Background: Children on the autism spectrum participate less frequently, and in a narrower range of activities, than their nonautistic peers, but little is known about exact participation patterns across contexts or how this is perceived by caregivers. This study aimed to document patterns of participation and caregiver views with regard to frequency and intensity of activities.Method: Caregivers of children on the spectrum aged 5 (n = 90) and 9–10 years (n = 128) completed the Participation and Environment Measure for Children and Youth for home, school, and community. Caregivers reported on frequency of child's participation, level of involvement, and caregivers' desire for change in participation patterns.Results: Item‐level analyses revealed similar patterns of participation across home, school, and community for both cohorts with some small age‐appropriate differences. Caregivers generally desired increased diversity, frequency, and involvement in activities but a decreased use of electronics (computers, games, TV, and DVDs).Conclusion: The possibility of autism‐specific participation patterns could inform future interventions aimed at enhancing social inclusion. This warrants further investigation through multiinformant designs that seek the perspectives of the child and caregivers.

The organic carbon stock in biomass and soil profiles sampled from nearby paddocks with different land-use histories was estimated at 7 sites in the upper Liverpool Plains catchment and the Manilla district of north-western New South Wales, Australia. The distribution of soil carbon concentrations over a depth of 2 m was significantly affected by site and land use. Continuous cultivation and cropping over ≥20 years significantly depleted carbon concentrations compared with grassy woodlands in the surface 0.20 m at all sites and to a depth of 0.60 m at 3 sites. Depth of sampling (0–0.20 v. 0–1.0 m) significantly affected the differences between land uses at most sites regarding estimates of the stock of soil carbon. These results show that differences in soil carbon concentrations and stock size do not remain constant with depth between contrasting land uses. However, comparisons between land uses of the total amount of carbon stored were dominated by the number of trees per ha and the size of the trees in grassy woodlands. The implications of these results for carbon accounting are discussed.

This study evaluated the effect of eye muscle area (EMA), ossification, carcass weight, marbling and rib fat depth on the incidence of dark cutting (pH(u)>5.7) using routinely collected Meat Standards Australia (MSA) data. Data was obtained from 204,072 carcasses at a Western Australian processor between 2002 and 2008. Binomial data of pH(u) compliance was analysed using a logit model in a Bayesian framework. Increasing eye muscle area from 40 to 80 cm², increased pH(u) compliance by around 14% (P<0.001) in carcasses less than 350 kg. As carcass weight increased from 150 kg to 220 kg, compliance increased by 13% (P<0.001) and younger cattle with lower ossification were also 7% more compliant (P<0.001). As rib fat depth increased from 0 to 20mm, pH(u) compliance increased by around 10% (P<0.001) yet marbling had no effect on dark cutting. Increasing musculature and growth combined with good nutrition will minimise dark cutting beef in Australia.

Rotational effects of chickpea, an important N2-fixing pulse legume of the northern grains region, on subsequent wheat require quantification of the contribution of the legume to soil N and the N status of the wheat, and of suppression of soil and stubble-borne pathogens, such as crown rot ( Fusarium graminearum Schwabe Group 1). Results from selected treatments of 10 experiments in northern New South Wales in which chickpea and wheat in one season were followed by wheat in following seasons indicated generally higher dry matter (DM) and grain yields of wheat after chickpea than after wheat. Responses to chickpea were -0·8 to 3·3 t/ha (shoot DM) and -3 to 39 kg N/ha (shoot N). Responses in wheat grain yields were -0·1 to 1·7 t/ha (mean 0·85 t/ha); grain N responses were -2 to 33 kg/ha (mean 19 kg/ha). Grain protein responses were small (0·6%) and variable. Although these productivity responses could be explained largely in terms of additional nitrate-N following chickpea, we measured reduced incidences of crown rot in wheat after chickpea (range 1-36%, mean of 12%), compared with wheat after wheat (range 5-52%, mean 30%). Modelling the incidence of crown rot indicated highly significant interactions between prior crop and total water (pre-plant soil water plus in-crop rainfall). When wheat followed chickpea, incidence of the disease declined sharply with increasing water. When wheat followed wheat, there was a marginal decline in disease incidence with increasing water. Our results support the strategy of using legumes in rotation with wheat in the northern grains region for enhanced soil-N supply and disease-break effects.