Prevalence and Faecal Egg Counts of Gastrointestinal Parasites of Merino Sheep in Lesotho

The present study aimed to evaluate the effect of the agroecological zone, host age, and gender on the prevalence and faecal egg load of gastrointestinal parasites (GIPs) for six months (July to December) in the Maseru and Quthing districts, Lesotho. A total of 1919 faecal samples were examined using the McMaster technique. The data were analyzed through generalized estimating equations (GEE) under the binary logistic regression model to determine the significant differences for the GIPs prevalence. Moreover, faecal egg counts (FEC) data were analyzed for repeated measures using GEE. In total, three types of GIPs, namely nematodes, coccidia, and cestodes were identified in this study. The overall prevalence rates of nematodes, coccidia, and cestodes were 53.9%, 46.5%, and 4.3% in the Maseru district, respectively. Furthermore, the Quthing district indicated the prevalence rates of 65.0%, 38.2%, and 0.9% for nematodes, coccidia, and cestodes, respectively. In the Maseru district, the overall faecal egg counts for nematodes, coccidia, and cestodes were within the ranges of 0-20.3, 0-90, and 0-600 eggs per gram, respectively. Additionally, the faecal egg counts in the Quthing district ranged from 0 to 8.000, 6.700, and 2.000 eggs per gram for nematodes, coccidia, and cestodes, respectively. The majority of the Merino sheep (>69%) in both districts had lower faecal egg counts (100-800) per gram. The agroecological zone affected the nematode infestation in both districts. Coccidia in the Quthing was higher in the mountain areas. In the Maseru district, the nematode infestation was not age-dependent; however, in the Quthing district, the prevalence was higher in juveniles, compared to adults. Age and gender did not affect the prevalence and faecal egg counts of nematodes and coccidia. The coccidian faecal egg loads were higher in females, compared to males. Merino sheep in Lesotho are mostly infected with gastrointestinal nematodes and protozoal coccidia, which could have a tremendous impact on their health and productivity. It is, therefore, of significant importance to develop the deworming strategy for sheep of different age and gender groups in different agroecological zones.

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No Self Without Salience: Affective and Self-relevance Ratings of 552 Emotionally Valenced and Neutral Dutch Words

Journal of Psycholinguistic Research ◽

10.1007/s10936-021-09784-1 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Lora I. Dimitrova ◽

Eline M. Vissia ◽

Hanneke Geugies ◽

Hedwig Hofstetter ◽

Sima Chalavi ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Repeated Measures ◽

Emotional Valence ◽

Age And Gender ◽

Gender And Age ◽

Main Effect ◽

Emotional Salience ◽

And Gender ◽

The Relationship

AbstractIt is unknown how self-relevance is dependent on emotional salience. Emotional salience encompasses an individual's degree of attraction or aversion to emotionally-valenced information. The current study investigated the interconnection between self and salience through the evaluation of emotional valence and self-relevance. 56 native Dutch participants completed a questionnaire assessing valence, intensity, and self-relevance of 552 Dutch nouns and verbs. One-way repeated-measures ANCOVA investigated the relationship between valence and self, age and gender. Repeated-measures ANCOVA also tested the relationship between valence and self with intensity ratings and effects of gender and age. Results showed a significant main effect of valence for self-relevant words. Intensity analyses showed a main effect of valence but not of self-relevance. There were no significant effects of gender and age. The most important finding presents that self-relevance is dependent on valence. These findings concerning the relationship between self and salience opens avenues to study an individual's self-definition.

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Age and Gender Differences in Evaluating the Pedagogical Usability of E-Learning Materials

English Studies at NBU ◽

10.33919/esnbu.19.2.0 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 5 (2) ◽

pp. 169-189

Author(s):

Liubomir Djalev ◽

Stanislav Bogdanov

Keyword(s):

Gender Differences ◽

Repeated Measures ◽

Educational Process ◽

Instructional Designers ◽

Learning Materials ◽

Age And Gender ◽

Independent Variables ◽

Age And Gender Differences ◽

E Learning ◽

And Gender

The purpose of the study is to examine the pedagogical usability of interactive e-learning materials for foreign language practice. It is based upon two studies of the expected between-group and within-group differences among participants in the educational process. The sample consists of two groups – lecturers and students, a total of 100 participants, each evaluating four materials specifically prepared for this study. Two consecutive repeated measures ANOVA were conducted in which the gender/age, the position of the participants in the educational process, and usability dimensions were the independent variables. Results indicated that all independent variables and their interactions have a significant effects on the evaluations of the pedagogical usability. Women tend to assign higher values than men. Аge groups generally differ in their evaluations, although there is a tendency to give similar ratings for the individual dimensions of pedagogical usability. The 31-40 years age group evaluates the materials higher while the lowest evaluations are given by the groups of 21-30 and 50+ year old participants. Students tend to rate the pedagogical usability systemically higher than the lecturers. Usability dimensions also have a significant effect on evaluations. The most prominent feature of the materials, by a great margin, is their Applicability. The findings corroborate previous research which show age and gender differences in web usability do exist. We conclude that these differences exist as much in pedagogical usability as in technical usability. Further investigations are suggested to explore more deeply the differences in the perceived pedagogical value of e-learning materials as this has implications for instructional designers, teachers and learners alike.

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Midline Crossing Behavior in Children with Learning Disabilities

Adapted Physical Activity Quarterly ◽

10.1123/apaq.16.2.155 ◽

1999 ◽

Vol 16 (2) ◽

pp. 155-166 ◽

Cited By ~ 9

Author(s):

Rebecca J. Woodard ◽

Paul R. Surburg

Keyword(s):

Learning Disabilities ◽

Repeated Measures ◽

Movement Time ◽

Age And Gender ◽

Midline Crossing ◽

Significant Difference ◽

Upper And Lower Extremities ◽

Contralateral Movement ◽

Group 2 ◽

And Gender

The purpose was to compare children with and without learning disabilities (LD), ages 6–8 years, on midline crossing inhibition (MCI). Participants were 44 children (24 boys and 20 girls) in two groups (LD and non-LD), matched on age and gender. MCI was operationally defined as significantly slower contralateral movement when choice reaction time (CRT) and movement time (MT) performance were examined for ipsilateral, midline, and contralateral tasks with both upper and lower extremities. Participants completed 12 days of tests (30 trials each day) using a protocol developed by Eason and Surburg (1993). A 2 (Group) × 2 (Extremity) × 3 (Direction) repeated measures MANOVA revealed significant difference for each dependent variable. Children with LD displayed MCI, whereas children without LD did not.

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Familial Clustering of Trends in Aggression

Journal of Quantitative Criminology ◽

10.1007/s10940-021-09523-8 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Camiel M. van der Laan ◽

Steve G. A. van de Weijer ◽

Michel G. Nivard ◽

Dorret I. Boomsma

Keyword(s):

Repeated Measures ◽

Variance Components ◽

Family Factors ◽

Self Report ◽

Age And Gender ◽

The Past ◽

Trends Over Time ◽

And Gender ◽

The Life Course ◽

Over Time

Abstract Objectives Examine trends in aggressive behavior from 1991 to 2015, investigate whether these trends apply equally to all individuals, and explore the extent to which differences in trends over time cluster within families. Methods Our study included 69,465 measures from 40,400 individuals, from 15,437 Dutch families. Aggression was measured between 1 and 4 times by self-report. We fitted a mixed effects model, modeling the effect of time, age, and gender on aggression, and considering the three levels of nesting in the data, i.e. repeated measures, individuals, and families. To investigate if individual differences in trends in aggression over time cluster within families, variance in aggression and in time and age effects was partitioned into within- and between family variance components. Results We found a steady decline in aggression over time, between 1991 and 2015, as well as over the life course. Across time and age, women had slightly higher levels of aggression than men. There was clear evidence for clustering within, and variation between families, both in overall aggression levels and in time effects. Conclusions We confirm earlier findings of a decline in aggression over the past decades. Not all individuals follow the downward trend over time for aggression to the same extent. Trends over time cluster within families, demonstrating that family factors are not only important to explain variation in aggression levels, but also in understanding differences between individuals in time trends.

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