Comparative growth and management of white and red clovers

peer-reviewedThe aim of this paper is to provide the underpinning scientific basis for the optimum management of white and red clovers. Critical morphological and canopy characteristics which influence the yield and persistence of white and red clover in swards, and how management factors (choice of cultivar, defoliation and nitrogen (N) fertilizer) modify these are considered. Canopy development is vitally important as it determines the extent to which a) light is intercepted for photosynthesis needed for growth and b) the base of the sward is deprived of the red component in daylight, inhibiting branching of stolons and crowns in white and red clover, respectively. The role of cultivar, defoliation and N fertilizer in determining yield and persistence of the two legumes, mainly in mixtures with grass, are discussed principally in terms of morphological development and exploitation of light. It is concluded that optimum management for grass/white clover places emphasis on building up stolons and maximising contribution of clover leaf area to the upper layers of the mixed canopy and, while red clover is more competitive to grass than white clover, that benefit is lost when a grass/red clover sward is grazed

Systems of information: The long view

In response to the perceived (by some) onset of an information society, historians have begun to study its roots and antecedents. The past is replete with the rise, fall, and transformation of systems of information, which are not to be confused with the narrower computer- mediated world of information systems. The history of systems of information—which for digestibility can be labeled information history—lacks neither scale nor scope. Systems of information have played a critical role in the transition to, and subsequent development of, capitalism; the growth of the state, especially the modern, nation-state; the rise of modernity, science, and the public sphere; imperialism; and geopolitics. In the context of these epochal shifts and episodes in human thinking and social organization, this essay presents a critical bibliographic survey of histories—outside the well-trodden paths of library and information-science history—that have foregrounded, or made reference to, a wide variety of systems of information.published or submitted for publicationOpe

From civic place to digital space: The design of public libraries in Britain from past to present

Inaugurated as, at once, an antidote to the social problems of industrialization and a cultural and “scientific” helpmate to progress in an industrial society, public libraries in Britain first appeared in 1850 and soon became a familiar feature, not only on the sociocultural, but also the urban-architectural, landscape. Over the past century and a half, changes in the public library built form have reflected changes in the aims of the public library movement, in architectural style and planning and in wider society. The development and symbolism of the public library built form is analyzed in five periods, stretching from the pre–First World War phases of civic architecture and large-scale philanthropic eclecticism, through the interwar period of embryonic modernism, to the post–Second World War era of full-blown modernism and the subsequent postmodernism of the digital age. In each of these periods, the public library building can be “read” as readily as the books they contained.published or submitted for publicationOpe

Studies of Autumn calving suckler cows, bulls at pasture and winter grazing

End of project reportMost beef and dairy cows are spring calving leading to distinct seasonality of supply. Calving a proportion of the beef herd in the autumn would lead to a more uniform annual supply of cattle for slaughter and potentially increase the proportion of grazed grass in the diet of the suckler progeny. Autumn calving sucklers also facilitate the use of AI, which should enhance the product quality. This project aimed to address the technical aspects of autumn calving sucklers, which differ from those of spring calvers. The currently available international energy models were evaluated for autumn calving lactating suckler cows using the type of cow typically found in Irish suckler herds (Experiment 1). The winter accommodation of the suckler cow and calf unit and its impact on cow reproductive performance was evaluated (Experiment 2). The final part of the project evolved into component studies to determine the effect of supplementary feed on the performance of grazing bulls (Experiment 3), and the consequences of weanling cattle grazing pasture in winter as an alternative to housing them in winter (Experiments 4 to 7)

Developing and testing an environmental economics approach to the valuation and application of urban health externalities

Background: Poor quality urban environments have substantial impacts on publicand planetary health. These costs to society are not readily quantifiable and remain largely external to mainstream measures of progress. Methods for accounting for these externalities exist, but their e􀀀ective application is in development. Yet there is an increasing urgency and demand given the profound threats to quality of life both now and in the future.Methods: We combine data from a series of systematic reviews of the quantitative evidence linking characteristics of the urban environment with health consequences and the economic valuation of these health impacts froma societal perspective within a spreadsheet-based tool. The tool–named HAUS–allows the user to estimate the health impacts of changes in urban environments. The economic valuation of these impacts in turn facilitates the use of such data in broader economic appraisal of urban development projects and policies.Findings: Using the Impact-Pathway approach, observations of a variety of healthimpacts associated with 28 characteristics of the urban environment are applied to forecast changes in cases of specific health impacts that result from changes in urban contexts. Unit values for the societal cost of 78 health outcomes are estimated and incorporated in the HAUS model in order to allow the quantification of the potential effect size of a given change in the urban environment. Headline results are presented for a real-world application in which urban development scenarios that have varying quantities of green space are evaluated. The potential uses of the tool are validated via formal semi-structured interviews with 15 senior decision-makers from the publicand private sectors.Interpretation: Responses suggest that there is significant demand for this kind of evidence, that it is valued despite the inherent uncertainties, and has a very wide range of potential applications. Analysis of the results suggest expert interpretation and contextual understanding is critical for the value of evidence to be realized. More development and testing is needed to understand how and where it may be possible to apply effectively in real world practice

Pasture science informs seed mixture decisions for simple and multi-species swards

This article describes a series of pasture mixture experiments, and how they can help farmers make informed decisions about which and how many species to include in a new pasture sowing

Dry matter yield and radiation use efficiency of four autumn sown top flowering annual clovers

Monocultures of arrowleaf (Trifolium vesiculosum), balansa (T. michelianum), gland (T. glanduliferum) and Persian (T. resupinatum) clovers were sown on four dates in autumn and winter 2010. Dry matter (DM) accumulation was dependent on the duration of crop growth which was influenced by the time of sowing. Autumn sown crops which flowered latest had a longer duration of vegetative growth and consequently produced the highest dry matter yields. In the establishment year, autumn sown crops produced up to 17.5 t DM/ha for balansa, 12.5 t DM/ha for Persian, 11.0 t DM/ha for gland and 9.4 t DM/ha for arrowleaf at physiological maturity (P<0.05). Crops that were sown in winter produced the lowest yield, because reproductive development commenced earlier and therefore they matured earlier. ‘Bolta’ balansa clover had the highest radiation use efficiency of 2.1 g DM/MJ photosynthetically active radiation (PAR) absorbed followed by gland (1.6 g DM/MJ PAR), arrowleaf and Persian (1.3 g DM/MJ PAR) clovers. In the second year, regenerated dry matter production at full flower was up to 11.6 t/ha in balansa, 8.3 t/ha in Persian, 2.9 t/ha in gland but only 0.5 t/ha in arrowleaf clover (P<0.05). Thus, over the two years ‘Bolta’ balansa and ‘Mihi’ Persian clovers were the highest yielding and easiest to regenerate from seed in monocultures. ‘Cefalu’ arrowleaf failed to regenerate in the second year due to low population of seedling emergence. ‘Prima’ gland clover was low yielding because it flowered and matured without fully utilising the growing season

Integrating direct messaging with flood alerts and warnings:insights into effectiveness from a registered public user population

Direct messaging involving simultaneous mass transmission of brief text or voice messages to large numbers of recipients has become a frontline method in flood hazard communications. Messages are intended to serve as cues, drawing recipients' attention to changing conditions, yet the actual effectiveness of direct messaging among recipient groups remains under-examined. This article considers direct messaging within the Floodline public flood warning service in Scotland, implemented by the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA). Within Floodline, messaging is integrated with alerting and warning information, termed straightforwardly ‘Flood Alerts’ and ‘Flood Warnings’. Collaborating with SEPA, we conducted an online questionnaire survey of registered Floodline direct messaging recipients. In this article, our analysis focusses specifically on responses to three open-ended questions included in this survey, with an iterative qualitative coding approach employed to interpret themes of meaning from the question responses. This analysis gives a clear indication that recipients value Floodline and direct messaging. However, there are also questions raised over the utility of Flood Alerts and related messaging, which we elaborate in the findings and discussion, along with the scope for adding content, linking to other information, and developing closer relationships. Changes being developed by SEPA align with several of these findings.</p

The English public library as an agency for social stability c. 1850-1919

Inaugurated by legislation in 1850 the municipal public library had by the end of the First World War become a common feature of urban life. The research and writing of public library history has been myopic; the subject has received little attention from historians working in broader fields. Inadequate methodological and theoretical assistance has been sought from those non-library historical investigations relevant to public library development. Public library history has been characterized by a tendency to chronicle. Recent work has acknowledged the importance of context; but the latter explains only 'how' and not 'why' public libraries emerged. Theories of public library history are lacking. This study presents a theory of development based on the symbiotic relationship between cultural and material pursuits. It is suggested that the Victorian, Edwardian and First World War public library aimed to help deliver social stability by diffusing humanistic culture and by assisting individual and national economic prosperity. These ostensibly divergent preoccupations achieved a high degree of compatibility within the context of the local municipal library. It was an institution which at once emphasized the importance of community and spiritual refreshment; yet 6dught to promote self-help individualism and tangible gain. Via the medium of the public library humanistic culture was seen to possess material externalities; the intention being to advance industrial capitalism whilst ameliorating its dehumanizing effects. The method employed to support this theory is to identify points of intersection between public library growth and recent debates in wider history. Attention is paid to discussions of emergent class consciousness; economic decline; middle class 'failure'; technical education; social control; the social origins of architecture; and the emergence of the professions. Underpinning the thesis is an exploration of the philosophical origins of the public library in terms of the tension between utilitarian and idealist thinking

Integrating direct messaging with flood alerts and warnings:insights into effectiveness from a registered public user population

Direct messaging involving simultaneous mass transmission of brief text or voice messages to large numbers of recipients has become a frontline method in flood hazard communications. Messages are intended to serve as cues, drawing recipients' attention to changing conditions, yet the actual effectiveness of direct messaging among recipient groups remains under-examined. This article considers direct messaging within the Floodline public flood warning service in Scotland, implemented by the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA). Within Floodline, messaging is integrated with alerting and warning information, termed straightforwardly ‘Flood Alerts’ and ‘Flood Warnings’. Collaborating with SEPA, we conducted an online questionnaire survey of registered Floodline direct messaging recipients. In this article, our analysis focusses specifically on responses to three open-ended questions included in this survey, with an iterative qualitative coding approach employed to interpret themes of meaning from the question responses. This analysis gives a clear indication that recipients value Floodline and direct messaging. However, there are also questions raised over the utility of Flood Alerts and related messaging, which we elaborate in the findings and discussion, along with the scope for adding content, linking to other information, and developing closer relationships. Changes being developed by SEPA align with several of these findings.</p