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Automated detection of carry-over effects in pygoscelid penguins
No full textBehavioural plasticity can help mitigate the consequences of environmental change by allowing individuals the ability to modify their behaviours, improving their chances of coping with new conditions. This flexibility may allow necessary time for genetic adaptations to arise within a population. However, climatic change is having detrimental effects on biological systems, especially for those species that rely on sensitive habitats, experience limitations in plasticity or depend heavily on environmental cues. Changes in the timing of breeding has emerged as one of the first detectable responses to climate change, as many plants and animals use environmental cues to match a part of their life cycle with an environmental resource. However, few studies have determined whether there are cumulative impacts from adjusting the timing of important life events. Here we show phenological changes to arrival timing in Adélie (Pygoscelis adeliae), chinstrap (P. antarcticus), and gentoo (P. papua) penguins. Showing breeding season was a strong predictor of departure within the same season, with significant carry-over effects within the next breeding season’s arrival. This study found that 69% of variance explained based on the relationship between same season arrival and departure dates, with 1 days earlier arrival reflecting a 0.73 days earlier departure. Between-season results showed 1 days earlier departure predicted 1.67 days earlier arrival in the subsequent season. This explained 48% variance. The results demonstrate how a cascade effect may be occurring in pygoscelid species, whereby phenological changes in the pygoscelid genus may be resulting in breeding seasons becoming earlier. This study adds to the literature of climate change driven phenological shifts, with emphasises that first order change might not be the only impact on a population. Further study would benefit from incorporating additional colony sites and environmental condition records to better understand the drivers of plasticity and associated carry over effects. Furthermore, incorporating colonial level differences may be relevant in understanding the impact climatic change is having on a species future fitness
Indigenous management practices to reduce pests and pathogens of cash crop in agroforestry systems
No full textPast, Present, Future: Rethinking Vernacular Architecture with Professor Marcel Vellinga
No full textExploring the challenges and potential of implementing community solar initiatives into Egypt's low-income urban housing
No full textThe promising role of community-led energy initiatives in shaping a just transition to renewable energy has been underlined in the literature. Current research on community energy in developing countries focuses mainly on rural communities experiencing energy poverty, with less attention given to urban low-income communities. This study builds on strategic niche management theory to develop a framework that explores the potential and challenges of implementing community solar initiatives to support energy-poor urban communities in developing countries such as Egypt. Based on a qualitative study, which included 29 semi-structured interviews and resident workshops in three case studies of Egypt's urban subsidized low-income housing, the study reveals that the development and management of such a niche in Egypt faces significant challenges. These challenges include regulatory, political, financial, and operational issues, of which sociocultural barriers are the most significant. The study concludes that to realise the potential for community solar in such a developing context, the government's role needs to shift from providing energy subsidies to actively promoting community energy through building human capacity. It proposes a hybrid community energy model that integrates state incentives, microfinance schemes, and energy service companies. The study's contribution lies in giving a voice to diverse stakeholders, in particular the voiceless low-income communities, to propose measures to support the development of community solar initiatives in Egypt that can contribute to a just transition to renewable energy
Novel concept of hydroxyl radical generation in hydrodynamic cavitation on a chip
Get PDFIn this study, the hydrodynamic cavitation on a chip reactor (HC on a chip), facilitated by two configurations: a micro-orifice and a long diaphragm, was utilized to produce the reactive species, particularly hydroxyl radicals (radical dotOH). The micro-orifice configuration allowing intense localized pressure gradients promotes intense cavitation events, leading to higher yields of radical dotOH per unit energy input (0.6 × 10−6 g/J in comparison to 3.0 × 10−8 g/J for the long diaphragm configuration in the cavitation inception regime). This is advantageous for applications requiring concentrated radical dotOH production, such as advanced oxidation processes. In contrast, the long diaphragm reactor, despite a larger power input (6.4 W at 2.9 MPa compared to 1.5 W for the micro-orifice configuration), provides a more uniform distribution of radicals along its length, based on the temporal trend of I3− formation. This shows a gradual and sustained rate compared to the sharp, early peak in the micro-orifice reactor. The lower reaction in Reactor 2 indicates that radical formation occurs over a wider area rather than being localized. This aligns with the geometry and flow pattern of the diaphragm which allows for a larger zone of cavitation and longer bubble activity. Comparative analysis reveals that microscale reactors demonstrate higher reaction rates and sharper peaks in I3− production than macroscale reactors, which show higher chemical activity. The orifice possesses the highest maximum peak in the microreactors, and the long diaphragm releases more uniformly distributed radicals, with microscale systems overall having higher energy efficiency and lower energy costs
Public value creation amid geopolitical challenges : the necessity of robotizing nurses’ administrative tasks in the public healthcare context
No full textThis qualitative study explores the extent to which the integration of robots in Egyptian public hospitals might alleviate nurses' administrative tasks and contribute to the creation of public value, as well as the reasons behind these potential effects. Analysis of interviews reveals that nurses do not believe replacing them with robots for administrative tasks would significantly reduce their workload or enhance public value. The nurses identify three primary challenges contributing to this belief: patient-focused, nurse-focused, and contextual challenges
Library Research Guide 6: Evaluating Web sources
No full textGuide for students on how to evaluate the quality and appropriateness for academic work of sources found online- using What? Who? Where? Why? When? criteria
Can the student speak? : voicing identities and experience in UK higher education
Get PDFIn recent years, HEIs have been under increased pressure to address persistent and significant educational inequalities. Within the current context of managerialism and ‘audit', universities are required to demonstrate how they are working to improve educational outcomes. We have also witnessed a return to research and policy which draws on the concept of student voice. In this paper, we question the epistemological foundations and effects of such Voice work. We argue that we need to reconfigure the ways in which identity, experience and representation are understood and mobilised through Voice work within the neoliberal university. Despite the evident commitment of staff and students to improving education, we suggest that current iterations of Voice work are fundamentally flawed. We argue that we should move away from simplistic categories of ‘the student’ and focus more on collaborative forms of speaking in order to challenge the processes and practices that sustain educational inequalities