Quantitative determination of perithecium formation

Quantitative determination of perithecium formatio

The development of a simple multi-nodal tool to identify performance issues in existing commercial buildings

Australia’s building stock includes many older commercial buildings with numerous factors that impact energy performance and indoor environment quality. The built environment industry has generally focused heavily on improving physical building design elements for greater energy efficiency (such as retrofits and environmental upgrades), however there are noticeable ‘upper limits’ to performance improvements in these areas. To achieve a stepchange improvement in building performance, the authors propose that additional components need to be addressed in a whole of building approach, including the way building design elements are managed and the level of stakeholder engagement between owners, tenants and building managers. This paper focuses on the opportunities provided by this whole-of-building approach, presenting the findings of a research project undertaken through the Sustainable Built Environment National Research Centre (SBEnrc) in Australia. Researchers worked with a number of industry partners over two years to investigate issues facing stakeholders at base building and tenancy levels, and the barriers to improving building performance. Through a mixed-method, industry-led research approach, five ‘nodes’ were identified in whole-of-building performance evaluation, each with interlinking and overlapping complexities that can influence performance. The nodes cover building management, occupant experience, indoor environment quality, agreements and culture, and design elements. This paper outlines the development and testing of these nodes and their interactions, and the resultant multi-nodal tool, called the ‘Performance Nexus’ tool. The tool is intended to be of most benefit in evaluating opportunities for performance improvement in the vast number of existing low-performing building stock

Adopting sustainability competence-based education in academic disciplines: Insights from 13 higher education institutions

Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) have been incorporating sustainability into education and curricula, where recent research has focussed on sustainability competences, pedagogical approaches, and how to connect them, generally on a single HEI. The process of integrating sustainability into education based on curricula assessment has been explained using adoption of innovations; and has the potential to explain the process of developing competences through pedagogical approaches. The aim of this paper is to investigate this process at academic discipline level. An online survey was developed to investigate teaching sustainability competences in 13 HEIs, from which 678 responses from educators were obtained. The competences and pedagogical approaches from the responses were ranked, and then the connections between the competences and pedagogical approaches per discipline were analysed using a correlations-based framework, from which three disciplines groups were created. The groups were categorised using diffusion of innovations theory, which indicated that some disciplines are more innovative than others in adopting sustainability competence-based teaching. The results are used to propose two frameworks to better understand the adoption of sustainability competence-based teaching: (a) the D-RAPID framework; and (b) the Disciplinary Multi-dimensional Sustainability Influence Change for Academia (D-MuSICA) memework. The adoption of sustainability competence-base education must expand from a single HEI perspective to a disciplinary collaborative one spanning many HEIs, where academic disciplines should learn from each other''s insights and mistakes and provide students with more transdisciplinary skillsets to make societies more sustainable. © 2021 The Authors. Sustainable Development published by ERP Environment and John Wiley & Sons Ltd

Physical activity inversely associated with the presence of depression among urban adolescents in regional China

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>An inverse relationship between physical activity (PA) and depression among adolescents has been reported in developed communities without consideration of sedentary behaviors (SB, including sitting for course study, viewing TV, and sleeping). We explored the association between recreational PA time (hr/wk) and depression after adjustment with SB and other possible confounders among Chinese adolescents.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>A population-based cross-sectional study was conducted in Nanjing municipality of China in 2004 using a multi-stage cluster sampling approach. A total of 72 classes were randomly selected from 24 urban junior high schools and all students completed the structured questionnaire. Adolescent depression was examined by the Children's Depression Inventory (CDI) of Chinese version with cutoff point value of 20 or above as the presence of depression. Recreational PA time was measured by a question on weekly hours of PA outside of school. Descriptive statistics, multivariate logistic and linear regression models were used in analysis.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The overall prevalence of depression was 15.7% (95%CI: 14.3%, 17.1%) among 2,444 eligible participants. It was found that physical activity was negatively associated with depression. After adjustment for sedentary behaviors and other potential confounders, participants who spent 1–7 hr/wk, 8–14 hr/wk and 15+ hr/wk for recreational PA, respectively, had odds ratios of 0.70 (95% CI = 0.57, 0.86), 0.68 (95% CI = 0.53, 0.88) and 0.66 (95% CI = 0.50, 0.87) for likelihood of being depressive, compared to their counterparts who spent 0–0.9 hr/wk for PA. This inverse relationship between PA time and depression remained statistically significant by gender and grade.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>This study, conducted among Chinese adolescents, strengthened the evidence that physical activity was inversely associated with depression. Our study has important implications for health officers and public health professionals to pay much attention to the relationship between physical activity and depression in Mainland China.</p

Education for sustainable development in higher education: evaluating coherence between theory and praxis

Universities are an important part of the process of change taking place in society. However, this is often overshadowed by these institutions giving priority to technocratic models in the relationship between science and society. In this context, according to Habermas, theories can serve to clarify practical questions and guide praxis into the right actions (social emancipation and rational autonomy). Habermas introduces the need to evaluate the particular contexts in which scientific arguments are made and assessed. The aim of this study was to develop a set of assessment criteria for education for sustainable development in higher education curricula. These were developed in line with Habermas by introducing further adaptions within the context of education for sustainable development. These criteria were tested in a blended learning master’s programme in Environmental Citizenship and Participation at the Universidade Aberta, Portugal. The following research tools were used as follows: (i) a questionnaire survey to the graduates; (ii) content analysis applied to the information guide and to the abstracts of the dissertations that were produced. The case study revealed that an absence of theoretical frameworks could lead to inconsistencies between theory and praxis. Improvements to curricula are then drawn from this study

Effects of a Prescribed Burn on the Adult Butterfly Assemblage of a Coastal Grassland

Coastal grasslands are globally threatened by development and natural succession. In the southeastern United States, these increasingly rare ecosystems are being managed using prescribed fire, but ecological responses to fire management are largely unknown, particularly among nontargeted species. We tested for short-term effects of controlled burning on the abundance and species richness of adult butterflies, which utilize coastal grasslands for nectaring resources and as migratory stopover sites. In February 2015, four plots of coastal grassland on Little St. Simons Island, GA were burned and paired with unburned (control) plots of equal size. Throughout the following summer-fall flight season, we conducted monthly point-count surveys of adult butterflies. Burn and control plots did not differ in butterfly abundance or species richness. Only one species, the Gulf fritillary (Agraulis vanillae), exhibited a significant response to the fire treatment; it was more likely to occur in burned areas. Overall, we found no evidence that controlled burning negatively impacts the adult butterfly assemblage utilizing coastal grassland habitat; prescribed fire may therefore be a viable management technique to conserve a range of biodiversity in these imperiled ecosystems

Evaluating the relationship between lean thinking and environmental performance in small to medium scale enterprises

With the pressing need for efficiency and waste reduction in the manufacturing sector, ‘lean and green’ thinking has evolved as a popular philosophy worldwide. While there is evidence of the co-existence of lean and green systems and synergistic effects of lean and green approaches on waste reduction SMEs were still encouraged to position their company’s lean and green actions in a matrix which enabled them to identify best practices. This is indeed an opportunity in Queensland (Australia), where more than 95 per cent of businesses are SMEs. A range of tools such as value stream mapping, 5S, cellular manufacturing, total productive maintenance have all shown quantitative improvements in environmental performance. However, it is still unclear how such thinking could holistically improve the environmental performance of small to medium enterprises (SMEs) who are aiming for sustainable business practice. \ud Within this context, this paper presents the findings of a study into how lean and green methods could be applied to achieve sustainable business practices in SMEs. This exploration enquires into, the existing lean and green tools adopted by SMEs and the pathways that SMEs took to integrate lean tools to improve environmental performance to achieve sustainable business practice and then re-conceptualises ‘lean thinking’ and ‘sustainable business practice’ consolidating diverse perspectives of industrial practitioners. This study employed a contextual literature review to summarise key findings on relationships between lean and green practice from previous research and a series of semi-structured interviews to further explore the application of lean and green practices in SMEs in Queensland. The interview strategy was established based on literature from the lean and green domain, targeting the research questions which then informed the interview questions. Drawing on a series in-depth interviews of CEOs and senior managers involved in sustainability and lean manufacturing decision-making, a range of views and experiences are presented from enterprises spanning rubber, textile, electronics, marine product, industrial machinery, mulch and paint manufacturing. Using this data the current and potential connectivity between ‘lean thinking’ and ‘sustainable business practice’ is clarified. Authors also reveal opportunities for using lean and green tools to improve sustainable business practice in specific environmental performance areas of waste, water, chemicals, emissions and energy management in SMEs. This research is an important contribution to dialogue about fostering sustainable business practice in SMEs. The conclusions can be used immediately by SMEs to prioritise expenditure on lean thinking tools, and to optimise existing lean and green practices

Engaging Decision Makers in the Business Case for Biophilic Urbanism

The cognitive benefits of biophilia have been studied quite extensively, dating as far back as the 1980s, while studies into economic benefits are still in their infancy. Recent research has attempted to quantify a number of economic returns on biophilic elements; however knowledge in this field is still ad hoc and highly variable. Many studies acknowledge difficulties in discerning information such as certain social and aesthetic benefits. While conceptual understanding of the physiological and psychological effects of exposure to nature is widely recognised and understood, this has not yet been systematically translated into monetary terms. It is clear from the literature that further research is needed to both obtain data on the economics of biophilic urbanism, and to create the business case for biophilic urbanism. With this in mind, this paper will briefly highlight biophilic urbanism referencing previous work in the field. It will then explore a number of emergent gaps in the measurable economic understanding of these elements and suggest opportunities for engaging decision makers in the business case for biophilic urbanism. The paper concludes with recommendations for moving forward through targeted research and economic analysis