Energy, Industry, and Transport in South-Central Africa’s History

Energy must be seen in interaction with transportation and industry in order for its role in South-Central Africa to be fully understood. All three—energy, industry, and transportation—are themselves always socialized and at the whim of human-engineered mobilities. This article traces the history of energy, industrialization, and transportation from the pre-colonial through the colonial period

Seeing the National Park from Outside It: On an African Epistemology of Nature

This paper explores the concept of “nature” from the perspective of African meanings and practices that national parks or game reserves found in existence, displaced to “the other side of the fence,” and criminalised as poaching during and after the colonial moment. Focusing on the vaShona people of Zimbabwe, the paper aims to locate these practices within a broader spiritually-grounded relationship between people, animals, forests, mountains, and the natural environment

Does Wheat Cultivar Choice Affect Crop Quality and Soil Microbial Communities in Cropping Systems?

Wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) cultivars may have differential effects on soil microbial communities and the breadmaking quality of harvested grain. We compared six Canadian spring wheat cultivars under organic and conventional management systems for yield, breadmaking quality and soil phospholipid fatty acid analysis (PLFA) profile. Yields were lower, but protein levels were higher in the organic system. Cultivars differed for quality traits, but all cultivars had acceptable levels for processing. There were small differences in PLFA profiles for cultivars in the conventional system, but none in the organic system. More significant correlations between grain quality and PLFA measures were present in the organic system. Protein levels and breadmaking quality at least equal to conventional systems can be achieved in organic systems. Wheat cultivars differed for grain quality in both organic and conventional systems, and culivars altered the soil microbial profile in conventional systems. Microbes may play a greater role in determining crop quality in organic systems than in conventional systems

Pig peripheral blood mononuclear leucocyte subsets are heritable and genetically correlated with performance

Indicator traits used to select pigs for increased resistance to infection or improved health must be heritable and, preferably, be associated with improved performance. We estimated the heritability of a range of immune traits and their genetic and phenotypic correlations with growth performance. We measured immune traits on 589 pigs and performance on 1941 pigs from six farms, three of which were classified as 'high health status' (i.e. specific pathogen-free) and three were of lower health status. All pigs were apparently healthy. Immune traits were total white blood cells (WBC), and peripheral blood mononuclear leucocyte (PBML) subsets positive for CD4, CD8 alpha, gamma delta (gamma delta) T cell receptor, CD11R1 (natural killer cell marker), B cell and monocyte markers at the start and the end of standard growth performance tests. At both time points, all immune traits were moderately to highly heritable except for CD8 alpha(+) cells. At end of test, heritability estimates (h(2)) (+/- s.e.) were 0.18 (+/- 0.11) for total WBC count. For PBML subset proportions, the heritabilities were 0.52 (+/- 0.14) for gamma delta TCR cells, 0.62 (+/- 0.14) for CD4(+) cells, 0.44 (+/- 0.14) for CD11R1(+) cells, 0.58 (+/- 0.14) for B cells and 0.59 (+/- 0.14) for monocytes. Farm health status affected the heritabilities for WBC, being substantially higher on lower health status farms, but did not have consistent effects on heritabilities for the PBML subsets. There were significant negative genetic correlations between numbers and proportions of various PBML subsets and performance, at both start and end of test. In particular, the proportion of PBML cells that were CD11R1(+) cells, at end of test, was strongly correlated with daily gain (r(g) = -0.72; P &lt; 0.01). There were also weaker but significant negative phenotypic correlations between PBML subsets measured at end of test and performance, for gamma delta(+) T cells, CD8 alpha(+), CD11R1(+) cells, B cells or monocytes. Phenotypic correlations with daily gain were generally lower at the start of test than at the end of test. These results show that most of the major pig PBML subsets are heritable, and that systemic levels of several of these PBML subsets are genetically negatively correlated with performance. This approach provides a basis for using immune trait markers when selecting boars that can produce higher-performing progeny.</p

Soutien au développement de ressources numériques pour l'enseignement et l'apprentissage dans les universités québécoises: Rapport complet

Tiré de l'écran-titre (visionné le 27 juin 2017).Ce portrait se veut une source d’information pour les professionnels et les décideurs engagés dans le soutien à l’enseignement et à l’apprentissage. Il est souhaité qu’il suscite des discussions et initie des réflexions auprès des intervenants préoccupés par l’offre de contenus numériques de qualité pour les étudiants

Soutien au développement de ressources numériques pour l'enseignement et l'apprentissage dans les universités québécoises : faits saillants

Tiré de l'écran-titre (visionné le 27 juin 2017).Entre octobre 2010 et janvier 2011, nous avons contacté les membres du Sous-comité sur la pédagogie et les technologies de l'information et de la communication (SC-PTIC) de la CREPUQ pour leur demander de bien vouloir participer à cette cueillette d'information. De ceux-ci les répondants de 15 universités québécoises ont complété le questionnaire et participé à un entretien téléphonique complémentaire pour fournir les données qui ont permis de produire ces quelques constats. L’objectif de la présente démarche n’est pas de faire des comparaisons, mais plutôt de mieux connaître, globalement, la situation dans les universités québécoises

Long-term and recent changes in sea level in the Falkland Islands

Mean sea level measurements made at Port Louis in the Falkland Islands in 1981-2, 1984 and 2009, together with values from the nearby permanent tide gauge at Port Stanley, have been compared to measurements made at Port Louis in 1842 by James Clark Ross. The long-term rate of change of sea level is estimated to have been +0.75 ± 0.35 mm/year between 1842 and the early 1980s, after correction for air pressure effects and for vertical land movement due to Glacial Isostatic Adjustment (GIA). The 2009 Port Louis data set is of particular importance due to the availability of simultaneous information from Port Stanley. The data set has been employed in two ways, by providing a short recent estimate of mean sea level itself, and by enabling the effective combination of measurements at the two sites. The rate of sea level rise observed since 1992, when the modern Stanley gauge was installed, has been larger at 2.51 ± 0.58 mm/year, after correction for air pressure and GIA. This rate compares to a value of 2.79 ± 0.42 mm/year obtained from satellite altimetry in the region over the same period. Such a relatively recent acceleration in the rate of sea level rise is consistent with findings from other locations in the southern hemisphere and globall

From Servants to Staff: The Making of a Modern Estate, Chatsworth 1908-1950

Taking as its subject the estate of Chatsworth, in rural Derbyshire, this thesis addresses the question of how the history of the country estate can be understood, not from the perspective of a single social group, but in relation to the whole community who lived, worked and interacted within its boundaries. Structurally, the thesis is comprised of four thematically organised chapters. Each focuses upon a different subset of the estate community and draws upon different kinds of archival material. Each chapter also adopts a distinct methodological approach in response to the source material under scrutiny. In particular, the thesis pays attention to analytical tools developed within the field of historical pragmatics. I argue that this innovative, multi-methodological approach enables a holistic understanding of archival sources to emerge. The thesis finds that, while demographic mapping provides one level of insight, the information contained within letters and memoirs can be crucial for understanding the social norms and interpersonal relationships which made up the framework underpinning the estate community. In particular, it draws upon a variety of documents from the records of Chatsworth’s senior employees, who occupied an important mediatory role within the estate hierarchy. The records of these servants provide a unique insight into how estates such as Chatsworth functioned as social organisms. They offer access to the experiences of the lower-ranking individuals inhabiting the estate, which are unlikely to have been recorded elsewhere, whilst also providing a new vantage point from which to observe the social and professional obligations placed upon the estate’s upper-class landowners