Development of strategies to increase commercial production of mohair and cashmere in Australia

We aimed to identify impediments to investing into mohair and cashmere production and to suggest programs and strategies to attract investors. Targeted interviews of people focussed on attributes of an investment opportunity. Analysis differentiated views of small and large-scale producers and those not involved in these industries. Potential investors into mohair and cashmere make decisions based on the compatibility of the enterprise to their farm system, the technical, financial and market feasibility of the enterprise and its comparative advantage with other possible courses of action. They are sceptical of information coming from within these industries that is not sufficiently supported by fact. There are many implications from these findings including the need for the industries to: understand the investment decision process; provide objective financial and benchmarking data; make information more accessible; overcome resistance to these industries; and increase the visibility of the industries.<br /

United States data collection activities and requirements, volume 1

The potential market for a data collection system was investigated to determine whether the user needs would be sufficient to support a satellite relay data collection system design. The activities of 107,407 data collections stations were studied to determine user needs in agriculture, climatology, environmental monitoring, forestry, geology, hydrology, meteorology, and oceanography. Descriptions of 50 distinct data collections networks are described and used to form the user data base. The computer program used to analyze the station data base is discussed, and results of the analysis are presented in maps and graphs. Information format and coding is described in the appendix

Conceptualizing a transdisciplinary nexus for addressing complex problems

We envision opening a way of perceiving the transdisciplinary Hidden Third as a transcendental nexus of both passive and active causal powers reflecting and engaged with the external structures that create the complex social realities in which we live. It is in these realities and their possible worlds that the revealing of our relational capacities and activating (actualising) potentialities occurs. We propose that innovative and co-created solutions to complex problems can emerge when something at work within each person helps very differently minded people with a stake in an issue to realise that they have capabilities and potential that can be actualised situationally. To facilitate this idea, we adopt a notion of transindividuality, which is constitutive through relationality. This is a futural process of imaginal thinking and imaginary thinking. We suggest that when temporarily functioning in an intermediate inner universe (mundus imaginalis), and by operating between the empirical (concrete facts) and the abstract (e.g., meditative thinking), active imaginal powers foster emergent solutions unbounded by the positivistic framing problems and their future consequences. We conceptualized a transdisciplinary nexus that draws from the mundus imaginalis and the Hidden Third to provide deeper insights into the role that people’s inner images of the world play when engaging in transdisciplinary problem solving

Being in the hidden third: Insights into transdisciplinary ontology

This paper reflects two transdisciplinary (TD) scholars’ attempts to glean deeper insights into Nicolescu’s transdisciplinary ontology (i.e., multiple Levels of Reality and the Hidden Third). Respecting that Nicolescu’s Hidden Third represents the convergence of quantum physics, philosophy, and inner experiences, one TD scholar explored ‘What is it like to be in the Hidden Third?’ by expanding on Nicolescu’s constructs of cyber-space-time and transhumanism, which are grounded in quantum physics. The other TD scholar tendered philosophical insights by offering the idea of ontological emergence and the act of becoming as informed by the transcendentals. The intent was to understand ‘the being of being’ or perhaps ‘the being of becoming.’ The richness of Nicolescu’s ontological thinking offers a range of interpretation and we are grateful for the opportunity to feed off his methodological genius to respectively flourish through questions, clarification and truth seeking

Pacific Island food security: situation, challenges and opportunities

In recent years, there have been large and rapid increases in the prices of basic foods worldwide. Pacific island countries have not been isolated from the global food 'crisis'. This article shows that there are substantial differences in the impacts within and between Pacific island countries. To be effective and not counterproductive, policy and donor responses need to be tailored accordingly. This article recommends a combination of measures directed at mitigating the threats and empowering rural people to take advantage of the opportunities

The Maynooth grant and the Conservative Party

The purpose of this thesis is to examine the impact of the Maynooth Bill upon the Conservative party and the careeer of Sir Robert Pool. Because of the limitations of time and space and in the interest of a concise narrative, a great deal of Peel\u27s Irish program has either not been mentioned or only dealt with in passing: the Devon Commission, the Irish Colleges Bill, and the Charitable Bequests Act are the most notable of these omissions or glosses

Electric Convulsion Treatment of the Psychoses

Abstract Not Provided

Compositional analyses of the associations between sedentary time, different intensities of physical activity, and cardiometabolic biomarkers among children and youth from the United States

Introduction : Compositional data analysis is one appropriate method for co-dependent data, even when data are collected for a subdivision of the 24-hour period, such as the waking day. Objectives were to use compositional analyses to examine the combined and relative associations of sedentary time (ST), light-intensity physical activity (LPA), moderate-intensity physical activity (MPA), and vigorous-intensity physical activity (VPA) with cardiometabolic biomarkers in a representative sample of children and youth. Methods : This cross-sectional study included 2544 participants aged 6-17 years from the 2003-2006 United States National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. ST (= 7 METs) were accelerometer-derived. Cardiometabolic biomarkers included waist circumference, body mass index (BMI) z-score, HDL-cholesterol, C-reactive protein, and blood pressure. Triglycerides, glucose, insulin, and LDL-cholesterol were measured in a fasting sub-sample of adolescents (n = 670). Compositional linear regression models were conducted. Results : The composition of ST, LPA, MPA, and VPA was significantly associated with BMI z-score, log waist circumference, systolic and diastolic blood pressure, HDL-cholesterol, and log plasma glucose (variance explained: 1-29%). Relative to the other three behaviors, VPA was negatively associated with BMI z-score (gamma VPA = -0.206, p = 0.005) and waist circumference (gamma VPA = -0.03, p = 0.001). Conversely, ST was positively associated with waist circumference (gamma ST = 0.029, p = 0.013). ST and VPA were also positively associated with diastolic blood pressure (gamma ST = 2.700, p = 0.018; gamma VPA = 1.246, p = 0.038), relative to the other behaviors, whereas negative associations were observed for LPA (gamma LPA = -2.892, p = 0.026). Finally, VPA was positively associated with HDL-cholesterol, relative to other behaviors (gamma VPA = 0.058, p<0.001). Conclusions : The ST and physical activity composition appears important for many aspects of cardiometabolic health in children and youth. Compositions with more time in higher-intensity activities may be better for some aspects of cardiometabolic health

Calcitonin receptor-like receptor is expressed on gastrointestinal immune cells

Background/Aims: Pharmacological and morphological studies suggest that the gut mucosal immune system and local neuropeptide-containing neurones interact. We aimed to determine whether gut immune cells are targets for calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP), which has potent immune regulatory properties. Methods: Using density gradient centrifugation, rat lamina propria mononuclear cells (LP-MNCs) and intra-epithelial lymphocytes (IELs) were isolated. RT-PCR was employed for the detection of mRNA of rat calcitonin receptor-like receptor (CRLR), which is considered to represent the pharmacologically defined CGRP receptor-1 subtype, as well as mRNA of the receptor activity-modifying proteins, which are essential for CRLR function and determine ligand specificity. A radioreceptor assay was employed for the detection of specific CGRP binding sites. Results: RT-PCR and DNA sequencing showed that LP-MNCs and IELs express CRLR. Incubation of isolated LP-MNCs with radiolabelled alphaCGRP revealed the existence of specific binding sites for CGRP. Conclusion: These novel data indicate that mucosal immune cells of the rat gut are a target for CGRP and provide significant evidence that CGRP functions as an immune regulator in the gut mucosa. Copyright (C) 2002 S. Karger AG, Basel