Academic Articles

Abstract: Variable and unreliable water supply due to drought substantially reduced irrigation allocation to Australian peach growers from 2005 to 2009. Strategies to maintain productivity with less water were a high priority. Reduced irrigation allocation is likely to continue due to drought and diversion of water for environmental flows. The objective of this study was to investigate the effects of postharvest water deficits on subsequent yield and fruit quality. Treatments were imposed immediately after harvest in 2008 (Year 1, Y1), 2009 (Year 2, Y2) and 2010 (Year 3, Y3) in a commercial ‘Tatura 204’ peach (Prunus persica (L.) Batsch) orchard in the Goulburn Valley Region of Victoria, Australia. Irrigation treatments were 50%, 80%, 100%, 150% and 190% of grower postharvest irrigation practice. In all years the average postharvest midday leaf water potential (ψ leaf) increased with irrigation application. After applying the treatments in Y1, in the subsequent season fruit number per lateral prior to thinning was substantially less and even after commercial thinning there was a significant difference (p <0.05) in fruit number per tree at harvest in the deficit treatments. The decrease in fruit number was attributed to flower number per lateral, the duration of flowering and fruit set. There were no differences in subsequent fruit number or yield following the application of the treatments in Y2 and Y3. There was no effect of the deficit irrigation treatments on the subsequent number of defective fruit (split stones, twins, deep sutures or abnormal) in all years. The results showed that 0.9–3.3MLha−1 of water savings can be made by the combination of cutting-back postharvest irrigation to 0.8–1.1MLha−1 and fruit thinning to a defined crop load in ‘Tatura 204’ peach orchards. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

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Abstract: Social housing is recommended for laboratory rats because they are highly social mammals but research constraints or medical issues often demand individual housing and, when social housing is practiced, it typically involves housing with only one or two conspecifics. We hypothesized that playful social contact with humans (i.e. tickling), mimicking the dorsal contacts and pins characteristic of rat rough-and-tumble play, could act as a partial substitute for, or supplement to, conspecific social contact in situations when laboratory rats are housed individually or in pairs or triplets. Furthermore, we hypothesized that the beneficial effects of regular tickling when young would persist following discontinuation of tickling. Accordingly, we investigated the responses of juvenile male rats to handling conditions (minimally handled vs. tickled) and group size (singletons, pairs, triplets). We measured (a) production of 22- and 50-kHz ultrasonic vocalizations (USVs) during a 1-min period before handling (interpreted as evidence for negative and positive affective states, respectively), (b) corticosterone levels from faecal pellets collected in the home cage, and pre- and post-treatment body weight (as measures of physiological stress), and (c) behaviour in an Open Field test (to assess anxiety). After 3 weeks of tickling for 2min/day, individually-housed rats produced more 50-kHz USVs in anticipation of handling than their minimally-handled counterparts (P <0.0001). This effect persisted for at least 4 weeks after discontinuation of the tickling programme (P <0.0001), when all rats were transferred to individual housing. Tickling experience also reduced anxiety-related behaviour of individually-housed rats in the Open Field test (P <0.05). Faecal corticosterone levels and body weight were not affected by tickling experience or group size, although both corticosterone levels and anxiety-related behaviour were elevated following re-housing (P <0.05). No significant differences were detected between rats housed as pairs or triplets for any of the measures investigated (P >0.05). Both the Open Field and USV data affirm that tickling is beneficial for rats, especially when housed individually, and provide evidence that specific experiences derived from playful contact contribute to the well-being of group-housed animals. We conclude that tickling is an appropriate cross-species social enrichment manoeuver that can promote the well-being of laboratory rats and rats kept as companion animals. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

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DR. PATRICIA ARREDONDO has been appointed president of the Chicago School of Professional Psychology, the first Latina to serve in the role. Arredondo had been the associate vice chancellor for academic affairs and dean of the School of Continuing Education at the University of Wisconsin at Milwaukee. She earned a doctorate from Boston University.REGINALD H. ... Read More

NRA President David Keene has led the National Rifle Association since 2011. He was chairman of the American Conservative Union from 1984 to 2011. He spoke at the Jan. 31 Monitor Breakfast. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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washington updateStudent loan borrowers hit hard by the Great Recession are gaining a new repayment option from the federal government that may help them avoid default.The education department announced the availability of Pay As You Earn, a new option to help recent graduates remain in loan repayment even if they are unemployed or underemployed. With ... Read More