The identification of natural bioactive compounds which can prevent the post-weaning growth check and enhance gastrointestinal health in the absence of in-feed medications is an urgent priority for the swine industry. The objective of this experiment was to determine the effects of increasing dietary inclusion levels of laminarin in the first 14 d post-weaning on pig growth performance and weaning associated intestinal dysfunction. At weaning, ninety-six pigs (8·4 (sd 1·09) kg) (meatline boars × (large white × landrace sows)) were blocked by live weight, litter and sex and randomly assigned to: (1) basal diet; (2) basal + 100 parts per million (ppm) laminarin; (3) basal + 200 ppm laminarin and (4) basal + 300 ppm laminarin (three pigs/pen). The appropriate quantity of a laminarin-rich extract (65 % laminarin) was added to the basal diet to achieve the above dietary inclusion levels of laminarin. After 14 d of supplementation, eight pigs from the basal group and the best-performing laminarin group were euthanised for sample collection. The 300 ppm laminarin group was selected as this group had higher ADFI compared with all other groups and higher ADG than the basal group (P < 0·05). Laminarin supplementation increased villus height in the duodenum and jejunum (P < 0·05). Laminarin supplementation increased the expression of SLC2A8/GLUT8 in the duodenum, SLC2A2/GLUT2, SLC2A7/GLUT7, SLC15A1/PEPT1 and FABP2 in the jejunum and SLC16A1/MCT1 in the colon. Laminarin supplementation reduced Enterobacteriaceae numbers in the caecum (P < 0·05) and increased lactobacilli numbers (P < 0·05), total volatile fatty acid concentrations and the molar proportions of butyrate (P < 0·01) in the colon. In conclusion, 300 ppm laminarin from a laminarin-rich extract has potential, as a dietary supplement, to improve performance and prevent post-weaning intestinal dysfunction.

Inspired by notions of interest of humankind and intergenerational equity, we explored Antarctic perceptions of a subset of future generations—university students. Students at three universities in Canada, the Netherlands, and the USA were surveyed to determine the relationships between nationality, academic major, opinions on values of Antarctica, and support for a range of human activities in Antarctica (n = 618). Logistic regression was used to model the relationship of these variables with support for designation of Antarctica as a wilderness reserve, construction of new research stations, and mining. Compared with business and economics majors, biological sciences and natural resources/conservation majors were more likely to support wilderness designation and less likely to support mineral resource development. Nationality was not significantly associated with support for construction of new research stations and mineral resource development. Opinions on the value of Antarctica and support for activities also exhibited significant influences on dependent variables. Consistent with earlier studies of Antarctic scientists, personnel, tourists, and other members of the general public, university students valued Antarctica as one of the world’s last great wildernesses (66%), an important component of the Earth’s climate system (66%), and a science laboratory for the benefit of mankind (62%).

In laboratory experiments, we investigated how media with varying ratio of peat:sand and two levels of compaction influence dispersal success of entomopathogenic nematode (EPN) species with different foraging strategies: Steinernema carpocapsae (ambusher), Heterorhabditis downesi (cruiser) and Steinernema feltiae (intermediate). Success was measured by the numbers of nematodes moving through a 4 cm column and invading a wax moth larva. We found that both compaction and increasing peat content generally decreased EPN infective juvenile (IJ) success for all three species. Of the three species, H. downesi was the least affected by peat content, and S. carpocapsae was the most adversely influenced by compaction. In addition, sex ratios of the invading IJs of the two Steinernema species were differentially influenced by peat content, and in the case of S. feltiae, sex ratio was also affected by compaction. This indicates that dispersal of male and female IJs is differentially affected by soil parameters and that this differentiation is species-specific. In conclusion, our study shows that organic matter: sand ratio and soil compaction have a marked influence on EPN foraging behaviour with implications for harnessing them as biological pest control agents.

This paper describes the system architecture of a newly constructed radio telescope – the Boolardy engineering test array, which is a prototype of the Australian square kilometre array pathfinder telescope. Phased array feed technology is used to form multiple simultaneous beams per antenna, providing astronomers with unprecedented survey speed. The test array described here is a six-antenna interferometer, fitted with prototype signal processing hardware capable of forming at least nine dual-polarisation beams simultaneously, allowing several square degrees to be imaged in a single pointed observation. The main purpose of the test array is to develop beamforming and wide-field calibration methods for use with the full telescope, but it will also be capable of limited early science demonstrations.

This paper provides a description of a structured template which allows review of the operation of the Mental Health Act 2001 at St Patrick's Mental Health Services (incorporating St Patrick's University Hospital, St Edmundsbury Hospital and Willow Grove Adolescent Unit). These structured processes were implemented to ensure rigorous monitoring of all clinical governance activities associated with adherence to the Mental Health Act (MHA) 2001. The paper describes in detail the information contained in the St Patrick's Mental Health Services dashboard for 2012. The dashboard displays the key performance indicators that are monitored and the paper describes how these were reviewed by the Hospital's Clinical Governance Committee on a weekly basis for the three approved centres. The dashboard has also been used by the Clinical Governance Committee to provide ongoing education and engagement with staff in order to improve the operation of the MHA 2001. The use of this structured monitoring process has allowed the hospital to measure adherence to the MHA 2001 and also to measure activities that impact directly on the care and treatment of patients detained under the Act. The use of structured monitoring tools (i.e. the dashboard) to review the operation of the MHA 2001 allows for coherent observation of key events and issues which can cause concern in terms of the operation of the Act.

A small number of educational programmes for university students include field experience in Antarctica. These programmes contain a range of educational objectives, approaches and academic assessment related to the field component and the intended on-site learning for students. However, it is possible that the on-site experiences of students in these programmes have an influence on later decisions and behaviour beyond the course itself in the years following participation. This paper investigates the possibility of such influence for students who participated in ship-based tourism field trips to the Antarctic Peninsula and adjacent locations (South Georgia, the Falkland Islands, and South Shetland Islands) and explores whether students link their participation to particular post-course outcomes. It examines how participants report being affected by a trip to the Antarctic Peninsula, particularly in terms of later decisions regarding learning, professional lives, and environmental behaviour. Influences noted by respondents include effects on choices made in relation to academic pursuits and career paths, as well as development of their environmental values through increased awareness of tourism impacts, Antarctic region sustainability issues, and global issues such as climate change.

The assumption that the transmission of social behaviors and political preferences is purely cultural has been challenged repeatedly over the last 40 years by the combined evidence of large studies of adult twins and their relatives, adoption studies, and twins reared apart. Variance components and path modeling analyses using data from extended families quantified the overall genetic influence on political attitudes, but few studies have attempted to localize the parts of the genome which accounted for the heritability estimates found for political preferences. Here, we present the first genome-wide analysis of Conservative-Liberal attitudes from a sample of 13,000 respondents whose DNA was collected in conjunction with a 50-item sociopolitical attitude questionnaire. Several significant linkage peaks were identified and potential candidate genes discussed.

Detailed analysis of the anatomy and taphonomic process of a burial in Jordan shows that the body was originally bound in a sitting position and placed in marshland, where it collapsed into the splayed tableau eventually recovered by excavation. The authors succeed in reconstructing a burial rite from one of the most elusive of mortuary phases: the Early Epipalaeolithic in south-west Asia.

Torngat Mountains National Park (TMNP) is Canada's newest national park, and was established in 2005. The development of the park has mirrored a change in mandate for the agency that manages it, Parks Canada. Since 2005 Parks Canada has sought to focus on ‘proactively facilitate[ing] opportunities for meaningful and memorable visitor experiences’, complimentary to maintaining the protection of ecological integrity and providing education (Parks Canada 2005, no page numbers). Under the auspices of this new multi-faceted mandate, this research note will examine the current state of tourism in TMNP, and will also evaluate some of the opportunities and challenges for the future. Within Parks Canada's Visitor experience vision 2015 statement, understanding tourism delivery in the present and future are important components of its mission, as is engagement with external partners to assist in this process. The analysis of tourism development in TMNP for this note comes from the authors' two week research trips to the park in August 2008 and July 2009, undertaken to assist Parks Canada to evaluate their current visitor experience activities and future options.

Case-based reasoning (CBR) is an approach to problem solving that emphasizes the role of prior experience during future problem solving (i.e., new problems are solved by reusing and if necessary adapting the solutions to similar problems that were solved in the past). It has enjoyed considerable success in a wide variety of problem solving tasks and domains. Following a brief overview of the traditional problem-solving cycle in CBR, we examine the cognitive science foundations of CBR and its relationship to analogical reasoning. We then review a representative selection of CBR research in the past few decades on aspects of retrieval, reuse, revision and retention.

In this work, polycrystalline SiGe has been viewed as an alternative gate material to polysilicon in single wafer processing for the deep submicrometer VLSI applications. We studied deposition of the silicon-germanium (SiGe) films with different germanium concentrations (up to 85%) on SiO2 in a rapid thermal chemical vapor deposition reactor using GeH4 and SiH4/H2 gas mixture with the temperature ranging from 550°C to 625°C. Since the SiGe RTCVD process is selective toward oxide and does not form nucleation sites on the oxide easily, an in-situ polysilicon flash technique is used to provide the necessary nucleation sites for the deposition of SiGe films with high germanium content. It was observed that with the in-situ polysilicon flash as a pre-nucleation seed, the SiGe deposited on SiO2 forms a continuous polycrystalline layer. Polycrystalline SiGe films of about 2000Å in thickness have a columnar grain structure with a grain size of approximately 1000Å. Compositional analyses from Auger Electron Spectroscopy (AES) and Rutherford backscattering (RBS) show that the high germanium incorporation in the SiGe films has a weak dependence on the deposition temperature. It is also noted that the germanium content across the film thickness is fairly constant which is a critical factor for the application of SiGe films as the gate material. Lastly, we found that the surface morphology of SiGe films become smoother at lower deposition temperature.