Empirical models to quantify the nutritive characteristics of annual pastures in south-west Western Australia

The objective of this paper is to quantify the magnitude of the major sources of variation, which affect in vitro digestibility (DMD) and concentrations of neutral detergent fibre (NDF), acid detergent fibre (ADF), and crude protein (CP) of annual pastures in Mediterranean-type climate zones. Four experiments were conducted in the south-west of Western Australia in 2006–07 and 2007–08, where the supply of nitrogen, phosphorous, potassium, or sulfur and pasture types were varied. Effects of seasonality, fertiliser application, pasture type, and site were analysed with an auto-regression maximum likelihood procedure. Temperature sum was used to explain the seasonal differences in DMD, CP, NDF, and ADF. Seasonality explained 82, 79, 79, and 62% of the total variation in DMD, NDF, ADF, and CP, respectively, with only an additional 5, 5, 6, and 24% being explained by the combined effects of site/management, fertiliser application, and pasture type.The differences in DMD, NDF, ADF, and CP, between sites, were 2.3–6.0%, 4.6–18.7%, 5.8–8.6%, and 1.5–17.4%, respectively. Pasture types differed by 6.6–9.5%, 9.0–11.4%, 3.1–6.1%, and 5.1–5.2% for DMD, NDF, ADF, and CP, respectively. The differences between sites and pasture types were markedly larger for CP, NDF, and ADF than for DMD. Fertiliser application did not affect nutritive characteristics, with the exception of N application rates on CP. It was concluded that the seasonality model captured nearly all of the temporal variation in DMD, NDF, and ADF but not in CP. The spatial variation in DMD was mostly determined by pasture type. By comparison, NDF and ADF were most strongly affected by grazing management, and CP by the availability of N

Nec tamen consumebatur : een evaluerend onderzoek binnen de CGK naar de kerkrechtelijke mogelijkheden van meerdere vergaderingen als reactie op kerkenraden die afwijken van de besluiten van de meerdere vergaderingen

Wat is vanuit kerkrechtelijk oogpunt de beste reactie op het handelen van een kerkenraad die ingaat tegen besluiten van de meerdere vergaderingen? Wanneer een meerderheid van de kerkenraad niet open staat voor vermaning, geeft de huidige kerkorde van de CGK weinig kerkrechtelijke mogelijkheden. De eenheid en rust binnen de kerk van Christus is het centrale thema in de kerkorde. Deze eenheid van gemeenten binnen het kerkverband is gebaseerd op de eenheid in het belijden van het geloof, zoals verwoord is in de confessie. De plaatselijke gemeente met haar kerkenraad is het uitgangspunt van de kerkorde. Dit heeft tot gevolg dat dat de meerdere vergaderingen geen hoger bestuur boven een kerkenraad zijn. Deze scriptie heeft onderzocht welke kerkrechtelijke acties verantwoord kunnen worden. De (oudere redacties van de) kerkorde blijkt te weinig berekend te zijn op situaties waarin een kerkenraad ingaat tegen besluiten van de meerdere vergaderingen. In de geschiedenis is hierom gehandeld vanuit verschillende vormen van noodkerkrecht. Te denken valt aan mogelijkheden tot gesprek, tolerantie van het afwijken, het afzetten van kerkenraden of het buiten het verband plaatsen van een gemeente. In het onderzoek zijn deze vormen van noodkerkrecht geanalyseerd op kerkrechtelijke fundering en toepasbaarheid. Er is onderzocht welke verantwoordelijkheden de meerdere vergaderingen in deze kwestie hebben. Voor alles dient het onderlinge gesprek gevoerd te worden om wederzijds begrip voor ingenomen standpunten te verwerven. De eenheid van de kerk verplicht alle partijen tot bezinning op mogelijkheden om gemeenten met een afwijkende visie te hulp te komen en misschien wel te tolereren. Een kerkenraad is namelijk niet tuchtwaardig wanneer het besluit waarvan zij afwijken onvoldoende ernstig is. De maatstaf om dit te beoordelen, bevindt zich in artikel 79-80 KO. In ernstige gevallen, waarin (een meerderheid van) een kerkenraad afzettingswaardig blijkt te zijn, moet er ingegrepen worden. Het verdient de voorkeur dat een betreffende kerkenraad wordt afgezet door de classis of door kerkenraden van enkele omliggende gemeenten. Wanneer het mogelijk is, wordt in dit proces de gemeente zelf ingeschakeld. Het verbreken van het kerkverband met de betreffende gemeente kan alleen in zeer ernstige gevallen. Dit zijn situaties waarin vrijwel een volledige gemeente afwijkt van de confessie. In zo’n geval mag er niet gesproken worden over een ‘analogische excommunicatie’. De kerk van Christus is immers breder dan welk kerkverband ook. Uiteindelijk zal vooral de christelijke liefde, zoals Jezus als voorbeeld gaf, en de gehoorzaamheid aan Gods Woord betreffende ambtsdragers en gemeenteleden tot inkeer moeten brengen

Compositional dynamics of multilevel innovation platforms in agricultural research for development

Article purchasedInnovation platforms (IPs) form a popular vehicle in agricultural research for development (AR4D) to facilitate stakeholder interaction, agenda setting, and collective action toward sustainable agricultural development. In this article, we analyze multilevel stakeholder engagement in fulfilling seven key innovation system functions. Data are gathered from experiences with interlinked community and (sub)national IPs established under a global AR4D program aimed at stimulating sustainable agricultural development in Central Africa. Our findings show that all innovation systems functions required multilevel action, but that fulfillment of specific functions demands for strategic involvement of specific stakeholders at specific levels. We observed that a research- and dissemination-oriented sequence in the functions was prioritized in AR4D IPs and argue that such a sequence may be different in other types of (business) IPs. Our findings provide an incentive to think function oriented about compositional dynamics (stakeholder groups * levels) in innovation processes, rather than striving for equal stakeholder participation

Evaluation of vegetation indices for rangeland biomass estimation in the Kimberley area of Western Australia

The objective of this paper is to test the relationships between Above Ground Biomass (AGB) and remotely sensed vegetation indices for AGB assessments in the Kimberley area in Western Australia. For 19 different sites, vegetation indices were derived from eight Landsat ETM+ scenes over a period of two years (2011–2013). The sites were divided into three groups (Open plains, Bunch grasses and Spinifex) based on similarities in dominant vegetation types. Dry and green biomass fractions were measured at these sites. Single and multiple regression relationships between vegetation indices and green and total AGB were calibrated and validated using a "leave site out" cross validation. Four tests were compared: (1) relationships between AGB and vegetation indices combining all sites; (2) separate relationships per site group; (3) multiple regressions including selected vegetation indices per site group; and (4) as in 3 but including rainfall and elevation data. Results indicate that relationships based on single vegetation indices are moderately accurate for green biomass in wide open plains covered with annual grasses. The cross-validation results for green AGB improved for a combination of indices for the Open plains and Bunch grasses sites, but not for Spinifex sites. When rainfall and elevation data are included, cross validation improved slightly with a Q2 of 0.49–0.72 for Open plains and Bunch grasses sites respectively. Cross validation results for total AGB were moderately accurate (Q2 of 0.41) for Open plains but weak or absent for other site groups despite good calibration results, indicating strong influence of site-specific factors

Micro Coriolis mass flow sensor with integrated resistive pressure sensors

We report on novel resistive pressure sensors, integrated on-chip at the inlet- and outlet-channels of a micro Coriolis mass flow sensor. The pressure sensors can be used to measure the pressure drop over the Coriolis sensor which can be used to compensate pressure-dependent behaviour that might occur and it can be used to calculate the dynamic viscosity of the fluid inside the channels

32P-Postlabeling analysis of IQ, MelQx and PhIP adducts formed in vitro in DNA and polynucleotides and found in vivo in hepatic DNA from IQ-, MelQx- and PhIP-treated monkeys

The P-32-postlabeling method was used to examine the adducts in DNA, polynucleotides, and mononucleotides reacted in vitro with the N-hydroxy and N-acetoxy derivatives of 2-amino-3-methylimidazo[4,5-f]quinoline (IQ), 2-amino-3, 8-dimethylimidazo[4,5-f]quinoxaline (MeIQx) or 2-amino-1-methyl-6-phenylimidazo[4,5-b]pyridine (PhIP). Adduct profiles were compared to those found in vivo in liver of cynomolgus monkeys fed IQ, MeIQx or PhIP. The N-acetoxy derivatives of IQ, MeIQx and PhIP (generated in situ from the corresponding N-hydroxylamine in the presence of acetic anhydride) each formed three principal adducts in DNA. Adduct 1 of IQ, MeIQx and PhIP was chromatographically identical to the P-32-labeled bis(phosphate) derivative of N-(deoxyguanosin-8-yl)-IQ, N-(deoxyguanosin-8-yl)-MeIQx, and N-(deoxyguanosin-8-yl)-PhIP respectively, and this adduct comprised approximately 65% of total adduct levels found in DNA in vitro. The C8-guanine adduct and the two minor adducts were also found in poly(dG-dC).poly(dG-dC), suggesting that the two minor adducts of IQ, MeIQx and PhIP are also formed on the guanine base. The N-acetoxy derivatives of IQ, MeIQx, and to a much lesser extent PhIP, also formed adducts with adenine-containing polynucleotides including poly(dA), poly(dA).poly(dT) and poly(dA-dT).poly(dA-dT), but these adenine adducts were chromatographically different from those found in DNA. The three guanine adducts of N-acetoxy-IQ, -MeIQx and -PhIP found in vitro in DNA and in guanine-containing polynucleotides were also found in the liver of monkeys fed IQ, MeIQx or PhIP respectively, indicating that metabolic activation via N-hydroxylation and esterification occurred in vivo in monkeys. With each compound, the C8-guanine adduct was the predominant adduct found in vivo. The results indicate similarities among IQ, MeIQx and PhIP in the DNA adducts formed in vitro and in vivo and substantiate the use of the P-32-postlabeling method for comparative adduct studies