The Impacts of Water Management Policies on Agricultural Production in Australia - An Economic Analysis

In the Australian Murray-Darling Basin (MDB) the combination of severe and prolonged droughts and historic water management decisions to divert water for cultivation stressed water resources in such an intensive manner that wetlands went dry and rivers are now far from a natural flow. More appropriate water management policies must be implemented to restore ecological function. However, with 39 % of Australia’s total value of agricultural production, transitions in use need to be managed to minimise economic and social impacts on basin communities while they adjust. Recent studies estimate that industries with high water usage but lower or more volatile value products will be impacted more than higher value products. Therefore, this study’s focus is to analyse different water management policies and their impacts on agricultural production, particularly changes in production of water low value and water high value crops and agricultural water consumption. By applying the Water Integrated Market (WatIM)-Model, benefits and costs of water management policies can be evaluated by identifying changes in quantities, prices and economic welfare, such as consumer and producer surplus. The WatIM-Model is a multi-market model combining water low and water high value crop markets and the water market with its supply and demand. Since the MDB is a complex system with different types of agriculture and water sharing rules in each catchment, economic variables are aggregated in the WatIMModel to examine overall trends and changes in the MDB. By the assumption that policy decisions on one market cause reactions on prices, supply and demand on other markets, market interdependencies can be derived. With these results, the merit of shifting production from water low value crops to water high value crops is examined and advantages and disadvantages of water management policies can be determined. This enables refinement of water management policies to optimise social, economic and environmental outcomes.Water market, water management policy, agriculture, sustainable water allocation, Resource /Energy Economics and Policy,

Tertiary students’ housing priorities: Finding home away from home

Globally, 5 million students annually leave both high school and their homes for the first time in pursuit of a higher education, while some others may be transiting to a new country in search of an international education. If tertiary students are unable to access suitable accommodation, this could have several implications. First is the significant role of housing on one’s health, wellbeing, and quality of life as this can be an additional cause for stress and worry. Second, there is ample evidence that attests to the fact that students with access to settled housing have better educational outcomes than those with less settled housing. This paper examines tertiary students’ housing needs and preferences, towards providing them with suitable and stable accommodation during their study duration. A 26-item online questionnaire was administered to students enrolled at two regional universities in Australia. Participants were asked to choose their needs and preferences from eleven housing attributes, and rate them from ‘most important’ to ‘least important’ need. The results were analysed using SPSS. The results of the survey from both universities indicate that students’ most important need was for affordable accommodation (i.e. the lowest cost for rent) and accommodation offering recreational facilities rated the least important. This study fills a gap in understanding student priorities in housing in regional universities and offers insight to individuals and institutions involved in or intending to develop student accommodation on how to properly target and satisfy this sector. The research findings has wider application to regional or urban-based universities in Australia and globally.À l’échelle mondiale, 5 millions d’étudiants quittent chaque année l’école secondaire et leur domicile pour la premièrefois dans le but de poursuivre des études supérieures, tandis que d’autres pourraient se rendre dans un nouveau pays à la recherche d’une éducation internationale. Si les étudiants de l’enseignement supérieur ne sont pas en mesure d’accéder à un logement convenable, cela pourrait avoir plusieurs implications. Premièrement, le logement joue un rôle important pour sur la santé, le bien-être et la qualité de vie des étudiants. La difficulté de trouver et demeurer dans un logement adéquat peut être une cause supplémentaire de stress et d’inquiétude. Deuxièmement, de nombreuses études attestent du fait que les étudiants ayant accès à un logement stable ont de meilleurs résultats scolaires que ceux qui ont un logement moins bien établi. Cet article examine les besoins et les préférences des étudiants inscrits dans l’enseignement supérieur en matière de logement, afin de leur fournir un logement convenable et stable pendant la durée de leurs études. Un questionnaire en ligne de 26 questions a été administré aux étudiants inscrits dans deux universités régionales en Australie. Les participants ont été invités à choisir leurs besoins et préférences parmi onze attributs de logement, et de les évaluer sur la base du besoin « le plus important » au besoin « le moins important ». Les résultats ont été analysés en utilisant le logiciel SPSS. Les résultats du sondage des deux universités indiquent que le besoin le plus important des étudiants était un logement abordable (c.-à-d. le coût de location le plus bas) et un logement offrant des installations récréatives ont été classé comme étant « le moins important ». Cette étude comble une lacune dans la compréhension des priorités des étudiants en matière de logement dans les universités régionales et offre un aperçu aux individus et aux institutions impliqués, ou ayant l’intention de développer des logements étudiants, sur la façon de bien cibler et satisfaire ce secteur. Les résultats de la recherche ont une application plus large aux universités régionales ou urbaines en Australie et dans le monde

Management of a Superficial Abcess in a Rainbow Lizard, Agama agama

The most common inflammatory lesion in reptiles is the abscess. Abscesses can arise in any anatomic site, but they are more commonly found on the head and extremities. The bacteria and fungi that cause these abscesses are introduced by the following routes: direct transmission via a penetrating wound, rodent bite, or arthropod vector, hematogenous spread or metastatic extension of a pathogenic microorganism from another diseased site

A Review of Pharmacologic Agents Used to Treat Feline Behavioral Disorders

The use of pharmacologic agents to treat feline behavioral disorders has become Ii widely accepted practice in modern veterinary medicine. It is the responsibility of the veterinarian to be aware of the appropriate uses, mechanisms of action, and side effects of these agents. Pharmacological therapy needs to be part of an integrated program which considers the physical, behavioral, and social environments of the pet. Client compliance is critical as therapy is more often successful when combined with environmental changes

Two new species of Varicus from Caribbean deep reefs, with comments on the related genus Pinnichthys (Teleostei, Gobiidae, Gobiosomatini, Nes subgroup)

Tropical deep reefs (~40–300 m) are diverse ecosystems that serve as habitats for diverse communities of reef-associated fishes. Deep-reef fish communities are taxonomically and ecologically distinct from those on shallow reefs, but like those on shallow reefs, they are home to a species-rich assemblage of small, cryptobenthic reef fishes, including many species from the family Gobiidae (gobies). Here we describe two new species of deep-reef gobies, Varicus prometheus sp. nov. and V. roatanensis sp. nov., that were collected using the submersible Idabel from rariphotic reefs off the island of Roatan (Honduras) in the Caribbean. The new species are the 11th and 12th species of the genus Varicus, and their placement in the genus is supported by morphological data and molecular phylogenetic analyses. Additionally, we also collected new specimens of the closely-related genus and species Pinnichthys aimoriensis during submersible collections off the islands of Bonaire and St. Eustatius (Netherland Antilles) and included them in this study to expand the current description of that species and document its range extension from Brazil into the Caribbean. Collectively, the two new species of Varicus and new records of P. aimoriensis add to our growing knowledge of cryptobenthic fish diversity on deep reefs of the Caribbean

Enhancing experiential learning in planning education through an online toolkit of resources

This paper reports on the development of an online toolkit of resources to support the use and assessment of experiential learning (EL) across planning programs. Planning graduates face diverse workplace demands with expectations to address the local and regional implications of global trends, integrate technological advances with existing planning processes, as well as interpret and integrate changing legislative and institutional arrangements. Planning education is about educators, practitioners and students coming together. Equipping students for increasing complexity and change requires planning educators to design programs that facilitate the learning of personal and professional skills and both broad and specialised planning knowledge. Planning practitioners, in partnership with educators, make further valuable contributions by providing a range of ‘real world’ learning experiences where students can directly develop new skills, knowledge and qualities. Experiential learning allows students to develop confidence within a safe environment through a series of activities and reflection that link theory to practice. However, developing EL learning outcomes, teaching activities and assessment can be demanding and time consuming for planning educators. In response, the Experiential Learning in Planning Education: Resources and Tools for Good Practice research project developed an online toolkit of case studies and associated resources to assist planning educators and practitioners in their application of EL. These case studies, developed by the partners in the project, explain the rationale of using particular EL activities based on a set of EL principles; how these activities are assessed; and reflections on how they could be improved for future use. The case studies also include numerous ‘how to’ resources, such as checklists and handy hints for organising activities, evaluation tools and examples of students’ work. Furthermore, the toolkit website is an interactive and ‘living’ repository where additional case studies by other EL users can be included to enhance the diversity and richness of the resources available. The toolkit is expected to particularly benefit new planning educators but should also be of interest to planning schools and practitioners around the globe who are endeavouring to facilitate students’ education in a rapidly changing world

Oxytocin receptor and G-protein polymorphisms in patients with depression and separation anxiety

BACKGROUND: The impact of combined variants of Oxytocin Receptor (OXTR) and G protein β3 subunit genes was investigated in relation to retrospective reports of childhood as well as contemporary adult separation anxiety (SA), based on evidence of a β/γ dimer-mediated signaling for OXTR. METHODS: A case-control association study (225 healthy adults and 188 outpatients with depression) was performed to establish Risk-Combined Genotype (RCG) of the studied variants (OXTR rs53576 and the functional Gβ3 subunit rs5443). Current SA was evaluated by the ASA-27 and retrospective childhood symptoms by the SASI. GG genotype of OXTR rs53576 combined with T-carrier genotype of Gβ3 rs5443 represented the RCG. RESULTS: Compared to non-RCG, those with RCG had significantly higher levels of childhood and adult SA. The RCG was significantly associated with childhood SA threshold score (OR=2.85, 90%CI: 1.08-7.50). Childhood SA was, in turn, strongly associated with a threshold SA score in adulthood (OR=15.58; 95% CI: 4.62-52.59). LIMITATIONS: Although the overall sample size is sizable, comparisons among subgroups with specific combination of alleles are based on relatively small numbers. CONCLUSIONS: Our study indicates that variations in OXTR and Gβ3 genes are specifically associated with presence and severity of SA in childhood and adulthood, but not with depression or anxiety in general. Because there is increasing interest in oxytocin in social behavior, the gene-SA associations identified have potential translational and clinical relevance

Power research in adaptive water governance and beyond: a review

Power dynamics are widely recognized as key contributors to poor outcomes of environmental governance broadly and specifically for adaptive water governance. Water governance processes are shifting, with increased emphasis on collaboration and learning. Understanding how power dynamics impact these processes in adaptive governance is hence critical to improve governance outcomes. Power dynamics in the context of adaptive water governance are complex and highly variable and so are power theories that offer potential explanations for poor governance outcomes. This study aimed to build an understanding of the use of power theory in water and environmental governance and establish a foundation for future research by identifying power foci and variables that are used by researchers in this regard. We conducted a systematic literature review using the Web of Science Core Collection and the ProQuest Political Science databases to understand how power is studied (foci, variables of interest, and methods) and which theories are being applied in the water governance field and in the environmental governance field more broadly. The resulting review can serve as a practical reference for (adaptive) water governance inquiries that seek to study power in depth or intend to integrate power considerations into their research. The identified power variables add to a much needed groundwork for research that investigates the role of power dynamics in collaboration and learning processes. Furthermore, they offer a substantive base for empirical research on power dynamics in adaptive water governance.The Brock Library Open Access Publishing Fun

Visual Narratives: Exploring the Impacts of Tourism Development in Placencia, Belize

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/156219/2/napa12135_am.pdfhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/156219/1/napa12135.pd

Dynamic Local Structure in Caesium Lead Iodide: Spatial Correlation and Transient Domains

Metal halide perovskites are multifunctional semiconductors with tunable structures and properties. They are highly dynamic crystals with complex octahedral tilting patterns and strongly anharmonic atomic behaviour. In the higher temperature, higher symmetry phases of these materials, several complex structural features have been observed. The local structure can differ greatly from the average structure and there is evidence that dynamic two-dimensional structures of correlated octahedral motion form. An understanding of the underlying complex atomistic dynamics is, however, still lacking. In this work, the local structure of the inorganic perovskite CsPbI$_3$ is investigated using a new machine learning force field based on the atomic cluster expansion framework. Through analysis of the temporal and spatial correlation observed during large-scale simulations, we reveal that the low frequency motion of octahedral tilts implies a double-well effective potential landscape, even well into the cubic phase. Moreover, dynamic local regions of lower symmetry are present within both higher symmetry phases. These regions are planar and we report the length and timescales of the motion. Finally, we investigate and visualise the spatial arrangement of these features and their interactions, providing a comprehensive picture of local structure in the higher symmetry phases