Margins within margins?: voices Speaking through a study of the provision of an educational program for the children of one Australian show circuit

This paper examines the tactics used by the Showmen's Guild of Australasia in successfully lobbying for the development of a distance education program for their children. The Guild is considered to be a 'marginalized' group, meaning members have less access to wealth, power, and status. Since 1930, members of the Showmen's Guild and their families have traveled from town to town providing agricultural and equestrian shows. Despite the diversity of backgrounds and experiences among people connected with the show circuit, the Guild is highly organized and has been politically active. Informal sanctions have been effective in enforcing group discipline and in presenting the image of a single body of opinion. In addition, investment in sophisticated machinery and technology has resulted in show people having the financial resources to buy homes and have a political voice via more 'normalized channels'. Although members learn early that they are a marginalized group and are perceived as different from the mainstream, the group maintains close ties and often celebrates its difference. Implications for educational program development center on the goals of educational programs designed for disadvantaged groups, and the status of other marginalized groups and their efforts to contest their marginalized status. (LP

Exact Hybrid Covariance Thresholding for Joint Graphical Lasso

This paper considers the problem of estimating multiple related Gaussian graphical models from a $p$-dimensional dataset consisting of different classes. Our work is based upon the formulation of this problem as group graphical lasso. This paper proposes a novel hybrid covariance thresholding algorithm that can effectively identify zero entries in the precision matrices and split a large joint graphical lasso problem into small subproblems. Our hybrid covariance thresholding method is superior to existing uniform thresholding methods in that our method can split the precision matrix of each individual class using different partition schemes and thus split group graphical lasso into much smaller subproblems, each of which can be solved very fast. In addition, this paper establishes necessary and sufficient conditions for our hybrid covariance thresholding algorithm. The superior performance of our thresholding method is thoroughly analyzed and illustrated by a few experiments on simulated data and real gene expression data

Rapid Determination of Macrolide and Lincosamide Resistance in Group B Streptococcus Isolated from Vaginal-Rectal Swabs

Objective. Our objective was to assess the ability of real-time PCR to predict in vitro resistance in isolates of group B streptococcus (GBS). Methods. The first real-time PCR assays for the genes known to confer resistance to erythromycin and clindamycin in GBS were developed. Three hundred and forty clinical GBS isolates were assessed with these assays and compared with conventional disk diffusion. Results. The presence of an erythromycin ribosome methylation gene (ermB or ermTR variant A) predicted in vitro constitutive or inducible resistance to clindamycin with a sensitivity of 93% (95% CI 86%–97%), specificity of 90% (95% CI 85%–93%), positive predictive value of 76% (95% CI 67%–84%), and negative predictive value of 97% (95% CI 94%–99%). Conclusion. This rapid and simple assay can predict in vitro susceptibility to clindamycin within two hours of isolation as opposed to 18–24 hours via disk diffusion. The assay might also be used to screen large numbers of batched isolates to establish the prevalence of resistance in a given area

An analysis of the spatio-temporal occurrence of anthelmintic veterinary drug residues in groundwater

peer-reviewedAnthelmintics are antiparasitic drugs used to control helminthic parasites such as nematodes and trematodes in animals, particularly those exposed through pasture-based production systems. Even though anthelmintics have been shown to be excreted into the environment in relatively high amounts as unmetabolized drug or transformation products (TPs), there is still only limited information available on their environmental occurrence, particularly in groundwater, which has resulted in them being considered as potential emerging contaminants of concern. A comprehensive study was carried out to investigate the occurrence of 40 anthelmintic residues (including 13 TPs) in groundwaters (and associated surface waters) throughout the Republic of Ireland. The study focused on investigating the occurrence of these contaminants in karst and fractured bedrock aquifers, with a total of 106 sites (88 groundwaters and 18 surface waters) samples during spring 2017. Seventeen anthelmintic compounds consisting of eight parent drugs and nine TPs were detected at 22% of sites at concentrations up to 41 ng L−1. Albendazole and its TPs were most frequently detected residues, found at 8% of groundwater sites and 28% of surface water sites. Multivariate statistical analysis identified several source and pathway factors as being significantly related to the occurrence of anthelmintics in groundwater, however there was an evident localised effect which requires further investigation. An investigation of the temporal variations in occurrence over a 13 month period indicated a higher frequency and concentration of anthelmintics during February/March and again later during August/September 2018, which coincided with periods of increased usage and intensive meteorological events. This work presents the first detections of these contaminants in Irish groundwater and it contributes to broadening our understanding of anthelmintics in the environment. It also provides insight to seasonal trends in occurrence, which is critical for assessing potential future effects and implications of climate change

Sex doll ownership: an agenda for research

Purpose of review: The topic of sex doll ownership is becoming an increasingly discussed issue from both a social and legal perspective. This review aims to examine the veracity of the existing psychological, sexological, and legal literature in relation to doll ownership. Recent findings: Strong views exist across the spectrum of potential socio-legal positions on sex doll ownership. However, there is an almost total lack of empirical analyses of the psychological characteristics or behavioral implications of doll ownership. As such, existing arguments appear to represent the philosophical positions of those scholars expressing them, rather than being rooted in any objective evidence base. Summary: Despite an absence of empirical data on the characteristics and subsequent effects of doll ownership, discussions about the ethical and legal status of doll ownership continue. This highlights a real and urgent need for a coherent research agenda to be advanced in this area of work

Comprehensive screening and quantification of veterinary drugs in milk using UPLC–ToF-MS

Ultra-performance liquid chromatography combined with time-of-flight mass spectrometry (UPLC–ToF-MS) has been used for screening and quantification of more than 100 veterinary drugs in milk. The veterinary drugs represent different classes including benzimidazoles, macrolides, penicillins, quinolones, sulphonamides, pyrimidines, tetracylines, nitroimidazoles, tranquillizers, ionophores, amphenicols and non-steroidal anti-inflammatory agents (NSAIDs). After protein precipitation, centrifugation and solid-phase extraction (SPE), the extracts were analysed by UPLC–ToF-MS. From the acquired full scan data the drug-specific ions were extracted for construction of the chromatograms and evaluation of the results. The analytical method was validated according to the EU guidelines (2002/657/EC) for a quantitative screening method. At the concentration level of interest (MRL level) the results for repeatability (%RSD < 20% for 86% of the compounds), reproducibility (%RSD < 40% for 96% of the compounds) and the accuracy (80–120% for 88% of the compounds) were satisfactory. Evaluation of the CCβ values and the linearity results demonstrates that the developed method shows adequate sensitivity and linearity to provide quantitative results. Furthermore, the method is accurate enough to differentiate between suspected and negative samples or drug concentrations below or above the MRL. A set of 100 samples of raw milk were screened for residues. No suspected (positive) results were obtained except for the included blind reference sample containing sulphamethazine (88 μg/l) that tested positive for this compound. UPLC–ToF-MS combines high resolution for both LC and MS with high mass accuracy which is very powerful for the multi-compound analysis of veterinary drugs. The technique seems to be powerful enough for the analysis of not only veterinary drugs but also organic contaminants like pesticides, mycotoxins and plant toxins in one single method

The play is a prison : the discourse of Prison Shakespeare.

The relationship between Shakespeare and prison was brought into sharp focus during Shakespeare’s recent quad-centenary with a succession of works exploring Shakespeare’s value for the prison population. In this paper, we take this spike in activity as a point of departure for examining the discourse of Prison Shakespeare. This discourse, we argue, is underpinned by several intertwining and sometimes paradoxical accounts of social being: (i) psychoanalytic accounts; (ii) postmodern accounts; (iii) humanist accounts bound up with the idea of cultural unfolding; (iv) neoliberal accounts that champion heroic individualism. In our analysis, we respond to Pensalfini’s call for critical debate over the assumption that Shakespeare's plays have the power to both teach and liberate prisoners. We note how Prison Shakespeare is always in a struggle to escape the institutional power of both Shakespearean drama and the prison context itself, and the tendency of this work to provide a model of socialization into, rather than resistance against, what Bristol describes as the mode of subjectivity of the bourgeois political economy

Urease and Nitrification Inhibitors—As Mitigation Tools for Greenhouse Gas Emissions in Sustainable Dairy Systems: A Review

peer-reviewedCurrently, nitrogen fertilizers are utilized to meet 48% of the total global food demand. The demand for nitrogen fertilizers is expected to grow as global populations continue to rise. The use of nitrogen fertilizers is associated with many negative environmental impacts and is a key source of greenhouse and harmful gas emissions. In recent years, urease and nitrification inhibitors have emerged as mitigation tools that are presently utilized in agriculture to prevent nitrogen losses and reduce greenhouse and harmful gas emissions that are associated with the use of nitrogen-based fertilizers. Both classes of inhibitor work by different mechanisms and have different physiochemical properties. Consequently, each class must be evaluated on its own merits. Although there are many benefits associated with the use of these inhibitors, little is known about their potential to enter the food chain, an event that may pose challenges to food safety. This phenomenon was highlighted when the nitrification inhibitor dicyandiamide was found as a residual contaminant in milk products in 2013. This comprehensive review aims to discuss the uses of inhibitor technologies in agriculture and their possible impacts on dairy product safety and quality, highlighting areas of concern with regards to the introduction of these inhibitor technologies into the dairy supply chain. Furthermore, this review discusses the benefits and challenges of inhibitor usage with a focus on EU regulations, as well as associated health concerns, chemical behavior, and analytical detection methods for these compounds within milk and environmental matrices.Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Irelan