Australian Timber Pole Resources for Energy Networks. A review

More than 5 million timber utility poles are currently in-service throughout Australia’s energy networks. Most were produced from select native forest-grown hardwood species having the required structural characteristics and naturally-durable heartwood. Anecdotal evidence suggests that up to 70% of the timber poles that are currently in-service were installed over the 20 years following the end of World War Two, and these poles are likely to require replacement or remedial maintenance over the next decade. The purposes of this review were to clarify the supply and demand situation for traditional timber poles, and to investigate alternatives in terms of their potential availability and suitability.

The suitability of plantation thinnings as vineyard posts.

The aim of this project was to investigate the suitability of thinnings from a range of plantation species for use as vineyard posts. The hardwood plantation species examined were Eucalyptus grandis, E. globulus, E. pilularis, E. dunnii, E. cladocalyx and Corymbia maculata, while Acacia mearnsii was obtained from natural regrowth. The softwood plantation species were P. elliottii, P. radiata and Araucaria cunninghamii. Variables examined included: three air drying regimes; microwave conditioning of E. grandis and E. globulus; two preservative treatments for hardwoods (alkaline copper quaternary compound (ACQ) and pigment emulsified creosote (PEC)); and two preservative treatments for softwood species (ACQ and, for Pinus radiata copper chromium arsenic (CCA)). A further aim was to install treated posts in commercial vineyards for demonstration purposes. From an earlier trial of three hardwood species treated with PEC, demonstration posts previously installed were also to be inspected annually for three years, and any movement of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) from the posts monitored.

Organisational sustainability policies and employee green behaviour: The mediating role of work climate perceptions

Organisations are increasingly introducing sustainability policies to encourage environmentally friendly behaviours. Employees' green work climate perceptions (i.e., how they perceive their organisations' and co-workers' orientations towards environmental sustainability) may constitute psychological mechanisms that link such policies with behaviour. We present findings of a study on relationships among the perceived presence of organisational sustainability policies, green work climate perceptions and employee reports of their green behaviour (EGB). We hypothesised that green work climate perceptions mediate the positive relationship between employees' perceptions of the presence of a sustainability policy and EGB. Results based on data from 168 employees supported our hypotheses. Green work climate perceptions of the organisation and of co-workers differentially mediated the effects of the perceived presence of a sustainability policy on task-related and proactive EGB. These findings extend research on the efficacy of sustainability policies by shedding new light on the psychological mechanisms that link them with EGB.

On the importance of pro-environmental organizational climate for employee green behavior

In their call to action, Ones and Dilchert(2012) discuss several possible individual and some contextual determinants of employee green behavior that await examination by industrial and organizational I–O) psychologists. Although these authors briefly mentioned organizational climate, specifically ethical climate, as a potentially relevant predictor of green behaviors, they mostly emphasized the role of individual difference characteristics and traditional job performance determinants such as knowledge, skills, abilities, and other person factors (KSAOs).

Employee green behavior: A theoretical framework, multilevel review, and future research agenda

We propose a conceptual model based on person–environment interaction, job performance, and motivational theories to structure a multilevel review of the employee green behavior (EGB) literature and agenda for future research. We differentiate between required EGB prescribed by the organization and voluntary EGB performed at the employees’ discretion. The review investigates institutional-, organizational-, leader-, team-, and employee-level antecedents and outcomes of EGB and factors that mediate and moderate these relationships. We offer suggestions to facilitate the development of the field, and call for future research to adopt a multilevel perspective and to investigate the outcomes of EGB.

Pro-Environmental Organizational Culture and Climate

This chapter reviews the concepts of organizational culture and climate and applies them to environmental sustainability. Though culture and climate are often used interchangeably, the chapter identifies key distinctions between them and highlights how they can complement one another. The two concepts are used to discuss how the organizational context for environmental sustainability, and employee perceptions thereof, influence individual pro-environmental behavior. Organizational climate is integrated with a dynamic model of organizational culture to describe how pro-environmental cultures and climates emerge. The chapter also highlights how organizations with different motivations can create pro-environmental cultures and climates. The chapter uses the Sierra Nevada Brewing Company as an archetype of an organization with a pro-environmental culture and climate. In the course of the discussion, the chapter nominates several imperatives for research and recommendations for practice.

Probiotic Bacillus amyloliquefaciens Strain H57 Improves the Performance of Pregnant and Lactating Ewes Fed a Diet Based on Palm Kernel Meal

Probiotic supplements are single or mixed strain cultures of live microorganisms that benefit the host by improving the properties of the indigenous microflora (Seo et al 2010). In a pilot study at the University of Queensland, Norton et al (2008) found that Bacillus amyloliquefaciens Strain H57 (H57), primarily investigated as an inoculum to make high-quality hay, improved feed intake and nitrogen utilisation over several weeks in pregnant ewes. The purpose of the following study was to further challenge the potential of H57 -to show it survives the steam-pelleting process, and that it improves the performance of ewes fed pellets based on an agro-industrial by-product with a reputation for poor palatability, palm kernel meal (PKM), (McNeill 2013). Thirty-two first-parity White Dorper ewes (day 37 of pregnancy, mean liveweight = 47.3 kg, mean age = 15 months) were inducted into individual pens in the animal house at the University of Queensland, Gatton. They were adjusted onto PKM-based pellets (g/kg drymatter (DM): PKM, 408; sorghum, 430; chick pea hulls, 103; minerals and vitamins; Crude protein, 128; ME: 11.1MJ/kg DM) until day 89 of pregnancy and thereafter fed a predominately pelleted diet incorporating with or without H57 spores (10 9 colony forming units (cfu)/kg pellet, as fed), plus 100g/ewe/day oaten chaff, until day 7 of lactation. From day 7 to 20 of lactation the pelleted component of the diet was steadily reduced to be replaced by a 50:50 mix of lucerne: oaten chaff, fed ad libitum, plus 100g/ewe/day of ground sorghum grain with or without H57 (10 9 cfu/ewe/day). The period of adjustment in pregnancy (day 37-89) extended beyond expectations due to some evidence of mild ruminal acidosis after some initially high intakes that were followed by low intakes. During that time the diet was modified, in an attempt to improve palatability, by the addition of oaten chaff and the removal of an acidifying agent (NH4Cl) that was added initially to reduce the risk of urinary calculi. Eight ewes were removed due to inappetence, leaving 24 ewes to start the trial at day 90 of pregnancy. From day 90 of pregnancy until day 63 of lactation, liveweights of the ewes and their lambs were determined weekly and at parturition. Feed intakes of the ewes were determined weekly. Once lambing began, 1 ewe was removed as it gave birth to twin lambs (whereas the rest gave birth to a single lamb), 4 due to the loss of their lambs (2 to dystocia), and 1 due to copper toxicity. The PKM pellets were suspected to be the cause of the copper toxicity and so were removed in early lactation. Hence, the final statistical analysis using STATISTICA 8 (Repeated measures ANOVA for feed intake, One-way ANOVA for liveweight change and birth weight) was completed on 23 ewes for the pregnancy period (n = 11 fed H57; n = 12 control), and 18 ewes or lambs for the lactation period (n = 8 fed H57; n = 10 control). From day 90 of pregnancy until parturition the H57 supplemented ewes ate 17 more DM (g/day: 1041 vs 889, sed = 42.4, P = 0.04) and gained more liveweight (g/day: 193 vs 24.0, sed = 25.4, P = 0.0002), but produced lambs with a similar birthweight (kg: 4.18 vs 3.99, sed = 0.19, P = 0.54). Over the 63 days of lactation the H57 ewes ate similar amounts of DM but grew slower than the control ewes (g/day: 1.5 vs 97.0, sed = 21.7, P = 0.012). The lambs of the H57 ewes grew faster than those of the control ewes for the first 21 days of lactation (g/day: 356 vs 265, sed = 16.5, P = 0.006). These data support the findings of Norton et al (2008) and Kritas et al (2006) that certain Bacillus spp. supplements can improve the performance of pregnant and lactating ewes. In the current study we particularly highlighted the capacity of H57 to stimulate immature ewes to continue to grow maternal tissue through pregnancy, possibly through an enhanced appetite, which appeared then to stimulate a greater capacity to partition nutrients to their lambs through milk, at least for the first few weeks of lactation, a critical time for optimising lamb survival. To conclude, H57 can survive the steam pelleting process to improve feed intake and maternal liveweight gain in late pregnancy, and performance in early lactation, of first-parity ewes fed a diet based on PKM.

Response to deep placed P, K and S in central Queensland

Two field experiments were established in central Queensland at Capella and Gindie to investigate the immediate and then residual benefit of deep placed (20 cm) nutrients in this opportunity cropping system. The field sites had factorial combinations of P (40 kg P/ha), K (200 kg K/ha) and S (40 kg S/ha) and all plots received 100 kg N/ha. No further K or S fertilizers were added during the experiment but some crops had starter P. The Capella site was sown to chickpea in 2012, wheat in 2013 and then chickpea in 2014. The Gindie site was sown to sorghum in 2011/12, chickpea in 2013 and sorghum in early 2015. There were responses to P alone in the first two crops at each site and there were K responses in half the six site years. In year 1 (a good year) both sites showed a 20% grain yield response to only to deep P. In year 2 (much drier) the effects of deep P were still evident at both sites and the effects of K were clearly evident at Gindie. There was a suggestion of an additive P+K effect at Capella and a 50% increase for P+K at Gindie. Year 3 was dry and chickpeas at Capella showed a larger response to P+K but the sorghum at Gindie only responded to deep K. These results indicate that responses to deep placed P and K are durable over an opportunity cropping system, and meeting both requirements is important to achieve yield responses.

Strategiapuhe : Todellisuutta, toimijuutta ja menestystä käsittelevät diskurssit yritysstrategiakirjallisuudessa

Tässä pro gradu -tutkielmassa selvitetään suomalaisessa yrityselämässä vaikuttavien yhdysvaltalaisten strategiakirjojen maailmankuvaa, ihmiskäsitystä ja arvokkaina pidettyjä päämääriä. Lähtöoletuksena on, että strategiakirjat sekä kuvaavat että tuottavat organisaatioiden johtamista, kulttuuria ja ajattelutapoja. Tutkielman lähdeaineistona on käytetty suomalaisten strategia-asiantuntijoiden arvioiden mukaan yrityselämässä luetuimpia ja vaikutusvaltaisimpia strategiakirjoja. Lähdekirjat ovat ilmestymisjärjestyksessä Strategia kilpailutilanteessa (Porter), Vallankumouksen kärjessä (Hamel), Hyvästä paras (Collins), Strategiakartat (Kaplan ja Norton) ja Sinisen meren strategia (Kim ja Mauborgne). Tutkielman ensisijainen metodi on käsiteanalyysi. Tutkielman nimi, Strategiapuhe, viittaa lähdekirjoissa esiintyviin diskursseihin eli puhetapoihin. Tutkimuskysymyksiä on kolme: Minkälainen on strategisen johtamisen maailmankuva ja käsitys todellisuudesta? Mitkä ovat strategiaoppien mukaan yritysten keskeiset toimijaryhmät ja mikä on heidän suhteensa strategiaan? Mikä on strategian tarkoitus ja mitä keinoja tarkoituksen toteuttamiseksi lähdeteoksissa tarjotaan? Tutkielma jakautuu johdannon ja loppukatsauksen lisäksi kolmeen päälukuun. Johdannon alussa esitellään strategian käsitettä ja historiaa. Strategia-ajattelun kehityskaaren ymmärtäminen selittää lähdeteoksiksi valittujen strategiakirjojen diskursiivista sisältöä. Ensimmäisessä pääluvussa tarkastellaan strategisen johtamisen maailmankuvaa ja todellisuuskäsitystä viiden lähdekirjoissa keskeisen käsitteen avulla. Nämä käsitteet ovat toimiala, motivaatio, oikeudenmukaisuus, arvo ja kulttuuri. Toisessa pääluvussa selvitetään lähdekirjojen ihmiskäsitystä ja toimijuuden jakautumista neljän keskeisen ihmisryhmän, omistajien, johtajien, työntekijöiden ja asiakkaiden, kesken. Strategiakirjallisuuden diskursseissa hämärretään nelijakoista toimijuuskäsitystä puhumalla yrityksistä itsenäisinä toimijoina. Kolmannessa pääluvussa analysoidaan lähdekirjojen käsitystä strategialla tavoiteltavasta menestyksestä sekä keinoja, joiden kerrotaan johtavan taloudelliseen menestykseen. Luvussa analysoitavat lähdekirjojen käsitteet ovat kilpailu, kasvu, prosessi, laatu, kehitys johdannaiskäsitteineen, laatu, innovaatiot ja riskit. Strategiakirjallisuuden keskeisin arvo on omistajalähtöisyys eli pyrkimys lisätä yrityksen taloudellista osakkeiden arvoa. Lähdeteosten maailmankuva, toimijat ja arvot asetetaan palvelemaan välineellisesti omistajien taloudellisen menestyksen päämäärää. Strategiakirjallisuus on luonteeltaan ratkaisukeskeistä ja monistista. Strategiadiskursseille on tyypillistä, että niissä määritellään oikeat organisaation ongelmat ja tarjotaan niihin ratkaisu, strategia.

Power Flow Analysis in MTDC-AC System—A New Approach

This paper presents a new approach to the power flow analysis in steady state for multiterminal DC-AC systems. A flexible and practical choice of per unit system is used to formulate the DC network and converter equations. A converter is represented by Norton's equivalent of a current source in parallel with the commutation resistance. Unlike in previous literature, the DC network equations are used to derive the controller equations for the DC system using a subset of specifications. The specifications considered are current or power at all terminals except the slack terminal where the DC voltage is specified. The control equations are solved by Newton's method, using the current injections at the converter terminals as state variables. Further, a systematic approach to the handling of constraints is proposed by identifying the priorities in rescheduling of the specified variables. The methodology is illustrated by example of a 5 terminal DC system.

Distinct Disulfide Isomers of mu-Conotoxins KIIIA and KIIIB Block Voltage-Gated Sodium Channels

In the preparation of synthetic conotoxins containing multiple disulfide bonds, oxidative folding can produce numerous permutations of disulfide bond connectivities. Establishing the native disulfide connectivities thus presents a significant challenge when the venom-derived peptide is not available, as is increasingly the case when conotoxins are identified from cDNA sequences. Here, we investigate the disulfide connectivity of mu-conotoxin KIIIA, which was predicted originally to have a C1-C9,C2-C15,C4-C16] disulfide pattern based on homology with closely related mu-conotoxins. The two major isomers of synthetic mu-KIIIA formed during oxidative folding were purified and their disulfide connectivities mapped by direct mass spectrometric collision-induced dissociation fragmentation of the disulfide-bonded polypeptides. Our results show that the major oxidative folding product adopts a C1-C15,C2-C9,C4-C16] disulfide connectivity, while the minor product adopts a C1-C16,C2-C9,C4-C15] connectivity. Both of these peptides were potent blockers of Na(v)1.2 (K-d values of 5 and 230 nM, respectively). The solution structure for mu-KIIIA based on nuclear magnetic resonance data was recalculated with the C1-C15,C2-C9,C4-C16] disulfide pattern; its structure was very similar to the mu-KIIIA structure calculated with the incorrect C1-C9,C2-C15,C4-C16] disulfide pattern, with an alpha-helix spanning residues 7-12. In addition, the major folding isomers of mu-KIIIB, an N-terminally extended isoform of mu-KIIIA, identified from its cDNA sequence, were isolated. These folding products had the same disulfide connectivities as mu-KIIIA, and both blocked Na(v)1.2 (K-d values of 470 and 26 nM, respectively). Our results establish that the preferred disulfide pattern of synthetic mu-KIIIA and mu-KIIIB folded in vitro is 1-5/2-4/3-6 but that other disulfide isomers are also potent sodium channel blockers. These findings raise questions about the disulfide pattern(s) of mu-KIIIA in the venom of Conus kinoshitai; indeed, the presence of multiple disulfide isomers in the venom could provide a means of further expanding the snail's repertoire of active peptides.

Mammalian neuronal sodium channel Blocker mu-conotoxin BuIIIB has a structured N-terminus that influences potency

Among the mu-conotoxins that block vertebrate voltage-gated sodium channels (VGSCs), some have been shown to be potent analgesics following systemic administration in mice. We have determined the solution structure of a new representative of this family, mu-BuIIIB, and established its disulfide connectivities by direct mass spectrometric collision induced dissociation fragmentation of the peptide with disulfides intact The major oxidative folding product adopts a 1-4/2-5/3-6 pattern with the following disulfide bridges: Cys5-Cys17, Cys6-Cys23, and Cys13-Cys24. The solution structure reveals that the unique N-terminal extension in mu-BuIIIB, which is also present in mu-BuIIIA and mu-BuIIIC but absent in other mu-conotoxins, forms part of a short a-helix encompassing Glu3 to Asn8. This helix is packed against the rest of the toxin and stabilized by the Cys5-Cys17 and Cys6-Cys23 disulfide bonds. As such, the side chain of Val1 is located close to the aromatic rings of Trp16 and His20, which are located on the canonical helix that displays several residues found to be essential for VGSC blockade in related mu-conotoxins. Mutations of residues 2 and 3 in the N-terminal extension enhanced the potency of mu-BuIIIB for Na(v)1.3. One analogue, D-Ala2]BuIIIB, showed a 40-fold increase, making it the most potent peptide blocker of this channel characterized to date and thus a useful new tool with which to characterize this channel. On the basis of previous results for related mu-conotoxins, the dramatic effects of mutations at the N-terminus were unanticipated and suggest that further gains in potency might be achieved by additional modifications of this region.

Vérmenes gastrointestinales en Gallus gallus familia doméstica y su control con Neem (azadirachta indica, A. Juss) y Madero negro (Gliricidia sepium)

El presente trabajo se llevó a cabo con el propósito de determinar la fauna de vérmenes parásitos gastrointestinales y su control en gallinas de patio, en las condiciones climático ecológicas del municipio de El Sauce, León. Para el control de los parásitos se utilizaron productos botánicos. Se realizaron muestreos en dos épocas del año (seca y lluvíosa) y dos categorías (pollos y gallinas adultas). La muestra estuvo constituida por 200 animales. El tamaño de las sub-muestras fue de 50 animales por categoria y por epoca. Para la identificacion de los parasitos se uso la helmintologia de Ruff y Norton (1984)Reid y Mac Deugald (1984)Ach y Orichel (1987)EL examen post- morten se realizó de acuerdo a la metodología de Fowler ( 1990). Durante el desarrollo del experimento se identificaron I5 especies de helmintos gastrointestinales. La medía de parásitos, en la categoría de gallina en la época lluvia fue de 4.46 (:t 10.41), y en la época de seca 5.87 (:1: 13.59). En la categoría de pollo, en la época de lluviosa, la media fue de 10.6 (±17.12) y en la época de seca 12.04 (:t 25.6). Los parásitos gastrointestinales de mayor prevalencia independientemente de la categoría y de la época del año fueron los nematodes: Ascaridia galli, Heterakis gallinarum, Tetramere americana; y el cestode Railletina tetragona.Los cestodes Railletina williansi, Hymenolepis cantaniana tienen mayor aparición en época lluviosa .. Al relacionar la prevalencia e intensidad de los parásitos gastrointestinales entre épocas y categorías, se observó mayor aparición durante la época seca que en la epoca lluviosa y más en pollos que en gallinas. Las soluciones acuosas de Neem y madero negro tienen efecto signíficativo en el control de los parásitos gastrointestinales, al igual que el producto químico Amebendazol.

PICES-GLOBEC International Program on Climate Change and Carrying Capacity: Report of 2001 BASS/MODEL, MONITOR and REX Workshops, and the 2002 MODEL/REX Workshop

Table of Contents [pdf, 0.22 Mb] Executive Summary [pdf, 0.31 Mb] Report of the 2001 BASS/MODEL Workshop [pdf, 0.65 Mb] To review ecosystem models for the subarctic gyres Report of the 2001 MONITOR Workshop [pdf, 0.7 Mb] To review ecosystem models for the subarctic gyres Workshop presentations: Sonia D. Batten PICES Continuous Plankton Recorder pilot project Phillip R. Mundy GEM (Exxon Valdez Oil Spill Trustee Council`s "Gulf Ecosystem Monitoring" initiative) and U.S. GOOS plans in the North Pacific Ron McLaren and Brian O`Donnell A proposal for a North Pacific Action group of the international Data Buoy Cooperation Panel Gilberto Gaxiola-Castrol and Sila Najera-Martinez The Mexican oceanographic North Pacific program: IMECOCAL Sydney Levitus Building global ocean profile and plankton databases for scientific research Report of the 2001 REX Workshop [pdf, 1.73 Mb] On temporal variations in size-at-age for fish species in coastal areas around the Pacific Rim Workshop presentations: Brian J. Pyper, Randall M. Peterman, Michael F. Lapointe and Carl J. Walters [pdf, 0.33 Mb] Spatial patterns of covariation in size-at-age of British Columbia and Alaska sockeye salmon stocks and effects of abundance and ocean temperature R. Bruce MacFarlane, Steven Ralston, Chantell Royer and Elizabeth C. Norton [pdf, 0.4 Mb] Influences of the 1997-1998 El Niño and 1999 La Niña on juvenile Chinook salmon in the Gulf of the Farallones Olga S. Temnykh and Sergey L. Marchenko [pdf, 0.5 Mb] Variability of the pink salmon sizes in relation with abundance of Okhotsk Sea stocks Ludmila A. Chernoivanova, Alexander N. Vdoven and D.V. Antonenko [pdf, 0.3 Mb] The characteristic growth rate of herring in Peter the Great Bay (Japan/East Sea) Nikolay I. Naumenko [pdf, 0.5 Mb] Temporal variations in size-at-age of the western Bering Sea herring Evelyn D. Brown [pdf, 0.45 Mb] Effects of climate on Pacific herring, Clupea pallasii, in the northern Gulf of Alaska and Prince William Sound, Alaska Jake Schweigert, Fritz Funk, Ken Oda and Tom Moore [pdf, 0.6 Mb] Herring size-at-age variation in the North Pacific Ron W. Tanasichuk [pdf, 0.3 Mb] Implications of variation in euphausiid productivity for the growth, production and resilience of Pacific herring (Clupea pallasi) from the southwest coast of Vancouver Island Chikako Watanabe, Ahihiko Yatsu and Yoshiro Watanabe [pdf, 0.3 Mb] Changes in growth with fluctuation of chub mackerel abundance in the Pacific waters off central Japan from 1970 to 1997 Yoshiro Watanabe, Yoshiaki Hiyama, Chikako Watanabe and Shiro Takayana [pdf, 0.35 Mb] Inter-decadal fluctuations in length-at-age of Hokkaido-Sakhalin herring and Japanese sardine in the Sea of Japan Pavel A. Balykin and Alexander V. Buslov [pdf, 0.4 Mb] Long-term variability in length of walley pollock in the western Bering Sea and east Kamchtka Alexander A. Bonk [pdf, 0.4 Mb] Effect of population abundance increase on herring distribution in the western Bering Sea Sergey N. Tarasyuk [pdf, 0.4 Mb] Survival of yellowfin sole (Limanda aspera Pallas) in the northern part of the Tatar Strait (Sea of Japan) during the second half of the 20th century Report of the 2002 MODEL/REX Workshop [pdf, 1.2 Mb] To develop a marine ecosystem model of the North Pacific Ocean including pelagic fishes Summary and Overview [pdf, 0.4 Mb] Workshop presentations: Bernard A. Megrey, Kenny Rose, Francisco E. Werner, Robert A. Klumb and Douglas E. Hay [pdf, 0.47 Mb] A generalized fish bioenergetics/biomass model with an application to Pacific herring Robert A. Klumb [pdf, 0.34 Mb] Review of Clupeid biology with emphasis on energetics Douglas E. Hay [pdf, 0.47 Mb] Reflections of factors affecting size-at-age and strong year classes of herring in the North Pacific Shin-ichi Ito, Yutaka Kurita, Yoshioki Oozeki, Satoshi Suyama, Hiroya Sugisaki and Yongjin Tian [pdf, 0.34 Mb] Review for Pacific saury (Cololabis saira) study under the VENFISH project lexander V. Leonov and Gennady A. Kantakov [pdf, 0.34 Mb] Formalization of interactions between chemical and biological compartments in the mathematical model describing the transformation of nitrogen, phosphorus, silicon and carbon compounds Herring group report and model results [pdf, 0.34 Mb] Saury group report and model results [pdf, 0.46 Mb] Model experiments and hypotheses Recommendations [pdf, 0.4 Mb] Achievements and future steps Acknowledgements [pdf, 0.29 Mb] References [pdf, 0.32 Mb] Appendix 1. List of Participants [pdf, 0.32 Mb] Appendices 2-5. FORTRAN codes [pdf, 0.4 Mb] (Document pdf contains 182 pages)

Presio ultzeren agerpen arriskua: Iritzi klinikoa eta balorazio eskalen arteko konparaketa

Presio ultzerak osasun publikoaren arazo bat dira, asaldura fisiko, psikologiko, ekonomiko eta sozial asko eragiten dituztelako. Ultzerak tratatzeko hainbat modu ezagutzen dira, baina argi dago tratamendu onena prebentzioa dela. Haien agerpena saihesteko ezinbestekoa da ultzera bat pairatzeko arriskua baloratzea. Hau egiteko profesionalek iritzi edo epaiketa klinikoa erabili dezakete (haien esperientziaren bitartez ultzera begi bistaz baloratu) edo eskala protokolizatuak erabili ditzakete. Lan honetan, berrikuspen bibliografiko baten bitartez, gehien erabiltzen diren balorazio eskalei buruzko informazioa lortu da. Beste aldetik, iritzi klinikoaren eta balorazio eskalen eraginkortasun klinikoa konparatu da. Azkenik, eskalak euren artean konparatu dira, bakoitzaren ezaugarriak aztertuz. Eskala asko argitaratu egin dira denboran zehar baina gehien balioztatuak eta erabilienak bost dira: Braden, Norton, EMINA, Waterlow eta Cubbin-Jackson. Eskalen artean Braden eta Norton dira eraginkorrenak (hurrenez hurren), Waterlow postu baxuago batean geratuz. EMINA gutxiago erabiltzen da, baina bere eraginkortasuna Braden-en antzekoa da. Dena den, hau baieztatzeko ikerketa gehiago behar dira. Cubbin-Jackson oso eraginkorra da ere baina bere erabilpena paziente akutuetan bereizita dago. Eskalen harrera profesionalen partetik nahiko ona izan da. Haien erabilpena erraza dela diote gehienek, eta ia erdiek metodo hau erabiltzen dute arriskua baloratzeko. %20ak epaiketa eta eskalak batera erabiltzen dituzte, eskalei garrantzia handiena emanez. Frogatu izan da eskalek epaiketa klinikoarekin konparatuz sentsibilitate altuagoa daukatela, hau da, arriskuan dauden paziente kopuru gehiago detektatuko dituztela, nahiz eta bi metodoen efikazia antzekoa izan. Eskalek beraz, faktore gehiago kontuan hartu eta pazientea modu zehatzago batean aztertzen dute. Orokorrean esan daiteke eskalak eraginkorrak direla baina ikerketa gehiago behar dira balidazio sakonago bat egiteko.