The relation of climate and topography to gastro-intestinal nematode worm egg counts of Angora goats in the Eastern Cape

Haemonchus, Trichostrongylus, Ostertagia and Nematodirus worm populations of Angora goats, based on differential egg counts, are considered in relation to climatological and topographical data. Egg counts indicated that the estimated worm populations in goats that experienced wet circumstances were higher than those exposed to dry conditions. Wetness was assessed by relating spring, summer, and early autumn rainfalls to ground slope. It is proposed, that tactical anthelmintic treatments of goats be based on the degree of wetness of the grazing or property.The articles have been scanned in colour with a HP Scanjet 5590; 600dpi. Adobe Acrobat XI Pro was used to OCR the text and also for the merging and conversion to the final presentation PDF-format

The relation of climate and topography to worm egg counts of gastrointestinal nematodes of sheep in the Eastern Cape

Haemonchus, Trichostrongylus, Ostertagia and Nematodirus worm populations of sheep based on differential egg counts are considered in relation to climatological and topographical data. Late spring, summer and early autumn rainfalls are related to ground slope to assess wetness. Egg counts indicated that the estimated worm populations in animals in flat areas with low rainfall were as heavy as or heavier than in animals on steep hilly areas with a high rainfall. It is proposed that tactical anthelmintic treatment be based on the degree of wetness of the grazing or farm.The articles have been scanned in colour with a HP Scanjet 5590; 600dpi. Adobe Acrobat XI Pro was used to OCR the text and also for the merging and conversion to the final presentation PDF-format.am201

Raising the participation age in historical perspective : Policy learning from the past?

The raising of the participation age (RPA) to 17 in 2013 and 18 in 2015 marks a historic expansion of compulsory education. Despite the tendency of New Labour governments to eschew historical understanding and explanation, RPA was conceived with the benefit of an analysis of previous attempts to extend compulsion in schooling. This paper assesses the value of a historical understanding of education policy. The period from inception to the projected implementation of RPA is an extended one which has crossed over the change of government, from Labour to Coalition, in 2010. The shifting emphases and meanings of RPA are not simply technical issues but connect to profound historical and social changes. An analysis of the history of the raising of the school leaving age reveals many points of comparison with the contemporary situation. In a number of key areas it is possible to gain insights into the ways in which the study of the past can help to comprehend the present: the role of human capital, the structures of education, in curriculum development and in terms of preparations for change

Whole-genome sequencing reveals host factors underlying critical COVID-19

Critical COVID-19 is caused by immune-mediated inflammatory lung injury. Host genetic variation influences the development of illness requiring critical care1 or hospitalization2,3,4 after infection with SARS-CoV-2. The GenOMICC (Genetics of Mortality in Critical Care) study enables the comparison of genomes from individuals who are critically ill with those of population controls to find underlying disease mechanisms. Here we use whole-genome sequencing in 7,491 critically ill individuals compared with 48,400 controls to discover and replicate 23 independent variants that significantly predispose to critical COVID-19. We identify 16 new independent associations, including variants within genes that are involved in interferon signalling (IL10RB and PLSCR1), leucocyte differentiation (BCL11A) and blood-type antigen secretor status (FUT2). Using transcriptome-wide association and colocalization to infer the effect of gene expression on disease severity, we find evidence that implicates multiple genes—including reduced expression of a membrane flippase (ATP11A), and increased expression of a mucin (MUC1)—in critical disease. Mendelian randomization provides evidence in support of causal roles for myeloid cell adhesion molecules (SELE, ICAM5 and CD209) and the coagulation factor F8, all of which are potentially druggable targets. Our results are broadly consistent with a multi-component model of COVID-19 pathophysiology, in which at least two distinct mechanisms can predispose to life-threatening disease: failure to control viral replication; or an enhanced tendency towards pulmonary inflammation and intravascular coagulation. We show that comparison between cases of critical illness and population controls is highly efficient for the detection of therapeutically relevant mechanisms of disease

Piglet exposure to soil before weaning reduces the post-weaning growth check and increases carcass weight

Weaner pigs produced outdoors have been reported to experience less of a growth check after weaning and to dress out heavier than their indoor coounterparts reared in conventional or deep-litter pens (Payne et al., 2003). Pre-weaning nutritional differences that occur between indoor and outdoor production systems may influence subsequent performance. This study was carried out to investigate, in isolation from other physical and behavioural variables, the effects of offering substrates to piglets farrowed indoors that are commonly only available to piglets farrowed outdoors

Haematological indices of piglets provided with parenteral iron dextran and creep feed or soil prior to weaning

There have been recent field reports from Western Australia of anaemia in 21-day-old piglets from conventional production systems. This study investigated haematological indices of piglets that were farrowed indoors but offered substrates commonly available to piglets produced outdoors