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Establishment of crops under minimal soil disturbance and crop residue retention in rice-based cropping system: Yield advantage, soil health improvement, and economic benefit
Get PDFMinimum soil disturbance and increased crop residue retention practices are promising options to enhance soil organic matter, nutrient concentration and crop yield. However, the potentials of the practices in improving soil properties, increasing crop yield and in ensuring economic return have not been tested in the monsoon rice (Oryza sativa L.)-lentil (Lens culinaris L.)/wheat (Triticum aestivum L.)-jute (Corchorus culinaris L.) cropping systems on seasonally flooded lowlands of the Eastern Gangetic Plain of South Asia. A field trial for consecutive three years was conducted in the Gangetic Plains of Bangladesh to evaluate the effects of zero tillage (ZT), strip-tillage (ST), bed planting (BP) and conventional tillage (CT) with two residue retention levels (RL—a low level similar to current farmers’ practice and RH—increased retention) on soil properties, yield and economic return. Between rice and jute crops, lentil was grown for the 1st and 2nd years and wheat for the 3rd year during the dry winter season. The ST and BP performed better than the CT and ZT in terms of yield of rice and lentil, whereas ST and ZT performed better than other practices in the case of jute. Higher residue retention (RH) increased crop yield for all the years. The highest rice equivalent yield (sum of 3 crop yields, expressed as rice yield) and the greatest benefit-cost ratio (BCR) were recorded with ST and RH. The increased yield in the ST was associated with reduced soil bulk density (BD), while ST with RH increased soil water (SW) and decreased penetration resistance (PR) of soil. Compared to CT, minimum soil disturbance of ZT and ST increased soil organic matter (SOM) stock by 24% and 23%, respectively; total nitrogen (TN) by 23.5% and 18.4%, respectively; extractable sulphur (S) by 21% and 18%, respectively; whereas Zinc (Zn) concentrations increased by 53% and 47%, respectively, in the upper 0–5 cm soil depth. Accumulation of extractable P, S and Zn in the 0–5 cm depth of soil followed the sequence as ZT > ST > BP > CT practice. The higher amount of residue retention significantly increased SOM, TN and extractable P, K, S and Zn concentrations at 0–5 cm and 5–10 cm soil depths. The 3-year study suggests that ST with RH is a potential crop management approach for the seasonally flooded rice-lentil/wheat-jute cropping systems to enhance soil nutrients status, crop yield and farm economy
Effectiveness of conservative nonpharmacologic therapies for pain, disability, physical capacity, and physical activity behavior in patients with degenerative lumbar spinal stenosis: A systematic review and meta-analysis
No full textObjective
To investigate the effectiveness of conservative nonpharmacologic therapies on pain, disability, physical capacity, and physical activity outcomes in patients with degenerative lumbar spinal stenosis (LSS).
Data Sources
Systematic search of MEDLINE, EMBASE, CENTRAL, and PsycINFO from inception to November 4, 2019, without language restrictions.
Study Selection
Pairs of review authors independently identified randomized controlled trials published in peer-reviewed scientific journals reporting on the effects of rehabilitation interventions on pain intensity (back or leg), disability, symptom severity, physical capacity, physical activity behavior, or adverse events (secondary outcome) in adults with LSS. The search identified 1718 records; data from 21 reports of 19 trials (1432 patients) were included.
Data Extraction
Review author pairs independently extracted data and assessed included studies. We assessed risk of bias with the Cochrane tool, and overall study quality with the Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation classification.
Data Synthesis
We pooled data using random-effects meta-analyses; treatment effects were reported as mean differences (MD) and 95% confidence intervals (CI). Directed exercise and manual therapy was superior to self-directed or group exercise for improving short-term walking capacity (MD, 293.3 m; 95% CI, 61.7-524.9 m; low-quality evidence), back pain (MD, –1.1; 95% CI, –1.8 to –0.4; moderate quality evidence), leg pain (MD, –.9; 95% CI, –0.2 to –1.5; moderate-quality evidence), and symptom severity (MD, –0.3; 95% CI, –0.4 to –0.2; low quality evidence). There is very low quality evidence that rehabilitation is no better than surgery at improving intermediate- or long-term disability. Single trials provided conflicting evidence of effectiveness for a variety of therapies.
Conclusions
For patients with LSS, there is low- to moderate-quality evidence that manual therapy with supervised exercises improves short-term walking capacity and results in small improvements in pain and symptom severity compared with self-directed or group exercise. The choice between rehabilitation and surgery for LSS is very uncertain owing to the very low quality of available evidence
A comparative study between a range of victimology, crime scene behaviours and forensic awareness strategy variables utilised, or not, by trucker and non-trucker serial killers
Get PDFHomicide is an overarching term, which can be categorised into three main subcategories: Mass, Spree and Serial Homicide. Serial Killers are those who commit the unlawful killing of two or more victims in separate events. However, there is still a contentious debate over the definition. There have been many Serial Killer Typologies proposed in the literature, allowing investigators to more easily classify offenders and assist in investigations. Many forensic and criminology factors differ between these typologies, including the Victimology, Crime Scene Behaviours and Forensic Awareness Strategies used by offenders. A typology that has yet to be investigated, and in recent years has sparked some interest after the launch of the Highway Serial Killer Initiative is that of the Trucker Serial Killer. This review aimed to establish why classifying Serial Killers is important and to ascertain some of the overarching typologies that have been proposed. The review ultimately determined that there is a lack of research investigating the potential Trucker Serial Killer. The proposed study will be done by comparing the Victimology, Crime Scene Behaviours and Forensic Awareness Strategies of 24 Trucker Serial Killers (those with a vocation in truck driving while active) located in Australia, Europe and America, active between 1970-2015, to two randomly generated matched samples of 24 Non-Trucker Serial Killers. The aim will be to identify any statistically significant similarities or differences between the two groups and whether this typology of Serial Killer is evident
Author Correction: Nutriome–metabolome relationships provide insights into dietary intake and metabolism
No full textCorrection to: Nature Food https://doi.org/10.1038/s43016-020-0093-y, published online 22 June 2020
A Map for Transforming schools: All of the design, all of the time, all of the way through…The Implementation of Big Picture Education in Five Schools
Get PDFThis brief outlines a map developed from research into the implementation of The Big Picture Education (BPE) design for learning and school in five quite different high schools. In this research we were keen to learn how school communities effectively implement a Big Picture Academy or Big Picture Education orientation within an established school. Out of this research we were also committed to providing school staff with ways of understanding their progress, reflecting on their progress and planning for maturation of the implementation of the design. We hope this map will make a contribution to that goal
Redefining provisioning in marine wildlife tourism
No full textWildlife tourism uses various stimuli to attract species and facilitate close encounters. Such activities are often referred to as provisioning, however the term is used interchangeably, and sometimes erroneously, with attracting, feeding, luring, and chumming, all of which lack consistent definitions. Here, we review the current use of provisioning-associated terminology in marine bird, teleost (bony fish), marine mammal, marine reptile, ray and shark tourism, within the scientific literature and on tourism operator webpages. We then propose to reclassify provisioning into Feeding, Attracting, and Modifying habitat, providing eight specific terms that reflect: (1) if the stimulus exploits wildlife appetite or search for preferred habitat; (2) the nature of the attractant (consumable or not); (3) the intention of the activity if using consumable attractants (direct, indirect, or incidental feeding) or modified habitat (intentional or repurposed modification); and (4) which species are affected by the activity (target or non-target species). We applied these terms to wildlife tourism around the world to gain better insight into tourism practices across taxa. Clarifying the terminology describing these wildlife interactions ensures they can be accurately described in the scientific literature, which will in turn help resource managers and industry groups to systematically assess these diverse activities
A framework for supporting the development of botanical literacies in early childhood education
No full textAlthough young children in Early childhood education (ECE) in Australia are often involved in learning in outdoor natural environments, research on their knowledge and attitudes towards plants is limited. Botanical literacies in young children involve developing knowledge and curiosity about plants, formulating questions about plants, and critically and ethically thinking about plants and their environments. This study explored young children’s knowledge and attitudes of the flora in the native bushlands on their school grounds. A total of 41 children, aged five to eight from two schools in Western Australia were involved in the research over one school year. Fortnightly visits to the school bushlands with the lead researcher involved bush walks, informal and formal conversations about plants, children creating drawings, maps and taking photographs, as well as visits from local Indigenous people to share Indigenous knowledge of the plants. The data were analysed using content analysis and a revised version of (Uno, American Journal of Botany 96:1753–1759, 2009) levels of botanical literacies. The results of this research led to the development of a framework for developing botanical literacies in ECE
The “Asian Pandemic”: Re-thinking memory and trauma in cultural narratives of Asia
No full textThis chapter stages a broad introduction to the overarching dearth of Asian literary and cultural texts in the field of memory and trauma studies in the contemporary framing of the COVID-19 pandemic. The essay first situates this lacunae of Asian texts in the historical context of colonialism’s legacy of white supremacy and draws a thread from that history to the anti-Asian racism that exploded around the globe in the wake of the so-called “Asian pandemic” of the Corona virus pandemic of 2020. The next section engages a literature review critique of trauma studies that elucidates the ways in which Asian pain and affect is absent from the wide swathe of current scholarship, which unwittingly then facilitates a denial of both hurt and pain in a dehumanizing discourse of scholarly production. Following this, we move into a discussion of suffering in the civil strife that has punctuated the independence of India and Sri Lanka from the British Empire, discussing in particular the genocide of the civil war in Sri Lanka that pitted the Tamil Tigers against the nation’s pro-Sinhala government and the 1947 partition that created Pakistan and India. Following a cogent discussion of both major sections of the volume, “Activating Memory as Personal Testimony” and “Traumascapes of Body and State,” the chapter concludes with a summative coda that links anti-racist Asian solidarity to the Black Lives Matter movement
Experimental studies on the formation of pyrite and marcasite and the mechanisms of arsenic incorporation
Get PDFIron disulfide (FeS2) has two polymorphs, pyrite and marcasite. Pyrite is the most abundant sulfide in the Earth's crust. Both minerals can host economic amount of gold and environmentally hazardous arsenic and are found to coexist in hydrothermal mineralization. With time, thermodynamically metastable marcasite can transform to pyrite. However, the kinetics of the marcasite to pyrite transformation, and the mechanisms of arsenic incorporation during growth of pyrite are not well-constrained. This thesis presents experimental results and discussions on: (i) the formation of pyrite and marcasite under dry and hydrothermal conditions (Chapter 2 and 3), and (ii) incorporation of arsenic into pyrite during the growth of pyrite on pyrite seeds (Chapter 4).
In Chapter 2, the transformation from marcasite to pyrite was studied by in situ synchrotron powder X-ray diffraction (PXRD) at 520 °C and 540 °C, and ex situ anneal/quench experiments at 400 °C, 462 °C, and 520 °C. It was found that the mechanism and kinetics of this transformation depend not only on temperature, but also on particle size, the presence of water vapor, and the presence of pyrite inclusions in marcasite. Under dry conditions, the transformation is limited by surface nucleation and occurs via epitaxial nucleation of pyrite on marcasite, with {100}pyrite//{101}marcasite and {001}pyrite//{010}marcasite. In contrast, in the presence of water vapor, there is little crystallographic orientation relationship between the two phases; the transformation is limited by surface nucleation, but modification of the surface properties by water vapor results in a different nucleation mechanism, and consequently different kinetics. Kinetic analysis estimates a half-life of 1.5 Ma at 300 °C for the transformation under dry conditions with pyrite-free marcasite grains (<38 μm), but this estimation should be used with extreme caution due to the complexity of the process. From synchrotron X-ray fluorescence elemental mapping, trace elements (As and Pb) play an insignificant role in the transformation. However, the presence of a fluid phase changes the behavior of Pb. Under dry conditions randomly oriented particles of galena formed in pyrite, while under water vapor conditions arrays of nano-to-microparticles of galena precipitated in pores. This chapter highlights that although the natural occurrence of marcasite can indicate low temperature environments, precise estimation of temperature should not be made without considering the influences from various reaction parameters.
In Chapter 3, combined in-situ synchrotron PXRD and ex situ experiments were conducted under hydrothermal conditions at 190 °C and 210 °C and pH 1, aiming to study the controls on the precipitation of pyrite and marcasite from supersaturated hydrothermal solutions and the kinetics of hydrothermal transformation from marcasite to pyrite. In situ PXRD experiments show the important role of saturation index on the precipitation of pyrite and marcasite; at 190 °C, hydrothermal fluids rich in ΣS(-II) (0.9 mM) favors the precipitation of nanocrystalline pyrite (23 nm) due to high saturation index, while S(-II)-free fluids produce a mixture of marcasite and pyrite nanocrystals (21-46 nm) due to low saturation index. Fluid/rock ratio (70 and 120 g/g at 210 °C) can affect saturation index of the fluids, resulting in complex nucleation and crystal growth dynamics such as the evolution of crystallite size, phase abundance, and pyrite/marcasite ratio. Ex situ experiments show the rapid transformation from marcasite to pyrite at 210 °C; around 83% marcasite is transformed to pyrite in just 3 weeks, compared to 4.3 million years or 6.3 trillion years at 210 °C based on extrapolation using the kinetic models reported in early studies under dry conditions. These results suggest that saturation index influences the dynamics of precipitation under hydrothermal conditions and controls the phase selection between pyrite and marcasite, and that marcasite may not survive over geological time in low temperature environments in the presence of acidic hydrothermal fluids.
In Chapter 4, the formation of zoned arsenian pyrite was studied by growing pyrite on pyrite seeds in O2-free, As-enriched fluids at 200 °C and pH 7. The distribution and concentrations of As in pyrite, as well as the morphology of the zoning are influenced by sulfur source; i.e., native sulfur or Na2S2O3·5H2O. For experiments with native sulfur, up to four concentric alternate zones of As-rich (first zone on pyrite seed) and As-free pyrite grow on pyrite seeds. For experiments with Na2S2O3·5H2O, an aggregate of concentrically zoned pyrite microparticles (~1 µm) precipitate on the surface of pyrite seeds. Based on EMPA, the maximum concentration of As is 4.3 wt. %. However, the TEM-EDS analyses reveal ≤5.8 wt. % of As. HRTEM and selected area electron diffraction (SAED) pattern combined with EBSD analyses document epitaxial growth of As-pyrite on pyrite seed in the presence of native sulfur, but aggregation of randomly oriented aggregates of pyrite microparticles in the presence of thiosulfate. High-angle annular dark-field scanning TEM (HAADF-STEM), HRTEM observations, and EDS mapping show a sharp boundary and trails of pores between the pyrite seed and the product and between the growth zones. In the presence of native sulfur, the thickness of the As-pyrite growth zones is ~ 50 nm, while the subsequently formed growth zones of “barren” pyrite are ~5000 nm thick. X-ray absorption near edge structure (XANES) analyses reveal that speciation of As in pyrite depends on the S-source: (i) anionic As(-I) substitutes for S in pyrite as As2 pair when native S is used, and (ii) cationic As(II)/As(III) substitutes for Fe when thiosulfate is used. Our experiments show that the incorporation of As into pyrite and the formation and morphology of pyrite growth zones are controlled by the source of sulfur in hydrothermal fluids.
This thesis highlights the factors that control the mechanisms of the formation and transformation of pyrite and marcasite and the dependence of As incorporation into arsenian pyrite structure as a function of S and As source in the presence of pyrite seeds. These outcomes should benefit our understanding of the formation and alteration of Carlin-type, epithermal, volcanic-hosted massive sulfide (VMS), and orogenic Au deposits
Exploring potential gender differences in information security and privacy
No full textPurpose
Information technology users often fail to adopt necessary security and privacy measures, leading to increased risk of cybercrimes. There has been limited research on how demographic differences influence information security behaviour and understanding this could be important in identifying users who may be more likely to have poor information security behaviour. This study aims to investigate whether there are any gender differences in security and privacy behaviours and perceptions, to identify potential differences that may have implications for protecting users’ privacy and securing their devices, software and data.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper addresses this research gap by investigating security behaviours and perceptions in the following two studies: one focussing on information security and one on information privacy. Data was collected in both studies using anonymous online surveys.
Findings
This study finds significant differences between men and women in over 40% of the security and privacy behaviours considered, suggesting that overall levels of both are significantly lower for women than for men, with behaviours that require more technical skill being adopted less by female users. Furthermore, individual perceptions exhibited some gender differences.
Originality/value
This research suggests that potential gender differences in some security and privacy behaviours and perceptions should be taken into account when designing information security education, training and awareness initiatives for both organisations and the broader community. This study also provides a strong foundation to explore information security individual differences more deeply