Sceloporus variabilis

Number of Pages: 3Integrative BiologyGeological Science

From beginnings and endings to boundaries and edges: rethinking circulation and exchange through electronic waste

This paper discusses research on electronic waste in Canada and Bangladesh. We engage with ongoing debates in geography and the broader social sciences on the need to move beyond linearity in the analysis of commodity/value chains and global production networks. Our analysis suggests that the problem of linearity may be an artefact of theoretical and methodological presuppositions, which explains its longevity as an issue in methodological approaches and empirical research. Recent theoretical insights from actor network theory, combined with our own research on electronic waste, provide a potential solution to the problem of linearity. Our research points to the need for a focus on ‘actions’, not just ‘things’, in tracing economic activity. This signals a shift away from beginnings and endings in production network approaches to analyses that are concerned with boundaries and edges

A case study from the southern Cape linefishery 2: Considering one’s options when the fish leave

Fishers in the small-scale, commercial linefishery in the southern Cape, South Africa, are exposed to variability and change in the marine social-ecological system of which they are a part. Faced with multi-scalar changes within this complex system, fishers employ a wide range of strategies in reaction to change. As part of a broader study of stressors that bring about change in these systems, this contribution examines the fishers’ responses to these changes and is based on a participant-led, semi-structured interview process of skippers/boat owners, crew, processors and spouses/partners, in six communities in the southern Cape region, and has been supplemented with appropriate secondary data. The results are discussed using a resilience framework. The data were initially considered thematically by stressor, but results identified that a place-based analysis was equally important. Three major groupings were identified: (1) fishers who adapt and show clear business-orientation, (2) fishers who cope, and (3) fishers who react and are thus caught in a poverty trap. In addition to place-specific history, local feedback loops and indirect effects need to be better accounted for to understand these responses to change at various scales. The results of this study are expected to contribute to the basis of scenario planning in the region

Time and the structuring of ritual performance in the xenotransplantation debate

Advancements in biotechnology provoke fundamental questions about the relationship of humans to the natural world. A crisis arises as the knowledge, practice, and policies concerning biotechnology grow further out of step with each other. This paper examines the role of ritual performance as a means of resolving this crisis, uniting the organic with the socio-moral aspects of science, technology and regulatory policy. Ritual performance is evident in the public discussions of the United States’ Secretary’s Advisory Committee on Xenotransplantation (SACX). In an attempt to understand the cultural responses to new knowledge, this paper examines the transcripts of several SACX meetings for its ritual elements and references to authority. We find that time is used by scientists to structure ritual performance in a way that guides public policy and attitudes toward xenotransplantation

Shrimp Allocation Policies and Regional Development Under Conditions of Environmental Change: Insights for Nunatsiavutimmuit

This report is part of a larger research program examining the relationship between fisheries policy and regional development in Atlantic Canada’s northern shrimp fisheries. Since the extension of Canadian jurisdiction over its 200 mile Exclusive Economic Zone in 1977, federal policy makers have allocated shrimp licenses and quotas to cooperatives, community based organizations, inshore fish harvesters, large fishing companies as well as Indigenous groups. However, our knowledge of the relationship between fisheries policy and regional development outcomes in this fishery remains very limited, with the exception of case studies of a few organizations and regions in southeast Labrador and in Newfoundland. Despite the long history of substantial allocations of shrimp in northern Labrador/Nunatsiavut, we know little about how effective allocation policies have been in meeting regional development goals for Indigenous communities in the region. The objective of this research is to build on and extend our larger research project by identifying allocation policies that have enabled Nunatsiavut communities, and people to benefit from the shrimp fishery and to identify those development benefits in a systematic way. The research findings help us meet two further practical objectives: to provide research evidence to inform federal, provincial, and municipal policymaking and decision-making and to assist regional bodies and community groups in their decision-making and activities aimed at improving social, economic, cultural, and environmental conditions

Reference to the index of the miscellaneous papers relating mainly to the family of Joseph Benson Mather, deposited by his grand-daughter Miss Robey.

Miscellaneous papers, (including scrapbooks, pamphlets and photographs), relating mainly to the family of Joseph Benson Mather, deposited by his grand-daughter Miss Robey. Joseph Benson Mather was the eldest son of Robert Mather (1782-1855) and Ann (d.1831) daughter of Rev. Joseph Benson. Robert Mather arrived in VDL in 1822 and set up in business at the corner of Elizabeth & Liverpool Sts in Hobart, and became a trustee of the Wesleyan Church. He received a grant of land at Lauderdale but his farm was unsuccessful and he went into business with his two elder sons, Joseph Benson (1814-1890) and Robert Andrew (1815-1884). In 1834 he and some of his family joined the Society of Friends, and his daughter Sarah Benson married the Quaker missionary George Washington Walker (1800-1859) in 1840. Joseph Benson married Anna Maria Cotton and had a son, (Joseph) Francis (d. 1925) and three daughters, one of whom married C H Robey. Robert Mather's second wife, whom he married in 1842, was Esther Dixon

Taxonomic resolution of the ribosomal RNA operon in bacteria: Implications for its use with long-read sequencing

DNA barcoding through the use of amplified regions of the ribosomal operon, such as the 16S gene, is a routine method to gain an overview of the microbial taxonomic diversity within a sample without the need to isolate and culture the microbes present. However, bacterial cells usually have multiple copies of this ribosomal operon, and choosing the ‘wrong’ copy could provide a misleading species classification. While this presents less of a problem for well-characterized organisms with large sequence databases to interrogate, it is a significant challenge for lesser known organisms with unknown copy number and diversity. Using the entire length of the ribosomal operon, which encompasses the 16S, 23S, 5S and internal transcribed spacer regions, should provide greater taxonomic resolution but has not been well explored. Here, we use publicly available reference genomes and explore the theoretical boundaries when using concatenated genes and the full-length ribosomal operons, which has been made possible by the development and uptake of long-read sequencing technologies. We quantify the issues of both copy choice and operon length in a phylogenetic context to demonstrate that longer regions improve the phylogenetic signal while maintaining taxonomic accuracy