Diagnostic Reasoning in the Use of Travel Management System

We explore the appropriation of a self-management administrative system from the perspective of diagnostic reasoning. The case study, based on documents, ethnography and videotapes, concerns the appropriation of a travel management system in a major university in Finland. To explore this process from a user-centric view, we focus on the diagnostic work required in the appropriation of the new system, analyzing both the generic diagnostic reasoning of how the users navigate in the system and their individual and collaborative problem-solving strategies. This approach reveals the interaction between the users and the technology, which incorporates inbuilt models of users, administrative work and work processes. Our analysis concerns interactive instances which resulted from misdiagnosis of the functions of the system. For example, the orchestration and labeling of items in the application pose diagnostic challenges to end-users and may eventually be resolved in collaboration with administrative personnel. The individual and collaborative diagnostic reasoning sheds light on the hidden organizational embeddedness of self-management solutions, providing suggestions for developing the design and deployment of administrative self-management systems. The appropriated self-management system should finally be based on the end-user’s diagnostic reasoning so that the employees can base their actions on their taken-for-granted competence and the skills gained during the appropriation of the system.     

Ante- and perinatal factors and child characteristics predicting parenting experience among formerly infertile couples during the child's first year: A controlled study.

In this prospective controlled study, the authors examined (a) parenting experiences among couples with successful assisted reproduction treatment (ART; n = 367) and fertile spontaneously conceiving controls (n = 371) and (b) the impact of ante- and perinatal factors and child characteristics on parenting experiences. The results show that positive mothering experiences increased more during the 1st year of parenting and were generally higher among ART mothers than control mothers. No differences were found between ART fathers and controls in their fathering experience. Unpleasant birth experiences, low birth weight, and difficulty soothing the child were associated with high levels of parental stress in the control group, but this was not so among the ART parents. Psychosocial interventions in maternal care should take into account the various meanings that couples give to the history of infertility and conception and ante- and perinatal experiences. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The effect of dietary forage to concentrate ratio and forage type on milk fatty acid composition and milk fat globule size of lactating cows

We examined the effects of 2 grass silage-based diets differing in forage:concentrate (FC) ratio and those of a red clover silage-based diet on intake, milk production, ruminal fatty acid (FA) biohydrogenation, milk FA composition, and milk fat globule (MFG) size distribution. Ten multiparous Nordic Red cows received the following treatments: grass silage-based diets containing high (70:30, HG) or low (30:70, LG) FC ratio or a red clover silage-based diet with an FC ratio of 50:50 (RC) on a dry matter basis. Determinations of MFG were performed from fresh milk samples without addition of EDTA so the results of fat globules >1 µm in diameter are emphasized instead of the entire globule population. Lower FC ratio in grass silage-based diets increased milk production with no effect on daily fat yield, leading to 13% lower milk fat concentration. The effect of FC ratio on MFG size was moderate. It did not affect the volume-weighted diameter in grass silage-based diets, although LG lowered the volume-surface diameter of MFG in the size class >1 µm compared with HG. Compared with HG, feeding LG moderately decreased the biohydrogenation of 18:2n-6, leading to a higher level of polyunsaturated fatty acids in milk fat. Feeding RC lowered milk fat concentration and daily milk fat yield compared with grass silage-based diets. The volume-weighted diameter of MFG in the size class >1 µm was smaller in RC milk compared with grass silage-based diets. Feeding RC increased the flow of 18:3n-3 at the omasum by 2.4-fold and decreased the apparent ruminal 18:3n-3 biohydrogenation compared with grass silage-based diets despite similar intake of 18:3n-3. It also resulted in the lowest amount of saturated FA and the highest amounts of cis-9 18:1, 18:3n-3, and polyunsaturated FA in milk. In conclusion, LG decreased milk fat content and induced minor changes in MFG size distribution compared with HG, whereas RC lowered milk fat production, altered milk FA composition to nutritionally more beneficial direction, and led to smaller MFG compared with grass silage-based diets.     

An 8-hour system for Salmonella detection with immunomagnetic separation and homogeneous time-resolved fluorescence PCR

We describe a system consisting of rapid sample enrichment and homogeneous end-point PCR analysis that enables the detection of Salmonella in various food matrices in 8 h. Sample preparation starts with 6 h enrichment step in supplemented broth, after which Salmonella cells are collected with immunomagnetic particles. The particles are washed and dispensed to ready-to-use PCR reaction vessels, which contain dried assay-specific reagents and an internal amplification control. PCR is performed with a novel instrument platform utilising the sensitive label technology of time-resolved fluorometry. Qualitative assay results are automatically interpreted and available in 45 min after sample addition. The overall accuracy, sensitivity and specificity of the Magda CA Salmonella system were 99.1%, 98.4% and 100.0%, respectively, based on the evaluation of 107 samples (beef, pork, poultry and ready-to-eat meals) artificially contaminated with sub-lethally injured Salmonella cells.     

Noncholesterol Sterols as Surrogate Markers in Patients with Severe Alcoholic Hepatitis

Severe alcoholic hepatitis (AH) is a life‐threatening condition lacking good serologic markers to tailor treatment and predict recovery. We examined the cholesterol metabolism in severe AH to explore prognostic markers and evaluate the profile of cholesterol precursors, cholestanol and phytosterols, in this context. We assessed serum cholesterol, cholesterol precursors, cholestanol, phytosterols, and biochemical markers in 24 patients with severe AH treated with prednisolone and randomized to ciprofloxacin in the ratio 1:1. Response to prednisolone was assessed with the Lille model. Evaluations were made between responders and nonresponders to corticosteroid treatment and during follow‐up for 180 days. The findings were compared with those from patients with primary sclerosing cholangitis (PSC) (n = 156) and healthy individuals (n = 124). Responders to prednisolone had ~56–60% higher (p‐value 0.032–0.044) serum ratios to cholesterol of phytosterols, while the lathosterol/campesterol ratio was ~76% (p = 0.031) lower compared to nonresponders. Stigmasterol/cholesterol predicted response to corticosteroid therapy. Surrogate markers of cholesterol synthesis (lathosterol and desmosterol) inversely reflected those of absorption (cholestanol and phytosterols) in PSC and controls (r‐range ?0.247 to ?0.559, p < 0.01 for all), contrary to AH patients, among whom this reciprocal regulation was partially recovered on day 90 (lathosterol: r‐range ?0.733 to ?0.952, p < 0.05 for all). AH patients had ~26% lower lathosterol/cholesterol, but 1.13–3.87‐fold higher cholestanol/cholesterol and sitosterol/cholesterol compared to control groups (p < 0.05 for all). Median ferritin concentration at baseline was ~37% lower (p = 0.011) among the responders. Cholesterol precursors and phytosterols have a disease‐specific profile in AH. Phytosterols and ferritin may serve as surrogate markers for short‐term response.     

Identification and Ruminal Outflow of Long-Chain Fatty Acid Biohydrogenation Intermediates in Cows Fed Diets Containing Fish Oil

The abundance of 20- to 24-carbon fatty acids in omasal digesta of cows fed grass silage-based diets supplemented with 0 (Control) and 250 g/day of fish oil (FO) was examined to investigate the fate of long-chain unsaturated fatty acids in the rumen. Complimentary argentation thin-layer chromatography and gas-chromatography mass-spectrometry analysis of fatty acid methyl esters and corresponding 4,4-dimethyloxazoline derivatives prepared from fish oil and omasal digesta enabled the structure of novel 20- to 22-carbon fatty acids to be elucidated. Compared with the Control, the FO treatment resulted in the formation and accumulation of 27 novel 20- and 22-carbon biohydrogenation intermediates containing at least one trans double bond and the appearance of cis-14 20:1, 20:2n-3, 21:4n-3 and 22:3n-6 not contained in fish oil. No conjugated ≥20-carbon fatty acids were detected in Control or FO digesta. In conclusion, fish oil in the diet results in the formation of numerous long-chain biohydrogenation intermediates in the rumen of lactating cows. Comparison of the intake and flow of 20-, 21- and 22-carbon fatty acids at the omasum in cows fed the Control and FO treatments suggests that the first committed steps of 20:5n-3, 21:5n-3 and 22:6n-3 hydrogenation in the rumen involve the reduction and/or isomerisation of double bonds closest to the carboxyl group.     

Effect of Relative Humidity on the Oxidative Stability of Microencapsulated Sea Buckthorn Seed Oil

ABSTRACT: The effect of relative humidity (RH) (20 °C: RH 11%, 54%) on oxidative stability microencapsulated sea buckthorn seed oil was studied using bulk oil as a reference. Microcapsules were prepared by spray-drying using maltodextrin-gum arabic (MD/GA) and corn starch sodium octenyl succinate derivate (HiCap) as the wall materials. The influence of the physical state of the wall material was also evaluated. Under dry conditions, the microencapsulated oils were most stable, but the oxidation of the bulk oil was accelerated. At 20 °C and at RH 11%, the peroxide value of the bulk oil exceeded 20 meq/kg within 1 wk. Microencapsulation prolonged the shelf-life of the oil from 1 wk to 2 mo at 20 °C, when the encapsulating matrix was in glassy state. In conditions in which the HiCap matrix was in a rubbery state (RH 54%, 20 °C), the oxidation proceeded very quickly, reaching a peroxide value of 20 meq/kg just after 1 wk. Caking and collapse of the microcapsule powder were observed in the rubbery state. At accelerated conditions (50 °C: RH 11%, 30%, 45%), the oxidation was noticeably fast, not only in the bulk oil but also in the MD/GA matrix, even in the glassy state. The behavior in the HiCap matrix was more complex as the amount of peroxides started to decrease in time. This was assigned to the structural collapse in HiCap microcapsules. The behavior of the microencapsulated oils under accelerated conditions did not correlate with their behavior at 20 °C.     

A europium chelate for quantitative point-of-care immunoassays using direct surface measurement

New labels and assay techniques are needed to improve the sensitivity and quantitativeness of point-of-care immunotesting while sustaining the rapidity and ease of use of the assays. We synthesized a novel, intrinsically fluorescent nonadentate europium chelate with two chromophores and hydrophilic alpha-galactose side groups. The chelate is highly fluorescent, soluble in water, and provides effective shielding of Eu from water. The performance of the nonadentate chelate was compared with a heptadentate chelate in a dry reagent immunoassay for human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG). After 15-min incubation and washing, time-resolved fluorescence was measured directly from a wet or dried well surface. Contrary to the heptadentate label, the effect of aqueous quenching on the nonadentate label was found to be insignificant, with calculated analytical detection limits (background + 3 SD) of 0.9 and 0.7 IU/L hCG for wet and dry measurements, respectively, and a linear range up to 5000 IU/L. The CVs for the new label were <8% at the cutoff of 25 IU/L and above in both whole blood and plasma. The novel nonadentate label facilitates short turnaround times and simple instrumentation due to the absence of all signal development steps, at the same time retaining an excellent immunoassay performance.