Serological survey of Babesia bovis and Anaplasma marginale in cattle in Tete Province, Mozambique

A serological survey of bovine babesiosis and anaplasmosis in communal cattle was conducted in the northwestern province of Tete, Mozambique. Blood was collected from cattle ranging from 4 to 15 months old from randomly selected farms from six districts. Thirty-nine per cent of all 478 calves tested in Tete Province were seropositive to the ELISA for Babesia bovis antibodies and 63% of all calves were seropositive in the card agglutination test for Anaplasma marginale. Seroprevalence of B. bovis ranged from 22.8% in Tete City District to 48.1% in Angonia District. For A. marginale, it ranged from 34.4% in Angonia District to 87.3% in Moatize District. The dominant factor affecting seroprevalence for both haemoparasites was district and there was a trend for higher intensity of tick control to be associated with a higher seroprevalence of B. bovis and a lower seroprevalence of A. marginale. The obvious differences were the low prevalence of B. bovis in Tete City Council District and the low prevalence of A. marginale in Angonia District. The levels of exposure to B. bovis seen in our study are well below any that could be considered to be consistent with endemic stability, yet they are sufficiently high to ensure that clinical disease would be a risk. The seroprevalence of A. marginale, however, suggests that endemic stability with respect to this disease could exist in districts other than Angonia. There was no strong and consistent relationship between the intensity of control and the likelihood of seropositivity to either of the diseases.

The positive impact of multiple sclerosis (MS) on carers: Associations between carer benefit finding and positive and negative adjustment domains

Purpose. This study examined benefit finding in MS carers including the dimensionality of benefit finding, relations between carer and care recipient benefit finding, and the effects of carer benefit finding on carer positive and negative adjustment domains. Method. A total of 267 carers and their care recipients completed questionnaires at Time 1 and 3 months later, Time 2 (n=155). Illness data were collected at Time 1, and number of problems, stress appraisal, benefit finding, negative (global distress, negative affect) and positive (life satisfaction, positive affect, dyadic adjustment) adjustment domains were measured at Time 2. Results. Qualitative data revealed seven benefit finding themes, two of which were adequately represented by the Benefit Finding Scale (BFS) [1] (Mohr et al. Health Psychology 1999; 18: 376). Factor analyses indicated two factors (Personal Growth, Family Relations Growth) which were psychometrically sound and showed differential relations with illness and adjustment domains. Although care recipients reported higher levels of benefit finding than carers, their benefit finding reports regarding personal growth were correlated. The carer BFS factors were positively related to carer and care recipient dyadic adjustment. Care recipient benefit finding was unrelated to carer adjustment domains. After controlling for the effects of demographics, care recipient characteristics, problems and appraisal, carer benefit finding was related to carer positive adjustment domains and unrelated to carer negative adjustment domains. Conclusion. Findings support the role of benefit finding in sustaining positive psychological states and the communal search for meaning within carer-care recipient dyads.

Applying network analysis to the conservation of habitat trees in urban environments: a case study from Brisbane, Australia

In Australia more than 300 vertebrates, including 43 insectivorous bat species, depend on hollows in habitat trees for shelter, with many species using a network of multiple trees as roosts, We used roost-switching data on white-striped freetail bats (Tadarida australis; Microchiroptera: Molossidae) to construct a network representation of day roosts in suburban Brisbane, Australia. Bats were caught from a communal roost tree with a roosting group of several hundred individuals and released with transmitters. Each roost used by the bats represented a node in the network, and the movements of bats between roosts formed the links between nodes. Despite differences in gender and reproductive stages, the bats exhibited the same behavior throughout three radiotelemetry periods and over 500 bat days of radio tracking: each roosted in separate roosts, switched roosts very infrequently, and associated with other bats only at the communal roost This network resembled a scale-free network in which the distribution of the number of links from each roost followed a power law. Despite being spread over a large geographic area (> 200 km(2)), each roost was connected to others by less than three links. One roost (the hub or communal roost) defined the architecture of the network because it had the most links. That the network showed scale-free properties has profound implications for the management of the habitat trees of this roosting group. Scale-free networks provide high tolerance against stochastic events such as random roost removals but are susceptible to the selective removal of hub nodes. Network analysis is a useful tool for understanding the structural organization of habitat tree usage and allows the informed judgment of the relative importance of individual trees and hence the derivation of appropriate management decisions, Conservation planners and managers should emphasize the differential importance of habitat trees and think of them as being analogous to vital service centers in human societies.

Parceria ou mera relação social? Estudo de Caso das relações entre a BASF SA e a comunidade do seu entorno em Guaratinguetá/SP

Estudo sobre as relações comunicacionais entre a multinacional BASF e a comunidade no seu entorno na cidade de Guaratinguetá, no interior de São Paulo. O objetivo geral é analisar em que condições uma empresa multinacional e uma comunidade ao seu redor podem concretizar na prática uma parceria em busca de uma gestão socialmente mais responsável, bem como verificar qual o poder de interferência dessa comunidade em seus processos de comunicação. A metodologia utilizada foi estudo de caso por meio de análise de documentos, observação participante em reunião do Conselho Comunitário, grupo de discussão e entrevistas semiestruturadas, além de pesquisa bibliográfica. Procuramos compreender a percepção de membros do Conselho, de moradores da cidade, da mídia local e também dos profissionais de comunicação da multinacional. A principal conclusão é que o quepoderia se constituir em uma parceria de sucesso para ambos os lados, acaba se restringindo a uma mera relação social, onde os dois lados parecem se sentir bem e estão convictos de que realizam seus trabalhos da melhor maneira possível.

MÍDIA E COMUNIDADE: estudo sobre produção e recepção da rádio Heliópolis FM

O trabalho é um estudo sobre produção e recepção da rádio Heliópolis FM, por seu público alvo, moradores de Heliópolis. O objetivo foi compreender como a rádio é percebida por seus ouvintes. Metodologicamente, o estudo foi divido em duas etapas. A primeira é mais conceitual e baseada em pesquisa bibliográfica. Na etapa seguinte, resgata-se o histórico da emissora e verifica-se a apropriação da Heliópolis FM por moradores e se a emissora desempenha papel comunitário, investigando-se como a rádio é apropriada por seus ouvintes assíduos. A aproximação à recepção foi feita tendo por base a vertente teórico-metodológica do uso social dos meios, de Jesús Martín-Barbero, segundo o qual este tipo de estudo consiste no deslocamento do espaço de interesse dos meios para o lugar onde é produzido o seu sentido movimentos sociais e, de um modo especial, daqueles que partem do bairro (1997). A técnica usada foi a entrevista semi-estruturada. Conclui-se que a rádio é percebida como comunitária por seus receptores principalmente porque abre espaço para a população local produzir programas, escolher as músicas que serão tocadas, apresentar seus trabalhos e utilizar seus serviços como o de localização de pessoas e documentos perdidos gratuitamente.(AU)

Influencing water consumption at South Staffordshire Water PLC : a disaggregated behavioural analysis of contributory factors

This research identifies factors which influence the consumption of potable water supplied to customers' property. A complete spectrum of the customer base is examined including household, commercial and industrial properties. The research considers information from around the world, particularly demand management and tariff related projects from North America. A device termed the Flow Moderator was developed and proven, with extensive trials, to conserve water at a rate equivalent to 40 litres/property/day whilst maintaining standards-of-service considerably in excess of Regulatory requirements. A detailed appraisal of the Moderator underlines the costs and benefits available to the industry through deliberate application of even mild demand management. More radically the concept of a charging policy utilising the Moderator is developed and appraised. Advantages include the lower costs of conventional fixed-price charging systems coupled with the conservation and equitability aspects associated with metering. Explanatory models were developed linking consumption to a range of variables demonstrated that households served by a communal water service-pipe (known in the UK as a shared supply) are subject to associated restrictions equivalent to -180 litres/property/day. The research confirmed that occupancy levels were a significant predictive element for household, commercial and industrial customers. The occurrence of on-property leakage was also demonstrated to be a significant factor recorded as an event which offers considerable scope for demand management in its own right.

Statnote 30 : The one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA):fixed effects model

In Statnote 9, we described a one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) ‘random effects’ model in which the objective was to estimate the degree of variation of a particular measurement and to compare different sources of variation in space and time. The illustrative scenario involved the role of computer keyboards in a University communal computer laboratory as a possible source of microbial contamination of the hands. The study estimated the aerobic colony count of ten selected keyboards with samples taken from two keys per keyboard determined at 9am and 5pm. This type of design is often referred to as a ‘nested’ or ‘hierarchical’ design and the ANOVA estimated the degree of variation: (1) between keyboards, (2) between keys within a keyboard, and (3) between sample times within a key. An alternative to this design is a 'fixed effects' model in which the objective is not to measure sources of variation per se but to estimate differences between specific groups or treatments, which are regarded as 'fixed' or discrete effects. This statnote describes two scenarios utilizing this type of analysis: (1) measuring the degree of bacterial contamination on 2p coins collected from three types of business property, viz., a butcher’s shop, a sandwich shop, and a newsagent and (2) the effectiveness of drugs in the treatment of a fungal eye infection.

Nurturing health-related online support groups:exploring the experience of patient moderators

The aim of this study was to examine the views of moderators across a diverse and geographically broad range of online support groups about their moderator experiences and to explore both the personal benefits as well as challenges involved. Thirty-three patient moderators completed an online questionnaire which included a series of open-ended questions. Thematic analysis identified three themes: emergence, empowerment, nurturing. Several moderators declared their own diagnosis and for some, being able to share personal insights motivated them to establish the group and in turn offered validation. They felt empowered by helping others and learned more about the condition through accessing the "communal brain". Some felt the group aided patients' access to health services and their ability to communicate with health professionals while others worried about them becoming over-dependent. Moderators described needing to nurture their group to ensure it offered a safe space for members. Clear rules of engagement, trust, organisation skills, compassion and kindness were considered essential. Patient moderated online support groups can be successfully developed and facilitated and can be empowering for both the group member and moderator alike.© 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Ecologia e história natural de população Hemidactylus agrius (Squamata: Gekkonidae) em área de Caatinga, com avaliação da distribuição das espécies nativas do gênero no nordeste do Brasil

The genus Hemidactylus Oken, 1817 has cosmopolite distribution, with three species occurring in Brazil, two of them native, H. brasilianus and H. agrius, and one exotic, H. mabouia. Considering the studies about ecology of lizards conducted in the Ecological Station of the Seridó, from 2001 to 2011, this study aimed (1) to re-evaluate the occurrence of the species of Hemidactylus in this ESEC; (2) to analyze ecological and biological aspects of the H. agrius population; and (3) to investigate the current and potential distribution of the native species of the genus in northeastern Brazil, analyzing the suitability of ESEC to this taxon. For the first two objectives, a sampling area consisting of five transects of 200 x 20 m, was inspected in alternating daily shifts for three consecutive days, from August 2012 to August 2013. For the latter objective, occurrence points of H. agrius and H. brasilianus from literature and from the database of Herpetological Collections of the UFRN and the UNICAMP were consulted to build predictive maps via the Maximum Entropy algorithm (MaxEnt). In ESEC Seridó, 62 H. agrius individuals were collected (25 females, 18 males and 19 juveniles), and two neonates were obtained from a communal nest incubated in the laboratory. No record was made for the other two species of the genus. Hemidactylus agrius demonstrated to be a nocturnal species specialized in habitats with rocky outcrops; but this species is generalist regarding microhabitat use. In the population studied, females had an average body length greater than males, and showed higher frequencies of caudal autotomy. Regarding diet, H. agrius is a moderately generalist species that consumes arthropods, especially insect larvae, Isoptera and Araneae; and vertebrates, with a case of cannibalism registered in the population. With respect to seasonal differences, only the number of food items ingested differed between seasons. The diet was similar between sexes, but ontogenetic differences were recorded for the total volume and maximum length of the food items. Significant relationships were found between lizard body/head size measurements and the maximum length of prey consumed. Cases of polydactyly and tail bifurcation were recorded in the population, with frequencies of 1.6% and 3.1%, respectively. In relation xv to the occurrence points of the native species, 27 were identified, 14 for H. agrius and 13 for H. brasilianus. The first species presented restricted distribution, while the second showed a wide distribution. In both models generated, the ESEC Seridó area showed medium to high suitability. The results of this study confirm the absence of H. brasilianus and H. mabouia this ESEC, and reveal H. agrius as a dietary opportunist and cannibal species. Further, the results confirm the distribution patterns shown by native species of Hemidactylus, and point ESEC Seridó as an area of probable occurrence for the species of the genus, the establishing of H. brasilianus and H. mabouia are probably limited by biotic factors, a fact yet little understood

Reserva extrativista Acaú-Goiana: tragédia comum ou decisão coletiva?

In recent years we have observed, in Brazil, the expansion of democratic spaces, providing the use of participatory management strategies in common-pool areas. However, the existence of a co-management model does not guarantee its practice, neither that it will prevent the depletion of common features characterizing the tragedy proposed by Hardin. In this work we analysed the management of Acaú-Goiana RESEX which is located in the cities of Acaú (PB) and Goiana (PE), eight years after its legal creation. We evaluated how much the users of RESEX possess information (even if non formalized) regarding the common use of area and whether they exhibit collectivist values. We used as an interpretative tool the facilitators principles of common resource management (PGRC) identified by Elinor Ostrom and the questionnaire of human values proposed by Schwartz. The human values questionnaire was applied to 240 individuals, half beneficiary and the other half non-beneficiary, only the beneficiaries were submitted to the questionnaire of PGRC. Interviews were conducted in the period of May to September 2014. We tested three hypotheses: 1) The degree of dependence from RESEX resources will play an important role on indirect knowledge of the PGRC; 2) the inclusion of individuals in a communal area (RESEX) increases collectivists values; 3) higher collectivist value rates increases knowledge of PGRC. To this end, we defined levels of socio-economic dependence of RESEX resources, knowledge of PGRC and individual values. GLM statistic analysis of mean comparison and correlation were employed. Our results showed that the knowledge on six of the seven items analyzed in the basic principles (PGRC) is still low. The extended land area and the high number of users may be exerting a detrimental effect on the development of a co-management. Contrary to expected, it was not the dependency who influenced knowledge on the PGRC, but the time spent in contact with the RESEX. This indicates that direct contact with the environment, not the dependence of it, that raises awareness about PGRC. According to our hypothesis, individuals with collectivist values showed greater knowledge of PGRC and reduced hours of work within the RESEX, indicating a greater tendency of individuals refrain their use of the common resource. Individualistic values correlated with less knowledge of a PGRC. Among the beneficiaries, individuals with higher individualistic values had higher monthly income, while among non-beneficiaries there was no such correlation, demonstrating the economic advantages of individualism (free-riding) in situations of non-private use of resources. Our data emphasize the importance of guiding the main actors in the development of a co-participatory management in the direction of the basic principles, and to develop collectivist values among users of a common good can raise awareness of these principles.

The Didache and Traditioned Innovation: Shaping Christian Community in the First Century and the Twenty-First Century

Church leaders, both lay and clergy, shape Christian community. Among their central tasks are: building communal identity, nurturing Christian practices, and developing faithful structures. When it comes to understanding the approach of the earliest Christian communities to these tasks, the Didache might well be the most important text most twenty-first century church leaders have never read. The Didache innovated on tradition, shaping the second generation of Christians to meet the crises and challenges of a changing world.

Most likely composed in the second half of the first century, the Didache served as a training manual for gentile converts to Christianity, preparing them for life in Christian community. This brief document, roughly one third the length of Mark’s gospel, developed within early Jewish-Christian communities. It soon found wide usage throughout the Mediterranean region, and its influence endured throughout the patristic and into the medieval period.

The Didache outlines emerging Christian practices that were rooted in both Jewish tradition and early Jesus material, yet were reaching forward in innovative ways. The Didache adopts historical teachings and practices and then adapts them for an evolving context. In this respect, the writers of the Didache, as well as the community shaped by its message, exemplify the pattern of thinking described by Greg Jones as “traditioned innovation.”

The Didache invites reflection on the shape and content of Christian community and Christian leadership in the twenty-first century. As churches and church leaders engage a rapidly changing world, the Didache is an unlikely and yet important conversation partner from two millennia ago. A quick read through its pages – a task accomplished in less than half an hour – brings the reader face to face with a brand of Christianity both very familiar and strikingly dissimilar to modern Christianity. Such dissonance challenges current assumptions about the church and creates a space in which to re-imagine our situation in light of this ancient Christian tradition. The Didache provides a window through which we might re-examine current conceptualizations of Christian life, liturgy, and leadership.

This thesis begins with an exploration of the form and function of the Didache and an examination of a number of important background issues for the informed study of the Didache. The central chapters of this thesis exegete and explore select passages in each of the three primary sections of the Didache – the Two Ways (Didache 1-6), the liturgical section (Didache 7-10), and the church order (Didache 11-15). In each instance, the composers of the Didache reach back into a cherished and life-giving aspect of the community’s heritage and shape it anew into a fresh and faithful approach to living the Christian life in a drastically different context.

The thesis concludes with three suggestions of how the Didache may provide a resource for the way the Church in the present thinks about training disciples, shaping community, and developing leadership structures. These conversation starters offer beginning points for a richer, fuller discussion of traditioned innovation in our current church context. The Didache provides a source of wisdom from our spiritual forebears that modern Christian leaders would do well not to ignore. With a look through the first century window of the Didache, twenty-first century Christians can discover fresh insights for shaping Christian community in the present.

Knowing The Way: Scriptural Imagination and the Acts of the Apostles

In this dissertation, I offer a pedagogical proposal for learning the Christian Scriptures guided by respect for the nature of the reader and the integrity of the biblical text. Christian educators have profitably developed recent theoretical interest in the body’s role in human meaning with regard to worship and praxis methodologies, but the implications of this research for communal study of the biblical text merit further development. I make the case for adopting scriptural imagination as the goal of pedagogically constructed encounters with the Christian Scriptures. The argument proceeds through a series of questions addressing both sides of the text/reader encounter.

Chapter one considers the question “what is the nature of the reader and, subsequently, the shape of the reader’s ways of knowing?” This investigation into recent literature on the body’s involvement in human knowing includes related epistemological shifts with Christian education. On the basis of this survey, imagination emerges as a compelling designator of an incorporative, constructive creaturely capacity that gives rise to a way of being in the world. Teachers of Scripture who intend to participate in Christian formation should account for the imagination’s centrality for all knowing. After briefly situating this proposal within a theological account of creatureliness, I make the initial case for Scriptural imagination as a pedagogical aim.

Imagination as creaturely capacity addresses the first guiding value, but does this proposal also respect the integrity and nature of the biblical text, and specifically of biblical narratives? In response, in chapter two I take up the Acts of the Apostles as a potential test case and exemplar for the dynamics pertinent to the formation of imagination. Drawing on secondary literature on the genre and literary features of Acts, I conclude that Acts coheres with this project’s explicit interest in imagination as a central component of the process of Christian formation in relationship to the Scriptures.

Chapters three and four each take up a pericope from Acts to assess whether the theoretical perspectives developed in prior chapters generate any interpretive payoff. In each of these chapters, a particular story within Acts functions as a test case for readings of biblical narratives guided by a concern for scriptural imagination. Each of these chapters begins with further theoretical development of some element of imaginal formation. Chapter three provides a theoretical account of practices as they relate to imagination, bringing that theory into conversation with Peter’s engagement in hospitality practices with Cornelius in Acts 10:1-11:18. Chapter four discusses the formative power of narratives, with implications for the analysis of Paul’s shipwreck in Acts 27:1-28:16.

In the final chapter, I offer a two-part constructive pedagogical proposal for reading scriptural narratives in Christian communities. First, I suggest adopting resonance above relevance as the goal of pedagogically constructed encounters with the Scriptures. Second, I offer three ways of reading with the body, including the physical, ecclesial, and social bodies that shape all learning. I conclude by identifying the importance of scriptural imagination for Christian formation and witness in the twenty-first century.

Many voices: Building a biblioblogosphere in Ireland

Blogging has been associated with the Library and Information Science (LIS) community for some time now. Libfocus.com is an online blog that was founded in 2011. Its goal was to create a communal communication space for LIS professionals in Ireland and beyond, to share and discuss issues and ideas. The content of the blog is curated by an editorial team, and features guest bloggers from across all sectors and experience levels. Using a qualitative methodological approach, open-ended surveys were conducted with twelve previous guest bloggers, in order to explore how and why Irish-based LIS professionals choose to communicate through blogging. It is hoped that this evidence will provide a greater understanding of both the value and effectiveness of blogging as an outreach and communication tool within the profession, helping both libraries and librarians to be more strategic in their use of it as a medium.

Overnight Summer Music Camp and the Impact on its Youth: A Case Study

This qualitative case study explores an overnight music camp, Camp Encore Coda. The purpose is to gain an understanding of the environment, uncovering the unique ways it impacts the social and musical developments of its participating youth while contrasting it to that of the traditional classroom. Framed by the concept of multidimensional growth, data were collected using surveys, interviews, focus group, and observations. The study uncovered exorbitant levels of social and musical growth among the youth; all directly linked to isolation from technology, communal living, and musical immersion in a community of practice. There lacks a significant amount of music education research attempting to explore and provide an initial evaluation of the learning opportunities unique to overnight music camps. This is particularly significant for music educators who strive to continue the advancement of the field through positive impact on students inside and outside of the school classroom.

Trabajo de campo en geografía : Experiencia en región con conflictos socioambientales

El artículo rescata la importancia del trabajo de campo geográfico en una región con conflictos socioambientales, como el del el agua en las Sierras Chicas de Córdoba. Se hace eje en una experiencia pedagógica, la Práctica Sociocomunitaria (PSC), llevada a cabo por profesores, alumnos y ayudantes de la materia Geografía Rural, de la carrera de Licenciatura en Geografía de la Facultad de Filosofía y Humanidades (FFyH), en la localidad de La Granja, departamento Colón, de la provincia de Córdoba. La PSC es una experiencia que acerca a los alumnos al campo social de los conflictos territoriales. Se trata de una modalidad que va más allá de un proyecto de extensión, ya que involucra a todos los alumnos del grado que cursan la materia. Y es también una manera de aunar, en nuestro caso desde el quehacer geográfico, las funciones de docencia, investigación y extensión propias de los universitarios. Se pretende, a través de la PSC, acercar a los alumnos de Geografía Rural al trabajo de campo, con organizaciones sociales de base local motorizadas que conocen los problemas de su localidad en profundidad y que trabajan junto con nuestro equipo de investigación. A la vez, el contacto, las reflexiones grupales e individuales, los debates con los estudiantes universitarios, aportarán al colectivo social, una ampliación de la esfera de conocimientos de la realidad sobre la que viven y luchan. El artículo comienza definiendo qué se entiende por PSC. Luego, atendiendo específicamente a nuestra práctica, desarrollamos lo que para nosotros son las dos lógicas que sustentan el trabajo en terreno. Una, referida a la construcción del conocimiento, a los modos diversos de aprender y de saber. Otra, vinculada a la comprensión del conflicto socioterritorial, en relación con el escenario donde se realiza la práctica: la Mesa del Agua y Ambiente de La Granja. Incluimos un apartado sobre la descripción de la experiencia y los resultados, para finalizar con algunas reflexiones pensadas en función de la continuidad de la práctica.