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The current environmental, climate and health challenges require critical transitions to diets and food production systems that are more sustainable, in turn providing diets that are adequate nutrition, affordable and environmentally friendly. Recent studies have identified cultural acceptability as an important dimension in sustainable diets(1). Mathematical optimization models have been developed to deal with the complexities of all the dimensions, yet diet acceptability has had limited successful integration into these models(2). This systematic review explored two research questions in the context of dietary optimisation studies; how is acceptability defined and operationalised?; how does including acceptability impact dietary optimisation solutions?
A hybrid search strategy was implemented. The first used the PRISMA guidelines to conduct a systematic search on two electronic databases (PubMed, Embase) for articles published between January 2013 and April 2024. Search terms were developed through preliminary readings and included: diet OR diets OR dietary AND modelling OR modeling OR optimisation OR optimization OR optimize OR optimize OR linear programming AND acceptabl*. Articles in English optimising acceptable diets for adults (18+) were included. The second used the snowball method for identifying relevant articles from previous searches(3). Backward snowballing was conducted by identifying references from the initial set and forward snowballing was conducted through Web of Science in June 2023.
Fifty-one studies fulfilled the inclusion criteria. European countries had the largest representation (n=41; 20 from France, 7 from The Netherlands); 43 studies took a population-based modelling approach, 7 on individual-based modelling and 1 study used both approaches. The review identified 12 modelling approaches, where linear programming was most frequently used (n=26), followed by non-linear programming (n=7) and quadratic (n=6). The majority of studies that optimised for acceptability used the minimal deviation from observed diet as the objective function (n=32). Baseline dietary data for observed diets were primarily from National surveys (n=36), followed by local surveys (n=5), however, 25 studies used data that was 8 – 16 years older than the publication date. Majority of studies included at least one acceptability constraint (n=45), ranging from setting boundaries on certain foods (n=34), removal of certain foods/food groups (n=12), limiting deviation (n=15).
The full analysis of the studies is ongoing; however the current results highlight the varying methods used to operationalising ‘acceptable’ diets in diet optimisation literature. A conceptual framework for integrating acceptability into diet optimisation studies is currently under development, aiming to highlight the various ways in which ‘acceptability’ is operationalised through the modelling process from data inputs, models chosen to validation of the solutions. It is anticipated that this work will highlight new opportunities for further modelling for acceptable diets.
Background: Care for patients with compression neuropathies (carpal tunnel syndrome, ulnar neuropathy) is often fragmented, uncoordinated, and slow. Patients go through multiple steps (neurology consultation, nerve testing, ultrasound, splints, injection, surgical opinion, surgery) with waits between each step. We used a Value-Based Health Care (VBHC) model to develop a multidisciplinary clinic with a novel care pathway. Methods: A Shared Care initiative supported the development of an Integrated Practice Unit (IPU). Key multidisciplinary team members were identified. Participants attended a curated three part VBHC workshop. Process mapping enabled identification of efficiencies. Results: 14 team members participated in the workshops. Condition specific outcome measures were identified (Boston CTS measure, 10-point touch, MRC strength and pain scale) and will be collected longitudinally. Criteria and clinical pathways were developed for mild, moderate, and severe carpal tunnel syndrome. Resource materials for patients and providers were developed. Conclusions: A VBHC framework supported development of a novel clinic for compression neuropathy. Responsibility for the full cycle of care rests with the IPU. Systematically tracking functional outcome measures enables quality improvement. By streamlining the patient journey and substantially reducing wait times between steps, the new care pathway reduces complexity and improve outcomes. Evaluation of impact if this new clinical model is ongoing.
Despite becoming increasingly represented in academic departments, women scholars face a critical lack of support as they navigate demands pertaining to pregnancy, motherhood, and child caregiving. In addition, cultural norms surrounding how faculty and academic leaders discuss and talk about tenure, promotion, and career success have created pressure for women who wish to grow their family and care for their children, leading to questions about whether it is possible for these women to have a family and an academic career. This paper is a call to action for academia to build structures that support professors who are women as they navigate the complexities of pregnancy, the postpartum period, and the caregiving demands of their children. We specifically call on those of us in I-O psychology, management, and related departments to lead the way. In making this call, we first present the realistic, moral, and financial cases for why this issue needs to be at the forefront of discussions surrounding success in the academy. We then discuss how, in the U.S. and elsewhere, an absence of policies supporting women places two groups of academics—department heads (as the leaders of departments who have discretion outside of formal policies to make work better for women) and other faculty members (as potential allies both in the department and within our professional organizations)—in a critical position to enact support and change. We conclude with our boldest call—to make a cultural shift that shatters the assumption that having a family is not compatible with academic success. Combined, we seek to launch a discussion that leads directly to necessary and overdue changes in how women scholars are supported in academia.
Diet is a modifiable contributor to health. The lack of adherence to recommended dietary guidelines may contribute to the disproportionate burden of obesity and other chronic conditions observed in the Deep South region of the United States. The objective of this cross-sectional study was to describe food group intake and diet quality by race and weight status of women in the Deep South. Study participants were eighty-nine healthy female volunteers (56 % black, 44 % white, mean age 39⋅7 ± 1⋅4 years) recruited from Birmingham, AL, USA. Body Mass Index (BMI) determined weight status (non-obese/obese). Healthy Eating Index-2010 (HEI-2010) calculated from dietary recalls assessed diet quality. Wilcoxon sum-rank test compared HEI-2010 scores by race and weight status. χ2 analysis compared the percentage of women who achieved maximum points for HEI-2010 index food components by subgroup. Caloric and macronutrient intake did not differ by race or weight status (mean kcal 1863⋅0 ± 62⋅0). Median Total HEI-2010 Score for the sample was 51⋅9 (IQR: 39⋅1–63⋅4). Although there was no statistical difference in diet quality by race, more whites achieved the maximum score for vegetable intake compared to blacks, while blacks reported higher total fruit intake. Non-obese women reported better diet quality (56⋅9 v. 46⋅1; P = 0⋅04) and eating more whole fruits, and more achieved the maximum score for protein from plant and seafood sources. In summary, differences in diet quality were observed by weight status, but not race among this sample. These results point to tailored dietary interventions for women in metropolitan areas of Alabama, USA.
On many Australian commercial pig farms, groups of growing pigs are mass-medicated through their drinking water with selected antimicrobials for short periods to manage herd health. However, delivery of medication in drinking water cannot be assumed to deliver an equal dose to all animals in a group. There is substantial between-animal variability in systemic exposure to an antimicrobial (i.e. the antimicrobial concentration in plasma), resulting in under-dosing or over-dosing of many pigs. Three sources of this between-animal variability during a water medication dosing event are differences in: (1) concentration of the active constituent of the antimicrobial product in water available to pigs at drinking appliances in each pen over time, (2) medicated water consumption patterns of pigs in each pen over time, and (3) pharmacokinetics (i.e. oral bioavailability, volume of distribution and clearance between pigs and within pigs over time). It is essential that factors operating on each farm that influence the range of systemic exposures of pigs to an antimicrobial are factored into antimicrobial administration regimens to reduce under-dosing and over-dosing.
An improved understanding of diagnostic and treatment practices for patients with rare primary mitochondrial disorders can support benchmarking against guidelines and establish priorities for evaluative research. We aimed to describe physician care for patients with mitochondrial diseases in Canada, including variation in care.
Methods:
We conducted a cross-sectional survey of Canadian physicians involved in the diagnosis and/or ongoing care of patients with mitochondrial diseases. We used snowball sampling to identify potentially eligible participants, who were contacted by mail up to five times and invited to complete a questionnaire by mail or internet. The questionnaire addressed: personal experience in providing care for mitochondrial disorders; diagnostic and treatment practices; challenges in accessing tests or treatments; and views regarding research priorities.
Results:
We received 58 survey responses (52% response rate). Most respondents (83%) reported spending 20% or less of their clinical practice time caring for patients with mitochondrial disorders. We identified important variation in diagnostic care, although assessments frequently reported as diagnostically helpful (e.g., brain magnetic resonance imaging, MRI/MR spectroscopy) were also recommended in published guidelines. Approximately half (49%) of participants would recommend “mitochondrial cocktails” for all or most patients, but we identified variation in responses regarding specific vitamins and cofactors. A majority of physicians recommended studies on the development of effective therapies as the top research priority.
Conclusions:
While Canadian physicians’ views about diagnostic care and disease management are aligned with published recommendations, important variations in care reflect persistent areas of uncertainty and a need for empirical evidence to support and update standard protocols.
Emerging literature suggests fathers may contribute uniquely to child development and emotional health through play. In the present study, a multiple mediational model was analyzed using data from 476 families that participated in the NICHD Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development. After accounting for infant–mother attachment, infant temperament, and family income and stability, a significant indirect effect from father–child play quality to adolescent internalizing symptoms was found through father-reported child emotional dysregulation, B = –.05, 95% confidence interval; CI [–.14, –.01]. Specifically, in first grade, dyads where fathers were rated highly on sensitivity and stimulation during play, and children demonstrated high felt security and affective mutuality during play, had children with fewer father-reported emotional dysregulation problems in third grade, B = –.23, 95% CI [–.39, –.06]. Children with fewer emotional dysregulation problems had lower self-reported internalizing symptoms at age 15, B = .23, 95% CI [.01, .45]. Mothers’ ratings of children's emotional dysregulation were not a significant mediator. Results are discussed regarding the importance of father–child play for children's adjustment as well as the usefulness of inclusion of fathers in child developmental research.
The present study evaluated the behaviour of the AusBeef model for beef production as part of a 2 × 2 study simulating performance on forage-based and concentrate-based diets from Oceania and North America for four methane (CH4)-relevant outputs of interest. Three sensitivity analysis methods, one local and two global, were conducted. Different patterns of sensitivity were observed between forage-based and concentrate-based diets, but patterns were consistent within diet types. For the local analysis, 36, 196, 47 and 8 out of 305 model parameters had normalized sensitivities of 0, >0, >0·01 and >0·1 across all diets and outputs, respectively. No parameters had a normalized local sensitivity >1 across all diets and outputs. However, daily CH4 production had the greatest number of parameters with normalized local sensitivities >1 for each individual diet. Parameters that were highly sensitive for global and local analyses across the range of diets and outputs examined included terms involved in microbial growth, volatile fatty acid (VFA) yields, maximum absorption rates and their inhibition due to pH effects and particle exit rates. Global sensitivity analysis I showed the high sensitivity of forage-based diets to lipid entering the rumen, which may be a result of the use of a feedlot-optimized model to represent high-forage diets and warrants further investigation. Global sensitivity analysis II showed that when all parameter values were simultaneously varied within ±10% of initial value, >96% of output values were within ±20% of the baseline, which decreased to >50% when parameter value boundaries were expanded to ±25% of their original values, giving a range for robustness of model outputs with regards to potential different ‘true’ parameter values. There were output-specific differences in sensitivity, where outputs that had greater maximum local sensitivities displayed greater degrees of non-linear interaction in global sensitivity analysis I and less variance in output values for global sensitivity analysis II. For outputs with less interaction, such as the acetate : propionate ratio and microbial protein production, the single most sensitive term in global sensitivity analysis I contributed more to the overall total-order sensitivity than for outputs with more interaction, with an average of 49, 33, 15 and 14% of total-order sensitivity for microbial protein production, acetate : propionate ratio, CH4 production and energy from absorbed VFAs, respectively. Future studies should include data collection for highly sensitive parameters reported in the present study to improve overall model accuracy.
As demand for animal products, such as meat and milk, increases, and concern over environmental impact grows, mechanistic models can be useful tools to better represent and understand ruminant systems and evaluate mitigation options to reduce greenhouse gas emissions without compromising productivity. The objectives of the present study were to describe the representation of processes for growth and enteric methane (CH4) production in AusBeef, a whole-animal, dynamic, mechanistic model for beef production; evaluate AusBeef for its ability to predict daily methane production (DMP, g/day), gross energy intake (GEI, MJ/day) and methane yield (MJ CH4/MJ GEI) using an independent data set; and to compare AusBeef estimates to those from the empirical equations featured in the current National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine (NASEM, 2016) beef cattle requirements for growth and the Ruminant Nutrition System (RNS), a dynamic, mechanistic model of Tedeschi & Fox, 2016. AusBeef incorporates a unique fermentation stoichiometry that represents four microbial groups: protozoa, amylolytic bacteria, cellulolytic bacteria and lactate-utilizing bacteria. AusBeef also accounts for the effects of ruminal pH on microbial degradation of feed particles. Methane emissions are calculated from net ruminal hydrogen balance, which is defined as the difference between inputs from fermentation and outputs due to microbial use and biohydrogenation. AusBeef performed similarly to the NASEM empirical model in terms of prediction accuracy and error decomposition, and with less root mean square predicted error (RMSPE) than the RNS mechanistic model when expressed as a percentage of the observed mean (RMSPE, %), and the majority of error was non-systematic. For DMP, RMSPE for AusBeef, NASEM and RNS were 24·0, 19·8 and 50·0 g/day for the full data set (n = 35); 25·6, 18·2 and 56·2 g/day for forage diets (n = 19); and 21·8, 21·5 and 41·5 g/day for mixed diets (n = 16), respectively. Concordance correlation coefficients (CCC) were highest for GEI, with all models having CCC > 0·66, and higher CCC for forage diets than mixed, while CCC were lowest for MY, particularly forage diets. Systematic error increased for all models on forage diets, largely due to an increase in error due to mean bias, and while all models performed well for mixed diets, further refinements are required to improve the prediction of CH4 on forage diets.
This study examines the factors that determine the likelihood of submitting a potentially fraudulent prevented planting claim. A theoretical model is developed and the theoretical predictions are empirically verified by utilizing a binary choice model and crop insurance data from the southern United States. The empirical results show that insured producers with higher prevented planting coverage, lower dollar value of expected yield, and a history of submitting prevented planting claims are more likely to submit an anomalous prevented planting claim. The empirical model also suggests revenue insurance plans may be more vulnerable to prevented planting fraud than the traditional yield-based insurance plan. Results of this study can be valuable to compliance offices in their efforts to find “indicators” of fraudulent behavior in crop insurance, especially with regard to prevented planting.
The number and size of free-range laying hen (Gallus gallus domesticus) production systems are increasing within Australia in response to consumer demand for perceived improvement in hen welfare. However, variation in outdoor stocking density has generated consumer dissatisfaction leading to the development of a national information standard on free-range egg labelling by the Australian Consumer Affairs Ministers. The current Australian Model Code of Practice for Domestic Poultry states a guideline of 1500 hens/ha, but no maximum density is set. Radio-frequency identification (RFID) tracking technology was used to measure daily range usage by individual ISA Brown hens housed in six small flocks (150 hens/flock – 50% of hens tagged), each with access to one of three outdoor stocking density treatments (two replicates per treatment: 2000, 10 000, 20 000 hens/ha), from 22 to 26, 27 to 31 and 32 to 36 weeks of age. There was some variation in range usage across the sampling periods and by weeks 32 to 36 individual hens from the lowest stocking density on average used the range for longer each day (P<0.001), with fewer visits and longer maximum durations per visit (P<0.001). Individual hens within all stocking densities varied in the percentage of days they accessed the range with 2% of tagged hens in each treatment never venturing outdoors and a large proportion that accessed the range daily (2000 hens/ha: 80.5%; 10 000 hens/ha: 66.5%; 20 000 hens/ha: 71.4%). On average, 38% to 48% of hens were seen on the range simultaneously and used all available areas of all ranges. These results of experimental-sized flocks have implications for determining optimal outdoor stocking densities for commercial free-range laying hens but further research would be needed to determine the effects of increased range usage on hen welfare.
The Molonglo cross-type radiotelescope has been in operation since 1967 and it is expected that its principal task, the fundamental sky survey, will be completed within the next few years. This by no means represents the end of the useful life of the instrument but we have been investigating modifications to extend further its usefulness. The most desirable modification appears to be a substantial increase in operating frequency to improve the resolution and positional accuracy.
The major programs at the Molonglo Radio Observatory are nearing completion. Much can still be done using the existing 1 mile Cross-type radio-telescope (Mills et al. 1963) but, to tackle properly many of the current problems in radio astronomy, a fundamental change is required from a transit to a trackable radio-telescope, combined with an increase in the operating frequency and the resolution.
In India, national databases indicate anaemia prevalence of 80 % among 6–35-month-old children and 58 % among 36–59-month-old children. The present study aimed to characterise anaemia and the associated factors among infants and pre-schoolers living in rural India.
Design
Multivariate logistic regression analysis of data collected prior to an intervention trial. Fe-deficiency with anaemia (IDA), Fe deficiency with no anaemia (IDNA) and anaemia without Fe deficiency were defined. Serum ferritin, soluble transferrin receptor (sTfR) and sTfR/log ferritin index were used to indicate Fe status.
Setting
Twenty-six villages of Nalgonda district, Telangana, India. Data were collected in community sites.
Participants
Four hundred and seventy-six infants (aged 6–12 months), 316 pre-schoolers (aged 29–56 months) and their mothers.
Results
Prevalence of anaemia among infants and pre-schoolers was 66·4 and 47·8 %, prevalence of IDA was 52·2 and 42·1 %, prevalence of IDNA was 22·2 and 29·8 %, prevalence of anaemia without Fe deficiency was 14·2 and 5·7 %. Among infants, anaemia was positively associated with maternal anaemia (OR=3·31; 95 % CI 2·10, 5·23; P<0·001), and sTfR/log ferritin index (OR=2·21; 95 % CI 1·39, 3·54; P=0·001). Among pre-schoolers, anaemia was positively associated with maternal anaemia (OR=3·77; 95 % CI 1·94, 7·30; P<0·001), sTfR/log ferritin index (OR=5·29; 95 % CI 2·67, 10·50; P<0·001), high C-reactive protein (OR=4·39; 95 % CI 1·91, 10·06, P<0·001) and young age (29–35 months: OR=1·92; 05 % CI 1·18, 3·13, P=0·009).
Conclusions
Anaemia prevalence continues to be high among infants and pre-schoolers in rural India. Based on sTfR/ferritin index, Fe deficiency is a major factor associated with anaemia. Anaemia is also associated with inflammation among pre-schoolers and with maternal anaemia among infants and pre-schoolers, illustrating the importance of understanding the aetiology of anaemia in designing effective control strategies.
This article analyzes anomalous patterns of agent, adjuster, and producer claim outcomes and determines the most likely pattern of collusion that is suggestive of fraud, waste, and abuse in the federal crop insurance program. Log–linear analysis of Poisson-distributed counts of anomalous entities is used to examine potential patterns of collusion. The most likely pattern of collusion present in the crop insurance program is where agents, adjusters, and producers nonrecursively interact with each other to coordinate their behavior. However, if a priori an intermediary is known to initiate and coordinate the collusion, a pattern where the producer acts as the intermediary is the most likely pattern of collusion evidenced in the data. These results have important implications for insurance program design and compliance.