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Behaviour change interventions to facilitate forest trail users’ biosecurity compliance
No full textNatural resource management can struggle with increased visitation that inadvertently deteriorates the environment. In Aotearoa New Zealand, visitors to kauri forests are spreading a lethal soil pathogen resulting in cultural and conservation risk. While public awareness of kauri dieback disease is growing, compliance at hygiene stations has not similarly increased. To overcome this apparent knowledge-behaviour gap, five interventions (ambassadors, normative messaging, watching eye effect, hazard perception, and pledge board) were evaluated for their impact on visitor compliance with footwear/equipment cleaning behaviour. Behavioural observations (n = 10,536) and intercept surveys (n = 3,061) were collected. Ambassadors resulted in increased compliance for both visitors and local trail users. The pledge board resulted in increased compliance for local trail users only and normative message increased compliance at one visitor site. Hazard perception and watching eye resulted in a decrease in compliance behaviour. This research demonstrates the need for careful assessment of interventions designed to mitigate the impacts of visitors to conservation areas. The success of the ambassador intervention, the pledge board for locals and, to a lesser extent, the normative message at one location, offer field-based empirical evidence supporting the use of social norms in communication approaches aimed at influencing visitor behaviour in natural resource settings
Careers, citations, bibliometrics and impact: Perspectives of new and emerging scholars
No full textDrawing on a wealth of knowledge and experience from leading tourism academics and journal editors, this practical How To guide offers clear-sighted advice on how to craft a high-quality paper in terms of contribution, positioning and submission. Accessible and comprehensive, it demystifies the process of getting published in the top tourism journals
Docosahexaenoic acid-loaded nanoparticles: A state-of-the-art of preparation methods, characterization, functionality, and therapeutic applications
No full textDocosahexaenoic acid (DHA, C22:6 n-3), an omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acid, offers several beneficial effects. DHA helps in reducing depression, autoimmune diseases, rheumatoid arthritis, attention deficit hyperactivity syndrome, and cardiovascular diseases. It can stimulate the development of brain and nerve, alleviate lipids metabolism-related disorders, and enhance vision development. However, DHA susceptibility to chemical oxidation, poor water solubility, and unpleasant order could restrict its applications for nutritional and therapeutic purposes. To avoid these drawbacks and enhance its bioavailability, DHA can be encapsulated using an effective delivery system. Several encapsulation methods are recognized, and DHA-loaded nanoparticles have demonstrated numerous benefits. In clinical studies, positive influences on the development of several diseases have been reported, but some assumptions are conflicting and need more exploration, since DHA has a systemic and not a targeted release at the required level. This might cause the applications of nanoparticles that could allow DHA release at the required level and improve its efficiency, thus resulting in a better controlling of several diseases. In the current review, we focused on researches investigating the formulation and development of DHA-loaded nanoparticles using different delivery systems, including low-density lipoprotein, zinc oxide, silver, zein, and resveratrol-stearate. Silver-DHA nanoparticles presented a typical particle size of 24 nm with an incorporation level of 97.67 %, while the entrapment efficiency of zinc oxide-DHA nanoparticles represented 87.3 %. By using zein/Poly (lactic-co-glycolic acid) stabilized nanoparticles, DHA's encapsulation level reached 84.6 %. We have also highlighted the characteristics, functionality and medical implementation of these nanoparticles in the treatment of inflammations, brain disorders, diabetes as well as hepatocellular carcinoma
Can outsourcing pest and disease control help reduce pesticide expenditure? Evidence from rice farmers
No full textOutsourcing pest and disease control (PDC) has grown rapidly worldwide, especially in developing countries. Although numerous studies have investigated various advantages of outsourcing PDC, little is known about its impact on pesticide expenditure. This study addresses the gap by estimating the impact of outsourcing PDC on pesticide expenditure using data collected from 448 rice farmers in China. We employ an endogenous treatment regression (ETR) model and an instrumental variable quantile regression (IVQR) model to investigate the homogenous and heterogeneous impacts of outsourcing PDC, respectively. The results estimated by the ETR model show that outsourcing PDC decreases total pesticide expenditure. The reduction in herbicide expenditure due to outsourcing PDC is greater than the reduction in insecticide expenditure. The results estimated by the IVQR model reveal that the pesticide expenditure reduction effect of outsourcing PDC is larger among farmers with higher pesticide expenditure. Our findings generally suggest that it is necessary to take outsourcing PDC into consideration when designing policies to promote pesticide expenditure reduction and protect the ecological environment and human health
Synergy of Oatmeal and Plant Proteins: Effect of different plant proteins on oatmeal nutritional profile : A dissertation submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the Degree of Master of Science in Food Innovation at Lincoln University
No full textOats, an extremely common staple food, are rich in health-promoting chemicals which have been researched and demonstrated to have favourable impacts on human health. Plant proteins are gaining more attention these days owing to sustainability and changing food habits of people. This study investigated if plant proteins could be added to oat porridge to make it more balanced and healthier from nutritional aspects such as qualitative and quantitative analysis of proteins, digestibility and antioxidant activity. In case of protein digestibility, fava bean, green lentil, and mung bean supplemented oat porridge samples showed significant difference than oat flour samples. Similarly, pea and chickpea had no influence on the starch digestibility of oat samples. Amino acid profiling of samples had mixed results as some of the amino acids did not differ significantly while others showed significant difference. However, there was no significant difference found in antioxidant activity of oat flour and plant protein supplemented with oat flour samples. The research results therefore serve as a solid foundation for understanding the impact of different plant proteins on oat porridge systems and determining which kinds of proteins can be added to achieve desirable effects to maximise health advantages. Future work investigating the effect of plant proteins on oats, focused on nutritional profile, may be recommended to focus on antioxidant capacity followed by digestion along with interactions of protein-starch interactions to optimise the formulations
AI feedback loops in Aotearoa New Zealand: A Human-centered creative problem-solving approach
No full textArtificial Intelligence (AI) can have unintended consequences in systems where they are deployed. Researchers have found that by increasing contextual understanding of AI feedback loops, cause and effect in systems, especially in high-risk applications like health, biosecurity, conservation, justice systems, and transport, AI tools can learn to improve over time and leverage wider neural networks. This paper fills the knowledge gap on how to consider varying competencies of human-AI teams to identify feedback in AI systems leveraging eight disciplines outside commerce and computer science. The study found that academic actors from more than one discipline tend to identify more relevant sources of feedback in AI systems, especially in high-risk applications. The paper recommends the integration of human lived experiences, knowledge generated from partial exposure of academic ideas to non-academic actors, and knowledge of decision making in the natural environment to reduce the incidence of misinformed human decision-making, especially in high-risk applications
Sustainable crop intensification examples from New Zealand and the Pacific region
No full textAn invited lecture showcasing sustainable agriculture examples
Root-lesion nematode (Pratylenchus spp.) extraction from maize roots: A comparison of three methods
No full textThis study examines differences in extraction efficiency of three methods for extracting root-lesion nematodes (Pratylenchus spp.) from maize roots. The Baermann funnel, Whitehead & Hemming tray, and centrifugal-sugar flotation methods were evaluated for efficiency and clarity using microscopic observation. Statistical analysis confirmed significant differences among the methods. The centrifugal-sugar flotation method yielded the highest nematode count (1874±76 per 5 g of roots) but the clarity of the observation field under the microscope was lower due to root residues compared to the other two tested methods. The Baermann funnel method yielded 35.9% extraction efficiency (672±46 per 5 g of roots) compared to the centrifugal-sugar flotation method with higher clarity of the observation field than other tested methods. The Whitehead & Hemming tray presented a moderate level of observation field clarity compared to other tested methods with a nematode extraction efficiency of 60.8% (1140±53 per 5 g of roots) compared to the centrifugal-sugar flotation method. The results suggest that the Whitehead & Hemming tray could be a viable choice for nematode extraction, especially when both nematode numbers and microscopic clarity are important considerations. Understanding the restrictions of each methodology enhances the accuracy of nematode quantification leading to improved and updated data for maize producers in New Zealand
Agricultural mechanization and non-farm employment of rural women
No full textThis study analyzes the impact of the adoption of agricultural mechanization and its intensity on the non-farm employment of rural women using the 2016 China Labor-force Dynamics Survey data. The study captures mechanization adoption as a dichotomous decision and adoption intensity using three types of farming strategies: non-mechanized, semi-mechanized, and fully-mechanized. Non-farm work is categorized based on work types (self-employment or wage employment) and work locations (local or migrated non-farm work). Both inverse probability weighting with regression adjustment (IPWRA) estimator and multivalued treatment effects (MVTE) model are utilized to address selection bias. The IPWRA estimates reveal that mechanization adoption increases the probability of rural women participating in non-farm work in general and wage employment and local and migrated non-farm work in particular. The impact is greater for unmarried women than for their married counterparts. The MVTE estimates show that relative to non-mechanized farming, the adoption of semi-or fully-mechanized farming increases the probability of rural women participating in non-farm work, wage employment, and local and migrated non-farm work, with fully-mechanized farming playing a larger role. Meanwhile, relative to semi-mechanized farming, adopting fully-mechanized farming does not have a significant impact on any type of non-farm work
Climate-smart agriculture: Adoption, impacts, and implications for sustainable development
No full textThe 19 papers included in this special issue examined the factors influencing the adoption of climate-smart agriculture (CSA) practices among smallholder farmers and estimated the impacts of CSA adoption on farm production, income, and well-being. Key findings from this special issue include: (1) the variables, including age, gender, education, risk perception and preferences, access to credit, farm size, production conditions, off-farm income, and labour allocation, have a mixed (either positive or negative) influence on the adoption of CSA practices; (2) the variables, including labour endowment, land tenure security, access to extension services, agricultural training, membership in farmers’ organizations, support from non-governmental organizations, climate conditions, and access to information consistently have a positive impact on CSA adoption; (3) diverse forms of capital (physical, social, human, financial, natural, and institutional), social responsibility awareness, and digital advisory services can effectively promote CSA adoption; (4) the establishment of climate-smart villages and civil-society organizations enhances CSA adoption by improving their access to credit; (5) CSA adoption contributes to improved farm resilience to climate change and mitigation of greenhouse gas emissions; (6) CSA adoption leads to higher crop yields, increased farm income, and greater economic diversification; (7) integrating CSA technologies into traditional agricultural practices not only boosts economic viability but also contributes to environmental sustainability and health benefits; and (8) there is a critical need for international collaboration in transferring technology for CSA. Overall, the findings of this special issue highlight that through targeted interventions and collaborative efforts, CSA can play a pivotal role in achieving food security, poverty alleviation, and climate resilience in farming communities worldwide and contribute to the achievements of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals