The objective of this paper is to evaluate the effect of Plant Variety Protection (PVP) on the productive merit ⁄yield increases of US seed varieties. As an example, we use wheat varieties, which are and have been available as both protected and unprotected under PVP from both the public and private sectors. We find evidence that PVP has contributed to the genetic improvement of wheat, using va...

Brazil is the second country on equine embryo world production. Problems related to the application of equine embryos transfer in Brazil are discussed in this article. The main factor related to low efficacy of Equine Embryos Transfer programs consists in the difficulty to induce multiple ovulations Among the most common difficulties and limitations faced in our country, we emphasize the utiliz...

In 1988, Congress passed the Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendment (CLIA), thereby extending coverage of the Clinical Laboratory Improvement Act of 1967 to include quality standards for all laboratory-based testing. The CLIA was enacted to ensure the accuracy, reliability, and timeliness of patient test results, regardless of the location where the tests were performed. This article assesse...

Can the optimum animal be defined? Will that definition change over time, by location, by market demand? First, assume what may be impossible, that the perfect animal can be defined or that only a limited number of definitions of "perfect" are needed. Then, can the "perfect" animal to match a definition be found? Suppose such an animal is found. Then the question to be answered before trying to...

BACKGROUND To investigate the effectiveness of combining teamwork training and lean process improvement, two distinct approaches to improving surgical safety. We conducted a controlled interrupted time series study in a specialist UK Orthopaedic hospital incorporating a plastic surgery team (which received the intervention) and an Orthopaedic theatre team acting as a control. STUDY DESIGN We ...

This article surveys the methods and tools of quality improvement used today in health care. Specifically, we describe how clinicians can use these methods to impact the clinical practice of medicine. Improvement teams from a variety of health care organizations have reported the successful use of basic methods such as group work, flowcharting, data collection, and graphical data analysis. In a...

Evaluation is an integral component of quality improvement and there is much to be learned from the evaluation of small scale quality improvement initiatives at a local level. This type of evaluation is useful for a number of different reasons including monitoring the impact of local projects, identifying and dealing with issues as they arise within a project, comparing local projects to draw l...