A serological survey of ruminant livestock in Kazakhstan during post-Soviet transitions in farming and disease control

The results of a serological survey of livestock in Kazakhstan, carried out in 1997–1998, are reported. Serum samples from 958 animals (cattle, sheep and goats) were tested for antibodies to foot and mouth disease (FMD), bluetongue (BT), epizootic haemorrhagic disease (EHD), rinderpest (RP) and peste des petits ruminants (PPR) viruses, and to Brucella spp. We also investigated the vaccination status of livestock and related this to changes in veterinary provision since independence in 1991. For the 2 diseases under official surveillance (FMD and brucellosis) our results were similar to official data, although we found significantly higher brucellosis levels in 2 districts and widespread ignorance about FMD vaccination status. The seroprevalence for BT virus was 23%, and seropositive animals were widespread suggesting endemicity, despite the disease not having being previously reported. We found a few seropositives for EHDV and PPRV, which may suggest that these diseases are also present in Kazakhstan. An hierarchical model showed that seroprevalence to FMD and BT viruses were clustered at the farm/village level, rather than at a larger spatial scale. This was unexpected for FMD, which is subject to vaccination policies which vary at the raion (county) level

The nitrogen response of wheat crops following lupins

One of the many benefitsof growing narrow-leaved lupins in a crop rotation (Rowland et al 1988) in the increased yield of the following cereal crop as a result of the improved nitrogen level of the soil. This article reports the results from 41 wheat/lupin rotation trials involving a range of nitrogen rates throughout the Western Australian agricultural area between 1978 and 1987. These trials allowed scientists to assess the interaction of nitrogen fertilization with previous cropping history and to estimate some of the contribution of the nitrogen and other effects of lupins within the crop rotations. The results provide some guidelines to help farmers make decisions agout what rates of nitrogen fertiliser to use in a crop rotation with lupins

Is meaningful physical education and social justice a complimentary combination? A physical education teacher educator collaborative self-study

BACKGROUND: Physical Education Teacher Education (PETE) programmes are expected to support future teacher learning about contemporary innovations and big ideas for teaching physical education. Teacher educators are challenged to learn about and incorporate contemporary innovations while maintaining programme cohesion. Exploring how teacher educators make sense of and teach about innovations, such as ideas related to meaningfulness, alongside foundational ideas, such as social justice, can provide insight on teacher educator pedagogies and their professional development journeys. PURPOSE: This study explored the concepts of and relationship between Meaningful PE and social justice in our teacher education pedagogies when implemented in combination. We pay particular attention to when ideas of Meaningful PE and social justice were complementary, overlapping and when they were distinctive. METHOD: A self-study of teacher education practices methodology supported four teacher educators to collectively and individually interrogate our evolving understanding, decisions and practices across a 13-month period. [Loughran, J. 2014. “Professionally Developing as a Teacher Educator.” Journal of Teacher Education 65 (4): 271–283] signposts for teacher educator professional development provided theoretical guidance to make sense of our experiences combining the two pedagogies. This paper focuses on the recordings of collective meetings (n = 9, over 12 h) where we shared and analysed experiences, raised questions and formulated developing understandings of the relationship between teaching for meaningfulness and social justice approaches. Data analysis involved thematic analysis methods to review all data and collective identification and refinement of themes through back-and-forth discussion. FINDINGS: From the thematic analysis, the following themes were co-created: (a) Meaningful PE can act as social justice but is not social justice per se; and (b) the combination of Meaningful PE and social justice facilitates a dance between ‘the individual’ and ‘the social’ with democratic and reflective practices as the choreography. These features of the relationship provide direction and encouragement to combining Meaningful PE and social justice ideas in teacher education pedagogies. CONCLUSIONS: Through cycles of experiencing and articulating, we made sense of the relationship between Meaningful PE and social justice. Our story highlights the value of teacher educators engaging with knowledge and practice of teaching about teaching and learning about teaching in the context of innovation

Relating imperatives to action

The aim of this chapter is to provide an analysis of the use of logically complex imperatives, in particular, imperatives of the form Do A1 or A2 and Do A, if B. We argue for an analysis of imperatives in terms of classical logic which takes into account the influence of background information on imperatives. We show that by doing so one can avoid some counter-intuitive results which have been associated with analyses of imperatives in terms of classical logic. In particular, I address Hamblin's observations concerning rule-like imperatives and Ross' Paradox. The analysis is carried out within an agent-based logical framework. This analysis explicates what it means for an agent to have a successful policy for action with respect to satisfying his or her commitments, where some of these commitments have been introduced as a result of imperative language use

Real-time evaluation of two light delivery systems for photodynamic disinfection of Candida albicans biofilm in curved root canals

Antimicrobial photodynamic therapy (APDT) combined with endodontic treatment has been recognized as an alternative approach to complement conventional root canal disinfection methods on bacterial biofilms. We developed an in vitro model of bioluminescent Candida albicans biofilm inside curved dental root canals and investigated the microbial reduction produced when different light delivery methods are employed. Each light delivery method was evaluated in respect to the light distribution provided inside curved root canals. After conventional endodontic preparation, teeth were sterilized before canals were contaminated by a bioluminescent strain of C. albicans (CEC789). Methylene blue (90 μM) was introduced into the canals and then irradiated (λ = 660 nm, P = 100 mW, beam diameter = 2 mm) with laser tip either in contact with pulp chamber or within the canal using an optical diffuser fiber. Light distribution was evaluated by CCD camera, and microbial reduction was monitored through bioluminescence imaging. Our findings demonstrated that the bioluminescent C. albicans biofilm model had good reproducibility and uniformity. Light distribution in dental tissue was markedly dependent on the light delivery system, and this strategy was directly related to microbial destruction. Both light delivery systems performed significant fungal inactivation. However, when irradiation was performed with optical diffuser fiber, microbial burden reduction was nearly 100 times more effective. Bioluminescence is an interesting real-time analysis to endodontic C. albicans biofilm inactivation. APDT showed to be an effective way to inactivate C. albicans biofilms. Diffuser fibers provided optimized light distribution inside curved root canals and significantly increased APDT efficiency.Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP, grant 2010/13313-9)Conselho Nacional de Pesquisas (Brazil) Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Cientifico e TecnologicoNational Institute of Mental Health (U.S.) (NIH R01AI050875

Cross-Stratification, Dakota Sandstone (Cretaceous), Ottawa County, Kansas

Dip bearings of water-deposited cross-strata in sandstone of the Dakota Formation (Cretaceous) of central Kansas were measured at 79 localities in Ottawa County. Vector-resultant (average) dip bearings lie in nearly all compass directions, but average S 57° W, showing that transportation of Dakota sediments in Ottawa County was mainly from northeast to southwest and that the source, therefore, seemingly lay to the northeast. Computation of a regression line of standard deviation on consistency ratio indicates that, in Dakota sandstone, consistency ratio is a good predictor of standard deviation for ratio values between 0.65 and 0.95

Water use of alternative wheatbelt crop species

84M5, 84M6, 84M7. Location: Merredin Research Station Merredin, Western Australia. Three experiments were conducted to measure the productivity and water use of alternative wheatbelt crop species on contrasting soil types in a dry mediterranean environment. Crop species investigated were wheat, barley, cereal rye, narrow leafed lupin and field pea. These were grown on three contrasting soil types, a red-brown earth, a sandy loam over clay and a deep loamy sand; all soils occurring within close proximity to each other. Detailed measurements were made of meteorological conditions, dry matter production, leaf area, root growth, soil water profiles, light interception and plant water status. This report gives the background and significance of the study, the methods employed and results obtained

Draft Genome Sequence of the Shellfish Larval Probiotic Bacillus pumilus RI06-95

Bacillus pumilus RI06-95 is a marine bacterium isolated in Narragansett, Rhode Island, which has shown probiotic activity against marine pathogens in larval shellfish. We report the genome of B. pumilus RI06-95, which provides insight into the microbe’s probiotic ability and may be used in future studies of the probiotic mechanism