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New practices and training trends
No full textAltitude Training
Since its popularity in the late 1960s, altitude training has become a commonly used mode of training for coaches and athletes worldwide. Sudden exposure to a hypoxic (low oxygen) environment or staying at altitude induces numerous physiological adaptions which can lead to an improved performance at sea level, or any level lower than the altitude being trained at (Płoszczyca, Langfort, and Czuba 2018). These mechanisms are generally attributed to either haematological, cardiovascular, or ventilator effects of altitude training, but metabolic processes, acid buffering, and mitochondrial density change are probably also involved (Czuba et al. 2017). Expected effects may be achieved by applying one of the typical altitude training methods
A model for spatially explicit landscape configuration and ecosystem service performance, ESMAX: Model description and explanation
No full textIt is critical that we move our understanding of the ecosystem services (ESs) produced by landscapes from the present abundance of analysis to a fundamental basis of design. This involves enhancing the ability to understand and model the interconnected, coevolving system of humans and the rest of nature, thus contributing to the design of sustainable landscapes. In this paper, we hypothesise that the spatial configuration of landscape components (the size and arrangement of tree clumps, paddocks, crops, water features, etc.) impacts the production of regulating ESs, which in turn have a leveraging effect on provisioning and cultural ESs. Drawing on the precepts of Ecological Field Theory, we present the development and implications of a conceptual Geographic Information System (GIS)-based model, ESMAX, that utilises the idiosyncratic distance-decay characteristics of regulating ESs. These ‘ES fields’ are visualised as radiating into the landscape from their source components, addressing a gap in biophysical reality that has been identified as a shortcoming of existing ES modelling based on landcover proxies. Hypothetical landscape arrangements of simplified landscape components are tested with ESMAX across three regulating ESs: cooling effect, nitrogen retention, and habitat provision. The model calculates the overall ES performance of each landscape arrangement by tabulating the ES fields produced and, critically, the nonlinear response where fields overlap. The results indicate a primary sensitivity to the size of components and a secondary sensitivity to the arrangement of components. Consequently, ESMAX can be used to design landscape configurations that (1) maximise the production of specific regulating ESs and (2) improve the utilisation of natural ES-producing resources
Place-based community events and resistance to territorial stigmatisation
No full textPurpose: Place-based community events fulfil important functions, internally and externally. They provide opportunities for people from diverse communities and cultures to encounter each other, to participate in pleasurable activities in convivial settings and to develop mutual understanding. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the value of such events as a means of resisting or challenging the deleterious effects of territorial stigmatisation.
Design/methodology/approach: The authors explore two place-based community events in areas that have been subject to territorial stigmatisation: Govanhill in Glasgow, Scotland, and South Dunedin, New Zealand. They draw on in-depth case study methods including observation and interviews with key local actors and employ inductive analysis to identify themes across the datasets.
Findings: The demonstrate how neighbourhood events in both Glasgow and Dunedin actively seek to address some of the deleterious outcomes of territorial stigmatisation by emphasising strength and asset-based discourses about the areas they reflect and represent. In their planning and organisation, both events play an important mediating role in building and empowering community, fostering intercultural encounters with difference and strengthening mutuality within their defined places. They make use of public and semi-public spaces to attract diverse groups while also increasing the visibility of marginalised populations through larger showcase events.
Research limitations/implications: The empirical element focuses only on two events, one in Glasgow, Scotland (UK), and the other in South Dunedin (New Zealand). Data generated were wholly qualitative and do not provide quantitative evidence of “change” to material circumstances in either case study community.
Practical implications: Helps organisers think about how they need to better understand their communities if they are to attract diverse participation, including how they programme public and semi-public spaces.
Social implications: Place-based community events have significant value to neighbourhoods, and they need to be resourced effectively if they are to sustain the benefits they produce. These events provide an opportunity for diverse communities to encounter each other and celebrate what they share rather than what divides them.
Originality/value: This paper is the first to examine how place-based community events help resist narratives of territorial stigmatisation, which produce negative representations about people and their environments. The paper draws on ethnographic insights generated over time rather than a one-off snapshot which undermines some events research
The value of green and blue space: Livability, walkability and house prices
No full textUrban green and blue spaces are important amenities within highly urbanised areas which offer social, economic and ecological benefits and provide a number of valuable direct and indirect ecosystem of services to surrounding land uses and urban households. Existing research has revealed that green (and blue) space is not a uniform environmental amenity but rather a set of distinct aesthetic and hydromorphological characteristics which impact upon house prices in different ways. Moreover, the different utility-bearing preferences for green or blue space has been shown to be related to income and education levels and inequalities driven by socioeconomic differences, hence, the relationship between housing prices and these amenities might vary considerably across a wide metropolitan area. Consequently, the purpose of this study is to examine the heterogeneity of green and blue space using 4,985 sales transactions applying quantile regression to investigate the proximity effects of diverse types of blue spaces on property prices across different conditional distributions
Mobile payment adoption in China: Do demographic and socioeconomic factors matter?
No full textAlthough mobile payment adoption has risen steeply, relatively little is known about whether and how demographic and socioeconomic factors, subjective well-being, political affiliation, and health status are associated with mobile payment adoption. Using 2017 Chinese General Social Survey data on 11,628 individuals, we show that Chinese people's decisions to adopt mobile payment solutions are positively and significantly associated with education, perception of health and economic status, Chinese Communist Party membership, full-time work, income, social participation, car ownership, internet penetration rate, and residential location. Age is negatively associated with mobile payment adoption, and men are less likely than women to use mobile payment solutions; subject well-being is not associated with mobile payment adoption
Empathising with landscape in Aotearoa New Zealand; Exploring walking methods to connect with landscape in a bicultural landscape architecture context : A dissertation submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the Degree of Master of Landscape Architecture at Lincoln University
No full textLandscape planning and assessment in Aotearoa New Zealand is an essential part of managing changes in the landscape. Te Tangi a Te Manu (Lister et al., 2022) was created to guide landscape assessment and reflects the bicultural conception of landscape in Aotearoa New Zealand, incorporating te ao Māori concepts of whakapapa, kōrero tuku iho, and hīkoi. However, the guidelines do not provide a method to translate these concepts into practice.
Focussing on the hīkoi (walking) dimension, this research tested the application of ‘walking methods’ in landscape assessment. The research sought to answer the question of how can walking methods contribute to empathising with landscape when using Design Thinking. The application of Design Thinking informed by kaupapa Māori design principles integrates Māori and non-Māori values and knowledge to create a more inclusive methodology for landscape assessment.
The research explored how walking methods can use the assessment of mauri as part of empathising with landscape, and support a deeper understanding and connection to whenua for the landscape architecture profession. Integrating Māori values and tikanga, including te ao Māori concepts like mauri, into landscape assessment requires guidance for non-Māori to protect the integrity of mātauranga Māori. This supports a culturally responsive practice that aligns with Māori values and community expectations around landscape management.
The walking method was developed using two pilot walks in Porirua, New Zealand and then tested in Ōtautahi Christchurch, New Zealand. Physical and perceptual data was recorded, along with assessment of mauri. The research then considered how this data could be presented spatially for use in subsequent steps of landscape assessment or design.
By incorporating walking methods, landscape architects can empathise with the landscape, deepening their understanding of the connection between people and place, and facilitating the creation of embodied knowledge. The walking methods expand landscape architecture practice through new knowledge creation methods, contributing to a more inclusive practice of landscape architecture within bicultural Aotearoa New Zealand. Empathising in this way, has the potential to promote a more whenua-led approach.
Further testing of the walking method with diverse groups could refine key elements of bicultural landscape assessment, including how mauri can be assessed by non-Māori participants, and how to incorporate other tikanga. The research highlights the potential for further exploration of how Māori and Western knowledge systems can inform and enrich bicultural landscape architecture in Aotearoa New Zealand
Dolomedes fishing spider biology: Gaps and opportunities for future research
No full textDolomedes may easily be considered to be among the most charismatic spider taxa. Known colloquially as fishing or raft spiders, this clade of dolomedid cursorial hunters is speciose with about 100 valid species names. Most Dolomedes are large spiders that inhabit water bodies across all continents except Antarctica and, interestingly, South America. Dolomedes have captured the attention of researchers and the public alike for their ability to walk on and submerge under water, fish for prey (including small vertebrates), and for their often-bizarre mating behavior that includes examples of male spontaneous death and sexual cannibalism. In this review, we critically evaluate what is known of Dolomedes biology, focusing on their systematics and morphology, ecology, behavior, and conservation. Given their close association with water, Dolomedes may be particularly vulnerable to the impacts of anthropogenic change and provide an important group of indicator species for understanding the effect of pollution, habitat loss and climate change. We outline a roadmap for future studies that, in our view, will consolidate Dolomedes as an ideal model lineage among spiders for addressing a vast array of questions across multiple fields of biology
Forage lucerne for grazing dairy cows: Effects on milk yield, milk urea and fatty acid composition
No full textContext. The value of milk components is increasingly recognised for human health benefits (e.g. omega-3 fatty acids, FA), or indicators of nutrient-use efficiency for both animal and environmental benefits (e.g. milk urea, MU). Aims. The study explored whether inclusion of lucerne (Medicago sativa L.) in a perennial ryegrass and white clover (Lolium perenne L. and Trifolium repens L, PRW)-based diet affects milk production, MU concentration, and milk FA composition of dairy cows during mid-lactation. Methods. Thirty-two cows, balanced for milk production (26.1 ± 3.03 kg/cow), MU (16.6 ± 2.84 mg/dL), and days in milk (94 ± 7 days), were evenly allocated into eight groups of four. Groups were then randomly assigned one of two dietary treatments, namely, PRW only (control), and PRW plus lucerne (lucerne). During an 8-day adaptation, control cows were fed a fresh allocation after each milking at 08:30 hours and 16:00 hours to provide 25 kg/cow.day DM of fresh PRW herbage above a target post-grazing height of 4.5 cm height. Cows on lucerne were allocated 10 kg DM of fresh lucerne at 08:30 hours, and 15 kg DM of fresh PRW at 16:00 hours. Apparent nutrient intakes and milk composition were determined on Days 9 and 10 of the study. Key results. Diet treatment did not significantly alter DM or metabolisable energy intake, milk production, or milk fat and protein percentage. However, compared with control cows, nitrogen and linoleic acid (LA) intake increased, and soluble carbohydrate, neutral detergent fibre, and alpha linoleic acid (ALA) intake decreased for cows fed lucerne. Milk urea increased by 43% for lucerne compared with control cows (22.4 vs 15.7 ± 1.43 mg/dL, P < 0.001). Cows grazing lucerne produced milk with a higher concentration of LA and ALA than did the control cows. Increases in milk LA from grazing lucerne were congruent with improvement in intake of the FA from the diet, whereas increases in ALA occurred despite the corresponding lower dietary intake. Conclusion. Supplementing a pasture diet with lucerne increased MU and FA. Implications. Lucerne has the potential to enhance dietary protein supply during periods of deficiency and increase the supply of functional FA in the milk of grazing dairy cattle
A redescription and new generic placement of the New Zealand marine-associated jumping spider Marpissa marina (Goyen, 1892) (Araneae: Salticidae: Euophryini)
No full textThe jumping spider Marpissa marina (Goyen, 1892) is endemic to Aotearoa New Zealand. In this paper, we redescribe the species. Marpissa marina was placed in the Northern Hemisphere genus Marpissa due to its subjective similarity to spiders in that genus. The original description lacked modern morphological diagnoses and useful illustrations. The description was based largely on the female, and therefore lacked the taxonomically important characters seen in the male pedipalp. Previous literature has suggested M. marina may be related to the Australian genus, Maratus Karsch, 1878. We applied an integrative taxonomic approach based on diagnostic morphological characters and molecular analysis for a more detailed species description and assignment into an appropriate genus. Morphological features indicate that M. marina belongs to Maratus. This is supported by phylogenetic analyses using DNA sequences from the nuclear gene Actin 5C and the mitochondrial gene 16S ribosomal RNA. We transfer Marpissa marina into the genus Maratus, as Maratus marinus (Goyen, 1892), new combination
Learning governance from indigenous supply chains
No full textThe purpose of this research is to understand how governance based on Māori cultural interconnectedness is structured and operates in supply chains. By comprehending how supply chains can be governed through harmonious connections to the planet, this paper contributes to the governance and sustainability literature. Given the connection that Māori have with the land, and the importance of agribusiness to the New Zealand economy, two agribusiness supply chain cases provide a practical context for rich data collection. Whilst relationships were underpinned by formal contracts, social exchange and a set of shared values were at the core of chain relationships in both cases. Relational strength was seen as more important than maximising economic gains. Emotional connections that underpin business links reflected the Māori values of whakawhanaungatanga and manaakitanga. Product quality was viewed as a tool to reinforce the brand promise sold to consumers and critically both focal companies developed their supply chains based on two Māori values kaitiakitanga and ikanga. The broad and inclusive worldview of Māori contrasts with the modernist view of western centred supply chains that are concerned with rationality progress, universality, and the individual as opposed to emotion, relationships, localism and the collective. Concerns for societal and environmental well-being were found to be at the centre of the Māori governance approach that was developed to manage relationships and controlling product quality. Māori governance reflects the growing recognition of academics that economic levers are not sufficient for sustainability