The participation paradigm in audience research

As today's media simultaneously converge and diverge, fusing and hybridizing across digital services and platforms, some researchers argue that audiences are dead-long live the user! But for others, it is the complex interweaving of continuities and changes that demands attention, especially now that audiencing has become a vital mode of engaging with all dimensions of daily life. This article asks how we should research audiences in a digital networked age. I argue that, while many avenues are being actively pursued, many researchers are concentrating on the notion of participation, asking, on the one hand, what modes of participation are afforded to people by the particular media and communication infrastructures which mediate social, cultural or political spheres of life? And, on the other hand, how do people engage with, accede to, negotiate or contest this as they explore and invent new ways of connecting with each other through and around media? The features of this emerging participation paradigm of audience research are examined in this article

Follow-up nationwide survey on predictive genetic testing for late-onset hereditary neurological diseases in Japan

A follow-up nationwide survey on predictive genetic testing for late-onset neurological diseases in Japan was conducted. A questionnaire was sent to 89 institutional members of the Japan's National Liaison Council for Clinical Sections of Medical Genetics, and was returned by 60 (67.4%). A total of 301 clients with an interest in predictive testing were accumulated from April 2006 to March 2011. The greatest interest was shown for spinocerebellar degeneration (SCD, n = 110), followed by myotonic dystrophy type 1 (DM1, n = 69), Huntington's disease (HD, n = 52) and familial amyloid polyneuropathy (FAP, n = 35). The ratios of clients who actually underwent predictive testing were: SCD, 21.8%; DM1, 39.1%; HD, 26.9%; and FAP, 74.3%, indicating that predictive testing was conducted very cautiously for untreatable neurological diseases in Japan. Clinical geneticists were predominantly involved in genetic counseling, whereas the participation of non-medical doctor (non-MD) staff, including nurses, clinical psychologists and genetic counselors, was not common. Lack of non-MD counseling staff was one of the most serious issues in conducting predictive testing, which has not been improved since the previous survey performed in 2006. Institutional arrangements, such as revision of medical insurance system regarding genetic testing and counseling, might be necessary to resolve this issue.ArticleJOURNAL OF HUMAN GENETICS. 58(8):560-563 (2013)journal articl

Prediction of nitrogen excretion from data on dairy cows fed a wide range of diets compiled in an intercontinental database: A meta-analysis

Manure nitrogen (N) from cattle contributes to nitrous oxide and ammonia emissions and nitrate leaching. Measurement of manure N outputs on dairy farms is laborious, expensive, and impractical at large scales; therefore, models are needed to predict N excreted in urine and feces. Building robust prediction models requires extensive data from animals under different management systems worldwide. Thus, the study objectives were (1) to collate an international database of N excretion in feces and urine based on individual lactating dairy cow data from different continents; (2) to determine the suitability of key variables for predicting fecal, urinary, and total manure N excretion; and (3) to develop robust and reliable N excretion prediction models based on individual data from lactating dairy cows consuming various diets. A raw data set was created based on 5,483 individual cow observations, with 5,420 fecal N excretion and 3,621 urine N excretion measurements collected from 162 in vivo experiments conducted by 22 research institutes mostly located in Europe (n = 14) and North America (n = 5). A sequential approach was taken in developing models with increasing complexity by incrementally adding variables that had a significant individual effect on fecal, urinary, or total 2manure N excretion. Nitrogen excretion was predicted by fitting linear mixed models including experiment as a random effect. Simple models requiring dry matter intake (DMI) or N intake performed better for predicting fecal N excretion than simple models using diet nutrient composition or milk performance parameters. Simple models based on N intake performed better for urinary and total manure N excretion than those based on DMI, but simple models using milk urea N (MUN) and N intake performed even better for urinary N excretion. The full model predicting fecal N excretion had similar performance to simple models based on DMI but included several independent variables (DMI, diet crude protein content, diet neutral detergent fiber content, milk protein), depending on the location, and had root mean square prediction errors as a fraction of the observed mean values of 19.1% for intercontinental, 19.8% for European, and 17.7% for North American data sets. Complex total manure N excretion models based on N intake and MUN led to prediction errors of about 13.0% to 14.0%, which were comparable to models based on N intake alone. Intercepts and slopes of variables in optimal prediction equations developed on intercontinental, European, and North American bases differed from each other, and therefore region-specific models are preferred to predict N excretion. In conclusion, region-specific models that include information on DMI or N intake and MUN are required for good prediction of fecal, urinary, and total manure N excretion. In absence of intake data, region-specific complex equations using easily and routinely measured variables to predict fecal, urinary, or total manure N excretion may be used, but these equations have lower performance than equations based on intake

Prediction of nitrogen excretion from data on dairy cows fed a wide range of diets compiled in an intercontinental database: a meta-analysis

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Effets de la vitesse de croissance au pâturage chez des taurillons finis en stabulation : I. Performances zootechniques

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Nutrition index and soil nitrate residues in grazed pastures fertilised with mineral fertiliser, pig slurry or cattle compost

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Influence of the geographical area and the season on the milk urea content in Wallonia

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Influence du stade de maturité de la plante de maïs récoltée pour ensilage sur la composition, la digestibilité apparente, les caractéristiques de fermentation dans le rumen et les performances zootechniques chez le taurillon

peer reviewedUn maïs plante entière a été ensilé à trois stades de maturité différents (S1, S2, S3) correspondant à des teneurs respectives en matière sèche de 25,1 (S1), 29,8 (S2) et 32,3 % (S3). La production de matière sèche s'élevait à 10,7 ; 11,1 et 11,7 tonnes par hectare. Chacun de ces ensilages, distribué à des taureaux à l'engraissement, a été supplémenté par des pulpes séchées, du tourteau de soja, des sels minéraux et des vitamines. Le stade de maturité n'a pas affecté les teneurs en cendres, cendres insolubles, extrait éthéré ou protéines ; cependant une réduction significative de la teneur en fibre ADF a été enregistrée avec S3. La digestibilité de la matière sèche et de la matière organique de la ration mesurée in vivo sur des taureaux en cages à bilan ainsi que celle du maïs ensilage n'ont pas été non plus influencées par le stade de maturité. En revanche, la digestibilité de la fibre ADF a été significativement plus faible pour S3 par rapport à S1 et S2 (62,1 vs 67,2 ou 65,6 %, p < 0,05 pour la ration; 54,1 vs 63,3 ou 60,7 %, p < 0,001 pour le maïs). Quant aux potentialités du rumen à dégrader les aliments, il est à noter que la dégradabilité totale par la méthode in sacco des différents composants testés a été supérieure dans le rumen des animaux qui recevaient le maïs à teneur en matière sèche élevée. Il n'y a pas eu d'effets significatifs du stade de maturité sur les performances animales durant un essai de 5,5 mois dans le cas d'une alimentation ad libitum. A partir de l'indice de consommation, du gain total de poids vif et de la production de matière sèche par hectare, il était possible d'estimer que 13,8, 14,2 et 15,7 taurillons pouvaient être engraissés respectivement à partir des ensilages de maïs S1, S2 et S3 produits par ha

Inclusion of cereals, hay and straw naturally enriched in selenium by use of fertilizers in horses diets: overtime effects on antioxidant markers

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