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Communication Networks and the adoption of three farn practices

The report commences with a discussion of the diffusion and adoption model, and illustrates some of the research observations and practical outcomes that have emerged in recent years, An overview of social network research is presented as a means of understanding communication exchanges and providing data relevant to the diffusion debate. The communication and adoption studies are then reported in three separate sections in the order they were conducted. (A map of the location of the survey areas is shown in Figure I ) . The objectives, survey method, results and a summary are presented for each study. A background to the dairy herd recording scheme is followed by an outline of the dairy industry itself. Two regions selected for the survey are discussed and compared. The soil conservation study commences with an overview of soil degradation problems, government involvement and policy, and technical solutions to these problems. Consideration is also given to the importance of the human element in soil conservation policy and extension. The Central Wheatbelt (pattern of settlement, landscape, soils, vegetation, climate and land use) is described as a region. Many soil conservation problems exist here that can be generalized to other regions. The minimum tillage enquiry first introduces the concept and technique of minimum tillage, its advantages and disadvantages. A history of the Jerramungup district, as well as details on physical aspects of the area and land use problems gives the setting of the study. Jerramungup (and the south coast region generally) is particularly prone to wind erosion and hence is valid area in which to study the diffusion of minimum tillage a technique which lessens wind erosion problems. A final discussion compares conclusions of each study. in each are are dealt with. the three adoption situations by examining the The extension situation and communication factors Conclusions and recommendations are provided

Farmers\u27 use of agricultural information 1983

The Western Australian Department of Agriculture produces information for farmers which is disseminated through various mass media, The Australian Broadcasting Commission and commercial media outlets provide further agricultural information, In 1983 a telephone survey of cereal-sheep farmers was undertaken to determine what information sources were used by farmers, and how farmers used that information. A number of information processing factors were taken from communication research literature, These were accessibility and availability; surveillance and exposure; selection; storage and retrieval. From within this theoretical framework, information sources such as farming magazines, radio and television programmes were examined. Special attention was given to evaluating the performance of the following Department of Agriculture media: Farmnotes, Bulletins, Journal of Agriculture, Direct Mail Service, Agricultural Memos, Farming Today and radio broadcasts. There was considerable activity by farmers in surveillance, selection, storing and retrieving of information. It was found that the availability and exposure of Departmental media to farmers was high, except for the Journal of Agriculture, It is recommended that the form and content of the Journal be reviewed, and the circulation of this and other information sources be further increased. Revision of the little used Agdex filing system is also necessary. Other recommendations include: greater recognition of the role of the farm family in information processing, the provision of \u27entertaining\u27 agricultural television programmes for rural communities, and the need for farmer awareness of information storage and retrieval systems. Because the functions of the Direct Mail Service and Agricultural Memos were found to overlap, it is suggested that the use of these information sources could be studied further to test for redundancies in Departmental effort. It is also proposed that the Department should not commit itself to disseminating technical information through audio and video-tapes unless the effectiveness of these media can be demonstrated

Improving the mass determination of Galactic Cepheids

We have selected a sample of Galactic Cepheids for which accurate estimates of radii, distances, and photometric parameters are available. The comparison between their pulsation masses, based on new Period-Mass-Radius (PMR) relations, and their evolutionary masses, based on both optical and NIR Color-Magnitude (CM) diagrams, suggests that pulsation masses are on average of the order of 10% smaller than the evolutionary masses. Current pulsation masses show, at fixed radius, a strongly reduced dispersion when compared with values published in literature.The increased precision in the pulsation masses is due to the fact that our predicted PMR relations based on nonlinear, convective Cepheid models present smaller standard deviations than PMR relations based on linear models. At the same time, the empirical radii of our Cepheid sample are typically accurate at the 5% level. Our evolutionary mass determinations are based on stellar models constructed by neglecting the effect of mass-loss during the He burning phase. Therefore, the difference between pulsation and evolutionary masses could be intrinsic and does not necessarily imply a problem with either evolutionary and/or nonlinear pulsation models. The marginal evidence of a trend in the difference between evolutionary and pulsation masses when moving from short to long-period Cepheids is also briefly discussed. The main finding of our investigation is that the long-standing Cepheid mass discrepancy seems now resolved at the 10% level either if account for canonical or mild convective core overshooting evolutionary models.Comment: 14 pages, 4 postscript figures, accepted for publication on ApJ Letter

Myosin heavy chain isoform expression: Influence on isointertial and isometric performance

This is the publisher's version, also found at http://ehis.ebscohost.com/ehost/detail?vid=3&sid=c184ec76-77d8-4a98-bb1f-f5bceba902aa%40sessionmgr10&hid=2&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#db=s3h&AN=19495568Thirty-six healthy men with varying degrees of physical training background performed maximal-effort isometric and isoinertial knee extensor actions, with relative loads equal to 40% and 70% of one-repetition maximum. Force, velocity, and power were derived from force and linear position transducers at 500 Hz. Biopsies were taken from the vastus lateralis and analyzed by SDS-PAGE for relative myosin heavy chain (MHC) content. Relative MHC IIx content was included in a regression model, and explained variance noted. Relative MHC I content was subsequently added to the regression model to determine what, if any, additional variance was explained beyond that of MHC IIx. Results indicated that no relationship ( r = 0.0 to 0.1) exists between the relative expression of MHC isoforms from the vastus lateralis and isometric/isoinertial performance in a population with diverse training backgrounds. Lack of nervous system adaptations in the untrained subjects in the study possibly attenuates the significant relationship between MHC and in-vivo muscle performance previously established in trained populations. ABSTRACT FROM AUTHO

Measurement of resistance exercise force expression

This is the publisher's version, also found at http://ehis.ebscohost.com/ehost/detail?sid=afef5b5e-42ad-4a92-896e-f02e050a2011%40sessionmgr10&vid=1&hid=17&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#db=s3h&AN=13021242Displacement-based measurement systems are becoming increasingly popular for assessment of force expression variables during resistance exercise. Typically a linear position transducer (LPT) is attached to the barbell to measure displacement and a double differentiation technique is used to determine acceleration. Force is calculated as the product of mass and acceleration. Despite the apparent utility of these devices, validity data are scarce. To determine whether LPT can accurately estimate vertical ground reaction forces, two men and four women with moderate to extensive resistance training experience performed concentric-only (CJS) and rebound (RJS) jump squats, two sessions of each type in random order. CJS or RJS were performed with 30%, 50%, and 70% one-repetition maximum parallel back squat 5 minutes following a warm-up and again after a 10-min rest. Displacement was measured via LPT and acceleration was calculated using the finite-difference technique. Force was estimated from the weight of the lifter-barbell system and propulsion force from the lifter-barbell system. Vertical ground reaction force was directly measured with a single-component force platform. Two-way random average- measure intraclass correlations (ICC) were used to assess the reliability of obtained measures and compare the measurements obtained via each method. High reliability (ICC > 0.70) was found for all CJS variables across the loadspectrum. RJS variables also had high ICC except for time parameters for early force production. All variables were significantly (p < 0.01) related between LPT and force platform methods with no indication of systematic bias. The LPT appears to be a valid method of assessing force under these experimental conditions

Probing Primordial Non-Gaussianity with Large-Scale Structure

We consider primordial non-Gaussianity due to quadratic corrections in the gravitational potential parametrized by a non-linear coupling parameter fnl. We study constraints on fnl from measurements of the galaxy bispectrum in redshift surveys. Using estimates for idealized survey geometries of the 2dF and SDSS surveys and realistic ones from SDSS mock catalogs, we show that it is possible to probe |fnl|~100, after marginalization over bias parameters. We apply our methods to the galaxy bispectrum measured from the PSCz survey, and obtain a 2sigma-constraint |fnl|< 1800. We estimate that an all sky redshift survey up to z~1 can probe |fnl|~1. We also consider the use of cluster abundance to constrain fnl and find that in order to be sensitive to |fnl|~100, cluster masses need to be determined with an accuracy of a few percent, assuming perfect knowledge of the mass function and cosmological parameters.Comment: 15 pages, 7 figure

CMBR Weak Lensing and HI 21-cm Cross-correlation Angular Power Spectrum

Weak gravitational lensing of the CMBR manifests as a secondary anisotropy in the temperature maps. The effect, quantified through the shear and convergence fields imprint the underlying large scale structure (LSS), geometry and evolution history of the Universe. It is hence perceived to be an important observational probe of cosmology. De-lensing the CMBR temperature maps is also crucial for detecting the gravitational wave generated B-modes. Future observations of redshifted 21-cm radiation from the cosmological neutral hydrogen (HI) distribution hold the potential of probing the LSS over a large redshift range. We have investigated the correlation between post-reionization HI signal and weak lensing convergence field. Assuming that the HI follows the dark matter distribution, the cross-correlation angular power spectrum at a multipole \ell is found to be proportional to the cold dark matter power spectrum evaluated at \ell/r, where r denotes the comoving distance to the redshift where the HI is located. The amplitude of the ross-correlation depends on quantities specific to the HI distribution, growth of perturbations and also the underlying cosmological model. In an ideal ituation, we found that a statistically significant detection of the cross-correlation signal is possible. If detected, the cross-correlation signal hold the possibility of a joint estimation of cosmological parameters and also test various CMBR de-lensing estimators.Comment: 14 pages, 4 figures, publishe

Muscle fiber and performance adaptations to resistance exercise with MyoVive, colostrum or casein and whey supplementationa

This is the publisher's version, also found at http://ehis.ebscohost.com/ehost/detail?sid=ba69ee0d-97cf-4a2c-a1a2-2c26fb60d65c%40sessionmgr13&vid=1&hid=2&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#db=s3h&AN=10725638To determine the effects of 12 weeks of resistance exercise with MyoVive and/or colostrum supplementation, 19 male and female recreationally weighttrained subjects (X ± SE; age = 28.3 ± 6.9 yrs; hgt = 68.2 ± 3.8 cm) were divided into MyoVive + colostrum (n = 4), MyoVive + casein & whey (n = 4), colostrum + casein & whey (n = 6), and casein & whey (n = 5) groups. All groups similarly increased (p < .05) 1 repetition maximum (RM) leg press (kg; pre = 158.6 ± 12.8, post = 189.3 ± 11.3), body mass (kg; pre = 79.0 ± 3.2, post = 80.7 ± 3.8), and lean body mass (kg; pre = 60.1 ± 3.1, post = 62.2 ± 2.8). Increases were observed for peak force (N; all loads), peak velocity (m.s-1; 70% & 40% 1 RM), and peak power (W; 70% & 40% 1 RM) for all groups for the leg press exercise, with no differences between groups. When performance data were adjusted for body mass, lean body mass, lower body lean mass as determined by DEXA, or % change, no group differences were observed. Relative (%) fiber type content, cross-sectional areas (mm2), % fiber type areas, or % myosin heavy chain expression did not change for any group. These data suggest that MyoVive and colostrum supplementation have no greater effect on cellular and performance adaptations when compared to casein and whey protein