Do zebra (Equus quagga) select for greener grass within the foraging area?

MSc., Faculty of Science, University of the Witwatersrand, 2011Spatial patterns in topography and forage distribution clearly determine large herbivore movements but our understanding of the foraging strategies that free-grazing herbivores adopt at different temporal and spatial scales is limited. Different foraging response patterns are displayed at different scales. Here fine-scale foraging strategies of Zebra (Equus quagga) were investigated by studying their selection for vegetation greenness in a Southern African savanna. Zebras have high-energy requirements thus the primary productivity and condition of the habitat plays an important role on their movements. Grass greenness was measured by Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), a proxy for vegetation productivity and quality. Finer-scale studies are needed to understand the processes leading to a correlation between NDVI and herbivores performance. Data was collected at two different spatial scales, foraging area and feeding station. Food selection was recorded in relation to grass species and grass tuft greenness. Within the foraging area, grass species and greenness within zebra feeding stations were compared with random non used stations. Within the feeding station, species and greenness of grasses eaten by zebra were compared with those of grasses available but not eaten. Zebra selection was not consistent across scales. Although greenness was a factor in selection at feeding station levels and grass tuft levels; feeding station selection was limited to greenness due to season, and selection for species occurred only at the grass tuft level. However, zebra did select for the greener grass tufts within the feeding station even if it meant to eat ‘less palatable’ species (i.e. Eragrostis rigidior) instead of ‘very palatable’ species (i.e. Panicum maximum)

Eltrombopag for the treatment of chronic idiopathic (immune) thrombocytopenic purpura : A Single Technology Appraisal

Evidence Review Group (ERG) final report for the National Institute for Health and Clinical ExcellencePublisher PD

Floquet-engineered quantum state manipulation in a noisy qubit

Adiabatic evolution is a common strategy for manipulating quantum states and has been employed in diverse fields such as quantum simulation, computation and annealing. However, adiabatic evolution is inherently slow and therefore susceptible to decoherence. Existing methods for speeding up adiabatic evolution require complex many-body operators or are difficult to construct for multi-level systems. Using the tools of Floquet engineering, we design a scheme for high-fidelity quantum state manipulation, utilizing only the interactions available in the original Hamiltonian. We apply this approach to a qubit and experimentally demonstrate its performance with the electronic spin of a Nitrogen-vacancy center in diamond. Our Floquet-engineered protocol achieves state preparation fidelity of $0.994 \pm 0.004$, on the same level as the conventional fast-forward protocol, but is more robust to external noise acting on the qubit. Floquet engineering provides a powerful platform for high-fidelity quantum state manipulation in complex and noisy quantum systems

The FEeding Support Team (FEST) randomised, controlled feasibility trial of proactive and reactive telephone support for breastfeeding women living in disadvantaged areas

Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Process evaluation for the FEeding Support Team (FEST) randomised controlled feasibility trial of proactive and reactive telephone support for breastfeeding women living in disadvantaged areas

PMID: 22535794 [PubMed] PMCID: PMC3341595 Free PMC ArticlePeer reviewe

Early surgery versus initial conservative treatment in patients with traumatic intracerebral haemorrhage [STITCH(Trauma)] : the first randomized trial

Acknowledgements This project was funded by the NIHR Health Technology Assessment programme (project number 07/37/16). The views and opinions expressed therein are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect those of the HTA programme, NIHR, NHS or the Department of Health.Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Are men difficult to find? Identifying male-specific studies in MEDLINE and Embase.

Systematic reviews often investigate the effectiveness of interventions for one sex. However, identifying interventions with data presented according to the sex of study participants can be challenging due to suboptimal indexing in bibliographic databases and poor reporting in titles and abstracts. The purposes of this study were to develop a highly sensitive search filter to identify literature relevant to men's health and to assess the performance of a range of sex-specific search terms used individually and in various combinations

Clinical Effectiveness of Weight Loss and Weight Maintenance Interventions for Men: A Systematic Review of Men-Only Randomized Controlled Trials (The ROMEO Project).

Men are underrepresented in obesity services, suggesting current weight loss service provision is suboptimal. This systematic review evaluated evidence-based strategies for treating obesity in men. Eight bibliographic databases and four clinical trials' registers were searched to identify randomized controlled trials (RCTs) of weight loss interventions in men only, with mean/median body mass index of ≥30 kg/m(2) (or ≥28 kg/m(2) with cardiac risk factors), with a minimum mean/median duration of ≥52 weeks. Interventions included diet, physical activity, behavior change techniques, orlistat, or combinations of these; compared against each other, placebo, or a no intervention control group; in any setting. Twenty-one reports from 14 RCTs were identified. Reducing diets produced more favorable weight loss than physical activity alone (mean weight change after 1 year from a reducing diet compared with an exercise program -3.2 kg, 95% confidence interval -4.8 to -1.6 kg, reported p < .01). The most effective interventions combined reducing diets, exercise, and behavior change techniques (mean difference in weight at 1 year compared with no intervention was -4.9 kg, 95% confidence interval -5.9 to -4.0, reported p < .0001). Group interventions produced favorable weight loss results. The average reported participant retention rate was 78.2%, ranging from 44% to 100% retention, indicating that, once engaged, men remained committed to a weight loss intervention. Weight loss for men is best achieved and maintained with the combination of a reducing diet, increased physical activity, and behavior change techniques. Strategies to increase engagement of men with weight loss services to improve the reach of interventions are needed

F. R. Leavis : judgement and the discipline of thought

Includes bibliographical references.Digitized at the University of Missouri--Columbia MU Libraries Digitization Lab in 2013. Digitized at 600 dpi with Zeutschel, OS 15000 scanner. Access copy, available in MOspace, is 400 dpi, grayscale