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Effects on soil of grassland management for pasture, hay and silage
No full textIn this chapter we address how grassland management affects soils, recognizing that this relationship is not unidirectional, and it is driven by interacting factors such as soil texture, climate, botanical composition, production systems (grazing or mowing for hay and silage) and management practices. Grasslands that are managed for pasture, hay and silage would not naturally be grasslands, but have been established on areas that historically would have been forest but have been cleared and developed for agricultural purposes. Consequently, grasslands have diverse soil textures that influence other physico-chemical properties and processes in soil
Relationship investment and local corruption environment: Evidence from China
Get PDFWe examine how firms interact with government officials within a corruption environment. Using corruption convictions to measure the extent of political corruption at the province level and a sample of Chinese listed firms, we find that firms located in more corrupt provinces invest more in building connections than firms located in less corrupt provinces. These results are robust to the instrumental variable approach, adjacent province matching, propensity score matching and alternative measurement of political corruption. We also show that the effect of political corruption is more pronounced in non-state-owned enterprises (non-SOEs), smaller firms, firms with financial constraints and firms without political connections. Additionally, we find that those firms that invest more on connection building are less likely to restate financial reports and have lower financial statement comparability. Overall, the evidence from China is consistent with the political connection view that firms respond to political corruption by investing in relationship building, which contrasts with the evidence from the US
Coloniality and racialization of informality
Get PDFThis article is inspired by Finn's work which historizes the structure of formal–informal dialectic in Africa, arguing that the origin dates to the colonial era. I extend Finn's argument through the prism of formal–informal as a racialized binary embedded in the coloniality of Africa's socio-spatial policies. Drawing insights from African cities generally and Lagos in particular, I argue that the formal–informal binary has always been a tool of colonial domination, which (re)produces and maintains racial hierarchies and racialized displacement in contemporary times. This provides a useful frame to understand and challenge the hierarchical positioning of informality relative to formality
Physical activity has a stronger correlation with arterial stiffness than strength, balance, or BMI in an older population
Get PDFBackground: Arterial stiffness is associated with an array of debilitating health conditions. While exercise typically has beneficial effects on both arterial stiffness and overall health, more research is needed to understand the associations of different types of fitness indices with arterial stiffness.
Aim: To investigate the relationship between balance, strength, cardiovascular fitness and physical activity with arterial stiffness (as measured by pulse wave velocity (PWV)) in older adults.
Method: Eighty retirement-village residents (24 males, 56 females, age: 78.2 ± 6.4 years, weight: 69.4 ± 12.5 kg, height: 162.9 ± 8.5 cm) completed the Yale Physical Activity Survey, PWV measurement, 30s sit-to-stand leg strength test, hand grip strength assessment, 4-stage balance test, and a 6-min walk fitness test. The number of exiting risk factors (smoking, previous heart incidents, previous stroke(s), having hypertension, or taking anti-hypertension medication) were tallied. Pearson’s correlations were used to assess the relationship between PWV and health and fitness parameters. Results were interpreted using qualitative inference.
Results: The number of risk factors (r = 0.57, p < 0.001), age (r = 0.51, p < 0.001) and systolic blood pressure (r = 0.50, p = 0.001) had strong, harmful associations with PWV. Total physical activity minutes/week (r = −0.31 p = 0.01), total energy expenditure Kcal/week (r = −0.30, p = 0.01), and the 6-min walk test (r = −0.29, p =
0.01) had a moderate, beneficial association with PWV, while sit-to-stand (r = −0.27, p = 0.02) and balance (r = −0.27, p = 0.01) had a weak, beneficial association with PWV. Hand grip strength (r = 0.02, p = 0.94) and body mass index (r = −0.04, p = 0.75) had no significant associations with PWV.
Discussion: All measured fitness indices had beneficial associations with PWV. However, having more risk factors, increased age, and higher systolic blood pressure had significant (harmful) associations with PWV in our older population
Urban governance and Covid-19 response in Nigeria: Who is left behind?
No full textThis chapter assesses the Covid-19 response in Nigeria—highlighting the governance dimensions (interface of various stakeholders) and implications for sustainable development (pandemic containment in the immediate term and resilience building for the future). The chapter is based on the notion of governance, as distinct from government. Governance is the coordinating mechanism of both the public and private resources to achieve common goals, and central to its functioning is the extent of interaction among multiple stakeholders at different levels and across multiple sectors. Using a variety of sources, we evaluate Nigeria’s responses to the Covid-19 pandemic through the lens of multi-level governance frameworks. We analyse both the vertical interactions between the federal, state and local governments and horizontal interactions between government, civil society actors and citizens. We focus on how these dynamics enhance or obstruct citizens’ access to health and social services, as well as education and information at the urban scale, given that cities are the epicentre of the pandemic. Our findings reveal insufficient coordination, accountability and engagement across multiple sectors. We also observed extensive capacity gaps at the local government level, with attendant consequences for citizen response to pandemic protocols. We conclude with a reflection of how existing governance structures could be optimised and/or modified to better respond to future pandemics
Whole bunch fermentation in Pinot noir production
No full textKeynote presentation at the 2023 International Innovative Technology Seminar on Viticulture & Enolog
Fungal and bacterial proteases: Characteristics, and opportunities for the processing of plant proteins
Get PDFThe enzymatic hydrolysis of proteins has been successful in improving their functional and bioactive properties. Extensive work has been conducted in applying plant, fungal, and bacterial proteases to animal protein sources (Ryder et al., 2015; Ha et al., 2012). Less work has been conducted examining the effects of fungal and bacterial proteases on plant proteins. This study characterised a range of bacterial and fungal proteases and evaluated the effects of selected bacterial and fungal proteases on a plant protein substrate assay. Commercially available proprietary fungal (FPII, F31K, and F60K), bacterial (HT, 4000 P, BS Conc), and plant (papain) proteases were screened for activity using the BODIPY-FL-Casein substrate. The soluble protein concentration of the protease powders was also assessed using the Bradford method. Based on the results of the screening, one fungal protease (F31K) and one bacterial protease (HT) were selected for further experiments. The selected proteases were then used to hydrolyse brown rice protein powder. The hydrolysis was conducted for up to 120 min at optimal conditions for each respective protease (pH 8.5 at 45 ⁰C, and pH 6 at 65 °C for F31K and HT, respectively). The resulting hydrolsates were evaluated for their soluble protein content using the Bradford method. The breakdown of protein was also visualised using SDS-PAGE. The mean enzyme activities ranged from 3.55×104 to 39.5×104 Δfluo.min-1.mg soluble protein-1 (for FPII and 4000 P, respectively). Both HT and F31K significantly increased (p < 0.05) the soluble protein concentration of the brown rice protein powder (from 0.586 to 2.21 and 3.12 mg/mL for HT and F31K, respectively). SDS-PAGE showed substantially different hydrolysis patterns for each protease over time. This study provides insights into how proteases from non-gut origin may overcome some of the challenges currently faced in the production of alternative proteins
Species interactions and diversity: A unified framework using Hill numbers
Get PDFBiodiversity describes the variety of organisms on planet earth. Ecologists have long hoped for a synthesis between analyses of biodiversity and analyses of biotic interactions among species, such as predation, competition and mutualism. However, it is often unclear how to connect details of these interactions with complex modern analyses of biodiversity. To resolve this gap, we propose a unification of models of biotic interactions and measurements of diversity. We show that analyses of biodiversity obscure details about biotic interactions. For example, identical changes in biodiversity can arise from predation, competition or mutualism. Our approach indicates that traditional models of community assembly miss key facets of diversity change. Instead, we suggest that analyses of diversity change should focus on partitions, which measure mechanisms that directly shape changes in diversity, notably species level selection and immigration, rather than traditional analyses of biotic interactions
Crisis and green urban development: Urban agriculture and post-earthquake urban resilience in Christchurch, New Zealand
Get PDFThe paper examines urban agriculture and local food initiatives in post-earthquake Christchurch, New Zealand and discusses their role for urban resilience. Like many other coastal cities in the world, Christchurch is prone to a range of natural and anthropogenic disasters including earthquakes, floods, extreme weather events, and sea-level rise. In 2010 and 2011, the Canterbury region was struck by two major earthquakes and a series of aftershocks. It was one of the most devastating natural disasters in the history of New Zealand killing 185 and injuring 7000 people. 90 per cent of residential properties were damaged, resulting in the demolition of around 8000 households and 80% of central Christchurch. In addition, recurrent flood events have been devastating large areas of the city on a regular basis. Shortly after the experiences of the 2010/11 Canterbury earthquakes, various bottom-up urban agriculture initiatives sprung up and have led to the development of a network of organisations and spaces across the city. With the help of exemplary case studies, the paper discusses post-earthquake urban agriculture initiatives in Christchurch against notions of urban resilience. It critically reflects on knowledge gaps, potential areas for future research and related barriers and enablers for green urban development
Copper contamination affects the biogeochemical cycling of nitrogen in freshwater sediment mesocosms
Get PDFTrace elements can have a wide variety of effects on microbial populations and their function in the aquatic environment. However, specific impacts on chemical and biological processes are often difficult to unravel, due to the wide variety of chemical species involved and interactions between different elemental cycles. A replicated mesocosm experiment was used to test the effect of increasing copper concentrations, i.e., from 6 mg kg‾¹ to 30 and 120 mg kg‾¹, on nitrogen cycling in a freshwater sediment under laboratory conditions. Nitrous oxide emissions from the treated sediments were measured over three consecutive 24 h periods. This was followed by measurements of iron, manganese, copper and mineral nitrogen species (nitrate and ammonium) mobilisation in the sediments using the diffusive gradients in thin films (DGT) and diffusive equilibria in thin films (DET) techniques and sequential extractions. Increasing copper concentrations are shown to have resulted in significantly reduced nitrate formation near the sediment–water interface and increased nitrous oxide emissions from the sediment overall. The concomitant mobilisation and sequestration of iron with ammonium in the sediment with the highest Cu treatment strongly imply links between the biogeochemical cycles of the two elements. Modest Cu contamination was shown to affect the nitrogen cycle in the tested freshwater sediment, which suggests that even relatively small loads of the metal in fresh watercourses can exert an influence on nutrient loads and greenhouse gas emissions from these environments