Organic slug control using Phasmarhabditis hermaphrodita

Phasmarhabditis hermaphrodita is a lethal slug parasitic nematode that has been formulated into an effective biological control agent called Nemaslug®. We investigated the possibility of using different application methods of P. hermaphrodita to reduce cost and the number of nematodes applied. We also compared P. hermaphrodita with a new slug pellet called Ferramol®, which is available for use on organic farms

Transport theory yields renormalization group equations

We show that dissipative transport and renormalization can be described in a single theoretical framework. The appropriate mathematical tool is the Nakajima-Zwanzig projection technique. We illustrate our result in the case of interacting quantum gases, where we use the Nakajima-Zwanzig approach to investigate the renormalization group flow of the effective two-body interaction.Comment: 11 pages REVTeX, twocolumn, no figures; revised version with additional examples, to appear in Phys. Rev.

The Practitioner\u27s Corner: An exploration of municipal active living charter development and advocacy

Background: Numerous municipal active living-­‐related charters have been adopted to promote physical activity in Canada throughout the past decade. Despite this trend, there are few published critical examinations of the process through which charters are developed and used. Purpose: Thus, the purpose of this study was to establish greater understanding of active living charter development and advocacy. Methods: Semi-­‐structured interviews were conducted with eight primary contributors to different active living-­‐related charters across Ontario, Canada. Interview questions explored participants’ experiences developing and advocating for an active living charter. Interviews were analyzed using open, axial, and selective coding. Results and Conclusions: Participants consistently described a process whereby an impetus triggered the development of a charter, which was subsequently adopted by regional or municipal council. Continued advocacy to develop awareness of the charter and to promote desired outcomes in the community was valued and the capacity of the working group as well as the local political context played pivotal roles in determining how the charter was implemented. Outcomes were, however, only objectively evaluated in one case that was described – evaluation being a process that many participants thought was omitted in regard to their own charter. This work provides practical guidance for health professionals developing regional active living charters as a component of broader advocacy efforts

In pursuit of quality: early childhood qualifications and training policy

This paper aims to critique policy discourses around the pursuit of quality in early years education. Taking England as a focal point, it problematizes the use of the term ‘quality’ and attempts to standardise its meaning; highlighting the disconnect that exists between policy and practice. The paper combines discourse analysis of a small number of key government documents with a series of interviews with early years stakeholders in order to identify issues that will have resonance and can inform a much needed continuation of debates about what quality might mean. Over the course of the research it became apparent that there was considerable disquiet amongst early years practitioners with regards the current qualifications and training landscape, particularly with regards to what many viewed as ideologically-driven policy-making, not informed by proper dialogue with the sector

The Impact of Age, Gender, Race, and Socioeconomic Indicators of Perceptions of Accepting Racially Diverse Members in the Family

This article explores the level of support when a family member chooses to marry a person from a different racial group. It investigates the role that race of the spouse plays along with selected demographic variables with respect to influencing marriage support attitudes. The differential assimilation hypothesis is employed as the theoretical foundation for guiding the statistical analysis. Information from the General Social Survey conducted in 2012 is used in the analytical. The findings demonstrated that when individuals decide to marry outside of their racial group, the racial background of the spouse has a major impact on family member acceptance. It was found that potential spouses from darker-skinned racial groups received less support for the union from family members. This research effort clearly highlighted color-grading as a social phenomenon and demonstrated the importance American society continues to place race and its role in social stratification

Social cognition in intellectually disabled male criminal offenders: a deficit in affect perception?

Purpose: Although intellectual disability (ID) and criminal offending have long been associated, the nature of this link is obfuscated by reliance on weak, historical means of assessing ID and fractionating social cognitive skills. This paper addresses current and future research in social perception, social inference and social problem-solving in ID violent offenders. Methodology: Literature is reviewed on comorbidity of criminal offending and ID, and on social problem-solving impairment and offending. In an exploratory case-control series comprising six violent offenders with ID and five similarly able controls, emotion recognition and social inference are assessed by the Awareness of Social Inference Test (TASIT) and social problem-solving ability and style by an adapted Social Problem-Solving Inventory (SPSI-R). Findings: Violent offenders recognised all emotions except ‘anxious’, which they tended to misidentify as ‘surprise’. While offenders could interpret and integrate wider contextual cues, absent such cues offenders were less able to use paralinguistic cues (e.g. emotional tone) to infer speakers' feelings. Offenders in this sample exceeded controls' social problem-solving scores. Value: ID offenders, like neurotypical offenders, display specific deficits in emotion recognition- particularly fear recognition. Concurrently, enhanced social problem solving (at least as measured by the SPSI-R) in offenders is a novel preliminary finding which requires follow-up in a larger sample. Findings are discussed within the social processing framework, highlighting the need for tighter service-user baseline measures and further research into the causes of ID offending

Rapid assessment of tissue nitrogen in cultivated Gracilaria gracilis (Rhodophyta) and Ulva lactuca (Chlorophyta)

Tissue nitrogen content and thallus colour were quantified using a rapid assessment method based on the Pantone® matt uncoated formula guide for raft-cultivated Gracilaria gracilis Steentoft Irvine et Farnham at Saldanha Bay and tank-cultivated Ulva lactuca Linnaeus at Jacobsbaai in 2001 – 2002. A relationship between thallus colour and tissue nitrogen, as well as a transition between green-yellows and yellow-browns that occurs between 0.8 – 1.3 mg N per g tissue (Pantone® colours 460U – 455U) for Gracilaria were found, with the green-yellow colour indicating nitrogen-starved material and the yellow-browns indicating nitrogen-replete material. For Ulva a transition between green and yellow-green occurred at a tissue nitrogen content of between 1.5 – 1.7 mg N per g tissue (Pantone® colours 585U and 583U). This relationship can be used by seaweed farmers for cultivation management as a quick guide to determine nutritional status of the seaweeds, and as an indication of protein content when the seaweeds are used as feeds.Web of Scienc

The Problem of 'Hamlet'

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