Game bird investigations : quail and chukar partridges

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Proteins for livestock and poultry

Caption title.Digitized 2006 AES MoU

How Close is too Close? The Effect of a Non-Lethal Electric Shark Deterrent on White Shark Behaviour

This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.Sharks play a vital role in the health of marine ecosystems, but the potential threat that sharks pose to humans is a reminder of our vulnerability when entering the ocean. Personal shark deterrents are being marketed as the solution to mitigate the threat that sharks pose. However, the effectiveness claims of many personal deterrents are based on our knowledge of shark sensory biology rather than robust testing of the devices themselves, as most have not been subjected to independent scientific studies. Therefore, there is a clear need for thorough testing of commercially available shark deterrents to provide the public with recommendations of their effectiveness. Using a modified stereo-camera system, we quantified behavioural interactions between white sharks (Carcharodon carcharias) and a baited target in the presence of a commercially available, personal electric shark deterrent (Shark Shield Freedom7™). The stereo-camera system enabled an accurate assessment of the behavioural responses of C. carcharias when encountering a non-lethal electric field many times stronger than what they would naturally experience. Upon their first observed encounter, all C. carcharias were repelled at a mean (± std. error) proximity of 131 (± 10.3) cm, which corresponded to a mean voltage gradient of 9.7 (± 0.9) V/m. With each subsequent encounter, their proximity decreased by an average of 11.6 cm, which corresponded to an increase in tolerance to the electric field by an average of 2.6 (± 0.5) V/m per encounter. Despite the increase in tolerance, sharks continued to be deterred from interacting for the duration of each trial when in the presence of an active Shark Shield™. Furthermore, the findings provide no support to the theory that electric deterrents attract sharks. The results of this study provide quantitative evidence of the effectiveness of a non-lethal electric shark deterrent, its influence on the behaviour of C. carcharias, and an accurate method for testing other shark deterrent technologies

Rations for livestock and poultry

Caption title."Revision of Circular 249"--[P.1].Digitized 2006 AES MU.[Revised].Rations for dairy cattle / A.C. Ragsdale -- Rations for beef cattle ; Practical swine rations ; Rations for sheep / L.A. Weaver -- Rations for poultry / H.L. Kempster

Rations for livestock and poultry.

Caption title.Digitized 2006 AES MoU.Rations for dairy cattle / A.C. Ragsdale -- Rations for beef cattle ; Practical swine rations ; Rations for sheep / E. A. Trowbridge -- Rations for poultry / H.L. Kempster

The effect of underwater sounds on shark behaviour

The effect of sound on the behaviour of sharks has not been investigated since the 1970s. Sound is, however, an important sensory stimulus underwater, as it can spread in all directions quickly and propagate further than any other sensory cue. We used a baited underwater camera rig to record the behavioural responses of eight species of sharks (seven reef and coastal shark species and the white shark, Carcharodon carcharias) to the playback of two distinct sound stimuli in the wild: an orca call sequence and an artificially generated sound. When sounds were playing, reef and coastal sharks were less numerous in the area, were responsible for fewer interactions with the baited test rigs, and displayed less ‘inquisitive’ behaviour, compared to during silent control trials. White sharks spent less time around the baited camera rig when the artificial sound was presented, but showed no significant difference in behaviour in response to orca calls. The use of the presented acoustic stimuli alone is not an effective deterrent for C. carcharias. The behavioural response of reef sharks to sound raises concern about the effects of anthropogenic noise on these taxa

Postural anxiety influences the allocation of attentional resources among younger and older adults

xi, 107 leaves : ill. ; 29 cmThe purpose of this thesis was to investigate the influence of postural anxiety on the capacity for Flexible Resource Allocation (FRA) among younger (YA) and older adults (OA). Two experiments were conducted to explore (a) the influence of heightened postural anxiety on the flexible allocation of attention among OA and (b) the influence of concurrent postural challenge and postural anxiety on FRA among YA. Participants performed a postural task concurrently to a cognitive task according to three instructional sets directing task priority. Experiment one revealed that FRA was compromised among OA during circumstances of heightened anxiety. This capacity however, remained available among YA. Therefore, for the second experiment I varied the support surface to explore whether the capacity for FRA could be sustained when posture was challenged beyond static stance. Results indicated that YA altered cognitive task performance according to instructional set without compromising postural stability. These findings suggest that even when posture is challenged during heightened postural anxiety, YA maintain the capacity to automatically allocate attention to a postural task while performing a secondary task. Conversely, it seems that heightened postural anxiety strengthens the attentional bias to posture and subsequently compromises FRA among OA. Overall, results from this thesis suggest that the capacity for FRA is age and situation dependent

An evaluation of collaborative research partnerships in occupational therapy education

A lack of skills and confidence in carrying out research has been identified amongst occupational therapists (Pighills et al, 2013). The consequent predominance of university-led research threatens to exacerbate the practice-research gap (Kielhofner, 2005). This poster describes the benefits and challenges of collaborative research partnerships (Crist, 2010) for occupational therapy students, practice partners and academic supervisors. The aim of the project was to explore the benefits and challenges of the research partnerships from the perspectives of key stakeholders. Action research methodology was used. Five BSc, two MSc (pre-registration) students, six practice partners and four academic supervisors were recruited. Data was collected using questionnaire surveys and semi-structured interviews. All data were analysed thematically. Ethical and research governance approvals were gained from University of Cumbria and relevant NHS trusts respectively. The study was funded by the Higher Education Academy and the University of Cumbria. Findings identified benefits for each stakeholder group. Students emphasised increased confidence and a sense of value and purpose in contributing to future service improvements. Practice partners valued the research findings to aid reflection on working practices and potential service development. Academic supervisors described satisfaction in building enhanced research capacity through practice-based projects. Communication challenges and increased stress and workload were reported; however, these did not outweigh the benefits. Importantly, the research collaborations were perceived to contribute to service enhancements and therefore yield benefits for service-users. These findings illustrate the potential of collaborative research partnerships to build confidence and research capacity in future occupational therapists and thereby assist in reduction of the practice-research divide and support service development. Crist, P.A. (2010) Adapting Research Instruction to Support the Scholarship of Practice: Practice-Scholar Partnerships. Occupational Therapy in Health Care, 24(1), 39–55. Kielhofner, G. (2005) A scholarship of practice: Creating discourse between theory, research and practice. Occupational Therapy in Health Care, 19(1/2), 7–16. Pighills, A. C., Plummer, D., Harvey, D., Pain, T. (2013) Positioning occupational therapy as a discipline on the research continuum: Results of a cross-sectional survey of research experience. Australian Occupational Therapy Journal, 60(4), 241–251