Gerd Bayer, Heavy Metal Music in Britain

I recall been shown a proof copy of this volume, by one of its contributors, at the self-proclaimed, First Global Conference: Metal, Music and Politics, held in Salzburg, Austria in 2008. That conference call had taken me by surprise, in the sense that prior to it there was a view that there simply wasn’t enough ‘metal scholars’ around to make a conference exclusively dedicated to the subject, viable. Another surprise was that the majority of papers presented there were concerned with the phi..

Study Tour Report Institut National De La Recherche Agronomique (INRA) Joint Research Unit – Innovation, Montpellier, France (24-28 June 2002)

This brief discussion paper documents key points arising from the Overseas Visit (24-28 June 2002) to the Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique (INRA) Joint Research Unit – Innovation in Montpellier, France1. The purpose of the visit was to: 1. Investigate the relevance of INRA agricultural extension practice to CRC Rice Project 5204; 2. Explore the potential for INRA – CRC Rice collaboration in agricultural extension. Key points arising from the visit are as follows: 1. Elements common to the French and Australian contexts of agricultural extension and rice production were identified during the course of the visit; 2. Social theory central to the research framework of CRC Rice Project 5204 was recognised as critically informing INRA agricultural extension practice; 3. INRA require an authoritative statement of CRC Rice intent in agricultural extension if the opportunity for collaboration is to be further developed

Study Tour Report Institut National De La Recherche Agronomique (INRA) Joint Research Unit – Innovation, Montpellier, France (24-28 June 2002)

This brief discussion paper documents key points arising from the Overseas Visit (24-28 June 2002) to the Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique (INRA) Joint Research Unit – Innovation in Montpellier, France1. The purpose of the visit was to: 1. Investigate the relevance of INRA agricultural extension practice to CRC Rice Project 5204; 2. Explore the potential for INRA – CRC Rice collaboration in agricultural extension. Key points arising from the visit are as follows: 1. Elements common to the French and Australian contexts of agricultural extension and rice production were identified during the course of the visit; 2. Social theory central to the research framework of CRC Rice Project 5204 was recognised as critically informing INRA agricultural extension practice; 3. INRA require an authoritative statement of CRC Rice intent in agricultural extension if the opportunity for collaboration is to be further developed

Influences on the Uptake of and Engagement With Health and Well-Being Smartphone Apps: Systematic Review

Background: The public health impact of health and well-being digital interventions is dependent upon sufficient real-world uptake and engagement. Uptake is currently largely dependent on popularity indicators (eg, ranking and user ratings on app stores), which may not correspond with effectiveness, and rapid disengagement is common. Therefore, there is an urgent need to identify factors that influence uptake and engagement with health and well-being apps to inform new approaches that promote the effective use of such tools. Objective: This review aimed to understand what is known about influences on the uptake of and engagement with health and well-being smartphone apps among adults. Methods: We conducted a systematic review of quantitative, qualitative, and mixed methods studies. Studies conducted on adults were included if they focused on health and well-being smartphone apps reporting on uptake and engagement behavior. Studies identified through a systematic search in Medical Literature Analysis and Retrieval System Online, or MEDLARS Online (MEDLINE), EMBASE, Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature (CINAHL), PsychINFO, Scopus, Cochrane library databases, DataBase systems and Logic Programming (DBLP), and Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) Digital library were screened, with a proportion screened independently by 2 authors. Data synthesis and interpretation were undertaken using a deductive iterative process. External validity checking was undertaken by an independent researcher. A narrative synthesis of the findings was structured around the components of the capability, opportunity, motivation, behavior change model and the theoretical domains framework (TDF). Results: Of the 7640 identified studies, 41 were included in the review. Factors related to uptake (U), engagement (E), or both (B) were identified. Under capability, the main factors identified were app literacy skills (B), app awareness (U), available user guidance (B), health information (E), statistical information on progress (E), well-designed reminders (E), features to reduce cognitive load (E), and self-monitoring features (E). Availability at low cost (U), positive tone, and personalization (E) were identified as physical opportunity factors, whereas recommendations for health and well-being apps (U), embedded health professional support (E), and social networking (E) possibilities were social opportunity factors. Finally, the motivation factors included positive feedback (E), available rewards (E), goal setting (E), and the perceived utility of the app (E). Conclusions: Across a wide range of populations and behaviors, 26 factors relating to capability, opportunity, and motivation appear to influence the uptake of and engagement with health and well-being smartphone apps. Our recommendations may help app developers, health app portal developers, and policy makers in the optimization of health and well-being apps

Impact of Irrigation Applications at Soil Moisture Deficits on Plant Development and Yield of Indeterminate and Determinate Soybean Varieties

As the Mississippi River Alluvial Aquifer declines, it is the duty of soybean producers to become more efficient irrigators. Research was established in 2012 and 2013 in the Mississippi Delta to evaluate plant development and yield of an indeterminate soybean variety with irrigation initiated at the R1 producer standard and compared to initiation timings at the R2, R4, and R5 growth stages once a 2” deficit was reached according to the FAO-56 Penman-Monteith model. Research was also conducted to evaluate seeding rates in irrigated and non-irrigated systems in Starkville and Stoneville, MS in 2013 and 2014. These data indicate that delaying irrigation initiation beyond R1 did not adversely affect yield, and in some instances even provided a small yield increase. Irrigation did show consistent yield benefit regardless of initiation timing over a non-irrigated system. No optimum seeding rate in terms of yield or net return was observed across site years