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The age of political disincorporation: Geo-Capitalist conflict and the politics of authoritarian statism
No full textThis review essay examines two recent volumes on the clash between the USA and China: Clash of Empires by Hung (2022) and Trade Wars are Class Wars by Klein and Pettis (2020). These volumes make a significant contribution to our understanding of the current strategic competition between the US and China. They have the virtue of moving beyond the sterile international relations perspectives and locating these conflicts within the broader structure of capitalist transformation. The framework of inter-imperial conflict is found useful in understanding the conflict between the USA and China. However, a serious lacuna of these approaches is their economism which neglects the political effects of emerging inter-imperial rivalry or modes of geo-capitalist engagement. In particular, this essay argues that the key effects are found in the transformation of the political forms of the state that have enabled the rise of radical right-wing forces and new forms of authoritarian rule. In this new geo-capitalist era, there is likely to be a reassertion of the national state in various new or post-neoliberal guises but such forms are likely to take on the characteristic of deeply coercive authoritarian statism or even post fascism
Teaching writing in primary education (grades 1–6) in Australia: A national survey
Get PDFProviding adequate writing instruction and practice in schools is an essential cornerstone of writing development and it affords a diagnostic approach for teachers. But what writing instruction is being practiced in Australian primary schools? The aim of this study was to survey a sample of teachers (n = 310) about their instructional practices for writing and their preparation and self-efficacy to teach writing. The majority of the teachers surveyed indicated they allocated on average less than three hours per week for writing practice in their classrooms, with findings further showing a large variability in the frequency of writing practice ranging from 15 min to 7.5 h per week. Findings suggested an emphasis placed on teaching foundational skills, such as spelling, over the teaching of process skills, such as planning and revising. Results further indicated that less emphasis is placed on teaching handwriting and typing. The majority of participating teachers reported implementing only six of the 20 different instructional practices included in the survey on a weekly basis, with school-home strategies being the least frequently reported strategies to foster students’ writing development. Most teachers expressed positive beliefs about their preparation and self-efficacy for teaching writing. Results from multiple regression analysis showed that preparation and self-efficacy for teaching writing significantly and statistically accounted for variability in using evidence-based practices, teaching foundational skills, and teaching process skills. However, only self-efficacy made a statically significant contribution to predicting strategies to extend writing to the home environment. Implications for teaching and recommendations for research are provided
Improving engagement of stroke survivors using desktop virtual Reality-Based serious games for upper limb rehabilitation: A multiple case study
Get PDFEngagement with upper limb rehabilitation post-stroke can improve rehabilitation outcomes. Virtual Reality can be used to make rehabilitation more engaging. In this paper, we propose a multiple case study to determine: (1) whether game design principles (identified in an earlier study as being likely to engage) actually do engage, in practice, a sample of stroke survivors with a Desktop Virtual Reality-based Serious Game designed for upper limb rehabilitation; and (2) what game design factors support the existence of these principles in the game. In this study, we considered 15 principles: awareness , feedback , interactivity , flow , challenge , attention , interest , involvement , psychological absorption , motivation , effort , clear instructions , usability , purpose , and a first-person view . Four stroke survivors used, for a period of 12 weeks, a Virtual Reality-based upper limb rehabilitation system called the Neuromender Rehabilitation System. The stroke survivors were then asked how well each of the 15 principles was supported by the Neuromender Rehabilitation System and how much they felt each principle supported their engagement with the system. All the 15 tested principles had good or reasonable support from the participants as being engaging. Use of feedback was emphasised as an important design factor for supporting the design principles, but there was otherwise little agreement in important design factors among the participants. This indicates that more personalised experiences may be necessary for optimised engagement. The insight gained can be used to inform the design of a larger scale statistical study into what engages stroke survivors with Desktop Virtual Reality-based upper limb rehabilitation
Does the relationship between sow body composition change in lactation and re-breeding success still exist?
No full textSow body composition largely reflects the amount of lean and fat tissue stores in the body, and is measured, managed and reported because traditionally when sows mobilise body tissues in lactation to support piglet growth, adverse consequences in subsequent reproduction may be observed. These consequences are largely driven by metabolic changes exerting negative influences on the reproductive axes through luteinising hormone and follicle stimulating hormone and direct impact on the ovary. This results in sows that take longer to ovulate, have lower ovulation rates and shed poorer-quality oocytes, translating to delayed wean to service intervals, higher pregnancy failure and lower litter sizes. Sow management needs to meet both the needs of the piglet (adequate colostrum and milk intake for survival and growth) and the needs of the sow (successful re-breeding). The way pork producers tackle this is through diets designed to match sow requirements at different production stages. We have recently observed, despite efforts (nutritional challenges), that we are unable to induce fat or lean tissue mobilisation in lactating sows, which is a novel finding, although pig populations such as in the EU, UK and USA would appear to be experiencing similar outcomes. Despite our lower reproductive performance than in much of the rest of the world as a consequence of having a closed genetic herd, the specific genetic selection programs that exist within Australia, and the resultant leaner, more efficient sows, may be a potential explanation. This, coupled with the high lactation feed intakes now commonly reported, means that sows are less likely to become catabolic and so suffer from poor re-breeding outcomes. A conclusion from these findings may mean that we now have an opportunity to feed the lactating sow to better meet the growth and survival needs of piglets, with the knowledge that we will not compromise subsequent reproduction
Biodiversity conservation in urban gardens – Pets and garden design influence activity of a vulnerable digging mammal
No full textResidential gardens can provide essential opportunities for native wildlife and represent a valuable way of creating new habitats. Bandicoots (marsupial family Peramelidae) are medium-sized digging mammals that play a valuable role in maintaining ecosystem health; retaining these important ecosystem engineers across urban landscapes, including in private gardens, can have enormous conservation benefits. Urbanisation is a significant threat for some bandicoot species, and therefore understanding the factors associated with their activity can help guide urban landscape and garden design. To identify key features associated with the activity of a local endemic bandicoot species, the quenda (Isoodon fusciventer), we carried out a camera trap survey of front and back yards for 65 residential properties in the City of Mandurah, Western Australia. We compared quenda activity with biotic and abiotic factors that could indicate potential predation risk (activity of domestic dogs Canis familiaris and cats Felis catus, and the presence of artificial or natural protective cover), food availability (including deliberate or inadvertent supplementary feeding, provision of water, and diggable surfaces) and garden accessibility (distance to bushland, permeability of boundary fencing, and garden position). Supplementary feeding was strongly associated with quenda activity. Quenda were also more active in back yards, and in gardens where there was greater vegetation cover. Of concern, quenda activity was positively associated with cat activity, which could reflect that straying pet cats are attracted to gardens that harbour wildlife populations, including quenda. Furthermore, almost half of the gardens showed cat activity despite only a small sample of the surveyed residents owning a pet cat. Results of this study can help guide the design of residential gardens to increase useful habitat for these important digging mammals. Vegetation, wood mulch and semi-permeable fencing can provide valuable resources needed to support the persistence of quendas across the rapidly changing urban landscape mosaic, where natural and managed (e.g., gardens and parks) green spaces are becoming less common and more isolated
Framing scholars’ perspectives of practices to address breaches of academic integrity in the Muslim world
Get PDFAlthough previous work explained internal and external cultural challenges impacting academic integrity in the Muslim world, to date, no study has specifically examined the attempts and practices by the universities to address these challenges. The objective of this paper was to understand the actions taken by academics and institutions in the Muslim world to address, prevent breaches of academic integrity, and to recommend improvement of these practices. To capture institutional efforts and practices, relevant literature from 2010 to 2021 was reviewed to gather evidence of practices of academic integrity in higher education in the Muslim world. The findings suggest a framework that can be used for evaluation of current practices of academic integrity in the Muslim world, to go beyond plagiarism-focussed prevention, detection, and punishments
Comprehensive transcriptomic analysis of two RIL parents with contrasting salt responsiveness identifies polyadenylated and non‐polyadenylated flower lncRNAs in chickpea
Get PDFSalinity severely affects the yield of chickpea. Understanding the role of lncRNAs can shed light on chickpea salt tolerance mechanisms. However, because lncRNAs are encoded by multiple sites within the genome, their classification to reveal functional versatility at the transcriptional and the post-transcriptional levels is challenging. To address this, we deep sequenced 24 salt-challenged flower transcriptomes from two parental genotypes of a RIL population that significantly differ in salt tolerance ability. The transcriptomes for the first time included 12 polyadenylated and 12 non-polyadenylated RNA libraries to a sequencing depth of ~50 million reads. The ab initio transcriptome assembly comprised ~34 082 transcripts from three biological replicates of salt-tolerant (JG11) and salt-sensitive (ICCV2) flowers. A total of 9419 lncRNAs responding to salt stress were identified, 2345 of which were novel lncRNAs specific to chickpea. The expression of poly(A+) lncRNAs and naturally antisense transcribed RNAs suggest their role in post-transcriptional modification and gene silencing. Notably, 178 differentially expressed lncRNAs were induced in the tolerant genotype but repressed in the sensitive genotype. Co-expression network analysis revealed that the induced lncRNAs interacted with the FLOWERING LOCUS (FLC), chromatin remodelling and DNA methylation genes, thus inducing flowering during salt stress. Furthermore, 26 lncRNAs showed homology with reported lncRNAs such as COOLAIR, IPS1 and AT4, thus confirming the role of chickpea lncRNAs in controlling flowering time as a crucial salt tolerance mechanism in tolerant chickpea genotype. These robust set of differentially expressed lncRNAs provide a deeper insight into the regulatory mechanisms controlled by lncRNAs under salt stress
Unexpected morphological diversity in ancient dogs compared to modern relatives
No full textDogs are among the most variable species today, but little is known about the morphological variability in the early phases of their history. The Neolithic transition to farming may have resulted in an early morphological diversification as a result of changes in the anthropic environment or intentional selection on specific morphologies. Here, we describe the variability and modularity in mandible form by comparing 525 dog mandibles from European archaeological sites ranging from 8100 to 3000 cal. BC to a reference sample of modern dogs, wolves, and dingoes. We use three-dimensional geometric morphometrics to quantify the form of complete and fragmented mandibles. We demonstrate that an important morphological variability already existed before the Bronze Age in Europe, yet the largest, smallest, most brachycephalic or dolichocephalic extant dogs have no equivalent in the archaeological sample, resulting in a lower variation compared to modern relatives. The covariation between the anterior and posterior parts of the mandible is lower in archaeological dogs, suggesting a low degree of intentional human selection in early periods. The mandible of modern and ancient dogs differs in functionally important areas, possibly reflecting differences in diet, competition, or the implication of ancient dogs in hunting or defence
The frequency of tail damage amongst cows from a sample of New Zealand dairy farms participating in an animal welfare programme
No full textAim
To explore factors associated with the frequency of tail damage in dairy cows on 29 New Zealand farms participating in an animal welfare monitoring programme.
Materials and methods
Herd-level tail score data were collected at the cow level and then summarised at the herd level as counts for each lactation over the period 1 June 2014 to 31 May 2018. A cow’s tail was considered damaged if there was evidence of any injury that deformed the anatomical structure involving either bone or soft tissue and could include loss of use. There were four categories for tail scoring. Fracture or dislocation of tail bones was considered as a deviation (score 1). When the tail had been docked above the top of the cow’s udder, this was considered as docked short tail (score 2). When there was evidence of soft tissue trauma (score 3) or bone damage but no fracture (score 4), this was recorded as damaged (other). Tails were scored for each whole dairy herd. Tail scoring was performed by trained veterinarians or veterinary technicians. The primary outcome variable was counts of deviated tails (DT). Other outcome variables were docked short, damaged (other), and total tail injuries (TTI) which was a summation of all tail injuries. The potential predictor variables were area, season, farm, region, replacement rate, and herd size. A mixed-effects negative binomial or Poisson regression was fitted to the count data.
Results
A total of 29 farms contributed data for tail scoring, with 54,831 cows individually scored. The unadjusted regional prevalence of TTI ranged from 3.5% (64/1,835) in Taranaki in 2014–2015 to 28.7% (1,434/4,988) in Southland/Otago in 2017–2018. The unadjusted regional herd prevalence of DT ranged from 2.1% (280/6,862) in Taranaki (2014–2015) to 13.2% (4,627/30,165) in Southland/South Otago (2017–2018). The incident rate ratio (IRR) of DT in 2015–2016 was 1.74 (95% CI = 1.20–2.53; p = 0.003) times the incident rate for the reference group (2014–2015). The IRR for TTI in 2015–2016 was 1.70 (95% CI = 1.60–1.81; p = 0.001) times the incident rate for the reference group (2014–2015).
Conclusions and clinical relevance
This is the first quantitative study of the frequency of tail damage within New Zealand dairy farms and whilst variable between regions, it indicates that the frequency is increasing. Opportunities exist to better understand the causes of tail injuries and to improve animal welfare
Endothelial biomarkers of thrombosis in critically ill patients with acquired coagulopathy: A prospective cohort study
No full textBackground: It remains largely unknown whether endothelial biomarkers can be used to predict thromboembolism in critically ill patients with an acquired coagulopathy. Materials & methods: The ability of syndecan-1, P-selectin and microRNA expressions to predict thromboembolism were assessed in 40 critically ill coagulopathic patients. Results: The area under the receiver operating characteristic curves for syndecan-1, P-selectin and the four differentially expressed microRNAs – determined by real-time qPCR analysis – to predict thromboembolism (n = 10, 25%) were 0.71 (95% CI 0.52–0.89), 0.73 (95% CI 0.52–0.95) and >0.80, respectively. Syndecan-1 and P-selectin concentrations were also significantly correlated with one another (R = 0.41, p = 0.008). Conclusion: Endothelial function biomarkers, including endothelial microRNA expressions, were associated with subsequent thromboembolism in critically ill patients who had a deranged coagulation profile