Agronomy of Dwarf oats.

Location: Mt Barker Research Station, Pardelup Prison Farm, Kojonup, Williams and Mayanup. Time of sowing x oat cultivars, 87AL6, 87BR5, 87KA4, 87MT4, 87NA7. N rates x oat cultivars, 87AL4, 87BR8, 87KA2, 87MT2, 87NA5. Seed rates x oat cultivars, 87AL5, 87BR4, 87KA3, 87MT3, 87NA6. Oat cultivar factorial, 87AL7, 87BR6, 87KA5, 87MT5, 87NA8

The Dscam homologue of the crustacean Daphnia is diversified by alternative splicing like in insects

In insects, the homologue of the Down syndrome cell adhesion molecule (Dscam) is a unique case of a single-locus gene whose expression has extensive somatic diversification in both the nervous and immune systems. How this situation evolved is best understood through comparative studies. We describe structural, expression, and evolutionary aspects of a Dscam homolog in 2 species of the crustacean Daphnia. The Dscam of Daphnia generates up to 13,000 different transcripts by the alternative splicing of variable exons. This extends the taxonomic range of a highly diversified Dscam beyond the insects. Additionally, we have identified 4 alternative forms of the cytoplasmic tail that generate isoforms with or without inhibitory or activating immunoreceptor tyrosine-based motifs (ITIM and ITAM respectively), something not previously reported in insect's Dscam. In Daphnia, we detected exon usage variability in both the brain and hemocytes ( the effector cells of immunity), suggesting that Dscam plays a role in the nervous and immune systems of crustaceans, as it does in insects. Phylogenetic analysis shows a high degree of amino acid conservation between Daphnia and insects except in the alternative exons, which diverge greatly between these taxa. Our analysis shows that the variable exons diverged before the split of the 2 Daphnia species and is in agreement with the nearest-neighbor model for the evolution of the alternative exons. The genealogy of the Dscam gene family from vertebrates and invertebrates confirmed that the highly diversified form of the gene evolved from a nondiversified form before the split of insects and crustaceans

Low Temperature Combustion Optimization and Cycle-by-Cycle Variability Through Injection Optimization and Gas-to-Liquid Fuel-Blend Ratio

The advent of common rail technology alongside powerful control systems capable of delivering multiple accurate fuel charges during a single engine cycle has revolutionized the level of control possible in diesel combustion. This technology has opened a new path enabling low-temperature combustion (LTC) to become a viable combustion strategy. The aim of the research work presented within this paper is the understanding of how various engine parameters of LTC optimize the combustion both in terms of emissions and in terms of fuel efficiency. The work continues with an investigation of in-cylinder pressure and IMEP cycle-by-cycle variation. Attention will be given to how repeatability changes throughout the combustion cycle, identifying which parts within the cycle are least likely to follow the mean trend and why. Experiments were conducted on a single-cylinder 510cc boosted diesel engine. LTC was affected over varying rail pressure and combustion phasing. Single and split injection regimes of varying dwell-times were investigated. All injection conditions were phased across several crank-angles to demonstrate the interaction between emissions and efficiency. These tests were then repeated with blends of 30% and 50% gas-to-liquid (GTL)-diesel blends in order to determine whether there is any change in the trends of repeatability and variance with increasing GTL blend ratio. The experiments were evaluated in terms of emissions, fuel efficiency, and cyclic behavior. Specific attention was given to how the NO x -PM trade-off changes through increased injection complexity and increasing GTL blend ratio. The cyclic behavior was analyzed in terms of in-cylinder pressure standard deviation. This gives a behavior profile of the repeatability of in-cylinder pressure in comparison to the mean. Each condition was then compared to the behavior of equivalent injection conditions in conventional diesel combustion. Short-dwell split injection was shown to be beneficial for LTC, while NO x was shown to be reduced by the substitution of GTL in the fuel. In-cylinder pressure cyclic behavior was also shown to be comparable or superior to conventional combustion in every case examined. GTL improved this further, but not in proportion to its blend ratio

Sexual reproduction is the null hypothesis for life cycles of rust fungi

Sexual reproduction, mutation, and reassortment of nuclei increase genotypic diversity in rust fungi. Sexual reproduction is inherent to rust fungi, coupled with their coevolved plant hosts in native pathosystems. Rust fungi are hypothesised to exchange nuclei by somatic hybridisation with an outcome of increased genotypic diversity, independent of sexual reproduction. We provide criteria to demonstrate whether somatic exchange has occurred, including knowledge of parental haplotypes and rejection of fertilisation in normal rust life cycles

High-Density Support Matrices: Key to the Deep Borehole Disposal of Spent Nuclear Fuel

Abstract Deep (4-5 km) boreholes are emerging as a safe, secure, environmentally sound and potentially cost-effective option for disposal of high-level radioactive wastes, including plutonium. One reason this option has not been widely accepted for spent fuel is because stacking the containers in a borehole could create load stresses threatening their integrity with potential for releasing highly mobile radionuclides like 129 I before the borehole is filled and sealed. This problem can be overcome by using novel high-density support matrices deployed as fine metal shot along with the containers. Temperature distributions in and around the disposal are modelled to show how decay heat from the fuel can melt the shot within weeks of disposal to give a dense liquid in which the containers are almost weightless. Finally, within a few decades, this liquid will cool and solidify, entombing the waste containers in a base metal sarcophagus sealed into the host rock

Action research in physical education: focusing beyond myself through cooperative learning

This paper reports on the pedagogical changes that I experienced as a teacher engaged in an action research project in which I designed and implemented an indirect, developmentally appropriate and child‐centred approach to my teaching. There have been repeated calls to expunge – or at least rationalise – the use of traditional, teacher‐led practice in physical education. Yet despite the advocacy of many leading academics there is little evidence that such a change of approach is occurring. In my role as teacher‐as‐researcher I sought to implement a new pedagogical approach, in the form of cooperative learning, and bring about a positive change in the form of enhanced pupil learning. Data collection included a reflective journal, post‐teaching reflective analysis, pupil questionnaires, student interviews, document analysis, and non‐participant observations. The research team analysed the data using inductive analysis and constant comparison. Six themes emerged from the data: teaching and learning, reflections on cooperation, performance, time, teacher change, and social interaction. The paper argues that cooperative learning allowed me to place social and academic learning goals on an even footing, which in turn placed a focus on pupils’ understanding and improvement of skills in athletics alongside their interpersonal development

Evaluating Student Volunteer and Service-Learning Programs: A Casebook for Practitioners

Today, evaluation concepts and methods are widely available to those who plan and administer student volunteer programs. Unfortunately, however, evaluation has all too often been carried out-and written about-in ways that have robbed it of its usefulness to people dealing with the realities of day-to-day program operation. Evaluation has thus acquired the reputation among practitioners of being too complex, too costly, too time-consuming, even too threatening to be of much practical value