SUSTAINABLE SOIL MANAGEMENT IN NEW ZEALAND: FARMER BELIEFS, ATTITUDES AND MOTIVATIONS

Land Economics/Use,

ADOPT: a tool for predicting adoption of agricultural innovations

A wealth of evidence exists about the adoption of new practices and technologies in agriculture but there does not appear to have been any attempt to simplify this vast body of research knowledge into a model to make quantitative predictions across a broad range of contexts. This is despite increasing demand from research, development and extension agencies for estimates of likely extent of adoption and the likely timeframes for project impacts. This paper reports on the reasoning underpinning the development of ADOPT (Adoption and Diffusion Outcome Prediction Tool). The tool has been designed to: 1) predict an innovation‘s likely peak extent of adoption and likely time for reaching that peak; 2) encourage users to consider the influence of a structured set of factors affecting adoption; and 3) engage R, D & E managers and practitioners by making adoptability knowledge and considerations more transparent and understandable. The tool is structured around four aspects of adoption: 1) characteristics of the innovation, 2) characteristics of the population, 3) actual advantage of using the innovation, and 4) learning of the actual advantage of the innovation. The conceptual framework used for developing ADOPT is described.Adoption, Diffusion, Prediction, Research and Development/Tech Change/Emerging Technologies,

The avifauna of the Barito Ulu region. Central Kalimantan

As part of the more general studies of the Barito Ulu Project, a detailed study was made of the avifauna in July-September 1989. The survey area, which lies at the geographical centre of the island of Borneo, consists mainly of primary forest in hilly terrain, and this Is the first detailed study that has been made In the hills of Kalimantan for many decades. A week was also spent in montane forest at 800-1000 m. An appendix lists 226 species that were recorded. The avifauna includes 15 Bornean endemics, and extensions to known range are made for Spizaetus alboniger, Arborophila hyperythra and Megalaima eximia. Data are provided also on 20 species for which there are no recent Kalimantan records. While species described as 'slope specialists' predominated, the presence of some 26 'extreme lowland specialists' may have significance for conservation, for example Lophura erythrophthalma, Melanoperdix nigra. Pitta baudi, Malacopteron albogulare and Pityriasis gymnocephala

Identifying Opportunities for Improved Adoption of New Grazing Innovations

Those aiming for high levels of adoption of grazing-related innovation are often frustrated at low and slow uptake by farmers. This paper describes a new tool, ADOPT (Adoption and Diffusion Outcome Prediction Tool), that can be used to evaluate the potential adoptability of grazing innovations (Kuehne et al. 2012). ADOPT aims to: (1) predict an innovation’s likely peak level of adoption and likely time for reaching that peak; (2) encourage users to consider factors affecting adoption during project design; and (3) engage R, D & E managers and practitioners by making adoptability knowledge and considerations more transparent and understandable

On the role of boron on improving ductility in a new polycrystalline superalloy

AbstractThe role of boron in promoting ductility at high temperature in a prototype nickel-based superalloy designed for industrial gas turbines is studied. Both a boron-containing and boron-free variant are tested in tension at 750 °C, with further in-situ tests carried out using scanning electron microscopy (SEM), to clarify the mechanism of ductility improvement. The improvement in ductility is observed to be greater at the lowest investigated strain rate, where the grain boundary character plays a significant role on the mechanical properties; no ductility improvement was observed at the highest investigated strain rate. The in-situ tests were also performed at 750 °C and revealed directly the greater susceptibility of the grain boundary morphology in the boron-free case to fracture and – in the boron-containing case – the mechanism of ductility enhancement. The findings are supported further by high-resolution electron backscattered diffraction (HR-EBSD) strain mapping which confirms that the distribution of elastic strain and geometrically necessary dislocation (GND) content are influenced markedly by boron addition. The mechanism through which boron indirectly enhances the mechanical properties at elevated temperatures is discussed

Using next-generation sequencing to determine diversity of horse intestinal worms:Identifying the equine ʼnemabiome'

Next generation sequencing of DNA from nematode eggs has been utilised to give the first account of the equine ‘nemabiome’. In all equine faecal samples investigated, multiple species of Strongylidae were detected; ranging from 7.5 (SEM 0.79) with 99+% identity to sequences in the NCBI database to 13.3 (SEM 0.80) with 90+% identity. This range is typical of the number of species described previously in morphological studies using large quantities of digesta per animal. However, the current method is non-invasive, relies on DNA analysis avoiding the need for specialist microscopy identification and can be carried out with small samples providing significant advantages over current methods

A multi-centre qualitative study exploring the experiences of UK South Asian and White Diabetic Patients referred for renal care

Background An exploration of renal complications of diabetes from the patient perspective is important for developing quality care through the diabetic renal disease care pathway. Methods Newly referred South Asian and White diabetic renal patients over 16 years were recruited from nephrology outpatient clinics in three UK centres - Luton, West London and Leicester – and their experiences of the diabetes and renal care recorded. A semi-structured qualitative interview was conducted with 48 patients. Interview transcripts were analysed thematically and comparisons made between the White and South Asian groups. Results 23 South Asian patients and 25 White patients were interviewed. Patient experience of diabetes ranged from a few months to 35 years with a mean time since diagnosis of 12.1 years and 17.1 years for the South Asian and White patients respectively. Confusion emerged as a response to referral shared by both groups. This sense of confusion was associated with reported lack of information at the time of referral, but also before referral. Language barriers exacerbated confusion for South Asian patients. Conclusions The diabetic renal patients who have been referred for specialist renal care and found the referral process confusing have poor of awareness of kidney complications of diabetes. Healthcare providers should be more aware of the ongoing information needs of long term diabetics as well as the context of any information exchange including language barriers

Effect of dialysate composition on intercompartmental fluid shift

Effect of dialysate composition on intercompartmental fluid shift. Effect of dialysate composition on intercompartmental fluid shift and hemodynamics was studied in 12 patients during 1.5 or 2 hours of hemodialysis without net ultrafiltration, using high (H;Na 154 mmol/liter), normal (N;Na 140 mmol/liter) or low (L:Na 126 mmol/liter) concentration dialysate. H dialysate was associated with a small (0.9%) increase in blood volume, a larger increase in plasma volume and a decrease in erythrocyte volume. L dialysate resulted in a 2.3% decrease in blood volume, a larger decrease in plasma volume and an increase in erythrocyte volume. N dialysate gave results which were intermediately between the other two dialysis conditions. There was no difference in the post-dialysis mean arterial pressure between the groups, although heart rate increased more during H dialysis than during the other two conditions. Change in blood and erythrocyte volume correlated significantly with change in plasma Na concentration and osmolality, but not with change in plasma urea concentration. We conclude that dialysate composition affects the movement of water into and out of the plasma and erythrocytes in a manner that can be accounted for by altered plasma concentrations of osmotically active substances