How does reviewing the evidence change veterinary surgeons' beliefs regarding the treatment of ovine footrot? A quantitative and qualitative study

Footrot is a widespread, infectious cause of lameness in sheep, with major economic and welfare costs. The aims of this research were: (i) to quantify how veterinary surgeons’ beliefs regarding the efficacy of two treatments for footrot changed following a review of the evidence (ii) to obtain a consensus opinion following group discussions (iii) to capture complementary qualitative data to place their beliefs within a broader clinical context. Grounded in a Bayesian statistical framework, probabilistic elicitation (roulette method) was used to quantify the beliefs of eleven veterinary surgeons during two one-day workshops. There was considerable heterogeneity in veterinary surgeons’ beliefs before they listened to a review of the evidence. After hearing the evidence, seven participants quantifiably changed their beliefs. In particular, two participants who initially believed that foot trimming with topical oxytetracycline was the better treatment, changed to entirely favour systemic and topical oxytetracycline instead. The results suggest that a substantial amount of the variation in beliefs related to differences in veterinary surgeons’ knowledge of the evidence. Although considerable differences in opinion still remained after the evidence review, with several participants having non-overlapping 95% credible intervals, both groups did achieve a consensus opinion. Two key findings from the qualitative data were: (i) veterinary surgeons believed that farmers are unlikely to actively seek advice on lameness, suggesting a proactive veterinary approach is required (ii) more attention could be given to improving the way in which veterinary advice is delivered to farmers. In summary this study has: (i) demonstrated a practical method for probabilistically quantifying how veterinary surgeons’ beliefs change (ii) revealed that the evidence that currently exists is capable of changing veterinary opinion (iii) suggested that improved transfer of research knowledge into veterinary practice is needed (iv) identified some potential obstacles to the implementation of veterinary advice by farmers

Color and stellar population gradients in galaxies. Correlation with mass

We analyze the color gradients (CGs) of ~50000 nearby SDSS galaxies. From synthetic spectral models based on a simplified star formation recipe, we derive the mean spectral properties, and explain the observed radial trends of the color as gradients of the stellar population age and metallicity (Z). The most massive ETGs (M_* > 10^{11} Msun) have shallow CGs in correspondence of shallow (negative) Z gradients. In the stellar mass range 10^(10.3-10.5) < M_* < 10^(11) Msun, the Z gradients reach their minimum of ~ -0.5 dex^{-1}. At M_* ~ 10^{10.3-10.5} Msun, color and Z gradient slopes suddenly change. They turn out to anti-correlate with the mass, becoming highly positive at the very low masses. We have also found that age gradients anti-correlate with Z gradients, as predicted by hierarchical cosmological simulations for ETGs. On the other side, LTGs have gradients which systematically decrease with mass (and are always more negative than in ETGs), consistently with the expectation from gas infall and SN feedback scenarios. Z is found to be the main driver of the trend of color gradients, especially for LTGs, but age gradients are not negligible and seem to play a significant role too. We have been able to highlight that older galaxies have systematically shallower age and Z gradients than younger ones. Our results for high-mass galaxies are in perfect agreement with predictions based on the merging scenario, while the evolution of LTGs and younger and less massive ETGs seems to be mainly driven by infall and SN feedback. (Abridged)Comment: 20 pages, 16 figures, accepted for publication on MNRAS. This version includes revisions after the referee's report

Participatory instructional redesign by students and teachers in secondary education: effects on perceptions of instruction

Könings, K. D., Brand-Gruwel, S., & Van Merriënboer, J. J. G. (2011). Participatory instructional redesign by students and teachers in secondary education: effects on perceptions of instruction. Instructional Science, 39(5), 737–762.Students’ perceptions of instruction are important because they direct the learning of students. The fact that teachers have only limited knowledge of these perceptions is likely to threaten the effectiveness of learning, because congruence between interpretations of an instructional intervention is necesarry for its optimal use. This study examines participatory design as a strategy for taking student perceptions into account in instructional re/design. Participatory design meetings of groups of teachers and seven co-designing students in a secondary education setting identified changes to improve the regular education process. The results on changes in student perceptions, perceived-desired discrepancy, and teacher-student disagreement showed some improvement for the co-designers but, unexpectedly, limited or even negative effects for the non-co-designing students. Possible causes are discussed. Participatory design seems to have potential for improving education, but further research is needed

Guiding principles for the development and application of solid-phase phosphorus adsorbents for freshwater ecosystems

While a diverse array of phosphorus (P)-adsorbent materials is currently available for application to freshwater aquatic systems, selection of the most appropriate P-adsorbents remains problematic. In particular, there has to be a close correspondence between attributes of the P-adsorbent, its field performance, and the management goals for treatment. These management goals may vary from a rapid reduction in dissolved P to address seasonal enrichments from internal loading, targeting external fluxes due to anthropogenic sources, or long term inactivation of internal P inventories contained within bottom sediments. It also remains a challenge to develop new methods and materials that are ecologically benign and cost-effective. We draw on evidence in the literature and the authors’ personal experiences in the field, to summarise the attributes of a range of P-adsorbent materials. We offer 'guiding principles' to support practical use of existing materials and outline key development needs for new materials

Forest biodiversity, ecosystem functioning and the provision of ecosystem services

Forests are critical habitats for biodiversity and they are also essential for the provision of a wide range of ecosystem services that are important to human well-being. There is increasing evidence that biodiversity contributes to forest ecosystem functioning and the provision of ecosystem services. Here we provide a review of forest ecosystem services including biomass production, habitat provisioning services, pollination, seed dispersal, resistance to wind storms, fire regulation and mitigation, pest regulation of native and invading insects, carbon sequestration, and cultural ecosystem services, in relation to forest type, structure and diversity. We also consider relationships between forest biodiversity and multifunctionality, and trade-offs among ecosystem services. We compare the concepts of ecosystem processes, functions and services to clarify their definitions. Our review of published studies indicates a lack of empirical studies that establish quantitative and causal relationships between forest biodiversity and many important ecosystem services. The literature is highly skewed; studies on provisioning of nutrition and energy, and on cultural services, delivered by mixed-species forests are under-represented. Planted forests offer ample opportunity for optimising their composition and diversity because replanting after harvesting is a recurring process. Planting mixed-species forests should be given more consideration as they are likely to provide a wider range of ecosystem services within the forest and for adjacent land uses. This review also serves as the introduction to this special issue of Biodiversity and Conservation on various aspects of forest biodiversity and ecosystem services

Serum uri acid: neuroprotection in thrombolysis. The Bergen NORSTROKE study

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>A possible synergic role of serum uric acid (SUA) with thrombolytic therapies is controversial and needs further investigations. We therefore evaluated association of admission SUA with clinical improvement and clinical outcome in patients receiving rt-PA, early admitted patients not receiving rt-PA, and patients admitted after time window for rt-PA.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>SUA levels were obtained at admission and categorized as low, middle and high, based on 33° and 66° percentile values. Patients were categorized as patients admitted within 3 hours of symptom onset receiving rt-PA (rt-PA group), patients admitted within 3 hours of symptom onset not receiving rt-PA (non-rt-PA group), and patients admitted after time window for rt-PA (late group). Short-term clinical improvement was defined as the difference between NIHSS on admission minus NIHSS day 7. Favorable outcome was defined as mRS 0 - 3 and unfavorable outcome as mRS 4 - 6.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>SUA measurements were available in 1136 patients. Clinical improvement was significantly higher in patients with high SUA levels at admission. After adjustment for possible confounders, SUA level showed a positive correlation with clinical improvement (r = 0.012, 95% CI 0.002-0.022, p = 0.02) and was an independent predictor for favorable stroke outcome (OR 1.004; 95% CI 1.0002-1.009; p = 0.04) only in the rt-PA group.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>SUA may not be neuroprotective alone, but may provide a beneficial effect in patients receiving thrombolysis.</p

The barriers and facilitators influencing the sustainability of hospital-based interventions: a systematic review

Acknowledgements University of Stirling for providing financial support for open access costs Funding This review was funded by the Chief Scientist Office, grant number GCA/17/26. JC, PC and EAD are employed by the Nursing, Midwifery and Allied Health Professions Research Unit, which is funded by the Chief Scientist Office in Scotland.Peer reviewedPublisher PD