The History of the International Grassland Congress 1927-2020

Grasslands cover 27% of the world’s land area and 70% of agricultural land. They form an important foundation for agriculture and livestock husbandry and contribute to the livelihoods of more than 800 million people. The International Grassland Congress (IGC) began as a meeting of a small group of forage researchers in Europe in 1927. It has now expanded into a gathering held every 3-5 years with over 1000 delegates from 80+ countries who represent research, extension, and primary production. The newly released IGC history provides not only an overview of the IGC Congress over the last 93 years, but highlights the people, events and changes in grassland agriculture around the world during this period. This current edition is an expansion and update of ‘A Brief History of the International Grassland Congress’ presented at the XX IGC in Ireland in 2005 by Professor Ross Humphreys, Australia. The authors have worked diligently to highlight the major individuals that shaped the IGC since its inception, including excerpts of presentations by world grassland leaders. They even included part of the welcome address from Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, who was President of the XIII IGC held in Reading, United Kingdom, in 1960. The IGC History describes the two Congresses held in the United States, the XI IGC in State College, PA in 1952 and the XIV IGC in Lexington, KY in 1981. It also provides details on the formation of the Forage and Grassland Foundation by Dr. John Baylor and Mr. Warren Thompson (Kentucky) from the $100,000 profit of the XIV Congress

Electronic structure and dynamics of optically excited single-wall carbon nanotubes

We have studied the electronic structure and charge-carrier dynamics of individual single-wall carbon nanotubes (SWNTs) and nanotube ropes using optical and electron-spectroscopic techniques. The electronic structure of semiconducting SWNTs in the band-gap region is analyzed using near-infrared absorption spectroscopy. A semi-empirical expression for $E_{11}^{\rm S}$ transition energies, based on tight-binding calculations is found to give striking agreement with experimental data. Time-resolved PL from dispersed SWNT-micelles shows a decay with a time constant of about 15 ps. Using time-resolved photoemission we also find that the electron-phonon ({\it e-ph}) coupling in metallic tubes is characterized by a very small {\it e-ph} mass-enhancement of 0.0004. Ultrafast electron-electron scattering of photo-excited carriers in nanotube ropes is finally found to lead to internal thermalization of the electronic system within about 200 fs.Comment: 10 pages, 10 figures, submitted to Applied Physics

Preventing violence against children in schools (PVACS): protocol for a cluster randomised controlled trial of the EmpaTeach behavioural intervention in Nyarugusu refugee camp.

BACKGROUND: We aim to test the effectiveness of the EmpaTeach intervention to prevent physical violence from teachers to students in Nyarugusu Refugee Camp, Tanzania. EmpaTeach is a 10-week, 14-session, classroom management and cognitive-behavioural therapy-based intervention for groups of teachers for delivery by lay personnel in resource-constrained settings. METHODS: We will conduct a two-arm cluster randomized controlled trial (RCT) with parallel assignment and an approximately 1:1 allocation ratio. All primary and secondary schools in Nyarugusu will be invited to participate. Whole schools will be stratified according to whether they are Congolese or Burundian, and primary or secondary schools, then randomised to active intervention or wait-list control conditions via a public meeting with headteachers. We will collect survey data from n = 500 teachers and at least n = 1500 students before the intervention, soon after, and at least 6 months after the end of the intervention. The primary outcome measure will be students' self-reports of experience of physical violence from school staff in the past week, measured using a modified version of the International Society for the Prevention of Child Abuse and Neglect Screening Tool-Child Institutional at the first follow-up after the intervention. Secondary outcomes include emotional violence, depressive symptoms and educational test scores. Analysis will be intention to treat, using repeat cross-sectional data from individuals. DISCUSSION: If successful, the EmpaTeach intervention would represent one of a handful of proven interventions to reduce violence from teachers to students in any setting. IRC provides an immediate platform for scale up of the intervention via its current work in more than 40 conflict-affected countries. TRIAL REGISTRATION: NCT03745573 , registered November 19, 2018 at clinicaltrials.gov, https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT03745573

Reef fish hybridization: lessons learnt from butterflyfishes (genus Chaetodon)

Natural hybridization is widespread among coral reef fishes. However, the ecological promoters and evolutionary consequences of reef fish hybridization have not been thoroughly evaluated. Butterflyfishes form a high number of hybrids and represent an appropriate group to investigate hybridization in reef fishes. This study provides a rare test of terrestrially derived hybridization theory in the marine environment by examining hybridization between Chaetodon trifasciatus and C. lunulatus at Christmas Island. Overlapping spatial and dietary ecologies enable heterospecific encounters. Nonassortative mating and local rarity of both parent species appear to permit heterospecific breeding pair formation. Microsatellite loci and mtDNA confirmed the status of hybrids, which displayed the lowest genetic diversity in the sample and used a reduced suite of resources, suggesting decreased adaptability. Maternal contribution to hybridization was unidirectional, and no introgression was detected, suggesting limited, localized evolutionary consequences of hybridization

Testing gravitational-wave searches with numerical relativity waveforms: Results from the first Numerical INJection Analysis (NINJA) project

The Numerical INJection Analysis (NINJA) project is a collaborative effort between members of the numerical relativity and gravitational-wave data analysis communities. The purpose of NINJA is to study the sensitivity of existing gravitational-wave search algorithms using numerically generated waveforms and to foster closer collaboration between the numerical relativity and data analysis communities. We describe the results of the first NINJA analysis which focused on gravitational waveforms from binary black hole coalescence. Ten numerical relativity groups contributed numerical data which were used to generate a set of gravitational-wave signals. These signals were injected into a simulated data set, designed to mimic the response of the Initial LIGO and Virgo gravitational-wave detectors. Nine groups analysed this data using search and parameter-estimation pipelines. Matched filter algorithms, un-modelled-burst searches and Bayesian parameter-estimation and model-selection algorithms were applied to the data. We report the efficiency of these search methods in detecting the numerical waveforms and measuring their parameters. We describe preliminary comparisons between the different search methods and suggest improvements for future NINJA analyses.Comment: 56 pages, 25 figures; various clarifications; accepted to CQ

Influence of resource availability on the foraging strategies of the triangle butterflyfish chaetodon triangulum in the Maldives.

Obligate coral feeders such as many members of the Chaetodontidae family (also known as butterflyfish) often show strong preferences for particular coral species. This is thought to have evolved through natural selection as an energy-maximising strategy. Although some species remain as highly specialised feeders throughout their lifetime, many corallivores show a degree of dietary versatility when food abundance is limited; a strategy described by the optimal foraging theory. This study aimed to examine if, within-reef differences in the feeding regime and territory size of the Triangle Butterflyfish Chaetodon triangulum occurred, as a function of resource availability. Results showed that the dietary specialisation of C. triangulum was significant in both areas of low and high coral cover (χL22 = 2.52 x 102, P<0.001 and χL22 = 3.78 x 102, P<0.001 respectively). Resource selection functions (RSFs), calculated for the two main sites of contrasting coral assemblage, showed that in the resource-rich environments, only two Genera (Acropora and Pocillopora) were preferentially selected for, with the majority of other corals being actively ‘avoided’. Conversely, in territories of lower coral coverage, C. triangulum was being less selective in its prey choice and consuming corals in a more even distribution with respect to their availability. Interestingly, coral cover appeared to show no significant effect on feeding rate, however it was a primary determinant of territory size. The findings of the study agree with the predictions of the optimal foraging theory, in that where food supply is scarce, dietary specialisation is minimised and territory size increased. This results in maximising energy intake. This study represents the first scientific evidence that C. triangulum is an obligate corallivore and, as with many other butterflyfish, is therefore dependent on healthy scleractinian corals for survival.N