Estimating the Economic Value of Australian Stock Herding Dogs

This study aimed to estimate the value of the typical Australian herding dog in terms of predicted return on investment. This required an assessment of the costs associated with owning herding dogs and estimation of the work they typically perform. Data on a total of 4,027 dogs were acquired through The Farm Dog Survey which gathered information from 812 herding dog owners around Australia. The median cost involved in owning a herding dog was estimated to be a total of AU$7,763 over the period of its working life. The work performed by the dog throughout this time was estimated to have a median value of AU$40,000. So, herding dogs typically provided their owners with a 5.2-fold return on investment. When respondents were asked to nominate the maximal, one-off, veterinary expenditure they would consider to remedy an illness or injury for an especially valued dog, the median response was AU$1,001–2,000 which is not concordant with the dogs’ calculated median lifetime value. The current findings equip working dog owners with useful information to make financially appropriate expenditure decisions related to their working dogs. This is expected to increase farm profitability and improve welfare for farm dogs

Valuable Behavioural Phenotypes in Australian Farm Dogs

This report presents findings regarding the ways to optimise the performance of livestock working dogs in Australia. The methods available to optimise dog performance include both environmental and genetic factors. The objectives of this study were to identify objective measures of desirable behavioural phenotypes in Australian livestock working dogs and explore genetic parameters of these \u27quality of working life\u27 traits within the Kelpie breed. The document reports on genotyping that reveals gene-behaviour associations and describes heritability estimates that underpin a database for potential estimated breeding value (EBV) calculations

Valuable Behavioural Phenotypes in Australian Farm Dogs

This report presents findings regarding the ways to optimise the performance of livestock working dogs in Australia. The methods available to optimise dog performance include both environmental and genetic factors. The objectives of this study were to identify objective measures of desirable behavioural phenotypes in Australian livestock working dogs and explore genetic parameters of these \u27quality of working life\u27 traits within the Kelpie breed. The document reports on genotyping that reveals gene-behaviour associations and describes heritability estimates that underpin a database for potential estimated breeding value (EBV) calculations

Estimating the Economic Value of Australian Stock Herding Dogs

This study aimed to estimate the value of the typical Australian herding dog in terms of predicted return on investment. This required an assessment of the costs associated with owning herding dogs and estimation of the work they typically perform. Data on a total of 4,027 dogs were acquired through The Farm Dog Survey which gathered information from 812 herding dog owners around Australia. The median cost involved in owning a herding dog was estimated to be a total of AU$7,763 over the period of its working life. The work performed by the dog throughout this time was estimated to have a median value of AU$40,000. So, herding dogs typically provided their owners with a 5.2-fold return on investment. When respondents were asked to nominate the maximal, one-off, veterinary expenditure they would consider to remedy an illness or injury for an especially valued dog, the median response was AU$1,001–2,000 which is not concordant with the dogs’ calculated median lifetime value. The current findings equip working dog owners with useful information to make financially appropriate expenditure decisions related to their working dogs. This is expected to increase farm profitability and improve welfare for farm dogs

Lincoln University entomological expedition to Pitt Island

The expedition had two objectives: 1. To search for the Pitt Island longhorn beetle, Xylotoles costatus and determine its distribution, abundance and conservation status. 2. To undertake general entomological survey work, particularly in the orders Coleoptera, Diptera, Lepidoptera and Hymenoptera by using trapping methods not previously used on Pitt Island

COMPARING ESTIMATION PROCEDURES FOR DOSE-RESPONSE FUNCTIONS

The dose-response design is often used in agricultural research when it is necessary to measure a biological response at various levels of an experimental factor. This type of problem is common in chemical and pesticide research, however, it can also occur in other disciplines such as plant, animal, soil, and environmental sciences. While the analysis of dose-response data usually involves fitting a regression curve, the primary objective often centers on the estimation of dose related percentiles such as the LD50 or LC50. These measures are useful for comparing the relative efficacy of various treatments, however, the estimation of the specified percentiles is not always straightforward. Traditional methodology has relied on inverted solutions or asymptotic theory for statistical inference. More recently, computer intensive methods have been used to model dose-response relationships and can be more appropriate than traditional methods in some situations. This paper examines both the traditional and modem approaches to estimating doseresponse functions as they apply to binomial data. The techniques will be demonstrated using mortality data collected on black vine weevil eggs exposed to an organic pesticide treatment

Is early center-based child care associated with tantrums and unmanageable behavior over time up to school entry?

Background. Existing research suggests that there is a relationship between greater exposure to center-based child care and child behavioral problems though the mechanism for the impact is unclear. However the measure used to document child care has usually been average hours, which may be particularly unreliable in the early months when fewer children are in center care. In addition individual trajectories for behavior difficulties have not been studied. Objective. The purpose of the current study was to examine whether the extent of exposure to center-based child care before two years predicted the trajectory of children’s difficult behavior (i.e., tantrums and unmanageable behavior) from 30 to 51 months controlling for child and maternal characteristics. Method. Data were drawn from UK-based Families, Children and Child Care (FCCC) study (n=1201). Individual growth models were fitted to test the relation between early center-based child care experiences and subsequent difficult behavior. Results. Children with more exposure to center-based care before two had less difficult behavior at 30 months, but more increase over time. Initial levels were predicted by higher difficult temperament and lower verbal ability. Higher difficult temperament and lower family socio-economic status predicted its change over time. Conclusion. Findings suggest that early exposure to center-based care before two years old is a risk factor for subsequent behavior problems especially when children have a longer period of exposure. A possible explanatory process is that child coping strategies to manage frustration are less well developed in a group context, especially when they lag behind in expressive language

The effect of electromagnetic fields on postoperative pain and locomotor recovery in dogs with acute, severe thoracolumbar intervertebral disc extrusion: a randomized placebo-controlled, prospective clinical trial.

Spinal cord injury (SCI) due to acute intervertebral disc extrusions (IVDE) is common in dogs and is treated by surgical decompression. Dogs with sensorimotor complete injuries have an incomplete recovery. Pulsed electromagnetic fields (PEMF) reduce postoperative pain through anti-inflammatory effects and there is growing evidence for neuroprotective effects. This randomized, controlled clinical trial evaluated the effect of PEMF on post-operative pain and neurologic recovery in dogs with surgically treated sensorimotor complete SCI due to acute IVDE. Sixteen dogs with surgically treated complete thoracolumbar SCI were randomized to receive PEMF (15 minutes every 2 hours for 2 weeks then twice daily for 4 weeks) or placebo starting immediately after diagnosis. The primary outcome was gait score at 2 weeks. Secondary measures of gait, pain perception and proprioceptive function were evaluated at 2 and 6 weeks. Plasma GFAP concentration was measured as a SCI biomarker. Post-operative pain was quantified by measuring mechanical sensory thresholds (MST) at control and surgical sites. There was no significant difference in demographics or GFAP concentration between the 2 groups at trial entry. There was no difference in primary outcome or in secondary measures of gait, but proprioceptive placing was significantly better at 6 weeks and GFAP concentrations were significantly lower at 2 weeks in the PEMF group. MSTs were significantly higher in the PEMF treated group. We conclude that PEMF reduced incision-associated pain in dogs following surgery for IVDE and may reduce extent of spinal cord injury and enhance proprioceptive placing. Larger clinical trials are warranted

The quality of different types of child care at 10 and 18 months. A comparison between types and factors related to quality.

The quality of care offered in four different types of non-parental child care to 307 infants at 10 months old and 331 infants at 18 months old was compared and factors associated with higher quality were identified. Observed quality was lowest in nurseries at each age point, except that at 18 months they offered more learning activities. There were few differences in the observed quality of care by child-minders, grandparents and nannies, although grandparents had somewhat lower safety and health scores and offered children fewer activities. Cost was largely unrelated to quality of care except in child-minding, where higher cost was associated with higher quality. Observed ratios of children to adults had a significant impact on quality of nursery care; the more infants or toddlers each adult had to care for, the lower the quality of the care she gave them. Mothers' overall satisfaction with their child's care was positively associated with its quality for home-based care but not for nursery settings

Going beyond defining: Preschool educators\u27 use of knowledge in their pedagogical reasoning about vocabulary instruction

Previous research investigating both the knowledge of early childhood educators and the support for vocabulary development present in early childhood settings has indicated that both educator knowledge and enacted practice are less than optimal, which has grave implications for children\u27s early vocabulary learning and later reading achievement. Further, the nature of the relationship between educators\u27 knowledge and practice is unclear, making it difficult to discern the best path towards improved knowledge, practice, and children\u27s vocabulary outcomes. The purpose of the present study was to add to the existing literature by using stimulated recall interviews and a grounded approach to examine how 10 preschool educators used their knowledge to made decisions about their moment-to-moment instruction in support of children\u27s vocabulary development. Results indicate that educators were thinking in highly context-specific ways about their goals and strategies for supporting vocabulary learning, taking into account important knowledge of their instructional history with children and of the children themselves to inform their decision making in the moment. In addition, they reported thinking about research-based goals and strategies for supporting vocabulary learning that went beyond simply defining words for children. Implications for research and professional development are discussed