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Species gain and loss per degree celsius
No full textWith climate zones moving poleward, it is interesting to know how rapidly species are gained and lost along temperature gradients. For the Australian native vascular flora, observed climate envelopes for species distributions have here been calculated from data for occurrence at geographical locations. For each degree temperature increase along a continental temperature gradient, numbers of species crossing their cold boundary and hence added to the flora, and crossing their warm boundary and hence lost to the flora, were counted. These counts of gains and losses were expressed as percentages of the flora recorded as present at that temperature. We report results for the flora at > 700 mm rainfall pa along the Australian east coast, where higher rainfall is continuously distributed throughout the latitudinal range. Per °C mean annual temperature increase, 20 ± 11% (mean ± SD) of species were gained, and 14 ± 4% were lost, across the range 9–23°C. Many further questions arise. For example, which other continental floras might show faster or slower rates of species gain and loss along temperature gradients? Similarly, might species with particular traits show faster rates of turnover: for example, species with local dispersal such as those with diaspore morphologies adapted for ants, compared to those adapted for bird dispersal?
Efficacy of a short message service brief contact intervention (SMS-SOS) in reducing repetition of hospital-treated self-harm : randomised controlled trial
No full textBackground Hospital-treated self-harm is common and costly, and is associated with repeated self-harm and suicide. Aims To investigate the effectiveness of a brief contact intervention delivered via short message service (SMS) text messages in reducing hospital-treated self-harm re-presentations in three hospitals in Sydney (2017-2019), Australia. Trial registration number: ACTRN12617000607370. Method A randomised controlled trial with parallel arms allocated 804 participants presenting with self-harm, stratified by previous self-harm, to a control condition of treatment as usual (TAU) (n = 431) or an intervention condition of nine automated SMS contacts (plus TAU) (n = 373), over 12 months following the index self-harm episode. The primary outcomes were (a) repeat self-harm event rate (number of self-harm events per person per year) at 6-, 12- and 24-month follow-up and (b) the time to first repeat at 24-month follow-up. Results The event rate for self-harm repetition was lower for the SMS compared with TAU group at 6 months (IRR = 0.79, 95% CI 0.61-1.01), 12 months (IRR = 0.78, 95% CI 0.64-0.95) and 24 months (IRR = 0.78, 95% CI 0.66-0.91). There was no difference between the SMS and TAU groups in the time to first repeat self-harm event over 24 months (HR = 0.96, 95% CI 0.72-1.26). There were four suicides in the TAU group and none in the SMS group. Conclusions The 22% reduction in repetition of hospital-treated self-harm was clinically meaningful. SMS text messages are an inexpensive, scalable and universal intervention that can be used in hospital-treated self-harm populations but further work is needed to establish efficacy and cost-effectiveness across settings
The FLASH pilot survey : anH I absorption search against MRC 1-Jy radio sources
No full textWe report an ASKAP search for associated H i 21-cm absorption against bright radio sources from the Molonglo Reference Catalogue (MRC) 1-Jy sample. The search uses pilot survey data from the ASKAP First Large Absorption Survey in H i (FLASH) covering the redshift range 0.42 < z < 1.00. From a sample of 62 MRC 1-Jy radio galaxies and quasars, we report three new detections of associated H i 21-cm absorption, yielding an overall detection fraction of. The detected systems comprise two radio galaxies (MRC 2216-281 at z = 0.657 and MRC 0531-237 at z = 0.851) and one quasar (MRC 2156-245 at z = 0.862). The MRC 0531-237 absorption system is the strongest found to date, with a velocity integrated optical depth of. All three objects with detected H i 21-cm absorption are peaked-spectrum or compact steep-spectrum (CSS) radio sources. Two of them show strong interplanetary scintillation at 162 MHz, implying that the radio continuum source is smaller than 1 arcsec in size even at low frequencies. Among the class of peaked-spectrum and compact steep-spectrum radio sources, the H i detection fraction is. All three detections have a high 1.4 GHz radio luminosity, with MRC 0531-237 and MRC 2216-281 having the highest values in the sample,. The preponderance of extended radio sources in our sample could partially explain the overall low detection fraction, while the effects of a redshift evolution in gas properties and AGN UV luminosity on the neutral gas absorption still need to be investigated
Numerical analysis of seismic behavior of an arched-roof 3D-printed building
No full text3D-Printed Concrete (3DPC) can reduce the consumption of materials, construction costs, and implementation time, as well as increase sustainability. Seismic safety is one of the necessities of any structure in a high earthquake hazard zone. The lack of scientific and engineering studies in this area would highlight the importance of studying seismic safety in 3DPC building structures. This paper is focused on the basic specifications of 3DPC buildings under earthquake excitations. The authors conducted a thorough theoretical study due to the pilot nature of the research. A prescriptive evaluation was conducted based on the existing seismic regulations for similar structures. The main goal of the research was to create the necessary platform for applied studies, which was achieved through theoretical investigations and prescriptive evaluations. For this purpose, the finite element modeling of a 3DPC building with an arch roofing system was implemented and analyzed using ABAQUS software. Based on the main results, the most remarkable weakness of such a structure was the material's poor tension behavior. The arrangement of the internal partitions (infill walls), the shear performance of the walls, and the relative displacement of the components were other effective factors of the 3DPC building under seismic loads. The results showed that the truss-like performance of the arch roof in the considered 3DPC building probably caused the undesirable structural responses under the seismic loads
Tales of South American Football: Passion, Revolution and Glory
No full textJorge Knijnik's second work of non-fiction via Fair Play Publishing is a compelling contribution to sports literature: a Brazilian-born Australian humanities academic writing about his passion—football—in his homeland and the continent it belongs to. Exquisitely researched and written, it captures the elegance of the star players and the visceral struggles in South American societies describing the social and political context of football on the content where jogo bonito is a force that both divides and unites people. The backdrop of volatile politics, oppression and inequality in the continent is painted behind vignettes of football games, players, politicians and the sport itself. Jorge Knijnik manages to capture the heat, both political and literal, in his descriptions of Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, their beautiful games, and their beautiful players. Tales of South American Football weaves the fabric of culture and sport in 13 chapters that give the reader a path into modern history and social realities in the region. Football is on every page. It is glorious, passionate and at times revolutionary
Non-mycorrhizal root-associated fungi increase soil C stocks and stability via diverse mechanisms
No full textWhile various root-associated fungi could facilitate soil carbon (C) storage and therefore aid climate change mitigation, so far research in this area has largely focused on mycorrhizal fungi, and potential impacts and mechanisms for other fungi are largely unknown. Here, with the aim of identifying novel organisms that could be introduced to crop plants to promote C sequestration, we assessed the soil C storage potential of 12 root-associated, non-mycorrhizal fungal isolates (spanning nine genera and selected from a wide pool based on traits potentially linked to soil C accrual) and investigated fungal, plant and microbial mediators. We grew wheat plants inoculated with individual isolates in chambers allowing continuous 13 C labelling. After harvest, we quantified C storage potential by measuring pools of different origin (plant vs. soil) and different stability with long-term soil incubations and size/density fractionation. We assessed plant and microbial community responses as well as fungal physiological and morphological traits in a parallel in vitro study. While inoculation with 3 of the 12 isolates resulted in significant total soil C increases, soil C stability improved under inoculation with most isolates - as a result of increases in resistant C pools and decreases in labile pools and respired C. Further, these increases in soil C stability were positively associated with various fungal traits and plant growth responses, including greater fungal hyphal density and plant biomass, indicating multiple direct and indirect mechanisms for fungal impacts on soil C storage. We found more evidence for metabolic inhibition of microbial decomposition than for physical limitation under the fungal treatments. Our study provides the first direct experimental evidence in plant-soil systems that inoculation with specific non-mycorrhizal fungal strains can improve soil C storage, primarily by stabilising existing C. By identifying specific fungi and traits that hold promise for enhancing soil C storage, our study highlights the potential of non-mycorrhizal fungi in C sequestration and the need to study the mechanisms underpinning it
Understanding school middle-leading practices : developing a middle-leading practice model
No full textSchool systems in Australia, and internationally, are focused on improving classroom teaching and learning to enhance student outcomes. Middle leaders (MLs) are increasingly required to lead school-based development initiatives to improve classroom practices. Informed by previous research on middle-leading and the theory of practice architectures, a survey instrument was created to understand who Australian school MLs are (n = 199) and ascertain their perceptions of the practices central to leading teaching and learning in their school sites. Through descriptive, exploratory, and confirmatory factor analyses, this paper reports on the reported practices of Australian MLs, and, through the analysis, a revised ML practice model is proposed. The results confirm that ML practices are orientated to the people they lead in their school site, who they support, collaborate with, and advocate for, with practising leading upwards to the school principal identified as an important ML practice
Global dominance of lianas over trees is driven by forest disturbance, climate and topography
No full textGrowing evidence suggests that liana competition with trees is threatening the global carbon sink by slowing the recovery of forests following disturbance. A recent theory based on local and regional evidence further proposes that the competitive success of lianas over trees is driven by interactions between forest disturbance and climate. We present the first global assessment of liana–tree relative performance in response to forest disturbance and climate drivers. Using an unprecedented dataset, we analysed 651 vegetation samples representing 26,538 lianas and 82,802 trees from 556 unique locations worldwide, derived from 83 publications. Results show that lianas perform better relative to trees (increasing liana-to-tree ratio) when forests are disturbed, under warmer temperatures and lower precipitation and towards the tropical lowlands. We also found that lianas can be a critical factor hindering forest recovery in disturbed forests experiencing liana-favourable climates, as chronosequence data show that high competitive success of lianas over trees can persist for decades following disturbances, especially when the annual mean temperature exceeds 27.8°C, precipitation is less than 1614 mm and climatic water deficit is more than 829 mm. These findings reveal that degraded tropical forests with environmental conditions favouring lianas are disproportionately more vulnerable to liana dominance and thus can potentially stall succession, with important implications for the global carbon sink, and hence should be the highest priority to consider for restoration management
Islamic and Muslim studies in the period of great transformation : editor's introduction
No full textWe are living in a period characterised by great transformation where transformation denotes a radical change in appearance, form, nature or structure. The scale, force and sometimes callousness of the transformation taking place in the world in which we are living is monumental. The transformation, the like of which humanity has rarely known, is not only diverse and multidimensional but occurring rapidly in all spheres of life.1 There is also a constant shift happening in ideas, ideologies, and socio-cultural, economic and political rules and policies. Many social actors, processes and forces are involved in a complex variety of transformational processes in numerous domains of social life. The essence of transformation reveals a modification in the structure and function of a societal system, impacting interaction patterns, social processes and institutional functions. Members of society have been led to believe the transformation of inefficient system of central planning and distorted resource allocation by replacing them with decentralisation, liberalisation and privatisation will bring general prosperity and wellbeing. However, the reality is that the transformation is not always universal and often only benefits some sections of the society. Sales notes, “For many segments of the population, transformations are sources of new benefits but for others change triggers anxiety, resentment and trauma…with these ‘past injuries’ possibly leading to revolt, new conflict or regeneration.”2 Suffice it to say, there are deficiencies in transformation and in its internal workings with serious consequences, particularly when the pace of transformation is uneven and rapid, which is often the case. Considering this, many individuals, groups, organisations, communities and societies are struggling to transform their social universe and some even attempt to stop, limit or ease transformation, and sustain social stability, often within the structure of relationships of power and domination
Introduction : global communication governance at the crossroads
No full textThe current historical moment is characterised by a multitude of intersecting dynamics and challenges. The Covid-19 pandemic has demonstrated the vulnerability of the social, economic and political foundations of contemporary societies across the world; recurring wars and geopolitical tensions point to the fragility of international relations; and the looming ecological breakdown questions the very future of human civilisation. Yet while right-wing populism is shaking up politics in many countries, there is growing recognition that these challenges require cross-border collaboration as well as perspectives that complement established (mostly Western) vantage points, and new movements and alliances to forge links to address multiple questions of social (and global) justice. Promises of globalisation and global governance that seemed to hold only a couple of decades ago now sound increasingly hollow, but the re-emergence of nationalisms and isolationist policies do not provide many promising answers. We are at a crossroads with regard to the very future of human existence, but also in the ways our media and communication systems are organised and may develop in the coming years and decades. The respective roles of different actors in shaping our communicative environment are in flux, and their configurations and power relations will have huge implications for our future possibilities for generating and sharing knowledge and contributing our voices to the necessary debates around existential and communication challenges