Protocol for Trichomonas Diagnosis in Cattle for Utah

Trichomoniasis, caused by the protozoan Tritrichomonas foetus, is a serious reproductive (venereal) disease found in some Utah cattle herds. Diagnosis of trichomoniasis is made when trichomonad organisms are detected in the smegma or preputial flush samples of bulls, or the uterine/vaginal fluids of cow

Does financial education influence retirement savings? An examination of Australian employees

In order to ensure a financially secure retirement, Australians will need to plan and save for their retirement many decades before they retire.The age pension, paid for out of Commonwealth government taxes is currently the backbone of the retirement system, but will not replace as much pre-retirement income in the future as it does today. Given the shift from the defined benefit style to the accumulation style, superannuation funds involve considerably more uncertainty, and as such, one might have thought that individuals would be saving more on their own. But personal saving outside of superannuation plans is virtually non-existent. Combine the retirement income crunch with the dramatic increase in life expectancy, and the need for careful retirement planning and sacrificing current consumption for later consumption becomes imperative for ensuring the financial security of older Australians. The hard question is whether individuals will be prepared to make the necessary sacrifices today to ensure a more secure financial future in retirement? This paper explores the willingness of individuals to make these sacrifices, and whether financial education can influence individuals in this difficult decision.<br /

Evaluating the impact of financial literacy programs on the retirement savings of superannuation fund members

Currently, in Australia, the age pension, paid for out of Commonwealth government taxes, forms the basis of Australia&rsquo;s retirement income system, however, given the reality of an ageing population has compelled the government to undertake a number of measures to shift the responsibility for saving to the individual, forcing them to accept an increasing level of responsibility for their financial decision-making. In the light of the changing retirement environment, it would be expected that Australians&rsquo; would ensure that they became financially literate, however, despite the amount of information and advice available in the market place, this is not the case, and they do not appear to be appropriately prepared for their retirement. Recognising the importance of financial literacy, an increasing number of government agencies, employers, superannuation funds and schools are implementing financial literacy programs in Australia. This article provides an overview of the impact that attending a financial education seminar has on the retirement decisions and settings of participants. Evidence is provided from this research that in the short term, providing financial education programs make a difference to an individual&rsquo;s intended retirement settings. However, the impact of these education programs in changing investment behaviour is less conclusive.<br /

Re-evaluation of the surface ruptures of the November 1951 earthquake series in eastern Taiwan, and its neotectonic implications

The earthquakes of November 1951 constitute the most destructive seismic episode in the recorded history of the Longitudinal Valley, eastern Taiwan. However, information about their source parameters is sparse. To understand the relationship between the 1951 ruptures and new interpretations of the regional neotectonic architecture of the Longitudinal Valley, we re-evaluated the November 1951 ruptures by analyzing old documents, reports and photographs, and by interviewing local residents who experienced the earthquake. As a result, we have revised significantly the rupture map previously published. We divide the surface ruptures from south to north into the Chihshang, Yuli, and Rueisuei sections. The first shock of the 1951 series probably resulted from the Chihshang rupture, and the second shock probably resulted from the Yuli and Rueisuei ruptures. The lengths of these ruptures indicate that the two shocks had similar magnitudes. The Chihshang and Rueisuei ruptures are along segments of the Longitudinal Valley fault, a left-lateral oblique fault along which the Coastal Range thrusts westward over the Longitudinal Valley. The Yuli rupture, on the other hand, appears to be part of a separate, left-lateral strike-slip Yuli fault, which traverses the middle of the Longitudinal Valley. The complex behavior of these structures and interaction between them are important in understanding the future seismic hazard of the area

Millennial slip rate of the Longitudinal Valley fault from river terraces: Implications for convergence across the active suture of eastern Taiwan

The Longitudinal Valley fault is a key element in the active tectonics of Taiwan. It is the principal structure accommodating convergence across one of the two active sutures of the Taiwan orogeny. To understand more precisely its role in the suturing process, we analyzed fluvial terraces along the Hsiukuluan River, which cuts across the Coastal Range in eastern Taiwan in the fault's hanging wall block. This allowed us to determine both its subsurface geometry and its long-term slip rate. The uplift pattern of the terraces is consistent with a fault-bend fold model. Our analysis yields a listric geometry, with dips decreasing downdip from about 50° to about 30° in the shallowest 2.5 km. The Holocene rate of dip slip of the fault is about 22.7 mm/yr. This rate is less than the 40 mm/yr rate of shortening across the Longitudinal Valley derived from GPS measurements. The discrepancy may reflect an actual difference in millennial and decadal rates of convergence. An alternative explanation is that the discrepancy is accommodated by a combination of slip on the Central Range fault and subsidence of the Longitudinal Valley floor. The shallow, listric geometry of the Longitudinal Valley fault at the Hsiukuluan River valley differs markedly from the deep listric geometry illuminated by earthquake hypocenters near Chihshang, 45 km to the south. We hypothesize that this fundamental along-strike difference in geometry of the fault is a manifestation of the northward maturation of the suturing of the Luzon volcanic arc to the Central Range continental sliver

Use of mobile technology for monitoring and evaluation in international health and development programs

Background: Mobile phones and other technologies are widely used in health programming in developing countries, many introduced by international nongovernmental organizations (INGOs) to accelerate data collection. This research examined; How are INGOs adopting the innovation of mobile technology into monitoring and evaluation (M&E) systems for health care programs in international settings, and what factors are facilitating or inhibiting this innovation? Methods: A mixed-methods approach employed key informant interviews with INGO leaders (n=12) and platform providers (n=9) and an online survey of INGO personnel (n=311). The research used the Diffusion of Innovation (DOI) framework to structure the data collection. Univariate and bivariate analyses of the quantitative data were conducted using SPSS Version 21 and qualitative analysis used MaxQDA Version 11. Results: Of all survey respondents, 70.6% had used mobile technology during the last year, 77.2% were intending to use mobile technology over the next year in their programs, and 72.6% had seen organizations like theirs using mobile technology. Only 55.7% had used mobile technology specifically for M&E applications in health. Three of the five DOI areas--tension for change, innovation-system fit, and support and advocacy--showed INGOs to be far along toward the adoption of mobile technology. Assessing the implications of adoption and dedicating time and resources to the adoption--were relatively further behind. Discussion: The research shows high levels of readiness for change in the INGO community. However, the full power of mobile technology to change the way M&E systems are built and how data are collected at a systems level has not yet taken hold. The high level of organizational readiness for change can be leveraged if organizations are going to adopt mobile technology into M&E systems. The researcher proposed a strategy to assist INGOs that would like to adopt mobile technology into M&E systems that includes disseminating the findings widely among research participants, platform providers, donors and the wider public and to repeat the survey research to track change over time.Doctor of Public Healt

The effectiveness of seminars in educating adults in financial literacy

In Australia, financial literacy is not given prominence within the education system, and it is a general view that financial literacy is gained through &lsquo;hands on&rsquo; experience in earning and spending money; further, financial education seems to occur only when people take a loan or experience financial difficulties (Hajaj, 2002). This is not sufficient if people need to make informed decisions about their investments and, because of a number of social factors, it has become necessary to educate the majority of the adult population in Australia in Financial Literacy over a relatively short period of time. Given the large numbers requiring such an education, the seminar approach is being widely used, however is it effective? Drawing on the adult education literature, this study examined the effectiveness of the seminar approach by surveying adult participants in a Financial Literacy seminar. The survey found that while a majority of participants (50%) expressed none or weak financial knowledge prior to attending the seminar and 45% expressed that they only had a moderate rate of financial knowledge, a majority of 63% strongly agreed or agreed to the seminar improving their knowledge of the need for retirement savings. Furthermore, 58% of participants were either confident or very confident of being able to apply what they learned in the seminar to achieving their retirement savings goal. These findings suggest that the seminar approach was effective in educating adults and improved their level of financial literacy. Future research could investigate whether the level of financial knowledge gained during the seminar is retained over a considerable period of time.<br /

Review of Mothocya Costa in Hope 1851 (Crustacea: Isopoda: Cymothoidae) from southern Africa with the description of a new species

Three species of Mothocya are reported from the east coast of southern Africa: Mothocya plagulophora (Haller, 1880) from Maputo, Mozambique, from the gills of Hemiramphus far (Forsskål, 1775); Mothocya renardi (Bleeker, 1857) from diverse localities in South Africa and Mozambique, from the hosts Strongylura leiura (Bleeker, 1850) and Tylosurus choram (Rüppell, 1837); and Mothocya affinis sp. nov. from Sodwana Bay, South Africa, from the gills of Hyporamphus affinis (Günther, 1866). Mothocya affinis sp. nov. is characterised by relatively small size (maximum 16 mm); large, wide coxae on pereonite 7 that overlap the pleon; uropods that do not extend past the pleotelson posterior margin; produced anterolateral margins on pereonite 1; and a twisted pleon and pleotelson. Mothocya katoi Nunomura, 1992 and Mothocya toyamaensis Nunomura, 1993 are both transferred to the genus Ceratothoa, with M. katoi being placed into junior synonymy with Ceratothoa guttata (Richardson, 1910). Irona ogcocephalus Avdeev & Avdeev, 1974 and I. callionymus Avdeev & Avdeev, 1974 are both transferred to Elthusa, and Irona trillesi Rokicki, 1986 is synonymised with Mothocya longicopa Bruce, 1986. A key to the south-western Indian Ocean species of Mothocya is given, and a table summarising recent and new nomenclatural acts in the genus is provided

Cymothoa hermani sp. nov. (Isopoda, Cymothoidae, Crustacea), a parasitic isopod, collected off the Zanzibar coast, Tanzania from the mouth of a parrotfish (Scaridae)

Cymothoa hermani sp. nov., a buccal fish-parasitic isopod is described from off Unguja Island, Zanzibar, from the buccal cavity of the marbled parrotfish, Leptoscarus vaigiensis. Cymothoa hermani sp. nov. is characterised by the unique bulbous ornamentation on pereonite 1, anterolateral angles on pereonite 1 rounded and produced past frontal margin of cephalon, and pereopods with long and slender dactyli. There are no other species of Cymothoa known from parrotfishes. This description increases the number of known Cymothoa from the southwestern Indian Ocean to four