Alternative Delivery Mechanisms Research Articles

Recent Advances in Niosomal Drug Delivery: A Review

The production of niosomes, which are non-ionic surfactant vessels, involves hydrating synthetic non-ionic surfactants, either with or without the addition of cholesterol or another lipid. Due to their distinctive qualities, including biodegradability, biocompatibility, chemical stability, low production cost, ease of storage and handling, and low toxicity, non-ionic surfactant vesicles also known as niosomes have received a lot of attention in the field of modern drug delivery system. Niosomes are hydrated vesicular systems with a lamellar bilayer structure made of non-ionic surfactants with or without cholesterol, and they have a wide spectrum of solubilities that allow them to encapsulate a variety of bioactive chemicals. Niosomes have been tested as a delivery system for a variety of anti-cancer medications, genes, antigens, and other bioactive substances. This article focuses on recent developments in niosomal drug delivery, possible benefits over alternative delivery mechanisms, formulation techniques, characterisation techniques, and ongoing niosome research.

Harnessing the use of alternative media for South Africa’s agricultural extension service delivery in the face of the covid-19 global pandemic

Agricultural extension service delivery remains pivotal in disseminating contemporary and innovative agricultural information, and the training and capacity building of farmers; all of which are critical to increased farmer productivity. There are several agricultural extension methods used by extension field officers to engage their target farmers; some of the contact methods used, like the individual and group methods amongst others, necessitates close interactions between both parties. As such, physical contact between persons cannot be avoided. In the current spate of COVID-19 threats to global health, there is a possible risk of human-to-human transmission of the disease. Some temporary measures like social distancing and the ban of gatherings are currently utilised by many countries to mitigate the rapid spread of the virus. The findings of several research reports showed that these restrictions negatively impacted agricultural extension service deliveries. This paper, therefore, reviewed alternative media delivery mechanisms as a probable palliative measure in sustaining the continuous delivery of agricultural information to farmers. The paper recommends intensifying the use of the electronic extension (E-extension) system. The mobile and computer/web-based platforms should be significantly harnessed (where applicable), while concurrently promoting the intense use of print media, radio, television, agricultural documentaries and instructional videos.

Technology and Competitive Assessment for a Bioneedle™ Drug Vaccine Platform

Most vaccines have a similar method of delivery, utilizing a needle-based system to administer vaccines. Moreover, many require the maintenance of a “cold chain” to preserve its integrity and usability. While these options are feasible in developed parts of the world, delivering these vaccines to underdeveloped areas becomes difficult. Many vaccines go to waste due to breakages in the “cold chain,” leaving many people without vaccinations. Furthermore, with the recent COVID-19 crisis, needs are emerging around strategies to deliver products that do not require extreme temperatures for storage and allow for efficient vaccine delivery on a mass scale. Many companies, including Pfizer, Moderna, and Johnson & Johnson, have brought to market COVID-19 vaccines. Pfizer and Moderna have found development success and profitability from their vaccine technology, both now and potentially in the future. Still, storage, administration, and waste challenges exist with these current options, creating opportunities for alternative delivery mechanisms. With these vaccines being essential for the current global situation, other administration strategies, such as Bioneedle™, could provide a valuable alternative and help mitigate the associated cold chain and sustainability issues seen with currently available options.
 Bioneedle™ Drug Delivery B.V. (BDD), a European biotechnology company, is developing a needleless vaccine-device combination product, the Bioneedle™. This technology value proposition focuses on solving the logistics issues associated with many vaccine products. These include eliminating cold-chain requirements, increasing the speed of vaccination, and reducing non-recyclable, medical waste (e.g., plastic syringes). It employs a reusable delivery system that administers multiple vaccines using biodegradable mini-implants to aid mass immunization efforts. This approach could significantly reduce plastic waste from syringes, translating to a significant sustainability benefit consistent with the United Nation’s Initiatives. Accordingly, BDD seeks support from a venture, corporate, government, or foundation for developing this novel delivery platform.
 This case aims to achieve two objectives. First, it seeks to provide an in-depth overview of the value proposition of Bioneedle™, sparking discussion around its feasibility in a real-world setting. The second involves creating dialog regarding improvements to the Bioneedle™ system and other innovations that may help mitigate cold chain issues while still providing needleless delivery of vaccines.
 This case discussion highlights the potential of a new vaccine delivery system that various healthcare settings can use. This approach may pose a cost-effective solution to the loss of vaccines in the cold chain and address the growing concerns around plastic waste and the environment. In closing, this narrative allows for an open-forum discussion around the opportunity of introducing a new medical device in a thriving vaccine market. It is a learning experience that requires strategic decision-making in response to questions posed for new startups and the new vaccine technology.

Connecting Smallholding Farmers: Analysis of Agricultural Market Information Systems (The Case of Wondogenet Wereda, SNNPR, Ethiopia)

The study aimed to identify the major challenges that affect the market information system, assess the possible mechanism that would increase their speculative and bargaining capacity power and to explore feasible information system solutions. Data were collected with structured questionnaire from104 farmers of different market using clustered sampling techniques. Descriptive research design and mixed (qualitative and quantitative) research approach vis-à-vis value chain approach is applied and developed an intermediary driven value chain model that links farmers to the market as a way to improve the unidirectional, selectively beneficiary traditional system. Using nine criteria on the multitude of alternative information delivery mechanisms for small holding farmers, Interactive Voice Response based system is found to be of highly effective. Restructuring the market information by bringing the most important wholesalers in to the system, enhancing the functionalities of the market by creating localized price data and creating demand forecasting platform by distinguishing crops that continuously face marketing problems are suggested as short-term action while, increasing economies of scale in production and distribution by consolidating farmers’ cooperatives, encouraging the development of third-party logistics, investing on the physical agro-logistics infrastructure to support long-distance, high-volume agricultural product transportation modes as well as increasing the refrigerated storage capacity at wholesale markets to nurture cold chain technologies are very crucial tasks in the long run.

Technology Enabled Delivery of Medical Programmes through ODL : A Case of Training Medical Doctors in Geriatric Medicine

COVID-19 provided an opportunity to experiment with alternative delivery mechanisms for a medical education programme offered through open and distance learning with face-to-face training as an essential component of the programme. Non-availability of hard copies of the course material (92%) and lack of communication from the university (32%) as well as training centres (42%) were some of the challenges faced by students of the Geriatric Medicine programme of the Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU) during the COVID pandemic. Around 90% were willing to attend online classes and 65% to 77% were willing to present cases online for discussion. A programme-specific web portal containing all resource material and information was visited by 85% of students. Most students attended the online classes and 68% attempted the formative assessments based on the online classes. Online classes were recorded and uploaded and were found useful by 90% of students. The experiment successfully demonstrated the feasibility and acceptance of delivering practical skills using online technological tools. Further integrating technology to complement some of the face-to-face component could be used as a permanent and effective delivery strategy, which could also reduce resource requirements.

Demand for Taenia solium Cysticercosis Vaccine: Lessons and Insights From the Pig Production and Trading Nodes of the Uganda Pig Value Chain

Taenia solium cysticercosis disease remains a key challenge to the pig sector in low- and middle-income countries in sub-Saharan Africa, Latin America and South East Asia, resulting in both economic losses and public health impacts. The World Health Organization has ranked it first on the global scale of foodborne parasites. A One Health approach has been recommended for reduction of infection pressure and eradication in the longer term. A new vaccine TSOL18 (Cysvax™), applied in combination with oxfendazole (Paranthic 10%™), a dewormer drug has been developed and field tested for the control of T. solium cysticercosis, with high potential to break the disease cycle. It is however unclear whether the products can be marketed through a market driven approach, and if smallholder pig farmers would be willing to take up and pay for the vaccine–oxfendazole combination. A choice experiment methodology was used to assess the potential demand and willingness to pay for the vaccine—oxfendazole combination by Ugandan smallholder pig farmers, and demand for vaccinated pigs by pig traders. The results showed that farmers highly valued quality assurance attributes and were not keen on the vaccine if there were no associated returns in the form of premium price for vaccinated pigs during sales. They were willing to pay US$ 2.31 for the vaccine if it resulted in a premium price for vaccinated pigs. Furthermore, they preferred an accompanying vaccine viability detector as part of its quality assurance. The pig traders on the other hand preferred high carcass weight of pigs, potentially achieved by using oxfendazole. The results show that unless the pig market systems pay a premium price for vaccinated pigs, and quality assurance systems guarantee quality vaccine, uptake of the TSOL18 vaccine and oxfendazole by farmers through market mechanisms may be unsuccessful. The current pig marketing system does not reward food safety, the focus is mainly on carcass weight. Alternative delivery mechanisms for the vaccine through a mix of private–public investments needs to be explored, as the benefits of vaccinated pigs are societal and include reduction and elimination of neurocysticercosis in the long run.

Exploring attitudes of adolescents and caregivers towards community-based delivery of the HPV vaccine: a qualitative study

BackgroundHuman Papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination among adolescents is an important strategy to prevent cervical and other cancers in adulthood. However, uptake remains far below the Healthy People 2020 targets for the US. Given the barriers to population-level vaccination policies and challenges to incorporating additional action items during clinical visits, we sought to explore alternative delivery mechanisms, specifically delivery of the vaccine in community settings.MethodsWe conducted six focus groups (three with adolescents aged 11–14 who had not received the HPV vaccine and three with caregivers of adolescents meeting those criteria) from Black, Latino, and Brazilian communities in Massachusetts. We utilized a framework analysis approach that involved a multi-stage coding process employing both prefigured and emergent codes. Initial interpretations were refined through consultation with an advisory board.ResultsAdolescents and caregivers expressed a range of concerns about the HPV vaccine and also described interest in learning more about the vaccine, emphasizing the importance of a relationship with a trusted provider as a facilitator of vaccine acceptance. Regarding community-based delivery of the vaccine, reactions were mainly negative. However, adolescents and caregivers noted that receiving information in community settings that could seed a conversation with a trusted provider would be welcome. Interestingly, the notion of a trusted provider seemed to extend broadly to practitioners linked to the trusted main provider.ConclusionsThe study highlights an opportunity for increasing HPV vaccination among some racial and ethnic minority populations by leveraging trusted community organizations to provide information and seed conversations with a potentially broad group of trusted providers. A task-shifting approach, or reliance on staff with fewer formal credentials, may offer opportunities to support vaccination in resource-constrained settings.

Carbon Dots Fabrication: Ocular Imaging and Therapeutic Potential.

Vision loss is a major complication in common ocular infections and diseases such as bacterial keratitis, age-related macular degeneration (AMD) and diabetic retinopathy (DR). The prevalence of such ophthalmic diseases represents an urgent need to develop safe, effective, and long-term treatments. Current therapies are riddled with drawbacks and limitations which calls for the exploration of alternative drug delivery mechanisms. Toxicity of the inorganic metals and metal oxides used for drug delivery raise safety concerns that are alleviated with the alternate use of, a natural and organic polymer which is both biocompatible and environmentally friendly. Carbon dots (CDs) represent a great potential in novel biomedical applications due to their tunable fluorescence, biocompatibility, and ability to be conjugated with diverse therapeutic materials. There is a growing interest on the exploitation of these properties for drug delivery with enhanced bio-imaging. However, there are limited reports of CD applications for ophthalmic indications. In this review, we focus on the CD potential and the development of translational therapies for ophthalmic diseases. The current review presents better understanding of fabrication of CDs and how it may be useful in delivering anti-bacterial agents, anti-VEGF molecules as well as imaging for ophthalmic applications.

Local government interventions to stimulate industrial area intensification and co-location: Industrial urbanism

In response to ever-increasing volumes of online retail activity, pressure to provide space for urban service companies in our core cities continues to build. Successful high-density city living relies on a balanced supply of premises suitable and affordable to relatively unglamorous but essential operations, not least ‘last mile’ deliveries. There has been a sustained outmigration of occupiers from industrial zones close to urban centres, however, leaving this land at risk of redevelopment for higher-value activities. Many UK cities feature long-established industrial estates close to high-value city fringes that now look and feel incongruous as the surrounding urban context has transformed. Tensions are highest in London, where the Greater London Authority (GLA) has commissioned specialist research that can act both as an early warning and inspiration to others. The missing catalysts are early-adopter exemplar property developments that demonstrate the commercial viability of new mixed-use property typologies suited to these intensifying market challenges. This is a role only likely to be fulfilled by the public sector. To do so would demonstrate proactive place leadership. Local and regional authorities can analyse market failure in the supply of property formats required by identified growth sector enterprises. Value heat maps will identify areas of greatest market tension for priority interventions. Proactive business relocation plans should embrace council owned stock and be delivered in cooperation with neighbouring authorities within single economic markets. Specialist commercial property and architectural expertise will be needed to build financial models to test the investment case of new format projects. Action plans should critique alternative delivery mechanisms. This paper discusses industrial area estates and the role of local government.

Analyzing Configurational Paths for Successful PPPs in Indian Urban Drinking Water Sector

AbstractOver the last three decades, public–private partnership projects have emerged as strong alternative service delivery mechanisms to conventional public sector initiatives. The results, howev...

Public-private partnerships in developing countries

Purpose Mounting fiscal constraints and increasing complexity of public services have led governments to search for alternative service delivery mechanisms. The public–private partnership (PPP) is one type of service arrangement in which the public and private sectors enter into a long-term cooperative relationship for the purpose of delivering a public good or service. Despite increasing private sector participation in developing nations, there is a need for more systematic assessment of PPPs in such countries. The purpose of this paper is to explore the factors that affect the adoption and implementation of projects in the context of developing countries. Design/methodology/approach A multiple case holistic design is employed to analyze 19 select projects across several developing countries to identify and pool clusters of variables that facilitate or impede PPPs. Findings The results indicate five broad categories of political, economic, legislative, financial and management requisites. Research limitations/implications A limitation of this research is that the cases were not selected at random. However, the projects are spread across several areas such as public health, public utilities, public works, transportation and water/wastewater infrastructure in different countries. This allows the authors to examine how the common factors apply across different contextual settings. Originality/value This paper seeks to contribute to the literature by examining several developing countries to identify and pool clusters of variables that facilitate or impede the effective implementation of PPP projects in the context of such regions.

RESTRUCTURING SOCIAL WORK FIELD EDUCATION IN 21ST CENTURY CANADA

Social work field education in Canada is in a state of crisis. For over two decades field education has faced increasing challenges and barriers within neoliberal contexts in higher education and the health and social services sector. These challenges have been magnified by an unprecedented growth in social work education programs and student enrolments, which has increased demand for field placements to an unsustainable level. Although some strategies for restructuring social work field education have been developed, to date little work has been done to formally identify, evaluate, and share information about these strategies across Canadian social work education programs. This article explores the current state of crisis from a solution-focused lens and describes three inter-related strategies to address critical problems with current models, practices, and processes. The strategies are presented as a Sustainability Model for Field Education. The results of a two-year study that sought to identify alternative delivery mechanisms for social work field education and promote sharing of information across social work education programs are discussed. A key recommendation is to restructure and move away from a crisis management approach by implementing strategies for enhancing the sustainability of field education.

Protocol: Improving Access to Specialist Nephrology Care Among Rural/Remote Dwellers of Alberta: The Role of Electronic Consultation in Improving Care for Patients With Chronic Kidney Disease.

Background:As the burden of chronic kidney disease (CKD) continues to increase, many geographically dispersed Canadians have limited access to specialist nephrology care, which tends to be centralized in major urban areas. As a result, many rural/remote-dwellers in Canada experience poor quality of care and related adverse outcomes. It is imperative to develop alternative care delivery mechanisms to ensure optimal health outcomes for all Canadians.Objective:To investigate the feasibility and effectiveness of electronic consultation (eConsult) as a new model for interactions between specialists and primary care providers (PCPs) to improve access to care for patients with CKD.Design:This is a sequential, mixed methods study that will be conducted in 3 phases.Setting:The study will be conducted across the entire province of Alberta, supported by Alberta Kidney Care (formerly, Northern and Southern Alberta Renal Programs [NARP/SARP]).Patients:Patients suffering from CKD will be included in the study.Measurements:We will assess the barriers and enablers of implementation and adoption of an e-consultation protocol to facilitate access to care for patients with CKD in Alberta with a focus on rural/remote-dwellers with CKD. We will also evaluate the impact of the eConsult system (eg, improved access to specialist care, reduction in care gaps), assess the feasibility of province-wide implementation, and compare eConsult with practice facilitation versus eConsult alone in terms of access to specialist care, quality of care, and related outcomes.Methods:The study will be conducted in 3 phases. In phase 1, we will assess the perceptions of stakeholders (ie, PCPs, nephrologists, patients, policymakers, and other care providers) to improve CKD care delivery, quality, and outcomes in Alberta with focus groups and semistructured interviews. Phase 2 will engage specific family physicians for their input on key factors and logistical issues affecting the feasibility of implementing eConsult for the care of patients with CKD. Phase 3 will provide academic detailing including practice facilitation to clinics in Alberta to assess how eConsult with practice facilitation compares with eConsult alone in terms of access to specialist care, quality of care, and related outcomes.Results:We will assess stakeholder perceptions about potential barriers to and enablers of a new eConsult and decision support system strategy, focusing on elements that are most important for the design of a feasible and implementable intervention. We will develop, pilot test, and assess the impact of the eConsult model in improving access to specialist nephrology care and the feasibility of province-wide implementation. The final phase of the project will address key challenges for optimal care for patients with CKD living in rural, remote, and underserved areas of Alberta, particularly timely referral and disease management as well as the cost-effective benefits of eConsult.Limitations:Lack of high-speed Internet in many rural and remote areas of Alberta may lead to more time spent in completing the eConsult request online versus faxing a referral the traditional way. Allied health care staff (referral coordinators, administrative staff) require training to the eConsult system, and physicians at many remote sites do not have adequate staff to handle eConsult as an added task.Conclusions:Implementation of eConsult can favorably influence referral patterns, access to care, care quality, patient outcomes, and health care costs for people with CKD. Results of this study will inform the optimization of care for rural/remote-dwellers with CKD and will facilitate future partnerships with policymakers and provincial renal programs in Alberta to ensure optimal kidney health for all residents.Trial registration:Not required.

Delivering development? Evidence on self-help groups as development intermediaries in South Asia and Africa.

Donors and governments increasingly seek to deliver development projects through community-based organizations such as self-help groups (SHGs), but little is known about the effectiveness of such arrangements. This article briefly summarizes hypotheses regarding the effectiveness of interventions using SHGs and presents the results of an evidence review on the impacts of interventions delivered through SHGs on health, finance, agriculture and empowerment outcomes in South Asia and sub-Saharan Africa. Though the impacts of SHG-based interventions are generally positive, the evidence base is limited and does not generally test whether alternative delivery mechanisms might be more effective.

Evolution and expansion of a resident teaching and learning program sponsored by a school of pharmacy.

The evolution and expansion of a school of pharmacy-sponsored resident teaching and learning program (RTLP) are described. Since its establishment in 2012, Auburn University Harrison School of Pharmacy's RTLP has grown to include up to 12 residency programs in Alabama and on the Gulf Coast of Mississippi and Florida. Program requirements include seminar attendance, teaching experiences and observations, and development of an electronic teaching portfolio. Residents are provided support and guidance from an assigned faculty mentor and from chosen teaching mentors in each teaching activity. A program satisfaction survey was developed to assess residents' reasons for RTLP participation and their views on the manageability of program requirements, the level of residency program support received, the usefulness of seminar content, and other aspects of the program. Resident feedback has been used by RTLP coordinators to modify and refine program requirements. Major changes have included a switch to alternative information delivery mechanisms, clarification of mentor roles and responsibilities, and a transition from longitudinal seminars to intensive workshop days. At the end of the 2016-17 residency year, the RTLP had hosted a total of 66 residents from 12 different residency programs, with a 93.9% retention rate and a more than 3-fold increase in total resident enrollment. Evolution of a school of pharmacy-sponsored RTLP was essential to meet the growing needs of affiliated residency programs while optimizing faculty resources.

Acceptability of Injectable and On-Demand Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis Among an Online Sample of Young Men Who Have Sex with Men in California.

Pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) is an effective strategy to prevent HIV. However, low uptake of daily oral PrEP since Food and Drug Administration approval and low medication adherence among users have stimulated the investigation of other modalities for delivery, such as injectable PrEP and on-demand PrEP. The objective of this study was to determine the demographic and behavioral predictors of willingness to try alternative PrEP delivery mechanisms among young men who have sex with men (YMSM) who stated that they were unwilling to try daily oral PrEP. YMSM in California were recruited through geosocial networking applications; we analyzed a subsample who stated that they were either ambivalent about trying or unwilling to try daily oral PrEP (n = 265). We used chi-square and Fisher's exact tests to determine characteristics associated with willingness to try injectable PrEP, willingness to try on-demand PrEP, and willingness to try either alternative form. For individuals who stated that they would not be willing to try daily oral PrEP, ∼85% were willing to try on-demand and/or injectable PrEP. Individuals who reported some college or more reported greater willingness to try injectable PrEP (adjusted odds ratio [aOR]: 2.92; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.32-6.46), on-demand PrEP (aOR: 2.28; 95% CI: 1.06-4.90), or either method (aOR: 5.54; 95% CI: 1.78-17.22). Future research should determine how to enhance uptake of emerging forms of PrEP among the individuals most at risk for HIV.

On the Complexity of Optimal Content Placement in Hierarchical Caching Networks

The ever increasing demand for content is straining operators’ networks, thereby necessitating development of alternative content delivery mechanisms. Distributed caching architectures constitute a promising solution for mitigating the effects of demand growth by placing popular content files in proximity to users, rather than in a central site. In this paper, we study the content placement problem in multiple-level hierarchical caching networks where user requests for files are routed upwards toward content servers, satisfied by intermediate nodes if the latter have cached the requested files. Our goal is to reduce the server load by serving as many requests as possible by the caches. We show that the problem is NP-Hard in its general form, but it can be solved optimally in polynomial-time when the caches are installed on a single hierarchy path. For the general case, we develop an algorithm achieving a provably better approximation ratio than the best-known counterparts. Numerical experiments show up to 56% reduction in server load over existing algorithms, with gains increasing as the content popularity distributions get steeper and more diverse across nodes, and the cache capacities at the upper hierarchy levels increase. Our evaluation code is publicly available for the benefit of research community.

Neither public nor private: The efficacy of mixed model public service delivery in two Canadian municipalities

AbstractThe New Public Management emerged in the 1980s, and with it, alternative service delivery (ASD) mechanisms, which removed service delivery from the public bureaucracy and separated policy making from policy implementation. Most western governments implemented measures including privatization or contracting out of service delivery to the private sector. By the mid‐1990s, many governments started reversing ASD policies and sought new ways to deliver services, leading to a mixed model approach to service delivery, which combines the benefits of the public and private sectors. We examine the adoption of the model in the Canadian municipalities of Hamilton and Ottawa to determine if and how it enhances competition, cost‐savings, efficiency, effectiveness, and good governance in the delivery of public services, during an era of fiscal constraint. Our findings indicate the model is better in enhancing the five variables when compared to solely public or private services delivery.

ENTRY IN THE ADHD DRUGS MARKET: WELFARE IMPACT OF GENERICS AND ME-TOO'S.

Recent decades have seen a growth in treatments for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) including many branded and generic drugs. In the early 2000's, new drug entry dramatically altered market shares. We estimate a demand system for ADHD drugs and assess the welfare impact of new drugs. We find that entry induced large welfare gains by reducing prices of substitute drugs, and by providing alternative delivery mechanisms for existing molecules. Our results suggest that the success of follow-on patented drugs may come from unanticipated innovations like delivery mechanisms, a factor ignored by proposals to retard new follow-on drug approvals.

Oral vaccination of backyard pigs against classical swine fever

Vaccination represents a key pillar of most classical swine fever (CSF) control programmes. In backyard production systems the systematic implementation of parenteral vaccination proves to be difficult and alternative delivery mechanisms might be needed. In this study the use of oral vaccination against CSF in backyard pigs was tested under field conditions. The main objective was to assess uptake efficacy and immune response after oral vaccination of backyard pigs with bait vaccine currently used in the European Union for CSF control in wild boar (RIEMSER® Schweinepestoralvakzine). In total 85 backyard pigs belonging to 16 holdings were vaccinated orally by distributing four baits per pig, given on two consecutive days. The baits were distributed on pen floors. 73% of the pigs older than 12 weeks (n=41) had protective antibody titres 28 days after oral vaccination. The seroconversion rate in young piglets (n=44, younger than 12 weeks) was 64%.Based on the results obtained we concluded that in an endemic situation where usual control measures (stamping out, zoning with restrictive measures, parenteral vaccination, etc.) may prove to be insufficient, a systematic vaccination based on the use of oral vaccine can be an appropriate tool for an improved CSF control in backyard production systems.