Journal articles on the topic 'Bison industry'

AbstractThe bison industry is relatively new to North Dakota where in 1998 an estimated 23,000 bison were raised in 47 of its 53 counties. The purpose of this study was to estimate the economic contribution of the bison industry to the state's economy in 1998. The bison industry, as defined here, is the production and processing of bison and the related revenues and expenditures generated from those activities that occurred within the state. With the construction and operation of a bison processing plant in North Dakota, this industry has undergone rapid expansion within the past 10 years. A survey of North Dakota bison producers and processors was conducted to provide estimates of direct impacts of the bison industry within the state. Secondary economic impacts were determined using the North Dakota Input-Output Model. The direct impact of production and processing of bison was estimated at $23 million. This generated an additional $47 million in secondary impacts within the state. The North Dakota bison industry supported a total of 757 secondary full-time equivalent (FTE) jobs. Total economic activity generated within the state was estimated at $70 million, including $27 million in personal income and nearly $18 million in retail sales. In addition, the bison industry generated $4 million in tax revenues, including property, personal income, sales and use, and corporate income taxes. The direct impact of bison production in 1998 ranked fourth in North Dakota's livestock industry: below cattle and calves, dairy products, and swine, but above turkeys and sheep. If the bison industry maintains its present growth rate, it will be larger than the North Dakota swine industry within 3 years, and sooner if the swine industry continues to decline as it has since 1995. The average direct impact generated for each bison in the state was $1,000. Total economic activity generated per bison was $3,100 (includes direct and secondary impacts from production and processing). For every 30 bison an additional secondary FTE job was supported.

Abstract Bison (Bison bison) are a majestic species native to North America that have a rich yet turbulent history. This iconic species is valued due to its cultural significance among indigenous people, impact on the vast geography that it inhabited and commercially for its meat products with desirable attributes. Conservation efforts have included both public and privately owned herds, and efforts to increase their numbers presently continue on both fronts. The objective of this presentation is to provide some historical context about bison, an overview of bison ranching in North America, review research on bison and suggest research topics of importance for this species. Bison roamed North America from Alaska to the northern tier of Mexican states in massive numbers up until the late 1800’s where relentless hunting and waste dwindled their numbers to no more than 1500 head. Today the farmed bison industry in North America is a thriving livestock industry with over 300,000 bison on farms and a keen consumer interested in the story and sustainability of bison. The primary product from the industry is meat, but skulls, hides and farm tourism are also sources of revenue for the industry. There is much about bison that is unknown, but the body of knowledge is increasing as research is published and through code of practice development. Genetic testing and disease surveillance are important tools for species preservation, both on private ranches and public herds. Understanding bison seasonality, adaptations to low quality forages, interactions with their environment and sensitivity to stress helps both the conservation and commercial raising of bison. More research into nutrition, meat quality, reproduction, technology adoption and handling techniques to lower impacts of stress will help efforts towards successfully raising and enjoying bison.

Three thousand three hundred twenty-nine (3329) bison from 16 Peace Country bison herds were weighed between November 1992 and October 1994 to determine body weight, gain and to measure herd productivity. A survey of management practices was used to develop three producer profiles: 1) small herds (∼30 head), 130 ha and significant off-farm responsibilities, 2) full-time – 110 breeding females on 1040 ha, and 3) large ranches – 450 breeding females on 2080 ha. Calf winter weight was significantly (P < 0.0001) affected by HERD, YEAR and GENDER with males (196 ± 2.0 kg) significantly heavier (P < 0.0001) than females (180 ± 2.6 kg). Calves of both genders were heavier in 1993 than in 1992. Producers reporting herd health problems also had calves with lower (P < 0.0001) winter weights than herds reporting no health problems (175 ± 1.2 kg vs. 198 ± 1.2 kg). Seasonal ADG ranged from −0.08 kg d−1 to 0.56 kg d−1. A significant relationship existed between winter ADG and subsequent summer ADG (Y = −0.50X + 0.71; P < 0.0001). The results from this study of Peace Country bison are sufficient to serve as industry benchmarks to which producers can compare their herds. Key words: Bison, management, weight, gain, productivity

Abstract Genomic tools are increasingly being used in livestock production due to their practical applications in production management and animal genetic improvement balanced with a price point that is acceptable to the livestock producer. Our program developed three genetic tools for the bison industry, including Parentage Verification, Subspecies Composition, and Cattle Introgression. The development of these tools occurred in two phases. The first was to use whole genome sequencing to discover single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in bison; approximately 52.5 million biallelic SNPs were discovered from 21 bison animals with high quality sequence data. The second phase was to select a subset of the SNPs for use on a genotyping assay that would ultimately consist of the SNP content for the commercial tool. The resulting genomic tools may provide an opportunity to increase the sustainability, competitiveness, and profitability of the bison industry from both production and conservation perspectives.

В данной статье рассмотрен опыт зарубежных стран и региональный опыт в реинтродукции и использовании бизонов в экономике, определены основные риски для будущего включения бизонов в мясное животноводство. В качестве материалов для статьи были изучены научные статьи российских биологов, зарубежных экономистов и биологов, отчётная документация по отраслям и отдельным регионам, информационные материалы различных ассоциаций по разведению бизонов, новостные статьи и пресс-релизы органов власти. В статье рассмотрена возможность и перспективы повторения зарубежного опыта и оценены риски с учетом региональной специфики. Опыт стран Северной Америки по восстановлению численности и экономическому разведению степного бизона, родственного подвида/экотипа бизона, демонстрирует перспективность разведения бизонов как альтернативы крупному рогатому скоту. При этом большая устойчивость к климатическим условиям, присущим республике, наличие схожего опыта животноводства – мясного табунного коневодства, положительные результаты реинтродукции показывают перспективность повторения и дальнейшего развития зарубежного опыта в условиях Республики Саха (Якутия). Но рассмотренный опыт также показал риски и негативные сравнительные черты, требующие рассмотрения и более подробного изучения, для минимизации их влияния в будущем: малая численность, уязвимость к болезням, дикость, природная сила, конкурирующие виды, а также удаленность и отсутствие развитой транспортной сети в регионе. По основным рискам очерчен круг вопросов, решение которых положительно скажется на перспективе введения бизонов в мясное животноводство. В дальнейшем работа по анализу выделенных вопросов позволит глубже рассмотреть перспективу использования бизонов в мясном животноводстве республики, определить сильные и слабые стороны по сравнению с другими видами, сформулировать необходимые меры для минимизации рисков и более эффективной, в долгосрочной перспективе, интеграции в экономику республики. This paper examines the international practices and regional experience in the reintroduction and use of bison in the economy, identifying the main risks for the future integration of bison in livestock industry. Scientific publications of Russian biologists, foreign economists and biologists, industry and regional reports, information papers of various bison associations, news articles and press-releases of state authorities were studied as materials for the paper. The authors consider the possibility and perspectives of replicating foreign experience and estimate the risks, considering the regional context. The North American experience in the recovery and commercial raising of the plains bison, a related subspecies/ecotype of the wood bison, shows the potential of bison breeding as an alternative to cattle. At the same time, high resistance to climatic conditions of the republic, similar experience in horse breeding, positive results of reintroduction, show the potential for replication and further development of foreign experience in the Sakha Republic (Yakutia). Studying foreign experience also revealed dangers and negative aspects that require further research in order to minimize their impact in future: small population, vulnerability to diseases, wild nature, natural strength, competing species, as well as regional aspects such as remoteness and the lack of developed infrastructure. On the main risks, a range of issues is outlined, the solution of which will have a positive effect on the prospect of introducing bison into cattle breeding. In the future, the work on the analysis of the highlighted issues will allow a deeper research of using bison in the economy of the republic, determine the strengths and weaknesses in comparison with other species, formulate the necessary measures to minimize risks and more efficient, in the long term, integration into the economy of the republic.

This paper describes a fully automated process that creates a custom hardware traffic validator directly from a formal grammar and deploys it within a specialized network security appliance. The appliance appears as a hidden, all-hardware “bump-in-the-wire” that can be inserted within any network segment; it stores and validates messages on-the-fly, and either forwards or drops individual packets in real-time. Consequently, it serves to disrupt and mitigate stealthy remote attacks that leverage zero-day exploits and persistent implants. Allowed traffic, files, and mission payload formats are specified formally using a standard Look-Ahead, Left-to-Right (LALR) grammar that operates on ASCII and/or binary data. The grammars can be expressed either in Backus-Naur Form (BNF), used by industry standard tools such as Bison, or through state-of-the-art combinators, such as Hammer, under development within the DARPA SafeDocs program. Bison and Hammer compiler tools are used to generate standard shift/reduce parsing tables. These tables are post-processed to improve their compactness and practical viability. The optimized tables are then combined with a generic push-down automaton to form a complete parser. The parser is then automatically transformed into a hardware circuit using High-Level Synthesis (HLS). The result is a composable block of circuitry that can be directly inserted into a generic communications harness embedded within a Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) on the network appliance.

There is an expanding industry for the marketing of high-value meats from animals other than the typical domesticated species, including, but not limited to, bison, ostrich, alligator, and caiman. In this study we compared the gamma radiation resistance of a mixture of salmonellae (Salmonella dublin, S. enteritidis, S. newport, S. senftenberg, and S. typhimurium) and a mixture of Staphylococcus aureus strains (ATCC 13565, ATCC 25923, and B124) when present on ground bison, ostrich, alligator, and caiman meats at 5°C. A minimum of five doses were used to establish the D values, and the studies were replicated three times. Because the type of meat did not significantly (P &lt; 0.05) alter the radiation resistance of salmonellae and of S. aureus only slightly in the case of ostrich meat, all of the results for each organism were combined to obtain radiation D values of 0.53 ± 0.02 and 0.37 ± 0.01 kGy for Salmonella spp. and S. aureus, respectively. The authors conclude that both of these food-borne pathogens, if present, can be eliminated or greatly reduced in number, depending upon the level of contamination, from these meats by gamma radiation doses between 1.5 and 3.0 kGy at 5°C, the doses currently approved by the FDA and USDA for the irradiation of poultry. The authors also conclude that similar, if not identical, control of food-borne pathogens should be expected on edible meats in general, not just on those that are generically related.

The purpose of researches is isolation and selection of source material of flax and the best typical alife plants unable to further their involvement in the selection process. Linen oilseed is a valuable crops that are widely used in the industry. From it the oil and cheap vegetable protein for animal husbandry are made. Linseed contains up to 48% oil, which is used in the form of food and industrial raw materials for number of industries. Introduction of new varieties of flax, combining high productivity and drought resistance, is the main means of improving this crop yields. In the experiment on ecological strain testing it was studied 10 varieties of oil flax selection by All-Russia Research Institute of Oil Crops and Siberian Experimental Station of All-Russia Research Institute of Oil Crops. Standard is variety of Kustanaiskii yantar. The replication of experience fourfould, the method of comparison. The area of the plot – 40 m2. The seeding rate of 7 million seeds/ha. On average for the period 2009-2014 most were maturing varieties of flax Bizon, VNIIMK 620 – 76 days. The tallest are varieties Linol – 62 cm, Severnyi, Sokol – 60 cm. The optimal indexes on the structure of crop noted at sorts Severnyi (number of boxes on one plant – 45, number of seed in box – 9, mass of 1000 seed – 7.4 g) and the Legur (number of boxes on one plant – 54, number of seed in box – 8, mass of 1000 seed – 6.5 g). Highest productivity, higher standard, formed a varieties of oilseed flax Bison (yield – 16.8 c/ga, oil – 39.6%), Rucheek (yield – 14.2 c/ga, oil – 43.1%), Severnyi (yield – 14.0 c/ga, oil – 43.6%).

The technological analysis of a collection of cores, flakes, unifaces, and bifaces from a Chickasaw site in northeast Mississippi makes it clear that the lithic industry was substantially reorganized to meet the functional demands of the early eighteenth-century colonial economy. The focus of this industry was a distinctive, well-made end scraper. Similar tools occur throughout the Midwest during late prehistoric times and extend into the middle Mississippi River valley during the protohistoric. Although the Midwest scrapers are likely a response to the spread of bison into that region, a study of the distribution of the Chickasaw tool kit in time and space suggests that it was used to process deer skins, the primary focus of the trade with the French and English in the Southeast. However, stone scrapers are not found on all early eighteenth-century Chickasaw sites. The historical documents suggest that some villages were more successful in their trade relations with the Europeans and were therefore able to replace stone tools with metal at an earlier date. An examination of the occurrence of stone tools throughout the Southeast during the early historic period indicates that relative distance to ports of trade was the primary determinant of the rate at which stone-tool technology was abandoned.

Many people believe that animal agriculture should be phased out and replaced with vegetarian substitutes. The livestock industry has also been attacked because it uses vast amounts of land. People forget that grazing cattle or sheep can be raised on land that is either too arid or too rough for raising crops. At least 20% of the habitable land on Earth is not suitable for crops. Rotational grazing systems can be used to improve both soil health and vegetation diversity on arid land. Grazing livestock are also being successfully used to graze cover crops on prime farmland. Soil health is improved when grazing on a cover crop is rotated with conventional cash crops, such as corn or soybeans. It also reduces the need for buying fertilizer. Grazing animals, such as cattle, sheep, goats, or bison, should be used as part of a sustainable system that will improve the land, help sequester carbon, and reduce animal welfare issues.

Among more than twenty species belonging to the class Mollecutes, Mycoplasma bovis is the most common cause of bovine mycoplasmosis in North America and Europe. Bovine mycoplasmosis causes significant economic loss in the cattle industry. The number of M. bovis positive herds recently has increased in North America and Europe. Since antibiotic treatment is ineffective and no efficient vaccine is available, M. bovis induced mycoplasmosis is primarily controlled by herd management measures such as the restriction of moving infected animals out of the herds and culling of infected or shedders of M. bovis. To better understand the population structure and genomic factors that may contribute to its transmission, we sequenced 147 M. bovis strains isolated from four different countries viz. USA (n = 121), Canada (n = 22), Israel (n = 3) and Lithuania (n = 1). All except two of the isolates (KRB1 and KRB8) were isolated from two host types i.e., bovine (n = 75) and bison (n = 70). We performed a large-scale comparative analysis of M. bovis genomes by integrating 103 publicly available genomes and our dataset (250 total genomes). Whole genome single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) based phylogeny using M.agalactiae as an outgroup revealed that M. bovis population structure is composed of five different clades. USA isolates showed a high degree of genomic divergence in comparison to the Australian isolates. Based on host of origin, all the isolates in clade IV was of bovine origin, whereas majority of the isolates in clades III and V was of bison origin. Our comparative genome analysis also revealed that M. bovis has an open pangenome with a large breadth of unexplored diversity of genes. The function based analysis of autogenous vaccine candidates (n = 10) included in this study revealed that their functional diversity does not span the genomic diversity observed in all five clades identified in this study. Our study also found that M. bovis genome harbors a large number of IS elements and their number increases significantly (p = 7.8 × 10−6) as the genome size increases. Collectively, the genome data and the whole genome-based population analysis in this study may help to develop better understanding of M. bovis induced mycoplasmosis in cattle.

Shiga-toxin-producing Escherichia coli (STEC) is a food-borne pathogen that causes human gastrointestinal infections across the globe, leading to kidney failure or even death in severe cases. E. coli are commensal members of humans and animals’ (cattle, bison, and pigs) guts, however, may acquire Shiga-toxin-encoded phages. This acquisition or colonization by STEC may lead to dysbiosis in the intestinal microbial community of the host. Wildlife and livestock animals can be asymptomatically colonized by STEC, leading to pathogen shedding and transmission. Furthermore, there has been a steady uptick in new STEC variants representing various serotypes. These, along with hybrids of other pathogenic E. coli (UPEC and ExPEC), are of serious concern, especially when they possess enhanced antimicrobial resistance, biofilm formation, etc. Recent studies have reported these in the livestock and food industry with minimal focus on wildlife. Disturbed natural habitats and changing climates are increasingly creating wildlife reservoirs of these pathogens, leading to a rise in zoonotic infections. Therefore, this review comprehensively surveyed studies on STEC prevalence in livestock and wildlife hosts. We further present important microbial and environmental factors contributing to STEC spread as well as infections. Finally, we delve into potential strategies for limiting STEC shedding and transmission.

The article presents new evidence from the excavations in Malisina Stijena rock shelter located in the north of the Republic of Montenegro. Excavation in 2021 over the area of 2 х 3 m was made at the drip line in the eastern part of the rock shelter. Deposits up to 2 m thick were exposed. Lithological layers A1-A4, B1, B2, C, and D were identified in the section. Archaeological evidence occurred in most units with the exception of layers A3 and D. Primary reduction in layers C and B was aimed at producing flakes, less frequently, blades following the radial, Levallois, and parallel primary reduction techniques. The toolkit combined typical Middle Paleolithic varieties, such as Mousterian points, Levallois points, and side-scrapers of various types, with the objects typical of the Upper Paleolithic, such as end-scrapers, piercing tools, as well as chisel-like and truncated-faceted tools. Faunal remains testify to hunting large herbivores, such as bison, red deer, and mountain goat. Bones of a hare and large birds were also discovered. Local raw materials from the gravel of the Cehotina River were used for tool production. The closest cultural and chronological parallels to these industries can be found in the complexes of the Final Middle Paleolithic from the sites of Bioce and Crvena Stijena in Central Montenegro. Lithic industry from layer A was distinguished by well-developed small and micro-laminar technique. The toolkit contained the varieties typical of the Final Upper Paleolithic, including backed microblades, microliths, gravettoid points, and small end-scrapers. There is evidence of systematic fishing and hunting birds and small mammals.

Abstract This study estimated movement of feed between regions of Alberta to meet the needs of the beef sector in 2001, 2006, 2011 and 2016, and included barley and wheat grain, grass hay and grass-legume hay, which can be cost-effectively transported. Feed demands of beef and other livestock (i.e., dairy cattle, chickens, pigs, sheep, bison, horses, turkeys and other poultry) were estimated using county-level inventories from Alberta Agriculture and Rural Development and Statistics Canada, and aggregated to 7 land-use regions: Lower Athabasca, Upper Athabasca, Lower Peace, Upper Peace, North Saskatchewan, Red Deer and South Saskatchewan. Feed requirements were sourced from literature and expert opinion pertinent to Canadian context, and feed demand estimated using annualized feeding days and dry matter (DM) intake. Feed available for beef production was estimated from crop yields minus other livestock feed use. Average feed demand for beef production across Alberta was (tons of DM) 2.71 M, 0.68 M, 2.21 M, and 1.95 M for barley and wheat grain, grass hay, and grass-legume hay, respectively. North Saskatchewan, Red Deer and South Saskatchewan accounted for 90% of the total demand for barley and wheat grain and 81% of grass hay and grass-legume hay. South Saskatchewan had the largest feed deficit and required feed movement in all years. Across years, barley grain deficits ranged from -94% to -31%, grass hay deficit from -142% to a surplus of 1.6% and grass-legume hay deficits from -167% to -15%. Unmet deficits at provincial level occurred for barley grain (2006), grass hay (2001) and grass-legume hay (2001, 2006). Wheat was surplus in all years, ranging from 17% to 90%. Feed movement is critical to support beef production in Alberta, and is highly variable depending on crop yield in different regions. This analysis enables the beef industry to assess provincial feed sourcing and environmental footprints.

The Upper Paleolithic site Barmaky, 2nd cultural layer from Volyhnia-Lublin upland is the most western manifestation of Epigravettian of the Mid Dnieper basin. During several field campaigns the 147 m2 of cultural deposits with three pits and one chalk / marl concentration were studied (fig. 1). The silty-loess deposits of Barmaky, 2 accumulated about 19 kyr cal BP (table 1) under the permafrost conditions. The fauna assemblage is represented by: mammoths, bison, reindeer, red deer, horse, bear, wolf, wolverine, polar fox, fox and hare. More than 100 thousand artifacts were recovered during the last two field campaigns. In essential account (without chips, chunks, unidentifiable debitage), the artifacts assemblage is represented by: cores and pre-cores — 0.87 %; flakes — 45.23; blades — 17.34; bladelets — 14.27; micro-blades — 7.34; burin spalls — 8.08; tools — 6.79 % (table 2). The reduction sequences are based on the flaking of uni-, bidirectional sub-cylindrical and narrow flaking surface unidirectional cores for blades and bladelets (table 3; fig. 2). There is no evidence of micro-blade technology implication. The structure of tool-kit is characterized by the dominance of burins — about 50 %; microliths — 25 %; and truncated pieces — about 18 % (table 4). The rest of tool classes are represented by a few percentages each. Among them are the end-scrapers on blades with truncated base (fig. 3). The most part of burins are represented by pieces made on obliquely truncated blades (table 5; fig. 4). Also, the obliquely truncated blades dominate the truncated pieces assemblage (table 6; fig. 5). The most representative type of microliths is the micro-points with abruptly retouched straight back and obliquely retouched base (table 7; fig. 6). The points, pendants, bracelet fragment made on tusk and perforated fossil marine shells from local chalk deposits are available. The composition of microliths, burins and end-scrapers in Barmaky, 2 tool-kit is characteristic to the cultural layers beyond the dwelling structures on such base-camps as Mezhyrich (fig. 7). Also, the presences of pits and fauna composition are close to what expected from Epigravettian base-camps. The artifacts assemblage of Barmaky, 2 belongs to the Mizyn industry. Also, Barmaky, 2 is the earliest manifestation of Epigravettian in the Mid Dnieper basin.

The Canada-European Union Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) 'agreement in principle' was signed on 18 October 2013 by Prime Minister Harper and European President Jose Manuel Barroso. On 29 October 2013, the Prime Minister tabled a report on CETA and hailed it as: 'the biggest deal ever concluded by Canada'. If it is not the biggest deal, it is certainly a big deal. CETA provides a variety of trade, investment and government procurement opportunities to Canadian and EU businesses which are expected to pay dividends for years to come. CETA will provide Canada with access to the twenty-eight member EU, which has over 500 million consumers, and CDN 17 trillion in annual economic activity. It will remove 98% of EU import tariffs on goods originating from Canada (e.g., aerospace parts, agricultural products, automobiles, beef and bison, chemicals, dairy products, forest products, fruits and vegetables, grains and oils, industrial machinery, iron and steel, IT equipment, medical equipment, metals, minerals, plastic products, and seafood products). CETA could boost Canada's annual income by CDN 12 billion, create 80,000 jobs, and result in a 20% annual increase in bilateral trade. Once CETA is ratified, Canada will have preferential trade agreements with countries having 53% of global GDP (approximately CDN 36.4 trillion), and a trade advantage over the USA. The EU expects CETA to result in duty savings of approximately CDN 700 million. CETA will remove Canadian import tariffs on goods including automobiles, some cheeses, industrial machinery, seafood products, and wine and spirits. European exporters will save three times as much in annual duty payments as Canadian exporters. Canadian businesses and consumers stand to benefit if retailers and exporters pass on duty savings to them. At present Canada is the EU's fourth largest source of investment, and the EU's twelfth largest export market. CETA is not just a free trade agreement. It addresses issues such as services and investment; government procurement; intellectual property; dispute settlement; sustainable development, the environment; immigration and labour. This ambitious agreement will create business opportunities for a large number of sectors including: advanced manufacturing; the automotive industry; chemicals and plastics; agriculture and agri-food; food processing; metals and mineral products; fish and seafood products; information and communications technology; services; investment and government procurement. Within an improved regulatory environment under CETA, Canadian and EU businesses will be able to forge new alliances, and access new markets.

In the Dominican Republic, poultry consumption per capita is greater than 34 kg of poultry meat per year. However, antibiotics, specifically the quinolone group, may be overused and can result in residues in the poultry meat. These residues are of concern because consumers may have allergies to antibiotics and antibiotic-resistant bacteria can develop from overuse of antibiotics in production. Little is known concerning this issue specifically for Santiago Province in the Dominican Republic. Thus, the main purpose of this research was to evaluate the incidence of residual quinolones in poultry meat and determine whether any residues detected were higher than the residue maximum limits (100 μg/kg) established by food industry authorities, including the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and European Food Safety Authority. A total of 135 samples of chicken breast were taken from different retail meat centers in the nine municipalities of Santiago Province (Santiago, Tamboril, Sabana Iglesia, Villa Bisonó, Puñal, Villa González, Licey, Jánico, and San José De Las Matas) and were analyzed using the Equinox test (Immunotec, Swanton, VT). Of the 135 samples analyzed, 50% from Sabana Iglesia, 20% from Licey, 20% from San Jose De Las Matas, and 6.25% from Santiago contained residues of quinolones higher than the residue maximum limits. No quinolone residues were detected in samples obtained from Janico, Punal, Tamboril, Villa Bisono, or Villa Gonzalez. The results of this investigation suggest that some poultry meat sold for human consumption in Santiago Province of the Dominican Republic contains quinolone residues and may represent a health risk to some consumers.

The article takes its cue from a recent book by Claudio Bisoni of Elio Petri, to return the movie A Citizen Above Suspicion. In it we try to single out the discourse on power, which in the seventies was changing itself from traditional forms of coercion as a vertical dotted repressive violence in everyday life and culture industry. The text also denied a sort of criticism directed at the movement and also emphasized the elements of news, such as the vision of a society divided between deserving and undeserving.

Abstract As the electronics industry continues to evolve a concerted effort has developed to implement lower melting point solders. The ability to minimize the thermal exposure that an assembly is subjected to affords significant benefits with respect to both the reliability and the materials that can be used. One of the most popular low melt solder alloys currently being investigated by the industry is the Bi-Sn eutectic system, which has a melting point of 139°C. The BiSn system itself is not particularly novel as it was posited as a SAC alternative during the initial shift from Pb based solders. While a body of knowledge currently exists regarding this system, and the near eutectic variant BiSnAg, there are still concerns regarding its ductility, especially as a function of thermal exposure and strain rate. Bismuth is widely acknowledged as a brittle element and its presence in such quantities raises concerns of not just Cu6Sn5 embrittlement but also solder fragility in high strain rate types of environments. A challenge with regards to near term implementation is that most packages are not available with BiSn solder bumps. Therefore, it will be necessary to use components already balled with SAC 305 solder. This means that the resulting solder interconnect, reflowed below conventional SAC reflow temperatures, will form a type of mixed hybrid microstructure. This non-equilibrium microstructure will be composed of two regions, one Bi-rich region which is well past saturation and a second region which is Bi-deficient. It is of specific industrial interest then to not just investigate the BiSn solder system but also within the context of a realistic mixed interconnect. Recent work by several researchers has shown that this hybrid microstructure is unstable and quite active with respect to the movement and localized concentration of the Bismuth. The degree of mixing of these two regions has been shown to be highly dependent upon reflow temperature and the paste to ball volume ratio. Mixed SAC-BiSn solder joints were formed by placing SAC 305 spheres on BiSn paste deposits for a paste to ball volume ratio of .18. These samples were then reflowed at either 175°C or 200°C. SAC 305 control samples were also made using a conventional Pb-free reflow profile with a peak temperature of 247°C. A 22 mil Cu-OSP pad on a 1.0 mm thick FR4 substrate was used for all samples. A selection of the solder joints were then isothermally aged at 90°C for 200 hours. Using a joint level micromechanical tester, ball shear tests were conducted at a range of strain rates for samples in the as-reflowed and aged state. Using this information, the strain rate sensitivity of the interconnects was mapped and correlated with the observed failure modes. Investigations into the fracture mechanisms were conducted by examining the shear fracture surface with optical and scanning electron microscopy. Additionally, the evolution of the microstructure was characterized. Results showed a clear transition from ductile solder failure to a brittle separation failure at the higher strain rates.

The article is devoted to the history of mining-factories business in Russian Lapland in the first half of the Annian rule. Based on archival and published official documents, it examines the transformations that took place in 1730–1736 in the mining business of the Russian Empire. It tells about the history of the discovery and the beginning of the mining of silver ores in Pomorie on the Medvezhiy Island. The article focuses on the biography and history of the invitation to Russia of the Saxon Ober-Berg-Hauptmann and chamberlain, Baron Kurt Alexander von Schönberg, who in 1736 became General-Berg-Director, head of the entire mining industry of the Russian Empire. The roles of the chief chamberlain and favorite of Anna Ioannovna, Graph Ernst Johann von Biron and the “soul” of the Cabinet of Ministers, Vice-Chancellor Graph Andrei Ivanovich Osterman in the invitation and activities of Schönberg in Russia are outlined.

Swine waste (SW), the by-product of North Carolina's booming hog industry, is one of the state's most underutilized resources. Currently, SW is used to grow coastal bermuda hay, a “disposal” crop with little to no economic value. Use of SW by commercial growers as fertilizer would reduce the need to dispose of SW and could reduce the overall input of nutrients into the environment. Our objectives were to determine: plant growth characteristics of SW, the effects of SW on leachable forms of nitrogen, and the physical effects of SW in a pine bark media. To avoid pathogens, we used SW (BionSoil™) that had been biologically digested as part of a proprietary SW treatment process (Bion Technologies, Inc.). Liners of `Rose Madness' petunia, `Skogholm' cotoneaster, `Girard's Red' azalea, and `Wilson's Yellow' daylily were planted in 3.8-L plastic pots that contained one of the following (by volume): 10% SW:90% pine bark, 20% SW:80% pine bark, 30% SW:70% pine bark, or pine bark (control) amended with 3.6 kg of 23-4-8 controlled release fertilizer (CLF), 3.6 kg dolomitic limestone, and 330 g micronutrient fertilizer per m3. Shoot dry weights were determined for all species at harvest. Root dry weights were obtained for cotoneaster and daylily. Leachate nitrogen and pH was determined periodically throughout the 22-week study. By the 14th week, nitrogen and potassium deficiencies were identified on plants growing in SW-amended media. Those treatments were subsequently topdressed with a corrective application of 9 g of 23N–4P–8K CRF. Generally, SW can produce plants similar to short-term CRF without the need for supplemental micronutrients or lime Root biomass was greater in SW media than in the control. A mid-season application of a N–P–K fertilizer may be necessary.

Genomic technologies have been increasingly applied in livestock production due to their utility in production management and animal genetic improvement. The current project aimed to develop genomic resources for the Canadian bison industry, specifically a parentage verification tool and a subspecies composition tool. Both products stand to help with building and maintaining purebred and crossbred bison populations, and in turn bison conservation and production. The development of this genomic toolkit proceeded in two stages. In the single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) discovery and selection stage, raw sequence information from 41 bison samples was analyzed, and approximately 52.5 million candidate biallelic SNPs were discovered from 21 samples with high sequence quality. A set of 19,954 SNPs (2,928 for parentage verification and 17,026 for subspecies composition) were then selected for inclusion on an Axiom myDesign custom array. In the refinement and validation stage, 480 bison were genotyped using the custom SNP panel, and the resulting genotypes were analyzed to further filter SNPs and assess tool performance. In various tests using real and simulated genotypes, the two genomic tools showed excellent performance for their respective tasks. Final SNP sets consisting of 191 SNPs for parentage and 17,018 SNPs for subspecies composition are described. As the first SNP-based genomic toolkit designed for the Canadian bison industry, our results may provide a new opportunity in improving the competitiveness and profitability of the industry in a sustainable manner.

Abstract Background Mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis (Map) causes Johne’s disease (JD), a chronic enteritis widespread in ruminants, resulting in substantial economic losses, especially to the dairy industry. Understanding the genetic diversity of Map in Australia will assist epidemiological studies for tracking disease transmission and identify subtype characteristics for use in development of improved diagnostic typing methods. Here we investigated the phylogenetic relationships of 351 Map isolates and compared different subtyping methods to assess their suitability for use in diagnostics and accuracy. Results SNP-based phylogenetic analysis of 228 Australian isolates and 123 publicly available international isolates grouped Type S and Type C strains into two distinct lineages. Type C strains were highly monomorphic with only 20 SNP differences separating them. Type S strains, when aligned separately to the Telford strain, fell into two distinct clades: The first clade contained seven international isolates while the second clade contained one international isolate from Scotland and all 59 Australian isolates. The Australian Type B strain clustered with US bison strains. IS1311 PCR and Restriction Enzyme Analysis (REA) intermittently generated incorrect results when compared to Long Sequence Polymorphism (LSP) analysis, whole genome SNP-based phylogenetic analysis, IS1311 sequence alignment and average nucleotide identity (ANI). These alternative methods generated consistent Map typing results. A published SNP based assay for genotyping Map was found to be unsuitable for differentiating between Australian and international strain types of Map. Conclusion This is the first phylogenetic analysis of Australian Map isolates. The Type C lineage was highly monomorphic, and the Type S lineage clustered all Australian isolates into one clade with a single Scottish sheep strain. The Australian isolate classified as Type B by IS1311 PCR and REA is likely to be descended from bison and most closely related to US bison strains. Limitations of the current typing methods were identified in this study.

The COVID-19 pandemic is an economic shock that affects both the supply of and demand for goods and services. These effects are particularly profound in the hospitality and leisure sector, which includes the gaming industry. COVID-19 therefore has the potential to result in lasting damage to localities that depend on gaming revenues. For Indigenous gaming communities, the stakes are especially high. The Indigenous casino and gaming industry has been characterized as the coming of the “new buffalo,” a trope that alludes to the high levels of wealth enjoyed by bison-reliant communities in the Great Plains. Indeed, Indigenous gaming has been a valuable engine of economic growth for many communities across North America, but COVID-19 reveals this economic success to be a double-edged sword. The COVID-19 shock is now threatening to undermine an industry that has come to play a critical role in the physical and financial health of Indigenous gaming communities as well as in their capacity to exercise their right to self-determination.

Mycobacterium avium subspecies paratuberculosis (MAP) is the aetiological agent of Johne's disease (JD), a chronic enteritis that causes major losses to the global livestock industry. Further, it has been associated with human Crohn's disease. Several strains of MAP have been identified, the two major groups being sheep strain MAP, which includes the Type I and Type III sub-lineages, and the cattle strain or Type II MAP lineage, of which bison strains are a sub-grouping. Major genotypic, phenotypic and pathogenic variations have been identified in prior comparisons, but the research has predominately focused on cattle strains of MAP. In countries where the sheep industries are more prevalent, however, such as Australia and New Zealand, ovine JD is a substantial burden. An information gap exists regarding the genomic differences between sheep strain sub-lineages and the relevance of Type I and Type III MAP in terms of epidemiology and/or pathogenicity. We therefore investigated sheep MAP isolates from Australia and New Zealand using whole genome sequencing. For additional context, sheep MAP genome datasets were downloaded from the Sequence Read Archive and GenBank. The final dataset contained 18 Type III and 16 Type I isolates and the K10 cattle strain MAP reference genome. Using a pan-genome approach, an updated global phylogeny for sheep MAP from de novo assemblies was produced. When rooted with the K10 cattle reference strain, two distinct clades representing the lineages were apparent. The Australian and New Zealand isolates formed a distinct sub-clade within the type I lineage, while the European type I isolates formed another less closely related group. Within the type III lineage, isolates appeared more genetically diverse and were from a greater number of continents. Querying of the pan-genome and verification using BLAST analysis revealed lineage-specific variations (n = 13) including genes responsible for metabolism and stress responses. The genetic differences identified may represent important epidemiological and virulence traits specific to sheep MAP. This knowledge will potentially contribute to improved vaccine development and control measures for these strains.

Время заселения человеком Русской равнины и культурные особенности ее первых поселенцев остаются предметом дискуссий. В статье анализируются материалы древнейшей на юго-востоке Русской равнины стратифицированной ашельской стоянки Хрящи на Нижнем Дону. Суммируются сведения о стоянке, приводятся предварительные результаты новых исследований. Анализ остатков мелких млекопитающих, малакофауны и палинологические данные показывают, что стоянка существовала во время лихвинского климатического ритма («большой лихвин», MIS 11-9, ~ 420–270 тыс. л. н.). Культуросодержащий слой стоянки, залегающий стратиграфически ниже слоя с теплолюбивой лихвинской малакофауной, сформировался в отно­сительно засушливую фазу этого интервала. Это тонкий (10–30 см) слой базального галечника III надпойменной террасы р. Северский Донец (IV надпойменной террасы р. Дон?), залегающий под почти 30-метровой толщей отложений различного генези­са, включающей не менее трех ископаемых почв. Культурные остатки представлены главным образом каменными изделиями. Кости крупных млекопитающих малочисленны, это остатки копытных, обычных для среднего и позднего плейстоцена Европы (бизон, благородный олень). Окатанность некоторых изделий позволяет предполагать, что деятельность людей происходила на пляже реки, место стоянки посещалось ими неоднократно. О кратковременном характере стоянки свидетельствует отсутствие нуклеусов и использование в ряде случаев приносного сырья. Каменная индустрия стоянки, по-видимому, не леваллуазская. В ней хорошо выражены оформленные орудия: крупные режущие орудия и более мелкие орудия из отщепов и обломков сырья. Наличие бифасов и широкий спектр крупных режущих орудий указывают на принадлежность ее к индустриям с ашельской технологией (ашелю). Индустрия стоянки своеобразна. Прямые аналогии каменной индустрии Хрящей пока не выявлены, но некоторые признаки ее технологии и типологии орудий прослеживаются в ашельских индустриях Центральной Европы и Западного Кавказа. The period when humans settled in the Russian plain and cultural traits of its first settlers remain a matter of debate. This paper analyzes materials from a stratified site known as Kryashchi located in the Lower Don region which is the earliest Acheulean site in the southeastern part of the Russian plain. The paper summarizes data on the site, and provides preliminary results of recent excavations. The analysis of remains of small mammals, malakofauna and palinological data demonstrate that the site was occupied during the Likhvin Interglacial (‘Big Likhvin’, MIS 11-9, ~ 420–270,000 years ago). The occupation layer located stratigraphically beneath the layer with thermophilic Likhvin malakofauna was formed during a relatively dry phase of this interval. It is a thin (10–30 cm) layer of basalt pebble stone of the 3rd terrace above the flood-plain of the Severskiy Donets (the 4th terrace of the Don River?) underlying rock masses almost 30 m thick, these masses have different genesis of accumulation and include at least three buried soils. Remains from the occupation layer are represented mainly by stone items. Bones of large mammals are few and include remnants of the ungulates typical for the Middle and the Late Pleistocene of Europe (bison and red deer). Roundness of the items from the occupation layer suggests that humans were engaged in various activities on the river beach and that they visited the site repeatedly. A lack of cores and the use of materials brought from other places imply that the site was occupied for a short period of time. Its lithic industry does not appear to be Levallois and is well represented by trimmed tools such as large cutting tools and implements and smaller tools made on flakes and stone fragments. Presence of bifaces and a wide range of large cutting tools suggest that this industry belongs to those with Acheulean technologies. The industry of the site has some distinguishing traits. Direct analogies to the Khryashchi lithic industry have not yet been found; however, some technological characteristics and tool typology can be identified in Acheulean industries of Central Europe and the Western Caucasus.

Most papers in this issue deal with different sides of technological systems and managerial practices usedfor intelligence work in private organizations. Empirical data from a number of countries and companiesare gathered to illustrate how companies work and fail to work with business intelligence and competitiveintelligence in organizations.The paper by Rezaie, Mirabedini and Abtahi entitled “Identifying key effective factors on theimplementation process of business intelligence in the banking industry of Iran” identifies key effectivefactors on the implementation process of business intelligence. Thirty-nine factors were identified andclassified in nine main groups, including organizational, human, data quality, environmental, systemability, strategic, service quality, technical infrastructure, and managerial factors.The paper by Bisson and Gurpinar entitled “A Bayesian approach to developing a strategic earlywarning system for the French milk market” suggests a new strategic early warning system forcompanies and public organizations to better anticipate market changes and make more robust decisions.The paper by Al Rashdi and Nair entitled “A business intelligence framework for Sultan QaboosUniversity: A case study in the Middle East” aims to build a customized business intelligence (BI)framework for Sultan Qaboos University (SQU). A prototype is tested with good results.The paper by Søilen, Tontini, Aagerup and Andersson entitled “The perception of usefulinformation derived from Twitter: A survey of professionals” is a survey of professionals about the valueof the information or intelligence on Twitter. It shows that Twitter is perceived as a service for usefulinformation but not for the reason one may expect, not because the content of the tweets gives valuableinformation, but because of what can be derived and extracted from the information that is being tweetedand not tweeted.The paper by Calof, Richards and Santilli entitled “Insight through open intelligence” is anopinion piece that gives suggestions of how to broaden the CI field with the help of open innovation.

Like in the previous issue we have admitted a large number of opinion pieces, first of all in the form of case studies but also reviews and a survey. It is quite fitting that we present two articles with cases as case studies have been requested in a recent surveys from users of the journal.The first article by Christophe Bisson shows CI practices at a French regional chamber of agricultura with four departemental chambers of agricultura linked to it. A survey was used to detect seven typological strands (gathering, attitude, Technology support, IT systems, Use, Location and Identification). The paper finds that current practices are ineffective, inefficient and far from attaining goals for collective intelligence gathering.The second article by Najibeh Abbasi Rostami is a literature review of the BI and KM fields. In a previous issue we have discussed the relationship between CI and KM. Rostami presents the differences in the form of a number of models and summaries found in the existing literature. The articles conclude, not unexpectedly, that the literature clearly shows that a proper integration of the two functions are beneficial to organizations. More interesting the review also concludes that studies are needed to show how cultural aspects affect this dichotomy.The third article, the second opinion piece, is a case study by Pierre Memheld. The article illustrates a critical CI lesson through the use of a case presenting two major tire manufacturers troubled by a price war. The article argue that intelligence failures can be caused by particular biases which may be culture related.The fourth article by Abdelkader Baaziz and Luc Quoniam is a discussion around “patent trolls” and Non Practicing Entities (NPE). The article is illustrated with two examples, or mini cases, from the pharmaceutical industry in two emerging countries. The article shows how the use of Web 2.0 technologies makes it easier to extract useful intelligence from patents.The last article by Klaus Solberg Søilen entitled “A survey of users’ perspectives and preferences as to the value of JISIB - a spot-check” show what users want from the journal JISIB. It concludes that more cases studies are requested, but it gives no credit to those who think there is too much or too little technology related material as opinions on this issue are balanced. A number of minor suggestions are presented and the survey shows that the question of editing language is not settled.As always we would first of all like to thank the authors for their contributions to this issue of JISIB.On behalf of the Editorial Board, Sincerely Yours, Prof. Dr. Klaus Solberg SøilenEditor-in-chief

IT have indeed merged: new empirical data”, Vol 7, No 1 (2017) “Business intelligence, big data andtheory” and Vol 6, No 3 (2016) “What role does technology play for intelligence studies at the start of the21st century?”. Special issues have looked at the problem of IT failures in relation to business intelligence:“How companies succeed and fail to succeed with the implementation of intelligence systems”, Vol 7, No3 (2017) and “How companies work and fail to work with business intelligence, Vol 7, No 2 (2017). Duringthe past years companies have indeed learned from their failures. Maybe this phase was inevitable as apart of growing up. We see the same development on e-commerce sites: they mostly work well now, butdidn’t just a few years ago. A certain difference between countries still exists, but the industry is gettingthere. Closely related to failures of implementation are user perspectives on business intelligencesystems, which have resulted in numerous research articles. A well-cited article by Adamala and Cidrin(2011) led to the development of several models and theories as presented, for example, in Vol 6, No 2(2016) entitled “User perspectives on business intelligence”.The focus in JISIB is always technology. It is more a question of which aspect of technology we focuson. In this issue, it is social media or social media intelligence. The paper by Gioti and Ponis entitled“Social business intelligence: Review and research directions” is a literature review exploring the newdirection of social business intelligence (SBI), where social media meets BI. The last paper is entitled“Business intelligence for social media interaction in the travel industry in Indonesia”. The authors,Yulianto, Girsang and Rumagit propose a way to develop a data warehouse to analyze data from socialmedia, such as likes, comments and sentiment, applied to the travel industry in Indonesia.Another aspect of the journal maintains the tradition of intelligence studies in general. Intelligencestudies must always be broad to be relevant and not to miss important pieces. Specialization is a necessityand a curse at the same time. Vol 6, No 1 (2016) in entitled “The width and scope of intelligence studiesin business”. A part of this width and critique has involved self-reflection. Thus earlier articles in JISIBoften discussed methods. Case studies (by country or industry) were always a favorite. In Vol 4, No 3(2014) JISIB continued this tradition of publishing case studies. In Vol 3, No 2 (2013), the whole issue isdedicated to one country; Brazil. Analyzing patents analysis has also been a frequent and reoccurringtopic. In this issue both of these directions are represented. The third article is entitled “Investigating thecompetitive ıntelligence practices of Peruvian fresh grapes exporters,” written by Bisson, Mercedes, andTong. The authors suggest a number of changes for Peruvian grapes exporters to become morecompetitive based on a CI approach.The fourth paper by Shaikh and Singhal entitled “An analysis of ip management strategies of ictcompanies based on patent filings” tries to identify the strategies of five US and Indian IT companies byanalyzing their patents. The first paper by Nuortimo is entitled “Measuring public acceptance withopinion mining: The case of the energy industry with long-term coal R&D investment projects” and ispart of his dissertation in science communication at the Faculty of Humanities at the University of Oulu.The paper shows how opinion mining can be used effectively, and was one of a series presented at the ICIConference in Bad Nauheim this year. Many of the earlier papers in JISIB came directly from academicor practitioners’ conferences. In Vol 2, No 1 (2012) it said: “The journal works in symbioses with a numberof conferences. It relies heavily on the contributions of scientific papers presented at these conferences,in particular for these first issues. Among these we would in particular like to mention the more scholarlyconferences, like VSST, ECIS, ICTICTI and SIIE. In the near future we also hope to receive contributionsJournal of Intelligence Studies in BusinessVol. 8, No 2 (2018) p. 4-5Open Access: Freely available at: https://ojs.hh.se/from INOSA and ECKM. We also receive support from members in the more professional conferencesrelated to Intelligence Studies like ICI and SCIP” (p. 4). And Vol 3, No 3 (2013): “The journal continuesto draw mainly on articles presented at academic conferences on topics related to competitive intelligence.In 2013 SCIP organized a first conference in South Africa, under the leadership of ASA du Toit, thejournal’s editor for Africa.”. And in Vol 2, No 3 (2012): “Most contributions continue to come from the bestpapers from a number of conferences related to Intelligence Studies. Two out of five articles come fromECKM 2012, which was held 6-7 September in Cartagena, Spain.” And in Vol 2, No 2 (2012) echoed asimilar sentiment. Today the number of conferences has been reduced for different reasons, which it takestoo long to get into here and now.The last group of articles worth mentioning is opinion pieces. These are non-empirical articles. Todaythey are less frequent, but at the beginning they served another role, as pointed out in Vol 4, No 1 (2014):“In this issue of JISIB we have admitted a large number of opinion pieces. Opinion pieces are importantto allow for a broader perspective of the field in terms of policies, adaptions of CI in foreign countries andgeneral interest in the form of debates. It also shows the normative qualities that are present in anysocial science discipline”. At the very beginning it was also made clear that the goal was always to berelevant for practitioners. Thus in Vol 1, No 1 (2011) we read: “The final aim of the journal is to be of useto practitioners. We are not interested in theory for the sake of theory, and we do not want to publishsolutions to small problems which will have no real impact in the intelligence field.”. With your help wetry to keep with that goal.As always, we would above all like to thank the authors for their contributions to this issue of JISIB.Thanks to Dr. Allison Perrigo for reviewing English grammar and helping with layout design for allarticles and to the Swedish Research Council for continuous financial support. A special congratulationgoes to Rainer Michaeli for having taken the ICI conference to its 10th anniversary. Well done, and thankyou for the ongoing cooperation.

Reviews occupy an uneasy position in society. There are those that argue that reviewing is an art in itself, that a well-written review stands alone. There are those that argue that reviewers enjoy a parasitic relationship, piggy-backing on another’s creation. Still others see reviews as mere advertisements, one more cog in the publicity wheel. Regardless of which faction you support, however, it must be admitted that reviewing is fast becoming one of the most controversial forms of writing. ‘Review’ set out to examine the legitimacy of reviewing as a sub-genre of creative non-fiction, and to provide a meta-reflection on all aspects of reviewing and critiquing. Our cover design by Jay Paul reflects the different media of reviewing. While once the domain of newspapers, review and reviewing is now as much a part of daily life as e-mailing. We spontaneously review for colleagues, family, and friends, every time we offer an opinion on last night’s television show, the movie we saw over the weekend, or the book we just finished. We review ourselves, as we explore different ways to dress, act, seem, be. The white sheet backdrop serves to remind us that nothing remains concrete, and everything is still waiting to be re-viewed. Our key article, Rochelle Siemienowicz’s ‘Diary of a Film Reviewer: Intimate Reflections on Writing about the Screen for a Popular Audience’ explores the power and the pressure of arts reviewing. As a film reviewer, Siemienowicz occasionally feels uncomfortable with her role. As she asks – who is the reviewer to tell us what to watch? Her exploration and justification for her choices are presented in a diary format, creating an informal, informed, and highly readable journey through her review process. The thoughtfulness demonstrated through the personal account of working as film editor for The Big Issue may well lead to a jump in sales for the not-for-profit magazine. Why read the New York Times Book Review from cover to cover? Matthew Bolton contends that it be for the “closet drama” of competing arguments and voices, creating a metatext and spectacle of the book as a cultural entity, which we can engage with personally. Will Noonan studies the history and particular challenges of reviewing Don Quixote and discusses the relationship that develops between a text, the writing it provokes and the figure that emerges of the critic. As pointed out by Jeffrey Charis-Carlson, reviews have a dichotomous reputation. They are viewed either as marketing devices, or heightened examples of personal opinion. This article displays the uneasy truce between the business and the art of writing reviews. In “Creativity, Commodification, and the Making of a Middlebrow Book Review”, Charis-Carlson explores this dichotomy from the reviewer’s perspective, using his experience writing for the Iowa City Press-Citizen to illustrate the fine line between commodification and creativity. On the issue of music reviews, Dean Biron writes in The Tortoise and the Hare of the ways in which classical analysis of music differ starkly from contemporary reviewing. Biron argues that while the former is certainly valid and important, modern music writing plays a vital part in the industry, and in many ways can constitute its own art form. Citing the works of David Bordwell and Pierre Bourdieu, examining magazines such as Sight and Sound and Empire and drawing on much-loved clichés associated with films like Titanic, John-Paul Stephenson’s Reviewing Symbolic Capital argues that the phenomena of reviewing not only generates a substantial level of economic capital, but invites status-minded consumers to invest in symbolic capital as well. In Reviewing the Scourge of Self-Plagiarism, Lelia Green turns the tables on those plagiarising others and asks academics to consider the perils of plagiarising oneself. As well as examining the recontextualisation of one’s own work and issues relating to writing on the same subjects for multiple texts, Green warns that unconscious self-plagiarism can be equally as dangerous. Jonathan Marshall presents a manifesto on the future direction of art reviewing, suggesting it be strategic and provocative, designed to engage debate rather than judge. His article contextualises his argument within reference to Romanticism, the Leavisite cannon and Foucault. Barnaby Ralph ponders the influences that colour the critical gaze; be it to provoke controversy and conflict, to maintain status in the critical pack or are reviewers inevitably jaded over time. Looking to the online opportunities offered for everyone to review books and films, Ralph considers the changing nature of the review and the divide between the professional and the amateur. Finally, Claudia Schippert takes the self-conscious questioning of the previous articles and turns it inward, ‘Reviewing Gender’ and her own perceptions of herself, her body, and her space in a culture that bases itself firmly on the male/female dichotomy. Acknowledgments With thanks to Laura Marshall for proofreading the articles in a very limited timeframe. Citation reference for this article MLA Style Nelms, Emma, Kate Cuthbert, and Tim Milfull. "Review." M/C Journal 8.5 (2005). echo date('d M. Y'); ?> <http://journal.media-culture.org.au/0510/00-editorial.php>. APA Style Nelms, E., K. Cuthbert, and T. Milfull. (Oct. 2005) "Review," M/C Journal, 8(5). Retrieved echo date('d M. Y'); ?> from <http://journal.media-culture.org.au/0510/00-editorial.php>.

Of all the characteristics that may be emphasised by those seeking to set apart the serious, authoritative critic from the inconsequential, workaday reviewer, perhaps the most fundamental is the liberty typically enjoyed by the former. So, while the celebrated literary critic F.R. Leavis (in The Great Tradition) is able to confidently assert in microscopic detail the comparative merits of Lawrence, Joyce, Conrad and Woolf, what Meaghan Morris (106) calls the “gulp it down, chew it over, throw it up” crowd strive (in no more than five hundred words and by close of business today, thanks very much) to explain why John Grisham’s latest tome will turn either heads or stomachs. Amongst reviewers, not surprisingly, one can find hugely varying levels of competence and principle. But when it comes to contemporary music, where the art of the review continues to be practiced across a wide range of media, there are many commentators who would deem the virtues of competence and principle irrelevant to begin with. These critics can be grouped into two distinct camps. On the one hand, it has long been argued that discussions of music (popular or otherwise) are intrinsically flawed if they eschew technical analysis. Thus Wilfrid Mellers, in his 1973 book The Music of the Beatles: Twilight of the Gods, states that “descriptive accounts of music cannot be valid unless they are based on what happens in musical terms” (15). In what amounts to a variation on Mellers’s theme, cultural studies analysts have largely studied popular music as “an expression of rebellion, subversion, resistance and critique” (Regev 258), thereby supporting the view that the sounds themselves cannot be discussed with any authority outside of musicology departments. In this way the virtues of Madonna (and, largely due to her extra-musical activities and role in the development of the video clip, it almost always was Madonna) could be couched in terms of ideological meaning without the need to negotiate the awkward terrain of aesthetic content (Frith 14). At the same time, those few critics who shared Mellers’s technical grounding were poking at the alien specimen that is contemporary music with an entirely different set of instruments, but more or less the same results – that is, conducting no doubt useful but ultimately bloodless examinations. A prime example of this is William Echard’s amazingly meticulous musicological/semiotic dismantling of Neil Young’s “Powderfinger”, from which it is nonetheless impossible to discern whether the author actually likes the song in question. However, a second arm of criticism has been even more dismissive of modern music writing. Because here is where Michael Bywater, Martha Bayles, Roger Scruton and others conclude, by implication, that there is no value in such practices for the simple reason that there is essentially no aesthetic value in contemporary music, period. This school of thought, emanating from a lonely island fortress mired in a perceived sea of mass-cultural pollutants, takes Frankfurt School culture industry critique to its (il)logical nadir by roping off high culture from its insidious, ubiquitous opposite and claiming entire genres, such as popular music, to be inherently anti-intellectual: “Pop is surface all the way down. The musical toolbag contains only surface instruments – rhythmic thud, punch, whine and whop – and the emotions, too, are superficial” (Bywater 44). On this thinking the new Eminem record, for example, is seen as part of a phenomenon to brood over rather than as a distinct artefact worthy of thoughtful evaluation. Both strands of critical thought – the first locking contemporary music inside the musicology building, the second dropping it in the garbage can outside – are characterised by the kind of uncompromising, one-way dialogue Robert Dessaix describes as “excluding”. This style of argument, even when meritorious, ensures that anyone who approaches from outside certain scholarly circles is “silenced – but not by respect for authority” (129). It also calls to mind another commonly cited distinction between critic and reviewer (discussed in Morris 108-9) – a superiority of knowledge and taste that defines not only the serious critic but also the limited scope of his or her audience. Although the popular press, too, has its fair share of didactic prose, Dessaix’s theory does suggest where the worth may lie in an oft-maligned occupation like record reviewing. While non-academic music writers must endure likely time and word limitations, the twin criticisms of abstraction and irrelevance, and the tedious old “dancing about architecture” cliché, at least there is some chance they will invite “complicity in an unexpected adventure” (133) by deftly treading that fine line between expert and enthusiast. Whether plotting a course through English literature à la Leavis or discussing the latest batch of Scandinavian death metal albums, it would be churlish to claim that the role of critic/reviewer is not a legitimate one: the impossibly vast array of cultural productions accessible to the modern-day audience make some form of “expert” guidance indispensable. So, as new music tumbles down upon us like an endless monsoonal rain, thousands of fans masquerading as journalists (or, more frighteningly, journalists masquerading as fans) dutifully strive to sort the releases of the past week, year or decade into some semblance of order … and, as with all criticism, the judgements they come up with are only part of the story. The greatest trick a reviewer (and when referring to the practice of “reviewing” one trusts that at least some degree of editorial control is involved – read the customer comments at Amazon.com and weep) can master is to convince the reader that his or her piece of creative non-fiction is a minor work of art, whilst simultaneously putting forward a lucid argument to the effect that the object under scrutiny is (or isn’t, as the case may be) a valuable one. And, despite the endless kilometres of formulaic and/or sycophantic copy that clog review columns in newspapers, magazines, and on innumerable Web-sites, it does happen every now and then. In Spin magazine’s review of the year 2000’s musical landscape, Jon Dolan provided the following capsule review of P.J. Harvey’s fifth album, Stories from the City, Stories from the Sea: Chapter V: Polly Gets Her Gun. But it’s not the return to true grit that makes this her best record since she was Jesus with PMS; it’s that whereas the old stuff took your head off, this rewires your guts. All the beautiful bullshit’s here – pathetic fallacies, Patti Smith mythopoeia, a Thom Yorke duet – but it’s more earned, more cathartic. Sand in her joints. Wind through her hair. Blood on her tracks. What I believe Dolan achieves here is a near-perfect amalgamation of instruction and art. He doesn’t ram his analysis down our throats – to discover how he feels about Harvey, the writer assumes you actually might know something about her yourself: her approximate location on the rock family tree (the Patti Smith allusion is indirect, yet perceptive); that she has been brilliant before (this record merely presenting a new type of brilliance); that at its best her music is complicated and unconventional, furious and revolutionary. The subtlety of the writing evokes shared connections for those familiar with the artist’s recorded output, at the same time inviting neophytes to come and see what all the fuss is about. Not only do the last three sentences summarise Harvey’s resolve, free will and intensity in thrillingly-eloquent prose, but the oblique Bob Dylan reference invites readers to consider complex associations across space and time whilst implicitly recognising their ability to figure out those associations for themselves. And all of this in well under one hundred words. Dolan’s seamless, perspicacious set-piece is evidence that, in all forms of art, the informal-yet-intelligent review can stand alongside the meticulous, highly-ritualised assessment of the academically-situated critic. Of course serious criticism has an important role but it certainly doesn’t have a monopoly on intelligent writing, and besides, there are some aesthetic pleasures that are only enhanced by a less pretentious style of analysis. Or, as P.J. Harvey herself puts it on Stories from the City, Stories from the Sea: “I can’t believe life’s so complex/when I just want to sit here and watch you undress.” The art of the entertaining, insightful review is alive and well in creative non-fiction; you just have to sort through a considerable amount of chaff to find it. References Bayles, Martha. “Body and Soul: The Musical Miseducation of the Youth.” Public Interest 131 (1998): 36-49. Bywater, Michael. “Never Mind the Width, Feel the Lack of Quality.” The Spectator 13 May 1995: 44-5. Dessaix, Robert. (& So Forth). Sydney: MacMillan, 1998. Echard, William. “An Analysis of Neil Young’s ‘Powderfinger’ Based on Mark Johnson’s Image Schemata.” Popular Music 18.1 (1999): 133-44. Frith, Simon. Performing Rites: Evaluating Popular Music. Oxford: Oxford UP, 1996. Leavis, F.R. The Great Tradition. Harmondsworth: Penguin, 1948. Mellers, Wilfrid. The Music of the Beatles: Twilight of the Gods. New York: Schirmer, 1973. Morris, Meaghan. The Pirate’s Fiancee. London: Verso, 1988. Regev, Motti. “The ‘Pop-Rockization’ of Popular Music.” Popular Music Studies. Ed. David Hesmondhalgh and Keith Negus. London: Arnold, 2002. 117-30. Scruton, Roger. Aesthetics of Music. Oxford: Clarendon, 1997. Citation reference for this article MLA Style Biron, Dean. "The Tortoise and the Hare." M/C Journal 8.5 (2005). echo date('d M. Y'); ?> <http://journal.media-culture.org.au/0510/05-biron.php>. 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