Performance of Amblypharyngodon mola with Barbodes gonionotus, Cyprinus carpio and Macrobrachium rosenbergii in rice-fish culture system

An experiment was conducted to assess the performance of mola (Amblyphmyngodon mola) in rice fish culture system with freshwater prawn Macrobrachium rosenbergii), Thai silver barb (Bm·bades ganianotus) and common carp (Cyprinus cmpia) for a period of 4 months at the Agronomy Field Laboratory, Bangladesh Agricultural University, Mymensingh, Bangladesh. Four treatments viz., treatment-I (T1) with A. mala and M. rosenbergii; treatmen t-II (T2) with A. mala, M. rosenbergii and B. gonianatus ; treatmentIII (T3) with A. mala, 1Vf. rosenbergii and C. cmpia, and treatment- IV (T4) as control (without fish) were used in triplicate. All treatments were equally fertilized with urea (200 kg/ha), TSP (150 kg/ha) and MP (75 kg/ha). The mean values of water quality parameters viz., temperature, dissolved oxygen, pH, nitrate-nitrogen showed a very small variations among different treatments, but phosphate-phosphorus and chlorophyll-a were relatively higher in T4 without fish (i.e., control). The fish production of 480.5 kg/ha in T3 was significantly higher than that of 355.6 kg/ha T2 and 223.8 kg/ha in T 1• The values of soil organic matter, total-nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium at harvest were significantly (P<0.05) higher in the treatments with fish than without fish, but pH did not show any significant differences. The yield of rice grain and straw was also obtained significantly (P<0.05) higher in the treatments with fish. The increase in grain was higher over the control by 11.81%, 9.41% and 14.76% and that in straw was by 9.83%, 4.77% and 13.29% in Tl> T2, and T3 respectively

Integrating serological and genetic data to quantify cross-species transmission: brucellosis as a case study

Epidemiological data are often fragmented, partial, and/or ambiguous and unable to yield the desired level of understanding of infectious disease dynamics to adequately inform control measures. Here, we show how the information contained in widely available serology data can be enhanced by integration with less common type-specific data, to improve the understanding of the transmission dynamics of complex multi-species pathogens and host communities. Using brucellosis in Northern Tanzania as a case-study, we developed a latent process model based on serology data obtained from the field, to reconstruct Brucella transmission dynamics. We were able to identify sheep and goats as a more likely source of human and animal infection than cattle; however, the highly cross-reactive nature of Brucella spp. meant that it was not possible to determine which Brucella species (B. abortus or B. melitensis) is responsible for human infection. We extended our model to integrate simulated serology and typing data, and show that although serology alone can identify the host source of human infection under certain restrictive conditions, the integration of even small amounts (5%) of typing data can improve understanding of complex epidemiological dynamics. We show that data integration will often be essential when more than one pathogen is present and when the distinction between exposed and infectious individuals is not clear from serology data. With increasing epidemiological complexity, serology data become less informative. However, we show how this weakness can be mitigated by integrating such data with typing data, thereby enhancing the inference from these data and improving understanding of the underlying dynamics

Prevalence of brucellosis in the human, livestock and wildlife interface areas of Serengeti National Park, Tanzania.

This research article published by AOSIS, 2016Between 2005 and 2006, a cross-sectional survey was carried out in domestic ruminants in agropastoral communities of Serengeti district, Tanzania to determine the seroprevalence of brucellosis in domestic-wildlife interface villages. Both the Rose Bengal Plate Test (RBPT) and Competitive Enzyme Linked-immunosorbent Assay (c-ELISA) were used to analyse 82 human and 413 livestock sera from four randomly selected villages located along game reserve areas of Serengeti National Park. Although both cattle (288) and small ruminants (125) were screened, seropositivity was detected only in cattle. The overall seroprevalence based on c-ELISA as a confirmatory test was 5.6%. In cattle both age and sex were not statistically associated with brucellosis seropositivity (P = 0.63; 95% CI = 0.03, 0.8 and 0.33; 95% CI = 0.6, 3.7, respectively). Overall herd level seropositivity was 46.7% (n = 7), ranging from 25% to 66.7% (n = 4-10). Each village had at least one brucellosis seropositive herd. None of the 82 humans tested with both RBPT and c-ELISA were seropositive. Detecting Brucella infection in cattle in such areas warrants further investigation to establish the circulating strains for eventual appropriate control interventions in domestic animals

Preparing to work: dramaturgy, cynicism and normative ‘remote’ control in the socialization of graduate recruits in management consulting

online) This paper examines the socialization of graduate recruits into a knowledge intensive labour process and organizational culture. Theoretically the paper draws upon the idea of ‘preparing for work’ to position this early socialization as a crucial moment in the production of subjectivities suited (and booted) for the labour process of management consulting. Empirically the paper reports on a two-day induction session for new graduate recruits joining a global management consultancy and their responses to this training. Particular attention is given to the use of role-play and a dramaturgical workshop used in part of the training process. The paper argues that the utilization of dramaturgy in training is consistent with the overall approach to control developed in the firm in response to the fact that the labour process of consulting is often conducted on client sites, away from any direct supervisory gaze. As such, the consultants were subjected to a form of cultural control that was designed to function independently of direct supervision. This control did not operate directly upon the new employees professed values, however, but at one step removed so that a ‘cynical distance’ from the content of the organization’s culture was accepted so long as a professional ‘ethic of behaviour’ was established. By focusing on an ‘ethic of behaviour’ these young professionals were encouraged to internalize a self-control akin to that of an actor, rather than internalizing the corporate values entirely

Quantifying the burden of rhodesiense sleeping sickness in Urambo district, Tanzania

Sleeping sickness (human African trypanosomiasis - HAT) is a disease transmitted by tsetse flies and is always fatal if left untreated. The disease occurs in foci affecting poor communities with limited access to health service provision and as such the disease is often left undiagnosed, mistaken for more common afflictions. Even if diagnosed, sleeping sickness is costly to treat, both for health services and patients and their families in terms of costs of diagnosis, transport, hospital care, and the prolonged period of convalescence. Here we estimate the health burden of the acute form T. b. rhodesiense sleeping sickness in Urambo District, Tanzania in terms of Disability Adjusted Life Years (DALYs), the yardstick commonly used by policy makers to prioritize disease management practices, representing a year of healthy life lost to disease. In this single district, the burden of the disease over one year was estimated at 979 DALYs and the estimated monetary costs to health services for the 143 treated patients at US$11,841 and to the patients themselves at US$ 3,673 for direct medical costs and US$ 9,781 for indirect non-medical costs. Sleeping sickness thus places a considerable burden on the affected rural communities and health services

What are communities of practice? A comparative review of four seminal works

This paper is a comparative review of four seminal works on communities of practice. It is argued that the ambiguities of the terms community and practice are a source of the concept's reusability allowing it to be reappropriated for different purposes, academic and practical. However, it is potentially confusing that the works differ so markedly in their conceptualizations of community, learning, power and change, diversity and informality. The three earlier works are underpinned by a common epistemological view, but Lave and Wenger's 1991 short monograph is often read as primarily about the socialization of newcomers into knowledge by a form of apprenticeship, while the focus in Brown and Duguid's article of the same year is, in contrast, on improvising new knowledge in an interstitial group that forms in resistance to management. Wenger's 1998 book treats communities of practice as the informal relations and understandings that develop in mutual engagement on an appropriated joint enterprise, but his focus is the impact on individual identity. The applicability of the concept to the heavily individualized and tightly managed work of the twenty-first century is questionable. The most recent work by Wenger – this time with McDermott and Snyder as coauthors – marks a distinct shift towards a managerialist stance. The proposition that managers should foster informal horizontal groups across organizational boundaries is in fact a fundamental redefinition of the concept. However it does identify a plausible, if limited, knowledge management (KM) tool. This paper discusses different interpretations of the idea of 'co-ordinating' communities of practice as a management ideology of empowerment

Mucosal immunization with PspA (Pneumococcal surface protein A)-adsorbed nanoparticles targeting the lungs for protection against pneumococcal infection

Burden of pneumonia caused by Streptococcus pneumoniae remains high despite the availability of conjugate vaccines. Mucosal immunization targeting the lungs is an attractive alternative for the induction of local immune responses to improve protection against pneumonia. Our group had previously described the development of poly(glycerol adipate-co-ω-pentadecalactone) (PGA-co-PDL) polymeric nanoparticles (NPs) adsorbed with Pneumococcal surface protein A from clade 4 (PspA4Pro) within L-leucine microcarriers (nanocomposite microparticles-NCMPs) for mucosal delivery targeting the lungs (NP/NCMP PspA4Pro). NP/NCMP PspA4Pro was now used for immunization of mice. Inoculation of this formulation induced anti-PspA4Pro IgG antibodies in serum and lungs. Analysis of binding of serum IgG to intact bacteria showed efficient binding to bacteria expressing PspA from clades 3, 4 and 5 (family 2), but no binding to bacteria expressing PspA from clades 1 and 2 (family 1) was observed. Both mucosal immunization with NP/NCMP PspA4Pro and subcutaneous injection of the protein elicited partial protection against intranasal lethal pneumococcal challenge with a serotype 3 strain expressing PspA from clade 5 (PspA5). Although similar survival levels were observed for mucosal immunization with NP/NCMP PspA4Pro and subcutaneous immunization with purified protein, NP/NCMP PspA4Pro induced earlier control of the infection. Conversely, neither immunization with NP/NCMP PspA4Pro nor subcutaneous immunization with purified protein reduced bacterial burden in the lungs after challenge with a serotype 19F strain expressing PspA from clade 1 (PspA1). Mucosal immunization with NP/NCMP PspA4Pro targeting the lungs is thus able to induce local and systemic antibodies, conferring protection only against a strain expressing PspA from the homologous family 2

Emotions in business-to-business service relationships

Emotion in business-to-business service relationships regarding cargo services is explored. The service relationship is characterised by mutual trust and cooperation. Contact is mainly via telephone or e-mail with some face-to-face interactions and participants providing a complex, multi-skilled seamless service. Experience rather than training plays a vital role with long-term service relationships built up and maintained. Emotional sensitivity is acquired partly by experience and a repeat customer base but mainly through a genuine desire to help and get to know others. In contrast to the view of emotional labour bringing managerial control or adverse affects to service staff, the emotion engendered by this work is authentic expression bringing personal satisfaction

Understanding Video Game Developers as an Occupational Community

The video game industry has rapidly expanded over the last four decades; yet there is limited research about the workers who make video games. In examining these workers, this article responds to calls for renewed attention to the role of the occupation in understanding project-based workers in boundaryless careers. Specifically, this article uses secondary analysis of online sources to demonstrate that video game developers can be understood as a unique social group called an occupational community (OC). Once this classification has been made, the concept of OC can be used in future research to understand video game workers in terms of identity formation, competency development, career advancement and support, collective action, as well as adherence to and deviance from organizational and industry norms