scholarly journals Gilt Management for Fertility and Longevity

Animals ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (7) ◽  
pp. 434 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jennifer Patterson ◽  
George Foxcroft

Substantial evidence supports successful management of gilts as an absolutely necessary component of breeding herd management and the pivotal starting point for the future fertility and longevity of the breeding herd. Therefore, gilt management practices from birth have the potential to influence the future reproductive performance of the sow herd. A good gilt management program will address several key components such as birth traits that determine the efficiency of replacement gilt production; effective selection of the most fertile gilts for entry to the breeding herd; effective management programs that provide a consistent supply of service eligible gilts; and appropriate management of weight, physiological maturity, and a positive metabolic state at breeding. Good gilt management can largely resolve the existing gap between excellent genetic potential and the more modest sow lifetime productivity typically achieved in the industry. Investment in good gilt development programs from birth represents a foundational opportunity for improving the efficiency of the pork production industry.

Author(s):  
J. Hodgson

Recent assessments of the relative importance of stocking rate. stocking policy and grazing management on the output from pastoral systems are used as a starting point to argue the need for objective pasture assessments to aid control of livestock enterprises to meet production targets. Variations in stocking rates, stocking policy and other management practices all provide alternative means of control of pasture conditions which are the major determinants of pasture and animal performance. Understanding of the influence of pasture conditions on systems performance should provide a better basis for management control and for Communication between farmers, extension officers and researchers. Keywords: Stocking rate, pasture condition, pasture cover


2019 ◽  
Vol 37 (2) ◽  
pp. 206-219
Author(s):  
Meindert E. Peters

Friedrich Nietzsche's influence on Isadora Duncan's work, in particular his idea of the Dionysian, has been widely discussed, especially in regard to her later work. What has been left underdeveloped in critical examinations of her work, however, is his influence on her earlier choreographic work, which she defended in a famous speech held in 1903 called The Dance of the Future. While commentators often describe this speech as ‘Nietzschean’, Duncan's autobiography suggests that she only studied Nietzsche's work after this speech. I take this incongruity as a starting point to explore the connections between her speech and Nietzsche's work, in particular his Thus Spoke Zarathustra. I argue that in subject and language Duncan's speech resembles Nietzsche's in important ways. This article will draw attention to the ways in which Duncan takes her cues from Nietzsche in bringing together seemingly conflicting ideas of religion and an overturning of morality; Nietzsche's notion of eternal recurrence and the teleology present in his idea of the Übermensch; and a renegotiation of the body's relation to the mind. In doing so, this article contributes not only to scholarship on Duncan's early work but also to discussions of Nietzsche's reception in the early twentieth century. Moreover, the importance Duncan ascribes to the body in dance and expression also asks for a new understanding of Nietzsche's own way of expressing his philosophy.


Leadership ◽  
2021 ◽  
pp. 174271502199959
Author(s):  
Chellie Spiller
Keyword(s):  
The Past ◽  

This article encourages a move away from the excessively inward gaze of ‘to thine own self be true’ and explores ‘I AM’ consciousness as a starting point. An I AM approach encourages a move from the measurable self to the immeasurable expansiveness and mystery of our own becoming. It is to step beyond the lines drawn around the ‘true self’ or the lines that others would have us draw. I AM consciousness reflects an ancient Indigenous thread that echoes through millennia and reminds humans that we are a movement through time, and each person is a present link to the past and the future, woven into a fabric of belonging.


2017 ◽  
Vol 38 (9) ◽  
pp. 1631-1641 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mayte E van Alebeek ◽  
Renate M Arntz ◽  
Merel S Ekker ◽  
Nathalie E Synhaeve ◽  
Noortje AMM Maaijwee ◽  
...  

Incidence of ischemic stroke and transient ischemic attack in young adults is rising. However, etiology remains unknown in 30–40% of these patients when current classification systems designed for the elderly are used. Our aim was to identify risk factors according to a pediatric approach, which might lead to both better identification of risk factors and provide a stepping stone for the understanding of disease mechanism, particularly in patients currently classified as “unknown etiology”. Risk factors of 656 young stroke patients (aged 18–50) of the FUTURE study were categorized according to the “International Pediatric Stroke Study” (IPSS), with stratification on gender, age and stroke of “unknown etiology”. Categorization of risk factors into ≥1 IPSS category was possible in 94% of young stroke patients. Chronic systemic conditions were more present in patients aged <35 compared to patients ≥35 (32.6% vs. 15.6%, p < 0.05). Among 226 patients classified as “stroke of unknown etiology” using TOAST, we found risk factors in 199 patients (88%) with the IPSS approach. We identified multiple risk factors linked to other mechanisms of stroke in the young than in the elderly . This can be a valuable starting point to develop an etiologic classification system specifically designed for young stroke patients.


2021 ◽  
pp. 1-12
Author(s):  
Hongyan Qiu ◽  
Qun Zhang ◽  
Jin Zhang ◽  
Qingshan Wang ◽  
Lihong Liu ◽  
...  

Abstract In October 2015, the Chinese Government announced that the one-child policy had finally been replaced by a universal two-child policy. China’s universal two-child policy is highly significant because, for the first time in 36 years, no one in an urban city is restricted to having just one child. This cross-sectional study was conducted to explore future fertility intentions and factors influencing individual reproductive behaviour (whether to have two children) in Dalian City. A total of 1370 respondents were interviewed. The respondents’ mean ideal number of children was only 1.73, and urban respondents’ sex preference was symmetrical. A total of 19.0% of the respondents were unmarried, 64.5% were married and had childbearing experience and only 6.3% of married respondents had two children. Among the 1370 participants, 30.4% stated that they would have a second child, while 69.6% refused to have a second child in the future. Binary logistic regression analysis (Model 1) showed that the following characteristics were associated with having only one child in the future: being female, being older, having a lower education level, being born in Dalian, having a lower family income and reporting one child as the ideal number of children. Model 2 (comprising only respondents with childbearing experience) showed that respondents who were female, had a lower family income and were unable to obtain additional financial support from parents were more likely to intend to stick at one child. In addition, respondents’ ideal number of children and childbearing experiences had a significant influence on future fertility intentions. These results suggest that fertility intentions and reproductive behaviours are still below those needed for replacement level fertility in Dalian City. China’s policymakers should pay more attention to these factors (socioeconomic characteristics, economic factors, desired number of children and childbearing experiences) and try to increase individual reproductive behaviour.


2020 ◽  
Vol 30 (Supplement_5) ◽  
Author(s):  
M F Furmenti ◽  
F Bert ◽  
M Rucci ◽  
U Fiandra ◽  
A Scarmozzino ◽  
...  

Abstract Background The ageing of the European population leads to an increasing demand for Long-Term Care services. The security and well-being of the elderly population hosted in nursing homes (NHs) needs an effective Risk Management policy, officially sanctioned in Italy by the so-called “Legge Gelli” n.24 (March 8th, 2017) and the Directive 2011/24/EU on the application of patients' rights in cross-border healthcare. In order to verify the effective application of common “best practices” in terms of Risk Management in NHs, a tool useful to analyse risk management attitudes in Northern Italy was conceived and applied in a sample of NHs. Methods The tool, developed in collaboration with the health insurance company SHAM Italia, is composed of 124 items (with a dichotomous answer -YES/NO) on topics related to various Risk Management practices. This tool was submitted in a face-to-face interview to several Directors (Health Directors or Nursing Coordinators) of NHs in the Piedmont Region. A list of randomly-chosen NHs was contacted: 4 of them were selected for the pilot study and compiled the questionnaire. Answers were gathered and analyzed through Microsoft Excel. Results Only the 25% of NHs has a Risk Management plan with objectives and indicators of effectiveness and uses Risk Analysis instruments for a pre- and post-” risk detection. Only one has employees working mainly on Risk Management alone. The 75% of the reported events were “Adverse Events”, and all the NHs (100%) have a protocol for a patient voluntary departure or for fall prevention or for bedsores prevention; while 50% have a protocol for prevention of aggressions towards operators or for patients' suicide prevention. Conclusions This work provides a starting point to face new challenges that are looming on the European Health-care Systems: the care for the elderlies needs to be perfected to reduce inefficiencies, cut useless costs and improve safety of patients in the NHs setting. Key messages Despite safety of older patients in nursing homes is not only important but mandatory in Italy, risk management tools for this setting are lacking in literature. A new tool applied in Italian nursing homes showed that risk management needs to be implemented in practice and these results can be extended to European context.


Author(s):  
Yong-Yi Wang ◽  
Don West ◽  
Douglas Dewar ◽  
Alex McKenzie-Johnson ◽  
Millan Sen

Ground movements, such as landslides and subsidence/settlement, can pose serious threats to pipeline integrity. The consequence of these incidents can be severe. In the absence of systematic integrity management, preventing and predicting incidents related to ground movements can be difficult. A ground movement management program can reduce the potential of those incidents. Some basic concepts and terms relevant to the management of ground movement hazards are introduced first. A ground movement management program may involve a long segment of a pipeline that may have a threat of failure in unknown locations. Identifying such locations and understanding the potential magnitude of the ground movement is often the starting point of a management program. In other cases, management activities may start after an event is known to have occurred. A sample response process is shown to illustrate key considerations and decision points after the evidence of an event is discovered. Such a process can involve fitness-for-service (FFS) assessment when appropriate information is available. The framework and key elements of FFS assessment are explained, including safety factors on strain capacity. The use of FFS assessment is illustrated through the assessment of tensile failure mode. Assessment models are introduced, including key factors affecting the outcome of an assessment. The unique features of girth welds in vintage pipelines are highlighted because the management of such pipelines is a high priority in North America and perhaps in other parts of the worlds. Common practice and appropriate considerations in a pipeline replacement program in areas of potential ground movement are highlighted. It is advisable to replace pipes with pipes of similar strength and stiffness so the strains can be distributed as broadly as possible. The chemical composition of pipe steels and the mechanical properties of the pipes should be such that the possibility of HAZ softening and weld strength undermatching is minimized. In addition, the benefits and cost of using the workmanship flaw acceptance criteria of API 1104 or equivalent standards in making repair and cutout decisions of vintage pipelines should be evaluated against the possible use of FFS assessment procedures. FFS assessment provides a quantifiable performance target which is not available through the workmanship criteria. However, necessary inputs to perform FFS assessment may not be readily available. Ongoing work intended to address some of the gaps is briefly described.


Author(s):  
Rufaidah Mat Nawi ◽  
Nadzirah Mohd Said ◽  
Hazriah Hasan

Zakat institutions are obliged to collect zakat from every eligible Muslim because their existence manages the institution by distributing the wealth from the wealthy Muslims to zakat asnafs. However, the zakat institutions still fail to ensure that every one of zakat payers will comply with paying through the institutions. Zakat payers' trust affects their zakat compliance behavior (Mustafa et al., 2013). According to research done by Faizal and Ramli (2017), compliance behavior is one factor that influences the act of tax compliance. This finding supports the prior studies by Kastlunger et al. (2013), who say that high trust causes the increase in tax compliance. The same case goes with paying zakat. Zakat payers' trust is essential in ensuring zakat payers pay zakat through the formal channels. According to Ahmad, Wahid, and Mohamad (2006), zakat payers' dissatisfaction towards zakat distribution practices by zakat institutions leads them to pay zakat directly to asnafs. Thus, this proves that lack of trust by zakat payers can increase the self-distribution practice and leakage in zakat collection. According to a report by Populus (2018), donors are most likely to donate their money to support causes by charities if charities are good at managing funds and demonstrate impacts for their causes. Otherwise, they will lose trust in those charities. As in this study, the main focus to study zakat payers' trust is to reduce the increase in self-distribution practice and gradually lead to maximize the zakat collection in the future. Based on that reason, this study determines which factors should be focused on to increase zakat payers' trust. The proposed factors in this study are disclosure practices, council board, and stakeholder management practices. Thus, the paper aims to develop a conceptual model of zakat payers' trust in a zakat institution in Kelantan. Keywords: Council board; Disclosure practices; Stakeholder management practices; Zakat payers' trust.


2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 291-305 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pete Dale

Slampt Underground Organisation was conceived in 1992 by Rachel Holborow and Pete Dale, issuing music, fanzines and ephemera from then until 2000. Perceived as a record label, Slampt sold tens of thousands of units and seems to have had a significant impact on particular individuals who might or might not be best described as ‘fans’. This article uses the author’s archives and reflections to collate detail, much of it not publically available before, about a label/distributor/organization, which has already been a point of interest to several researchers and journalists but which is nonetheless unknown to most, even in punk-related music scenes, in the present century. The author, as one half of Slampt’s de facto leading partnership, reveals that this status as a largely forgotten arm of 1990s UK punk is not entirely accidental: Dale and Holborow actively believed in ephemerality as an ideal, particularly in punk. Using this case as a starting point, the article asks whether punk really ought to be as fixated on documenting its past, finding its place in museums/galleries and gaining recognition in rock history. Is punk about collectible objects, about a particular mode of subjectivity or, perhaps, about a phenomenological combination of the two? The irony of the author writing the article at this time is acknowledged: Slampt is being written back in to punk history, even if only in the margins, through the act of publishing this piece. Nonetheless, the article is based around the assumption that the present and the future will always be more important than the past.


2004 ◽  
Vol 01 (02) ◽  
pp. 205-231 ◽  
Author(s):  
PAUL RYAN ◽  
MAJELLA GIBLIN ◽  
EDEL WALSHE

High-technology companies operate in a dynamic and unstable environment due to rapidly changing technologies and consumer tastes. An increasing number of companies are engaging in joint R&D projects to subvent the constraints to competitiveness in this turbulent environment. Collaborative R&D activity has been studied from the perspectives of strategic management [Dodgson (1992)], organizational behavior [Powell et al. (1996)], operations management [Nooteboom et al. (2000)] and business-to-business marketing [Turnbull et al. (1996)]. Within the literature, trust has been identified as highly significant to alliance effectiveness, governance and the development of a long-term mutually beneficial relationship. [Perry et al. (2002); Ramaseshan and Loo (1998); Morgan and Hunt (1994); Ganesan (1994); Nooteboom et al. (2000)]. This paper describes a collaborative R&D project between two high-tech companies to trace the development of trust between the partners. It specifically considers the role of trust in facilitating the progression of their relationship from subcontracting to joint collaboration. Reaffirming existing theories, the findings of the paper identify partner compatibility and an effective selection process as well as openness and honesty as the foundations for trust. Moreover, sound management practices were found to foster high levels of co-operation and commitment to the relationship. The main contribution of the paper is the identification of opportunistic behavior as a possible positive phenomenon. This provides new insight to existing literature which traditionally assumes a negative relationship between trust and exploitative behavior.


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