Postnatal effects of incubation length in mallard and pheasant chicks

Eggs of mallard ducks (Anas platyrhynchos) and ring-necked pheasants (Phasianus colchicus) were incubated in clutches arranged to stimulate embryos to hatch earlier or later than normal. This manipulation of hatching time was achieved by combining eggs of different age in the same clutch. To ensure hatching synchrony, embryos communicate with each other during the last stage of incubation, resulting in either a delay or an acceleration of hatching. Embryos of both species that accelerated their hatching time suffered a higher mortality rate after hatching. Combining mortality with the proportion of hatchlings that suffered from leg deformities, impeding their movements, resulted in a cost also to pheasant chicks delaying their hatching. Chicks of both species accelerating hatching time had a lower minimum mass and a shorter tarsus length than control chicks, whereas chicks delaying hatching time either grew as well or slightly better than control chicks. Mallard chicks had better balance and mobility immediately after hatching the longer they stayed in the egg. This indicates that the period immediately before hatching, is an important period for muscular and organ maturity. Reducing this period results in costs affecting post-hatching survival. The strategy to assure synchronous hatching in mallards and pheasants probably reflect a trade-off between the negative effects of shifting the age at hatching away from normal and differences in predation risk during different stages of reproduction

Effects of chicory / ryegrass swards compared with ryegrass swards on the performance and carcass quality of grazing beef steers

An experiment investigated whether the inclusion of chicory (Cichorium intybus) in swards grazed by beef steers altered their performance, carcass characteristics or parasitism when compared to steers grazing perennial ryegrass (Lolium perenne). Triplicate 2-ha plots were established with a chicory/ryegrass mix or ryegrass control. Forty-eight Belgian Blue-cross steers were used in the first grazing season and a core group (n = 36) were retained for finishing in the second grazing season. The experiment comprised of a standardisation and measurement period. During standardisation, steers grazed a ryegrass/white clover pasture as one group. Animals were allocated to treatment on the basis of liveweight, body condition and faecal egg counts (FEC) determined 7 days prior to the measurement period. The measurement period ran from 25 May until 28 September 2010 and 12 April until 11 October 2011in the first and second grazing year. Steers were weighed every 14 days at pasture or 28 days during housing. In the first grazing year, faecal samples were collected for FEC and parasite cultures. At the end of the first grazing year, individual blood samples were taken to determine O. ostertagi antibody and plasma pepsinogen levels. During winter, animals were housed as one group and fed silage. In the second grazing year, steers were slaughtered when deemed to reach fat class 3. Data on steer performance showed no differences in daily live-weight gain which averaged 1.04 kg/day. The conformation, fat grade and killing out proportion of beef steers grazing chicory/ryegrass or ryegrass were not found to differ. No differences in FEC, O. ostertagi antibody or plasma pepsinogen levels of beef steers grazing either chicory/ryegrass or ryegrass were observed. Overall, there were no detrimental effects of including chicory in swards grazed by beef cattle on their performance, carcass characteristics or helminth parasitism, when compared with steers grazing ryegrass

Classification of the Universe of Immune Epitope Literature: Representation and Knowledge Gaps

A significant fraction of the more than 18 million scientific articles currently indexed in the PubMed database are related to immune responses to various agents, including infectious microbes, autoantigens, allergens, transplants, cancer antigens and others. The Immune Epitope Database (IEDB) is an online repository that catalogs immune epitope reactivity data derived from articles listed in the National Library of Medicine PubMed database. The IEDB is maintained and continually updated by monitoring PubMed for new, potentially relevant references.Herein we detail the classification of all epitope-specific literature in over 100 different immunological domains representing Infectious Diseases and Microbes, Autoimmunity, Allergy, Transplantation and Cancer. The relative number of references in each category reflects past and present areas of research on immune reactivities. In addition to describing the overall landscape of data distribution, this particular characterization of the epitope reference data also allows for the exploration of possible correlations with global disease morbidity and mortality data.While in most cases diseases associated with high morbidity and mortality rates were amongst the most studied, a number of high impact diseases such as dengue, Schistosoma, HSV-2, B. pertussis and Chlamydia trachoma, were found to have very little coverage. The data analyzed in this fashion represents the first estimate of how reported immunological data corresponds to disease-related morbidity and mortality, and confirms significant discrepancies in the overall research foci versus disease burden, thus identifying important gaps to be pursued by future research. These findings may also provide a justification for redirecting a portion of research funds into some of the underfunded, critical disease areas

The Lantern Vol. 53, No. 1, Fall 1986

• Living In-Sanity • Sentence of Dawn • Addict • Where Do They Come From? • Midnight Hags Astride • Escape • Here I Sit • A Minor Key • To Picasso\u27s Old Guitarist • Nothing More • Love or Futility • A Few Inches • My Only Gift • Reserved • A Message to a Disillusioned Friend • Doing it the Hard Way • The Wall • A Look Ahead at a Look Behind • Fantasy Secret • Lisa • Caesar\u27s Last Words • There\u27s a Grouse in My House • If You Want Me • The Education of a Samaritan • Death of Illusion • I Walked and Pondered • A Woman Walked Past Him and He Smiled • Betrayal • Blindness • Innocence Unveiled • Amandahttps://digitalcommons.ursinus.edu/lantern/1129/thumbnail.jp

Crop Updates 2010 - Weeds

This session covers eighteen papers from different authors: Herbicides 1. Herbicide control of slender iceplant, Lorinda Hunt, and Andrew Blake Department of Agriculture and Food 2. Herbicide tolerance of saltbush and bluebush, Lorinda Hunt, and Andrew Blake Department of Agriculture and Food 3. Chemical control of windmill grass, Catherine Borger, Glen Riethmuller and Abul Hashem, Department of Agriculture and Food 4. Use high water rates when applying pre-seeding herbicides to fields with high stubble density, Catherine Borger and Abul Hashem, Department of Agriculture and Food 5. Herbicide tolerance of lupins – influence of soil type and rainfall, Harmohinder Dhammu and David Nicholson, Department of Agriculture and Food 6. Response of new barley varieties to herbicides, Harmohinder Dhammu, Vince Lambert and Russell Quartermaine, Department of Agriculture and Food 7. Herbicide tolerance of new wheat varieties, Harmohinder Dhammu and David Nicholson, Department of Agriculture and Food Herbicide Resistance 8. Use of below label rate can lead to evolution of herbicide resistant weeds, Roberto Busi , Todd Gaines, Sudheesh Manalil and Stephen Powles, Western Australian Herbicide Resistance Initiative, School of Plant Biology, Faculty of Natural and Agricultural Sciences, The University of Western Australia 9. Herbicide mixtures can effectively kill herbicide-resistant weeds, Aik Cheam and Siew Lee, Department of Agriculture and Food 10. Selective spray-topping: Does it abort seed production of herbicide-resistant radish? Aik Cheam and Siew Lee, Department of Agriculture and Food 11. The search for a new lupin herbicide, Peter Newman, Department of Agriculture and Food Integrated Weed Management 12. Colonisation of agricultural regions in Western Australia by flaxleaf fleabane, Catherine Borger, Greg Doncon and Abul Hashem, Department of Agriculture and Food 13. Weed suppression by crop competition in barley, canola and wheat, Abul Hashem and Catherine Borger, Department of Agriculture and Food 14. Mouldboard plough continues to kick goals, Peter Newman and Dr Steve Davies, Department of Agriculture and Food 15. The answer my friend is to burn in light wind, Peter Newman, Department of Agriculture and Food, and Michael Walsh, Weeds Researcher, University of Melbourne 16. Using image analysis to detect three-horned bedstraw seed in grain samples, John Moore, Department of Agriculture and Food, Murray Gillespie, Lygil Holdings, Albany 17. Can we manage brome and barley grass in cereals? Sally Peltzer, Abul Hashem and Alex Douglas, Department of Agriculture and Food 18. Control of mature fleabane, Sally Peltzer, Department of Agriculture and Foo

Learning about managing the business in the hospitality industry

This research examines the learning experiences of General Managers (GMs) in the hospitality industry, a sector much neglected in terms of research into management learning and human resource development. Our research focused on four large hospitality organizations (two hotels and two contract catering companies) and adopted an approach that integrates multiple data collection strategies in supporting our qualitative case studies. Data were collected by using document analysis plus detailed, qualitative interviews with 21 general managers, of whom seven were subsequently observed at work and observation notes generated. Data analysis revealed that the participants learned to manage the business primarily through experience, a process consisting of four key stages: Being Challenged, Information Searching, Information Transformation, and Testing. Reflective thinking plays a central role in their learning, taking the form of “actions” involving association, integration and validation, and of “products” involving content, process and context reflections. We argue that the way hospitality managers learn, while sharing the learning approaches taken by other professionals, differs in that these managers’ learning is more highly contextualized

Web-based physical activity intervention for people with progressive multiple sclerosis : application of consensus-based intervention development guidance

Objectives: People with progressive multiple sclerosis (PwPMS) report that they recognise the benefits of activity on their physical and psychological health but need support to achieve their physical activity goals. We aimed to systematically develop a theoretically informed intervention that would enable PwPMS to more readily engage in regular physical activity. Design: We used an intervention mapping approach to inform intervention development. Setting: We conducted semistructured interviews with PwPMS and their families/carers and physiotherapists recruited from secondary care settings. Participants: Fourteen PwPMS with an Expanded Disability Status Scale score of between 6 and 8 and 7 of their families/carers and 13 physiotherapists and 1 physiotherapy technician participated. Results: Interview data suggested that the development of supportive coaching relationships with physiotherapists could promote the ability of PwPMS to achieve a desirable and achievable physical activity plan. These interview data informed the prototype ‘Lifestyle Exercise and Activity Package for Multiple Sclerosis’ (LEAP-MS) consisting of a secure multiuser web-based platform (with an education and activity suite, interactive components enabling selection of exercises, goal setting and activity logging), up to six flexible face-to-face or web-based physiotherapy coaching sessions and remote support via an embedded web-based messaging function that all together draw on specific theory-based methods to achieve physical activity behaviour change, namely active learning, reinforcement, modelling, feedback, facilitation, goal setting and guided practice. Implementation is within a multiuser platform accessible to participants, trained physiotherapists and researchers. Conclusions: We have followed an inclusive, systematic and transparent process to develop the LEAP-MS intervention that enables detailed description of components, context and guiding principles to inform ongoing evaluation. Importantly, PwPMS expressed the need for autonomy in developing physical activity plans. This has been achieved through the embedding of self-management principles in the design and delivery of the LEAP-MS intervention

Crop Updates 2008 - Weeds

This session covers twenty nine papers from different authors: 1. BOXER® GOLD, a new pre-emergent herbicide option for WA wheat and barley growers for the control of Annual Ryegrass and Toad Rush, Craig A. Ruchs, Syngenta Crop Protection Australia Pty Ltd 2. Efficacy of Boxer Gold in the control of annual ryegrass in wheat, Dr Abul Hashem, Dr Catherine Borger, Department of Agriculture and Food, Mr Ken McKee, Field Development Manager, Syngenta Crop Protection Australia Pty Ltd 3. Alternative herbicides to avoid trifluralin resistance, Catherine Borger and Abul Hashem, Department of Agriculture and Food 4. Exiting new herbicides for ryegrass control in wheat, Peter Newman, Department of Agriculture and Food 5. Herbicide options for resistant wild radish in wheat, Peter Newman, Department of Agriculture and Food 6. A near-complete control of wild radish with three new herbicide products, Aik Cheam and Siew Lee, Department of Agriculture and Food 7. An investigation of diflufenican resistance mechanism/s in wild radish, Meagan Pearce, Dr Michael Walsh and Prof. Stephen Powles, Western Australian Herbicide Resistance Initiative, School of Plant Biology, University of WA 8. Synergistic effects of Group C and GroupF herbicides on resistant and susceptible wild radish populations, Kent Stone, Dr Michael Walsh and Prof. Stephen Powles, Western Australian Herbicide Resistance Initiative, School of Plant Biology, University of WA 9. Precept® for the management of wild radish resistant to PDS inhibiting herbicides, Mike Clarke and Andrew Loorham, Bayer Cropscience Pty Ltd, Dr Michael Walsh, WAHRI, University of Western Australia 10. Evolution of glyphosate resistance in annual ryegrass: Effects of cutting rates, Roberto Busi and Stephen B. Powles, Western Australian Herbicide Resistance Initiative, School of Plant Biology, The University of Western Australia 11. Metribuzin and other herbicides pre-sowing of lupins, Peter Newman, Department of Agriculture and Food 12. Crop topping lupins with glufosinate gives poor control of ryegrass seed set, Peter Newman, Department of Agriculture and Food 13. Brome grass has developed multiple resistance to Group B and C herbicides, Dr Abul Hashem, Dr Catherine Borger and Dr Shahab Pathan, Department of Agriculture and Food 14. Effect of sowing methods, Logran® and Metribuzin on weeds and wheat grain yield, Alexandra Douglas and Abul Hashem, Department of Agriculture and Food 15. Effect of alternative Group K herbicides on control of on-row annual ryegrass in wide row lupins, Dr Abul Hashem1, Ray Fulwood2 and Chris Roberts1, 1Department of Agriculture and Food, 2Farmer, Meckering, Western Australia 16. Control and seed production of annual ryegrass in wide row lupins within the Western Australian wheatbelt, Abul Hashem1,6, Alex Douglas1,6, Shahab Pathan1, Glen Riethmuller1,6 and 1,6Sally Peltzer, Department of Agriculture and Food, 6CRC Australian Weed Management 17. Effective weed control in wide row lupins, Glen Riethmuller, Abul Hashem and Shahab Pathan, Department of Agriculture and Food, and CRC Australian Weed Management 18. Slender iceplant control, Lorinda Hunt1, John Borger1, Meir Altman1,4 and Dr Ed Barrett-Lennard1,4, Department of Agriculture and Food, Western Australia1, University of Western Australia and Future Farm Industries CRC4 19. Chemical and non-chemical weed control – a European perspective, Glen Riethmuller, Department of Agriculture and Food 20. Mouldboard ploughing shows promise on sand, Peter Newman, Stephen Davies and Sally Peltzer, Department of Agriculture and Food 21. Weed seed head trimming, Glen Riethmuller and Abul Hashem, Department of Agriculture and Food 22. A survey of summer weed incidence and distribution across the WA wheatbelt, Pippa Michaela, Bill McLeodb, Catherine Borgerb and Alex Douglasb, aCurtin University of Technology, bDepartment of Agriculture and Food 23. Herbicide tolerance of field pea varieties, Harmohinder Dhammu and Mark Seymour, Department of Agriculture and Food 24. Herbicide tolerance of current/new wheat varieties, Dr Harmohinder Dhammu, Department of Agriculture and Food 25. Herbicide tolerance of new oat varieties, Harmohinder Dhammu, Vince Lambert and Chris Roberts, Department of Agriculture and Food 26. Herbicide tolerance of saltbush and bluebush, Lorinda Hunt1, John Borger1, Meir Altman1,4 and Dr Ed Barrett-Lennard1,4, Department of Agriculture and Food1, University of Western Australia and Future Farm Industries CRC4 27. A review of 2,4-D formulations and vapour drift, John H. Moore, Department of Agriculture and Food 28. Movement of 2,4-D butyl ester and the dose response of three formulations of 2,4-D on canola, John H. Moore, Department of Agriculture and Food 29. Pathways to registration – Improving pesticide research outcomes, Dr Rohan Rainbow, Manager Crop Protection, Grains Research and Development Corporatio