Influence of stocking rate and mixed grazing of Angora goats and Merino sheep on animal and pasture production in southern Australia : 2 : liveweight, body condition score, carcass yield and mortality

The effects of animal species (AS; Angora goats, Merino sheep, mixed-grazed goats and sheep at the ratio of 1:1) and stocking rate (SR; 7.5, 10 and 12.5 animals/ha) on the liveweight, body condition score, carcass yield and mortality of goats and sheep were determined in a replicated experiment on improved annual temperate pastures in southern Australia from 1981 to 1984. The pattern of liveweight change was similar for both species with growth from pasture germination in autumn until maturation in late spring followed by weight loss. In winter, sheep grew faster than goats (65 versus 10 g/day, P < 0.05). In mixed-grazed treatments between November and December goats either grew when sheep were losing weight or goats lost less weight than sheep (P < 0.01). Both AS (P < 0.001) and SR (P < 0.001) affected liveweight of sheep and an AS SR interaction (P <  0.05) affected liveweight of goats. Mixed-grazed sheep were heavier than separately grazed sheep at all SR with a mean difference at 10 and 12.5/ha of 4.6 kg. Mixed-grazed goats at 10/ha were heavier than separately grazed goats from the end of the second year of the experiment, but at 12.5/ha, separately grazed goats maintained an advantage over mixed-grazed goats, with a 9.4-kg mean difference in December (P < 0.05). Body condition scores of goats and sheep declined with increasing SR; they were highest in late spring and were highly correlated with liveweight (r² > 0.8). Both AS and SR affected (P < 0.001) carcass weight and GR tissue depth as a direct result of differences in liveweight. Adjusting for differences in carcass weight negated AS effects on GR tissue depth. The carcass weights of sheep and goats increased by similar amounts for each 1-kg increase in liveweight. Mortality of sheep (3.1% p.a.) was unaffected by AS or SR. An AS SR interaction indicated mortality of separately grazed goats at 12.5/ha and mixed-grazed goats at 10 and 12.5/ha were higher (P < 0.05) than all other goat (29 versus 9%) and sheep treatments, primarily because of increased susceptibility to cold stress. Disease prevalence differed between sheep and goats. Mixed grazing of Merino sheep and Angora goats produced complementary and competitive effects depending upon the SR. Goats used summer pasture better but winter pasture less well for liveweight gain than sheep. Angora goats should not be grazed alone or mixed grazed with sheep on annual temperate pastures at SR greater than that recommended for Merino sheep and the evidence indicates a lower SR will reduce risks associated with mortality.

An index of unhealthy lifestyle is associated with coronary heart disease mortality rates for small areas in England after adjustment for deprivation

Indices of socio-economic deprivation are often used as a proxy for differences in the health behaviours of populations within small areas, but these indices are a measure of the economic environment rather than the health environment. Sets of synthetic estimates of the ward-level prevalence of low fruit and vegetable consumption, obesity, raised blood pressure, raised cholesterol and smoking were combined to develop an index of unhealthy lifestyle. Multi-level regression models showed that this index described about 50% of the large-scale geographic variation in CHD mortality rates in England, and substantially adds to the ability of an index of deprivation to explain geographic variations in CHD mortality rates.

(Un)safe routes : maternal mortality and Ethiopia's development agenda

This study juxtaposed women's experiences of birth at home in rural Ethiopia where it is 'safe' with that in a modern health care setting where it is 'unsafe' because the distance from international maternal health policy to its implementation is vast and the 'pathway to maternal survival' can be circuitous.

Self-reported empathy levels in undergraduate occupational therapy students.

Relevence to exploring Occupational therapy role transitions and processes: The skill of establishing an empathetic therapeutic relationship in collaboration with one’s clients is a valued professional competency. To prepare occupational therapy students for professional practice, aspects of empathy awareness should be explored early in their undergraduate education. Raising students’ awareness of empathy and transforming this into professional competency for building empathetic relationships requires time. Occupational therapy undergraduates should explore aspects of empathy, both theoretically and in practice at all levels, to ensure these developing professionals can build empathic therapeutic relationships in practice. 
Aim: This research was undertaken to determine if students in four different years of study in occupational therapy at an Australian university differed in self-reported levels of empathy.

Relative deprivation between neighbouring wards is predictive of coronary heart disease mortality after adjustment for absolute deprivation of wards

Background The aims of this study were to assess whether deprivation inequality at small area level in England is associated with coronary heart disease (CHD) mortality rates and to assess whether this provides evidence of an association between area-level and individual-level risk.

Methods Mortality rates for all wards in England were calculated using all CHD deaths between 2001 and 2006. Ward-level deprivation was measured using the Carstairs Index. Deprivation inequality within local authorities (LAs) was measured by the IQR of deprivation for wards within the LA. Relative deprivation for wards was measured as the modulus of the difference between deprivation for the ward and average deprivation for all neighbouring wards.

Results Deprivation inequality within LAs was positively associated with CHD mortality rates per 100 000 (eg, all men β; 95% CI=2.7; 1.1 to 4.3) after adjustment for absolute deprivation (p<0.001 for all models). Relative deprivation for wards was positively associated with CHD mortality rates per 100 000 (eg, all men 1.4; 0.7 to 2.1) after adjustment for absolute deprivation (p<0.001 for all models). Subgroup analyses showed that relative deprivation was independently associated with CHD mortality rates in both affluent and deprived wards.

Conclusions Rich wards surrounded by poor areas have higher CHD mortality rates than rich wards surrounded by rich areas, and poor wards surrounded by rich areas have worse CHD mortality rates than poor wards surrounded by poor areas. Local deprivation inequality has a similar adverse impact on both rich and poor areas, supporting the hypothesis that income inequality of an area has an impact on individual-level health outcomes.

Benchmarking occupational health and safety performance of Australian construction companies.

It is mandatory for Australian construction companies to provide a safe working environment for their workers and sub-contractors. Consequently, occupational health and safety (OHS) is a major issue for construction firms mainly due to the fear of prosecution. The recent introduction of Zero Tolerance by the Victorian government WorkCover Authority provided even higher OHS safety standards for the construction industry. This has placed a increased burden on construction companies especially small firms that are not in a position of financial strength.

The size of the companies has been found to be a major contributing factor to the OHS performance of construction contractors. This research is based on benchmarking study of 44 construction companies in Victoria, Australia. The results show that the major factors influencing safety performance were; company size, and management commitment to OHS.

Measuring the occupational health and safety performance of construction companies in Australia

Many facility managers are now required to deal directly with small firms engaged in the maintenance, alteration and cleaning of physical infrastructure. Increasingly the performance of small firms reflects on the manager of the facility, and so an understanding of their operation is required. It is mandatory for all firms to provide a safe working environment for their workers and subcontractors. Consequently, occupational health and safety (OHS) is a major issue for companies mainly due to the fear of prosecution. The introduction of Zero Tolerance by the Victorian government WorkCover Authority in 1999 provided even higher OHS safety standards for the construction industry. This has placed an increased burden on construction and maintenance companies especially small firms that are not in a position of financial strength. The size of the company has been found to be a major contributing factor to the OHS performance of construction contractors. This research is based on a benchmarking study of 44 construction companies in Victoria, Australia. The results show that the major factors influencing safety performance were; company size, and management and employee commitment to OHS.

Effect of company size on occupational health and safety

It is mandatory in all Australian jurisdictions for construction companies to provide a safe working environment for their workers and sub-contractors. Consequently, occupational health and safety (OHS) is a major issue for construction companies mainly due to the fear of prosecution. The introduction of zero tolerance by the Victorian government “WorkCover Authority” in 1999 provided increased legislative OHS standards for the construction industry. This has placed an increased burden on construction companies especially small firms that are not in a position of financial strength. This research is based on benchmarking study of OHS performance of 44 construction companies in
Victoria, Australia. The results show that the size of the company is a major contributing factor to their OHS performance. Small companies employing less than 25 employees have comparatively low levels of OHS performance compared to larger firms. Company size is a limiting factor that impacts on the ability of small firms to implement comprehensive OHS plans. This research calls into question that notion that increasing legislative requirements will improve OHS outcomes.