Serial superficial digital flexor tendon biopsies for diagnosing and monitoring collagenase-induced tendonitis in horses

The purpose of this investigation was to demonstrate the feasibility of a biopsy technique by performing serial evaluations of tissue samples of the forelimb superficial digital flexor tendon (SDFT) in healthy horses and in horses subjected to superficial digital flexor tendonitis induction. Eight adult horses were evaluated in two different phases (P), control (P1) and tendonitis-induced (P2). At P1, the horses were subjected to five SDFT biopsies of the left forelimb, with 24 hours (h) of interval. Clinical and ultrasonographic (US) examinations were performed immediately before the tendonitis induction, 24 and 48 h after the procedure. The biopsied tendon tissues were analyzed through histology. P2 evaluations were carried out three months later, when the same horses were subjected to tendonitis induction by injection of bacterial collagenase into the right forelimb SDFT. P2 clinical and US evaluations, and SDFT biopsies were performed before, and after injury induction at the following time intervals: after 24, 48, 72 and 96 h, and after 15, 30, 60, 90, 120 and 150 days. The biopsy technique has proven to be easy and quick to perform and yielded good tendon samples for histological evaluation. At P1 the horses did not show signs of localised inflammation, pain or lameness, neither SDFT US alterations after biopsies, showing that the biopsy procedure per se did not risk tendon integrity. Therefore, this procedure is feasible for routine tendon histological evaluations. The P2 findings demonstrate a relation between the US and histology evaluations concerning induced tendonitis evolution. However, the clinical signs of tendonitis poorly reflected the microscopic tissue condition, indicating that clinical presentation is not a reliable parameter for monitoring injury development. The presented method of biopsying SDFT tissue in horses enables the serial collection of material for histological analysis causing no clinical signs and tendon damage seen by US images. Therefore, this technique allows tendonitis to be monitored and can be considered an excellent tool in protocols for evaluating SDFT injury.

Suscetibilidade antimicrobiana de Staphylococcus spp. isolados de cães com pioderma superficial

Foram obtidas 154 amostras de lesões cutâneas de cães com pioderma superficial atendidos no Serviço de Dermatologia Veterinária do Hospital Veterinário Universitário (HVU) da Universidade Federal de Santa Maria (UFSM), com o objetivo de determinar a suscetibilidade antimicrobiana de isolados de Staphylococcus spp. e avaliar a presença de multirresistência. Após isolamento e identificação, as cepas foram submetidas ao teste de sensibilidade aos antimicrobianos, cujos resultados evidenciaram menores percentuais de resistência à associação amoxicilina e ácido clavulânico (1,9%), cefadroxil (1,9%), cefalexina (1,9%) e vancomicina (0,6%). Os maiores percentuais de resistência foram frente à amoxicilina (60,4%) e penicilina G (60,4%). A multirresistência foi detectada em 23,4% e a resistência à meticilina em 5,8% das amostras. Pode-se concluir que os isolados de Staphylococcus spp. apresentam elevada suscetibilidade aos antimicrobianos comumente utilizados no tratamento dos piodermas superficiais em cães atendidos no HVU-UFSM, como a cefalexina e a amoxicilina associada ao ácido clavulânico, confirmando a eleição desses fármacos para o tratamento de cães com esta afecção. A suscetibilidade diminuída das cepas frente às fluoroquinolonas, também recomendadas pela literatura para o tratamento de pioderma, permite sugerir que estes fármacos não devem mais ser considerados na seleção empírica. A identificação de Staphylococcus spp. multirresistentes na população canina estudada justifica análises bacteriológicas periódicas e regionais de lesões cutâneas de cães com pioderma superficial, a fim de minimizar a seleção de bactérias resistentes, possíveis falhas terapêuticas e também motiva a antimicrobianoterapia prudente.

An experimental/numerical study of the turbulent boundary layer development along a surface with a sudden change in roughness

A theory for the description of turbulent boundary layer flows over surfaces with a sudden change in roughness is considered. The theory resorts to the concept of displacement in origin to specify a wall function boundary condition for a kappa-epsilon model. An approximate algebraic expression for the displacement in origin is obtained from the experimental data by using the chart method of Perry and Joubert(J.F.M., vol. 17, pp. 193-122, 1963). This expression is subsequently included in the near wall logarithmic velocity profile, which is then adopted as a boundary condition for a kappa-epsilon modelling of the external flow. The results are compared with the lower atmospheric observations made by Bradley(Q. J. Roy. Meteo. Soc., vol. 94, pp. 361-379, 1968) as well as with velocity profiles extracted from a set of wind tunnel experiments carried out by Avelino et al.( 7th ENCIT, 1998). The measurements are found to be in good agreement with the theoretical computations. The skin-friction coefficient was calculated according to the chart method of Perry and Joubert(J.F.M., vol. 17, pp. 193-122, 1963) and to a balance of the integral momentum equation. In particular, the growth of the internal boundary layer thickness obtained from the numerical simulation is compared with predictions of the experimental data calculated by two methods, the "knee" point method and the "merge" point method.

Building Next Generation Consortium Services – part 1: Background for Change

Kristiina Hormia-Poutasen esitys CBUC-konferenssissa Barcelonassa 12.4.2013.

Efeitos de surfatantes sobre a tensão superficial e a área de molhamento de soluções de glyphosate sobre folhas de tiririca

Com o objetivo de avaliar a eficiência da agregação de surfatantes ao herbicida glyphosate analisou-se a tensão superficial de diferentes soluções de pulverização contendo o hebicida e o surfatante, e a área de molhamento destas soluções nas folhas de Cyperus rotundus L.. Foram desenvolvidos métodos para avaliação da tensão superficial e da área de molhamento. Para analisar a tensão fez-se pesagens das gotas formadas na extremidade de uma bureta, com os seguintes tratamentos combinados de forma fatorial (3 x 5 x 11): 3 surfatantes (Extravon, Aterbane e Silwet L-77), 5 concentrações do herbicida, produto comercial Roundup (0; 1; 2; 3,5 e 5 %) e 11 concentrações de cada surfatantes (0; 0,005; 0,01; 0,02; 0,05; 0,1; 0,2; 0,5; 1; 2 e 3,5 %), num total de 165 tratamentos. Para avaliar a área de molhamento nas folhas de tiririca aplicou-se gotas de 0,48 .l. Os dados foram ajustados pelo modelo de Mitscherlich e, observou-se que para o surfatante Extravon que a eficiência decrescia gradativamente a medida em que aumentava a concentração do herbicida; para o Aterbane a eficiência foi reduzida apenas em baixas concentrações; já o surfatante Silwet L-77 apresentou eficiência bem superior aos demais e sua eficiência foi pouco alterada com a adição herbicida. Houve uma correlação positiva entre área de molhamento e tensão superficial. Concluiu-se, ainda, que não basta um surfatante reduzir a tensão superficial da água destilada, para que possa ser recomendado seu uso agrícola, assim, o surfatante deve ser submetido a testes preliminares com os defensivos em que serão conjugados para posterior recomendação.

Accounting for competition, governance and accountability during institutional change in not-for-profit and public sector organisations

Purpose The aim of this thesis1 is to analyse theoretically how institutionalisation of competitive tendering2, governance and budgetary policies cannot be taken for granted to lead to accountability among institutional actors3. The nature of an institutionalised management accounting policy, its relevance as a source of power in organisational decision making, and in negotiating inter-organisational relationships, are also analysed. Practical motivation The practical motivation of the thesis is to show how practitioners and policy makers can institutionalise changes which improve the power of management accounting and control systems4 as a mechanism of accountability among institutional actors and in negotiating relationships with other organisations. Theoretical motivation and conceptual approach The theoretical motivation of the thesis is to extend the institutional framework of management accounting change proposed by Burns and Scapens (2000) by using the theories of critical realism, communicative action, negotiated order and the framework of circuits of power. The Burns and Scapens framework needs further theorisation to analyse the relationship between the institutionalisation of management accounting and accountability; and the relevance of management accounting information in negotiating in inter-organisational relationships. Methodology and field studies Field research took place in public and not-for-profit health care organisations and a municipality in Finland from 2008 to 2013. Data were gathered by document analysis, interviews, participation in meetings and observations. Findings The findings are explained in four different essays that show that institutionalisation of competitive tendering, governance and budgetary policies cannot be taken for granted to lead to accountability among institutional actors. The ways by which institutional actors think and act can be influenced by other institutional mechanisms, such as inter-organisational circuits of power and intraorganisational governance policies, independent of the institutional change process. The relevance of institutionalised management accounting policies in negotiating relationships between two or more organisations depends on processes and contexts through which institutional actors use management accounting information as a tool of communication, mutual understanding and power. Research limitations / implications The theoretical framework used can be applied validly in other studies. The empirical findings cannot be generalised directly to other organisations than the organisations analysed. Practical implications Competitive tendering and budgetary policies can be institutionalised to shape actions of institutional actors within an organisation. To lead to accountability, practitioners and policy makers should implement governance policies that increase the use of management accounting information in institutional actors’ thinking, actions and responsibility for their actions. To reach a negotiated order between organisations, institutionalised management accounting policies should be used as one of the tools of communication aiming to reach mutual agreement among institutional actors.

GIS assessing traditional and modern agricultural land use/land cover change. A case study 1959-2005: Rekijoki, Somero, SW-Finland

Finland’s rural landscape has gone through remarkable changes from the 1950’s, due to agricultural developments. Changed farming practices have influenced especially traditional landscape management, and modifications in the arable land structure and grasslands transitions are notable. The review of the previous studies reveal the importance of the rural landscape composition and structure to species and landscape diversity, whereas including the relevance in presence of the open ditches, size of the field and meadow patches, topology of the natural and agricultural landscape. This land-change study includes applying remote sensed data from two time series and empirical geospatial analysis in Geographic Information Systems (GIS). The aims of this retrospective research is to detect agricultural landscape use and land cover change (LULCC) dynamics and discuss the consequences of agricultural intensification to landscape structure covering from the aspects of landscape ecology. Measurements of LULC are derived directly from pre-processed aerial images by a variety of analytical procedures, including statistical methods and image interpretation. The methodological challenges are confronted in the process of landscape classification and combining change detection approaches with landscape indices. Particular importance is paid on detecting agricultural landscape features at a small scale, demanding comprehensive understanding of such agroecosystems. Topological properties of the classified arable land and valley are determined in order to provide insight and emphasize the aspect the field edges in the agricultural landscape as important habitat. Change detection dynamics are presented with change matrix and additional calculations of gain, loss, swap, net change, change rate and tendencies are made. Transition’s possibility is computed following Markov’s probability model and presented with matrix, as well. Thesis’s spatial aspect is revealed with illustrative maps providing knowledge of location of the classified landscape categories and location of the dynamics of the changes occurred. It was assured that in Rekijoki valley’s landscape, remarkable changes in landscape has occurred. Landscape diversity has been strongly influenced by modern agricultural landscape change, as NP of open ditches has decreased and the MPS of the arable plot has decreased. Overall change in the diversity of the landscape is determined with the decrease of SHDI. Valley landscape considered as traditional land use area has experienced major transitional changes, as meadows class has lost almost one third of the area due to afforestation. Also, remarkable transitions have occurred from forest to meadow and arable land to built area. Boundaries measurement between modern and traditional landscape has indicated noticeable proportional increase in arable land-forest edge type and decrease in arable land-meadow edge type. Probability calculations predict higher future changes for traditional landscape, but also for arable land turning into built area.

Influência dos Íons Mg, Ca, Fe, Cu e Zn sobre a tensão superficial estática de soluções contendo surfatante

O objetivo do estudo foi avaliar a influência da presença de cinco íons em uma calda de pulverização contendo o surfatante Aterbane. A tensão superficial foi analisada por meio da medição da massa de um conjunto de 25 gotas, com quatro repetições constituindo um tratamento. O trabalho foi dividido em duas etapas. Na primeira, os tratamentos foram combinados em esquema fatorial 9x5x2, sendo nove concentrações do surfatante Aterbane (0,01; 0,025; 0,05; 0,1; 0,2; 0,5; 1; 2; e 3%), cinco íons (Mg++, Ca++, Fe+++, Cu+++ e Zn+++) e duas concentrações desses elementos (10 e 100 ppm). Na segunda etapa, os tratamentos foram combinados em esquema fatorial 5x5x1, utilizandose os mesmos cinco elementos (Mg++, Ca++, Fe+++, Cu+++ e Zn+++), em cinco concentrações (1, 5, 20, 50 e 200 ppm), com apenas uma concentração do surfatante Aterbane (0,025%). Outros nove tratamentos permitiram avaliar as tensões superficiais das concentrações do surfatante (0,01; 0,025; 0,05; 0,1; 0,2; 0,5; 1; 2; e 3%) sem a adição dos íons. Os resultados mostraram que houve interferência dos íons sobre as soluções, já que, com exceção do Fe+++ (na concentração de 10 e 100 ppm) e do Cu+++ (na concentração de 100 ppm), todos os íons reduziram a tensão mínima alcançada e aumentaram a eficiência do surfatante, implicando benefícios à ação do surfatante e sobre as características de possíveis soluções de aplicação. Todos os íons avaliados promoveram reduções nas tensões superficiais de soluções do surfatante na concentração de 0,025%.

Forest cover and its change in Unguja Island, Zanzibar

Tropical forests are sources of many ecosystem services, but these forests are vanishing rapidly. The situation is severe in Sub-Saharan Africa and especially in Tanzania. The causes of change are multidimensional and strongly interdependent, and only understanding them comprehensively helps to change the ongoing unsustainable trends of forest decline. Ongoing forest changes, their spatiality and connection to humans and environment can be studied with the methods of Land Change Science. The knowledge produced with these methods helps to make arguments about the actors, actions and causes that are behind the forest decline. In this study of Unguja Island in Zanzibar the focus is in the current forest cover and its changes between 1996 and 2009. The cover and changes are measured with often used remote sensing methods of automated land cover classification and post-classification comparison from medium resolution satellite images. Kernel Density Estimation is used to determine the clusters of change, sub-area –analysis provides information about the differences between regions, while distance and regression analyses connect changes to environmental factors. These analyses do not only explain the happened changes, but also allow building quantitative and spatial future scenarios. Similar study has not been made for Unguja and therefore it provides new information, which is beneficial for the whole society. The results show that 572 km2 of Unguja is still forested, but 0,82–1,19% of these forests are disappearing annually. Besides deforestation also vertical degradation and spatial changes are significant problems. Deforestation is most severe in the communal indigenous forests, but also agroforests are decreasing. Spatially deforestation concentrates to the areas close to the coastline, population and Zanzibar Town. Biophysical factors on the other hand do not seem to influence the ongoing deforestation process. If the current trend continues there should be approximately 485 km2 of forests remaining in 2025. Solutions to these deforestation problems should be looked from sustainable land use management, surveying and protection of the forests in risk areas and spatially targeted self-sustainable tree planting schemes.

Tensão superficial estática de misturas em tanque de glyphosate + chlorimuron-ethyl isoladas ou associadas com adjuvantes

Objetivou-se neste estudo avaliar a tensão superficial estática, o pH e a produção da espuma de misturas em tanque de glyphosate + chlorimuron-ethyl, associadas ou não com adjuvantes. Dois trabalhos foram realizados, sendo a primeira etapa desenvolvida em delineamento inteiramente casualizado com seis tratamentos e 20 repetições, representados por soluções dos herbicidas glyphosate (540,0 g e.a. ha-1) e chlorimuron-ethyl (7,5 g ha-1), isolados e em mistura em tanque nas formulações: Polaris®; Roundup Ready®; Classic®; Polaris® + Classic®; Roundup Ready® + Classic® e testemunha (água). Na segunda etapa foram estudados em DIC 70 tratamentos e 20 repetições, em fatorial 2 x 5 x 7, constituído por duas misturas de glyphosate com chlorimuron-ethyl (Polaris® + Classic® e Roundup Ready ® + Classic®), cinco adjuvantes (Joint Oil®; Nimbus®; Assist®; Natur' Oil® e Agr' Óleo®) e sete doses dos adjuvantes (0,000; 0,031; 0,062; 0,125; 0,250; 0,500 e 1,000% de v/v). As soluções de Polaris® e Roundup Ready®; isoladas ou em misturas com Classic®; caracterizaram-se por tensões superficiais estáticas de 43,2 e 35,9 mN m-1 e pH médios em torno de 4,5 a 4,6, respectivamente. As misturas de Polaris®+Classic®; Roundup Ready®+Classic® e Classic® apresentaram a maior quantidade e persistência da espuma ao longo do tempo, quando comparadas às formulações de Polaris® e Roundup Ready®. Os adjuvantes promoveram redução da tensão superficial quando associados às misturas de Polaris® + Classic® e Roundup Ready® + Classic®; caracterizando-se em termos de eficiência pela ordem decrescente: Nimbus® (36,5% e 25,8%) < Joint Oil® (32,2% e 25,2%) < Agr' Oil® (21,2% e 13,4%) < Natur' Oil® (17,4% e 10,6%) < Assist® (8,5% e 10,6%). Os adjuvantes promoveram redução da quantidade e persistência da espuma das misturas de Polaris® + Classic® e Roundup Ready® + Classic®; com pequenas variações dos níveis médios de pH das soluções inferiores a 0,5.

Variations in weed population densities, rate of change and community diversity in RR-soybeans and RR-maize strip crops under two herbicide strategies

Concerns about the sustainability of large-scale, direct-drilled RR-soybeans (Glycine max), and RR-maize (Zea mays) under monoculture in central Argentina are growing steadily. An experiment was conducted during three consecutive years to determine the effects of crops and systems (monocultures and strips) and herbicide strategy on weed density, population rate of change (l), b community diversity (H´), crop yields and Land Equivalent Ratio (LER). Not only crops but also crop systems differentially influenced weed densities along their growth and development. For crop harvests, weed densities increased in both maize crop systems as compared to in the one for soybeans, but the lowest increase occurred in soybean strips. Differences were leveled by both herbicide strategies, which achieved 73% efficacy during the critical periods in both crops. l of annual monocotyledonous increased, thus shifting the weed community composition. Species richness and H´ were not affected by crop systems, but both herbicide strategies, particularly POST, either in soybeans in monoculture or in maize strips, significantly enhanced H´. Crop yields significantly increased in the maize-strip system with POST (Year 1) or PRE (Years 2 and 3) strategies, thus increasing LER above 1. Herbicide Environmental Load treatments fall within very low or low field use rating.

Enabling Change in Universities: Enhancing Education for Sustainable Development with Tools for Quality Assurance

Enabling Change in Universities: Enhancing Education for Sustainable Development with Tools for Quality Assurance This thesis deals with enabling change in universities, more explicitly enhancing education for sustainable development with tools for quality assurance. Change management is a discipline within management that was developed in the 1980s because business changed from being predictable to unpredictable. The PEST mnemonic is a method to categorize factors enabling change; such as political, economic, socio-cultural and technological factors, which all affect higher education. A classification of a change, in either hard or soft, can help understanding the type of change that an organization is facing. Hard changes are more applied to problems that have clear objectives and indicators, with a known cause of the problem. Soft changes are applied to larger problems that affect the entire organization or beyond it. The basic definition for sustainable development is: the future generations should have similar opportunities as the previous. The UN has set as a global goal an integration of education for sustainable development (ESD) at all levels of education during 2005- 2014. The goal is set also in universities, the graduates of which are future leaders for all labor markets. The objective for ESD in higher education is that graduates obtain the competence to take economic, social and environmental costs and benefits into account when making decisions. Knowledge outcomes should aim for systematic and holistic thinking, which requires cross disciplinary education. So far, the development of ESD has not achieved its goals. The UN has identified a need for more transdisclipnary research in ESD. A joint global requirement for universities is quality assurance, the aim of which is to secure and improve teaching and learning. Quality, environmental and integrated management systems are used by some universities for filling the quality assurance requirements. The goal of this thesis is to open up new ways for enhancing ESD in universities, beyond the forerunners; by exploring how management systems could be used as tools for promoting ESD. The thesis is based on five studies. In the first study, I focus on if and how tools for quality assurance could be benefitted for promoting ESD. It is written from a new perspective, the memetic, for reaching a diversity of faculty. A meme is an idea that diffuses from brain to brain. It can be applied for cultural evolution. It is a theory that is based on the evolutionary theory by Darwin, applied for social sciences. In the second Paper, I present the results from the development of the pilot process model for enhancing ESD with management systems. The development of the model is based on a study that includes earlier studies, a survey in academia and an analysis of the practice in 11 universities in the Nordic countries. In the third study, I explore if the change depends on national culture or if it is global. It is a comparative study on both policy and implementation level, between the Nordic countries and China. The fourth study is a single case study based on change management. In this study, I identify what to consider in order to enable the change: enhancing ESD with tools for quality assurance in universities. In the fifth Paper, I present the results of the process model for enhancing ESD with management systems. The model was compared with identified drivers and barriers for enhancing ESD and for implementing management systems. Finally, the process model was piloted and applied for identifying sustainability aspects in curricula. Action research was chosen as methodology because there are not already implemented approaches using quality management for promoting ESD, why the only way to study this is to make it happen. Another reason for choosing action research is since it is essential to involve students and faculty for enhancing ESD. Action based research consists of the following phases: a) diagnosing, b) planning action, c) taking action and d) evaluating action. This research was made possible by a project called Education for Sustainable Development in Academia in the Nordic countries, ESDAN, in which activities were divided into these four phases. Each phase ended with an open seminar, where the results of the study were presented. The objective for the research project was to develop a process for including knowledge in sustainable development in curricula, which could be used in the quality assurance work. Eleven universities from the Nordic countries cooperated in the project. The aim was, by applying the process, to identify and publish examples of relevant sustainability aspects in different degree programs in universities in the Nordic countries. The project was partly financed by the Nordic Council of Ministers and partly by the participating pilot universities. Based on the results of my studies, I consider that quality, environmental and integrated management systems can be used for promoting ESD in universities. Relevant sustainability aspects have been identified in different fields of studies by applying the final process model. The final process model was compared with drivers and barriers for enhancing ESD and for implementing management systems in universities and with succeeding with management systems in industry. It corresponds with these, meaning that drivers are taken into account and barriers tackled. Both ESD and management systems in universities could be considered successful memes, which can reflect an effective way of communication among individuals. I have identified that management systems could be used as tools for hard changes and to support the soft change of enhancing ESD in universities with management system. Based on the change management study I have summarized recommendations on what to consider in order to enable the studied change. The main practical implications of the results are that the process model could be applied for assessment, benchmarking and communication of ESD, connected to quality assurance, when applied. This is possible because the information can be assembled in one picture, which facilitates comparison. The memetic approach can be applied for structuring. It is viable to make comparative studies between cultures, for getting insight in special characteristics of the own culture. Action based research is suitable for involving faculty. Change management can be applied for planning a change, which both enhancing ESD and developing management systems are identified to be.