33 research outputs found
Herne Bay 1830-1880 a failed seaside resort?
Get PDFThis thesis sets out to examine Herne Bay’s success or otherwise as a seaside resort in the period during the nineteenth century, with a specific focus on the period from 1830 until around 1880. The significance of these dates centres upon the involvement of speculators and the building of the first deep sea pier that opened in 1832 closely followed by the passing of an Improvement Act in 1833. The effect of the 1833 Act was to provide a form of governance over the town’s affairs with varying effectiveness until this was reformed in the early 1880s as a result of provisions contained within the Public Health Act 1875. This time period also includes important transport developments that had a significant effect upon the town
Bird species richness and diversity at montane Important Bird Area (IBA) sites in south-eastern Nigeria
No full textThe mountains of south-eastern Nigeria are a western extension of the Cameroon mountain range, which is classified as an endemic bird area (EBA). Unlike its eastern extension in Cameroon, most of the ornithological surveys in the western extension of the Cameroon highlands in Nigeria have produced only limited checklists and inventories. There is a clear need for quantitative baseline data so that conservation problems can be identified. Twenty line transects covering a total transect length of 28.8 km were used to survey five sites (Afi Mountain Wildlife Sanctuary, Oban and Okwangwo Division of Cross River National Park, Sankwala Mountains and Mbe Mountains) in the westernmost extension of the Cameroon Mountains EBA in south western Nigeria. Vegetation measurements were taken to control for the potential confounding effect of variation in vegetation density and structure on detectability of birds between sites. The 193 bird species recorded in Afi, 158 in Sankwala, 124 in Oban, 100 in Mbe and 73 in Okwangwo Division included most of the Cameroon highlands restricted range species. The results show that the mountains of south-eastern Nigeria are important parts of the Cameroon EBA, particularly the Afi Mountain Wildlife Sanctuary. However these sites are threatened by fire and livestock grazing on the hilltops, shifting agriculture on the hillsides and lowlands, and logging for timber in some parts, as well as wildlife hunting for bush meat.Peer reviewe
CSO-academic collaboration: theory and practice
No full textThe Food Research Collaboration has at its heart the bringing together of academics and civil society organisations with a common interest in UK food policy. Over the last three years it has strived to encourage collaboration between organisations on joint ventures including a workshop in October 2016 on CSO-academic collaboration and the potential for pursuing this in the face of increasingly challenging economic and political circumstances. This Briefing Paper stems from this workshop and offers a review of the literature on collaboration as well as a summary of the four case studies presented on the day.
The literature on joint working between academics and civil society suggests that at a time of austerity and reduced financial resources available for research, and given the complexity of current environmental, societal and political difficulties, the most advantageous way forward is to work collaboratively to ensure the best use of scarce resources to achieve positive change. There is not a long history of such co-working, except for, perhaps, in the field of international development, where the literature is more abundant. Current thinking, perhaps driven by the “Impact” element of the university sector REF exercise, is that collaboration should occur throughout the research process, from identification of a research problem
through to completion of a final report, contrary to the traditional, linear model where the CSO provides the respondents and the academic provides the expertise. There is some overlap in the justification for collaboration at the institutional level – for achieving (and demonstrating) impact, for accessing respondents or experience and for filling gaps in expertise – and there are challenges to be overcome if the collaboration is to be a success. Some of these are illustrated in the four case studies presented here (Food Research Collaboration, Brighton and Sussex Universities Food Network, Middlesbrough Environment City, Sustainable Food North West Research Collaboration): the differing time scales which academics and civil society organisations might work to; the availability of funds to work on co-produced projects and the views of other staff and research recipients to the engagement of third parties in the research process. As the case studies make clear, these challenges are less significant when placed alongside the satisfaction that joint working can bring to the individuals involved as well as the benefits to the collaborating organisations and wider community
L-Mode and Inter-ELM Divertor Particle and Heat Flux Width Scaling on MAST L-Mode and Inter-ELM Divertor Particle and Heat Flux Width Scaling on MAST L-mode and inter-ELM divertor particle and heat flux width scaling on MAST L-Mode and Inter-ELM Divertor
No full textAbstract The distribution of particles and power to plasma-facing components is of key importance in the design of next-generation fusion devices. Power and particle decay lengths have been measured in a number of MAST L-mode and H-mode discharges in order to determine their parametric dependencies, by fitting power and particle flux profiles measured by divertor Langmuir probes, to a convolution of an exponential decay and a Gaussian function. In all discharges analysed, it is found that exponential decay lengths mapped to the midplane are mostly dependent on separatrix electron density (n e,sep 0.650.15 L-mode, n e,sep 0.760.19 H-mode) and plasma current (I p -0.360.11 L-mode, I p -1.050.18 H-mode) (or parallel connection length). The widths of the convolved Gaussian functions have been used to derive an approximate diffusion coefficient, which is found to vary from 1m 2 /s to 7m 2 /s, and is systematically lower in H-mode compared with L-mode
CSO – academic collaboration: theory and practice
No full textThe Food Research Collaboration has at its heart the bringing together of academics and civil society organisations with a common interest in food policy. Over the last three years it has striven to encourage collaboration between organisations on joint ventures including a workshop in October 2016 on CSO-academic collaboration and the potential for pursuing this in the face of increasingly challenging economic and political circumstances. This Briefing Paper stems from this workshop and offers a review of the literature on collaboration as well as a summary of the four case studies presented on the day
Life history trade-offs between survival, moult and breeding in a tropical season environment
No full textThe trade-off between current and future investment in reproduction lies at the heart of life
history theory. The need to differentially allocate resources between these two options arises
generally as a result of environmental pressures. Higher risk of mortality in adults is linked
with increased investment in current reproduction, whereas the opposite is true where adults
are long-lived (the r- K selection paradigm). Perhaps the most obvious factors influencing the
environment stem from seasonality of the climate, since rainfall and temperature affect food
availability, resulting in a higher risk of mortality. The available trade-offs that an organism
can make will therefore be constrained by environmental variability potentially resulting in
general adaptation and so ultimately influencing evolution of biome-specific life-history traits.
In this thesis, I examine how the seasonality of a West African tropical savannah environment
influences moult and breeding timing and duration, and survival in West African tropical
savannah bird species. I show that moult in tropical birds follows the same basic descendant
pattern through the wing feathers, but is a much lengthier process than for temperate species
(mean = 131 ± 11 days, N = 29 species), and that it frequently overlaps with breeding
activities. This suggests either that either the feathers of tropical species take longer to grow;
that it is a relatively low-cost activity and has little influence on life history trade-offs; or that
individuals further aim to reduce mortality risk by attempting to maintain high flight capability
at all times. Breeding also occurred over a longer season than for temperate species,
although an obvious peak in occurrence was identified to coincide with the food-abundant
period of the late rains and early dry season. Lengthy breeding seasons may indicate an
increased tendency to re-nest (possibly as a result of higher nest predation levels), and we
also identified a prolonged immature plumage phase – potentially indicating an extended
duration of parental care. Survival rates were calculated from mark-recapture models based
on mist-netting data. Previous work has focussed on the use of incorporating mark-resighting
data alongside that obtained by standard mark-recapture techniques. Here, I assess the
models applied in those methods, identify problems associated with over-paramaterisation,
goodness of fit and the generation of biologically unrealistic estimates, and so provide
suggestions on how to improve the protocol. Average survival from my study (40 species:
0.63 ± 0.02) was higher than previous estimates obtained from this site and were comparable
with estimates from other Afrotropical and Neotropical areas, although rates varied greatly
between species. Juvenile survival (13 species) was similar or possibly lower than adult
survival. I then used my empirically derived estimates of moult, breeding and survival life
history traits to identify potential trade-offs between traits. Overall I was unable to identify
significant relationships between any of the life history trait estimates, other than between
adult survival and clutch size. In this, the results followed those of previous researchers in
identifying a pattern of lower investment in current reproduction (clutch size) and
maximisation of adult survival in tropical species. My study, however, demonstrates for the
first time how moult and breeding duration are likely to be less constrained in tropical
environments
Assessing the Cost of Global Biodiversity and Conservation Knowledge
Get PDFabstract: Knowledge products comprise assessments of authoritative information supported by standards, governance, quality control, data, tools, and capacity building mechanisms. Considerable resources are dedicated to developing and maintaining knowledge products for biodiversity conservation, and they are widely used to inform policy and advise decision makers and practitioners. However, the financial cost of delivering this information is largely undocumented. We evaluated the costs and funding sources for developing and maintaining four global biodiversity and conservation knowledge products: The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, the IUCN Red List of Ecosystems, Protected Planet, and the World Database of Key Biodiversity Areas. These are secondary data sets, built on primary data collected by extensive networks of expert contributors worldwide. We estimate that US116–204 million), plus 293 person-years of volunteer time (range: 278–308 person-years) valued at US12–16 million), were invested in these four knowledge products between 1979 and 2013. More than half of this financing was provided through philanthropy, and nearly three-quarters was spent on personnel costs. The estimated annual cost of maintaining data and platforms for three of these knowledge products (excluding the IUCN Red List of Ecosystems for which annual costs were not possible to estimate for 2013) is US6.2–6.7 million). We estimated that an additional US12 million. These costs are much lower than those to maintain many other, similarly important, global knowledge products. Ensuring that biodiversity and conservation knowledge products are sufficiently up to date, comprehensive and accurate is fundamental to inform decision-making for biodiversity conservation and sustainable development. Thus, the development and implementation of plans for sustainable long-term financing for them is critical.The article is published at http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.016064
An analysis of food and beverage advertising on bus shelters in a deprived area of Northern England
No full textObjective: To quantify the extent of food and beverage advertising on bus shelters in a deprived area of the UK that has no restrictions on this activity, to identify the healthfulness of advertised products and the creative strategies used and extent of appeal to young people, and to identify differences by level of deprivation.
Design: Images of all bus shelter advertisements across the two unitary authorities were collected via in person photography (in 2019) and verified using Google Street View (photos recorded in 2018). All advertisements were coded according to advert type. Food and beverage advertisements were coded as brand or product ads and into one of seventeen food categories. These items were classified as healthy/less healthy using the UK Nutrient Profile Model. The deprivation level of the ad location was identified using the UK Index of Multiple Deprivation.
Setting: This study took place in South Teesside, specifically the unitary authorities of Middlesbrough and Redcar and Cleveland.
Participants: There are no participants in this study.
Results: 832 advertisements were identified in total, almost half (48.9%) of which were for foods or beverages. Of the food and beverage adverts, 35.1% were classed as less healthy. Close to a quarter (22.2%) of food advertisements used creative strategies, almost all of these were competitions. Food advertisements were found to be of appeal to children under 12 years (47.3%) and adolescents, 13-17 years (70.5%). Most bus shelters, and therefore most food advertising, was in the most deprived area but not meaningful differences in advertising was found by level of deprivation.
Conclusions: Food advertising is extensive on bus shelters in the UK, and a substantial proportion of this advertising is classified as less healthy and would not be permitted to be advertised around television programming for children. Bus shelter advertising should be considered part of the UK policy deliberations around restricting less healthy food marketing exposure
