Conservation strategy for landbirds in the Columbia Plateau of Eastern Oregon and Washington

Bird conservation plan prepared by Oregon / Washington Partners in Flight containg strategies for the long-term maintenance of healthy bird populations in the Columbia Plateau of Eastern Washington and Oregon.Version 1.

Correction to: The Edinburgh Consensus: preparing for the advent of disease-modifying therapies for Alzheimer's disease.

Since the publication of this article [1], it has come to the attention of the authors that information for one of the authors was not included in the competing interests section. Craig Richie has declared potential competing interests with the following companies; Janssen, Eisai, Pfizer, Eli Lilly, Roche Diagnostics, Boeringher Ingleheim, Novartis, AC Immune, Ixico, Aridhia, Amgen, Berry Consultants, Lundbeck, Sanofi, Quintiles (IQVIA) and Takeda. The full competing interests section for this article can be found below

Coral reef conservation solution-scape white paper

In the face of climate change, warming oceans, and repeated mass coral bleaching, coral reef conservation is at a timely crossroads. There is a new urgency to support and strengthen a rich history of conservation partnerships and actions, while also building toward new actions to meet unparalleled global threats. The goal of this white paper is to synthesize and summarize the diversity of tools, approaches and solutions for coral reef conservation implemented to date and to understand the enabling conditions that lead to successful coral reef conservation. Framed as a “solution-scape,” this white paper seeks to support ongoing decisions to strengthen existing assets and build new investments into portfolios of global coral reef conservation that are equitable and aligned with diverse cultures and worldviews

Challenges facing the Family Farm - proceedings of a seminar

The papers put forward should be valuable reference to all farmers in the wheatbelt. to bridge the gap between experts and farmers. My aim in organising this seminar was an attempt to bridge the gap between experts and farmers

Crop Updates - 2003 Lupins

This session covers twenty one papers from different authors LUPIN ISSUES AND R & D DIRECTIONS Mark Sweetingham, Department of Agriculture ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS VARIETIES AND BREEDING New lupin line for release – WALAN2141, Bevan J, Buirchell, Mark Sweetingham, Geoff Thomas, Amelia McLarty, Harmohinder Dhammu and CVT and Lupin Breeding teams, Department of Agriculture Lupin variety trial, Martin Harries and Wayne Parker, Department of Agriculture Herbicide tolerance of new lupins, Harmohinder S. Dhammu, Terry Piper and David Nicholson, Department of Agriculture YELLOW AND ALBUS LUPINS Selection for high lupin yield under terminal drought, Jairo A. Palta1&2, Neil C. Turner1&2 Bob French2&3 and Bevan Buirchell2&3 , 1CSIRO Plant Industry, Floreat, WA, 2CLIMA, University of Western Australia, Crawley, WA, 3Department of Agriculture Outcrossing and isolation distance in yellow lupins, Kedar Adhikari, Bevan Buirchell and Katia Stefanova, Department of Agriculture Development of aphid tolerant yellow lupins in Western Australia, Kedar Adhikari, Bevan Buirchell, Mark Sweetingham and Françoise Berlandier, Department of Agriculture ESTABLISHMENT Development of anthracnose resistant albus lupins for Western Australia, Kedar Adhikari, Bevan Buirchell, Mark Sweetingham and Geoff Thomas, Department of Agriculture Lupin sowing methods for improved yields, Glen Riethmuller, Department of Agriculture Moisture delving = more reliable lupin establishment, Paul Blackwell and Wayne Parker, Department of Agriculture Effect of time of sewing, plant density and row orientation on lupins at various row spacings, Geoff Fosbery, Farm Focus Consultants, Bill Crabtree, Crabtree Consulting and Tracy Gilham, WANTFA Influence of row spacing on water stress and water use of lupins, Bob French and Laurie Wahlsten, Department of Agriculture AGRONOMY Effect on lupin protein and yield from variety, planting time and seed rate, Pierre Fievez, Pierre Fievez and Associates Lupin row cropping: herbicides to band, shield design and economics, Mike Collins, WANTFA and John Holmes, 4 Farmers Harvest options for narrow leaf lupins, Martin Harries and Dirranie Kirby, Department of Agriculture NUTRITION Additional nutrients on lupin yield and protein, Pierre Fievez, Pierre Fievez and Associates Demonstrating the effect of phosphorous placement on yields of narrow leaf lupin and yellow lupin on high phosphorus retention soils, Martin Harries and Wayne Parker, Department of Agriculture PESTS AND DISEASES How far are anthracnose spores spread by rain splash? Geoff Thomas, Mark Sweetingham and Ken Adcock, Department of Agriculture Height of cereal stubble affects spread of lupin anthracnose, Geoff Thomas, Bill MacLeod and Ken Adcock, Department of Agriculture Controlling non-necrotic strains of bean yellow mosaic virus in lupins by cultural methods, Roger Jones and Rohan Prince, Department of Agriculture, and Centre for Legumes in Mediterranean Agriculture MARKET DEVELOPMENT Australian sweet lupin – is it the next human health food? Stuart Johnson, Deakin University; Ramon Hall, ARC SPIRT PhD Scholar; Madeleine Ball, University of Tasmania; Sofia Sipsas and David Petterson; Department of Agriculture CONTACT DETAILS FOR PRINCIPAL AUTHOR

Crop Updates 2009 - Genetically Modified Crops, Nutrition, Soils, & Others

This session covers fifteen papers from different authors: 1. Performance of Canola Breeders Roundup Ready® canola hybrid CHYB-166 in 2008, Wallace Cowling, Canola Breeders Western Australia Pty Ltd 2. The implications of GM glyphosate resistant lupin, Art Diggle, Caroline Peek, Frank D’Emden, Fiona Evans, Bob French, Rob Grima, Sam Harburg, Abul Hashem,, John Holmes, Jeremy Lemon, Peter Newman, Janet Paterson, Steve Penny,Department of Agriculture and Food, Peter Portmann, Agriconnect 3. Nufarm Roundup Ready® Canola Systems Trials— 2008 Mark Slatter, Research and Development Officer, Victoria, Nufarm (0438 064 845) Angus MacLennan, Business Development Manager, New South Wales, Nufarm (0408 358 024) Cooperators: Monsanto, Nuseed, Pacific Seeds, Pioneer Seeds 4. Roundup Ready® canola—2008 Limited Commercial Release. Getting the system right, Andrew Wells and Mark Slatter, Nufarm Australia Limited (Reprint from 2008 GRDC Cropping Updates with Introductory note) NUTRITION 5. Fertilising in a changing price environment, Bill Bowden1, Wayne Pluske2 and Jeremy Lemon1, 1Department of Agriculture and Food, 2Back Paddock Company 6. Making better fertiliser for Western Australian cropping systems, Wen Chen1 2, Geoff Anderson1, Ross Brennan1and Richard Bell2 1Department of Agriculture and Food, 2School of Environmental Science, Murdoch University 7. The nitrogen fertiliser replacement value of biosolids from wastewater treatment, Hannah Rigby1, Deborah Pritchard1, David Collins1, Katrina Walton2, David Allen2 and Nancy Penney31School of Agriculture and Environment,Curtin University of Technology, Muresk Campus, 2Chemistry Centre of Western Australia 3Water Corporation of Western Australia 8. Fertilising to soil type (usually) pays, Michael Robertson, Bill Bowden and Roger Lawes, CSIRO, Floreat and Department of Agriculture and Food SOILS 9. Management of subsoil acidity and compaction using a combination of lime, deep ripping and controlled traffic, Stephen Davies, Chris Gazey, Breanne Best and David Gartner, Department of Agriculture and Food 10. Optimising gypsum applications through remote sensing and Variable Rate Technology, Frank D’Emden, Department of Agriculture and Food and Quenten Knight,Precision Agronomics Australia 11. Case study of a 17 year agricultural lime trial, Chris Gazey1, Joel Andrew2and Ryan Pearce3 1Department of Agriculture and Food; 2Precision SoilTech; 3ConsultAg 12. Soil organic carbon in WA agricultural soils, FC Hoyle and A Bennett, Department of Agriculture and Food OTHER 13. Is the no-till revolution complete in WA? Frank D’Emden1, Rick Llewellyn2 and Ken Flower3 1Department of Agriculture and Food, 2CSIRO Sustainable Ecosystems, 3University of Western Australia 14. Progression Planning (The Concept), Julian Krieg and Owen Catto, Wheatbelt Men’s Health 15. Is the Department of Agriculture and Food still a primary source of cropping information? Cindy Parsons, Department of Agriculture and Foo

DOMINO-AD protocol: donepezil and memantine in moderate to severe Alzheimer's disease - a multicentre RCT.

BACKGROUND: Alzheimer's disease (AD) is the commonest cause of dementia. Cholinesterase inhibitors, such as donepezil, are the drug class with the best evidence of efficacy, licensed for mild to moderate AD, while the glutamate antagonist memantine has been widely prescribed, often in the later stages of AD. Memantine is licensed for moderate to severe dementia in AD but is not recommended by the England and Wales National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence. However, there is little evidence to guide clinicians as to what to prescribe as AD advances; in particular, what to do as the condition progresses from moderate to severe. Options include continuing cholinesterase inhibitors irrespective of decline, adding memantine to cholinesterase inhibitors, or prescribing memantine instead of cholinesterase inhibitors. The aim of this trial is to establish the most effective drug option for people with AD who are progressing from moderate to severe dementia despite treatment with donepezil. METHOD: DOMINO-AD is a pragmatic, 15 centre, double-blind, randomized, placebo controlled trial. Patients with AD, currently living at home, receiving donepezil 10 mg daily, and with Standardized Mini-Mental State Examination (SMMSE) scores between 5 and 13 are being recruited. Each is randomized to one of four treatment options: continuation of donepezil with memantine placebo added; switch to memantine with donepezil placebo added; donepezil and memantine together; or donepezil placebo with memantine placebo. 800 participants are being recruited and treatment continues for one year. Primary outcome measures are cognition (SMMSE) and activities of daily living (Bristol Activities of Daily Living Scale). Secondary outcomes are non-cognitive dementia symptoms (Neuropsychiatric Inventory), health related quality of life (EQ-5D and DEMQOL-proxy), carer burden (General Health Questionnaire-12), cost effectiveness (using Client Service Receipt Inventory) and institutionalization. These outcomes are assessed at baseline, 6, 18, 30 and 52 weeks. All participants will be subsequently followed for 3 years by telephone interview to record institutionalization. DISCUSSION: There is considerable debate about the clinical and cost effectiveness of anti-dementia drugs. DOMINO-AD seeks to provide clear evidence on the best treatment strategies for those managing patients at a particularly important clinical transition point. TRIAL REGISTRATION: Current controlled trials ISRCTN49545035.RIGHTS : This article is licensed under the BioMed Central licence at http://www.biomedcentral.com/about/license which is similar to the 'Creative Commons Attribution Licence'. In brief you may : copy, distribute, and display the work; make derivative works; or make commercial use of the work - under the following conditions: the original author must be given credit; for any reuse or distribution, it must be made clear to others what the license terms of this work are

BHPR research: qualitative1. Complex reasoning determines patients' perception of outcome following foot surgery in rheumatoid arhtritis

Background: Foot surgery is common in patients with RA but research into surgical outcomes is limited and conceptually flawed as current outcome measures lack face validity: to date no one has asked patients what is important to them. This study aimed to determine which factors are important to patients when evaluating the success of foot surgery in RA Methods: Semi structured interviews of RA patients who had undergone foot surgery were conducted and transcribed verbatim. Thematic analysis of interviews was conducted to explore issues that were important to patients. Results: 11 RA patients (9 ♂, mean age 59, dis dur = 22yrs, mean of 3 yrs post op) with mixed experiences of foot surgery were interviewed. Patients interpreted outcome in respect to a multitude of factors, frequently positive change in one aspect contrasted with negative opinions about another. Overall, four major themes emerged. Function: Functional ability & participation in valued activities were very important to patients. Walking ability was a key concern but patients interpreted levels of activity in light of other aspects of their disease, reflecting on change in functional ability more than overall level. Positive feelings of improved mobility were often moderated by negative self perception ("I mean, I still walk like a waddling duck”). Appearance: Appearance was important to almost all patients but perhaps the most complex theme of all. Physical appearance, foot shape, and footwear were closely interlinked, yet patients saw these as distinct separate concepts. Patients need to legitimize these feelings was clear and they frequently entered into a defensive repertoire ("it's not cosmetic surgery; it's something that's more important than that, you know?”). Clinician opinion: Surgeons' post operative evaluation of the procedure was very influential. The impact of this appraisal continued to affect patients' lasting impression irrespective of how the outcome compared to their initial goals ("when he'd done it ... he said that hasn't worked as good as he'd wanted to ... but the pain has gone”). Pain: Whilst pain was important to almost all patients, it appeared to be less important than the other themes. Pain was predominately raised when it influenced other themes, such as function; many still felt the need to legitimize their foot pain in order for health professionals to take it seriously ("in the end I went to my GP because it had happened a few times and I went to an orthopaedic surgeon who was quite dismissive of it, it was like what are you complaining about”). Conclusions: Patients interpret the outcome of foot surgery using a multitude of interrelated factors, particularly functional ability, appearance and surgeons' appraisal of the procedure. While pain was often noted, this appeared less important than other factors in the overall outcome of the surgery. Future research into foot surgery should incorporate the complexity of how patients determine their outcome Disclosure statement: All authors have declared no conflicts of interes

Common variants in Alzheimer’s disease and risk stratification by polygenic risk scores

Funder: Funder: Fundación bancaria ‘La Caixa’ Number: LCF/PR/PR16/51110003 Funder: Grifols SA Number: LCF/PR/PR16/51110003 Funder: European Union/EFPIA Innovative Medicines Initiative Joint Number: 115975 Funder: JPco-fuND FP-829-029 Number: 733051061Genetic discoveries of Alzheimer's disease are the drivers of our understanding, and together with polygenetic risk stratification can contribute towards planning of feasible and efficient preventive and curative clinical trials. We first perform a large genetic association study by merging all available case-control datasets and by-proxy study results (discovery n = 409,435 and validation size n = 58,190). Here, we add six variants associated with Alzheimer's disease risk (near APP, CHRNE, PRKD3/NDUFAF7, PLCG2 and two exonic variants in the SHARPIN gene). Assessment of the polygenic risk score and stratifying by APOE reveal a 4 to 5.5 years difference in median age at onset of Alzheimer's disease patients in APOE ɛ4 carriers. Because of this study, the underlying mechanisms of APP can be studied to refine the amyloid cascade and the polygenic risk score provides a tool to select individuals at high risk of Alzheimer's disease

“Don’t tell me this isn’t relevant all over again in its brand new same old way”: imagination, agitation, and raging against the machine in Ali Smith’s Spring

This paper explores the third novel in Ali Smith’s seasonal quartet, Spring. Using Achille Mbembe’s Necropolitics as a conceptual frame, I analyze Smith’s rendering of a Britain grappling with Brexit in times of transnational populism. As with Autumn and Winter, Smith’s prose is saturated with intertextual borrowings from pop and “high” culture, also interrogating the links between “nanoracism” and the “immunity and community” knot (Dillet). This paper reads Spring alongside Smith’s contribution to and advocacy of the Refugee Tales project regarding the diverse discourses surrounding migration, xenophobia, and indefinite detention. Smith’s writing traces the darkness of our populist present with its rhetorical and material violence, as well as the possibilities for creative response and resistance. I argue that her seasonal quartet to date and her work with Refugee Tales aesthetically and ethically defend the principle that human dignity, both individual and collective, rests on the ability to tell stories