19366 research outputs found
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Chemical transformation in far-from-equilibrium systems
No full textChemical transformations are ubiquitous in the universe. We use the principles or the laws of thermodynamics that were developed over the last two centuries or more, to understand and calculate the entities involved in chemical transformations. (We use “transformations” and “reactions” synonymously in this book.) Since thermodynamics is a vast subject, we only succinctly discuss the concepts and equations that are essential to understand the subsequent chapters. The reader is referred to excellent references in this subject such as Kondepudi and Prigogine (2014), Prigogine and Van Rysselberghe (1963), Keizer (1979, 1987), and Nicolis and Prigogine (1971) for further study
Nitrification inhibitor induced microbial NH₄⁺-N immobilization improves maize nitrogen use efficiency in strong ammonia oxidation soil
No full textNitrification inhibitors (NIs) have been acknowledged since 1970s for their potential to mitigate N₂O emissions, enhance fertilizer nitrogen use efficiency (NUE), and improve crop productivity. However, their effectiveness in improving yield and NUE varies significantly across different soil types, with the underlying mechanisms largely unexplored. This study integrates laboratory ¹⁵N labeling incubation experiments with field trials to evaluate the influence of a specific NI, nitraprin, on soil gross N transformation rates,N₂O emissions, maize yield and NUE across three distinct soil types prevalent in China's major crop production zones. These soils include acidic black soil at GZL site, alkaline fluvo-aquic soil at XC site, and acidic red soil at QJ site. The alkaline fluvo-aquic soil (XC) exhibited the highest gross nitrification rates (ONH4) and cumulative N₂O emissions, while also showing the lowest immobilization rate of NH₄⁺-N (INH4). Conversely, the acidic black soil (GZL) had opposite trends. NI application lead to a significant reduction in ONH4 by 23–53% and in N₂O emissions by 48–85%. Notably an increase in maize yield (by 18.7%) and NUE (by 30.3 %) were observed exclusively at XC. NI addition notably enhanced INH4 at XC, due to the suppression of a high nitrification rate, reduced the N losing risk (N/I ratio) and consequently supported higher maize yield. Further analyses highlighted that autotrophic nitrification, predominantly mediated by ammonia-oxidizing bacteria (AOB), particularly the AOB Nitrosospira cluster 3a.2 (D11), is pivotal in regulating soil N₂O emissions and is sensitive to NI addition. This study underscores the significant role that the interplay between ONH4 and INH4 plays in influencing maize yield, NUE, and the effectiveness of NIs across various soil types. These insights are crucial for developing tailored N management strategies that aim to maximize NUE and minimize N₂O emissions
Analysis of bacterial and fungal communities and organic acid content in New Zealand lambic-style beers: A climatic and global perspective
No full textBeer produced by autochthonous microbial fermentation is a long-established craft beer style in Belgium that has now been implemented commercially in New Zealand. We used a metabarcoding approach to characterize the microbiome of 11 spontaneously fermented beers produced by a single brewery in Oamaru from 2016 to 2022. Key organic acid concentrations were also determined. Both bacterial and fungal populations varied considerably between vintages and between individual brews produced in 2020. Similarly, for organic acids, the concentrations of L-malic acid, succinic acid, and L-lactic acid statistically differed from one vintage to another. Moreover, a correlation between the concentrations of certain organic acids and microbial composition was inferred by ordination analyses. Through reference to publicly available climate data, humidity and maximum temperature seemed to enhance the abundance of Penicillium and Hanseniaspora in beer microbiota. However, comparison with previously published studies of Belgian lambic beers, similar Russian ales, and publicly available temperature data from these regions showed that the microbial populations of these were relatively stable despite greater extremes of weather. Our results suggest that while climatic variables may influence microbial populations during beer making that employs autochthonous fermentation in New Zealand, such variation is not evident where similar beers are produced in facilities with a long-established history of production. These findings have implications for lambic-style beer production in the context of global climate change, notably where microbial populations may lack environmental adaptation
Throwing out the rule book: A creative approach to researching events with integrity
No full textEthical considerations and approval are compulsory prior to data collection in any research process, and this is especially the case when adopting creative approaches to ensure research is carried out with the highest levels of integrity. This chapter examines this, drawing on the author’s own attempts to share the voices of marginalised communities by navigating the tensions between ethics committees’ expectations and pragmatic realities in the field
Beyond culture: Fragmentation and VET as structural impediments to gender parity for tradeswomen in the ANZ construction sectors
No full textThe construction sector is a highly gender segregated, with women comprising only 1-3% of trades related work in Western nations. There has been extensive research exploring gender and the construction sector, and women in the skilled trades. Much of this research focuses on the barriers associated with recruitment and employment for women related to the male-dominated culture of the industry. This paper moves beyond the consistently stated masculine culture as the root cause of issues impacting the low numbers of women and their poor experience of working in the construction and building industries in Australia and New Zealand. We look to overarching constraints, particularly industry fragmentation and the traditional vocational education and training (VET) models.
We report on an interpretive comparative review of 22 articles from Australia and New Zealand, between 2014-2024, about women in the skilled trades in the construction industry. The research question was “To what extent does the literature interrogate the structural issues of fragmentation and vocational education and training on diversity and inclusion of tradeswomen in the construction industry workforce”.
The overarching aim of the research was to understand the persistence of gender segregation in the construction sector. Our previous research identified the structural issues of industry fragmentation and traditional vocational education and training models on women’s employment. The review aimed to identify the extent to which these structural issues are addressed in the literature. In doing so identified how the literature frames structural barriers as salient in gender segregation and poor workplace experiences for women in training and employment.
A review of literature across Australia and New Zealand demonstrates that fragmentation is a direct consequence of the tiered hierarchical system of organizational relations in the construction sector. Fragmentation is replicated in the recruitment and training processes ultimately serving to impact on the entry and retention of women in trade training. A noticeable separation between key parties: government, schools, training organizations, and employers disrupts the supply and retention of women for trade training in the sector. The study identifies the need for greater attention to the coordination of the trade training process particularly increased focus on collaboration, relationship building and communication between all key parties involved in the training process. In addition, this paper exposes the need for further research to explore how the sequential segmented development of the trade training workforce and the construction culture in which it is situated impacts on the sectors long-term capacity to capture and retain a diverse and stable workforce.
This paper argues that a failure by successive governments and sector leaders to provide consistent financial support and effective structural training design has hindered the clear coordination of women transitioning between school, training and employment and in doing so has reinforced rather than reduced sector fragmentation.
The study contributes new insight into understanding gender segregation by looking beyond recruitment constraints, and beyond the usual recommendations of policy implementation and mentoring and networking programs for women
Ripple effects in New Zealand regional rent prices: Evidence from the contemporaneous and lagged R² decomposed connectedness approach with exogenous input
No full textThis study investigates regional rent spillovers across 16 New Zealand regions from February 1993 to December 2024. Using a novel R² decomposed connectedness approach with exogenous inputs, we measure contemporaneous and lagged rent interdependencies and examine both endogenous and exogenous effects. Results show that the market risk in the regional rent sector varies over time and responds to major economic events. Contemporaneous and lagged interdependence contribute equally to the market risk of the rental markets. Exogenous factors significantly enhance explanatory power, particularly in Canterbury and Auckland. Key net transmitters of rent shocks include Canterbury and the Golden Triangle, comprising Auckland, Bay of Plenty, and Waikato, while Otago and other regions act primarily as net receivers. We also explore spatial spillovers across rental price tiers, highlighting variations between high and low-cost rental markets. These findings provide valuable insights into regional housing market dynamics and inform policy interventions
Bridging knowledge: Transdisciplinary approaches to climate adaptation in the Pacific
No full textThis panel posed the following guiding question: how can we conduct research that is truly relevant to the countries in which we work? What factors enabled us to formulate useful questions for populations and decision-makers in the context of climate change? What difficulties did researchers and institutional staff encounter when conducting such demanding research? Finally, what results were expected and discussed during the project's development? The panel proposed exploring these issues based on five years of transdisciplinary and applied research on climate change and adaptation conducted in the Pacific Islands. These islands, which are highly exposed to hazards, have also served as testing grounds. Since 2022, the CLIPSSA (Pacific Climate, Local Knowledge and Adaptation Strategies) project has been bringing together climatologists and social scientists with institutional and political actors in Vanuatu, New Caledonia, French Polynesia and Wallis and Futuna to co-develop a programme aligned with the priorities of local authorities. After a year of consultation with governments, the food-water-agriculture nexus was selected as a common focus, with family farming — central to food security — being chosen more specifically. A crucial component focused on linking indigenous and local knowledge, climate science and public decision-making more effectively to accelerate adaptation. The consortium's researchers presented three contributions: (1) producing future atmospheric projections at a Pacific scale (20 km grid) and at a very high resolution on the islands (2.5 km); (2) analysing future climate impacts on agriculture in Melanesian and Polynesian contexts; and (3) studying the ways in which family farmers combine knowledge, experience and know-how today. Beyond the methods and initial results, the panel examined the constraints and opportunities of such approaches, fuelling a debate on their expected effect
Determinants of species' centrality in spatially-connected plant-frugivore networks
No full textSpecies' characteristics, such as their capacity to disperse great distances or to interact with many partners, may determine their ability to propagate impacts within and across communities. These spatial and interaction-related processes may have synergistic or opposing influences on a species' ability to connect with others, but typical analyses of ecological networks may not be able to disentangle these effects. Here, we explored how the way in which a plant–frugivore metanetwork is described influences our perception of the species that can most impact others via direct and indirect effects. Specifically, we tested whether the ranking of bird species' centrality and its relationship with species' characteristics depend on whether spatial distance and dispersal constraints are depicted in the metanetwork. To do this, we described a metanetwork comprising 29 local frugivory networks from the Atlantic Forest and Cerrado subrealm of Brazil using a gradient of spatial information, from simply aggregating interaction data across sites to using multilayer networks that connect populations from spatially-separated communities according to their spatial distance and species' dispersal capacities. We found that rankings of bird species' centrality were, on average, not strongly influenced by incorporating spatial and dispersal effects (versus aggregating interaction data across sites), though the centrality of individual species changed considerably in some cases. Three species-level characteristics, degree of frugivory (which is associated with interaction generalism), area of habitat (which is associated with the number of local networks in which a bird species occurs) and body mass predicted bird species' centrality consistently across the different approaches used to generate the metanetwork. Our findings indicate that key characteristics associated with spatial and interaction-related processes can determine the central role of species in spatially-connected interaction networks, irrespective of whether spatial and dispersal constraints are explicitly incorporated in the metanetwork
Digital banking and finance: A handbook
No full textFinance is undergoing a profound transformation. Digital technologies are reshaping payments, lending, insurance, and wealth management. Big data technology is now an integral part of the financial services industry and will continue to drive future innovation. Digital finance has fundamentally changed how we live and do business, and it has been a major disruptor of the finance industry. The advantages of digital finance have long been recognized. Rapidly growing digital technologies also have the potential to deliver financial services at significantly reduced costs, thereby increasing financial inclusion and generating significant efficiency improvements across the economy. To build inclusive societies and address rising inequalities, global and national leaders must bridge the digital divide across and within countries to reap the benefits of digital financial services and build appropriate regulatory frameworks for ensuring trusted transactions in a digitalized economy. This means finding the right balance between enabling financial innovation and addressing risks, including insufficient consumer protection, a lack of financial and digital literacy, unequal access to digital infrastructure, and data biases that need action at the national level.This book focuses on financial technology, with a particular emphasis on the impact of digital finance on the finance and banking industries. Chapters address topics such as FinTech, big data, Bitcoin, corporate governance, and economic policy, while also considering current global issues like climate change and the COVID-19 pandemic. Supported by the most recent research and illuminating case studies, this handbook offers an insightful overview of how the finance and banking sectors are changing under the influence of the digital age
Advancing physical activity and health through age-friendly cities in Aotearoa New Zealand: Challenges and pathways for promotion
No full textPurpose: Aotearoa New Zealand is undergoing a demographic transition towards a super-aged society, with the 65 and older cohort approaching 25% of the total population by mid century. Supporting healthy ageing requires age-inclusive urban environments that are responsive to the health and activity needs of older residents. The World Health Organization’s Age-Friendly Cities (AFC) Network offers a pathway to support such goals. This analysis critically reviewed the progress of AFC initiatives in New Zealand, with particular attention to how local implementation contributes to active living and wellbeing outcomes. Project or Policy Description: Using a qualitative policy review approach, we analysed AFC-related documents from seven New Zealand municipalities affiliated with the WHO AFC Network, including Auckland and Hamilton. Documents included baseline assessments, action plans, evaluation reports, and government policy statements. Findings revealed five persistent implementation challenges: (1) absence of measurable indicators related to physical activity or health, (2) over reliance on community implementation partners, (3) lack of long-term or dedicated funding, (4) limited support for AFC champions and volunteers, and (5) poor integration with existing urban design or active travel frameworks. While some councils reported actions relevant to physical activity, these were inconsistently resourced and often unmeasured. Conclusions: New Zealand’s engagement with the AFC Network is growing but remains constrained by fragmented implementation and a lack of policy coherence. Embedding age-friendly and activity-supportive design in broader infrastructure and urban planning strategies is essential. Key recommendations include developing local key performance indicators for physical activity promotion, ensuring transparent funding streams, and integrating AFC principles into long-term urban development plans. Without these measures, there is a risk that AFC Network membership may become a symbolic continuation of business-as-usual policy making. A more coordinated, resourced, and measurable approach is needed to realise the physical activity and health potential of age-friendly environments