On the Occurrence of \u3ci\u3eOarisma Garita\u3c/i\u3e (Reakirt) (Lepidoptera: Hesperiidae) in Manitoulin District, Ontario

(excerpt) On 26 June, 1976, I stopped to examine plants and collect insects on the alvars or limestone barrens on Great La Cloche Island, north of Little Current in Manitoulin District, Ontario. 1 was especially interested to learn whether or not there were any insects of western affinity in this area since some of the plant species present are at, or near to, the eastern limits of their distribution (Catling et al., 1975). It was mild and sunny, and insects were abundant. Within a few minutes 1 noticed a dark, fast-flying skipper that otherwise resembled Thymeliczrs lineola (Ochsenheimer). The dark colour and whitish veins on the hind wing beneath suggested Oarisma powesheik (Parker), a midwestern species known in Michigan since 1893 (McAlpine, 1972) and recently discovered further to the east and south within the state (Holzman, 1972; Wagner, 1976, pers. comm.). However, the relatively small size made this identification unlikely. 1 captured a few specimens, but had to leave the area without investigating the habitat, abundance and local distribution of the unfamiliar butterfly. The earliest opportunity for further investigation came a week later on 3 July, when I was again favoured with a warm sunny day. After collecting in a variety of habitats, I finally arrived on the alvar on the west side of highway 68 in the immediate vicinity of McGregor Bay, La Cloche Peninsula (ca. 46 02\u27 North, 81°46\u27 West). I collected several specimens of the strange little skipper and saw at least 20 within one half hour, then continued south on highway 68 onto Great La Cloche Island. Here south of the highway and the Canadian Pacific railway tracks, and south and west of Lewis Lake (ca. 46 OO\u27 North, 81°52\u27 West), I found at least 10 more of the skippers in similar alvar habitat. Both of these locations are south of Espanola and north of Little Current in the North Channel, Manitoulin District, Ontario

Decline of Gomphus \u3ci\u3eFraternus Fraternus\u3c/i\u3e (Odonata: Gomphidae) in Lake Erie

Collections and literature reports indicate that Gomphus fraternus fraternus was abundant on the shoreline of Lake Erie prior to 1960, and tens of thousands were reported at Long Point Bay. After 1960 there were no reports from the shoreline, although there have been a number of comprehensive studies that have included the shoreline area and a number of Odonata specialists have also visited the Lake Erie shoreline regularly. A survey of portions of the Lake Erie shoreline, including the Long Point Bay area in 1999 and 2000, during the established peak and late peak flight period in southwestern Ontario, did not result in any observations. It is concluded that G. fraternus has declined substantially in Lake Erie and is possibly extirpated from the lake. The decline appears to have occurred between 1950 and 1960, and thus approximates the mid-1950s decline of burrowing mayflies in Lake Erie, which has been associated with warm weather oxygen depletion and pollution. Although it may never be possible to precisely deter- mine the cause of the decline of G. fraternus, it is likely that a number of factors are involved including climatic warming, pollution, changes to the shore- line, other effects of shoreline development, and introduced species

First Documented Record of \u3ci\u3eOarisma Powesheik\u3c/i\u3e (Lepidoptera: Hesperiidae) in Canada

During a brief survey of the prairie areas near Vita, Manitoba, July 1985, Oarisma powesheik Parker was found to be abundant, although often local. Specimens collected constitute the first documented record for the species in Canada

Multi-agency training and the artist (Sharing our experience, Practitioner-led research 2008-2009; PLR0809/032)

The Multi-Agency Team Project approached issues of multi-agency training indirectly by using an artist as a catalyst in a group exercise examining movement and sound in relation to early childhood. The aim of the research was to run an experiential non-traditional training programme based on using an artist as a catalyst to promote inter-agency dialogue in one setting, Woodlands Park Nursery and Children’s Centre, and to analyse the findings. Eleven participants used this common experiential focus to frame collective research both as a focus group and as individual fieldworkers. The research demonstrated shared professional discourse but also collected judgements relevant to policy issues based on collaborative professional reflection triggered by the exercise. The findings are presented theoretically in terms of critical discourse analysis using the interpretation-supporting software ATLASti. We next take a further look at the role play exercise in which the group constituted itself as a ‘House of Commons Select Committee’ before summarizing what theoretical insights might be brought to bear and attempting to draw some provisional conclusions. Some evidence is presented suggesting there is a degree of tension and ambiguity between alterative models of multi-agency working

The influences on women who choose a publicly-funded homebirth in Australia

University of Technology, Sydney. Faculty of Health.In Australia, homebirth has not been a mainstream option for childbirth for many years due to political reasons, societal attitudes towards childbirth, and a lack of services Since the 1990s, publicly-funded homebirth services have developed as a result of a growing demand from women and midwives. These services are few in number, and often embedded within a midwifery group practice in a hospital setting. As a relatively new model of care, these services have had little formal research, and only a few evaluations. The purpose of this study was to explore the influences on women who chose a publicly-funded homebirth. The setting was a publicly-funded homebirth service in southern Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. A grounded theory methodology, using a feminist approach was used to collect and analyse the data. Data were collected though semi-structured interviews of 18 women, 5 midwives and 2 partners of the women. Six main categories emerged from the data. These described the influences women had when they chose to have a publicly-funded homebirth. These categories were feeling independent, strong and confident, doing it my way, protection from hospital related activities, having a safety net, selective listening and telling, and engaging support. The core category was having faith in normal. This category linked all the other categories and was an overriding attitude towards themselves as women and the process of childbirth. The basic social process was validating the decision to have a homebirth. This was a dynamic, changeable process and principally a strategy to lessen stress regarding their decision to have a homebirth by reinforcing already-held reasons (for example, their ‘low risk’ status, strength and ability to have a normal birth) and beliefs (for example, their faith in normal, natural processes). The findings establish that women have similar influences to other studies of women when choosing homebirth. However, the women in this study were reassured by the publicly-funded system’s ‘safety net’ and seamless links with the hospital system. The flexibility of the service to permit women to change their minds to give birth in hospital, and essentially choose their birthplace at any time during pregnancy or labour was also appreciated

Is the Pale Blue Dot unique? Optimized photometric bands for identifying Earth-like exoplanets

The next generation of ground and space-based telescopes will image habitable planets around nearby stars. A growing literature describes how to characterize such planets with spectroscopy, but less consideration has been given to the usefulness of planet colors. Here, we investigate whether potentially Earth-like exoplanets could be identified using UV-visible-to-NIR wavelength broadband photometry (350-1000 nm). Specifically, we calculate optimal photometric bins for identifying an exo-Earth and distinguishing it from uninhabitable planets including both Solar System objects and model exoplanets. The color of some hypothetical exoplanets - particularly icy terrestrial worlds with thick atmospheres - is similar to Earth's because of Rayleigh scattering in the blue region of the spectrum. Nevertheless, subtle features in Earth's reflectance spectrum appear to be unique. In particular, Earth's reflectance spectrum has a 'U-shape' unlike all our hypothetical, uninhabitable planets. This shape is partly biogenic because O2-rich, oxidizing air is transparent to sunlight, allowing prominent Rayleigh scattering, while ozone absorbs visible light, creating the bottom of the 'U'. Whether such uniqueness has practical utility depends on observational noise. If observations are photon limited or dominated by astrophysical sources (zodiacal light or imperfect starlight suppression), then the use of broadband visible wavelength photometry to identify Earth twins has little practical advantage over obtaining detailed spectra. However, if observations are dominated by dark current then optimized photometry could greatly assist preliminary characterization. We also calculate the optimal photometric bins for identifying extrasolar Archean Earths, and find that the Archean Earth is more difficult to unambiguously identify than a modern Earth twin.Comment: 10 figures, 38 page

Publicly-funded homebirth models in Australia

Background: Publicly-funded homebirth programs in Australia have been developed in the past decade mostly in isolation from each other and with limited published evaluations. There is also distinct lack of publicly available information about the development and characteristics of these programs. We instigated the National Publicly-funded Homebirth Consortium and conducted a preliminary survey of publicly-funded homebirth providers. Aim: To outline the development of publicly-funded homebirth models in Australia. Methods: Providers of publicly-funded homebirth programs in Australia were surveyed using an on-line survey in December 2010. Questions were about their development, use of policy and general operational issues. A descriptive analysis of the quantitative data and content analysis of the qualitative data was undertaken. Findings: In total, 12 programs were identified and 10 contributed data to this paper. The service providers reported extensive multidisciplinary consultation and careful planning during development. There was a lack of consistency in data collection throughout the publicly-funded homebirth programs due to different databases, definitions and the use of different guidelines. Discussion: Publicly-funded homebirth services followed different routes during their development, but essentially had safety and collaboration with stakeholders, including women and obstetricians, as central to their process. Conclusion: The National Publicly-funded Homebirth Consortium has facilitated a sharing of resources, processes of development and a linkage of homebirth services around the country. This analysis has provided information to assist future planning and developments in models of midwifery care. It is important that births of women booked to these programs are clearly identified when their data is incorporated into existing perinatal datasets. © 2011 Australian College of Midwives