Irish Dairy Farming: Effects of Introducing a Maize Component on Grassland Management Over the Next 50 Years

Typical management of Irish dairy units is based on a low-cost spring-calving strategy with 90% of annual feed derived from grass grown on the farm. Almost 70% of feed is from grazed grass managed by rotational grazing, the remainder is conserved forage and concentrates. The objectives of the work were to examine how the management system has to be modified when part of the dairy unit land is allocated to maize silage instead of grass silage production, and to examine how climate change over the next 50 years will impact on grass and maize management within the production system

Pleasure and pedagogy: the consumption of DVD add-ons among Irish teenagers

This article addresses the issue of young people and media use in the digital age, more specifically the interconnection between new media pleasures and pedagogy as they relate to the consumption of DVD add-ons. Arguing against the view of new media as having predominantly detrimental effects on young people, the authors claim that new media can enable young people to develop media literacy skills and are of the view that media literacy strategies must be based on an understanding and legitimating of young people's use patterns and pleasures. The discussion is based on a pilot research project on the use patterns and pleasures of use with a sample of Irish teenagers. They found that DVDs were used predominantly in the home context, and that, while there was variability in use between the groups, overall they developed critical literacy skills and competences which were interwoven into their social life and projects of identity construction. The authors suggest that these findings could be used to develop DVDs and their add-on features as a learning resource in the more formal educational setting and they go on to outline the potential teaching benefits of their use across a range of pedagogical areas

What Scope is There for Adopting Evidence-Informed Teaching in Software Engineering?

Context: In teaching about software engineering we currently make little use of any empirical knowledge. Aim: To examine the outcomes available from the use of Evidence-Based Software Engineering (EBSE) practices, so as to identify where these can provide support for, and inform, teaching activities. Method: We have examined all known secondary studies published up to the end of 2009, together with those published in major journals to mid-2011, and identified where these provide practical results that are relevant to student needs. Results: Starting with 145 candidate systematic literature reviews (SLRs), we were able to identify and classify potentially useful teaching material from 43 of them. Conclusions: EBSE can potentially lend authority to our teaching, although the coverage of key topics is uneven. Additionally, mapping studies can provide support for research-led teaching

A comparison of the cost-effectiveness of treatment of prolonged acute convulsive epileptic seizures in children across Europe

In the majority of children and adolescents with epilepsy, optimal drug therapy adequately controls their condition. However, among the remaining patients who are still uncontrolled despite mono-, bi- or tri-therapy with chronic anti-epileptic treatment, a rescue medication is required. In Western Europe, the licensed medications available for first-line treatment of prolonged acute convulsive seizures (PACS) vary widely, and so comparators for clinical and economic evaluation are not consistent. No European guidelines currently exist for the treatment of PACS in children and adolescents and limited evidence is available for the effectiveness of treatments in the community setting. The authors present cost-effectiveness data for BUCCOLAM® (midazolam oromucosal solution) for the treatment of PACS in children and adolescents in the context of the treatment pathway in seven European countries in patients from 6 months to 18 years. For each country, the health economic model consisted of a decision tree, with decision nodes informed by clinical data and expert opinion obtained via a Delphi methodology. The events modelled are those associated with a patient experiencing a seizure in the community setting. The model assessed the likelihood of medication being administered successfully and of seizure cessation. The associated resource use was also modelled, and ambulance call-outs and hospitalisations were considered. The patient's quality of life was estimated by clinicians, who completed a five-level EuroQol five dimensions questionnaire from the perspective of a child or adolescent suffering a seizure. Despite differences in current therapy, treatment patterns and healthcare costs in all countries assessed, BUCCOLAM was shown to be cost saving and offered increased health-related benefits for patients in the treatment of PACS compared with the current local standard of care

A generalised abundance index for seasonal invertebrates

At a time of climate change and major loss of biodiversity, it is important to have efficient tools for monitoring populations. In this context, animal abundance indices play an important role. In producing indices for invertebrates, it is important to account for variation in counts within seasons. Two new methods for describing seasonal variation in invertebrate counts have recently been proposed; one is nonparametric, using generalized additive models, and the other is parametric, based on stopover models. We present a novel generalized abundance index which encompasses both parametric and nonparametric approaches. It is extremely efficient to compute this index due to the use of concentrated likelihood techniques. This has particular relevance for the analysis of data from long-term extensive monitoring schemes with records for many species and sites, for which existing modeling techniques can be prohibitively time consuming. Performance of the index is demonstrated by several applications to UK Butterfly Monitoring Scheme data. We demonstrate the potential for new insights into both phenology and spatial variation in seasonal patterns from parametric modeling and the incorporation of covariate dependence, which is relevant for both monitoring and conservation. Associated R code is available on the journal website

Dynamic models for longitudinal butterfly data

There has been recent interest in devising stochastic models for seasonal insects, which respond rapidly to climate change. Fitted to count data, these models are used to construct indices of abundance, which guide conservation and management. We build upon Dennis et al. (2014, under review) to produce dynamic models, which provide succinct descriptions of data from all years simultaneously. They produce estimates of key life-history parameters such as annual productivity and survival. Analyses for univoltine species, with only one generation each year, extend to bivoltine species, with two annual broods. In the latter case we estimate the productivities of each generation separately, and also devise extended indices which indicate the contributions made from different generations. We demonstrate the performance of the models using count data for UK butterfly species, and compare with current procedures which use generalized additive models. We may incor- orate relevant covariates within the model, and illustrate using northing and measures of temperature. Consistent patterns are demonstrated for multiple species. This generates a variety of hypotheses for further investigation, which have the potential to illuminate features of butterfly phenology and demography which are at present poorly understood

E-cadherin and cell adhesion: a role in architecture and function in the pancreatic islet

Background/Aims: The efficient secretion of insulin from beta-cells requires extensive intra-islet communication. The cell surface adhesion protein epithelial (E)-cadherin (ECAD) establishes and maintains epithelial tissues such as the islets of Langerhans. In this study, the role of ECAD in regulating insulin secretion from pseudoislets was investigated. Methods: The effect of an immuno-neutralising ECAD on gross morphology, cytosolic calcium signalling, direct cell-to-cell communication and insulin secretion was assessed by fura-2 microfluorimetry, Lucifer Yellow dye injection and insulin ELISA in an insulin-secreting model system. Results: Antibody blockade of ECAD reduces glucose-evoked changes in [Ca2+](i) and insulin secretion. Neutralisation of ECAD causes a breakdown in the glucose-stimulated synchronicity of calcium oscillations between discrete regions within the pseudoislet, and the transfer of dye from an individual cell within a cell cluster is attenuated in the absence of ECAD ligation, demonstrating that gap junction communication is disrupted. The functional consequence of neutralising ECAD is a significant reduction in insulin secretion. Conclusion: Cell adhesion via ECAD has distinct roles in the regulation of intercellular communication between beta-cells within islets, with potential repercussions for insulin secretion. Copyright (C) 2007 S. Karger AG, Basel

Windings of the 2D free Rouse chain

We study long time dynamical properties of a chain of harmonically bound Brownian particles. This chain is allowed to wander everywhere in the plane. We show that the scaling variables for the occupation times T_j, areas A_j and winding angles \theta_j (j=1,...,n labels the particles) take the same general form as in the usual Brownian motion. We also compute the asymptotic joint laws P({T_j}), P({A_j}), P({\theta_j}) and discuss the correlations occuring in those distributions.Comment: Latex, 17 pages, submitted to J. Phys.