Feasibility of Cotton Production in the Burdekin

This project has shown the potential for cotton production in the region developed a range of tactics that can be deployed to minimise the impact of cloudy wet weather. These agronomic tactics have been published in a new book - NORpak - Cotton production and management guidelines for the Burdekin and NQ coastal dry tropics. This publication has been specifically targeted for local sugarcane producers who may stand to benefit by including cotton rotation crops into their current largely mono-culture production systems. This publication is available at http://www.cottoncrc.org.au/industry/Publications/Northern_Production

Machine vision App for automated cotton insect counting: initial development and first results

Silverleaf whitefly, cotton aphids and spider mites cause cotton yield loss through plant feeding and lint contamination from waste secretions. Agronomists determine if control action is required from weekly monitoring of changes in pest counts. This manual sampling is labour-intensive as hundreds of leaves are sampled at 20-30 leaves per 25 hectares of cotton and examined by eye for the presence and density of each pest. Machine vision has potential to automate the pest counting on each leaf using infield cameras and image analysis software. There is potential to transfer the machine vision algorithms to a mobile device App for agronomist to enable real-time photo capture and analysis for pest counting. This App would standardise pest counting between different observers, improve chemical control decisions, provide a convenient method for logging and viewing data for each field, and inform Area Wide Management from silverleaf whitefly nymph counts. Data collection and software development have been conducted to develop the image analysis algorithms for detecting silverleaf whitefly nymphs. A dataset of training images was captured from glasshouses cultures of whitefly and commercial cotton farms in southern Queensland with three smartphone models. Image analysis algorithms were developed to extract numbers of silverleaf whitefly nymphs (3rd/4th instar) on each leaf. Two image analysis methods were implemented: a segmentation-based approach, and a machine learning approach. The segmentation-based approach and machine learning approach detected silverleaf whitely nymphs with up to 67% and 79% accuracy, respectively. The image analysis algorithms will be refined through parameter optimisation and incorporated into an App that will be evaluated by agronomists in the 2019/20 season. The image analysis algorithms will be extended to cotton aphids and mites as all three insects can occur simultaneously

Clairvoyance et vacuité : l’utopie de la communication dans trois œuvres de fiction américaine (Asimov, Pynchon, Allen)

Dans L’utopie de la communication (1997) Philippe Breton explique la nouvelle envergure de la communication. Il puise dans la cybernétique et la littérature. Afin de poursuivre son travail de réflexion, cet article se penche sur les œuvres prophétiques d’artistes comme T. Pynchon, I. Asimov et W. Allen. L’objectif  : mettre en avant le rapport critique que ces auteurs entretiennent à l’utopie de la communication en s’interrogeant sur le sens paradoxal de leur dénonciation. En offrant si peu de symboles de résistance à la vacuité hégémonique de la communication, n’alimenteraient-ils pas le vide qu’ils vilipendent  ?In L’utopie de la communication (1997) Philippe Breton explains the growing importance of communication, drawing on cybernetics and literature. Pursuing this line of inquiry, this article tackles the prophetic works of writers like T. Pynchon, I. Asimov and W. Allen. The objective is to highlight the critical stance maintained by these authors in relation to the communication utopia whilst exploring the paradoxical aspect of their denunciation. By offering so few symbols of resistance to the vacuous hegemony of communication, do they not perpetuate the vacuum they are at such pains to vilify ?

Early discontinuation of intravenous antimicrobial therapy in pediatric oncology patients with febrile neutropenia

BACKGROUND: There are no standard criteria for when to discontinue intravenous antimicrobial therapy (IVAMT) in children with febrile neutropenia (FN), but it is now common to discontinue IVAMT and discharge patients with an absolute neutrophil count (ANC) ≤ 500 /mm(3). The purpose of this study was to evaluate the outcome of a large cohort of children with FN who had IVAMT discontinued with an ANC ≤ 500 /mm(3) METHODS: A retrospective chart review was completed of patients in the Northern Alberta Children's Cancer Program with FN and no apparent clinical source of fever from June 1, 1997 to July 1, 2002. RESULTS: Out of a total of 275 patients, 127 (46%) had at least one episode of FN, with FN occurring in patients with sarcomas more commonly than in those with leukemia/ lymphoma and least in those with other solid tumors. In 59 of 276 episodes of FN (21%) patients had a microbiologically defined infection at admission. Of the 217 remaining episodes, 112 of 199 patients (56%) with known neutrophil counts had IVAMT discontinued before their absolute neutrophil count (ANC) reached 500 /mm(3 )at the discretion of the clinician. Fever recurred in only two of these patients after discharge, and there were no bacterial infections diagnosed after parenteral antibiotics were discontinued. CONCLUSION: Even without use of standard criteria for early discharge, clinicians appear to be skilled at selecting children with FN who can safely have IVAMT discontinued with an ANC ≤ 500 /mm(3)

Effect of 20 mph traffic speed zones on road injuries in London, 1986-2006: controlled interrupted time series analysis

Objective To quantify the effect of the introduction of 20 mph (32 km an hour) traffic speed zones on road collisions, injuries, and fatalities in London

T lymphocyte insensitivity to corticosteroids in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>There are increased numbers of activated lymphocytes in the lungs of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) patients. The clinical benefits of corticosteroids in COPD patients are limited. Our hypothesis is that lymphocytes play a role in this corticosteroid insensitivity.</p> <p>Objectives</p> <p>To investigate the effects of the corticosteroid dexamethasone on lung lymphocyte cytokine production from patients with COPD compared to controls.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Cultured airway lymphocytes obtained by bronchoscopy from healthy non-smokers (HNS), smokers (S) and COPD patients were stimulated with phytohaemagglutinin (PHA) & phorbol myristate acetate (PMA), +/- dexamethasone. Supernatants were assayed for interleukin (IL)-2 and interferon (IFN)γ. Immunofluoresence was used to analyse changes in CD8 glucocorticoid receptor (GRα and GRβ) expression.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The inhibition of PHA/PMA stimulated IFNγ production by dexamethasone was reduced in COPD patients compared to HNS (<it>p </it>< 0.05 at concentrations from 0.1-1 μM). There was also a significant reduction (<it>p </it>< 0.05) in the mean inhibitory effect at 1 μM in COPD patients (54.1%) compared to smokers (72.1%), and in smokers compared to HNS (85.5%). There was a numerically reduced effect of dexamethasone on IL-2 production that did not reach statistical significance. There was no difference in GRα and GRβ expression in follicular CD8 cells between COPD patients (50.9% and 30.4% respectively) and smokers (52.9% and 29.7% respectively).</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>IFNγ production from COPD airway lymphocytes is corticosteroid insensitive. This phenomenon may be important in the poor clinical response often observed with corticosteroids.</p

Using infectious intestinal disease surveillance data to explore illness aetiology; a cryptosporidiosis case study.

Infectious intestinal disease (IID) surveillance data are an under-utilised information source on illness geography. This paper uses a case study of cryptosporidiosis in England and Wales to demonstrate how these data can be converted into area-based rates and the factors underlying illness geography investigated. Ascertainment bias is common in surveillance datasets, and we develop techniques to investigate and control this. Rural areas, locations with many livestock and localities with poor water treatment had elevated levels of cryptosporidiosis. These findings accord with previous research validating the techniques developed. Their use in future studies investigating IID geography is therefore recommended