100% local and organic: closing the protein gap for poultry in the ICOPP Project

A key challenge in improving the sustainability of organic poultry production is meeting the required levels of nutrients from locally sourced organic feeds. 100% organic diets for monogastrics will become compulsory in the EU from 1st January 2015. The ICOPP project brings together knowledge, from 10 EU countries, of local feeds for monogastrics and their wider impact on growth, health and welfare and the environment to identify feeding strategies which comply with organic principles. This poster will report on feeding trials carried out with broilers in the UK by FAI and ORC to investigate the impact of algae, peas and lupins on broiler performance and welfare

Cellular Mechanisms of Ionoregulation in the Gill of Japanese Medaka and Rainbow Trout

Euryhaline fishes are capable of adapting to a wide range of salinities such as freshwater, brackish water or seawater. Through the combined effort of the gill, kidney and intestine, they are able to osmoregulate to maintain a constant internal hydromineral balance. As the gill is in direct contact with the external environment, it is continuously working to maintain ion and acid/base balance, gas exchange and eliminate nitrogenous waste. Fish in freshwater are subjected to osmotic water gain and diffusional ion loss across the gill and experience the opposite in seawater. Therefore, the gill exhibits extreme plasticity when experiencing a change in external salinity. Osmoregulation in fishes is controlled mainly by the endocrine system. Prolactin is a freshwater-adapting hormone as it decreases epithelial permeability and increases ion-retention in osmoregulatory tissues. This dissertation examines the osmoregulatory function of the gill in two euryhaline teleosts, the Japanese medaka (Oryzias latipes) and rainbow trout (Oncorhychus mykiss). Gill of medaka exposed to seawater and freshwater were used to observe the effect of salinity on the expression of key ion transporters. Hormone in vitro studies were performed to understand the mechanism of prolactin-induced expression of the Na+, Cl- cotransporter in medaka gill. Finally, rainbow trout were subjected to ion poor water to expand our understanding of ion retention and ionocyte re-uptake function in a salmonid species. Furthermore, several human diseases are related to (dys)function of osmoregulatory proteins including cancers, inflammatory bowel disease and chronic kidney disease. Because of the adaptability of the gill epithelia, euryhaline teleosts represent a unique model that may help us understand pathologies in human diseases related to epithelial dysfunction. The endocrine system of teleosts is also analogous to the human endocrine system and is therefore valuable to better understand hormone-linked diseases in human such as breast cancer, diabetes and atherosclerosis. The experiments performed in this dissertation demonstrate the ability of euryhaline teleosts to provide an alternative model to study human diseases

A Multiple Case Study: Male Correctional Officers’ Experiences and Attitudes Regarding “Gender Quota” Human Resource Management Strategies in Corrections

The stigma of corrections being labeled as a “male” workplace is a factor in the male/female ratio gap; thus, the new question is how to bridge the gender gap. In response to this human resource managers have implemented affirmative action strategies to ensure more females were being hired and promoted in corrections. Though unofficial in most areas, some state correctional agencies incorporated “quotas” in their affirmative action HRMS. Even though ‘quota-based’ or ‘gender based’ HRMS intended to reduce or eliminate discrimination, they have linked backlash effects and stigmatization toward females and minorities when the dominant group felt it was used. The purpose of this study was to assist the business of correctional facilities in grasping the effects of affirmative action HRMS regarding male correctional officers’ perception of fairness, discrimination, and justice. Additionally, it expanded on the affirmative action knowledge base of those studying the advantages (benefits) and disadvantages (cons) of constructing and maintaining affirmative action HRMS. This study was conducted using the qualitative multiple case study with a flexible design. A total of 13 participants were interviewed separately in a one-on-one manner. The interview questions consisted of 14 semi-structured questions to capture their perspectives and experiences regarding affirmative action HRMS. Each interview was recorded on a 32 Gb voice recorder, transcribed, and entered into NVivo Pro 12. The major themes discovered were career motivation, affirmative action, gender HRMS perceptions, and behavior/climate. The cross-case themes were reverse discrimination, fairness and trust perception, and behavior/climate. The findings revealed that officers’ perception of fairness and justice had directly influenced employee behavior when employees believed that a female was promoted using gender based HRMS. Though it was revealed that most officers believed that the number of females needed on shift was based on unofficial number requirements, heuristics was used to fill in that belief regarding organizational justice. Though the research did not back previous research regarding gender based HRMS and reverse discrimination, it did reveal that there was a relationship between gender based HRMS, FHT organizational justice, and retaliation. These findings can be used to as a method of awareness for male-dominated fields (such as corrections) to understand how incorporating gender into HRMS affects the dominant group. It also serves to provide insight into possible flaws in HRMS. Organizations can leverage these findings to develop or improve fair HRMS and provide a more inclusive, gender-neutral recruitment of promotion strategy

Experiences of Postpartum Women in One Residential Treatment Facility for Substance Use Disorders: A Qualitative Case Study

A growing opioid crisis in the United States has sparked a need for gender-specific research and treatment to address unmet needs and promote positive health outcomes for both women and children. The primary purpose of this research is to provide insight into the experiences and perceptions of postpartum women with substance use disorders receiving care at one residential treatment facility. Two women, aged 22 and 27 years old, participated in semi-structured interviews designed to elicit perceptions about barriers to treatment, the value of various programs, the role of physical, social, and temporal contexts in treatment, and beliefs about the effect of treatment on quality of life. Interview transcripts were analyzed using a-priori coding with codes derived from the Social Stress Model of Substance Abuse. The pilot findings suggest that for these women separation from children during treatment is experienced as a major stressor, communication, counseling, and program staff and peer resources helps to offset this stress. The descriptive - level findings could provide insight to occupational therapy practitioners and other providers about women in substance abuse recovery and their perceptions of the value of programmatic interventions, meaning of their occupational deficits, and significance of occupational therapy as treatment to address these deficits

Assessment Of The Macroinvertebrate Assemblages From The Mesohabitats Of A Headwater Stream-Wetland Hydrologic Restoration In Eastern Kentucky

The bulk of streams in the U.S. have been negatively impacted by anthropogenic disturbances and the streams of Kentucky are no exception. In recent decades stream restoration has become a common practice in order to improve habitat degradation resulting from land use practices such as channelization. Despite the large amount of effort and funding stream restoration projects represent, only a small portion have undergone post-restoration assessments of the ecological response in the restored streams. Slabcamp Creek, a headwater stream located in the Licking River basin in eastern Kentucky, underwent a stream-wetland hydrologic restoration in 2010 in order to improve hydrologic functioning and degraded habitat that resulted from channelization. The goal of this study was to quantify macroinvertebrate assemblages from Slabcamp Creek and compare the assemblages to a site representing Kentucky Division of Water\u27s headwater reference conditions and a pre-restoration condition control site. Specific objectives included: 1) compare macroinvertebrate assemblage structure and function across study sites, 2) determine if mesohabitats (pools and riffles) support unique macroinvertebrate assemblages within and between study sites, 3) determine if macroinvertebrate assemblages varied at the study sites seasonally between high base flow (winter) and low base flow (summer), 4) explore relationships between the macroinvertebrate assemblages and microhabitat variables at the study sites, and 5) determine how accounting for the availability of mesohabitats at the reach scale (habitat weighting the data) compares to patch scale analyses for these objectives. Overall, findings indicated restored Slabcamp Creek was more similar to the reference condition site than the pre-restoration condition control site. It appeared that habitat-specific sampling may play an important role in assessing hydrologic restoration, since invertebrate densities, biomass and assemblage structure and function from riffles were fairly similar across sites while stark differences were detected in pools. This could be a result of the restoration improving hydrologic functioning and thus the underlying fluvial geomorphological processes that create pools which are disrupted by channelization. Subsequently, improved hydrologic function may have led to increased habitat complexity, substrate stability, and organic matter retention. Post restoration monitoring should continue at these study sites to see if these results vary or persist over time

A Novel Exercise Device for Users in Wheelchairs: A Study of Abdominal Muscle Activation

This study evaluates the use of a wheelchair balance board. The balance board was created as a sensory stimulation tool for users with various disabilities. It was originally designed to create vestibular stimulation for the person after they were loaded on. This study was used as a way to test if the balance board could be used for other things such as physical therapy and exercise. Ten able-bodied individuals were used to show the functionality of the device. They were asked to perform six different abdominal exercises while the muscle activity of their rectus abdominis and external obliques was measured using EMG electrodes. The exercises performed included: abdominal crunch, reverse crunch, full vertical crunch, torso twist, seated crunch, and sitting abdominal bend down. The last three exercises were performed on both stable ground and on the wheelchair balance board. This study found that the balance board did not cause any negative effects in terms of the abdominal muscle activation. In some cases it actually increased the muscle activation compared to the stable and floor exercises. There were no cases where the balance board caused a decrease in the amount of muscle activation in comparison to the floor exercises. The highest values for any muscle group activated in the entire study was found to be on the balance board during the sitting abdominal bend down. This demonstrates that the balance board shows promise as a tool for stimulating muscles not traditionally activated for people in a wheelchair

Language socialization, revitalization and ideologies in the Salish-Pend d\u27Oreille community

The goal of this thesis is to examine the language socialization practices and ideologies of the Salish-Pend d’Oreille community in order to understand language and cultural change in this community. This cultural group has become predominately monolingual in the non-traditional language, English; yet as my research demonstrates, the traditional language, Salish, continues to convey important epistemological perspectives valued in traditional society. By analyzing instances of Salish language use and non-use, I define some of the social factors that influence language use, as well as how children are socialized to use the language in culturally significant ways. When Salish is used, it not only marks the power dynamics within the sociolinguistic landscape, it also indexes some key components of the traditional practices and values of the Salish-Pend d’Oreille community that continue in the current society. Utilizing Ochs’ (1990) Indexicality Principle, I propose that the Salish language indexes (i) traditional contexts, (ii) epistemological views, (iii) affect and (iv) power dynamics of the sociocultural landscape. This study also examines language revitalization efforts in the Salish-Pend d’Oreille community. A variety of learning contexts, available for community members, were analyzed to determine what individuals are being socialized to and how socialization occurs these environments. My research demonstrates that the community’s revitalization efforts indirectly socialize children and other language learners to use language primarily in formal, institutionalized settings. These settings provide learners with not only language instruction, but also cultural exposure through the Salish language, which is a key socializing environment for many individuals. I also suggest that language revitalization programs reflect the larger sociocultural practices and ideologies of the Salish-Pend d’Oreille community. Finally, this study utilizes Irvine and Gal’s (2000) semiotic processes to analyze Salish- Pend d’Oreille language ideologies. Salish language ideologies play a significant role in language socialization practices and the continued use of the Salish language in the Salish-Pend d’Oreille community. I propose that along with socialization practices, these semiotic processes, frequently overlapping one another, often undermine the goals of current revitalization efforts and hinder the linguistic and cultural socialization of their disappearing language

“The Perfect Painless Labor”: The Natural Childbirth Movement in the Mid-Twentieth- Century U.S.”

This essay traces the emergence of a grassroots childbirth education movement in the 1950s U.S. and assesses its impact on women who embraced its precepts. Until thelate 1930s, when maternal mortality rates in the U.S. began to fall sharply, childbirth was widely viewed as a debilitating ordeal that entailed great suffering. But in the1940s and 1950s, as the medical profession consolidated its control over pregnancy and childbearing, a critique of standard obstetrical practices developed among a vanguard of doctors and women who advocated a return to “natural childbirth.” The key theorist of this movement, British obstetrician Grantly Dick-Read, argued thatwomen could experience “the perfect painless labor” without resorting to anesthesiaif they overcame the fear of childbirth and learned to relax their bodies. Read’s ideas found enthusiastic proponents among small groups of white, middle-class American women who established groups like the Boston Association of Childbirth Education(BACE), which prepared women for a conscious childbirth involving minimal medical intervention. Post-childbirth reports written by former students suggest that BACE equipped many students with knowledge and techniques that allowed them to derive great satisfaction from their birthing experiences. But the reports also revealhow the ideal of “natural motherhood” could establish expectations that constrained women in new and subtle ways