Peer-group and price influence students drinking along with planned behaviour

This article is available open access through the publisher’s website at the link below. Copyright @ 2008 The Authors.Aims: To examine the theory of planned behaviour (TPB), as a framework for explaining binge drinking among young adults. Methods: One hundred and seventy-eight students in a cross-sectional design study completed self-report questionnaires examining attitudes to drinking, intention to drink and drinking behaviour in university. Binge drinking was defined for females (and males) as consuming ‘four (males—five) or more pints of beer/glasses of wine/measures of spirits’ in a single session. Results: Drinking alcohol was common; 39.6% of males and 35.9% of females reported binge drinking. The TPB explained 7% of the variance in intention to drink. Overall, 43% of the variance in intention, 83% of the variance in total weekly consumption and 44% of the variance in binge drinking was explained. The frequency of drinking and the drinking behaviour of friends significantly predicted intention to drink and binge drinking, respectively. Binge drinkers were influenced by peers and social-situational factors. Pressure to drink was greater for males; undergraduates were influenced by the size of the drinking group, ‘special offer’ prices, and the availability of alcohol. Conclusions: The TPB appeared to be a weak predictor of student drinking but this may be a result of how constructs were measured. With friends’ drinking behaviour emerging as a significant predictor of alcohol consumption, interventions seeking to reduce excessive drinking should target the role of peers and the university environment in which drinking occurs

Design knowledge capture for the space station

The benefits of design knowledge availability are identifiable and pervasive. The implementation of design knowledge capture and storage using current technology increases the probability for success, while providing for a degree of access compatibility with future applications. The space station design definition should be expanded to include design knowledge. Design knowledge should be captured. A critical timing relationship exists between the space station development program, and the implementation of this project

An approach to design knowledge capture for the space station

The design of NASA's space station has begun. During the design cycle, and after activation of the space station, the reoccurring need will exist to access not only designs, but also deeper knowledge about the designs, which is only hinted in the design definition. Areas benefiting from this knowledge include training, fault management, and onboard automation. NASA's Artificial Intelligence Office at Johnson Space Center and The MITRE Corporation have conceptualized an approach for capture and storage of design knowledge

Considerations for a design and operations knowledge support system for Space Station Freedom

Engineering and operations of modern engineered systems depend critically upon detailed design and operations knowledge that is accurate and authoritative. A design and operations knowledge support system (DOKSS) is a modern computer-based information system providing knowledge about the creation, evolution, and growth of an engineered system. The purpose of a DOKSS is to provide convenient and effective access to this multifaceted information. The complexity of Space Station Freedom's (SSF's) systems, elements, interfaces, and organizations makes convenient access to design knowledge especially important, when compared to simpler systems. The life cycle length, being 30 or more years, adds a new dimension to space operations, maintenance, and evolution. Provided here is a review and discussion of design knowledge support systems to be delivered and operated as a critical part of the engineered system. A concept of a DOKSS for Space Station Freedom (SSF) is presented. This is followed by a detailed discussion of a DOKSS for the Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center and Work Package-2 portions of SSF

Telomere length as a predictor of emotional processing in the brain

Shorter telomere length (TL) has been associated with the development of mood disorders as well as abnormalities in brain morphology. However, so far, no studies have considered the role TL may have on brain function during tasks relevant to mood disorders. In this study, we examine the relationship between TL and functional brain activation and connectivity, while participants (n = 112) perform a functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) facial affect recognition task. Additionally, because variation in TL has a substantial genetic component we calculated polygenic risk scores for TL to test if they predict face-related functional brain activation. First, our results showed that TL was positively associated with increased activation in the amygdala and cuneus, as well as increased connectivity from posterior regions of the face network to the ventral prefrontal cortex. Second, polygenic risk scores for TL show a positive association with medial prefrontal cortex activation. The data support the view that TL and genetic loading for shorter telomeres, influence the function of brain regions known to be involved in emotional processing

Performance, lean meat proportion and behaviour of fattening pigs given a liquid diet at different animal/feeding-place ratios

Sensor feeding is a liquid feeding system for fattening pigs that is operated with a restricted animal/feeding-place ratio (AFR). The aim of the present study was to quantify the effect of three different AFRs (4:1, 7:1 and 13:1, calculated with a feeding space of 33 cm per animal) on the performance and behaviour of fattening pigs (mean initial weight 26·3 (s.d. 3·3) kg, live weight at slaughter 102 (s.d. 5) kg). The pigs were housed in groups of 40 and each AFR was tested with seven groups (21 groups in total). The daily weight gain of the individual pigs was calculated from the beginning of the experiments until slaughter. Additionally, the lean meat percentage was recorded (AutoFOM). Feeding behaviour was observed by means of 24-h video recording at the ages of 14 and 17 weeks with scan sampling every 5 min. The daily weight gain decreased with increasing AFR ( P<0·01) and females had lower weight gains than barrows ( P<0·001). The lean meat proportion was influenced by the AFR ( P<0·01) and sex of the pigs ( P<0·001). Proportions were highest with the AFR 13:1 and in females. The average number of pigs feeding simultaneously was highest for the AFR of 4:1 ( P<0·01). Moreover, the ingestion rate per day (kg/min) increased with increasing AFR ( P<0·05). The average number of pigs waiting behind other pigs feeding at the trough was highest with the AFR 13:1 ( P<0·001).In conclusion, growth performance and pig behaviour were negatively affected by an AFR of 13:1, which cannot be recommended for use with this feeding system. With an AFR of 4:1 lean meat values were lo

Conservation Tillage, Pesticide Use, and Biotech Crops in the U.S.A.

This paper presents the first part of an ongoing project whose objective is to present a long term relationship between conservation tillage, adoption of GE crops and pesticide use for major crops in the United States. In addition, the project aims to provide some innovative tests on causality using a panel data set. This paper presents preliminary results for soybeans.conservation tillage, biotechnology, genetically engineered crops, soybeans, herbicides, Environmental Economics and Policy, Farm Management, Production Economics,

Reproductive performance and reconception of Nellore cows according to their pure- or cross-bred calves.

The objective of the present research was to evaluate the effect of a calf?s genetic group on the productive and reproductive efficiency of its Nellore dam. Fixed-time artificial insemination was applied to 800 cows using semen extracted from Nellore, Simmental and Angus Red bulls. Four hundred eleven cows calved, producing 119 Nellore, 103 ½Simmental?½Nellore and 189 ½Nellore?½Angus Red calves. The second mating period, which paired Nellore cows with Simmental bulls, was initiated 10 days after parturitions began and lasted for 5 months. Based on the two successive parturitions, the cumulative parturition rate for calving periods of 3, 4 and 5 months was calculated. Although no significant difference was observed for birth weight among the genetic groups, cross-bred calves weighed, on average, 10% more than did pure-bred calves at the age of 205 days. Nellore dams experienced a gestation period that was 7 days longer than did the cross-bred dams, and the former showed a higher parturition rate at 90 and 120 days of the calving season, but not at 150 days (calving rates of 80.6, 76.4 and 76.2% for mothers of Nellore, ½Nellore?½Angus Red and ½Nellore?½Simmental, respectively, p > 0.05). At 90 and 120 days, Nellore dams produced more kg of calf per mated dam. In conclusion, in a short breeding season, Nellore dams nursing pure-bred Nellore calves were found to have a higher biological efficiency compared with Nellore dams nursing cross-bred calves

Prevalence of tail lesions in Swiss finishing pigs.

INTRODUCTION Tail biting and lesions are common problems in modern pig production. In 2008 tail docking to prevent tail biting was banned in Switzerland. Since then pigs have been raised with intact tails. This study aimed to assess the current prevalence of tail lesions at Swiss abattoirs and comparing abattoir data with farm-specific data regarding potential risk factors for tail lesions. Data collection was performed in repetitive cycles of two weeks at four abattoirs during all consecutive seasons of one year. Gender, tail length and the tail tip condition were evaluated among other parameters. During 32 weeks in total, 195 704 pigs from 6112 batches from 2510 herds were evaluated. Overall, 63,2 % of the animals included in the analysis were slaughtered with a complete tail (lowest tail length score [TLS]), whereas 36,8 % showed a partial or total loss of the tail. The condition of the tail tip (tail tip condition score [TTCS]) was judged as being intact in 63,0 %, as a healed lesion in 23,7 %, an acute lesion in 1,3 % and a chronic lesion in 12,0 % of all cases. Male animals had significantly higher values for TLS and TTCS than female animals (P ≤ 0,05). TLS values were significantly higher in winter than in spring and summer (P < 0,001). TTCS values were significantly higher in fall than in spring and summer. TLS and TTCS values differed significantly (P < 0,001) between the four abattoirs. Only few significant correlations were found between values of TLS and TTCS and farm-specific data. Recording tail lesions at abattoirs is an accurate method to investigate the prevalence of tail lesions in fattening pigs. However, to monitor animal welfare on herd level, this method is very labor intensive. Moreover, data on tail lesions collected at the abattoir cannot replace veterinary on-farm examination for risk factor identification