regarding the prevalence of burnout. In addition, the results of multilevel analyses showed that burnout complaints among colleagues in intensive care units made a statistically significant and unique contribution to explaining variance in individual nurses' and whole units' experiences of burnout, i.e. emotional exhaustion, depersonalization and reduced personal accomplishment. Moreover, for both emotional exhaustion and depersonalization, perceived burnout complaints among colleagues was the most important predictor of burnout at the individual and unit levels, even after controlling for the impact of well-known organizational stressors as conceptualized in the demand-control model. Conclusion., Burnout is contagious: it may cross over from one nurse to another. [source] Matching Technologies with Potential End Users: A Knowledge Engineering Approach for Agricultural Research ManagementJOURNAL OF AGRICULTURAL ECONOMICS, Issue 1 2004J. David Reece This paper addresses the problem of priority setting that faces developing country agricultural research, a problem whose relevance has been sharpened by the current context of demands for greater efficiency and targeted impact. A new method for ex ante estimation of the impact of developing each of several alternative proposed technologies is described and illustrated through an example from West Africa. This method is based on the notion of market segmentation, which normally makes intensive use of secondary data-sets that are simply not available for rural areas of developing countries. To circumvent this lack of secondary data, the method adopts a knowledge engineering approach based on the views of an expert panel familiar with the region to be served. Descriptions of proposed technologies are matched with the interests and resources of identified market segments, together with the characteristics of their farming systems and locations, to identify those segments whose members are likely to use the proposed technology. Further development of the method is discussed. [source] Antimicrobial resistance in livestockJOURNAL OF VETERINARY PHARMACOLOGY & THERAPEUTICS, Issue 2 2003B. Catry Antimicrobial resistance may become a major problem in veterinary medicine as a consequence of the intensive use and misuse of antimicrobial drugs. Related problems are now arising in human medicine, such as the appearance of multi-resistant food-borne pathogens. Product characteristics, dose, treatment interval and duration of treatment influence the selection pressure for antimicrobial drug resistance. There are theoretical, experimental and clinical indications that the emergence of de novo resistance in a pathogenic population can be prevented by minimizing the time that suboptimal drug levels are present in the infected tissue compartment. Until recently, attention has been focused on target pathogens. However, it should be kept in mind that when antimicrobial drugs are used in an individual, resistance selection mainly affects the normal body flora. In the long term, this is at least equally important as resistance selection in the target pathogens, as the horizontal transfer of resistance genes converts almost all pathogenic bacteria into potential recipients for antimicrobial resistance. Other factors contributing to the epidemiology of antimicrobial resistance are the localization and size of the microbial population, and the age, immunity and contact intensity of the host. In livestock, dynamic herd-related resistance patterns have been observed in different animal species. [source] Cumulus,Oocyte Communications in the Horse: Role of the Breeding Season and of the Maturation MediumREPRODUCTION IN DOMESTIC ANIMALS, Issue 2 2004S Colleoni Contents Horse is a seasonal breeder and information on oocyte quality outside the breeding season is very limited. Ovaries obtained at the slaughterhouse are a convenient but often limited source of oocytes in this species. As the low quantity of ovaries leads to an intensive use of all available material, it would be useful to know whether ovaries collected during the non-breeding season are suitable for in vitro maturation (IVM). In an attempt to characterize the effect of season on oocyte quality, we investigated the permeability of the gap junctions (GJ) present between cumulus cells and oocytes because of their important role in oocyte growth and maturation. We also compared the effect of supplementing the maturation medium with bovine serum albumin (BSA) or oestrus mare serum (EMS). A total of 645 oocytes isolated from 158 and 154 ovaries collected during the breeding and the non-breeding season, respectively, were used in this study. Oocytes were matured for 30 h in TCM 199 supplemented either with 10% EMS or with 4 mg/ml BSA. The presence of permeable GJs between cumulus cells and oocytes was investigated with the injection of a 3% solution of the fluorescent dye Lucifer yellow into the ooplasm. No differences in efficiency of oocyte retrieval or oocyte meiotic competence were detected between oocytes collected during the breeding and non-breeding season. The vast majority (90%) of the oocytes collected during the breeding season had fully functional communications with their surrounding cumulus cells but such communications were completely interrupted in 55.3% of the oocytes collected during the non-breeding season. During the non-breeding season, the proportion of oocytes whose communications with cumulus cells were classified as closed or intermediate at the end of maturation was lower in the group matured with BSA than with EMS (71.4 vs 97.7, p < 0.05). The same trend, although not statistically significant, was observed during the breeding season also. The presence of BSA caused an incomplete cumulus expansion during both seasons. Our data indicate that oocytes collected during the non-breeding season do not show any meiotic deficiency but lack active communication with the surrounding cumulus cells at the time of their isolation from the ovary. No data are available at present for determining the consequences on the developmental competence even if data from other species suggest that this is likely. [source] Immediate Posttransplantation Cotrimoxazole-Induced Immune ThrombocytopeniaAMERICAN JOURNAL OF TRANSPLANTATION, Issue 4 2010R. Caluwé Drug-induced immune thrombocytopenia (DITP) can be caused by numerous drugs. When this condition develops, platelet destruction results from binding of antibodies to normal platelets only in the presence of a sensitizing drug. A recently proposed model suggests that these drug-dependent antibodies are derived from a pool of naturally occurring antibodies with weak affinity for specific epitopes on certain platelet membrane glycoproteins. We describe here a case of DITP secondary to cotrimoxazole exposure in the immediate posttransplantation phase in a renal transplant recipient. Apart from heparin-induced thrombocytopenia, DITP posttransplantation has to the best of our knowledge never been described, perhaps because of its immune-mediated origin. Our case demonstrates that DITP can occur posttransplantation, that cotrimoxazole due to its intensive use in the transplanted population is one of the most likely causative agents and that a timely recognition and treatment might have important consequences for both graft and patient. [source] Insurer and out-of-pocket costs of osteoarthritis in the US: Evidence from national survey dataARTHRITIS & RHEUMATISM, Issue 12 2009Harry Kotlarz Objective Osteoarthritis (OA) is a major debilitating disease affecting ,27 million persons in the US. Yet, the financial costs to patients and insurers remain poorly understood. The purpose of this study was to quantify by multivariate analyses the relationships between OA and annual health care expenditures borne by patients and insurers. Methods Data from the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey (MEPS) for the years 1996,2005 were used. MEPS is a large, nationally representative US database that includes information on health care expenditures, medical conditions, health insurance status, and sociodemographic characteristics. Individual and nationally aggregated cost estimates are provided. Results OA was found to contribute substantially to health care expenditures. Among women, OA increased out-of-pocket (OOP) expenditures by $1,379 per annum (2007 dollars) and insurer expenditures by $4,833. Among men, OA increased OOP expenditures by $694 per annum and insurer expenditures by $4,036. Given the high prevalence of OA, the aggregate effects on health care expenditures were very large. OA raised aggregate annual medical care expenditures by $185.5 billion. Of that amount, insurer expenditures were $149.4 billion and OOP expenditures were $36.1 billion. Because of the greater prevalence of OA in women and their more intensive use of health care, total expenditures for this group accounted for $118 billion, or almost two-thirds of the total increase in health care expenditures resulting from OA. Conclusion The health care cost burden associated with OA is quite large for all groups examined and is disproportionately higher for women. Although insurers bear the brunt of treatment costs for OA, the OOP costs are also substantial. [source] Ping-pong cross-validation in real space: a method for increasing the phasing power of a partial model without risk of model biasACTA CRYSTALLOGRAPHICA SECTION D, Issue 2 2003John F. Hunt Experimental phases could only be obtained to 4.4,Å resolution for crystals of the SecA translocation ATPase. Density modification of these phases exploiting the 65% solvent content of the crystal produced a map from which an approximate backbone model could be built for 80% of the structure. Combining the phases inferred from this partial model with the MIR phases and repeating the density modification produced an improved map from which a more complete backbone model could be built. However, this procedure converged before yielding a map, that allowed unambiguous sequence assignment for the majority of the protein molecule. In order to avoid the likely model bias associated with a speculative attempt at sequence assignment, a real-space cross-validation procedure was employed to facilitate completion of the crystal structure based on partial model phasing. The protein was partitioned into two disjoint sets of residues. Models in which the side chains were built for residues in one of the two sets were used for phase combination and density modification in order to produce improved electron density for interpretation of residues in the other set that had not been included in the model. Residues in the two sets were therefore omitted from the model in alternation except at sites where the side chain could be identified definitively based on phasing with the other set. This ping-pong cross-validation procedure allowed partial model phasing to be used to complete the crystal structure of SecA without being impeded by model bias. These results show that the structure of a large protein molecule can be solved with exclusively low-resolution experimental phase information based on intensive use of partial model phasing and density modification. Real-space cross-validation can be applied to reduce the risk of model bias associated with partial model phasing, streamlining this approach and expanding its range of applicability. [source] Exploring the interactions between flood defence maintenance works and river habitats: the use of River Habitat Survey dataAQUATIC CONSERVATION: MARINE AND FRESHWATER ECOSYSTEMS, Issue 6 2009Gemma L. Harvey Abstract 1.More extensive physical management of rivers in response to increasing flood risk, and action to improve the ecological quality of rivers represent two major, and potentially conflicting, challenges. 2.Improved understanding of the interactions between flood defence works and habitat structure must be achieved in order to satisfy both of these demands in the context of flood risk management and habitat improvement. 3.This paper examines the ,extensive' and ,intensive' use of data derived from a standardized method of assessing habitat character to explore the effects of flood risk maintenance works on river habitat quality. 4.Analysis of the UK River Habitat Survey (RHS) data set reveals some broad trends towards reduced habitat heterogeneity associated with recent flood defence works such as dredging and weed-cutting. 5.These observations correspond with published localized experimental work and suggest that the RHS database can be a useful resource for identifying relationships at relatively broad scales. 6.Applying the RHS methodology at finer spatial scales for sites experiencing continuing maintenance reveals contrasting results and highlights some key methodological issues; these include the availability and selection of high quality benchmark conditions, the legacy of past management, lag times associated with maintenance and recovery, and recording of marginal habitat features. 7.Small modifications to the RHS method could enable calculation of more detailed habitat indices while maintaining comparability with the national dataset. 8.If the issues identified in this paper can be addressed or accounted for, RHS could be an important tool for assessing the relationship between flood defence management and new statutory obligations for ecological improvement. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] | |||||||||||||