27 results match your criteria: "Berne University of Applied Sciences[Affiliation]"

Article Synopsis
  • Haemorrhagic bowel syndrome (HBS) is a leading cause of death in fattening pigs globally, and this study aimed to identify predictors and causal components associated with HBS in affected farms compared to control farms.
  • Key findings highlighted that sugar beet in liquid feed and small particle sizes in meal feeds significantly increased the risk of HBS, while microbial quality of feed and the presence of the pathogen B. pilosicoli were also linked to higher HBS incidence.
  • The study concludes that HBS is a complex syndrome influenced by multiple factors in pig production, reinforcing previous Swiss research that also indicated no single cause for the disease.
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Wider view over bicycle crashes: Complementing and extending bicycle crash statistics in urban areas using surveys.

J Safety Res

December 2023

Chair of Infrastructure Management, ETH Zurich, Stefano-Franscini-Platz 5, 8093 Zurich, Switzerland. Electronic address:

Introduction: In pursuit of sustainability goals, many cities are introducing measures to increase the usage of bicycles as a means of transportation. City planners aim to ensure that this increase does not lead to an increase in crashes, but must make corresponding infrastructure decisions with limited information. Sufficient data to perform a statistical analysis of location-specific crash frequencies is rarely available.

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Objectives: Clinical guidelines for acute non-specific low back pain (LBP) recommend avoiding imaging studies or invasive treatments and to advise patients to stay active. The aim of this study was to evaluate the management of acute non-specific LBP in the emergency departments (ED).

Setting: We invited all department chiefs of Swiss EDs and their physician staff to participate in a web-based survey using two clinical case vignettes of patients with acute non-specific LBP presenting to an ED.

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Introduction: Research into current robot middleware has revealed that most of them are either too complicated or outdated. These facts have motivated the development of a new middleware to meet the requirements of usability by non-experts. The proposed middleware is based on Android and is intended to be placed over existing robot SDKs and middleware.

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Diets based on large proportions of grassland-based feed are uncommon in forage-based intensive beef production, thus contradicting governmental or commercial strategies to promote the use of grassland-based feed in ruminant production systems. Compared with typical maize silage/concentrate diets, grassland-based diets are associated with impaired nitrogen (N) and energy utilisation because of the comparably lower energy and higher CP content of these feeds. However, quantitative studies concerning the effects of increased dietary proportions of grassland-derived feeds on N and energy losses and utilisation and on methane emissions are missing and the compensation potential of using a limited proportion of an energy-rich forage is unknown.

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We experimentally investigate an intervention that ought to motivate innovative behavior by changing risk perceptions. Participants run a virtual lemonade stand and face a trade-off between exploiting a known strategy and exploring untested approaches. Innovation through testing new approaches comes along with a risk of failure because participants are compensated based on the profits generated by their virtual business.

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Methane mitigation in dairy cows is an essential part of combating global warming. Governments and consumers have become increasingly interested in herbage-based feeding, and premium prices are often paid for these types of dairy products. However, this feeding strategy is presumed to produce more methane per unit of feed or milk than corn silage- or concentrate-based diets due to higher fiber intakes.

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Dairy cows, methane and global warming have become publicly related terms. However, appropriate dairy cow management may in fact be part of the climate solution when viewed as part of the biogenic carbon cycle. Accordingly, governments and consumers are encouraging more sustainable, locally produced, climate friendly dairy production that often includes grassland-based feeding.

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Background: An outbreak of salmonellosis due to Typhimurium was detected coincidentally in a Swiss meat rabbitry, given that surveillance of in rabbits is not mandatory in Switzerland.

Methods: To assess the extent of potentially subclinical carriage in meat rabbits, faecal pool samples of 50 farms (90% of Swiss commercial rabbitries) with ground covering litter and group housing were bacteriologically tested. Additionally, 236 rabbits showing clinical signs compatible with intestinal diseases, such as salmonellosis, were examined postmortem and analysed bacteriologically.

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Introduction: Tuberculosis (TB) transmission is difficult to measure, and its drivers are not well understood. The effectiveness of infection control measures at healthcare clinics and the most appropriate intervention strategies to interrupt transmission are unclear. We propose a novel approach using clinical, environmental and position-tracking data to study the risk of TB transmission at primary care clinics in TB and HIV high burden settings in sub-Saharan Africa.

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Background: Mothers and fathers are severely challenged when providing care for their terminally ill child at end of life. Caregiving needs have been studied predominantly in mothers. Differences in caregiving needs between mothers and fathers during their child's end of life have not, however, been explored so far.

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Background: Many people receiving medical treatment in Switzerland speak none of the country's four languages or English, which is a major communicative barrier for health staff. Appropriate treatment in hospitals depends on the successful communication between hospital staff and patients. Consequently, migrant patients can be particularly challenging for hospital staff.

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A segmentation of Swiss fluid milk consumers and suggestions for target product concepts.

J Dairy Sci

April 2020

School of Agricultural, Forest and Food Sciences, Berne University of Applied Sciences, 3052 Zollikofen, Switzerland.

The objective of this study was to understand the priorities and motives of Swiss consumers when choosing and buying fluid milk and to provide evidence-based recommendations for the development of target product concepts and category adaptations. Data were collected through a postal survey sent to a randomly selected sample of German-speaking Swiss residents, yielding a final sample size of n = 712 (39% response rate). Hierarchical cluster analysis disclosed the presence of 3 distinct consumer segments: the uncompromising consumers (24%), who have high and numerous expectations; the locavores (56%), who ensure that they consume primarily milk of local origin; and the indifferent consumers (20%), who have modest expectations, especially in taste, origin, and production conditions.

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The present paper investigates the mean impact force exerted by a granular mass flowing down an incline and impacting a rigid wall of semi-infinite height. First, this granular flow-wall interaction problem is modeled by numerical simulations based on the discrete element method (DEM). These DEM simulations allow computing the depth-averaged quantities-thickness, velocity, and density-of the incoming flow and the resulting mean force on the rigid wall.

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Purpose: The aim of this study was to evaluate a new nurse-guided patient education program in spinal cord injury rehabilitation with particular focus on the patients' perspectives and experiences.

Design: Longitudinal qualitative study.

Methods: We conducted face-to-face interviews with 10 rehabilitation patients and used the content analysis method to analyze the data.

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Retrofitting older vehicles with diesel particulate filter (DPF) is a cost-effective measure to quickly and efficiently reduce particulate matter emissions. This study experimentally analyzes real-world performance of buses retrofitted with CRT DPFs. 18 in-use Euro III technology urban and intercity buses were investigated for a period of 12months.

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Background: Antimicrobial consumption in veterinary medicine is of great importance. Increased awareness by the public and media has led to demands for decreased use of antimicrobials in pigs. This study aimed to identify risk factors for regular oral antimicrobial consumption in Swiss fattening pig farms, and to quantify the amount of antimicrobial active substances administered orally to pigs at the farm level.

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Purpose: Selective retina therapy (SRT) is a novel treatment for retinal pathologies, solely targeting the RPE. During SRT, the detection of an immediate tissue reaction is challenging, as tissue effects remain limited to intracellular RPE photodisruption. Time-resolved ultra-high axial resolution optical coherence tomography (OCT) is thus evaluated for the monitoring of dynamic optical changes at and around the RPE during SRT.

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Study Design: Clinical measurement.

Objectives: To translate and cross-culturally adapt the Hip disability and Osteoarthritis Outcome Score (HOOS) from English into German, and to study its psychometric properties in patients after hip surgery.

Background: There is no specific hip questionnaire in German that not only measures symptoms and function but also contains items about hip-related quality of life.

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The effect of aggression management training programmes for nursing staff and students working in an acute hospital setting. A narrative review of current literature.

Nurse Educ Today

January 2015

Faculty of Health, Medicine and Life Sciences, Caphri-School for Public Health and Primary Care, Maastricht University, Duboisdomein 30, 6229 GT Maastricht, The Netherlands. Electronic address:

Background: Patient aggression is a longstanding problem in general hospital nursing. Staff training is recommended to tackle workplace aggression originating from patients or visitors, yet evidence on training effects is scarce.

Aims: To review and collate current research evidence on the effect of aggression management training for nurses and nursing students working in general hospitals, and to derive recommendations for further research.

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Purpose: External beam radiation therapy is currently considered the most common treatment modality for intraocular tumors. Localization of the tumor and efficient compensation of tumor misalignment with respect to the radiation beam are crucial. According to the state of the art procedure, localization of the target volume is indirectly performed by the invasive surgical implantation of radiopaque clips or is limited to positioning the head using stereoscopic radiographies.

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The Franches-Montagnes is an indigenous Swiss horse breed, with approximately 2500 foalings per year. The stud book is closed, and no introgression from other horse breeds was conducted since 1998. Since 2006, breeding values for 43 different traits (conformation, performance and coat colour) are estimated with a best linear unbiased prediction (BLUP) multiple trait animal model.

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