The Transition to School Project: Results from the Classroom

Conduct problems in children are common, and are associated with significant costs to the family, schools, and society at large. Behavioural Family Intervention (BFI), which targets family interactions, is known to be one of the most effective interventions for the management of child behaviour problems. The school environment is an important aspect of a child’s life, and the degree to which parenting interventions impact on the children’s classroom behaviour has not been adequately assessed. The present research aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of a parenting intervention, namely The Positive Parenting Program – Triple P, in reducing child behaviour problems in the classroom. Year One teachers at 25 state primary schools in Brisbane completed a standardised teacher report measure of child behaviour on all children in their classrooms (n=495 children in control schools, n=490 children at intervention schools). Compared to control schools, the levels of teacher reported conduct problems were significantly lower in the intervention schools. The results of this study provide evidence that a parent training program such as Triple P can be effective in reducing the impact of child behaviour problems in the classroom

Single-shot Positron Annihilation Lifetime Spectroscopy Using a Liquid Scintillator

Liquid scintillators provide a fast, single component response. However, they traditionally have a low flashpoint and high vapor pressure. We demonstrate the use of an EJ-309 scintillator (high flashpoint and low vapor pressure variant) to acquire single-shot positron annihilation lifetime spectroscopy spectra using a trap-based positron beam

Revisiting the 26.5°C Sea Surface Temperature Threshold for Tropical Cyclone Development

Abstract A high sea surface temperature is generally accepted to be one of the necessary ingredients for tropical cyclone development, indicative of the potential for surface heat and moisture fluxes capable of fueling a self-sustaining circulation. Although the minimum 26.5°C threshold for tropical cyclogenesis has become a mainstay in research and education, the fact that a nonnegligible fraction of storm formation events (about 5%) occur over cooler waters casts some doubt on the robustness of this estimate. Tropical cyclogenesis over subthreshold sea surface temperatures is associated with low tropopause heights, indicative of the presence of a cold trough aloft. To focus on this type of development environment, the applicability of the 26.5°C threshold is investigated for tropical transitions from baroclinic precursor disturbances in all basins between 1989 and 2013. Although the threshold performs well in the majority of cases without appreciable environmental baroclinicity, the potential for development is underestimated by up to 27% for systems undergoing tropical transition. An alternative criterion of a maximum 22.5°C difference between the tropopause-level and 850-hPa equivalent potential temperatures (defined as the coupling index) is proposed for this class of development. When combined with the standard 26.5°C sea surface temperature threshold for precursor-free environments, error rates are reduced to 3%–6% for all development types. The addition of this physically relevant representation of the deep-tropospheric state to the ingredients-based conceptual model for tropical cyclogenesis improves the representation of the important tropical transition-based subset of development events.</jats:p

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

Taxonomy of mayapple rust: the genus Allodus resurrected

Mayapple rust is a common, disfiguring disease that is widespread in temperate eastern North America wherever the host, Podophyllum peltatum, occurs. Puccinia podophylli, the etiological agent of this rust, has been shown to be distantly related to both Puccinia and Uromyces as exemplified by their types. A systematic study was made to determine the generic classification of P. podophylli. Phylogenetic analyses of two rDNA loci from multiple specimens support the recognition of this taxon as a separate genus of Pucciniaceae. Based on historical literature and type material, P. podophylli was found to represent the type of the forgotten genus Allodus and it is correctly named Allodus podophylli. A neotype is designated for Puccinia podophylli Schwein. (; Allodus podophylli) and a lectotype is designated for Aecidium podophylli

The prevalence of hepatitis C virus among people of South Asian origin in Glasgow: results from a community based survey and laboratory surveillance

Background South Asians often present late with HCV or HBV related liver disease which could have been avoided with early diagnosis and subsequent treatment; however the prevalence of HCV/HBV among South Asians in Glasgow is not known. Accordingly, to inform the need for case finding among this group we aimed to examine the prevalence of Hepatitis C virus (HCV) among South Asians living in Glasgow. Methods A community-based survey recruited individuals at six mosques and four community centres serving the South Asian community during 2009-2010; participants had predominantly never been HCV tested. Laboratory surveillance data involving all individuals tested for HCV during 1993-2009 were examined and South Asians were identified using Nam Pehchan software. Results In the community-based survey, 2.6% of 1288 participants tested HCV-antibody positive; the prevalence ranged from 0.6% among those born in the UK to 3.1% among those born in Pakistan. The odds of testing HCV-antibody positive were significantly raised among those who had surgery in South Asia (aOR: 5.0, 95% CI: 2.0-12.3) and had either medical/dental treatment or an injection in South Asia (aOR: 2.2, 95% CI: 1.0-5.0). Of 6404 South Asians identified from laboratory surveillance data, 9.3% tested HCV positive. An estimated 38% (330/870) of HCV-infected South Asians living in Glasgow remain undiagnosed. Conclusions South Asians living in Glasgow, particularly those born outside the UK are at greater risk of HCV infection than the general population. Efforts to increase awareness and testing in this population are warranted.</p

Viromes of Ten Alfalfa Plants in Australia Reveal Diverse Known Viruses and a Novel RNA Virus

Alfalfa plants in the field can display a range of virus-like symptoms, especially when grown over many years for seed production. Most known alfalfa viruses have RNA genomes, some of which can be detected using diagnostic assays, but many viruses of alfalfa are not well characterized. This study aims to identify the RNA and DNA virus complexes associated with alfalfa plants in Australia. To maximize the detection of RNA viruses, we purified double-stranded RNA (dsRNA) for high throughput sequencing and characterized the viromes of ten alfalfa samples that showed diverse virus-like symptoms. Using Illumina sequencing of tagged cDNA libraries from immune-captured dsRNA, we identified sequences of the single-stranded RNA viruses, alfalfa mosaic virus (AMV), bean leafroll virus, a new emaravirus tentatively named alfalfa ringspot-associated virus, and persistent dsRNA viruses belonging to the families Amalgaviridae and Partitiviridae. Furthermore, rolling circle amplification and restriction enzyme digestion revealed the complete genome of chickpea chlorosis Australia virus, a mastrevirus (family Geminiviridae) previously reported only from chickpea and French bean that was 97% identical to the chickpea isolate. The sequence data also enabled the assembly of the first complete genome (RNAs 1&ndash;3) of an Australian AMV isolate from alfalfa

Epidemic spread of smut fungi (Quambalaria) by sexual reproduction in a native pathosystem

Quambalaria are fungal pathogens of Corymbia, Eucalyptus and related genera of Myrtaceae. They are smut fungi (Ustilaginomycota) described from structures that resemble conidia and conidiophores. Whether these spore forms have asexual or sexual roles in life cycles of Quambalaria is unknown. An epidemic of Q. pitereka destroyed plantations of Corymbia in New South Wales and Queensland (Australia) in 2008. We sampled 177 individuals from three plantations of C. variegata and used AFLPs to test hypotheses that the epidemic was spread by asexual reproduction and dominated by a single genotype. There was high genotypic diversity across ≥600 AFLP loci in the pathogen populations at each plantation, and evidence of sexual reproduction based on neighbour-net analyses and rejection of linkage disequilibrium. The populations were not structured by host or location. Our data did not support a hypothesis of asexual reproduction but instead that Q. pitereka spreads exclusively by sexual reproduction, similar to life cycles of other smut fungi. Epidemics were exacerbated by monocultures of Corymbia established from seed collected from a single provenance. This study showcases an example of an endemic pathogen, Q. pitereka, with a strictly outbreeding life cycle that has caused epidemics when susceptible hosts were planted in large monoculture plantations