Field Testing of a Turnip Growing Protocol on New Zealand Dairy Farms

Summer droughts are a regular occurrence in central North Island districts of New Zealand, which causes pastures to wilt, lose their nutritive value and stop growing. The resulting summer feed gap depresses farm productivity (Clark et al., 1996). Turnips optimally sown mid-late October (more often sown in November or even December) are grown to fill this feed gap. Recorded average yields of 7.4 t dry matter (DM)/ha are below the economic breakeven point of 8-10 t DM/ha (Clark et al., 1996). A turnip growing protocol was developed from published data (Eerens & Lane 2004) and tested on commercial dairy farms

Survey of Tetraploid and Diploid Perennial Pastures in the Waikato for Number of Spores Produced by the Fungus \u3cem\u3ePithomyces Chartarum\u3c/em\u3e

Facial eczema (FE) is a disease of livestock, caused by a toxin released into the bloodstream after digestion of spores of Pithomyces chartarum, a fungus residing in necrotic plant material in the base of pastures (di Menna & Bailey, 1973). Spore numbers tend to be highest in warm, humid conditions, where high post grazing residuals have lead to a build up of necrotic plant material. Tetraploid perennial ryegrass pastures tend to be more palatable, and with lower post gazing residuals, than equivalent diploid pastures; thus we hypothesised that spore numbers would be lower in tetraploid pastures. A survey of tetraploid and diploid pastures was carried out to investigate the relationship between FE spore numbers, and perennial ryegrass ploidy levels

Exploring the cost of eLearning within the field of health professions education: Scoping Review

No embargo required.Background: Existing research on the costs associated for design and deploying eLearning in health professions education is limited. The way in which these learning platforms compare in cost to face-to-face learning is also not well understood. The lack of pre-defined costing models used for eLearning cost data capture has made it difficult to complete cost evaluation. Objective: The key aim of this scoping review is to explore the state of evidence concerning cost capture within eLearning in health professions education. The review explores what data exists to define cost calculations related to eLearning. Methods: Scoping review using a search strategy of MeSH terms and related keywords centered on eLearning and cost calculation with a population scope of health professionals in all countries. The search was limited to English language studies. No restriction was placed on literature publication date. Results: In total, 7344 articles were returned from the original search of the literature. Of these, 232 were relevant to associated keywords or abstract references following screening. Full-text review resulted in 168 studies being excluded. Of these, sixty-one studies were excluded because they were unrelated to eLearning and focused on general education. One-hundred and three studies were excluded because of lack of detailed information regarding costs. These studies referred to cost in ways either indicating cost favorability or unfavorability, but without data to support findings. Finally, four studies were excluded because of limited cost data insufficient for analysis. In total, 42 studies provide data and analysis of the impact of cost and value in health professions education. The most common data source was total cost of training (n=29). Other sources included cost per learner; meaning the cost per individual student (n=13). The population most frequently cited was medical students (n=15), although a group of articles focused on multiple populations (n=12). A further 22 studies provide details of costing approaches for the production and delivery of eLearning. These studies provide insight into ways eLearning has been budgeted and project managed through implementation. Conclusions: While cost is a recognized factor in studies detailing eLearning design and implementation, the way cost is captured is done so inconsistently. Although there is a perception that eLearning is more cost-effective than face-to-face instruction, there is not yet sufficient evidence to assert this conclusively. A rigorous, repeatable data capture method is needed, in addition to a means to leverage existing economic evaluation methods that can then test whether eLearning cost-effectiveness and how to implement with cost benefits and advantages over traditional instruction

Epidemiologic evidence for asthma and exposure to air toxics: linkages between occupational, indoor, and community air pollution research.

Outdoor ambient air pollutant exposures in communities are relevant to the acute exacerbation and possibly the onset of asthma. However, the complexity of pollutant mixtures and etiologic heterogeneity of asthma has made it difficult to identify causal components in those mixtures. Occupational exposures associated with asthma may yield clues to causal components in ambient air pollution because such exposures are often identifiable as single-chemical agents (e.g., metal compounds). However, translating occupational to community exposure-response relationships is limited. Of the air toxics found to cause occupational asthma, only formaldehyde has been frequently investigated in epidemiologic studies of allergic respiratory responses to indoor air, where general consistency can be shown despite lower ambient exposures. The specific volatile organic compounds (VOCs) identified in association with occupational asthma are generally not the same as those in studies showing respiratory effects of VOC mixtures on nonoccupational adult and pediatric asthma. In addition, experimental evidence indicates that airborne polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) exposures linked to diesel exhaust particles (DEPs) have proinflammatory effects on airways, but there is insufficient supporting evidence from the occupational literature of effects of DEPs on asthma or lung function. In contrast, nonoccupational epidemiologic studies have frequently shown associations between allergic responses or asthma with exposures to ambient air pollutant mixtures with PAH components, including black smoke, high home or school traffic density (particularly truck traffic), and environmental tobacco smoke. Other particle-phase and gaseous co-pollutants are likely causal in these associations as well. Epidemiologic research on the relationship of both asthma onset and exacerbation to air pollution is needed to disentangle effects of air toxics from monitored criteria air pollutants such as particle mass. Community studies should focus on air toxics expected to have adverse respiratory effects based on biological mechanisms, particularly irritant and immunological pathways to asthma onset and exacerbation

The ryegrass endophyte in a cool-moist environment

The endophytic fungus (Acremonium lolii) of perennial ryegrass (Lolium perenne) was studied in a field grazing experiment in a cool-moist environment, supplemented by more detailed glasshouse experiments on its interaction with white clover (Trifolium repens), biotic factors such as nematodes and its impact on the morphology and physiology of the host. Parturition of sheep was found to be delayed, wool growth reduced and faecal soiling increased on endophyte-infected compared to endophyte-free pastures. Lamb growth rates were not affected by the endophyte in cool-moist years, but were lower on endophyte-infected pastures under drought conditions. The delay in lambing date is hypothesised to be the result of delayed mating, as lamb birth weights were not affected and no delay in lambing date was observed when ewe cycling was synchronised. Wool growth was only measured in cool-moist years which precluded insights into the importance of environmental factors. Differences in faecal soiling between endophyte-free and endophyte-infected pastures were greater under drought conditions. The endophyte had no effect on pasture composition and production in cool-moist years. The clover ratio of endophyte-infected pastures was depressed under drought conditions. The presence of an endophyte provided plants with some advantage against biotic factors such as nematodes and the Argentine stem weevil (Listronotus bonariensis) even under cool-moist conditions. The population dynamics of the Argentine stem weevil showed that it progresses through only one generation per year in the cool-moist environment of Southland. In glasshouse experiments it was shown that the endophyte should be regarded as a parasite of the ryegrass plant in the absence of major biotic or abiotic stresses. Shoot production was significantly (up to 50 %) lower for endophyte-infected compared to endophyte-free plants in two of the glasshouse experiments. When placed under severe moisture stress, endophyte-infected plants had a higher level of osmotic adjustment (OA) than endophyte-free plants. This higher OA may improve the survival chances of the plants when stressed. Fewer plant parasitic nematodes were observed in pots in which endophyte-infected, especially wildtype infected, plants grew compared to pots in which endophyte-free plants grew. A genotype by endophyte interaction was observed for plant characteristics such as shoot and root yields, tiller numbers and number of plant parasitic nematodes in pots. The presence of an endophyte had a positive effect on companion white clover growth under ideal growing conditions (access to adequate water and average temperatures of 18.5 °C). It is concluded that in the absence of abiotic and biotic stresses there is no requirement for ryegrass plants to be infected with the endophyte as no beneficial but a number of detrimental effects from its presence were observed. It is concluded that there is no need for pastures in cool-moist environments to contain an endophyte and that the severity of problems associated with the endophyte increase with the level of stress applied to the plants

Ryegrass endophyte and sheep reproduction

The influence of perennial ryegrass endophyte on sheep reproduction and early lamb growth was studied in a 3-year grazing experiment at the AgResearch regional station at Gore (46”07’S, 168”54’E). The trial consisted of 8 paddocks sown in endophyte-infected (+E) or endophyte-free (-E) Grasslands Nui perennial ryegrass, with (+C) or without Grasslands Huia white clover. Endophyteinfected ryegrass delayed the lamb drop and reduced lamb weight gains during the lactation period. Lamb drop was delayed by an average of 3-5 days especially in the presence of clover. This may be due to an extended gestation period or delayed mating. There was no effect of endophyte on lamb birth weight, ewe conception rate and liveweight changes over autumn, winter and spring

A case study examining the cost measurements in production and delivery of a small private online course (SPOC) for teaching administrative staff to engage with young patients

Background: eLearning (defined as asynchronous/synchronous) online learning delivered via the internet, either used on a stand-alone basis or using blended learning design) presents a significant opportunity to provide a scalable and cost-effective means of delivering of health education in contrast to one-time delivery of face to face instruction. Economic evaluation makes use of implementation costs for the basis of comparative analysis of cost value determination between different intervention types. Although there exist models for the calculation of costs in standard education programmes, eLearning is a different implementation design than face to face instruction because the initial effort is concentrated on the construction of intervention before implementation and the factors which influence their production require iteration and refinement. Understanding these iterations and their impact on cost is vital in order to develop a strong evidence base on the total cost of implementation of eLearning. Objective: To identify the ingredients for the production and delivery of a small private online course, complete variance calculations of the ingredients for the cost of production and delivery of a small private online course and explore the factors impacting the planning of costs for eLearning delivery. Methods: This study uses a mixed-methods study design was implemented, with a single-use case study design structured for study observation and cost analysis used to analyse financial data. Results: The implementation costs of the course were significantly underestimated at commencement making the total effort to deliver the cost untenable when baselined against the budget with a 41% negative variance from the project budget. The course was delivered despite this budget overrun because there was an obligation to deliver the course for the anticipated budget; had they failed to do this they would not have received compensation from the funder for the course activity. The two principal factors for the cost overruns were the deficiency of the use of the project budget and the under-reporting of personnel costs. Conclusions: Although there has been the development of costing capture models for the capture of the components or ingredients of educational interventions, the driver for these models has been the development of frameworks to allow for further economic evaluation of learning types. Further work is required to the foundational aspects of cost capture in the production of eLearning, as to ensure that total costs are recorded to capture the real costs of delivery.</p