285 research outputs found
Critiquing the pursuit of island sustainability
No full textThis article critiques a focus on ‘sustainable development’ which highlights a liveable
‘future’ without paying adequate attention to what, we argue, are more pressing issues
for a liveable present. We contend that, while inherently commendable, the thrust of
many current initiatives related to sustainable development, especially those associated
with climate change, promote an ethos which crowds out other pressing policy pursuits
with more immediate relevance – although often also associated with sustainable
development – such as health, basic education, poverty reduction, and productive
employment and livelihoods. Small Island Developing States (SIDS) are at the forefront
of these initiatives, given their prominence in discussions on sustainable development,
but especially climate change, alongside the basic challenges that they face in
maintaining viable economies. Long-term thinking and planning is needed and
welcomed; but we may now have gone too far in the opposite direction in terms of
aiming for sustainable development in, and for, a distant future that emphasises climate
change, without better balancing of that concern with the pressing needs of the
moment
Enhancement of the antifungal activity of thyme and dill essential oils against Colletotrichum nymphaeae by nano-encapsulation with copper NPs
No full textNanotechnology is a quickly growing field and have been actually used in a varied assortment of marketable products worldwide. Nanoencapsulation demonstrations the advantage of more efficient and targeted use of pesticides in an environmentally friendly way. Research and development in post-harvest nanotechnology can help to preserve food freshness and quality and prevent diseases in a relatively safer way. In this regard, essential oils (EOs) represent promising agents for reducing food decay and development of pathogen microorganisms. The overall aim of the present study was to encapsulate Iranian thyme (Thymus daenensis L) and dill (Anethum graveolens L.) EOs in copper nanoparticles (NPs) and to evaluate their antifungal activity against the phytopathogen Colletotrichum nymphaeae. Encapsulation of thyme and dill EOs with copper NPs resulted effective in reducing the mycelium growth even by 90% after 9 days treatment. Furthermore a strong inhibitory effect on conidia germination of C. nymphaeae was observed. SEM observations indicated that C. nymphaeae treated with EOs, copper NPs and encapsulated EOs, showed deformation in mycelial growth and hyphae twisting. In summary, these results showed that nano-encapsulation of EOs with NPs, using safe materials, increased the perspective of their effectiveness as new plant disease management strategies
Phorinia breviata Tachi and Shima 2006
No full textPhorinia breviata Tachi and Shima, 2006 * Phorinia breviata Tachi and Shima, 2006: 260. Type locality: Japan, Fukuoka Pref., Fukuoka City, Mt. Aburayama. Material examined: North Korea, Kangvǒn-do Prov., Kumgang-san Mts., Onjong-ri near Kymgan-san hotel, 28. 08. 1987, 1 male, leg. E. Kierych. Distribution: Palaearctic: Japan (Hokkaido, Honshu, Shikoku, Tsushima Island). Oriental and Oceanian regions (Tachi and Shima 2006). First record from Korea. Remarks: In the first version of this paper I have given the information that among the specimens examined I found male belonging to the Phorinia aurifrons Robineau-Desvoidy, 1830 (after the Key to the insects of Russian Far East. Vol. VI. Diptera and Siphonaptera. Pt 3. Vladivostok. 2004. 124. Fam. Tachinidae. Richter: 197-198). However, one of reviewers, in his comments wrote: ” Phorinia aurifrons Robineau-Desvoidy (…) is considered to be misidentified from East Asia by some authors (see Tachi & Shima 2006, O’Hara et al. 2009, Shima 2014). The author is recommended to confirm identification of this species. If the species P. aurifrons really occurs in North Korea, it is very interesting”. My repeated examination of the specimen from Korea confirmed the suspicions of reviewer. Finally, I decided that it was P. breviata Tachi and Shima.Published as part of DRABER-MOŃKO, Agnieszka, 2015, State of knowledge of the tachinid fauna of Eastern Asia, with new data from North Korea. Part V. Exoristinae, pp. 79-98 in Fragmenta Faunistica 58 (2) on page 90, DOI: 10.3161/00159301FF2015.58.2.079, http://zenodo.org/record/625182
Usability and feasibility of in-home vibro-tactile stimulation for treating voice symptoms in laryngeal dystonia
No full textUniversity of Minnesota M.S. thesis. May 2025. Major: Kinesiology. Advisor: jurgen Konczak. 1 computer file (PDF); viii, 41 pages.Laryngeal dystonia (LD) is a chronic neurological voice disorder treated primarily with Botulinum neurotoxin (BoNT) injections. Recent studies suggest that laryngeal vibrotactile stimulation (VTS) may reduce vocal effort and improve voice quality. This study evaluated the feasibility and usability of an in-home VTS device in 32 participants with adductor or abductor LD over eight weeks. Participants applied VTS for 20 minutes/day, initially following a fixed protocol, then self-regulating usage. Results showed high adherence (93%) and user satisfaction (75% reported no difficulty). VTS reduced perceived speech effort by 13.5% during the first four weeks, and 63% of participants reported improvements. Voice quality ratings increased from neutral (2.9) to noticeable (3.8), with effects lasting beyond 24 hours for some. No significant differences were observed between LD types or BoNT use. Most participants preferred the collar over skin tape. Findings support VTS as a feasible, non-invasive, and patient-accepted in-home intervention for LD.Amini, Shima. (2025). Usability and feasibility of in-home vibro-tactile stimulation for treating voice symptoms in laryngeal dystonia. Retrieved from the University Digital Conservancy, https://hdl.handle.net/11299/276695
An icy layer of isolation: Prince Edward Island’s sea-bound particularity
No full textThe types and degrees of insularity experienced in islands provide considerable material for academics. In the case of Prince Edward Island (PEI), being an Island combined with the isolation caused by sea ice covering the waters around PEI, has impacted Islanders’ sense of relative insularity. Even after the construction of a fixed link to the mainland, Islanders continue to relish in a sense of distinctiveness linked to their Island condition. Since European settlement, PEI’s sea ice barrier has periodically cut off channels of communication and transportation resulting in many societal effects. As ocean temperatures rise due to Climate Change, ice conditions are changing, bringing with them increased coastal erosion and other effects. This article investigates PEI’s relationship with
its frozen sea-bound particularity. Drawing upon the Island’s history, culture, and climate data, as well as from the field of Island Studies, the article asks the question: how has this
‘icy layer of isolation’ affected Islanders’ sense of place over time? And what are the potential implications of the effects of Climate Change for PEI
Lingering colonial outlier yet miniature continent
No full textThe fortunes of the wider Mediterranean Sea, the world’s largest, have never rested on
Sicily, its largest island. A stubbornly peripheral region, and possibly the world’s most
bridgeable island, Sicily has been largely neglected within the field of Island Studies.
The physically largest island with the largest population in the region, and housing
Europe’s most active volcano, Sicily has moved from being a hinterland for warring
factions (Sparta/Athens, Carthage/Rome), to a more centrist stage befitting its location,
although still remaining a political outlier in the modern era. Unlike many even smaller
islands with smaller populations, however, Sicily has remained an appendage to a
larger, and largely dysfunctional, state. The Maltese islands are part of ‘the Sicilian
archipelago’, and it was a whim of Charles V of Spain that politically cut off Malta from
this node in the 1520s, but not culturally. This article will review some of the multiple
representations of this island, and its changing fortunes
Wandering rocks
No full textThis article addresses the representation of islands within the fiction of the 20th Century
writer James Joyce. It is argued that Joyce reveals how islands and concepts of
islandness can be made to serve varying political, historical, and literary ends. Writing in
the immediate aftermath of Irish independence and partition, Joyce used the island
settings of the Aran Islands and the Isle of Man in order to comment on the implications
of those recent historical developments. While contemporary writers like Yeats and
Synge valued the Aran Islands for their inculcation of traditional Irish values, Joyce
rejected that vision as parochial and outmoded. Instead, Joyce drew attention to
important comparisons and contrasts between Ireland and the Isle of Man. In Ulysses
(1922) Joyce contrasted Ireland’s long and bloody struggle for independence with Man,
whose legislature, the House of Keys, presented a dramatic counterexample of
legitimate Home Rule. For both Joyce and his characters, Man was associated with
familiar island stereotypes, including self-sufficiency and wholeness
Is the Northern Topography of Orono-Shima Island The Prototype of the Key-Hole Tomb? ~ From Aerial Photography by Drone and Image Analysis by Landsat8 ~
No full textapplication/pdfOrono-shima Island is a remote Island in the Tsushima Strait, it is 4.3km around. Since ancient times, it has been a landmark when crossing from the Korean Peninsula to Japanese archipelago via Tsushima Island and Iki Island. However, large-scale ruins and burial mounds are not known on Orono-shima Island until now. The author has conducted various surveys of Koro Island and found the possibility that this island was an important island in ancient times. As a result of ground survey, the author discovered a topography like keyhole tomb which is a characteristic Japanese burial mound, on the northern cape of the island. It could be up to 150m in size, one of the largest around Kyusyu Island. There is no burial mound comparable to this on a remote island in Japan. Therefore, we created a 3D image using a drone Laser and hand Laser surveying of this terrain and we compared the results with another keyhole tomb. We asked archaeologists to judge the results. He stated that this could be considered an artificial structure and that excavation would eventually be necessary. Therefore, we investigated in detail the sites that could be candidates for excavation. In addition, we analyzed the image of infrared radiation of Orono-shima Island took by Landsat8. In conclusion, it was speculated that this topography was the prototype of the oldest type of keyhole cairn tomb in Japan. The topography of the northern part of Orono-shima could be regaining the missing link between the cairn on the Korean Peninsula of the first century and the oldest type of keyhole cairn tomb in Japan of the third century.論文(Atticle)departmental bulletin pape
Towards a Top-K SPARQL Query Benchmark Generator
No full textThe research on optimization of top-k SPARQL query would largely benefit from the establishment of a benchmark that allows comparing different approaches. For such a benchmark to be meaningful, at least two requirements should hold: 1) the benchmark should resemble reality as much as possible, and 2) it should stress the features of the topk SPARQL queries both from a syntactic and performance perspective. In this paper we propose Top-k DBPSB: an extension of the DBpedia SPARQL benchmark (DBPSB), a benchmark known to resemble reality, with the capabilities required to compare SPARQL engines on top-k queries
The geography of the psyche: In Wayne Johnston's 'The story of Bobby O'Malley' and Alistair MacLeod's 'The boat' and 'The lost salt gift of blood'
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