Evaluating sow welfare Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Evaluating sow welfare - Essay Example In this case, the common systems included tethers, stalls, and other group housing system. Meta-analysis results established that the average level of oral-nasal-facial, productivity and blood cortisol concentrations were similar for sows in stalls and group pens (McGlone et al. 2004). For the review, housing system does not change heart rate, but circulating cortisol concentrations were higher among gestating sows kept in tether than other housing systems. The review also identified that gestation housing system sometimes influences sow behavior, including social behavior, stereotypic ONF, feeding behavior, or postural locomotory (McGlone et al. 2004). In order to validate their review’s results, this paper provides a critical analysis of the meta-analysis and other measures employed to compare the welfare of sows, in these two systems. This paper further investigates whether the meta-analysis and numbers presented justify the study’s conclusion. Meta-analysis is a sta tistical method that is used to compare the results of several independent researches that are considered as â€Å"combinable†. ... Researchers using this method are required to write a detailed research protocol, in advance, and clearly state the study’s objectives, develop the hypothesis to be tested, the subjects of interest, and propose criteria and procedures for identifying and selecting valid studies and obtaining and analyzing data (McGlone et al. 2004). The method for selecting relevant studies should be well delineated with much focus on whether the search will include unpublished studies, whose results may significantly differ from published trials. It is usually recommended considering unpublished studies, in meta-analysis since one that is restricted to published studies may produce irrelevant results due to biases of such publications. Most researchers usually obtain published studies from electronic databases or Cochrane Controlled Trial Register. The results obtained from different studies must then be expressed in a standardized format to make their comparison easier. This method employs w eighted average of the results to compare different research findings. In this context, larger trials have more effects than the smaller trials. In McGlone et al. review, the authors performed meta-analysis by extracting data from published scientific papers. They used the mean value for treatment in each scientific paper as the experimental unit for performing meta-analysis (McGlone et al. 2004). For instance, if the weighted values from an unreplicated pen were present in the paper, then they were considered for meta-analysis since each study represented a single observation. It is worth noting that the meta-analysis presented in Table 1 significantly justifies the study’s conclusions. In this

Statement of Work Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Statement of Work - Coursework Example The outcome of the contract will increase the Fair attendance to an average of 287,000 attendants and enhance the positive image of the Fair. The contract seeks to provide carnival services to the Spokane interstate fair with operational carnival rides, games, five food sessions and novelty concessions. The contract should provide management expertise and the payment for the carnival services will be paid before September. The gross receipts will not include insurance fees and any applicable taxes. Additionally, the contractor will provide expertise in the content of the promotional programs so as to increase the attendance of the trade fair. The contract shall implement promotional programs designed to increase the attendance rate of the fair. The contractor will demonstrate a high level of expertise and allow the games, rides and shows open at all time The contractor shall abide by all the recommendations stipulated by Spokane Loss/Safety control Department. Moreover, prior to the opening of the Fair, all the concessions and ride shall be inspected by the Washington Department of