Development and testing of an evaluation procedure for commercial manure additive products.

Manure additive products can be used to reduce odour emissions (OE) from livestock farms. The standardised evaluation of these manure additive products under specific farm conditions is important. In this study, the efficacy of a manure additive (WonderTreat(TM), CKLS, Inc., Hong-Kong) was assessed under Australian conditions utilising a combination of laboratory and field-scale evaluation techniques. As a first step, the efficacy of the manure additive was assessed in a laboratory-scale trial using a series of uniformly managed digesters and standard odour, liquor ammonia and hydrogen sulphide concentration measurement procedures. This showed that the addition of WonderTreat(TM) at the 'low dose rate' (LDR) (102.6 g m-2) used during the trial significantly, but only marginally (30%; P = 0.02) reduced the OE rate (mean 13.9 OU m-2 s-1) of anaerobic pig liquor relative to an untreated control (UC) (19.9 OU m-2 s-1). However, the 'high dose rate' (HDR) (205.3 g m-2) also assessed during the trial preformed similarly (19.7 OU m-2 s-1) to the UC. No statistically significant difference in the concentrations of a range of measured water quality variables at the 5% level was observed between the treatments or controls digesters. As a second step, a field-scale assessment of the manure additive was undertaken at a commercial piggery. Two piggery manure lagoons (each with approximately 2500 m2 surface area) were included in the study; one was treated with WonderTreat(TM) while the other was used as control. The efficacy of the treatment was assessed using olfactometric evaluation of odour samples collected from the surface of the pond using a dynamic wind tunnel and ancillary equipment. No statistically significant reduction in OE rate could be demonstrated (P = 0.35), partially due to the limited number of samples taken during the assessment. However, there was a numerical reduction in the average OE rate of the treatment pond (29 OU m-2 s-1 at 1 m s-1) compared to the control lagoon (38 OU m-2 s-1 at 1 m s-1).

Genome-wide meta-analysis of common variant differences between men and women

The male-to-female sex ratio at birth is constant across world populations with an average of 1.06 (106 male to 100 female live births) for populations of European descent. The sex ratio is considered to be affected by numerous biological and environmental factors and to have a heritable component. The aim of this study was to investigate the presence of common allele modest effects at autosomal and chromosome X variants that could explain the observed sex ratio at birth. We conducted a large-scale genome-wide association scan (GWAS) meta-analysis across 51 studies, comprising overall 114 863 individuals (61 094 women and 53 769 men) of European ancestry and 2 623 828 common (minor allele frequency >0.05) single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs). Allele frequencies were compared between men and women for directly-typed and imputed variants within each study. Forward-time simulations for unlinked, neutral, autosomal, common loci were performed under the demographic model for European populations with a fixed sex ratio and a random mating scheme to assess the probability of detecting significant allele frequency differences. We do not detect any genome-wide significant (P < 5 x 10(-8)) common SNP differences between men and women in this well-powered meta-analysis. The simulated data provided results entirely consistent with these findings. This large-scale investigation across ~115 000 individuals shows no detectable contribution from common genetic variants to the observed skew in the sex ratio. The absence of sex-specific differences is useful in guiding genetic association study design, for example when using mixed controls for sex-biased traits.

“Come in and look around.” Professional development of student teachers through public pedagogy in a library exhibition

This paper describes a public pedagogy project embedded into "The Global Teacher", a subject within the Bachelor of Education program for student teachers at an Australian university. The subject provides a global perspective on socio-political issues that shape education. In 2013, The Global Teacher introduced an approach that asked student teachers to create a museum-style exhibition depicting six global education themes. This exhibition was displayed in the State Library and the public were invited to engage with the installations and the student teachers who created them. Our paper describes how the project was implemented by means of close collaboration between the QUT teacher educators, curators at the State Library of Queensland (SLQ), and student groups working on visually translating their understandings of global educational issues into a public exhibition. We discuss what was learned by our students and ourselves, as teacher educators, by engaging in this public pedagogy.

Under Swastika and the French flag.

The memoirs were originally written for the Harvard University competition in 1940 and were translated by the author in 2001. Reflections on his childhood in Germany and Austria. His parents were both from Poland. They moved to Vienna in 1921, where his father opened a haberdashery store in the Second district (Leopoldstadt). Otto attended primary school in Czerningasse. Birth of his sister Cecile in 1924. After his failing business endeavors his father decided to move back to Germany, where the family opened a department store in Elbing, East Prussia. Otto attended Gymnasium, where he was one of only two Jewish students in his class. Growing Nazi movement among students. Summer vacations on the Baltic Sea. Private piano lessons. Hitler’s rise in Germany and life under National Socialism. Bar mitzvah in 1933. Anti-Jewish boycotts. His father fled to Vienna in order to escape a rounding up of Jews. The family followed soon after to Austria. Otto attended Gymnasium in the Zirkusgasse and started to work as a tutor. Member of a youth group and hiking tours in the mountains. Recollections of the Anschluss in 1938. Fervent attempts to obtain an exit visa for the United States, where they had a relative in New York. Description of discriminations and frequent attacks on Jewish friends and relatives in the weeks after the Anschluss. Otto was picked up by Nazi stormtroops. He was forced to hold up an anti-Jewish sign and was walked up and down, receiving beatings and spittings in front of a jeering crowd. Detailed account of the atmosphere within the Jewish population. The Gymnasium Zirkusgasse was transferred into a Jewish school. Frequent attacks of Hitler Youths on the students. Preparations for the “Matura” despite the turmoil. In June of 1938 his father was arrested and sent to Dachau concentration camp. After passing the final exams, Otto planned on leaving the country illegally, since he was subject to the Polish quota for the United States with

Steven M. Lowenstein Collection - Addenda. 1960s-2007

The Steven Lowenstein Collections documents professional activities of Steven Lowenstein, writer, researcher, historian, and teacher. Documents comprising the collection reflect his interests in a wide spectrum of topics related to Jews and Judaism, such as modernity and tradition and their influence on the religion and common folks; Berlin Jews of the upper strata; similarities and differences between agrarian/rural and urban Jews; popular and official Judaism; secular and religious Jews; and other Jewish related topics. However, there is a very small amount of materials related to his professional activities other than research and writing.

Ecological dynamics of emerging bat virus spillover

Viruses that originate in bats may be the most notorious emerging zoonoses that spill over from wildlife into domestic animals and humans. Understanding how these infections filter through ecological systems to cause disease in humans is of profound importance to public health. Transmission of viruses from bats to humans requires a hierarchy of enabling conditions that connect the distribution of reservoir hosts, viral infection within these hosts, and exposure and susceptibility of recipient hosts. For many emerging bat viruses, spillover also requires viral shedding from bats, and survival of the virus in the environment. Focusing on Hendra virus, but also addressing Nipah virus, Ebola virus, Marburg virus and coronaviruses, we delineate this cross-species spillover dynamic from the within-host processes that drive virus excretion to land-use changes that increase interaction among species. We describe how land-use changes may affect co-occurrence and contact between bats and recipient hosts. Two hypotheses may explain temporal and spatial pulses of virus shedding in bat populations: episodic shedding from persistently infected bats or transient epidemics that occur as virus is transmitted among bat populations. Management of livestock also may affect the probability of exposure and disease. Interventions to decrease the probability of virus spillover can be implemented at multiple levels from targeting the reservoir host to managing recipient host exposure and susceptibility.

Seixas family papers, undated, 1746-1911, 1926, 1939.

The collection contains items relating to individual members of the family as well as the Seixas family in general. Included are papers of the following persons: Isaac Mendes Seixas (1708/9-1780/1), a copy of A voyage to Hudson's--Bay, by Henry Ellis, inscribed with his name on the title page, along with additional inscriptions on the end papers (1748); and a daily prayer book printed in Amsterdam (title page missing), with an inscription on the first page indicating that the book was owned by Seixas in 1758/9, and subsequently by his grandson, Theodore J. Seixas, in 1816/17.

Alice Davis Menken papers, undated, 1880-1936.

Primarily correspondence, reports, etc. relating to activities with the Society of New York State Women, Jewish Welfare Board, Jewish Protectory and Aid Society (later called Jewish Board of Guardians), New York City Woman's Night Court, Hudson State Training School, New York State Reformatory for Women, Society for Political Study, Daughters of American Revolution, Progressive Party, Mayor's Committee of Women on National Defense, New York, Congregation Shearith Israel, Florence Crittendon League, Committee of Fourteen and the Inwood House; includes also journals, diaries and other material relating to personal life, and a biographical sketch submitted to the Jewish Biographical Bureau, and copies of published and manuscript articles. Contains a "Survey of Reformatory and Correctional Institutions and Agencies As Related To The Problem of Commercialized Vice" in manuscript, submitted in August, 1919 and also material relating to program and activities of New York Training School For Community Center Workers.

Ecological dynamics of emerging bat virus spillover

Viruses that originate in bats may be the most notorious emerging zoonoses that spill over from wildlife into domestic animals and humans. Understanding how these infections filter through ecological systems to cause disease in humans is of profound importance to public health. Transmission of viruses from bats to humans requires a hierarchy of enabling conditions that connect the distribution of reservoir hosts, viral infection within these hosts, and exposure and susceptibility of recipient hosts. For many emerging bat viruses, spillover also requires viral shedding from bats, and survival of the virus in the environment. Focusing on Hendra virus, but also addressing Nipah virus, Ebola virus, Marburg virus and coronaviruses, we delineate this cross-species spillover dynamic from the within-host processes that drive virus excretion to land-use changes that increase interaction among species. We describe how land-use changes may affect co-occurrence and contact between bats and recipient hosts. Two hypotheses may explain temporal and spatial pulses of virus shedding in bat populations: episodic shedding from persistently infected bats or transient epidemics that occur as virus is transmitted among bat populations. Management of livestock also may affect the probability of exposure and disease. Interventions to decrease the probability of virus spillover can be implemented at multiple levels from targeting the reservoir host to managing recipient host exposure and susceptibility.

The life cycle and genetic structure of the red alga Furcellaria lumbricalis on a salinity gradient

The life cycle and genetic diversity of the red alga Furcellaria lumbricalis (Hudson) Lamouroux were investigated in 15 populations in northern Europe. The occurrence of different life cycle phases and seasonality of reproduction were studied in four brackish populations in the northern Baltic Sea. Furthermore, a new method, based on genome screening with ISSR markers combined with a restriction-ligation method, was developed to discover microsatellite markers for population genetic analyses. The mitochondrial DNA cox2-3 spacer sequence and four microsatellite markers were used to examine the genetic diversity and differentiation of red algal populations in northern Europe. In addition, clonality and small-scale genetic structure of one Irish and four Baltic Sea populations were studied with microsatellite markers. It was discovered that at the low salinities of the northern Baltic Sea, only tetrasporophytes and males were present in the populations of F. lumbricalis and that winter was the main season for tetrasporangial production. Furthermore, the population occurring at the lowest salinity (3.6 practical salinity units, psu) did not produce spores. The size of the tetraspores was smaller in the Baltic Sea populations than that in the Irish population, and there were more deformed spores in the Baltic Sea populations than in the Irish populations. Studies with microsatellite markers indicated that clonality is a common phenomenon in the Baltic Sea populations of F. lumbricalis, although the proportion of clonal individuals varied among populations. Some genetic divergence occurred within locations both in Ireland and in the northern Baltic Sea. Even though no carpogonia were detected in the field samples during the study, the microsatellite data indicated that sexual reproduction occurs at least occasionally in the northern Baltic Sea. The genetic diversity of F. lumbricalis was highest in Brittany, France. Since no variation was discovered in the mtDNA cox2-3 spacer sequence, which is generally regarded as an informative phylogeographic marker in red algae, it can be assumed that the studied populations probably share the same origin.

Unitary Processes with Independent Increments and Representations of Hilbert Tensor Algebras

The aim of this article is to characterize unitary increment process by a quantum stochastic integral representation on symmetric Fock space. Under certain assumptions we have proved its unitary equivalence to a Hudson-Parthasarathy flow.

Antarctic ice shelf melting and its impact on the global sea ice-ocean system

Earth s ice shelves are mainly located in Antarctica. They cover about 44% of the Antarctic coastline and are a salient feature of the continent. Antarctic ice shelf melting (AISM) removes heat from and inputs freshwater into the adjacent Southern Ocean. Although playing an important role in the global climate, AISM is one of the most important components currently absent in the IPCC climate model. In this study, AISM is introduced into a global sea ice-ocean climate model ORCA2-LIM, following the approach of Beckmann and Goosse (2003; BG03) for the thermodynamic interaction between the ice shelf and ocean. This forms the model ORCA2-LIM-ISP (ISP: ice shelf parameterization), in which not only all the major Antarctic ice shelves but also a number of minor ice shelves are included. Using these two models, ORCA2-LIM and ORCA2-LIM-ISP, the impact of addition of AISM and increasing AISM have been investigated. Using the ORCA2-LIM model, numerical experiments are performed to investigate the sensitivity of the polar sea ice cover and the Antarctic Circumpolar Current (ACC) transport through Drake Passage (DP) to the variations of three sea ice parameters, namely the thickness of newly formed ice in leads (h0), the compressive strength of ice (P*), and the turning angle in the oceanic boundary layer beneath sea ice (θ). It is found that the magnitudes of h0 and P* have little impact on the seasonal sea ice extent, but lead to large changes in the seasonal sea ice volume. The variation in turning angle has little impact on the sea ice extent and volume in the Arctic but tends to reduce them in the Antarctica when ignored. The magnitude of P* has the least impact on the DP transport, while the other two parameters have much larger influences. Numerical results from ORCA2-LIM and ORCA2-LIM-ISP are analyzed to investigate how the inclusion of AISM affects the representation of the Southern Ocean hydrography. Comparisons with data from the World Ocean Circulation Experiment (WOCE) show that the addition of AISM significantly improves the simulated hydrography. It not only warms and freshens the originally too cold and too saline bottom water (AABW), but also warms and enriches the salinity of the originally too cold and too fresh warm deep water (WDW). Addition of AISM also improves the simulated stratification. The close agreement between the simulation with AISM and the observations suggests that the applied parameterization is an adequate way to include the effect of AISM in a global sea ice-ocean climate model. We also investigate the models capability to represent the sea ice-ocean system in the North Atlantic Ocean and the Arctic regions. Our study shows both models (with and without AISM) can successfully reproduce the main features of the sea ice-ocean system. However, both tend to overestimate the ice flux through the Nares Strait, produce a lower temperature and salinity in the Hudson Bay, Baffin Bay and Davis Strait, and miss the deep convection in the Labrador Sea. These deficiencies are mainly attributed to the artificial enlargement of the Nares Strait in the model. In this study, the impact of increasing AISM on the global sea ice-ocean system is thoroughly investigated. This provides a first idea regarding changes induced by increasing AISM. It is shown that the impact of increasing AISM is global and most significant in the Southern Ocean. There, increasing AISM tends to freshen the surface water, to warm the intermediate and deep waters, and to freshen and warm the bottom water. In addition, increasing AISM also leads to changes in the mixed layer depths (MLD) in the deep convection sites in the Southern Ocean, deepening in the Antarctic continental shelf while shoaling in the ACC region. Furthermore, increasing AISM influences the current system in the Southern Ocean. It tends to weaken the ACC, and strengthen the Antarctic coastal current (ACoC) as well as the Weddell Gyre and the Ross Gyre. In addition to the ocean system, increasing AISM also has a notable impact on the Antarctic sea ice cover. Due to the cooling of seawater, sea ice concentration and thickness generally become higher. In austral winter, noticeable increases in sea ice concentration mainly take place near the ice edge. In regards with sea ice thickness, large increases are mainly found along the coast of the Weddell Sea, the Bellingshausen and Amundsen Seas, and the Ross Sea. The overall thickening of sea ice leads to a larger volume of sea ice in Antarctica. In the North Atlantic, increasing AISM leads to remarkable changes in temperature, salinity and density. The water generally becomes warmer, more saline and denser. The most significant warming occurs in the subsurface layer. In contrast, the maximum salinity increase is found at the surface. In addition, the MLD becomes larger along the Greenland-Scotland-Iceland ridge. Global teleconnections due to AISM are studied. The AISM signal is transported with the surface current: the additional freshwater from AISM tends to enhance the northward spreading of the surface water. As a result, more warm and saline water is transported from the tropical region to the North Atlantic Ocean, resulting in warming and salt enrichment there. It would take about 30 40 years to establish a systematic noticeable change in temperature, salinity and MLD in the North Atlantic Ocean according to this study. The changes in hydrography due to increasing AISM are compared with observations. Consistency suggests that increasing AISM is highly likely a major contributor to the recent observed changes in the Southern Ocean. In addition, the AISM might contribute to the salinity contrast between the North Atlantic and North Pacific, which is important for the global thermohaline circulation.

Characterization of unitary processes with independent and stationary increments

This is a continuation of the earlier work (Publ. Res. Inst. Math. Sci. 45 (2009) 745-785) to characterize unitary stationary independent increment Gaussian processes. The earlier assumption of uniform continuity is replaced by weak continuity and with technical assumptions on the domain of the generator, unitary equivalence of the process to the solution of an appropriate Hudson-Parthasarathy equation is proved.

Quantum stochastic calculus associated with quadratic quantum noises

We first study a class of fundamental quantum stochastic processes induced by the generators of a six dimensional non-solvable Lie dagger-algebra consisting of all linear combinations of the generalized Gross Laplacian and its adjoint, annihilation operator, creation operator, conservation, and time, and then we study the quantum stochastic integrals associated with the class of fundamental quantum stochastic processes, and the quantum Ito formula is revisited. The existence and uniqueness of solution of a quantum stochastic differential equation is proved. The unitarity conditions of solutions of quantum stochastic differential equations associated with the fundamental processes are examined. The quantum stochastic calculus extends the Hudson-Parthasarathy quantum stochastic calculus. (C) 2016 AIP Publishing LLC.

Evaluation of live-attenuated Salmonella vaccines expressing Campylobacter antigens for control of C. jejuni in poultry

Campylobacter jejuni is a zoonotic bacterial pathogen of worldwide importance. It is estimated that 460,000 human infections occur in the United Kingdom per annum and these involve acute enteritis and may be complicated by severe systemic sequelae. Such infections are frequently associated with the consumption of contaminated poultry meat and strategies to control C. jejuni in poultry are expected to limit pathogen entry into the food chain and the incidence of human disease. Toward this aim, a total of 840 Light Sussex chickens were used to evaluate a Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium ΔaroA vaccine expressing the C. jejuni amino acid binding protein CjaA as a plasmid-borne fusion to the C-terminus of fragment C of tetanus toxin. Chickens were given the vaccine at 1-day-old and two weeks later by oral gavage, then challenged after a further two weeks with C. jejuni. Across six biological replicates, statistically significant reductions in caecal C. jejuni of c. 1.4 log10 colony-forming units/g were observed at three and four weeks post-challenge relative to age-matched unvaccinated birds. Protection was associated with the induction of CjaA-specific serum IgY and biliary IgA. Protection was not observed using a vaccine strain containing the empty plasmid. Vaccination with recombinant CjaA subcutaneously at the same intervals significantly reduced the caecal load of C. jejuni at three and four weeks post-challenge. Taken together these data imply that responses directed against CjaA, rather than competitive or cross-protective effects mediated by the carrier, confer protection. The impact of varying parameters on the efficacy of the S. Typhimurium ΔaroA vaccine expressing TetC-CjaA was also tested. Delaying the age at primary vaccination had little impact on protection or humoral responses to CjaA. The use of the parent strain as carrier or changing the attenuating mutation of the carrier to ΔspaS or ΔssaU enhanced the protective effect, consistent with increased invasion and persistence of the vaccine strains relative to the ΔaroA mutant. Expression in the ΔaroA strain of a TetC fusion to Peb1A, but not TetC fusions to GlnH or ChuA, elicited protection against intestinal colonisation by C. jejuni that was comparable to that observed with the TetC-CjaA fusion. Our data are rendered highly relevant by use of the target host in large numbers and support the potential of CjaA- and Peb1A-based vaccines for control of C. jejuni in poultry. © 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.