65 research outputs found
A culture for science in early childhood education: Where cultures meet cultures
In recent years there has been an increase in literature advocating for and describing early childhood science education; however, little attention has been given to the complex interplay of cultural communities of practice that influence science learning and teaching in a play-based curriculum. This study examined where and how science learning could be privileged when many cultural practices were being enacted at the same time.
This study investigated how science learning and teaching was enacted within a play-based curriculum in three kindergartens in Aotearoa/New Zealand. The investigation also explored the influences of professional learning for teachers on their definition of the culture of science and explored aspects of how children learn science. The field work took place over a period of seven months. Data was collected through weekly sessional observations, interviews with teachers, children and parents, as well as the documentation teachers made of childrenâs learning. The professional learning sessions with the teachers were conducted halfway through the data collection so that the second half of the data collection could take into account the influences from the professional learning sessions. Three conceptual reference points from sociocultural theory framed the data analysis. The reference points were multiple cultural communities of practice, semiotics within and across communities of practice and teacher influence on children learning science.
The thesis argues, and provides evidence for, four science-education-related communities of practice that interact to create opportunities for teaching and learning science with young children. The four communities are the everyday, early childhood education (in this case in Aotearoa/New Zealand), science, and science education. The interaction of the four communities has been defined as a âquadruple moveâ, indicating that all four communities are involved when science learning takes place. The concept of hybridity was used to illustrate that some practices were used in a similar way by all four communities and this was seen to support children learning science. The research highlighted that children were using a combination of semiotic artefacts within their science learning. This was analysed through the concept of intertextuality. Intertextuality also identified that each child might interpret the same artefact differently. The implication is that teacher awareness of the quadruple move and the interplay of semiotic artefacts in and across the four communities will enrich childrenâs science learning in a play-based curriculum setting.
Teacher influence on children learning science was identified through the teachers' affordance of science learning in their kindergartenâs physical and social environment and teacher affordance to children learning science content knowledge and practices. Also of influence was teachersâ attunement to childrenâs interest in the physical environment that had the potential to connect to a science community. Examples from the study illustrated that involving children in exploring the physical environment using scientific practices was a way to sustain and enrich their learning. The findings identified teachersâ interactions were enriched by a broader understanding of science knowledge and practice when they recognised the connections to their kindergarten contexts and their childrenâs interests.
The implication is that teachersâ awareness of the quadruple move and the interplay of semiotic artefacts in and across the four cultural communities will enrich childrenâs science learning in a play-based curriculum setting.
A review of the pesticide MCPA in the land-water environment and emerging research needs
peer-reviewedDue to its high solubility and poor adsorption to the soil matrix, the postemergence
herbicide 2-methyl-4-chlorophenoxyacetic acid (MCPA) is susceptible
to transport into surface and groundwater bodies, where it can result in
compromised water quality and breaches of legislative standards. However,
there is still poor understanding of catchment scale dynamics and transport,
particularly across heterogeneous hydrogeological settings. While it is known
that MCPA degrades under aerobic conditions, negligible breakdown can
occur in anaerobic environments, potentially creating a legacy in saturated
soils. Fast runoff pathways post application are likely transport routes, but the
relative contribution from the mobilization of legacy MCPA from anaerobic
zones has yet to be quantified, making the delineation of MCPA sources
encountered during monitoring programs challenging. While ecotoxicological
effects have been examined, little is known about the interaction of MCPA
(and its degradation products) with other pesticides, with nutrients or with colloids,
and how this combines with environmental conditions to contribute to
multiple stressor effects. We examine the state of MCPA knowledge, using case
study examples from Ireland, and consider the implications of its widespread
detection in waterbodies and drinking water supplies. Research themes
required to ensure the sustainable and safe use of MCPA in an evolving agricultural,
social and political landscape are identified here. These include the
need to identify mitigation measures and/or alternative treatments, to gain
insights into the conditions governing mobilization and attenuation, to map
pathways of migration and to identify direct, synergistic and antagonistic ecotoxicological
effects
What does airborne LiDAR really measure in upland ecosystems?
Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.Airborne laser scanning systems (Light Detection And Ranging, LiDAR) are very well suited to the study of landscape and vegetation structure over large extents. Spatially distributed measurements describing the three-dimensional character of landscape surfaces and vegetation architecture can be used to understand eco-geomorphic and ecohydrological processes, and this is particularly pertinent in peatlands given the increasing recognition that these landscapes provide a variety of ecosystem services (water provision, flood mitigation and carbon sequestration). In using LiDAR data for monitoring peatlands, it is important to understand how well peatland surface structures (with fine length scales) can be described. Our approach integrates two laser scanning technologies, namely terrestrial laser scanning (TLS) and airborne LiDAR surveys, to assess how effective airborne LiDAR is at measuring these fine-scale microtopographic ecohydrological structures. By combining airborne and TLS, we demonstrate an improved spatial understanding of the signal measured by the airborne LiDAR. Critically, results demonstrate that LiDAR digital surface models are subject to specific errors related to short-sward ecosystem structure, causing the vegetation canopy height and surface-drainage network depth to be underestimated. TLS is shown to be effective at describing these structures over small extents, allowing the information content and accuracy of airborne LiDAR to be understood and quantified more appropriately. These findings have important implications for the appropriate degree of confidence ecohydrologists can apply to such data when using them as a surrogate for field measurements. They also illustrate the need to couple LiDAR data with ground validation data in order to improve assessment of ecohydrological function in such landscapes. © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.South West Water LtdUniversity of Exete
From metabonomics to pharmacometabonomics: The role of metabolic profiling in personalized medicine
Variable patient responses to drugs are a key issue for medicine and for drug discovery and development. Personalised medicine, that is the selection of medicines for subgroups of patients so as to maximise drug efficacy and minimise toxicity, is a key goal of 21st century healthcare. Currently, most personalised medicine paradigms rely on clinical judgement based on the patientâs history, and on the analysis of the patientsâ genome to predict drug effects i.e. pharmacogenomics. However, variability in patient responses to drugs is dependent upon many environmental factors to which human genomics is essentially blind. A new paradigm for predicting drug responses based on individual pre-dose metabolite profiles has emerged in the past decade: pharmacometabonomics, which is defined as âthe prediction of the outcome (for example, efficacy or toxicity) of a drug or xenobiotic intervention in an individual based on a mathematical model of pre-intervention metabolite signaturesâ. The new pharmacometabonomics paradigm is complementary to pharmacogenomics but has the advantage of being sensitive to environmental as well as genomic factors. This review will chart the discovery and development of pharmacometabonomics, and provide examples of its current utility and possible future developments
NMR-based pharmacometabonomics: A new paradigm for personalised or precision medicine
Metabolic profiling by NMR spectroscopy or hyphenated mass spectrometry, known as metabonomics or metabolomics, is an important tool for systems-based approaches in biology and medicine. The experiments are typically done in a diagnostic fashion where changes in metabolite profiles are interpreted as a consequence of an intervention or event; be that a change in diet, the administration of a drug, physical exertion or the onset of a disease. By contrast, pharmacometabonomics takes a prognostic approach to metabolic profiling, in order to predict the effects of drug dosing before it occurs. Differences in pre-dose metabolite profiles between groups of subjects are used to predict post-dose differences in response to drug administration. Thus the paradigm is inverted and pharmacometabonomics is the metabolic equivalent of pharmacogenomics. Although the field is still in its infancy, it is expected that pharmacometabonomics, alongside pharmacogenomics, will assist with the delivery of personalised or precision medicine to patients, which is a critical goal of 21st century healthcare
Search for novel circulating cancer chemopreventive biomarkers of dietary rice bran intervention in Apc Min
Statistical HOmogeneous Cluster SpectroscopY (SHOCSY): an optimized statistical approach for clustering of ÂčH NMR spectral data to reduce interference and enhance robust biomarkers selection.
We propose a novel statistical approach to improve the reliability of (1)H NMR spectral analysis in complex metabolic studies. The Statistical HOmogeneous Cluster SpectroscopY (SHOCSY) algorithm aims to reduce the variation within biological classes by selecting subsets of homogeneous (1)H NMR spectra that contain specific spectroscopic metabolic signatures related to each biological class in a study. In SHOCSY, we used a clustering method to categorize the whole data set into a number of clusters of samples with each cluster showing a similar spectral feature and hence biochemical composition, and we then used an enrichment test to identify the associations between the clusters and the biological classes in the data set. We evaluated the performance of the SHOCSY algorithm using a simulated (1)H NMR data set to emulate renal tubule toxicity and further exemplified this method with a (1)H NMR spectroscopic study of hydrazine-induced liver toxicity study in rats. The SHOCSY algorithm improved the predictive ability of the orthogonal partial least-squares discriminatory analysis (OPLS-DA) model through the use of "truly" representative samples in each biological class (i.e., homogeneous subsets). This method ensures that the analyses are no longer confounded by idiosyncratic responders and thus improves the reliability of biomarker extraction. SHOCSY is a useful tool for removing irrelevant variation that interfere with the interpretation and predictive ability of models and has widespread applicability to other spectroscopic data, as well as other "omics" type of data
Assessing soil compaction and micro-topography impacts of alternative heather cutting as compared to burning as part of grouse moor management on blanket bog
Background. Over 25% of the UK land area is covered by uplands, the bulk of which are comprised of blanket bog. This not only contains most of the UKâs terrestrial carbon stocks, but also represents 15% of this globally rare habitat. About 30% of UK blanket bog is managed for red grouse by encouraging ling heather (Calluna vulgaris) with rotational burning, which has been linked to habitat degradation, with reduced carbon storage and negative impacts on water storage and quality. Alternative cutting is currently being pursued as a potential restoration management. However, the often used heavy cutting machinery could cause considerable compaction and damage to the peat surface. Two particular issues are (i) a potential increase in bulk density reducing water storage capacity (i.e. less pore volume and peat depth), and (ii) a possible reduction of the micro-topography due to cutting off the tops of hummocks (i.e. protruding clumps or tussocks of sedges). Methods. We set up a fully replicated field experiment assessing cutting versus burn management impacts on peat physical and surface properties. Both managements reflected commonly used grouse moor management practice with cutting using heavy tractors fitted with load distributing double wheel and tracks (lowering ground pressure), whilst burning was done manually (setting heather areas alight with flame torches). We assessed management impacts on peat depth, bulk density and peat surface micro-topography which either included pre-management measurements or plot-level data for uncut plots. Total peat depth and bulk density in four 5 cm sections within the top 50 cm was assessed. Micro-topography was determined as the standard deviation of the height offsets measured over several plot transects in relation to the plot peat surface level at the start and end points of each transect. Results. Despite an anticipated compaction from the heavy machinery used for cutting, the peat showed resilience and there was no lasting plot-level impact on either peat depth or bulk density. Notably, bulk density showed differences prior to, and thus unrelated to, management, and an overall increasing bulk density, even in uncut plots. However, cutting did reduce the plot micro-topography by about 2 cm, mostly due to removing the tops of hummocks, whereas burnt plots did not differ from uncut plots. Discussion. Cutting is suggested as a suitable alternative to burning on grouse moors, although compaction issues might be site specific, depending on the nature of the peat, the machinery used and impacts at resting and turning points (which were not assessed). However, any observed bulk density differences could reflect natural changes in relation to changes in peat moisture, requiring adequate experimental comparisons. Moreover, where micro-topography is a priority, cutting equipment might need to consider the specific ground conditions, which could involve adjusting cutting height and the type of cutting machinery used
Vehicular tracks and the influence of land use and habitat protection in the British uplands
Uplands cover around 25% of the Earth's land surface and comprise highly sensitive soils and habitats of global ecological importance that together provision a suite of valuable ecosystem services. Access to upland areas for land management and recreation is increasingly dependent on the use of motorised vehicles. However, despite the widely acknowledged detrimental consequences of vehicle track development and use, this activity is not currently quantified or monitored.
In this study, surfaced and unsurfaced vehicular tracks, footpaths and land cover in an approximately 5% sample of mainland British uplands (1910âŻkm2) were mapped using aerial imagery dating between 2007 and 2016. An information theory approach was used to identify models that best predicted the presence and extent of surfaced tracks as a function of land cover, protected status, extent of blanket peat, proximity to human population and altitude.
A total of 2104âŻkm of track were recorded, with 27% defined as being surfaced. This equates to a mean (±SE) track density of 1.10âŻÂ±âŻ0.15âŻkmâŻkmâ2 in current use by vehicles across upland Britain. Areas of managed heather and grass-dominated habitat were the primary predictors of the presence and extent of surfaced tracks and we found no evidence that areas of conservation interest with protective designation were less susceptible to track construction.
These data indicate that wide-ranging vehicular track networks exist in ecologically sensitive environments across the British uplands, with implications for the integrity of sensitive habitats and soils. Land use and management activities that are not facilitating ecological improvement or conservation appear to be driving the presence of surfaced tracks in 'protected' areas. The findings suggest that: a) urgent review and revision of upland track legislation is required in Great Britain; and b) wider assessment of upland tracks should be undertaken to inform global conservation strategies for these environments
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