Tree Competition Reduces Cattle Growth Rates in Eucalypt Woodlands of Queensland

The wiregrass/bluegrass (Aristida/Bothriochloa) native pasture community in Eucalypt woodlands is a major cattle producing resource in Queensland. The effects of poplar box tree (Eucalyptus populnea) competition (at 5 m2/ha tree basal area) and grazing pressure on pastures and on growth of Brahman-cross steers were measured in a grazing experiment. Treatments were 2 tree competition levels (live trees or clearing) by 3 grazing pressures (low - 25%, medium - 50% and high - 75% utilisation of annual pasture growth). Pasture yield and pasture foliage cover increased for 3 years from the reduction in tree competition by clearing and by low grazing pressure with increasing annual rainfall. Clearing increased pasture yield by 33% in the first summer growing season and by 94% in the third year. After 3 years, foliage cover after clearing was 51% compared with 39% in pastures with live trees. Pasture yield and cover were reduced by 34% and 33% respectively by high grazing pressure compared with the low rate. Reducing tree competition by clearing produced a 39% increase in annual average daily steer weight gain (0.32 kg/day) over the third year, by eliminating weight loss in winter. Annual steer growth was highest at the low and medium grazing pressures, with most rapid growth in summer when pastures were green and growing. Highest liveweight in the third year occurred with clearing and low grazing pressure (gaining 131 kg/hd). There was greatest liveweight loss (14 kg/hd) between autumn and spring at high grazing pressure

Cattle Grazing Management Effects on Pasture Composition in Semi-Arid Woodlands

Manipulating grazing pressure, controlling tree competition and burning are the main options for cattle farmers to manage land in subtropical Australian Eucalypt woodlands. These can contain \u3e175 herbaceous and 60 woody species, but only 5 are desirable perennial and productive grass (Silcock et al., 1996). Here we describe the responses of some perennial grasses to cattle grazing pressure, tree competition and spring burning

Appendix 4: A Guide to Understanding State Child Care Subsidy Programs Through Analysis of Public and Non-public Use Datasets

This guide has been developed to assist researchers in using public and non-public use U.S. Census Bureau data as well as public and non-public use state administrative data—both separately and in combinations—to analyze state-specific child care subsidy take-up and employment of child care subsidy recipients

Knowledge Translation of Interprofessional Collaborative Patient-Centred Practice: The Working Together Project Experience

The Working Together (WT) project involved the design and delivery of an online learning resource for healthcare teams in long-term care (LTC) so that knowledge regarding interprofessional collaborative patient-centred practice (ICPCP) could be readily accessed and then transferred to the workplace. The purpose of this paper is to better understand the process of knowledge translation in continuing education for healthcare professionals by documenting our experiences using Lavis et al.’s (2003) organizing framework for knowledge transfer, and highlighting the impact this approach had on the design, development, delivery, and evaluation of the WT program. Fifty-nine pharmacists, physicians, nurses, and nurse practitioners from 17 LTC homes across Ontario, Canada participated in this project. The effectiveness of the knowledge translation of ICPCP through the WT project was evaluated using the Demand-Driven Learning Model (DDLM) evaluation tool (MacDonald, Breithaupt, Stodel, Farres, & Gabriel, 2002) to assess learners’ reactions to the learning resource. Data from quantitative pre-post surveys and qualitative interviews revealed that learners found using the WT online resource to be a satisfactory learning experience, obtained new knowledge and skills regarding ICPCP, transferred knowledge to the workplace, and reported that learning had a positive effect on the residents they cared for.Le projet Working Together (WT) comprend la conception et la production d’une ressource d’apprentissage en ligne pour les équipes de professionnels prodiguant des soins de santé de longue durée (SLD) afin que les connaissances relatives à la pratique interprofessionnelle en collaboration axée sur le patient (PICAP) puissent être facilement accessibles, puis transférées dans le milieu de travail. L’objectif de cet article est de mieux comprendre le processus d’application des connaissances dans la formation continue des professionnels de la santé en documentant notre expérience à l’aide de Lavis et coll. (2003), en établissant un cadre théorique pour le transfert des connaissances et en mettant en évidence l’incidence de cette approche sur la conception, le développement, la réalisation et l’évaluation du programme WT. Cinquante-neuf pharmaciens, médecins, infirmiers et infirmières, infirmiers et infirmières praticiens de 17 centres de SLD en Ontario, au Canada, ont participé à ce projet. L’efficacité de l’application des connaissances de la PICAP à l’échelle du projet WT a été évaluée à l’aide du modèle d’apprentissage axé sur la demande (DDLM) (MacDonald, Breithaupt, Stodel, Farres et Gabriel, 2002) afin de déterminer les réactions des apprenants à la ressource d’apprentissage. Des données tirées de prétest et de postest quantitatifs ainsi que d’entrevues qualitatives ont révélé que les apprenants étaient satisfaisants de l’expérience d’apprentissage que procure la ressource en ligne WT, qu’ils ont acquis de nouvelles connaissances et aptitudes concernant la PICAP et mis en application ces connaissances dans leur milieu de travail, et que l’apprentissage a eu un effet positif sur les pensionnaires dont ils prennent soin

Spread Supersymmetry

In the multiverse the scale of SUSY breaking, \tilde{m} = F_X/M_*, may scan and environmental constraints on the dark matter density may exclude a large range of \tilde{m} from the reheating temperature after inflation down to values that yield a LSP mass of order a TeV. After selection effects, the distribution for \tilde{m} may prefer larger values. A single environmental constraint from dark matter can then lead to multi-component dark matter, including both axions and the LSP, giving a TeV-scale LSP lighter than the corresponding value for single-component LSP dark matter. If SUSY breaking is mediated to the SM sector at order X^* X, only squarks, sleptons and one Higgs doublet acquire masses of order \tilde{m}. The gravitino mass is lighter by a factor of M_*/M_Pl and the gaugino masses are suppressed by a further loop factor. This Spread SUSY spectrum has two versions; the Higgsino masses are generated in one from supergravity giving a wino LSP and in the other radiatively giving a Higgsino LSP. The environmental restriction on dark matter fixes the LSP mass to the TeV domain, so that the squark and slepton masses are order 10^3 TeV and 10^6 TeV in these two schemes. We study the spectrum, dark matter and collider signals of these two versions of Spread SUSY. The Higgs is SM-like and lighter than 145 GeV; monochromatic photons in cosmic rays arise from dark matter annihilations in the halo; exotic short charged tracks occur at the LHC, at least for the wino LSP; and there are the eventual possibilities of direct detection of dark matter and detailed exploration of the TeV-scale states at a future linear collider. Gauge coupling unification is as in minimal SUSY theories. If SUSY breaking is mediated at order X, a much less hierarchical spectrum results---similar to that of the MSSM, but with the superpartner masses 1--2 orders of magnitude larger than in natural theories.Comment: 20 pages, 5 figure

Time series analysis of V815 Herculis photometry between 1984 and 1998

As a case study of the solar-stellar connection, we have analysed a prolonged time series of BV photometry of the chromospherically active binary V815 Her . The surface differential rotation in the rapidly rotating G5{v} primary caused changes of 4.6% in the seasonal photometric rotation periods. This would imply a differential rotation coefficient of k = 0.184, if the rotation of the starspots follows the solar law of differential rotation and the activity is confined within the same latitudinal range as in the Sun, having k = 0.189 and the spectral-type of G2{v}. Our analysis of the primary and secondary minima of the seasonal light curves indicated that the regions of stronger activity have concentrated on one active longitude, which has maintained a constant rotation period of 1.d79244 for about 14 years. No regular activity cycle was detected in the mean brightness changes of V815 Her

A Seesaw Mechanism in the Higgs Sector

In this letter we revisit the seesaw Higgs mechanism. We show how a seesaw mechanism in a two Higgs doublets model can trigger the electroweak symmetry breaking if at least one of the eigenvalues of the squared mass matrix is negative. We then consider two special cases of interest. In the decoupling scenario, there is only one scalar degree of freedom in the low energy regime. In the degenerate scenario, all five degrees of freedom are in the low energy regime and will lead to observables effects at the LHC. Furthermore, in that scenario, it is possible to impose a discrete symmetry between the doublets that makes the extra neutral degrees of freedom stable. These are thus viable dark matter candidates. We find an interesting relation between the electroweak symmetry breaking mechanism and dark matter.Comment: 10 page

Reflux related hospital admissions after fundoplication in children with neurological impairment: retrospective cohort study

Objective To examine the impact of fundoplication on reflux related hospital admissions for children with neurological impairment

Allosteric Mechanism of Water Channel Gating by Ca2+–calmodulin

Calmodulin (CaM) is a universal regulatory protein that communicates the presence of calcium to its molecular targets and correspondingly modulates their function. This key signaling protein is important for controlling the activity of hundreds of membrane channels and transporters. However, our understanding of the structural mechanisms driving CaM regulation of full-length membrane proteins has remained elusive. In this study, we determined the pseudo-atomic structure of full-length mammalian aquaporin-0 (AQP0, Bos Taurus) in complex with CaM using electron microscopy to understand how this signaling protein modulates water channel function. Molecular dynamics and functional mutation studies reveal how CaM binding inhibits AQP0 water permeability by allosterically closing the cytoplasmic gate of AQP0. Our mechanistic model provides new insight, only possible in the context of the fully assembled channel, into how CaM regulates multimeric channels by facilitating cooperativity between adjacent subunits