The age-structures of rabbit populations at 4 climatically different sites in South Australia were found to have altered significantly since the introduction of Spilopsyllus cuniculi (Dale) as a vector of myxomatosis. The ratio of young of the year to older rabbits in summer was greatly reduced. There was evidence of decreases in size of all observed populations and (for 1 population) in ability to increase rapidly in favourable years. The ratio of young of the year to older rabbits was a convenient and sensitive index of changes in population structure; for analytical purposes, the log transformation (ln [ratio] or ln [ratio + 1]) was biologically and statistically sound. Since the fleas became established, field-strain viruses may have become more virulent and morbidity rates may have increased, but the factors enabling rabbit fleas to enhance myxomatosis as a cause of mortality are unknown. The apparent virulence may have increased because of selection for viruses of high virulence, which are best suited for transmission by S. cuniculi, and possibly because the dose of virus transmitted by fleas is considerably greater than that by mosquitoes or other agents.
Rabbits given an excess of air-dry food but only small amounts of drinking water had a lower food intake and lost more weight than those given food and water freely. They lost weight because they had less digesta in the gut and less water in the skin, and had catabolized more tissue. Their response to water shortage was similar to that seen in other grazing mammals. With low food intake, gut contents fell and the digestibility of food rose, while the daily mass of and water loss in faeces fell; the moisture content in faeces remaining the same. Dehydrated rabbits produced relatively small amounts of urine, up to 1.9 M urea, which was twice as concentrated as that of rabbits given water freely. The rabbits were not able to reduce their requirement for water to less than 55% of their total intake of food and water. As pasture species in mediterranean-type environments become relatively dry in summer and contain only 10 to 5% water, a shortage of water in natural pastures in those areas may, therefore, limit the amount of food which rabbits can use, and the ability of rabbits to survive in summer would, therefore, depend upon the availability of succulent, drought-resistant perennial vegetation.
Shortage of water in natural pastures led to a sharp decline in a large rabbit population in arid, northeastern South Australia. The pastures were dry and some rabbits drank at springs and water troughs. Further from water, rabbits climbed trees and shrubs to obtain succulent leaves and twigs. Rabbits provided with water maintained their weight and apparently survived better than those which did not drink. It seems unlikely that the rabbits lost weight because the water shortage reduced the amount of dry food they could eat. In caged rabbits, water shortage limits food intake but also results in low gut fill; whereas the wild rabbits had the normal amount of digesta in their guts. It is more likely that, as the pastures became dry, rabbits ate woody twigs and bark which were moist enough to meet their water requirements but contained too little digestible energy for maintenance. The water shortage apparently arose because rabbits were numerous and had eaten out the succulent pasture plants. Normally, it takes a long drought to reduce arid-zone plants to dry straw, and overgrazing is probably the usual cause of a lack of adequate water for rabbits.
Rabbits could be controlled by various combinations of warren ripping, poisoning and fumigation, without the need for clearing roadside Eucalyptus spp.
The health and nutritional status of a population of the hairy-nosed wombat Lasiorhinus latifrons inhabiting the Blanche Town region of South Australia was assessed over a period of 18 months, 12 of which were during a drought. Measurements were made of body morphology, haematological and biochemical constituents and vitamin and trace element status of animals in the field: these were examined in relation to the chemical composition of stomach contents and of faeces. During the study period, changes in body weight, body condition and selected haematological and chemical constituents were closely associated with changes in the quantity and quality of food, as measured by faecal nitrogen and organic matter and by a plant growth index. It appears that wombats in the Blanche Town region survived a drought of 12 months duration with minimal loss of body tissues and maintained physiological functions.
Background: Dengue is an emerging public health problem in Tarai Region of Nepal. The most affected are among the poorest populations living in remote, rural areas and urban slums who have even no access for medical treatment. This study was carried out with the objective of the determining the serodiagnosis of dengue in symptomatic individuals and comparing it to IgM ELISA. Methods: One hundred eighty three samples were collected from the suspected cases having clinical symptoms of dengue in the Tarai region of Nepal during September to October 2007. Particle Agglutination (PA) assays was performed and it was compared with IgM capture ELISA. Results: Out of the total of 183 serum samples that 55(30%) samples were positive by PA assay. When compared with IgM-capture ELISA, a 50 of 55 were positive (sensitivity of 98% and specificity of 96%; a positive prediction value of 90% and negative prediction value of 99%). Conclusions: The finding of this study showed that dengue is firmly established in low endemic Tarai region of Nepal. The sensitivity and specificity of PA assay is acceptably high and will be useful in rural areas of Nepal. Key words: Dengue, Tarai region, Particle agglutination test, IgM capture ELISA DOI: 10.3126/jnhrc.v7i1.2276 Journal of Nepal Health Research Council Vol. 7, No. 1, 2009 April 29-32
These records, spanning 1918-1978, contain correspondence, reference material, minutes and proceedings, agreements and union constitutions, legal documents, and financial documents. They reflect Edgar McDonald Broom's service to the Brotherhood of Railway and Airline and Steamship Clerks, as System Board 96's Assistant General Chairman, General Chairman, General Chairman Emeritus and as a student at Harvard's Trade Union Program. Most of the records relate to Southern Railway workers and the enforcement of protective laws. The records include some of Broom's personal effects, such as correspondence, notes, cards, letters with friends and family, reference books, publications, and BRAC memorabilia. The collection also contains photographs and Southern Railway and BRAC artifacts. ; The Brotherhood of Railway and Steamship Clerks, Freight Handlers, Express, and Station Employees was organized in Sedalia, Missouri in 1899, as the Order of Railroad Clerks of America. Soon after, it renamed itself The Brotherhood of Railway Clerks, to be more in keeping with other railway "brotherhoods" of that time. In 1919, the organization took the name Brotherhood of Railway and Steamship Clerks, Freight Handlers, Express and Station Employees (BRAC), and affiliated with the American Federation of Labor. BRAC was the largest single organization for railroad employees who devoted a majority of their time to clerical work of any description, including chief clerks, foremen, train announcers, gatemen, checkers; parcel, baggage, and storeroom employees; dock and pier workers; train and engine crew callers; timekeepers; paymasters; freight inspectors; rate and tariff compilers; weigh masters; ticket clerks and sellers; operators of all office and station equipment devices and telephone and switchboard operators. Over time, the union welcomed into its ranks the members of half a dozen labor organizations, among them the Transportation Communication Employees Union (once known as the Order of Railroad Telegraphers), the United Transport Service Employees Union, the Railway Patrolmen's International Union, the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters, the American Railway and Airway Supervisors Association, the Western Railway Supervisors Association, and the Brotherhood of Railway Carmen. Finally, in 1987, the organization adopted its current name, the Transportation Communication International Union (TCU). In 2005, TCU affiliated with the International Association of Machinists (IAM). The Grand Lodge was the legislative and judicial body of the Brotherhood of Railway Clerks. It had jurisdiction in the United States, Central America, and Canada. No lodge, system, division, board of adjustment, or federation could be formed or continue to exist without the Grand Lodge's sanction. It had the sole right and power of granting and suspending charters, of receiving appeals, and of addressing grievances. Its executive officers, or the Grand Council, included the Grand President, seven Vice Grand Presidents, and a Grand Secretary-Treasurer. The Grand President exercised general supervision over all lodges, system divisions, boards of adjustment, and federations of the Brotherhood, and over the Benefit Association. The Grand Vice Presidents assisted the President in the discharge of his duties, performed others assigned to them, and provided a full written report at each regular convention. The Grand Secretary-Treasurer was responsible for keeping a record of the proceedings of all conventions and furnishing a printed report of it to all lodges and system divisions in good standing, and to their members upon request. Other duties included making a report of all monetary and other transactions of his office to each convention, keeping records of all members, issues, notices of dues and assessments, and preparing and making available a semi-annual report on the condition of the Brotherhood to all lodges and system divisions in good standing. Every lodge and subordinate organization reported quarterly to the Grand Secretary-Treasurer. BRAC members belonged to local lodges and could bring grievances arising out of application or interpretation of agreements to their local protective committees, above that to the district level, and finally to the System Board of Adjustment of which their local was an affiliate. Organized along the same lines as the Grand Lodge, System Boards of Adjustment were empowered by the BRAC to negotiate, maintain, revise, modify and adjust agreements applying to BRAC members working for a particular railroad system, as well as to receive and consider grievances. Regional Associations within BRAC coordinated the boards in their jurisdictions. System Boards operated in the framework established by the Railway Labor Act of 1926, intended to keep the American economy flowing without disruption by railway labor disputes. The act was intended to protect employees' right to join a union while avoiding any interruptions to commerce and operations, a goal strengthened by the 1934 amendment that created a National Railroad Adjustment Board as a compulsory mechanism to resolve labor disputes. Cases the System Boards could not resolve went to the National Board of Adjustment. BRAC System Board 96 served members who were employees of the Southern Railway System. Founded in the 19th century, Southern eventually absorbed over 100 railroads, and the system had about 8000 miles of routes in 13 states by 1916. Among the roads and subsidiaries that made up the system were the Alabama Great Southern Railroad; Central of Georgia Railroad (after 1963); the Cincinnati, New Orleans, and Texas Pacific Railway; the Georgia Southern and Florida Railway; and the St. Johns River Terminal Company. Southern merged with the Norfolk & Western Railway in 1982 to form the Norfolk Southern Railway System. Edgar McDonald Broom was born August 23, 1910 in Atlanta, Georgia. He started his career working in Atlanta for the Southern Railway Company on September 3, 1928 in the office of Auditor of Passenger Accounts. A member of the Brotherhood of Railway and Steamship Clerks, Freight Handlers, Express and Station Employees, Broom eventually resigned Southern to work as the Assistant to BRAC's General Chairman of System Board 96 (Southern Railway), later becoming a Vice-Chairman. He was a member of System Board 96's Negotiating Committee and was on the Board of Directors for the Southern Railway Clerks mountain home in Saluda, North Carolina. On November 1, 1955, Broom transferred to Charlotte, North Carolina. He was nominated to attend Harvard University's Trade Union Program on a scholarship made possible by the BRAC Grand Lodge and System Board 96 in 1959. During the year long program, Broom learned to negotiate better conditions and benefits for union employees. The Trade Union Program at Harvard University has been providing training for select union officers since its inception in 1942. Vice-Chairman Broom ran for System Board 96 General Chairman in 1963, but was chastised because the office was still occupied by his boss General Chairman Avery Link, who did not wish to relinquish the position. Broom rallied support and at the August 1 meeting of the Southern Railway System Board of Adjustment held in Washington, D.C., and was elected General Chairman. He served in this capacity for twelve years until his retirement. In Charlotte, Broom was a member of the Providence Baptist Church, serving as a Sunday School teacher, Church Clerk, and Church Deacon. He was honorary Chaplin for BRAC's 1975 convention in Washington, D.C. After retirement, Broom moved back to the Atlanta area and continued to hold the title General Chairman Emeritus for System Board 96, BRAC until his death in 1978. ; Personally identifiable information has been redacted from this item.
