Coyote-Activated Frightening Devices for Reducing Sheep Predation on Open Range

Domestic sheep ranching is an important agricultural industry in the United States and coyote (Canis latrans) depredation on lambs and ewes continues to challenge ranchers and agencies responsible for protecting sheep. Lethal methods used in controlling coyote depredation include aerial gunning, toxicants, trapping, and calling and shooting. Nonlethal methods include frightening devices, fences, livestock protection animals, and stringent husbandry practices. Ranchers and agencies responsible for controlling coyote depredation need frightening devices that are more effective than those currently available. We describe a field evaluation of 2 animal-activated frightening devices: an acoustic device and an acoustic device with a pop-up scarecrow and strobe light. We conducted the evaluation on open range in western Wyoming during the lambing period. No coyote kills were reported during 6,087 sheepnights at 3 sites protected by the acoustic devices or during 6,598 sheepnights at 3 sites protected by the acoustic scarecrow devices. Our devices show promise for reducing predation during the lambing period and merit further evaluation

Lessons from using iPads to understand young children's creativity

This paper explores how iPads can be used as part of a child-centred data collection approach to understanding young children’s creativity. Evidence is presented from a pilot study about 3- to 5-year-old children’s creative play. Researchers’ reflective accounts of children’s engagement with iPad video diaries and free to use apps were logged across two early educational settings over a three-month period. Findings suggest that iPads offer a mechanism to allow children to express their creative play and to encourage involvement in the research process. However, bespoke research software to use with early years children is required to improve this process

Outdoor play as a mean to achieve educational goals: a case study in a Portuguese day-care group

This study aims to explore the pedagogical potential of outdoor play situations, considering the educational goals established in the Portuguese Pedagogical Guidelines for 0–3-year-old children (ongoing work), namely development of a sense of security and positive selfesteem; development of curiosity and exploratory impetus; and development of social and communication skills. Following a qualitative methodology, during a period of 9 months, the outdoor play experiences of 14 children from a day-care centre were observed and monitored and the professionals were interviewed. The data shows that outdoor experiences can contribute to the achievement of the educational goals, enlarging opportunities for creative play, problem solving, experimentation, inquiry, dialogues and collaboration. The achievement of the educational goals is facilitated through supportive and positive relationships with adults and peers, provision for proper equipment, and contact with nature. This study offers a deep insight into how educational policies can be put into practice in the outdoor area.publishe

Exploring the pedagogic culture of creative play in early childhood education

We present a conceptual analysis, grounded in empirical data, of how young children's creative play is framed by the 'pedagogic culture' within which the child is playing. Drawing on data from a research study with the broad aim of documenting children's creative play in Western play-based early childhood education, we gathered exploratory qualitative observations, self-initiated iPad video diaries and researcher-led activities to describe children's creative play. We adapted the Analysing Children's Creative Thinking Framework as a starting point for coding and the analyses focused on three contextual cues within the pedagogic culture – space, interpersonal collaborations and materials. We ground our discussion in a contextualist theoretical frame to demonstrate that in isolation, each contextual cue presents a degree of framing to children's creative play. When analysed as a synergy of contextual cues, however, we begin to see that the dynamic make-up of each of the contexts, and the interplay among them, create a 'pedagogic culture' that transforms children's creative play. We present 'stories' of each pedagogic culture that we observed, to describe how children's creative play manifested within each culture

The genome and proteome of a virulent Escherichia coli O157:H7 bacteriophage closely resembling Salmonella phage Felix O1

Based upon whole genome and proteome analysis, Escherichia coli O157:H7-specific bacteriophage (phage) wV8 belongs to the new myoviral genus, "the Felix O1-like viruses" along with Salmonella phage Felix O1 and Erwinia amylovora phage φEa21-4. The genome characteristics of phage wV8 (size 88.49 kb, mol%G+C 38.9, 138 ORFs, 23 tRNAs) are very similar to those of phage Felix O1 (86.16 kb, 39.0 mol%G+C, 131 ORFs and 22 tRNAs) and, indeed most of the proteins have their closest homologs within Felix O1. Approximately one-half of the Escherichia coli O157:H7 mutants resistant to phage wV8 still serotype as O157:H7 indicating that this phage may recognize, like coliphage T4, two different surface receptors: lipopolysaccharide and, perhaps, an outer membrane protein

The type and frequency of interactions that occur between staff and children outside in Early Years Foundation Stage settings during a fixed playtime period when there are tricycles available

This study reports on an investigation into adult and child interactions observed in the outdoor play environment in four Local Authority early years foundation stage settings in England. In this instance the common two features across the settings were the presence of tricycles and a timetabled outdoor play period. In total, across the four schools, there were 204 children. The study aimed to gain an understanding of the nature of the dialogues between staff and children, that is, the types of exchange that occurred when either the child approached an adult or the adult approached a child. The most frequent type of utterance was also analysed. The study concludes that adults in these settings spoke more than children and the greatest type of utterance was that of the adult about domestic matters. When the child initiated the conversation there were more extended child utterances than domestic utterances. This may suggest that children wish to be involved in conversations of depth and meaning and that staff need to become aware of how to develop this conversational language with children

Challenges of Early Years leadership preparation: a comparison between early and experienced Early Years practitioners in England

Leadership has been under-researched in the Early Years (EY) sector of primary schools in England, especially in leading change for professional development. The aim of this paper is to theorise what the leadership culture for EY practitioners looks like, and how Initial Teacher Training providers and schools are preparing practitioners for leadership. Using case studies of EY practitioners in different stages of their career in primary schools, we offer an insight into their preparedness for leadership in EY, the implication being that leadership training requires an understanding and embedding of the EY culture and context. Interviews with both sample groups allowed for deeper insight into the lived world. Interviews were also conducted with the head teachers to gain an overview of the leadership preparation they provided. The main findings suggest that newer EY practitioners are better prepared for leadership from their university training in comparison to more experienced EY practitioners

TRANSWESD: inferring cellular networks with transitive reduction

Motivation: Distinguishing direct from indirect influences is a central issue in reverse engineering of biological networks because it facilitates detection and removal of false positive edges. Transitive reduction is one approach for eliminating edges reflecting indirect effects but its use in reconstructing cyclic interaction graphs with true redundant structures is problematic

Pedagogy: the silent partner in early years learning

This paper sets out to look critically at the influences on pedagogy in early years education, at the ways in which it is enacted in practice and the pedagogical perspectives held by practitioners. The aim of the paper is to explore the current state of understanding and suggest areas to be included in an agenda for future research. The factors that influence practitioners’ actions are reviewed and the consensus around child-centredness and play is challenged. Findings from two studies of pedagogy in action in the early years are presented and examined in terms of socio-cultural theory and its implications for practice. The first of these studies draws attention to the varied nature of pedagogical interactions that support learning while the second looks at the experience of pedagogical innovation. The need for researchers and practitioners to find effective ways of communicating and working together is stressed throughout the paper