The performance of irrigated mixtures of tall fescue, ryegrass and white clover in subtropical Australia. 2. The effects on yield and botanical composition of managing for quality

Abstract The effects on yield, botanical composition and persistence, of using a variable defoliation schedule as a means of optimising the quality of the tall fescue component of simple and complex temperate pasture mixtures in a subtropical environment was studied in a small plot cutting experiment at Gatton Research Station in south-east Queensland. A management schedule of 2-, 3-and 4-weekly defoliations in summer, autumn and spring and winter, respectively, was imposed on 5 temperate pasture mixtures: 2 simple mixtures including tall fescue (Festuca arundinacea) and white clover (Trifolium repens); 2 mixtures including perennial ryegrass (Lolium perenne), tall fescue and white clover; and a complex mixture, which included perennial ryegrass, tall fescue, white, red (T. pratense) and Persian (T. resupinatum) clovers and chicory (Cichorium intybus). Yield from the variable cutting schedule was 9% less than with a standard 4-weekly defoliation. This loss resulted from reductions in both the clover component (13%) and cumulative grass yield (6%). There was no interaction between cutting schedule and sowing mixture, with simple and complex sowing mixtures reacting in a similar manner to both cutting schedules. The experiment also demonstrated that, in complex mixtures, the cutting schedules used failed to give balanced production from all sown components. This was especially true of the grass and white clover components of the complex mixture, as chicory and Persian clover components dominated the mixtures, particularly in the fi rst year. Quality measurements (made only in the fi nal summer) suggested that variable management had achieved a quality improvement with increases in yields of digestible crude protein (19%) and digestible dry matter (9%) of the total forage produced in early summer. The improvements in the yields of digestible crude protein and digestible dry matter of the tall fescue component in late summer were even greater (28 and 19%, respectively). While advantages at other times of the year were expected to be smaller, the data suggested that the small loss in total yield was likely to be offset by increases in digestibility of available forage for grazing stock, especially in the critical summer period

The Sparrow Question: Social and Scientific Accord in Britain, 1850-1900.

During the latter-half of the nineteenth century, the utility of the house sparrow (Passer domesticus) to humankind was a contentious topic. In Britain, numerous actors from various backgrounds including natural history, acclimatisation, agriculture and economic ornithology converged on the bird, as contemporaries sought to calculate its economic cost and benefit to growers. Periodicals and newspapers provided an accessible and anonymous means of expression, through which the debate raged for over 50 years. By the end of the century, sparrows had been cast as detrimental to agriculture. Yet consensus was not achieved through new scientific methods, instruments, or changes in practice. This study instead argues that the rise and fall of scientific disciplines and movements paved the way for consensus on "the sparrow question." The decline of natural history and acclimatisation stifled a raging debate, while the rising science of economic ornithology sought to align itself with agricultural interests: the latter overwhelmingly hostile to sparrows

Imaging of the spleen in malaria

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OPTIMAX 2017 : radiation dose, image quality optimisation,the use of new technology in medical imaging

This year OPTIMAX settled in Oslo. After the successof previous years, we are proud to present the fourthEbook. As in previous years, the group was madeup of PhD-, MSc- and BSc students as well astutors from the seven European partner universities.Professional mix was drawn from medical physics/physics and radiography. OPTIMAX 2017 was partlyfunded by the partner universities and partly by theparticipants. Two students from South Africa and twofrom Brazil were invited by Hanze UAS (Groningen)and ESTeSL (Lisbon) summer school includedlectures and group projects in which experimentalresearch was conducted in four teams. Four research projects were performed with a focuson radiation dose optimization and image quality,namely: Possible dose reduction for pediatric patientsfor conventional radiology; Can the tube voltage belowered with the use of direct-conversion flat paneldetector system?; Impact of body size and kV in chestradiography; Quantity assessment on Image quality ofCBCT images of head phantom with implants of metaland ceramic objects.The last day of OPTIMAX 2017there was a poster session and a conference, in whichthe research teams presented their posters and oralpresentations. This book comprises of two sections, the first twochapters concern generic background informationabout international teamwork during the OPTIMAXsummerschool. The next chapters with theory on which the researchprojects were built. The second section containsthe research papers of the four research projects.Two research papers, Can the tube voltage belowered with the use of direct-conversion flat-paneldetector system? And Impact of body size and kV inchest radiography: Experimental receiver operatingcharacteristic analysis using a Multipurpose ChestPhantom “Lungman” have been accepted for the ECRconference, Vienna, 2018 as oral presentations

A new stress sensor and risk factor for suicide: The T allele of the functional genetic variant in the GABRA6 gene

© 2017 The Author(s). Low GABA transmission has been reported in suicide, and GABRA6 rs3219151 T allele has been associated with greater physiological and endocrine stress response in previous studies. Although environmental stress also plays a role in suicide, the possible role of this allele has not been investigated in this respect. In our present study effect of rs3219151 of GABRA6 gene in interaction with recent negative life events on lifetime and current depression, current anxiety, as well as lifetime suicide were investigated using regression models in a white European general sample of 2283 subjects. Post hoc measures for phenotypes related to suicide risk were also tested for association with rs3219151 in interaction with environmental stress. No main effect of the GABRA6 rs3219151 was detected, but in those exposed to recent negative life events GABRA6 T allele increased current anxiety and depression as well as specific elements of suicide risk including suicidal and death-related thoughts, hopelessness, restlessness and agitation, insomnia and impulsiveness as measured by the STOP task. Our data indicate that stress-associated suicide risk is elevated in carriers of the GABRA6 rs3219151 T allele with several independent markers and predictors of suicidal behaviours converging to this increased risk

Novel pleiotropic risk loci for melanoma and nevus density implicate multiple biological pathways.

The total number of acquired melanocytic nevi on the skin is strongly correlated with melanoma risk. Here we report a meta-analysis of 11 nevus GWAS from Australia, Netherlands, UK, and USA comprising 52,506 individuals. We confirm known loci including MTAP, PLA2G6, and IRF4, and detect novel SNPs in KITLG and a region of 9q32. In a bivariate analysis combining the nevus results with a recent melanoma GWAS meta-analysis (12,874 cases, 23,203 controls), SNPs near GPRC5A, CYP1B1, PPARGC1B, HDAC4, FAM208B, DOCK8, and SYNE2 reached global significance, and other loci, including MIR146A and OBFC1, reached a suggestive level. Overall, we conclude that most nevus genes affect melanoma risk (KITLG an exception), while many melanoma risk loci do not alter nevus count. For example, variants in TERC and OBFC1 affect both traits, but other telomere length maintenance genes seem to affect melanoma risk only. Our findings implicate multiple pathways in nevogenesis