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Physiological changes in post-hatchling green turtles (Chelonia mydas) following short-term fasting: implications for release protocols
No full textRelocation of sea turtle nests and the retention of post-hatchlings for head-starting programs are both commonly used to improve conservation outcomes and facilitate eco-tourism ventures. Currently, there is little literature surrounding the husbandry protocols required during these programs to optimize post-release outcomes. To assess the impact of varied feeding regimes on exercise performance, (which will hereafter be referred to as ‘fitness’), 40 10-month-old captive post-hatchling green turtles (Chelonia mydas) were divided into four groups of 10 and fasted for either 3, 9, 10 or 15 h. The animals were then subjected to a fitness test via repetitive use of the ‘righting reflex’ on land. Health assessments were conducted prior to the fitness test, including; heart rate, haematocrit (Hct), heterophil to lymphocyte ratio and the measurement of 11 biochemical analytes, including pH, partial pressures of carbon dioxide (PvCO2) and oxygen (PvO2), lactate, bicarbonate (HCO3−), sodium (Na+), potassium (K+), chloride (Cl−), ionized calcium (iCa2+), glucose and urea. Results were corrected for multiple comparisons and significant differences among groups were demonstrated for temperature, pH, HCO3−, iCa2+, urea and lactate. To investigate physiological relationships between analytes, correlation coefficients were calculated between fitness and glucose, fitness and lactate, glucose and lactate, pH and iCa2+, pH and K+, pH and PvCO2, pH and HCO3− and Hct and K+. Following correction for multiple comparisons, significant relationships were seen between pH and iCa2+ and pH and HCO3−. Post-hatchling turtles appear to enter a catabolic state when exposed to short-term fasting. While this did not have a direct impact on fitness, the production of an intense energetic output from a catabolic state may induce a physiological debt. This study suggests that handling that induces a physical response should be minimized and animals should be fed within 10 h of release
High-temperature, point-focus, pressurised gas-phase solar receivers: a comprehensive review
No full textGas-phase solar receivers use atmospheric or pressurised gas as their heat transfer fluid (HTF). The ideal gas-phase receiver would provide high thermal efficiency and high HTF outlet temperature with low pressure drop and low capital cost. In practice, these four objectives are hard to achieve simultaneously since it is difficult to (cost-effectively) overcome the intrinsically poor heat transfer performance between the solid absorber and the gaseous HTF. Thus, this review provides an in-depth look at the recent progress towards solving this challenge of pressurised gas-phase receivers to identify the remaining knowledge/research gaps. In general, gas-phase receivers can be classified as direct or indirect solar absorbers and by the type of heat transfer enhancement (HTE) employed to address the poor absorber-to-HTF heat transfer rate. The present review suggests the receiver designs that show the most promise for further improvement from each of the active, passive and compound HTE methods. This study also finds that there is a need for more proof-of-concept tests for these receiver designs, since the number of studies which include real prototypes operating under real weather conditions is limited. Based on a review of successful prototyping research, this review suggests proper prototyping procedures for high-temperature receivers. Overall, the authors believe the present study presents an up-to-date, comprehensive review of the progress on gas-phase receivers, along with some meaningful, specific guidance on the necessary next steps in their development. This is significant because gas-phase receivers represent the best near-term solution for pushing solar systems to higher temperatures, enabling integration with advanced/combined cycles and solar thermochemical reactors with endothermic chemical reactions at high temperature (e.g. mineral processes and solar fuels)
Editorial: Social media for researchers - beyond cat videos, over sharing, and narcissism
No full textChallenging the anthropocentric approach of science curricula : ecological systems approaches to enabling the convergence of sustainability, science, and STEM education
No full textAs we enter the Anthropocene, it is apparent that Earth has been severely impacted by human activities and the very systems that sustain life are challenged (Crutzen, 2002; Zalasiewicz et al., 2010). There is a call for increased awareness and action relating to degraded ecological systems particularly in the approach to the education of children and young people. Science curricula often promote anthropocentric/technocentric attitudes toward the environment. In fact STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) education in minority countries such as Australia and the United States is seen to be driven by neoliberal values where government economic agendas cultivate individualistic and competitive behaviors (Carter, 2016, p 33). With this neoliberal “technical growthist” perspective predominating in science and STEM education (Smith & Watson, 2016, p 5), how can deep respect and understanding of the Earth’s systems be fostered within education? There have been calls for decades to shift thinking in science education from looking at components of the Earth’s environment separately, such as looking at humans as being apart from nature, to, instead, looking at the components “within the context of the whole” (Capra, 2007). The systems concept can be difficult to grasp, but the emphasis is always on the “wholeness” and the “harmonious integration of the various components” (Orr, 2014). In an ecological systems approach, humans are just one of numerous, interdependent, and diverse life-forms in an ecological system, and there is no separation of childhood and nature, as they are one. Such an alternative view has an impact on how science education is manifested. This chapter challenges an anthropocentric (or technocentric) approach to science curricula. Research into approaches in science and STEM education that are ecologically sustainable and holistic in nature and incorporate relevant socio-scientific issues is explored. A science education that offers young peoples’ knowledge, values, and firsthand experiences of ecological systems in their everyday lives and the incorporation of intercultural approaches to science education are promoted. Ecoliteracy, ecological literacy, and ecological thinking are examined in a science education context. Elements of the more recent posthumanist theoretical approach underpin this chapter which takes an ecological systems approach in contrast to Bronfenbrenner’s socioecological theory
Childhoodnature ecological systems and realities : an outline
No full textEcological systems thinking is an attractive conceptual tool for understanding the complexity of the entanglement of the biological environment (ecological systems including human social systems) with the physical environment. Attention to such interactions in light of Anthropocentric system changes, and the focus of this handbook urges (re)exploration of ecological systems within childhoodnature. Accordingly, in this introduction to childhoodnature ecological systems and realities, we explore systems thinking and ecological systems, the interaction of humans within the systems and consider a posthuman turn for reconceptualising ecological systems thinking in childhoodnature
Resistance in colonial and communist China, 1950-1963: anatomy of a riot
No full textThe history of colonial East Asia is a human anatomy describing beneficial organs of foreign rule. Proclaiming itself a schematic diagram open to inspection, the anatomy of the late British Empire nevertheless obscured much more than it revealed. This analogy in Price’s provocative Cold War history is not presented only as an insight on imperialism but deciphers competing nationalist ideologies, too. The Kuomintang contended vigorously against communist rule in southern China for a decade after the end of the civil war in 1949 and Chinese communists disparaged British colonialism in Hong Kong in a war of words peaking in 1956–1957. These clashes of will did not produce new rulers in either place. They informed a period of Sino-British strategic partnership based on recognition that a capitalist enclave in southern China had its uses.
By focusing on the Hong Kong region, Resistance in Colonial and Communist China compares anatomies of the British colonial government, the Chinese communists and stateless members of the remnant Kuomintang (1950–1963). Price asserts that after 1949, the colonial government of Hong Kong politically favoured the Kuomintang organised crime societies over their communist nationalist adversaries despite historiographical explanation that it favoured neither.
This book challenges traditional concepts of the British colonial government and its attitude towards communist China. It engages in current debates surrounding Britain’s past by presenting a particularly devious episode of late colonial history
Response of chalkiness in high-quality rice (Oryza sativa L.) to temperature across different ecological regions
No full textField experiments were conducted to determine the relationship between chalkiness of high-quality rice and temperature during grain filling period in 2016–2017. Significant differences in chalkiness and response to temperature during grain filling period were observed among the cultivars and years of production. A positive correlation between chalkiness and temperature that includes daily minimum temperature (T-min), daily mean temperature (T-mean) and daily maximum temperature (T-max) during grain filling period was observed. The correlation between chalkiness and T-min during 7 days after heading was lower than that of other stages, while the correlation between chalkiness and T-mean during the ripening stage was the highest than other stages. The chalkiness values of some varieties such as Jiuxiangzhan, Zhendao18 and Yongyou1538 were sensitive to temperature, however, it might be reached optimum level through suitable ecological regions. Other varieties such as Huanghuazhan, Wangxiangyouhuazhan and Ganchangjing1 could maintain lower level of chalkiness regardless of different ecological regions in southern China. These high-quality rice varieties with low and relatively stable chalkiness could be moderately planted in Chinese double-rice cropping systems, and could be used as breeding materials to cope with the adverse effects of future global temperature increase (mainly night temperature) on the appearance quality of rice
Workplace relationships, psychological capital, accreditation and safety culture: a new framework of analysis within healthcare organizations
No full textThis paper used Social Exchange Theory (SET), Positive Organizational Behavior (POB) and Cooper’s (Safety Science, 36(2), 111–136, 2000) frameworks to operationalize a comprehensive model of safety culture, and tests whether one SET factor (supervisor-employee relationships) and one POB factor (psychological capital) predict accreditation and safety culture in a causal chain. Surveys from 1125 Italian doctors were analyzed using Structural Equation Modeling. Supervisor-employee relationships and psychological capital accounted for two-fifths of the accreditation culture, and, in turn, explained more than half of the safety culture. Hence, effective workplace relationships between management and doctors provide a trusting foundation to develop safe practices for better healthcare
Regulation of resource partitioning coordinates nitrogen and rhizobia responses and autoregulation of nodulation in the legume Medicago truncatula
No full textUnderstanding how plants respond to nitrogen in their environment is crucial for determining how they use it and how this nitrogen use impacts other processes related to plant growth and development. Under nitrogen limitation the activity and affinity of uptake systems is increased in roots and lateral root formation is regulated in order to adapt to lower nitrogen levels and scavenge from the soil. Plants in the legume family can form associations with rhizobial nitrogen fixing bacteria, and this association is tightly regulated by nitrogen levels. The effect of nitrogen on nodulation has been investigated in a number of studies but the effect of nodulation on nitrogen responses has received much less attention. We integrated molecular and phenotypic data in the legume Medicago truncatula and determined that genes controlling nitrogen influx are differently expressed depending on whether plants are mock- or rhizobia-inoculated. Our results show that a functional autoregulation of nodulation pathway is required for roots to perceive, uptake and mobilise nitrogen as well as for normal root development. Together we found that autoregulation of nodulation, root development and the location of nitrogen are processes balanced by the whole plant system as part of a resource partitioning mechanism
Demarketing an iconic national park experience: receptiveness of past,current and potential visitors to selected strategies
No full textTourism in national parks is essentially about providing memorable nature-based experiences for visitors. However, often there are limits to the numbers of people that can enjoy an iconic experience at a given site in a national park. Summiting a mountain has the propensity to provide an iconic experience for visitors but can be accompanied by management issues, including visitor safety, environmental impacts and even cultural sensi- tivities. While there are a range of possible management interventions, one approach is to actively demarket the experience. Published studies on the demarketing of national parks to date have primarily been conceptual, with limited empirical research exploring stakeholders ’ perceptions of available strategies and virtually no research on visitor perceptions. This manuscript assesses the receptiveness of past, current and potential visitors to de- marketing an iconic experience, speci fi cally summiting Wollumbin - Mount Warning, Australia. Findings from an on-site survey of visitors (n = 794) and an on-line survey of past, current and potential visitors (n = 990) re- vealed some potential for the use of access fees to demarket the summit experience. While there was also some support for additional experiences to complement the summit option, current visitors noted they were still likely to climb the peak. Higher levels of receptiveness to modi fi ed and alternative experiences were apparent among past and potential visitors. To reduce numbers on the summit of Wollumbin – Mount Warning, demarketing needs to be used with a suite of other management strategies. This manuscript\u27s successful application of the marketing mix framework for inventorying demarketing strategies can serve as a model for other park contexts. Future research should extent the work to other contexts and to an exploration of the perceived bene fi ts and costs of a wider range of demarketing strategies. Management implications: • Better understanding and control of the media and messages communicated about particular park experi- ences pre-visit • Use of pricing together with modi fi ed experience options to demarket experiences to current visitors • Development, testing and promotion of alternative experiences to demarket visitor experiences to potential visitors • Stakeholder consultation that prioritizes Indigenous cultural values • Demarketing that is grounded in and aimed at facilitating sustainable visitor managemen