The crude protein production of grassland and the utilization by milking cows.

An attempt was made with experimental data of various origins to quantify the intake of N from pasture grass by milking cows during the grazing period. It was also demonstrated how much of this N was removed by secretion in the milk as well as the conc. of N in the faeces and in the urine remaining on the pasture after grazing. From a fertilizer application to the pasture of 450 kg N/ha yr an equal conc. was taken up by the herbage. Of this herbage N about 75-80% remained on the pasture after grazing. The conc. remaining on the grassland increased sharply with increasing N rates and this went parallel with an increasing intensity in the N circulation in the system soil-plant-animal-soil and a rising NO3 content in the surface layer of ground water. (Abstract retrieved from CAB Abstracts by CABI’s permission

Vergelijkende studie naar alternatieve vormen van de boomkorvisserij

Als onderdeel van het VIP-project “Alternatief visplan duurzame platvisvisserij” is een vergelijkende studie uitgevoerd naar de traditionele boomkorvisserij en twee alternatieve vismethodes: outriggen en sumwing. Tijdens twee visreizen hebben onderzoekers gekeken naar verschillen in aanlandingen (maatse vis) en discards (benthos en (ondermaatse) vis) op drie verschillende schepen. De drie schepen die waren betrokken bij dit onderzoek zijn: de UK47 (outrig), de ST27 (boomkor) en de UK246 (sumwing). Daarnaast is de kwaliteit van schol van de verschillende vismethoden met elkaar vergeleken

Short-term efficacy and usage recommendations for a large-scale implementation of the math-whizz tutor

This paper adds to the evidence of the efficacy of intelligent tutoring systems (ITS) in mathematics learning by evaluating a large-scale intervention at the state of Aguascalientes, Mexico. We report the results of a quasi-experimental study, addressing at the same a particular request of the decision-makers responsible for the rollout to provide, from early stages of the intervention, independent evidence of the efficacy of Math-Whizz Tutor beyond its internal metrics, and recommendations in terms of the expected weekly usage levels to guide the blended learning approach

Eye–hand coordination during manual object transport with the affected and less affected hand in adolescents with hemiparetic cerebral palsy

In the present study we investigated eye–hand coordination in adolescents with hemiparetic cerebral palsy (CP) and neurologically healthy controls. Using an object prehension and transport task, we addressed two hypotheses, motivated by the question whether early brain damage and the ensuing limitations of motor activity lead to general and/or effector-specific effects in visuomotor control of manual actions. We hypothesized that individuals with hemiparetic CP would more closely visually monitor actions with their affected hand, compared to both their less affected hand and to control participants without a sensorimotor impairment. A second, more speculative hypothesis was that, in relation to previously established deficits in prospective action control in individuals with hemiparetic CP, gaze patterns might be less anticipatory in general, also during actions performed with the less affected hand. Analysis of the gaze and hand movement data revealed the increased visual monitoring of participants with CP when using their affected hand at the beginning as well as during object transport. In contrast, no general deficit in anticipatory gaze control in the participants with hemiparetic CP could be observed. Collectively, these findings are the first to directly show that individuals with hemiparetic CP adapt eye–hand coordination to the specific constraints of the moving limb, presumably to compensate for sensorimotor deficits

Q-koorts in Nederland: 2008 en verwachting voor 2009

In 2007 en 2008 deed zich in Nederland een epidemie van Q-koorts voor met resp. 196 en 906 bevestigde ziektegevallen. In dit artikel beschrijven de auteurs het verloop van de epidemie, het onderzoek, de maatregelen en de verwachting van het beloop in 2009. Q-koorts is, met name in het zuidoosten van Nederland, een nieuwe aandoening met belangrijke consequenties voor diagnostiek en therapi