Practitioner and scientist perceptions of successful amphibian conservation

Conservation requires successful outcomes. However, success is perceived in many different ways depending on the desired outcome, which can vary according to numerous factors. We analysed perceptions of success among 355 scientists and practitioners working on amphibian conservation from over 150 organisations in more than 50 countries. Respondents identified four types of success: species and habitat improvements (84% of respondents); effective programme management (36%); outreach initiatives such as education and public engagement (25%); and the application of science-based conservation (15%). The most significant factor influencing overall perceived success was reducing threats. Capacity building was rated least important. Perceptions were influenced by experience, professional affiliation, involvement in conservation practice, and country of residence. More experienced conservation practitioners associated success with improvements to species and habitats, and less so with education and engagement initiatives. Whilst science-based conservation was rated as important, this factor declined in importance as the number of programmes a respondent participated in increased, particularly amongst those from Less Economically Developed Countries. The ultimate measure of conservation success – population recovery – may be difficult to measure in many amphibians, difficult to relate to the conservation actions intended to drive it, and difficult to achieve within conventional funding timeframes. The relaunched Amphibian Conservation Action Plan provides a framework for capturing lower-level processes and outcomes, identifying gaps, and measuring progress

A comparative analysis of parental participation in schools with regard to the South African Schools Act of 1996

Bibliography: leaves 87-93.The South African Schools Act (SASA), 1996 (Act No. 84 of 1996) seeks parents educators, learners and the broader community to become more actively involved in the school as an organisation in two ways: 1.) by serving on the school governing body (SGB); and, 2.) by providing the SGB with support through participation in the everyday activities of the school. The focus of this study is an examination of the extent to which the SASA (1996) has bee realized in two schools in the Athlone area, with particular respect to parental participation. This is done through an analysis of the two schools studied, using Ball (1994) as its main text. The form of comparison used in this study is essentially that of comparing the performance of the two schools across common activities relating to parental participation in school governance. The theoretical framework provided by Ball (1994) argues that there is non-linearity in the process of policy-making and that the three contexts of policy-making are the context of influence; the context of policy text production; and, the context of practice. This study centers around the latter as it researchers policy implementation, the practice of policy and the micro-politics involved in its recontextualization

Competitive Intelligence (CI) in Morocco

The business environment is highly complex in Morocco, and the purpose of this article is to examine the current situation with regard to competitive intelligence (CI) activities in Morocco. Morocco lacks competitiveness, as much of its industrial base has long been focused on import substitution, rather than on competitive exports. This study is mainly exploratory in nature. A questionnaire survey methodology was used where a questionnaire was administered to CI experts in organisations to determine the current state of CI in Morocco

Guidelines for the use and interpretation of assays for monitoring autophagy (4th edition)

In 2008, we published the first set of guidelines for standardizing research in autophagy. Since then, this topic has received increasing attention, and many scientists have entered the field. Our knowledge base and relevant new technologies have also been expanding. Thus, it is important to formulate on a regular basis updated guidelines for monitoring autophagy in different organisms. Despite numerous reviews, there continues to be confusion regarding acceptable methods to evaluate autophagy, especially in multicellular eukaryotes. Here, we present a set of guidelines for investigators to select and interpret methods to examine autophagy and related processes, and for reviewers to provide realistic and reasonable critiques of reports that are focused on these processes. These guidelines are not meant to be a dogmatic set of rules, because the appropriateness of any assay largely depends on the question being asked and the system being used. Moreover, no individual assay is perfect for every situation, calling for the use of multiple techniques to properly monitor autophagy in each experimental setting. Finally, several core components of the autophagy machinery have been implicated in distinct autophagic processes (canonical and noncanonical autophagy), implying that genetic approaches to block autophagy should rely on targeting two or more autophagy-related genes that ideally participate in distinct steps of the pathway. Along similar lines, because multiple proteins involved in autophagy also regulate other cellular pathways including apoptosis, not all of them can be used as a specific marker for bona fide autophagic responses. Here, we critically discuss current methods of assessing autophagy and the information they can, or cannot, provide. Our ultimate goal is to encourage intellectual and technical innovation in the field