A longitudinal study of Besnoitia besnoiti infections and seasonal abundance of Stomoxys calcitrans in a dairy cattle farm of southwest France

Bovine besnoitiosis, caused by the cyst-forming apicomplexan Besnoitia besnoiti, is commonly reported in some restricted regions of South-Western Europe, and in larger regions of Africa and Asia. This infection is thought to be transmitted by blood feeding insects and is responsible for major economic losses in cattle production. A recent emergence in Europe, notified in the Centre of France, Spain and Germany, has attracted more attention to this disease. Clinical signs could appear in some animals; however, many infected cattle remain asymptomatic or show scleral-conjunctival cysts (SCC) only. Recent development of serological methods allows carrying out seroepidemiological field studies. In this respect, a long-term investigation was performed in a dairy cattle farm localized in an enzootic area of besnoitiosis of South-western France between March 2008 and May 2009. The objective was to estimate the seasonal pattern of B. besnoiti infections based on the presence of SCC and serology (ELISA and Western blot). In parallel, an entomological survey was conducted to describe population dynamics of Stomoxys calcitrans and Tabanidae species. The seroprevalence determined by Western blot in a cohort of 57 animals continuously present during the whole survey increased from 30% in March 2008 to 89.5% in May 2009 and was always higher than the prevalence based on clinically assessed SCC. New positive B. besnoitia seroconversions occurred throughout the year with the highest number in spring. In addition, many seroconversions were reported in the two months before turn-out and could be associated with a high indoors activity of S. calcitrans during this period

Investigating leadership ethnographically: Opportunities and potentialities

© 2016, The Author(s). Whilst recent years have seen increasingly ethnographic-focussed writings in Organisation Studies, similar developments have not been mirrored within Leadership Studies, where the field is still dominated by positivistic approaches. Various theorists have noted problems with this, often pointing toward ethnography as a way of investigating leadership from new angles. However, to date it remains underrepresented. Potentially, this could be due to the fact that leadership is an ill-defined concept, and this paper suggests developing a clearer understanding of the phenomenon – building on the work of Smircich and Morgan and Fairhurst. That is, understanding leadership as constituted by meaning-making and reality definition, which is performed through discourse (or: intersubjective talk, communication, language and interaction) as well as being influenced by Discourse (or: extrasubjective frames of reference). This paper suggests that ethnographic methodologies are apt for studying both, and may be able to shed new light on leadership practice