Wildlife hazards from 1080 baiting

ONE-SHOT oat baiting with sodium fluoroacetate (1080) is a relatively safe method of trail baiting rabbits. The hazard to wildlife is small and every effort is made to further reduce the hazard by selective application of the poison

Rabbit control with 1080

The lower South-West areas have for some time past been regarded as perhaps the most difficult areas in Western Australia from the point of view of rabbit control. The farmer here has to contend with several factors, peculiar to this area, which make his work more difficult. Such obstacles as bracken fern, falling timber, good burrowing soil and a long breeding season combined with small holdings, lack of rabbit control experience, partial use of the cleared areas (tobacco and potato growers) and a low income potential, have rendered the task of rabbit control exceedingly difficult for the average farmer, especially in the Manjimup-Pemberton areas

The new approach to rabbit poisoning 1080 and improved methods

The rabbit in Australia has only a relatively short history*, but during that period, of 168 years, has probably done more harm to this country than any other pest. In Western Australia, as in some of the other States, investigations directed towards the improvement of control methods—particularly poisoning—have been intensified over recent years. Although it is recognised that no single method could accomplish eradication or give completely satisfactory control, it is also evident that the improvement of poisoning methods could help greatly. Some of our investigations have been aimed at improving techniques in poisoning procedure and also in finding better poisons. One of the new poisons, 1080 (sodium fluoroacetate) has proved very effective

The wallaby menace in the Kimberleys

Countless thousands of Sandy Wallabies (Macropus agilis) have long been a menace to the pastoral industry in the Kimberleys. These animals eat almost the same foods as the sheep and cattle and have substantially reduced the stock-carrying capacity of the river-frontage areas where they are found in the greatest numbers. Research into control methods was commenced in 1952 when Mr. L. A. Harrison undertook some investigations designed to ascertain the best line of approach to a poisoning campaign

Risk factors for vulnerable youth in urban townships in South Africa: the potential contribution of reactive attachment disorder

Reactive attachment disorder (RAD) is a psychiatric disorder developing in early or middle childhood as a consequence of significant failures in the caregiving environment. RAD results in children failing to relate socially, either by exhibiting markedly inhibited behaviour or by indiscriminate social behaviour and is associated with significant socio-behavioural problems in the longer term. This study examined RAD in South Africa, a setting with high environmental risks. We recruited a sub-sample of 40 10-year-old children from a cohort enrolled during pregnancy for whom early attachment status was known. Children were purposefully selected to represent the four attachment categories using the data available on the strange situation procedure (SSP) at 18 months. The Manchester Child Attachment Story Task (MCAST) assessed current attachment and RAD was diagnosed using a standardised assessment package. A high proportion of the children (5/40% or 12.5%) fulfilled diagnostic criteria for RAD; all were boys and were displaying the disinhibited type. SSP classification at 18 months was not significantly associated with RAD symptoms at age of 10 years, while current MCAST classifications were. This suggests that children in this sample are at much higher risk of RAD than in high-income populations, and despite a fairly typical attachment distribution in this population at 18 months, RAD was evidenced in later childhood and associated with current attachment disorganisation. The strengths of this research include its longitudinal nature and use of diagnostic assessments. Given increasing evidence that RAD is relatively stable over time and introduces longer term socio-behavioural risks; the high rate of RAD in this sample (12.5%) highlights potential developmental threats to children in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). Our results should be interpreted with caution given sample size and risk of selection bias. Further research is needed to confirm these findings

Mathematical modeling of cell population dynamics in the colonic crypt and in colorectal cancer

Colorectal cancer is initiated in colonic crypts. A succession of genetic mutations or epigenetic changes can lead to homeostasis in the crypt being overcome, and subsequent unbounded growth. We consider the dynamics of a single colorectal crypt by using a compartmental approach [Tomlinson IPM, Bodmer WF (1995) Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 92: 11130-11134], which accounts for populations of stem cells, differential cells, and transit cells. That original model made the simplifying assumptions that each cell popuation divides synchronously, but we relax these assumptions by adopting an age-structured approach that models asynchronous cell division, and by using a continuum model. We discuss two mechanims that could regulate the growth of cell numbers and maintain the equilibrium that is normally observed in the crypt. The first will always maintain an equilibrium for all parameter values, whereas the second can allow unbounded proliferation if the net per capita growth rates are large enough. Results show that an increase in cell renewal, which is equivalent to a failure of programmed cell death or of differentiation, can lead to the growth of cancers. The second model can be used to explain the long lag phases in tumor growth, during which news, higher equilibria are reached, before unlimited growth in cell number ensues

The Stokes-Einstein Relation in Supercooled Aqueous Solutions of Glycerol

The diffusion of glycerol molecules decreases with decreasing temperature as its viscosity increases in a manner simply described by the Stokes-Einstein(SE) relation. Approaching the glass transition, this relation breaks down as it does with a number of other pure liquid glass formers. We have measured the diffusion coefficient for binary mixtures of glycerol and water and find that the Stokes-Einstein relation is restored with increasing water concentration. Our comparison with theory suggests that addition of water postpones the formation of frustration domainsComment: 4 Pages and 3 Figure

An investigation into CLIL-related sections of EFL coursebooks : issues of CLIL inclusion in the publishing market

The current ELT global coursebook market has embraced CLIL as a weak form of bilingual education and an innovative component to include in General English coursebooks for EFL contexts. In this paper I investigate how CLIL is included in ELT coursebooks aimed at teenaged learners, available to teachers in Argentina. My study is based on the content analysis of four series which include a section advertised as CLIL-oriented. Results suggest that such sections are characterised by (1) little correlation between featured subject specific content and school curricula in L1, (2) oversimplification of contents, and (3) dominance of reading skills development and lower-order thinking tasks. Through this study, I argue that CLIL components become superficial supplements rather than a meaningful attempt to promote weak forms of bilingual education

Highly-Parallel, Highly-Compact Computing Structures Implemented in Nanotechnology

In this paper, we describe work in which we are evaluating how the evolving properties of nano-electronic devices could best be utilized in highly parallel computing structures. Because of their combination of high performance, low power, and extreme compactness, such structures would have obvious applications in spaceborne environments, both for general mission control and for on-board data analysis. However, the anticipated properties of nano-devices mean that the optimum architecture for such systems is by no means certain. Candidates include single instruction multiple datastream (SIMD) arrays, neural networks, and multiple instruction multiple datastream (MIMD) assemblies