Comparison of synthetic membranes in the development of an in vitro feeding system for Dermanyssus gallinae

Although artificial feeding models for the poultry red mite (Dermanyssus gallinae) most frequently use biological membranes consisting of day-old chick skin, there are ethical considerations associated with the use of skin. The few studies reported in the literature that have investigated the use of synthetic membranes to feed D. gallinae in vitro have reported limited success. The current study describes an investigation into the use of synthetic membranes made from either Nescofilm® or rayon and silicone, used either alone or in combination with different feather or skin extracts, as well as the use of capillary tubes. In all, 12 different treatments were used, and the feeding rate of D. gallinae was compared to that of day-old chick skin. Allowing mites to feed on a membrane consisting of Nescofilm with a skin extract resulted in the highest proportion of mites feeding (32.3%), which was not significantly different to the feeding rate of mites on day-old chick skin (38.8%). This study confirms that synthetic membranes can be used to feed D. gallinae artificially. Further optimization of the membrane and mite storage conditions is still necessary, but the study demonstrates a proof of concept

Exploring ‘pro-environmental’ actions through discarded materials in the home

The household is a crucial focus of both waste and wider environmental policy, being seen as a central site of socio -economic-environmental change, a space in which people may perform their civic responsibilities and where individual and wider imperatives are brought together. Yet policy makers have shown limited appreciation and understanding of what happens inside the home. So in contemporary waste policy, for example, households remain a ‘closed entity’ in which everyday routines and practices remain hidden. Increasingly, though, it is acknowledged by social scientists that the lived experiences of environmental and waste management in the home are significant issues requiring further study, but how we might go about trying to study them is proving a challenging question. Conventional pro-environmental behaviour research has often tended to study behaviours in ways abstracted from the social contexts in which these take place. This has prompted recent research involving repeat in-depth interviews with householders and more ethnographic approaches, the use of reflexive diaries and narrative methodologies. Curiously, however, there has been little research considering environmental management(s) in the home which has focussed on waste itself. This paper seeks to add to the discussion, by focusing on everyday processes within households, using a qualitative approach of ‘getting in the bin’ of households - that is, an interview approach which takes respondents’ discarded waste as a starting point from which we ask them to discuss the lived experience(s) and activities of everyday life. More broadly by developing insights from what has been termed a ‘realist governmentality’ perspective the paper seeks to offer a more nuanced and finely grained analysis of governing in situ, exploring the extent to which governmental ambitions in relation to waste are accommodated, resisted or [re]worked at the household level. The paper draws illustratively on case studies from a Leverhulme-funded research project based in Kingston-Upon-Thames, an outer London borough in the UK. The approach used a focus on the contents of household waste bins to develop a narrative approach driven by householders centred on stories about pro-environmental practice. The paper will deal with three elements of the research approach: texturing narratives of waste, generating narratives of recycling in practice, and producing narratives of understanding. The outcome is development of a more thoroughgoing understanding of how processes within the home shape waste governance, moving beyond treating the home as a closed entity

Synchronization of oscillators coupled through an environment

We study synchronization of oscillators that are indirectly coupled through their interaction with an environment. We give criteria for the stability or instability of a synchronized oscillation. Using these criteria we investigate synchronization of systems of oscillators which are weakly coupled, in the sense that the influence of the oscillators on the environment is weak. We prove that arbitrarily weak coupling will synchronize the oscillators, provided that this coupling is of the 'right' sign. We illustrate our general results by applications to a model of coupled GnRH neuron oscillators proposed by Khadra and Li, and to indirectly weakly-coupled lambda-omega oscillator

Mumps and rubella surveillance in Victoria, 1993 to 2000

Despite improving childhood coverage of the measles-mumps-rubella vaccine (MMR) in Victoria during the 1990s, mumps and rubella notifications in age groups eligible for vaccination persisted. This study reviewed the mumps and rubella surveillance data from 1993 to 2000 with a specific focus on method of diagnosis. There were 474 notifications of mumps over the seven-year period (annual median 61, range 40 to 77) and 3,544 notifications of rubella (annual median 297, range 66 to 1,165). The highest notifications rates for mumps were consistently among the 1-4 and 5-9 year age groups, whereas there was a marked change in the age distribution of rubella notifications during this interval. A large rubella outbreak occurred in 1995 with 1,165 notifications; the highest notification rates were males aged 15-24 years, infants under one year of age (males and females), and those aged 5-14 years (males and females), respectively. The susceptibility of 5-24 year olds reflects historical changes to the Australian Standard Vaccination Schedule. Rubella notifications returned to baseline levels in 1998 with the highest notification rates in infants aged under one year, and children aged 1-4 years. For both mumps and rubella, the majority of notifications for all age groups were clinically diagnosed, and were most common in children. Commun Dis Intell 2003;27:94-99

Climate geoengineering: issues of path-dependence and socio-technical lock-in

As academic and policy interest in climate geoengineering grows, the potential irreversibility of technological developments in this domain has been raised as a pressing concern. The literature on socio-technical lock-in and path dependence is illuminating in helping to situate current concerns about climate geoengineering and irreversibility in the context of academic understandings of historical socio-technical development and persistence. This literature provides a wealth of material illustrating the pervasiveness of positive feedbacks of various types (from the discursive to the material) leading to complex socio-technical entanglements which may resist change and become inflexible even in the light of evidence of negative impacts. With regard to climate geoengineering, there are concerns that geoengineering technologies might contribute so-called ‘carbon lock-in’, or become irreversibly ‘locked-in’ themselves. In particular, the scale of infrastructures that geoengineering interventions would require, and the issue of the so-called ‘termination effect’ have been discussed in these terms. Despite the emergent and somewhat ill-defined nature of the field, some authors also suggest that the extant framings of geoengineering in academic and policy literatures may already demonstrate features recognizable as forms of cognitive lock-in, likely to have profound implications for future developments in this area. While the concepts of path-dependence and lock-in are the subject of ongoing academic critique, by drawing analytical attention to these pervasive processes of positive feedback and entanglement, this literature is highly relevant to current debates around geoengineering

Long-term home cage activity scans reveal lowered exploratory behaviour in symptomatic female Rett mice

<p>Numerous experimental models have been developed to reiterate endophenotypes of Rett syndrome, a neurodevelopmental disorder with a multitude of motor, cognitive and vegetative symptoms. Here, female Mecp2Stop mice [1] were characterised at mild symptomatic conditions in tests for anxiety (open field, elevated plus maze) and home cage observation systems for food intake, locomotor activity and circadian rhythms.</p> <p>Aged 8–9 months, Mecp2Stop mice presented with heightened body weight, lower overall activity in the open field, but no anxiety phenotype. Although home cage activity scans conducted in two different observation systems, PhenoMaster and PhenoTyper, confirmed normal circadian activity, they revealed severely compromised habituation to a novel environment in all parameters registered including those derived from a non-linear decay model such as initial exploration maximum, decay half-life of activity and span, as well as plateau. Furthermore, overall activity was significantly reduced in nocturnal periods due to reductions in both fast ambulatory movements, but also a slow lingering. In contrast, light-period activity profiles during which the amount of sleep was highest remained normal in Mecp2Stop mice.</p> <p>These data confirm the slow and progressive development of Rett-like symptoms in female Mecp2Stop mice resulting in a prominent reduction of overall locomotor activity, while circadian rhythms are maintained. Alterations in the time-course of habituation may indicate deficiencies in cognitive processing.</p&gt

WORKPLACE COMMUNICATION: EXAMINING LEADER-MEMBER EXCHANGE THEORY, UNCERTAINTY AVOIDANCE, AND SOCIAL STYLES

There are numerous books, articles, and papers written about communicating in the work environment; especially how to communicate to the work force at large. However, not much is written or studied concerning the dyadic communication between supervisor and subordinate. The paper will use leader-member exchange theory (LMX) as a basis for communication between supervisor and subordinate. LMX gives steps to aid in the communication process and helps guide the relationship between a supervisor and subordinate; however, there are two other elements in need of attention. In order to communicate effectively with their subordinates, supervisors need an understanding of the subordinates’ social-styles and uncertainty avoidance level. With a full understanding of these two individualistic elements, supervisors will be able to adjust their communication social style and frequency of dialogue to use LMX in building a lasting workplace relationship

Lottery and Landscape: Rural Development through Re-Creation of Historic Landscapes Examples from the English West Midlands

Environmental management and community development in rural areas of Developed Countries have frequently sought to identify particular landscape components that it is deemed appropriate to re-establish or to re-create. Hence key elements in government-supported projects have included native vegetation, cultural artefacts, historic buildings and particular elements in the landscape, such as hedges, stone walls and riparian woodland. The targeting of 'heritage landscapes' has been extended into new areas in the United Kingdom (UK) through funding associated with the National Lottery scheme, first launched in 1994. This paper examines the Lottery's contribution to landscape restoration and related aspects of community development, drawing upon two case studies in the English West Midlands. The case studies reflect different scales at which restoration associated with Lottery funding are occurring. The Leasowes estate near Birmingham offers a micro-scale case study where an 18th century example of the English Picturesque landscape is being restored. This is essentially one individual's vision that has been resuscitated in recent years. In contrast, the Malvern Hills in the county of Worcestershire covers several thousands of ha and is a human-created landscape traceable to prehistory. Here the restoration aims to maintain landscape features dependent on longstanding grazing practices threatened by changing farm economics. Potential loss of perceived amenity associated with landscape change has driven public debate in the case of the Malverns whereas investment in landscape restoration for the Leasowes has been driven primarily by the local authority. The article highlights future research opportunities to address tensions between official views about landscape and cultural values possessed within the community. Keywords: historic landscapes, The Picturesque, heritage lottery, English Midlands, landscape restoratio

Between Scylla and Charybdis: women's labour migration and sex trafficking in the early Twentieth Century

This article explores the discursive and practical entanglements of women’s work and sex trafficking, in Britain and internationally, in the early twentieth century. It examines discussions about trafficking and women’s work during a period that was instrumental in codifying modern, international conceptions of ‘trafficking’ and argues that porous and faulty borders were drawn between sex work, women’s licit work, and their sexual exploitation and their exploitation as workers. These borders were at their thinnest in discussions about two very important sectors of female-dominated migrant labour: domestic and care work, and work in the entertainment industry. The anti-trafficking movement, the international labour movement, and the makers of national laws and policies, attempted to pick sexual labour apart from other forms of labour, and in doing so wilfully ignored or suppressed moments when they obviously intersected, and downplayed the role of other exploited and badly-paid licit work that sustained the global economy. But these attempts were rarely successful: despite the careful navigations of international and British officials, work kept finding its way back into discussions of sex trafficking, and sex trafficking remained entangled with the realities of women’s work

Climate change adaptation in agriculture: Ex ante analysis of promising and alternative crop technologies using DSSAT and IMPACT

Achieving and maintaining global food security is challenged by changes in population, income, and climate, among other drivers. Assessing these challenges and possible solutions over the coming decades requires a rigorous multidisciplinary approach. To answer this challenge, the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) has developed a system of linked simulation models of global agriculture to do long-run scenario analysis of the effects of climate change and various adaptation strategies. This system includes the core International Model for Policy Analysis of Agricultural Commodities and Trade (IMPACT), which is linked to water models (global hydrology, water basin management, and water stress on crops) and crop simulation models. The Global Futures and Strategic Foresight program, a CGIAR initiative led by IFPRI in collaboration with other CGIAR research centers, is working to improve these tools and conducting ex ante assessments of promising technologies, investments, and policies under alternative global futures. Baseline projections from IMPACT set the foundation with the latest outlook on long-term trends in food demand and agricultural production based on projected changes in population, income, technology, and climate. On top of the baseline, scenarios are developed for assessing the impacts of promising climate-adapted technologies for maize, wheat, rice, potatoes, sorghum, groundnut, and cassava on yields, area, production, trade, and prices in 2050 at a variety of scales. Yield gains from adoption of the selected technologies vary by technology and region, but are found to be generally comparable in scale to (and thus able to offset) the adverse effects of climate change under a high-emissions representative concentration pathway (RCP 8.5). Even more important in this long-term climate change scenario are effects of growth in population, income, and investments in overall technological change, highlighting the importance of linked assessment of biophysical and socioeconomic drivers to better understand climate impacts and responses. For all crops in the selected countries, climate change impacts are negative with the baseline technology. All new technologies have beneficial effects on yields under climate change, with combined traits (drought and heat tolerance) showing the greatest benefi